Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 383 Xue Rengui's Conspiracy
Liu Rengui was not surprised by this result and waved his hand.

"Go down and rest."

Liu Renyuan said, "My humble position is not tiring." He turned to Gao Kan and asked, "Brother Gao, weren't you sent to the Hanhai Protectorate by His Majesty? Have you resolved the issue there?"

Gao Kan said, "I've run into some trouble and was just thinking of asking the governor to transfer 10,000 troops."

Liu Renyuan was stunned and said, "Mobilizing troops? Are the Eastern Turks planning to cause a rebellion?"

Gao Kan said, "Although it's not happening now, there is indeed a tendency to cause chaos, so we need to take precautions before it happens."

Liu Renyuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Yingzhou is about to face the Japanese enemy. How can we mobilize troops lightly?"

Gao Kan said, "I just want to transfer the 10,000 cavalrymen belonging to the Hanhai Protectorate back to Yunzhong."

Liu Renyuan was immediately unhappy.

He traveled so much in Ezo just to promote an alliance between Ezo and the Tang Dynasty to jointly attack Japan.

Japan is currently in chaos. With just one order from the emperor, Yingzhou can send troops to Japan. How can it disperse its forces at this time to deal with the Turks in the vast sea?

"Brother Gao, things have their priorities. Right now, the court's focus is on Japan. You also said that the matter of the Eastern Turks is not urgent and can be put aside for now."

Gao Kan said: "Things can be divided into internal and external. The Turkic threat is internal and should be dealt with first."

Liu Renyuan said, "I think Brother Gao is so anxious to make a contribution that he can't distinguish between the primary and the secondary."

Gao Kan frowned and said nothing.

He was originally in Yingzhou, but was transferred to the Hanhai Protectorate by the emperor. He missed the Battle of Xiongjin Port and the credit was snatched away by Jiang Ke.

Seeing that Jiang Ke and Liu Renyuan were both promoted to generals because of this achievement, he naturally felt uncomfortable.

But Liu Renyuan took advantage of it and even made sarcastic remarks.

Just as he was about to explode, Liu Rengui coughed and said, "If you want to argue, don't do it here with me. Go and tell His Majesty!"

Gao Kan was stunned for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?"

Liu Rengui said: "The matter of the Hanhai Protectorate was personally assigned by His Majesty. If you want to send more troops, I dare not make a decision on my own. So it is best that you return to the capital and report the situation to His Majesty."

"Renyuan, you should also return to the capital and explain the situation of Ezo to His Majesty."

The two exchanged glances and unanimously accepted the order. They rode southward, returning to Chang'an in mid-May.

Along the way, Liu Renyuan heard Gao Kan mention that the emperor had sent an envoy to Japan, and he felt a little anxious, fearing that the emperor would not attack Japan.

After entering Chang'an City, he rode non-stop and headed straight for the palace. Gao Kan naturally did not want to fall behind, so he followed him into the palace.

After the two entered the Suzaku Gate, they hurried along Chengtian Gate Street and soon arrived outside the Chengtian Gate to pass on the message.

Not long after, the eunuch Xiaolou came over on Wang Fusheng's orders and led the two into the Taiji Palace.

The emperor was not in Ganlu Palace. The two followed Xiaolou all the way north and soon arrived at Linhu Palace. They stopped at a corridor a hundred steps away.

From a distance, the viewing platform has been transformed into an open-air office space, with the dragon throne facing the South China Sea Pond, and the scenery is beautiful.

Several eunuchs and palace maids held umbrellas and stood behind the dragon table to provide shade and block the sun.

However, the emperor did not sit on the dragon throne, but stood in front of a fence not far away, leaning against the railing, holding Princess Taiping in his arms.

In front of the railing, bubbles are gurgling and a group of colorful fish are jumping on the water, looking lively and cute.

These fish are the most precious fish in the Tang Dynasty, koi.

Just how precious were koi during the Tang Dynasty? Not only was it forbidden to eat, but even selling koi would result in sixty lashes of the cane!
The reason is not only that koi represents good luck and is full of mystery, but also because its name is "carp", which is similar to "Li".

The carp were jumping on the water so excitedly because Li Zhi was feeding them.

The food she fed him was a kind of osmanthus cake made by Wu Meiniang herself.

Li Zhi threw the crushed cakes into the pool, which immediately caused a scramble, and Princess Taiping in his arms would giggle.

Princess Taiping also wanted to feed the baby. She flicked her little hand, but the cake crumbs in her hand couldn't be thrown far and fell into the grass behind the fence.

The father and daughter were feeding the baby enthusiastically when Wang Fusheng came to Li Zhi and whispered, "Your Majesty, the two generals are here."

Li Zhi glanced sideways, nodded, and handed Princess Taiping to Jiang Baofu.

"Taiping, please go back to Lizheng Palace first. Yeye needs to take care of some government affairs."

Princess Taiping asked, "Will Yeye come over tonight? I can play chess with him."

In fact, Princess Taiping didn't know how to play chess at all. She just moved the chess pieces around, and as she played, it became like playing house.

Li Zhi touched her little face and said, "Ye Ye is going to Penglai Palace tonight. Let your mother play with you."

Princess Taiping said, "After I have dinner, can I go to Penglai Palace to play with Yeye?"

Li Zhi frowned and said nothing.

Jiang Shanggong, who was standing by, said hurriedly, "Your Highness, I'll let you play with me later."

Although Princess Taiping was young, she was very good at reading the expressions of adults. She realized that Li Zhi could not accompany her, so she had no choice but to respond, lying on Jiang Baofu's shoulder, and was quickly carried away.

Li Zhi walked to the chair and sat down, and ordered Wang Fusheng to call the two over.

After the two men exchanged greetings, Li Zhixian looked at Liu Renyuan and said with a smile, "Mr. Liu, you are finally back. Did you gain anything from this trip?"

Liu Renyuan briefly explained the situation.

When Li Zhi heard that he actually forced the Ezo leader to kill the Ezo generals and soldiers who participated in killing the Tang army, he nodded.

"Well done."

Liu Renyuan said, "Your Majesty, since the Ainu have already dealt with those people, I think this matter can be put to rest. Why not join forces with them to deal with the Japanese together?"

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "I have my own ideas on how to deal with the Japanese. Do you have anything else to report?"

Seeing this, Liu Renyuan didn't say anything more and whispered, "I have finished my report."

Only then did Li Zhi turn his gaze to Gao Kan.

Last year, Gao Kan was sent by Li Zhi to the Hanhai Protectorate to investigate the situation of the Eastern Turks. There has been no news since then, and he did not even return on the first day of this year.

Li Zhi was puzzled and didn't know how his investigation was going, so he asked, "Mr. Gao, it's been over a year since I sent you to Hanhai. Have you completed your investigation?"

Gao Kan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have already made a thorough investigation. There are indeed some people within the Eastern Turkic people who are willing to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, but not many dare to do so."

Li Zhi tapped the table with his fingers and said, "So, some tribes have dared to rebel against the Tang Dynasty?"

Gao Kan said: "Yes, there are two tribes in total, the Baideng tribe and the Zhishi tribe."

Li Zhi glanced at him and said, "With your ability, you have been in Hanhai for so long. You wouldn't just be investigating them, right?"

Gao Kan said, "Your Majesty is wise. I had originally intended to take care of them and then report back to Your Majesty, but things didn't go smoothly."

"Oh?"

Gao Kan said, "If it were an ordinary tribe, I would unite with other tribes to attack them. However, the Baideng and Zhishi tribes are the two strongest tribes among the twenty-four Eastern Turkic tribes."

"The two tribal leaders, one is called Ashide Wenfu, known as the wisest man in the Turkic people, and the other is called Ashina Fengzhi, the most powerful warrior in the Eastern Turkic people."

"If these two join forces, I'm not entirely sure I can defeat them. I'm also worried that the Eastern Turkic tribes might turn against me."

"So over the past year, I have been secretly planning and using various means, and finally succeeded in splitting the two tribes."

Li Zhi nodded.

He felt strange that Gao Kan had been gone for so long without replying to his messages. It turned out that he had already started to deal with them.

In fact, this is a bit difficult for Gao Kan.

If the troops of the Hanhai Protectorate had not been transferred to Yingzhou, Gao Kan could have easily replicated the method he used to capture Chebi Khan and captured the two chiefs alive.

Now, due to the lack of military strength in Hanhai, they can only resort to this time-consuming and brain-consuming method of sowing discord and causing them to fight among themselves.

Gao Kan continued, "My original plan was close to success. As long as we can lure these two tribes into a fight, causing both to suffer losses, I can then unite with other tribes and completely resolve this hidden danger."

Li Zhi noticed that he paused and asked, "Did anything unexpected happen?"

Gao Kan asked, "Your Majesty, a while ago, did you send General Xue to Yanran to investigate the White Horse Trading Company?"

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and said, "It is true. How come this is related to the White Horse Trading Company?"

Gao Kan said, "General Xue wrote me a letter after investigating the White Horse Trading Company. He said that during his investigation of the White Horse Trading Company, he discovered that they had secretly traded with a certain tribe in the Eastern Turks and sold a large number of horses."

"According to my investigation, the person they were dealing with was Wen Fu from the Baideng tribe!"

Li Zhi asked curiously, "Why do the Turks want to buy horses?"

Gao Kan said solemnly, "I find this strange, too. Wen Fu's territory is the richest patch of grass and water in the Hanhai region. His tribe has abundant livestock and horses, so there's no need to buy any." "Even stranger still is General Xue's information: they paid for the horses with gold. The Turks lack gold, so it's impossible for them to trade with it."

Liu Renyuan, who was standing by, was also listening intently at this moment.

Li Zhi asked, "Can you find out the reason?"

Gao Kan bowed and said, "At the end of last year, I did not return to Chang'an to pay New Year's greetings to Your Majesty because I wanted to investigate this matter. I have finally found out the truth."

"Wenfu didn't buy the horse for himself, but for the country of Qudumei."

Drive Dumei country.

Li Zhi had just heard the name of this country from Li Ji a few months ago. According to Li Ji at that time, Qudumei was also a country in the far north of Liaodong.

I thought it was far away, but I didn't expect that it was secretly trading with Baima Trading Company.

"Where exactly is Qu Dumei?" Li Zhi asked curiously.

Gao Kan said, "According to my investigation, the Qudumei people are migrating. They were originally located to the north of the Sushen people, but were later defeated by the Sushen people and migrated westward to the north of the Shiwei people."

"They were defeated by the Shiwei again. Later, they heard that the Tiele had fled westward, leaving the land north of the desert unclaimed, so they continued their westward migration. At this point, they were probably north of the Hanhai and Yanran areas."

Li Zhi's heart moved, and he said, "Could it be that the northern barbarians are them?"

Gao Kan said, "This is my guess. The Qu Dumei people must be trying to enter the Mobei region, so they are secretly colluding with Wen Fu."

After hearing this, Li Zhi understood.

"You were worried that the Qu Du Mei people would intervene and you wouldn't be able to control the situation, so you didn't take action."

Gao Kan said, "Your Majesty is wise. I originally wanted to transfer 10,000 troops from Yingzhou back to Hanhai as a precaution, but it seems that there is also a war in Yingzhou, so Commander Liu asked me to report to Your Majesty."

After listening to this, Li Zhi remained silent.

If the troops were withdrawn from Yingzhou at this time, the surrounding countries would probably misunderstand that the Tang Dynasty no longer intended to take action against Japan.

Seeing that the Tang Dynasty did not take action, they naturally would not act rashly, which was not in line with Li Zhi's current plan.

If you don't transfer troops from the Hanhai, you can choose the troops from Yanran Protectorate, or you can transfer troops from Guanzhong to the north.

The troops of Yanran Protectorate are the closest, and they are Xue Rengui's old subordinates. It is safe to let Xue Rengui lead the troops to support them.

Li Zhi cleared his throat and said, "In that case..." Just as he was about to issue an order, he suddenly saw a eunuch running towards him from a distance, holding a memorial in his hand.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has an urgent memorial!" The eunuch bent down and held the memorial above his head.

Li Zhi took the memorial and looked at it. His face changed drastically. He immediately said, "Summon the chief officials and their lieutenants from the two provinces, six ministries, and nine departments to the Ganlu Palace for an audience!"

He hurried towards Ganlu Palace. After a few steps, he seemed to remember Gao Kan and the other two. He waved at them and said, "You go back and rest first. We'll discuss this matter another day."

The two looked at each other, not knowing what had happened for a moment.

Wu Meiniang stood under the veranda of Lizheng Hall, looking up at the sky with her brows furrowed.

It is only May, but it is hotter than in previous years. The sun in the sky is so scorching that it seems like midsummer has arrived.

"Boom boom boom!"

There was a sound of footsteps, and Zhang Dahai rolled over like a ball, sweating profusely.

"Your Highness, I've inquired and found out that it is indeed a drought. The five provinces of Jiangnan are suffering from a severe drought. There has not been a single rain since February."

Wu Meiniang said calmly, "Why are you panicking? In the second year of the Zhenguan era, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong, forcing the people to sell their children, but they still managed to survive."

Zhang Duohai wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled, "Your Highness is right. There have been no major disasters in recent years. Last year's harvest was good, and the Changping Granary and the Charity Granary were full. There is really no need to worry."

Wu Meiniang continued to look at the sky and asked, "Where is His Majesty?"

Zhang Duohai said, "I am currently in Ganlu Palace, summoning all the ministers to discuss disaster relief matters."

Wu Mei Niang said, "Send someone to listen and see if any of the officials mentioned the prevention of subsequent disasters."

Every drought is easily followed by locust plagues and floods, so drought is often called the number one disaster.

Zhang Duohai took the order and left.

After more than half an hour, he came back to report: "Your Highness, Zhang Jianzhi mentioned this matter to Your Majesty, and Your Majesty has made arrangements."

Wu Meiniang nodded. Since a court official had mentioned it, she didn't need to waste time reminding the emperor.

The temporary court meeting in Ganlu Hall lasted until the afternoon of the 5th day of the 11th month. Li Zhi appointed Lu Chengqing as the Minister of Disaster Relief to go to the south of the Yangtze River to provide disaster relief.

In the next few days, Li Zhi focused all his energy on disaster relief and forgot about Gao Kan.

Seeing that the emperor was reluctant to summon him, Gao Kan had no choice but to go to the palace to ask for an audience.

However, when he mentioned mobilizing troops again, Li Zhi refused, saying that there was a drought in the south of the Yangtze River, and there might be floods and locust plagues in the future, so it was not appropriate to mobilize troops at this time.

Gao Kan had no choice but to leave the palace, feeling quite depressed.

He felt that Wen Fu had already noticed his purpose and would probably take action. If something unexpected happened, all his planning for more than a year would be in vain.

After much deliberation, Gao Kan decided to go to Xue Rengui and ask for help.

Xue Rengui ushered him into the study, asked him to sit down, and said in a deep voice, "Brother Gao, His Majesty is currently concentrating on disaster relief. Even if I go to speak to His Majesty, I'm afraid it will be useless."

Gao Kan sighed and said, "I'm afraid if I wait any longer, Master Wen will start a disturbance before it's too late. Then all my arrangements will not only be in vain, but may even be a problem."

Xue Rengui remained silent. Gao Kan's arrangement in Hanhai was equivalent to forcing the Turks to rebel against the Tang Dynasty.

If the situation cannot be brought under control quickly and chaos breaks out in Hanhai, Gao Kan will certainly be impeached by an imperial censor in the future.

He pondered for a long time and said slowly: "Brother Gao, there is only one way to deal with the current situation."

Gao Kan asked hurriedly: "What?"

Xue Rengui said slowly, "When I was cleaning up the White Horse Merchants, I discovered something. Several of the White Horse Merchants' pastures happened to be located on the border of the Yanran Protectorate, adjacent to the Eastern Turkic tribe."

Gao Kan said, "Yes, the grassland of the White Horse Chamber of Commerce is located west of the Yinma River. East of the river is the Sheli tribe, one of the twenty-four tribes of the Eastern Turks."

Xue Rengui asked, "You are going to deal with Wen Fu's Baideng tribe, right?"

Gao Kan said: "Yes."

Xue Rengui said, "I heard that the aquatic grass he occupied is the best north of Yinshan Mountain."

Gao Kan said: "Yes, he occupies the western half of the Ulan Grassland, and the eastern half is occupied by the Zhishi tribe."

Xue Rengui smiled slightly and said, "That's consistent with what I know. This way, there is a way to make him an enemy of the twenty-three Turkic states. Then, you won't have to do anything. The other Turkic tribes will join forces to deal with him."

Gao Kan asked: "How to do it?"

Xue Rengui said, "Tomorrow you and I will go to see the emperor and ask him to allocate the large grassland west of the Yinma River, which originally belonged to the White Horse Merchants, to the Eastern Turks."

Gao Kan was surprised and asked, "What does this mean?"

Xue Rengui asked, "After this grassland is allocated to the Eastern Turks, how will the 24 states and tribes of the Eastern Turks divide it?"

Gao Kan pondered for a moment, his eyes flashing as he said happily, "I understand. If we want to divide, we have to migrate. In this way, all 24 states will move westward!"

There is an extra piece of land in the west, so this land can only be divided among the westernmost tribes of the Eastern Turks.

After these tribes obtained the pasture, they also had to give up some pasture from the east to the tribes to the east.

The pasture gained is greater than the pasture spitted out, so it is beneficial.

After obtaining the pasture, the tribes in the east would also give up some smaller pastures to the tribes further east.

This process was repeated one after another, and eventually all the tribes got a large piece, spit out a small piece, and moved a distance to the west.

Generally speaking, every family gained more pasture and benefited from it, with the exception of Wen Fu's Baideng tribe.

Although the area of ​​his grassland increased, he gave up the most fertile grassland because of his westward migration, which was a big loss overall.

He is the only one who suffers while others benefit, so naturally he stands against everyone.

If he does not agree to migrate, all the Turkic tribes will join forces to deal with him!
If he agreed, it would be detrimental to the development of the tribe, and the people within Baideng would definitely be dissatisfied with him, and there might even be civil unrest.

This is an open conspiracy. No matter what choice Wen Fu makes, there will only be disadvantages.

Early the next morning, Xue Rengui accompanied Gao Kan to meet the emperor. He told Li Zhi about the plan and requested that several pastures of the Baima Trading Company be transferred to the Hanhai Protectorate.

When Li Zhi heard that the problem could be solved without mobilizing troops, he immediately agreed to Gao Kan's request.

That afternoon, Gao Kan took Li Zhi's decree, rode out of Chang'an City and returned to Yunzhong.

(End of this chapter)