Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 389: King, the Tang army is coming to take us back!

When King Li Zhen of Yue returned to his mansion, he found that Li Chongyi, the Shaoqing of the Zongzheng Temple, was waiting for him there.

Li Chongyi was the eldest son of Li Xiaogong and a member of the royal family of Li Tang. He was granted the title of Duke of Qiao and had always assisted Li Zhen in managing the royal princes in various places.

He was also one of Li Zhen's most trusted subordinates, and under Li Zhen's orders, he had been monitoring King Han Li Yuanjia.

Today is a public holiday. When Li Zhen saw him suddenly coming to her house in official uniform, she knew something was wrong.

"Chongyi, is something wrong?"

Li Chongyi said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, Hongzhou has reported that Li Yuanjia is at home claiming to be ill and has not appeared in public for over a month."

Li Zhen asked, "Is it a real illness or a fake one?"

Li Chongyi said, "He must be faking an illness. The security in the mansion suddenly became very tight. My men tried to break in to investigate, but were immediately arrested. I suspect he is no longer in Hongzhou."

Li Zhen snorted coldly, "Finally, the fox's tail is exposed. I will immediately go to the palace to see the emperor!"

As soon as he left the palace, a thousand-bull guard came to report that the emperor had summoned him for an audience.

Li Zhen walked all the way to Ganlu Palace, but saw Li Zhi and Wu Meiniang waiting for him in the main hall, both with serious expressions.

"Eighth brother, has the King of Han made any moves recently?" Li Zhi asked.

Li Zhen hurriedly said, "I was just about to report to Your Majesty that I just received news that Li Yuanjia is at home claiming to be ill. I suspect he is no longer in Hongzhou."

Li Zhi slammed the table and shouted angrily, "It's really him!"

Li Zhen asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Li Zhi said in a deep voice: "The Queen just told me that someone poisoned the palace and wanted to murder me and the Queen. The Queen guessed that the person was Li Yuanjia!"

Li Zhen hurriedly asked what happened, and Wu Meiniang told her about the poisoning by Zhou Zhi and Wang Hong.

After listening to this, Li Zhen asked, "Has Zhou Zhi confessed that Li Yuanjia was the mastermind behind this?"

Wu Meiniang shook her head and said, "He doesn't know either. He only knows that it was a prince. I suspect that this was done by Li Yuanjia."

Li Zhen was confused and bowed, "Your Highness, could you please explain your guess to me?"

Wu Meiniang said, "First, according to Wang Hong's confession, the man in black spoke with a Shu accent. Second, the poison, Chiyanzhi, is a medicinal herb only found in Maoxian County, Shu. This shows that this prince must have been in Shu for a long time."

Li Zhen fell silent immediately.

There were three princes who stayed in Shu the longest. One was Li Yuanjia, another was himself, and the last one was Li Yin.

Li Yin was demoted to a prince very early because of the incident involving King Wu Li Ke, and he left Shu in the third year of Yonghui. It couldn't be him.

The only suspects left were him and Li Yuanjia. Since it wasn't him, it could only be Li Yuanjia.

Li Zhi said, "Eighth brother, please summon the King of Han to the capital in the name of the Zongzheng Temple. I want to hear his explanation."

Li Zhen accepted the order and said, "I obey your command."

In early August, the people sent to Hongzhou returned, but did not bring back Li Yuanjia. They only brought back the news of his death and a letter.

Li Yuanjia committed suicide by taking poison in the mourning hall. Before his death, he was wearing a first-grade nine-tasseled crown, a blue robe and a purple skirt embroidered with nine-chapter patterns.

This was a sacrificial garment. He committed suicide wearing it, apparently preparing to meet his ancestors after his death.

Li Zhi read Li Yuanjia's letter twice.

In the letter, he confessed all his crimes, even including that when Li Zhi was on tour the year before, he sent people to contact the Turks in an attempt to besiege Li Zhi.

Li Zhi finally understood why Li Yuanjia suddenly poisoned Wen Fu. It turned out that he was afraid that Wen Fu would tell him his secret.

Li Yuanjia also explained his motives to Li Zhi.

He believed that Li Shimin's accession to the throne was not legitimate and would inevitably lead to imitation within the royal family in the future. Fathers and sons would fight against each other, and brothers would kill each other, and the Tang Dynasty would not last long.

He wanted to restore order, ascend the throne first, and then pass the throne to Li Chengqian's son Li Xiang. Only in this way could the Tang Dynasty restore its orthodoxy and be stable and long-lasting.

Li Zhi didn't know whether what he said was true or false, but he was right about one thing: Li Shimin's Xuanwu Gate Incident did set a bad precedent for future generations.

As for Li Yuanjia's claim that he wanted to become emperor first and then pass the throne to Li Xiang, Li Zhi didn't quite believe it.

In any case, Li Yuanjia's conspiracy to rebel has been confirmed, and no matter how he explains it, his crime is difficult to forgive.

Li Zhi immediately issued an order to have the Dali Temple and the Zongzheng Temple jointly try Li Yuanjia's case.

Li Zhi only pointed out one point: this case would neither be punished lightly nor implicated, and everything would be based on the Yonghui Law.

The struggle for power never stops.

The same scene also happened in Japan.

The situation in Japan was not as simple as poisoning and murder. The fight between Queen Bao of Japan and Zhong Daxiong and his mother was a direct robbery.

For the time being, Jungdae-oh has the upper hand and drives Queen Bao to Baekje.

However, he did not ascend the throne, but instead ruled the country as the crown prince of Japan.

In the past few months, rumors in Liaodong have spread more and more widely, and the fact that Japan is full of gold has almost become a consensus among all countries in Liaodong.

The reason why they believed it so much was very simple, because the news was even spreading in Chang'an.

Even the wealthy Tang Dynasty thought that Japan was full of gold, so how much gold did Japan have?

At the beginning, everyone sharpened their knives and waited for Datang to take action first, and then they rushed forward and followed behind to drink the soup.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty sent envoys to Japan to discuss war reparations with the Japanese.

All the countries suddenly felt something was wrong. It seemed that the Tang Dynasty was not going to take everyone for a ride this time.

The states of Shiwei and Xi hurriedly sent envoys to Mohe.

Neither of them had access to the sea, so they wanted to unite with the Mohe and go to Japan to plunder some wealth. The Mohe would take the lion's share, and they would just take a little less.

The Mohe chieftain Qiqi Zhongxiang also felt that he could not miss this opportunity. He sent people to inquire about the situation in Japan, and at the same time ordered people to build warships on a large scale and prepare for crossing the sea.

In fact, if they attacked Japan, they would not need to fight a naval battle. They could directly land in Ezo, and then use Ezo as a springboard to invade the Japanese mainland.

Silla was also training its navy. Baekje was in a hurry to take action, but Japan had an opportunity to take advantage of it. As long as they could gain an advantage, they would not let it go.

The Ezo Kingdom also sent people to contact the Sushen people, hoping that the two families would stop fighting and attack Japan together.

Even the distant Liugui Kingdom heard about the situation in Japan and sent people to Japan to inquire about the news.

Just when all the major forces were still waiting for the right opportunity, news came from within Japan.

The negotiations between the Tang Dynasty and Japan broke down, and the Tang Dynasty envoys have left Japan.

All the countries were overjoyed and were ready to fight, waiting for the Tang Dynasty to send troops to attack Japan, so that they could take advantage of the situation and act according to the circumstances.

Where some are happy, others are sad.

On the beach near Chikushi Asakura Palace, Nakano-oe watched the Tang envoy's ship disappear on the sea, his eyes flickering.

Nakatomi Kamatari stood silently behind him, not saying a word.

At this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard, and Onijima Kawakiyo led a team galloping over. He has now been appointed as the Kyushu leader, and Nakano Oe has put all the troops under his command.

"Prince, why did you let the Tang envoy escape?" Guijima Kawakiyo asked anxiously.

Zhong Daxiong remained silent.

Nakatomi Kamatari said in a deep voice, "General Onijima, the Tang people refuse to give in at all. Are we really going to cede Kyushu to them?"

Onijima Kawakiyoshi said, "Cut the crap out of me! What I mean is that the Tang envoy should be captured and held hostage!"

Nakatomi Kamatari shook his head and said, "That would only give the Tang people an excuse to send troops."

Guidao Chuanqing snorted coldly: "If we don't give them an excuse, they won't attack us?"

Zhong Daxiong said slowly: "General Guidao, you should have fought against the Tang army. What do you think of their fighting strength?"

Guidao Chuanqing was silent for a moment, then said, "It's true that they are stronger than us, but if we can take advantage of the terrain and fight on our home turf, I'm confident that I can defeat them."

Zhong Daxiong asked again: "Do you hope that the morale of the Tang army will be higher or lower?"

"Of course it's low."

Zhong Daxiong said, "If we capture the Tang envoy, not only will we not be able to threaten them, but we will also arouse the anger of the Tang people and boost their morale."

Guidao Chuanqing was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right, I didn't expect that."

Nakano-oe said, "You are an excellent general, but the political matters should be left to me and Kamatari." Onijima Kawakiyo said, "Then I will go train the new army."

Zhong Daxiong turned around and said, "General Guidao, the country is now empty. Once the Tang envoy leaves, all that awaits us is war. The survival of our country depends on you."

Onijima Kawashima laughed heartily and said, "I am a pirate. How dare you hand over your country to someone like me?"

Zhong Daxiong said solemnly, "If it weren't for a pirate like you, I would have died at my mother's hands long ago."

Guidao Chuanqing stared at him for a while, then smiled and said, "Since you trust me so much, there is no need to say more. Just wait and see what I can do."

On the fifth day after the Tang envoys left, another incident occurred at sea. A country actually took action against Japan.

And no one could have imagined that the one who took action was Tamra.

……

When Li Zhi arrived at the Shenlong Palace, Xue Rengui, Li Ji and others had already arrived.

Li Zhi walked to the chair at the head and sat down. He glanced around and said, "I think you have all heard about the situation in Liaodong, right?"

Cheng Zhijie bowed and said, "Your Majesty, we all know. Japan just lost 50,000 main forces, yet they still have such strength. It seems that I underestimated them before."

Yuchi Gong snorted, "It's not that they are so powerful, it's that the surrounding countries are too incompetent, which has given the Japanese more momentum."

Cheng Zhijie said, "It's not surprising that Tamra was defeated by the Japanese. Silla only sent out 3,000 troops for a surprise attack, and it was normal for them to return in defeat. But I didn't expect that the alliance of five countries, including the Mohe, would also be defeated by the Japanese."

The five-nation alliance of the Mohe people consisted of the Mohe, Shiwei, Xi, Emishi, and Sushen.

They originally wanted to wait for the Tang Dynasty to take action and then take advantage of the situation.

As a result, I heard that Tamra and Silla had already sent troops to attack Japan. I thought that Japan now had few soldiers and would definitely not be able to take care of other places in order to deal with them.

So, under the leadership of Mohe, the five countries decided to join forces to plunder Wa.

The armies of the five countries gathered in Ezo, commanded by Zuo Rong, to attack Mutsu in Japan.

The five countries were just testing the waters this time, with a total of no more than 10,000 troops. After landing in Mutsu, they were ambushed, suffered heavy losses, and fled in embarrassment.

Tamra attacked Tsushima Island, located near southern Kyushu.

Silla attacked Noto, located in central Japan.

The five-nation coalition attacked Mutsu, located in the northern part of Japan.

Japan defeated the three forces in these three places almost at the same time, even when it was in the midst of civil unrest in its own country.

These three wars also allowed the Liaodong countries to witness the strength of the Japanese.

Xue Rengui said in a deep voice: "I heard that the general leading the Japanese army now is a pirate named Guidao Kawakiyo."

Yuchi Gong smiled and said, "Don't underestimate thieves. Didn't Brother Cheng also used to be a bandit?"

Cheng Zhijie rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "We're talking about Japan now, why bring up the past?"

Li Ji said slowly, "The Japanese have won several battles, and their morale is high. The new army has also gained combat experience. I'm afraid they will be difficult to deal with."

Yuchi Gong said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, we really can't wait any longer, otherwise the chance of destroying the Japanese will become smaller and smaller."

Li Zhi looked at Xue Rengui and Cheng Zhijie and said, "What do you two think?"

Cheng Zhijie said: "I also think that we should take action against Japan immediately."

Xue Rengui said, "I second the motion."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Okay, this is a battle plan I have drawn up. My dear ministers, please take a look at it. What do you think?" He glanced at Wang Fusheng.

Wang Fusheng took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Li Ji.

After reading it, Li Ji showed a look of surprise and passed it to the other three people one after another. After reading it, the three people were also extremely surprised and showed a thoughtful expression.

Li Zhi's battle plan was completely beyond their expectations, but after thinking about it carefully, it was indeed feasible and very beneficial.

Xue Rengui had always been the most supportive of Li Zhi's decisions, and he immediately bowed and said, "I agree with your Majesty's plan."

Li Ji, Cheng Zhijie, and Yuchi Gong exchanged a glance before bowing and saying, "We second the motion."

Li Zhi said loudly, "Well, Li Qing, you must immediately send a message to Liu Rengui, telling him to act according to the plan and capture Tamra first!"

The King of Tamra was named Awagi. When he was still a prince, he saved the Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty and later went to Japan with the Japanese envoys.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese humiliated him and treated him as a barbarian. After waiting for two months, the King of Japan still refused to see him.

Since then, Awagi hated Japan and always wanted to take revenge, but unfortunately Tamra was too weak and he never got the chance.

A few days ago, Awagi heard that Japan was defeated by the Tang Dynasty and its main force was almost completely lost, so he selected a thousand soldiers and prepared to take revenge.

He also knew that he had little chance of winning a war with the Japanese, so he attacked Tsushima, a vassal state of Japan, thinking that Japan was severely damaged and would definitely not be able to save Tsushima.

Tsushima was slightly weaker than Tamra, and Tamra had the advantage at the beginning. However, the Japanese reinforcements arrived very quickly and defeated Awagi.

Awagi returned to Tamra with his defeated army. He was depressed and spent his days drinking and having fun, no longer caring about state affairs.

One day, he was eating berries and enjoying dancing when his men came to report that the Tang army was attacking.

"What did you say?" Awagi was stunned.

The subordinate said, "Your Majesty, the Tang army's 10,000 naval forces have docked at the harbor. I want you to go over and answer their questions!"

Awagi was dumbfounded. Would the Tang Dynasty actually come to attack Tamra?

For so many years, Tamra has been looking forward to joining the Tang Dynasty, but unfortunately its population is too small and it is not qualified to become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.

Awagi's elder brother had once been on a diplomatic mission to the Tang Dynasty and never returned. He even gave up the throne to him.

The sun rises from the west today. The Tang Dynasty actually sets its sights on Tamra and comes to attack it?
Awagi hurriedly took out his most expensive set of silk clothes, put them on, put on his pearl hat, and quickly came to the port with his men.

Looking up, he saw several ships, larger than his palace, docked at the harbor.

A group of Tang people in armor stood at the dock. The sun shone on their armor, and the dazzling light made him unable to open his eyes.

Hundreds of other Tamra soldiers, armed with bamboo spears, surrounded the port and confronted the Tang army.

Awagi hurried forward and bowed to a Tang general standing in the front, saying: "King Awagi of Tamra, greetings to the angel coming to court!" He spoke Tang language very fluently.

That general was none other than Tang Long. He declared in a deep voice, "King Tamra, you have aided the tyrant in his evil deeds, helping Buyeo Yici fight against the Tang Dynasty! I have been ordered by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to punish you."

"You now have two choices. First, submit to the Tang Dynasty. Second..."

"I choose the first one." Awagi said quickly.

Tang Long was stunned for a moment: "What did you say?"

Awagi blinked: "Didn't you just say that I could choose to submit to the Tang Dynasty?"

Tang Long frowned and said, "If you submit to the Tang Dynasty, you will no longer be the King of Tamra. Tamra will become a Tang territory."

Awagi asked, "Then can I move to Chang'an?"

Tang Long said: "If you surrender, His Majesty will confer an official title on you, and you can certainly go to Chang'an."

Awagi was overjoyed and fell to her knees, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Tang Long: "..."

None of the Tamra ministers spoke Tang language, so when they saw the king kneeling, they all asked Awagi about the situation.

Awagi glared and said, "Why are you still standing there? The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has come to take us in. We are Tang people from now on. Kneel down and thank him!"

The ministers of Tamra were overjoyed, dancing with joy and kneeling on the ground to kowtow.

In this way, Tamra was annexed by the Tang Dynasty in a strange way.

Tang Long originally wanted to discuss with Awagi the resettlement of the people of Tamra.

Awaji said he would let him do whatever he wanted, and he just kept asking Tang Long when he could go to Chang'an and receive an official position.

Tang Long had no choice but to send someone to Yingzhou to ask Liu Rengui for instructions.

Liu Rengui's order was quickly passed back, asking him to send a team of people to escort Awagi and the Tamra minister to Chang'an to receive the title, and then let Tang Long be stationed in Tamra.

Half a month later, the news that Tamra had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty began to spread in this sea area.

(End of this chapter)