Chapter 269: Punishing the Criminals

"Your Highness, this is an urgent letter from the Andong Protectorate."

In the restaurant of Jingzhao Prefecture, Lu Zhaolin walked to Li Xiang's table with the letter.

Li Xiang took the letter, read it, and put it on the table.

"Shengzhi, sightseeing, you guys should take a look too."

Luo Binwang was the first to pick up the letter. After reading it briefly, he angrily said, "How could such a thing happen? It's so shameless!"

Then, Lu Zhaolin also picked up the letter and pounded the table in the same way.

"Such a rebellious minister actually appeared in Silla!"

"The King of Silla is now taking refuge in Pyongyang with Kim Chunchu." Li Xiang reached out and knocked on the table, saying to the two of them, "As the saying goes, a lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit. Even if the Tang Dynasty wants to conquer the rebels, it must be fully prepared. The most urgent task is not..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard someone calling him from outside.

"Your Highness, the Sage has ordered Your Highness to enter the Liangyi Palace!"

"I will go to Liangyi Palace first, and you two stay here for now." Li Xiang said to them, then got in the car and headed for the palace.

The sedan chair given by Old Li was somewhat luxurious. Since cars were not allowed in the palace, Li Xiang would park the sedan chair at the main entrance every time he left the palace.

When he returns, he can ride back in a sedan chair.

We arrived at the Liangyi Hall, which was already filled with important officials of the court.

No need to ask, they all came here for Silla affairs.

Li Xiang ran over and sat down quietly beside Li Chengqian.

"You have just heard about the vicious incident that happened in Silla." Li Shimin began with a high-level statement: "As the suzerain state of Silla, our Tang Dynasty naturally cannot sit idly by and allow such a terrible thing to happen in a vassal state."

"In the past, there was civil unrest in Lu, and Duke Wei killed the king and established himself as king. King Zhao of Zhou allowed it to happen, which was the beginning of the slight loss of the kingly way of the Zhou royal family. Now, the Tang Dynasty treats its vassal states as the Zhou royal family treats its princes. Now that a vassal state has killed its king, the Tang Dynasty must naturally follow the will of heaven and the will of the people, uphold justice for the vassal state, punish the criminal, and comfort its people."

Of course, the word "吊" here does not mean "hanging to death", but means condolence.

Fang Xuanling spoke first: "Your Majesty, I think that for now we should mainly send envoys to reprimand them. At the same time, our Tang Dynasty should also be prepared for war. If Silla's Kim Bitam, Kim Yushin and others cannot turn back from their wrong path, we will raise troops to punish them."

"What Fang Pushe said is very true." Zhang Sun Wuji agreed: "If Jin Bidan and others can really turn back from their mistakes, tie themselves up and apologize, and welcome the King of Silla back to Yuecheng, there is still room for improvement."

This is also a normal procedure. After all, fighting Silla is not a task that can be accomplished by a few thousand people. A large army must be mobilized.

However, allocating a large army to conquer Silla would not only waste manpower and material resources, but also require time to prepare. If an envoy was sent to reprimand the Silla people, the matter could be put to rest and the magnanimous grace of the holy dynasty could be better reflected.

"Grandson, you are the governor of the Andong Protectorate, what do you think?" Li Shimin looked down at Li Xiang.

"Your Majesty, I support the suggestions of Fang Pushe and Zhangsun Situ." Li Xiang did not raise any objections. After all, there was nothing wrong with doing so.

"In addition, I think that at the same time, the Andong Protectorate can also make preparations." Li Xiang said to Li Shimin, "The Andong Protectorate just sent a letter saying that it is requesting the Dengzhou Grand Military Governor's Office to allocate food and fodder, and also requesting the navy to be ready to support the battle at any time. I think if the Silla people are stubborn, before the court mobilizes the army, the Andong Protectorate can support the Silla king in the restoration movement and call on the factions close to the royal family in Silla to fight against Kim Bitam and Kim Yusin's party."

"Well, you have considered it very carefully." Li Shimin nodded in affirmation: "Then let's do this. Temporarily order the Ministry of Rites to draft an imperial edict and send envoys to rebuke the Silla rebels. In addition... order Li Shiji to be the general commander of the Pyongyang Road, leading 70,000 infantry and cavalry as well as the Hu soldiers and horses of Lanzhou and Hezhou, and temporarily stationed in Youzhou; Li Daozon to be the general commander of the Liaodong Road, leading 50,000 infantry and cavalry, and temporarily stationed in Shuozhou; order Yingzhou Governor Zhang Jinshu to lead the soldiers of Youzhou and Yingzhou to go to Andong Protectorate to act according to the circumstances; appoint the Prince's Secretary Du He as the Henan Road Feed Transport Envoy, and the grain and fodder of the states in the South Canal Road will be shipped to the sea; the Prince's Secretary Du He is the Hebei Road Feed Transport Envoy, and all the states in Hebei are under his command; issue a conscription order to the Khitan, Xi, Mohe and other tribes, ordering them to be ready to accept the call of the Tang Dynasty at any time and go to Liaodong to fight!"

After Li Shimin's order was conveyed, the Tang Dynasty machine began to operate in an orderly manner.

Three days later, Li Shiji and Li Daozon all set out.

Before Du He and Xiao Rui set off, Li Xiang gave each of them a letter as a token of trust.

"My two uncles," Li Xiang said with a smile, "The logistics of the army will be handed over to you."

"Don't worry, Your Highness!" they both said.

Of these two, Du He is the consort of Princess Chengyang, and Xiao Rui is the consort of Princess Xiangcheng.

In terms of ability, these two uncles are outstanding, especially Princess Chengyang's husband Du He.

After they set off, Cui Xiuye, who had returned from Silla, also returned to Chang'an.

It is now mid-May and the imperial examination has long ended.

The imperial examination strictly selects candidates according to the examination areas, which is relatively fair. Except for the Hehuai examination area, everyone supports this system.

However, due to the large number of people participating in this examination, they have to not only copy the papers but also mark the papers. Now the examiners are still marking the papers and selecting the top ones.

According to Li Xiang's suggestion, the test paper should be scored on a percentage basis, and the rankings should be determined based on the scores, which is a relatively advanced method.

Judging from the Ministry of Rites, it seems that the results will be decided in the next two days.

After Cui Xiuye ​​came back, he first ordered people to take the Silla maids to Jingzhao Prefecture, and then went to the Ministry of Rites to report on his work.

As a witness to the Silla insect-killing and sun-shooting coup, Cui Xiuye ​​had first-hand information.

After he came out of the Ministry of Rites, he was summoned directly to the Liangyi Hall by Li Shimin.

Cui Xiuye ​​vividly recounted the details of the insect extermination and sun shooting to Li Shimin and his ministers in the Liangyi Hall.

When Li Shimin heard that Lian Zong's pocket crossbow had missed target, his lips twitched subconsciously and he wanted to complain.

Bah, with just these two tricks of yours, you still want to stage a coup and shoot people?

Fortunately, it is not appropriate in this situation, and it is enough to just say it in your heart.

Of course, Li Xiang also noticed the slight change in Li Shimin's expression, and secretly complained in his heart, "When it comes to coups and shooting people, my grandfather is well-known and his battle record can be checked!"

Since it was confirmed that the Silla coup was indeed true, Li Shimin did not say anything more. After rewarding Cui Xiuye, he let him leave first.

The envoy sent to Silla has been replaced. After all, when the previous decree was issued, Cui Xiuye ​​was still on the way, and it was impossible for him to wait.

After returning to Jingzhao Prefecture, Li Xiang looked up and saw a group of beautiful women gathered in Jingzhao Prefecture. "What's going on? Who will let these people go to me..." Li Xiang pointed at the group of Silla maids and asked.

"Your Highness, this is the Silla maid that Jin Bidan sent to me." Cui Xiuye ​​explained to Li Xiang: "I wanted to accept it at first, but when I thought of your teachings, I decided to eat the sugar coating and throw the cannonball back..."

"In addition, I also thought that my colleagues didn't have many maids around them, so I brought them back, which can be regarded as a benefit for my colleagues."

"Hmm..." Li Xiang nodded and patted Cui Xiuye ​​on the shoulder: "Okay, you can... go sightseeing!"

Luo Binwang walked out of the house with one hand on his head.

"It is said that one woman is like ten ducks, and so many women are like a thousand ducks!" While Luo Binwang was speaking, he did not forget to glare at Cui Xiuye.

"Blame me?" Cui Xiuye ​​spread his hands. He learned this gesture from Li Xiang.

"Brother Zhenmin, I think you really treat our Jingzhao Prefecture as a vegetable market." Lu Zhaolin said from behind.

"Ah, it seems you don't like it." Cui Xiuye ​​sighed, "I traveled thousands of miles to bring you a few Silla maids, but now instead of thanking me, you are blaming me. Tell me, can there still be some trust between colleagues?"

"Wait, what did you say?" Lu Zhaolin raised his eyebrows: "You said you brought these Silla maids back to us?"

"Yes, everyone has a share." Cui Xiuye ​​smiled, "Including Chief Secretary Quan, General Hegan, General Zhang... How many will each of them take, Your Highness?"

At this point, Cui Xiuye ​​did not dare to take the initiative and turned back to ask Li Xiang.

Li Xiang smiled and said, "These are all brought back by you, you can choose them yourself. In addition, I have enough maids in Wude Hall, please don't force them on me, I'm not being polite to you."

"Okay, Your Highness." Cui Xiuye ​​also knew that Li Xiang was not speaking in a sarcastic way to him, so he turned around and looked at Luo Binwang and Lu Zhaolin: "You two each pick four, and I..."

Before they could finish their words, the two of them slipped away to choose from among the Silla maids.

"Confucius said, 'Food and sex are human nature.'" Li Xiang reached out and patted Cui Xiuye ​​on the shoulder. "Cui, I am very happy that you can bring benefits to your colleagues."

"It's all thanks to your highness's teachings." Cui Xiuye ​​said immediately, his mind working quickly.

Li Xiang: …

I usually teach you to be a mama-san?
"In addition to colleagues in Jingzhao Prefecture, remember to send some to the Ministry of Rites as well." Li Xiang patted Cui Xiuye ​​on the shoulder: "Although you are currently on official business in Jingzhao Prefecture, you were once a member of the Ministry of Rites after all."

"I understand." Cui Xiuye ​​nodded.

"Well, go ahead." Li Xiang said with a smile, then turned around and slipped out of Jingzhao Prefecture, planning to return to Wude Hall to have a deeper exchange of ideas with Pei Xueqing.

He didn't plan to ask Cui Xiuye ​​about the current situation in Silla. After all, Cui Xiuye ​​passed away early, so he naturally didn't know the current situation in Silla.

When the Queen of Silla fled to the territory of Andong Daeduhufu, she attracted the attention of the border troops.

After learning of Jin Shengman's identity, the border army did not dare to delay and sent two teams of elite troops to escort the Silla royal family to Pyongyang City to seek help from Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui.

There are very few Goguryeo people in Pyongyang today, and almost all of them are Han people who migrated here.

This was also one of Li Xiang's policies. After migrating the Goguryeo people to the inland, he used Han people to fill the Northeast and gave great incentives to the Han people who migrated to the Northeast.

After Su Dingfang met with the Queen of Silla, he learned in detail what had happened in Silla. He immediately decided to temporarily support the Silla royal family and put the Andong Protectorate on a state of war readiness.

At the same time, he also wrote a detailed memorial and sent it to the court, and then wrote a letter and handed it to the Dengzhou Grand Military Governor's Office. Finally, he reported the military situation to Li Xiang, the Grand Protector of Andong and the Grand Military Governor of Dengzhou.

After this, Su Dingfang discussed with Jin Shengman and raised a big flag to gather the nobles who supported the royal family to fight against the rebels.

By the time the court's urgent letter arrived at the Andong Protectorate, the civil war in Silla had officially begun.

Today's Silla has been plunged into a civil war. With the support of the Andong Protectorate, Silla Queen Kim Seung-man and her minister Kim Chun-chu have raised a big banner and gathered some nobles who still support the Silla royal family. They are engaged in a tug-of-war with Kim Yu-shin and others.

Although the Andong Protectorate did not directly participate in the battle, under the leadership of Su Dingfang and Liu Rengui, it was providing continuous support to the Silla royal army, from armaments to logistics.

Of course, the armaments cannot be used by the Tang army, but the eliminated weapons and armor can still be used as support.

Although the Silla royal army was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, thanks to the support of the Andong Protectorate behind them, they did not suffer a setback for a while, but instead began to gain a foothold.

However, the situation is not optimistic. The Silla rebels now occupy more than 40 cities, while the Silla royal army only occupies more than 20 cities. The number of Silla civilians under the rebels is more than twice that of the royal army.

On May 20th, envoys from the Tang Dynasty also arrived at Silla's royal capital, Wolseong.

Wolseong has now been occupied by the rebels of Kim Bitam and Kim Yu-shin. Kim Bitam announced that he would no longer recognize Kim Seung-man's status as king on the grounds that "a female ruler is incapable of governing well" and instead appointed Kim Yu-shin as regent.

Historically, Kim Yu-shin was a supporter of the queen and opposed the rebellious Kim Bitam.

The reason for this was that Goguryeo and Baekje still existed at that time.

Kim Yu-shin always advocated that "a dog fears its master, but will bite if the master steps on its foot." The general meaning is that even if the Tang Dynasty was the suzerain state, Silla had to dare to draw the sword against it if it threatened the interests of Silla.

Now that Goguryeo and Baekje are gone, in the eyes of the Silla people, the Tang Dynasty is encroaching on their interests. How can Jin Yuxin be convinced by this?

This was also the reason why he rebelled together with Kimbitsam.

What the Tang envoy did not expect was that the regent Kim Yu-shin neither met him nor let him leave, but kept dragging it out by finding excuses.

Jin Yuxin's idea was very simple, which was to delay time until Xueyantuo and Japan entered the scene together.

As it turned out, Kim Yu-shin's idea was correct, and he really waited for good news.

Because a big event also happened in Xueyantuo's tent.

Xueyantuo's Zhenzhubijia Khan Yishiyinan died of illness on May 21, the 19th year of Zhenguan.

His son Bazhuo proclaimed himself Khan on the same day and sent envoys to the Western Turks that afternoon.

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(End of this chapter)