A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1275: Meeting the Heroine Chang Again

Tiger poison does not eat its seeds.

But Wu Erniang had already used the fetus in her womb as a weapon, and even her one-year-old son became a prop in her palace fighting.

too frightening.

Wu Huaiyu felt palpitations.

He could order the beheading of thousands of people without hesitation and without changing his expression.
How could such a ruthless person consider the relationship between cousins ​​or family when necessary?
At this moment, Wu Huaiyu really wanted to kill.

But how can he safely get rid of this family's thunder?
After all, her current identity is the Crown Prince's Consort. Another thing is that she is a member of the Wu family. Unlike ordinary enemies, she can be attacked at will.
Wu Huaiyu also had to consider not implicating the Wu family.

Just like when Crown Princess Su was convicted this time, not only was she demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in a separate courtyard, but her father and brother were also exiled, and even her uncle, who was the consort of Princess Nanchang and the Minister of Personnel, could not escape the fate of being exiled to the Western Regions.

Wu Erniang could only have died suddenly or in an accident.

Poisoning is the best method, but since I have just experienced poisoning, there is a chance to poison again, but it will be difficult to deal with it afterwards.

The summer of the sixteenth year of Zhenguan was not peaceful at all.

After Su Dingfang captured Beisha City in a surprise attack, he quickly swept through southern Liaoning and quickly captured all the cities, fortresses and docks, including one large, four medium and ten small ports.

It's as fast as lightning.

By the time the Goguryeo people reacted, all the mountain cities, big and small, in southern Liaoning had already hoisted the flag of the Tang Dynasty.

Su Dingfang is also a ruthless person.

After conquering the cities and villages in southern Liaoning, he implemented a policy of retaining the land but not the people.

All the Goguryeo people in southern Liaoning were auctioned off as slaves at the ports of Shimajin and Qingnipu. Moreover, these Goguryeo slaves were not paid with gold or silver, but with grain instead.

After merchants purchased slaves in the two ports, they needed to convert the corresponding slave money into food within a specified time and then transport it to designated castles in southern Liaoning such as Beisha.

This tactic of exchanging slaves for food greatly reduced the logistical burden on the court.

Su Dingfang only wanted land but not people, which also reduced the difficulty of controlling these Goguryeo people.

Of course, Liaonan is such a large place. Now it is set up as Jinzhou, with several counties under its jurisdiction. There is still a lot of land, as well as commercial ports and fishery resources.
The military settlements of the garrison at Jian'an Prefecture will occupy a portion of the land, and there is still a lot left.

After discussing with Su Dingfang, the newly appointed governor Li Daozon also began to send people to Denglai and other places on the opposite coast to recruit people.
As long as you are willing to immigrate to Jinzhou in southern Liaoning, you can choose any land you want. The land will be allocated according to the number of people in your family. One adult will be given 100 acres, and middle-aged men and women will be given 50 acres. There is no upper limit. You can get as much land as the number of people in your family.

The imperial court even provided an interest-free resettlement loan for immigrants, and rented oxen, seeds, and farm tools to help immigrants settle down.

In addition to recruiting immigrants from the Shandong Peninsula, Li Daozon also opened commercial settlements and encouraged wealthy families and businesses to come here to settle and reclaim land.

In the early stage, various tax concessions and some low-interest loans for military farming were also provided.

These have greatly stimulated many people. This summer, Shimajin and Qingnipu Ports are also particularly noisy and busy.
Every day, countless ships enter and leave the port and dock at the pier.

Large amounts of food were shipped in shiploads, and countless new immigrants also crossed the sea with a desire for land. For the people of the Denglai Peninsula, southern Liaoning was actually not unfamiliar. In fact, many people’s ancestors had lived there before. The two sides were very close, separated by a strait, and the climate was also quite similar.

The slave auction at the port was very prosperous.
Because of their large numbers, their prices were relatively cheap. Young women were bought to be slaves, while older women could only do menial work as maids, or were bought to be paired with male slaves in the manor to have children, thus adding value to the manor owners.

Young and strong men are the most popular.

These strong laborers are in the greatest demand in the mines and can be sold at a good price.

However, their fate in the mines was tragic. Often, a young and strong slave sent there would not survive more than ten years.

For this reason, there is a great demand for slaves in the mines.

As for those old and young,

Although these people were not high-quality slaves, some slave traders specifically chose them because they were cheap. When they bought these people, they would keep the younger ones first and send the older ones to the manor. If they were lucky, they could be enslaved and exploited for another 10 to 20 years.

They are all cheap anyway, and there are discounts if you buy more, so you don’t have to worry about losing money.

The Goguryeo people were caught off guard.

Pyongyang's leader Noh Yeon Gaesomun held the military and political power of Goguryeo, and King Go Geonmu was just a puppet. When he received the news, it was actually very late, but he still didn't quite believe it.

So I confirmed it several times, which wasted a lot of time.
By the time it was confirmed that Beisha City had indeed been occupied by the Tang army, the entire area south of the Dahei Mountain, including fifteen large and small mountain cities, two port terminals, and many villages had all been lost.

Because Yeon Gaesomun's name contained the word "Yuan", the Central Plains considered him taboo and changed his name to "Cheon Gaesomun". Sometimes he is also called "Kim Gaesomun".

Quan Gaisuwen spent several days in Pyongyang discussing with the nobles of Goguryeo.

Although many people clamored to fight back, Yeon Gaesomun was able to be a powerful official and had some capabilities. His family had been the leaders of the eastern part of Goguryeo for generations and controlled the eastern region.

Goguryeo was divided into five parts and was a Liaodong state that retained a semi-feudal and semi-slave system.

The Yeon Gaesomun family inherited the title of Eastern Lord and was relatively familiar with the Central Plains dynasty. In recent years, the Central Plains Tang Dynasty has become increasingly powerful. Therefore, under the insistence of Yeon Gaesomun in the early years, the Goguryeo Kingdom mobilized a large amount of manpower and material resources and spent 16 years to build a Liaodong Thousand Mile Great Wall in Liaodong.
By connecting a number of large and small mountain cities, he tried to use them to guard the country's western border.

Yeon Gaesomun had been in charge of the Goguryeo court for many years and he was well aware that the current Goguryeo was no longer the Goguryeo that was able to withstand the million-strong army of the Sui Dynasty.

The Sui Dynasty launched four expeditions to Liaodong. Although Goguryeo managed to hold on, it had already suffered serious injuries and was unable to recover despite thirty years of recuperation.

The current Tang Dynasty will only be stronger than the Sui Dynasty.

Yeon Gaesomun hesitated for a long time, but ultimately did not dare to send troops to counterattack directly. Instead, he first sent a large delegation represented by his son, with many tributes, to Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor and strongly protest against the Tang Dynasty's harassment and looting of Liaodong.

It is a protest against harassment and looting, not invasion and occupation.

Yeon Gaesomun felt that this time the Tang army might just attack Qingnipu like Wu Huaiyu did many years ago, which was just an act of harassment and looting, a provocation and test of Goguryeo.

He felt that the Tang Dynasty had no reason to suddenly send troops. If they really wanted to invade, they would attack Liaodong City, etc. It was impossible for them to send only one navy by sea. He believed that the abnormal behavior of the Tang people this time was not a real intention to go to war with Goguryeo.
So he sent his son to lead an envoy to Chang'an to first offer tribute, then protest to the Tang emperor, and finally do some trade.

His requirements are not high.
The Tang people withdrew from southern Liaoning and returned the people to the people.

In fact, he was even more concessionary to his son. As long as the Tang army was willing to withdraw from Liaodong, then even if the Tang army refused to return the people, livestock, money and other things, that would be fine.

The most important thing is to get the land back.

Especially to take back Beisha City,
Because Beisha City is an important town at the southern end of the Liaodong Great Wall which took sixteen years to build. Although this important town was originally a key land and water town capable of guarding the Central Plains from crossing the sea to the north from the Denglai Peninsula, in fact, due to the strength of the Tang navy in recent years, Beisha Town has only dared to hide on the Dahei Mountain and dared not have any idea about the nearby shipping routes.

Yeon Gaesomun endured it, and on the one hand, he ordered the towns of Liaodong City, Jian'an City, Jili City, Anshi City and others to strengthen their vigilance. On the other hand, he began to mobilize for war, recruiting and sending more troops to the Liaodong front, and at the same time transporting more food, fodder and equipment.

However, he also issued strict orders to the city lords on the Liaodong front, prohibiting them from clashing with the Tang army, and even more so from retaking cities such as Beisha without authorization.

Yeon Gaesomun tolerated the Liaonan region occupied by the Tang army and ignored it for the time being.

He planned to use political and diplomatic means to take back southern Liaoning, even if he had to pay some money to redeem it in the end. He was even considering gathering together the Sui troops from the Central Plains that were left behind in Goguryeo and then using them to negotiate terms with the Tang Dynasty in exchange for the Goguryeo people in the occupied territories such as Bisa.

The reaction of the Goguryeo people
Su Dingfang, Li Daozon, Zhishisili, Cheng Mingzhen, Wu Heita and others who were ready to fight were all puzzled.
The war had already begun, and they had seized such a large piece of their land, including fifteen mountain cities and two ports. Why didn't the Goguryeo people fight back?

The abnormality of the Goguryeo people did not affect the Tang army.

The reinforcement troops were still moving forward step by step, and while the Goguryeo people were not coming, they had time to develop military settlements and farming.

Originally, everyone was ready to roll up their sleeves, put their heads on their belts, and fight a few fierce battles with the Goguryeo people, but who would have known that in the end, everyone was busy plowing the fields, sowing seeds, watering the plants, and other farm work all day long.

All Quiet on the Eastern Front.

The northern route, however, was advancing at a rapid pace.
Because Su Dingfang suddenly conquered southern Liaoning, Li Ji stepped up his offensive and led his army with Li Simo across the desert and into the northern desert.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Yi Nan began to use the expertise of the grassland nomads and ran.

Taking their wives and children, driving cattle, sheep and camels, riding horses, and packing up their belongings, they began their migration. This was not a migration from the grassland, but a temporary avoidance of the enemy and a avoidance of a head-on confrontation with the Tang army.

Yi Nan tried to trade space for time, using the vast grasslands and Gobi Desert in Mobei, and even the forests in the north, to consume the offensive power of the Tang army.
Unfortunately, although Yi Nan's trick is generally effective,
But this time, it was not just the Tang army that attacked him. Even the Xi and Khitan in the east formed an alliance army and came from the southeast, burning, killing and looting everywhere on the Mobei grassland.

What is even more dangerous and deadly is the Tang army from the Western Regions.
Even though the emperor ordered that the original Western Region Army of 100,000 people was reduced to 30,000, the quality was also improved despite the decrease in numbers.

The combat effectiveness of this legion has not declined much.

They serve as partial teachers.

On the contrary, it was more flexible and swift than Li Ji's main army in the middle. This pure cavalry unit, composed of 10,000 Anxi Tang troops and 20,000 Western Regions Hu troops,

It is truly as fast as the wind and as slow as the forest.

Yi Nan led his people to retreat northwards, and Li Ji never caught up with them.

But in the end, they ran into Wu Huaiyi's Western Region Legion.

The two sides fought at Yu Dujun Mountain.
In that battle, the two sides were evenly matched in numbers.

The killing was so intense that it was hard to tell who was who.

At the critical moment, the troops of the three tribes of Huihe, Pugu and Tongluo, which were vassals of Xueyantuo, arrived. Just when Yi Nan thought he could defeat the Anxi army in one fell swoop,
The leader of the Uighurs, Yaogeluotumidu, turned against the Xueyantuo and launched a fatal attack on them from behind their formation. Then the cavalry of Tongluo and Pugu attacked from both wings.

The Xueyantuo were badly defeated. Yinan Khan, realizing that the situation was hopeless, vomited blood and fainted on his horse. He fell off his horse and was trampled to death.

In this battle, Wu Huaiyi killed more than 5,000 people in battle, captured more than 30,000 men and women, and more than 200,000 cattle, sheep and other livestock.

Yi Nan's son Bazhuo fled to Ashide's tribe, but when the Uighurs learned of this, they immediately led their troops to attack and kill Bazhuo.

On the Mobei grasslands, the Huihe, Tongluo, and Pugu tribes surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and frantically attacked the Xueyantuo tribe everywhere, especially the Xueyantuo royal family members. Once discovered, they were immediately executed and their heads sent to the Tang camp.

Li Ji, Li Simo and others were a step late.
Li Ji had no choice but to order his troops to attack the various Xueyantuo tribes in order to completely defeat and annihilate the Xueyantuo.

The Xueyantuo people were scattered.
They fled everywhere, and finally supported Yi Nan's nephew Dumozhi as the new Khan, named Yitmushi Khan. The new Khan was willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty, but Li Ji did not accept it.

When Dumozhi and other Xueyantuo nobles led their troops to surrender to Li Ji,

However, Li Ji ordered his troops to attack, killing more than 8,000 people and capturing more than 50,000 people. Li Ji reported to Chang'an that Dumozhi and others pretended to surrender, but in fact they were secretly plotting to attack the Tang army.

Good news kept arriving at Jiucheng Palace, but the emperor did not feel happy at all. Instead, he became more and more worried.

Taibai appears frequently.

The emperor asked the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to divine the unusual astronomical phenomenon, and they reported the result: the female ruler would prosper.

And soon after, the Hundred Cavalry Division secretly reported, and people began to circulate a passage from the Secret Records: After the third generation of Tang, a female ruler, King Wu, would rule the world.

The rumors about the queen Chang and the queen Wu Wang who would rule the world three generations later were actually spread more than ten years ago. At that time, it triggered a major political case and implicated many people, such as Du Yan's son, Du Ruhui's brother, Chai Shao's brother and many others.

And now, after many years, these have begun to spread again.

Li Shimin didn't know who was spreading these news, but they were different from what he heard back then.

When the emperor heard it back then, he didn't take it too seriously, and at that time they were mainly attacking Wu Huaiyu. But now when Li Shimin heard this again, although he guessed in his heart that someone might be targeting Wu Huaiyu, he also thought of Wu Liangdi.

Could it be that the heroine Chang and the heroine Wu Wang who will rule the world three generations later are referring to Wu Liangdi?
The emperor wanted to kill Wu.

It is better to kill someone by mistake than to let him go. Besides, Dou Chenggui has almost completed the investigation and is basically sure that the poisoning was not committed by Su or Han.

Looking at the result of the divination for the heroine Chang by the Taishi Bureau, the emperor's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

(End of this chapter)