Tibet.

Chapter 1316 Changes in Liaodong
"Why would Khitan send a letter to Chang'an?" Li Ye asked puzzledly.

"I don't understand it either, so I immediately interrogated the Khitan intelligence spy. According to him, the Bohai Kingdom has a large amount of money stored in Chang'an, which is controlled by the Khitan Bohai Chamber of Commerce and is used to rebuild the country. The Khitan asked their intelligence spies in Chang'an to monitor the Bohai Chamber of Commerce and the money. The Khitan army planned to intercept them halfway."

"Where is this Bohai Chamber of Commerce? Does the Internal Security know?"

Li Chenghua bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Bohai Chamber of Commerce is actually a fur shop in the West Market."

Li Ye said immediately: "Control them immediately. I want to know their plans for building a nation. In addition, this wealth must be confiscated into the inner treasury!"

"Wei Chen obeys the order!"

Li Chenghua left in a hurry. Li Ye hesitated for a moment, pulled the rope, and soon a staff member came in. Li Ye ordered: "Go prepare the Liaodong sand table!"

A wall-demolishing movement was launched in Chang'an City, and the walls of the East Market and the West Market were also demolished. The original city walls were turned into a canal, which greatly facilitated water transportation. The canal was filled with cargo ships of all sizes.

But it is still winter now, the Caohe River is frozen, and the boats are frozen in the river. They will not begin to thaw until early February. Because it is the lunar calendar, early February is actually early March in the solar calendar.

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, most businesses in the West Market have already opened, because the Lantern Festival is coming up and many families need to purchase supplies for the Lantern Festival. Most businesses will certainly not miss this business opportunity.

The Bohai Fur Store located on Fur Street is also open for business. On the surface, it is just an ordinary shop, but in fact, it is also the location of the Bohai Chamber of Commerce.

The Bohai Kingdom also opened more than a dozen stores in Chang'an, including shops and inns, which were of an official and commercial nature. In addition, the Bohai Kingdom also had the Bohai Pavilion in Chang'an, which was equivalent to an embassy. The Bohai prince Da Yingjun, who was a hostage in the Tang Dynasty, lived here.

The Bohai Chamber of Commerce and the Bohai Pavilion are two lines, the light and the dark. The Bohai Pavilion is the light line, representing the diplomatic relations between the Bohai Kingdom and the Tang Dynasty, while the Bohai Chamber of Commerce is the dark line, representing the Bohai Kingdom in accumulating wealth in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Chenghua personally deployed the troops, and the internal guards immediately controlled the four leaders of the Bohai Chamber of Commerce.

The four had just learned the news that the Bohai Kingdom had been annexed by Japan. They were like kites with broken strings, and they didn't know what to do.
At this time, Li Chenghua walked into the meeting room, waved his hand, and asked the four of them to sit down.

"I am Li Chenghua, the commander-in-chief of the Internal Guards. I'm sure you all know me!"

The four of them sat down trembling with fear. Everyone in Chang'an knew the name of this female devil.

"We already know the news that Bohai was annexed by Japan. Now our Emperor wants to know your plan to restore the country and your financial situation. Tell us everything!"

All four of them were silent.

Li Chenghua said coldly: "Bohai Kingdom is not an enemy of the Tang Dynasty, so you can sit here instead of in the interrogation room. If you cooperate, you can leave after I finish asking questions and continue to be your business. If you don't cooperate, you can only go to the interrogation room."

The four of them discussed in a low voice, and the leading merchant sighed and said, "Reporting to General Li, the so-called restoration plan was already in place when Bohai was established. Once Bohai is destroyed, the remaining royal family will rebuild the country somewhere else. According to the information we have so far, the only remaining royal family members are the four princes of Chang'an."

"Don't fool me, where should we rebuild our country?"

"Ten years ago, we controlled a large island in the north, which was about the same size as Bohai State. That is where we rebuilt our country. Across the strait from that large island, there is another uninhabited large island. To its south is Japan."

Li Chenghua nodded and said, "Khitan intelligence spies told us that you have a huge fortune stored in the Baoji Guifang in Chang'an. If you give it away, at least Da Yingjun can get the title of Bohai County Duke in the Tang Dynasty. If you want us to take it ourselves, you will have nothing."

The leader was anxious, "Doesn't the Tang Dynasty support us in restoring our country?"

Li Chenghua looked at them coldly. The four of them were about to collapse. After a while, the leader sighed and said, "We don't have the power to hand it over. If you want to take it, take it yourself!"

"Hand it over!"

The four of them turned around and saw the handsome fourth prince walking in from the side. They quickly stood up and saluted.

Da Yingjun said coldly: "What country do you want to restore? How can you have the chance to restore your country? Rather than letting the Khitans and Japanese rob you of your wealth, it is better to hand it over to the Tang Dynasty. Our lives will be better."

Da Yingjun had no confidence in restoring his country at all. He would rather live comfortably in Chang'an as a rich man for the rest of his life than go to that bitter and cold place and hopelessly try to restore his country.

Of course the four of them knew the ways of the world, but they could not make the decision. Since the fourth prince had asked, the four of them agreed. They each took out a piece of the jade pendant and pieced it in half, with the other half in the hands of the shopkeeper.

The leader took out another envelope and handed it to Li Chenghua along with the four jade pendants.

Li Chenghua said happily: "You go back first, the emperor will make arrangements and will not let you down!" Da Yingjun bowed and said: "Please tell His Majesty the Emperor that Bohai will never be restored, but I beg the Tang Dynasty's Heavenly Army to kill all the Japanese demons who destroyed Bohai and avenge us!"

Li Chenghua nodded, "I will definitely pass it on!"

Li Chenghua went through the account transfer procedure at Baoji Guifang, changing the household owner from Bohai Chamber of Commerce to Datang Neiku, and replaced the secret seal and jade pendant.

Li Chenghua returned to Daming Palace. By this time, two hours had passed.

Li Chenghua presented the envelope to Li Ye. Li Ye took a look at it. Three million taels of silver. The Bohai Kingdom was really generous. They had quietly saved such a large sum of money in Chang'an. Now they had the money to build warships.

Li Ye put the envelope aside and asked again: "Where do they plan to restore their country?"

"Your Majesty, they said there is a large island to the north of Bohai State, which is about the same size as Bohai State. There is also an uninhabited large island across the strait, and to the south is Japan."

Li Ye nodded. The big island where they wanted to rebuild their country was Sakhalin Island, and the uninhabited big island across the strait was Hokkaido, which was called Ezo Island in the Tang Dynasty.

"I understand, what else?"

"Your Majesty, the fourth prince of Bohai, Da Yingjun, told me that Japan annexed Bohai in November last year. The Japanese army killed all the royal family members, officials and their families. The palace maids and all the female relatives were sent to the military camp to reward the soldiers, and they were all killed in the end. They then burned, killed and looted in Shangjing for seven days and seven nights. The people of Shangjing were basically killed. Da Yingjun said that he would no longer consider restoring the country, and only begged Your Majesty to order the Japanese army to be wiped out and avenge them."

Li Ye pondered for a moment and asked, "Even Datang didn't know about what happened in November last year, so how could he know?"

"He said that a guard escaped to the Liaodong Peninsula, took a fishing boat from the Liaodong Peninsula to Laizhou, and then rushed from Laizhou to Chang'an. He arrived in Chang'an just the day before yesterday."

"I understand. Let them be the citizens of the Tang Dynasty with peace of mind!"

"Wei Chen understands!"

Li Chenghua bowed and left.

Li Ye stood in front of the sand table, lost in thought. Japan's annexation of the Bohai Kingdom was indeed a variable, making the situation in Liaodong more complicated.

If the Tang army attacked Liaodong, the Khitan would inevitably form a temporary alliance with Japan and Silla to deal with the Tang army together.

If the Tang army does not attack Liaodong for the time being, then these three families will inevitably have internal strife, but by the same token, the three families will become stronger in the internal strife. The reason is very simple: all resources are used to supply the army.

By then, these three companies will be even more difficult to eliminate.

Li Ye needs to make a comprehensive judgment on whether the Tang army should fight or not.

Guo Ziyi has arrived in Pingzhou with an army of 100,000. Currently, the Marshal's Office for the Eastern Expedition has been established in Pingzhou. Emperor Li Ye personally serves as the Grand Marshal, and Guo Ziyi is the Deputy Marshal. A Liaodong Army has been set up under the Marshal's Office, with Guo Ziyi as the commander-in-chief and Ma Lin as the deputy general.

There are currently 50,000 troops stationed in Pingzhou, plus the 100,000 troops brought by Guo Ziyi, and an additional 30,000 naval forces. They have the most powerful and advanced warships and weapons in the world.

Another 50,000 troops will arrive in late February along with the logistics fleet.

At this time, the supply team following Guo Ziyi's 100,000-strong army was 50,000 camels.

When Guo Ziyi arrived in Pingzhou, he immediately sent someone to inform Ma Lin, who immediately rushed over from Yuguan.

Ma Lin rushed to the Pinglu camp, dismounted, and quickly came to the central army tent. Guo Ziyi came out to greet him. Ma Lin knelt on one knee and saluted, "I am here to see the deputy commander!"

"General Ma, long time no see, please get up quickly!"

Ma Lin had always been Guo Ziyi's deputy general. They had been together for many years and the two had a very good understanding of each other.

The two men walked into the big tent, and Guo Ziyi asked, "What is the situation in Bohai State?"

(End of this chapter)