People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1104 The sophisticated Liu Rengui

In the Zichen Palace, angry shouts and curses could be clearly heard.

Zhao Gong, who had just reached the front of the palace, couldn't help but stop.

It was at this time that the yelling in the palace slowed down, and then a voice sounded: "Zhao Gong is here, come in."

"Here!" Zhao Gong lowered his head and cupped his hands, then quickly entered the Zichen Palace.

Without raising his head, Zhao Gong stood in the hall, cupped his hands and said, "The Queen of Heaven."

"How are things going in Dongcheng?" Empress Wu asked directly about the prince's entry into the city.

"Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, on my way to Dongcheng, I heard about the chiefs of the twenty-four Turkic states entering the capital, so I rushed over and left the prince's affairs to the subordinates."

After a slight pause, Zhao Gong took out a list from his sleeve and handed it over: "This is the result of comparing the information I obtained from three aspects. Please have the Queen of Heaven read it."

Empress Wu picked up the list and glanced at it, finally nodded and said, "Well done."

"I have my own responsibilities." Zhao Gong bowed.

"Is that matter related to the King of Nanchang?" Empress Wu raised her eyes and fell faintly on Zhao Gong.

Zhao Gong cupped his hands and said: "I happened to meet the King of Nanchang on the way out of the city today. He has been busy in the past few days with the matter of Changzhou's entrance to the Memorial Hall being blocked by the snow in Tianshui. As for other things, there were reports from the Prince of Nanchang's palace. According to the news, the Nanchang Palace’s manpower has not been specially mobilized.”

Empress Wu nodded slightly and made no special moves. In other words, all the moves were within the scope.

All transfers are under surveillance.

Empress Wu raised her head and looked to one side, where Yuan Wanqing and Pei Yan stood solemnly.

It's just that Pei Yan's head bowed even more, and it was very ugly.

"In this case, then there is no need to investigate this matter." Empress Wu's sudden conclusion made Zhao Gong look stunned.

Then Zhao Gong immediately raised his hands and said: "I accept the decree."

"Let's talk about the Turks." Empress Wu's face darkened. The Turks' sudden attack was really annoying.

"Yes." Zhao Gong looked solemn and said: "Reporting to the Queen of Heaven, Zhongshu Province has indeed received the list of Shanyu Duhufu this year. There are more than two hundred people in total. The number of people is correct, but all the names are correct. When Xia Sui and other prefectures noticed something was wrong, they immediately flew to Chang'an to report to Chang'an. However, it snowed heavily on the way, and the report and the Turks arrived in Beijing almost at the same time..."

"This is calculated." Empress Wu sneered.

"Yes!" Zhao Gong raised his hand and said, "Xia Sui and other state governors specially sent 400 state soldiers to escort him all the way to Chang'an."

From the Shanyu Protectorate to Chang'an, the governor of almost every state sent 400 state soldiers to escort them to the other side at the border. They were guaranteed to have 400 state soldiers escorting them at any time. At the same time, there were thousands of people watching them from behind. Will kill you.

"After arriving in Chang'an, the left guard general Xiao Siye was in charge. After some inspections, he reported to Honglu Temple and Zhongshu Province before allowing him to enter Chang'an. The chief stayed in the Honglu Temple Guesthouse, and the other servants stayed in Huaiyuanfang ." After a slight pause, Zhao Gong continued: "I and the King of Nanchang were watching from a distance at the same time. The Turks were suspected of bringing a large amount of property into the capital. It is very likely that they wanted to redeem the Turks in Huaiyuanfang..."

"They are sure that I will not refuse." Li Zhi walked in from the side door, wearing a white dragon silk robe, a black hat, and a bear fur cloak, looking majestic and breathtaking.

Zhao Gong, Pei Yan, and Yuan Wanqing raised their hands at the same time: "I have met Your Majesty."

"Get back on your feet." Li Zhi walked to Empress Wu and sat down, then looked at Zhao Gong and asked, "Do you know who is the leader among the Turks?"

"The secret guards haven't had time to investigate yet, but the King of Nanchang is sure that it is Ashed Wenfu, the chief of the Ashina tribe." Zhao Gong said all Li Xuan's words without any hesitation.

Li Zhi nodded lightly and said: "I think it should be him. Except for the Ashina clan, no one else has such appeal in the grassland."

"Your Majesty, how should we deal with this matter?" Empress Wu looked at the emperor and said in a deep voice: "We can't really let so many Chang'an Turks return to the grassland, right?"

"So what if they all go back? At worst, we won't fight the Battle of Supi this year. I will send the King of Nanchang, the Duke of Wenxi County, the Duke of Yan State, and the Duke of Pingyang County to Northern Xinjiang. They will attack from four directions and sweep east and west. I will I don’t believe it, after this battle, the Turks can still pose a threat to the Tang Dynasty." Li Zhi couldn't help but sneer.

"Your Majesty is wise." All the officials in the palace cupped their hands at the same time.

This is indeed a feasible strategy. Although the Battle of Supi was damaged, as long as the Turks are completely pacified, then when Li Xuan and the Tang Dynasty attack Tubo in the future, they will not have to worry about threats from the rear. They can wholeheartedly fight against Tubo. Confrontation.

"Didn't the King of Nanchang say that Tanggula Mountain is difficult to fight? Then we should take a step back and go to Subida. We can just draw the Tibetan army out of Tanggula Mountain." Li Zhi's vision was extremely sharp. He took a step back to gain space and time for the big army. Don is quite advantageous.

Of course, only for now.

The Tubo people now need time to recuperate. Once they are given too much time and the Tubo army recovers, it will be difficult to fight again.

But the Tang Dynasty could also use its full strength to deal with Tibet under the threat of completely wiping out the Turks.

It just takes longer.

It is simply that it is very likely that the Tang Dynasty will not be able to defeat Tubo during Li Zhi's lifetime.

But now that the emperor said this, he was afraid that it meant that he had given up on Tubo's strategy of rushing to attack.

At this moment, outside the palace gate, a chamberlain came in and handed over his hands: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Lecheng County, the King of Nanchang, the Duke of Wenxi County, the Duke of Zhao, the Duke of Pengcheng, the Prince of Beiping County, and the Minister of Honglu Temple, Liu Gong, have an audience. .”

Li Zhi raised his head and waved his hand: "Pass!"

Immediately, Liu Rengui, Li Jingxuan, Liu Shenli, Pei Xingjian, Li Jingjia, Li Xuan, and Liu Boying entered the Zichen Palace together. The ministers cupped their hands and said, "I will see your majesty and see the queen of heaven." "Pingsheng, do all the ministers know about the Turks?" Li Zhi looked up at everyone and said, "Let's talk about it. What's your attitude?"

The ministers held their hands and communicated with their eyes. Almost instantly, Liu Boying, the minister of Honglu Temple, took the lead to stand up.

"Your Majesty, this time the chiefs of the 24 Tibetan states are coming to Beijing. I have just received a memorial from the Shanyu Protector's Office, saying that the chiefs of the 24 states are coming to Beijing. This is your majesty's New Year's blessing. The gates and defenses along the way have been opened."

After a slight pause, Liu Boying said with a solemn expression: "Looking at this memorial, it seems that it was intercepted somewhere along the way. The memorial that should have arrived in Chang'an ten days ago has been delayed until today."

"The Turks also have capable people. They came here just to catch me off guard, but there are only more than two hundred people. None of the states can refuse." Li Zhi looked up at Li Xuan and asked, "What do I really care about?" What happened was the snowstorm. They seemed to have expected it.

King Nanchang, is this possible? "

"Report to Your Majesty." Li Xuan walked out to the left and handed over his hand seriously: "It is not difficult to predict wind and snow. You only need to make predictions based on the weather and climate in previous years; but it is extremely difficult to predict how big the wind and snow will be, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless it snows in Mobei and Anbei Protectorate in advance, and the scale is not small, we can speculate that there will be snow in Chang'an." Li Xuan cupped her hands and said: "As long as we are on the grassland, the war horses can outrun the wind and snow. Just be quick.”

"But when they got inside the Great Wall, they deliberately slowed down their pace, just to be ignored by the court." Li Zhi sneered lightly, and the Turks had deep intentions.

Li Xuan lowered his head. The Turks came to Chang'an with the chiefs of the twenty-four states this time, betting that the emperor would not really do anything to them.

"The wind and snow in Chang'an are so heavy that it won't be too small in southern and northern deserts." Pei Xingjian stood up and held up his hands.

Everyone nodded at the same time. If there was really a big snow disaster, then the situation of the Turks would be very pessimistic.

During the Zhenguan period, the reason why Jieli collapsed so quickly was not only improper internal policies but also another important reason, which was the heavy snowstorm that lasted for several months.

After the Turkic snow disaster, they would inevitably invade the Tang Dynasty, so the Zhenguan ministers immediately mobilized troops to attack Mobei.

……

The emperor's eyes swept among the ministers. He finally looked at Li Jingxuan and asked: "Zhongshu Ling, can you tell me?"

"It's your Majesty." Li Jingxuan stood up and called, cupping his hands and saying: "I heard that the Turks came to Beijing this time. In addition to carrying a large amount of gold, silver and jewels, they also brought eight thousand horses. I saw that they are very determined to replace them... I think this is feasible, and I can exchange my gold, silver and jewels for the people to return north, but the chiefs of the twenty-four states might as well live in Chang'an for a few more years and enjoy more glory and wealth. It is best not to miss Shu..."

The twenty-four chiefs of the Turks are the real core people of the Turks.

If all the Turkic people were released but the Turkic tribal chiefs were left behind, even if they could not return to the Turks for only half a year, there would be chaos on the grasslands.

The people returning from Chang'an to the north and the Turkic tribes who have lived in the grasslands for a long time will inevitably conflict with each other and even fight each other without the coordination of the tribal chiefs.

Do you really think that the Tang Dynasty Hall is a good man and a woman of faith? If you really want to leave them all in Chang'an, your death will be in vain.

……

"This matter is inappropriate." The emperor waved his hand and said, "Although the matter is urgent, I will not be so unscrupulous. Minister Zuo, please tell me."

Liu Rengui shook his head slightly, raised his hands and looked at the emperor: "What your majesty said is reasonable. Twenty-four tribes of the Turks came during this trip, with a huge momentum. I am afraid it was deliberately done to show to the countries in the Western Regions, to demonstrate to the world, and at the same time to hinder the Tang Dynasty. You can't do it lightly to save face, but it's not a good thing. If you really want to let it go completely, I'm afraid it will increase its momentum."

Liu Rengui glanced at Li Jingxuan lightly and nodded slightly. Although Li Jingxuan's methods were a bit cruel, they were not completely useless.

The emperor turned to look at Zhao Gong, who immediately raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, you can kill all the Turks."

The emperor nodded, pondered for a moment, and said: "If you want to kill people, you can't kill them all, or even too many. Find the two that dance the most happily, and let them die naturally."

"Yes!" Zhao Gong cupped his hands and stepped aside.

The emperor looked at Liu Rengui again and said, "Prime Minister Zuo, continue."

"Yes!" Liu Rengui held up his hands and said seriously: "The Turkic affairs fundamentally depend on the people's hearts. Over the years, the Turkic nobles have gained a huge amount of wealth from trade with the Tang Dynasty. Only in this way can they have the capital to redeem people in Chang'an. According to the minister, , since people's hearts are not there, then let them go, but the intermediate operation needs to be a bit complicated."

"speak!"

"Your Majesty, even among the Turks, there are rich and poor. The rich control a lot of wealth, and the poor can barely live. If this is the case, then let the rich go first, but when you withdraw from the country, double the amount of money you say about your family property. Double the punishment, make the poor jealous, and let most of the wealth brought by the prairie people be filled into this hole, so there will be less to use for others."

Liu Rengui's words revealed murderous intent.

"Continue." Li Zhi leaned back slightly, looking satisfied.

"The Turks are determined to start a war. This war is unavoidable, so the border should prepare early." Liu Rengui turned to look at Pei Xingjian and said: "The Ministry of War should start moving troops to the border from now on, more frequently. The Turks know me well. Deep, don’t let it see any flaws.”

"Yes!" Pei Xingjian accepted the order.

Liu Rengui raised his head and continued: "From today on, the Tang Dynasty will begin to tighten controls on various goods imported into the grassland... Since the chiefs of the twenty-four tribes in the grassland are here, the secret guards and the Ministry of War should start to spy on the various tribes in the grassland. Deployment and mobilization of troops... In addition, there are also Turks who are close to the Tang Dynasty. Just find their descendants and stay in the Imperial College to study..."

In a eloquent manner, more than a dozen strategies have come out of Liu Rengui's mouth, showing his sophisticated attitude.

(End of this chapter)