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

Chapter 1797: The Tang Dynasty’s Excuse for Attacking Silla
More than a dozen three-masted sailing ships sailed towards Yangzhou, accompanied by hundreds of large and small ships.

There were even more Jinwu Guard cavalrymen running on the shore.

Tens of thousands of left and right guards were marching on alert further away.

……

Li Xuan stood on the deck holding Xia'er, the autumn wind had already started to blow.

In most parts of Jiangnan, most of the autumn harvest had been completed at this time, and what remained was mostly local officials collecting taxes from the people.

"Father, why doesn't Mother come with us?" Xia'er looked up at Li Xuan.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "Your mother has to help father look after the house!"

"It would be great if mother could come with father." Xia'er couldn't help but look forward.

After the initial excitement of leaving Luoyang wore off, Xiaer began to miss home.

"It's impossible for your mother to come with us to Yangzhou, but as for Handan, maybe in two years, your father will take your mother with him, and you can go with him then." Li Xuan smiled gently.

This year he is touring southern Yangzhou, and next year he will inspect Jingzhou, and the year after that he will inspect Hebei and Bingzhou.

Sometimes, he even visited Lanzhou.

It is always necessary to travel around the world so that local officials will be more respectful.

The people who exploit the most in the world are the local clerks.

Although it was inevitable that the emperor's inspection tours would disturb the people, it was precisely because of the emperor's inspections that those counties that were not on the emperor's inspection list would not act too recklessly. Who knew when someone would come to Li Xuan to file a complaint.

Before the outbreak of the disease, Emperor Gaozong often toured the country, always coming and going quickly.

Cause as little impact to the local area as possible, while at the same time deterring it as much as possible.

There are actually quite a few people like Yang Guang who neglected the interests of the whole country for the sake of personal enjoyment.

At this moment, a fast horse carrying General Zhou Qian of the Left Thousand Bull Guards quickly came to Li Xuan's boat, and then quickly got on board by a small boat.

……

"Your Majesty, we are about to arrive at Hanjiang." Zhou Qian stood on the deck and bowed to Li Xuan, saying, "Duan Baoxuan, Chief Clerk of the Grand Military Governor's Office of Yangzhou, Huan Yanfan, Sima of the Grand Military Governor's Office, Cheng Chubi, General of the Left Sea Guard, and Shi Jin, General of the Left Sea Guard, will lead the people to welcome us."

Li Xuan nodded and said, "Order that all ships except for me, the prime ministers, the ministers, and the water commander should stop north of the Han River. Leave enough people to look after the ships. Everyone else should ride horses to Yangzhou. No mistakes are allowed."

"Yes!" Zhou Qian immediately bowed solemnly, then turned around and got off the boat.

The Han River has many twists and turns, and it takes a lot of effort for every ship to pass through, let alone a fleet as large as Li Xuan's.

If this is the case, once they pass, the entire canal will be blocked for several days.

Moreover, it was difficult to cross the Han River in the past, and the journey back and forth depended entirely on boatmen pulling boats. Li Xuan did not want to add too much burden to these people.

"Come here, tell the chief architect Pei Feishu to come to my boat." Li Xuan looked to the side with a serious expression. Li Lang immediately bowed and then quickly got off the boat.

Now is the best time to test the problem of iron-hulled ships sailing in complex environments.

Especially the paddle wheels carried in it. If they can be successfully transported across the sea, then the paddle wheels will be used more frequently on the naval vessels of the Tang Dynasty.

……

Under the cover of night, the emperor's dragon boat finally docked at the Yangzhou wharf.

However, after the emperor briefly summoned the ministers from Jiangnan, he went to the palace to rest.

At the same time, the Jinwu Guard, Qianniu Guard, and Zuoyou Guard also began to gradually integrate into Yangzhou's defense system.

But for some reason, the process was unusually smooth, without even a single hitch, as if the soldiers in Yangzhou were part of the central system.

……

Qin Dunjiaogan was led to the post station near the dock to rest, and just as he settled down, Silla merchants in Yangzhou came to his door.

"National envoy!" The forty-year-old Silla merchant saluted solemnly to Qin Dunjiaogan. He was not a merchant at all, but a Silla spy in Yangzhou.

Looking at his subordinates who suddenly appeared here, Qin Dunjiaogan understood very well that the identities of his subordinates had long been exposed to the eyes of the Tang Dynasty.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Dunjiao asked solemnly, "How is the arrangement going?"

"It has been arranged." After a short pause, the subordinate could not help but ask, "Envoy, do we really need to do this? Should we ask the king for his opinion?"

"It's too late." Qin Dunjiaogan sighed and said, "I have already written to the king, but at this time, the king has just received the letter, but the Tang Dynasty has already begun to mobilize troops in Hebei. If this matter is not agreed, they will not only mobilize soldiers to Hebei, but also food, fodder and military equipment. In one or two years, they will mobilize troops."

Qin Dunjiao stood at the window, took a look outside, and then said carefully: “You are not unaware of the situation in the country. Silla can’t afford chaos now.”

The subordinates bowed solemnly.

After Kim Beommin died, his son Kim Jungmyeong ascended the throne. But then Kim Jungmyeong's father-in-law Kim Gumdul rebelled. The entire Kim Gumdul family, even the queen, and the children born to the queen and Kim Jungmyeong, were all executed.

After that, Kim Jung-myeong had two years of relative peace, but that was just him digesting the legacy left by Kim Qin-tu.

The inheritance had been almost digested in the past two years, and Kim Jung-myeong immediately began to oppress the nobles in Silla.

The direct trigger was the incident involving Li Chongzhao.

The Lee Chong-jo incident was not initiated by Kim Jung-myeong at all, but was initiated by the warlike nobles in the country, and Kim Jung-myeong acquiesced to it.

Who could have thought that the Tang Dynasty only seized two cities from Silla and killed thousands of people, and they immediately surrendered.

Taking advantage of this incident, Kim Jung-myeong immediately started to attack the domestic nobles, and the two sides were now in full swing in Silla.

If the pressure from the Tang Dynasty were put forward again at this moment, there would be a lot of trouble immediately.

……

"By the way, how is the investigation of Zuo Haiwei going?" Qin Dunjiaogan's expression suddenly became solemn. It was his duty to find out the true attitude of the Tang Dynasty towards Silla.

If the emperor really wanted to take action against Silla, Qin Dunjiaogan must pass the news back as soon as possible.

"Everything is normal." The subordinate bowed and said, "Although the Dengzhou Navy, Yangzhou Navy, and Hangzhou Navy are all under the Navy Guard, the Yangzhou Navy and Hangzhou Navy are somewhat hostile to the Dengzhou Navy... Perhaps it is related to the Dengzhou Navy's battle with the Yangzhou Navy and Hangzhou Navy following the Queen Mother."

"Don't say these useless things." Qin Dunjiao glared at his men, and then said, "After the integration of Zuo Haiwei, whether the warships have been updated and the soldiers have been added, these are what we need to pay attention to. You should know that during the Shangyuan period, half of the troops sent by the Tang Dynasty to Andong were from Yangzhou."

"Yes!" The subordinate broke out in a cold sweat, and then quickly took out a chapter and handed it to Qin Dunjiaogan, saying, "In recent years, the number of warships has increased by more than a dozen, but at the same time, more than a dozen are no longer usable, so the overall number has not changed.

There is also the number of soldiers. Although there are large-scale replacements, they are mostly new soldiers replacing old soldiers. "

"In other words, over the past few years, the combat effectiveness of the Tang Dynasty Navy Guards is not as good as before?" Qin Dunjiaogan looked at his men in surprise.

"That's right." The subordinate breathed a sigh of relief.

"That is to say, the Tang Dynasty actually has no plans to conquer Silla." Qin Dunjiaogan relaxed a little.

"Envoy, since the Tang Dynasty has no plan to conquer Silla, then can we not do what Emperor Sukjong did?" The subordinate looked at Qin Dunjiaogan carefully.

Qin Dunjiaogan frowned immediately, looked at his men and asked, "When did you arrive in Yangzhou?"

"The first year of Yonglong."

"No wonder you didn't know it before." Qin Dunjiao looked at his subordinates deeply, and then said, "Do you feel that the emperor has arrived in Yangzhou, and the whole of Yangzhou, and even the whole of Jiangnan, is particularly happy?"

"Seems to be?"

“No need to say it seems, it must be so.” Qin Dunjiaogan shook his head gently and said, “You have been in Jiangnan for a long time. You don’t know that the emperor started his career in Jiangnan. Wuzhou, Hangzhou, and even Yangzhou all left his deep footprints, especially Yangzhou…”

"National envoy!"

"All the people and spies of Silla in Yangzhou were pulled out by the emperor alone. And of course, a widespread human trafficking case in Yangzhou was also solved by the emperor. Now that he is the emperor again, the people of Yangzhou treat it as if they were one of their own." Qin Dunjiaogan sighed lightly.

Others don’t know how powerful Li Xuan is in Yangzhou, but he knows.

He even suspected that the emperor was responsible for Li Chongzhao's death.

But unfortunately, he didn't have any evidence and didn't even dare to make any guesses.

Once it was said, the war between Tang Dynasty and Silla was inevitable.

"And the entire Jiangnan region. Over the years, he has gradually abolished unnecessary taxes and levies throughout the region. The people and nobles of the entire Jiangnan region regard him as their reborn parent." Qin Dunjiao stared at his men and said, "So with just one word from him, the entire Jiangnan region can immediately gather the necessary troops in the shortest possible time, so..."

"Please ask the envoy for instructions."

"Be careful in the future and keep an eye on the increase or decrease of the Tang Dynasty's warships in Yangzhou." Qin Dunjiaogan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The increase or decrease of warships is the sign of whether the Tang Dynasty will go to war with Silla."

"Envoy, will the Tang Dynasty use military force against Silla?"

“I don’t know.” Qin Dunjiao shook his head and said, “In recent years, the emperor has been focusing on governing the people and increasing national strength. No one knows when his attention will turn to Silla. However, there is one thing we need to pay attention to, and that is to never give him any excuse to attack Silla.”

"If the name is not right, the words will not flow."

"Perhaps, it should be more accurately called destiny. Yang Guang was defeated in Goryeo, and the Heavenly Khan did not gain any advantage in Goryeo. Although Emperor Gaozong destroyed Baekje and Goryeo, in the end, the world of Dongdao was obtained by Silla. Whether it is worthwhile to go to war, and what the consequences will be, these are what he needs to think carefully about."

……

In the morning light, the palace was wide open.

Li Xuan walked out calmly, then sat on the imperial sedan chair and said, "Let's go to the Governor's Mansion first to offer sacrifices to Sister Wencheng and Duke Jiang."

"Yes!" The expressions of the ministers around him suddenly became solemn.

Qin Dunjiao stood in the corner and sighed softly. It was time to put an end to this matter once and for all.

(End of this chapter)