The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 199: Rebellion caused by road construction

Zhang Mujin came up to Li Ying and bowed to him.

Li Ying asked Zhang Mujin to sit next to him and said, "When there are no outsiders around, you don't have to be so polite to me."

"Yeah." Zhang Mujin nodded and smiled.

Li Ying said: "I just happen to have something to tell you."

Zhang Mujin said, "Your Highness, please give your orders."

Li Heng said, "In a few days, we will go to Beiting together, but I am sick and need a reason. The reason I am thinking of is that there are excellent medicinal herbs in Beiting, and I can just go and find some to use."

"Mujin understands. I'll arrange it right away." After Zhang Mujin said this, she stood up and was about to go out.

"No hurry, let's talk about it tomorrow." Li Ying called Zhang Mujin back to sit down, and then said, "Your and the princess's mission today is to accompany me well."

Zhang Mujin lowered her head shyly when she heard that.

……

Jiannan.

Ge Luofeng rushed from Chang'an and went straight to the Nanzhao Palace.

"How is my father?"

Ge Luofeng asked as he walked inside.

"The King is here..."

Before I could finish my words, Ge Luofeng had already rushed into the palace.

In the main hall, the Tubo envoy was having talks with the Nanzhao King Piloge.

Pi Luoge was very happy to see Ge Luofeng, and hurried down to the hall to greet him, saying, "My child, you are finally back!"

Ge Luofeng was surprised and asked, "Father, are you okay?"

"I'm very healthy." Piloge laughed.

When Geluofeng saw Piluoge's appearance and then looked at the Tibetan envoy, he guessed something and said, "It's good that father is healthy."

Pi Luoge asked, "Are you doing well in Chang'an?"

Ge Luofeng said: "The Tang Emperor appointed his son as the General of the Jinwu Guard. He has no worries about food and drink, but it is just a disguised form of house arrest."

Pi Luoge pulled Ge Luofeng to sit down and said, "You have made great contributions in pacifying the Five Zhaos. The Emperor of Tang summoned you back to Chang'an as a hostage because he was afraid of you. I didn't expect that the Emperor of Tang would actually let you return."

Ge Luofeng glanced at the Tibetan envoy next to him and said, "I was able to return because they stationed their troops in the west."

After hearing this, the Tibetan envoy laughed and said, "So, Tibet is helping the prince in disguise."

"Really?" Geluofeng stood up and came to the Tubo envoy. He suddenly drew his sword, pointed at the Tubo envoy, and said, "Then do you know the purpose of the Tang emperor doing this?"

"Of course I know." The Tibetan envoy remained calm, "The Emperor of Tang wants to use you, Nanzhao, to deal with Tibet."

Ge Luofeng asked, "You still dare to come if you know this?"

"That's why I came here," the Tibetan envoy said with a smile, "I came here to seek a way out for Nanzhao."

"Oh?" Seeing that the Tibetan envoy was not afraid, Geluofeng admired him a little more and asked, "Why does Nanzhao need Tibetans to give it a way out?"

The Tibetan envoy asked: "If the Tang Dynasty really conquers Tibet, do you think the Tang Dynasty will let Nanzhao go?"

Ge Luofeng said: "Nan Zhao regards the Tang Emperor as his king and father, why doesn't the Tang Dynasty give Nan Zhao a chance to survive?"

The Tibetan envoy asked: "If that is the case, why did the Tang Dynasty occupy the northern Yunnan region?"

Ge Luofeng was speechless and asked, "What's your name?"

The Tibetan envoy said: "Enlan Dazalugong."

Geluofeng looked at the young Tibetan envoy and said, "You are a talented person." Geluofeng was about to say more when a soldier suddenly came to report, "Your Majesty, the Cuan clan in eastern Yunnan has rebelled."

"Rebellion?" Pi Luoge was very surprised. "Rebellion against who? Explain clearly!"

The soldier said: "Anti-Tang."

"Why is this?" Piloge asked hurriedly.

The soldier said, "This little one doesn't know."

Ge Luofeng stepped forward and said, "Father, I have something to report."

"Yes." Piluoge nodded and asked the soldiers and Tibetan envoys to withdraw first, then he said to Geluofeng: "Do you know why the Cuan family rebelled against the Tang Dynasty?"

Ge Luofeng said: "My son will have to pass through eastern Yunnan when he returns to Nanzhao, so I paid some attention. The Cuan family has never been loyal to the Tang Dynasty. Now the Tang Dynasty is collecting tribute in eastern Yunnan and is building a highway."

The Cuan clan were not native to eastern Yunnan; they were a large Han clan that migrated in during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

During the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui sent troops to conquer the Cuans twice. Although he did not win a great victory, he weakened the power of the Cuans.

Later, when the Tang Dynasty was founded, Jimizhou County was established in the Cuanshi area.

The Cuan family has always retained the customs of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and they wanted to co-govern eastern Yunnan with the Tang Dynasty.

But the Tang Dynasty was not the Sima family, and its tolerance for aristocratic families was limited. It had always wanted to bring eastern Yunnan under normal management.

Therefore, there has always been a conflict between the Tang Dynasty and the Cuan family.

The conflict did not escalate into a war because the Tang Dynasty was busy with frequent wars in the north and west and was unable to spare any time.

But it's different now.

Now with An Lushan and Wang Zhongsi in the north and Li Heng in the west, the situation is relatively stable. Li Longji's target naturally fell to the southwest.

Therefore, although Li Lin's deliberate provocation of war was a risky move, it was also a well-thought-out move.

Li Lin initially wanted to use Yang Guozhong's increased tribute to provoke a war in order to facilitate shirking responsibility later, but Yang Guozhong was not stupid either. He presented Li Lin with a more targeted strategy.

Build a road between Rongzhou and Annan to open up the north-south transportation route.

Compared with paying tribute, building roads posed a greater threat to the Cuan clan.

Because of the tribute money, the Cuan family could exploit the lower class people to pay it, and once Rongzhou and Annan Road were built, the Tang Dynasty could directly control eastern Yunnan, and that would be the end of the Cuan family.

This strategy not only met the needs of the imperial court, but also directly forced the Cuan clan to rebel.

After hearing what Ge Luofeng said, Pi Luoge understood everything in an instant and said, "If the Tang Dynasty really builds a road from Rongzhou to Annan, the next step should be to Nanzhao."

"That's right." Geluo Feng nodded. "Before, the Tang Dynasty helped Nanzhao to pacify the other five Zhaos, but they didn't really want to help Nanzhao. They just wanted to use Nanzhao to deal with Tubo. Just like what the Tubo envoy Enlan Dazhalugong said just now, if Tubo is destroyed, then Nanzhao will be destroyed soon."

Pi Luoge asked: "You mean, we should unite with Tubo?"

"No." Ge Luofeng shook his head. "The Tang Dynasty is ambitious, but Tubo is not a good person either. It will be disadvantageous to us no matter who we side with."

Piloge said: "It's even harder to gain a foothold if you sway left and right."

"No." Ge Luofeng stood up and analyzed: "At present, the Tang Dynasty wants eastern Yunnan, and Tubo wants Jiazhou and Rongzhou. If the Tang Dynasty really takes eastern Yunnan, I expect Tubo will attack from behind. We will not help either side. When the Tang Dynasty and Tubo fight, we will march into eastern Yunnan and reap the benefits."

"Good idea." Piloge agreed very much. "In that case, let's show goodwill to both sides and listen to orders instead of announcements."

Ge Luofeng said: "Father is wise."

Pi Luoge accepted Ge Luofeng's flattery and asked, "Who proposed to go from Rongzhou to Anxi to practice Taoism?"

Ge Luofeng said: "A Tang man named Yang Zhao, I heard he is the brother-in-law of Shou Wang Li Ying."

"So that's how it is." Pi Luoge looked into the distance and said, "Prince Shou is quite strategic. If he were in charge of Jiannan, he would never be so reckless. Child, if you were in charge of Jiannan, how would you act?"

Ge Luofeng pondered for a moment and said, "We should appease the Cuan clan first. If Jiannan wants to take over eastern Yunnan, its power does not lie in Jiannan, but in Longyou. Only if Longyou takes over Dafeichuan and Mohuanchuan of Tubo first, and Tubo withdraws its troops to the east, can we avoid worries."

(End of this chapter)