Chastity Layman

  Chapter 1165 Princess Ritual

  Xianren Palace.

  The emperor looked at the Mid-Autumn Festival gift delivered by his daughter Lizhi from Zhennan Taiping, with a kind smile on his face.

"This is a row of sugar. The outermost layer is shredded coconut, which retains the unique taste of coconut meat. The second layer is thin crackers, which are thin but not broken, crisp but not heavy, crispy and delicious, and the third layer is cream. The taste is sweet but not greasy, and the innermost layer is cashew nuts, which are crispy and delicious.”

The emperor said to the granduncle Sun Wuji and his wife-in-law Gao Shilian with a bit of show-off, "This Taiping Pai Tang is made by the princess herself. It not only has the sweetness of sugar, but also the crunchiness of cashew nuts. The sweetness of shredded coconut, and the crispness of shortbread, tastes tender on the outside and crispy on the inside, sweet but not greasy, it is the best dessert I have ever tasted."

"This is fish sauce, a seasoned soy sauce made from fish and shrimp, this is oyster sauce, a seasoned soy sauce made from oysters, and these, coconut sugar, coconut flour, coconut rice, and this clawed coconut crab, and There are a lot of fresh coconuts, bananas and other fruits!"

   "They are all good things!"

The emperor's ostentatious posture made the eldest grandson secretly helpless. As the top nobleman of the Tang Dynasty, Changsun Wuji certainly had never eaten Tiannan specialties. In fact, the eldest grandson's family had also been operating in southern Xinjiang for many years. Opening a business and running a sea ship, even overseas, there are also business houses, mines, plantations, etc., so he is no stranger to the trees that swim in the sea, fly in the sky, and run on the ground in southern Xinjiang.

  He believed that the emperor certainly did not lack these things, but who said that these were Mid-Autumn Festival gifts from the princess, especially when several of them were made by the princess herself. Of course, the meaning is different.

The daughter who has just been married for half a year, being able to present these at the first festival, makes the emperor more happy than gold, silver and pearls. In fact, the princess did also present gold, silver and pearls, as well as glass perfume, tortoiseshell coral, ivory, rhinoceros and even There's a piece of ambergris, and whale oil ambergris wax and a few other things.

  But the emperor felt that the pastries made by the princess himself made him more happy.

The attendant saw that the emperor had eaten two pieces of candy bar, and started to take the third one. He couldn't help reminding the emperor, "The food doctor Zhao from the Shangshi Bureau said that the candy bar contains a lot of cream, nuts and sugar, and the saint's dragon body should not be too much." eat."

  The emperor glared at the attendant, "My daughter made me the Mid-Autumn Festival pastry, so what if I eat two more cakes?"

  Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "Then eat another piece."

The emperor laughed and said, "Do you know why this pastry is called Pai Tang? I heard from the princess that this pai tang was originally called coconut cake. It is very famous in Taiping Port. It is said that the daily supply is in short supply. The growing team bought it, so it was called sugar discharge later on.”

   "The candied sugar made by the princess is so delicious, it's probably no worse than that store's!"

  Changsun Wuji followed suit with a few words of flattery, which made Li Shimin very satisfied.

   "Prince Xu Goguryeo's request to surrender is right."

  Besides being happy, the emperor finally started to talk about serious business. Regarding Goguryeo’s five visits this year, this time he even offered to draw the Yalu River as a boundary and cede the entire Liaodong to the Tang Dynasty. The emperor also expressed his concern.

   And Chengqian finally agreed to Goguryeo's surrender, and the emperor felt that he did a good job.

"Last year, I personally conquered Liaodong. I used my troops in a hurry to defeat and annihilate the main force of Liaodong with the force of thunder. Now, Liaodong has no main force of Goguryeo, and there are only some recalcitrants left. It is also beneficial to slow down at this time. Furthermore, Goguryeo’s rulers and ministers are at odds with each other, so they can get into conflict first, and after agreeing to Goguryeo’s request to surrender, they can also cut off their conspiracy with Baekje and Japan.”

   "This is one move. I thought Chengqian would not agree to Goguryeo's request to surrender. Now it seems that Chengqian is becoming more and more mature and stable. I am very pleased."

Originally, Changsun Wuji wanted to sue Fang Xuanling today, and wanted to attack Fang Xuanling by taking advantage of Goguryeo's request for surrender, but the emperor had already anticipated his intentions, and rushed to affirm the surrender. The prince only praised the prince, but in fact it was also a compliment to Fang Xuanling who first proposed to agree to the peace negotiation.

   Now Changsun Wuji was at a loss for words.

Seeing the change in the atmosphere, Gao Shilian put down the sugar-discharging road in his hand, "The crown prince sent envoys to Pyongyang, and then sent people to Baekje, Waguk, Gaya, Tamra, Silla and other Haidong countries, and went to the tribes of Mohe. .”

   "Is the prince going to blame Baekje and Wa Kingdom?"

   "The crown prince feels that Baekje and Wa have been disrespectful recently, and they have close contacts with Goguryeo, so this time he intends to send people to beat one or two."

Li Shimin smiled, "Just beating one or two is useless. Just like Gaochang, Yanqi, Qiuci and other countries, they came all the way from thousands of miles to congratulate Neifu, but it was only ten years ago, and now they are betraying us Tang, Yanqi was attacked by Gaochang and Yugushe just now, but now he turned his back on Tang and colluded with Yugushe, why?"

  The emperor certainly knew very well that the so-called Heavenly Kingdom, the Heavenly Khan, and the suzerain-vassal system were not solid. Strength was important, but once the fundamental interests of the other party were touched, the other party would not be willing to do so easily.

Although Goguryeo used to be a tyrant in Haidong and often attacked Silla and Baekje, but if Goguryeo died, then the Tang Dynasty of the Central Plains would extend its hand directly to the peninsula. The king of Baekje is not stupid, how could he not know If Datang replaced Goguryeo and entered the peninsula, how much threat would it bring?

Previously, Datang only supported the two small coastal countries of Tamra and Gaya, and it had completely snatched the control of maritime trade, and even directly threatened the heartland of Baekje and Japan. Occupying Pyongyang and approaching the Han River, who can guarantee that they will not be the next Goguryeo?

Even if it is Silla, although it is the most active in getting closer to Datang among the Haidong countries, it is because Silla itself is located in the southeast of the peninsula. They are separated from Datang by Goguryeo and Baekje, and these Nian Silla has been attacked by Goguryeo and Baekje, and the Wa Kingdom in the south has never given up attacking them. Their living environment is the worst. Of course, they chose to make long-distance and short-range attacks to attach themselves to Datang.

  But if the Tang Dynasty really destroyed Goguryeo, and the two families became neighbors, the situation might be different.

"It's not enough to just say it, you have to take action. Warships and swords are the most effective." Although Li Shimin is not the kind of militaristic emperor, destroying Goguryeo and recovering Liaodong is an important national strategy formulated by the Tang Dynasty many years ago. , in order to ensure the realization of this strategy, there are some things that need to be done.

   "Since Goguryeo has surrendered, let's not touch him for the time being. Let Niu Jinda use the Yalu River as the boundary line, don't cross the boundary, and stabilize Liaodong first."

   "Let Silla join forces with Gaya and Tamra to send troops to Baekje, and tell them that Datang supports them in recovering the lost land taken by Baekje. After the destruction of Baekje, the three families will divide up the territory of Baekje."

  Changsun Wuji was stunned for a moment.

   "Even if Gaya and Tamra are added to Silla, it may not be able to destroy Baekje."

"I know." Li Shimin smiled, "You can tell them that Datang can give them reinforcements when necessary, sell them armor weapons, and even sell ships. If necessary, Datang can even send a navy to join the battle .”

   "Why did Datang seek benefits for Silla and others?"

   "Now we can tell them that after Baekje is destroyed, the three of them will divide it up, but when they can't fight it, Datang will send troops at that time. Shouldn't Datang get a share?"

Moreover, in Li Shimin's plan, dividing up Baekje is nothing more than a bait to lure Silla to send troops. Silla and Baekje have equal strengths and have coexisted for hundreds of years. How can they easily destroy each other? The only possibility is that the two sides will fall into a bitter battle, and even lose both sides. At that time, how can Baekje have the spare power to interfere with Goguryeo?

  Even after the Tang Dynasty goes south to attack Goguryeo in the future, it can take advantage of the situation and swallow the weak Baekje.

   "The best way to prevent Baekje from meddling in Goguryeo is to let him take care of himself, so finding a way to provoke a war between Silla and Baekje is the best choice."

  When two tigers fight, one will be injured.

   At that time, not to mention Baekje, even Silla will be weakened by the war, and a weak peninsula is most beneficial to Datang.

   As for how to operate, this is the responsibility of Changsun Wuji and other prime ministers. The emperor only needs to propose the direction and goals.

   "Xiao Ke recently reported that he would attack Yanqi on August 11th, and he should arrive on the 20th, and he must break it on the 22nd. I figured out the way, and the envoy should arrive today!"

   The words are not finished.

   Sure enough, there was a post ride, and it was news from the Western Regions.

  The envoy will report victory.

Guo Xiaoke achieved a great victory. On August 11th, he led three thousand elite soldiers from the West Metropolitan Governor's Mansion out of Gaochang, from the southwest of the prefecture, through the two cities of Nanping and Anchang, 120 li to the southwest of the Tianshan Mountains, entering the valley, passing through Leishimoraine, and then two One hundred and twenty miles to Yinshan moraine.

   Travel another 40 miles to Luguangguan in the Yanqi area, pass through Panshi for another 100 miles, pass Zhangsancheng Shouzhuo, and then 145 miles southwest, pass Xinchengguan, and cross the Danhe River.

  Tang Jun galloped lightly all the way, running on the road for twelve days.

   On the night of August 22, they attacked Yanqi City at night.

  Because of this battle, the three brothers Jiebi and Li Zhunpo who served in the Gaochang Tang Dynasty were led by Yanqi King Long Tuqizhi's three brothers, so they marched quickly all the way, and after entering Yanqi territory, they did not encounter any resistance.

  Until they reached the city of Yanqi King, the Yanqi people didn't know about it.

  The original road from Gaochang to Yanqi began to become dangerous after entering the valley from the southwest of the Tianshan Mountains. The valley has two cliffs, and people walking between them are like a line of sky.

  Guo Xiaoke also said in the memorial to the emperor that Yanqi is boundless, the earth blocks the Tianshan Mountains, and the distance is deep.

  Yanqi’s royal city was surrounded by water, and it relied on thousands of elite soldiers and the support of many elite cavalry from Western Turks.

  But his three brothers had previously served in the Governor's Mansion in the west of Zhenxi, and they had long been staunch pro-Tang factions.

   Then after leading them to the bottom of the king's city in the middle of the night, they floated and swam across the moat to the bottom of the city, and were pulled up to the city by ropes under the pre-arranged support.

  After the three brothers entered the city, they quickly contacted their respective families and the pro-Tang aristocrats in the city, etc., and mobilized at night to rob the city gate.

  At dawn, the gates of the city were opened wide, and Guo Xiaoke sent troops into the city.

   But there was chaos in the royal city, Guo Xiaoke's 3,000 elite cavalry rushed all the way to the palace, and captured the king Long Tuqizhi.

   "Behead seven thousand levels!"

  This is Guo Xiaoke's good news. He attacked the Yanqi royal city at night, captured the king Long Tuqizhi, and beheaded the Yanqi army, Zhaowu mercenaries and Western Turkic rebels who rebelled against Tang. A total of 7,000 ranks.

Although the small Yanqi Kingdom has hundreds of miles of land, it has only nine cities and a population of only tens of thousands. Seven thousand people were killed in World War I. It can be said that almost all the young and strong men who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty in the royal city were killed. Among them are thousands of Western Turks and Zhaowu mercenaries.

  (end of this chapter)