Datang: Rebirth of Li Chengqian, the beginning of the treason interrogation

Chapter 189: Horses Ride Tokyo to Admire Cherry Blossoms, Great Changes in Japan
Li Shimin did not answer, obviously this was not a good plan.

He knew that once he fell, the court would definitely change drastically.

For the future of the Tang Dynasty, he needs to make some arrangements.

"If the former Crown Prince Li Chengqian leads his army to attack us later, you can wait and see before taking action. This may not be a bad thing for you or for our royal family."

Li Shimin warned that he could not predict what would happen too long in the future, let alone interfere.

"I know!"

Li Zhi's heart trembled. Could it be that his father and Crown Prince Li Chengqian were playing some big game?

And I am just a tool pushed forward to block public opinion.

Li Shimin sighed in his heart, if it weren't for his old illness and the excessive amount of drugs he had taken in the past few years, his health would not have been in such a state.

Many of the grand plans have yet to be implemented.

Finally, Li Shimin looked towards the east and stood there blankly for a long time.

Although Li Chengqian had eradicated Goguryeo's spies, some people still managed to pass on news of all sizes about Goguryeo and Baekje to the palace.

Indeed, Goguryeo under his current rule is the ideal country in Li Shimin's mind. It is the only powerful country without the constraints of aristocratic families, and drastic reforms can be carried out.

As a king, one's word is as good as gold.

At this time, Li Chengqian had also left Baekje and sailed out to sea.

The previous arrangements have all worked, and the location of Japan was found through the route that Azumi Hirafu had taken.

If it were in the future, finding Japan would not be that difficult, but in today's context, blindly searching would take too much time.

Li Chengqian couldn't wait any longer, he didn't have enough time.

After defeating Japan, they will definitely march into the Tang Dynasty and start the next plan.

Although Li Chengqian has been doing well since he started his career, how much has he actually done?

Not much has really been done to change the flow of traffic.

He spent a lot of effort to completely recover Goguryeo and Baekje.

But then again, the timing was just right. After dealing with Japan, Li Shimin should have passed away.

Li Shimin's ambiguous attitude made Li Chengqian dare not march into the Tang Dynasty at will.

What if Li Shimin really regarded him as a rebel and personally led the troops to supervise the battle, that would be a serious matter.

He sent the secret letter to reassure Li Er.

Although there are many commanders among Li Chengqian's subordinates, they are all too young.

Even if they united, they might not be a match for Li Shimin.

Since ancient times, no one has been as capable of military affairs as Li Shimin.

How can it not make people fearful?

Besides, Li Jing is not dead yet.

It’s not that Li Jing is unable to command the battle, but his main purpose is to avoid suspicion.

The power is high.

When fighting on the home ground, he was still able to lead the troops and take orders.

During the Tang Dynasty, the military was strong, and the first and second commanders of the time were still alive.

In such a mixed doubles.

By sending troops to the Tang Dynasty, wasn't Li Chengqian seeking death?

Therefore, he chose to defend against the Tang Dynasty.

It's just a word of procrastination.

Only after the two military gods of the Tang Dynasty have passed away and there is no one left in the Tang Dynasty who can take on the responsibility, can we raise our swords.

Li Ji, Li Daozon and others were detained, and Li Chengqian had planned this for a long time.

"Your Highness, the scouts have sent a report!"

Liu Rengui hurriedly walked to the bow and delivered a letter.

"What did you say?"

Li Chengqian looked straight ahead, and there was nothing else except the sea water.

He had been on the boat for half a month with days like this.

In fact, he didn't have to suffer this hardship. He could have just sent a general.

However, as a latecomer.

I have always had an ideal, which is to "ride a horse in Tokyo to enjoy the cherry blossoms."

Although, I don’t know if there are cherry blossoms in Japan now.

None of this matters.

The important thing is that he can eliminate this hidden danger with his own hands.

"The letter said that among the Japanese pirates, there were no major cities, only scattered villages."

"There are fishermen in the coastal areas who often go out to sea and may discover the whereabouts of the army. They requested that the village be destroyed to prevent the news from leaking out."

Li Chengqian seemed to have heard nothing and remained silent.

Seeing this, Liu Rengui remained silent, then stepped back slightly and walked in front of an officer.

"Send a message to General Daochen to lead 3,000 vanguard troops to enter Japan first to gather information, but the news must not leak out. He will know what to do."

Li Chengqian had already made the final move to kill the Japanese pirates, so there was no need to mention it in detail.

Liu Rengui walked over again quietly. He looked at Li Chengqian's expression and finally couldn't help asking the question in his heart.

"Your Highness, is this country of Japan something so special that Your Highness would not hesitate to mobilize tens of thousands of troops and personally command them?"

Li Chengqian turned around and saw through what Liu Rengui was thinking.

"You want to ask why I slaughtered the Japanese pirates, but treated Baekje and even Goguryeo, our sworn enemy, with respect, right?"

Liu Rengui lowered his head and did not deny it.

From the perspective of a wise person, he would never make a decision that would harm others and not benefit himself.

If you kill them all like this, it will surely inspire the entire Japanese nation to defend to the death.

On the other hand, it also does not stand on Li Chengqian's reputation.

Putting on the hat of a tyrant is extremely deadly.

The kings who lost their country were mostly those who evolved from the tyrants in people's mouths.

"The poison of Japan has been causing harm for thousands of years. If I do not fight against Japan today, how many people will spend huge sums of money and raise troops to attack Japan later?"

Li Chengqian asked back.

Japan has a special geographical location, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If you want to go on an expedition, you have to build ships.

A warship that can accommodate tens of thousands of people will definitely empty the country's treasury.

Li Chengqian was able to have such an opportunity because the warship was built with the whole country's strength of the Tang Dynasty.

In later dynasties, there must have been people who wanted to destroy Japan.

But the strength does not allow it.

There is not much benefit in fighting. Japan comes to the coastal areas to rob and loot because it is too poor.

If we destroy it, we will suffer huge losses, so we might as well let it jump around the coast.

It won't hurt to grab some financial resources.

If that was the only evil the Japanese pirates were capable of, Li Chengqian would not bother to pay attention to them.

But the evil of the Japanese pirates lies in the fact that they are like poisonous snakes that can launch a fatal attack on you.

Its poison is beyond description for the descendants of Yan and Huang.

"Your Highness has a far-sighted vision, which I cannot match."

Liu Rengui said this in a flattering manner, but what was he really feeling in his heart?

Li Chengqian had no way of knowing.

However, Li Chengqian believed that destroying the Japanese was the most important thing to do after traveling through time.

"Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. Those who dare to raise troops against our Tang Dynasty will be destroyed."

Li Chengqian clenched his fists tightly. As long as his plans went smoothly, then wherever he looked, it would be Tang territory.

That started from Japan.

The Emperor of Japan also had a premonition of the approaching danger.

This doesn't just come from the outside, it's more from the inside.

Emperor Kōgyoku of Japan should bear the main responsibility for the disastrous defeat in the war against the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, in the Japanese imperial court.

A beautiful queen sat on the main seat.

She was the Emperor Kōgyoku who was in power among the Japanese pirates, also known as Queen Treasure, who was both talented and beautiful, and full of scheming.

He served as emperor of Japan twice. The first time was Emperor Kōgyoku, and the second time was called Emperor Saimei.

"Emperor, you have acted on your own and have made enemies with Baekje, leading to the current defeat. We all think that you are no longer worthy of being the Emperor of the Japanese pirates."

Prince Yamakita was the first to speak up.

Where there is power, there will be struggle. Compared with the implicit conspiracy of the Tang Dynasty, Japan was more direct.

Although Empress Gokō was a woman, she was not the first female emperor in the history of Japan.

But it is still difficult to convince the people, and it is tantamount to depriving the prince of his right to inherit the throne.

He ascended the throne not long ago and his foundation is not stable.

Emperor Gokō ascended the throne twice, also because of internal strife in Japan.

"Prince Yamabe, please be careful with your words. You all agreed to send troops to Baekje that day. The defeat is the fault of the commander. Thirty thousand troops fighting against ten thousand, and the whole army was annihilated. How can this be possible?"

The Emperor Jihuang opened his phoenix eyes slightly, and the aura of an emperor spread out, with overwhelming power.

Women do not give way to men.

If she didn't have the ability, she wouldn't have been able to reach such a high position.

"Then may I ask your Majesty, what should we do if the Tang army asks Japan to surrender?"

Brother Shanbei was not afraid of the situation and asked again.

The navy was completely defeated, and as Emperor Gokō had just ascended the throne, people's hearts were in turmoil, and several princes were eager to try.

"The Baekje rebels are not the Tang army. This expedition is also in response to the call of the Heavenly Khan. Besides, Li Chengqian is now facing the conquest of many vassal states, and he will definitely be unable to protect himself."

"Pass on the emperor's order to recruit brave soldiers and march to Baekje to avenge the previous humiliation."

Emperor Gokō wanted to divert the conflict once again and take this opportunity to restore his prestige.

Given Japan's mean nature, it will not surrender unless it is completely driven out.

Besides, she believed that Li Chengqian was incapable of dividing his troops any further.

"Also, send an envoy to the Tang Dynasty. We, Japan, fought for the Tang Dynasty. Now that we have lost many soldiers and generals, the Tang Dynasty should provide us with compensation."

The Tang Dynasty was wealthy and had always been generous to its vassal states. It should be able to obtain supplies to solve Japan's current urgent needs.

Japan is not only backward in manufacturing, but also in agriculture.

The reason why they responded so actively to the call of the Tang Dynasty this time was because they wanted to make a fortune.

Regardless of whether there was an order from the Tang Dynasty or not, they would plunder Baekje and Silla every year.

Just like the nomadic peoples in the north, they often went south to plunder.

This kind of military action is inevitable and can only be said to be a natural consequence of the situation.

However, the result was that he lost more than he gained.

Since the forceful robbery failed, we could only try the soft approach to see if we could get supplies from the Tang State.

Thirty thousand good men were all buried in Baekje.

This is an extremely heavy blow to the entire Japanese nation.

This is not just about military strength, but the overall national strength of Japan is weakening.

Under the arrangement of Kyokō Tenno, Yamabe no Oe's words were successfully blocked.

"Recruiting more soldiers?"

A sneer was heard, and another young noble man strode forward with his head held high.

He has an extraordinary bearing and his aura is comparable to that of the Emperor Jihuang, which is a momentum cultivated from being in a high position for a long time.

Empress Gokō was capable and was the Wu Zetian of Japan, but her courage and means were far from those of Wu Zetian during the Zhou Dynasty.

She also took charge of the government through the position of Empress, and then ascended the throne of Emperor.

However, those princes who were previously qualified to succeed to the throne all survived the order.

In today's Japan, there are four major powers, which restrain each other and maintain a delicate balance.

After Emperor Shumei passed away, Prince Umito, Prince Katsuragi, and Prince Yamabe Noe competed for the throne and paid no attention to Empress Shumei, now Emperor Gokō.

She took advantage of the three princes' struggle for power and launched a coup in 642, ascending the throne as emperor. At the same time, she wrote to Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty to change the monarch.

As the spokesperson of Asia at that time, the village chief of every village in Asia Village had to be recognized and canonized by Li Shimin.

It was also because Emperor Kyokō took advantage of the Tang Dynasty's support that the situation in Japan was temporarily stabilized.

But for Li Shimin, he completely despised Japan's tribute, so he exempted Japan from paying tribute.

However, the Tang Dynasty was too far away to handle the situation, and the civil unrest in Japan was not completely resolved because of this.

Now that the time has come, the three princes want to make a comeback.

The prince who dared to openly refute was Prince Katsuragi. Among the three princes, he was the most powerful.

The first time Emperor Gokō abdicated, he retreated behind the scenes because of the coup he launched. He was not able to reappear until 20 years later.

"Spring has returned to the earth, and everything is reviving. It is the time to plant crops. A woman who is not good at governing a country will bring disaster to the country and its people. If you send troops into battle in the cold winter, how can you not be defeated?"

"If I were to say, the defeat was not the fault of the soldiers, but a mistake in your decision-making. Now that the country is facing a crisis, I doubt your ability. I ask the Emperor to abdicate and let the throne be passed to others."

Prince Katsuragi was even more direct, raising his arm high and pointing at Emperor Kyokō.

"Be bold!"

The Emperor Jihuang gave a delicate cry.

"Someone, capture Prince Katsuragi!"

Japanese warriors wearing rattan armor crowded into the palace.

"Let's see who dares!"

Prince Katsuragi was not afraid at all, and there was a faint smile on his face.

Upon hearing this, the warriors who entered the hall stood still, but they did not retreat either.

No one in the hall was a fool and they all smelled a conspiracy.

"Emperor Gokugo, you are not good at governing the country, which has caused Japan to fall into trouble. Please step down and let the wise man take over."

Azumihirafu said first that as a defeated general, if he wanted to be reused, he could only surrender to a new master.

"Please ask the Emperor to abdicate and let the throne be given to someone more capable!"

Then, a group of ministers echoed.

"Haha, do you want to rebel?"

Seeing more than half of his ministers openly forcing the emperor to abdicate, Emperor Gokuo laughed in anger.

"Come here, take down all these rebels!"

A group of soldiers rushed out from behind the palace, swords and sabers flashing.

How could she not be on guard at all?
He has a large number of assassins.

"Kyokuho Tenno, are you really stubborn and unwilling to change your ways? Do you want to continue to mislead the country and the people?"

Prince Katsuragi, Prince Hitokai and Prince Yamabe-no-oe stepped forward together, all with coldness in their eyes.

A group of black-clad assassins broke in through the window.

Many of the ministers also drew short weapons from their waists.

It was premeditated.

The three hostile princes resolutely united together when the country was in danger.

The Japanese people have a stronger sense of national identity than the Tang people.

(End of this chapter)