Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 141 Uncle, I'll Teach You Some Unconventional Ways

The moment his eyes were illuminated by the bright golden light, Li Ming couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Wow, this local specialty is really...special.

Your Youzhou master is truly a master.

But his brows immediately tightened again:

"But this gold and silver cannot be used for war."

As we all know, money is only a general equivalent, while wars are fought with productivity and fertility.

However, in Pingzhou, which is under strict blockade and has overdrawn productivity, you can't buy anything even if you have money.

If these treasures flow into the market, they will be of no use except to induce severe inflation, causing the price of a stone of rice to rise to 500,000 coins, which will be so large that even a cart cannot hold them.

Apart from anything else, can this money help the bird grow more feathers?
In order to make arrows, Xiao Fang and Xiao Yuchi led the people and almost plucked all the birds in the forest to make arrow feathers.

Cui Mingan looked at this cheap little cousin and smiled delicately:
"Why do you restrict the use of money to buying and selling physical objects?"

Li Ming heard the hidden meaning in Lao Cui's words:
“You mean…buying people’s hearts?
"Whose hearts are we trying to win over? The imperial court, so that they can send out troops as soon as possible?"

Cui Min laughed dryly and shook his head.

Although this little cousin is smart and capable, he is still too young.

"Money is like water, it comes and goes freely. Who can confine it to the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Ming got the point:
"Use gold, silver and jewelry to bribe the Goguryeo people..."

This was a path he had never imagined.

All he was thinking about the whole day was competing in internal strength, using his hard power to withstand Goguryeo's attack and wait for the situation to change.

Using unconventional tactics to defeat the enemy is truly a blind spot in his thinking.

I am still not cunning enough. If Comrade Lao Fang was here, I wouldn't have come to this...

"But who should we focus on?"

When it comes to bribing people, money is never a problem; the real problem is how to spend the money.

You can't just spend money lavishly on the front line, because that would be a huge waste of money.

"Have you ever heard of No Yeon Gaesomun, the Lord of the Western Region of Goguryeo and the Great Leader of the Western Region of Goguryeo?" Cui Mingan replied.

"What is Western Big Bass Seven?" Li Ming felt that the Chinese spoken by Lao Cui was very niche.

"What?" Cui Mingan also felt that Li Ming as a leader was a niche.

After fighting for so long, Li Ming didn't even know what the enemy was like inside? !

Oh, by the way, last month my little cousin didn’t even know that he had colluded with Goguryeo.

Normally, this ignorant bumpkin would have been pinned to the ground by the enemy long ago.

However, Li Ming did the opposite. With the strength of half of Pingzhou, he actually defeated the enemy and made him lose his teeth to the ground. He was so angry that he mobilized all forces.

This guy is really stubborn and reckless...

"When Goguryeo was first established, there were five dominant tribes in the country, divided into east, south, west, north and center according to their locations. The central tribe, Guilou, is the current royal family Gao. The leaders of the other four tribes were given titles according to their locations."

Cui Mingan patiently explained:

"The current Lord of the West is Yeon Gaesomun, and 'Daedeulu' is an official title in Goguryeo, corresponding to the Prime Minister."

Oh~ Li Ming understood it all at once.

It is similar to Cui Renshi of the Cui family, who was a descendant of the Ji clan, the original shareholder of the Chinese nation, and also served as prime minister in the imperial court.

It was almost equivalent to the status of Hebei gentry in the Tang Dynasty. They were used by the King of Goguryeo while maintaining a considerable degree of independence.

"In recent years, King Yeongryu of Goguryeo has been seeking to strengthen the royal power and limit the power of the four ministers, and the domineering Yeon Gaesomun was the first to bear the brunt of the attack."

Cui Mingan pointed out:

"And according to my inference, my nephew has forced Goguryeo to mobilize 150,000 people, which is far beyond its national strength and financial resources. Goguryeo must be full of resentment..."

Cui Mingan even called the prince his nephew, and he gave himself a super high generation title.

But now Li Ming didn't care at all and shouted in the same friendly way:

"My cousin means that as long as we can get through the internal connections of Goguryeo and contact Yeon Gaesomun, we can cause an internal conflict between him and the King of Goguryeo, or even..."

His heartbeat suddenly quickened.

We can even teach Goguryeo the advanced experience of the Xuanwu Gate Incident and eliminate the problem directly at the source!

This battle can be won!

You don't even have to rely on reinforcements from the imperial court, or depend on charity from those beasts in human form!
"But..." Li Ming smiled bitterly and spread his hands:

"As my uncle can see, I have been confined to the mountains and do not know much about the enemy country. How can I contact their prime minister?"

He looked at Cui Mingan, believing that since his cheap cousin could bring this up, he must have thought of a solution.

As expected, Cui Mingan coughed lightly with a little pride:
"The nobles of Goguryeo had cordially invited my fellow Cui clan members to explain the Four Books and Five Classics to them, so our Cui clan had a little bit of face there.

"I have also brought along those clansmen who gave lectures. They can go to Goguryeo with your people."

Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since Goguryeo's offensive suddenly became crazy, he has actually been under tremendous pressure.

But as a leader, he had to appear confident in front of his subordinates so as not to affect everyone's morale. He could only suffer from insomnia in the lonely night.

And now, seeing the hope of ending this war of attrition with his own strength, the stone in his heart can finally ease.

Sister Li Ling and my brother-in-law Cui Yi, whom I didn’t have the chance to meet, thank you, you’ve done a great job!

"There is no time to lose, let's act immediately!" Li Ming made a prompt decision.

Infiltrating spies into Goguryeo is actually not difficult at all.

Because he had a large number of Goguryeo captives in his hands, most of whom were able-bodied men with deep hatred and deep suffering. With a little reformation, they would actively do farm work for their fellow villagers.

Facts have proved that Goguryeo was truly a human-like ape-like system, combining the worst of both autocratic and tribal systems.

In comparison, Murong Yan can be considered honest and upright.

Just release these traitors and mix in our own people.

It is not difficult to contact Yeon Gaesomun.

As for the underground infiltration work in Liaodong...

"Auntie Wu." Li Ming began to call out the names of the generals:
"You will protect these gentlemen, take these gold, silver and jewelry, and sneak into Goguryeo with these prisoners of war disguised as Goguryeo soldiers."

Aunt Wu smiled brightly:

"no problem!"

Cui Mingan glanced at the prisoner-of-war camp.

The captives inside had all kinds of hairstyles, including Han-style tied hair, Buyeo pigtails, shaved hair, and other ethnic hairstyles.

But they all wore Tang armor.

The Red Turban Army guarding them also wore uniform Tang armor and a red scarf on their heads.

Tang armor is the default skin, and the helmet and headdress are customized, right?

"Well... it may not be safe if only Aunt Wu is responsible."

Li Ming thought for a moment and called out to the person behind him:
"Yuchi Xunyu, are you busy these days? Do you want to take a few people to Pyongyang City?"

The little black charcoal-head flew out of Fang Yize's study almost immediately:
"Not busy!" As the first general card to start with, with the joining of a number of SSR generals, he finally retired gloriously to the second line, helping Fang Yize all day long, taking the inventory personnel to the mountains and the countryside to count how many birds had not had their feathers plucked.

Now, he has finally found a job where he can make use of his remaining energy.

"It is very dangerous to sneak into the enemy camp. Are you sure you want to go?" Li Ming confirmed again and again.

Yuchi Xunyu patted his black head and said, "How can the descendants of the door god be afraid of death!"

"Very good, the task of turning the tide of the battle is now left to you." Li Ming solemnly patted Xiao Heitan's shoulder.

Letting Yuchi Xunyu interfere in intelligence affairs was actually a political manipulation by Li Ming.

Because Aunt Wu was originally from the "Red Turban Bandits" faction and was a latecomer.

It's not that he didn't trust Aunt Wu, but entrusting her with the responsibility of foreign intelligence was too ambitious and could easily lead to him becoming too open-minded if he wasn't careful.

Therefore, he wanted to mix his own people into the mix to create a little check and balance.

"Okay, okay! Little Hei brother, I'll protect you!" Aunt Wu laughed heartily, not realizing that her team was tainted.

Cui Minggan watched his nephew's actions calmly and bowed:
"Take care, nephew. I won't bother you anymore."

Pingzhou is a good place, but when he thought of the 150,000 strong men outside who were eyeing him covetously, he suddenly remembered that the coal stove at home seemed to be not turned off, and he wanted to fly back to Youzhou immediately.

"Wouldn't you like to stay for dinner?" Li Ming asked politely.

Cui Mingan shook his head repeatedly:
"The court is still urging me to report back to them. Now there is a sudden heavy snowfall north of the Yellow River, making travel extremely difficult. I must send a letter quickly to clear up the court's misunderstanding of my nephew."

His cousin's wings were still young, and it would be unwise to encourage him to turn against the court, so Lao Cui had no choice but to plead with Lao Li.

When Li Ming thought about the tons of blame on his head, he didn't want to keep him:
"I hope my cousin will speak up for justice. The court doesn't believe Governor Zhang Jian's explanation, but they should believe Envoy Cui's testimony!"

Cui Mingan bowed solemnly and left under the escort of the Red Turban Army.

Looking at the receding back of his cheap uncle, his cheerful face darkened and he couldn't help rubbing his swollen head.

He is now really like Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror, neither a human being nor a human being. On one hand, he has to fight against Goguryeo, and on the other hand, he has to fight against those insects in the court.

If you continue to let this go and don't make a strong defense for yourself, you can forget about getting support from the court.

Sooner or later, those insects would hinder his fight against Goguryeo.

By then, the bandits will die for their country and the traitors will die for their country.

Just being the governor of Youzhou is not enough...

"Your Highness!"

Hou Junji returned dejected.

You have to refer to your job title when you are working... Looking at Hou Junji's expression, Li Ming was not in the mood to joke with him.

"what happened?"

"Damn it, those rats!" Hou Junji jumped off his horse in anger.
“We chased the retreating enemy all the way into Goguryeo territory and ran into layers of bunkers.

"We can't attack them, so we can only let the defeated army retreat!"

He was so heartbroken that he could hardly breathe as the heads and prisoners he had obtained slipped away.

Li Ming couldn't help but smack his lips, feeling that this matter was very tricky.

With the bunkers as a backup, there is no need to worry about our counterattack or outflanking. Then, the Goguryeo people can come and go as they please, right?
When my Pingzhou is a public toilet? !

Although we have the advantage tactically, the passive situation strategically remains unchanged.

Cui Minggan's arrival gave him a wake-up call.

If we don't find another way to end the war, there will be no end to it...

"Brother Ming!"

Chang Sunyan rode back from Yingzhou on horseback, exhausted, and shook his head to report to Li Ming:
"No, the Yingzhou Military Governor's Office is surrounded by Goguryeo and cannot send reinforcements to Pingzhou."

Li Ming was not surprised by this result:

"With 150,000 men, it's a huge undertaking for Zhang Jian to be able to keep Yingzhou safe, defend the eastern part of Pingzhou, and prevent us from being attacked from two sides."

He comforted the discouraged Chang Sun Yan and helped him get off the horse.

I was shocked to find that there was an arrow stuck in the back of my eldest brother Sun!
"Oh my god! You..."

"Oh? There's one left?"

Chang Sunyan pulled out the arrowhead indifferently.

Fortunately, he was wearing a thick fur coat and armor and was not injured.

"Is the situation in Yingzhou so serious?" Li Ming was worried.

Chang Sunyan nodded and said:

"Goguryeo surrounded Yingzhou like an iron barrel, much more tightly than Pingzhou.

"Every messenger who went out died, and Yingzhou's communications have been completely cut off. There has been no communication with the court for some time.

"I am also lucky. Fortunately, General Xue Wanche came to pick me up, so I can come back to see you all upright. Otherwise, I would have to come back lying down, hahahaha!"

Calmly stated the thrilling fact.

Li Ming's heart skipped a beat.

Not only because his chief secretary almost met with an accident.

Moreover, the blockade of the postal services meant that the imperial court could not receive any official war reports that they could trust.

This means that before the letter from the Governor of Youzhou arrived, people in Chang'an didn't even know that Li Ming was fighting a fierce battle with Goguryeo!

"Information, information, Liaodong is too damn far away from Guanzhong..." Li Ming finally realized the pain of being difficult to rule in remote areas.

Based on his understanding of Li Shimin, he knew that the hot-tempered Khan would have sent troops without him having to write a letter for help.

The question is whether this army will attack Goguryeo only or take care of the Red Turban Army as well.

If it is the latter, then the flood will wash away the Dragon King Temple.

There is even an absurd possibility - after he went to great lengths to settle Goguryeo and defend the Tang Dynasty, he was instead hit by a belated heavy blow from the imperial court!

We must do two things at the same time, work on Yeon Gaesomun and Li Shimin at the same time, and make the whole story clear as soon as possible!
However, this arduous task would be impossible to accomplish with just the letter from the Governor of Youzhou.

Because the court did not trust Cui Mingan as much as the imperial relative Zhang Jian.

Even Zhang Jian's defense of Li Ming was doubted by those beasts in human clothing.

As a member of a Hebei noble family on the edge of the decision-making circle and having just been tricked by His Majesty, how much face can Cui Mingan have?
Li Ming realized that he urgently needed a messenger.

A messenger who is influential enough to convince all parties explained in detail the cause, process and current situation of the Pingzhou incident in front of the emperor and all the civil and military officials of the court.

And this crucial role happens to be played by Li Ming's side.

There is only one.

The grandson of a political enemy, Li Ming's good friend, a person who participated in the affairs of Pingzhou from beginning to end and knew the ins and outs of it very well.

"Chang Sun Yan." Li Ming said calmly.

Chang Sunyan couldn't help but take a deep breath and straightened his body subconsciously:

"What do you want, Brother Ming?"

Li Ming said slowly:
"Maybe I'll have to trouble you to go to Chang'an."

(End of this chapter)