Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 421: The people of the peninsula are broad-minded, and the people of the island nation are more interesting

"Black Tooth, what do you think?
"Do you think Buyeo Yici is still loyal to our Ming Dynasty?" his colleague, partner and comrade asked.

The man who just entered the room was a little unsure and asked back:
"Have you found any evidence that he betrayed the Ming Dynasty?"

The questioner thought for a moment and shook his head slowly:

"I didn't notice. Did you?"

Colleagues on the same front all shook their heads:

“No smoking gun was found.”

The people present were both Daemyung secret agents and high-ranking officials in Baekje, including many of King Uija’s close confidants.

If their king really had any thoughts or actions that were indecisive or even betrayed the Ming Dynasty, it would almost be impossible for it to escape their eyes.

However, under such strict surveillance, Buyeo Yiji did not reveal any signs of ill intention.

On the contrary, he showed all the qualities that a loyal Ming henchman should have -

He was extremely cautious and servile, fearing that he might not lick the dog owner well enough.

“Prince Yici was afraid of offending His Majesty the Great Ming Emperor over such a trivial matter as the reign title.

“In order to pay enough tribute to His Majesty the Divine Emperor, he almost wanted to hatch the eggs himself.

"With this kind of performance, it's really hard for people to associate him with 'rebellion'..."

The spy minister named "Black Tooth" twirled his beard and muttered.

His companions nodded in agreement.

To be honest, when they received a handwritten secret letter from the Grand Administrator Yuchi Xunyu from the Ming headquarters, ordering them to investigate the Baekje King's rebellious behavior against the Ming.

They were also confused at first.

After the Goguryeo relatives in the north - the ruling class of Baekje and Goguryeo had the same origin, all were Buyeo people, as can be seen from the king's surname "Buyeo" - were destroyed by the Ming Dynasty in a blink of an eye.

Buyeo Yici became extremely worried and immediately changed the national strategy of the three slave families and began to gradually lean towards the Ming Dynasty.

In the war with Silla, with the support of Ming Dynasty, they easily defeated the coalition forces of Tang and Silla.

Buyeo Yici even overwhelmingly defected to the Ming camp.

This sentiment reached its peak after the Ming Dynasty went on a dry land and swallowed up the Tang Dynasty.

The whole country of Baekje was shocked and filled with awe of its rich, powerful and occasionally a little neurotic neighbor.

In addition, the Goguryeo people's belief in Li Ming's statue spread to Baekje.

As a result, Li Ming was happily awarded the title of "Divine Emperor" in Baekje.

The entire Baekje nation, from the king to the officials and the common people, quickly changed their mindsets and began to lick the new dog master with all their might.

After all, to this tiny country, the Ming Dynasty is like a god.

In the blink of an eye, they can make their entire country ascend to heaven, and in the blink of an eye, they can also make their entire country ascend to heaven.

Against this backdrop, you're saying that the King of Baekje is going to go crazy and rebel? Is he going to betray Ming?

Picture what?
Do you still want to grab a piece of territory from a powerful and slightly crazy unified empire?
Unlike the Han and Tang dynasties, the core territory of the Ming Dynasty is in the northeast! Pyongyang, a major military and political center, is only a short distance away from Sabi City!

No one would think that a small ant could cut off a piece of meat right under the nose of an elephant, right? No way, no way?

"Could it be that Pingzhou made a mistake?" someone raised the question in his mind.

"Impossible. Chief Steward Yuchi personally wrote a letter to us to supervise the work. It represents the highest will of the Ming Dynasty. How can it be wrong?"

His comrades seriously corrected the political mistakes.

"Besides, the capital of the world now is Tangzhou, not Pingzhou!"

The third person chimed in, "But we didn't notice any clues around the king, so how did Tangzhou, who is so far away across the ocean, know about it?"

The fourth person retorted: "The level of Tangzhou is higher. Maybe something happened in secret, or they have information that we, the lower level, cannot grasp?"

Everyone has their own guesses and no one can agree on one.

They did not know about the case in which a fire broke out in the State Council Office and almost set the Ming Dynasty's ruling group on fire.

They had only received instructions from their superiors to investigate whether the King of Baekje had any hostile attitude towards Ming.

This made the ministers and spies a little puzzled.

They are very familiar with King Yiji and his men. He is not a fool or a madman, so he would not take the initiative to provoke the powerful neighbor to the north.

However, Tangzhou's sudden extraordinary concern for Baekje was definitely not groundless. There must always be an opportunity or reason.

But what is the reason?

In the end, it was Black Tooth who stood up and put an end to the debate:

"Your Majesty's holy will, how can we mortals speculate?

"Since the superiors have issued an order, all we have to do is follow it.

"Since there is no problem after investigation, we will report it as such."

This is the intuition of working people.

"But, what if the King of Baekje really did something behind our backs, and we were negligent in not checking, resulting in greater losses..."

In the corner, another worker who was afraid of being blamed grumbled.

This silenced everyone again.

It is easy to investigate a person's guilt, but it is difficult to prove a person's innocence completely.

Although the Ming Dynasty's spies had already penetrated into the power center of Baekje and were very close to the decision makers.

However, they are not the worms in King Uiji's stomach after all. How can they completely rule out the possibility that their nominal master is committing suicide behind their backs?
"But we have indeed not discovered any wrongdoing by King Yici. We can't just make up something that doesn't exist, right?"

Blacktooth said:

"Let's just say this first.

"'Based on the existing evidence, within our authority, we are unable to prove that Buyeo Yici betrayed the Ming Dynasty. We will continue to follow the instructions of His Majesty the Divine Emperor and work hard to investigate the case until our death.'"

Although Baekje is a small place, it has many turtles and a lot of talented people, all of whom have realized the essence of being an official.

So be it. After everyone discussed it, they felt that this Tai Chi move was still the best.

"You don't need to bother investigating any further. The fox's tail has already been exposed."

A mature and steady voice.

Everyone followed the sound.

The door of the tea room opened and closed, and a dignified elderly nobleman walked in.

"Your Excellency Sahei!"

All the officials stood up immediately and bowed respectfully.

The visitor was none other than King Uija’s uncle, Buyeo Biryu, the “Eunuch Assistant”.

In Baekje's officialdom, the most respected were the "Six Assistants" derived from Zhou Li, and among the "Six Assistants", the most respected was the Eunuch Assistant, who was in charge of the king's announcements.

His power was even greater than that of a prime minister in the general sense, and he was truly second only to the emperor in Baekje.

Even the head of all officials became the Ming Dynasty's traitor. This is beyond ridiculous.

This shows how tight the Ming Dynasty's control over Baekje was.

However, the officials present were already accustomed to this and were not surprised by the arrival of the eunuch Zuo Ping.

It can even be said that this secret meeting place was also prepared by the eunuch Zuo Ping.

"We are all colleagues serving the Great Ming Emperor. There is no need to follow the order of seniority and inferiority in the Baekje officialdom. Please take a seat."

Fuyu Biru was polite in words, but he took the upper hand first.

Heichi immediately served him tea and fanned him, then asked:

"Have you found any evidence of the king's rebellion?"

Everyone got nervous and gathered around, wanting to hear what happened with "Why did His Highness rebel?"

The old minister drank his tea slowly, then shook his head slowly and said:
"No, there is nothing suspicious in the king's every move. He is very respectful to His Majesty the Divine Emperor and serves the emperor with sincerity. It doesn't seem like there is a problem."

The ministers secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The king did not commit suicide and did not send the entire Baekje into the bottomless abyss. That's good, that's good... Come to think of it, as the ultimate person in charge of this country, provoking the Ming Dynasty is equivalent to sending his head under the guillotine.

In the entire Baekje, Buyeo Uiji had the least reason to rebel.

"Then, who has the rebellious heart and reveals his true colors?" Heichi asked.

We are all smart people.

Daming's suspicion is not groundless. Since the king is fine, the problem must be with the top leaders.

"It's reasonable for that person to show signs."

Old Fuyu took another leisurely sip of tea, whetting everyone's appetite before slowly saying:
“Who else could have the problem?
"It's Neifa Zhohei!"

It's him?

The listeners were stunned at first, looked at each other, thought about it, and then felt that this was not surprising.

The eunuch Muchou was from the Hanseong Muk clan, one of the eight major clans in Baekje.

The relationship between the Buyeo royal family in Sabi City can only be described as delicate.

Moreover, the position of "Nei Fa Jap-pyeong" in the Baekje officialdom is rather delicate.

Very high, but not completely high.

Among the six assistants, he is neither as close to the central government as the "Eunuchs", nor does he possess indispensable real power like the "Eunuchs" who are in charge of finances, the "Military Officers" who are in charge of the army, and so on.

The rituals and etiquette governed by the "Nei Fa" are, after all, just empty things, not like the Ministers of Rites in China who "convince people with reason".

In China, etiquette and laws can truly advise the emperor on his behavior.

But in Baekje, only dog ​​owners can advise dogs on their behavior.

"Because Mu Chou was excluded from the edge of power, he used the Eastern Bandits as a backing and hoped to introduce the power of Japan to improve his own voice in the country?
"And Japan was also unwilling to be driven out of the peninsula, so the two sides hit it off?"

Black Tooth guessed.

The conjecture is reasonable, but evidence is needed.

"I have found evidence of collusion between the Mu family and Japan." Buyeo Biru said calmly.

“And their plans are much bigger than you think.

"Muchou attempted to use the Japanese to overthrow King Yiji, control the government, and even establish himself as king."

When everyone heard this, they looked sideways and said in shock:
"Is Mu Chou crazy? How dare he invite a wolf into the house to rebel?"

Looking at the young people who were not calm enough, Fu Yu couldn't help but snorted:
“What’s this little thing?
"The Japanese are planning something bigger and crazier—

"Their chieftain Qing is trying to take advantage of this opportunity to annex Baekje!

“This is not the end, Baekje is just a stepping stone for him to reach the mainland.

"The ultimate goal is to capture Pyongyang, the inner city, and the entire peninsula!"

After hearing this, everyone was not surprised but laughed.

It is ridiculous for an ant to try to shake a tree.

The Japanese pirates were indeed a big trouble for Baekje, Silla, and even Goguryeo.

But for the Ming Dynasty?
To the Ming Dynasty where people were being dumped into the water like dumplings?
Do they really think that this sea water can protect their small island country?

Is there something wrong with that new Japanese chieftain's brain?
They are not as good as the former authoritarian Soga clan. They are a bit greedy, but not crazy.

"No, why would you tell Mu Chou about Japan's plan to swallow up the continent?"

Black Tooth, who loves to think, raised an objection.

Buyeobi showed an unfathomable smile:
"What a coincidence. I'm in Japan and I happen to know a few people there."

…………

"Oh? Baekje has decided to cut off tribute payments to our country?
"Oh? There is no news of the emperor's death in the Sunset Kingdom?

"Oh? Is it increasingly clear that Baekje is colluding with the Kingdom of Sunset?

"Ha, ha ha... ha ha ha! Ridiculous, ridiculous!"

Japan, Namba Palace in Osaka.

Emperor Kotoku laughed with his face raised, but suddenly his expression changed drastically and he lifted the table in front of him with force.

With a clatter, the documents were scattered all over the floor.

All the retainers lowered their heads, huddled in the corner and trembled.

Although this pot has nothing to do with them.

However, anyone who was familiar with the true face of Emperor Kotoku would stay away from him for fear of being implicated.

“Didn’t the Namchoumu family of Baekje claim to have great powers in the Ming Kingdom?!
"Didn't you promise me in front of me that you would capture the Emperor of the Sunset Kingdom and his servants in one fell swoop?!

"How can you not even handle such a small matter? You can't even hurt a young master who is still wet behind the ears!
"Speak up, speak up!"

Emperor Kotoku was furious. He picked up the documents on the ground and threw them at his retainers viciously.

Japan's papermaking industry was backward, and documents were still written on heavy bamboo slips, which were very painful when they hit people.

But even though the retainers were hit and bleeding, they dared not move.

"Ha... Ugh, boring."

Emperor Kotoku was tired from swinging his arms and sat on the ground dejectedly.

He really wanted to gamble the fate of the country with a small investment for a big gain, and he really had high hopes for assassinating Li Ming.

The political power in Japan is also very complex.

The real power of local governance was held by the leaders of various tribes. In name, the emperor was the supreme leader, but in reality, Naniwa Palace had very limited control over areas outside of Osaka Castle.

To establish authority, the only way is to outward shift the contradictions.

To move the conflict outward, the primary target is Baekje. To annex Baekje, the peninsula must be cut off. To cut off the peninsula, the northeast of Ming must be faced directly. To attack the northeast, it is to go to war with Ming. And to go to war with Ming, His Majesty the Great and Holy Emperor is an unavoidable factor...

After some deduction, Emperor Kotoku's thinking jumped from centralization to assassinating Li Ming.

The thinking of the people living in the island countries can only be so advanced at this level, which is no different from that of their descendants thousands of years later. When a war breaks out, they immediately think of running out of oil, immediately attacking Southeast Asia, immediately breaking up with Britain, France and the Netherlands, and immediately attacking the United States...

"call!"

Emperor Kotoku, who was outwardly humble but inwardly cruel, finally vented his anger and asked his subordinates gently:

"Hey, my dear ministers, why are you all so sad and silent?"

They were afraid that if they spoke, they would be smeared in the face with bamboo slips... The retainers were in a dilemma, not knowing whether to speak or not.

There was a tense atmosphere in the air.

Finally, before the Emperor's expression changed again, Nakatomi Kamatari, who had helped him eliminate his political enemy Soga no Iruka, stepped forward and reported with full energy:

"Baekje Buyeo is a family of three surnames and cannot be trusted.

"If we want to accomplish something, we need to be big and manly."

Emperor Kotoku smiled even more:
"Oh? My dear, are you going to follow the story of Jing Ke and go to the enemy camp to kill the tyrant?"

"That's not the case..." Nakatomi Kamatari's confidence suddenly weakened.

"But we can send out a patriotic team to die for our country!"

He doesn't have the courage to die himself, but he has the courage to ask his subordinates to do the same.

Emperor Kotoku couldn't help smiling, so he waved at him:

"Don't be so reserved, my dear. Tell me what you have to say."

Nakatomi Kamatari swallowed subconsciously, walked to his leader's ear and whispered softly.

As he listened, the fake smile on Emperor Kotoku's lips faded.

He is really thinking.

This evil plan might... work?
And just when the Japanese king and his ministers were plotting in secret.

Outside the palace gate, a guard was observing everything that was happening inside with a keen eye.

You keep talking, I'm listening.

(End of this chapter)