Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 437 Operation Jade Shattering? Alright! Let them shatter! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Naniwa-kyo, formerly the imperial palace of the Japanese Empire, is now temporarily serving as the headquarters of the Tang Dynasty's Wa Island Governor-General's Office.

After Li Chengqian took up his post, he did not rush back to Chang'an. Instead, he stayed there temporarily under the pretext of "inspecting the new land and pacifying the people".

At this moment, Pei Xingjian came to report: "Your Highness, the 'Plague Doctor' has arrived."

"Ah."

Li Chengqian nodded calmly and said, "Let him in!"

"Yes!"

Pei Xingjian responded and quickly let the 'Plague Doctor' in.

"Your subject, Sun Yuan, pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

As soon as the "Plague Doctor" entered, he bowed deeply to Li Chengqian and revealed his real name.

But then Li Chengqian laughed and said, "Dr. Sun, it's been a long time!"

"Uh,"

Sun Yuan's lips twitched, then he replied respectfully, "His Highness the Crown Prince is even more valiant than before."

"is it?"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow, then casually asked, "How's the task I asked you to do going?"

"Your Highness, all the medical school's experimental equipment and students have been transported here by the giant ship. In about a month, the Japanese island laboratory will begin human trials..."

"it is good!"

Li Chengqian simply said "okay" and didn't say much more about the matter.

But then he changed the subject, saying, "Currently, everything on the Japanese islands is calm, but beneath the surface, there should be undercurrents. Don't rush. Let the Embroidered Uniform Guard help you organize the construction of the laboratory. We can make other arrangements after these undercurrents are stirred up."

"Perhaps there will be plenty of materials for you to study at that time."

"That's wonderful. Thank you for your trust and support, Your Highness. I will do my utmost to contribute my humble efforts to the medical field of the Tang Dynasty."

A sickly smile appeared on Sun Yuan's face as he bowed deeply to Li Chengqian once again.

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Alright, you can go now. I will have someone summon you if I need anything."

"promise!"

Sun Yuan acknowledged and immediately got up and left.

Pei Xingjian, who watched him leave, said with a worried expression, "Your Highness, the plague doctor is a wicked and cruel man. He is no good person. If we use him, will we suffer a backlash?"

"Ah!"

Li Chengqian laughed, but said dismissively, "There is no absolute good or bad in the world, it's just a matter of perspective. Perhaps his research is indeed detached from worldly morality, but it depends on where it is placed. In the Tang Dynasty, it certainly wouldn't work. But here, it's making the best use of his abilities."

"But….."

"Alright, you don't need to worry about this. I have my own arrangements!"

Li Chengqian interrupted Pei Xingjian without giving him a chance to object, and then changed the subject, asking, "Have those Japanese made any moves?"

"Have!"

Pei Xingjian's spirits lifted, and he quickly reported, "Just as Your Highness predicted, they seem to be holding secret meetings recently, as if they are plotting something big."

"What big thing could it be? It's nothing more than an assassination attempt on me, the Crown Prince of the Great Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian seemed to have seen through everything all along, and then said with a half-smile, "Actually, what I was waiting for was for them to make a move, otherwise I would have left the Japanese islands long ago."

"I wonder what His Highness the Crown Prince's plans are?" Pei Xingjian asked him, puzzled.

Li Chengqian glanced at him, then stood up from his seat, looked at the scenery outside the window, and said calmly, "The Japanese are afraid of power but not of virtue. It is almost impossible to expect them to truly submit."

"It's like hitting a dog. If you hit it today, it might howl or stay far away from you. But once you start to weaken, it will bite you frantically, no matter how pitiful or how far away it was from you before."

"this…."

Upon hearing this, Pei Xingjian nodded as if he understood, and then said, "How about we kill a group of disobedient Japanese to intimidate them first? And then enslave them?"

"it's useless."

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "The inherent flaws of this nation are there, there's no hope for them. The only way to deal with them is to eradicate them completely."

"what?"

Pei Xingjian was startled and exclaimed, "But there are hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people on the Japanese islands!"

"No, how did your brain get so stupid?"

Li Chengqian frowned, then turned to look at Pei Xingjian, his gaze cold as he said:

"Does eradicating the weeds and eliminating the roots necessarily mean killing them all? Can't we use other methods, legitimately and gradually, to eliminate them? I only want to destroy this nation, not to wipe out everyone!"

"What does His Highness mean?"

Pei Xingjian couldn't help but feel his mouth go dry.

However, Li Chengqian did not intend to reveal his plan now: "What do you mean? Let's talk about it after they take action. Have you investigated the matter I asked you to investigate?"

"Your Highness is referring to the silver mine?"

"Not bad!"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "The monetary system of my Great Tang Dynasty is still not perfect enough. I plan to upgrade it."

"Your Highness, I have already ordered an investigation. There are currently five known silver mines, all of which are occupied by powerful Japanese clans..."

"A wealthy family?"

Li Chengqian sneered: "In the places I conquered, there are no powerful clans."

After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "Continue the investigation. Don't worry about them for now. I will make arrangements once the investigation is complete."

"Yes"

Pei Xingjian responded cautiously. For some reason, he had a feeling that His Highness the Crown Prince was extremely disgusted with and full of hatred towards the Japanese.

But he didn't dare ask too many questions, so he slowly withdrew.

After watching him leave, Li Chengqian walked expressionlessly to his desk, picked up a drawing he had made, which had four small stars and one large star, and murmured, "I suppose it's a token of my appreciation."

After saying this, he casually threw it into the stove, where it burned fiercely.

……

the other side.

In a secluded room of the Soga clan's villa, which had been sealed off by the Tang army, candlelight flickered, illuminating several distorted and fanatical faces.

Besides Soga Irika, who had completely lost power and whose family business had been confiscated, there were also a few princes from close relatives of the imperial family who were lucky enough not to be arrested immediately, and a few representatives of local powerful families who held private armies.

And... Fujiwara no Kamatari, with his sinister gaze, who gambles the rise and fall of his family on a final gamble.

Originally, Fujiwara no Kamatari and Soga no Iruka were extremely at odds. One was because his friend Inugami no Oda-kumi was killed by Soga no Iruka after returning from a mission to the Tang Dynasty.

The reason for this was that Inugami Odenkuwa wanted to use the power of the Tang Dynasty to eliminate Soga no Iruka by building a military base, and then support Prince Naka no Ōe, who later became Emperor Shōmei.

However, Soga Shizuka discovered the conspiracy in advance, so Soga Irishika took the initiative and eliminated Kamioda Kuchi.

Then he took on the cooperation for the military base. After all, Li Chengqian's strategy at the time was to let them fight like dogs.

Another reason was that he needed to rise to power with the help of Empress Kōgyoku, and therefore had to confront the powerful minister Soga no Iruka.

But now, his friend is dead, and his elder brother, the Grand Prince, is imprisoned.

Furthermore, with Emperor Kōgyoku also being deposed, his conflict with Soga no Iruka seemed to have subsided.

Therefore, after receiving Soga Iruka's secret letter, he resolutely came.

After all, if an emperor is gone, another can be installed, but if a country is gone, then there is nothing left.

“Gentlemen——!”

A radical prince lowered his voice, his eyes bloodshot:
"The Crown Prince of the Great Tang is acting against the will of Heaven, attempting to destroy our nation and sever our bloodline! How can we truly be slaughtered like pigs and sheep, forced to be taken to Chang'an to suffer such humiliation?"

He was the most beloved son of Emperor Kōgyoku. If Emperor Kōgyoku died and his elder brother, the eldest son, did not seize the throne, he would be the next emperor.

Therefore, he was more proactive than anyone else.

"His Highness is absolutely right!"

A powerful clansman gritted his teeth: "My family has built this place up for hundreds of years. How can we just hand it over to the Tang people? Even if we fight to the last man, we will let them know that the spirit of the Japanese samurai will never die!"

Soga Irishika seemed to have aged ten years, but his eyes burned with a final madness:

"That brat Li Chengqian is going too far! He thinks victory is assured and is therefore careless. He's right here in the palace, this is a golden opportunity!"

Fujiwara no Kamatari was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, his voice hoarse but carrying a desperate calm:

"The palace is heavily guarded, and the Tang army is formidable; a direct assault would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock. Only..."

He paused, then looked around at everyone and uttered two heavy words: "Assassination!"

"Assassination?"

Everyone's hearts trembled.

Although they shouted slogans loudly, not everyone was unafraid of death.

After all, the higher one's status, the more afraid of death one becomes.

And this was especially true for princes and powerful families.

Seemingly sensing their fear, Fujiwara no Kamatari immediately confirmed, "That's right. It's an assassination!"

After he finished speaking, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes:

"Now that things have come to this, we'd rather die a glorious death than live a shameful life. We must mobilize all our strength, including all the suicide soldiers, ninjas, and loyal samurai we can still muster."

"The number of people doesn't need to be large, but they must be absolutely elite. Taking advantage of our familiarity with the palace's secret passages, we will launch a simultaneous attack from three directions at midnight tomorrow night!"

"One force launched a feigned attack to draw the guards away, another force made a secret passage to rush straight to Li Chengqian's bedroom, and the last force created even greater chaos outside, burning grain and causing riots, making it difficult for the Tang army to attend to both ends."

"Even if we can't kill Li Chengqian on the spot, we must severely injure him!"

"Once he dies or is seriously wounded, the Tang army will be leaderless and in chaos. At that time, we may be able to take advantage of the chaos to rise up. Even if we cannot restore the country, we can make them pay a heavy price!"

This is their "Jade Shattering" plan, a mad and desperate act aimed at exacting their final revenge in the most extreme way.

"But……"

One of the powerful clansmen hesitated: "The Tang army's firearms are formidable; how can our men get close?"

Fujiwara Kamatari sneered: "Therefore, we need someone to get close to Li Chengqian, at least to let our people know his exact location and the intervals between guard shifts."

His gaze, intentionally or unintentionally, drifted towards Shizuka Soga, who had been sitting silently in the corner.

Because of her female identity and her past 'cooperation' with the Tang Dynasty, Soga Shizuka was not immediately detained. Instead, she was allowed to move around in a limited area, which to some extent became an awkward link between the Soga clan and the Tang army.

She also attended the secret meeting, her face pale and her eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Shizuka!"

Soga Iruka looked at her daughter, her tone pleading yet commanding: "You...you've met the Crown Prince of Tang before. Perhaps he still harbors some feelings for you?"

"Find a way to see him tomorrow, even if it's just for a short while, and make sure you find out exactly where he'll be staying tonight and what his guards are!"

All eyes were focused on Shizuka Soga.

Her body trembled slightly, and her nails dug deeply into her palms.

After a moment, he nodded with difficulty and replied, "Hi!"

"it is good!"

Hearing his daughter's reply, Soga no Iruka's confidence increased greatly. He then made some careful arrangements. Only when news of the Tang army's patrol came from outside did he decisively turn off the lights and quietly sneak out of the secret room.

Meanwhile, Shizuka Soga returned to her residence where she had been under house arrest.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

She sat on her cot in her room, her mind replaying her father's and those people's insane plans.

Although during the time Li Chengqian released her back to Japan, she had considered organizing Japan to fight against the Tang Dynasty.

But later, as the Tang Dynasty's military base was established in Japan, she realized that the Tang Dynasty's power far exceeded her imagination.

After all, she had already witnessed the destructive power of the Tang army's artillery in Chang'an, and had also seen Li Chengqian's cold, unquestionable eyes.

She knew all too well that the chances of this "Jade Shattering" plan succeeding were extremely slim.

More likely, Li Chengqian would drag all participants and their families into an abyss of no return, and might even lead to a more brutal purge of the Japanese by the Tang army.

Suddenly, she remembered Li Chengqian's words—

"The Tang Dynasty has no need for disloyal dogs."

Her family, her country, have lost the right to be dogs because of their infidelity.

Now, should we launch a humiliating and doomed counterattack?
Should we follow our family and these lunatics to our doom, gambling on a hope so slim it's practically nonexistent? Or...?

Struggle and fear tormented her.

Ultimately, the fear of death, the foreseeability of utter annihilation, and the faint hope that might buy them and a tiny minority of their clansmen a chance to survive outweighed their so-called loyalty to the family.

Late at night, she sent a secret letter to Pei Xingjian through a trusted maid she had planted years earlier who had luckily escaped detection by the Tang army.

The letter detailed the assassination plan for midnight the following night, including the key personnel involved, the attack route, and information on the use of secret passages.

Pei Xingjian immediately reported the secret letter to Li Chengqian.

Under the candlelight, Li Chengqian looked at the secret letter without any surprise on his face. Instead, he revealed a mocking smile: "As expected... a leopard can't change its spots."

"Fine, if they want to break, then let them break. Break them completely."

After saying this, he immediately ordered, "Pei Xingjian, proceed according to plan. Turn the tables and let them in. The guards around the sleeping quarters can be slightly relaxed, keeping the inside tight while the outside is loose."

"Furthermore, order the artillery battalion and musketeers to occupy all the high points in the palace. They are not to fire without my order."

"Also, have Su Dingfang lead men to ambush at the exit of the secret passage and the chaotic locations they plan to create. Once most of them are within the encirclement, they will act on orders."

"Yes!"

Pei Xingjian accepted the order, a bloodthirsty glint flashing in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)