The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 832 The Crisis of the Tang Dynasty

During this process, the Turkic army did not stop and military intelligence from the front line continued to arrive.

Under the leadership of Zuo Xian Wang Shiluo Die, the Turkic army won victory after victory and made rapid progress. The Turkic army successively broke through a series of cities including Baiya City, Ci'an City, and Wugut City, and approached the core towns of Xincheng and Guonei City in the central defense line.

Hou Junji and Tang Jian were not affected by the military situation in Liaodong. After arriving in Yingzhou, they took a short rest and then split their troops into two groups. Hou Junji went to Yingzhou Prefecture to announce his intention to the governor Xue Wanshu, take over the defense, and deploy troops.

Tang Jian took a small boat across the Liao River, handed over the diplomatic documents to the Turks, and requested to meet with Jie Li.

Jie Li met Tang Jian in the big tent.
"Tang Dynasty envoy, Minister of Rites Tang Jian, pays respect to the Great Khan of the Turks!"

Tang Jian held the imperial seal in his right hand, touched his chest with his left hand, and bowed: "Tang Jian is entrusted by the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty to express his sincere greetings to the Khan, and pray that the Khan will be in good health and have long-lasting good fortune."

Tang Jian, on behalf of the Tang Dynasty, decisively recognized the status of Jie Li Great Khan and brought greetings symbolizing friendship.

Jie Li sat on the Khan's throne at the head, smiled with satisfaction, and extended his hand to greet him: "I appreciate Li Shimin's kindness."

"Tang envoy, please sit down and talk."

After Tang Jian stood up, he glanced around the tent and was a little disappointed. There were only a few followers standing nearby. There was no important leader present, let alone someone like the Right Wise King. It seemed that Jie Li was not going to show off his military power when meeting him this time.

Jie Li was mentally prepared for the envoys from the Tang Dynasty.

Although they were hostile to each other in the past, the Turks had invaded the heartland of the Tang Dynasty several times, and later the Tang Dynasty also beat the Turks into pieces. The hatred between the two sides was irreconcilable.

But times have changed. Five years have passed and the Turks and the Tang Dynasty have not had any contact or conflict. When Jie Li unified the eastern grasslands, the Tang Dynasty did not send troops to interfere. In addition, Jie Li is now old and has a more tolerant mentality.

He temporarily put aside the past grudges and had a calm conversation with the Tang Dynasty.

This is how it is between countries. Even if there is a life-and-death battle in the future, it does not affect the normal exchanges between countries when no one wants to go to war.

After all, we are a great country, not a bunch of independent men who would overturn the table when they get angry.

Originally, Jie Li thought that the Tang Dynasty would send troops to attack him without any explanation, but he did not expect that the Right Wise King's analysis was correct.

The Tang Dynasty maintained the demeanor of the so-called Celestial Empire. Even if a war was to begin, it would use courtesy before force and conduct diplomatic mediation first. If negotiations failed, it would resort to military force.

This made Jie Li feel relieved. Even if he really wanted to withdraw, it would still be in time to wait until the negotiations broke down. Moreover, he had prepared a generous gift that the Tang Dynasty could not refuse.

After sitting down, Tang Jian looked up at Jie Li.

When he saw this, his heart skipped a beat. He had just come in from outside, and the light in the tent was dim. He was slightly blind for a moment, and did not see Jie Li's appearance clearly.

In his impression, every time he saw Jie Li on a diplomatic mission, he was always majestic, with sharp eyes, an arrogant look on his face, and a burly and strong figure like a tiger. Sitting on the Khan's throne, he seemed to be overlooking the vast land.

If he disagrees with someone, he will execute them. He exudes a heroic spirit that aims to conquer the world and a tyrannical attitude that despises other powerful people.

At this moment, I realized that Jie Li had aged to this state. Compared with before, his hair and beard were all gray, his face was covered with wrinkles, his eyes were cloudy and dull, and his body was a little hunched and bent.

He sat there and looked at me with a smile on his face, like a kind old neighbor.

Tang Jian was shocked, but he flattered her calmly, "It's been many years since we last met. Your Majesty is still as majestic as ever. I am delighted to see you."

"Alas, I am old!"

Jie Li stroked his forehead and said with emotion: "Speaking of which, we are old acquaintances. We used to deal with each other frequently. Tang Jian, you look a lot older now than you were five years ago. It's rare that you are still traveling at such an old age?"

Tang Jian smiled slightly. He was indeed not young anymore. However, foreign negotiations were different from ordinary political affairs. Ordinary people could not handle them. Not only did he have to be proficient in various languages, but he also had to have rich experience in dealing with foreign leaders.

We must understand the Tang Dynasty's current attitude towards different forces, and we must also have a full understanding of the personalities, habits and ways of doing things of those in power in these forces.

All of these require long-term work experience and life experience to accumulate. It can be said that foreign affairs work becomes more popular as you age, and it is difficult to be replaced.

Dealing with foreign leaders is a delicate job. For example, if you go to Yi Nan and Bi Heli, the Tang Dynasty will send middle-aged officials with strong morale to show the sharpness and dominance of the Tang Dynasty and suppress those villains.

To deal with an "old friend" like Jie Li, and with good intentions, it is natural to need the gentle and magnanimous Tang Jian.

After Tang Jian and Jie Li exchanged pleasantries for a while, Tang Jian asked, "The Khan has started a war this time, personally leading his troops south to conquer Goguryeo, which has made the emperor and his ministers of the Tang Dynasty somewhat worried about the situation in the northeast."

"My Emperor asked me to come and ask, to what extent does the Khan intend to fight this time, and when will he withdraw his troops?"

Tang Jian didn't beat around the bush when it came to business. He asked directly about his purpose. Jie Li smiled calmly, as if he had regained some of his former dominance: "This time, I, the Khan, will march south to conquer all of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, capture their people, plunder their property, and leave no room for them."

"what?"

Tang Jian was shocked and said hurriedly: "Khan, this won't do. Silla and Baekje have been vassal states of our Tang Dynasty since ancient times. Although Goguryeo has nothing to do with our Central Plains, it is just the ambition of the Goguryeo royal family, which has nothing to do with ordinary people."

"If the Khan only wants to plunder, then we won't say much. If he wants to destroy the three kingdoms, our Tang Dynasty will never sit idly by."

After saying that, Tang Jian stood up, holding a staff in his hand, and looked at Jie Li with a serious face. His firm determination surprised Jie Li.

Then, Jie Li smiled contemptuously, took out a few letters and put them on the table: "I know that the Crown Prince of Goguryeo, Gao Hengquan, has asked for help from Chang'an, but you may not know that Gao Hengquan came to me first."

"He said that the Tang Dynasty is now caught up in internal reforms and that domestic conflicts are serious. The relationship between Li Shimin and the wealthy families in the country has become quite rigid. Some wealthy families have already found them privately, hoping that he can contact our Turks, the Yi Nan in the west, and the He Bi He Li in the north."

"The three families will unite to attack the Tang Dynasty together."

"Last year, some Han officials crossed the Gobi Desert to find us and asked us to invade the border of the Tang Dynasty. They also provided us with detailed military deployments of some border towns in Hebei for us to attack."

“I believe that Yi Nan in the west and Fu Biheli in the north will also receive similar contacts.”

"I am old now. I have been working hard to unify the eastern grasslands for the past few years. I am really tired and don't want to fight with the Tang Dynasty anymore. That's why I rejected him."

"This time we attacked Goguryeo. Firstly, we were just raiding the valley to replenish the tribe's food for the winter. Secondly, we were doing Li Shimin a favor. If it weren't for our Turkic soldiers suppressing Goguryeo this winter, Goguryeo would have joined forces with Yi Nan and Bi Heli to rebel against the Tang Dynasty."

"Humph! The Tang Dynasty is really ungrateful. Not only are you not grateful to me, the Khan, but you are also making groundless accusations. You really don't know right from wrong and are confusing right and wrong."

When Tang Jian heard that there were so many hidden stories involved, he immediately became flustered and no longer cared about maintaining the dignity of a great country.

Staring at some letters in front of Jie Li, he asked tentatively: "Khan, I wonder if I can not read those letters?"

“What’s wrong with that?”

Jie Li threw the letter to Tang Jian and said, "In fact, I also hate these traitors."

Tang Jian quickly walked forward to take it, then sat down and began to look through it.

The first letter was written by Cui Renshou, the head of the Cui family, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats. There was no overly sensitive content in the letter, just some greetings about family matters, as if he and Jie Li were old friends. He also mentioned that he hoped the two caravans would have more exchanges and take care of each other.

He also secretly mentioned that his business dealings with Yi Nan Bi Heli were going smoothly and their relationship was very harmonious.

On the surface, there was no talk of treason, but Tang Jian knew that some sensitive content would not be put into writing, but would only be spoken by the messenger himself.

Just this ordinary greeting can represent a lot of things.

The welcome and enthusiasm revealed by the ambiguity in the words were far more than just a simple greeting to protect the caravan. Even Tang Jian, an outsider, could see the meaning behind Cui Renshou's close attitude.

After a quick glance, Tang Jian's expression was already extremely solemn.

Reading further, there are the Pei and Liu families among the six major surnames in the west, the Wang, Lu and Zheng families in Shandong, the Wang, Xie and Xiao families in Jiangdong, the Zhu, Zhang, Gu and Lu families in the southeast, and the Yuan, Yuwen, Yu, Lu and Dou families in Daibei.

At a cursory glance, it is seen that representatives from various local families in the Tang Dynasty had dealings with Jie Li.

Seeing the end, Tang Jian's heart sank, and his face became as cold as water. He originally knew that the emperor's reform of officials and land would affect the interests of these aristocratic families, but after the Tang Dynasty defeated the Turks, the national strength expanded unprecedentedly, and the military was also very powerful.

Those noble families dared to be angry but not to speak out, at least they maintained superficial calm.

But Tang Jian only realized today that beneath the surface of harmony lies such a violent undercurrent, with internal and external troubles linked together. If one is not careful, the Tang Dynasty may be in full-scale chaos and erupt.

Now Tang Jian finally understood why the emperor was so cautious about Jie Li and was unwilling to start a war lightly. The current court was like sitting on the crater of a volcano, not much worse than when Emperor Yang of Sui launched three expeditions to Goguryeo.

As an old minister who had served under two dynasties and four generations of emperors, Tang Jian naturally had extraordinary knowledge. He certainly knew that Yang Guang was using the conquest of Goguryeo to weaken the aristocratic families in the country.

And now, the emperor, with the momentum of a great victory, not only took action against the aristocratic families, but also affected the interests of the landlords and powerful people. The accumulated contradictions and conflicts can be imagined. Those people were under pressure from the court and Li Shimin's military power.

It is entirely possible that they do not dare to take action domestically and secretly contact foreign enemies, thus starting a war and then repeating the events of Goguryeo.

(End of this chapter)