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

Chapter 840: The Eye of Truth is Unreliable?

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing that I think you must pay attention to."

Facing Shiluodi's achievements on the battlefield, Hermu did not look too happy. Instead, he said worriedly, "It is Shiluodi who is using the war to eliminate your influence in the army."

"Many of the middle and senior generals who followed us in the past either defected to Shiluodi or were killed by Shiluodi in the war, and then he promoted those who were loyal to him."

"If this continues, once he conquers the Three Kingdoms of Korea, our influence in the Zuoxian King's tribe will also disappear completely?"

Li Yan gave a wry smile: "These people are just fence-sitters. They will lean towards whichever way the wind blows. Their loyalty and betrayal don't mean much. Their status is given by me."

"They haven't paid anything, so naturally they won't cherish it too much."

"Shi Luodie can be won over by offering some benefits, there is no need to go through the trouble of killing them. Those people died unjustly. If Shi Luodie gives them a hint and asks them, they will definitely be willing to be loyal to the Zuo Xian King."

Li Yan also shook his head helplessly: "Forget it, it's up to him to kill or replace him. As long as we have the upper hand, even those he promoted will still be loyal to us."

"I didn't expect that Shi Luodie, who grew up on the grassland, couldn't see this clearly. He is so obsessed with who is who. With his knowledge, he is not qualified for the job of Khan."

"If everyone was as serious as him, wouldn't everyone on the grassland be killed?"

When Li Yan despised Shi Luodie, he was also very frustrated. He had never thought that the Eye of Truth would be unreliable in this grassland.

The conclusions drawn can only be used as a reference and are not very timely.

It’s not that we can’t see the anger anymore, but it’s very common for the people on the grassland to be loyal today and betray tomorrow. Someone who is very loyal today may betray us tomorrow; and someone who betrays us today will be loyal tomorrow as long as you give him benefits.

Moreover, the aura also changed, which made Li Yan helpless.

Such loyalty and betrayal, whether trust or killing, are meaningless.

Even those spies that I have bribed are mostly of low status and serve as slaves. They are not taken seriously and no one would bother to win them over. Otherwise, they would probably be unreliable.

Maybe this is a special situation under different living environments, so Li Yan simply stopped taking it seriously.

"By the way, how did the negotiations with Khan go yesterday?"

Hermu was a Sogdian. Born into a merchant family, he firmly believed in the power of interests and agreed with this.

"The Tang envoy who came to see the Khan yesterday was the current prime minister, the Right Prime Minister Changsun Wuji."

Heermu then reported the contents of the conversation one by one, and finally said with some doubt: "In the end, when Zhangsun Wuji was about to leave, the Khan stopped him and talked for another incense stick of time, but the servants were all driven out."

"Our people didn't hear what was discussed specifically."

Hearing this, Li Yan frowned sharply. Jie Li's behavior was a bit strange!

The fact that the two parties had joined forces to divide Goguryeo was already a very secret matter. If they wanted to keep it secret, they should have cleared the area at this time, but Jie Li did not do so.

If these contents were not secrets, then why did he dismiss everyone at the last moment of separation?
Does this mean that in Jie Li's mind, the last thing to be discussed is more important than the previous Goguryeo affairs, and more confidential?

Did Jie Li want to bribe Changsun Wuji, or did Changsun Wuji and Jie Li have already colluded?

It was not uncommon for the noble families in the Central Plains to have private contacts with the grassland tribes, and some dirty transactions were also normal.

After thinking for a long time without any clue, Li Yan shook his head and was about to say something.

The messenger came to report that Jie Li summoned the Right Wise King to the Khan's tent to discuss matters.

Li Yan had almost finished his breakfast, wiped the corners of his mouth, stood up and said, "Forget it, let's keep a close eye on him. Most of the leaders and generals on the grassland are still our people. We are not afraid of him playing any tricks, right?"

After saying that, Li Yan took a few people and went to Jie Li’s tent.

After arriving at the Khan's tent and paying respects, Jie Li got straight to the point and reported yesterday's talks to Li Yan. Li Yan already knew what was going on, but he still pretended to be hearing it for the first time, nodding frequently and asking a few questions from time to time.

After he finished speaking, Jie Li smiled and said, "I didn't expect that Li Shimin would send Zhangsun Wuji here this time. Are you familiar with this person?"

Seeing Jie Li's playful expression, Li Yan was slightly startled.

Thinking of his own character, he frowned immediately, with a look of deep sorrow, and gnashed his teeth and said, "Even if this old thief turns into ashes, I will never forget him. The Xuanwu Gate Incident was planned by this man." "At that time, Li Shimin led Hou Junji and Yuchi Gong to lead 800 generals to attack Xuanwu Gate, but this man did not forget to send people to rush into the East Palace and kill Li Jiancheng's entire family, even the baby in the cradle was not spared. His meticulous mind and cruel methods are outrageous."

"If one day this thief falls into my hands, I will peel off his skin, pull out his tendons, grind his bones and scatter his ashes to relieve the hatred in my heart."

Jie Li did not comment on Li Yan's performance, but nodded slightly: "Everyone knows that Li Shimin has Fangmou and Duduan by his side, but few people know that Zhangsun Wuji is Li Shimin's most trusted confidant and think tank. In addition, he is Li Shimin's elder brother-in-law and is deeply trusted by Li Shimin."

"He is here to negotiate with us on behalf of the Tang Dynasty this time. I hope you can put aside your old grudges for now and not affect the overall situation. You are still young and you will have plenty of opportunities to seek revenge in the future."

Li Yan's face was gloomy, showing a little displeasure with Jie Li, and he said slowly: "Don't worry, Khan, I can still weigh the importance of what is important. What I want is the entire Tang Dynasty, not a Changsun Wuji."

"Well, the affairs of the Tang Dynasty should be considered in the long run. Let's first fight the battle in front of us!"

Jie Li thought of something and asked, "This time we asked for a lot of materials. The Tang Dynasty wanted to save face and didn't want to make a big fuss about it and let the world know about it. We wanted to trade in secret. But with so many materials and so many soldiers on both sides involved, how can we keep it secret?"

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Jie Li still followed the old rules and asked Li Yan for advice whenever he encountered trouble.

After five years of getting along, Li Yan has become both Jie Li's general and his chief strategist, and Li Yan has gotten used to it.

He lowered his head and thought for a while, then said calmly: "How difficult is this? Let the Tang army attack our army tomorrow and have a battle. After our army resists briefly, we pretend to be defeated and retreat a hundred miles, leaving the riverside camp and Huaiyuan City to the Tang."

"This way they can build a bridge calmly and transport all the materials and equipment to the north bank in an open and aboveboard manner. After that, we will make an agreement in advance to launch a surprise attack on the Tang army and fight another battle. Then the Tang army will feign defeat and retreat to the south bank."

"In this way, all the supplies will fall into our hands without anyone noticing, and we can hide it from the eyes of the world."

"Great, it really is a great idea."

Jie Li was full of admiration and laughed heartily, "You are worthy of being my right-hand man. You can come up with such a brilliant idea in just a moment. With the Right Wise King here, I will have no worries about not being able to recover the grasslands and restore the former glory of the Great Turkic Khaganate."

Jie Lihao was not stingy with his praise for Li Yan, and Li Yan also had a somewhat conceited and proud expression.

There is no way. The people of the grassland are straightforward and their emotions are clearly shown on their faces. If you are too serious, people will say you are a smiling tiger, insidious and cunning.

Li Yan had no choice but to make some appropriate adjustments in order to integrate with the natives.

"By the way, I mentioned something to Changsun Wuji yesterday."

After praising him for a while, Turk dismissed the guards and whispered, "When the Goguryeo issue is over, we will also return to the grasslands, and the Biheli in Mobei is the closest to us. If we want to expand next, we will definitely attack him."

"I took this opportunity to propose to Changsun Wuji that the Tang Dynasty give up the power of Hebi Heli."

"Does the Khan want to exchange the Three Kingdoms of Korea for the Mobei land?"

Li Yan showed a surprised look, thought for a moment, then gave a thumbs up and said admiringly: "The Tang Dynasty is far away from the Bibi tribe, but the land of the Three Kingdoms is close at hand. It is very cost-effective to exchange the distant land for the nearby land."

"The Khan's wisdom is truly enviable. Li Yan cannot match it."

After flattering him, Li Yan asked again, "What did Changsun Wuji say?"

Jie Li was very proud to get Li Yan's approval: "Changsun Wuji couldn't make the decision and didn't reply. He will inform Li Shimin as soon as possible. However, he didn't reject it too much. He was very open-minded and optimistic about it in his words and deeds."

"His attitude can also explain the mentality of the Tang Dynasty officials to some extent. I think Li Shimin will consider it."

Li Yan nodded silently: "Yes, Mobei is too far away from the Central Plains, and there is Monan and the Gobi Desert in between. The Tang Dynasty was too greedy and couldn't digest it after eating it. It set up several Grand Commanderies, but they only got an empty name."

"Not only have we not gained any profit in the past few years, but we have to spend a lot of money and grain every year when the grassland is damaged by disasters. It's really not worth it."

"The ways of survival in the grasslands and the Central Plains are completely different. The grasslands cannot swallow up the Central Plains, and the Central Plains can hardly conquer the grasslands. The most they can do is to gain some benefits and reap a wave of gains. Li Shimin wanted to turn the grasslands into prefectures, counties, and states of the Tang Dynasty, which was really a bit unrealistic."

Li Yan showed obvious contempt and disapproval for the actions of the Tang Dynasty's monarchs and ministers.

This was also the first time that Jie Li heard Li Yan's views on the world situation. He was happy at first, but then he felt dejected. He came to this conclusion after more than 20 years of conquest of the Tang Dynasty.

I didn’t expect that Li Yan, at such a young age, could see things so clearly.

If he had obtained a talent like Li Yan who was both civil and military a few years earlier, he might have avoided being defeated by the Tang Dynasty, right?
(End of this chapter)