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

Chapter 918 The storm is coming

The old soldier who led the group was used to big scenes. He lay in the grass and smoked his pipe peacefully, with an indifferent look on his face. "There are only more than a thousand of them. We can tell at a glance that they are Turkic scouts. They are similar to us, observing the situation and reporting on the situation."

"We have 300,000 people in Lingzhou. Can a mere 1,000 of them attack us? Just relax for a while and don't get startled."

"Oh, I understand." The young soldier blushed and shut up awkwardly.

When the Turkic army gathered in front of the camp, the defenders on the Tang city thought they were about to face a brutal siege.

The Turks set out in waves, heading southwest.

At this moment, the Xueyantuo scouts' faces changed, and the old man leading them jumped up nervously and ran to the place where the horses were stationed at the foot of the mountain: "Oh no, the Turks are going to attack us, hurry back and report."

Before the Turkic army arrived, the group left the hillside and rushed south.

After running for only an hour, they found two hundred riders standing on the road, as if they were waiting for them.

The old soldier in the lead felt his heart sink, his face was as cold as water, and he shouted: "Spread out, rush over, and deliver the information about the Turkic invasion to the leader."

This team of more than ten scouts drew their scimitars, urged their horses frantically, and scattered in all directions without hesitation.

The Turks also tacitly divided into several teams and came forward to meet them.

After a fight and chase, a close combat took place and ended in the open wilderness. The result was not unexpected. Two hundred Turks blocked the entire team of scouts.

The soldiers wiped the blood off their scimitars and asked the centurion in charge: "Captain, there are many Xueyantuo scouts. Can we stop them all?"

The centurion smiled proudly, "No problem. We have sent 1,200 men, with an average of 200 men every 50 miles. They will be used to block the Xueyantuo scouts in sections. Besides, the main cavalry of my brigade will arrive later. As long as we can delay the news a little bit."

"Let the great leader Gu Rentu's army catch the Xueyantuo by surprise, and we will surely win."

Sure enough, not long after the centurion finished speaking, a thunderous roar came from the north, and the earth began to tremble slightly. From the northern horizon, a thick black cloud appeared, like an evil ghost crawling out of the Nine Nether Hell.

Slowly devouring the pure land on earth, bit by bit.

When the war broke out in the north, Hou Junji and his party also rushed to Chang'an City.

Before he even got close to the city gate, Hou Junji felt that the capital was already in a state of panic, filled with a cold and murderous atmosphere, and the troops were frequently mobilized. From the West Inner Courtyard Camp outside Chang'an City, groups of soldiers were constantly leaving and rushing to the north overnight.

Everyone looked nervous, and there were checkpoints everywhere.

It was noon when Hou Junji arrived at the city gate and found it closed. There were heavy troops gathered outside the city. Not only had the number of soldiers guarding the city increased several times, but there were also some more objects in front of the city gate, such as chevaux de frise and deer antlers, which only appeared in wartime.

There were rows of fully armed soldiers on the city walls, patrolling back and forth constantly.

Before he approached the city gate, he was stopped by a group of soldiers for inspection. Hou Junji called on his men to hand over the official documents of the diplomatic mission.

On their way south, they had encountered many inspections and were very familiar with them.

"Your subordinate pays respect to Duke Lu!"

When the leader of the team saw the document, his eyes lit up and he quickly saluted and said, "Duke Lu, the emperor has already known about your return and has issued an order in advance. He asked us to keep an eye on you. As soon as you arrive in Chang'an, you must immediately go to the Taiji Palace to see him."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

The sergeant quickly ordered someone to open the city gate. After a while, Ma Xuanliang came out of the city. Hou Junji looked surprised and asked, "Master Ma, you are here?"

"Duke Lu, the emperor asked me to wait for you here. Please follow me into the palace!"

Ma Xuanliang explained: "Ever since the news came from the front that a million-strong Turkic army was approaching the Yellow River, Chang'an has been in a state of panic. The court has imposed a 24-hour curfew, and is only open for one hour in the morning and afternoon for the people to buy daily necessities."

"You are not allowed to wander around the streets at other times. Violators will be arrested and sent to Jingzhao Yin."

"The city has been taken over by the Imperial Guards. If I hadn't come with the imperial edict to greet him, I'm afraid Duke Lu wouldn't be able to enter the palace until the evening."

Hou Junji then nodded and had some understanding of the situation in Chang'an.

The number of Turkic troops that marched south this time is as high as 800,000, which is two or three times the number that Jie Li marched south with in the ninth year of Wude. No wonder Chang'an was facing a formidable enemy. With only the large troops in the north of Guannei Road, if the Turkic troops really marched south, they would be unstoppable no matter what.

Under the leadership of Ma Xuanliang, Hou Junji went directly into the Taiji Palace and came to the Liangyi Hall.

Hou Junjun was shocked again. Generally speaking, Li Shimin had three places for meetings, namely Taiji Hall, Liangyi Hall and Chengqing Hall. Taiji Hall was a place to show the power of the Celestial Empire. Although it was grand, it did not discuss important matters. It emphasized the importance of majesty and solemnity. Chengqing Hall was a place to discuss important but not major matters. It required efficiency and speed, but it seemed a bit frivolous.

Among them, Liangyi Hall is located in between the two. It is grand yet frivolous. It is used the least in normal times, but the events discussed there are always very important military and national affairs that require mobilizing the power of the entire ruling class.

Generally, those who are summoned here are representatives of important power factions in the court in order to unify thoughts and consolidate will.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the hall, Hou Junji discovered that all the civil and military officials of the third rank and above in the court were here, not to mention all the important royal relatives and adult princes. All those with the title of duke or above who held positions in the court were present.

This is the real power core of the Tang Dynasty, equivalent to the parliament in later generations.

Hou Junji's heart sank. He was not unfamiliar with such a scene. Around the fourth year of Zhenguan, when the Tang Dynasty was going to use troops against the Turks, this was the same lineup.

This shows that Li Shimin was mentally prepared to go to war with the Turks, which is why he mobilized high-level forces and used the whole country's strength to deal with the foreign war.

Many senior officials in the hall had serious and haggard expressions.

Such meetings have been held every day since ten days ago, after receiving military reports from the front line that the Turks were marching south in large numbers.

However, each time the scale of the event was larger than the last, with more and more people participating, and even some provincial governors and governors from nearby states and regions were present.

The Turkic army of nearly one million marched southward, almost launching a war of annihilation against the Tang Dynasty. The entire Tang Dynasty was terrified, and even the various forces that had been fighting openly and secretly over the court's policies in the past reached a consensus.

Those aristocratic families were even more unwilling to see the regime they controlled being overthrown, so they temporarily put aside their game with Li Shimin and worked together to fight the enemy.

When the ministers saw Hou Junji coming back, they were not at all surprised.

In their view, with the Turkic army approaching, Hou Junji's negotiations had failed. The Right Wise King had rejected the Tang Dynasty's goodwill. Hou Junji probably came back with the Right Wise King's declaration of war.

"I am Hou Junji, the imperial envoy to the Turks, and I have returned to report to the emperor." Under the gaze of everyone, Hou Junji walked forward from the middle aisle and bowed.

Li Shimin's face was gloomy and he asked in a depressed manner, "Jun Ji is back, get up! Tell me, did the Turks ask you to bring a declaration of war?"

"Your Majesty, I am indeed delivering a message for the Turks."

Seeing that the emperor and his ministers in the palace had misunderstood, Hou Junji quickly explained: "However, it is not a declaration of war, but the conditions for peace."

boom.
The ministers in the Liangyi Hall couldn't help but talk about it. They thought the Turks would declare war directly, but they didn't expect there would be a possibility of peace talks?
"Peace?"

Li Shimin felt relieved, but his expression became even colder: "Humph! What a quibble! If they wanted to negotiate peace, why would the Turkic thieves go south? The million-strong Turkic army at the foot of the Yin Mountains and north of the Yellow River, could it be that they are here for an outing?"

Seeing that everyone was full of doubts, Hou Junji explained, "I followed the emperor's order and went to Yujun Mountain to negotiate peace with the Turks. The two sides had a very pleasant conversation. The Right Wise King also happily understood the goodwill of the Tang Dynasty."

"In fact, the Turks' intention of sending troops this time is to attack the enemy. The Right Wise King had no intention of going south. Even the war with the Xueyantuo tribe was a coincidence. If nothing unexpected happens, they are ready to withdraw their troops."

"Who knew that at this time, an accident would happen?"

Li Shimin's breathing quickened, his expression was as sharp as lightning, and he asked anxiously: "What kind of accident would cause the Right Wise King to change his intentions?"

Fang Xuanling, who was standing at the head of the civil officials, was surprised. It seemed that the emperor was still unwilling to fight?
Although he was ready to fight to the death, he still wanted to strive for peace. From the fact that Li Shimin subconsciously changed the name of the Turkic thief to the Right Wise King, we can see Li Shimin's true intentions. His attitude was still firm, but his attitude was softening.

With everyone's concern, Hou Junji told Li Yan about how the Yinan envoy Turbuda met with Li Yan and led the Turks to move south.

As soon as he finished speaking, the emperor and his ministers were in an uproar.
Imperial Censor Xiao Yu stood up and said, "Nonsense! Yi Nan is a minister of the Tang Dynasty. How could he be in contact with the Turks? Moreover, the Xueyantuo had just been besieged by the Turks, and they suffered heavy casualties and even lost the Jinshan Grand Commandery."

"He hates the Right Wise King to the core, so why would he turn to the Turks? Duke Lu, are you deceiving us?"

The Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Lang Cen Wenben, also stepped forward and questioned, "Yes, Duke Lu, the officials of the Central Secretariat have all seen the official document submitted by Yi Nan to the court. His attitude is clear and his position is firm. He has not committed any acts of treason or rebellion, right?"

Minister of Rites Wang Gui also said: "Your Majesty, yesterday Yi Nan's memorial said that he would follow the will of the court, obey the court's dispatch, cooperate with the front-line army, and wait for Youxian to attack our Tang Dynasty, and then surprise attack Youxian King's army from behind."

"Besides, how could such confidential information be known by our Tang Dynasty envoy?"

"Perhaps Duke Lu fell into the trap set by Right Wise King 'Jiang Gan stole the book'? The war is imminent, and we must not doubt our generals because of some rumors. You know, the Xueyantuo of Yinan has 300,000 cavalry."

"He is an important force in the fight against the Turks. If Yi Nan knew that we actually doubted him at this critical moment, the morale of the army would surely collapse."

(End of this chapter)