Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 187 Li Ji Meets the Emperor
The next morning, Li Ji entered the palace early.

After passing the Vermillion Bird Gate, he rode a pony across Chengtian Gate Street. After passing Chengtian Gate, he dismounted and walked when he reached the Liangyi Gate. He soon arrived outside the Ganlu Palace.

Li Zhi stayed in Chengxiang Palace last night. He had just gotten up and was having dinner with Liu Chong'er in the palace when he heard Li Ji asking for a meeting.

He didn't bother to eat anymore and quickly came to Ganlu Temple.

Li Ji rarely entered the palace on weekdays, and every time he did, it was for important matters, let alone entering so early.

After the formalities were over, Li Ji turned directly to Li Zhi and said, "Your Majesty, I went to Zhaoling yesterday and met Zhangsun Wuji."

Li Zhi had already heard the report from the Lingling Commander and was not surprised. He first asked Wang Fusheng to move a chair for Li Ji, and then asked, "I wonder why Lord Li went to see Uncle Yuan?"

Li Ji sighed, "Although Your Majesty hasn't blamed me for the Tubo incident, I feel guilty for wasting months of your efforts. So I'm going to ask Zhangsun Wuji about Lu Dongzan's situation."

Li Zhi's eyes flashed. He knew Changsun Wuji's abilities best. If it weren't for their relationship, he would actually like to ask Changsun Wuji for advice on many things.

"What did Uncle Yuan say?"

Li Ji then told Zhangsun Wuji about his strategy of using Queen Subi.

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "This method is worth a try. Even if we can't subdue the Suobei nobles, as long as we can alienate them from the Tibetan king, we won't suffer any loss."

Li Ji continued, "Changsun Wuji also said that Lu Dongzan would likely seek revenge after this incident, and the most likely place he would choose would be the Anxi Protectorate."

Li Zhi's expression changed slightly: "Anxi?"

Li Ji asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Li Zhi's expression was solemn, and he said in a deep voice, "Yesterday I just received a memorial from the Anxi Protectorate General Yuan Shouli. He said that the ruler and his ministers in Kucha were at odds, and that the king and the prime minister were on the verge of a war."

Li Ji leaned forward and said slowly, "If I remember correctly, the prime minister of Kucha was called Nali, and the king was called Bushibi."

Li Zhi said, "Mr. Li is right. These two are not on good terms."

Li Ji frowned and said, "That's strange. I remember that Nali had always been loyal and devoted to assisting Bushipi. Why did the two of them become estranged?"

Nali was the prime minister of the Kingdom of Kucha and was also respected as a wise prime minister. In the 22nd year of Zhenguan, he followed the Kucha King Bushi to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and defected to the Turks, but was eventually defeated by the Tang Dynasty.

After the capital of Kucha was captured, Nali still refused to give up. He secretly contacted the Turks and launched an internal and external attack.

Guo Xiaoke died in that battle.

In order to win over the people, Emperor Taizong of Tang pardoned the two men and allowed them to return to the Kingdom of Kucha.

Since then, the Kingdom of Kucha has changed from a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty to one of the four Anxi towns of the Tang Dynasty, and must obey the orders of the Anxi Protectorate.

"According to Yuan Shouli, Nali had an affair with Princess Guici, and the King of Kucha knew about it. Now the emperor and his ministers are suspicious of each other, and Yuan Shouli doesn't know how to deal with it, so he sent people to send them to Chang'an and let me make the decision." Li Zhi said slowly.

Li Ji said in a deep voice, "Something is wrong. Nali has always been known as a virtuous minister. How could he have an affair with the princess?"

Li Zhi had not taken it seriously at first, but now he realized something was wrong. His eyes flickered as he asked, "Do you suspect the Tibetans are behind this?"

Li Ji said, "The King of Kucha is cruel and unpopular. He relies entirely on the support of Nali to secure his throne. Your Majesty, please think about what you will do when they arrive in Chang'an."

Li Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "This matter is Nali's responsibility. Moreover, he is also responsible for Guo Xiaoke's death. I should probably lock him up."

Li Ji said, "If Bushipi returns alone, he will definitely not be recognized by his countrymen. If the Tibetans continue to secretly instigate, the Kingdom of Kucha will surely be in chaos!"

Li Zhi nodded.

Kucha is located in the center of Anxi Protectorate and can be regarded as the most important area of ​​Anxi Protectorate.

If the Kingdom of Kucha is in chaos, the entire Anxi Protectorate will be in chaos. If the Turks are then instigated to rebel, the Tibetan army will take advantage of the situation and march north, and the consequences will be very serious.

Li Zhi took a deep breath and said, "Fu Sheng, immediately issue an order to have the soldiers escorting the King of Kucha and Nali to take them to Suiye City. I will also pass on a secret order to Pei Xingjian."

Li Ji hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, what does Deputy Protector Pei want to do?"

Li Zhi quickly wrote an edict and handed it to Li Ji to take a look.

After reading it, Li Ji smiled and nodded.

……

Pei Xingjian stood on the city wall of the east gate of Suiye City and looked into the distance.

The city is still under construction. Since the east gate was the last to be built in the plan, construction has not started yet. The city wall appears very low, less than ten feet from the ground.

Suiye City is also known as Su Shui Ye City because it is surrounded by the Su Shui Ye River to the north.

The Sushuiye River is located to the east of Suiye City and turns south. If a caravan from the east wants to reach Suiye City, it must first cross a wooden bridge.

The first thing Pei Xingjian did after arriving in Suiye City was to rebuild a wide stone bridge next to the wooden bridge.

The stone bridge is still under construction, but once it is completed, Pei Xingjian believes that more merchants will pass through Suiye City instead of choosing Yezhi City in the south.

Although the population of Suiye City was not large, there were many Tang people, including a branch of the Longxi Li family who moved to Suiye City for unknown reasons.

After Pei Xingjian led the army to garrison Suiye City, the happiest people were the Tang people. They contributed money and manpower and actively cooperated with Pei Xingjian to develop Suiye City.

Pei Xingjian, relying on his gradually rising prestige, persuaded the kings of some countries in the Western Regions to release local Tang Dynasty slaves and settle them in Suiye City.

Most of these slaves were civilians from Tingzhou, sold to the Western Regions by the Turks. Some had come to the Western Regions with merchant caravans and, due to some unforeseen circumstances, had become slaves. Pei Xingjian welcomed all Tang people and made sure they were properly settled. Even those of mixed blood were welcome.

In short, what he wants to do most now is to increase the population of Suiye City.

There were 10,000 Tang troops stationed in Suiye City, and Pei Xingjian would carefully find wives for the bachelors in the army so that they could have children as soon as possible.

The reason why Pei Xingjian was so anxious was that he had sensed the risk of war.

The Arabs behaved very peacefully and friendly in Chang'an, and made great concessions in the agreement with the Tang Dynasty, as if to show goodwill.

However, after Pei Xingjian arrived in Suiye City, his perception of them quickly changed.

The Arab Empire was very aggressive, and they founded their country on religion. Whenever they conquered a place, they would force everyone to believe in their religion.

The King of Shi showed Pei Xingjian the Quran of the Arabs. The doctrines in it were very extreme. Their goal was to make everyone become believers of their religion, and the Tang Dynasty was certainly no exception.

It's just that they found that the Tang Dynasty was very powerful and they were not sure they could defeat it for the time being, so they showed their peace-loving side.

They don't need a reason to invade other countries. Logically speaking, such a brutal army should fall apart quickly.

However, there was no sign of division within the Arab Empire. The only dispute was religious, and there was no uprising by ordinary civilians.

This also made Pei Xingjian realize the horror of the religion of the Arab Empire.

Although the Arab Empire has not yet taken action against the small countries protected by the Tang Dynasty, Pei Xingjian believes that the day will not be long before the Tang Dynasty will inevitably take action against them.

The more prepared you are before the war comes, the greater your chances of winning.

Just as Pei Xingjian was thinking, he saw a cavalry crossing a wooden bridge in the distance and heading towards Suiye City.

This cavalry was different from other cavalry as it was escorted by the Tang army.

Pei Xingjian quickly walked down the city wall and waited outside the city gate.

Not long after, the horse team finally arrived and two people got off a carriage. They were the King of Kucha and Prime Minister Nali.

The King of Kucha was in his forties, with a large brown beard. He snorted coldly and said to Pei Xingjian, "Deputy Protector Pei, what does the Emperor mean by this? Why did he send us to Suiye City? Did he ask you to execute Nali?"

Nali said calmly, "Execute me? Without me, do you think you can still be king?"

The King of Kucha snorted and said, "I am the King of Kucha appointed by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. You are just my subject, and a cheating one at that!"

Nali said in a deep voice, "I have already said that I have not had an affair with the Queen. Why don't you believe me?"

The King of Kucha cursed, "I saw it with my own eyes. Do you still want to quibble?"

"What you saw was just a silhouette from behind. That person wasn't me..."

Pei Xingjian interrupted, "There's no need to argue, both of you. I already know everything about your affairs, and so does His Majesty. All arrangements have been made, and you will just follow his orders."

The two of them stared at each other for a while, then snorted and turned their heads away.

Pei Xingjian immediately took an army and escorted the two men to the Kingdom of Kucha.

At dusk, we finally arrived at the capital of Kucha. It was surrounded by yellow sand and was just a small earthen city.

Pei Xingjian ordered the army to stop two miles away and only allowed the King of Kucha to return to the city. He and Nali disguised themselves as attendants.

The King of Kucha said, "Deputy Protector Pei, what do you mean?"

Pei Xingjian said, "You'll understand when you return to the capital. When someone asks you about that advantage, just say you were executed by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

Although the King of Kucha did not quite understand, he was very clear that his throne was given by the Tang people and did not dare to disobey the Tang people's orders.

They quickly arrived at the foot of the city, but found the gates were closed.

The King of Kucha looked up at the city wall and shouted angrily, "I am the king. Open the city gate and let me in."

A Kucha general appeared on the city wall and shouted, "Where is Prime Minister Li?"

The King of Kucha angrily said, "He had an affair with the queen and has been executed by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!"

The Kucha general shouted, "You tyrant king, you have killed our respected Prime Minister Nali. You are no longer worthy of being our king!"

The King of Kucha was shocked and angry, "Jie Liedian, are you crazy? How dare you say such words to me?!"

The Kucha general shouted, "Soldiers, do you still recognize him as king?"

The Kucha soldiers on the city wall said one after another: "He killed Prime Minister Nali, not our king!"

The Kucha general said, "The Tang Emperor has killed Prime Minister Nali, so why should we follow him? Soldiers, follow me to Tubo. The Tubo Zamp is kind and will treat us well!"

Pei Xingjian winked at Nali.

Nali took off his hood and shouted, "Nali is here, all soldiers, capture the traitor Jie Liedian immediately!"

Jie Liedian actually had quite a few close confidants, but Nali's prestige was too high, and while the melee was still going on on the city wall, the gatekeepers had already opened the city gate.

Pei Xingjian fired a flare arrow, and the Tang army galloped over and quickly put down the rebellion in the Kingdom of Kucha.

(End of this chapter)