Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Although Du He had a deep understanding of certain aspects of Japanese culture and knew many teachers who taught him, he was not familiar with Japan's geographical location.

Especially during the Tang Dynasty, Japan was not as powerful as Silla, so there is even less information about Japan.

Du He frowned and asked, "How far is Nanba from Ishikawa where we are?"

Because the warship was not big enough, they only brought 200 war horses on this trip, and the soldiers had to walk on their own two legs.

The scout quickly replied: "Report to Minister Du, Nanba and Ishikawa are less than a hundred miles apart!"

"The original emperor's old palace was in Ishikawa, but because Ishikawa was all flat and there was no strategic location to defend, they moved it to Nagagara Toyosaki Palace in Nanba."

So close!

Upon hearing the scout's answer, Du He and a group of ministers frowned.

Before Du He could speak, Yu Lizheng spoke first: "Minister Du, the King of Wei is now at war with Japan, why don't we return to the Tang Dynasty?"

"If we go there with just a few of us, we'll easily be targeted by the King of Wei's rebels!"

After Yu Lizheng finished speaking, Chu Yanfu also stood up and spoke.

"Minister Du, our purpose here is to ask the King of Japan to detain the King of Wei and the rebels, but now Japan has been defeated by the King of Wei and they have trouble protecting themselves."

"If we go to Namba now, we will probably be walking into a trap!"

"Please, Minister Du, consider the overall situation!"

After hearing what Yu Lizhengzheng and Chu Yanfu said, except for Changsun Chong, Liu Zhiren and Li Zhen who nodded in agreement, the expressions of the others did not change at all.

Du He ignored the two of them and turned his gaze to Xue Wanche, Niu Jinda and Liu Rengui and asked them.

"General Xue, General Niu, Deputy Envoy Liu, what do you think?"

Li Shimin had summoned the three of them to talk privately, so they must have come with a mission.

He wanted to order them to go back, but these three people probably wouldn't agree.

Niu Jinda said in a deep voice: "Du Shangshu, our mission has not yet been completed. How can we turn back now?"

"I suggest that we go to Nanba early tomorrow morning to find out whether the King of Wei has the upper hand or the Japanese have the upper hand!"

Xue Wanche and Liu Rengui also nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Du, we also agree to go to Namba tomorrow to find out what's going on!"

Seeing that Niu Jinda, Xue Wanche and Liu Rengui wanted to go to Nanba, Yu Lizheng, Chu Yanfu, Liu Zhiren and others turned pale.

A bunch of lunatics!

In such a chaotic time, you still want to interfere in the war between Japan and King Wei. You are so bored!

If these two gangs went crazy and attacked these 3,000 people, wouldn't they suffer heavy losses?

But they have no status at all in the current camp.

So any suggestions they made were of no use at all.

Then Du He asked the scout a few more questions, then stood up and said.

"Everyone have a good rest tonight, and go to Namba tomorrow!"

When leaving the tent, Chang Sun Chong, Yu Lizheng, Chu Yanfu and Liu Zhiren all had worried expressions on their faces.

...

The next day.

The dawn is rising.

Du He, Xue Rengui, Niu Jinda and others rode on horses, and under the guidance of scouts, they slowly headed towards Naniwa.

They passed many villages along the way and found that they were all quiet.

Soldiers were sent to investigate and found clothes and daily necessities in the house, but no Japanese civilians.

It was not until they passed a large county that they finally found a few civilians, all of whom were women of marriageable age.

Du He asked an official who understood the Japanese language to go and communicate, and he came back to report with a strange expression on his face.

"Minister Du, the Japanese woman said that the King of Wei led the rebels to massacre all the Japanese men, young and old!"

"And women of marriageable age were also taken to Nanba by the army."

"They escaped the disaster because they hid in the mountains."

Well...

The expressions of Du He, Niu Jinda, Xue Wanche and others paused.

I didn’t expect that Li Tai is such a thoughtful guy. According to his current approach, he is working towards the goal of becoming the king of the island!

Chu Yanfu muttered, "The King of Wei is too outrageous!"

"Japan was kind enough to take him in, but I didn't expect him to repay kindness with hatred. How is his behavior different from that of those irrational beasts?"

Several of his good friends also nodded in approval.

Du He glanced at them and then spoke loudly.

"Keep going!"

...

The next day.

noon.

On an unknown hill.

Du He, Xue Rengui, Xue Wanche and others squinted their eyes and watched the battle in the wilderness.

There were tens of thousands of Tang army infantry and cavalry wearing armor and holding spears. They killed the densely packed Japanese soldiers on the opposite side and forced them to retreat step by step.

The ground was already littered with the corpses of Japanese soldiers, and their blood had dyed the white ice and snow red.

Niu Jinda curled his lips and said, "I thought Japan was so powerful, but I didn't expect it to be so weak!"

Xue Wanche frowned and said, "Less than 10% of the Japanese soldiers are armored, and the weapons they hold are also varied, and their formation is a mess."

"If it weren't for the Japanese relying on their large numbers, they would have been killed by the King of Wei long ago."

Japan has not yet started the Taika Reform, and its domestic strength is still relatively backward.

In addition, Japan is an island country and has not experienced the baptism of war for thousands of years, so the people there are not very tough.

Du He watched the war below for a while, then spoke to Xue Wanche and Niu Jinda.

"General Xue, General Niu, let's go around from the back and go to Nagabe Toyosaki Palace to meet the king and ministers of Wa."

"Hand over the imperial seal, and our mission will be successfully completed."

After hearing Du He's suggestion, Xue Wanche, Niu Jinda and Liu Rengui hesitated for a moment. They looked at the battle situation for a while before nodding in agreement.

Before setting off, Du He asked Liu Rengui to lead the soldiers to Nagabe Toyosaki Palace to meet the Japanese people.

An hour later.

Liu Rengui brought over a few Japanese ministers and introduced them to Du He.

"Minister Du, these are ministers of the Wa Kingdom, Soga no Emishi, Soga no Ishikawamaro, Abenouchimaro, and Nakatomi Kamatari."

Then he pointed at the wretched-looking middle-aged man and said with contempt.

"This man is Soga no Emishi, the legitimate son of the Soga clan, and the acting minister of the Wa Kingdom."

"The current military and political power of Japan is in the hands of these father and son."

Soga no Emishi walked up to Du He, saluted respectfully, then pointed at the battle below and started chattering.

The envoy who understood the Japanese language translated.

"Minister Du, he asked if we would come to help them suppress the Tang rebels."

Du He grinned and said, "Tell this little wretched man that we came to Japan to suppress the rebels who escaped from the Tang Dynasty!"