Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

The envoy from the Mononobe family of Japan hadn't even finished speaking his broken Chinese.

Then came the murderous gaze and warning from Li Ke, the "Prince of Haiping of the Celestial Dynasty".

I was so frightened that my legs trembled involuntarily.

When he entered Fukuoka Castle, he only glanced at the Fukuoka Shipyard from afar, and was already terrified by the huge warship under construction.

Now, Li Ke glanced at him with just one look.

It was so frightening that my mind went completely blank.

Beside Li Ke.

Liu Tao, a trusted subordinate, glared and shouted, "You Japanese bastards! Do you know what crime it is to covet the bloodline of the Great Tang royal family?!"

He turned his head and bowed to Li Ke.

"Your Highness, these Japanese slaves still don't seem to recognize their place. I request permission to send eight hundred men. Within half a month at most, we will turn this extremely arrogant Mononobe clan into our slaves for building our city and paving our roads!"

As soon as these words came out.

The brain needs to translate, and the Mononobe clan messenger, who was a bit slow on the uptake, hadn't quite caught on yet.

Then, after realizing what this Tang Dynasty man had actually said...

He was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he knelt on the ground and hurriedly kowtowed to apologize.

"Your Highness, the Prince of Han of the Great Tang, I absolutely do not have the audacity to overstep my bounds. I... I am acting on the orders of my patriarch, requesting that the Great Tang accept our allegiance..."

"We, the Mononobe clan, are willing to serve the Tang Dynasty! We, the Mononobe clan, are willing to be Your Highness's sharpest blade!"

Li Ke gestured for Liu Tao, the young man who wanted to achieve great things like his uncle Liu Rengui, to stand aside first.

I originally wanted to give this guy an office job.

I never imagined that dealing with so many slave-related matters lately would lead me to pick up these bandit-like traits...

He looked at the envoy from the Mononobe clan in front of him, who was even shorter than him, a maid from the city lord's mansion, when he stood up.

Even now, Japan, which doesn't have a relatively complete surname system, has all sorts of strange surnames, which has already made Li Ke look down on almost all Japanese surnames.

"I don't care what kind of family heads or feudal lords you are... Do you want to pledge allegiance? Do you want to be the blade of my Great Tang?"

"Ah!"

Li Ke sneered.

"You should at least prove that you are knives, not wooden sticks that break easily!"

Li Ke glanced to one side, where a Han King's personal guard standing on one side of the hall immediately unfurled a geomantic map of the area surrounding Fukuoka Castle that had already been surveyed.

Li Ke picked up a dart from the table.

"call out!"

"Thud!" The sound of the dart piercing the map and embedding itself in the wooden board made the envoy of the Mononobe clan tremble involuntarily.

The guards presented the geomantic map to the other party.

Li Ke said calmly, "Take down the leader here in half a month and bring him to Fukuoka Castle. Only then will your Mononobe clan be qualified to be used as a weapon by me!"

Upon hearing this, the messenger looked up.

His pupils immediately contracted.

Mr. Sakagami!

Unlike the Mononobe clan, which at most possessed considerable local power, the Mononobe clan was a surname that had been passed down from the time of the feudal lords of Wa (Japan).

Although the Sakagami clan in the Fukuoka region is only a branch, it is definitely not something that the Mononobe clan can handle.

Despair crept onto the messenger's face.

"Oh? Sakagami clan... It seems your Mononobe family is indeed having bad luck." Li Ke smiled indifferently.

The so-called strength or weakness of these families pales in comparison to the mighty dragon that crossed the sea from the Tang Dynasty.

It doesn't count as anything.

They are nothing more than strong and weak ants.

"I'm only giving you half a month. After half a month... if you can't bring their leader to Fukuoka Castle, our Tang army will annihilate them, and then... it will be your turn!"

They left the other party no room for negotiation whatsoever.

Li Ke simply waved his hand.

Immediately, guards stepped forward and threw the other person, along with the young lady of the Mononobe clan whose portrait looked like a ghost, out.

Given the current barbaric and backward state of affairs in Japan.

A woman who is sent away like this is bound to have a bad ending.

but......

Li Ke glanced indifferently at the geomantic map that his personal guards had rolled up again, but which was now riddled with holes.

"Burn that picture and get a new one."

"Yes!"

Construction of Fukuoka Castle has been underway for more than six months.

Li Ke stood atop a wooden building in the city lord's mansion, overlooking the surrounding city.

Looking around, one sees Japanese laborers busy working and building houses everywhere. The vast majority of these people were once minor lords or members of families around Fukuoka Castle.

He was directly arrested by Li Ke and became the cheapest slave here.

"Your Highness, another group of craftsmen from Dengzhou who are willing to work in Fukuoka will arrive in two days at most. At that time, the construction speed of the port, shipyard and city will be much faster."

"However, no real estate developers are still willing to come..."

Liu Tao held the documents and reported on his work.

Li Ke shook his head.

"The country is currently experiencing a period of vigorous development. People have more job opportunities and are earning more money. Every household is gradually having the chance to build new houses. Only a crazy real estate developer would cross the sea to build houses in this barren land..."

He was holding up a monocular telescope.

Looking around at the construction sites that are underway throughout Fukuoka Castle.

In sight, there were countless Japanese slaves being whipped by the Tang Dynasty overseers.

however.

Having been in charge of a portion of the power of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he already knew his elder brother's attitude towards these Japanese dwarfs. Seeing these scenes, he felt no ripples in his heart whatsoever.

Speak calmly.

"Since no real estate developers are willing to do it, we'll have to do it ourselves... Our slave-catching teams have rested up enough, it's time for them to go out and work again."

He observed the construction progress in the city for a while, then put down his binoculars.

Slowly descend the stairs.

"I will be returning to Chang'an this Mid-Autumn Festival. There are some things I need to discuss with my elder brother. I will be leaving the Fukuoka matter to you."

“The Prince of Lu happens to be in Chang’an recently. When I go back this time, I can borrow some manpower from him.”

"Once all the Japanese slaves in this country are dead, this land will be quite good after it is salvaged."

He walked downstairs, seemingly remembering something.

Has the Prince of Liang sent any letters recently?

Liu Tao shook his head.

"His Highness Prince Liang must be busy dealing with the wars between Goguryeo and Baekje lately..."

"His Highness Prince Liang of the Great Tang Dynasty has arrived!"

Silla capital, Tang army camp.

A loud shout rang out in broken Tang language from the officer in charge of guarding the camp gate.

moment.

With all their equipment in place, the sentries stood tall and straight, raising their hands in salute.

He was shouting slogans with a strange accent.

"Loyalty! Orange!"

In the carriage.

Lee Eun remained calm, not even glancing at these sentries, who would be considered elite troops in Silla.

As the carriage entered the camp, Li Yin got off the carriage with a clearly displeased expression.

"Loyalty! Orange!"

"This humble general pays his respects to Your Highness, Prince Liang!"

Li Yin waved his hand, his expression grim.

"What happened? I heard you suffered a defeat at the front?! I gave you so much support, and you still managed to lose?!"

"Did you learn drinking, gambling, and whoring at the Royal Military Academy?!"

Li Yin's furious curses erupted in the military conference room.

Commander Jing Junhong hurriedly waved his hand to explain.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, it wasn't exactly a defeat. It's just that the people we were supposed to capture were rescued by a cavalry force that suddenly appeared..."

Yi Yin turned his head and looked at the two generals on Silla's side.

Wang Xuance, and Xue Rengui.

The two immediately straightened their backs and raised their heads.

"Your Highness, it was my dereliction of duty. In my command at the time, I overlooked the possibility that the enemy's reinforcements might arrive. I have nothing to say, please punish me!"

Despite his resentment, Xue Rengui was just as strict with himself as Prince Li Yin of Liang.

They had already treated this imperfect victory as their defeat.

Li Yin sneered: "I want to hear the details of what happened back then!"

Then, Wang Xuance, Xue Rengui, and the others recounted the whole story in detail.

A month ago, through intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they learned that Yeon Gaesomun, the son of Yeon Taejo of Goguryeo, was preparing to lead an army and planned to infiltrate Silla from a remote place on the border.

They launched a campaign to destroy Silla, a kingdom whose internal structure was still unstable.

Wang Xuance and his men had already planned to capture Yeon Gaesomun and his elite force of over three thousand Goguryeo soldiers, but unexpectedly, a Goguryeo cavalry unit suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"You mean, the leader speaks the official language of our Great Tang Dynasty?"

Li Yin frowned and interrupted, asking a question.

Wang Xuance nodded.

“They’re from the Cui family of Qinghe!” a general who was originally a military academy officer said.

"I've met him before. He's the second young master of the third branch of the Cui family in Qinghe, named Cui Guangshou. He previously served as a military commander in a certain area of ​​Hedong Province..."

"Now, the Choi clan of Cheongha, and all those traitors who fled to Goguryeo, have been allowed by Yeon Taejo to lead troops?!"

"Ahhhh!!!"

A piercing scream rang out from a residence in Ansil Castle, Goguryeo.

Anxious Goguryeo language could be heard constantly coming from inside the room.

Every now and then, someone would come running out in a panic, carrying a basin full of blood.

"Your Majesty, it is my son's incompetence that prevented us from arriving sooner; otherwise, the general would not have suffered such injuries..."

Cui Minshi said with a guilty look on his face.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Taizuo, whose aged face was full of worry, could only sigh and shake his head.

“Patriarch Cui, this is not your fault... Su Wen was too reckless, leading his troops to such a dangerous place without even waiting for my orders... If it weren't for your timely rescue, he would not have come back.”

At this point, he patted the shoulder of the young general next to Cui Minshi with admiration in his eyes.

"As expected of the Cui family head, who comes from a prestigious family in the Central Plains, there are many outstanding talents in the family. This general is very brave."

He pondered for a moment.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and he asked in a voice that only they could hear.

"Master Cui, if I were to put you in command of an army to fight against those Tang generals from Silla... could you defeat them?"