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

"This Yuan Taizuo really dares to use people like that, actually letting those aristocratic families control the army, heh..."

Shougong Hall.

Li Chengqian casually tossed aside a report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard concerning the situation in Goguryeo and Silla, muttering a sneer under his breath.

Upon hearing this, Li Gang smiled faintly and spoke up.

“Your Highness, Goguryeo is in such a state of division that if Yeon Taejo doesn’t want to be swallowed up by Go Geonmu and truly solidify his reputation as a traitorous and false king of Goguryeo, then he can only rely on the Central Plains aristocratic families like the Cheonghae Choi clan and the Beomyang Lu clan who fled there.”

"It's not a matter of whether he dares to use it or not, he has no other choice..."

Yu Shinan nodded, but looked at the reports in his hand, which were sent by Prince Liang, Li Yin, regarding the current battles between Silla and Goguryeo and Baekje.

With a serious look on his face.

"These aristocratic families are indeed capable. They have used the strategy of forming alliances and counter-alliances in the Central Plains on Goguryeo and Baekje, and it has actually managed to stop the offensive of His Highness Prince Liang."

Li Chengqian didn't take it seriously.

With the Tang Dynasty's fleet, as well as the support of the firearms battalion and elite cavalry, they had the advantage.

It would be difficult for Li Yin's side to be defeated.

In any case, the purpose of sending those outstanding officers who graduated from military academies was to let them put the military strategies they had learned into practice.

"It doesn't matter. No matter how long the war goes on, it's not the people of my Great Tang who will die..."

The population of the Tang Dynasty was not large at present, and after the land reform, the people had too much farmland to cultivate, even though Goguryeo still had the fertile black soil of Liaodong.

Li Chengqian, however, was not in a hurry at all.

"Let them fight however they want. I only need to ensure that war doesn't rage within the borders of my Great Tang, that the construction of my Great Tang's railways and fleet proceeds smoothly, and that the entire world will one day belong to my Great Tang..."

Both Li Gang and Yu Shinan stroked their beards and nodded.

"Your Highness's composure is already an invincible advantage. What our Great Tang Dynasty lacks now is time... This year, many more families have welcomed new additions to their households."

"When Your Highness marries and has children, the first generation of newborns in the Zhenguan era of our Great Tang Dynasty will surely be ready to defend and expand the territory of our Great Tang..."

Loud laughter echoed through the Shougong Hall.

however.

As Li Chengqian was pondering whether to go out for a stroll or chat with Qian Yingying and the others after finishing his few tasks, he realized it was time to get things done.

Amidst a flurry of footsteps, Wang De rushed in.

"Your Highness! Tuyuhun! Urgent report from General Xue Wanche, the garrison commander of the Tuyuhun concession city!"

Li Chengqian's expression changed, and he reached out to open the urgent report.

The line of words that caught his eye made his pupils shrink slightly.

"King Murong Fuyun of Tuyuhun has died of illness! The deposed Crown Prince Murong Xiaojun is suspected of leading the Tuyuhun nobles in a desperate, all-or-nothing attack..."

"This old bastard... It's only been a few years, have I paid off all my debts yet? And he dares to die of illness..." Li Chengqian sneered, muttering to himself.

He wasn't worried at all about the "fight to the death" mentioned in the letter.

Since the first year of the Zhenguan era, when they cleverly seized the Chishui River and Dafei River from the Tuyuhun, and established Chishui City and Qinghai City there.

The financial resources invested over the past two or three years amount to at least three or four million strings of cash.

The local Tang Dynasty's horse farms, salt lakes, and other industries, as well as its policies to divide the Tuyuhun nobles and commoners, had long since alienated the Tuyuhun nobles from the lower classes.

That fool Murong Xiaojun is courting death; he wants to fight to the death.

In the end, the fish will die, and the net will be completely unharmed.

What's troubling Li Chengqian now is... what should be done about Tuyuhun in the future?

After suppressing the rebellion, Murong Shun was sent to govern the area.

This guy probably doesn't have the guts to take on this job!

So, should we just swallow it up?

Li Chengqian couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

We're short-staffed again!

Beside them stood Li Gang and Yu Shinan, who had just moments before appeared equally relaxed and self-satisfied, lamenting that the Tang Dynasty had no shortage of land, but rather of people and time.

Upon seeing this urgent military report, the two men's faces twitched instantly.

Hey!

How could that old bastard Murong Fuyun be dead?!

The two looked at each other.

With Murong Fuyun alive, the Tang Dynasty wouldn't need to invest anything in Tuyuhun except for managing Chishui City and Qinghai City. Moreover, they could collect two to three hundred thousand strings of cash in war reparations from the Tuyuhun nobles every year.

Murong Fuyun is now dead.

The Tang Dynasty not only needed to invest energy and resources in governing Tuyuhun, but its original income also became an expenditure.

This immediately put the finances of Taiyuan Prefecture, which had just become a little more comfortable, into a tight situation again, which made the two cabinet members very uncomfortable.

These are all tasks that can never be finished...

Inside the Shougong Hall, the three masters and disciples stared at each other, none of them speaking for a moment.

Wang De waited quietly to the side, not daring to say a word.

Li Chengqian pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

Is he really destined to be a hard worker?

I thought things would get better in the third year of Zhenguan, but after only a month or two of relative peace, Heaven couldn't stand it anymore and sent that old dog Murong Fuyun away.

They left her with a mess of chicken feathers from the Tuyuhun.

"Go, summon the Prince of Da Ning to me..."

When Murong Shun rushed to the Shougong Hall in a daze, his expression stiffened slightly upon seeing the document handed to him by Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian: "Your father is dead!"

Murong Shun: "......."

Li Chengqian sighed, "If only he could come back to life!"

Murong Shun: "......."

Although he no longer felt any fatherly affection for his father, Murong Fuyun, Your Highness... what you're saying sounds very offensive, doesn't it?

What you need is not for him to come back to life, but for someone who can suppress the remaining nobles of Tuyuhun, so that they can continue to live a miserable life of herding cattle and paying off the endless indemnities owed to the Tang Dynasty year after year.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Murong Shun's expression changed instantly.

What the hell!

"Thump... Your Highness, I have lived in the Central Plains since childhood, and my lifestyle and diet are already those of a true Tang person. I... I simply cannot endure the hardships of such a wild and uncivilized land as Tuyuhun..."

"Waaah, Your Highness, please consider that my daughter is still young, and there is no one else in the family who can take care of her besides me. Please don't send me to Tuyuhun. I beg you, Your Highness..."

He looked at Murong Shun, who instantly knelt on the ground, crying and begging.

At this moment, Li Chengqian truly hoped that Murong Fuyun, the "Tax Collector of the Great Tang Dynasty," could crawl out of his grave.

"Alas... Master Li, Master Yu, what should we do? Even if we are to devote our energy to governing the Tuyuhun region, is there anyone capable of doing the job?"

Li Gang and the other man had been pondering this question for quite some time.

But they had absolutely no clue.

"Your Highness, why not simply send Kong Yingda? Didn't you already intend to send him to Baikal County? The situations in the two places aren't that different..."

Li Chengqian was speechless: "Kong Yingda... he recently collapsed from exhaustion and is currently hospitalized for rest."

Yu Shinan pondered, "Then why not just let Li Xuanyun deal with it as well?"

Li Chengqian has not yet spoken out in denial.

Li Gang, who was standing to the side, had already shaken his head.

“That’s not appropriate. Although Li Xuanyun is quite capable, and he has done a good job both as the prefect of Shanzhou and as the governor of Qinghai and Chishui, he is, after all, from the Guzang Li clan.”

"If this goes on for too long, problems are bound to arise..."

Inside the Shougong Hall.

Li Chengqian himself never expected that he would encounter such an awkward predicament: the land was right in front of him, he needed it, but no one could take it over.

"Most of the remaining land of Tuyuhun is located on a plateau with a harsh climate. Moreover, the nobles of Tuyuhun must have harbored deep hatred for our Great Tang Dynasty over the years. We must send someone who can adapt to the environment and wield a knife..."

Li Chengqian murmured.

In my mind, one candidate after another began to flash rapidly through my mind.

But he rejected them all one by one.

suddenly.

"Snap! Got it!"

Li Chengqian suddenly shouted and waved to Wang De.

"Go! Summon the Duke of Du, Ashina Quli, for me!"

When Ashina Quli received the summons, in just six months, he transformed from a "plump and stout" man back into the heroic figure a leader should have. When he arrived at the Shougong Hall, his face was full of excitement and anticipation.

He had never forgotten that the Crown Prince had told him that he would be given an appointment.

Now, it has finally come for Ashina Quli to serve the Tang Dynasty to the fullest.

however.

Just as Ashina Quli had prepared his speech, ready to give His Highness the Crown Prince a thorough account of the 108 ways he had dealt with that fool, Ashina Dili, the protector of the Siye tribe.

Upon seeing the place name displayed on the appointment document in my hand.

Ashina Quli blinked in a moment of bewilderment.

Li Chengqian crossed his arms and placed them on the table, looking at the other person with a smile that was both helpless and amused.

"Duke Du, this is the current situation. Murong Fuyun is dead, and the Tuyuhun need someone who can keep an eye on things..."

Ashina Quli: "This..."

Tuyuhun?

Aside from Qinghai City and Chishui City, are the other places even fit for humans?

He spoke softly, his face filled with bitterness and helplessness.

“Your Highness, if I were to go to the Western Regions, I could acquire lands a hundred or ten times better than Tuyuhun… These worthless lands should just be abandoned.”

Li Chengqian: "......"

Damn, what does this feeling of disdain from top to bottom mean?

If Songtsen Gampo of Tibet on the plateau knew about this, he would probably be so angry that he would curse him on the spot.

Can't see it?

What gives you the right to look down on it!

If you don't like it, give it to me!

Lhasa City.

Songtsen Gampo looked extremely grim as he listened to the report from his general.

"They really said that?!"

The general lowered his head, his face filled with indignation.

“Your Majesty, not only that, the King of Zhangzhung not only demanded that we share 50% of the profits from the slave trade, but also said that he would only obey orders and not decrees.”

"They refuse to cede an inch of their territory in Xiangxiong, and all tax revenue must belong to them..."

"boom!!!"

Enraged, Songtsen Gampo smashed the gold wine cup in his hand onto the ground.

Just as he was about to say something, the general's words suddenly caused the atmosphere in the previously angry hall to freeze.

"The King of Zhangzhung also said that he wanted Princess Samaga to marry into Zhangzhung."

Songtsen Gampo: "???"

His expression was one of astonishment, as if he doubted his ears, feeling that this happiness had come too suddenly.

It even has a strong sense of fantasy.

Unable to resist asking Gardonzan beside him in a slightly trembling voice.

"Dongzan...did you hear that? That fool, the King of Xiangxiong, hasn't he provoked the Tang Dynasty?"

"Is he trying to steal the Crown Prince of Tang's woman?"

A savage grin, which gradually trembled and twisted from anger into wild ecstasy, suddenly appeared on his face.

"Go! Immediately send an envoy to the Tang Dynasty... The King of Xiangxiong is courting death and defying the might of Heaven. Our Tubo cannot tolerate such humiliation of our suzerain state! We are determined to send troops to destroy his kingdom!"

"Capture the King of Xiangxiong alive and escort him to Chang'an to atone for his sins!"