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

"kill!"

"Tie up all the women and men, and chop up all the old men!"

Songtsen Gampo has gone mad!

This is a bloody rumor that has recently spread across the plateau.

The highland powers such as Xiangxiong, Supi, and Nepal, which had seized a large amount of land from Tibet, hadn't even had time to mock Tibet for taking advantage of its misfortune.

Upon their return from the Tang Dynasty, they received news that left them stunned.

Songtsen Gampo ordered the urgent selection of 50,000 of the most elite Tibetan warriors from across the country, and then commanded all the former Tibetan soldiers to become herders.

They began to develop their domestic production in a frenzied and undefended manner.

At the same time, Gar Tongtsen was appointed as the Grand Minister of Tibet, responsible for the country's production and people's livelihood construction. Thonmi Sambhota was ordered as the Deputy Minister of Tibet, responsible for the entire Tibetan territory to learn Tang language and Chinese characters and to accept full Sinicization.

Furthermore, he went even further and ordered the establishment of a position called "Inviting the Gods General" in each tribe.

The people appointed were all extremely skilled at long-distance travel and had been to the Tang Dynasty.

These people lived quietly in the wilderness some distance from the tribe, and their daily work consisted of keeping an eye on the situation in the tribe.

If a tribe is attacked by any force, they will not go to its rescue.

Instead, they would split into two groups and rush to the city of Lhasa to report.

One route was to head directly to the Tang Dynasty and inform them which tribe had been wiped out by which force on the plateau...

This move left the high-ranking officials of the Nepal and Zhangzhung kingdoms, who had originally hoped to gain more benefits from Tibet, feeling utterly disgusted, as if they had swallowed a fly.

however.

While they were feeling nauseous, Songtsen Gampo had already led his army and stormed into the Harsha Empire.

And at this time.

Zheng Wuyang and his team, who were in charge of intelligence for the Harsha Dynasty as members of the Imperial Guard of the Tang Dynasty, finally received the latest orders and manpower from the Tang Dynasty.

"Your Excellency, the Commander has ordered us to henceforth obey your commands and establish a comprehensive intelligence network within the Harsha Dynasty and the Cherukchi Kingdom..."

The young Imperial Guard exuded a passionate aura that evoked complex feelings in Zheng Wuyang.

Those who were able to join the Embroidered Uniform Guard and be dispatched to such a distant foreign country to carry out imperial missions were all, without exception, talents in intelligence gathering.

However, Zheng Wuyang never expected that these people would be so young...

"How old are you this year?" Zheng Wuyang looked at the Imperial Guard in front of him. The other party was not Han Chinese, but Turkic.

"I am seventeen this year!"

Seemingly worried that Zheng Wuyang would look down on him because of his age, the Turkic youth named Lumhaye stood tall and proud.

"Rest assured, Your Excellency, I am proficient in archery and horsemanship, and have received the most rigorous training in the intelligence department of the Royal Military Academy. Whether it is intelligence gathering, assassination, or escape, I have achieved first-class results!"

"If you don't believe me, sir, you can assign me a task, and I will prove my ability!"

Hearing the other person speak fluent Tang dialect, Zheng Wuyang took a deep breath.

It has only been a few years since the Tang Dynasty subdued the Turks and incorporated the Turkic people into the Tang Dynasty's citizens.

Are there already Turks who can speak Tang language so fluently?

He looked down at the intelligence file about Rumhaye in his hand, which he needed to read and then burn.

Besides speaking Tang language and Turkic language, this kid also knows some Xianbei and Tangut languages.

Besides him, there were over a hundred other new members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had already reported to him.

Some looked like people from the Tang Dynasty, some looked like Turks, and some looked like people from Lin-yi and Jiaozhi from Lingnan...

Without a doubt, each of them exuded an aura of elite skill.

Beside him, Xuanzang looked at the order from the commander of the Tang Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard in his hand and let out a soft breath.

"Amitabha......"

"The commander has instructed us to infiltrate the Kingdom of Zhelouqi, and to pay special attention to the southern port areas. It seems that in the future, our Great Tang will be coming to this land from the sea."

"Now, Tibet and other countries on the plateau are frantically capturing slaves from the Harsha Dynasty, causing widespread panic."

"Has His Highness set his sights on the Kingdom of Zhelouqi once again?"

Xuanzang's worried expression made Lu Wenhu roll his eyes.

He touched his bald head and curled his lip in disdain.

"These lazy native monkeys are able to have such a rich and fertile land. As the saying goes, fertile land belongs to the virtuous. With His Highness the Crown Prince in our Great Tang, everyone can live a good life. This land should rightfully belong to us!"

He turned his head and looked at Zheng Wuyang.

"Third brother, things are in great chaos right now in the Harsha Dynasty, and many things can't be done without you."

"Furthermore, mobilizing the Buddhist forces here will inevitably require the help of that bald monk Xuanzang. I'll go to the Kingdom of Zhelouqi..."

Xuanzang clasped his hands together and sighed.

"Master Fuhu, you are now also the bald monk you once spoke of..."

Zheng Wuyang ignored their bickering and carefully reviewed the information of the new recruits, starting to assign personnel.

It used to be just a department within the Northern Garrison of Taiyuan Prefecture, responsible for intelligence on the Harsha Dynasty, but now it has been separated under the Crown Prince's orders.

And he, Zheng Wuyang, is now the acting commander of the Tianzhu Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He waved his hand, signaling everyone to go down and rest for a while.

He stared blankly at the promotion badge in his hand, looking dazed.

Lu Wenhu stood to the side, his face full of envy.

"If I could earn such merit, I suppose His Highness the Crown Prince would be able to pardon my father and mother?"

Zheng Wuyang didn't say anything. This sworn brother of his was just missing a screw in his head.

If the second branch of the Lu family of Fanyang was forced to move to Goguryeo, why has there been no contact with the people of the Tang Dynasty for so many years?

If we can provide the Tang Dynasty with some information about the Lu family of Fanyang, then we can make up for our mistakes.

But he had never heard of such things.

Of course, it's also possible that his official position was too far away for anyone to know.

Zheng Wuyang would not share these speculations with Lu Wenhu. Xuanzang witnessed this scene and sighed inwardly.

“Master Fuhu, if you want to go to the Kingdom of Zhelouqi, you should learn about its doctrines to avoid getting into trouble that you shouldn’t and ruining your plans.”

"I still need to study the scriptures I recently translated more."

Lu Wenhu rolled his eyes: "Get lost! Don't you dare mention those damn scriptures to me, they're giving me a headache!"

Zheng Wuyang didn't say anything. Following Lu Wenhu's suggestion, he directly arranged for him to select people to go south to the Kingdom of Zhelouqi to establish an intelligence network and to plan the secret control of the port.

The Tibetan people's slave-hunting practices were more intense and brutal than ever before.

With no worries about the future and burdened with enormous debts, Tibet had to pay at least 200 million strings of cash to the Tang Dynasty every year.

In addition, there was the compensation paid to Xiangxiong.

The fixed minimum debt payments alone amount to a staggering 215 million dollars each year.

Aside from the expenses of his military campaigns to capture slaves and the costs of governing the country, Songtsen Gampo had become a wolf and tiger driven by debt to the point of no return.

The border of the Mud Kingdom.

Standing atop the city wall, King Udaya Dewa of the Niva Kingdom watched with a grim expression as the procession entered the mountain pass through the narrow path in front of the city and headed back into Tibetan territory.

"Your Majesty, has Songtsen Gampo gone mad...? Has he attacked a major city of the Harsha Dynasty?!"

The ministers of the Mud Kingdom were dumbfounded and gasped in shock.

The slave caravan before us, chained together, numbered a terrifying seventy to eighty thousand.

In the past, Songtsen Gampo would never have dared to capture so many slaves at once, as he also had to worry about them being robbed by others.

But now.

Songtsen Gampo, mounted on his warhorse, looked at his "father-in-law" Udaya Dewa atop the city wall with a face full of contempt and a cold smile.

He said nothing, but his gesture clearly conveyed a message to the people of Nipo Kingdom.

If you've got the guts, try touching us!

Udaya Dewa: "......."

His expression was solemn and grim as he watched helplessly as the Tibetans, with a large number of slaves and plundered wealth, headed towards Tibetan territory.

But he had no choice but to grit his teeth and give the order.

"We need to increase our investment in slave capture; we need more people and weapons!"

Meanwhile, the Xiangxiong, Supi, Dongnu, Yangtong, and Dangxiang tribes, who also learned of Tibet's recent gains, were all in a panic.

They still owe the Tang Dynasty money!

If the other forces on the plateau can't repay their debts, they can simply default on their debts.

However, he owed money to the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty and also took advantage of the Tang Dynasty's weapons and military equipment for free.

Even if they were tied up by the Tang Dynasty and thrown off the highest point in the Himalayas...

Slave capture!

Slave capture!!

Slave capture!!!

At this moment, all the forces on the entire plateau went berserk.

Various armies, equipped with different weapons, marched in a mighty force into the Harsha Empire.

All of a sudden.

The northern part of the Harsha Dynasty was in chaos, and King Harsha was so angry after receiving news from various places that he fell ill and never recovered.

Minister Arunasva seized the opportunity to consolidate his power...

Everything was progressing in the direction the Tang Dynasty desired, while at the same time, a large-scale slave-hunting operation was underway in Japan.

However, this time the people who captured the slaves were neither from the Tang Dynasty nor from any other ethnic group.

It was precisely these Japanese slaves on the Japanese mainland themselves.

Fukuoka Castle.

Li Ke glanced indifferently at the severed head in the wooden box, then looked at the portrait Liu Tao had handed him.

After confirming that it was indeed the head of the head of the Sakagami clan, a small "feudal lord" in the Japanese kingdom surrounding Fukuoka.

He immediately ordered his men to take the items away.

He looked at the dozen or so figures kneeling before him, obsequious and humble.

The entire Mononobe clan, including the head of the family, came.

"Very good, you have proven your ability to be the hunting dogs of my Great Tang Dynasty, but whether you can become the loyal dogs of my Great Tang Dynasty still requires you to undergo a test."

"The expansion of Fukuoka Castle's port still requires 30,000 slaves. If you can deliver them by the end of this year, I will allow you to serve my Great Tang Dynasty from now on... I will appoint your Mononobe clan as generals under my Tang army."