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

The Tang Dynasty declared war on the entire Japanese kingdom.

The surrounding vassal states responded one after another.

While the Tang Dynasty had already quickly mobilized a force and was preparing to set sail for Japan, the Japanese envoy finally returned to Japan with a message after a long journey.

The Imperial Palace of Japan.

In the two years since the two countries jointly mined gold and silver mines with the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty has occupied Tsukushi and Izumo provinces of Japan and renamed and built cities there, establishing Fukuoka and Iwami as Tang Dynasty cities.

These two years also saw Japan absorb the most culture and customs from the Tang Dynasty.

Even the former imperial palace has been renovated in many places, giving it a bit of the style of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, the constraints of a small country with a small population can only lead to a superficial imitation, merely mimicking the form of the Tang dynasty, but failing to grasp its deeper meaning.

At that moment, the messenger read the message aloud in front of all the ministers, his voice filled with despair.

Everyone present, including Emperor Jomei, had lost all color in their faces.

"You bastard! Soga Ezo, you bastard, it's all your fault! Not only have you deceived the Tang Dynasty, but you also brutally killed the head of the Mononobe clan and sent his head to the Tang Dynasty, yet you still couldn't quell my anger."

"You must go to the Tang Dynasty in person to apologize to the Crown Prince!"

Several ministers stepped forward at this moment. Among them were Japanese nobles such as the Mononobe, Nakatomi, Ōtomo, and Saeki clans, who had suffered heavy losses but had not been driven out of the power center of Japan. They all spoke out indignantly.

Many even drew their swords on the spot, looking as if they wanted to directly hand Soga no Emishi over to the Tang Dynasty.

however.

"Do you all think that the Great Tang Dynasty would still care which ant, or which few ants, offended them? Would sending my brother away, or even sending away my entire Suwa clan, quell the Great Tang's anger?"

"Stop having such cowardly and foolish ideas!"

Beside Soga Emishi, his younger brother Soga Kuramaro spoke up angrily.

They didn't hold back at all and launched into a scathing rebuke.

"The head of my Su clan of the Great Tang, or even the heads of your entire clans, or even His Majesty's head, is not what the Great Tang needs!"

"What the Great Tang needs is our land, a land where there are no people like us..."

The cold, cruel reality, like a handful of ice water, instantly drenched the hearts of everyone present.

The rage that had surged within him, fueled by fear, worry, a mix of wishful thinking and self-deception, the desire to kill Soga no Emishi, vanished in an instant.

What remained was only the oppression and despair of facing the terrifying Tang Dynasty, where even breathing seemed to be taken away by fear.

Everyone: "......"

In the dimly lit council chamber, everyone knelt and sat, breathing heavily.

"So, what should we do next? Lord Soga, I think if you didn't have a way to resolve this predicament, you wouldn't be here at the palace now, but would you be leaving by ship with all your clansmen?"

Emperor Shumei took a deep breath, his voice trembling, but he forced himself to remain calm and asked.

Soga nods, then bows to Emperor Jomei, and then bows deeply to the other ministers in front of him who wish they could tear him to pieces.

"I do have a way, but it depends on whether you dare to risk your lives!"

Iwami Castle.

The boiling, pungent-smelling molten silver was poured into a mold and then cooled to become a silver ingot.

Elite soldiers, dressed in Tang Dynasty armor, with swords at their waists and bows or muskets on their backs, were conducting their daily patrols and guard duties as always.

Cheng Chumo put down the letter from home and let out a soft breath.

His younger brother was indeed wronged. Although he had been interrogated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard several times, the boy must have been terrified, but fortunately he hadn't actually made any mistakes.

"Bang! Now throughout the entire Tang Dynasty, who doesn't know that His Highness despises these lowly Japanese slaves to the extreme? There are still people who dare to smuggle with these bastards and even sell weapons!"

His face was grim, and his gaze toward the Japanese samurai in the distance carried a hint of coldness.

"Hehe, General, how about we find a place tonight and slaughter a few Japanese slaves for fun?"

Beside him, one of Cheng Chumo's personal guards asked in a low, cold laugh.

They've done this kind of thing many times; after all, how can someone who's mining and clearing mountains not get injured?

Although the Tang Dynasty often sends medicines by supply ships, wouldn't it be better to keep these things for our own people to use when they get injured during training?

Cheng Chumo was not a soft-hearted person. He disliked the Japanese as much as he did, and after only a few milliseconds of hesitation, he coldly nodded.

night.

Cheng Chumo, accompanied by a dozen or so personal guards, dressed in armor and carrying weapons, walked along until they arrived at the rest hut where the wounded Japanese miners were staying.

Cheng Chumo walked ahead, then suddenly frowned slightly.

With a wave of his hand, more than a dozen of his men stopped in their tracks.

"No, why is there no sound?" Cheng Chumo asked in a low voice. It wasn't already midnight; it had only been an hour since it got dark.

Normally, even from just a few dozen meters away from the shack, one could faintly hear the painful cries and groans of the Japanese slaves coming from inside.

The eyes of the people around him instantly turned solemn and fierce, and they slowly drew their blades from their waists.

Without Cheng Chumo giving the order, they instantly spread out to the left and right, forming a pincer movement against each other.

As they got closer to the shack, whispers of secret conversations began to emanate from within.

"Remember, ignore whatever you see along the way. Our goal is to take the Tang army's armory directly. They have weapons there. Once we have those weapons, we can fight them..."

"Hi....."

"Wow!"

The tent was suddenly pulled open, and a dozen Japanese samurai holding sharp blades, their swords still dripping with blood, were instantly startled.

Cheng Chumo looked down and saw that the wounded Japanese soldiers on the straw mat on the ground had been cleaned up by these people.

"kill!"

Without any hesitation, Cheng Chumo instantly drew his sword and slashed it down at the head of the leader.

In an instant, the clanging of swords clashed, accompanied by the shrill screams of the Japanese slaves, echoed throughout the shantytown.

"Stab!"

In just a few moves, the warrior leader, who had been severely injured by Cheng Chumo and wounded in the back, cried out and suddenly grabbed one of his men to block Cheng Chumo's next strike.

As his subordinate was being chopped in two, he rolled out from a corner of the ripped-up shack.

"Beep!!!"

The sound of a horn rang out from his lips, quickly spreading through the quiet night.

Cheng Chumo, whose tall figure was almost identical to Cheng Yaojin's, walked out of the tent. He watched as the man in front of him blew his flute, and listened to the faint sounds of battle shouts coming from not far away.

A few drops of blood splattered from the corner of his mouth, which stretched into an exaggerated grin.

"Excellent! Could this letter from the magpie have been delivered to me today? Truly, it's a double blessing!"

The shack behind him collapsed, and a dozen or so guards, covered in blood, stood fiercely behind Cheng Chumo.

The samurai's dozen or so men were all killed in just a few rounds.

"General! Am I dreaming? Slap me! Military merits? I feel like I'm seeing military merits standing right in front of my eyes?! My God, am I seeing things?!"

A man from Guanzhong speaking with a Qin accent seemed to be drooling at this moment.

The remaining dozen or so people, looking at the pitiful samurai leader, were filled with the same fiery madness they felt when they saw a naked beauty.

Cheng Chumo laughed loudly, his laughter filled with arrogance.

"Hahahaha! It seems the Japanese are desperate and want to take us down first so they can seize our supplies and fight against our Great Tang... Damn it, it seems these bastards really think I'm just a mine guard!"

"Hahaha! Beat the drums! All the Japanese slaves in the camp may be killed!!!"

"kill!!!"