Li Daozong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, has been a little annoying these days.

As Li Shimin's cousin, Li Daozong's military exploits can only be compared with Li Xiaogong in the clan.

He is very smart and knows that it is not a good thing to have a high merit.

Therefore, in the eleventh year of Zhenguan, after moving the Ministry of Rites and changing the title of Jiangxia County King, he began to defile himself.

Because of the blatant acceptance of money, he was impeached, and he was once held in the prison of Dali Temple for a while.

"I have the wealth of the four seas, the horses are like forests, if the traces of ruts are all over the world, I will not stop watching them, and I will take the wonders of the world, and the delicacies of the overseas countries, can't I get them? It is only for the pleasure of the people who are tired, so they do not do it. The human heart does not know contentment, but it should be tempered with righteousness. Now that the Taoist Sect has been crowned a king, he has a lot of gifts and is greedy for more than once, isn't it contemptible! ”

After Li Shimin exclaimed like this, he dismissed Li Daozong from his official position, and also cut off his fiefdom, leaving only a county king at home.

However, Li Daozong was only idle at home for two years, and before he had time to tease his grandson properly, he was reinstated in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan.

In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, he was reinstated and reinstated as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

"Aya, Silla is just a small country, just arrange a squire to receive it, you don't need to worry so much."

Li Daozong's second son, Li Jingren, saw that after he came back from his Aye, he looked sad again, and couldn't help but persuade him.

"Jingren, that's not what I said. If you are not in your position, you will not be in charge, since Your Majesty has arranged for me to be the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, I naturally can't let people pick on the Tang Dynasty in terms of etiquette. Respectful and rude, cautious and rude, brave and rude, chaotic, straight and rude. If the gentleman is devoted to his relatives, the people will prosper in benevolence, so the old will not be left behind, and the people will not steal. My Tang Dynasty is an example of a vassal country of Fanbang, so naturally I can't make jokes about etiquette. ”

As a child of the clan, Li Daozong naturally knew very well the importance of maintaining the seriousness of etiquette for the Li family to rule the Tang Dynasty.

To a certain extent, etiquette is to let everyone figure out their identity and status, and not to do anything out of line.

To put it more bluntly, if you are a courtier, just be a courtier in peace, and don't have thoughts that you shouldn't have.

"Aya, but this Silla envoy is a woman, and the ancient rites have never said how to receive them. Instead of dwelling on it there, it's better to just leave this puzzle to someone else to solve. Didn't they never see His Majesty? Then arrange it as soon as possible, and there will definitely be some instructions from the palace to the Ministry of Rites at that time. ”

Li Jingren doesn't have much ambition, he just hopes to live his life in peace.

Otherwise, as Li Daozong's second son, his presence in Chang'an City would not be so low.

Look at the silence of the journey, the love of the house......

Other people's fathers are not necessarily stronger than him, but his son's popularity is 108,000 miles behind.

"Well, that's not a solution."

……

"Sister, I heard that the prince is seeing a beautiful woman?"

In the courtyard of the Chu Palace, Wu Meiniang had a big belly and spread around with Cheng Jingwen in the Baicao Garden.

Li Kuan has to meet a lot of people every day, and under normal circumstances, Wu Meiniang will not be so gossipy.

But what I heard today is a big beauty, or a foreign woman who has not yet been married, and her status is said to be very noble, so she can't help but be vigilant.

She doesn't want to have an extra sister in the Chu Palace.

"You're talking about Silla's envoy Kim Seung-man, right? I came early this morning, and I haven't left yet, but it's a bit of a surprise. ”

Cheng Jingwen knew that Li Kuan was not the kind of person who couldn't move his feet when he saw a beautiful woman, otherwise Qing'er and Xingxiang wouldn't have been admitted to the room now.

"Yes, I heard that the king of Silla is a woman, and this Kim Seungman may be the next queen. It's no wonder that the prince has a different feeling. ”

Wu Meiniang's sour tone, Cheng Jingwen could hear it even if she was deaf.

"Poof!"

She couldn't help laughing, "Mei Niang, I have a different opinion from you." ”

"Oh? So what does my sister think? ”

Wu Meiniang didn't feel embarrassed.

The relationship between her and Cheng Jingwen is quite special, but after all, she has the same husband and is a smart person, so on the whole, the relationship is still very harmonious, and it is definitely more reliable than ordinary girlfriends.

"Silla is located between Goguryeo and Baekje, and His Majesty has always had the intention of conquering Goguryeo, and the prince has always looked at Goguryeo unpleasantly. At present, the Tang Dynasty has solved Xue Yantuo, and there are only two more capable opponents left by the Western Turks and Goguryeo. In my opinion, the imperial court was already beginning to think about going to Goguryeo. ”

Cheng Jingwen is not stupid and sweet, but she is usually very low-key and does not easily express her views on the government.

But that doesn't mean she doesn't understand.

As the mistress of the Chu Palace, she was able to see a lot of information, and she had a lot of secrets, more than ordinary ministers.

In particular, Li Kuan expressed his intention to destroy Goguryeo without concealing it in private.

Combined with today's situation, she quickly guessed Li Kuan's mind to meet Jin Shengman.

"So, when the prince sees Jin Shengman, he will discuss the matter of dealing with Goguryeo?"

Since Wu Meiniang became pregnant, she paid less attention to things outside, and she was rarely quiet.

Now that Cheng Jingwen mentioned this, with her intelligence, she naturally quickly guessed the reason for the matter.

"If I'm not mistaken, Silla sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty at this time, if not to deal with Goguryeo, but to embankment Goguryeo. It is said that there are people in the East China Sea fishing industry in Silla and other places, and many things will become clearer when you ask the prince. ”

"Well, I'm still worried about whether the prince sees a woman with a unique identity like Jin Shengman......"

"Silla has a great reputation in Chang'an City, so it's not surprising that you think so."

……

On the day Li Kuan finished seeing Jin Shengman, he was called to Daming Palace by Li Shimin.

As an envoy of Silla, her every move was naturally monitored by special people.

Li Shimin heard that Jin Shengman had gone to the Chu Palace, so he wanted to hear what she said to Li Kuan and what suggestions Li Kuan had.

"Kuan'er, so the Silla people came to Datang this time to form an alliance with us?"

"Your Majesty, the alliance is their wishful thinking, or the ideal situation they hope for, in fact, they are being oppressed by Goguryeo and Baekje, and they want to borrow the power of our Tang Dynasty to keep Silla."

"Sooner or later, I will have to crusade against Goguryeo, and it is not a bad thing to have a country like Silla to help on the peninsula."

Li Shimin's impression of Silla is still good, and the Tang Dynasty and Silla have really allied in history.

However, he probably didn't expect that Silla would become another Xue Yantuo later.

During the alliance, the Eastern Turks and Goguryeo behind the attack were attacked, and it was the Tang Dynasty that contributed the most, but it was not the Tang Dynasty that gained the most results.

After the end of the war, although Datang nominally eliminated a powerful opponent, it cultivated a new one.

A few years later, it was again stuck in a loop.

The Central Plains Dynasty has suffered countless losses in this kind of matter, but it seems that few dynasties have really learned their lesson.

"Your Majesty, in the process of attacking Goguryeo, if Silla helps, it will naturally be beneficial to the army and contain part of Goguryeo's troops."

Li Shimin's words can't be said to be problematic, and Li Kuan is not so iron-headed, he can't do anything, that's not good.

"So, you've agreed to an alliance with Silla? It can't be the reason why there is too much Silla ginseng this morning, right? ”

Li Shimin made a joke with a rare smile.

It is no secret that Jin Shengman visited Li Kuan.

Li Kuan knew that Li Shimin would definitely know, and Li Shimin also knew that Li Kuan knew that he knew.

In this case, Li Kuan still dared to accept gifts, naturally because he was not afraid that Li Shimin would have opinions.

His Majesty laughed, these old ginseng brought by the Silla envoys were much better than those sold to the Tang Dynasty by merchants. Not only do there are dozens of hundred-year-old mountain ginseng, but also several are thousand-year-old ginseng. When Weichen entered the palace, he had already given these ginseng people to the princess of Chu. ”

"You are fast enough, and you can play more than anyone else by borrowing flowers and offering Buddha."

Li Shimin felt that Li Kuan was like a loach, slippery, and it was not easy to catch him.

"Your Majesty, to attack Goguryeo, Weichen feels that it is necessary to strengthen the construction of the naval division, although the Dengzhou naval division has increased some sea ships in recent years, but the speed is too slow. Now that the production capacity of our shipbuilding workshops in Datang has increased a lot, it is time to add ships to the sailors. ”

Taking the land route from Chang'an City to Goguryeo, not to mention the long distance, the road is not easy to walk.

It's hard to walk in the snow in the winter, and it's not easy to walk in the rain in the summer.

In order to improve the efficiency of the operation as much as possible, Li Kuan felt that an amphibious attack at the same time was the most suitable plan.

At this time, Datang may not be used to attacking from the sea.

"Sailor? If you set out from Dengju, you will indeed enter the hinterland of Goguryeo very quickly, but using the naval division to attack Goguryeo can only solve the coastal problems at most, and the ship will not be able to go ashore. ”

"Your Majesty, the boat can't go ashore, but the people on the boat can go ashore. Although the transportation of horses is more troublesome, as long as there are enough sea boats, the distance from Dengju to Pyongyang and Seoul is not far, you can still give it a try. ”

"I know, let's talk about it. The day after tomorrow, I will officially summon the envoys of Silla, and you will tell me what you have learned today. ”

The expansion of the water division is not a trivial matter.

Li Shimin naturally can't make judgments just because of Li Kuan's few words.

"This Kim Seung-man is the holy bone of Silla, the cousin of Queen Kindman, and most likely the future Queen of Silla. Although she is young, she is very scheming in life, and she knows us Datang well. This time, they must have been under pressure from the alliance between Goguryeo and Baekje, and the eastern Goguryeo lord Yuangae Suwen frequently provoked on the frontier and had great intentions to annex Silla. Don't look at Silla, it's barely a strong soldier in the country, but it's still not enough compared to Goguryeo......"

It is related to Datang's future strategy on the Korean Peninsula, and Li Kuan naturally wants to give Li Shimin a detailed introduction to the information he knows.

The Intelligence Investigation Bureau of the Chu Wangfu began to lay out Seoul and other places many years ago, so naturally it is not a dry meal.

It can be said that no one in Chang'an City knows the situation on the peninsula better than Li Kuan.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and since Silla has such a deep hatred for Goguryeo, then I have fulfilled the wish of the Silla envoy. When the time comes, the army will go out and attack from multiple directions, and see how they will deal with Goguryeo. ”

Li Shimin was very excited when he thought that Goguryeo, which Yang Guang had not defeated three times, was about to be destroyed in his own hands.

"Your Majesty, Weichen has another suggestion."

"Say!"

"It's okay to form an alliance, but the covenant itself is meant to be torn apart. The day of the fall of Goguryeo was when our Tang Dynasty attacked Silla. When Wechen suggested that the imperial court formulate a plan to attack Goguryeo, Silla was also included by the way. ”

Li Shimin: ???

What's the situation?

I just received a gift from Kim Seung-man this morning, and in the afternoon, I proposed to kill Silla together?

It's also too ......

Who will dare to form an alliance with Datang in the future.

"Kuan'er, my Tang Dynasty is a state of benevolence and righteousness!"

Li Shimin looked at Li Kuan with a complicated face, although he knew in his heart that such a plan was the most beneficial to Datang, but it was a little difficult to accept.

"Your Majesty, benevolence and righteousness are for the people of the Tang Dynasty. Besides, attacking Silla is not unkind. In this battlefield, there will inevitably be some misunderstandings and conflicts, as long as you want to do it, there are always many reasons. Even if there is no reason, we can create excuses. Weichen still said that anything that is beneficial to my Datang is something that can be done. As for what will be said in the history books? Your Majesty, history is written by victors! ”

"History is written by the victors?"

When Li Shimin heard this, his eyes lit up.

At this moment, he was thinking not of Goguryeo and Silla, but of the Xuanwu Gate.

It was a knot in his heart.

Now Li Kuan's words are more comforting than any other words.

"Good! I agreed in principle to your proposal. After all, Xue Yantuo's experience is in front of him, and if he then makes a heel on Silla's side, Datang will laugh and be generous. ”

Li Shimin can sit on the throne, and naturally he is not really the kind of person who eats the ancients, otherwise there would be no changes in Xuanwumen.

"Since His Majesty has the intention to crusade against Goguryeo, Weichen feels that the cement road from Shuozhou to Youzhou will speed up. At the same time, the cement road from Youzhou to Liaodong City can also be built. ”

"The construction of the cement road from Shuozhou to Youzhou is naturally necessary. But the cement road from Youzhou to Liaodong City is of little significance? Although it can speed up the march, the cost is too high, right? ”

"No, not high at all. To bring Liaodong into the actual rule of the Tang Dynasty, this cement road was originally to be built, but now it is just a matter of advancing the construction time. ”

"Liaodong is covered with ice and snow for nearly half of the year, and it is not like being able to raise horses on the grassland, so it doesn't mean very much to actually rule, right?"

Li Shimin's point of view should represent the views of many people in Datang at this time.

Although it is said that it is the pursuit of soldiers to expand their territory, whether they actually rule or not is another matter.

"Although the winter in Liaodong is relatively long, the land there is actually very fertile, whether it is rice cultivation or other crops, the harvest is probably better than that of Guanzhong. Since it took so much effort to destroy Goguryeo, it would be a pity not to use it. Maybe in a few years, a new opponent will be born here. ”

"Think about this matter again!"

Although Li Shimin also felt that what Li Kuan said was a bit reasonable, the manpower and material resources needed to actually rule Liaodong were not trivial.

Whether the input and output are worth it, Li Shimin naturally needs to weigh it.