The next day.

Luoyang City, Luoyang Palace.

In the Hall of Eternal Life, Li Zhi returned to the bed early today, and only talked side by side with Mei Niang: "Can he make trouble with you?" ”

A big hand gently stroked Mei Niang's lower abdomen, but it made her chuckle:

"It's not fully formed yet, so where do you know what's going on?"

When Li Zhi heard this, he also smiled to himself:

"Yes, yes, I'm too anxious."

Mei Niang talked and laughed with him for a while, and said in a positive way:

"Today, there is news outside the palace, saying that Arun has found out, and the source of that batch of illegal salt is in a water shop owned by a Japanese in the west of the city.

In the afternoon, the Yu sisters went to investigate, and it didn't take long for the news to be returned. ”

Li Zhi was silent for a long time before he said lightly:

"There is also news from Aze that the shop outside the city where the Baekje secret agent camp is also sitting in some artifacts that can be obtained from the Wa Kingdom. In this way, the Wa Kingdom secretly united with Goguryeo and Baekje, intending to plot against the border of the Tang Dynasty and destroy the allied Silla, but I am afraid that it is only nine out of nine. ”

When Mei Niang heard this, she wanted to speak and stopped, but she heard Li Zhi continue to say lightly:

"At present, the three-nation alliance is in order to make my Tang Dynasty...... But it's not a good thing. ”

"Jiro doesn't seem to be willing to fight? But why? Our Datang country is at its peak, and its military strength is the same. And this battle, the reason is in my Datang, not them, why is Jiro so hesitant? ”

Li Zhi looked at her, smiled faintly, shook his head for a while, and said:

"A big country should have the wind of a big country. When faced with these small neighbors who are hostile to our country, we must first understand why they are hostile to our country.

Now Baekje Goguryeo, although it seems that there are other plans for the war of Izumi Gai Suwen and others, in fact, they are investigating deeply, but they are afraid. I'm afraid that our Datang is powerful. And what they can rely on is just a promise from our Datang.

One day, if my Datang becomes a treacherous person and attacks reflexively, they will not be able to escape the fate of destroying the country. Therefore, the people of these two countries, even the king of Baekje, Buyeofeng, had to listen to Quan Gai Suwen. Because to them, I am not a father, and I have not yet been able to convince them of my performance. - What's more, when my father was there, they were also suspicious and fearful of my Tang Dynasty, and they couldn't stop fighting. As for the Wa Kingdom...... What's the difference?

Therefore, as the lord of a great country, I should have the style of the emperor of a great country. In the face of those friends who have different political styles but are not hostile to our Datang, such as Khotan, Persia, etc., they can be tolerant and faithful, so that they can be friends with our Datang and make friends forever; In the face of those neighboring countries that are repeatedly conspiring with each other but only seeking stability, such as Silla and Tibet, they can be powerful and respectful, so that they can be allied with our Tang Dynasty and live in peace forever; In the face of those evil feudal domains who maliciously offend each other and watch the power and livelihood of our Tang Dynasty, such as Turkic and Goryeo, they can be defeated and pacified, so that they know the importance of the prestige of our Tang Dynasty and no one can invade them.

But such a means needs to be based on a belief - that is, as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, it is not necessary to have a country alone in the world - you must know that God has the virtue of tolerance, not to mention that the world is big, there are many races, and their customs are different. The emperor of a country is also a person in the end. If you are a human being, you will inevitably have your own prejudices and shackles, but you are incompetent and cannot rule all the races and people in the world. As the so-called father's words: the face of a great country is the foundation for its prestige at home and the foundation of the country.

In short, the world is so big that it is difficult for only one person to govern it completely. What's more, if you want to win the world by blindly killing by force, it will not be stable after all.

The heart of man lies in stability.

As long as you can let the people of the world live a good life in peace and security, and don't let them suffer from displacement, lack of food and clothing, and torture and harsh officials, then who will want to live a good life by themselves, but they will be enemies of the world?

His father often said that the people's will, and he often said that he was not greedy for the lord of the world, but he was respected by the world...... That's what it means. ”

Li Zhi said this big article, and his mouth was a little thirsty, so he went to get tea, took a sip, and then continued to say to Mei Niang, who was extraordinarily serious:

"Today's Wa Kingdom, Baekje, and Goguryeo conspire to commit Silla, which seems to have little important connection with my Tang Dynasty, but in fact, it involves the border of our Tang Dynasty, and it is very important, and the lords of these countries all know it. That's why no matter how much I don't want to fight and kill, no matter how much I don't want to win this battle with strong force, this battle is bound to start. ”

"But Jiro always doesn't want to kill more."

"Human life is at stake, under this throne, if there is less blood and white bones as the base, the more stable it will be. So what we have to do next is to use our strength to break its foundation-

The complicity of the Wa Kingdom with Goguryeo and Baekje was categorically impossible for the people of the world to know. As long as we pierce this layer of window paper, and then declare their selfishness to the world, naturally this battle will be won ninety percent. ”

"If you show your guilt, your own people and your neighbors will punish you for your deeds?"

Mei Niang nodded and said:

"In this way, it is not to bully others, not to rely on the weight of the country, and to attract the name of hegemony.

Okay, Najiro wants to use this private salt to break the spring and cover the foundation of Suwen? ”

"It is precisely this matter that kills two birds with one stone: one shows the conspiracy of the three kingdoms, so that the countries can know it, and lose friendship with it. cut off their future rescue path; Second, Zhaoquan Gai Suwen's momentum.

After all, it takes seven inches to fight a snake. Among the tripartite alliances of Gao, Bai, and Wa, this Quan Gai Suwen is the leader. If we cut off the seven inches of this snake's head, so that he loses the support and support of the people in his own country, it will naturally cut off his back road. And as soon as he is cut off, it will be difficult for Baekje to help Yufeng to become angry, and despicable villains like the Wa Kingdom who take advantage of the fire to rob will not become a big deal. ”

Mei Niang thought about it, but nodded and said:

"Exactly. In order to fight with the enemy, it is important to first determine the root cause. Although Quangae Suwen was a traitor, there were countless people in the Goguryeo Kingdom who were foolish and loyal to him, did not know his true face, or even regarded him as a hero. Now, if you know that he has betrayed the righteousness of the country and abandoned the will of the people, he has sold the water essence that he himself pretended to protect as a pillar of the country in order to obtain military resources...... Presumably, as soon as this happens, he will be spit on by those who worship him as a god, and it will be difficult to rely on him. ”

Li Zhi also sighed lightly and said:

"yes...... In fact, the treasures of the country were originally exchanged for military funds, and the country was not in much trouble in wartime. It's just that in recent years, this Goguryeo has been fighting in the main battle of the Quan clan, and has been fighting everywhere for many years, and although he Quan Gai Suwen is good at military and martial arts, he is not good at governing the country, so Goguryeo has long been empty of the treasury and the people are struggling to make a living.

Goguryeo is located in a narrow area and is not rich in products. Those who can be the economic things of a country are only Liaodong ginseng, the pearl of the East China Sea, and the few genera of water essence crushing. Now that my Tang Dynasty is openly fighting with him in Goguryeo, this Liaodong ginseng, the pearl of the East China Sea, etc., is already destined to become stagnant and cannot be used for the economy.

Therefore, the only thing that can be economical is that one of the salts in the country's important roads is water essence.

Quangai Suwen actually expected this earlier, so he repeatedly ordered the people of Goguryeo to take this thing privately. It's just that he shouldn't protect it openly and secretly monopolize it......

Just because he was able to exchange the water spirit fragments for military funds as much as possible, and under the pretext of protecting the people's economy, all the water essence fragments in the Goguryeo Kingdom were made domestically...... In fact, such things that go against the will of the people have already caused resentment among the people in Goguryeo. It's just that he Quangai Suwen is already as powerful as the sky in Goguryeo, and under high pressure, the people of Goguryeo dare not speak out when they are angry. ”

"The mouth of the people is more important than the ...... of Sichuan," Mei Niang sighed.

Li Zhi nodded and said lightly:

"Exactly...... Today's Quangai Suwen seems to have a stable position in other countries, but in fact it is crumbling. If the Goguryeo people knew about it again, his purpose in nationalizing the right to mine and sell water essence crushed water from the beginning was not for the sake of economic and civil gain at all, but to reserve military funds for the war against Silla that he insisted on......"

In the Hall of Eternal Life, there was silence for a long time.

After a while, Mei Niang said lightly:

"Goguryeo is already destined for destruction. But Baekje and Wa ......"

"Baekje and Silla are closely intertwined. It's a pity that Fuyufeng was short-sighted to such a point, and he abandoned his neighbors and allied himself with Goguryeo, who was ambitious by the wolf. In fact, with the ambition of Izumi Gai Suwen, he was afraid that once Silla was destroyed, Baekje, which had lost its use value, would naturally be the next Goguryeo to be eliminated.

In fact, this is not only the case in Goguryeo, but also in the Wa Kingdom. ”

Mei Niang nodded and said clearly:

"So Jiro wants to have another chance with Baekje and let Fuyu Feng choose?"

Li Zhi pondered for a long time, but shook his head:

"At the moment, I am afraid that whether it is Goguryeo or Waguo, I never planned to have a chance to survive with Buyeofeng and Baekje from the beginning...... He and Baekje, since they got on this thief ship, were doomed to die and perish. ”

Li Zhi's assertion was soon partially confirmed.

……

At the end of April of the second year of the Tang Dynasty. A richly decorated two-horse carriage slowly passed through the Luoyang City Gate and slowly headed east.

It didn't take long to get out of the city gate and walk to the remote place on the official road outside the city, the carriage stopped, jumped out of a woman with beautiful eyebrows, looked around, turned over and got on the back of a peach blossom horse in the carriage, untied the horse cover, and whispered to the car: "I'm going, my sister takes care of the mother." ”

Then he raised his hand and whipped it, and in the midst of the shouting, the horses and men neighed, and then turned over their hooves, and the dust and waves rolled eastward.

And the carriage quickly turned back to Luoyang and disappeared into the lively Luoyang City.

The conversation turned back to the woman with pretty eyebrows.

Since leaving the carriage, she has put on men's clothes, disguised as a man, and has been running non-stop along the way, successively running to seven secret posts, quickly changing seven fast horses, and galloping wildly, not long after dark that day, she rushed to a small city at the junction of Zhengzhou and Huazhou, where the name Qicheng is located (here Zhengzhou Huazhou Qicheng is the ancient name of the Tang Dynasty, corresponding to today's city...... I won't go into details).

Seeing from afar that the last group of guards were still standing in front of the city gate, preparing to close the gate and give the key, she hurried forward without stopping.

It was not until she was stopped by the guards in front of the city gate that she dismounted, walked forward quickly, and took out a golden order from her waist.

As soon as the guards saw the token in her hand, their expressions changed greatly, and they respectfully and respectfully passed the big salute, passed the pass gate, and immediately let them enter the city.

She didn't stay much in the city. Looking around left and right, I saw that it was quiet in all directions - after all, Qicheng was very small, and at this time, it was already the beginning of the curfew, and there were no outsiders except for the night singers who played the drums. So she no longer had any scruples, got on the horse and whipped her whip, and with a low shout, the dark horse trotted briskly and went straight to a small restaurant with a signboard in the west of the city.

Stopped the horse, looked left and right again, then turned over and dismounted, looked around to confirm that there was no one again, and then stepped forward and knocked on the door:

"Where's the store? People from Beijing, it is late and the curfew has risen, and I ask the owner to stay overnight. ”

With such a soft call, the door creaked and suddenly opened, revealing the face of a young man.