Chapter 285 Soga
In the residence of the Soga clan in Japan, the minister Soga no Umako is offering delicious food and fine clothes to several monks and nuns. Most of the monks are from Silla and Baekje, while most of the nuns are from Japan.

This is also related to the primitive beliefs of Japan, which hold that nuns and shrine maidens have the same innate ability to communicate with gods, Buddhas and humans, while men do not.

As they chanted, Soga no Umako knelt before a life-size Buddha statue and said, "All the heavenly kings and great gods who have helped and protected me have brought me benefits. I wish to worship them as gods and great gods, build temples and pagodas, and spread the Three Treasures."

Behind him, a general who was considered tall and strong in Japan shouted: "Master, I am willing to go to sea for you to fight against the Tang people!"

Soga no Umako slowly stood up: "What matters now is not the people of Tang, but the crown prince. He should be dead."

The Crown Prince was not only Soga no Umako's great-nephew but also his son-in-law, but the struggle for power made this relationship unimportant.

Soga no Umako's son Soga no Emishi was about to say something, but at this time the servant rushed in. Such a disrespect made Soga no Emishi very angry, and he stood up and slapped him loudly.

But the servant just bowed his head and apologized, then immediately said: "Your Majesty has summoned you to the palace. The Tang Dynasty's Andong Protectorate is leading a fleet as tall as a mountain to attack us!"

Soga no Umako's expression did not change: "Let's go see how the Crown Prince reacts to the news."

The servant ran out quickly, while Soga and his son were still sitting upright. After a moment, Soga no Emishi said, "Father, the eldest son of the crown prince is your grandson, my nephew. His Majesty also intends to pass the throne to him. Do we really have to choose to support other princes?"

Soga no Umako twisted the Buddhist beads in her hand and said, "Being too close is not a good thing either."

"Master, the crown prince vomited blood and died!"

Soga no Umako clasped her hands together in the direction of the Crown Prince's residence and chanted sutras for the salvation of souls.

"Let's go and meet His Majesty and arrange for a battle."

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the Tang Dynasty wins or loses the war now, because the Soga clan has lost its last restraint and no one can settle accounts with them.

Anyway, even if we really lose the war, we can push the Emperor to take the responsibility.

...............

Li Jiancheng was not worried about Japan. The gap was too big. How could a country that had just emerged from a slave society and had not yet achieved monarchical centralization integrate any strength to fight against a new overlord?
If we really have to worry about something, we should worry about natural disasters, such as typhoons, tsunamis and earthquakes. These three are more likely to be the biggest threats and obstacles to the Tang navy's conquest of Japan.

"Your Majesty, this is the pulse record of the Emperor Emeritus."

Li Jiancheng took it and had a look. He roughly understood Li Yuan's condition from the imperial physician's description. He was just like Xiao Cong in the past. He was drunk and drank all day long, allowing women to scrape his bones and hurt his foundation.

Moreover, the retired emperor interacted with some famous scholars and took Wu Shi San in total.

The imperial physician finally said: "After all, the emperor has a good foundation. If he starts recuperating now, he can still be saved.

The emperor said nothing after reading it. Since this was the choice of the retired emperor himself, he couldn't say much. Besides, dying from alcohol and sex might not be a blessing.

"Just focus on taking care of the Empress Dowager. I will order the other imperial doctors to take care of the Emperor Emeritus."

"promise,"

The emperor stayed in Jiangdu for only one month during his southern tour, and then continued southward. The ministers’ attempts to dissuade him were in vain.

It was not until the empress gave birth to her second son in Jiangdu that the emperor returned and offered sacrifices to heaven and earth outside the city of Jiangdu.

At this time, under the command of Tuli Khan, the leader of Xueyantuo Yishiyinan, the leader of Chile Bayegu, and the leader of Huihe Tongluo came to the court. It turned out that after Zhao Deyan's reform, the Turkic people were now in chaos and the people were living in poverty. Princess Yicheng and Tuli were now indulging in singing and enjoying themselves, and they had to collect heavy taxes from the tribes every month.

They could no longer bear it, but in the current situation, both Turkic tribes had nominally submitted to the Tang Dynasty. They wanted to rebel against Tuli Khan, but whether it could succeed or not was not certain, and they also had to consider the attitude of the Tang Dynasty.

The emperor entertained them with great ceremony in Jiangdu. At the same time, Tuli's envoy also arrived. After all, the tribes were making such a big and blatant move, so he was naturally very scared.

Tuli ordered his confidants to bring a thousand camels, three thousand horses and ten thousand sheep as gifts, on the pretext that the Longevity Festival was approaching.

Li Jiancheng also hosted a banquet to entertain Tuli Khan's envoys, which made it impossible for both sides to guess the emperor's intentions and who he would support.

Li Jiancheng originally wanted to support Yishiyinan first, but now he changed his mind. Since the Turks have reached this point, there is no need to send a large army to attack.

With Li Shimin and Li Jing, two elite troops could directly capture the grassland and establish a protectorate to rule it.

All we have to wait for now is for this year's grain to arrive so that we can send out troops next year.

In autumn, the emperor and the empress returned to Luoyang with the emperor and empress dowager.

After two or three years of natural disasters, the disaster has finally subsided this year. The situation in all places is good, and there is some grain stored in the granaries. The people only need tax cuts instead of relief.

In addition, Japan also continuously sent envoys to apologize. This time, there was no mention of the Eastern Emperor or the Western Emperor. It was just the small king respectfully asking for the letter from the great emperor, or the Japanese king respectfully paying homage to the Tang emperor.

But Li Jiancheng ignored it and allowed Luo Yi to mess around. He only rewarded the Liaodong generals who had made contributions, allowing them to be completely integrated into the Tang Dynasty.

Some of the people of Liaodong can be relocated to Japan. New places bring new conflicts, and over time the old grudges will disappear.

After the winter came, the Empress Dowager became seriously ill and died in less than three days.

The emperor cried bitterly, abolished the court and personally carried the coffin to the funeral. Until the New Year's Day of the seventh year of Taiping, the emperor had no interest in state affairs. Fortunately, at this time there were not many things that required the emperor to worry about every day.

In particular, the establishment of the cabinet allowed the emperor's trusted ministers to directly participate in important state affairs.

Just a few days after New Year's Day, the Khan of the Western Turkic Khanate rushed to Chang'an with his wife and children. Princess Gaomi came to pay tribute, while Tong Yehu went mainly for the grassland.

"His Majesty."

Tong Yehu had a very humble attitude because the Tang Dynasty was thriving. He and Jie Li Khan had invaded the Tang Dynasty when it was still unstable and faced internal and external troubles, but they were both defeated miserably. Not to mention now.

The situation on Tuli's side was very bad, and the same was true on his side. The powerful countries in the Western Regions wanted to unite with other countries to resist his rule, and the weak ones were actively joining the Tang Dynasty. His authority was declining.

Mourning is not an easy task, even for the emperor who has to observe days instead of months.

Li Jiancheng waved to his sister, and Li Wei stepped forward, took the child from her arms, and carefully put it into the emperor's arms.

After Dou left, Li Jiancheng felt more attached to his family, so he hugged his nephew himself. You know, apart from his own children, he had never hugged a nephew, let alone a nephew.

………………

(End of this chapter)