It is actually not difficult to deal with the Japanese state. After Goguryeo and Baekje were captured one after another, the distance from the peninsula to the Japanese state was not very far.
If the East China Sea sea route is ignored, the border between the peninsula and the Japanese country will mean that transportation will not be so difficult.
In this case, perhaps, for the Tang Dynasty, in order to deal with the Japanese country, all it lacked was the permission of the sage Li Zhi.
After returning from Honglu Temple, Li Xian returned to the East Palace. Whether it was the matter of Qiu Lie or the harm to the Japanese country, he asked Zhang Xuanze to speak. As a prince, he could just wait for the result.
Success or failure is all decided by the ministers of Honglu Temple. Whether he is rewarded or punished, it has nothing to do with him as the prince.
In fact, it is still difficult to be a prince. It will not work if you do not participate in government affairs, and it will not work if you participate too much. Li Xian knew very well that if he showed some excellence appropriately and occasionally dealt with unimportant matters, that would be called sharing the emperor's worries, so as not to arouse the emperor's fear.
If you participate too much, in his opinion, it may be a strong interest in power, which may actually arouse his vigilance.
Although Li Zhi once had thoughts of Zen status, he even had no choice but to choose Queen of Heaven as a transition for the sake of smooth political change. And after he became the prince, no effort was spared in his training.
but.
That was the original situation.
As his physical condition improves, especially when he slowly begins to adapt to going to court, Li Zhi will definitely re-examine his power.
Creatures like emperors are not born suspicious, but become suspicious after sitting on the emperor's throne. After all, the emperor is no different from a child guarding a candy box. He is just as timid and worried that his candy (throne) will be threatened.
This person, not even his own son can do it!
Li Xian returned to the East Palace, while Zhang Xuan went to the harem to seek an audience with the emperor after blackmailing Fujiwara again.
Under normal circumstances, the only time courtiers could see the emperor was in the morning. If you encounter something important and want to see the emperor, you have to go to the harem to ask for an audience.
On weekdays, only a few officials could meet with the emperor. As the foreign minister, Zhang Xuanze, who is indistinguishable from others, naturally has this qualification.
After the face-sage's request was granted, Zhang Xuan came to the Golden Palace under the guidance of the Yellow Gate.
As the emperor's palace, the Golden Palace's defensive power is naturally the strongest.
But no matter how strong it is, it's not to the point where there are several groups of soldiers in front of the door.
Seeing this scene from a distance, Zhang Xuanze couldn't help but feel a little drummed in his heart.
However, when he saw the scene in front of the palace clearly, he understood what was going on.
It turned out that the saint did not rest or deal with government affairs, but placed several targets in front of the temple for practice...
It doesn't seem right to say it's practice. After all, the saint was also good at archery back then.
However, seeing the crooked arrows on the target from a distance, it was difficult for Henry Zhang to combine this achievement with that of a saint.
Seeing Zhang Xuanze coming over, Li Zhi put down the bow and arrow in his hand and asked: "Zhang Xuanze, how are my archery skills?"
Henry Zhang thought for a while and chose to tell the truth: "Your Majesty, your archery skills now can no longer be compared with those back then. I think back then, when I was just a minor official, I was lucky enough to see you archery. You Although his archery skills at that time were not earth-shattering, he was still one of the top archery masters in the Tang Dynasty."
"Looking at your condition now, it seems that your body has not been able to recover properly. If you want your archery skills to return to their peak, I'm afraid it will take a long time of hard training."
Although Henry Zhang told the truth and sounded quite shocked, Li Zhi was not angry. Instead, he sighed and laughed at himself: "You are right, my archery skills are very difficult." It’s back to the old days.”
After saying that, sitting on the chair brought by Jiang Hao, Li Zhi smiled and said, "Aiqing has come into the palace, but you want to tell me about Qiu Lie?"
Henry Zhang nodded. In fact, even if he didn't need to say more, he believed that the saint would think of this.
Although it is not the time for Qiu Lie yet, after thinking about it, during this period, only Qiu Lie is suitable to show the power of the Tang Dynasty to foreign envoys.
However, in the past few years, the emperor had not presided over the autumn hunting due to physical discomfort.
As the king of the Tang Dynasty, he always had to show off his skills during autumn hunting. Given Li Zhi's physical condition at the time, the mere bumps on the road to the hunting ground might have killed him.
The king of a powerful country was as sick as if he was about to die. This also had an impact on the national prestige of the Tang Dynasty.
Because of this, although Li Zhi had the idea of Qiu Lie, he still wanted to check his archery skills first.
My archery skills are definitely not that good anymore. Trying to get back to the same level as before in a short period of time is simply a fantasy.
If it were a few years ago, he might have given up on the idea of autumn hunting and instead held a ceremony or something to demonstrate his military power.
But things are different now. Although he is not as good as before, the prince can do it.
At the beginning, Prince Hong, like his father, was also weak and sick, so even if he wanted to let the prince take over, there was nothing he could do. Although the current crown prince Li Xian only started learning archery after returning to Chang'an, according to Xue Na, the prince's archery skills have still made some achievements.
Maybe, it's not as good as a real sharpshooter, but it's no problem to get a good rating.
For an emperor or a prince, it is already very good if his archery skills during the Taiping Period can still reach average or above. Really top-notch archery requires talented people in the military or family members of courtiers to support the appearance. As long as the prince or emperor does not lose face, it will be fine.
Thinking of this, Li Zhi simply threw aside the bow and arrow in his hand, smiled and said to Zhang Xuan: "If I can't practice my archery, I won't be able to practice it. Zhang Qing's family, you can come to the Phoenix Gate early tomorrow. How about we go to the East Palace to see it together?"
Go to the East Palace to see it?
Zhang Xuanze immediately understood and said with a smile: "Since your Majesty is so interested, Wei Chen will accompany you to see how His Highness the Crown Prince's archery skills are. From Wei Chen's point of view, His Highness the Prince is so able to endure hardships. If you want to use arrows Technique is by no means just trivial."
Li Zhi smiled and did not answer. He is still very clear about Xue Ne's archery skills. For a prince who can be praised like this by Xue Ne, perhaps his real archery ability is a little higher than what Xue Ne said.
He, as the emperor, will not die personally, and there are many theories. When the time comes, if the autumn hunt is to be carried out, the prince will only need to show his hand.
Seeing that Zhang Xuanze still looked thoughtful after finishing his words, Li Zhi couldn't help but frowned and said: "Zhang Qing, I remember that you have always dared to speak out when it comes to admonishing me. Even with my archery skills, aren't you the same?" Did you make a blunt comment? Why do you seem a bit hesitant to speak now?"
Seeing that the saint took the initiative to ask, Zhang Xuan raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, I don't know, but the Japanese envoy has arrived today."
"Oh? The Japanese envoys have arrived? How are they? How much tribute did they send this time?"
"Reporting to your majesty, the people of Japan have paid tribute this time a total of 3,000 taels of gold and 5,000 taels of silver. What I have given to you privately is 8,000 taels of gold, 10,000 taels of silver, and a box of jade."
Hearing this number, Li Zhi nodded, although he knew very well that these gold and silver might be nothing to the Japanese people. Judging from the fact that they even bothered to give him this personal gift from Tian Khan every year, their The gold and silver reserves are indeed not low.
However, too much is not enough, the current tribute is already very good.
"Send 60% of this gold and silver to the national treasury and 40% to the inner palace. As for you Honglu Temple, you collected it yourself..."
Zhang Xuan said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the ministers have already completed the calculation, and will send 70% of it to the treasury, and the remaining three parts will be given to various places in Honglu Temple."
Seeing Zhang Xuan's attitude being firm and without any hesitation, Li Zhi knew that this guy was not hiding anything.
That's good. When Honglu Temple accepts bribes, it usually accepts bribes from foreign envoys. Instead of letting them live a hard life and face the enemy's temptation to defect to the enemy, it is better to open the door from the beginning so that they can gain access from envoys and foreign envoys. Profit from the caravan.
As long as the money bag can be bulged and the steel knife can be hung, there is no need to worry about them stealing and spying on foreign news, and there is no need for him, the emperor, to be distracted.
There must be a brave man under the heavy reward. How to arrange the spies is their business at Honglu Temple.
Seeing that the saint seemed to be in a good mood at this time, Henry Zhang still asked: "Your Majesty, I have an idea, I don't know whether to talk about it or not."
Li Zhi looked at Zhang Xuanze in surprise and asked curiously: "When did I stop listening to opinions? Tell me, what do you think?"
Zhang Xuan bowed his hands and saluted: "Your Majesty, under your order, Wei Chen has begun to teach His Highness the Crown Prince. Although His Highness the Crown Prince has to be busy with disaster relief, the lessons Wei Chen gave him are intermittent. But... .”
"However, it is precisely in this way that we can see that His Highness the Crown Prince is extraordinary. Whether it is learning or strategy, His Highness the Crown Prince has unique talents. Drawing inferences from one example is not enough to explain His Highness the Crown Prince's qualifications."
"Your Majesty should know that the more talented a person is, the more experience he needs to have enough experience to avoid going astray and stay on the right track to leave a mark in history."
"Therefore, Wei Chen boldly asks Your Majesty to allow Wei Chen to use the Japanese country as the subject to teach His Highness the art of dealing with enemy countries."
"oh?"
After listening to Zhang Xuanze's words, Li Zhi couldn't help but sit upright.
He guessed that Henry Zhang was not only talking about paying tribute to the Japanese country, but also had more important things to talk about.
However, he never imagined that Zhang Xuan would use the Japanese country to teach the prince a lesson?
Teaching the prince about the prosperity and decline of a country is truly unprecedented. not to mention....
Li Zhi just thought about it and guessed that this might not be Zhang Xuanze's original intention, but that the prince asked him through Zhang Xuanze's mouth.
Is this a clear intention to harm the Japanese country?
After thinking about it carefully, Li Zhi saw Zhang Xuanze looking nervous and could only hold out three fingers: "Zhang Qing, tell the prince that I agree to his request, but there are three conditions."
"this...."
Henry Zhang knew that it was impossible for the prince to deceive the saint with such a clumsy cover-up. After all, such an idea was too unreasonable.
"Your Majesty, please tell me that I will go to the East Palace to convey my message later."
Now that the saint has figured it out, covering it up for the prince would be the crime of deceiving the king. Henry Zhang is not so stupid. He must choose to surrender the prince at this time.
Seeing that Zhang Xuan chose to tell the truth, Li Zhi no longer pursued his question, but said: "First, it is no problem for the prince to plan the Japanese country with you, but the only people who can be used are those from Honglu Temple and the East Palace. , apart from that, I will not add anyone else to you."
After hearing the first request clearly, Henry Zhang nodded.
This is what it should be. If the news about the Tang Dynasty's plan to invade Japan spread, not to mention foreign countries, even some masters within the Tang Dynasty would find it difficult to accept it. One of the nine ministers and the crown prince of the majestic lord country actually planned a small country, and thousands of years of civilization were destroyed in one fell swoop!
"The second thing is that I will not give you any financial support. The prince will be responsible for the money spent. Have you noted it down?"
The prince has set up several very profitable properties in the East Palace, and Henry Zhang is aware of it. The state treasury is unable to make ends meet this year and is financially tight, and he knows it.
The saint's decision was appropriate. The prince's plan for the Japanese country was a dispensable matter. To put it bluntly, the saint agreed, but it gave the prince face. Under such conditions, it is natural that there will be no support from people or money.
Thinking of this, Zhang Xuan said: "I believe His Highness the Crown Prince will agree to this."
Li Zhi nodded with satisfaction and stated the third condition: "The third thing, if you and the prince succeed, I will not reward you, but if you lose, hey, I will punish you."
No merit or fault?
Regarding this point, Henry Zhang also had confidence in his heart.
Even if the plot against Japan fails, the punishment will not be that bad. After all, what could an island country do to the Tang Dynasty?
After making the three requests, Li Zhi felt a little regretful.
In fact, he should have told the prince personally about these three requirements.
This is also a kind of assessment. If the prince can really achieve something from the Japanese plan, then it means that he is capable and can at least be a good king.
if it is like this....
As soon as an astonishing thought arose, Li Zhi suppressed it again.
It may be too early to decide this matter now.
Let’s wait a little longer!
Leaving the chair and standing up, Li Zhi said to Henry Zhang: "Forget it, just think that I said it to you alone. Tomorrow, when our monarch and ministers go to the East Palace, I will tell the prince personally. If you dare to reveal it, , hum~~"
The existence of ministers who can ignore the threat of the saint, not to mention the number of five fingers, is a question.
Henry Zhang naturally agreed repeatedly.
