Chapter 686: Two countries come to envoy

After returning from Dayun Temple, Li Qing'an received a report from his personal soldiers that the envoys from Bohai and Silla countries arrived and were waiting for him to receive him.

This news surprised Li Qingan. He immediately ordered: "Please wait for the two envoys in the Grand Governor's Office, and I will arrive immediately."

The Grand Governor's Office refers to the Grand Governor's Office in Yangzhou, located in Shugang, Yangzhou. It is nominally the highest military commander in Yangzhou. It is generally led by the prince. The original Grand Governor of Yangzhou was Li Cong, the King of Qing. After Li Cong died, he was taken over by Prince Yong. Li Lin. At the beginning of the year, Li Lin was wiped out. Now the Grand Governor of Yangzhou is replaced by Li Qing'an, but he is only the nominal military commander.

The actual military commander in Yangzhou was the Jiangdu Tuan Training Commissioner, and Li Baozhen served as the commander of Yangzhou. The Grand Governor of Yangzhou was basically just a symbol. Despite this, the Grand Governor of Yangzhou still existed and was the palace of Li Qing'an's eastern tour this time.

When Li Qing'an took Mingzhu back to the Grand Governor's Office in a carriage, the two envoys had been waiting for a long time.

"Mingzhu, you go and rest for a while, and we will have lunch together later."

Seeing that Mingzhu was not in good spirits, Li Qingan remained silent all the way. He knew her thoughts and remembered her wish in front of the Bodhisattva. He couldn't help but feel extremely pity for her. He hugged her in his arms with love, kissed her gently on her forehead, and said softly in her ear: "Go and have a good rest, my brother will not let you down."

Mingzhu's whole body shook, and her eyes suddenly lit up. She slowly raised her head and looked at Li Qing'an's tender and infinite gaze. Her eyes gradually became a little wet. She didn't believe what she heard. Could it be that the Bodhisattva appeared?

"Brother!"

"Silly girl, don't cry, the personal soldiers are listening!" Li Qingan whispered to her, "I thought I was bullying you."

Mingzhu leaned on Li Qing'an's chest. She bit her lip desperately and nodded, "Brother, I won't cry!"

But his voice was already choked, and Li Qingan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and sighed: "Silly girl! After so many years, don't you understand your heart? Didn't I deny the name of that old monk today?"

Thinking of Zen Master Daoyun calling himself a wife, Mingzhu felt a hot face, and she turned around shyly, but she felt like she had a lot of honey in her heart, "Brother, go and meet the guests quickly, the matter is important."

"Okay, I'm going, you go back to your room to rest first."

Li Qing'an got off the carriage first. When Li Qing'an left, Mingzhu suddenly lay weakly on the carpet. She hugged the cushion tightly, buried her face in the cushion, biting her lips desperately. She wanted to cry, but she wanted to laugh loudly. Tears were everywhere in her eyes, but a bright smile appeared on her face, with a cute dimples rippling, like a fragrant lily that had just bloomed.

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Li Qing'an walked quickly to the hall, not thinking about Mingzhu for the time being, but was thinking in his heart why the Bohai Kingdom sent envoys? He had decided to send troops to Bohai Kingdom, and the army had already set off. At this time, the envoys from Bohai Kingdom and Silla Kingdom suddenly arrived, which made him very confused. Could it be that Bohai County Prince Da Qinmao repented and no longer welcomed him?

The reason why Li Qing'an sent troops to the Bohai Kingdom was based on the agreement reached by him and the Bohai Prince Daqinmao when he was in Chang'an last time. The Tang Dynasty agreed to send troops to support the Bohai Kingdom in a crisis, but the strength and time of troops were decided by the Tang Dynasty, and the Bohai Kingdom would all bear the food and supplies of the Tang army. If necessary, the Tang Dynasty could also rent a port to garrison troops in the Bohai Kingdom. Daqinmao fully agreed on these, and the two sides also signed an official memorandum.

Li Qing'an thought about it and immediately realized that it was not that he did not welcome the Tang army, but that the situation in the Bohai Kingdom was extremely critical. There was also Silla, whose relationship with the Bohai Kingdom was in a state of cold lips and teeth, should have also encountered a crisis.

There were three people sitting in the hall of the Grand Governor's Office, one of which was a Han Chinese. This person was Wei Ruqun, who escorted Prince Dayingjun to escape back to Bohai Kingdom. He was no longer the military doctor who used to sell herbs for a few cents of money. He is now the Minister of Revenue of the Bohai Kingdom. Bohai Kingdom uses Chinese as the official language, and Wei Ruqun was not affected at all. His greatest hope now is to bring his wife and children to Bohai Kingdom to enjoy their happiness.

Wei Ruqun was only the deputy envoy, and the commander was Dachengqing, the younger brother of the King of Bohai Kingdom. He was also the right prime minister of Bohai Kingdom. Bohai Kingdom completely imitated the Tang Dynasty to implement the three provinces and six ministries system. It was not only an independent country, but also a vassal of the Tang Dynasty. Bohai Kingdom was called Hulunzhou in the Tang Dynasty, and the king was also the governor of Hulunzhou. After the king ascended the throne, he had to obtain the title of the Tang Dynasty to be officially called king, otherwise he could only be called a power-ministering state, and he had to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty every year, which was actually the same as the countries in the Western Regions.

Last year, the Bohai King Da Qinmao secretly went to Chang'an and reached an agreement to send troops with Li Qing'an. However, this agreement was strongly opposed by the Bohai Kingdom. The key was one of them. The Bohai Kingdom would allow the Tang Dynasty to lease ports indefinitely and allow the Tang army to station troops in the port. This undoubtedly violated the independence of the Bohai Kingdom and would make the Bohai Kingdom subject to the Tang Dynasty, including the King Da Qinmao, a little regretful.

Right Prime Minister Da Chengqing's opposition was the most intense, which made this agreement not officially passed in the Bohai Sea for a long time and could not be called the Bohai State's national agreement.

But the critical situation changed the fate of this agreement. The Bohai Kingdom had already obtained the exact news. An Lushan, Khitan and Xi generals joined forces to attack the Bohai Kingdom, which made the Bohai Kingdom panic. It was their only hope. Instead of destruction of its country, it would be better to let the Tang army station troops. Dachengqing, the right prime minister who was the most opposed to the Tang army station, became a strong supporter of this agreement. Under his promotion, the Bohai Kingdom reached a consensus and officially passed the agreement.

There is another person in the main hall, Jin Liangxiang, the special envoy of Silla Kingdom. He is also a Silla nobleman and is appointed as the prime minister. Silla Kingdom and Bohai Kingdom have always been enemies of the world. The two families have been fighting for many years, especially the previous generation. The hatred between the Bohai King Dawuyi and Silla King Jingde was extremely deep, and there was almost no possibility of reconciliation.

But after Dawuyi's death, his son Daqinmao succeeded to the throne, and the relationship between Bohai and Silla began to show signs of easing. Although there was no friendly exchanges, at least there was no war. At the beginning of this year, King Jingde of Silla also passed away. His eight-year-old son, King Huigong, ascended the throne, was regent by the empress dowager. It was under the promotion of the empress dowager Silla that Bohai and Silla had reconciliation, and the two sides began trade exchanges, allowing the people to pass through freely.

This time, the alliance between An Lushan, Khitan and Xi generals also caused great threat to Silla. After the three families destroyed the Bohai Kingdom, the next step would be Silla. The common enemy and common destiny brought Bohai and Silla together. They decided to unite the armies of the two countries to resist the invasion of An Lushan and Khitan, but their strength was still insufficient, so the two countries sent special envoys to the Tang Dynasty for help.

They took a boat to get ashore in Yangzhou. It was a coincidence that Li Qing'an was in Yangzhou, which was simply the favor of God.

The three of them sat in the lobby and were anxiously waiting for Li Qing'an's arrival. They didn't know that Li Qing'an had sent a large army to the north by boat. This was the absolute secret of the Tang army, and even the Yangzhou government did not know.

"His Royal Highness Zhao is here!"

With the shouts of the guards, the three of them stood up at the same time. An officer in his early thirties walked in from outside. They didn't know Li Qing'an, but they knew that this was the de facto supreme ruler of the Tang Dynasty, King Li Qing'an of Zhao.

The three of them knelt down and saluted at the same time, "Da Chengqing, the special envoy of the Bohai Kingdom, and Wei Ruqun, deputy envoy, met His Highness, King Zhao!"

"Sila's Special Envoy Kim Liang-seong meets His Highness Zhao!"

Li Qingan smiled and helped them up, "Three special envoys worked hard all the way, please get up quickly!"

Li Qing'an had already looked at the envoys' list, and the envoys were all senior officials from Bohai and Silla. His eyes quickly glanced at Wei Ruqun. He had seen this name in Ji Sheng's information. This man escorted Da Yingjun back to Bohai, but he did not expect to become the Minister of Revenue who passed by Bohai. This man was a key figure given to the Tang Dynasty by God.

"Three special envoys, please sit down!"

Li Qing'an asked them to sit down, and the soldiers served tea to everyone again. Li Qing'an picked up the teacup and smiled and asked Dachengqing: "Is the Bohai County Prince good now?"

"Report to Your Highness, the prince is very good. Before I leave, the prince specially prepared gifts for Your Highness, and the prince also prepared gifts for Princess Zhao and the little prince."

The personal soldiers of the gift had already been accepted. Dachengqing put a gift list on the table. Li Qing'an looked at it and it was all like gold and jade treasures. He smiled and said, "Thank you, the prince and the princess, I will accept the gift!"

Li Qing'an said lightly to Silla's special envoy, Jin Liangxiang, "I heard that the new king ascended the throne, why didn't he send envoys to the Tang Dynasty?"

Like Bohai, Silla is also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Silla is also the governor of Jilinzhou in the Tang Dynasty. King Silla served as the governor of Jilinzhou, paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty, accepted the title of the Tang Dynasty, and accepted the title of the Tang Dynasty. The old king passed away and the new king ascended the throne. Silla did not send envoys to the Tang Dynasty in time, which made Tang Ting and Li Qingan a little dissatisfied.

Jin Liangxiang hurriedly explained: "The new king was young and was regent from the empress dowager. Some nobles in the country were dissatisfied. We had just quelled the rebellion, so the empress dowager sent me to the Tang Dynasty. One was to ask for help from the Tang Dynasty, and the other was to formally request the Tang Dynasty to enthrone the new king."

Li Qing'an nodded, he barely accepted the reason for domestic rebellion, and he turned to Dachengqing again, "How is An Lushan's situation?"

Speaking of the serious matter, Da Chengqing's expression became a little nervous. He straightened his body, took out a map from his carry-on luggage, and spread it on the table, "Your Highness, An Lushan's army is currently gathered in Liucheng, Yingzhou. From what we know, An Lushan still has 70,000 remaining troops, but he recruited soldiers in Yingzhou and Andong Protectorate. It is said that he wants to recruit 100,000 troops, Khitan sends 70,000 troops, Xi sends 30,000 troops, a total of 200,000 troops

At the latest autumn, they will launch a full-scale attack on the Bohai Sea. Our Bohai Kingdom has only 80,000 troops, plus Silla 70,000, and a total of 150,000 troops. In terms of weapons and equipment, we are not as good as An Lushan's Yan army. In terms of cavalry, we are far inferior to Khitan and Xi. In this battle, there is a high possibility that we will fail. If we fail, the Bohai Kingdom will destroy the country. Therefore, the Bohai Sea begs the Tang Dynasty to send troops to support us."

Jin Liangxiang, the envoy of Silla next to him, also begged: "Silla has been dependent on the Tang Dynasty since a hundred years ago. It is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. It has been respectful to the sect leader for a hundred years and has been paying tribute. I hope that the Tang Dynasty can help Silla when it is alive and dies. Silla will be heartfelt and surrender forever!"

Li Qingan pondered for a moment, and then said to Dachengqing: "Last year, Bohai King Daqinmao came to Chang'an secretly. I signed a memorandum of mutual assistance with him. At that time, Bohai King also signed it, but he said that it would take the approval of his own court to form a formal contract. I don't know how he considered this memorandum and whether it became a letter of nationality?"

Dachengqing was about to speak, and Li Qingan waved his hand and interrupted him, "If this memorandum is passed, there is no need for you to beg. You can directly request the Tang Dynasty to send troops according to the treaty. How about it, have you brought this letter of nationality?"

"Bringed!"

Dachengqing quickly took out a roll of yellow silk scroll. This one was a letter to the Tang Dynasty. He respectfully presented it to Li Qing'an with both hands, "Please accept it!"

Li Qing'an took the scroll and opened it carefully. It was indeed the memorandum he signed with Da Qinmao. It has now become a formal decree, with the king's seal and the seal of the Secretariat, which was determined in the form of a letter of the country.

Li Qing'an was more concerned about the third article: The Tang Dynasty could rent the port of Bohai Kingdom indefinitely, allow the Tang Dynasty to build a city, and station troops at the same time. At that time, his oral agreement with Da Qinmao was no more than 30,000, and the food and grass needed were supplied by the Bohai Kingdom. This was indeed the case in the letter of state, and the Bohai Kingdom clearly defined the number of troops, no more than 30,000.

But Li Qing'an did not find which port Bohai Kingdom was willing to rent to the Tang Dynasty. The letter of state did not say it. Li Qing'an smiled and said, "I remember talking about the lease of land with Bohai King at that time. We discussed two plans. One was the Wozhou Port in Nanjing Prefecture of Bohai Kingdom. He allowed the Tang army to build a city. This is a simple plan: the other plan is a land exchange plan, which is also a city in Wozhou Port. However, after the Khitan army was wiped out, the Tang Dynasty could hand over Khitan land to the Bohai Kingdom. In exchange, the Bohai Kingdom also allocated the northern Lizhou, Huazhou and Anzhou to the Tang Dynasty. As an enclave of the Tang Dynasty in the Bohai Kingdom, I wonder which of these two plans is planned to choose?"

Vaud is today's Hamxing Port in North Korea. It is now the Nanjing Prefecture of the Bohai Kingdom. Li Qing'an hopes to get this port to provide for the Tang army's transit supply, but what he really wants is Huazhou and Lizhou in the Bohai Kingdom, which is today's Vladivostok in Russia and China's former Vladivostok in China.

He knew that the Bohai Kingdom had always coveted the land of the Khitan and could be used as a ranch for the Bohai Kingdom, so he used the land of the Khitan as bait in exchange for the most important port in the north.

Although the Bohai Kingdom also traded a lot with Japan at this time, they were not very aware of the ocean. More importantly, they did not understand Li Qing'an's real purpose. The Bohai Kingdom almost agreed to the second plan to exchange land for land.

"Your Highness, Bohai Kingdom chose the second plan. Because the Khitan has not been destroyed, it was not written in the letter of the country. After the Khitan has been destroyed, we will make another supplement."

"Okay!" Li Qing'an said happily: "Since the official letter of state is already available, we will follow the agreement and I will send troops immediately to support the Bohai Kingdom!"

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The two envoys went down, and Li Qingan returned to the temporary study. He stood in front of the map of Bohai Kingdom with his hands behind his back and pondered for a long time.

In fact, after the Tang Dynasty destroyed Goguryeo, it immediately began to wipe out the Khitan and Sumo Mohe, but due to the limitations of logistics and terrain, it was not successful. In the Battle of Tianmenling, the Tang army was defeated by Sumo Mohe, and from then on, the Bohai Kingdom was established. Seeing that it could no longer be wiped out the Bohai Kingdom, the Tang Dynasty had to take pacification measures and accept the Bohai Kingdom as a vassal state. However, if conditions were met, the Tang Dynasty would never give up the plan to destroy the Bohai Kingdom. Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian all failed one after another. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Tubo became the biggest threat to the Tang Dynasty. Tang Ting had to give up using troops to the Northeast and successively established the Andong Protectorate and Lulong Jiedu Prefecture to control the Northeast.

Now, it is his turn to consider his strategy for the Northeast. In later history, the Khitan, Jurchen and Manchus all came from the Northeast. The root cause was that after the destruction of Goguryeo, Emperor Gaozong of Tang failed to successfully wipe out the Khitan and Sumo Marine, so that after the Anshi Rebellion, the Khitan gradually became bigger. Later, Yelu Abaoji destroyed the Bohai Kingdom and established the Liao Kingdom, becoming a powerful country in the Northeast, and forever became a major concern in the Central Plains.

Li Qingan knew very well about this. He would not let history repeat itself, nor would he leave the problem to his descendants. He was planning to use five to ten years to destroy the Bohai Kingdom and Silla and completely unify the Northeast. Therefore, first establishing a harbor military base in the Bohai Sea, relocating Han people in Lizhou and Huazhou, and ensuring the source of troops was the top priority in his Northeast strategy.

The two major ports of Vladivostok and Hamxing can echo the north and south. In addition to the Yingzhou army, he is confident that the Bohai Kingdom can become the Bohai Channel of the Tang Dynasty within five years.

At this time, a guard walked to the door and reported: "General, he is here!"

"Bring him in!"

Soon, several personal guards brought Wei Ruqun in. Although Wei Ruqun was named the Minister of Revenue in the Bohai Kingdom, he was still a citizen of the Tang Dynasty.

He knelt down, "I bow to His Highness, King Zhao!"

"Military Doctor Wei, please come up!" Li Qingan said with a smile.

The three words "Wei Military Doctor" shocked Wei Ruqun. Only then did he realize that Li Qing'an actually knew him well. He remembered Ji Sheng who stayed in Youzhou again. An Lushan's army was defeated and Youzhou was also occupied by Shi Siming. I wonder what his life and death was? He felt full of guilt towards Ji Sheng and said ashamed: "It was General Ji who gave me a chance, I don't know what his life and death was like?"

"General Ji has already left Youzhou. He is in Mozhou now. You don't have to worry, he will protect himself."

Wei Ruqun felt relieved, and he asked again: "I don't know what I can do to serve Your Highness!"

Li Qing'an looked at him with a smile, "Mr. Wei, I have read General Ji's information. It seems that you want to join the Anxi Army as a military doctor, right?"

Wei Ruqun's heart was hanging again. He seemed to have already understood what Li Qing'an meant. Li Qing'an did not say anything. He paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, as if thinking about something. After a moment, Li Qing'an stopped and asked him: "Why can you become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Bohai Country?"
To be continued...