mtl008 Chapter 120 King Wu Li Ke
Chapter 120 King Wu Li Ke
Only three chances...
Everyone was stunned!
It’s a bit difficult!
Li Chengqian looked at Su Dingfang again and said, "Just follow me. After convincing Tang Shengzhi, we will confront the Japanese head-on."
Su Dingfang bowed and said, "I obey your command."
"What about me? What about me?" Di Renjie shouted with his hand raised.
Li Chengqian laughed and said, "Just follow your master and comfort the elderly, the weak, women and children."
"Oh!"
Finally, Li Chengqian looked at Liu Rengui and said, "Don't go this time. Laizhou still needs you. Get ready and take up your post tomorrow!"
Liu Rengui was stunned: "But I also want to..."
Li Shimin patted him on the shoulder and said: "You have your mission. Conquer Goguryeo and attack Japan directly. This is what you have to do."
Liu Rengui sighed and bowed, saying, "I obey your order."
The tasks were assigned and everyone returned to their posts.
The trip to Nanjing in ten days is very important, but the Tang Dynasty is their roots.
Li Shimin had to deal with state affairs, and everyone else had their own things to do.
Preparations for the expedition to Goguryeo continued, and Liu Rengui officially took office as the commander-in-chief of the Laizhou army.
The aristocratic families are still lurking in the dark, and the sweeping campaign against the Khitan and Xi in the direction of Yingzhou is still going on.
The gunpowder factories and firearms bureaus are also stepping up production. With the addition of artillery, Goguryeo's fortified cities will be vulnerable.
Historically, Goguryeo was not conquered until the reign of Emperor Gaozong, but it will also be completely put to an end during this Tang Dynasty's Eastern Expedition.
Li Chengqian wanted to completely bring the Northeast and the Peninsula under the rule of China. Regardless of whether the Peninsula had economic value or not, this strategic location must become part of the mainland, must!
Over the next few days, the order Li Chengqian had previously issued to sever the blood ties between the Longxi and Shandong families finally began to show its power.
Changsun Wuji knew that his only choice now was to rely on Li Chengqian.
He decisively ordered the clan members to expel all the women from Shandong aristocratic families from the clan.
As for the children of Shandong aristocratic families, regardless of whether they were adults or not, they were all given some money to allow them to separate and live on their own.
Thoroughly cleanse the bloodline within the clan and maintain the purity of the Changsun clan's bloodline.
Under his leadership, other Longxi gentry had no choice but to follow suit and began to carry out drastic purges within their clan.
When the news reached the Shandong gentry, some people finally understood the royal family's determination.
They were divided into two factions. One faction chose to obey and lie dormant, not confronting the royal family, hoping to smoothly transition the two generations of powerful rulers, Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, and wait for the opportunity.
The other faction chose to resist and contacted like-minded people in private. They wanted to let Li Tang know what it meant that a thousand-year-old family should not be humiliated.
It’s not like they haven’t overthrown a small royal family before.
During the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, how many royal families perished or were replaced at their hands.
Even the great emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, did not dare to take action against them.
As for Yang Guang, he was just like Li Shimin and dared to ask for money from the aristocratic families, but what was his final outcome?
But now the King of Wei and the King of Jin are dead.
If you want to undermine the foundation of the Li Tang Dynasty, there is only one choice, and that is King Wu Li Ke.
Li Ke has the blood of Yang Sui, so there is a lot to be done.
Moreover, Li Ke had always been known for his virtue, but because he had Yang family blood, he lost the right to inherit the throne.
But would such a prince with such bloodline and talent not want to take that position?
In the eyes of these aristocratic families, Li Ke was their chosen one to deal with the Tang Dynasty.
Even if he could not destroy the Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop, he could use the turmoil stirred up by Li Ke to let Li Shimin and Li Chengqian know that the world was still in the hands of the aristocratic families.
When the noble family started to operate privately, Li Chengqian was not idle either.
He now has the power of Shangshu Ling and can influence the decisions of the six ministries, but he is only interested in the Ministry of Works for the time being.
Li Shimin dismissed all the people in the Ministry of Works who might be from aristocratic families and handed over a clean Ministry of Works to his prince.
Li Chengqian selected available talents from the people and offered official positions and money to attract the master craftsmen hidden among the people.
After a few days of public notice, he was able to discover quite a few skilled craftsmen.
Among them are many master craftsmen who have unique insights into smelting.
Li Chengqian assigned all these craftsmen to the Ministry of Works, gave them corresponding official positions and treatment, and began to study blast furnace steelmaking and firearms manufacturing.
On the other hand, Li Shimin immediately ordered the killing of all Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty, and ordered that no envoys from any foreign country would be accepted to protect Chinese craftsmanship and prevent it from outflowing.
In the Tubo direction, Li Shimin, in the name of missing Princess Wencheng, ordered Songtsen Gampo to escort the princess back to Chang'an to visit his relatives.
He wanted to take the opportunity to kill the heroic leader who led Tubo to rise.
At the same time, Li Ke, who was in Anzhou in Shu, finally met the people from the Qinghe Cui family who came to show their goodwill.
But when the people from Qinghe Cui family explained their purpose, Li Ke directly refused and had them driven out of the palace.
He then immediately submitted a memorial to Li Shimin to explain the matter, saying that he only wanted to be a leisurely prince and had no intention of pursuing the throne.
But the letter he sent was intercepted by someone from aristocratic family on the way.
Li Ke's attitude made them understand that the King of Wu wanted to protect himself.
Since you can't talk it out, then I can only roast you over the fire!
Thus, a conspiracy against Li Ke began to unfold slowly.
At this time, it was already the tenth day, and everyone gathered in the East Palace again.
There were fifty men in total, all wearing heavy armor, holding their war horses, looking very majestic.
Because this mission was difficult, Li Chengqian asked the guards who had undergone physical strengthening to rejoin and form the strongest lineup.
"Get on the horse and go!"
...........
On December 1937, 12, the Japanese invading army occupied Nanjing.
Under the command of Commander of the Central China Expeditionary Force Iwane Matsui and Commander of the Sixth Division Tani Hisao, the Nanjing Massacre shocked China and the world.
More than 30 Nanjing civilians and captured soldiers were collectively shot, burned, buried alive, and killed by other methods.
One-third of the houses in Jinling were burned down, almost all the shops were looted, and the property losses were incalculable.
Jinling became a desolate dead city with corpses everywhere.
Back to December 12, the Japanese pirates completely occupied the first-line defense positions outside Nanjing and began to attack the outer positions.
On the evening of the 11th, Chiang Kai-shek informed Tang Shengzhi through Gu Zhutong that if the situation could not be sustained for long, they could retreat one after another, try to regroup and plan a counterattack.
On the 12th, part of the Japanese pirates' 6th Division broke into Zhonghua Gate but failed to penetrate deeply. The rest of the city wall positions were still in the hands of the national army.
It was also on this day that Tang Shengzhi issued an order to break out and retreat, and the resistance of the National Army collapsed.
Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 88th Division responsible for defending Zhonghua Gate, took part of his troops to escape to Xiaguan without authorization. Although he was dissuaded from returning by Song Xilian, the commander of the 36th Division, chaos had already occurred in the city.