Tibet

The suspect Suba was caught and Li Chenghua interrogated him in person. There were still many doubts in this case. Li Chenghua always thought that the Holy Maiden Society had no time to deploy. Now Li Chenghua already knows that the Holy Maiden Society has many pigeon letter transfer stations. The major events that happened in Chang'an Incident, the Saintess Society will be able to get news about Chang'an within twenty days.

Another thing she didn't expect was that her subordinates who came back from Gongyue City told her that Suiye Guangming Temple was unwilling to accept An Jia and others, and An Jia was not willing to stay in Suiye Guangming Temple, so they considered sending them to Baoding. Khanna Guangming Temple, unexpectedly something happened the next day.

All kinds of doubts made Li Chenghua vaguely feel that poisoning An Jia and others was not that simple.

Suba was very thin and timid, but such a timid person was able to put poison into food and killed dozens of people.

Suba said tremblingly: "I don't know what kind of medicine it is. It's exactly the same as flour. A woman gave it to me. She asked me to pour it into the flour and gave me twenty gold coins. I did it. In the afternoon, there were reports of poisoning. News, I was frightened and immediately packed up my things and ran away.”

Li Chenghua frowned, why is she a woman? This is different from what Zheng heard! Zheng Ju believed that the poison was given to him by the merchant.

"Do you know this woman who asked you to poison her?"

Suba hesitated, "I have seen her."

Li Chenghua was shocked and asked quickly: "How come you have seen her?"

"She is the Saint Messenger of Suiye Guangming Temple. I have seen her preach. My mother was attracted by her sermons and joined the Saints Association, but she didn't know me."

Li Chenghua was really shocked. If what Suba said was true, then the death of An Jia and others was the work of the Holy Maiden. They had already notified Suiye Guangming Temple and would poison them as soon as An Jia and others arrived. An Jia also noticed something, so she refused to stay in Suiye Guangming Temple, but went to Bahan Na Guangming Temple.

But Zheng Ju would not lie to himself. How could he think that it was an insider?

"Where did you go after leaving the post house?"

"Went to Anping Inn, which is the inn owned by my cousin."

Li Chenghua nodded, that's right, Anping Inn is the inn where the internal merchants stayed, so Zheng Ju misunderstood. He thought it was the internal merchants who sheltered Suba, but in fact it was the innkeeper who hid Suba.

Li Chenghua asked his men to continue the interrogation. She returned to the temporary government office and asked people to find Qu Afeng.

"I want to know, does Anga have any enemies in the Saint?"

"What kind of enemy do you want to ask, personal grudges, or rivals vying for power?"

"Including everything. I also want to know about the factional struggle of the Saint Sisters."

Li Chenghua vaguely guessed that An Jia's death was probably related to the internal struggle of the Saint Sisters.

Qu Afeng thought for a while and said: "There is no personal grudge, but there is one competitor, Kang Mira, who we all met this morning. She competes with An Jia for the position of Golden Saint, and the Saint of Light prefers An Jia. Ga."

"Whose territory is Broken Leaf Great Light Temple?"

"This is Kang Mira's territory. She once served as the Saint Messenger for ten years. The current Saint Messenger is her former deputy and was recommended by Kang Mira."

It was really hard to find a place after wearing iron shoes. It took no effort to get it. The poisoner Suba was caught. The case of Anga's poisoning was solved instantly. It turned out to be an internal power struggle. The mastermind was Kang Mira. , she got the news that An Jia and others were escorted back, so she ordered the saint envoy of Suiye Guangming Temple to poison An Jia.

The coincidence had nothing to do with Broken Leaf being attacked. It was just a coincidence of time. The two happened simultaneously.

"Who is behind this Kang Mira?" Li Chenghua asked again.

"It's the old Council of Elders. It doesn't have any real power now, but it's still there."

Li Chenghua nodded. It turns out that this is also related to the power struggle at the top of the Saintess Society. I am afraid that the Saintess Society cannot control the army, and it is also related to the power struggle at the top.

Li Chenghua thought for a moment and said, "Let's set off tomorrow to Samarkand!"

The emperor wants to control Hezhong, and Li Chenghua feels that he must provide the emperor with good information.

After the Lantern Festival, the atmosphere of the New Year gradually fades away, and the ordinary days of the second year of Jiaxing gradually begin again.

In fact, the mobilization of additional troops to Anxi has already begun. On January 20, Li Ye issued the highest military order, ordering the 40,000 troops stationed in Jincheng to be transferred to Anxi, and simultaneously sent military supplies of 100,000 camels from Jincheng to Anxi. .

The 40,000-strong army includes 6,000 heavy armored infantry led by Xu Zongran, 4,000 auxiliary corps, 10,000 firearms corps and 20,000 elite cavalry from Xi Wanli.

Li Ye also appointed Bai Xiaode, the governor of Anxi, as the marshal of the Western Expedition, Xu Zongran and Li Feiyuanli as deputy generals, Guo Xin as the chief historian, and Li Chenghua, the commander of the internal guard, to supervise the army and command 60,000 troops for the western expedition.

Just as the Tang Dynasty was dispatching troops and generals to prepare for the Western Expedition, Silla envoys also arrived in Chang'an.

The Silla envoy is named Jin Zhizhen. He is the second-in-command of Silla. He holds military power and is second only to Jin Yangxiang, the Shangdae. He belongs to the hard-line faction of Silla.

Jin Zhizhen had always been hostile to the Tang Dynasty and opposed negotiations with the Tang Dynasty. However, the severe situation in Silla forced Jin Zhizhen to bow his head and come to Chang'an to negotiate with the Tang Dynasty.

Starting from the second half of last year, due to the continued turmoil in Liaodong and the Tang army's launch of the Liaodong Campaign, it also seriously affected Silla's internal situation.

Ten years ago, King Gyeongdeok of Silla passed away and eight-year-old King Hye Gong succeeded to the throne. Due to the lack of a strong monarch, conflicts within the Silla ruling group began to surface, and aristocratic forces were ready to move, covet and challenge the royal power.

The Dagong and Dalian Rebellion occurred in the same year when King Hyegong ascended the throne. Nearly a hundred nobles from all over the country responded to the rebellion. The rebellion lasted for three years. Although it failed in the end, it opened the prelude to the civil strife of Silla.

In the same year, the nobles Jin Yinju and He Lianxiang took advantage of the opportunity when the main force of Silla went north to the Yalu River to confront the Tang army, and took the opportunity to launch rebellions in Xiongzhou and incited the Baekje people to revolt. The Baekje people suffered from oppression and took advantage of the situation to revolt with great momentum. The Silla court had to urgently dispatch troops to the south to brutally suppress the Baekje survivors and massacre hundreds of thousands of Baekje people. The coast of Xiongjin was stained with blood.

The continuous internal rebellion and Baekje rebellion seriously weakened the national strength of Silla. In addition, King Hyegong Jin Qianyun was incompetent and greedy for pleasure, and the national fortune of Silla was bleak.

This was the weakest time since the founding of Silla. It was raining all night, and the powerful Tang army gathered on Jeonra Island. The huge cloud of national destruction loomed over Silla.

Li Ye also attached great importance to the arrival of the Silla delegation and arranged for Zhang Li, the left prime minister, to negotiate with Jin Zhenzhi.

If the goal can be achieved at the negotiation table and Silla can be turned into the second Nanzhao, Li Ye can also temporarily put it aside and concentrate on the westward expedition.

If the goal cannot be achieved at the negotiation table, the Tang army will attack without hesitation.

On the second day after Jin Zhenzhi arrived, Zhang Li and Yan Quanming, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, held the first round of negotiations with Jin Zhenzhi at the Ministry of War.

After a few pleasantries, the two sides went straight to the topic. Jin Zhenzhi took out Silla's plan. First, Silla recognized that Danra Island was the territory of the Tang Dynasty; second, the two sides used the Yalu River as the boundary, and Silla withdrew 300 miles and promised never to spy on the territory of the Tang Dynasty; third, Silla obeyed the Tang Dynasty as the suzerain state, accepted the Tang Dynasty's canonization, and sent the prince to Chang'an as a hostage; fourth, Silla promised to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty every year and to ensure that the king of Silla would come to Chang'an every three years.

These four proposals were full of sincerity for Silla. Jin Zhenzhi did not agree with the third and fourth proposals, but under the insistence of Jin Liangxiang, the superior, Jin Zhenzhi had no choice but to accept and come to Chang'an for negotiations.

Zhang Li looked at the other party's four proposals and smiled slightly: "I wonder if the minister can fully represent Silla?"

Jin Zhenzhi said coldly: "If it does not exceed Silla's bottom line, I can represent Silla!"

His implication was that the four proposals were Silla's bottom line.

Zhang Li nodded, "In that case, let me talk about the Tang Dynasty's proposal. The Tang Dynasty's proposal has only three proposals, one less than yours. First, the border between the two sides is based on the boundary at the end of the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty's Xianqing; second, Silla disbands its army and the Tang army enters Silla!"

Jin Zhenzhi did not react at first. What does the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty's Xianqing mean? After listening to the second proposal, he suddenly remembered that the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty's Xianqing was the year when Baekje was destroyed? Silla disbanded its army and the Tang army entered. What is the difference between this and destroying the country?

Jin Zhenzhi stood up and glared at Zhang Li, "What are you talking about?"

Zhang Li waved his hand, "I have a third point, please be patient!"

"What else is there to talk about? What's the difference between this and the destruction of Silla?"

"Of course there is a difference. The difference is that Silla is still there, and the people of Silla are the people of Silla, not the people of the Tang Dynasty. Our third point is very simple. The heir to the throne of Silla must be held hostage in Chang'an!"

Jin Zhenzhi gritted his teeth and said, "I can also tell you clearly that we will not accept any of these three points. Goodbye!"

Jin Zhenzhi turned and strode out of the meeting hall of the Ministry of War, and his group of subordinates hurriedly followed behind.