reax;
The Dongnu Province's army had gained a strong defense with the advantage of the mountains and mountains, so the Tibetan Empire did not dare to act rashly. However, the Dongnu Province's army was not strong, and they did not have many soldiers. In other words, the Dongnu Province's army only had a strong defense and did not have any offensive capabilities.
As such, the Dongnu Province was equivalent to the tortoise of the animal kingdom. Although its defense was strong and many hunters had no way to attack it, it was not a threat to any animals. Of course, it could not intimidate any opponents.
Logically speaking, such a small country that was not a threat and was located in the depths of the mountains should not attract the attention of a big country. However, the Dongnu Province was sandwiched between the Tibetan Empire and Nanzhao. Tibet wanted to dominate the world, and its biggest enemy was the Tang Empire. In order to contain the Tang Empire from the south, Tibet had to annex Dongnu Province and use Dongnu Province as a springboard to further attack Nanzhao. In this way, half of the southern part of the Tang Empire would be under Tibet's military vanguard.
Dongnu Province was between the Tang Empire, Tibet, and Nanzhao. This was destined to be a tragedy. It was almost impossible for Dongnu Province to be independent and live its life honestly. This was the tragedy of a small country.
In order to survive in the gap between the big countries, Dongnu Province had to learn to balance the interests of the big countries. For so many years, Dongnu Province had been doing this. It was even known as a two-sided Qiang. As the Tang Empire was stronger than Tibet, Dongnu Province chose to submit to the Tang Empire. However, they had also secretly expressed their loyalty to Tibet.
However, this balance was broken recently. After Tibet lost Pingrong City, they urgently needed to open another path to Nanzhao. Dongnu Province was the only way to this new path. For this reason, Tibet could no longer satisfy Dongnu Province's secret loyalty. Instead, they asked Dongnu Province to break away from the Tang Empire and formally pledge their loyalty to Tibet. They also had to pay tribute to Tibet every year and allow the Tibetan army to be stationed in Dongnu Province.
Tibet's aggressive attitude naturally caused dissatisfaction in the court of Dongnu Province. They decided to deploy their main forces to the west to resist Tibet's possible invasion. At the same time, the newly appointed Queen of Tang Empire personally went to Chang 'an to inform the Emperor of Tang Empire of Tibet's ambition. She wanted to use the power of the Tang Empire to deter Tibet's possible military adventures.
Dongnu Province's purpose of using the power of the Tang Empire to protect itself was naturally understood by the emperor and the ministers of the Tang Empire. However, once Dongnu Province was annexed by Tibet, the interests of the Tang Empire would also suffer a great loss. For this reason, the Emperor of the Tang Empire, Li Longji, agreed to Dongnu Province's request and immediately sent Ang Lee to escort Prince Guichang back to Dongnu Province. He also sent Assistant Minister of Rites Xi Yu along to appease the ministers and citizens of Dongnu Province and promote the prestige and policies of the Tang Empire so that the people of Dongnu Province would be loyal to the Tang Empire.
After listening to Erniu's report and looking at the map in front of him, Ang Lee's understanding of the situation around Dongnu Province gradually became clearer. The various actions of Tibet also gradually became clearer.
From Ang Lee's point of view, the reason why Tibet planned to assassinate Queen of East was because Queen of East opposed Tibet's proposal and caused Tibet's Zanpu to be angry. They chose to take action in the territory of the Tang Empire to frame the Tang Empire and let the people of Dongnu Province understand that their monarch was killed by an assassin in the Tang Empire. From then on, they would hate the Tang Empire in their hearts and pave the way for Tibet to enter Dongnu Province in the future.
Tibet had hundreds of thousands of soldiers. The reason why they chose to use such a scheme instead of sending their main force to attack was because Dongnu Province's geographical location was extremely dangerous. Moreover, all the checkpoints that could allow the army to pass through were built with tall watchtowers. A large-scale army could not be deployed at all, let alone break through these watchtowers. Under the situation where they estimated that they would suffer a great loss of soldiers, Tibet was naturally unwilling to use such a method.
"Although Tibet's military strength is extremely strong, they will have to pay a heavy price if they want to break through the solid defense line of Dongnu Province. The best way is to outsmart them. This is the fundamental reason why Tibet roped in the royal family of Dongnu Province and assassinated King Guichang."
Ang Lee frowned and said leisurely.
Erniu nodded in agreement and said, "Field Officer Li, what I'm most worried about now is that the Grand Minister and the Fourth Prime Minister guarding the west are colluding with Tibet. Once they let Tibet's army enter Dongnu Province, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"Why? Are you suspecting the Grand Minister and the Fourth Prime Minister?"
"No, I'm just stating the facts. It's because only the two of them are the biggest threat to Dongnu Province if they join Tibet."
Ang Lee frowned and pondered for a moment before he said softly, "Your worries are reasonable. But if there's a problem with the Grand Minister and the Fourth Prime Minister, they could have let Tibet's army enter long ago. Why haven't they done anything yet? What are they waiting for? Could it be that they're waiting for the best opportunity?"
"That's true. Perhaps I'm overthinking it. The Grand Minister and the Fourth Prime Minister are King Guichang's uncles, so how could they betray him? However, if some of the generals under the Grand Minister and the Fourth Prime Minister were bribed by Tibet, it will still pose a great threat to Dongnu Province."
Ang Lee frowned and nodded. "Now that you mention it, it reminds me. This morning, a middle-aged Langjun who claimed to be a businessman from Nanzhao invited me to the Nu Nu Pavilion for a gathering. This person actually wanted to persuade me to join Tibet. The Tibetan bandits even dared to bribe me, a Field Officer of the Tang dynasty, not to mention the generals of Dongnu Province. This issue must be taken seriously."
"What? They're really bold. They even dared to bribe Field Officer Li. This is outrageous. This businessman must be a spy. Have you caught him?"
Erniu Zhang was very angry.
Ang Lee shook his head gently. "This person has a strong background. The guards he brought with him are strong and powerful. I'm afraid they are high-ranking officials of Tibet. However, he didn't bribe me directly. He only praised my ability in the tone of a businessman and said that if I joined Tibet, I would be able to get the position of Grand Minister. He only hinted and didn't say it explicitly. How could I catch him? Moreover, this is Queen's City of Dongnu Province, not Chang 'an City of our Tang dynasty. Without sufficient evidence, we can't act rashly to avoid giving others a handle."
"Treacherous. This person is really treacherous. Are we just going to let him be arrogant?"
Li An said with a face full of confidence, "The purpose of our trip this time is to annihilate all of them. So what if we let them be arrogant for a while? I've already sent many brothers to closely monitor the Daughter's House and see who he will contact."
Erniu Zhang nodded repeatedly and agreed with Ang Lee's words.
In the evening, Li Fei Shouyu, Li Kunxiong, Li Feiyu, Xi Yu, and other high-ranking officials of the Tang dynasty returned to their residence in Queen's City.
On this day, nothing unexpected happened. The inspection teams of the Tang dynasty all went smoothly and were warmly welcomed by the people of Dongnu Province.
However, in order to protect these high-ranking officials, Li Fei Shouyu and the other generals of the Tang dynasty were nervous all day. They were not completely relieved until all of them were safely returned to their residence.
"Shouyu, Kunxiong, Fei Yu, did everything go well today?"
Ang Lee hurriedly asked when he saw the three of them walk into his room.
"Big Brother, everything went well today. However, it also made us worried all the way. After all, this is not the Tang dynasty. An assassin might appear at any time."
"That's right. Big Brother was assassinated as soon as he entered Queen's City. How can we not be worried?"
"It's fine. The calmer our enemy is, the more we can't let our guard down. I have an ominous feeling that they didn't do anything today. They are brewing a bigger conspiracy."
The three of them expressed their thoughts one by one.
Ang Lee smiled faintly and looked at Li Fei Shouyu, "Who said they didn't do anything today? Not long after you left, they took action."
"What action?"
The three of them were surprised.
"They sent a lobbyist to persuade me to betray the Tang dynasty and submit to Tufan. Don't you think it's funny?"
As Li An spoke, he burst into loud laughter. Then, he began to explain the sequence of events to the three of them in detail.
The three of them were in disbelief when they heard this. They sighed that the Tufan people were too arrogant. They even dared to recruit a hero of the Tang dynasty like Ang Lee. At this time, the Tang dynasty and Tufan were in a state of war. They were hostile countries. How could the men of the Tang dynasty, who had integrity and national pride, surrender to foreign bandits?
"Li Xiaowei, Assistant Minister Xi is in the study. He wants to see you."
A soldier of the Dragon Martial Army strode in.
Ang Lee didn't waste any time and immediately followed the soldier to the study.
"Assistant Minister Xi is looking for me."
Xi Yu smiled and picked up the portrait of Wooden Goat Guo on the table. He asked softly, "Li Xiaowei, I heard that you drew this portrait yourself."
"I'm not good at drawing. I've embarrassed myself in front of Assistant Minister Xi."
"No, no, no. Li Xiaowei drew it very well. It looks exactly like the real person. It's just that the name seems to be wrong."
Xi Yu smiled and looked at Ang Lee with interest.
Ang Lee was startled and hastily asked, "What? Assistant Minister Xi knows the person in the portrait? Who is he?"
Xi Yu was also startled. "Looking at Li Xiaowei's expression, you don't seem to know this person. Then why did you draw his portrait?"
Ang Lee didn't hide anything and quickly told him what had happened during the day. He then continued to ask who the person in the portrait was.
"Li Xiaowei, the person in the portrait is the Tufan scholar Wulun Yangguo. He's really crafty. He actually separated the last two words and even lied that he was a merchant from Nanzhao. Oh, right, why did he come to Dongnu Province?"
Xi Yu frowned as he spoke.
"What? He's a Tufan scholar?"
Ang Lee was startled. He had long since guessed that Wooden Goat Guo was a high-ranking official of Tufan. But he hadn't expected him to be the right-hand man of the Tufan Emperor Pu Chi De Zu Zan, Tufan scholar Wulun Yangguo.
"Looks like the Tufan Emperor Pu is determined to obtain Dongnu Province. He actually sent his most capable scholar to the Queen City."
Ang Lee's lips curled into a cold smile. A trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
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