Zhang Jian put down the memorial in his hand and looked expressionlessly at the Silla envoy, saying: “Are you certain you haven’t written the memorial incorrectly? Has Queen Seondeok gone mad? When she was imitating Minister Lu in writing this ‘Letter Breaking with Tang,’ didn’t you stop her? This is the first time I’ve seen written characters from Seondeok on paper—didn’t she always use embroidery before?”

“We can no longer endure the Tang people’s exploitation. We’ve had enough of the Tang people’s unreasonableness. If this continues, we can only follow in Goguryeo’s footsteps. General, it’s not just us—the Baekje envoy you will summon next has the same demands as us.”

The Silla envoy straightened his chest. This was also the first time he had straightened his chest before the Tang people as an envoy.

“Return Pyongyang, Yeshui, Nihe, Nanpu, Guonei, hmm, and also Bori Fortress. Our dynasty’s great army withdraws north of the Yalu River. Dae Moryeong, are you certain your queen hasn’t gone mad?”

Dae Moryeong imitated those legendary famous scholars, shaking his robe and sitting brazenly in the chair as he said to Zhang Jian: “The Tang Emperor harbors ill intentions, scorning our deceased sovereign and belittling our queen. A single peony painting has prevented our sovereign from mentioning marriage for ten years. You disturb our Yangtong Mountain, disregard our nation’s friendship, attack our fortresses, annihilate our vassal state of Zixu, estrange the relations between our brother nations, disrupt our allies, and subvert our country. Our queen has not forgotten the Tang Emperor’s past accomplishments, yet she fears the destruction of our nation, so she has endured again and again. Not only has she refrained from reproaching the Tang state, but she has even presented generous gifts, hoping the Tang Emperor might, in consideration of our obedience, give us hope to continue living.”

“But none of this has been rewarded. Your ambition, General, grows ever greater. After your great army stationed itself at Nihe, you treat my Silla as your own back garden, coming and going as you please. Tang people actually issued orders in my Silla to conscript labor, enslaving our nation’s people to repair fortresses for the general—what is the reason for this?”

“In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, your Tang state’s envoy Liang Po actually defined our sovereign’s borders in our sovereign’s palace. Advancing one inch eastward, a hundred li of territory vanished into nothing…”

Zhang Jian impatiently waved his hand and said: “You’re planning to rebel, is that right? Just give me a clear answer.”

“We are not rebelling. We only want to take back our own land. The Tang people must withdraw across the Yalu River…”

“Someone come, drag Dae Moryeong out and behead him.” Zhang Jian closed the memorial and gave the order to his personal guards.

“I am an envoy. When two armies fight, envoys are not killed. You cannot…” Dae Moryeong could no longer maintain his famous scholar’s demeanor.

“You are committing treason against your superior.” Zhang Jian made this reply at the instant Dae Moryeong was dragged out the door.

The trembling Baekje envoy was brought in. With one glance he saw Dae Moryeong’s head placed in a dish. Zhang Jian, sitting behind the desk, held a command arrow and tapped Dae Moryeong’s head as he said to the Baekje envoy: “Three days ago I received a military report saying that one hundred and ten thousand Baekje troops entered Silla. Your two nations’ armies should have already launched an attack at Wonsan by now, correct?”

“Since you have already ignited the flames of war, why do you still come to negotiate with our Great Tang? Are you humiliating me, Zhang Jian?”

“We only want a guarantee, a guarantee that we can live in peace.” Though the Baekje envoy’s face was pale, he still persisted in speaking his words.

Zhang Jian asked thoughtfully: “Do you think that as long as we withdraw north of the Yalu River, you can live freely?”

“Naturally not. We would also need a treaty for restraint.”

Zhang Jian burst into laughter, pointing at the Baekje envoy: “Our nation’s majesty just concluded the White Horse Alliance with Xie Li, and in the third year completely defeated the Turkic people. Xie Li still makes his living dancing in Chang’an. Are you certain you only want these things?”

“Stop deceiving yourselves and stop deceiving me. From the moment you began to act, we completely lost any possibility of negotiation. Ha ha, throughout history the greatest difficulty for humanity is simply one battle—it’s not such a big deal. Go back and tell your king that since you’ve started a war, you absolutely must not stop.”

The Baekje envoy left the great hall in a disheveled state and hurriedly departed from Pyongyang. Zhang Jian’s reply filled him with terror. The Tang people were still as unyielding as ever. Perhaps they had never known what fear was.

Zhang Jian sounded the drum to gather generals. After distributing military affairs, he ordered men to light the wolf smoke. There was an alert at the border—this was a procedure that had to be followed. Ever since the Goguryeo people surrendered, this had been the border.

His wolf smoke had not yet been lit when the beacon tower to the north instead transmitted a warning signal. After studying the message transmitted by the wolf smoke, he finally understood why the quail-like Silla and Baekje people would have the courage to deliver a declaration of war to him. It turned out the Mohe people and Shiwei people of Bohai had also rebelled and were currently fighting with Zhishi Sili and his forces.

“Two hundred thousand men want to devour my fifty thousand troops? Queen Seondeok, you think far too highly of yourselves.” Zhang Jian said with a smile, muttering to his vice-general, then grabbed the long sword from its stand, preparing to go inspect the city defenses.

Wolf smoke was indeed the fastest method of transmitting messages. Within two days, the beacon tower in Chang’an had wolf smoke rising everywhere, almost dyeing the sky a scorched yellow color. Alarm signals appeared simultaneously from east, south, west, and north—this was the first time since the Great Tang’s founding.

The Great Tang fully initiated preparations for war. As the Emperor said, they’ve come to attack us, so what more is there to say—just fight. Li Jing went to Yumen Pass, Li Ji went to the Guannai Circuit grasslands, Cheng Yaojin went to Songzhou, Niu Jinda went to Yingzhou, and Li Daozong in Nanzhao also received the imperial decree to firmly defend Yaozhou, Mengzhe Prefecture, and Langqiong Prefecture. Feng Ang once again assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Lingnan Circuit Army, actively preparing the coastal defenses of Lingnan. Once the Lingnan Navy suffered losses, he would have to bear the heavy responsibility of protecting Lingnan.

After all the preparations that should be made were completed, Li Er looked at the Great Tang Mountains and Rivers map before him, constantly contemplating. After carefully weighing all the force comparisons, it was already sunset. Finally, he heavily struck the location of Gaochang with his fist and sighed, saying to Zhangsun who had been guarding at his side: “The others are nothing to worry about. The great army can naturally sweep away the disloyal. Even if some small setbacks occur, it doesn’t matter. Only Gaochang is too dangerous. As long as the Turkic people break through Gaochang, they can move eastward along Zekkou to enter the grasslands, or directly knock at the pass by moving south. The Tubo people have become very resolute this time. From the news Xu Jingzong sent, their troops dispatching from Black Stone Mountain is already a certainty.”

“Guo Xiaoke is far away in Kucha. Xu Jingzong has less than eight thousand men and can only firmly defend Luanshi City, powerless to stop the Turkic people from advancing eastward. Fortunately, Su Dingfang has already made some preparations at Shazhou and Yumen Pass. I hope no mistakes occur here.”

“Yun Ye is in Gaochang. I don’t know if his Camel City is completed. Otherwise, facing the assault of several hundred thousand barbarians, the defensive line he’s guarding is too long and will certainly encounter great trouble.”

“At this point, individual life and death are no longer important. Now Du Ruhui is also trapped in Beiting, but this actually seems to be a good thing. With him there, Yun Ye’s confidence can be somewhat stronger. Let’s fight with everything we have—victory or defeat is determined by heaven.”

Li Er threw down the bamboo rod in his hand, returned to his seat, picked up the teapot and drank tea. He himself had fought his way out from among thousands of troops and horses, so he viewed life and death on the battlefield very lightly. Generals could hardly expect to remain whole throughout their lives. The business they were in was killing people. Could you only kill others while not allowing others to kill you? There was no such logic. Even though he valued Yun Ye greatly, he absolutely would not replace him at this time. Once he did that, if Yun Ye wanted to establish himself in the court in the future, he could only dream. Without passing through the test of life and death, how could he shoulder great responsibilities?

The chess pieces had been placed. What remained was to see victory or defeat. If this battle was won, the Great Tang could truly be considered a peerless hegemon.

“Report to Your Majesty, Wei Zheng requests an audience in front of Vermillion Bird Gate.” Duan Hong walked into the Taiji Palace to report to Li Er.

Li Er grinned at Zhangsun with a smile: “The old fellow has come to mock me. Guess what he’ll say this time? Will he say that I am a tyrant who has provoked attacks from people all over the world? The whole world attacks Tang—the old fellow has plenty to say.”

Zhangsun frowned: “Your Majesty, at this time you still shouldn’t see him. If you’re angered into some mishap again, even heaven would collapse. At this critical moment, you cannot let these idle comments affect Your Majesty’s judgment.”

Li Er shook his head indifferently: “Ever since that incident last time, I discovered that my heart has become much broader. Even if Wei Zheng has an iron tongue and bronze teeth, he can hardly shake my mood in the slightest. Duan Hong, grant him an audience. It’s fine to listen to his nonsense. I am indeed somewhat tired today. Listening to him speak is also a kind of rest.”

Seeing that Li Er had made up his mind, Zhangsun retreated behind the curtain, prepared to step out at any moment to rebuke Wei Zheng.

After a while, Wei Zheng, wearing a black robe, appeared at the entrance to the Taiji Palace. He automatically removed his ceremonial sword and placed it on the tray Duan Hong was holding. Li Er’s voice came from inside the palace: “That is your last glory. Better not to remove it. Come in. I want to hear what you have to say today.”

Wei Zheng entered the great hall, automatically announced himself and paid respects to Li Er: “City Gate Minister Wei Zheng pays respects to my sovereign! May my sovereign’s sacred body be in good health.”

“Don’t be polite. That I haven’t been angered to death by you already shows I have great fortune. What matter do you have to report? Speak now. It surely can’t be those small matters that occurred at your city gate.” Li Er’s body didn’t even move as he took another sip of tea, waiting for Wei Zheng to begin.

“Your Majesty is mistaken. The City Gate Minister is also an official position personally selected by Your Majesty. Since the official position was established, it means it is very necessary. Public affairs, whether large or small, are all official business. How can Your Majesty not inquire into matters because they are small?” Wei Zheng asked with a frown.

Li Er tapped his head and said to Wei Zheng: “Very well, since I have already received you in audience, then speak about the matters at your city gate. Who did you extort today? I heard you’re having a wonderful time in your position, and even your health has improved. This shows that I am still good at recognizing and employing talent.”

“Your humble subject has come today not to speak of matters at the city gate. I have come today to admit my error to Your Majesty, and I am prepared to be restored to my original position and go serve as Inspector of Shandong.” Wei Zheng spoke this sentence with perfect justification.

“What? You’ve come to apologize and admit your error?” Li Er stood up with a start and confirmed once more, checking whether he had heard incorrectly.