Say no with your mouth, but your body is very honest.
After all, Jin Wenying turned into someone he hated. The content of his message to Li Zhi was exactly the same as what the envoy's entourage said, even the adjectives were not changed.
In fact, there is no better choice. Tang Dynasty is the suzerainty of Silla, Chang'an is the capital of the suzerainty, and the Silla mission caused such a bad scandal in the capital of the suzerainty. Jin Wenying didn't know how to explain it to the leader of Silla when he returned.
Jin Wenying had no other choice but to immediately evade the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and deny the bribery.
Whether he denies it or not, whether the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty believes it or not is another matter.
In the Tai Chi Palace, Li Zhi carefully read Jin Wenying's memorial and slowly placed it on the eucalyptus with a somewhat sarcastic sneer on his face.
"It's a big deal. More than twenty courtiers in my court were bribed by the little Silla. The leader of such a poor country is very happy." Li Zhi said sarcastically.
Empress Wu next to her took Jin Wenying's memorial and glanced at it, then frowned.
"Your Majesty, the envoys of the Silla Kingdom bribed the courtiers, which violated the laws of the Tang Dynasty and cannot be forgiven." Empress Wu's eyes were filled with evil, and there was a hint of murderous intent in her tone.
Li Zhidan said calmly: "They are envoys from a foreign country, what can I do to them? Should I kill them? If I did this, the vassal states of the Tang Dynasty would not be in turmoil. In addition to issuing an edict, I would
There is nothing you can do against them."
Empress Wu said dissatisfiedly: "I heard that there was a lot of discussion between the government and the public. This matter has become known throughout the city. The envoys of Silla bribed the officials of the Tang Dynasty. This move is too bad and has damaged the prestige of our heavenly family. I have issued an edict to sternly condemn this."
Whether it hurts or not, it is not a lesson for future generations."
Li Zhi curled his lips and said: "Officially, if you are concerned about the friendship between the two countries, you cannot punish them severely, but privately, you still have to give them the lessons you need. Don't think that I can't do anything to them in the name of an envoy.
."
Empress Wu said in confusion: "Your Majesty means..."
Li Zhi blinked: "Who is receiving the envoys from various countries?"
"Li Jingchu."
"Let Wang Changfu bring a message to Jing Chu, saying that I am very angry."
Empress Wu asked doubtfully: "That's it?"
"That's it." Li Zhi smiled and said, "Jingchu will know what to do. If there is no tacit understanding, wouldn't it be a failure of my personal relationship with him?"
Empress Wu seemed to understand, and then said: "There are rumors in the court and in the public that after the King of the Tang Dynasty destroys Goguryeo, he will hand over Baekje to Silla. Does Your Majesty have this intention?"
A look of hesitation flashed in Li Zhi's eyes, and he remained silent for a long time.
To be honest, even if the Silla envoys did not bribe the courtiers, Li Zhi was still considering whether to give up Baekje.
To the Tang Dynasty, Baekje was actually a useless thing, and it could be wanted or not.
The vision of ancient people was limited. For them, the Baekje-Silla Japanese Kingdom was already the easternmost part of the mainland. If these small countries were pacified, there would be no need for the court to invest material and military forces in the east to manage it.
What Li Zhi values more is the continent to the west within sight, including Tubo, the countries in the Western Regions, and further away Tocharo, the Dashi Empire, etc.
The vast sea to the east has no land to conquer and has lost its strategic significance.
Before Goguryeo was destroyed, Baekje was a very important strategic place. Once the Tang Dynasty launched a war, it could form a north-south pincer attack on Goguryeo in Liaodong and Baekje. This was also the reason why the Tang Dynasty destroyed Baekje.
The biggest reason.
However, if the war ends, Goguryeo is destroyed, and the peninsula countries calm down, Baekje's position will become less important.
A few years ago, after the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty destroyed Baekje, he did not choose to include it in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. Instead, he supported the puppet regime of a Baekje prince named "Buyulong". It can be seen from this that
Li Zhi was actually not very interested in this land.
If the Tang Dynasty wanted to run Baekje, it would not only have to invest a huge amount of money, manpower and material resources, but also have to conquer and educate the people and many other tedious tasks. The price paid would be too high, but the benefits would be pitiful.
In major national affairs, we fight for the sake of benefit and cooperate for the sake of benefit. From the perspective of national interests, Baekje actually does more harm than good to the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Li Zhi has actually been considering the governance of Baekje a long time ago.
Give it to the Buyeoron puppet regime, or simply give it to the Silla Kingdom.
After all, the successive heads of the Silla Kingdom were no less kneeling and licking the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty than the Japanese.
As early as the Zhenguan period, Queen Seondeok, the twenty-seventh generation ruler of Silla, often wrote love letters to Li Shimin to harass him. Yes, they were real love letters, such as "sleeping" and "lovesickness"...
You can be as disgusting as you want. What Li Shimin's expression was after receiving Queen Seondeok's love letter is unknown, but he must have been in a very happy mood.
Of course, Li Shimin's reply to Queen Seondeok was still very serious and cold, and Li Shimin wanted to lose face.
The story of the overbearing male god of the overlord country and the licking dog of the vassal girl was written into a romance novel, and the copyright was sold to make a film and television series.
Later, Queen Seondeok passed away, and the new ruler was another queen named "Queen Jindeok". At that time, Li Zhi came to the throne. Queen Jindeok perfectly inherited the fine traditions of Queen Seondeok, so she frequently gave gifts to the Tang Dynasty.
The new emperor Li Zhi wrote a love letter.
"Love you", "I miss you so much that I can't sleep", "I put my pillow under my pillow when I went to bed last night", "It rained today, it's so wet here, are you wet there?" and so on.
The words of tiger and wolf in it were enough for Li Zhi to report her to the official for sexual harassment. Fortunately, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty were very broad-minded.
In addition, Queen Jindeok died after seven years on the throne. The current leader of Silla Kingdom, Jin Bomin, served as an envoy of Silla to the Tang Dynasty as early as the first year of Yonghui, and was named Taifuqing by Li Zhi who had just ascended the throne.
Therefore, the relationship between the successive kings of Silla and the Tang Dynasty was actually very harmonious, so Li Zhi was always undecided on whether to transfer Baekje to Silla.
The price to be paid for regaining the territory of the Tang Dynasty was too high and not worth it. I was worried about handing it over to a puppet regime, and I was a little unwilling to give it to the Silla Kingdom. Today's Li Zhi is probably in this ambivalent state of mind.
As for the behavior of the Silla envoys in bribing the Tang courtiers, in fact, regardless of whether this happened or not, it had little impact on Li Zhi's decision.
The choice of a country only depends on the pros and cons, and will not be based on emotions based on personal actions.
After hesitating for a long time, Li Zhi sighed and said: "It is better to summon the courtiers to discuss it. The choice of Baekje can only be made after the destruction of Goguryeo. It is still very early."
Empress Wu covered her mouth and smiled, and said: "Your Majesty thinks it's still early, but I heard from the palace people that Liu Rengui heard that the imperial court intended to abandon Baekje, and he was already cursing in the street outside the palace today."
Li Zhi's expression froze, then he smiled bitterly and said: "This old man... although he is an upright official, he is too serious, and I really can't like him."