Xuan Shibai stood quietly outside the torture room and listened to the voice coming from inside, he suddenly asked Guan Bao next to him: "Lord Guan, judging from the current situation, how do you think you can make Li Mian speak?" ”

Guan Bao thought for a while and said: "My lord, Li Mian has a lot of experience, he is a resolute person, it seems to be a little difficult to use execution to make him speak, we may need to open a breakthrough from other ways!" ”

"For example?"

"Find evidence in Li Mian's mansion or in the property under his name!"

Xuan Eighteen nodded, but until now, the soldiers and officials who searched the Li Mansion over there had not gained anything, and he immediately sent people to the Li Mansion to investigate the property in Li Mian's name to see if he could gain something from the other properties!

At this time, a soldier outside walked in and reported: "My lord, a eunuch came outside and said that he was looking for my lord!" ”

"Eunuch?" Xuan Eighteen glanced at Guan Leopard.

Guan Bao said: "It's definitely not the eunuch of the palace!" ”

"Could it be that the king sent it? Let's go, go out and have a look! ”

The two walked outside to take a look, and sure enough, it was Cao Yingxiang, the eunuch beside Zhao Ziliang, who immediately stepped forward and hugged his fists and said: "It turned out to be Father-in-law Cao, I don't know what my father-in-law is looking for me?" ”

Cao Yingxiang glanced at the house that the two of them walked out of, "This is really a hidden place, the general is really good at finding a place, and he is also an old slave, if you change someone else, I'm afraid that the general will not be here!" Not to mention, the general and this master in charge, hurry up and go with the old slave, it is estimated that the king is already in a hurry! ”

It turned out that Zhao Ziliang was really looking for the two of them, and the two of them immediately did not dare to delay, and after explaining to their subordinates, they hurriedly followed Cao Yingxiang to the regent palace.

Who knew that Cao Yingxiang did not take them to the regent palace at all, but came to the imperial city, Xuan Eighteen wondered and asked, "Gonggong Cao, why did you come to the imperial city?" Today is not the fifteenth day of the new year, and it is not the period of the court meeting, so the regent should not come to the imperial city, right? ”

Cao Yingxiang explained as he walked: "A few days ago, the Bohai State and the Japanese State sent envoys one after another, in order to save trouble, the king was scheduled to meet the envoys of the two countries at the same time in the Taiji Hall today, in order to show the national prestige and respect the royal family, the king invited the emperor out of the inner palace to the Taiji Hall to meet with the envoys of the two countries, and there were many civil and military ministers present!"

Speaking of this, Cao Yingxiang looked left and right, and whispered to the two: "General Xuan, you have to be careful, just now there were royal nobles and ministers who shouted grievances to the king, accusing you of arresting people indiscriminately without evidence, and the king's face was a little unbearable, after all, Li Mian is the grandfather of the clan and the two prime ministers, you did it without reporting to the king in advance, of course the king said that he agreed in front of outsiders, but if you can't show evidence, the king's face will not look good!" ”

Xuan Eighteen's heart froze, and he felt that something was wrong, it seemed that the other party's power was so huge that it was a little beyond his imagination, and the arrest on his side was carried out in the middle of the night, and he also covered it up, how long has it been since someone learned the news? Also know that he has no evidence?

Under the leadership of Cao Yingxiang, the two came to the Taiji Palace, and were arranged by him to stand closest to the palace door, at this time Li Di and Zhao Ziliang were receiving the envoys of the Bohai State and the Japanese State to worship.

Xuan Eighteen pulled an official next to him and asked in a low voice, "This lord, what's the situation?" Why did both the Bohai Kingdom and the Japanese Kingdom suddenly send envoys one after another? I don't think I heard of them sending envoys over the years! ”

The official saw that Xuan Eighteen was brought in by Cao Yingxiang, and he hadn't seen it, so he guessed that he should be an official who followed Zhao Ziliang from Western Qin, so he said in a low voice: "It's not that the Bohai Kingdom and the Japanese State heard that the regent arrived in Chang'an, so they hurriedly sent envoys over, a few years ago, the Bohai Kingdom was beaten by General Hun Xuan, if it weren't for the lack of preparation of the army, and it was not suitable for fighting in the bitter cold land of the Northeast for a long time, the Bohai Kingdom would have been beaten down long ago, this time they must have heard that the Prince Regent arrived in Chang'an, Fearing that the regent would raise an army against them, he sent envoys to come and cram for a while! ”

Xuan 18 suddenly realized: "I said why did they run over this time, so that's the case!" By the way, what are the envoys and deputy envoys of these two countries? So arrogant? ”

The official pursed his lips: "It's just a bluff, the envoy of the Bohai Kingdom is called Da Yixin, this person is the younger brother of the king of the Bohai Kingdom, Da Qinmao, and is called the king's brother, rich in talent, Wen Taowu is not under Da Qinmao, and he is in the prime of life; In addition, the accompanying deputy envoy is Da Qinmao's brother Da Yuanyi, and both of them have the posture of a hero."

"The envoy Fujiwara Katsunoma sent by Japan to the Tang Dynasty this time, and the deputy envoy Ishikawa Doyoshi. It is said that Fujiwara Kamino's sister Fujiwara Kamiko is the empress of Emperor Hengmu of Japan, and Fujiwara Katsunoma is the emperor's eldest brother, so he is reused! ”

Xuan Eighteen muttered: "It turns out that they are all relatives of the emperor!" ”

At this time, the Japanese envoy Fujiwara Katsunoma in the main hall saluted Zhao Ziliang and the emperor and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Regent, His Majesty the Emperor of our country has sent a small minister to meet His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Regent this time, and to present tributes to show the respect of our great Japan for the Celestial Empire. There are two copies of these tributes on the gift list, which are dedicated to His Majesty and the King respectively, please smile! ”

Zhao Ziliang said: "Emperor Hengwu has a heart, His Majesty Gu He is very happy, come and accept the tribute from Japan!" ”

Cao Yingxiang stepped forward to take the gift list and stepped aside.

Fujiwara Katsunoma said again: "Your Majesty, the king, there is another thing that the minister led the delegation to come this time, our Japanese country has always admired the culture of the Central Plains Celestial Empire, and we have sent people to study many times before, and this time we also came with an attitude of learning, hoping to be allowed to be accepted by the Celestial Empire and build a bridge for the friendship between the two countries!" ”

"Yes!" Zhao Ziliang agreed, and shouted to one of the courtiers: "Where is the Taiyuan Grand Sacrifice Wine?" ”

"The minister is here!" An old man with lacey hair and beard stepped forward and said yes.

"Since Japan has sent students to learn culture from my Datang, Tai Academy can arrange for them to study in the academy and treat them equally like other students, but I will not bear the expenses for their study and life, and they will take care of everything!"

Although it still costs money, Fujiwara Katsunoma is still very happy, since Zhao Ziliang promised to let the international students stay and study, he said that the relationship between the two countries can be maintained, which is the biggest purpose of his delegation to Chang'an this time.

"Thank you, King!"

However, Zhao Ziliang suddenly said: "But······ I heard that the king of Japan proclaimed himself emperor, since the Japanese vassal was subordinate to our Central Plains Celestial Empire, why did he dare to call himself emperor? After you go back this time, tell the king of your country that you will immediately change the title, only the king of the city, not the emperor, otherwise I will be disrespectful to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, understand? ”

When the ministers heard this, they felt very relieved and comfortable, and even the ignorant emperor seemed very happy.

Fujiwara Katsunoma suddenly grimaced, "King, this title of emperor has been around since ancient times and has been passed down, how can you say that you can change it?" If you change the title of emperor without permission, it will definitely cause public outrage! ”

Zhao Ziliang immediately said with a gloomy face: "So the Japanese country sent an embassy to the court this time just for show, in fact, there is not the slightest reverence for my Celestial Empire in my heart?" ”

"No, no, the king is angry, the minister will definitely bring the king's words to the emperor of our country when he goes back this time······"

"Hmph, whether you want the title of emperor or tranquility, it's up to you to choose, within a year, if this king learns that the Japanese lord is still using the title of emperor, he will definitely raise an army to fight!"

Fujiwara Katsunoma was cool in his heart, in the past, the Central Plains Imperial Court did not have a big ship that could carry out ocean voyages, so Japan was not worried about the Central Plains hitting Japan, but now it is different, the Central Plains Imperial Court has many large warships, each of these warships can sail to Japan or even farther away, and the Central Plains Imperial Court can attack Japan at any time.

Zhao Ziliang looked at the envoy of the Bohai Kingdom again, and asked, "The envoy of the Bohai Kingdom, the envoy of the Bohai Kingdom, what did the two of you send to Your Majesty and Gu with this old thing?" ”

Da Yixin immediately took out a gift list and read: "The king ordered the ministers and others to present to His Majesty and the king a bear, five pairs of bear paws, a tiger, a pair of tiger bones, two pairs of tiger whips, ten pairs of deer antler velvets, three hundred pieces of high-quality animal skins, five hundred-year-old ginseng, and five catties of Ganoderma lucidum······ The king of our country heard that the regent returned to Chang'an, and wanted to come to the court in person, but he was too old to travel far, and the special ministers came to visit, and the king said that our country and the Central Plains Heavenly Empire are a strip of water, and I hope that in the future, we can continue to live in harmony with the Tang Dynasty and strengthen trade and cultural exchanges! ”

Zhao Ziliang said: "Da Qinmao is a far-sighted person, but when the king ordered him to send troops to assist the Tang Dynasty in attacking Silla, this old boy actually shirked it for various reasons, which clearly shows that he does not give lonely face, and now although the war between our two countries has stopped, it does not mean that he can swallow this evil breath alone······"

Da Yixin hurriedly said: "The king is angry, my Bohai country has been peaceful for a long time, and the people don't want to fight again!" The king's power has spread far and wide, all countries have surrendered, and our king has regretted what happened back then, but the matter has come to this point, and he can only try his best to remedy it. This time, the king of our country ordered the ministers to bring a letter of guilt, asking the king to forgive the king of our country for the mistakes of the year, and ask the king to look at it! ”

Zhao Ziliang immediately waved his hand, and asked a minister next to him to take the petition and read it, and the faces of Da Yixin and Deputy Envoy Da Yuanyi were as ugly as they were. 1.