Chapter 408 Liu Rengui Voluntarily Requests to Stay in Baekje (1)
In July of the 13th year of the Yonghui reign, Liu Renyuan, the governor of Xiongjin,
Liu Rengui, the governor of Daifang, and Guo Daifeng, who was demoted to the position of chief secretary, defeated the Baekje rebels in the east of Xiongjin and captured the Jinhyeon Castle of the Baekje rebels. When the victory news reached Chang'an, Li Chengqian was overjoyed, but then he thought again, since Su Dingfang had already withdrawn his army from Pyongyang to the Central Plains, Liu Rengui and his men would be left alone in Baekje.
If the Baekje rebels joined forces with the Japanese and Goguryeo to attack them, they would surely be annihilated if they fought alone, and even if the Tang wanted to rescue them, it would be too late.
So Li Chengqian issued an imperial edict, asking them to return to the court to avoid fighting alone. If Kim Beommin needed help, they should go to Silla, otherwise, they should cross the sea and return to the Central Plains.
After receiving the emperor's edict, the soldiers who missed their hometown wanted to return to the Central Plains. After
Liu Rengui learned about it, he persuaded the soldiers to stay and continue to fight against Baekje, and prepare to destroy Goguryeo in the future.
The soldiers agreed to stay and continue to fight against the Baekje rebels, defend the overseas base for the court, and vowed to destroy Goguryeo.
Liu Rengui wrote a memorial to the court that day to express his determination to stay in Baekje, and asked the envoy to take his memorial back to Chang'an.
...
In Chang'an City, in Taiji Palace, the envoy who returned from Baekje was meeting with the eunuch who was waiting for him. He was going to meet the emperor, report to Emperor Li Chengqian about the situation of this trip to Baekje, and present Liu Rengui's memorial to the emperor.
"Eunuch, where is your majesty now?" The envoy Wang Jin asked after the two greeted each other.
"Your Majesty! He is now discussing matters with the prime ministers in the Liangyi Hall and asking about the people's livelihood. Your Majesty, please follow me to see the emperor!" said the eunuch.
"Okay! Thank you, eunuch, for leading the way." Envoy Wang Jin made a gesture of invitation.
The eunuch turned around and walked away. Wang Jin hurriedly followed and walked side by side with the eunuch.
"Haha..."
When the two came to the outside of the Liangyi Hall, they heard hearty laughter coming from inside.
The person who made this voice was none other than Li Chengqian, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
No one knew what they were talking about, but it made the Saint so happy. Wang Jin was guessing what might have happened inside.
The two stopped outside the palace, and the eunuch turned back and said to Wang Jin: "I can only take you here, and the eunuchs here will lead you into the palace."
"Thank you, Eunuch Yang!" Wang Jin bowed. On the way to the Liangyi Palace, he had already found out the name of the eunuch in front of him.
Eunuch Yang turned around and said to the eunuch outside the palace: "Please bring the prince in to see the Saint. The prince has returned from Baiji and has important things to report to everyone."
"Got it!" The eunuch outside the palace responded, and Eunuch Yang turned around and nodded to Wang Jin, and then left. His mission had been completed, and there was nothing for him to do next.
"Your Majesty has ordered! If the princes arrive, they should go directly to the main hall." Wang Jin stepped forward, and before he could speak, the eunuch spoke first.
Wang Jin thanked him, straightened his clothes, and then walked into the main hall.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant Wang Jin pays homage to you!" Wang Jin saluted Li Chengqian with his arms crossed.
"My dear minister, please stand up! Please give me a seat!" Li Chengqian smiled as he sat sideways.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After Wang Jin thanked him, he found a random seat to the side and sat down. All around him were ministers sitting in all kinds of casual postures.
The Two Ceremonial Halls are located in the inner court, which is the inner court of the Tang Dynasty. It belongs to the forbidden area. It is the place where the emperor and clan members gather for discussion and receive the doctors.
Not everyone can come and go freely. Generally, only a few ministers are qualified to enter the Two Ceremonial Halls to discuss matters with the emperor, and their words and actions are more casual.
Originally, Wang Jin was not qualified to step into this place without the emperor's special permission. It was only because he was on a diplomatic mission to Baiji that he had the opportunity to enter the Liangyi Hall.
"Don't be so reserved, my dear Wang! Just be casual, just like all of you." Li Chengqian smiled at Wang Jin, who was sitting upright and in a state of awe
. After hearing this, everyone just laughed it off. When they first entered the Liangyi Hall, they were also like Wang Jin, sitting properly, afraid that they would be rude and add to the jokes, and they were a little nervous.
But after a long time, they found that everyone actually sat very casually, even the emperor didn't have a proper posture, either sitting sideways or lying on his side, and sometimes, he just lay down and let the palace maids massage his back and tickle his itch.
As long as you don't go too far, there's nothing wrong with you doing whatever you want.
After hearing this, Wang Jin also followed the posture of everyone else and chose a more comfortable sitting position.
"My dear Wang, you've had a hard time on this mission to Baekje!" Li Chengqian was polite at first. After all, they ran such a long way to Baekje to deliver the imperial edict to Liu Rengui.
Even if they didn't have any credit, they had worked hard. He had to say a few comforting words to comfort Wang Jin's tired mood.
"This is what I should do." Wang Jin said.
"What is the situation in Baekje? How did Liu Rengui and others react after receiving my imperial edict? Have they withdrawn from Baekje now? Are they returning to the court, or have they gone to Silla?" Li Chengqian asked.
He now wanted to know the situation in Baekje and where Liu Rengui and his men were going.
"Your Majesty! After your Majesty's edict arrived in Baekje, I read it out loud, and the soldiers who were stranded overseas all wanted to come back."
"However, the governor of Daifang, Liu Rengui, advised everyone to stay in Baekje and continue to defend and eliminate the Baekje rebels." Wang Jin said.
"You mean, Liu Rengui disobeyed my edict and wanted to stay in Baekje to fight alone, and was unwilling to retreat to the Central Plains." Li Chengqian said.
"Yes! Liu Rengui also asked me to bring his memorial back and present it to your majesty for your review." Wang Jin said.
"Where is Liu Rengui's memorial? Bring it here for me to see." Li Chengqian said, motioning Wang Quan to get it.
Wang Quan came to Wang Jin, and Wang Jin hurriedly took out Liu Rengui's memorial from his sleeve and handed it to Wang Quan, who then handed it to Li Chengqian.
Wang Quan took the memorial, turned back to Li Chengqian, and handed it to Li Chengqian for review.
"What did Liu Rengui say to those soldiers? They clearly wanted to go home and reunite with their families, but in the end they were able to stay in Baekje wholeheartedly." Li Ke turned around and looked at Wang Jin.
Li Ke was very curious about how Liu Rengui encouraged these soldiers to defend Baekje for the Tang Dynasty.
He promised them high positions and generous salaries, or some other benefits. Even if he promised some benefits, I'm afraid he promised a lot.
Otherwise, why would these soldiers who had been away from home for so long be willing to stay in Baekje and continue to suppress the Baekje rebels, risking the possibility of being annihilated by the Baekje rebels, Japanese samurai and Goguryeo coalition forces?
What Li Ke asked was also the voice of everyone here. They also wanted to ask this question, but Li Ke asked it for them first.