Chapter 1281: All the Countries Disarm! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Hah! Zhang Shougui is a vicious tiger! Did the letter mention what to do if we reduce our army and then Zhang Shougui attacks?”
Yeon Gaesomun crossed his hands and leaned slightly back, his body exuding the violent energy of a leopard.
”Ü-Tsang's Imperial Minister said that everything has already been taken care of. The Confucians have already promised that if Zhang Shougui still dares to defy orders and attack after the signing of the treaty, the Confucians' imperial censors will censure him to death in the court. Even if they can't stop Zhang Shougui, they will be able to seize him in the aftermath!” the guard replied. Surprisingly, Dalon Trinling had apparently predicted Yeon Gaesomun's question in his letter.
Yeon Gaesomun's pupils constricted, and then he suddenly broke into laughter.
”Haha, good! As long as I can kill Zhang Shougui, we will fully cooperate with this disarmament! Pass on my order! The army in the southern region is to be reduced by two hundred and eighty thousand soldiers!”
Yeon Gaesomun loudly laughed, his voice causing the roof of the hall to tremble.
Across the Great Tang, if there was one person who truly posed a threat to Goguryeo and greatly pained even Yeon Gaesomun, it was the Andong Protector-General, Zhang Shougui. And to Goguryeo, the Great Tang was the protectorate army of Youzhou, which was Zhang Shougui.
In addition, the Goguryeo Empire was divided into northerners and southerners. The northerners were brave and pugnacious warriors, whereas the southerners were skilled in agriculture and commerce but were less capable as warriors.
The two hundred and eighty thousand soldiers Yeon Gaesomun had agreed to disarm were all southerners. To exchange this many of the weaker southern soldiers to remove the enormous threat of Zhang Shougui was undoubtedly a profitable deal for Yeon Gaesomun.
A few moments later, several gyrfalcons shot out of Bisa to deliver the orders of Goguryeo Emperor Yeon Gaesomun to the southern region.
……
The entire eastern world was quaking as this unprecedented mass disarmament drew everyone's attention.
A carrier pigeon flew into an elegant tea house located in the northwest corner of the capital. A young Confucian swiftly took the letter and excitedly rushed up to a white-robed Confucian. ”Young Master, the surrounding countries have formally begun to reduce their armies!”
Behind this white-robed Confucian were a black-robed elder and white-clothed young woman.
”I see.”
Li Junxian gently placed his white porcelain tea cup on the sandalwood table next to him. His expression was extremely calm, as if he was hearing something completely normal and expected.
Once that young Confucian was gone, the white-clothed woman delightedly said, ”Young Master, with the countries reducing their armies, the long-cherished desires of the worthy predecessors of our Confucian Sect can finally be realized!”
To make all the countries around the Great Tang disarm was truly a heroic undertaking, and all this had been accomplished by their young master.
”Now is not the time to be happy.”
To their surprise, Li Junxian's voice was abnormally calm and devoid of any joy.
”They're only reducing their armies, not completely dissolving them. Right now, countless people are watching us both openly and in the shadows. If we show the slightest flaw in this matter of reducing the armies, someone will inevitably seize this flaw and use it to make trouble. Moreover, although the rulers of all the countries have agreed to reduce their armies, we can't rule out that they are only pretending to agree and not actually carrying out the disarmament, or disarming much fewer soldiers than they agreed to. We must guard against all these things!
”A man cannot succeed without trust. Regardless of what the rulers were thinking when they first agreed, since they agreed, we must ensure that they hold up their end!”
Li Junxian's eyes became extremely sharp.
”Yes, Young Master!”
The old man and young woman both solemnly bowed.
”We will dispatch men to oversee the disarmament!”
”Mm! The minds of all people are inclining toward peace, and the Harmonious World is the irresistible trend. Neither the militarists of the Great Tang nor the rulers of the other countries can do anything to stop it. If one wishes for the heart of a Bodhisattva, one requires a thunderous hand. Go!”
Li Junxian waved his sleeve, and the two of them immediately left to carry out his orders.
……
At this moment, in another place in the capital, thirty-five hundred hand-picked experts had gathered in front of the Bureau of Military Personnel.
These people all had sharp and bright eyes, pronounced temples, and calloused hands. One could tell at a glance that they were martial artists.
An official of the Bureau of Military Personnel, his demeanor clearly that of a general, stood in front of the steps and sternly said, ”This time, all of you will be in teams of four hundred. You will be infiltrating Ü-Tsang, Mengshe Zhao, Goguryeo, Arabia, the Xi, and the Khitans to observe their disarmament process. Remember, all of you are just ordinary people with no post of any sort in the army. Even if something happens to you, the Imperial Court will never admit to anything. In addition, you must remain hidden throughout this mission. You cannot allow anyone to discover you, understood?!”