Chapter 556

Changancheng.

Great Ming Palace.

An official from the Court of State Ceremonial came to report.

"Your Majesty, Great Tang has sent envoys to Great Qin again.

The purpose of the mission is said to be to discuss trade with the three major powers: the Arab Empire, Byzantium, and Kievan Rus."

Qin Mu laughed.

These Great Tang officials are useless at everything else, but they are great at playing little tricks.

Great Tang had just formed a four-nation alliance with these three major powers to deal with Great Qin.

After Great Qin used a move of economic differentiation to give Byzantium a little sweetness, the four-nation alliance was immediately on the verge of collapse.

In the blink of an eye, Great Tang was turning its spearhead toward these three major powers again.

"Let them come up; I want to see what little conspiracy they have prepared this time."

Announce the Great Tang envoys to the hall!

High-pitched calls echoed out.

Before long, Old Li and Fang Fang Xuanling ascended the hall together.

"Greetings to the Great Qin Majesty!"

Qin Mu noticed that the expressions of the two were not very good.

He knew they must have heard something on the way here.

Who told them to come to Changancheng at this exact time?

Wei Wei Zhongxian had just released the news, and it was the hottest time for the public to discuss Great Tang.

They had essentially delivered their faces to be slapped.

"Minister Fang, Old Li, I remember it hasn't been long since you left last time, right?

Why are you here again so soon?"

Old Li replied with a sheepish smile.

"The two countries are interdependent, so we should have more contact."

This was very fake.

Although as diplomatic pleasantries, it was understandable.

But it still drew looks of disdain from the Great Qin court.

Interdependent, my foot!

It was clearly Great Tang that needed Great Qin, while Great Qin never needed Great Tang's help.

Qin Mu smiled slightly and didn't expose them.

"Minister Fang, Great Tang is now in decline, and its national strength is not what it used to be.

Have you considered coming to serve in Great Qin?

If you come now, I can still give you the position of Minister of Rites."

Back in Tubo, Qin Mu had already tried to win over Fang Fang Xuanling.

At that time, Great Qin was short of people.

If Fang Fang Xuanling had defected earlier, he might have been a Prime Minister by now.

But he couldn't bear to betray Li Er and returned to Great Tang.

Bringing it up again this time, the promised position had dropped to Minister of Rites.

The Ministry of Rites ranked after the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue, but it could still be considered a first-tier important position.

Fang Fang Xuanling was very embarrassed.

Old Li was right beside him, staring at him with burning eyes.

It seemed he was afraid he would be snatched away by the Great Qin Emperor.

"Your Majesty, Great Qin is full of talent; one more foreign minister is not too many, and one less is not too few.

It is better to let this minister remain in Great Tang; Great Tang needs me more."

Qin Mu was just saying it casually.

Fang Fang Xuanling didn't defect back then, so naturally he wouldn't defect now.

These civil officials sometimes value their reputation more than anything else.

"Hahaha, I was just teasing you.

Tell me, what is the real reason for this mission to Great Qin?"

Finally, it was time to talk business.

Old Li wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Great Qin Majesty, regarding this person Bian Ji, it was absolutely not supported by Great Tang in secret!

I don't know how he got mixed up with those families.

Wang Jing is a wanted criminal in Great Tang; that he could go and defect to him is enough to show this force...

As for Pei Ji appearing by their side, it was also done behind the Great Tang court's back.

From beginning to end, the Great Tang court was unaware of this!"

Qin Mu sneered.

Old Li had pushed the responsibility away completely!

It didn't belong to Great Tang.

"Not acknowledging Bian Ji, not acknowledging Wang Jing, that's understandable.

Even Pei Ji, you don't acknowledge him either?

It was a waste of Pei Ji working so hard for the Great Tang court."

This made Old Li blush.

Although Qin Mu didn't know the specific relationship between these few people yet.

But he could be sure that Pei Ji definitely didn't betray Bian Ji on his own initiative.

The reason was simple: Pei Ji needed a backer.

Qin Mu paused.

He looked directly at Old Li and stated the basis for his judgment.

"If Pei Ji betrayed the families behind the Great Tang court's back, his only way to survive would be to surrender to Great Qin.

But Pei Ji did not surrender, which is unreasonable.

Pei Ji couldn't have been tired of living and insisted on seeking death.

The most reasonable explanation is that Pei Ji did this for the Great Tang court.

His backer is the Great Tang court!"

This analysis left Old Li speechless.

His lie was exposed on the spot!

A capital embarrassment was on his face; even though Old Li's skin was already thick, it still flushed red.

Fang Fang Xuanling watched helplessly as Old Li lied and was then exposed.

He was also quite speechless about this move of Old Li's.

But he had to save the situation.

"Your Majesty, this is actually the reason for our mission to Great Qin.

Great Qin also has a grudge against the families; why not join forces with Great Tang to jointly exterminate them? I remember Great Qin has a new crime called 'anti-social crime', right? Since they have been convicted, you can't just watch them remain at large!" Fang Fang Xuanling's words were quite sophisticated.

He used Great Qin's own laws to lobby Great Qin.

At this point, it was impossible to refuse.

Qin Mu nodded, very satisfied with Fang Fang Xuanling's performance.

Unfortunately, he was unwilling to serve Great Qin.

Staying in Great Tang was somewhat of a waste of his talent.

"The families are enemies of Great Qin, but their wealth and foundations are all in Great Tang.

If you want Great Qin to take action, that's fine, as long as Great Tang opens its borders and lets the Great Qin army enter and exit at will.

Great Qin will do the work of exterminating the families!"