Impeachment will make me stronger, and I will be invincible on the road to death.

Chapter 135
Wu Zetian knows the details of the Cui family. The Cui family is an ancient noble family that has been passed down for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the survival rules of these ancient families are marriage, alliance, and mutual benefit. They are not as consistent as Li Yuan, so This led to the decline of the Cui family.

Wu Zetian didn't mind if the Cui family was destroyed by herself. Anyway, the Cui family had lost power in the court. Keeping them would be nothing more than a disaster, so it would be better to get rid of them.

"Your Majesty, this is a secret letter just delivered from outside the palace." A eunuch handed a secret letter to Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian opened it and took a look, a cold light flashed in her eyes.

"Huh, Mrs. Cui, you are very brave." Wu Zetian snorted coldly.

This is a secret book. The secret book states that large quantities of grain have been found flowing into various counties and towns in various places, and the price of grain has skyrocketed. A lot of grain has been accumulated in the family's granary. If all the grain is sold, Even if only [-]% is left, the food crisis of the entire Tang Dynasty will be half solved.

More importantly, food is one of the main materials that people rely on to maintain their lives. Now that food prices have skyrocketed, farmers cannot eat enough, and countless people have died of starvation. When the time comes, public dissatisfaction will boil over, and troublemakers will spread all over the states and counties. It’s not just a food issue anymore.

But the Tang Dynasty will suffer huge damage.

These grain merchants actually embezzled grain. They deserved death.

Wu Zetian's anger rushed to the top of her head in an instant, and she immediately ordered Pei Yan, the Minister of Punishment, to come quickly.

"Your Majesty, is something wrong?" Pei Yan hurried to the back of Ganlu Palace and asked respectfully.

"Ministry of Punishment, you are responsible for investigating this matter. You must arrest those grain merchants who secretly hid grain. The Aijia will make them pay for their greed."

"I accept the decree, and I will do my best," Pei Yan said.

Wu Zetian waved his hand and said: "You go ahead, Aijia is tired and needs to rest."

"Here." Pei Yan responded and left the Ganlu Hall.

After Pei Yan left, Shangguan Wan'er couldn't help but said: "Queen Mother, is this too risky?"

Shangguan Wan'er was worried that Wu Zetian's measures were too drastic and would backfire and cause the family to resist.

Wu Zetian smiled and said: "Wan'er, you are wrong. I am not afraid of the aristocratic family's resistance. I am afraid that the aristocratic family will not resist. As long as the aristocratic family is willing to stand up, no matter how much resistance there is, the Ai family will accept everything."

Wu Zetian took a deep breath and said: "This is a big gamble. Once you win, it will be the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty. If you lose, the Ai family will change hands."

She seemed calm, but inside she was in turmoil.

"The Ai family has no retreat. This is the only chance for the Ai family to make a comeback. Once this opportunity is missed, there will be no hope." Wu Zetian whispered.

Wu Zetian knew that she could not continue to wait for the Tang Dynasty to weaken and then allow other vassal states to take advantage of it.

The children of these aristocratic families are all over the court, and today's Tang Dynasty has been riddled with holes in their dormitories.

She had to take action and change the current situation.

To achieve this, she cannot do it alone. She can only rely on external power.

The next day, when Yang Yanzhang heard the tribute from the Angkor Dynasty of Chenla Kingdom in the morning, his whole body suddenly became energetic.

This country was like a thunderbolt to him.

The Angkor Dynasty was established by the Chenla Kingdom, also known as the Chenla Court. The king of Chenla Kingdom was named Arab Kraf Khan.

Zhenla Kingdom is a small vassal state with a narrow territory and few people. Its land area is less than one-third of that of the Tang Dynasty, and its territory is not even comparable to the province of the Tang Dynasty.

It stands to reason that such a small country should not be able to occupy any role on the historical stage, let alone influence the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

But the truth is exactly the opposite.The rise of the Chenla Kingdom was full of drama. It was a member of the Dasui Empire, but it was also the object of competition between the Sui Dynasty and the Western Turks. Several wars broke out between the two sides, but each time the Chenla Kingdom won.

This time, the Western Turkic Empire was defeated, forcing the Western Turks to sign an alliance under the city, and then unified the Zhenla Kingdom.

The rise of the Zhenla Kingdom made the Tang Dynasty extremely fearful.

Especially when the chaos came at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Zhenla Kingdom was also involved, which made the Tang Dynasty even more afraid.

The Zhenla Kingdom has always been the best stepping stone in the troubled times of the late Sui Dynasty. As long as the Zhenla Kingdom gains a firm foothold, it may threaten the hegemony of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty continued to support the Zhenla Kingdom, trying to contain the northern Tang Dynasty through the Zhenla Kingdom, thereby weakening the Sui Dynasty's strength.

But no one expected that the king of Chenla Kingdom, Arabian Kraf Khan, was ambitious. He was ready to conquer the world with his iron cavalry and avenge his shame. So he took the lead in launching an aggressive war against the Tang Dynasty and broke through the Beihai border of the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, the Tang Empire was experiencing internal and external troubles.

Under the instigation of Arab Kraf Khan, their Chenla army began to wreak havoc on the grasslands, and even the Donghu people could not stop their offensive.

At this time, the Zhenla people finally met the extremely ruthless tyrant Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. With the support of the Zhenla Kingdom, Yang Guang's troops were unstoppable and directly defeated the Zhenla people. In the end, He was defeated and fled back to Chenla.

At this time, the Tang Dynasty also took the opportunity to send a large number of envoys to lobby the Chenla Kingdom, and expressed that as long as the Chenla Kingdom was willing to surrender, the Tang Dynasty was willing to canonize them as a vassal state.

In the end, the Angkor Dynasty was successfully incorporated into the Tang Dynasty.

During this period, Wu Zetian had been observing the Zhenla Kingdom. She found that the people in Zhenla still had a strong sense of belonging to the Zhenla Kingdom, which made her very happy, because it proved that her previous efforts were not in vain.

As long as she can win over the people of Zhenla Kingdom, she will be sure to control this power.

"Reporting to the Queen Mother, the envoy from Zhenla is asking for an audience." At this time, a guard came in to report.

Wu Zetian nodded slightly and said, "Bring him over."

"Slaves see the Queen Mother."

The person who came was wearing a gray robe with a leather whip tied around his waist. He looked like a standard Zhenla man and looked quite elegant.

This is the envoy from Zhenla Kingdom.

"The envoy of Zhenla will be given a seat without any courtesy!" Wu Zetian said lightly.

The Zhenla envoy thanked him and sat aside, silent.

This attitude annoyed the civil and military officials, who all frowned and looked at the Zhenla envoy.

For an envoy to dare to despise the majesty of the Queen Mother like this is simply disrespectful.

However, Wu Zetian did not get angry. She still maintained a gentle smile and said, "I heard that your country wants to attack our country?"

The Zhenla envoy bowed slightly and said, "Yes, my king has ordered me to invite the Tang Empire to negotiate with my king and jointly attack Nanzhao."

Although the Zhenla envoy did not answer, the arrogance on his face was already very obvious.

This was Chi Guoguo's provocation against the Tang Dynasty. He didn't take the Tang Dynasty seriously at all. Otherwise, how could he dare to come to see him in such a big way and say something like attacking Nanzhao?

(End of this chapter)