The Heavens were different this time, usually around this time the exams would've been taking place, instead, the military and generals are running around headless, coastal villages are being raided, and many go hungry.
Today was tax day, stewards all around Tang go around to collect, instead, when they arrive they are forced to return empty handed as most coastal towns are starving, and even more are destroyed and forced to move to larger cities.
This normally wouldn't pose a problem
However when hundreds of people come seeking shelter and food come one day and another hundred the next.
Suddenly the larger cities start to starve.
Riots began to break out the next month.
The 'Prince of Persia' and his dishonorable tactics left many displaced and even more hungry.
And the worst part?
He comes weeks later with wagons of meat and grain.
Kneel and swear fealty and you'd be fed.
Refuse?
He walks away with the food.
It was horrible for the citizens, and even worse for the smaller lords who face the brunt of both ends of complaints.
Complaints from the lower caste, and the talking of doing better from the higher lords.
As of two months into the campaign of the Persian conquest into the Mandate of Heaven, he'd already conquered Pala. The Prince could walk away, instead he's continuing further.
And with cities defecting by the tens every week, the Emperor is both outraged and paranoid that a general will defect and join the Prince of Persia.
"I will not stand for this!" Emperor Taizong nearly screamed.
"My Lord, be calm, the Prince of Persia is not as close to the capital, only getting as far as the entire south eastern tribes and small states within the Yunnan" The Court eunuch spoke coolly.
"And I'm supposed to be calm? What of the coasts?" Emperor Taizong asked.
"Not… good, with numerous raids and even more defecting we've lost more than a quarter of our total coastline, the area of Lingnan is hit hard and the district of Jingyang is reporting sightings of Persian Raiders" the Eunuch winced.
"Damn it!" The Emperor couldn't help but cuss out loud.
Undignified, yet no one could blame him.
Petitions are also getting worse, calls for surrendering are getting louder and louder as stomachs get emptier and emptier.
The capital has yet to experience any of the effects of the Persian raiding, and yet it would be hard to not feel the weight of the strain the country is facing.
"What of General Li Jing?" The Emperor asked as he stared down at the numerous reports of his men's failings.
"General Li Jing has perished" this information had a visceral reaction.
The Emperor shot up to his feet, mouth wide open as fury and shock evident on his face "what?! H-how?!"
"From the Survivors the Persians attacked at night, and led him and his men into a trap… there… from the reports it was an utter failure and slaughter in every aspect" the eunuch frowned.
The Emperor slowly sat down as he exhaled "what does the Prince want?"
"For Tang to swear fealty to Persia"
"Not happening" the Emperor shook his head.
"Then we must force him into a white peace, force him to accept what he has taken from us"
This was also not going to happen, the Prince has taken an extreme amount of land for someone invading an utterly massive empire, if they were to enforce a white peace.
The land loss would be so tremendous that Tang would shatter and another hundreds of years of war would begin again.
So they are forced to fight.
Lose and swear fealty to an invading empire, or shatter and be conquered as separate nations.
It was a horrible and a genius position.
"We must capture the Prince" the Emperor settled on.
"If not to get the land back then to get the food and peace back." The eunuch couldn't help but nod.
"Yes, but… how?" The eunuch asked.
"…gather all the generals, we launch an invasion force to get Lingnan back" Taizong stood up with a grim look.
Heaven will not bow to an unwashed savage such as this Prince!
"Prepare the troops, we ride at the end of the winter season!" the eunuch bowed as he left the fuming emperor to plan his attack.
————————
"Ma'am, I do not know what a 'Lotus Crimson Petal Privillon' is, but if you bring it up again I will whip you until your back is akin to leather" I sneered at a black haired woman who was wearing some ornate silk clothing.
Now, what would cause such a hostile reaction?
Simple.
Cultivators.
No matter where you are in history, cultivators exist and in ancient china they act like their living gods, and after destroying the sixth sect, clan, team or whatever the fuck they are.
I ordered a strict 'fuck off' rule.
Not named that but you get it.
"Young Conqueror, your Qi is…"
"Take her and whip her" I waved the guards as her eyes shot wide open as her mouth shot wide open.
"How, dare you!" She screams "I am-"
"Shut up" I commanded as her mouth clicked audibly.
"I've destroyed six sects already, and I've grown tired of your little 'Cultivation' game, you are to be whipped, possessions confiscated and placed into the enslaved category" I waved my hand as the guards took her away as she thrashed.
This was like the thousandth cultivator I've done this to.
They appear, challenge, get beaten, and are surprised when I don't care.
I usually enslave them after I shatter their ability to use magecraft because I don't want to deal with them.
"Name and purpose?" I asked as the next one in line appeared.
"I-I am the Grand Minister of Jangnan, I am here to propose my surrender and here to swear fealty to you, my emperor" I looked up, an elderly man, bald, and terrified beady eyes stared at me.
How bad is their situation?
"Prince, I am no Emperor, since you're here to surrender I will lay out the rules here and now: 30% tax, religious freedom, equal rights for both men and women, you will keep your merit system as long as you keep up with those rules, am I clear?" I spoke as I pulled out a well prepared parchment.
"Y-yes, thank the heavens for your benevolence, my Prince!" He Kowtowed to me or whatever they call it.
"Take this, it is proof of your submission and permission to take nearly a hundred tons of food to your land, feed your people" I handed him the piece of parchment as he shakily reached his hands out.
"Do not disrespect the rules laid out and you will find both you and your people will be prosperous" he knelt again before he hurriedly ran off.
"Next" I pulled out another parchment, you'd be surprised at how much work it is to conquer land.
The paperwork is atrocious!
"I am Lang'er of the heavenly court" a woman, white haired and clothed in black silk spoke coolly to me.
"Heavenly Court? From the Emperor?" She merely nodded.
"Are you here to announce his surrender?" I asked as I leaned back.
"No, young Prince. I am here to offer my services to you" I raised an eyebrow.
"Okay" I spoke as I placed the quilt on the table before me as I decided to play this little game.
"What can you do?" I asked her.
"I have many contacts in the Court of Heaven, I am a powerful Cultivator and… I could help with those 'growing pains' when you grow older" she spoke as her red lips moved.
"Uh… huh, what did you do at the Heavenly Court?" I asked bored with her already.
"I was a concubine, however, the Emperor has lost interest in me" ah a whore then.
"Listen, Lang'er, if you cannot do anything useful, then get out of my line." I commanded as I let out a sigh that held the entirety of India in it.
"I can spy!" She quickly jumped up.
"Spy?" I gestured for her to carry on.
"Yes, My Prince" she went back to speaking coolly "I often come across the most interesting conversations I could - with a few promises from you - be your ear within the Court of Heaven"
She laid out her proposal and to be honest, it was a good one, a genuine good proposal from a human in the era where they threw their shot outside was such a gem.
Then again she's in the county of learning.
Realistic expectations, people.
"What promises?" I asked as I stared into her green eyes.
"I wish to be the Empress of heaven" she laid out her ambition on the table.
"You wish to rule China as a vassal of my empire then" I corrected her.
"Vassal?" She looked shocked.
"It's going to happen, the Tang Dynasty will bow to both myself and my armies, and become a vassal to the Persian Empire" I spoke "that's the only reason I'm here"
"Y-your not here to seize the Mandate of Heaven?"
"And deal with you and your cultivators for all of eternity? No, I like my hair thank you" I shook my head.
"Let's say I do accept your proposal and you become my spy, what stops you from being a double agent and feeding me fake information?" this seemed to quiet her.
She expected to strut up her, offer herself and the Mandate of Heaven expecting me to accept?
What a clown.
Technically, both India and Tang are Hegemonies, titles above empires, meaning the Persia empire would be above the title of Hegemony.
I need to make a name for it then.
Ugh.
"Nothing my Prince, only trust" she spoke as she analyzed me with her eyes.
"I don't like that, I need something to work with" I shook my head.
"What do you want?" She asked me directly.
"For the Emperor to surrender so I can get this over with already, or do you mention this discussion then I guess you could say I would enjoy a spy."
She smirked at that.
"So, what does that leave us, you would enjoy a spy and I want to be Empress"
"But" I cut her off "you clearly haven't said you'd accept vassalization, so why should I even accept you?" I asked.
"Fine" oh she got feisty!
"I'll accept your terms of vassalization, but in return I want council rights"
"Eh, I don't want a spy anymore"
"What?" She suddenly looked broken.
"Lang'er, I have put the Emperor in such a position that he only has three options, surrender himself and accept Persian rule, face me on the battlefield himself, or shatter his empire" I laid out the situation to her.
"What use is a spy when your enemy shows his hands so easily and you can read him so easily as well?" I asked her as I leaned forwards.
"You!" She looked downright furious.
"Lang'er, what you forgot is that the heavens your people worship is so far below me that I do not care about them" I leaned back.
"Tang will kneel, and your heavenly court will kowtow to me as I force your Emperor to bow for each city I take" I sighed.
"So I'll ask one last time, what use are you?"
"My brother" she sounded broken and she looked resigned, she clearly had an ace she never wanted to use.
"He is technically the last living male from the Sui dynasty, giving you a claim to the Mandate of Heaven"
"I don't need a claim, I'll just conquer you"
"But a rightful claim will make things so smoother!" She sounded desperate.
"True" I nodded "tell me about your brother"
"His name is Tailong Sui, he is only four years old and… with you he can take the Mandate of Heaven and swear eternal fealty to you"
Now we're talking!
"All I ask is that you appoint appropriate people to train him as he grows" I nodded at her words.
"Done, I accept, we will use your brother's claim to take the Mandate of Heaven, with his appropriate claim to the throne not most can oppose" I nodded.
"And… marriage…" she trailed off.
"Not happening, not my type nor do I like you at all"
"You're… a cruel prince" she grimaced.
"That isn't my problem, why do you need a marriage anyways?" I asked.
"To tie the dynasty together, alliance, economic and political stability" she lifted off pretty easily.
"Your not getting a claim to the Persian Empire you stilly girl"
Still not good enough to hide that intention from me.
"Instead, a defensive alliance - paperwork, if the Sui faces a rebellion or an invading force the Persian Empire will step in, agreed?"
She mulled over it for a total of five or so seconds.
"Agreed"
"Alright… where's your bother?" I asked.
"In prison"
Goddamnit woman, couldn't you say that earlier so I could've said no?
I instead of losing my shit only let out a small sigh.
"Where's your brother?" I asked.
"In Chang'an" of course he's in the capital, couldn't he be in a monk monastery for fucks sake?
"Alright, at the end of the week we'll get your brother, and end the war… the same day we get your brother, I'm going to be inpatient" I laid out the plan in front of her.
"S-so easy?" She looked at me in shock.
"Yeah" I nodded.
I need to instill common sense into some of these people.
"Now, let us formalize this alliance of ours"
"Are you so sure of your victory that you'd already plan ahead?" She stared at me.
"Go into a situation as if you'd already won and you'd be greatly surprised" I spoke as I picked up my quill.
"Now, anything else to note?" I asked her as I began writing.
"No, my Prince" she looked like a nervous school girl now.
"Good" I spoke as I wrote the alliance up, my brother's gotta have it easier, right?