"This Wa state… doesn't understand war."
Li Shiji delivered his verdict on Wa without hesitation.
Since the pre-Qin era, Han Chinese generals had always placed supreme importance on intelligence. After all, anyone who commanded troops knew Sunzi's famous line:
Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles.
Know neither the enemy nor yourself, and every battle will be lost.
At the end of Initial Estimations, Sunzi summed up the entire art of war in just two things:
Compare plans, and seek out the truth.
And in The Use of Spies, he was even more direct:
Foreknowledge must be obtained from people—those who know the enemy's situation.
Thus, for Han commanders, intelligence was the true core of warfare.
Yet Wa blindly trusted second-hand information.
"Did Wa never consider," Li Shiji continued, "that Goguryeo and Baekje would never honestly admit they needed Wa's reinforcements to resist Tang?"
Li Jing, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke after some thought.
"Wa is trapped on islands, with no strong neighboring enemies. The sea itself forms a natural moat."
"…They are nothing like Great Tang."
Du Ruhui immediately grasped the implication.
Just as customs differ between north and south, and the Central Plains cannot be compared to the Western Regions, a people born on isolated islands would inevitably think very differently from the Chinese heartland.
You couldn't use Tang logic to predict Wa's decisions.
And yet, paradoxically, Du Ruhui found himself increasingly curious about Wa.
Once these islands fall under Tang rule, he thought, I'd quite like to see them myself.
[Lightscreen]
[When Wa formally entered the war, Baekje believed the Korean Peninsula had already entered "garbage time."
Goguryeo had slapped Tang so hard its own face turned red.
Our Baekje Restoration Army might not be able to push into Sabi City, but Tang can't break out either!
As long as we hold, victory will be ours!]
Thus Baekje prince Buyeo Pung—fresh back from studying in Wa—once again performed a classic routine:
Popping champagne at halftime.
He sent envoys to Liu Rengui to brag:
"Our ally Wa's great army is already on the way. Withdraw now, and I'll personally escort you out with drums and gongs. Persist in resistance, and once Wa's heavenly soldiers arrive, you'll all die."
Liu Rengui responded with impeccable manners. He listened politely, escorted the envoy out, and said he'd "think about it."
The envoy left.
And the very next moment, Liu Rengui mobilized his army.
That very night, he launched an "utterly shameless" surprise attack.
The Baekje Restoration Army—already celebrating victory—was completely unprepared and suffered a crushing defeat. Buyeo Pung fled more than two hundred li without looking back.
Liu Rengui had waited too long for this chance. He pressed the advantage relentlessly, winning battle after battle, and in one breath captured Baekje's key stronghold, Jinheon Fortress.
For Baekje and Silla, Jinheon was like Tong Pass to Chang'an and Luoyang. Its fall meant Tang had reconnected with Silla.
The nightmare of fighting alone was over.
Under Liu Rengui's command, Tang officially shifted from defense to offense.
When the report reached Luoyang, Emperor Gaozong was overjoyed and immediately approved Liu Rengui's request.
In the cold-weapon era, information lag was severe. Generals who won wars were those with exceptional foresight—able to predict the battlefield and prepare in advance.
Liu Rengui was exactly such a man.
When he memorialized Gaozong, Tang had only just taken Jinheon. Yet Liu calmly concluded:
Baekje's rebels were no longer a concern.
Tang's true final enemy on the peninsula would be Wa.
Therefore—send more navy.
Some later compared Gaozong and Yuan Shao as similar in military temperament:
Smooth sailing? Hesitant and indecisive.
Against the odds? A model ruler.
Facing Liu Rengui's request, Gaozong agreed without hesitation. He didn't even follow Tang convention by recruiting from Jianghuai. Instead, he urgently ordered Shandong to conscript 7,000 elite troops, outfitted over 170 warships, and sent Sun Renshi to reinforce Liu Rengui.
At the same time, Liu Rengui's predictions proved accurate one by one.
Gwisil Boksin tried to seize power and killed Dochim.
Buyeo Pung, unwilling to be sidelined, struck first and exterminated Gwisil Boksin on charges of rebellion.
The upper ranks drowned in bloodshed, shattering morale below. Generals like Heukchi Sangji and Sha Zha Xiangru defected back to Tang, helping Liu Rengui wipe out the remaining rebels.
At this point, Buyeo Pung could only beg Wa like a child calling for dad:
If you don't help me now, I'll die for you to see!
Wa replied:
"Brother, don't panic. Our land army is invincible. We'll carve through Silla on land and cut off Tang's rear!"
In truth, it was classic Wa raider instinct.
By then, Silla had completed economic reforms and become Northeast Asia's trade hub. Wa nobles drooled over its wealth. Once ashore, Wa troops behaved like dogs in a bun shop—looting for five full months.
Only when Liu Rengui advanced on Baekje's provisional capital, Juryu Fortress, did Wa finally realize delay was embarrassing.
"Oh right. We have ships."
August, 663.
Wa regrouped 37,000 troops, boarded over a thousand warships, and sailed north to reinforce Buyeo Pung.
Liu Rengui saw everything clearly.
He ordered Liu Rengui and Sun Renshi to besiege Juryu Fortress on land—baiting the hook.
He himself stationed the navy at Baekgang Estuary, ready to feed Wa to the fish.
Everything was ready.
All that remained—
was for the devils to come offer birthday congratulations.
Thus began the first direct clash between China and Japan in history.]
In the Chengdu Prefectural Office, everyone stared in amazement.
"Much chaos," Liu Bei frowned.
"Much merit," Zhang Fei (Yi De) raised an eyebrow.
"Much stupidity," Pang Tong remarked dryly.
Zhuge Liang looked at the three of them, waved his feather fan, and laughed.
"Expanding territory has only two great difficulties: logistics, and pacification."
"I happen to understand a bit."
Everyone silently scoffed.
If you 'understand a bit,' then the rest of us are idiots.
Pang Tong stared at Zhuge Liang, unease creeping in.Pang Tong stared at Zhuge Liang, unease creeping in.
In inter-provincial maneuvering, exploiting momentum, and winning hearts, Pang Tong believed himself no weaker.In inter-provincial maneuvering, exploiting momentum, and winning hearts, Pang Tong believed himself no weaker.
But overseeing the entire realm—stabilizing the people and shaping governance—Zhuge Liang clearly surpassed him.But overseeing the entire realm—stabilizing the people and shaping governance—Zhuge Liang clearly surpassed him.
Breaking Yangping Pass, securing Hanzhong—logistics and siege machines had decided it.
Jing–Xiang campaigns, Guan Yu's river dominance—again, engineering.
At first glance, Zhuge Liang's achievements were invisible.
Look closely—his influence was everywhere.
Pang Tong felt a chill.
If I grow complacent, I'll be left behind.
Zhuge Liang smiled reassuringly, then gazed at the light screen.
"This Gaozong… resembles Yuan Benchu somewhat."
An odd comparison—yet disturbingly accurate.
Zhang Fei scratched his chin.
"Sending more troops only to grow weaker… isn't that Big Brother?"
"Big Brother resembles Yuan Benchu?!"
Liu Bei's murderous glare answered.
Zhang Fei panicked.
"Uh—no! Yuan Benchu resembles Big Brother!
No—Gaozong resembles Big Brother!"
Moments later, clutching his head, Zhang Fei grumbled:
No matter how I say it, I get hit. Big Brother is too tyrannical.
Feeling refreshed, Liu Bei stretched.
"This peninsula seems poor."
The future map showed mountains and hills everywhere—not fertile land.
"But if one wishes to deal with Wa," Liu Bei continued,
"this land must be controlled."
"Proceed slowly," Zhuge Liang concluded.
Wa posed no immediate threat.
Without restoring Han first, there was no need for haste.
Build ships, chart seas, grow steadily.
Overreaching without strength would only raise a tiger that later bites.
The peninsula's complexity also astonished Li Shimin.
Li Zhi's decisiveness earned repeated nods.
Yet a troubling thought arose.
Have I left him too much?
Twisting his beard, Li Shimin finally understood the saying:
Children squander inherited land without pain.
Raised in the palace, armies not earned, ships not built.
Wave a hand—hundreds of thousands march.
Speak a word—fleets sail to die abroad.
Though once mocked as a "Prince of Taiyuan," Li Shimin had fought through blood and screams.
He had told these stories to his sons.
But hearing was never the same as living.
Perhaps princes should truly experience the people's suffering.
Still, he noted one bright point.
Liu Rengui—rehabilitating the disgraced, listening to remonstrance.
Compared to Xuanzong's later treatment of Feng Changqing, Li Zhi wasn't terrible.
Then Li Shimin noticed something else.
Silla was wealthy.
Not much by Tang standards—but profit was profit.
"Silla's wealth," he murmured,
"can also become Tang's wealth."
Du Ruhui studied the map, drew lines from Laizhou to Wa, then from Liaodong to Wa.
Both converged at Silla.
"If Tang is to stabilize its eastern frontier," Du Ruhui said,
"control of Silla is critical."
If maritime trade routes opened and profits flowed, Jiangnan and Shandong merchants would race to sea.
As long as Tang's might endured, eastern customs would transform.
But what treasure lay in the eastern seas?
Du Ruhui paused—then recalled Gao Xianzhi, and a casual remark from the light screen:
"Silla slaves?"