Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 955 The only enemy of the Tang Dynasty

If an empire wants to survive, it must solve internal and external troubles. The internal troubles of the Tang Empire are increasingly fierce political struggles. After the internal disputes were slightly overshadowed, the entire court turned its attention to the outside world.

It happened that at this time, Tubo invaded the Tang Dynasty again.

When the Tang Dynasty was first established, there were powerful enemies everywhere. However, after the Zhenguan Dynasty, the environment around the Tang Dynasty was now the best in the history of the Xia Dynasty.

For the central court, there are naturally enemies around, such as King Yan Li Ke, who has always been regarded as an imaginary enemy by the prime ministers, and those vassal states that have been enfeoffed, but for the Tang Dynasty, there are really not many.

Now there are only two people that Li Zhi is always afraid of. One is Tubo. Starting from Yonghui, Tubo has gone through several wars with the Tang Dynasty. Neither side can do anything to the other. If Tubo comes down, it will be beaten by the Tang Dynasty. Can't get up either.

The other one is the Western Region.

When Li Shimin was here, the two parties reached an agreement, which was to respect Li Shimin as the main one. But mainly because Li Shimin was too strong and he had the identity of the Apocalypse, the Xuanmen of the Western Regions recognized his identity.

But after Li Shimin passed away, the attitude of Xuanmen in the Western Regions became ambiguous again. Especially after Luo Xuanzang passed away and after the burial of the god, the saint Zhao Daier ascended to the position of high priest of Xuanmen. The attitude between the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty It became ambiguous again.

The question that had been put aside for a long time was once again raised by Li Zhi, that is, who is the spiritual leader of the Western Regions, who is the real number one under the Su King in the Western Regions, the master of Xuanmen, or the emperor of Tang Dynasty .

If it was the Li Shimin period, then this would not be a problem. Li Shimin had enough ability and prestige to achieve status. Even so, Li Shimin was actually shelving this issue.

No matter how high the status of the Master of Xuanmen is, without his approval, nothing in the Western Regions will be able to pass through the Central Plains and grasslands, and there will be other regions in the future.

……

But Li Zhi's political wisdom is far inferior to that of Li Shimin. He really wants to compete on this issue. After all, his father is too outstanding. If he wants to be in the history of the Tang Dynasty in the future, In order not to become the neglected king, he must make some achievements. Even if this achievement is superficial and his father voluntarily gave up for the sake of longer-term interests, even so, he must make this achievement Take it over, he must complete the expansion of territory.

Li Shimin always considered these factors when opening up territory, so he didn't want all the land. He attacked to prevent others from attacking him.

Li Zhi sat at the top and said angrily: "Every time Tubo invades, they ignore our people. I am very angry. Is there anything you can do?"

The population on the plateau has reached its highest peak in history. Although there is no specific calculation method, it must be more than ten million. This is completely the size of the empire. The four original empires were only this size. That’s all.

In the eyes of many people, opening up territory is always meritorious, but in reality it is not calculated that way. If you obtain a territory and can preserve it forever in the future, then naturally it is better to grab it, but if you obtain a territory The territory will be lost in a very short time. In the process of its existence, the center of the empire must continue to lose blood, and for this reason, it must provoke unnecessary enemies, fall into unnecessary disputes, and drag down the operation of the entire empire. Then there is no need to acquire this land.

At the end of the Yonghui period, the Tang Dynasty had a war in the Western Regions. After the war, Luo Xuanyun was transferred to the Anbei Protectorate. Both the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions had a tacit agreement not to mention this matter, just like It was like it had never happened, but in fact, everyone knew that a rift, a huge rift, had appeared between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions.

Li Shimin had profound political wisdom. He believed that it was unnecessary to compete for superiority and inferiority. He did not need to be supreme in every region. As long as he was in the imperial system of the Tang Dynasty, he could always be the mediator. , then he is naturally the supreme emperor.

It's just that both sides have concerns, and there is a lot of trade supporting the exchanges between the two sides, so until now, there has been no real confrontation at the official level. After the war, the restoration of the Western Regions will be a big problem. Tang should withdraw its troops.

In this case, Tubo seized the opportunity. Since the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions had deteriorated, there was no need to worry about being attacked from both sides, so Tubo went down the mountain again. At this moment, Tubo was at its peak.

However, perhaps because Tubo did not particularly want to break up with the Tang Dynasty, it did not carry out large-scale killings of its nobles. Except for those encountered on the battlefield, the captured nobles would generally be exchanged for ransom. For comparison For the poor Tibetan nobles, this may also be a way to make profit.

Needless to say, although Tubo currently has powerful ministers in power, the advantage of these powerful ministers is that they can truly unite the country into a single rope. Coupled with an outstanding commander, when it comes to Qinling, the current Tubo is basically satisfied. He understood what Luo Shi had always said, the three elements that unify the world.

Such a huge population, coupled with the prosperity of animal husbandry caused by climate warming, has brought Tibet's war potential to its highest level in history.

This time, Lun Qinling was still leading the team. Tibet would harass Liangzhou in the Central Plains every time. The strategic intention was too obvious, which was to cut off the Central Plains and the Western Regions, whether it was to profit from the caravan in the future, or to cut off both sides. The connections between them are all of the highest quality.

Talking about Qin Ling, objectively speaking, it is indeed very fierce. In the past years of fighting against the Tang Army, ordinary generals are no match for him. The generals of the Tang Army must take action, and so far, no one has really surrendered. He suffered greatly.

After realizing that it was impossible to resist Tibet through these small countries, the Tang court immediately convened a special military meeting against Tibet.

But Li Zhi is not like that. He goes to attack just to show off his martial arts and let the world know that he has enough martial arts. Of course, most people in the world are ignorant. It seems that Li Zhi's martial arts is indeed good, but if we look into the root of it, Li Zhi's The consequences are endless.

Everyone knows that the next war may be coming, but no one knows when the next war will come.

The countries set up by the Tang Dynasty in Qinghai Road can now basically only play a supervisory role. Facing the existence of an empire, these countries cannot even play a buffering role, and some of them have even been destroyed now. country.

All the generals and prime ministers were in the hall. Faced with this issue, there was not much that could be said. As the prime minister and a military leader, Luo Xuanling took the responsibility to speak first and said: "Your Majesty, the soldiers of Tubo do not have me." The elite of the Tang Dynasty only rely on the plateau. This is something that I, the Tang Dynasty, are well aware of.

If this problem cannot be solved, then talking about how to solve the Tibetan problem is just a lie, or in other words, impossible.

If it is not to completely eliminate Tubo, then it is just to resist Tubo and protect the Tang Dynasty from intrusion. Then there are only two ways.

First, the original Qinghai Road was the land of the Xiyan Kingdom. The Xiyan Kingdom was used as a buffer between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty. Now if a big country is re-established there, it can be used as a buffer.

However, the Tang Dynasty finally managed to turn it into a county. If it were to establish the country again, wouldn't it be a waste of all previous efforts?

Then there is only the second way, which is to build a castle on Qinghai Road, then station troops there, build a complete military Great Wall there, and then build a complete set of mobile defense measures along Liangzhou and other places. As long as Tubo appears, we will The Tang army attacked.

But in this case, the consumption may be high. It depends on who is consumed first, Tibet or the Tang Dynasty. "

The feudal system is low-cost, while the county system is high-cost. Most people know this. A place like Qinghai Road is destined to be fed by the central government at any time. It is nothing more than eating more or less. What Luo Xuanling said was really difficult to choose.

If Li Shimin were here, then Li Shimin would decisively choose to re-establish a country in Qinghai Road. For Li Shimin, there is no need to expend energy to manage anything that cannot be retained for a long time. It is enough to squeeze out its use value. .

Take Qinghai and Datang, for example. Before the last drop of Qinghai's blood is shed, Datang will never go to war with Tibet. This is Li Shimin's idea. This idea can also be applied to the Turks and Xue Yantuo. When Li Shimin prepared to restore the Turks to resist the rising Xue Yantuo, the goal was the same. The Tang Dynasty would never go to war with Xue Yantuo before the last drop of Turks' blood was shed.

Luo Xuanling's words once again put the court into a dilemma. Whether it was feudalism or counties, it was not a good idea, especially feudalism. Now the court had just invested resources in Penglai, and there were a large group of vassal states around it. To deal with it, now we have to seal a great vassal state in such a key place as Liangzhou. Li Zhi would wake up with fear even in his dreams.

He is not the invincible God of War that his father was. Now that his brother Yan Wang is staying in Mobei, he feels quite scared. If there is another person staying in Qinghai, then he would rather face Tubo.

It can only be said that fortunately he has moved his capital to Luoyang, the sacred capital. Even if the Tubo soldiers really break through the defense line, they will still be thousands of miles away from him.

Wu Zhao had no talent for military affairs, but she still set her sights on Luo Xuanyun and asked: "Chen Guogong, I remember that you fought against Lun Qinling before. How do you think Datang should respond?"

Luo Xuanyun stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty the Queen of Heaven, although Qin Ling has the demeanor of a famous general in ancient times, he also has shortcomings, that is, he comes from a small family. Although he is very talented, he is not as smart as his predecessors. Many things need to be explored by oneself, so many details are very rough. I think that as long as we send out veterans on the battlefield, it will not be extremely difficult to defeat Lun Qinling. "

This is Luo's judgment on Luo Qinling. Luo fully recognized Luo Qinling's talent. He even believed that his talent was not inferior to those of the real ancient generals. But a person's achievements are by no means more than We only look at personal struggles, but also look at the foundation of history, just like the foundation of the Luo family. For other families, there are many problems that cannot be solved in a lifetime, but for the Luo family, they can learn from it when they are young. to something.

This is the difference in background.

And what is the background of Tubo?

If a backward slave-holding regime had not encountered the most advanced civilization of the Tang Dynasty, even slavery would not have entered the country. What could a country still in the tribal system have passed on to Lun Qinling?

There are no military books, no tactical thoughts, no strategic thoughts, no various familiar strategies, and even no legends about famous generals.

Regarding Qinling, you have to learn everything by yourself. If Datang still loses under this situation, it would be unreasonable.

After Luo learned all this, although he still attached great importance to Lun Qinling, he no longer thought that he would be Datang's opponent, especially now that there was no large-scale internal fighting in the court, and in terms of external wars , with two prime ministers from the Luo family who had military backgrounds, there would never be any missteps within the Tang Dynasty.

When the question came here, Li Zhi asked: "I think what Chen Guogong said is absolutely true. Who does Chen Guogong think should be the general to defeat Tubo?
Although we cannot completely eliminate Tubo now, I will never allow them to invade the territory of the Tang Dynasty. We must ruthlessly keep any Tubo people who dare to enter the Tang Dynasty on this land. "

Luo Xuanyun recalled the letter his nephew had written to him before, and immediately said in a deep voice: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I think Anyang County Duke can shoulder this important task."

Anyang County Duke is Xue Rengui. After quelling the riots in Penglai, he was promoted to the title of County Duke, which was the most critical step in his real rise to prominence. Of course, the slow promotion of the title was mainly because he was not yet in the heart of the emperor. , and the Tang Dynasty did not pay special attention to Penglai. If he pacified the Mobei incident, the prince would probably become the prince of the country.

However, this time the Tubo invaded, if he could lead his troops to victory, he would never be able to escape the throne of the country.

Hearing that Luo Xuanyun recommended Xue Rengui, Li Zhi thought about it briefly and felt that this proposal was a good one. Xue Rengui is the general he trusts more besides Luo. If Xue Rengui is really the one to take action, Xue Rengui, who has experienced many wars, Perhaps he is the key candidate to defeat Lun Qinling.

Thinking of this, Li Zhi turned to look at Wu Zhao again, "What does the Queen think of Xue Rengui?"

Wu Zhao knew nothing about foreign military affairs, so he turned his attention to Luo Junwei, and saw Luo Junwei nodded slightly, so she said in a deep voice: "I don't understand this, the emperor thinks Xue Rengui is suitable, then let Xue Rengui go, no matter what , we will wait until we win. I, the Tang Dynasty, are not just thieves like Tubo, who can invade us if they want.

The Tang Dynasty cannot be humiliated! "

Li Zhi, who was sick and tired, now felt a little more energetic. He raised his voice slightly and said: "Go and call Anyang County Duke Xue Rengui into the palace. He is right here. I want to make a general."

The eunuch hurriedly left after hearing the words, and soon brought Xue Rengui with him. Xue Rengui did not expect that the emperor would suddenly summon him. As soon as he walked into the palace, he saw not only the emperor, but also the queen and all the important ministers. He was suddenly surprised and didn't know what was going on, but he still went straight to Li Zhi and bowed down: "The humble minister Anyang County Duke Rengui, please bow to the emperor and the queen."

Xue Rengui originally appeared before Li Shimin in a white robe. He was naturally handsome and handsome, which was quite a bit meaningful. This time, wearing an official robe on his body, he showed a majestic and majestic look.

Li Zhi felt good at the sight, so he asked with a smile: "Ai Qing, do you know why I summoned you to the palace?"

Xue Rengui thought for a moment, what else could he do as a military general, so he clasped his fists and said: "But there is someone who is causing trouble and disturbing the Holy Master. Do you want the humble ministers to come and quell the chaos?"

Li Zhi laughed loudly when he heard this and said: "Aiqing guessed half of it right. It is true that Aiqing is needed to lead the army, but it is not a Xiaoxiao. It is Lun Qinling of Tubo. He leads an army of 100,000 out of the plateau and wants to invade our border with the Tang Dynasty again. .

I asked the ministers, Chen Guogong recommended you, saying that you are a person who can take on great responsibilities, and the Queen of Heaven did not have any objections. Now do you think you can hold up this important task? "

When Xue Rengui heard that it was Chen Guogong Luo Xuanyun who recommended him, and the Queen of Heaven also agreed, he immediately became excited and blood surged up. He clasped his fists and said passionately: "Your Majesty, I am confident that no matter what enemy comes, we can defeat him." Sweep them away, and even the Tibetan thieves will be wiped out even if they cry blood."

Hearing this, Li Zhi laughed again and said: "Okay, since you have this ambition, I will appoint you as the general manager of the march of Qinghai Road, the general manager of the Five Control Routes, go to compete with the Tubo Lun Qin Mausoleum, and guard our Tang Dynasty. border.

If you have any requirements, just ask them and I will satisfy you one by one, as long as you can win. "

Just when Xue Rengui was about to say that there was nothing needed, Luo Xuanyun had already spoken in advance: "Your Majesty, the choice of the five-way general manager cannot be made casually. It is best not to choose those battlefield veterans with outstanding achievements, nor those with more proud personalities. Don’t choose those with too high a family background, especially those from royal families and high-ranking families.”

Upon hearing this, Xue Rengui's eyes suddenly changed. He looked at Luo Xuanyun with some gratitude. He himself became solemn, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, what Chen Guogong said just now is exactly what I need."

Xue Rengui was born in a poor family and had insufficient merit. It can be said that he had nothing but his ability. Many people with a high family background looked down upon him. Even Li Shimin almost got into trouble because of this. When he defeated Xue Ju, he almost lost. On the battlefield Once someone fails to obey military orders because they look down upon them, the consequences will be disastrous.

So Luo Xuanyun reminded him specifically because he was worried about any accidents.

Li Zhi was such a smart man and understood immediately, "I agreed. The five general managers will be selected by Yong Guogong, Chen Guogong and Anyang County Duke. I will not interfere."

The three people immediately said in unison: "Your Majesty Sheng Ming Wu Guo!"

(End of this chapter)