Datang: Li Shimin begged me to rebel

After giving Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche the task, Li Daozong turned to An Xinggui: "General An, according to the current situation, the North Route Army can be led by Niu Jinda and General An Shengan after we take Gaochang, and take Go to these areas in the northern part of Xinjiang Province, although there are passages to the Western Regions near these areas, but because these places used to be vast grasslands, except for the Turks and a few local Western Region countries, there are basically no human settlements."

"However, there are two passes in the Panduo Kingdom (Houta City) and the Burqin area of ​​Altay in the north that can also pass through the brigade of troops, and relevant passes should be established in these two places. What do you think?"

The northernmost of the 36 countries in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty is the Pantuo country. The Altay region in the north is currently belonging to the Western Turks, but there are not many tribes and people there. Although the environment there is good, there are forests and grasslands. , but because the winter is too cold and long, and the snow in the mountains can reach a thickness of about two meters in winter, it is difficult for ordinary livestock and poultry to live in the mountains.

More importantly, it is Datang now, not later generations. There are so many wild animals in that mountain that ordinary herdsmen cannot survive there without dozens of households.

Therefore, there are not many people in those places, and even the Turks, who are known as nomads, only live in a small number of tribes in these places.

"I don't think it's a problem. We don't need 20 troops here, and [-] is enough." An Xinggui said, there are not many people in these places. According to the news, the total population of the Pantuo Kingdom is about [-] people. Because they are a relatively rare plain area in the Western Regions, they can farm.”

"But there are only [-] of these people who really belong to the Panduo Kingdom, and the remaining [-] are mainly nomads. They belong to the Western Turks and the Panduo Kingdom."

Li Daozong understood An Xinggui's words in an instant, and it was actually not difficult to understand.Because to the outside world, except for Gaochang, the 36 countries in the Western Regions... all belong to the Western Turks. Yes, they are under the jurisdiction of the Western Turks and pay tribute to the Western Turks.

It's just that they are managed by their original kings.

To put it bluntly, these 36 countries in the Western Regions are the ultimate scumbags. Anyway, as long as a big country comes, I will become a vassal and pay you tribute. You have the final say.If a big country can't take care of itself, then I am a country.

That's why they have a long history. For example, Khotan, a country founded on Buddhism, has lasted for more than 1200 years, and the surname of Khotan is Yuchi.

After the establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty, two of their kings admired (flattered) and changed their surnames to Li.

"It's better to send [-] troops. In fact, this is a good thing. Since they are currently under the jurisdiction of Yipidulu and surrender to Yipidulu, then when we fight Gaochang, they will be the enemies of the Tang Dynasty!" Li Daozong After thinking about it, combined with His Highness's letter just now, he directly made a decision.

Since it is necessary to be famous, it is better to directly treat these 36 countries in the Western Regions as enemies.

My Great Tang does not kill people, but since you are attached to the Western Turks, then you are my enemies. It is impossible for the territories captured by my Great Tang to return to you, so there is no reason for that.

If you want to try it, you can try it!

"I have no objection." An Xinggui thought for a while, and immediately nodded in agreement.

"Then our remaining [-] troops will be divided into two, [-] will go to the middle of the road to Qiang Yanqi and then go to Kucha Kingdom to face the enemy's defeat, and we will personally lead the remaining [-] troops, starting from Yiwu, directly Destroy Gaochang, then advance to the vicinity of the Yili River and join the Central Route Army." Li Daozong drew two lines on the map.

"No problem, but the important thing now is whether our logistics supplies can keep up. It's summer now. If we march, don't worry about the fodder for the horses. The main thing is food." An Xinggui said.

"Don't worry about the food. We have food, but we haven't transported it yet. We can borrow food from the local area and return it to them twice." Li Daozong said with a smile.

"I can rest assured that."

Li Daozong's words are not aimless. He has managed Xizhou for more than two years, and he knows how much food Xizhou has hoarded. Now Xizhou is self-sufficient in food and there is no problem at all.

In fact, people in ancient times had a misunderstanding. They all said that food and grass went first before soldiers and horses were moved.So in many cases, what the ancient emperors needed to consider was whether the court could fight.

But in fact, how much food is lost on the road is not a problem at all. When the court is not short of food and money, it is nothing more than a problem of increasing the number of people transported.Originally, there would be [-]% of the food left after being transported to the destination, so I will just double the size of the transport team.

Anyway, all the transportation teams are paid monthly, and they are not afraid of delaying the work of the people. As long as the people are profitable, this kind of transportation will not actually consume national power.

If it weren't for Li Ke's appearance, if Datang was not so rich, Datang could only rely on the local area to supplement food when he hit these places, but it doesn't need it now.

To put it bluntly, Li Ke is eager to hire more people to deliver food, and then quickly increase the wages to pay these people, so that they can buy a large amount of iron tools to popularize the use of iron tools and farm tools in the Tang Dynasty!

Anyway, the current cost of iron is too low for Li Ke, which means that Li Ke has enough channels to recover the money from the people, so the money will naturally circulate.

The food consumed in the entire Tang Dynasty is constant. No matter what the person does, the food consumed is fixed. At most, the food consumed may increase due to the increase in the income of the people.

For example, people who used to be able to fill their stomachs are now seeking to be full and have more energy to work.

But even so, there is an upper limit to food consumption.However, the current Datang food far exceeds this consumption limit, so it doesn't matter how the food is transported and consumed, it will be eaten in people's stomachs anyway.

Hiring more people to transport grain, they consume grain in this regard, the grain in their homes will naturally remain, and then the excess grain in the home will naturally be sold to supplement the local grain depot, no difference.

Many people think that the common people will store grain, this is for sure, but the grain stored by the common people will not be too much.It is impossible to have more rations for a year or more at most, because in this era, there are not many methods to prevent insects, mildew, or mice. If too much food is stored, it will be easily lost.

In this era, in the eyes of the people who have just had enough to eat, loss and waste are the most unacceptable, so don't worry about them hoarding too much food, because they can't.