Chapter 900 Dynasty War!
"A dynasty always goes through three stages of wars on its way to prosperity. The first stage is the founding war, which is to spread its prestige and prevent the outside world from wantonly invading. The second stage is the expansion and consolidation war, which makes everyone understand that the empire's victory is not accidental. The third stage is the incredible glory war, when there is no one to rival it under the sun, and the scope of its rule even exceeds the extremes of the empire."
This passage is excerpted from the dynastic war declaration of Luo Su, the imperial preceptor of the Tang Dynasty.
The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, was the first audience to hear these words. The second group of audiences included prime ministers such as Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and Luo Xuanchen, princes and nobles such as Li Xiaogong, Li Daozon, and Li Daoxuan, and generals such as Li Jing and Luo Xuanling. In the Taiji Hall, the atmosphere was deep and profound.
It is self-evident what the emperor meant by saying such words on such an occasion. Combined with the previous situation, all the ministers had a rough idea of what was going on.
As expected, Li Shimin, who had grown more and more calm as he grew older, had a majestic look on his face, and said slowly, firmly and forcefully: "I have been the emperor of the Xia Dynasty and have been serving as the Khan of Heaven for four or five years. During these years, the border has been stable and there has been no war in the Tang Dynasty.
The national situation is getting better and better, and the price of grain in the country has changed from the high levels of previous years. This is the credit of all of you ministers, and is due to both civil and military achievements.
To maintain this state of affairs, I and all the ministers have an unshirkable obligation, but now, some villains want to stir up trouble on the border again.
A small country in Western Yan.
They even dared to challenge the power of our superior country, invade the Hexi area of our Great Tang Dynasty, and invade our Liangzhou, attempting to cut off the passage between our Great Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions.
It is so outrageous and arrogant. If I don't attack Western Yan, wouldn't my great Tang Dynasty lose face?
How can I maintain my position as Khan safely?
What do you think?"
As long as there is a war, there will be people who oppose it, but Luo Xuanye did not give others a chance to speak, and directly stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the Emperor is the master of the Tang Dynasty, and the Khan of Heaven and the King of Kings are the masters outside the Tang Dynasty.
Western Yan, originally originated from the Murong clan of Liaodong, the descendants of the Han Dynasty and the Xia people. They are descendants of Murong of the Northern Dynasty Yan State and took refuge in the Xichui Plateau. Your Majesty has acted like an emperor, but Western Yan has refused to submit. This is its first crime.
Western Yan claimed that it had integrated with the various Tibetan tribes and that the vassal states were mixed together, so it called itself Yan and did not use Han as its name. However, Your Majesty gave it the title of Heavenly Khan, and Western Yan should obey the orders of the Heavenly Khan. However, Western Yan refused to submit, and this was its second crime.
Now Western Yan is provoking us and has committed two major crimes. We must send a large army to move it away. The world is in an uproar, and all countries are looking at our Tang Dynasty. The Khan is invincible, and the emperor cannot be tolerated to be insulted.
Suppress Western Yan and let all the allies see the consequences of not obeying orders."
Luo Xuanye's emotional declaration of war was so intense that Wei Zheng immediately took back the words he was about to say. This old guy is quite cunning.
According to his experience, Prince Zhou Luo Xuanye would not speak if there was a need to discuss something. Once Prince Zhou spoke, it meant that Li Shimin's attitude on this matter was that it could not be refused.
Li Jing and others were also keeping an eye on the situation and paying close attention to the situation. They believed that attacking Western Yan was urgent and Li Shimin asked these military commanders about their attitudes.
The Tang Dynasty had directly drawn its sword against the powerful Dong Turks who occupied the north and south of the desert. So what was there to be afraid of against the mere Western Yan?
"Prince Zhou said it well. I have always disliked militarism, so my Tang Dynasty will not take the initiative to provoke a war. However, any provocation against my Tang Dynasty will be met with my most severe blow. This is not for my achievements, but to defend the hard-earned achievements of the Tang Dynasty!
After defeating Western Yan last time, they still dared to invade.
I think to myself that Western Yan simply relies on its location on a plateau with thousands of miles of glaciers and no vegetation to think that my Tang Dynasty will not travel thousands of miles to conquer it. If it were the Tibetan tribes, I might really give up, but Western Yan is not so far away that I cannot conquer it.
Duke Dai, I intend to make you the chief military commander of Qinghai Road, commanding the five military commanders to attack Xiyan. If you have any ideas or needs, please speak up here!"
Li Jing was instantly excited. Many people did not dare to take on such a heavy responsibility, but Li Jing was different. The war gave him new vitality, as if he had returned to his youth.
Li Jing sometimes thinks about his position. He is now the Duke of Dai, Shangzhuguo, Shangshu You Pushe. Although there are no several ranks of dukes among the dukes in the Tang Dynasty, there are actually some. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the most honorable duke was the Duke of Dai, and in the Warring States Period, the Duke of Dai was the highest of the second-class dukes.
If he succeeds in this attack on Western Yan, he will most likely be granted the title of Duke of a large country called Bang Zhou and be promoted to Shangshu Zuo Pushe after returning home, and then he will never be able to lead a war again.
After all, he was not Luo Xuanye. Li Shimin could not give him a higher political status. Even after he reached the position of Shangshu Zuo Pushe and the first-class duke, he had to be cautious in his words and deeds, and even closed the door to visitors.
Facing what might be his last chance to command an army, Li Jing just wanted to win. After a brief thought, he said, "Your Majesty, I do have a request.
If the Kingdom of Western Yan dares to confront the Tang Dynasty head-on, I will strike and defeat it, behead the King of Western Yan in Qinghai, send the head to the border areas, and then send it to Chang'an.
The only thing I am worried about is that the Western Yan Kingdom will escape into the glaciers and snowfields, so I need elite troops. The number of people does not need to be small, but they must be able to ride horses and endure hard battles. "
Li Jing's words were full of truth. Li Shimin, who was also a top commander, understood Li Jing's determination almost immediately, and this determination made him feel at ease. "Okay, I will send you 5,000 elite soldiers and cavalry, and 20,000 light cavalry from various countries.
Since you want elite soldiers, I will select elite generals for you to lead the army."
The five men were General Li Ji of the Right Azure Dragon Guard, General Ashina She'er of the Left Blue Dragon Guard, General Qibi Heli of the Right Thousand Oxen Guard, General Xue Wanche of the Right Suzaku Guard, and Li Daozon, the governor of Jiangzhou and King of Jiangxia.
No one could fault these five candidates, as they were all men of outstanding military achievements in the Tang Dynasty.
Li Ji is a legend.
When he was called Xu Shiji, he was a second-rate general. After changing his name to Li Shiji, he became the first-rate general of the time. Finally, he changed his name to Li Ji and became a top-notch general second only to Li Jing. It can be said that he evolved with every generation.
After Xue Wanche defected from Li Jiancheng to Li Shimin, he fought bravely and was a typical example of Li Shimin's ability to employ and identify people. He made great contributions in the conquest of the Winter Turks, and Li Shimin still uses him now.
There is no need to talk about Li Daozon. After Li Xiaogong, there are not many people in the royal family who can compete with him.
Ashina She'er and Qibi Heli were Li Shimin's most trusted and important ministers.
The Right Thousand Oxen Guard General, what kind of official position is this? You will understand it just by knowing that the Left Thousand Oxen Guard General is Luo Xuanling, Duke of Yong.
Among the sixteen generals of the guards, twelve were the heads of the Zhechongfu, which was in charge of the palace soldiers. The Left and Right Qianniu Guards and the Left and Right Yulin Guards were responsible for protecting the emperor's safety and guarding Li Shimin.
Now in the Taiji Hall, only Luo Xuanye and Qibi Heli are carrying swords. This is the status of the general of the imperial guards.
Moreover, Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er were sent to the expedition because a large number of light cavalry from foreign countries were to be recruited this time.
This was not the first time that the Tang Dynasty had recruited foreign cavalry, but it was still the first time to mobilize 20,000 elite light cavalry at one time. This was not only a war against Western Yan, but also a test of the Tian Khan's leadership over the foreign army.
The five generals who were named walked into the hall solemnly, all majestic and powerful, and shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, we will obey your orders. Long live the Tang Dynasty."
…
As soon as Li Shimin sent the imperial edict to the country, a strange phenomenon appeared. The soldiers who were not on duty took the initiative to ask to participate in the expedition.
The palace soldiers were essentially imperial guards, but they were not permanent imperial guards like the Yulin Guards and the Qianniu Guards. The duty of the palace soldiers was called "going on duty", which meant taking turns to be on duty in Chang'an to protect the emperor. There were many Zhechoufu in Chang'an because they were close to each other and easy to recruit. By the way, it could also achieve the long-standing political goal of "mobilizing the troops in Guanzhong to face the four directions".
Therefore, whether the soldiers of the prefecture were sent to the battlefield depended on luck. Usually, the soldiers on duty had to go to the battlefield, but the soldiers who were not on duty would be dispatched according to the mobilization orders of the Ministry of War and the Zhechoufu, and then the local government would send them to the local areas and draw up these soldiers on record.
But when the Tang Dynasty soldiers heard that the current Holy Emperor Li Shimin was going to expedition to Western Yan, they were instantly filled with indignation and signed up enthusiastically to take the initiative to participate in the war. This situation was quickly reported to the palace by the Minister of War, who was playing chess with Luo Su in Lingtian Pavilion.
Li Shimin was stunned at first when he heard the report, and then laughed loudly to Luo Su, "Master, the soldiers of our Great Tang actually have the demeanor of being happy to hear about war. With such warriors and people, why should we worry that our Great Tang will not prosper?"
Luo Su smiled and said: "The key to the soldiers' joy at hearing about war does not lie with the soldiers, but with the court and with you, the emperor. The soldiers are willing to join the army because you are cautious in fighting.
If you are not sure, you will not let Datang fight, so Datang has a higher probability of winning and the loss of failure will be small.
This is because the promotion system in the Tang Dynasty is fair and one can be promoted if one has made military achievements.
Because the spoils were distributed reasonably, the soldiers could see where the benefits lay.
These are all manifestations of political clarity.
This is all thanks to you.”
The more Luo Su spoke, the more relaxed Li Shimin's expression became. "It has always been like this, and I actually felt that it was the right thing to do. Now that I've heard what the Imperial Master said, I realize that it's actually quite difficult to do this alone."
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Judging from the experience of the later Tang Dynasty, the Fubing system was far from a perfect military system. However, in the hands of Li Shimin, it almost perfectly carried out all the wars in the early days of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty. The reason for this was probably what Li Shimin said: "Fubing has sharp blades and tools. They use their edge and momentum like wind and fire, and move like thunder."
Li Shimin's insight into the war situation enabled him to always use the least amount of force at the moment when the enemy's moves were exhausted, achieving the goal of "the Tang army is like an arrow shot from a bow, suddenly arriving from a thousand miles away. Once it is launched, the enemy will be forced into a desperate situation, and even if the Tang army is defeated by chance, it will not affect the overall situation." This is Li Shimin and his Fubing system, which is unique to him. - "The Rise and Fall of the Tang Empire"
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