Chapter 920: Words of Death
When Luo Su proposed that the countries within the Tian Khan international system should not attack each other, Li Shimin once asked him a question, "National Master, what should we do if the Tang Dynasty needs to take the initiative to provoke a war? Will such a rule restrict the Tang Dynasty?"
Luo Su answered him like this, "The king uses kindness to influence his subjects and uses harsh punishments to force them to fear, hoping that this will make their subjects loyal forever, but there will still be people who want to rebel.
Because this is what people are like. Most people, including your brothers and sons, are greedy, stupid, short-sighted, ignorant, and arrogant.
You think that because you have great strength, others will be afraid of you. You think that everyone will have self-awareness, but that is just your wishful thinking. Most people in this world have a mysterious self-confidence and will do things that you find incredible.
There is no need to say much about the Dong Turks. They were indeed powerful. They were like two tigers fighting against each other with the Tang Dynasty, so it was normal for a war to break out.
But you see.
The Western Yan Kingdom will soon dare to challenge the Tang Dynasty simply because of its remoteness.
The more remote big country, Gaochang, which controls the roads in and out of the Western Regions, now has a good relationship with the Tang Dynasty, but will soon become arrogant because of the huge commercial interests.
Not to mention the Hu people, Xiyan and Gaochang, both countries founded by Han people, are like this, not to mention the Hu people country, Xueyantuo, who is well versed in the law of the jungle, wantonly annexed the tribes and pastures of the Dong Turks, and will definitely be a disaster in the future. "
Li Shimin deeply agreed with Luo Su's judgment and said, "What the Imperial Master said is truly good advice.
I have always wondered whether the relationship between the Central Plains and the Western Regions will ever be friendly, because the Western Regions are too far away.
Gaochang is seven thousand miles away from the Tang Dynasty, of which two thousand miles are desert, which is enough to make anyone who only sees the world from a narrow perspective become arrogant.
Not to mention the Western Regions, even in the Central Plains, there are always people who would rely on the natural barriers of Shuzhong and the Yangtze River to establish their own kingdoms, but they don’t know that the so-called natural barriers can be broken with just one poke. "
Luo Su smiled, but there was no trace of laughter, "So your Majesty, you don't have to worry about the lack of reasons for war when the Tang Dynasty wants to start a war. They will definitely jump out. What you need to think about is how to win the war and how to deal with the aftermath after winning the war.
Those Western Regions countries are very different from the Mobei grasslands. On the grasslands, the strong prey on the weak, and there is essentially no concept of a country. The name of the tribe with the stronger tribe will be used.
This is the case with the Huns, Xianbei, and Turks.
But the Western Regions do have culture, and when it comes to the survival of the country, they still have some ideas from the Zhou Dynasty, and they like to restore their country. Each country has a strong sense of national and ethnic consciousness.
If you cannot properly resettle them, you will be caught in a continuous bloody war, which is an outcome that the Tang Dynasty cannot accept. Even the most powerful empire will be dragged down in a security war."
After several years, the Western Yan Kingdom really provoked the big country as Luo Su said, and even invaded Liangzhou and brought about its own destruction.
The Xueyantuo, who had surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, were also arrogant and willful, and eventually reaped what they sowed. They were beheaded in the desert by Prince of Yan, Li Ke. The people of the tribe were divided up by other tribes on the grassland, and they used their heads to build a platform for Li Ke's prestige.
The Gaochang Kingdom also gradually drifted away from the Tang Dynasty, to the point of blocking envoys from coming to pay homage to the Tang Dynasty.
…
In the Taiji Hall, Li Shimin held the memorial sent back by Anxi in his hand and angrily said at the imperial meeting: "The last time the King of Gaochang came to Chang'an for an audience, he refused. This time, not only did he not come, he even blocked the audience from other Western Regions countries.
What is tolerable and what is intolerable? What should the nations that do not obey the orders of the Heavenly Khan do? "
Qibi Heli immediately shouted: "Attack him, destroy his country, cut off his head, and punish him with the most severe punishment. The majesty of the Heavenly Khan is not allowed to be questioned by anyone.
Please, Your Majesty, issue an imperial decree. I am willing to lead the army to fight against them."
There was naturally a reason why Qibi Heli was anxious. Although his surname was Qibi, he had nothing to do with the Qibi who was given the surname by Luo Xuanxing in Liaodong State.
His ancestral home was in the Western Regions, belonging to a branch of the Tiele tribe, and living together with the Gaochang Kingdom.
He was very worried that the Qibi Kingdom and Gaochang Kingdom would get involved. The Qibi Kingdom now had a very high status because Qibi Heli was not only a trusted minister of Li Shimin, but also Li Shimin's brother-in-law. The Khan of the Qibi Kingdom, that is, Qibi Heli's younger brother, was one of the Mingyue Khans of the Western Regions.
He was very worried that the brainless nobles in the country would not know that the world is vast and would provoke the prosperous Central Kingdom. Although he was no longer planning to return to the Qibi Kingdom, and would be a Tang citizen in life and a Tang ghost in death, it was his motherland after all, and he still hoped that his people could live a good life.
Qibi Heli's statement made Li Shimin very happy. This is the general I trust. It doesn't matter if he is a foreigner. My Tang Dynasty is tolerant and inclusive, so there are foreign generals like Qibi Heli and Ashina She'er. "What you said is very much in line with my wishes.
I have decided to set up Gaochang Road in Gaochang State and an area of one thousand miles in radius, and appoint a general to attack Gaochang State."
This Gaochang Road is different from the roads within the Tang Dynasty.
In the Central Plains, the Dao was a supervisory area at a level above the state. It did not have permanent officials, only temporary appointments. In the first, third, eighth and eleventh years of Zhenguan, Li Shimin appointed fifteen supervisory envoys to supervise the administration of officials in various places.
Gaochang Road was not an inspectorate, but a temporarily designated combat area. Just like when Li Jing conquered the Winter Turks, he was the marching commander-in-chief of Dingxiang Road, and when he conquered Western Yan, he was the marching commander-in-chief of Qinghai Road. In a road, the marching commander-in-chief is the supreme commander, and other marching commanders must obey the orders of the commander-in-chief as long as they enter the war zone.
This was the combat mode of the Tang Dynasty under the military system. Soldiers and generals were separated, but not completely separated. This ensured combat effectiveness while preventing the army from becoming too powerful. Of course, it also had great shortcomings, but in the hands of Li Shimin, this combat mode was almost perfect.
It is victorious in all foreign battles and has little burden on the domestic front.
It was necessary to fight against Gaochang. In the Tang Dynasty, even the civil officials would never start a war for fear of losing. If they opposed it, it must be because the treasury had no money.
How is the treasury of the Tang Dynasty?
Of course, the granaries are full and the money and goods are abundant. As for the morale of the people, since the conquest of the Western Yan Kingdom, the Tang Dynasty has not had war for several years. Now there is no war-weariness among the people at all, and the people's hearts can be used.
The only problem now is.
Who does the emperor want to be the commander-in-chief of the Gaochang Road army?
(End of this chapter)
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