Chapter 955: The Only Enemy of the Tang Dynasty
If an empire wants to survive, it must resolve internal and external troubles. The internal trouble of the Tang Empire was the increasingly fierce political struggle. After the internal disputes were slightly covered up, the entire court turned its attention to the outside world.
Coincidentally, at this time, Tubo invaded the Tang Dynasty again.
When the Tang Dynasty was first established, it was surrounded by powerful enemies. However, after the governance during the Zhenguan period, the environment around the Tang Dynasty is now the best in the history of the country.
For the central court, there were naturally enemies around, such as Prince of Yan Li Ke, who had always been regarded as an imaginary enemy by the prime ministers, and those vassal states that were granted fiefdoms, but for the Tang Dynasty, there were really few of them.
Now there are only two things that Li Zhi is really afraid of. One is Tubo. Since Yonghui, Tubo has fought several wars with the Tang Dynasty. Both sides could not do anything to the other. If Tubo came down, it would be beaten by the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty could not advance either.
The other one is the Western Regions.
When Li Shimin was alive, both sides reached a unanimous agreement, that is, to respect Li Shimin as the master, but mainly because Li Shimin was too powerful and he had the identity of a revelation, the Western Region Xuanmen recognized his identity.
But after Li Shimin's death, the attitude of the Xuanmen in the Western Regions became ambiguous again, especially after Luo Xuanzang's death. After the divine burial, the saint Zhao Dai'er ascended to the position of the high priestess of Xuanmen, and the attitude between the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty became ambiguous again.
The issue that had been shelved for a long time was brought up again by Li Zhi, that is, who is the spiritual leader of the Western Regions, who is the real number one in the Western Regions under the King of Su, the Lord of Xuanmen, or the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
If it were during the reign of Li Shimin, this would not be a problem, as Li Shimin had enough ability and prestige to gain status. Even so, Li Shimin actually put this issue aside.
Li Shimin had profound political wisdom. He believed that it was unnecessary to fight for superiority or inferiority. He did not need to be supreme in every region. As long as he could always be the mediator in the imperial system of the Tang Dynasty, he would naturally be the supreme emperor.
No matter how high the status of the Lord of Xuanmen is, without his approval, nothing from the Western Regions can pass through the Central Plains and the grasslands, and there will be other regions in the future.
But Li Zhi's political wisdom was far inferior to Li Shimin's. He really wanted to compete on this issue. After all, his father was too outstanding. If he wanted to avoid becoming the ignored king in the future history of the Tang Dynasty, he had to make some achievements. Even if this achievement was superficial and was voluntarily given up by his father for long-term interests, he had to take this achievement. He had to complete the expansion of territory.
In the eyes of many people, expanding territory is always an achievement, but in reality it is not calculated in this way. If a territory is gained and it can be preserved forever in the future, then it is naturally better to grab it. But if a territory is gained and it will be lost in a very short time, in the process of existence, the central government of the empire must continue to lose blood, and for this reason provoke unnecessary enemies, get involved in unnecessary disputes, and drag down the operation of the entire empire. Then there is no need to obtain this land.
Li Shimin always took this factor into consideration when expanding his territory, so he did not want all the land. He attacked in order to prevent himself from being attacked.
But Li Zhi was not like that. He attacked just to show off his martial arts and let the world know that he had enough martial arts. Of course, most people in the world were ignorant, and it seemed that Li Zhi's martial arts were indeed good, but if you look into the root of it, Li Zhi's actions left endless harm.
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 tacitly did not mention this matter, as if it had never happened. But in fact, everyone knew that a rift had appeared between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions, a huge rift.
It's just that both sides are very concerned, and there is a large amount 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 Western Regions should restore their country, and the Tang Dynasty should withdraw its troops.
Everyone knows that war may come next time, but no one knows when the next war will come.
In this situation, 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, and at this moment, Tubo was at a small peak.
The population on the plateau has reached the highest peak in history. Although there is no specific way to calculate it, it must be over 10 million. This is completely the size of an empire. The four great empires at the time were just this size.
Such a large population, coupled with the prosperity of animal husbandry caused by climate warming, made Tubo's war potential reach its peak in history.
Needless to say, although there is a powerful minister in power in Tibet now, the advantage of this powerful minister is that he can truly unite the country into one rope. Coupled with an outstanding commander, Lun Qinling, Tibet now basically meets the three elements that Luo has always said for unifying the world.
Objectively speaking, Lun Qinling was indeed very fierce. In the battles with the Tang army over the years, ordinary generals were no match for him. It took the intervention of the Tang army's generals. And so far, no one had ever made him suffer a serious loss.
This time, the team is still led by Lun Qinling. Tubo 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 later or to sever the connection between the two sides, it was the best choice.
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 can't even play a buffering role. Some countries have even been destroyed.
However, perhaps because Tubo did not particularly want to break off relations with the Tang Dynasty, it did not carry out large-scale killings of its nobles. Except for those encountered on the battlefield, captured nobles were generally exchanged for ransom. For the poorer Tubo nobles, this might also be a way to make a profit.
After realizing that it was impossible to resist Tubo through these small countries, the Tang court immediately convened a special military meeting against Tubo.
…
Li Zhi, sitting at the head of the group, said angrily, "Every time the Tibetans come to invade, they capture our people. I am very angry about this. Do you have any suggestions?"
All the generals and prime ministers were standing in the hall. In the face of this question, there was not much they could say. As the prime minister and the military leader, Luo Xuanling spoke first without hesitation: "Your Majesty, the soldiers of Tubo are not as elite as our Tang Dynasty. They only rely on the plateau, which is well known to our Tang Dynasty.
If this problem cannot be solved, then talking about how to solve the Tubo issue is just empty talk, or in other words, impossible.
If the purpose is not to completely destroy Tubo, but just to resist Tubo and protect the Tang Dynasty from invasion, there are only two ways.
First, the original Qinghai Road was the land of Western Yan Kingdom. Previously, Western Yan Kingdom was used as a buffer between Tubo and our Tang Dynasty. Now, if a big country is re-established there, it can serve as a buffer.
But the Tang Dynasty had finally managed to turn that place into a county. If it were to establish another country now, wouldn't all the previous efforts be wasted?
Then there is only the second way, which is to build a castle on the Qinghai Road, and then station troops there, to build a thorough military Great Wall there, and then along Liangzhou and other places, to establish a complete set of mobile defense measures. As long as Tubo appears, our Tang army will attack.
But in this case, the cost may be high, and it depends on who will be exhausted first between Tubo and our Tang Dynasty."
The feudal system has low costs, while the county system has high costs. This is clear to most people. A place like Qinghai Dao is destined to rely on the central government's finances at all times. It's just a matter of whether it relies more or less. What Luo Xuanling said is really a difficult decision.
If Li Shimin were still alive, he would decisively choose to rebuild a country in Qinghai Road. For Li Shimin, there was no need to waste energy on anything that could not be preserved for a long time. It was enough to squeeze out its value.
For example, Qinghai and the Tang Dynasty. Before the last drop of blood in Qinghai was shed, the Tang Dynasty would never go to war with Tubo. This was Li Shimin's idea.
This idea can also be applied to the Turks and Xueyantuo. At the beginning, Li Shimin was preparing to restore the Turks to resist the rising Xueyantuo. The goal was the same. The Tang Dynasty would never go to war with the Xueyantuo before the last drop of blood of the Turks was shed.
Luo Xuanling's words once again put the court in a dilemma. Neither feudalism nor counties were good ideas, especially feudalism. The court had just invested resources in Penglai, and there were still a large number of vassal states around it that had not been dealt with. Now it had to establish another vassal state in such a critical place as Liangzhou. Li Zhi would be scared awake in his dreams.
He is not the invincible god of war like his father. Now that his brother, Prince Yan, is staying in Mobei, he feels quite scared. If there is another person left in Qinghai, he would rather face Tubo.
All I can say is that fortunately he has now moved his capital to the sacred capital Luoyang. Even if the Tibetan army really breaks through the defense line, it is still thousands of miles away from him.
Wu Zhao had no talent for military affairs, but she still cast her eyes on Luo Xuanyun and asked, "Duke Chen, I remember that you and Lun Qinling fought before. How do you think the Tang Dynasty should respond?"
Luo Xuanyun stood up and clasped his fists, saying, "Reporting to Her Majesty, Lun Qinling has the demeanor of a famous general from ancient times, but he also has shortcomings, that is, he comes from a small family. Although he is very talented, he lacks the wisdom of his predecessors, so he needs to explore many things on his own, so he is very rough in many details. I think that as long as we send out veterans from the battlefield, it will not be extremely difficult to defeat Lun Qinling."
This is Luo's judgment on Lun Qinling. Luo is quite aware of Lun Qinling's talent, and even thinks that his talent is not inferior to those real ancient generals. However, a person's achievements are not only based on personal struggle, but also on historical background, just like Luo's background. Many of them are difficult problems that other families cannot solve in their lifetime, but for Luo, they are things they learn when they are young.
This is the difference in background.
What is the foundation of Tubo?
If a backward slave regime had not encountered the most advanced civilization, the Tang Dynasty, what could a country that could not even introduce slavery and was still in a tribal system have passed on to Lun Qinling?
There are no military books, no tactical ideas, no strategic ideas, no well-known strategies, and even no legendary stories about famous generals.
Qin Ling had to learn everything by himself. If the Tang Dynasty still lost under such circumstances, it would be unconscionable.
After the Luo family learned about all this, although they still valued Lun Qinling, they no longer believed that he would be a match for the Tang Dynasty, especially since there was no large-scale internal strife in the court. In foreign wars, with the support of two prime ministers from the military of the Luo family, the Tang Dynasty would definitely not make any stupid moves.
When the question came to this point, Li Zhi asked: "I think what Duke Chen said is very true. Who do you think should be the general to defeat Tubo?
Although we cannot completely resolve the Tibetan issue now, we will never allow them to invade the territory of the Tang Dynasty. We must ruthlessly keep any Tibetans 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: "Your Majesty, I think the Duke of Anyang can take on this important task."
The Duke of Anyang is Xue Rengui. After pacifying the turmoil in Penglai, he was promoted to Duke of Anyang, which was the most crucial step towards becoming famous. Of course, his title was promoted slowly, mainly because he was not yet in the emperor's favor, and the Tang Dynasty did not attach much importance to Penglai. If he had pacified the affairs in Mobei, this Duke of Anyang would probably have become a Duke of the State.
However, if he could lead his troops to victory during the Tubo invasion this time, he would definitely get the title of Duke.
Hearing Luo Xuanyun recommend Xue Rengui, Li Zhi thought about it for a moment and felt that this was a good suggestion. Xue Rengui was a general he trusted more than anyone else besides Luo. If Xue Rengui really took action, Xue Rengui, who had experienced many wars, might be 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 she cast her eyes on Luo Junwei, who nodded slightly, so she said in a deep voice: "I don't understand these things. If the emperor thinks Xue Rengui is suitable, then let Xue Rengui go. In any case, we will talk about it after we win. Our Tang Dynasty is not a mere thief like Tubo that can invade whenever it wants.
The Tang Dynasty cannot be insulted!"
Li Zhi had been sick for a long time, but now he was somewhat energetic. He raised his voice slightly and said, "Go and call Xue Rengui, the Duke of Anyang, into the palace. He is here. I want to appoint some generals."
The eunuch left in a hurry after hearing this, and soon returned with Xue Rengui. Xue Rengui did not expect that the emperor would suddenly summon him. When he entered the palace, he saw not only the emperor, but also the empress and a group of important officials. He was immediately surprised and did not know what was going on, but he still bowed to Li Zhi and said, "I am Rengui, the Duke of Anyang. I kowtow to the emperor and the empress."
Xue Rengui first appeared before Li Shimin in a white robe. He was naturally handsome and had a certain charm. This time, he was wearing an official robe, and he looked awe-inspiring and majestic.
Li Zhi was attracted to her as soon as he saw her, so he asked with a smile: "My dear, do you know why I summoned you to the palace?"
Xue Rengui thought for a moment, and as a military commander, what else could he do? So he clasped his fists and said, "But there are some villains causing trouble, disturbing the emperor's carriage. Do you want me to come and quell the rebellion?"
Li Zhi laughed loudly and said, "Your Excellency is half right. It is true that you are needed to lead the army, but it is not some scoundrel, it is Lun Qinling of Tubo, who is leading an army of 100,000 out of the plateau and is going to invade the border of our Tang Dynasty again.
I have consulted with my ministers, and Duke Chen recommended you, saying that you are someone who can shoulder the heavy responsibility, and the Queen Mother has not objected. Do you think you can handle this heavy responsibility now?"
When Xue Rengui heard that it was Chen Guogong Luo Xuanyun who recommended him, and that the Queen Mother agreed, he was immediately excited and said, "Your Majesty, I have confidence that no matter what enemy comes, I can wipe it out. I will destroy the Tibetan bandits even if I shed blood."
Li Zhi laughed again and said, "Well, since you have such ambition, I will appoint you as the general commander of the Qinghai Road Army, commanding the generals of the five routes, to compete with the Tibetan leader Lun Qinling and defend the border of our Tang Dynasty.
Whatever you ask for, feel free to ask. I will satisfy you one by one, as long as we can win."
Xue Rengui was about to say that he didn't need anything, but Luo Xuanyun spoke up, "Your Majesty, the selection of the five general managers cannot be random. It is best not to choose veterans with outstanding achievements, or those with proud personalities, or those with too high a birth, especially those from the royal family or high-ranking families."
Upon hearing this, Xue Rengui's expression changed immediately. He looked at Luo Xuanyun with some gratitude. He himself became solemn and clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, what Duke Chen said just now is exactly what I need."
Xue Rengui was born in a poor family and had not made enough achievements. It can be said that he had nothing except his abilities. Many people from noble families looked down on him. Even Li Shimin almost got into trouble because of this. When he was trying to pacify Xue Ju, he almost suffered a defeat. Once something happens on the battlefield where military orders are not obeyed because of contempt, the consequences can be disastrous.
So Luo Xuanyun specifically reminded him because he was worried that something unexpected might happen.
Li Zhi was a very smart man, and he understood immediately. "I agree. The five general managers will be selected by the Duke of Yong, the Duke of Chen, and the Duke of Anyang. I will not interfere."
The three of them immediately said in unison: "Your Majesty is wise and wise!"
(End of this chapter)
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