Chapter 237: The Court Discusses the Further Expedition to Goguryeo (2)

Li Chengqian stood up and bowed to Li Er, saying, "Father! I thought that Goguryeo should be conquered, but not now!"

Li Er was stunned!

"Oh! Why do you say that, Prince! What do you mean now is not the right time? Then when is the right time to conquer Goguryeo?" Li Er asked.

What you said is the same as what the ministers said, all of which are against my expedition to Goguryeo.

"How harmful Goguryeo is to the Tang Dynasty? I don't need to tell you. Father knows it better than me."

Li Er nodded and motioned Li Chengqian to continue. He had conquered Goguryeo himself, and the prince would know the enemy's strength better than him.

"Goguryeo is a castle built on the mountain. It is very difficult to conquer it in a short time. Yang Guang returned from three expeditions to Goguryeo without success, which exhausted the luck of the Sui Dynasty."

"Therefore, if you want to destroy Goguryeo, I think we should do it slowly!" Li Chengqian said.

"Your Highness means that my Tang Dynasty will have to stalemate with Goguryeo for a long time. Prince, do you know how much food will be consumed over time if the stalemate fails?"

"In addition, the government soldiers are fighting outside all year round, and the land will be uncultivated. The annual food production will decrease. If we encounter a disaster year, how should we deal with it?"

"With one side gaining and the other losing, the Tang Dynasty is in danger! Your Majesty, please think twice!" The ministers were dissatisfied with what Li Chengqian said, and someone jumped out to refute the prince and advised Li to think twice.

Li Er did not say anything, he wanted to see how the prince would deal with such a situation.

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes at the minister. Li Chengqian was not angry, because it was not worth it. An ignorant guy dared to jump in front of him and would only bring shame upon himself.

"You are totally wrong to say that!" Li Chengqian looked at the minister and said.

"Why do you say that, prince!" The minister was not aware of the sharpness and thought he was right.

"Goguryeo is just a small country. Why should our Tang Dynasty mobilize troops? We only need to send a small army to go deep into the country!" Li Chengqian said.

Li Chengqian wanted to fight a protracted war with Goguryeo. His main purpose was not to capture cities, but to harass the other side and make Goguryeo tired of dealing with it.

Both Goguryeo and the Tang Dynasty were agricultural societies, and farming was their top priority. As long as their farming was destroyed, Goguryeo would be finished in a few years.

At that time, it would be easy to send a large army to destroy Goguryeo in one fell swoop.

"Your Highness, I dare not agree with what you said. Even if you send a small army to go deep into the enemy's territory, what will happen? The consumption of food and grass will be reduced! But it will still cost our Tang Dynasty a lot of food."

"If the small army goes deep into the enemy's territory, Your Highness, have you ever thought about how to transport the food and grass to the small army? Once the food and grass are robbed and they go deep into the enemy's hinterland, once the food and grass are cut off, they will be dead. It is unwise to quench thirst with poison." Another minister stood up to refute Li Chengqian.

The issue of food and grass is always mentioned. This is the difference between agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization. Agricultural civilization pays too much attention to the transportation of food and grass.

Nomadic people do not take this into consideration. They have always used war to support war. This not only strengthens their own strength, but also weakens the opponent's strength.

If you can't eat it in one bite, just take it slowly, wear down the opponent bite by bite, and there will always be a time to solve it. Besides

, even if the Tang army goes deep into Goguryeo and can't get food from the Tang mainland, won't they retreat to Silla and Baekje to replenish supplies?

After eating and drinking enough, they will deal with Goguryeo again. This will not only consume Goguryeo's strength, but also indirectly drag down Silla and Baekje.

After destroying Goguryeo in the future, we can also annex Silla and Baekje and incorporate these two countries into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, Li Chengqian could only think about it in his heart, but he dared not say it out loud. Such behavior would be considered unjust by everyone and would definitely be condemned by everyone.

As a great country, how could it bully the weak? It is really a disgrace to the civilized world. Such behavior is simply disgusting.

Therefore, Li Chengqian was too lazy to say more nonsense to this group of conservative guys.

"The last time your father led the army in person, the people were not allowed to farm. All the grain and grass of the conquered cities had to be collected. Then due to the drought, most people lack food."

"Now we just need to send more troops to harass Goguryeo in turns to make the Goguryeo people too tired to deal with it. Then they will give up farming and hide in the castles."

"In a few years, Goguryeo will be in decline, and the people will be alienated. We can take the area north of the Yalu River without a fight. By then, it will be easy to destroy Goguryeo."

"This is the strategy I wrote to destroy Goguryeo. Please take a look, father." Li Chengqian finished speaking and handed a note to Wang Yuan, asking him to pass it to Li Er.

After reading it, Li Er was very happy. Although the strategy written by the prince was still a little immature, it was because he had never been to Goguryeo.

He was not very clear about the specific situation of Goguryeo, so some deviations were acceptable.

Generally speaking, the major strategic guidelines were still well grasped, but why were Silla and Baekje also included in it?

This was what Li Er was confused about. The attack on Goguryeo had little to do with Silla and Baekje.

"Chengqian, I read the strategy you submitted to attack Goguryeo, it's very good! But I don't understand why Silla and Baekje are included in it." Li Er asked.

Li Chengqian naturally would not tell Li Er that he would not only destroy Goguryeo, but also Silla and Baekje.

After all, Li Er didn't know that the three kingdoms in the Korean Peninsula were now in a balance, restraining each other.

Once this balance was broken, it would inevitably evolve from a three-way balance to a situation where one kingdom dominated.

Li Chengqian didn't want to work hard to defeat Goguryeo, and then let Silla take advantage of it.

It was like working hard year after year to make wedding clothes for others.

Silla wanted to rely on the power of the Tang Dynasty to eliminate Goguryeo and Baekje, and thus achieve the goal of unifying the half of the island. It was a no-brainer.

"Your Majesty, our Tang army has penetrated deep into the heart of Goguryeo. First, it is not easy to solve the problem of food and grass. Second, if the enemy army surrounds and intercepts us, our army can retreat to Silla and Baekje for rest."

"In this way, it will be easier to attack Goguryeo. With Silla and Baekje as temporary bases for our army, we can guarantee logistics without worrying about the future!" Li Chengqian made up a reason to get away with it.

Li Er and the ministers also thought that Li Chengqian was reasonable. They never thought that Li Chengqian actually wanted to destroy Silla and Baekje together. Otherwise, Li Er and others would not allow Li Chengqian to do so.

Silla and Baekje were vassal states of the Tang Dynasty and were usually very respectful to the Tang Dynasty. How could they allow the crown prince to do whatever he wanted? If this were to get out, the Tang Dynasty would lose all its dignity.