Gao Liangcheng wanted to curse, but Wang Anzu praised Prince for standing him up. They'd agreed to meet up in Kagong Town in three days, but since then, there's been no sign of him.
"Go and check quickly, when will the people from the Bailan tribe of Tubo arrive?" Gao Liangcheng cursed.
"Prime Minister, the spies just came back with a report that there are no Tibetans within twenty miles ahead." The subordinate came in and bowed.
"Fuck Zuzan, he actually stood me up (this phrase doesn't seem to exist in this era), Tibetan!" Gao Liang was furious. He had spent a lot of effort to get Prince Zuzan to agree to join the expedition.
Gao Liangcheng did not want to live his whole life as the king of Nanzhao in a corner of the country. He wanted to conquer the Central Plains. The Central Plains was rich and fertile, with countless gold and silver treasures and beautiful women.
So the Mongols sent someone to talk to him, and the two hit it off immediately and became traitors. Gao Liangcheng agreed to drag the Tibetans into the water. Although the Tibetans were not as good at fighting as they were in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, they were no pushovers.
Who knew that at the critical moment, this Tibetan was still unreliable, and we haven't seen even a single hair of him so far.
"Prime Minister, what should we do? I think that since Tubo is unwilling to come, we might as well attack Chengdu Prefecture. Chengdu Prefecture is rich and it will be a big piece of fat meat for us." said Luan Ping, a general under Gao Liangcheng.
Gao Liangcheng shook his head: "No, if Zu Zan doesn't come, we will withdraw our troops."
Gao Liangcheng's army alone might face a tough battle, but it is not impossible to capture Chengdu Prefecture.
The problem was that even if they took Chengdu, they would still have to figure out how to deal with the aftermath. If Tubo didn't intervene and just sat back and watched the fight, the Song Dynasty would surely strike back.
If the Song Dynasty counterattacks, even if it fights on three fronts, the Jingnan Army alone will be enough to give Dali a hard time.
If Tubo is involved, the situation will be different. If Tubo is willing to join the war, our side will have an overwhelming advantage. Most likely, the Song Dynasty will endure the humiliation and may even acquiesce to the cession of Chengdu Prefecture.
I don’t know what was wrong with Tubo, or whether they were so deceived by the Song Dynasty that they actually changed their minds at the last minute.
Gao Liangcheng now wanted to grab Zuzan by the neck and push him into the mud to drown him. "Tell the soldiers to pass on the order: if the Tibetan army doesn't show up again, withdraw to Dali early tomorrow morning."
Gao Liangcheng's efforts were in vain. If he returned to Dali empty-handed, he would inevitably be looked down upon by the Gao clan members. Worse still, his plan would have been completely thwarted.
In fact, the reason why Gao Liangcheng dared to imprison Duan Yu was because he also had a dream of becoming an emperor.
If he forced Duan Yu to give up his throne to himself now, not only would those generals loyal to the Duan family rebel, but even his own clansmen would be dissatisfied.
The Duan family was deeply rooted in Dali, and both the common people and the soldiers recognized the Duan family as their royal family. Although he held a large number of troops, this was not the time to usurp the throne.
If I had joined forces with Tubo to seize Chengdu Prefecture, things would have been different. This would have sent a signal to Dali that the Duan royal family was subservient to the Song Dynasty. But I, Gao Liangcheng, was not afraid. Not only was I not afraid, I even led my troops to capture Chengdu Prefecture.
What does this prove? It proves that I, Gao Liangcheng, am superior to Duan Yu. We no longer have to look to the Song Dynasty for favor; it's their turn to look to me. Once my prestige grows, usurping the throne will be a piece of cake.
Once the four kingdoms overpowered the Song Dynasty, I'm afraid that by then, I wouldn't have to do anything myself, as the whole country would unanimously support me as the successor. Didn't Song Taizu wear the yellow robe, even though it was said that Zhao Kuangyin was the one who did it, having his generals do it.
When the time came, he followed suit, ordering his men to crown him with the yellow robe. If anyone objected, he'd kill them with a single blow. Anyway, at that time, his prestige was unmatched, and he'd divided up the Song Dynasty. What a tremendous achievement!
Gao Liangcheng even planned the next step to destroy the Song Dynasty. The four kingdoms of Mongol, Goryeo, Tubo, and Dali had divided up the Song Dynasty, and the Mongol integration was bound to be abandoned after the rabbit died.
But I'm not afraid of Gao Liangcheng. He's already planned it out. He'll strike first and then unite with Tubo and Goryeo, and the three kingdoms will go to war against the Mongol Empire.
He would leave the frontal battles to Tubo and Goryeo, while he himself would gather his strength and secretly develop his power. Even when attacking Song, Gao Liangcheng had this plan, throwing the hard bone to Tubo, and then attacking them after they were both defeated.
For example, during the attack on Chengdu Prefecture, Gao Liangcheng intended Zuzan to lead the attack, while he would pick up slack from behind. After all, Dali's fighting power was weak, so the main offensive had to be handed over to Tubo, to establish Tubo's prestige.
In reality, prestige was nothing. Even if Tubo won the honor of defeating the Song army, they would have killed a thousand of their own troops and lost eight hundred. It would be better to secretly march through Chencang to conserve their energy and then stage a reversal at the last moment.
All is fair in war; whoever has the last laugh will rule the Central Plains. If his plans were well planned, perhaps it would be his Dali Kingdom that would ultimately dominate. Goryeo and Tubo were merely his vassal states; if you refuse to submit, I will defeat you until you do.
Although Gao Liangcheng also knew that this was a risky journey. A general's success is built on the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers. Which emperor's territory was not won in the face of danger? How can one succeed without taking risks?
Wen Zhengming led 800 victorious Czech army warriors to Kagong Town. Kagong was an inconspicuous town that was even just a dot on the map.
At this moment, Kagong Town was occupied by the Dali Kingdom's army. This inconspicuous town now has a strong militarized atmosphere.
The villagers in the town had already fled, and the houses and food that they had no time to take away became the property of Gao Liangcheng's army.
As the night gradually darkened, Gao Liangcheng in the military camp was running around in circles. There had been no movement from the Tibetan army yet, and it looked like they wouldn't be coming.
"Someone come, someone come!" Gao Liangcheng shouted anxiously.
"Prime Minister, what's the matter?" A subordinate ran in and saluted.
"Bring me paper and pen, I want to write a letter!" Gao Liangcheng's face was full of anger.
The subordinates did not dare to ask and hurriedly gave orders. The clerk hurriedly brought over paper, pen and ink.
Gao Liangcheng's pen moved quickly, writing furiously on the paper. It turned out that he wanted to write a letter to Zuzan, and the content of the letter was naturally cursing Prince Zuzan for being a worthless person.
As he was writing, a soldier rushed in from outside the tent and said, "Prime Minister, a messenger from the Bailan tribe of Tubo wants to see you."
"Call them in!" Gao Liangcheng was angry and shouted unhappily.
A short while later, a Tibetan soldier walked in. Before Gao Liangcheng could shout, the Tibetan soldier stood up and said, "Respected Prime Minister Gao of Dali, my prince has been delayed due to personal matters within the clan. Therefore, the agreed date is one day later. Prime Minister, rest assured, our Tibetan army is on its way and will arrive in Kagong Town early tomorrow morning."
Gao Liangcheng, who was about to lose his temper, was overjoyed when he heard this: "Oh, so Prince Zuzan's army will arrive tomorrow?"
ps: I recommend the book "The Prime Minister of the Great Jin Dynasty", a new work by a history group leader. It is estimated to be a book about the Two Jin Dynasties. Readers who like it can go and have a look.
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