Eight hundred miles north of Chang'an is Dingxiang Road, which is now the territory occupied by the Turks.
Next to Dingxiang to the west is Shuofang County, and to the west of Shuofang is Yanchuan County. These two places are not small. Liangshi has been entrenched here for many years and has become more and more powerful in the past two years. Lingwu County to the west He almost ate it too.
To the east of Dingxiang and across the river is the boundary of Datong, Shanxi. The northernmost city ruled by the Tang Dynasty was Yunzhou. Now Li Ji is the governor of Shanxi.
To the south of Dingxiang is Yanzhou of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang army is now guarding Yanzhou. The local black ink in Yanzhou is famous. Yanzhou ink can be used as oil or ink. Some border guards even use it as fire oil to defend the city.
Thousands of miles north of Dingxiang is Wuyuan County, and the county seat is called Jiuyuan City! Jiuyuan Lu Bu is famous in history, and this is Lu Bu's hometown. Unfortunately, in the early Tang Dynasty, Lu Bu's hometown was also occupied by Turkic barbarians.
Less than 200 miles north of Wuyuan County is the famous Yinshan Mountain. The Yinshan Mountain is said to be "not taught to teach Huma to cross the Yinshan Mountain" in the Tang poem.
According to legend, the highest honor for a military commander was when Huo Qubing was granted the title of Xu. Langjuxu Mountain is said to be near the Turkic Golden Tent Royal Court, more than 1,800 miles north of Wuyuan, later known as Kent Mountain in Outer Mongolia. One can only imagine how far Huo Qubing, the God of War, has reached with his powerful army.
Returning to the main text of the book, the Tang Dynasty mobilized troops and horses with great force, preparing to go north to attack the Turks and encircle Wei and rescue Zhao.
Li Ji originally planned to gather 50,000 troops and set off from Yunzhou City in Datong County, but in order to eradicate Liang's capital and take back Dingxiang County, Chang'an also raised 50,000 troops to march north, passing through Yanzhou and heading north to kill.
Shuofang's Liangshi was so frightened that he hurriedly sent people to the Turks for help.
"Wait a minute, Your Majesty, I think the number of reports should be changed." A young general stood up.
This man's name was Xue Li. He was originally from Longmen, Jiangzhou. He couldn't bear being bullied in his hometown, so he fled to Shuofang in the northwest. He happened to be met by Master Liang who was on patrol. He thought he was a good seedling, so he took him as his subordinate and prepared to train him well.
Unexpectedly, this young man was extremely intelligent and versatile in both civil and military affairs. He helped Master Liang solve several difficult problems at a young age. Under his advice, Shuofang and Yanchuan were managed better and better. The entire Liang Kingdom's civil and military personnel were convinced.
So the "careful people" praised Xue Li, and Liang Shidu was very happy and decided to imitate the first emperor of Qin Dynasty. In ancient times, the first emperor worshiped twelve-year-old Gan Luo as his prime minister. Today, our Liang Emperor Liang Shidu worships eighteen-year-old Xue Li as his prime minister. , is also a beautiful story. Let the people see it, and they will praise me, Master Liang, for knowing people well and being a wise king.
Naturally, Master Liang made this young general whom he had cultivated become his number one confidant.
Originally, Master Liang planned to accept Xue Li as his adopted son, but Xue Li was unwilling, claiming that he was the only child in the family who dared not change his surname. No one could imagine that Master Liang was not angry but happy. He felt that Xue Li could not forget his ancestors and was a good boy with love and righteousness.
Hearing Xue Li's interruption, Master Liang was confused, "What does the Prime Minister mean? The Tang Dynasty's 50,000 soldiers and horses attacked, and our hidden stakes saw it with our own eyes."
Xue Li shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, the Turks know that our country of Liang has 50,000 soldiers and horses, so it is probably impossible for the 50,000 soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to take over our country of Liang. If you send people to ask for help, Jie Li may not send troops. help."
"Yes, that makes sense! Then according to the wishes of the Prime Minister, please report more?" Master Liang pondered.
Xue Li nodded: "Yes, not only should we report more, but we should also ask for resources from the Turks. Our Liang Kingdom is not for our own development. We are blocking the threat of the Tang Dynasty for the Turks. If we are destroyed, the Turks will Face the Tang Dynasty directly. Jieli will not understand the truth of the death of lips and teeth. Moreover, according to reliable information, Jieli led 100,000 troops to attack Youzhou of Tang Dynasty. Now that Chang'an of Tang Dynasty is sending troops north, they should be heading towards the Turks. We are Blocked the knife for him."
The official in charge of finance immediately stood up and agreed: "Yes, Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's words are reasonable. The Tang Dynasty regarded us as a thorn in its side and blocked our Liang Kingdom on the trade routes. So we had to talk to the Turks for many supplies. Usually we have to talk to the Turks. When begging for help, when have they ever treated us like humans? They all treat us like begging dogs!"
"Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We have legitimate reasons to ask for supplies from them. If they don't give it, we won't care. Let the troops of the Tang Dynasty pass over and let them attack the Turks."
Everyone looked at this person in surprise, thinking that he is so cruel, is he so resentful towards the Turks?
Who says it's not the case? Only those who have truly been looked down upon will know how much grievances they have accumulated. They dare not express their anger but dare not speak out. Now that they finally get the chance, can they not vent their anger?
Who would have thought that Xue Li suddenly clapped his hands and praised, "Liu Shangshu has a good plan! We can send people to contact the Tang Dynasty, and then make way for the Tang Dynasty to attack the Turks directly. Maybe the Turks know the pain, and they will naturally We know that troops have been sent to support us. Otherwise, Jieli may not care about our life or death if we talk empty talk."
At this time, someone stood up and reminded: "You can't be the prime minister, it's too risky. Be careful of the disaster of destroying Guo through false plans."
Liang Shidu also felt that it was not advisable, "Prime Minister, this plan is too risky. We should first see if the Turks come to help."
Xue Li smiled, "Your Majesty, of course I know the allusion of destroying Guo by false means. So we can only let 10,000 people go, even if 3,000 people pass, it is enough to create some trouble for the Turks."
Well...
Xue Li took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire and said: "Your Majesty, our Liang country is sandwiched between two powerful countries. If we are not careful, it will be a disaster. If we want to survive, we have to swing left and right, and we cannot completely offend one of them to death. One side. Even if the Tang Dynasty hates us to the bone now, if we can avoid a head-on war, it is better for us to talk. Only when both sides are conciliatory can we safely gain benefits from both sides."
"Nowadays, Youzhou in the northeast of the Tang Dynasty is faced with the threat of Jieli. They want to send troops north to attack the Turks, which solves the difficulties in Youzhou. It shows that the Tang Dynasty is also anxious and does not come specifically for us, so we have the opportunity to start from the Tang Dynasty. Tang is making a profit. Send someone to talk to them, even if they can't reach an agreement, they can delay the time."
Master Liang's eyes lit up, "That makes sense! The Prime Minister's words have solved the mystery. No wonder the two countries are raising armies for no reason. It turns out there is something going on in Youzhou. Haha, I have the great talents of the Prime Minister, so why worry about the Liang Kingdom not being prosperous?"
The Minister of War asked out of curiosity: "It's amazing that Xiangguo can have such insights and clever ideas at such a young age. I really don't know who he can learn from?"
Xue Li smiled and said to himself, "Don't you forget to find out more about me?"
"There is no teacher. It's just that I have read more books at home since I was a child. This plan is nothing. Some people have done this as early as the Han Dynasty, and it is called 'raising the bandits and respecting themselves'."
Raising bandits to respect themselves? Some knowledgeable people have heard of it, but not necessarily rough guys.
Xue Li gave a brief introduction, saying that there was a separatist vassal king who deliberately cultivated grass bandits under his rule and then asked the court for money and food to suppress the bandits. He kept sucking the blood of the imperial court and fattening his fiefdom.
Now Liang is sandwiched between two big countries. Although it is in danger, its blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, so it may not be impossible for it to become bigger and stronger.
After hearing Xue Li's clever plan, Master Liang was overjoyed and began to trust this young man more and more. He was simply sent by God to prosper Da Liang. In ancient times, Liu Bang had Zhang Liang, but today, all our Liang masters have Xue Li. Come, I will reward the prime minister with a thousand taels of gold and ten beauties!
Xue Li thanked him happily and sent people to contact the Tang army. On the other hand, he sent people to ask for help from the Turks.
In fact, these two groups of people are Xue Li's own, and he wants to find out what happened. No matter how self-respecting a bandit is, he will suck Jie Li's blood even if he deceives Master Liang. When the Liang Kingdom returns to the Tang Dynasty, won’t all the supplies belong to the Tang Dynasty?
Originally, Xue Li came to Liang Shidu with the intention of ousting this guy, then getting rid of him, and leading the Liang Kingdom to collectively surrender to the Tang Dynasty. But later, things developed very well for Master Liang, so Xue Li decided to let Master Liang live a little longer, and it would not be too late to kill him when he was useful in the future.
As prime minister, he has control over the military and political affairs of Yanchuan County and Shuofang County. He is not afraid of Liang people harming the people. Under the banner of Liang State, he vigorously develops people's livelihood and manages the place in an orderly manner. Then Liang Shidu will no longer be a disaster. No, it's just a mascot.
