Goguryeo began as a separatist regime established in Liaodong by Prince Zhu Meng of Fuyu in 37 BC. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Goguryeo competed with Murong Xianbei's Qianyan for hegemony in Liaodong, and was almost defeated by Murong to the point of annihilation. Later, Murong invested the main force Only on the battlefield in the Central Plains did Goguryeo escape.
After the decline of Murong Xianbei, the vacuum in the Liaodong region was quickly filled by Goguryeo. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Goguryeo's territory reached Liaoshui in the west, the Sea of Japan in the east, the Huifa River in the north, and the Han River in the south.
"Book of Sui" records: Two thousand miles from east to west and more than a thousand miles from north to south.
Unlike the nomadic peoples who emerged on the grasslands, Goguryeo had a high degree of Chineseization. During the Five Husties, they absorbed a large amount of advanced technology from the Central Plains, and they were sitting on the rich iron ore resources of the Liaodong Peninsula. They could "use bows, arrows, swords and spears" To be a soldier, every family has its own armor" ("Book of Wei").
At that time, there were armored cavalry troops in Goguryeo with men and horses wearing armor and holding horse spears. In addition to the armored cavalry, Goguryeo's cavalry and archery troops are also very powerful, because the Liaodong region is rich in forestry resources and the practice of hunting is prevalent. They are rich in a type of compound bow called the "貊 mO bow". This bow is short and powerful. It has extremely high power and is extremely suitable for mounted shooting.
The most terrifying thing about Goguryeo is that it also has a very terrifying military mobilization ability. At its peak, it had 600,000 troops and tens of thousands of armored cavalry ("History of Goguryeo, China"). In the ninth year of Zhenguan, the total number of Tang Dynasty soldiers was Just eight hundred thousand.
Therefore, Goguryeo has never been a weak country. Don't think that it is also a weak country just because its name is very similar to that of a later country.
In the 19th year of Zhenguan in history, when the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, Li Ke's father Li Shimin personally conquered Goguryeo and captured "one hundred thousand horses and cattle, thousands of bright and bright armored leaders" in one battle ("New Book of Tang")
This is also one of the reasons why Emperor Sui Yang's three expeditions to Goguryeo failed in the end. Both Emperor Yang and Li Shimin knew very well that Goguryeo was a serious problem for the Central Plains Dynasty, so the Tang Dynasty in history adopted the strategy of following the Sui Dynasty. Yangdi’s completely different tactics and tactics.
The Tang Dynasty has learned from the experience of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty who wanted to accomplish all his achievements in one battle, but was dragged to death by a long supply line. In the fourth year of Zhenguan, the Eastern Turks were eliminated and after the initial disaster, the Tang Dynasty began to play attrition with Goguryeo. war.
Since the fifth year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty has continuously sent small groups of troops to conduct reconnaissance in Goguryeo and began to explore and plan the terrain.
Later, after Li Shimin personally conquered the country, it gradually turned into a large army. He did not seek to capture cities and territories, but implemented a scorched-earth policy on a large scale, destroying production, weakening national power, and dividing people's hearts. This policy continued from the Taizong Dynasty of Li Ke's father to the Gaozong Dynasty of Li Zhi. Then Goguryeo couldn't hold on any longer.
Does this tactic sound familiar to you? In fact, it is somewhat similar to the strategy that nomads have always implemented against the Central Plains dynasties, and what the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo were playing was national power.
To be honest, if it weren't for the Tang Dynasty that was also at its peak standing in front of Goguryeo, Goguryeo could be like the Northern Wei Dynasty, stationing troops from the north and then taking over the Central Plains.
But now, for Li Shimin, Goguryeo is a serious concern.
"How do you target heavy cavalry?" Li Shimin sat up straight, as did Li Chengqian.
"Dad, you should have seen it tonight. My fireworks can reach a height of about 150 to 200 meters." Li Ke said.
"Me?" Li Shimin frowned.
"Oh, this is a brand new unit of length invented by Erchen. All of them use the decimal system. At present, some length measurement conversions in the Tang Dynasty are too complicated and are not conducive to promotion." Li Ke said helplessly, "But at present, Erchen I have not announced it to the public, but my own craftsmen are using it. About three feet is one meter."
Li Ke gave a rough conversion ratio, and Li Shimin knew the height.
"Dad, think about it, if I were on the battlefield and the enemy's heavy armored cavalry rushed over, I would use this thing to aim at the enemy's cavalry, lay it down sideways and shoot at the enemy, what would it be like?" Li Ke said. road.
Li Shimin thought for a moment, and then asked: "Is it loud?"
"Yes, it is very big. Although the color is not eye-catching during the day, it will still make a loud noise. But in fact, when it explodes in the air, if it is placed on the ground and a person without armor stands nearby, it may It was directly killed, which means it has a certain lethality."
"If I put some iron filings or pieces of iron inside this firework, it will explode more powerfully!"
"Of course, I don't expect it to kill people directly, but the enemy's horses have not received such training at all. Once they confront each other like this, the opponent's cavalry formation horses will be shocked!" Li Ke said this without describing too much.
Li Shimin fought on horseback. Of course he knew very well what would happen if the horse was frightened when the cavalry charged on the battlefield, and it was still a large-scale fright.
If our war horses had been trained again, at this time, it would be a massacre for the opponent.
"Good thing, but why did you take it out? Shouldn't it be made secretly?" Li Shimin asked.
"It's okay to make it secretly, but it makes a lot of noise and it's not convenient for us to train war horses, so I disguised it as a firework. In this way, when we train war horses in some places in the future, it can also be said to be a celebration of marriage. Ah, or other happy events, festivals, etc. Anyway, it's easy to find an excuse." Li Ke said with a serious look.
Li Shimin looked at him suspiciously, are you sure this is the case? Isn’t it because fireworks are fun?
"Of course, another reason is to make fireworks so that no matter what festival it is, if we set off fireworks in large quantities, we can increase the production of gunpowder inside, which will help train a large number of skilled workers. After all, the If there are enough, we can produce more and even improve.”
"If we just produce it secretly and don't use it, we don't know its effect and can't figure out its performance, the speed of improvement will be slow, and the training speed of workers will also be slow." Li Ke added.
Li Shimin nodded silently. This is true. Li Ke has always thought carefully in this regard, and this is a good idea.
"Okay, you did a good job, Chengqian, what do you think?"
"Father, I think we can just leave it to Sanlang to take charge. When we prepare to use large-scale troops against Goguryeo, Sanlang will directly take it out, and the cavalry that should be trained can be trained secretly." Li Chengqian thought for a while and spoke. Dao said, it is not suitable to leave this matter to anyone else except Li Ke, because other people are really not as easy to keep secrets as Li Ke.
Li Chengqian didn't know how loyal the trading houses under Li Ke were, but Li Chengqian knew one thing, that is, what Sanlang used were craftsmen of ordinary origins, common people, etc., let alone whether there were common people in them, and these people Saburo can be said to be very kind to them all.
As a prince, Li Chengqian knew both the aristocratic family and the people very well. He knew very well that because of various interests, they would never be able to escape the kidnapping of the interests because of the power of the aristocratic family behind them. But here with Li Ke, the craftsmen under his command And the people, if you put a knife on their necks, they may not say anything.
This is the biggest difference.
"Okay, let's forget about it then. You go play a few rounds of mahjong with your mother and the others. Your sister and the others have been waiting for you all night." Li Shimin glared at Li Ke and said.
"Yes, my son has gone." Li Ke stood up with a smile.
The vigil in the second half of the night was not a big problem. In fact, everyone was thinking about the vigil, so they all caught up on sleep during the day yesterday. Although it was a bit sleepy, it was not so sleepy when a group of people played together.
Today's court meeting is very early, and it is also very long. Because of its large scale, some princes and the like who do not usually go to court will go to court. Among these people are Li Shimin's brothers, uncles and the like. Anyway, it is the Tang Dynasty. 's clan.
Many of them do not have specific positions, but they will all go to court today.
Similarly, envoys from various countries in Honglu Temple will come to pay tribute today with tributes to congratulate Li Shimin.
All in all, today is a good day for the officials of the Ministry of Rites. As for Li Ke, he simply hid behind Li Chengqian in the court hall, then leaned on the back of his chair and started to take a nap.
From his angle, it was not easy for the ministers below to notice, but Li Shimin, who was sitting on the throne, could see clearly.
Fortunately, envoys from various countries will not be so close to the court, so they probably won't see it, but the corners of Li Shimin's mouth are twitching. I played mahjong all night, and now that I am sitting here, I still need to sit on my waist. Stand up straight, I'm not even tired, are you tired?
I wanted to let you go, but you made me angry yourself, so you can't blame me for being ruthless and unjust.
Li Chengqian was also a little helpless. "Lao San, you are really a role model for us. You dare to do anything."
The long court meeting finally ended around half past midnight in the morning. It took more than two hours, which was really not easy.
"Wait, I have one last announcement." Seeing that everyone was tired, Li Shimin said slowly.
"The King of Qin, Li Ke, was just having fun yesterday and invented fireworks to celebrate the Yuan Dynasty. It was harmless at first, but he did not want to inform the court in advance, which caused shock and panic among the people of Chang'an City. Therefore, King Li Ke of Qin was punished to help me deal with it after the Lantern Festival. The memorial is for two months of state affairs and no leave is allowed to serve as a warning to others." Li Shimin said calmly.
"Huh?" Li Ke, who had just been confused for a while and whose brain had become much clearer, heard Li Shimin's words and felt like he was struck by five thunders.
Who the hell backstabbed me? Is this a move that Lao Li can come up with? I do not believe! Who came up with this bad move? !
