After giving instructions to Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche, Li Daozong turned to An Xinggui: "General An, judging from the current situation, the Northern Route Army can be led by General Niu Jinda and An Shengan after we capture Gaochang. In the areas in the northern part of Lower Xinjiang Road, although there are passages to the Western Regions near these areas, because these places used to be vast grasslands, there were basically no humans except for Turks and a few local Western Region countries."
"But large armies can also pass through the two passes in the Zhepantuo Kingdom (Houta City) and the Altay Burqin area to the north. Related passes must also be set up in these two places. What do you think?"
The northernmost of the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty is the Xupantuo Kingdom. The Altay region further north currently belongs to the Western Turks, but the number of tribes and people there is not large. Although the environment there is good, there are Forests and grasslands, but because the winter is too cold and long, and the snow in the mountains can reach a thickness of about two meters in winter, it is difficult for ordinary livestock and poultry to live in the mountains.
More importantly, this is the Tang Dynasty, not the later generations. There are so many wild animals in the mountains that ordinary herders cannot survive there without dozens of families.
Therefore, there are not many people in those places. Even the Turks and other people, who are known for their nomadic nature, only live in a small number of tribes in these places.
"I think it's okay. We don't need 10,000 troops here. Five thousand is enough." An Xinggui said. There aren't many people in these places at all. "The most populous country is only the Shupantuo Kingdom. According to the information just sent by the Intelligence Department, According to the news, the total population of the Xupantuo Kingdom is about 200,000. This is because they are a relatively rare plain area in the Western Region and can farm."
"But only one hundred thousand of these people really belong to the Shupantuo Kingdom. The remaining more than one hundred thousand are mainly nomadic. They belong to both the Western Turks and the Shupantuo Kingdom."
Li Daozong understood An Xinggui's words instantly, and it was actually not difficult to understand. Because now to the outside world, except for Gaochang, the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions... all belong to the Western Turks. Yes, they accept the jurisdiction of the Western Turks and pay tribute to the Western Turks.
It's just that their original king is still in charge.
To put it bluntly, these thirty-six countries in the Western Regions are the ultimate wallflowers. Anyway, as long as a big country comes, I will become my vassal and pay tribute to you. You have the final say. If a big country cannot take care of itself, then I am a country.
That’s why they have a long history. For example, Khotan, a country founded on Buddhism, lasted for more than 1,200 years, and the national surname of Khotan was Yuchi.
After the establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, two of their kings admired (flattered) and changed their surname to Li.
"Let's send 10,000 troops. In fact, this is a good thing. Since they are currently under the jurisdiction of Yibiduulu and vassal to Yibiduulu, then when we fight Gaochang, they will be the enemies of the Tang Dynasty!" Li Daozong After thinking about it and combining it with His Highness's letter just now, he made a decision directly.
Since we want to be famous, we should just treat these thirty-six countries in the Western Regions as enemies.
The Tang Dynasty does not kill people, but since you are attached to the Western Turks, you are the enemies of the Tang Dynasty. It is impossible for the territory conquered by the Tang Dynasty to be returned to you. This does not make sense.
If you want to try it, you can try it!
"I have no objection." An Xinggui thought for a while and immediately nodded in agreement.
"Then our remaining 30,000 troops will be divided into two, and 10,000 will go to the middle road to fight with Qiang Yanqi and then go to Qiuci Kingdom to face the enemy directly. We will personally lead the remaining 20,000 troops and set off from Yiwu directly. Destroy Gaochang, then advance to the vicinity of the Yili River and meet up with the Central Army." Li Daozong drew two lines on the map.
"No problem, but the focus now is whether our logistics supplies can keep up. It's summer now. If we march, we don't have to worry about the fodder for the horses. The main thing is food." An Xinggui said.
"Don't worry about food. We have food, it's just that it hasn't been transported yet. We can borrow food from the locals and return it to them in double the amount." Li Daozong said with a smile.
"I can rest assured that."
Li Daozong's words are not without purpose. He has been managing Xizhou for more than two years. He knows very well how much food Xizhou has hoarded. Now there is no problem with Xizhou's self-sufficiency in food.
In fact, ancient people had a misunderstanding. They said that before the troops and horses were moved, food and grass went first. Ancient people transported food and grass for hundreds of thousands of miles, and the loss on the road may reach 60 to 70%. So many times, what ancient emperors needed to consider was whether the court could afford to fight.
But in fact, it is not a problem at all how much food is lost on the road. When the court is not short of food and money, it is nothing more than a question of increasing the number of people transported. Originally, 40% of the food could be left at the destination, so I would just double the transportation team.
Anyway, all transportation teams are paid monthly, and they are not afraid of delaying the people's work. As long as the people make profits, this kind of transportation will not actually consume national power.
If it weren't for the appearance of Li Ke and Datang was not so rich, Datang would have to rely on the locals to supplement food when it invaded these places, but that is not needed now.
To put it bluntly, Li Ke was eager to hire more people to transport food, and then quickly increase the money and wages to these people, so that they could buy a large amount of iron tools to popularize the use of iron farming tools in the Tang Dynasty!
Anyway, the current cost of iron is too low for Li Ke, which means that Li Ke has enough channels to recover the money from the people, and then the money will naturally circulate.
The food consumed in the entire Tang Dynasty is constant. No matter what a person does, the food consumed is fixed. At most, the food consumed may increase due to the increase in people's income.
For example, people who could barely fill their stomachs before are now seeking to be full and have more strength to work.
But even so, there is an upper limit to food consumption. However, the food of the Tang Dynasty now far exceeds this consumption limit, so it does not matter how the food is transported and consumed, it will be eaten in people's stomachs anyway.
More people are hired to transport food, and they consume food in this regard. The food in their homes will naturally be left over, and then the excess food in their homes will naturally be sold to replenish the local grain depot. It makes no difference.
Many people think that the people will store grain. This is for sure, but the people will not store too much grain. At most, the food rations are only a little more than a year, and cannot be more, because in this era, there are not many means to prevent insects, mildew, or mice, and storing too much food will be easy to lose.
In this era, the people who have just had enough to eat are the least able to accept loss and waste, so there is no need to worry about them hoarding too much food because they can't.
