"That's right!" Cai Dingshan also understood at this time: "A strong dragon will not overwhelm a local snake. As long as we stick together, no matter how strong the next ones are, they will still have to give up to us!"
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Songzhou, outside the city.
"We say goodbye today, and I don't know when we will see each other again!" Snowflakes fell on Lang Ri's face, melting between his hair and beard.
"As long as the two countries are in harmony, business and travel will only become more prosperous. If your husband comes to Chengdu, what will be the difficulty for me to go to your country?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.
"Yes!" Langri smiled and pointed at Wang Wenzuo's mount: "The mount of Governor Wang is so handsome, I wonder where it got it?"
Wang Wenzuo was stunned for a moment. He then noticed that the horse Langri was riding was very short and pitiful compared to his own yellow horse. He thought to himself that it was no wonder that the Tibetan cavalry was said to be weak, but they had occupied Qinghai for some years. Yes, Tuyuhun's war horses are very good. How could a nobleman like Lang Ri ride such a bad horse?
"The King Governor doesn't know something!" Lang Ri said with a smile: "Although this horse looks very stubborn, it has good endurance, especially on the snow-covered plateau. It can walk for three or four days on only hay and moss. If you change it, Although the Qinghai horse looks very majestic, when it reaches the plateau, let alone carrying people and galloping, even its own life cannot be saved. Are you saying that God's creation is very wonderful? Could it be that it was placed in place from the beginning? Easier!”
"Is this guy mocking me about the Tang Dynasty's plan to use troops against Tubo?" Wang Wenzuo thought to himself, but he replied: "Everything in the world does have its own place, but it is also divided into upper and lower places. Your Zanpu is a descendant of the god of heaven, and the ruler is He controlled the lands of Tubo; while the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was ordered by heaven to rule all the people, how could he be restricted by mountains and rivers?"
Langri smiled and said: "The Emperor Wen of your country is a man of literary and military skills. He has profound virtues, can care for all people, and care for distant lands. He is indeed a person who protects the heaven and earth. How can we dare not to obey? However, destiny has no relatives, and only virtue is a helper!" If you only rely on force to be strong and want others to obey you, even though Tubo is a small country and has few resources, it still dares to deal with it!"
The two of them had a heated exchange of words, but neither of them got the slightest advantage, so they each stopped talking and exchanged a few more pleasantries. Langri then handed over and left. Wang Wenzuo got on his horse to see each other off and walked half a mile before returning. On the way back, Cui Hongdu whispered: "This Tubo man is really good at talking. If you hadn't said anything, Sanlang, I would have killed him!"
"It's just a mouthful. If someone wants to take advantage of it, let him take it. What's the big deal!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "But what he said is right. Tubo and the Tang Dynasty are indeed limited by heaven and earth. Everyone has his own place, if you want to raise an army on a large scale and want to destroy the country in one fell swoop, you are bringing shame on yourself!"
Cui Hongdu has followed Wang Wenzuo for many years, and of course he heard the ominous meaning in the other party's words, and hurriedly said: "Could it be that General Xue is going to——" next year?
Wang Wenzuo waved his hand and interrupted Cui Hongdu: "This kind of thing is not what we should talk about. We must know that trouble comes from the mouth!" After that, he twitched his horse's butt and galloped forward. Cui Hongdu hurriedly followed, his new cloak weighing heavily on his shoulders. It was already covered with snowflakes and fluttering in the wind. His mood was like a shoulder, getting heavier and heavier. Over the years, Wang Wenzuo's predictions about the war were surprisingly accurate. Is it true that the Tang Dynasty will lose this time?
After returning to Songzhou City, Wang Wenzuo returned to his residence and began to process stacks of documents. Only a small part of them was about Songzhou Governor's Mansion, and most of the rest were about Liaodong, Xiongjin Governor's Mansion, and the Japanese Kingdom. Yes, he is like a tireless machine, always sitting at the desk, dealing with those boring documents
"Sanlang!"
"Oh, it's Hongdu!" Wang Wenzuo raised his head: "What's the matter?"
"I have something I want to ask Sanlang!" Cui Hongdu's face was full of embarrassment: "Please give me some advice!"
"You and I are like brothers, why are you so polite!" Wang Wenzuo smiled and said, "What's the matter?"
"Sanlang, since the imperial court has made you the governor of Songzhou, it is to use troops against Tubo. But why do you still spend so much energy on the Eastern Kingdom?" Cui Hongdu whispered: "I don't mean to blame you. but--"
"You don't have to say anything, I probably understand what you mean!" Wang Wenzuo nodded and pointed to the brocade cushion on his right: "Come, sit down and talk! Let me ask you, since the beginning of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, about 100 years of development has been done How many miles is it?”
Cui Hongdu was confused by Wang Wenzuo's sudden question. He thought about it and smiled bitterly: "Well, how do I know this? But it should be a thousand miles away, right?"
"Thousands of miles?" Wang Wenzuo laughed: "How can there be only such a small amount? Liaodong alone is thousands of miles away. I did a rough calculation, Liaodong, Andong, Beiting, Xiyu, Jiannan, Annan The land we have expanded, if we cut off the long points and make up for the shortcomings, it will be thousands of miles long! How about it? It’s quite a lot, right?”
"Yes!" Cui Hongdu nodded excitedly: "When it comes to expanding borders and opening up soil, and the prosperity of martial arts, even the martial arts of the Han Dynasty cannot compare with Emperor Taizong of this dynasty and today!"
Wang Wenzuo nodded. When talking about the prosperity of martial arts in ancient China, the Han and Tang Dynasties were often referred to together. However, compared to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty had no less achievements in expanding borders than Han Wu, but the price they paid was much smaller. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to expand the border, but often suffered defeats. Even if Wei Huo won a great victory and drove the Xiongnu to Mobei, he would often have 150,000 horses out of the fortress, and tens of thousands of horses would be defeated. However, the Tang Dynasty destroyed Turks, Xue Yantuo, Tiele, The powerful enemies in the north such as Baekje and Wa were all destroyed in one battle without hesitation and with minimal losses. Even though they fought against Goguryeo for more than ten years, they did not lose tens of thousands of troops in a major defeat. Therefore, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty inherited the legacy of the Wenjing rule, the world was rich, and there was so much grain stored in warehouses that it was rotten and inedible. But by the end of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were millions of refugees in Guandong, and the household registration was reduced by half, and the world was exhausted. The scene of the end of the world; when Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty came to the throne, he inherited the war in the late Sui Dynasty. In the early years of Zhenguan, the number of registered households in the country was only three million, and the treasury was empty. However, while expanding to the outside world, the number of households increased, and the national treasury gradually became full. People like Cui Hongdu at the time naturally believed that the martial arts of this dynasty was far superior to that of the Han Dynasty.
In Wang Wenzuo's view, there was one more thing that made martial arts in the early Tang Dynasty better than that of the Han Dynasty, and that was the inclusive mind of the Tang Dynasty. Whenever the Tang army defeated an enemy, it could digest it and make it a part of the Tang army, such as Ashina She'er, Ashina Helu, Ashina Simo, Heiqia Changzhi and others were all once enemies of the Tang Dynasty. However, after their clan was defeated by the Tang army, they were able to lead their tribes to serve the Tang Dynasty wholeheartedly. , and made great contributions to the empire. This is also the reason why the early Tang Dynasty was able to continuously use troops externally while cultivating the domestic people's power. Otherwise, if it were like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who mobilized hundreds of thousands of cavalry and hundreds of thousands of civilians to go out, just once or twice, the Tang Dynasty would have lost half of the country. After all, Li Shimin and Li Zhi did not have as rich an inheritance as Liu Che.
"Yes, the prosperity of this dynasty's martial arts and the breadth of its territory are unprecedented. I don't know if it will ever be seen before! But at this time, we must be more careful!"
Cui Hongdu nodded blankly. What Wang Wenzuo said sounded to him like a cliché. Of course you have to be careful when using troops to fight, but why he said that the more you win, the more cautious you have to be. He didn't understand. It's just that he followed Wang Wenzuo for a long time. Yes, I know that there are many profound meanings in his words, but I don’t understand it yet. Just listen patiently to his explanation.
"Think about it, the wider the border is, the farther away the garrison troops will be from the homeland. Once something happens, it will be difficult to deal with the emergency. And although our army has won many battles over the years, the losers are not convinced, but are forced by the situation. , just pretending to be submissive. If the situation changes, will they feel that the situation has changed and turn back? At that time, the border is thousands of miles away, and wars are raging everywhere. We must learn from the previous dynasties!"
"Lessons from previous dynasties? No, it can't be!" Cui Hongdu was already sweating when he heard this. The "previous dynasty" in Wang Wenzuo's mouth naturally refers to the Sui Dynasty. In fact, judging from the speed of expansion, the Sui Dynasty was almost Less than in the early Tang Dynasty, after Yang Jian usurped the throne, he destroyed Chen in the south, attacked Turks in the north, Tuguhun in the west, and Goguryeo in the east. He built the new capital Luoyang at home, the Grand Canal and other major projects. The treasury was full, and the household registration reached an incredible 8.6 million households. , almost three times that of the early years of Zhenguan. If you tell a Sui man who lived in the early years of the Great Cause that this great empire, like the rising sun, collapsed in just a few years and turned into a hell on earth, he will definitely think that you are talking in your sleep. But the historical fact is that after the empire's first failure in the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo, those potentially dissatisfied people saw the weakness of the empire and rose up one after another, attacking from the inside and outside at the same time. In a short period of time, this seemingly unstoppable empire was destroyed. The victorious behemoth. For every Tang person, this is a nightmare that will never be forgotten.
"Why is it impossible?" Wang Wenzuo sneered: "If Sui Wen failed in the southern expedition, at most the world would be divided into two parts, and he could only be the emperor of the north, which would not lead to his own death and the country's destruction; if Yang Guang was defeated by Tuyuhun after he succeeded to the throne, he would also We won’t go all out to attack Goguryeo and make the world turbulent. It’s just like entering a casino. If you lose at the beginning, you won’t lose much money, but if you win at the beginning and win big, the more you win. The more you lose, the worse you will lose. Not only will you lose what you originally won, but you will also lose your capital. In the end, you may even lose your wife and children!"
Hearing this, Cui Hongdu was speechless. After a while, he whispered: "Then Sanlang thinks Datang will lose this battle?"
"Who knows, I'm not a god!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "But the deeper you go, the greater the possibility of losing, and the worse the loss will be. So if it is a small victory at the beginning, it will be bad!"
Cui Hongdu nodded. Wang Wenzuo's meaning was not difficult to understand. Xue Rengui was also an old soldier. Of course he knew that the Tang army was better than the cavalry with crossbows and the Tubo army was better than the infantry. When the troops are sent out, they must be composed of fine cavalry as the front army, and infantry with bows and crossbows as the rear army. When marching, the two armies keep a certain distance. The front army fights for the advantage, and the rear army is in danger every few days. Set up a stronghold to guard the water source. In this way, the two armies at the front and rear can rely on each other and cover each other, which is a foolproof strategy.
It doesn't matter if the Tang Army's front army suffered a defeat at the beginning. Anyway, the Tibetans' horses were outnumbered, and it would not be difficult for the front army to get rid of the Tibetans' pursuit. As long as they reunited with the rear army, they could fight again. I am afraid that the front army will be victorious and gain a lot. Then the Tang army will advance quickly, and the distance between the front and rear armies will be widened. The Tibetans will defeat them one by one, or they will be separated and surrounded. The cavalry of the front army will lose the baggage of the rear army to rely on. , and the rear army's camp lost the response of the front army's cavalry, that is, the whole game was lost.
"So Sanlang, are you looking at this to prepare for future rebellion?" Cui Hongdu asked.
"Well, if General Xue can attack the Tubo capital in one fell swoop this time, it will be great. But if my words are really true, then there will probably be rebellions in Liaodong, Baekje, and Japan, and the Silla people will also I won’t miss this opportunity. When the time comes, the court will probably transfer me! Our brother Paoze has been working hard there for ten years, do you think I can’t make more preparations in advance?”
"Sanlang, if General Xue really loses the battle, then Songzhou will become a border area, and the court will probably not let you go!"
"That's why I'm anxious to negotiate with the Tibetan envoys!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Don't worry, if General Xue is really defeated, there are many people in Tibet who are more anxious to negotiate a peace and truce than me!"
"After Tubo won, there is still someone who wants to negotiate a truce?" Cui Hongdu was surprised: "Are you talking about the noble Tibetan man named Langri?"
"That's right! To be precise, it's the person behind him, Tubo's current Zampu Mansong Mangtsan. He is the one who really wants to negotiate a peace and truce!"
"Zampu of Tibet wants to make a truce and negotiate peace? Why not pursue the victory?"
"Because the military power of Tubo is now in the hands of the two brothers of the Gar family. If Tubo defeats the Tang Dynasty, it will make the Gar family more powerful and threaten Zamp's throne. So for Zamp, Instead of pursuing victory, it would be better to cease the war!"
After hearing this, Cui Hongdu finally understood why Wang Wenzuo came to Songzhou and was busy building roads, reading books, and doing business, but he was not too active in the war in Tibet. At first, he thought he thought he had too few troops and could only defend but not attack, but he didn't expect that the other party thought so deeply and far.
"With Saburo's strategy, Zanpu and his ministers are just playthings in the palm of your hand!"
"It's not as simple as you said!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "If I am right, Tubo's Zanpu will not be able to do anything to the frontline generals. After all, we are not the only ones who know that the emperor's life will be compromised. The Tubo people also know it. At most, it will be good if the southern front can remain peaceful!"
"It's great to be able to do this!" Cui Hongdu said with a smile: "Besides, if it is true, as you said, Sanlang, that General Xue was defeated by the Tubo people, the emperor would never give up like this. That is the land of Longyou. ! Once something happens, Guanzhong will not be stable!"
(End of chapter)
