Man Tanghong

"It's a waste of time and money, but it can keep the Xiao family alive, right?"

Mrs. Xiao stared at Li Yuanji, for fear of hearing a word "no" from Li Yuanji's mouth.

This is her only bargaining chip, but this bargaining chip was very attractive to the Tang Dynasty in the past, but not necessarily to the Tang Dynasty today.

After all, Datang today is not short of money and food.

Li Yuanji faced Xiao's question and was silent for a long time. When Xiao was about to speak again, he happily agreed, "Yes!"

Since the Xiao family had begged for mercy, they also donated a large amount of hermitage and land, as well as some of their descendants.

Then there is no need to kill them all.

After all, after the aristocratic families who opposed Li were wiped out, the aristocratic families who stood by Li's side would become Li's new threat. If these people don't make mistakes and are flat enough, you really don't know. You can't help them, after you die, if Li's successors are weak, then they will rush out like wolves one by one, devouring everything that Li has.

After they have devoured everything belonging to the Li family, they may still let someone from the Li family become the emperor, but being a puppet emperor from a wealthy family is not that easy to do.

It is better to be a puppet emperor for the common people than to be a puppet emperor for a wealthy family.

Therefore, we must train some opponents for them before they are fully developed.

And wealthy families like the Lanling Xiao family, who had been devoured by them with ferocious looks, were their best opponents.

Perhaps one or two hundred years later, they will settle their differences and make peace because of some interests.

But things that will happen one or two hundred years from now cannot be decided by people now, nor should they worry about it.

Because even if you make a decision and worry about it, people 200 years from now can change it beyond recognition.

This is the charm of Han culture.

A word can have multiple meanings, and when combined into a sentence, it has even more meanings.

So even if you decide on some ancestral laws now, people 200 years from now will be able to misinterpret them in dozens or even hundreds of ways.

So it is better to be a leader, draw the eyes of the Han people, let the Han people see a broader world, and develop the broadest mind.

When people like Li Bai, Du Fu, and Wang Wei appear again in a few decades or hundreds of years, they may no longer be proud of "riding a crane to Yangzhou with a hundred thousand guan in their waist", but will be proud of their "hands". You may be proud of "carrying millions of soldiers and riding horses to go on a feast", or you may be proud of "having the seals of the Nine Kingdoms on your waist, and I am the only one respected by the people of the Tang Dynasty".

When Mrs. Xiao heard this, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then promised: "I believe Xiao Yu and the others will not let down His Highness's love!"

This means that the Xiao family of Lanling, headed by Xiao Yu, will stand firmly on the side of Prince Yong's Mansion from now on.

However, these are no longer important to Li Yuanji now.

So Li Yuanji just smiled and nodded without saying anything more.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Mrs. Xiao saw that Li Yuanji had nothing to talk about, so she wisely found an excuse to leave the Chinese military camp.

Not long after Mrs. Xiao left, Li Shimin reappeared in the Chinese army's tent. As soon as he appeared, he asked straight to the point: "What did Mrs. Xiao tell you?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanji knew that half of Li Shimin's anger just now was probably fake.

He probably guessed Xiao's intention when Xiao made her angry at him, so he deliberately pretended to be angry with Xiao and left the Chinese army's tent.

Thinking about it, Li Shimin was an emperor for all eternity, and he had never concealed his lustful nature. How could he be really angry when Mr. Xiao used such a thing to criticize him?

Li Yuanji did not hide anything, and said frankly: "Ms. Xiao asked me to let the Xiao family of Lanling go. In return, she told me a secret?"

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment and said, "Let the Lanling Xiao family go?"

Li Yuanji nodded.

Li Shimin said in slight shock: "A family as big as the Lanling Xiao family can't hold on anymore?"

Li Yuanji rolled his eyes at Li Shimin and said: "Although I, the Li family, have given up, the Taiyuan Wang family and other families have not given up. Under the pressure of my Li family, Taiyuan Wang family and other families, the Lanling Xiao family is already in danger. .

So even if we give up, they are still no match for Taiyuan Wang Family and others. "

Li Shimin thought about it and said: "According to what you said, Taiyuan Wang's family and others are likely to become new behemoths, so we have to guard against them."

Speaking of this, Li Shimin emphasized again: "Especially the Hongnong Yang family, relying on the protection of their younger brothers and sisters, has annexed everywhere, and has now become the largest family in Duji Province. If it is not restricted, I am afraid it will become our biggest family." Tang is doing great harm."

At the end of the sentence, Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and said, "You don't want your son to be controlled by your relatives, right?" Li Yuanji glared at Li Shimin and said angrily: "You'd better worry more about your son. Wait until we conquer the West The time of the Turks was the time when your son went to Mobei.

He is not an adult yet, so he has to stay away from you and your sister-in-law and go to Mobei to join the feudal clan. It would be pitiful if he was freezing, hungry, crying for his father and his mother. "

Li Shimin's expression changed when he heard this. After a moment of silence, he said sternly: "That's his life, he has to accept it!"

Li Yuanji said funnyly: "Are you accepting your fate?"

Li Shimin was immediately silenced and stopped talking.

Li Shimin was obviously not a person who accepted his fate, otherwise he would not have launched the Xuanwu Gate Revolution as his second son.

Therefore, it is not easy to ask your son to do things that he cannot do.

Li Yuanji continued: "As for what you said about guarding against the Wang family in Taiyuan, you don't need to worry anymore. I have already started to do it. I plan to keep the Lanling Xiao family and other wealthy families who have been dealt with by them. , let them go to fight with the Wang family of Taiyuan.

When they win, I will move them all to Jiaozhou or the Western Regions. "

In any case, it is to prevent the wealthy families from developing within Datang.

In this way, it would be difficult for them to develop into a big and deep-rooted organization within Datang.

……

Two days later.

Under Xiao's lobbying, Zhi lost Si Li and Ast De Si'en agreed to submit to the Tang Dynasty.

The moment Zhi lost Si Li saw the Xiao family, he agreed to join the Tang Dynasty without any hesitation. This shows that he admired the Xiao family and was a licking dog. He would do anything for the Xiao family. Unprincipled licking.

Astez'en was different. Although he agreed to submit to the Tang Dynasty, he was not fascinated by Xiao's beauty. Instead, he put forward two conditions.

The first condition is that the Tang Dynasty should treat Ashinabil well.

The second condition is to meet the person who defeated him.

Li Yuanji satisfied these two conditions, and he completely surrendered to the Tang Dynasty's camp.

Subsequently, a six-day victory celebration was held in Aries City. During this period, Xue Shou, Han Liang, who was temporarily transferred, as well as Chu Suiliang and Wang Xuance, determined the territory of the newly conquered Suni troops. The gathering areas were divided according to the method of Jieli tribe, manpower was allocated, cattle, sheep and horses were distributed, prisoners of war were distributed, and all the tribesmen of Suni lost tribe.

At the end of February, after everything was distributed, Li Yuanji ordered Li Jing to rush to Monan to guard the Jieli tribe's territory that had been conquered before, and ordered Su Dingfang to stay in Aries City to guard the newly conquered Suni's lost territory, and then took Xue Wanshu and Xue Wanshu with him. The four brothers, Xue Wanjun and Xue Wanche, as well as Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong and others rushed to Li Shiji's location.

After Li Shiji officially became the commander-in-chief of the expedition against the Western Turks, he moved the location of the Chinese army's camp to Lingzhou.

Lingzhou borders the Western Turks and also borders Xiping Prefecture, which was newly conquered by the Tang Dynasty. It is a battleground for military strategists, and it is also a place that the Tang Dynasty must pass through when it subsequently conquers the Western Turks.

Therefore, setting up the camp in Lingzhou is most beneficial to the Tang Dynasty in conquering the Western Turks.

mid-March.

Before Li Yuanji led his army to Lingzhou, news spread within the Western Turks that Tong Yehu Khan had passed away. What surprised Li Yuanji was that Tong Yehu Khan did not die of illness. He did not die of old age, but was killed by his uncle He Modu who launched a coup. The Wangzhang Army that he trusted not only failed to protect him when his uncle He Modu launched a coup, but instead became his uncle's accomplice.

After his death, his uncle Hemo Duo established himself as Khan.

Since He Modu usurped the position through unfair means, all the Western Turkic tribes did not recognize it, and established Tongyehu's son Siwei Siyehu Khan in the north of the Western Turkic.

But this Si Yehu is a little honest person. After being supported as a khan by various Western Turkic tribes, he really thought that he was a khan, and then pointed fingers at the chiefs of various tribes. He also imitated his father and made all the chiefs The chief offered all the good things in his hands for him to enjoy.

When the chiefs of various tribes saw that this was another Tong Yehu, they remembered the fear of being dominated by Tong Yehu, and then killed him.

After all, when his father Ye Hu asked the chiefs to hand over all kinds of good things, he had absolute strength in his hands, and the chiefs had to obey. He was a puppet supported by the chiefs, and he had nothing but three thousand in his hands. He had nothing but soldiers and horses of his own clan, yet he still wanted to follow his father's example and kill everyone who was not killed by the chiefs.

After killing him, the chiefs of the Western Turks discussed and established Ashina Ni, the clan of the Western Turks, as Khan, calling him Dulu Khan.

After Duulu Khan accepted the lessons from Si Yehu Khan, he had to be more obedient and well-behaved after he came to power.

However, within half a year, the Western Turks experienced three great changes. Two khans were replaced and two khans appeared. They were completely divided into two. When they were fighting among themselves, Ash The Turkic tribes headed by Nasheer are still frantically attacking cities and territories within the Western Turks.

It can be said that the Western Turks today have become a mess.