Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 495 Cowardice

"I fought desperately to finish the war, but was transferred away by the imperial court when I finally ate the fruit. What's there to congratulate!" Xue Rengui complained: "It's the few of you who stayed here to enjoy the benefits, and are still here to make sarcastic remarks!"

Everyone in the room knew Xue Rengui's bad temper, and no one took what he said to heart: "If General Xue is unwilling, you can ask for a delay for a few days!"

"The imperial court ordered you to let me defer for a few days?" Xue Rengui replied angrily: "You all wish that I would be dismissed from office!"

"What's the matter with being dismissed from office? It's not the first time you've encountered it!" The others laughed and said, "Anyway, Datang has a lot of foreign enemies. When the time comes, if you commit crimes and make meritorious service, and win a few more battles, won't you come back again?"

Wang Wenzuo stood aside, listening to everyone's chatter and jokes, but he was thinking about when he would return to Sibi. As for the matter of the Anton Governor's Mansion, he didn't take it too seriously.Judging from Li Ji's repeated rejection of his plan to wipe out Silla in one go, it is not his turn to take the top spot in the Andong Governor's Mansion. If this is the case, it is better to stay in Baekje. The large area of ​​Ji + Japanese Islands + Ryukyu + the Far East coast of the Sea of ​​Japan is enough for me right now, and it doesn't matter if I get promoted or not.

"Sanlang!" Xue Rengui chatted with everyone, and smiled at Wang Wenzuo: "I wanted to gather with you for a few more days, hunt, drink, and talk about the art of war! But now I can't see it anymore, next time you go back to Chang'an everyone Let's get together again!"

"Thank you, General Xue!" Wang Wenzuo hurriedly replied, "I will definitely bother you then!"

After sending Xue Rengui away, Wang Wenzuo exchanged greetings with everyone and was about to leave when Li Jingye came out in a hurry and said in a low voice, "Sanlang, my family has a call, please follow me!"

"Could it be that Li Ji is dying and wants to tell me his last words?" Wang Wenzuo thought to himself, and then laughed at his wild thoughts. His grandson was by his side, so even if there were any last words, it would not be his turn to himself who was not relatives or relatives.He responded, followed Li Jingye through a long corridor, and came to a side courtyard. Li Jingye opened the door two steps ahead, and said to Wang Wenzuo: "The old man is inside, Sanlang, please!"

"I'm sorry!" Wang Wenzuo bowed his hands to Li Jingye and entered the door.It was suffocatingly hot inside.There was a thick carpet on the floor, and pillows scattered in the corners.Li Ji was lying flat on the bed, and a medicine jar was making noise on the charcoal stove in the corner.A doctor was sitting by the window, and said in a low voice: "The British Duke is old, and his muscles, bones, heart, and heart are not as good as when he was in his prime. This time the illness is serious, and he needs to take medicine with peace of mind and rest for three to five months before he can hope to recover. Never get tired!"

"That's all!" Li Ji's voice was only a little louder than a whisper, but his tone was very firm: "This old man is just a farmer. In troubled times, he followed the late emperor and came to this day. Isn't it the destiny? If the destiny wants me to die, is it the medicine stone?" Can it be cured? Dedicated, you ask someone to give thirty gold to the doctor, let him step down!"

After repelling the doctor, Li Ji struggled to sit up, and said to Wang Wenzuo, "Captain Wang, I have two things to ask you here today, and I have to tell you in private. The imperial court recommended Gao Kan as the deputy governor, and you as the commander of the marching army, as for the governor of the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion, you can recommend one!"

"Recommended by me?" Wang Wenzuo was taken aback. Li Ji let Gao Kan instead of himself be in charge of the newly-built Andong Protectorate. The Duhufu governs Goguryeo and the hometown of Baekje, with a vast land, it should be regarded as the Daduhufu.According to the practice at the time, the chief officer of the Daduhu Mansion, Daduhu, was led by the prince, and the one who really held the power was the deputy governor, followed by the marching chief Shi.Li Ji made Gao Kan his official position and Wang Wenzuo his deputy, and at the same time asked Wang Wenzuo to recommend someone to replace him, which can be said to be very generous.

"That's right, you recommend it!" Li Ji took the tea soup, took a sip and returned it: "The situation in Baekje is not easy, if someone is randomly replaced from Chang'an, I'm afraid all previous efforts will be wasted, so I still recommend it to you." One who understands the situation and handles things safely!"

"Then choose Shi Shen Faseng, the marching commander of the Dudu's Mansion! During my mission to Japan, he was the one who guarded the Xiongjin Dudu's Mansion, and there was nothing wrong with it!" Wang Wenzuo replied cautiously.

"March Commander Shi Shen Faseng? Alright, Jingye, write it down!"

"Yes, Weng!" Xu Jingye replied, took out a pen and paper and wrote it down.Li Ji coughed twice: "One more thing, Jingye, you go to the back room and get the map on the table, the one with two red sheepskin edges!"

As the map unfolded in several cases, Wang Wenzuo's breathing suddenly became short of breath. He had never seen such a detailed and exquisite map. The light yellow parchment was densely marked with Qinghai and all the fortresses in the Longyou Road of the Tang Dynasty. The road is blocked and the vital points are dangerous.He took a deep breath, suppressed the emotions in his heart, and asked, "British Duke, is this—?"

"The imperial court hastily ordered General Xue to return to Chang'an in order to send him out of the town of Longyou and prepare to use troops in Qinghai to defeat Tubo and restore Tuyuhun!" Li Ji's voice was old and tired: "The old man would like to hear if you were in the position of General Xue. In this position, how will you use your troops?"

"General Xue is out of town in Longyou?" Wang Wenzuo was taken aback. Since Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty has continuously used troops abroad, and there are many military towns. It can only be Longyou.The reason is very simple. The Tang Dynasty established its capital in Chang'an, with Guanzhong as the foundation, and Longshang was condescending to Guanzhong, and it had the potential to build a strategic position. Moreover, Hexi had not been divided from Longyou at that time, and the Hexi Corridor (Liangzhou) still belonged to Longyou. Partly, this long and narrow corridor not only connects Guanzhong and the Western Regions, but also separates Qinghai, Tibet, and Mongolia. Once this place changes hands, "Bei Di" and "Xi Rong" are connected, and the Tang Empire will not only lose its connection with the vast land of the Northwest, There will also be a joint attack by Tubo and the Uyghurs, and the entire Guanzhong will become the front line.

"Yes!" Li Ji nodded, "In the third year of Longshuo (663 A.D.), the Tubo people sent troops to defeat Tuyuhun, and Tuyuhun Udi also pulled Qindou Khan and his wife Xiping Princess to flee to Liangzhou with thousands of tents. People stationed troops in the land of Hehuang, recruiting troops, and the imperial court wanted to rule it for a long time, but there was nothing left to do in the east. Now that Goguryeo has been destroyed and Liaodong is in peace, it is natural to send troops to conquer it!"

"Tibetan people? That's a hard stubble!" Wang Wenzuo thought to himself, and began to examine the map carefully. Li Jingye who was beside him also took the opportunity to look at it. I have read a lot of geographical maps of various places, and I am used to planning and deploying troops. After a while, I have a draft in my mind.He often listened to his grandfather praise Wang Wenzuo on weekdays, and he already had a heart of competition in his heart. At this time, he planned to listen to Wang Wenzuo's proposal first, and then compare his own with it to see who was better.But Wang Wenzuo looked at it for a long time, but didn't say a word. He couldn't help wondering: "What kind of lawsuit is this guy selling? Why didn't he say anything after watching it for a long time?"

"Mr. Ying, if you let me go out of Longyou, then I think the best way is not to fight!"

"Don't fight?" Li Ji asked.

"Just don't send troops, strictly guard the border, store grain and raise horses in the fields, try to recruit the Tuyuhun tribe as much as possible, and wait for the opportunity!"

Li Ji looked at Wang Wenzuo coldly, and finally said: "Longyou Town has [-] troops and pays hundreds of millions of dollars every year, but you say you want to sit on guard and deal with thieves?"

"My lord, if our army strikes first, the Tubo people only need to keep retreating to kill me. I really have no chance of winning!"

"Can you kill me if you keep retreating?" Li Jingye on the side couldn't bear it anymore, and said: "Please tell Sanlang the strategy of winning by retreating!"

"The land of Qinghai is high in the west and low in the east, and the land is sparsely populated. If I attack from east to west, the Tubo people will always be condescending, and the higher the terrain, the colder the weather, the thinner the air, and our soldiers will be weak." Exhausted, how to fight?"

"What a joke!" Li Jingye said with a smile: "You have never been to Qinghai, how do you know that our soldiers will be exhausted? What's more, the Tibetans are walking higher and higher, so they won't be exhausted?"

"The Tubo people are different from our Tang people. They have lived in a higher and colder place for generations, and they will not be exhausted because of the high terrain!"

"Okay!" Li Ji stopped his grandson, who was about to argue, "That's right. When Duke Wei led his troops to conquer Tuyuhun, he did say that the further to the west, the higher the terrain, and the more exhausted the soldiers. On the contrary, The Tubo people are still running like flying, no difference from the flat land. But how do you know, the king's governor?"

Wang Wenzuo's heart skipped a beat, knowing that he had accidentally missed the bottom line, he said with a smile, "When I was in Chang'an, I heard it from a local merchant from the Western Regions who passed by!"

"A merchant from the Western Regions?" Li Ji smiled. Obviously he didn't believe what Wang Wenzuo said, but he didn't intend to pursue these details: "It's not like you to say that! When you were in Baekje, you didn't Such a coward!"

"In fact, the generals have always been very timid!" Wang Wenzuo said: "It's just that when we were in Baekje, we had no way out, so we could only act boldly. If you let me go out of the town of Longyou, then naturally I would not have the guts!"

Li Ji looked at Wang Wenzuo, he couldn't see through the man in front of him. The courage he showed when he captured Pyongyang was astonishing, but just now he was so timid or cautious.Maybe I still need more time to really understand him?But do you still have that much time?
Thinking of this, Li Ji suddenly felt a burst of despair. Everyone will feel this kind of despair when they are close to death. Time is running out.He closed his eyes disheartened: "Come here today!"

Wang Wenzuo bowed down to the old man on the brocade couch meticulously, and then withdrew from the door.Cao Wenzong, who had been waiting outside the door, greeted him and stood behind Wang Wenzuo: "Master, where are we going now?"

"Go back and pack your luggage! We're going back to Sibi soon and busy with our own affairs!"

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"What? Let me be the governor of Xiongjin Governor's Mansion?" Shen Faseng's face was flushed with surprise and embarrassment: "Isn't that good?"

"It's nothing bad!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile, "He Bayong and Yuan Aolie are in the country of Wa, and Cui Hongdu is going to follow me to the Protectorate of Andong. The Duke of England asked me to recommend someone to replace me. Who else do you think besides you?"

"Yes!" Cui Hongdu smiled and said, "If you don't want to do it, why don't we change it, you follow Saburo, and I stay and sit in Xiongjin Governor's Mansion?"

"Bah, you're the only one who is smart!" Shen Faseng spat, and said to Wang Wenzuo, "Then can you leave Black Tooth Changzhi to me?"

"No, Black Tooth Changzhi has another appointment for me!" Wang Wenzuo rejected Shen Faseng's request without hesitation: "You find a way by yourself. If you don't do well, the imperial court will naturally send someone to replace you!"

"That can't be done!" Shen Faseng was anxious when he heard this: "The property that everyone worked so hard to build can't be lost because of me!"

Wang Wenzuo smiled and didn't speak. His vision is so broad at this time, naturally he won't stay in Baekje.In the Tang Dynasty, although the economic center of gravity was constantly moving eastward, the border trade was rich in the west and poor in the east.The reason is simple. The west side of the Tang Dynasty is located at an important node of the land Silk Road. As long as this trade route running through the east and west ends of the Eurasian continent remains unimpeded, the beacon soldiers going up to the Chang'an court and down to the Anxi Governor's Mansion, Everyone can get a share of this golden river.Although the population, agricultural conditions, animal and plant resources, mineral resources, and transportation conditions in Northeast Asia in the Tang Dynasty are far superior to those in the west, due to the lack of prosperous trade, wealth acquisition and savings are much less than those in the northwest.This is also the reason why Datang was able to advance directly to the west of Congling in the northwest, but it was weak in the northeast until today's Jilin Province and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Has there been a trade route similar to the Silk Road in Northeast Asia in history?In fact, there were. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, ginseng and fur and tribute trade appeared as the main trade species. In order to compete for the qualifications of the local Jurchen leaders, fierce fighting often occurred among them.The reason why Nurhachi was able to rise is also related to the background that a large amount of economic and military resources flowed into the Liaodong region after this trade, and ancient Japan and North Korea also had a very prosperous silver and copper trade cotton cloth trade.Of course, these trades cannot be compared with the "Silk Road" in terms of the quantity of goods, the length of the route, and the magnitude of the impact, but Wang Wenzuo feels that if someone like himself intervenes, history here is likely to go to a different direction. direction.

Prosperous trade must first have the following conditions: convenient and safe transportation; sufficient currency; commodities in large supply and demand.In fact, these things were already available at that time. After the elimination of Goguryeo, in fact, from Hebei, Shandong, Liaodong, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese archipelago, and the Far East, there were no political entities that were in an antagonistic relationship with the Tang Dynasty.As long as the post station is built and the waterway is explored, it is not difficult to establish a main business route, and the remaining branches are just a matter of time.

(End of this chapter)