Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 503 Dongguo
"In my opinion, what the imperial court did was driving tigers out of the front door and wolves in through the back door!" Wang Wenzuo said.

"Oh, how do you say that?"

"The Goguryeo people have moved away, and the vacated space will not be empty. The surrounding Mohe people, Khitan people, and Xi people will naturally fill in. If these people are not handled well, there will be endless troubles. There is also Silla. The area of ​​Pyongyang has been coveted for a long time, and the British Duke did not take advantage of the large army to destroy it in one go, once the court has something to do in the west, the people of Silla will definitely revolt!"

"Yes!" Gao Kan sighed: "Now it seems that what you said is correct. After Goguryeo disappeared, the court's attention has indeed turned to the Tubo people in the west, and the elite soldiers and generals are all heading to Longyou and Anxi. Over there, Jiannan Xichuan and Songzhou are also increasing their troops, if something happens on our side, we can only rely on ourselves!"

"Gao Duhu, do you think you want to fight the Tubo people?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"Sooner or later!" Gao Kan's tone was very certain: "After the Tubo people wiped out Tuyuhun in Longshuo three years ago, there will be a war between Datang and Tubo. You must know that Tuyuhun Khan is our Datang's son-in-law, his wife She is the daughter of the former emperor and the younger sister of the present emperor, how can the Tang Dynasty ignore this kind of thing?" At this point, he stroked his beard: "If you were fighting in Baekje at that time, you couldn't draw your hands, and you would have fought with the Tubo people a few years ago. There is a fight. Now that the Tibetans are occupying Qinghai, Anxi and Longyou are not at peace, and Longyou is uneasy, let alone Guanzhong. Do you want to fight this battle?"

"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo breathed out a long breath: "How can you allow others to sleep soundly beside the couch! This battle will indeed be fought sooner or later!"

"How can you allow other people to sleep soundly beside the couch? Miao, Sanlang, you use this analogy well!" Gao Kan smiled and said, "Yes, Guanzhong is the couch, and Longyou is the edge of the bed. It is true that Tibetans cannot sleep soundly in Qinghai!"

"Then Gao Duhu thinks that I, Datang, have a good chance of winning?"

"What are the chances of winning?" Gao Kan laughed, his face full of arrogance: "Where are Turkic, Xue Yantuo, Tie Le, and Goguryeo now? Why did Sanlang ask this?"

As a time traveler, Wang Wenzuo certainly knew that Gao Kan's arrogance towards Tubo was wrong. Tubo and Datang could be said to love each other and kill each other, from the beginning to the end.Even Wang Wenzuo himself could not come up with a strategy to resolve the war between Tang and Tu.Before the crossing, Wang Wenzuo once went to Jiuzhaigou by car. The steep terrain along the way left a deep impression on him. He couldn't imagine how to launch an expedition from a low-altitude area to the hinterland of the plateau with the technical conditions at that time. Distance from these two devils would make any military operation extremely difficult.

Westerners have always regarded Hannibal and Napoleon's surprise attack on Italy over the Alps as a miracle in military history, and praised them with countless literature and paintings, but the highest peak in the Alps is only 4810 meters above sea level, and the altitude of the Great St. Bernard Pass that Napoleon crossed Not to mention the altitude of 2466 meters, and the altitude of the Little St. Bernard Pass that Hannibal crossed is a little lower, only 2185 meters.The lowest point of Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area is 1900 meters above sea level. The road from the Chengdu Plain to Aba Prefecture where Jiuzhaigou is located (that is, Songzhou, an important town in the Tang Dynasty, and Jinchuan in the Qing Dynasty is also in this area) crosses a mountain pass with an altitude of more than 5000 meters. The road is even further , higher altitude and colder climate.

What's even more frightening is that when Hannibal crossed the Alps, he only had to face the attacks of mountain tribes, at the cost of losing most of his war elephants and nearly two-thirds of his army; Plateau countries, because the climate at that time was wetter and warmer than modern times, plateau agriculture and animal husbandry could support a larger population. The population of Tubo country in Gaozong’s time had exceeded 400 million. One can imagine the difficulty of fighting such a country.

Wang Wenzuo has always believed that the most indispensable talent for a general is neither courage nor resourcefulness, which can be compensated by the talents of his subordinates, but judgment, especially the judgment of the feasibility of a war plan, which cannot be replaced by others .Once a war starts, uncountable wealth and hundreds of millions of lives will be invested, but it is easy to start a war, but difficult to end it.As a general, the ability to judge whether a war can be won cannot be overemphasized.

"What's the matter, Saburo, do you think the Tubo people are not easy to fight?" Seeing that Wang Wenzuo remained silent, Gao Kan asked.

"It's not a matter of whether it is good or not. To be honest, Goguryeo and Baekje are not easy to fight, but what can be won is nothing more than a matter of how much the price is. And after they are defeated, as long as the Liao land is peaceful, there will be no foreign troubles in Hebei and Shandong. There is no suffering of transfer, and trade is more beneficial to EMI. The Tubo people are different. First of all, their root is in the bitter cold land. Even if they can win once or twice, they cannot be eradicated; secondly, our Go up and attack, go higher and higher, it's really not easy to fight!"

"San Lang is right, but if the Tubo people stand firm in Qinghai, then Longyou will be uneasy. This court will absolutely not tolerate it!"

"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "Then can we negotiate a peace with him? Let him develop in another direction?"

"What do you mean?"

"As far as I know, the Tubo people are bordered by our Tang Dynasty to the east, north, and south, but they are bordered by the Shendu Kingdom to the west! Why not let them expand to the Shendu Kingdom?"

"Sanlang, your idea is quite interesting!" Gao Kan laughed: "But if the Tubo people succeeded in plundering the land to the west, wouldn't they be stronger? If he turns around again, what should we do?"

"That's not necessarily it!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The fundamental land of the Tubo people is on the plateau. No matter which direction they go, the newly occupied land is richer than the original homeland. As far as I know, every piece of land occupied by the Tubo people In the new land, the nobles who have made military achievements will be entrusted there. Firstly, they can be rewarded for their meritorious service, and secondly, they can also strengthen their control over the new territory. But in this way, the nobles who occupy the new land will be stronger than the old people who stayed in the old land. If you are rich and have a larger population, you will be stronger, so what are the consequences after a long period of time?"

"How long has it been?" Gao Kan frowned, and asked in an uncertain tone after a while: "Is the tail too big?"

"That's right. Over time, the balance of power between the old and the new nobles will change. Either the center will be strong and weak, or the border will rebel and attack the center. At that time, it will be too late for the Tubo people to kill each other, and there will be no energy left to fight against each other." outside!"

"That's true!" Gao Kan said with a smile: "But this shouldn't be a matter of one or two generations, right?"

"Yes, at least two generations later!"

"Then we won't be able to see it either!" Gao Kan said with a smile: "It's too far away, isn't it? Sanlang, what's the point of saying this?"

"If we can't see it, it doesn't mean that future generations can't see it. Besides, didn't you just say that if the Tibetans expand westward, they will become stronger? I mean not necessarily, maybe the Tibetans will become stronger because of the newly expanded land. There are internal problems, and in the end it will kill itself!"

"Sanlang, you also know that maybe, if there is a generation of heroes in Tubo, who can mix the old and the new, and make the country even better?" Gao Kan asked: "Not to mention that the Tubo people may not accept your conditions. Expansion to the west instead of east, west, and south is nothing more than your wishful thinking after all!"

Facing Gao Kan's forceful rebuttal, Wang Wenzuo couldn't help being speechless. He asked himself, in fact, what he just said was just an excuse for insincere words.There is actually only one reason why Wang Wenzuo was so negative about the war between Tang and Tubo. From the perspective of a traveler, this is a meaningless war.

From the point of view of the people of Tang and Tubo in the [-]th century AD, what they were fighting for was the control of the great Silk Road connecting the East and the West. It originated in Chang’an, passed through the Western Regions, Central Asia, and West Asia to the Mediterranean, and finally reached Rome and Constantinople. , and then connect most of Europe and part of North Asia through these two commercial centers. This trade route turns south in Afghanistan and connects many ancient countries in the Indian subcontinent.This ancient great trade route covered almost most of the civilized areas of the entire Eurasian continent, and its tentacles even reached the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. Whoever controls this trade route can not only obtain the huge wealth brought by trade, but also gain wealth through trade. Communicate on the road and constantly acquire the latest technology and knowledge.

But in Wang Wenzuo's view, with the increasing drought in Central Asia and the destruction of roads and irrigation networks by frequent wars, the prospects of this ancient commercial route are becoming increasingly dim. It is easier for people to gain the dominance of the overland Silk Road than the Tang Empire, so as to eat the biggest piece of cake.More importantly, the Tang Empire's own economic center of gravity is also constantly shifting to the southeast. In the long run, even if the Anshi Rebellion does not break out, the cost of maintaining a military presence in the northwest for the Tang Empire will become greater and greater—even in Guanzhong Chang'an in the plain has to rely on grain from the Jianghuai and Hebei provinces to survive, and how much food can they spend to maintain the armies in Longyou and Anxi?
So the answer is obvious. Instead of engaging in a protracted war of attrition for grapes on dead vines in Longyou and Tubo, it is better to use some resources to open up sea passages, whether it is heading south to Southeast Asia, India, Egypt, or going north. It is a wiser choice to control Japan, the Far East, and go to North America.

But these reasons cannot be made public. Whether it is the existence of the New World, new navigation and shipbuilding technologies, or climate change, Wang Wenzuo can only hide them in his heart, at least until he has enough power.If a prophet who doesn't have enough power can't learn to shut up, he will probably end up in a miserable end. Wang Wenzuo doesn't want this end for himself.

Seeing that Wang Wenzuo remained silent, Gao Kan thought that what he said just now was a bit serious, so he smiled and said: "In fact, what Sanlang said is also reasonable, and it is not impossible to try it, but if you are not in his position, you and I will do nothing. After all, we are in the Anton Governor's Mansion now!"

"What Gao Duhu said is true!" Wang Wenzuo couldn't understand Gao Kan's meaning: "I'd better take care of my own affairs first!"

"Well, the first thing is to build the city!" Gao Kan said with a smile: "Xiangping or Xincheng? Which one do you think is better, Saburo?"

"If I have to choose, let it be here!" Wang Wenzuo walked to the map, stretched out his finger and clicked on a certain place.

"Pingguo? You chose this place?" Gao Kan frowned: "I remember that there is only one abandoned city that has been abandoned for hundreds of years, right? Tell me, why did you choose this place?"

"This is the estuary of the Liaoshui River! Building a city here can not only connect with Xiongjin Governor's Mansion, Wa Kingdom, Shandong, and Hebei by sea, but also go upstream and connect with Xiangping City. In less than ten years, it will become an important town in Liaodong, and a wealthy party!"

"The rich side?" Gao Kan laughed: "I was really moved when I heard you say that, Sanlang, but it's a pity that the duty of the guard of the capital is to 'control the tribes, comfort and punish them, and recount their merits and punishments'. According to the place you choose, it is tantamount to throwing away the heartland to others!"

"Then choose a new city. The city's treasury is ready-made, and there are iron mines next to it. There will be no shortage of armored weapons!"

"Xincheng?" Gao Kan looked at Wang Wenzuo in surprise: "I thought you would choose Xiangping! I remember you said before that Goguryeo is a moron who lives in a mountain city instead of a flat land?"

"Because the battle is not over yet!" Wang Wenzuo said, "Xiangping can wait for the situation to calm down before moving there, but now we have to occupy the new city first, that's where we can use our skills!"

"Sanlang, do you think there will be wars?" Gao Kan's expression became serious.

"That's right, if I'm not mistaken, it should be a year or two!"

"reason!"

"It's very simple. We won the conquest of Goguryeo this time too easily. Pyongyang surrendered without fighting a few battles. The Liao people have not yet been convinced, but they just bowed temporarily due to the situation. Now the army has withdrawn. As long as there is a slight change, They might start fighting again!"

"Many heroes of the royal family of Goguryeo were removed, where is the culprit?"

"At the beginning when Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, they also moved the heroic royal family to Xianyang, but the first advocates were Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. We all know what happened afterwards. There are heroes in the grass, how can there be such a simple thing!"

"It makes sense for you to say so!" Gao Kan sighed: "To be honest, I also have a premonition that a war is going to happen, but I can't give you so many reasons. What countermeasures do you have, Saburo?"

"Countermeasures? Soldiers come to cover up water and soil, so what's there to be afraid of!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "As long as it is defeated this time, there will be at least 20 years of peace. In fact, even if there is chaos, its soldiers and horses are definitely not as good as In the past, the Goguryeo people were strong, and they only needed to guard against collusion with foreign aid. Then after the chaos was put down, they had to punish the thieves and pardon the remaining party, I don’t need to say more about these!”

During the conversation, Gao Kan was also infected by Wang Wenzuo's ease and calmness, and he couldn't help laughing: "What Sanlang said is that if we can destroy the country, we will naturally be able to put down the resurgence of chaos. After all, he is a man who has experienced many battles. , you and my partner will definitely be able to deal with this land of the Eastern Kingdom!"

　I didn't get home until one o'clock last night. This chapter was written yesterday, and it will be posted this evening.

　　I hope you will continue to support me, part-time writing is really tiring!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)