A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1141: Congratulations to the Emperor and the Capture of the Khan
Changan.

When the emperor returned to Beijing from Luoyang, Crown Prince Chengqian led all the officials to Baqiao to welcome him.

The first thing Li Shimin asked after getting off the carriage was to ask about the news of the war in the Western Regions.

"Huaiyu defeated the Western Turkic Beiting during the Dragon Boat Festival and captured Yu Gushe alive. The victory report he sent back said that he would attack Gaochang in June. I calculated the distance and time. The envoy should have arrived, right?"

Cheng Qian stepped forward to help his father get out of the car and replied, "The saint is as good as a god. The messenger from the Prime Minister just arrived this morning."

"Oh, but is it good news?" Li Shimin got off the car, in a good mood. During this time in Luoyang, he did not have to worry about government affairs all day and could often go out hunting. He looked at Crown Prince Cheng Qian, and felt that he had matured a lot.

"It's good news,"

Cheng Qian followed his father and told him the news sent by Wu Huaiyu. Although Gaochang Kingdom had not been conquered yet, Qu Wentai had been scared to death by the Tang army.

The Western Turkic Khans, including the Great Khan, the Great Khan, the Great Khan, the Khan, the Jie Lifa, the Ye Hu, the Tutun, the Teqin, etc., were now basically vying to submit to the Tang Dynasty. At Wu Huaiyu's order, they all gathered their tribes and followed.

Wu Huaiyu has now gathered nearly 100,000 troops to attack Gaochang.

Victory is easy to come by.

"Well, you are indeed worthy of being the God of War."

Li Shimin laughed heartily, and all the fatigue from the journey was swept away. He happily took the prince's hand and walked side by side, "Gao Ming, has your leg recovered?"

"Thank you for your concern, Saint. I have recovered after taking the medicine you prescribed."

"Well, fortunately Huaiyu discovered it early, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous. You must be more careful in the future and never take pills carelessly again."

"Yes, I will remember this."

After the emperor returned to Chang'an, he personally summoned the messenger Wu Huaiyu who had returned from the Western Regions. The messenger was a member of the Wu family and the leader of the Wu Huaiyu guards in the Western Expedition Army. He was strong and sturdy, and spoke fluently. After a series of questions and answers, Li Shimin was very satisfied with the situation in the Western Regions and the messenger.
"Give him a golden knife, a silver belt, a reward of 10,000 yuan, and a promotion of one rank."

The emperor rewarded the messenger.
Then he issued an order,

Gaochang Kingdom was officially established as the Western Province of the Tang Dynasty, and the Anxi Protectorate was upgraded to the Anxi Grand Protectorate. Prime Minister Wu Huaiyu served as both the Grand Protectorate and the Governor of Liangzhou.

The emperor also fully agreed with Wu Huaiyu's proposal to let Mishe succeed as the Khan of Beiting and concurrently the Protector of Kunling, and that Bobu remain as the Khan of Nanting and concurrently the Protector of Mengchi, as well as to establish various vassal governorships and prefectures for the Western Turkic tribes and appoint the leaders of each tribe as governors.

Completely according to Wu Huaiyu's instructions,
The emperor also agreed to the establishment of Gongyue Military Town and Luntai Military Town, and agreed that An Lushan and Yuwen Chengdu, the two former commanders of the Shanyu Protectorate, would stay in the two towns in the Western Regions. Each town would have one army, the Gongyue Army and the Luntai Army, with 3,000 people each.

In addition, Xizhou established the Tianshan Army with 3,000 people.

The Yiwu army in Yizhou also increased from one thousand to three thousand.

In this way, there will be four Tang army garrisons in the Western Regions, Yiwulu, Tianshan, Luntai and Gongyue, with a total garrison force of 12,000.

Wu Huaiyu led 16,000 cavalrymen on the westward expedition, and most of them would stay there first.

When the emperor announced this series of decrees, it did not cause much waves in the court. After all, it was because Wu Huaiyu's Western Expedition was too smooth, even a bit like a myth.

Before the expedition, many ministers including Wei Zheng opposed it, thinking it was too risky. However, Wu Huaiyu not only dared to issue a military order, but also killed his way through the seven thousand miles of clouds and moonlight as if it were nothing, and easily captured the Khan alive and made great achievements.

Now, the tribes in the entire Western Regions have been integrated and made obedient. There is no risk at all. The court does not even need to transport food and grass from Hexi and Longyou.
Wu Huaiyu is now in the Western Regions with his Western Expedition Army, and they are being well-fed and well-supplied by the Western Turkic tribes. In a letter, Wu Huaiyu said that there was no need to provide them with money and food for transportation anymore, and also said that the soldiers on the Western Expedition are now eating beef, mutton, milk tea, and yogurt every day, and have all gained weight.

Wei Zheng knelt in the hall, holding the tablet in his hand, looking at his nose, his nose at his mouth, and his mouth at his heart.

He could not utter a word of objection, nor did he dare to speak loudly.

Wu Huaiyu really stirred up the situation in the Western Regions with his own strength.

Most of those who opposed and doubted it before have now begun to praise Wu Huaiyu and sing the praises of his military achievements. Now a saying is circulating in the streets of Chang'an: Prime Minister Wu's power is known throughout the desert and in the Central Plains.

The name of the God of War became more and more famous. The title of the undefeated god of war and the ever-victorious general was known to everyone, young and old.

"Mr. Wei,"

Li Shimin smiled and called Wei Zheng's name and asked for his opinion.

Wei Zheng thought, you two fought so well in the Western Expedition, what else can I say? If it weren't for Wu Huaiyu's frequent reports of victory, Wei Zheng might have continued to advise that sending troops to the Western Regions was risky.

Even if the emperor wanted to set up prefectures and counties and station troops in the Western Regions, he would oppose it even more.

But now the situation in the Western Region is so good that he can't say any opposition. In fact, as a minister, he can grasp the latest situation in the Western Region at the first time. The more details he knows, the more shocked he is by Wu Huaiyu.

While being shocked, one could not help but admire the emperor's foresight. The situation in the Western Regions was indeed developing just as Wu Huaiyu and the emperor had planned and judged in advance, and even better.

Given the current situation in the Western Regions, it is only natural for the Tang army to destroy Gaochang. Then, setting up Xizhou, garrisoning troops, building post stations, beacon forts, and military towns are also natural things to do.

Although there are still risks, they are already very low, and the returns are higher.
How could I object? Of course, since the emperor had already mentioned it, I still had to make some suggestions.

Wei Zheng stood up.

"Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate to attack Gaochang now that its king has just passed away. As the ancients said, it is not appropriate to attack a deceased person.

Perhaps the Tang Dynasty could send envoys to pay their respects to the King of Gaochang and persuade the Crown Prince of Gaochang to surrender. Wouldn't it be better if Gaochang could surrender without a fight?"

"Furthermore, I think it is unnecessary to destroy Gaochang and set up prefectures and counties. Gaochang and Yiwu are thousands of miles away from the Central Plains and separated by deserts and sand dunes. The population of each place is only a few thousand.

In order to protect the tens of thousands of households thousands of miles away, the imperial court had to station tens of thousands of troops in the Western Regions. These troops had to be replaced every few years. Every time they were replaced, the soldiers were exhausted from traveling back and forth, and had to add clothes and leave their loved ones, suffering the pain of leaving their homes.

If this continues for a long time, the people in Longyou and Hexi will be exhausted, the government soldiers will be exhausted, and production will be greatly affected. But how much can Your Majesty gain from Gaochang Yiwu?
In my opinion, if the troops are stationed in the Western Regions for a long time, the local supplies will definitely not be enough. Not only will the court not receive any tax revenue from Gaochang and Yiwu, but it will also have to constantly fill it up. It will be a bottomless pit."

The emperor's smile disappeared.
I didn't expect Wei Zheng to oppose it at this time.

"Then what do you think should be done?"

"I think that there is no need to set up a prefecture in Gaochang and Yiwu, let alone station troops there. Since Yiwu took the initiative to submit, the court should reward its loyalty, enthrone it as a king, and let it serve as a vassal of the Tang Dynasty.

If the King of Gaochang rebels, then we can attack him. We can use courtesy first and then force. If they are really stubborn, we can attack them again. But after defeating them, we can take Qu back to Chang'an to question him. Then we can choose someone in Gaochang who can be loyal to the Tang Dynasty and make him the new king. Let him be grateful for the Tang Dynasty's kindness and always be a loyal vassal king of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin felt very disgusted. It seemed like he had just eaten two bites of a delicious dish, but he discovered a few flies in the dish. It was so disgusting.

This Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng continued to talk nonsense, saying that the Han Dynasty's management of the Western Regions was a failure. He also said that since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, various dynasties in the Central Plains have conquered the Western Regions, such as Lü Guang of the Former Liang conquering Qiuci and Yanqi, and the Northern Wei destroying the Northern Liang. The remnants of the Northern Liang entered Gaochang via Shanshan and Yanqi. The Northern Wei used the excuse that Yanqi had kidnapped envoys and sent troops to attack the capital of Yanqi.

The King of Yanqi fled to Qiuci and became the son-in-law of the King of Qiuci. The Northern Wei Dynasty set up a town in Yanqi and sent people to garrison there. However, the Northern Wei Dynasty was unable to hold on for long, so it plundered Qiuci and then withdrew.

The power of Yanqi declined greatly, and it was later ruled by the Rouran and Gaoche, and then attacked by the Yanda people. The people were scattered and unable to stand on their own. At one point, they had to ask the King of Gaochang to send his second son to Yanqi to be king.

Although the Yanqi Long royal family later regained power, they were no longer the same as before. They had only 2,000 soldiers and surrendered to the Turks.

But even a small country like Yanqi, with only 2,000 soldiers and far weaker than the oasis country of Gaochang, was attacked by the Central Plains several times, but was unable to completely conquer them, let alone bring them under its rule. Although Former Liang, Northern Wei and others also stationed troops there, they eventually withdrew on their own.

Wei Zheng advised Li Shimin to think carefully.

Wu Huaiyu did a good job in the Western Expedition, but that doesn’t mean he can rest easy in the future.

Wei Zheng still preferred to implement a tributary rule over the Western Regions. It would be great if he could make them submit and incorporate them into the Tang Dynasty's system.

There is no need or necessity for direct rule. The cost is too high, the risk is too great, and it may become a bottomless pit that can never be filled.

But Li Shimin would not listen to these words. He was an ambitious emperor who wanted to be on par with the Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi. If he did not even have the ambition to take over the Western Regions, what else could he talk about?

The meat has already been eaten, so there is no reason to spit it out.

"What Wei Xianggong said is not without reason,"

Li Shimin nodded expressionlessly, but then changed the subject and did not continue what he was saying. Instead, he announced a reward of two thousand pieces of silk to Wu Huaiyu.

When it came to this reward amount, some astute people in the palace, such as the Minister of Rites Xu Jingzong, immediately thought of the time when Li Jing conquered the Eastern Turks and the emperor also gave him 2,000 pieces of silk.

He was only given money and silk, but no official title.

"Reward the Minister Wei Zheng with twenty pieces of silk."

After rewarding Wu Huaiyu, the emperor looked at Wei Zheng and added another sentence.

Two thousand rolls of silk were given to Wu Huaiyu, and twenty rolls were given to Wei Zheng.

A fraction,
This reward made Wei Zheng stand in the hall, a little stunned.

If this reward was given individually, even if it was only 20 pieces of silk, it would still be a reward from the emperor. But since it was given after Wu Huaiyu, the other person got 2,000, and he got 20, just a fraction of that, which sounds interesting.

Wei Zheng's face turned red and he wanted to refuse.

But Li Shimin looked at him with a smile, so Wei Zheng gritted his teeth, endured it, stepped forward to thank him and accepted it.

When Li Shimin saw him like this, he stroked his beard and laughed.

"Send a hundred riders to deliver two jars of imperial wine to Wu Huaiyu. Let's celebrate the victory when Gaochang City is captured!"

(End of this chapter)