A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 678 The Great Protector of Anxi

August.

The fragrance of osmanthus is everywhere.

On the Dragon Bridge, Xu Jingzong and Wu Huaiyu were walking on the bridge together. The stone lions on the bridge had different shapes, which matched well with the stone dragons on both sides.

"When I was in Beijing, I always heard that the Sanyuan Dragon Bridge was in turmoil. When I came here, I realized that the rumors were true." Xu Jingzong admired Wu Huaiyu more and more. He remembered that in the palace, as a minister, he once laughed at Yuan Wai Tong. Wu Huaiyu sacrifices himself for others.

"There are people coming and going on this bridge without stopping for a moment. It's really flowing with gold and silver."

"There is no stability without farming, no wealth without work, no life without business,"

"Prime Minister Wu, I have recently heard about the Three-Character Sutra and the List of Gods in Chang'an. I heard that all the saints in the palace know about it,"

"It's just nursery rhymes and stories told to the children at home."

As a minister and an important member of the province, Xu Jingzong is quite busy now. He came to Sanyuan today not for a vacation, but for official business.

"The sage asked Mr. Wu, now that the affairs in Sanyuan are almost settled, do you want to return to the capital?"

Li Shimin felt that the new law piloted in Sanyuan had been a great success. Now Wu Huaiyu was asked to return to the DPRK to report the results and sum up the experience. It would be best to propose the next action plan, such as starting to expand the pilot area.

"What's new in Chang'an recently?" Huaiyu asked instead of answering in a hurry.

"Wei Shizhong wrote a land restriction order to strictly limit the land, which caused a great disturbance in the court."

"Xiao Xiangguo then issued another feudal order, asking the saint to feudalize the emperor's younger brothers and princes to establish the country as a Guoping vassal."

"Also, there was internal strife in the Western Turks. Moheduo Khan, who killed his nephew Tongyehu Khan and established himself on his own, was defeated by Tongyehu's son Siyehu Khan. Moheshe Nishu and Yili Xiaohan pursued them to Jinshan. , killed Mohedu Khan.

Si Yehu became the Great Khan of the Western Turks. He took advantage of the victory and led his troops to conquer Tiele, but was defeated. On his way back to the army, he trapped and killed Yili Xiaoqhan, a hero, and killed his clan. This caused everyone to be in danger and conspired. He killed Nishe, and Nishe fled to Yanqi.
It turned out that Ashina Sheer, the Tuoshen leader of the Eastern Turks who was guarding Mobei, had been unwilling to accept the imperial court's surrender since he was defeated and retreated to the north of Gaochang. Si Yehu Khan sent people to recruit Sheer and surrendered.
She'er went to pretend to surrender, suddenly sent troops to attack, captured nearly half of the Western Turks' territory, gained more than [-] troops, and now established himself as Dubu Khan. "

"The imperial court has issued a decree to confer Yugu the title of Governor of Beiting."

"Hou Junji wrote to the saint, requesting an order to lead his troops to conquer She'er."

These three major events have been taking place in the imperial court recently.

Wei Zheng wanted to push forward the land restriction order, but Xiao Yu was busy promoting the enfeoffment system, while Hou Junji took advantage of the chaos in the Western Turks and wanted to send troops to the Western Regions and achieve great military success.

However, no matter which one of these three things, they are indeed very important.

Nowadays, there are a lot of debates in the court, but there is no result yet. Xu Jingzong came to Sanyuan not only to check the results of the new law pilot, but also to call Huaiyu back to the capital.

"What do you think of these things?" Huaiyu asked Xu Jingzong.

"Wei Shizhong's land restriction order is a bit too taken for granted. I have carefully read the strategies he proposed, but they are not realistic at all. As for Prime Minister Xiao's enfeoffment system, the saint seems to be very excited, but except for Prime Minister Xiao, the other prime ministers seem to be Not very supportive,”

In fact, Xiao Yu took the lead in bringing up the issue of enfeoffment several times, and Li Shimin also carefully studied and discussed it, but neither of them got the support of the ministers. They all felt that the enfeoffment system was inappropriate. However, Li Shimin seemed to just want to implement enfeoffment, and asked Xiao Yu from time to time. I took the lead to mention it again, but unfortunately there were very few people who responded.

Wu Huaiyu is actually half a supporter of the enfeoffment system. He is half because he does not support Xiao Yu's traditional enfeoffment system. He supports the enfeoffment system in border areas, especially now. The areas he rules, such as Hainan Island, central Guizhou, Nanzhong, and southwestern Sichuan, or the areas under the Yin Mountain outside the Great Wall, and even the future Western Regions, Liaodong, where the emperor's younger brothers, princes, and kings can be enfeoffed and the country established. The vassal, hereditary Yongzhen, still has advantages, and it can expand the frontier and defend the frontier for the imperial court.

This is like the Yang family in Bozhou, which also entered the country in the late Tang Dynasty, and then inherited Yongzhen for 700 years. It can be said that the Central Plains dynasty has never really controlled the Yunnan-Guizhou area. It was only in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties that it To be truly included in the Central Plains Dynasty, there were not many areas where chieftains were autonomous.

Those places are too far away and remote, and it is difficult for the imperial court to directly administer them. Instead of leaving them to the barbarian chiefs to govern themselves, why not consider enfeoffing some clan princes to guard them, just like the Ming Dynasty enfeoffed Mujiayong Town in Yunnan, and the effect was quite good.

As for whether the tail would be too big to lose, or even cause chaos such as the Seven Kingdoms of the Western Han Dynasty and the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty, Wu Huaiyu thinks it is not very likely.

After all, the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms in the Western Han Dynasty was mainly due to the fact that these feudal kings occupied key areas in Guandong. For example, King Wu boiled the sea for salt, dug up mountains and mined copper for money. He was very rich, so he could recruit troops and horses.

But if they are entrusted to those remote border areas, and their subordinates are all barbarian tribes, and the mountains and rivers are poor and the transportation is inconvenient, most of their energy can only be involved in getting involved with these natives. If they add a favor order at that time, it will basically At best, these enfeoffed clans can only become some small wealthy families in the border areas.

It is too difficult to threaten the central government.

However, Wu Huaiyu's enfeoffment method had been mentioned to the emperor before, but Li Shimin did not consider it at all, because in the eyes of most people, this was not enfeoffment, but exile. How could Li Shimin be willing to let his sons go to those places? ,
Even if it was his little brothers, he would be too embarrassed to send them away, otherwise others would think that he was exiling the brothers regardless of brotherhood.

"Hou Junji danced very happily. He wanted to send troops to the Western Regions and destroy the country and achieve great achievements."

Wu Huaiyu just snorted twice after hearing this.

Although the Tang Dynasty had just defeated the Eastern Turks, no matter how well the battle was fought, it did consume three years of savings. Now the imperial court is actually empty of treasury, and it is an expedition to the Western Regions. What a joke.

This is much more difficult than sending troops to Dingxiang.

It’s only a few hundred miles from Shuozhou to Dingxiang, but it’s four thousand miles from Chang’an to Dunhuang, and it’s still another sixteen hundred miles from Dunhuang to Gaochang.

There is also a desert crossing in the middle.

Such a long distance made this battle the most difficult problem of logistical supplies.

Besides, Ashina Sheer will not surrender unless he surrenders. Anyway, he is currently fighting Si Yehu Khan of the Western Turks. What is the court anxious about?
Everyone knows Hou Junji's thoughts. He had a falling out with Wu Huaiyu and Li Jing, and even his reputation was discredited. Although he is now back in office, although he has the merit of serving as a supporter of the dragon, he has no other achievements after all. He is eager to lead his troops to destroy him. He has made great contributions to the country, but the emperor will definitely not support him.

Jumping is in vain.

Xu Jingzong's mind is still very sharp. Although he is a little frivolous, he has also been much more stable in the past two years. Although he is not as good as Wu Huaiyu in predicting matters in the Western Regions, he also believes that the court should maintain its usual practice and let them first Infighting.

"Now Mohe Duo Khan was defeated and died, but here comes another Sheer who proclaims himself Dubu Khan. The civil strife in the Western Turks will be difficult to stop, and the imperial court will just sit back and watch the situation."

"It's not enough to just sit back and watch. You still have to participate, but you don't need to send troops personally."

He took Xu Jingzong around Sanyuan for three days to check the results, and then Huaiyu returned to Chang'an with him.As soon as Li Shimin saw him, he told him three things that had been bothering him recently, and then asked him for advice.

"Your Majesty, the land restriction and enfeoffment issues are not urgent. We can let hundreds of officials write letters to discuss them first. However, this is a matter concerning the Western Turks and we cannot sit idly by."

"Oh, tell me your opinion."

Li Shimin attaches great importance to him,

"Ashina Sheer pretended to surrender to Si Yehu Khan, took the opportunity to defeat him and seize most of the territory of the Western Turks, and also gained many of the original tribes of Mohodu Khan. Now he has more than [-] followers, his power has greatly increased, and he is in the limelight. Sheng."

"I think we can send an envoy to the Western Regions to meet She'er,"

"Well, go on."

"I heard that after Si Yehu defeated Mohe Duo Khan, he once ambitiously sent troops to attack Tiele and wanted to cross Jinshan, but he was defeated by Tiele.

She'er had been guarding Mobei for ten years, and was defeated by Xue Yantuo and rushed to Gaochang. He refused to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and he was probably still unwilling to do so. Now that he has strong troops and horses, he is even less willing to surrender, but he definitely wants revenge first. Xue Yantuo.

I, the Tang Dynasty, might as well send an envoy to see him, secretly support him in attacking Xue Yantuo, and even agree to sell him some weapons, food, and other things, and then promise to support him in Monan, and promise that if he can defeat Xue Yantuo, then the entire Mobei was entrusted to him,
If he still has the ability to destroy Si Yehu Khan in the future, then give him the Western Turks and let him reunify Mobei and the Western Regions. "

"Won't raising animals cause trouble?"

"No, as long as She'er really dares to conquer Xue Yantuo, then he will not be far from defeat,"

Ashina Sheer, although he took advantage of the civil strife in the Western Turks to surrender with a trick and wiped out the young and arrogant Si Yehuqian, but after all, he was a force in the Western Turks that had just been defeated and fled to the west, and his foundation was not deep. , even has no roots in the Western Regions,

Although they have captured nearly half of the territory of the Western Turks and have more than [-] troops, they are not secure.

He wanted to return to Mobei because he had been operating in Mobei for ten years, and Mobei was the old land of the Eastern Turks and was more suitable for development than the Western Turks.

But Xue Yantuo is now gaining momentum. Even if She'er gathers more than [-] troops, he will still be no match for Yi Nan when he returns home. Even the Bodhisattva of Uighur can defeat She'er.

Encouraging She'er to return to Mobei is just provoking a fight between two tigers.

Once She'er leaves, he can avoid threats to the Western Yizhou that Datang has just acquired, and can also keep Hexi safe.

"What about the Western Region? Once She'er leaves, Si Yehu will definitely be the only one in the family. This Si Yehu is far less respectful to me than Tong Yehu. He is an unruly guy." Li Shimin had a bad impression of him.

"Your Majesty, I heard that when Tong Yehu was killed by Moheduo Khan, the Five Crossbow Tribes jointly elected Nishuo Mohe as Khan. Nishu refused to take the position and welcomed the establishment of Tongyehu Khan. Zi Zheli is very diligent, and he is Yibibo Luosi Yehu Khan.

During the civil war against Mohedu Khan, Nishe and Yili Xiaoqhan worked hard and achieved great success, and their prestige increased day by day. Siyehu was suspicious and vicious. After the defeat of the campaign against Tiele, he turned Yili Xiaoka, who had opposed the expedition to Tiele before the war, into The Khan killed him and wanted to kill Nishe again.

Nishu ran to Yanqi and was panicking, but Nishu had a high prestige in the Western Turks, especially in the Wunusubi tribe. This was why Si Yehu was suspicious of him and wanted to kill him.

I also heard that during the Wude period, Ni Shou came to Chang'an on behalf of Tong Yehu Khan. Your Majesty also formed an alliance with him as a brother? "

Li Shimin nodded. He had become brothers with Tuli and Nishe.
"Then your Majesty can send an envoy to give Nishu a drum and seal, and grant him the title of Khan and County King. In this way, She'er will conquer Mobei in the east, while Nishu and Siyehu will continue to fight in the west. Nishu is now in danger, Your Majesty He will definitely be grateful for supporting him at this time. Our Tang Dynasty also has a support point in the Western Regions, which can not only weaken the power of the Western Turks, but also ensure the stability of Western Yizhou and Hexi. It can accomplish many things with one stone."

Li Shimin thought about it and felt that Wu Huaiyu's suggestion was really good.

If Ashina Sheer wants to fight back to Mobei, then support him. If Si Yehu is rebellious, then support his alliance brother Ni She.

"The Anbei Grand Protectorate was newly established in Mobei, and Ashina Sheer was granted the titles of Fengyi King, Dubu Khan, and the Anbei Grand Protectorate."

"The new Protectorate of Anxi was established in the Western Region, and Ashina Ni was granted the title of King of Shunyi, Dulu Khan, and the Protectorate of Anxi was added."

After thinking for a while, Li Shimin added, "I will grant Jieli the title of King Guiyi and the title of General Youwei."

After capturing Jieli and defeating Dingxiang at the beginning of the year, the Eastern Turks had declared their destruction.

The Xueyantuo Khanate, which was once supported by Mobei, has become more delicate in its relationship with the Tang Dynasty. Xueyantuo's rapid rise has integrated the Tiele tribes and has become the overlord of Mobei.

They wanted to replace the Turks and become the new overlord of the grasslands, but the Tang Dynasty didn't want to.
The Tang Dynasty wanted to control Monan, and would not allow the Xue Yantuo Khanate to get involved. It was not even willing to let Xue Yantuo rule Mobei, lest they try to take advantage of Monan.

But of course Xue Yantuo would not be so obedient.

Therefore, although the two sides have not openly broken up, the relationship is no longer harmonious. For Li Shimin, the threat level of Xue Yantuo in Mobei is even higher than that of the few civil war khans in the Western Regions.
Instead of sending troops to conquer Ashinasheer, it would be better to give him drums, give him official titles, and encourage him to fight back to Mobei, so that the two tigers can fight each other.

Li Shimin looked at Wu Huaiyu, who was also the prime minister and studied the art of war with Li Jing. As a result, Hou Junji only asked for orders to send troops, and he wanted to send troops to the Western Regions to attack She'er. He even wanted to destroy Si Yehu together. No matter whether it is suitable or not.

However, Wu Huaiyu proposed a completely different plan, appeasing She'er and supporting him to fight Xue Yantuo in Mobei, while here he supported Ni She, made him Khan of the Western Turks, and allowed him to continue the civil war with Si Yehu.
The Tang Dynasty did not send out a single soldier.
But it is equivalent to giving birth to more than [-] soldiers and horses to defeat Xue Yantuo for nothing.

He also used Ni She's prestige to deal with Si Yehu's more than [-] troops.
It not only weakens the enemy, but also ensures the safety of Hexi and Yiwu.

Kill people with a borrowed knife, drive away tigers and devour wolves,

This is the real old man seeking the country.

In contrast, Hou Junji is only suitable to be the general manager of a march.

"Erlang, I recently heard about one of your masterpieces. The three-character sutra is very good. Do you have a complete version? Give me a copy. The children of the royal clan should also study it carefully." The emperor said with a smile.

"Okay, I will make a copy and submit it when I get back."

"It's getting late, please stay and have dinner with me."

(End of this chapter)