Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 453 Agreement
There was a hint of humiliation in the eyes of Muawiyah, the king of the Caliphate. Since the great prophet Muhammad created the Caliphate law and established the Caliphate, the Caliphate has swept across the West, making the old Western powers such as Persia and Byzantium cry for their parents, and conquered Khorasan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Libya in one fell swoop, creating a powerful military power.

The invincible Arab Empire was stopped by a line drawn by the Tang Empire in the east.

I must be the most cowardly caliph.

Muawiyah asked himself this question.

Prophet Muhammad left behind a thriving empire, and after him, the Caliphate entered the era of the Four Caliphs.

These four caliphs were all heroes. They launched more than a hundred years of expansion and pushed the Arab Empire to its current power.

Muawiyah was the fifth caliph. He was supposed to inherit the will of his ancestors, but now he was threatened by another great power. He was filled with indignation and whispered with gnashing teeth: "One day, I will lead the army to cut off the river of Wuhu River and make the Western Regions submit to the rule of the true God."

"caliph?"

Abdullah, the favorite general beside him, heard his king's whisper with some anger, and thought he was talking to him, and could not hear what he said.

Muawiyah did not explain, but simply asked, "Governor Amr, have you not returned yet?"

Abdullah said: "The governor has gone to Tibet and will not be back for a while."

Muawiyah did not say anything, but simply pulled the reins and retreated faster.

Amr was his most trusted think tank. Without his help, he might not have been able to seize the position of caliph so easily.

Amur went to the Eastern Tang Dynasty to understand the situation. Not only did he forbid him from crossing the Wuhu River, but when he returned, he also went to Tubo specifically. What this means is self-evident.

Obviously, in the eyes of that think tank, the powerful country in the East cannot be resisted by themselves alone.

Tubo, Lhasa.

Lhasa is a capital city standing in the mountains. There are no city walls here, but there is a man-made mountain path and sturdy houses on both sides of the path.

Amur's breathing was a little heavy. He had heard that Tubo was a country blessed by God. For ordinary people going up the mountain, it would be a big problem for them to run around normally, let alone fight.

If the army really wanted to attack Tubo, it would probably have lost half of its combat effectiveness before reaching Luosu.

"My old friend, we finally meet again."

The great Tibetan minister Galdongzan stepped forward quickly with his arms wide open.

Galdongzan actually spoke Arabic.

Galdongzan was a genius and was proficient in many languages. In addition to Tibetan, he also knew four other languages: Chinese, Nepali, and Arabic.

Amur also greeted him with a smile and open arms.

Amr said: "I promised Dalun in Damascus that I would have a chance to see the scenery on the plateau. This time I went east to Tang territory, and what I saw and heard was even more terrifying than what Dalun described in the past. I can't feel at ease without coming to Luoxi."

This trip to the Central Plains had a huge impact on Amur.

When in Damascus, Galdonzan had introduced everything about the Tang Dynasty to him in detail, but Amr was skeptical and did not dare to believe it completely.

Amur respected Galdongzan's talent very much, and the more so, the more he could not believe what he said.

The two people do not belong to the same country and have different interests.

It is impossible for them to be open with each other.

However, Amur knew better that he had to believe Galdongzan's words. Such an outstanding person was forced to come to Damascus for help in such a humble manner. Their enemies must be extremely difficult to deal with.

In particular, their arch-enemy Persia eventually fled to the Western Regions and received support from the East.

Persia is the oldest nation in the West and has a history of several thousand years in the local area.

Although the Arabs defeated Persia, killed their king, and drove them to the Western Regions, as long as the blood of the Persian royal family still existed, it was like a sword hanging over their heads.

When they raise their arms and call at a critical moment, it is bound to cause a lot of trouble.

The Arabs also knew the principle of cutting the grass at its roots.

If the Tang court in the East insisted on protecting Persia, there would be a war between the Arabs and the Tang court.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the unknown enemy, Amur decided to go to Chang'an and Luoyang in person.

Amr saw a whole new world, a world with a profound history like Persia, Greece, and Syria, a world that Amr could not understand.

In Amr's world, faith is the best tool to govern the people.

Once people have faith, they will restrain themselves according to their faith.

The East, on the other hand, is a country with mixed beliefs. Some people have no beliefs, while others, even scarier, have multiple beliefs. They worship the God of Heaven in the morning, kneel down to the God of Light at noon, and worship Buddha at night...

What was most incredible to them was that the Eastern gods were canonized by a man called the Emperor.

The people respect the emperor more than they respect the gods.

A magical country!
But it's really strong...

Their officials, management model, and subjects' trust in the court are far superior to theirs.

One can imagine how terrible it would be if a real mobilization took place.

Just from what he saw and heard on the road, plus the history he learned along the way, Amur already knew how powerful his opponent was.

After observing the Fengshan, Amur understood why a powerful country like Tubo and wise like Galdongzan was forced to stay on the plateau.

He only knew a small part of the Tang Dynasty, but he already understood that this powerful country in the East was not easy to deal with, and if a real war broke out, the outcome would be unpredictable.

So this trip to Tibet came about...

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

When Galdongzan heard this, he was overjoyed and took Amur to his residence.

Gal Dongzan has no plans to go south now, but he is more concerned about the Central Plains court than ever before. He knows that the time to send troops is not on the front line, but in the court. Military affairs serve politics...

Every move of the Tang Dynasty court could affect the entire situation.

Galdongzan saw the inherent instability in the Tang Dynasty many years ago and had been planning to do so.

Now those unstable factors disappeared little by little. Galdongzan immediately understood that it was impossible to defeat the Tang Dynasty relying on Lun Qinling alone, and the only way to win was to bring in the Arabs.

Galdongzan and Amur were attracted to each other like a turtle looking at a mung bean.

The two of them got together and did not invite any third party. It was just the two of them, sitting opposite each other.

While eating yak beef unique to the plateau and drinking snow lotus wine unique to the plateau, every word they spoke was related to the Tang Dynasty.

"This time when we went up the mountain, I talked with your son for half the night. What a hero he is! Both father and son are heroes..."

As Amur spoke, he took out a book from his arms and said, "Your son also gave me a book. When I went up the mountain, I had nothing to do, so I read it for a while. This man called grandson is really amazing..."

He placed the book on the table. It was obviously a copy of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, but it was in Tibetan.

Amur could not understand Tibetan, so the accompanying interpreter translated it for him sentence by sentence.

Although the translation was not very interesting and there were many places where the text was not symmetrical, the knowledge contained in it had already astounded Amur. "It is rare that you were able to obtain such a divine book from the Tang court."

Gal Dongzan didn't know how to respond for a moment, and after a while he said, "The Governor doesn't understand the Tang court yet. Over there, The Art of War can be seen everywhere, as can the comparable works Wu Zi and Sun Bin's Art of War. Among the common people, even the common people can recite a few famous quotes from the Art of War."

Amur was stunned.

Gal Dongzan said: "Because of this, there are countless famous generals in China, and among them, there are no less than ten who can be compared with Sun Tzu."

Amur let out a long breath and said, "It's terrible!"

Gal Dongzan said: "Don't worry too much. The current emperor of the Tang court is a man who doesn't know how to fight. Although his troops are invincible, they are actually using the people his father left him. He himself did not promote any outstanding generals. If it weren't for Chen Qingsi and Su Dingfang, who knows what the Tang court would be like now."

Amur said: "Su Dingfang! This man is really powerful..."

Amur also knew Su Dingfang. When Su Dingfang went on the Western Expedition, he fought all the way to the Caspian Sea in order to wipe out the Western Turks.

The powerful offensive intimidated the nearby Arab Empire and Byzantium...

The remnants of the Western Turks fled to the Arab Empire and became bandits. It took them a lot of effort to eliminate them.

However, the Western Turks were like chickens and dogs in Su Dingfang's hands.

Gal Dongzan looked at Amur and said, "With Su Dingfang here, we can't accomplish anything. But as long as Su Dingfang dies, our Tubo will become a nail that will penetrate the Tang court's Longyou and Liangzhou, making it difficult for them to take care of both ends."

Amur said: "It's just right. We also need to stabilize the situation, so let's wait for a few years. When the time comes, I will take the Western Regions, and you will take Qinghai and Liangzhou. Then we can work together and share the Tang court."

The two men's eyes met and they laughed at the same time.
-
Chang'an, Ministry of War.

"Minister Chen!"

Wang Fangyi strode to the front of the hall and bowed to greet everyone.

"coming!"

Chen Qingsi looked at the heroic general in front of him, pointed to the mat beside him and said, "Sit down and talk."

Wang Fangyi took a seat as instructed and waited for Chen Qingsi to speak.

Wang Fangyi is now doing very well and has been promoted to General of the Right Guard.

Talents like Wang Fangyi only lack an opportunity.

Chen Qingsi gave some of the credit for the three surrendered cities to Wang Fangyi, giving him the opportunity to show off and get promoted.

Wang Fangyi also seized this opportunity, demonstrated his talents to his superiors, and was promoted step by step to where he is today.

Wang Fangyi was very satisfied with this and was grateful to Chen Qingsi for giving him this opportunity.

After all, if it weren’t for Chen Qingsi, based on his status as the cousin of the deposed empress, it’s unclear when he would get the chance for promotion.

Chen Qingsi looked at Wang Fangyi, feeling helpless.

Wang Fangyi is very satisfied with the present situation, but Chen Qingsi is not so satisfied.

In his memory, Wang Fangyi, because he was the brother of Queen Wang, was suppressed by Queen Wu and had a bumpy career. He was demoted for various crimes. It was Li Zhi who came forward to guarantee that Queen Wu stopped. Later, he followed Pei Xingjian and made great achievements in the Western Regions. He led troops to quell rebellions many times and built Suiye City, maintaining the court's control over the Western Regions.

But now, because of his appearance, Wang Fangyi has become a Beijing official and general. It is better than in history, but with his ability, he should not only train troops in Chang'an, guard the palace, and protect the emperor.

Anyone can do this, but Wang Fangyi's achievements in history are not something that just anyone can accomplish.

Wang Fangyi should go to the front line to hone his skills and build a career, rather than develop in Beijing.

Chen Qingsi is starting the work of the strategic westward shift. For Tubo, he has arranged Su Dingfang, Cheng Wuting, Heichi Changzhi, Xi Junmai, plus Su Dingfang's own old subordinates. At present, the manpower is sufficient.

However, the Western Regions lacked some capable generals, and it was obviously not enough to rely on Pei Xingjian alone.

After all, they might have a decisive battle with the Arabs ahead of time...

Chen Qingsi planned to dispatch capable generals to the Western Regions little by little, and the first person he thought of was Wang Fangyi.

"Zhong Xiang, there will be a war between the imperial court and the Arab Empire in the future. The Western Regions are a little short of manpower right now. I want to transfer you to the Western Regions and let you contribute your strength to the imperial court there."

Chen Qingsi had a good relationship with Wang Fangyi, so he didn't hide anything and spoke directly to the point.

Wang Fangyi was a little stunned. He was quite excited for a moment, but after thinking about it, he became hesitant again.

Wang Fangyi is ambitious. People like him are not afraid of hardship. Instead, they have a sense of mission bestowed upon them. They temper their will in harsh environments and then seize opportunities to achieve success.

Compared to being a general in the capital, where he relied on training soldiers to defend the capital, his achievements had already reached their limit. Going to the Western Regions as a general would obviously give him more opportunities to make contributions.

However, Wang Fangyi also had his own difficulties. His mother had always been weak. In the past, he was ostracized by Empress Wu and banished from the capital. His mother was bedridden and knew nothing about it. Fortunately, he was transferred back to the capital in time and served her day and night, which saved her from danger.

If I agree to it, my ambitions will be realized, but what about my mother?

Wang Fangyi couldn't make up his mind for a moment.

Chen Qingsi asked: "What's wrong? You don't want to?"

Wang Fangyi felt even more ashamed.

Chen Qingsi had been very kind to him and this time he wanted to transfer him to the Western Regions was also a recognition of his abilities.

only……

Wang Fangyi said: "I have an old mother at home, and I can't make a decision for the time being."

Chen Qingsi had not expected this, and said, "I was not thoughtful enough. How about this, I'll give you three days to think about it. If I don't see your reply after three days, I'll drop the matter."

"Minister Chen!"

Wang Fangyi looked apologetic.

Chen Qingsi smiled and waved his hand, not taking it to heart.

What's wrong with being filial?

But Wang Fangyi can't go, so who else is suitable?
Chen Qingsi thought about it and came up with a few candidates, but it was difficult to arrange them.

After all, some people have not grown up yet and do not have such convenient achievements. It is totally unreasonable to throw them to the Western Regions.

That night, Chen Qingsi was playing with her glasses in the back garden when she suddenly received news that Wang Fangyi wanted to see her.

Chen Qingsi asked someone to invite him to the living room.

"Thanks to Minister Chen's trust, I am willing to go to the Western Regions to serve the country."

After this meeting, Wang Fangyi made up his mind.

Chen Qingsi smiled and said, "Even if you have made a decision, you don't have to be so anxious, right?"

Wang Fangyi said embarrassedly: "My mother drove me out, saying that if a man does not want to serve the country, he is unworthy of being a son. If I don't agree to this, I will not recognize her as my mother."

Chen Qingsi laughed in silence, then stood in awe. This is what a Chinese mother is like! !

(End of this chapter)