Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 460: Life-consuming
Chang'an, Chen's house.

The rising stars of the Qingliu School gathered in the mansion.

Those who knew each other gathered in groups of three or four and chatted with each other.

As like-minded comrades, it is inevitable that we will get together.

As the leader of the Qingliu faction, Chen Qingsi could not avoid fulfilling his obligations.

Not only Chen Qingsi, but also key members such as Zhao Renben, Zhang Da'an, Gao Zhizhou, Wang Dezhen, and Xue Yuanchao would get together from time to time to enhance their feelings for each other.

Everyone has a different style and uses very different methods.

Zhang Da'an was a generous man. As the descendant of an honorable nobleman in the Lingyan Pavilion, he was wealthy, open-minded and righteous. Whenever he had a party, he would serve the best wine, food and singing girls, and everyone would drink and enjoy the singing and dancing.

Zhao Renben is a serious person who is good at preaching. He has been an official for many years and has seen many storms. He has a lot of insights on how to be a person and an official. How to preserve yourself while maintaining your original intention, and how to preserve yourself while sticking to the bottom line.

Xue Yuanchao was a man of erudition and talent, and he dabbled in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. He often invited people to go outings, recite poems and compose essays to cultivate their sentiments.

In comparison, Chen Qingsi was much more pragmatic and paid more attention to practical matters. Whenever there was any major event in the court or the world, he would mostly use it as a topic for discussion and sit down with others to talk about current affairs.

In fact, in the past few years, when scholars and literati gathered together to chat, they mostly talked about national affairs.

The atmosphere at that time was pragmatic, but with the development of the times and the prosperity of the country, more interesting things have emerged and the topics of conversation have become more diverse.

Especially with the promotion of the Tang Dynasty style and the rapid development of culture, poetry has become the most popular topic of gatherings, long surpassing the discussion of current affairs.

This is an inevitable natural phenomenon that cannot be avoided in any era.

Chen Qingsi knew that he couldn't force it, so he had to stick to his heart.

Of course, apart from talking about current affairs, he had nothing else to talk about, such as music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and songs.

"Mr. Chen is here!"

After waiting for everyone to arrive, Chen Qingsi walked from the back hall to the front hall.

A group of future pillars of the clear stream stood up together.

Chen Qingsi looked at the people in front of him. Most of them were young men in their twenties. The oldest one, Lou Shide, was only in his thirties.

"Everyone, sit down!"

Except Chen Qingsi, no one knew what this group of people in front of them meant.

Because the Qingliu School has Chen Qingsi, a hidden leader, and under the appeal of his charismatic personality, the Qingliu School is now full of talented people and is developing particularly rapidly, absorbing a lot of fresh blood.

The fresh blood was headed by Zhang Jianzhi, Wei Yuanzhong, Liu Qixian, Wei Yuantong, Shi Wuzi, Yuan Shuji, Jing Hui, Wang Tongjiao, Qian Weidao, Lou Shide, Luo Binwang and Yang Jiong. Most of them were the key ministers of the future Tang or Wu Zhou, and many of them became generals and prime ministers.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen!"

Most people in the Qingliu Party addressed Chen Qingsi as "Mr."

"Everyone sit down!"

Chen Qingsi asked everyone to sit down and then announced the topic for discussion today.

"What do you think of this Tibetan invasion?"

The topic Chen Qingsi gave did not exceed the group's expectations.

Everything Chen Qingsi talks about is very practical, and they are all the hottest topics and events at the moment.

The Tubo's renewed attack caused quite a stir in Chang'an.

Most of the people who were watching the fun were laughing at Tubo for overestimating its own capabilities.

After all, in the eyes of the vast majority of ordinary people, Tubo is just that and not worthy of too much attention.

Although Tubo also caused considerable trouble to the Tang army in Qinghai that year, it was eventually defeated by Su Dingfang.

In the past two years, Tubo has repeatedly moved south, but Su Dingfang solved the problem in a short time, which gave people the impression that Tubo was just a clown trying to pull out the tiger's whiskers, and they were curious why the court did not take advantage of the situation to destroy it. At this time, they had to serve in the army and transport food and grass to avoid the frequent harassment, which was very troublesome.

There was no way. The Tang people were so arrogant because of the Tang Dynasty's strength that both soldiers and civilians felt that the enemies they faced were nothing but chickens and dogs. In comparison, many people with lofty ideals still maintained their rationality.

Yuan Shuji was the first to speak: "There are rumors that Tubo is overestimating its own capabilities, but I don't think so. I think Tubo has a very strategic way of sending troops. So far, Tubo has sent troops four times, and each time the timing was very clever."

"The first time was in the fourth year of Xianqing. At that time, the court was fighting on two fronts. In the west, Su Xinggong was conquering the Western Turks, while in the east, Cheng Duhu sent troops to attack Goguryeo in order to relieve the pressure on Silla. The main forces of the two fronts of the court and the generals who could fight were scattered in the east and west."

"The Tubo took the opportunity to attack and almost wiped out my army. Fortunately, Mr. Chen maintained stability and Su Xinggong was a famous general of the time who turned decay into magic."

"If it weren't for Mr. Chen's wisdom and Lord Su Xing's unparalleled military strategy, our army would have been in great danger in this battle."

Chen Qingsi nodded in approval. He agreed with most of what Yuan Shuji said.

Yuan Shuji’s analysis was correct, but he was wrong on one point.

The imperial court was indeed distracted by the Western Turks and Goguryeo, and the capable generals were scattered east and west. But Ashina Zhong, Qiu Xinggong, Liang Jianfang, and Liu Renyuan were all capable generals, and their abilities were not weak, but Lun Qinling on the opposite side was really powerful. In the thousands of years of Tibetan history, the talents were gathered in these generations.

Yuan Shuji saw Chen Qingsi nodded in approval and continued, "The second time was before the Fengshan ceremony. The court had already issued an order for the Fengshan ceremony and invited the vassal states from all directions to participate. The momentum was unprecedented. This time, Tubo went to war to humiliate the court in front of the princes from all directions and embarrass Your Majesty. As long as Tubo can delay the war and delay the war until the Fengshan ceremony begins, it will be equivalent to showing all the vassal states participating in the Fengshan ceremony that the court is nothing but this."

He said with a slight smile: "I overestimated my own capabilities, and let Lord Su Xing repel us in less than a month."

"The third time..." Yuan Shuji stretched out three fingers and gestured three: "It was in the first year of Qianfeng, after Fengshan. At that time, most of the money in the imperial treasury was invested in Fengshan, so the treasury was empty. This time is extremely dangerous. If we let the Tibetan bandits delay time and let the war stalemate for half a year. The economy of the imperial court will be hit hard. After half a year, the losses will increase exponentially with every day of delay. It will shake the foundation of the country..."

He said it seriously, and then laughed again: "As I said, you overestimated your own abilities. The strategy was good, but it was a pity that we only lasted two months against Su Xinggong."

"The fourth time..." Yuan Shuji pointed a finger and said, "It was this time. Tubo took advantage of the fact that the imperial court was imposing corvee labor and damming water and canals to send troops and hit the imperial court's key points again."

"From the above, we can see that Tubo is definitely not the enemy we have encountered in the past. Every time they mobilized their troops, they rushed to the vital points of the imperial court with clear strategic purposes."

"Mr. Chen, I think there are capable people within Tubo who should not be underestimated. In addition, Tubo attaches great importance to intelligence information, and the movements of the court are all under their control. Therefore, there must be a large number of their spies lurking in the city of Chang'an." Yuan Shuji said with a beaming face.

Chen Qingsi is pragmatic, so many people estimate the questions and make preparations in advance in order to show themselves.

It is obvious that Yuan Shuji put a lot of effort into this lengthy speech.

"Well said!" Chen Qingsi did not object to this behavior. Being well prepared is also a skill: "I have summarized it very well. Looking around, the only countries that are qualified to be enemies of the imperial court are Tubo and Daqin. We must not underestimate them... We can be proud, but not arrogant. We can be confident, but not conceited."

Yuan Shuji is a descendant of the Yuan family of Runan. He is smart, smooth and good at seizing opportunities, but he has the arrogant character of the old Yuan family. He is capable but easily offends people.

Qian Weidao frowned and said, "The thieves are very cunning. Is there no way to get rid of them once and for all? I am very angry that my country is being targeted like this."

Qian Weidao was a pure scholar, good at governing but knew nothing about military affairs. He felt somewhat indignant when he heard that Tubo took the opportunity to "bully" the imperial court time and time again.

In fact, Chen Qingsi was also very unhappy, but facing this group of like-minded subordinates in front of him, he could not complain with them. Instead, he smiled and said, "It's their true nature, so stay calm. Tubo has not had time to get angry yet! As a country on the plateau, it took a lot of effort and used all means to find a chance. In the end, the court easily cracked it, suffered heavy casualties, and was unable to move forward... Aren't they the ones who are having a headache?"

Qian Weidao agreed. Although Tubo was aggressive, they achieved certain results in the first battle, but never gained any advantage afterwards.

There is Yuan Shuji's summary, and the beginning of Qian Weiwei...

A dozen people in the group also began to express their opinions.

Zhang Jianzhi was as pragmatic as Chen Qingsi, and his topic was about how to catch Tibetan spies.

He could not intervene in the war in Qinghai Lake, so he ignored it. However, as a member of the Dali Temple, he expressed his opinion on the two captured Tibetan spies imprisoned in the Dali Temple's prison.

"The Tibetan spies are hiding very deeply. Some of them have even been dormant since the Zhenguan period. Their words, actions, and even accents are much better than those of the authentic Chang'an people. It is not easy to catch them. Instead of working hard on them, it is better to start with the people who pass on the information..."

"After all, news is spread by people through some means. No matter what the means are, as long as it exists, there will be traces to follow."

The person who put forward the novel idea was Wei Yuanzhong.

Wei Yuanzhong was an all-rounder, proficient in both literature and martial arts. He even studied military tactics from a great scholar named Jiang Rong.

Jiang Rong himself was just a left historian, he had never experienced a battlefield, nor participated in a battle, but he wrote "Nine Provinces Setting Danger Map" by studying military books, which comprehensively recorded the success and failure of military operations in ancient and modern times. It is unknown how powerful he was, but Wei Yuanzhong did learn a lot from him.

In history, when Xu Jingye rebelled against Wu, the general Li Xiaoyi was a fool. Instead, it was the scholar Wei Yuanzhong who persuaded and advised Li Xiaoyi again and again, and directed Li Xiaoyi to pacify Xu Jingye...

Wei Yuanzhong said, "I think Brother Yuan only summarized one point. The real intention of Tubo is to consume our army. They have repeatedly sent troops, seemingly on a large scale and with great momentum, but they always stop at Qinghai. It is indeed because of General Xi and Lord Su Xing that they can hardly advance at all."

"Since you know that General Xi is unrivalled in bravery and Lord Su Xing is a top-notch general in the world, why do you keep marching south?"

"Most likely he is imitating Sun Wu's strategy of exhausting Chu!"

Chen Qingsi praised: "This idea is unique."

He did not agree with Wei Yuanzhong's statement, but gave encouragement.

Logically speaking, Wei Yuanzhong's analysis makes sense, but judging from the results, it doesn't make sense.

Chu was strong and Wu was weak. In order to help King Helü of Wu defeat Chu, he devised a plan to tire out Chu. If Chu went out, he would return, and if Chu returned, he would go out. He would divide his forces to harass Chu for three years. He used the advantage of the navy. Today he would attack the divided forces to harass Chu, including Yi, Qian and Liu cities, and tomorrow he would attack Xian, forcing the Chu army to go back and forth for rescue. When the forces were old and tired, he would launch a large-scale attack and decide the outcome in one battle.

There is a premise here.

Wu's troops were able to defeat Chu's local troops...

The current situation is that although Xi Junmai cannot stop the Tubo army from approaching, Su Dingfang is right behind him. As long as he leads his troops into Qinghai, he can stabilize the situation.

Su Dingfang started fighting in the battlefield when he was only thirteen or fourteen years old. Now he is over seventy years old and has mastered the art of military operations. Who can defeat him?
At least Lun Qinling was defeated by him time and time again.

Chen Qingsi hadn't thought of anyone who could replace Su Dingfang, but as long as Su Dingfang was there, Tubo wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble at present...

Su Dingfang is here!

Su Dingfang is here!

Chen Qingsi suddenly understood, he had found it strange before.

Tubo's repeated attacks were indeed very deceptive in terms of timing.

It is very subtle at the strategic level, just like a fly, flying around your ear and disgusting you from time to time.

I couldn't hit him, which made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

Li Zhi, the sinister emperor who never showed his emotions, was so angry that he cursed.

Chen Qingsi was also so disgusted that he thought about peeing on the Potala Palace.

But the result was that Tubo suffered defeat again and again, and Su Dingfang would not show mercy to Tubo.

Tubo's defeat was a real one, and the casualties of the soldiers were all recorded in the war merit book. If Chen Qingsi, the Minister of War, was serious about it, they could even fill the heads with wood ash and send them to him for him to count.

What’s the point of failing again and again?
Chen Qingsi was a little confused, but after Wei Yuanzhong's reminder today, he thought of a possibility.

Chen Qingsi knew Su Dingfang's abilities, so how could his opponent, Tubo, not know about it?

Su Dingfang’s biggest weakness is his lifespan. He is seventy-four years old this year.

The climate on the plateau and the hard work of traveling back and forth are a great test for a veteran.

They chose the time deliberately to waste Su Dingfang's life...

Thinking about how Lun Qinling was defeated by Su Dingfang again and again, is this just to gain experience?
Considering Qin Ling's talent in military affairs, he was used as a sparring partner against a general of Su Dingfang's level.

If he really becomes a big shot, wouldn't he be even more powerful than the famous Tang Dynasty general who was a harvester in history?
Chen Qingsi felt a bit of a headache, but then he made up his mind, thinking to himself: I can't wait for that guy to grow up, I have to kill him while Su Dingfang is still around... There will be a price to pay for asking Su Dingfang to practice with me.

The small gathering ended in a cheerful atmosphere. Chen Qingsi wrote a secret letter overnight and sent it to the front line in the name of the Ministry of War.

(End of this chapter)