The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 160 Tubo’s Intentions

Li Heng and Gao Xianzhi entered Liangzhou City while talking.

Liangzhou, as the administrative center of Hexi and an important city on the Silk Road, is usually very prosperous. But now, due to the defeat in the war with Tubo, many people are afraid of the sudden attack of the Tubo army, so commercial activities have decreased a lot, and there are few pedestrians in the city, and there is little excitement on their faces.

Li Heng walked and looked all the way to the Hexi government office.

The guards at the government office saw that Li Heng and his party were all dressed in gorgeous clothes and thought they were a caravan of merchants. They immediately said, "Please go back. The envoy will not see guests today."

"You are blind..." Li Siye was about to curse.

Li Heng quickly interrupted Li Siye and said to the guard, "Please tell Envoy Wang that the envoy of Prince Shou wants to see you."

Upon hearing that they were Prince Shou's men, the guard looked at Li Heng and the others, hesitated for a moment, and decided to turn around and go in to report.

When the guards entered the yamen, they saw Wang Jue, the deputy envoy of the Hexi Jiedushi, sighing with a bitter face.

The guard reported: "Deputy Commander, His Royal Highness Prince Shou's envoy is waiting outside the palace."

"Let him in." Wang Jue replied casually. When the soldier was about to retreat, he suddenly thought of something and chased after him and asked, "What does the man look like?"

The guard said, "The leader is a young man in his twenties, and he is followed by a few strange people. One has a handsome face, like a woman, one has an ugly face, and seems to have a limp, and the other has a bad temper and is very tall..."

The guard didn't finish his words because Wang Ju had already run out.

Wang Jue trotted all the way to the outside of the government office. When he saw Li Heng, he was surprised and delighted. He quickly bowed and said, "Your Highness..."

Li Heng interrupted, "Let's go inside and talk."

"Yes." Wang Ju invited Li Heng and others to the government office.

After everyone sat down, Wang Jue said, "Your Highness did not send anyone to inform me before coming. I hope you will forgive me for not coming to greet you."

"General, there is no need to be so polite." Li Heng responded with one sentence, then turned to the main topic and asked, "How is the defense of Hexi and Longyou?"

Wang Jue sighed and said, "The troops in Hexi have all retreated to their original positions. On the Longyou side, the Tubo has already pushed the battle line to Jishi, Suihe, Dingrong, and Suirong."

Gao Xianzhi and others were surprised to hear the news.

Because this front line has already penetrated deep into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

Gao Xianzhi asked: "Who is the current commander of the Tibetan central army?"

Wang Jue said, "The Tibetan king Tride Zuzan."

Trisong Detsen, as the king of Tubo, was historically known as the "Three Dharma Kings of Tubo" together with Songtsen Gampo and his son Trisong Detsen. The three were the three greatest rulers of Tubo.

After Trisong Detsen took power, based on the previous policies, he successively expanded the implementation of the red book and wooden slip system, divided agricultural and pastoral areas, adopted the system of multiple ministers, and promoted Buddhism.

The so-called red book and wooden slip system was to bring the management of household registration, taxation, military registration, etc. in various places under the management of the imperial court, and set up red book and wooden slip system for filing.

This policy greatly strengthened the court's management of local areas and strengthened central power.

The division of agricultural areas and pastoral areas distinguishes between agriculture and nomadism, and provides an institutional basis for the agricultural foundation of the nomadic tribe of Tubo.

The adoption of the system of multiple prime ministers divided the power of the prime ministers and strengthened the power of the monarch. From then on, the era when the Tubo family, like the Gar family, monopolized the power of the prime minister and even influenced the power of the monarch was gone forever.

The promotion of Buddhism was also Trisong Detsen's attempt to use a new religion to attack the aristocratic families who used Bon religion to influence the monarchy. The purpose behind this was also to centralize power. After Trisong Detsen's efforts to govern the country, the Tubo Kingdom prospered and had the strength to expand outward.

Trisong Detsen did not become complacent because of this, but instead led many military campaigns in person and presided over the wars at the front.

Such a great leader was enough to surprise and attract Gao Xianzhi's attention.

Gao Xianzhi was stunned for a moment and asked, "How long has this battle line lasted?"

Wang Jue said: "It has been more than half a year since General Dong withdrew his troops."

Gao Xianzhi was even more puzzled: "They haven't attacked again in half a year?"

"It hasn't moved at all." Wang Ju replied.

Gao Xianzhi said: "It shouldn't be like this. Maintaining this front for half a year has consumed countless food and grass. They should either retreat back to the Shibao City line or launch a massive attack."

Gao Xianzhi couldn't figure it out.

Li Heng made a suggestion and said with a smile: "Unless Tubo has secretly withdrawn the troops."

Gao Xianzhi understood what Li Ying said and said, "Your Highness is right."

But Li Siye still couldn't figure it out, and asked curiously: "The Tubo people have the upper hand in Longyou, but they don't attack but withdraw the troops. Why is that?"

"Because there is no profit in Longyou." Li Heng explained patiently, "The area between Shibao City and Shanzhou, the seat of Longyou, is not well developed. If Tubo cannot cross Shanzhou and reach Lanzhou, they will not be able to plunder much wealth. However, although Longyou is not profitable, it is extremely important to the Tang Dynasty, because once it is occupied, it can threaten Guanzhong. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty has deployed heavy troops in this area. Tubo's intention this time is obviously not Guanzhong. They only want to plunder, so they will naturally not attack Longyou again. They only need to firmly grasp Shibao City."

"So that's it." Li Siye not only understood it now, but also roughly realized the meaning of the words "war is the continuation of politics."

Li Siye and his men were already accustomed to Li Heng's accurate analysis of the situation, but it was the first time that Wang Ju heard Li Heng's remarks on this matter in person.

This kind of statement is simple to say, but to really say it accurately, one must have a precise grasp of the overall situation and be familiar with the strength and decision-making levels of both sides. This is difficult for ordinary people to achieve.

Wang Jue was stunned by what he heard, but at the same time he also roughly understood why Gao Xianzhi and Li Siye, two generals who had experienced many battles, were willing to obey Li Heng's orders.

Li Siye thought for a while and asked curiously, "Then where do you think Tubo wants to attack?"

Li Heng said: "If I were Tride Zuzan, I would pretend to attack Longyou, but actually prepare to attack Hexi, because Hexi has money."

The military strength of Hexi and Longyou is similar, but the economic development of Hexi is more than twice as good as that of Longyou. By the end of the Tianbao period, Longyou was often troubled by the court's failure to provide sufficient food and wages, and even caused a mutiny, but Hexi did not have this worry because Hexi itself was very rich.

Li Longji had the idea of ​​letting Li Heng attack Shibao City, but he did not give him the power all at once, because the garrisons around Shibao City were all under the jurisdiction of the Longyou Jiedushi. To attack Shibao City, Hexi and Longyou had to attack together.

Li Longji only gave Li Heng the post of Jiedushi of Hexi, obviously he had some considerations.

These considerations were not only to guard against Li Heng, but also to worry that after Li Heng gained power in Hexi and Longyou, he would be eager to gain merit and easily provoke a war. In this case, the Tang Dynasty would have to fight on two fronts at the same time, disrupting Li Longji's strategy of first north and then west.

Li Heng probably understood Li Longji's thoughts.

But Li Siye did not understand. He only heard Li Siye say: "I thought we were actively attacking by entering Hexi, but I didn't expect that we were passively attacked. Now it is September, and Tride Zuzan's horseshoe must be on the way. I just don't know when and where he will march from in Hexi. Otherwise, we can ambush him in advance and catch him off guard."

　There were several ways for people in the Tang Dynasty to call Trisong Detsen. For the convenience of writing, I will call him Trisong Detsen in this article. If friends who read history books are not used to it, please forgive me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)