Late Tang

(Thanks to Dafeng Baozi and Jiyuan Xiaoxuanfeng for their support, and special thanks to Grandmaster Dafeng Baozi for his reward of [-] coins!)

Cui Anqian came out and said: "Your Highness, absolutely not. The road to Bohai is far away, and the transportation of food and grass is difficult and dangerous. Going far into the Bohai Sea to fight against the tribes is just using your own shortcoming to attack the other's strong point. When Emperor Sui Yang conquered Goguryeo, The power of the people is exhausted, causing turmoil in the world. To send troops to the Bohai Sea, His Highness and the princes have long agreed that it is not appropriate to send a large army deep, but to send an elite army to fight a protracted confrontation with the tribal coalition forces in the Bohai Sea. They. If we rashly send a large army to the east, we are very likely to repeat the mistakes of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. The more troops we send out, the easier it is to fail. The defeat is due to insufficient logistics supplies. Some people think that it is inappropriate for His Highness to go to the east. "

Li Jing waited for Cui Anqian to finish speaking, and smiled slowly: "Okay, Gu knows."

Du Ke also stepped forward, "Your Majesty, I also think it's impossible. I think that in today's world, King Qin, as the commander-in-chief of the world's soldiers and horses, should rejuvenate the Tang Dynasty, put down the rebellion, and revive the majesty of the heaven and the state. Right now we should give full play to it." The soldiers went south, first pacified Hebei, and then sent troops to Luoyang and Chang'an. In addition to the rebellion, the Qing emperor side, welcome the emperor and return to Chang'an. It is true that the Rong and Di outside the pass should be crusade, but two generals have been sent, each leading an army of [-] soldiers. With my Qin army's elite and His Majesty's prestige, it is easy to break the captives. Besides, it is the autumn of troubles, and the Qin Fan cannot do without His Highness's central management. Moreover, the son has not yet been established, and the princes are still young. His Highness is leaving Yanjing at this time. Someone thought that with the dignity of the King of Qin Fan, it was too rash."

Li Jing got up, stood with his hands behind his back, and said loudly: "What Cui Gong and Du Gong said are all very reasonable things, but there is one thing that is also very important. We started our family in the Northeast, and this is our foundation." Right now, we are fighting with the tribal coalition forces, and we are actually fighting for the Bohai State. Although Bohai is located in the east of the sea, it is a country with more than 60 years of farming and civilization. If we win it, it will greatly enhance our strength, and at the same time increase the strength of the Northeast. From now on, the security situation can avoid future troubles and focus on the Central Plains. On the contrary, if the Bohai Kingdom, an agricultural country for more than 500 years, is conquered and occupied by the Khitan and other tribal armies, with the tribe's hustle and bustle, if coupled with the Bohai Kingdom's iron smelting, farming, Fortification and other technologies, the strength of these tribes can be overthrown in a short period of time, and it has become our confidant. Don't forget, everyone, although the Bohai Kingdom is weak now, their population has exceeded [-] households, reaching more than [-] If you add the Mohe people who are now rebelling in the Heishui Basin, their total population will even reach nearly [-] million. Even if you remove the tribes in the Heishui Basin who were conquered by the Bohai Sea, you should know what the concept of a population of more than [-] million is. For a long time, the nomadic and hunting peoples in the north are inferior to us, the biggest reason is that the population is insufficient, the difference is too big, and they cannot compete with the Central Plains Dynasty."

"Now we have just reached a peace agreement with Chengde Town, and they dare not make any more changes in a short period of time, and the towns in the Central Plains are also involved in a mess at this time, and they have no time to take care of us. What is the timing? This It is the timing. The opportunity cannot be lost, and the time will never come again. Although what you said just now is very important, you have not seen the more important point. Now it is not just that we are going to fight the tribal army, but we have to prevent what we have already got. The tribal coalition forces in half of Bohai also swallowed the remaining half of Bohai. There is a well-written poem, "Leaving the grass on the plain, one year old and one dry and prosperous, the wild fire is endless, and the spring breeze blows and regenerates. In fact, nomadic The recovery speed of the safari tribes has always been faster than that of the Central Plains tribes. If they get the Bohai Sea again, the Northeast land we have been operating for these years, this big rear, this rear granary, will no longer be peaceful. This battle , It is a necessary battle. We have paid so much for this before and after, and there is no reason to give up at this time. I have decided to conquer Haidong."

Cui Anqian and Du Qiang looked at each other, and found that each other's eyes were full of worry.

Cui Anqian stepped forward, "Your Highness, how many troops do you plan to send?"

Li Jing said: "The report sent back by Zeng Yuanyu and Zhou Dewei a few years ago showed that there are now a large number of tribal coalition forces in Bohai Sea. At first, the tribal coalition forces were only 20, but now, after two years, they have not decreased but increased. Khitan Even all the big and small tribes in the Northeast, even the deputy coercion, have been pulled onto their warships. Just the Heishui Mohe, a sturdy barbaric tribe in the white mountains and black waters, has mobilized the whole people, and dispatched 5 horses again And Shiwei and other tribes also mobilized 36, plus 20 from other tribes and 60 from Khitan, they mobilized a total of [-]. It can be said that in the outside of the Great Wall, adult men, even slightly older Children and younger elders were basically involved in this war. In addition, the [-] new army formed by Khitan and other ministries in the Huangshui Basin just assembled by Khitan Yelv Tieci, as well as the Bohai State The slave army composed of captured civilians has at least [-] enemies in the entire Haidong area. They are soldiers of all people, men, women and children, and they are ready to break through the defenses of our two fortresses in Xiande Mansion and Buyeo Mansion in Balhae. Carve up the Bohai Sea in one fell swoop, and hit Liaodong directly."

60 people, this is not an exaggeration by Li Jing.Of course, these 60 people also have water.Outside the customs this year, there is a rare white disaster. It began to snow in early October and has been falling non-stop. Basically, all tribes have suffered huge losses. Cattle and sheep have no grass, starve to death and freeze to death, and it seems that they will not last until next year.Now, encouraged by Khitan, Mohe, etc., they rushed to the Bohai Sea one after another, preparing to survive this rare white disaster by plundering.Anyway, staying in the wintering place couldn't last, so I just dragged my family to drive the remaining cattle and sheep, and brought the frozen and starved lamb to the south, wrapped in leather robes and gathered in groups.

In many tribes, basically the whole tribe was dispatched together, including men, women, young and old, and even their cattle, sheep and horses, which was exactly the same as Huang Chao's fighting method back then.They don't have any problems with logistics and supply, they just grab everything they can get.Take everything they can, and fight like locusts.If they hadn't quickly captured half of Bohai State and occupied dozens of states, they would have crossed over by themselves.

But now, they are concentrated, but they are a powerful force.Under the constant lobbying of the Khitan people, under the constant promotion of the Qin army's theory of destroying the barbarians, almost from the sea in the east to the plateau in the west, hundreds of tribes, large and small, all threw themselves into this battle.

It is impossible for Li Jing not to be aware of this threat, he is too aware of it.

"I plan to mobilize 20 soldiers and horses to go out." Li Jing gave a number that he had considered for a long time. As Cui Anqian and the others said, the place where the grain trucks can reach is the place where the Qin army can reach, and the military flag where you can go.Distance is the best defense, and supply ability determines the furthest distance of attack. 20 is already the limit of the logistics that the Qin army can maintain at this stage to transport to the Bohai battlefield. If there is more, the Qin army itself will collapse because the food and grass cannot keep up.And if there are too few soldiers, facing the hundreds of tribes and 60 people who have snowballed in the entire Northeast region, there are too few people, and it is impossible to attack at all.

There are two legions of 5 people in Bohai, plus the Bohai Kingdom still has 20 troops that can barely be counted. If Li Jing is leading 20 people into Bohai, there will also be 50 people on the Qin Fan Bohai Alliance. 50 versus 60, Li Jing is not afraid of the tribal coalition forces.The larger the number of coalition forces, it can only mean that they come from more tribes, the more chaotic the relationship, and the more tense the logistical pressure.

"If His Highness does not dislike XX, and XX is willing to lead the army on behalf of His Highness, His Highness should still stay in Yanjing and sit in the center." Cui Anqian said.

Li Jing believed in Cui Anqian's ability to lead troops. Although he was a civil servant, he had an extraordinary ability to lead troops.At the beginning in Zhongwu Town, he single-handedly trained the Yellow-headed Army, and later took command of the Chaocao bandit, and beheaded Wang Xianzhi, defeating Huang Chao, which is quite remarkable.But for this battle, 20 troops will be mobilized, plus 20 from Bohai, and 50 from Bohai State. This is a total of [-] troops. Such a large army, a coalition army, will be filled with fierce generals. There are many legion commanders and military leaders. After all, Cui Anqian has only been in Qin Fan for a few years, and he lacks the prestige and qualifications of commanding such an aspect.

"I often think of Cui Gong and others' achievements in defeating Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao. However, this time I went to the Bohai Sea to fight and mobilized various armies. I am more familiar with all the ministries than Cui Gong and others, so let me do it." Li Jing said.

"His Royal Highness has to think twice about conquering Haidong personally."

"Your lords also think that Haidong should be fought, but I shouldn't conquer it myself?"

Cui Anqian, Li Zhuo, Du Ke, Jing Xiang and others all nodded.

Gongsun Lan was puzzled, "Even if the allied forces of the tribes came, a few generals would be enough to stop them. With the current situation in the world, shouldn't His Highness stay in the pass?"

Li Jing shook his head and smiled lightly: "To deal with the tribal coalition forces, it is indeed enough to send a few generals. But I want to personally conquer the Bohai Kingdom. Defeating the coalition forces is only the first goal, and the annexation of Bohai Sea is the goal of our efforts in the past few years. It is not easy to swallow Bohai, a farming country with a history of more than 60 years, [-] households and a population of more than [-] million. In this regard, I have to go there in person to solve this problem once and for all. Worry."

"His Royal Highness is going on a personal expedition, who will stay in Beijing?" Cui Yunqing asked directly.Qin Fan now has such a large family business, and Li Jing personally conquered Haidong. It is very important who will stay with such a large family.

"There is Teacher Lao staying in Yanjing, and I feel relieved to have Teacher Lao."

Cui Yunqing shook her head, "That's not right. I think it's better for the provinces, courts, and courts to retain people and form a left-behind meeting. The general affairs are still handled by the ministries themselves. When encountering important affairs, they should be discussed and decided by the left-behind meeting." What he said made everyone secretly praise him. Li Jing's previous intention was to let Cui Yunqing stay with him with full power, and he intended to take over the power.But Cui Yunqing offered to set up a left-behind meeting to temporarily replace the original political affairs hall meeting, and distribute the left-behind power to the left-behind civil and military officials in the provincial government.

Li Jing nodded secretly after hearing this, although Qin Fan has done a good job in terms of system these years.But the key lies in people, Cui Yunqing's words are very suitable for him.Although, even if the power is really handed over to Cui Yunqing, he still has a corresponding check and balance plan, but in this way, with Cui Yunqing's statement like this, it still makes Li Jing feel more at ease.Otherwise, if he was desperately fighting with the tribal army in Bohai thousands of miles away, but something went wrong in the rear, it would be extremely troublesome.

"Your Highness, it will take a lot of time to mobilize 20 troops, and it will also take a lot of time to provide food and grass. Besides, it is the cold season now, and there is constant rain and snow outside the pass. Do you want to wait for the snow to melt in February to send troops?"

Li Jing shook his head. In war, one thing is very important, that is not to let the enemy know all about your plans. "The assembly of 20 troops does take time, but for this exercise, we have already mobilized various troops and horses. All of this has been arranged, including the three legions of Iron Cavalry, Black Flag, and Changsheng. The 20 soldiers and horses preparing for the expedition have quietly assembled in Tianjin, and the grain and grass have already been transported to the mouth of the Yalu River. Gu had already started preparations for this decisive battle last year, and now Qinwangdao’s ice-free port has mobilized two people, big and small. Thousands of ships. Tianjin’s soldiers and horses will immediately gather to Qinwang Island, and then take a boat from there to sail directly to Qinghai Town on the Sanhan Peninsula, bypassing the Sanhan Peninsula from there, and finally a 20 army landed in Tokyo on the Bohai Sea, where the entire The largest ice-free port in the north, we landed from there and caught the coalition forces by surprise."

Li Jing has never liked routine, and his plan this time is also very strange.Right now is the freezing period at sea. Most of the Bohai Sea is covered by ice, and almost all the coastal ports are covered by ice. Although the Qin Army has Qinwangdao Port and Dalian Port as ice-free ports, it is still very dangerous to sail in such a season. Needless to say, it is a super fleet of 20 ships and [-] troops.Moreover, the voyage this time is also extremely long, from Qinwang Island to the southernmost part of the Samhan Peninsula, passing between the Samhan Peninsula and the Dongying Islands, continuing all the way north, and finally landing in Tokyo, Bohai State.This is an ultra-long distance of more than [-] miles, and it is also in such a season and such a freezing period.Don't say that the tribal coalition forces couldn't think of it, but most of the people in the temple except the Staff Council didn't think of it at this time.

"Your Highness, this is too risky!" Cui Yunqing couldn't help but persuade her.

"Please don't worry, Zuo Pushe. Our sailors have often taken the Silla Balhae Road these years. They are very familiar with this route, and have successfully sailed this sea route through the ice age for three consecutive years. If you are not very sure , I will not agree to this plan." Li Jing said with great confidence that in recent years, under the promotion of Li Jing, Qin Fan's shipbuilding industry and navigation industry level technology have risen in a straight line, especially the prosperity of maritime trade , and further promoted the improvement of these technologies.Sailing in winter, even during the freezing period, is no longer impossible.

Yu Cong's mansion in Yanjing, Yu Cong and Cui Yunqing were sitting opposite each other, playing Go.

Yu Cong was carrying a chess piece, but he did not drop it for a long time, "This time the King of Qin went east to the Bohai Sea, Cui Gong and a certain stayed behind, and Wang Pu and Pei You both joined the army. This is an excellent opportunity. Wang Pu's younger brother Wang Gai and his son In the past few years, we have been secretly reselling military rations, buying tea and wine, and even secretly lending usury to maritime merchants. We have collected a lot of evidence. I think this is a good opportunity. Li Juyi is also staying behind this time. He and Brother Wang Pu and others have deep personal grievances. If we quietly hand over these evidences to Li Juyi, he will definitely not let Brother Wang Pu go. When he reveals the matter, we will just bring it to the left-behind meeting and deal with it directly. Take this opportunity to get rid of Brother Wang Pu."

Cui Yunqing shook her head, the Yu and Cui clans have known each other for generations, and now they have formed an alliance long ago.Although Cui Yunqing is Li Jing's teacher, she still cannot help being caught in the struggle for successor.Based on his relationship with the Yu family, he has long been assigned to the lineage of the first son. If he does not help the Yu family, it will be difficult for him to benefit if the eldest son line comes to power.To put it bluntly, this is also an old disease left over from the party struggle in the Tang Dynasty. It is difficult to stay out of the matter by forming factions and fighting with each other at every turn.

"It's not right to hand over the evidence to Li Juyi directly. It's best to find a way to lead Li Juyi to discover the crimes of Wang Gai and his son, so that we can kill the enemy without spilling blood on ourselves. Li Dezhao is very fond of King Qin. We His supporters must be wiped out quickly, only in this way can Prince Bao Deyu win the throne."

Yu Cong exclaimed: "Gao, Cui Gong's strategy is still superior, I admire it!" (To be continued.)