Reborn Tang Emperor Li Chengqian

Chapter 377 The Restless Tubo
"Report to Your Majesty! Just received a report from the frontier that Tubo Grand Minister Lu Dongzan led an army to invade Tuyuhun." In the early dynasty, Li Ke went out to salute and reported to Li Chengqianhui.

"Why did Tubo send troops to Tuyuhun innocently? Haven't they lived in peace?" Li Chengqian asked.

He was asking this question knowingly, Tubo had long had ambitions to expand, but he had never found a suitable opportunity.

Not long ago, Tubo Zanpu sent someone to Chang'an to propose to Li Chengqian, hoping that Datang could marry the princess to Tubo again.

Who knows, Li Chengqian rejected it completely!In this way, Tubo had an excuse to send troops to attack.

Tubo first pretended to ask Tuyuhun to make way for the Tubo army to march, and they were going to Chang'an to talk to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Why not marry the princess to their Zanpu? This is humiliating their Zanpu, which is tantamount to humiliating Tubo. Therefore, Datang must give Tubo an explanation.

As a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, Tuyuhun naturally could not give way to Tubo, so he rejected Tubo's request.

Thus, Tubo had another excuse to attack Tuyuhun. Tuyuhun had humiliated Tubo, and had to compensate the Tubo army for their spiritual loss and other expenses.

Therefore, Tubo sent troops to take down Tuyuhun, which stood between Tubo and Datang, so that it would be easier to deal with Datang in the future.

Xi Junmai, the governor of Lingzhou of Datang, immediately ordered to send troops to help Tuyuhun on the grounds of protecting the branch of Datang Bank in Tuyuhun.

"It's all because His Majesty refused Tubo Zanpu's marriage proposal. Tubo felt humiliated, so he sent troops to Tang Dynasty to ask for an explanation. It was just that Tuyuhun blocked the Tubo army, which triggered the battle between Tubo and Tubo." Hu Minister Lu Chengqing said.

Lu Chengqing and many officials believed that the reason why such a thing happened was because the imperial court rejected Tubo Zanpu's marriage proposal.

Originally, the war could have been avoided by marriage, but the emperor himself refused, which led to conflicts that should not have occurred, but instead occurred.

The imperial court wanted to use troops against Goguryeo and Baekje, which would consume a lot of money and food every day. If it fought against Tubo again, it would add a lot of consumption.

The imperial court still needs to deal with natural disasters and various rebellions. These are not small expenses. The annual taxes collected by the imperial court are limited. Even if there are mountains of gold and silver, they cannot withstand such a toss.

As the Minister of the Household Department, Lu Chengqing was in charge of all the money and food of the imperial court. Seeing a large amount of money and food flowing out of his hands every day, he felt a little sad and worried that this would continue.

Datang's treasury, which was not rich in the first place, will be exhausted sooner or later!

"Do you agree with what Lu Shangshu said?" Li Chengqian asked.

"What Lu Shangshu said is true, I second the proposal!" Ren Yaxiang, Minister of the Ministry of War, stood up and said.

"Senior ministers!" 80.00% of the officials in the court agreed with Lu Chengqing's statement.

"Since this is the case, how do you Ai Qing think that this matter should be resolved? So that Tubo and Tuyuhun don't have to fight each other?" Li Chengqian said.

"I thought that we should send envoys to appease Tubo immediately, and promised to marry our princess from Tang Dynasty to Zanpu Tubo, so that this dispute can be settled." Lu Chengqing, Minister of the Household Department, said.

"You think so too?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Yes!" All the people who supported Lu Chengqing nodded and said yes. They very much agreed with Lu Chengqing's approach, which could indeed avoid conflicts between the two sides.

"Your Majesty, please issue an edict immediately to recall Xi Junmai, the governor of Lingzhou. He sent troops in the name of protecting Datang Bank without permission, which will only deepen the conflict between the two sides." Ren Yaxiang, Minister of the Ministry of War, said.

"You all think that what Lu Chengqing said is correct, but I am exactly the opposite of your opinion. You really think that Tubo will withdraw its troops if it wins me, Princess Datang."

"No, they won't. Tubo has long had the intention of expanding outward. Tuyuhun and Baiqiang are already prey in Tubo's eyes. It's only a matter of time before they start."

"Without Tuyuhun, our Tang Dynasty will have to directly face the threat of Tubo. Tubo has been coveting the rich land of our Tang Dynasty for a long time. Once Tuyuhun is lost, there will be no peace in the northwestern border of our Tang Dynasty."

"The wolfish ambitions of Tubo have already been revealed, but you have been turning a blind eye to it, and you only want to make a compromise." Li Chengqian angrily scolded the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs.

Everyone bowed their heads when they heard the words. They knew that Tubo had great ambitions, but they were not yet threatening Datang, so they naturally didn't want to make another enemy, and lived a stable life for a day.

If it really comes to that point, it will not be too late to fight again. The Tang Dynasty is full of talents, and I am afraid that we will not be able to defeat Tubo.

"I don't think there is anything wrong with Xi Junmai's actions. He can save the face of my Tang Dynasty. If he can't even protect a subordinate country, who will dare to surrender to my Tang Dynasty sincerely in the future."

"I want everyone in the world to see that anyone who is an enemy of my Tang Dynasty will be wiped out under the iron cavalry of the Tang Dynasty."

"Whoever submits to my Great Tang, my Great Tang will protect him thoroughly, and will never allow anyone to bully him. The sun and moon shine, and wherever the rivers and rivers go, they are all my Great Tang's land." Li Chengqian said.

"But, Your Majesty! Tubo cannot be wiped out overnight. It will take a lot of manpower and material resources. I am worried that if things go on like this, our Great Tang will not be able to support this battle." Lu Chengqing, Minister of the Household Department, said.

Li Chengqian did not intend to rely entirely on the national treasury for output, he could reclaim land locally to be self-sufficient, and he could also use war to support war.

Looting the enemy's supplies to support one's own army is an effective way to strengthen oneself and weaken the opponent's. If one ebbs and another, the enemy's army will die.

"This is the latest report sent by Hei Chi Changzhi, the economic and strategic ambassador of the Heyuan Army." Li Chengqian said with a copy of the memorial from Hei Chi Changzhi in his hand.

"Heyuan is located at an important point, so Hei Chi Changzhi added more than [-] beacon towers here, and reclaimed more than [-] hectares of farmland, and can harvest more than [-] million shi of grain every year."

"With this batch of food, the Heyuan army can attack when advancing, and defend when retreating. There is no need to worry about giving up fighting because of food shortages."

"Isn't Lu Qing worried that the food in the national treasury is not enough to support the army to fight all year round? We can let them follow the example of the black-toothed Chang, reclaim the land and be self-sufficient." Li Chengqian said.

"Your Majesty! This is absolutely impossible!" Minister of the Ministry of War Ren Yaxiang hurriedly came out.

"Why not? By doing this, you can be self-sufficient without worrying about the treasury running out of money. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?" Li Chengqian said.

"Your Majesty! Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, we have practiced the government army system and the land equalization system, which can effectively prevent the generals from supporting themselves."

"However, if His Majesty allows the local army to reclaim the fields by themselves, and they have food, the army will not need the support of the treasury. The soldiers will be supported by the generals. Who will agree with the imperial court? They will only agree with the generals who support them. In this way, Generals who fight abroad have the possibility to support their own self-respect.”

"Your Majesty, please think again! This kind of precedent must not be set! Otherwise, there will be endless troubles! Your Majesty!" Minister of the Ministry of War said Ren Yaxiang.

(End of this chapter)