The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 734 Did you fly?

After silently looking at the map in front of him for a while, Li Shimin looked heavy-hearted, frowned, and asked seriously, "When did you get the news?"

“Just now.”

To avoid Li Shimin's misunderstanding, Li Yan explained, "Father, he should have arrived last night, but the city gates were closed after curfew, so the news was delayed overnight. When the city gates opened in the morning, the spies delivered the letter."

"I was asking about the situation on the grassland. I didn't ask you when the messenger arrived."

Li Shimin looked at Li Yan with a scrutinizing expression, as if to say, "Could it be that you have known about this for a long time but kept it to yourself, waiting only to use it to resist when I want to deal with you?"
Li Yan pretended not to understand the confusion on Li Shimin's face and said sincerely, "About ten days ago."

"Ten days?"

Li Shimin's eyes widened instantly, and he hesitated for a moment before his face darkened. "The Turkic camp is four or five thousand miles away from Chang'an. The most urgent military information of the court is 800 miles away. This is still within the Tang territory, and there is a post every twenty miles."

"It's 2,000 miles from Chang'an to Mayi in Suzhou, and it takes three days at the fastest. After Mayi, there's a vast grassland. There are no post stations, no supplies, no war horses to replace, and you have to hide your identity and avoid the Turks. It's good to be able to run a hundred miles a day."

"You Jinyiwei all have wings, right? You ran two thousand miles in seven days. Did you fly?"

At this point, Li Shimin's face had completely darkened. Either this kid reported the wrong time, or the news had arrived a long time ago but was suppressed and not told, and was only hurriedly brought out to deal with him when he saw that he had caused trouble.

As for the authenticity of the information, Li Shimin had never doubted it. What Li Yan said made sense and was consistent with Li Shimin's speculation. For such a major military and national event, the prince would not dare to talk nonsense to deceive himself even if he had ten times the courage.

"Father, haven't you ever heard of carrier pigeons?"

The use of carrier pigeons to send messages has been around since the Han Dynasty. It is said that when Zhang Mo was on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, he brought a large number of pigeons to Chang'an to convey his experiences along the way. During the Tang Dynasty, some officials in Guangzhou also used this method to send letters home, so Li Shimin knew that pigeons could convey messages.

But it is difficult to use it in military applications, because pigeons may encounter many difficulties during flight, such as severe weather such as storms and rainstorms, which pigeons need to avoid, or they may be preyed upon by hunters or natural enemies, or they may encounter risks when looking for food on their own.

Moreover, special pigeons need to be selected to transmit information, not just any species. They also need to undergo special training. Pigeons do not know the way, but they rely on their natural instinct to fly from far away to a fixed place.

In short, pigeons are just an unofficial force used to transmit some unimportant information. For example, very important military intelligence is difficult to transmit in such a casual way.

Therefore, throughout the dynasties, the government mainly relied on post wars and manpower for expedited delivery, which was safer.

However, pigeons are not very reliable and have a very high failure rate.

But in this era, the efficiency was amazing. Pigeons could fly more than a thousand miles a day, and basically flew in a straight line, unlike the roads on the ground, which were winding and had to bypass mountains, rivers, cities and some places with serious banditry.

The journey would take nearly a month on the ground. If carrier pigeons were used throughout the journey and everything went well, information from the Turkic tent to Chang'an could arrive in as little as three days.

Li Shimin was stunned when he heard this. If that was the case, the timing would make sense.

Then he asked in disbelief: "The people on the grassland like to shoot birds and beasts. There are so many eagles that pigeons can hardly survive. How can you transmit such important information in such an unstable way?"

"Father, my son's Jinyiwei is only an auxiliary department of the court. At present, it is just an informal organization under the East Palace. If we want to survive, we can only try unconventional methods."

Li Yan was talking nonsense in a serious manner: "I believe that my father also has official channels. That is very reliable, but the efficiency is too slow. The pigeon messaging has just begun to be tried out in the Jinyiwei. It is still in the exploratory stage, so I don't fully rely on it."

"It's probably because this information is so important that the spies took the risk."

"Normally, it would take a month for the information to reach Chang'an. I was anxious, so I reported it in advance so that your Majesty would have an idea and make preparations early."

"Of course, I dare not guarantee the authenticity of the news. It is for reference only. For the specific situation, we have to wait for the information from the military post."

Li Yan had to add that it was true that the Jinyiwei used pigeons to transmit information, but the news was actually fake. However, according to the plot, the fight between the Xibi tribe and the Xueyantuo tribe happened during this period. Moreover, Li Yan had discovered through many reports that the Tang Dynasty knew very little about the situation of the Turks, and the information was also very delayed. Many of the things he said, including the basic situation discovered by the Jinyiwei, were unknown to Li Shimin.

This shows that the Tang army had no systematic information network in the north to search for enemy information. They relied on capturing prisoners or receiving sporadic news from caravans. This method was too backward and too passive.

Some border towns were conquered by the Turks, but we actually learned about it from the refugees who escaped. It’s incredible!
Li Yan, who came from the information age, could easily make achievements in this area, making Li Shimin more and more dependent on him.

Of course, it cannot be said that people of this era did not attach importance to information. For example, Li Shimin and Jie Li knew how to send undercover agents to lurk around the other side in order to achieve their own intentions, such as Ku Ge, the chief guard beside Biheli, and Tu Changgui, the general beside Hou Junji.

However, they put all their energy into controlling internal forces, and as for the outside world, they tended to let things take their own course, knowing only a general idea of ​​it. Sometimes, when a country in the Western Regions changed dynasties, the court would not know about it until a year or two later.

As for sending undercover agents to the enemy side, basically forget it. Even normal communication would take one or two months. There were no telephones, and information communication was extremely difficult. The people sent out would easily stay for a year or two, and this amount of time was not even enough for our own people to infiltrate the inside.

However, long-term undercover work cannot guarantee the loyalty and reliability of the undercover agent, and most of them will end up like a fish in the sea, disappearing without a trace.

It is simply not feasible, so people would rather spend a lot of money to temporarily bribe people when the time comes, rather than send out long-term informants.

After hearing Li Yan's explanation, Li Shimin nodded silently. It would probably take more than 20 days to confirm the Turkic issue.

However, this still cannot relieve Li Shimin's pressure and anxiety. He may know the information later, but the changes in the grassland and Jie Li's pace of unification will not stop just because he doesn't know. Maybe after a month, Jie Li will have dealt with Tuli.

Therefore, the role of the Jinyiwei in this regard cannot be replaced by other means.

Li Shimin thought for a moment and asked, "What you said last time about facilitating the alliance between the Turkic, Xibi and Xueyantuo tribes, has not yet been implemented, right?"

"Father, I have already started. The Jinyiwei have contacted Chuluo of Xueyantuo and explained to him the principle of the lips and teeth being cold. Chuluo did not make a decision on whether to unite with the Tang Dynasty, but he is very interested in getting closer to the other two tribes."

Li Yan's mind was spinning like crazy, and he began to talk nonsense, speaking of his own conjectures and inferences, stealing the credit that did not belong to him at all: "Chuluo went to the Fubi tribe to form an alliance with Fubi Heli, but then there was news that Fubi Heli's chief guard killed Chuluo when he was sending him back."

"I guess that it was because of the contact between the two tribes that Jie Li smelled danger, so he bribed Ku Ge, killed Chu Luo, and then put the blame on Bi Heli, adding fuel to the fire and triggering a fight between the two tribes."

Li Shimin showed a surprised look on his face, and said in shock: "It is incredible that the Jinyiwei has such power to contact the core of the Turks!"

"They are all good men of our Tang Dynasty. It is because of the teachings and inspiration of the emperor that they are determined to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty and serve the emperor. That is why they risked their lives to go deep into the grass source, risking their heads and fighting on the edge of a knife."

Li Yan had to put on a full show. He looked proud of the Jinyiwei's achievements that actually did not exist, and said shamelessly: "It is just because of their situation and nature. In order to complete the mission and find out useful intelligence, they sometimes pretend to surrender to the enemy, be greedy for money, and be corrupt to cover up and gain the trust of the enemy."

"At that time, I hope that Father will forgive their crimes for their dedication to the public good?"

When Li Yan said this, he was actually laying the foundation for future mistakes.

This is a disguised reminder to Li Shimin that for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, he would also make the same mistake that a Jinyiwei would make. Father, please don't mind it.
"Of course I know this. Living outside the Tang territory, they don't have to respect the laws of the Tang Dynasty for all their actions. What they do is not restricted by the Tang Dynasty. It's nothing. I will only remember their merits, not their faults."

Li Shimin obviously heard Li Yan's words, and when they were outside the Tang territory, his tone became a little heavier.

Li Yan suddenly looked helpless. Li Shimin curled his lips slightly, and finally patted Li Yan on the shoulder with emotion and comforted him: "Just you have to restrain them and don't let them lose control and be used by the enemy."

"However, I think the Pacification Office you set up is very good. It can perform the functions of supervision and restriction. I am very pleased that you have considered it so carefully."

"By the way, did you know about the assassination attempt on Li Ke yesterday at noon? I didn't see you the whole day yesterday. What were you doing?"

(End of this chapter)