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

Chapter 750: Subjugating Botie (Part )

Now that he knew that this was the ancestor of that fierce man, Li Yan felt that this was a rare treasure. No matter what, he would first establish a good relationship with him, which would be of some use in the future.

Once his mentality changed, Li Yan's thinking began to diverge. He suddenly thought that even if things five or six hundred years later could not be controlled, if Bodhiyan in front of him was used well, he could actually play a big role in the post-Turkic era without Jie Li.

In China's long ancient history, there have been many minority regimes, especially nomadic peoples on the northern plateau. Larger tribes such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, and Turks have appeared one after another, which are capable of threatening the Central Plains.

In the future, there will be grassland regimes such as the Uighur, Khitan, Tangut, Jurchen, Mongolia, Tatar, and Oirat.

These nomadic regimes both blended and conflicted with the Central Plains regime in the south, and together they built the brilliant yet tortuous Chinese civilization.

In fact, in the Turkic camp, although the Ashina clan was still the ruling family on the grassland, due to the constant conflicts between the Turks and the Central Plains dynasties in recent years, it had already shown signs of decline. By the Zhenguan period, Jie Li could not even achieve internal unity.

He was no longer as powerful as Shibi Khan, who had millions of soldiers under his command and could not defend against the powerful Sui Dynasty left by Emperor Wen of Sui.

There were several attacks on the Tang Dynasty. The most dangerous time was when they took advantage of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, when the people of the Tang Dynasty were unstable, to attack the capital and approach the Weishui River.

The reason why Chang'an was not captured was not because Jie Li was soft-hearted and short-sighted, nor was it because Li Tang was strong and had a strong will to resist, but because Jie Li was seriously constrained internally, which prevented him from attacking Tang with all his strength.

In the seventh year of Wude, when Li Yuan heard that Jie Li was heading south, he actually wanted to move the capital to Xiangyang. This shows that the strength of Li Tang at that time was far inferior to that of the Turks. This was a consensus among the top leaders of the Tang Dynasty.

In the ninth year of Wude, Jie Li's army arrived at Chang'an. If the Tang Dynasty was determined to fight the Tang army, it would definitely be defeated and destroyed in the end. However, Jie Li would also be seriously injured. When both sides were defeated, the grassland would have a new master.

This is the fundamental reason why Jie Li stopped when he saw the good and withdrew after getting some benefits.

In the past three or four years, Jie used his iron fist to rule the grassland. Although on the surface the Turks were on the verge of being wiped out, in fact, the contradictions were only temporarily hidden.

This was partly due to the conflict between the two Khans, Jie Li and Tuli, but more importantly, the Uighur, Khitan, Tiele and other tribes took advantage of the fact that the Turks moved their center of gravity southward over the past few decades and gave up large tracts of excellent pastures in the north. They secretly accumulated strength in the northern desert, continued to multiply and grow, thus threatening the foundation of Ashina's rule.

Li Yan knew that the grassland was too large. In history, Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall to keep the Huns out of the Great Wall. Then, the Han Dynasty learned from experience and defeated the Huns and moved them inland in an attempt to completely resolve the threat on the grassland.

But they all failed!

When the Huns left the grassland, in the distant Oklidui Mountain of Hulunbuir, the Xianbei people, a branch of the expelled pre-Qin Donghu, quietly rose up from the cold northeast, gained vast grasslands, and rapidly multiplied and grew.

Finally, he unified the vast grassland where many warlords and tribes were fighting for supremacy and re-established his dominance.

In order to rule the world for a long time, the Xianbei Tuoba clan began to assimilate into Sinicization and adapt to the Central Plains dynasty model dominated by agricultural culture. This gave the Sui and Tang dynasties the opportunity to regain their ruling position. However, in the end these ethnic groups were not eliminated, but were swallowed up one by one by the powerful Han culture.

The court of the Tang Dynasty was actually centered on the Han nationality, but also consisted of ministers from various nationalities.

God is fair. He has given opportunities to both farming and grassland peoples.

After thousands of years of dynasty history, it is really hard to say which culture has prevailed longer.

The Xiongnu, once the overlord of the grassland, was beaten and fled in panic by their Xianbei subordinates; and the once arrogant Xianbei had to defend themselves against the Turks; and the Turks, who are now leading hundreds of thousands of cavalry to the south to show off their might, will soon tremble under the feet of the Uighurs and Khitans.

There is not much new in history, the same old routines are always repeated over and over again.

As long as there are resources for survival, even if there is only a trace of blood flowing, life will reproduce and develop desperately.

As long as the vast grasslands in the north exist, even if all the races on the grasslands are brought to the Central Plains, people from the north will still run to the grasslands for a better life and take root there. Even if there are no people from the Central Plains, there will still be foreign races in the far east and the far north and west to occupy the excellent living places.

Therefore, Li Yan knew that it was impossible to solve the external threat once and for all. The so-called internal migration was nothing more than giving part of one's own land and survival resources to the defeated grassland people. These people staying in the interior would not only add countless hidden dangers to their own internal strife, but also allow more powerful enemies to rise on the grassland.

As long as people are alive, they will always face the pressure of survival. As long as a country exists, there will be threats. Even if this land develops into an industrial power in 1,500 years, without the threat of the desert cavalry, won’t it still have to face the powerful ships and guns from the other side of the ocean?

Based on this, Li Yan dares to conclude that even if a country can unify the earth, God will still arrange for existence outside the earth to come, and it will still face a survival crisis.

The so-called once-and-for-all solution simply does not exist.

After Li Shimin defeated the Turks, he divided the prairie into several protectorates and sent officials and troops to manage them. In Li Yan's opinion, this was really taken for granted, wasting national strength without gaining anything, and instead neglecting internal governance.

The nomadic way of life on the grasslands determined that they had to move around. It was difficult for them to rely on the land for a long time like the farming people in the Central Plains, let alone the Tang Dynasty when transportation, information and military power were very primitive.

Even if it is an industrialized power 1,500 years later, it can only rule this land through regional autonomy.

Instead of focusing this energy on the north, Li Shimin might as well put it on the west. At least there were many countries in the west, which laid a solid foundation for integration. Bringing the Western Regions under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains and maintaining the Silk Road with Central Asia were extremely important for the country's strength.

What is there in the North? Nothing. There are only eternal struggles and troubles. It is always lingering in the most primitive stage, and there is never any social progress.

Therefore, in the face of the threat from the prairie, the only thing Li Yan could think of was to maintain his own strength, divide and conquer the outside world, and prevent them from forming a powerful regime. As long as they were on the road to unification, they would never have the energy to look south. This was the fundamental way to solve the problem.

The Turks were about to decline, and the grasslands would be ruled by the Uighurs and Khitans next. If that was the case, why couldn't he support the Borjigin clan of the ancient Nilun people?
If the Borjigin clan is destined to rise, then now he only needs to exert a little effort to create another powerful tribe on the prairie, and divide the world into three parts with the Uighurs and Khitans. Let them continue to fight for the hegemony of the prairie, and buy more time for the Central Plains dynasty to become stronger.

When thinking of this possibility, Li Yan's heart began to beat fast, his eyes were solemn, then joyful, and his expression kept changing. Botie, who was sitting opposite with a nervous look on her face, was also feeling up and down. She wondered what the Crown Prince was thinking when he suddenly fell into deep thought while talking to her.
However, the other party is the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty and will inevitably become the emperor in the future to control the entire Tang Dynasty, while he is just a dog beside the Turkic Khan. The status of the two sides is too different. Now they are in Chang'an. It would be like killing an ant for the other party to crush him.

Botie also had no idea how the other party would deal with him, a spy who had bad intentions and sneaked into the Tang Dynasty to gather military intelligence.

"Brother Botie, I don't know why, even though this is the first time I've seen you, I always feel an inexplicable sense of closeness and familiarity."

Coming back to his senses, Li Yan looked at Botie eagerly: "Talking to you, I feel like we are old friends and we regret not meeting each other earlier. If you don't mind, I would like to become your buddy, and we can share the glory and wealth, happiness and disaster together. How do you think?"

As soon as Li Yan finished speaking, Botie stood up quickly, staring blankly, with an expression of disbelief: "What? You are the most honorable Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. Apart from the Emperor, you have the highest status in the Tang Dynasty."

"Although you praise me as Jie Li's confidant, I know myself well. I am actually just a servant of Jie Li, of lowly and humble status. When the Khan summoned the tribal leaders to discuss matters, I was the only one standing and serving in the Khan's tent besides the guards."

Botie was afraid that his explanation was not clear enough, so he told his whole situation, and then said: "I am such a nobody, and you, the most noble person in the world, want to become my buddha, the most humble person on the grassland. How can I believe my ears?"

What does it mean to send timely assistance? This is sending timely assistance. To promote a humble person to become one of the princes of the grassland is the greatest favor!

With this favor, of course, it is impossible to eat forever, but at least as long as Borte is alive, the Borjigin clan will never betray her. And with this favor of rebirth, even the descendants of the Borjigin clan will remember her gratitude.

If you want to support someone, you should support someone with a low starting point, like Li Shimin did, who supported the Xueyantuo to fight against Jie Li. As a result, as soon as Jie Li was defeated, Yinan rebelled, and Li Shimin didn't even manage to control them for a few years. This was because Yinan started from too high a point, and Li Shimin's favor was dispensable to him.

If you are not even grateful in your heart, how can you be tempted by benefits?

"Brother Botie, don't you think this is the will of the Eternal Heaven?"

Li Yan stepped forward without hesitation, grabbed Botie's hand, and said with emotion: "It brought you to Chang'an and brought you to me. I am a prince of the Tang Dynasty, and the first time I saw you, I actually wanted to become your buddy."

"Doesn't this prove that everything is God's will?"

(End of this chapter)