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

Chapter 925 Good intentions
"Not bad!"

Seeing Fang Xuanling's reaction, Li Jing said decisively: "Everyone knows that before fighting against foreign enemies, we must first stabilize the country. Yi Nan thought that the Right Wise King had fallen into his trap, but he didn't know that the Right Wise King had used his trick against him. This trip southward was not to attack the Tang Dynasty at all."

"It's Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong."

"You want to draw the Turkic army to the defense line of Jiuyuan and Fengzhou, and then let the two grassland armies attack them from behind."

"If I were the Right Wise King, I would not easily go to war with the Tang Dynasty. Instead, I would first deal with the two grassland internal troubles, the Xueyantuo and the Ashina Yun tribe. After these two tribes are completely wiped out, I will calmly compete with the Tang Dynasty."

"At that time, we had nothing to worry about. We could fight the war any way we wanted."

"There is no need to rush to attack the city. We can just wait until winter, when the rivers freeze over and the Guanzhong Plain becomes flat. The natural barriers will become roads, and the Turkic army can walk on the ice and pass through."

"Besides, after swallowing those two tribes, the Turkic army will actually exceed one million. Why should we only focus on the interior of the country? The Turkic can launch a full-scale attack from Liaodong, Hebei, Hedong, the interior of the country, and Hexi."

"The Tang Dynasty has thousands of miles of defense lines in the north. Facing the beacons burning everywhere, they will inevitably be at a loss. As long as one place is lost, the Turkic army will tear through the defense lines and march straight in. At this time, Prime Minister Fang, what chances do you have of winning?"

'hiss'

Fang Xuanling shuddered, his face changed drastically, and he stood up involuntarily and prepared to walk out.

"Minister Fang, where are you going?"

"I will send a message to Lingzhou immediately and ask Li Daozon to remind Yinan to guard against sneak attacks by the Turks." Fang Xuanling said without turning his head.

"It's no use, it's too late!"

Fang Xuanling suddenly turned around, his expression very nervous. Li Jing shook his head slightly and said calmly: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. After so many days, if the Right Wise King has not finished his work, then I really underestimated him."

"Lord Wei, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Fang Xuanling was also a man of extraordinary intelligence. He was in a hurry just now. After Li Jing's reminder, he became depressed and went back to sit in the pavilion.

Li Jing said: "This is an open conspiracy. Even if we know it in advance, what does it matter? This is not a war of 30,000 or 50,000 people, but a war of hundreds of thousands of people. Even if we tell you in advance, will the court tell Yi Nan?"

"Will Lingzhou open its gates, let the barbarians in, and use the fortified city to resist the Turkic army?"

"Or will the 100,000 men from Lingzhou cross the Yellow River to provide support? The Xueyantuo have 300,000 men. According to the Right Wise King's habit of using the greater force to defeat the lesser force, if the Turks launch a surprise attack, at least 500,000 men will be deployed."

"Even if all the troops of Lingzhou were added to the Xueyantuo tribe, they would still not be a match."

"If the Yi people knew, they would just withdraw their camp to the west and continue hiding. Then the Tang Dynasty would have to face the Turkic army alone. Instead of that, it would be better to let them kill each other. This would at least consume some of the strength and vitality of the grasslands. It would be better than uniting them to fight against the Tang Dynasty together."

"Yinshan is only 600 miles away from Lingzhou, and cavalry can reach it in one day. If I am not wrong, the Xueyantuo tribe has been defeated now. According to the time, Chang'an will receive Li Daozong's military report tomorrow?"

Li Jing's observation was indeed very careful, but there was one thing he had not thought of, which was not that Li Yan was not good at using troops. Imagine that a person with a shrewd mind, high political skills, and rich life experience would not be too bad at deploying troops and battle formations, right?

What's more, on the grassland, Li Yan has plenty of time and trial and error costs to develop his military talents.

The reason why the fighting seems a bit crude is that a large number of middle-level generals on the grasslands are uneducated and have simple mindsets. It's okay to let them pick up knives and chop people, as this is their instinct for survival, and basically all they need is their hands.

It would be very difficult to carry out complex strategic intentions such as dividing and combining forces, launching surprise attacks from a distance, luring the enemy deep into their territory, etc.

In addition, Li Yan also intended to let them consume each other, which could greatly reduce the available combat power. In later generations, the Mongols and the Qing Dynasty would also weaken the threat posed by the nomadic peoples of the grasslands by artificially reducing the population.

This situation is the same as the contradiction between people and land in the Central Plains. Whenever the population far exceeds the land supply, war will be used to reduce the burden on the entire society. The grassland is actually the same. If the population is too large, various internal or external wars will inevitably be launched.

Li Yan couldn't bear to lift up the butcher knife himself, so he had to expand the cake and, while annexing others, adopt the method of killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of his own, which was actually a disguised strategy to reduce the population.

Such good intentions were something that the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty would never have imagined. Although Li Jing was very smart, he could only see the surface of things.

Hearing Li Jing's speculation about the war ahead, Fang Xuanling's previous energy and spirit seemed to be drained away. He collapsed all over and said with an unpleasant expression: "If this is the case, then only the Tang Dynasty and the southern part of the desert are left."

"The enemy is strong and we are weak. The Tang Dynasty has no right to decide whether to fight or make peace. Although the Right Wise King proposed the conditions for peace, the Tang Dynasty still had the strength to fight at that time, and the Turks were not sure whether they could get rid of the Xueyantuo."

Li Jing said with a bright look on his face: "If we wait until the powerful enemy Xueyantuo is eliminated, the situation will suddenly change. If we want to negotiate peace again, we in the Tang Dynasty will have to beg the Turks. Even if the Turks are willing to accept, the conditions will probably change with the changes in the war ahead."

"What the court needs to do most now is not to start a war, but to agree to the Turkic conditions immediately." "As long as we negotiate peace and use the agreement to tie the hands of the Right Wise King, we can at least preserve the southern part of the desert. If we hesitate any longer and wait until the southern part of the desert is taken over by the Turks, then the price that the Tang Dynasty will have to pay if we want to negotiate peace will be even greater."

“But, this poem!”

Fang Xuanling said in embarrassment: "Can't you see the hatred and resentment towards the Tang Dynasty expressed in the poem? Sooner or later, this boy will raise the Turkic army to destroy our Tang Dynasty."

"Hahaha!"

Li Jing raised his head and stroked his beard and laughed: "Prime Minister Fang, Prime Minister Fang, you are really smart all your life, but you are foolish for a moment."

"It is said that one should listen to what he says and watch what he does. This is just a poem expressing one's aspirations, but with just the movement of his pen, the emperor and his ministers of the Tang Dynasty are restless and terrified day and night. This Right Wise King is truly a great man of the country."

"Could it be that Duke Wei still believes that the Right Wise King has no ill will towards the Tang Dynasty?"

"Yes, I still hold the same view. This Right Wise King is a friend, not an enemy. He has a sincere heart towards our Tang Dynasty, right?"

Fang Xuanling felt as if he had grasped a life-saving straw: "What do you mean by this? Could you please explain it in detail, Lord Wei?"

"Since ancient times, the most effective military commanders have always fought without declaring war, thus seizing the initiative."

Li Jing's eyes sparkled with wisdom, and he smiled and said, "I have never heard of telling the enemy in advance that I will slaughter your people, burn your palaces, and ravage you in this way and that, and also describing the tragic scene after the war."

"Isn't this obviously arousing the unity of the Tang emperor and his subjects, and the common people's hatred of the enemy, thus increasing the difficulty of our attack in disguise?"

Li Jing picked up the note on the table and said, "Don't you think this is written by a scholar who is worried about his country as it is devastated? You only see the tragic description of the country's demise in the poem, but you don't see the kind of heart-wrenching regret and sadness."

"I think that this is precisely the Right Wise King's warning as a descendant of the Yanhuang bloodline, telling the monarch and his ministers who are enjoying the prosperity of the prosperous times that although the country is stable, they must forget about war. The Turks are rising in the northern border, and if they don't pay attention, they will be vigilant."

"When the army marches south, the tragic scene on paper will come to life."

'Well'

After being reminded by Li Jing, Fang Xuanling immediately felt the worry from the bottom of his heart when he read the poem again.

"If that's the case, then why did the Right Wise King lead his army southward, looking at us like a covetous person, as if he wanted to devour the Tang Dynasty?"

"You are wrong. It is the Turks who want to swallow up the Tang Dynasty, not the Right Wise King?"

Li Jing shook his head helplessly: "The Turks have been going smoothly through a series of battles. While the prestige of the Right Wise King has increased dramatically, the Turks have also been united as one. Their momentum is unstoppable like an avalanche. The Right Wise King can only go with the flow."

"He is in that position, and he is the embodiment of the will of the entire Turkic people, no matter what he thinks."

"He represents the interests of the entire nomadic people. All he can do is to propose some conditions for peace talks. This is to appease the tribal leaders and generals, and to give some reminders to the Tang Dynasty."

"As long as the Tang Dynasty can accept it, he can use it to persuade the army to retreat. When they return to the grassland, it will be difficult for these people to gather together unless they encounter a major disaster next time. If he stirs up some internal conflicts, the Turks will fall into civil strife."

"Look at his conditions. They are not worth mentioning. Only one million taels of gold is relatively demanding. But he also stipulates that other materials cannot be used as a substitute. And gold only exists in the mansions of aristocratic families. Isn't it obvious who he is targeting?"

After Li Jing analyzed it from another angle, Fang Xuanling said with a complicated expression: "Why can you see the kindness of the Right Wise King, but I can only see his hatred for our Tang Dynasty?"

"That's because you only listen to what they say, but I watch what they do!"

"His actions are like an army of 800,000 men, which has put the Tang Dynasty in jeopardy, and the emperor, his subjects and the people are trembling with fear, and everyone is as frightened as a cicada."

"No, he has never conquered a city in the Tang Dynasty or killed a single citizen. He has only threatened people with words and written articles that can sober people up from their indulgence in wine, women and debauchery."

"Don't tell me that the Xuebi and Xueyantuo tribes are also ministers of the Tang Dynasty?"

Fang Xuanling was stunned when he heard this, thought for a long time, and nodded silently.

Indeed, strictly speaking, neither the emperor and his ministers nor the common people of the Tang Dynasty considered the Xuebi and Xueyantuo tribes as part of the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence.

So far, the Turks under the leadership of the Right Wise King have indeed not attacked any city of the Tang Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)