Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 456 National Strength Greatly Increased
After Liu Rengui took office as the Protector-General of Andong, he introduced twelve policies to pacify the people.

In some areas, the war has had a significant impact, making it difficult for people to get through the winter.

He then requested permission from Emperor Gaozong to transfer grain from Yingzhou to provide relief to the people, distribute grain seeds, and send troops to help the local people plant wheat seeds before winter.

Under his skillful governance, the people of Goguryeo began to live peacefully and no longer resisted registering in the household register, becoming new Tang Dynasty citizens.

Those Buyeo people who harbored treacherous intentions and plotted to restore Goguryeo were also unable to rally popular support. Several rebellions they launched failed to gain widespread support and were quickly suppressed by Gao Kan's troops.

The Andong Protectorate was developing in a stable direction, and at the same time, the benefits of conquering Goguryeo were gradually becoming apparent.

The Ministry of Works has mobilized a large number of people to go to the Changbai Mountain and Baekdu Mountain areas to collect iron ore from three large mines in Goguryeo.

The Tang Dynasty had a vast territory, and although it already had many iron mines, it added more mines after conquering the northern deserts.

However, the purity of the iron ore in these places is far inferior to that of Goguryeo, making smelting more difficult and the quality of the iron ore slightly inferior.

Throughout Asia, the iron ore from the northeastern region of Goguryeo was among the highest quality.

While Goguryeo's metallurgical technology was far inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty, the military equipment and armor it produced were in no way inferior to those of the Tang Dynasty.

The reason for this was that Goguryeo controlled the best iron ore region in Baekdu Mountain, which enabled it to contend with the Central Plains dynasties for many years.

In summary, Goguryeo's ability to maintain its rule for over 600 years was due to three unique advantages.

Two of these were the iron mines of Baekdu Mountain and the black soil, while the last was Goguryeo's unique semi-agricultural, semi-nomadic political system.

Once a society is halfway into an agrarian society, its population will increase rapidly, its national strength will accumulate, and its semi-nomadic lifestyle will ensure it has no shortage of horses and possesses formidable fighting power.

Goguryeo was actually quite similar to the Liao Dynasty of later times.

Both originated in Liaodong, with the Baitoushan iron mine and black soil as their foundation, forming a dual system of semi-agricultural and semi-nomadic agriculture.

The only difference is that the Liao Dynasty faced the Song Dynasty, while Goguryeo faced the Tang Dynasty.

Goguryeo's military strength was by no means weak, with about 30-40% of its soldiers wearing armor, and it had more warhorses than Tibet.

This was because before Li Zhi attacked Goguryeo, Goguryeo had already been terrified by Emperor Taizong of Tang and had lost all its fighting spirit.

When facing Tang soldiers, Goguryeo soldiers were psychologically inferior and found it difficult to exert their full fighting power, which led to their annihilation by the Tang Dynasty.

If we set aside psychological factors and disregard the influence of generals and commanders, and look solely at the military strength of the army, Goguryeo's military strength was superior to that of Tibet. If they were to fight against Tibet, Tibet might not necessarily gain the upper hand.

Take, for example, the famous armored cavalry of Goguryeo. This was a heavily armored cavalry force, where not only the soldiers were fully armored, but even their warhorses were covered in armor.

The Tang Dynasty also had heavy cavalry, but the number was small, totaling only over 30,000, and they were dispersed, with only about 300 men in each 3,000-strong army.

The heavy cavalry of the Tang Dynasty originated from Li Shimin's Xuanjia soldiers. It was once a complete army, a separate branch of the military, specifically designed for fighting tough battles.

Three thousand cavalrymen can break through the formation of an army of one hundred thousand.

Later, as the Tang Dynasty unified the country, it needed to wage war more flexibly, and its main enemies were nomadic peoples.

If you charge with heavy armor, they will use light cavalry to outflank you, which won't be very effective.

Therefore, the Tang army gradually phased out its heavy cavalry units and dispersed them to various military commands.

Goguryeo's armored cavalry was different; they numbered 30,000 and were organized into six separate units, each with 5,000 men.

This cavalry force was originally intended to fight against the Tang Dynasty.

Unfortunately, when Emperor Taizong of Tang attacked Goguryeo, the armored cavalry lost to the light cavalry of the Tang Dynasty.

The Goguryeo people lost their confidence after being defeated and dared not fight the Tang Dynasty in the open field anymore, so they could only retreat into the city.

With the fall of Ansi City, this elite cavalry force was also transferred back to Pyongyang for garrison duty.

Ultimately, they didn't even have a chance to make a difference, and with the surrender of the Goguryeo leadership, they were forced to become surrendered soldiers.

After Li Ji entered Pyongyang, he inspected the Goguryeo army and finally came to a conclusion.

Most of the other Goguryeo armies could be disbanded, but this heavily armored cavalry unit had to be retained, because it was not easy to train such a force of heavily armored cavalry.

Emperor Gaozong followed Li Ji's advice and reduced the number of Goguryeo troops by more than half, leaving only 50,000, of which 30,000 were armored cavalry.

Aside from iron ore and the military, the remaining harvest was the black soil.

After this war, many Goguryeo people died and many were relocated. Therefore, Liu Rengui transferred a large number of Tang people from Hebei to the Songnen Plain and the Sanjiang Plain in Goguryeo.

These two plains represent the largest distribution area of ​​black soil in Goguryeo.

Although Goguryeo was also a semi-agricultural society, its farming skills were not as advanced as those of the people of the Central Plains. This land could be better utilized by the Tang people.

The conditions for Liu Rengui's relocation were also extremely generous. All people who went to Liaodong could be given priority to be allocated eighty mu of the most fertile black soil farmland.

In addition, the government helped arrange accommodations, and because Goguryeo had just experienced war, Emperor Gaozong decreed that the country be exempt from taxes for three years.

In other words, as long as one is transferred to Goguryeo, one can enjoy a three-year tax exemption.

The people of Hebei are not stupid. They had heard from merchants traveling to and from the Goguryeo region that there was fertile land, and they all envied its yield per mu.

Furthermore, this is different from going to Tingzhou to reclaim wasteland. As long as one is transferred there, one can immediately be allocated land and start planting grain.

Moreover, Liu Rengui had an excellent reputation in Hebei and was respectfully called "Lord Andong" by the people.

People living in the barren areas of Hebei Province actively responded to the relocation policy.

According to Liu Rengui's memorial to Emperor Gaozong, Goguryeo was able to recover its strength after implementing a three-year tax exemption.

Then, the Andong region would be able to provide the court with a large amount of tax revenue. Roughly calculated, its tax revenue would exceed that of Hebei Circuit, Guanzhong Circuit, and Jiangnan Circuit, second only to Hebei Circuit. With this additional tax revenue, Li Zhi would face less pressure to implement military reforms, and the Tang Dynasty's national strength would be greatly enhanced in terms of both military and financial resources.

Even Tibet couldn't compare to this.

It has been five or six years since the Tang Dynasty recovered Tibet, but the annual tax revenue provided by Tibet is not even comparable to that of Lingnan Circuit.

Not to mention the Baekje and Wa regions.

Japan can only be used as a gold and silver mine; we can't expect it to contribute to tax revenue.

Baekje's land is barren. Although it has established more than a dozen provinces, the tax revenue it can provide in the future is about the same as that of three superior provinces, less than one-tenth of that of Goguryeo.

As for the northern desert, the herders there struggle to support themselves and have no ability to pay taxes; they can only provide a small number of cattle and sheep.

Sometimes the winters were so cold that the imperial court had to provide relief, and troops had to be stationed there as well. Apart from mining some coal, the income was insufficient to cover the expenses.

Only by comparing them can one truly appreciate the benefits of conquering Goguryeo!
As Goguryeo gradually stabilized, the imperial army began to slowly withdraw from Goguryeo, leaving only 30,000 Tang troops and 20,000 Goguryeo troops stationed there.

Logically, some of the troops that withdrew from Goguryeo should have returned to Zhechongfu.

However, Li Zhi directly ordered them to return to Chang'an with the Imperial Guards.

The ministers understood Li Zhi's meaning.

These elite Tang soldiers, who had experienced the war against Goguryeo, became the targets of the emperor's next round of military reforms. They would all be incorporated into the Imperial Guard and become recruits.

After two military system adjustments, the troops transformed into the Imperial Guards, numbering 80,000.

Of these, 30,000 were stationed in Japan and Baekje, while another 30,000 participated in the war that destroyed Goguryeo.

There are still 20,000 guards stationed inside the forbidden garden of Chang'an City.

The army returning to Chang'an this time numbered around 120,000, including 30,000 Imperial Guards and 60,000 local soldiers.

The other 30,000 were Goguryeo's 30,000 heavily armored cavalry, which would be commanded by Gao Kan, a general from Balhae.

Having experienced the war against Tibet, Li Zhi was well aware of the characteristics of the Abbasid army: its strengths lay in its large numbers and its fearlessness in the face of death.

When the time comes for a tough battle, we can use heavy cavalry to charge. No matter how fearless the Arab army is, they will not be able to stop the iron torrent!
Li Zhi planned to transform all 120,000 elite Tang soldiers into the new Imperial Guards, with Xue Rengui in charge of training them.

This will also become the first expeditionary force of the Tang Dynasty, which will be able to reinforce Anxi at any time in the future, and even advance into Central Asia to compete with the Arabs for control of Central Asia.

That afternoon, Li Zhi convened another military meeting in the Shenlong Hall, which could only be attended by military officers of the third rank or above.

After eliminating Tibet, the Tang Dynasty's national policy was to eliminate Goguryeo.

Now that this strategy has been completed, the Tang Dynasty naturally needs to formulate a new one.

This strategy differs from the previous one; it is no longer about expanding territory, but about vying with the Arabs for control of the Western Regions, preventing the Arabs from expanding eastward, and at the same time expanding the influence of the Tang Dynasty westward.

With the military strength of the Tang Dynasty as a guarantee, trade was developed to the west, and goods such as silk, tea, and porcelain produced by the Tang Dynasty were sold to every country.

Only in this way can the people become prosperous.

Although the ministers did not interrupt, they were all secretly puzzled, not understanding why the sage attached such importance to cannibalism.

In their minds, the Abbasid Caliphate was only slightly better than Tibet, because the Abbasid army did not gain any advantage when attacking Tibet.

With the Tang Dynasty's current strength, there is only one problem in eliminating the Abbasid Caliphate: it is too far away.

Li Zhi did not explain to the crowd, but while explaining the major strategy, he also formulated two minor strategies, namely those targeting Tuyuhun and Nanzhao.

The approach to dealing with Tuyuhun was to ignore them.

Let them make trouble. When the Qiang people can't take it anymore, they can ask the Tang Dynasty for help and then wipe out Tuyuhun in one fell swoop, incorporate it into the Tang Dynasty, and make it a regular prefecture.

The situation with Nanzhao is even simpler; all that's needed is to prevent them from unifying. As for future plans, we can deal with that later.

After Li Zhi finished explaining his strategy, he dismissed everyone except Xue Rengui and Li Ji.

The two of them are now leading figures of both the older and younger generations in the military.

Li Zhi may not explain the importance of the Abbasid Caliphate to others, but he must explain it to them to prevent them from making the wrong judgment.

As an important place for the Tang Dynasty's emperor and his ministers to discuss military and political affairs, the Shenlong Hall always displayed detailed maps of enemy countries.

Previously, maps of Tibet and Goguryeo were displayed, but now they have been replaced with another unfamiliar map.

"Minister Li, Minister Xue, do you know where this map is from?" Li Zhi asked.

Li Ji stared at the map for a moment, but couldn't find the location of the Tang Dynasty on it. Instead, there was a huge country in the middle, almost 60% the size of the Tang Dynasty, which made him think.

"Your Majesty, could this be a map of the Abbasid Caliphate?"

Li Zhi nodded and said, "That's right, this is indeed the map of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasid Caliphate is far larger than Tibet in terms of both land area and population, and is close to that of our Great Tang. More importantly, they are a religious state, and every believer can become a warrior."

After hearing this, Xue Rengui and Li Ji exchanged a glance but remained silent.

Since the Arab world is too far away, neither of them knew much about it and it was difficult for them to have a direct impression of it.

During the Tubo War, only Su Dingfang's tribe fought a battle with the Arabs; Xue Rengui did not engage in combat with the Arabs.

Li Zhi also noticed what the two were thinking, and glanced at Wang Fusheng: "Let them in."

(End of this chapter)