The Western Khan Ashina Qura conducted a military march unprecedented among the Turks.
Starting from the foot of the sacred mountain of the Turks, we entered Shuofang County via Yulin, passed Wuyuan and entered the Great Wall, then stopped in the north of Honghua, then retreated to Wuyuan and turned west to spend the winter in Anle.
After the beginning of spring, we went north via Lingwu, then turned east and returned to the grassland via the Hetao area.
This journey of thousands of miles has made a complete circle around the Hetao and the Gobi desert south of the Hetao. Apart from declaring the cruelty of the Turks to the people of all ethnic groups in Lingwu and Liangzhou, they have not achieved anything.
After Ashina Qiuluo returned to the grassland, he dismissed his tribe and immediately went to the royal court to plead guilty without any hesitation. In the royal court, he was severely reprimanded by the Turkic Khan Ashina Yanghuan.
Some nobles who had previously praised his bravery also began to ridicule him, and the reputation gained by the Western Khan Ashina Qura by defeating the Shekui Khan suffered a major blow.
Ashina Qiuluo finally realized that Dongfang Khan's power in the royal court was rising rapidly, so he left the royal court quietly without arguing.
Because he understood that the Khan needed him to check and balance Dongfang Khan Ashina Duowen, so there was no need to worry at all. The power he had now was more solid than before.
Is this the wisdom that Father Khan said? Ashina Qura laughed with full irony on the way back to the Khan's tent.
But in fact, the Turkic tribes in the west have indeed reached their weakest point, and they are no longer even strong enough to launch another medium-sized war.
With this southern expedition, some tribal leaders also became dissatisfied with Western Khan Ashina Qura, thinking that like his father Shibi Khan, he would only lead them to fight but never care about the lives of his tribesmen.
Far less benevolent than Qimin Khan.
Complaints spread like a plague, weakening the foundation of Western Khan Ashina Qura's rule. This southern expedition hurt him much more seriously than he imagined.
………………………………
And in the south, he also left a mess.
Liang Shidu died, Anle was slaughtered, and Liang Shidu's subordinates proclaimed themselves kings one after another. In an instant, from Henan to the east of Lingwu, many strange kings appeared in some places in the south.
Li Daozong, who had been guarding Lingzhou for many years, waited for the Turks to disappear, and then summoned the generals from all over the country to Lingzhou to discuss everyone's future.
Now that Liang Shidu is dead, Li Daozong's prestige, which was weakened by Li Yuan's defeat, has once again been consolidated, and everyone is still willing to listen to his voice.
Their biggest enemy before was Liang Shidu. When Guo Zihe surrendered to Li Yuan, Li Daozong was the general manager of Lingzhou and first took charge of Lingwu. Liang Shidu was in a hurry to attack, and he couldn't get much help from the rear, so he had to be careful.
Xue Ju marched north, and the situation was once dangerous.
At that time, he was still thinking of uniting with Guo Zihe to fight against Liang Shidu. It happened that Li Yuan also sent Dugu Huai'en as an envoy to the Turks, which gave Lingwu, a lonely army, hope.
But then came a series of bad news. Ashina Yang Huan became the Turkic Khan, and Dugu Huaien returned south in embarrassment. He also left Chen Shuda in the Turks, cut off his nose and ears, and was very humiliated.
We can no longer count on the Turks.
Then Guo Zihe was annihilated by the Turks, so in the northwest, Liang Division became powerful and without foreign aid, Li Daozong could only lead his army to deal with Liang Division as much as possible.
Fortunately, Liang Shidu was not a wise man, and his subordinates were all stupid. They were synonymous with defeat in every battle. Lingwu became more and more stable as he defended, and gradually drove Liang Shidu's forces out.
Lingwu area.
At this time, the external strategic environment also changed. Li Shimin defeated Xue Rengao and stabilized the situation in the northwest. Only the Liang division was still making trouble relying on the power of the Turks. In fact, as time went by, it was already on the verge of survival.
The situation in the northwest has been changing. Li Gui is dead, and Qu Tutong's army is always there, but they have no intention of marching into the northwest.
This Li Daozong can understand that the desolate land in the northwest is useless.
But his subordinates didn't care about this, so they were never able to completely defeat Liang Shidu. As time went by, some people defected to him.
Until now, Li Yuan has passed away and Master Liang has been killed by the Turks. The situation has become clear almost immediately.
Many of Li Daozong's subordinates had actually been thinking about expelling Liang Shidu and occupying Henan, so that they could gain a firm foothold in the northwest.
Of course, Li Daozong did not agree. He was from the Li family in Longxi, and Chen Shuda had his nose and ears cut off. If he had gone to the Turks, he would probably end up worse than Chen Shuda.
To run Henan without the support of the Turks is simply to seek death. For example, Master Liang was killed like a dog. It seemed that there was no good management, which immediately stopped some people's thoughts.
The officials of Lingwu gathered together and expressed their opinions and feelings one by one.
The situation in the northwest is changing. Starting from the slave thief Bai Yusuo to Guo Zihe and Liang Shi, they are all killed one after another. The heroes in the northwest are withering at a rate not half worse than that in the Central Plains.
As they talked, everyone's backs gradually became cold. The once arrogant figures fell off their horses one after another. Guanxi has also changed its master. Lingzhou is like a rootless tree, floating between Turks and Guanxi. Even if there is no one in the coming year,
I'm afraid the attack will be unsustainable.
They looked at Li Daozong eagerly, wanting him to come up with an idea.
It is similar to the situation in Shuzhong. There are only a few choices. It seems very unreliable to seek refuge with the Turks. Li Ding'an is not willing to surrender. Many people actually want Li Daozong to make himself king, but the reality is not very realistic.
allow.
…………………………………………
In mid-February of the first year of Yuanzhen in the Tang Dynasty, Li Daozong, the general manager of Lingzhou in the pseudo-Tang Dynasty, surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and invited himself to the court to meet the new emperor. The northwest finally had the last piece of the puzzle, and it became complete at once.
Li Po never expected that the northwest would be brought under his rule one after another before the Central Plains was pacified, and quickly calmed down. It can be said that the Turks did him a big favor, otherwise Liang Shi would still be running around there, and Li Daozong and others relied on
The tone I have built up over the years will never give up here.
It's similar to the situation in Liangzhou, and it feels a bit tasteless.
Lingzhou is located in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. It has many Gobi deserts and some farmable fields and salt ponds. It is an important salt-producing place in the northwest.
Whether it is Liangzhou or Lingzhou, they actually have extremely important strategic significance for the Central Plains. Liangzhou is connected to the Western Regions and is close to the highlands. If it controls this place, it basically controls the Hexi Corridor. It is the Central Plains dynasty.
The first place to manage the Western Region.
Moreover, Liangzhou also has relatively broad pastures, and Liangzhou Racecourse was one of the three largest racecourses in the former Sui Dynasty.
Therefore, Liangzhou is a battleground for the Central Plains Dynasty. If it loses here, Xijing Chang'an will not be stable, and the emperor will not dare to set his capital in Guanxi. At the same time, it means that he will lose the qualification to run the Western Regions.
His achievements suddenly dimmed a lot.
As for Lingzhou, it is a necessary supplement to the Hexi Corridor. At the same time, it is connected to the grassland. More importantly, the Hetao area is right next to it, which is also where the Central Plains Dynasty raised horses.
With the Yulin Racecourse and the Hetao area under control, not only can horses be herded here, so that there is no shortage of good horses in the Central Plains, but it can also effectively weaken the strength of the northern barbarians, because it is an important grain-producing area in the grassland.
Nowadays, the competition there is not fierce, because the immigrants from the Central Plains have not yet developed the potential there, and the short-sighted grassland empire will never develop any place. They will only rely on scimitars and war horses to burn, kill, loot, and enjoy the gains.
.
With such important strategic significance, it is naturally a great good thing to take it back. However, the time is not right. The emerging Tang Dynasty has no time to manage the northwest. Neither Lingzhou nor Liangzhou will be of any help to the great cause of unifying the Central Plains. On the contrary,
Need support from Kansai.
Fortunately, things are getting better in Sichuan, otherwise the belt would have to be tightened again this year, and I would almost be out of breath.
Li Po thought silently in the Tai Chi Hall.
But having said that, although the taste of the meat in your mouth is a bit bland, you must eat it. Once the northwest is settled, the strategic environment of the Tang Dynasty will be greatly improved, and there will be no worries.
Li Po was very sure that this year would turn a new page...According to Feng Deyi, the Central Plains could be wiped out in one or two years. I wonder if his prediction was accurate?
Then there is Li Daozong, the general manager of Lingzhou. He is the nephew of Li Yuantang. Li Po asked his ministers and found out that this man was only in his early twenties, but he had been in the position of the general manager of Lingzhou for several years.
In addition to admiring Li Yuan for really daring to employ people, Li Daozong seemed to have lived up to his uncle's trust. He did an outstanding job as the general manager of Lingzhou. He almost supported the northwest for several years with a single army, and even defeated the Liang division.
All, so that it can never threaten Kansai.
He is not even a little stronger than Li Xiaogong, who has become a prisoner. Does that mean that he should be afraid of him?
Requesting to come to the court to see... According to the words of Xiao Yu, the minister of Zhongshu, he was sincere in asking for surrender, and he could appease the person, setting an example for the Li family in Longxi.
I have to admire Xiao Yu for really daring to speak up. Wen Yanbo is said to be daring to speak out, but he just gives more advice. When it comes to himself, he is still more cautious.
Xiao Yu was different. He dared to say a few words, good or bad, and never cared about the feelings of others, or even his own safety.
When the Li family in Longxi was demoted, he should have avoided suspicion, but the words just came out of his mouth, and the first reaction was that he had ulterior motives and wanted to protect the old master's relatives and so on.
But if you know his temperament, you will understand that he just talks about things as they happen, and expresses his own opinions on the matter.
No wonder Li Yuan is indispensable for him, but he doesn't want to use him.
This chapter has been completed!