"Everything will be complicated in the coming year, so it would be nice if the Tibetans didn't come."
This can only be said by Fan Wenjin. As the top chief executive of Liangzhou, he is responsible for the livelihood of the people under his rule. Even if he defeats the Tibetan invasion, he can be regarded as a meritorious service in defending the land, but he is the one who cleans up the mess in the end.
Next year is a critical year for Liangzhou. After the war with the Tubo people, Liangzhou is in a state of chaos again, and some of them have headaches.
Zhang Lun was the one who commanded the troops. He rolled his eyes after hearing this. If the Tibetans could not retreat to the high ground, how could the Tang army stationed in Liangzhou make military achievements?
The local garrison ministers and military commanders certainly had nothing to say on this topic.
Zhang Lun recalled what the emperor said to them when they met in Chang'an, and felt that the burden on him became heavier and heavier. If there was no war in the coming year, then the elite Tang army he led would be useless.
Spending food and grass is the next worst thing, and going against the general policy of the court is the real headache.
However, if the Tubo people acted like cowards, they were so anxious that they had no good solution. Letting the Turks go to the high ground... it could only be regarded as a temporary measure.
There are many disadvantages between victory and defeat. No matter who wins between the Tubo and the Turks, it is impossible for the Tang Dynasty to completely occupy the high ground.
Sending some people to the highlands next year to train troops? Zhang Lun was wondering about the feasibility of this...
Over there, Fan Wenjin saw that he was speechless and understood Zhang Bearded's dilemma, so he asked with a smile: "There seems to be no movement in the follow-up reinforcements. Don't you give me some warning, general?"
Zhang Lun felt that he was asking the question knowingly, but he still replied: "With the current situation, why do we need reinforcements? We are enough here. Besides... the general manager should also have heard that the Supreme Leader will form an alliance with the Turkic Khan next year.
.
This is a first-class matter, and other things may have to be put aside..."
Fan Wenjin nodded, the Turks have always been powerful enemies. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, his greatest achievement was to divide the Turks into the eastern and western parts, and to make all the eastern and western Turks bow their heads. This was an extremely rare feat in hundreds of years.
It was not easy for the Tang Dynasty to repeat such achievements.
"It's time to form an alliance with the Turks now..." At this point, Fan Wenjin shook his head and expressed disapproval. If he were an important minister in the court, he would definitely try his best to stop it.
The reason is very simple. The Turks stretched from east to west, covering thousands of miles, and had millions of armies. The Tang Dynasty had just wiped out the princes, and the two sides were comparing their strengths and weaknesses.
If you go to meet with the Turkic Khan at this time, the Turks will definitely not be polite. If nothing else, as long as the Turks propose that the Tang Dynasty become a vassal, do you agree or not?
If you agree, you will be submissive, and you will be criticized by people and words, and the prestige of the court will inevitably be damaged.
Even a prodigal like Yang Guang can be arrogant in front of the Turks, but a founder of the country has to bow his head to the Turks. How can it be justified?
If you don't agree, what's the point of the alliance? Is it to anger the Turkic Khan?
Well, what he thought was not much different from what Li Po thought at the beginning, but the actual situation was that the Turkic Khan insisted on forming an alliance and made some concessions.
Proposals such as surrender will not be within the scope of their discussion, and alliance seems inevitable now.
Fan Wenjin would not reveal too many of his political opinions in front of Zhang Lun. It was not easy for a local governor like him to influence the court affairs, especially since he had little connection with the court officials.
In the end, I just sighed in my heart, wondering what the two kings of the north and the south would talk about after they met. It was really a pity that I couldn't participate in such a grand event.
When Yang Guang visited the west, he met the kings of the Western Regions in Zhangye. During his northern tour, he also summoned the Turkic people, monarchs and ministers to meet in Yulin. Now it seems that the gain outweighs the gain by wasting people and money.
But it was indeed a grand event at that time. Compared with these two events, the Grand Canal, which was praised by later generations, was not inferior in the eyes of the people of the world.
Zhang Lun did not want to discuss this matter with Fan Wenjin. Now all Tang armies are setting up defenses at the northern border fortress. In his opinion, it is to prevent the alliance with the Turks. After the two sides have not reached an agreement, in that case, everyone will be in trouble.
Done.
However, Zhang Lun agrees with Fan Wenjin that there is a lot to do next year.
"When we left Beijing, His Majesty personally asked us to help the General Manager rebuild the Liangzhou Racecourse. Has the General Manager thought about where to build the racecourse next year if the Tibetans don't come to invade?"
Fan Wenjin put away his random thoughts. The reconstruction of Liangzhou Racecourse has been one of the main government affairs in Liangzhou in the past two years. He nodded and said: "We have discussed this. There were three former sites of Liangzhou Racecourse in the Sui Dynasty. One was in Wuhan.
One is near Guzang, and the other is over Zhangye.
The Zhangye Racecourse had been abandoned for a long time. During Yang Guang's inspection of the West, he requisitioned all the horses there, and many of them were given to the kings of the Western Regions. By the time the Western Tour was over, there were very few horses left in the Zhangye Racecourse, and they were never restored.
The racecourses of Panhan and Guzang have always been there, but wars have been too frequent and they have been unable to maintain them in the past few years. The horses were either used for military purposes or were snatched away by some tribes.
Many pastures were also used to house returning highland tribes or descendants of Western Turks.
Nowadays, it is not difficult to rebuild.
It's just that I intend to set up a new pasture in the West Sea. The water and grass there are abundant, but the climate is a bit different. It is said that it is similar to the situation in the highlands.
It used to be occupied by the Tuyuhun people, but now it is an unclaimed land, so it can be used for grazing cattle and horses, and it can also be used as a training ground. If the soldiers stay there for two years, they should be able to go to the highlands, right?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lun became more energetic, patted the table and said: "If there is such a good place, I'll tell the manager, when the weather gets warmer next year, we will go there and have a look.
The Supreme Leader also said, let us get some horses from the Western Regions for breeding. That guy Yang Guang really didn't know how to benefit his own people, so he even gave the horses to outsiders.
Damn, I was deceived by him back then. Otherwise, why would I take people to Yanmen to work for him? What did you say in the end? He didn’t even say a word of thanks. As soon as the Turks left, he ran away with his tail between his legs.
When I returned to Luoyang, what I said was just like farting..."
Fan Wenjin grinned and did not join Zhang Lun in attacking Yang Guang.
He was a scholar in the former Sui Dynasty. He was different from Zhang Lun, a government soldier, and he would not be as unscrupulous in his speech. After all, the Yang family belonged to his old master, and even if the old master was not good in every way, they would still
Scholars pay more attention to this.
"The Supreme Being is still thinking about the long term, but the Western Region is not close. You and I have seen the people fleeing from the Western Turks. They have been traveling for several months.
And although I am not familiar with the matter of war horse breeding, I think it is not a matter of one or two horses. In that case, the only way to solve it is through trade.
I don’t know what the situation is in the Western Regions. If, like the Turks, war horses are not allowed to travel abroad, trade will be useless.
At that time, there were some fine horses from the Western Regions at the Liangzhou Racecourse, which should have been donated by the Western Turks over the years, but unfortunately, they can no longer be seen."
Zhang Lun scratched his beard and laughed, "If this matter is not difficult, it won't be our turn to take care of it. Is that true, says the manager?"
What others said was so reasonable. What else could Fan Wenjin say? He could only laugh and said: "The general is right. Your Majesty has a far-sighted vision. We, the people, must try our best to accomplish things. Otherwise, we will become people who live on a corpse and eat nothing."
The two of them expressed their loyalty and ambition one by one, and there was no one else here. They were all talking to each other, lest the other party send a secret letter to put them in a bad position.
After a few sentences, Fan Wenjin said: "I am preparing to report to the Central Government to open the trade route to the Western Regions. The general even respects his neighbors. Please help me with the details. Can this be done?"
Zhang Lun was stunned and thought to himself, why are you asking me about this matter? You think highly of me. Xu Shiji, Xu Prince Consort, is full of evil thoughts. He might even be able to give you a bad idea. I am a general leading troops.
How do you know so much?
Thinking in his heart, he smiled and said: "This is the wrong person to ask. The manager might as well ask Xu Maogong... I can only discuss the matter. My ancestral home is Loufan, and someone in my family once worked at the Loufan Racecourse.
The war horses over there are on the short side. Now we are riding horses sent from various racecourses in Daizhou. They are not strong enough to charge into battle and cannot wear heavy armor. In the words of the Supreme Being, they are all light cavalry.
, is good at long-distance raids, but is much less effective in a head-on battle with someone.
That's why horses from the Western Regions are needed for breeding... Some people always say that heavy armor and guns are invincible. I have fought in battles for many years and have never seen that kind of formation. It is just limited by the war horses.
But when you think about it, that's all. When you encounter people like us, all your troops and horses are heavily armored, so you can only rush over. You are invincible against the infantry that is waiting for you. But when you encounter us, it is inconvenient to change directions.
They are pieces of wood, waiting for us to chop them."
Zhang Lun gave Fan Wenjin a military lesson, which made Fan Wenjin dumbfounded. I am talking to you about trade. What the hell are you talking to me about?
But someone with a big beard can still come back, "Now that the princes have been destroyed, who still has so many infantry troops? So, horses in the Western Regions are not necessary, and there is no need to rush them."
If we can do business with the Western Regions, if we can't attract the war horses from the Western Regions and just get some wealth, the Supreme Being may not be interested. And judging from the current situation, we can't make businessmen worry-free.
Take the Tubo people for example. From time to time they go to the highlands to harass them. Even Liangzhou is not stable. How can we manage such a big place in Hexi?
Let me tell you, the General Manager should wait for two years to discuss this matter. When we find a way to kill those Tibetan bastards, even if the General Manager does not mention it, someone in the DPRK will probably bring up the matter of trade, right?"
Fan Wenjin stroked his beard and nodded. He was really impressed by the big beard. Zhang Lun was indeed right.
It sounds like he was a little impatient, not because of anything else, but because if a place like Liangzhou wants to prosper, it must open up trade.
Places like Guzang and Zhangye are the nodes for traveling to and from the Western Regions. If you don't trade, how will local officials achieve their political achievements?