Treat your enemies as ruthlessly as winter, and treat your friends as warm as spring.
Li Po remembered the words of the great man very clearly. There was always a clear distinction between himself and outsiders, and Turk was an outsider, but the Turk Khan was somewhere between a friend and an outsider.
Some of her conditions are between agreeing and not agreeing. At this time, Li Po will try his best to satisfy them. The internal strife of the Turks is close at hand, and he does not want the Eastern (Harmony) Turks to fail.
As for whether the Turkic power will increase greatly after acquiring the Western Region, Li Po also has a clear understanding. The Turkic empire is not the kind of empire whose territory becomes wider and more powerful.
Their governance ability is very problematic, otherwise the Tang Dynasty would not have formulated the national policy to deal with the Turks like this.
And whether it is the Turks or the Central Plains dynasty, the Western Regions are the icing on the cake for them. It is the passage to the European and African continents and has certain strategic significance.
But it is definitely not a fertile ground that can quickly increase the strength of the empire.
Of course, when black gold was later discovered and technology advanced to a certain level, it would become a treasure land that all countries would covet.
…………
"I always hear people say that the north is what the Xianbei people call the Sleeping Land. There are enemies of the Turks there. Who are they? Do they look much fairer than... the Han people?"
Li Po asked curiously. He had basically finished talking about the business and drank a lot of wine. What was surprising was that Ashina Yang Huan had a really good drinking capacity and didn't mean to drink too much at all.
He could make eight detours when he said it, and he almost got caught in it.
At this time, he was full, and all that was left was chatting. It was still early anyway, and he was not in a hurry to go back to sleep.
What he was actually asking at this moment was who were the people in Siberia and what race they were. It was not that he had never been there before, but it was definitely not the same as now.
Siberia later referred to a large area across northern Asia, most of which was occupied by woolly bears, but their main ethnic group was actually an alien species. Today's Slavs are probably still playing in the mud in Eastern Europe.
There are some sporadic records of who are there now in the history books of the Central Plains. In particular, Tuoba Tao, Emperor Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, once led an army to attack Rouran and rushed to Mobei. After defeating the Rouran people, he sent partial troops to attack Rouran.
Bei swept away many tribes of Gaoche people.
That should be the area that later became Siberia. The Xianbei people thought it was a place of sleep. The transliteration should be Xianbelia, which is the same as Siberia.
The Turks should be more familiar with it. Ever since the Turks established their country, they have been fighting against the "northerns" they call them, treating them as savages.
The opposite of the northerners are the southerners, which refers to the Central Plains people.
Ashina Yang Huan was also very talkative and didn't mind explaining things to his nephew.
"Those people in the north are similar to us. It's hard to tell where they come from. There are many Xianbei people among them, most of them are leaders. They are easily identifiable by their clothes. They still retain some Xianbei people's customs.
There are also Turkic refugees living there. They are all criminals. After the Turks established their country, they regarded the north as a place of exile for a long time. I heard that the Turks have a very powerful tribe called...what?
Coming?"
Having said this, she looked at the Ashina Peony in the back corner. Her eyes were full of Ashina Peony, and she immediately responded, "It's the Orkhon tribe."
Ashina Yang Huan nodded and continued: "Yes, the Orkhon tribe was the tribe that produced texts for the Turkic kings. They were exiled to the north because of their crimes.
There are also some people who escaped from the west, but most of them became slaves. The ones the Supreme Being mentioned have pale skin, strange colors, and some similarities with the Turkic royal family. Most of them are a mixture of people from the Western Regions, and there are not many in the north.
See."
Li Po satisfied his curiosity. It was almost as he thought. With the current traffic conditions, it was impossible for those people from the west to appear in the east on a large scale.
On the contrary, the indigenous people in West Asia are more likely to have some contact with the east. On the contrary, after the Huns were driven away, some of them fled west to West Asia and Eastern Europe...
When Li Po was in Chang'an, he heard Wen Yanhong, Yu Shinan and others say that regardless of the Turks, Xianbei, or even the Western Regions, they were a different breed of Xiongnu.
That is to say, from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period in the Central Plains to the Pre-Han Dynasty, the northern nomadic people, the Xiongnu, posed a widespread threat to the civilization of the Central Plains.
Even though its level of civilization is not high, it has existed for a long time. After the Xiongnu died, the various tribes under their control dispersed. Those who have a detailed knowledge of the history of the Central Plains think that these alien races are now
, almost all can be traced back to the Xiongnu.
This is a very interesting phenomenon, but it is a pity that no one in the world would study this deliberately, otherwise many secrets would be discovered that would be difficult for later generations to discover.
Li Po felt that this matter could be studied by others. As the influence of the Tang Dynasty expanded, the thickness of the history books would also increase. One day, a caravan from Europe might appear in Chang'an at any time. If they were lucky enough,
…
As for the stories about the Greeks and Romans' eastward expeditions in Li Po's memory, they were probably ruthlessly debunked. The stories about the Europeans' eastward expeditions and the Persians' westward expeditions were probably all too true.
He, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, had such a hard time coming to Yulin to make an alliance with others. How could you go so far and have battles involving hundreds of thousands of people happen at every turn? That must be a joke...
But what is certain now is that the people who lived on the Siberian ice sheet were definitely not the later Slavs. According to Ashina Yanghuan, there was a tribal alliance composed of criminals and some indigenous people. The race was very mixed, and it was almost impossible to really
Know which ethnic group they are from.
This statement is more credible. After all, the people who know you best are your enemies. The Turks have been entangled with them for so long and will not misunderstand their enemies.
Li Po didn't pay much attention to this, he was just curious. The maritime trade route to the east would expand rapidly in the next few years.
With the peninsula and the Japanese country as a springboard, if you explore to the north, you will soon draw maps one by one and send them back to the Tang Dynasty. What Li Po wants to know is when can everyone bypass the Turks from the sea and go to Lake Baikal
area.
If possible, by crossing the Bering Strait, would the American continent be right in front of us? Who will be credited with this miracle in the history of navigation?
These are quite interesting predictions, and there are no technical obstacles. According to the current national strength of the Tang Dynasty, it is a small goal that can be achieved.
Of course, the exploration of the world may not seem to have much substantive effect, but it can increase the thickness and width of civilization, expand people's horizons, and lengthen the timeline. It is an absolutely beneficial move for a civilization.
Li Po is a pragmatic person, and he understands the significance of these things, but as far as the current situation is concerned, he can only regard these as by-products of trade.
The Tang Dynasty still lacks many necessary conditions for the exploration of various continents. In the next few decades, it will be a good choice to use those remote places explored as places to exile prisoners.
For example, the Tang Dynasty can completely exile all the criminals to the islands in the East China Sea. It will first unify everyone's ancestors.
And this is an era with few competitors, so it doesn’t take much effort to open up new fields.
…………
Ashina Yang Huan also asked about things at sea. After hearing Li Po's description, she first laughed at Li Po for still using the big ship built by Yang Er, and then talked about the time when Emperor Wen was there.
He once sent people to sea.
Both countries are continental countries, and Ashina Yang Huan is actually not interested in stories about the sea. Just like Li Po asked about the race of Siberia, it is all out of curiosity.
She really wanted to know that Li Po spent so much effort to send troops to sea just to attack Goguryeo from the sea? If that was the case, he was much more courageous than his predecessors.
The former Sui Dynasties also had such strength, but unfortunately they went to sea several times, but all failed, and the cost was unprecedentedly huge, so the former Sui emperors and ministers gradually gave up their intention to go to sea.
Fixed thinking patterns are difficult to change. If Li Po had not advocated sending troops to sea, the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty would not have changed.
As for maritime trade, it was not necessary for the agricultural civilization of the Central Plains, which was completely self-sufficient.
Li Po had no intention of explaining anything. The Central Plains dynasty had always been a typical continental power and was not interested in exploring maritime resources, let alone the Turks who relied on herding for a living.
But precisely because the nomads had four legs, they could walk farther on land, and the vast grasslands also provided them with convenience, which in turn hindered the progress of the Central Plains dynasty.
…………
After drinking for three rounds, the topics between the two began to become more and more rambling. The internal affairs and diplomacy of the Tang Dynasty and the Turks were all involved, but they still could not go into depth. Both of them maintained their basic rationality and would not let the other party see the secrets hidden in their hearts.
Ashina Yang Huan finally became drunk, and Li Po also felt that his mind was wandering a little too slowly.
The common saying of speaking the truth after drinking has lost its effect on these two kings. It is almost impossible to hear a few heartfelt words about the country from their mouths.
In the end, Ashina Rongzhen helped the drunken Li break out of the tent. Ashina Yang Huan wanted to get up to see him off, but he staggered and fell into the arms of Ashina Peony who came closer.
Li Po turned around and said with a smile: "Khan is drunk, so he'd better take a good rest... If we drink again tomorrow, we have to decide the winner..."
Ashina Yang Huan waved her hands repeatedly, "Why bother tomorrow... why not come back and have a few more drinks..."
Li Po chuckled, as if he was still unconvinced and wanted to go back and fight to the death, but he was hugged out of the tent by Ashina Rongzhen.
After the people left, Ashina Yang Huan slowly sat up straight, steadily picked up the wine glass and drank another glass. He breathed out the smell of alcohol, looked back and smiled at Ashina Mudan: "He can't drink enough, you
Come drink some more with me, otherwise how can you sleep well tonight?"
