After talking to Li Shimin, Li Yuanji carefully read the strategy written by Li Shimin.
The strategies written by Li Shimin are many, very complete, and divided into stages.
Li Shimin clearly stated on the paper that in order to carry out the Western Expedition with the Turks, Western Turks, Tuyuhun, and Tibet, what needs to be done in the first stage, what needs to be done in the second stage, and what needs to be done in the third stage
.
Currently there are only three stages.
After three stages, it will be the Western Expedition. At present, Li Shimin does not understand everything west of the Western Regions, so he has not written anything related to the west of the Western Regions.
"First of all, we have to defeat the Turks, Western Turks, Tuyuhun, Tubo, Dahe clan, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Linyi, and Mengshezhao?"
After Li Yuanji read the first stage strategy written by Li Shimin, he asked in surprise.
Isn’t this too much to defeat?
According to what he thought, the Tang Dynasty only needed to defeat the Turks, Western Turks, Tuyuhun, and Tubo, because these forces could help the Tang Dynasty conquer the west.
As for the remaining Dahe clan, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Linyi, and Mengshezhao, they only need to be summarized.
Even if it is to be defeated, there is no need to focus on it, just send out a small group of troops.
For example, when Yang Guang and Li Shimin in history conquered Goguryeo, they mobilized troops to conquer these small forces. Apart from wasting people and money, there was not much benefit.
After all, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Linyi are all small places, and the whole country may not have hundreds of thousands of troops.
The Tang Dynasty mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to conquer them, just to use cannons to kill mosquitoes.
It is good that this cannon can achieve the desired effect in killing mosquitoes, but if it does not achieve the desired effect, the losses will be huge.
Just like Yang Guang's conquest of Goguryeo, could Yang Guang's army not be able to defeat Goguryeo?
no.
The cannon used by Yang Guang was too big. Before he could understand it and let the soldiers adapt to the climate of Goguryeo, the whole army pressed forward.
This creates more obstacles.
First of all, the requirements for baggage have increased infinitely, and the supply lines are still very long.
In this case, it is easy for the baggage to go wrong, and if there is a problem with the baggage, the morale of the army will easily fluctuate. Against the Goguryeo people, one hundred thousand people may not even be able to exert their strength as two or three thousand people.
Secondly, the soldiers came from all over the world. Some could adapt to the climate of Goguryeo, but some could not.
Once the problem of acclimatization occurs, it will appear in patches.
This will also make the morale of the military fluctuate and even easily cause panic among the soldiers.
Even before the fight begins, you are already panicking. How can you still fight and how can you claim victory?
Therefore, sending large armies to conquer places like Goguryeo was purely to bring trouble to oneself.
Being small and precise is the best way to attack these places.
Historically, Li Shiji, Su Dingfang, and Liu Rengui, when they conquered Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, the troops they led were not large in scale, but the effect they achieved was greater than when Yang Guang and Li Shimin conquered Goguryeo.
.
History has already pointed out the key points for conquering these places, so why do we have to sacrifice the easy for the difficult?
"has a problem?"
Li Shimin asked with squinting eyes.
Li Yuanji said without hesitation: "Of course there is a problem. You asked me to focus on the Turks, Western Turks, Tuyuhun, and Tubo. I have no objection to that, but you asked me to focus on Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje, and Linyi.
, Meng Shezhao, is it a bit of a fuss?"
Li Shimin snorted and said, "Without heavy troops, we can't quickly level these places!"
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes at Li Shimin and said, "Historically, those who sent heavy troops to conquer these places seemed to have no good end."
In order to quell the rebellion in the southwest as soon as possible, Wang Mang sent out nearly 300,000 troops and fought fiercely for more than ten years. Not only did he fail to gain victory, but he also lost many elite troops in the southwest.
On the contrary, Liu Xiu sent Ma Yuan to lead a small number of troops to conquer the southwest, and easily achieved his goal of recovering the southwest.
In the fourth year of Wude, Li Xiaogong and Li Jing helped Tang Dynasty to regain the southwest, and they achieved their goal with a small number of troops.
If they had sent out a large army at that time, many people would have died in the southwest.
Not to mention the conquest of Goguryeo, the example of Yang Guang is enough to prove what will happen if a large number of troops are sent to conquer Goguryeo.
Li Shimin frowned and said, "If we don't send heavy troops, it will take us a long time to conquer these places."
There is no way to sweep the acupoints with lightning, so you can only use time to grind them.
This is inevitable.
After all, these places have been ruled by others for who knows how many years, and the people in these places have already had the concept of a country. When the Tang Dynasty conquered these places, it was conquering other people's countries, which could easily arouse resistance from the entire people.
Without sending heavy troops, we can only use time to grind it out bit by bit.
"A long time, a long time, we can slowly grind it out."
Li Yuanji said without hesitation.
Li Shimin's brows suddenly furrowed even more tightly, and he shouted in a low voice: "Then what are we going to do for the Western Expedition?"
Li Yuanji said: "I didn't say that we must grind it ourselves. Wouldn't it be better to leave it to other people in the clan, or let those who can't go on the expedition with us grind it?
Wouldn't it be better to let those fledgling boys grind it out?"
The Tang Dynasty is full of talents. As the leader of the Tang Dynasty, there is no need to pay attention to these small things personally.
There was absolutely no need for the Tang Dynasty to waste its elite soldiers in these places.
Wouldn't it be better to let the veterans shine and the new generals to practice?
In this way, veterans don't have to worry about dying at home, and new players don't have to worry about having nowhere to practice.
Li Shimin stared and said: "Are you going to use these places for the new generals to train? We in the Tang Dynasty don't have that many people for them to ruin!"
Li Yuanji said disapprovingly: "Who said that we want to ruin the people of the Tang Dynasty? We only need to win over those who are close to the Tang Dynasty and use their people to practice. It is enough.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Among Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, Silla is the closest to us.
We can definitely use Silla's troops to help us conquer Goguryeo and Baekje.
Even if Silla's troops are no match for Goguryeo and Baekje, we can still weaken the strength of Goguryeo and Baekje.
It will be easier when we do it ourselves."
Li Shimin snorted coldly: "Then what if the game fails?"
Li Yuanji spread his hands and said: "If you die, just die. Anyway, the person who died is not one of ours, so I won't feel bad."
Li Shimin gritted his teeth and said, "What if they turn around and attack Datang?"
Li Yuanji said amusingly: "Are we living on dry food? We can drive the Turks to conquer the west, or we can drive the Turks to conquer the east."
Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, then hummed: "You can run from both ends, are you busy enough?"
Li Yuanji said dumbfounded: "Isn't there still you? Isn't there still elder brother? Even if we can't move, Li Jing, Li Shiji, Su Dingfang, Chai Shao and others can always move, right?
They can lead some elite troops and Turks at any time and place to attack Goguryeo and Baekje on our behalf."
This does not include Li Daoli and Liu Ingui who have been buried in Silla.
In history, Liu Ingui was able to travel around Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla when he was in danger. Now that he was placed in Silla early, he learned everything about the peninsula in advance.
When he takes action, it will be easier than ever.
Li Shimin glared and said: "Okay, even if what you said is feasible, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla can slowly grind it down without a large army to suppress the border, but Mengshe Zhao and Linyi cannot, they must win as soon as possible."
Li Yuanji looked at Li Shimin in confusion. Before Li Shimin could explain, he thought of the reason why Li Shimin insisted on taking down Meng Shezhao and Lin Yi. Then he quickly flipped through the strategy written by Li Shimin and confirmed that it was not written in the strategy.
After finding out why he wanted to capture Meng Shezhao and Lin Yi, he slowly said: "Do you want to divide your troops into three groups, and enter the west from the Western Region, Meng Shezhao, and Lin Yi?"
Li Shimin snorted and nodded: "Although I don't know the territory of the West as well as you, I have also read various biographies handed down from the Han Dynasty.
One of them records the way the Han people entered the West.
In addition to entering the West from the Western Regions and having a glimpse of the Western world, the Han people also entered the West from the place where Meng Shezhao was located and had a glimpse of the Western world.
Therefore, if you want to go to the West, there is not only one way to go: the Western Regions.
The road where Meng Shezhao is located is also passable.
Merchants from the West often came to Linyi by boat, and some of the tributes offered by Linyi were similar to those from the Western Regions.
So I guess Linyi can also lead to the west.
Therefore, we have to capture Linyi and Mengshezhao, march in three directions, and spy on the west from three places. Even if one party fails, the other two parties will gain something.
Nor will we fall short.
If we can find a shortcut, it will be easier for us to conquer the West."
After hearing what Li Shimin said, Li Yuanji was shocked by Li Shimin's little idea.
Li Shimin was indeed Li Shimin. With just a few clues, he deduced that there was more than one way to enter the West, and made certain arrangements.
If it were anyone else, they would probably still stubbornly believe that the Central Plains belongs to the world.
Nine times out of ten, outside the Central Plains it is all barbaric land.
Not to mention speculating on the reasons for entering the West and making certain arrangements.
"Then why didn't you write it in the policy?"
Li Yuanji was shocked and couldn't help but ask.
Li Shimin did not mention the purpose of conquering Linyi and Mengshezhao at all in his strategy. He only wrote that Linyi and Mengshezhao must be conquered.
This is also the reason why he believes that Li Shimin needs him to conquer many places.
Li Shimin glared and hummed: "The strategy I wrote is to tell you what you need to do, not why you should do it. If I write all of this in detail, do you think the only thing I will give you is this
A little?"
Li Yuanji suddenly said: "That's true..."
What Li Shimin wrote was calligraphy with a brush, not a pen. It looked as thick as the paper of a book, and what he could write was very limited. It was impossible to reach hundreds of thousands of words, or more, like later books.
Therefore, Li Shimin must write the action plan directly instead of writing the action plan while also providing explanations and annotations.
Li Shimin didn't write like this to save trouble, but this was how everything was written during this period.
They are all mainly brief, and just write down what you want to do as clearly as possible.
The rest is all up to personal interpretation.
If you don't understand, you can call the person concerned over and ask him carefully.
This is the process when the three provinces review memorials.
After the three ministers could not understand the memorial of a certain minister, they would directly call the person concerned to the three provinces for questioning.
If the person concerned is employed abroad, a letter will be sent to inquire.
