His Majesty Li Er frowned deeply and said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid it will be too late to wait for a month!"
"Tuyuhun really chose a good time to invade this time. I was caught off guard by Datang!"
Li Jing also felt a headache and said: "Otherwise, if we wait two months for the rice harvest in Jiannan Road, all this will be solved!"
"The news that Tubo, Eastern Turks, and Goguryeo were destroyed by the Tang Dynasty should have spread."
"I never expected that they would dare to send troops southward at this time!"
"Although as long as we delay it for a while, Datang will have no worries."
"But Liangzhou and other thirteen state capitals on the border are probably going to be in chaos for a while!"
His Majesty Li Er thought deeply and said: "I'm afraid this is not a coincidence. Tuyuhun should have come prepared!"
"Why did your Majesty say this?" Li Jing asked doubtfully.
His Majesty Li Er continued: "We, the Tang Dynasty, continuously mobilized troops and consumed a lot of food and grass, plus the fortifications in Liaodong and the transactions with Tibet."
"The commotion is a bit loud, so Tuyuhun will definitely notice it!"
"I just didn't expect that they would be able to seize this opportunity!"
Speaking of this, His Majesty Li Er's eyes flashed with cold light!
"I actually underestimated them before!"
"Your Majesty, does he have any good plan to deal with this matter?"
Li Jing continued to ask: "According to the speed of their march, I am afraid they will arrive in Liangzhou within half a month!"
"Otherwise we want to hold them back temporarily and wait for the food and grass to arrive before we can counterattack?"
"No!"
His Majesty Li Er shook his head decisively and said: "As a result, the people on the border will definitely suffer!"
“These people must be kept outside our borders in the Tang Dynasty!”
"Call all the ministers here immediately to discuss matters!"
After saying that, he ordered people to inform all the ministers to rush to the Tai Chi Hall!
Half an hour later, all the officials of the third rank and above of the Tang Dynasty came to the Tai Chi Hall with confused expressions on their faces.
His Majesty had already informed about the cancellation of today's morning meeting, so why did he suddenly summon everyone here in such a hurry?
After they entered the Tai Chi Hall, they soon discovered that something was wrong with the atmosphere. His Majesty Li Er sat on the dragon chair as sinkingly as water, while the other ministers who had arrived in advance all stood with their hands down, and no one spoke.
Although there were ten thousand doubts in their hearts, no one dared to ask them.
Looking at this posture, something big must be happening!
After everyone had arrived, His Majesty Li Er said in a deep voice: "Just now, an urgent report came from the northwest border."
"Fusu from Tuyuhun is in command, commanding 200,000 prairie cavalry, who are heading south and will arrive in Liangzhou within half a month."
"They want to start a war with me, the Tang Dynasty!"
After the ministers heard the news, they were stunned for a moment and then began to discuss it one after another.
Especially those civil servants, they are not too familiar with the current food and grass situation in Datang!
They discovered the key to the problem right away!
"Quiet!" His Majesty Li Er said in a deep voice.
As his words fell, the sound of needles could be heard in Tai Chi Hall again.
He continued: "You must be aware of the situation we are facing now!"
"The food and fodder of the Tang Dynasty cannot support an army of more than 100,000 fighting for several months."
"At least we have to wait until this season's Su rice matures!"
"But Tuyuhun obviously has no intention of giving this time!"
"My dear friends, do you have any good advice?"
All the ministers frowned and thought, and even the military generals who were always warlike did not speak.
They are indeed not afraid of war, but they need food and grass to fight! How can they fight without food and grass?
After a while, Changsun Wuji stepped forward, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Tuyuhun's behavior is quite confusing."
"Logically speaking, our Tang Dynasty has a powerful army now, and it is definitely not wise for Tuyuhun to provoke us at this time."
"Although our Datang's food supply has been mobilized on a large scale in the near future."
"But even if they knew this, they would never know how much had been mobilized!"
"If you say that Tuyuhun calculated that our food supply in the Tang Dynasty would not be enough and took a preemptive strike, then I don't believe it!"
"It's not that I look down on these barbarians, but this is indeed not a decision they can make!"
After hearing Changsun Wuji's words, the ministers all fell into deep thought.
His Majesty Li Er continued to speak: "What the auxiliary machine means is that Tuyuhun has no intention of attacking by force... It's just a bluff?"
Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "That's exactly it!"
"Even without Su Dao."
"As long as we delay for a few months and collect food from all over the country, our army in the Tang Dynasty will be able to relax."
"Their move will only bring some trouble to the Tang Dynasty, but it won't hurt our muscles and bones. They don't understand this!"
"After several battles in the past two years, Tuyuhun must have been frightened to death!"
"Tuyuhun's military strength is far inferior to that of Tulei."
"We, the Tang Dynasty, wiped out Tubo in one fell swoop. It would be strange if they weren't afraid!"
"I think they are worried that they will follow in the footsteps of Tubo!"
"That's why I want to come here and get some benefits while my Datang shows its flaws!"
His Majesty Li Er thought suspiciously for a while and felt that Changsun Wuji's analysis made sense.
The area of Tuyuhun is nearly one million square meters, which is quite a small country.
Presumably their rulers will not be brainless people. Wouldn't it be a fool's dream to defeat the Tang Dynasty?
His Majesty Li Er continued to ask: "What do you think Tuyuhun's intention is?"
Changsun Wuji said conclusively: "I think they may come to seek peace!"
Summation?
After Changsun Wuji finished speaking, the Tai Chi Hall suddenly became lively again!
In history, incidents such as Tuyuhun bandits harassing Liangzhou occurred from time to time.
Originally, this kind of thing was not surprising. This was the usual behavior of the nomads.
But this time it was a little different from before.
When the Tuyuhun people went south before, they fought guerrilla warfare, fighting and then running away, giving full play to the mobility of the prairie cavalry.
It was rare to gather a large number of soldiers and horses to fight Datang head-on, because they couldn't beat him!
This time Fusu still came with a mighty force of 200,000 prairie cavalry.
There is indeed something abnormal!
After Changsun Wuji finished speaking, the ministers fell into deep thought, and then began to discuss.
Come with 200,000 cavalry to sue for peace?
This statement sounds a bit outrageous at first glance.
But if you think about it carefully, it doesn’t seem entirely unreasonable!
During the Wude period, Tuyuhun took advantage of the early rise of the Tang Dynasty and had no time to visit the west. He frequently disturbed the western border and blocked the transportation between China and the west.
At that time, Li Er had not yet ascended the throne, and Datang dealt with it passively by making money transactions.
It must have been this move that gave Tuyuhun a taste of the sweetness.
Later, in the early Zhenguan period, Tuyuhun took advantage of the ongoing civil strife in the Tang Dynasty and continued to invade, causing harm to all the eleven border states.
But after the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Turks and Tubo, Tuyuhun completely disappeared!
