Except for the fact that he himself is the Minister of War, the war in the Western Regions is naturally within his responsibilities. In addition, the newly appointed Anxi Protector of Hejian County, Li Xiaogong, Sima Xue Rengui, and even Gao Jiacheng, whom he has never met before, are all in the Western Regions now.
Personal future is no longer Fang Jun's primary concern. He knows better than anyone how ferocious the Arabs are. In this era, Arab warriors armed with faith, in order to conquer land and spread faith, do so without any legal or moral constraints.
, raging like locusts, they don't care whether they are soldiers or civilians, killing people in the fields is just normal, massacring cities on slopes is even more commonplace.
Once the war fails, all Tang troops may be massacred...
However, even if Fang Jun wants to support the Western Regions now, he is unable to do so. The entire empire's military power is leaning eastward, and all eyes are focused on Goguryeo. Where is there any remaining strength to allocate troops to support the Western Regions?
If we go to the Western Regions, it will take at least a year to go back and forth. If the war situation is unfavorable, it may happen in two or three years. The main force of the country is in Liaodong. If a guard horse is dispatched from Guanzhong to rush to the Western Regions, it will inevitably cause a war in the capital.
The earth's defenses are empty.
Now that His Majesty Li Er is in charge, there is no risk of anyone causing rebellion, but in the spring of next year His Majesty Li Er will lead several guards and horses to conquer Goguryeo, and he will definitely leave the crown prince to supervise the country. By that time...
If someone develops a disloyal heart and is willing to take extraordinary risks to carry out military remonstrance, the consequences will be disastrous.
Therefore, no matter how worried it is, the current Anxi Protectorate can only rely on its own strength to fight against the Arab army. Even if it cannot win a complete victory, it must maintain its strength. Even if it loses some cities and land, it will not matter. As long as the Eastern Expedition is won
, hundreds of thousands of troops returned to the country, providing the strongest support to the Western Regions every minute.
Fang Juncai didn't believe that the Arabs who practiced slash-and-burn farming could defeat the Tang Dynasty's armed Modao team and musketeers just by relying on their bravery!
I'm afraid that Li Xiaogong is greedy for credit and is blindly optimistic about the situation. If something goes wrong, it will be difficult to reverse the situation...
Li Tai sighed: "Who would have known that the British general would sweep through all the countries in the Western Regions, and all the barbarians would bow to his ears. In the blink of an eye, the situation would deteriorate to this point."
Fang Jun said: "Not only that, although the Arab army is advancing strongly, the Anxi Governor's Mansion is facing the enemy head-on. Even if there is a defeat, it will not lead to a rout. At worst, it will shrink to Gaochang, cut off the Silk Road, and fight with the Arabs."
It will be a protracted war. After the Eastern Expedition, the army will be mobilized to support and then fight to the death with the Arabs. The most feared are the Tubos. If the Tubos come down from the plateau and penetrate into the heart of the Western Regions, the Anxi Protectorate will
You will be attacked from both sides, and with one careless move, your entire army will be destroyed."
"No way?"
Li Tai's face turned pale and he had questions in his mouth, but in his heart he believed that this was very likely to happen.
In the past two years, Tubo has been very tight-knit since his marriage proposal was rejected, which made him neglect for a while. But everyone knows Tubo's wolf ambitions. If it weren't for Fang Jun's "highland barley wine" plan, the nobles inside Tubo
He fell into the eyes of money and spent all day busy gathering highland barley to brew wine to make a fortune. He was afraid that the Tibetan army had already taken advantage of the trend and attacked the capital of Tang Dynasty.
The two countries have long been at odds with each other.
Fang Jun rubbed his forehead and said depressedly: "Not to mention whether Tubo has enough strength to start a war with the Tang Dynasty. Their Zanpu is extremely far-sighted and only needs to send a strong army into Congling to intimidate the countries in the Western Regions, Anxi How dare the Duhufu turn a blind eye? In order to prevent being attacked from both sides, no matter what kind of request Tubo made, the Tang Dynasty had no choice but to agree. Otherwise, Tubo would invade the Western Regions and cut off the Silk Road in anger, and even march eastward to cut off the Yumen Pass. On the way out of the border, the Anxi Protectorate will be isolated in the Western Regions, completely cutting off the connection with Chang'an, and becoming a lone army."
Li Tai remained silent.
Although he is now focused on the cultural undertakings of the empire, he also has an unusual foresight in politics, and he can see the crisis after the loss of the Western Region at a glance.
Although the benefits of maritime trade have already surpassed the wealth brought by the Silk Road, the Tang Dynasty must rely on the existence of the Silk Road to coerce the countries in the Western Regions to obey the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Once the Silk Road is cut off or even abandoned, the Tang Dynasty will soon face the conflict. The deadly battles among the countries in the Western Regions.
What's more, without the input of the Silk Road, Guanzhong's status in the empire will soon be surpassed by Jiangnan. In order to prevent weak branches from becoming stronger and the following political situations occur, we can only abandon Chang'an and move the capital. Jiangnan.
Abandoning the most deeply-rooted area of the Li Tang royal family and heading to the territory where the Jiangnan gentry has occupied for hundreds of thousands of years, the future political situation of the empire will fall into fierce turmoil. If you are not careful, the collapse of the empire is not impossible...
Fang Jun was half lying on the bed, frowning in deep thought, deducing the development of the situation in his mind. After a while, he suddenly shouted to the door: "Call Wei Ying in!"
"Here!"
The servant guarding the door took the order and left.
Li Tai asked: "Why did you call the guard eagle?"
He naturally knew that Wei Ying was the leader of Fang Jun's personal soldiers. He was smart, capable and loyal, but he just didn't understand why he called Wei Ying at this time.
Fang Jun explained: "If our prediction is correct, Tubo will indeed take the opportunity to send troops to Congling to invade the countries in the Western Regions. It is unlikely that they will openly go to war with the Tang Dynasty. After all, Tubo's domestic food reserves have long been destroyed by highland barley wine." There is not much left, and it is difficult to support a war, so their purpose is more likely to take advantage of the situation to coerce Datang into agreeing to some conditions that they would never agree to, such as... a marriage."
Li Tai slapped his thigh and said angrily: "Mother! I know that Lao Shizi Zanpu is not a good guy. He failed to propose marriage twice. This time he will definitely use the same trick again! He didn't weigh it himself, so he just How can he be worthy of the daughter of our Li Tang royal family? Not to mention coveting our books on medicine, arithmetic, astrology, architecture, etc. He has no chance!"
In the past, Li Tai had expressed his disapproval of the marriage with Tubo. In his opinion, how could the golden branches and jade leaves of the Li and Tang royal family marry into a bitter and cold land like Tubo to serve the barbaric Lao Shizi Zanpu?
It's more about not being able to let go of face.
However, after he founded and took charge of the "Datang Culture Promotion Association", he became more and more aware of the importance of culture and knowledge to a country and a nation.
The Han dynasties came and went, and several generations changed. However, even if the dynasty was at the end of the dynasty, the world was in chaos and the people were in dire straits. As long as a new dynasty was born, the political situation was stable and the officials were in charge of the Qingming Dynasty, within a few years the Han dynasty would be prosperous and peaceful, with strong soldiers and horses, and the power of the world would be conquered.
Of course, this includes the industrious nature of the Han people since ancient times, but more importantly, it is because the Han people have the most advanced knowledge in farming, medical care, arithmetic, architecture, etc. in the world. With this knowledge, the Han people can
Build a home again on the abandoned land, and it will be more prosperous than before!
The barbarians are different. They grow freely in the frontier and face the worst natural environment. If they want to rise, they need to save several generations or even ten generations, dozens of generations of hard work. However, once they fail, they will fall into dozens of
To the point of hundreds of years of decline.
If the Tubo people had learned the knowledge of the Han people and relied on their fierce and brave temperament, wouldn't they have become the life and death enemies of the Han people?
Therefore, King Li Tai of Wei is the most resolute "hawk" in the court today. If the barbarians are not convinced, then beat them to convince them. Even if they cannot be defeated for a while, they still have to work hard on their own and save up for several years and ten years.
Fight to the death!
Marriage?
That is absolutely impossible.
Fang Jun was very pleased that Li Tai had such an understanding.
Throughout the ages, there have always been a large group of so-called Confucian scholars who are greedy for comfort, why not eat minced meat, advocating the gimmick of China, a country of etiquette, and believe that war is an unnecessary means, not to mention that countless food and wages are consumed when a war begins.
, people will die, why not send one or two princesses to express the sincerity of the Central Plains dynasty, along with some gold and silver treasures and advanced technologies, turn gold and silver into jade and silk, influence the barbarians with ethics, wouldn't it be happy if everyone coexists peacefully?
Is it because they don't understand the harm caused by this move?
Of course not.
Even though they have the limitations imposed by the times, they may not be able to be seen clearly by future generations, but these people who have been able to hold high positions in various eras, hold great power, and even control the lifeline of the dynasty are all outstanding talents of the generation, and there is no one.