His Majesty Li Er signaled Li Ji to drink tea, then he picked up the tea cup and took a sip, after thinking about the sweetness of the tea, he asked: "In your opinion, how should we deal with it?"
Li Ji lowered his head to drink tea and remained silent.
Don't you know how to deal with it? I think back then you were one of the few invincible commanders in the world. You didn't know how to strategize when marching, but you were very organized, but now you insist on asking me...
What the holy will is is clearly revealed.
He is not like Wei Zheng or Sun Fuga. It is not that he refuses to offend Yan Zhijian, but his ability to judge the situation is better than those two people. He clearly knows that even if he remonstrates with death at this moment, the emperor will not change his mind, so why bother to cause incompatibility between the monarch and his ministers? What about breaking up happily?
Therefore, he could only respond in silence, silently declaring his position, which not only expressed his attitude, but also gave the emperor a step down, so as not to cause embarrassment.
As soon as His Majesty Li Er saw Li Ji's face, he knew what he was thinking. For many years, the emperor and his ministers still had this tacit understanding.
Not only some emotions.
How to deal with the situation in the Western Regions? The most trustworthy way is to dispatch an army from Guanzhong to the Western Regions to provide reinforcements, and at the same time withdraw an army from Liaodong and return to defend Guanzhong. As long as the army leaves the customs, Tubo will surely lie on the plateau. , dare not act rashly, and then go to Gaochang City to join the Anxi Army. Even if the Arabs are all tigers and wolves, the Western Region is as stable as a rock...
However he cannot do this.
The Eastern Expedition is a national policy, and it is the biggest cornerstone for Li Er to achieve his grand plan of becoming an emperor through the ages. There is absolutely no room for mistakes, and no risk can be tolerated. Regardless of the current situation, everyone in the government and the military, both inside and outside, has confidence in the Eastern Expedition. Manman thought that the army's march to Liaodong would be a devastating battle, and that Goguryeo's tiny territory was vulnerable to a single blow. However, His Majesty Li Er did not dare to be careless at all.
Everyone in the world cursed Yang Guang for his cruelty. However, as a genius who had admired him extremely since he was a child, His Majesty Li Er knew that his talents and strategies were by no means as bad as what the world had said. On the contrary, he even believed that Yang Guang's achievements were even in his later years. Among all the emperors from ancient times to the present, he can also be ranked at the forefront.
It was such an emperor who denounced Fang Qiu and looked down upon the world. With the Sui Dynasty as his foundation, he raised millions of troops to conquer Goguryeo, but he still came back defeated. How could he not be taken seriously by His Majesty Li Er?
If you want to ensure that the Eastern Expedition is foolproof, you must gather the maximum strength and give a thunderous blow. You must not let Goguryeo have half the power to recover. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to withdraw the troops. As long as the enemy cannot reach Chang'an City, Liaodong The army must never withdraw even a single soldier.
The warning of the former Sui Dynasty was not far away. Goguryeo, which was regarded as a small place, broke Yang Guang's teeth, which indirectly led to the fall of the Sui Dynasty. All Yang Guang's grand plans and hegemony disappeared, leaving him with eternal infamy...
His Majesty Li Er did not want his long-planned plan to be hindered and end up following in the footsteps of Yang Guang.
The army in Liaodong cannot be withdrawn, and the army in Guanzhong must maintain the stability of the country, especially after the personal expedition in the spring next year. It will be responsible for guarding the capital, and it is impossible to be transferred to the Western Regions... Therefore, no matter how dangerous the current situation in the Western Regions is, Anxi The army can only fight alone.
As long as we can persist until the Eastern Expedition is won, hundreds of thousands of troops will be deployed at will to assist the Western Regions.
Even if the most unoptimistic situation occurs, His Majesty Li Er does not believe that the Anxi Protectorate, with Hejian Prince Li Xiaogong in charge, will be surrounded and destroyed by the enemy within a year.
His Majesty Li Er said: "Then I will order the Ministry of War to urgently allocate a load of grain and fodder materials to be transported to the Anxi Protectorate, and write a message to Li Xiaogong, ordering him to stand firm and wait for help, not to act rashly."
Li Ji added: "The king of Hejian County should also be given full responsibility for dealing with the enemy. No matter how much land is lost, no matter how many soldiers are lost, as long as he persists for one year, he will have no merits."
The Tang Army was ultimately honored, and Li Ji was afraid that once the Anxi Army lost its city, territory, and troops, he would be so ashamed and angry that he would die to wash away the shame with blood, leading to a larger-scale rout.
As long as we can hold on to Gaochang City, wait until the army rushes to help, and coordinate internally and externally, we will naturally have a chance of victory.
His Majesty Li Er said happily: "Then I will approve Fang Jun's memorial and order him to act in accordance with the order."
Li Ji smiled bitterly and said: "Although Fang Shaobao is not from the military, he is the best soldier in the empire. He has always moved forward with passion and courage, and he has never failed to conquer cities and territories. I am afraid that it is difficult to accept such a compromise.
Now, as Minister of the Ministry of War, he increasingly regards the soldiers of the world as brothers and sisters, allowing him to sit back and watch the Anxi Army struggling to support itself despite being surrounded by possible powerful enemies and being attacked from both sides. However, the central government did not send a single soldier to help.
There is some talk."
When His Majesty Li Er heard this, he suddenly felt a little worried. He stroked his beard and said distressedly: "Sometimes this stick is cunning and slippery, making people want to kill him, and sometimes it is stubborn and even eight horses can't pull it off when it's done right."
It’s just that I’m going back to you. At worst, I’ll report my illness to the court in the next few days, and no foreign ministers will be allowed to see him. If you want to make trouble with him, you can go to the Ministry of War yourself.”
Thinking about Fang Jun's temper, His Majesty Li Er could almost predict Fang Jun's reaction after receiving this order... He immediately made a move and decided to avoid it.
In the final analysis, he was in the wrong, because the entire empire's military power had to conquer Goguryeo in order to achieve his grand goal of becoming an emperor for eternity, and the Anxi army also had to make sacrifices for this goal.
Li Ji was immediately stunned and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, don't you miss the friendship between the humble ministers in front of the horse and behind the horse?"
According to Fang Jun's temper, if you avoid seeing him, he will have no choice but to go to the Political Affairs Hall to make a fuss. The guy can be more scrupulous in front of you. If you get angry, you can slap him, but you can go to the Political Affairs Hall.
He makes a lot of noise, who can cure him?
His Majesty Li Er was also very embarrassed, and said helplessly: "After all, I am the king of a country, so I can't beat a minister every two days, right? But if I don't beat him, I really can't do anything to him!"
Hitting the board every day is simply a joke. Is it child's play to be punished with a stick?
But if he doesn't stop the fight, the fight will start, and His Majesty Li Er really has no other way to deal with him... Then he can only let Li Ji bear Fang Jun's anger.
The emperor has said so, what else can Li Ji say?
I can only wonder if I can find a way to pretend to be sick and rest for a few days, hiding in my house without seeing outsiders...
*****
Tubo and Datang have a long border. The border between the two countries is as jagged as a canine, and many areas have not been clearly demarcated by the two sides. Conflicts have broken out from time to time for many years.
Luoche City is thousands of miles away from Chang'an, and there are mountains and ravines in the distance. From the eternal snow-capped mountains of Tubo to the deep mountains, poor valleys and dangerous rivers of Sichuan and Sichuan, this journey is between the two countries.
The passage used by merchants is still extremely difficult to walk.
Even Lu Dongzan, a veteran who had traveled to Chang'an many times, took a full month to reach Songzhou, the border between the two countries.
Lu Dongzan knew the importance of this trip. In order to help Tubo seize more benefits from the Tang Dynasty, he had to travel day and night and rush to Chang'an without stopping. Otherwise, if he delayed for one more day, countless changes would happen.
By the time Chang'an arrived, the battle between the Tang Army and the Arabs had ended, and if the Tang Army won, all plans would be in vain.
When he arrived in Songzhou, he went to the post station to hand over Songtsen Gampo's credentials and asked for help along the way at the Datang Post Station.
Postal stations in the Tang Dynasty were very developed. Postal stations were located all over the country. They were divided into three types: land post, water post, and land and water post. Post stations were equipped with post houses for post leaders, post men, and officials to rest and eat.
The transportation line is centered on Chang'an, the capital, and radiates in all directions, reaching directly to the border areas. There is a post station approximately thirty miles away.
Along the way, it is convenient for envoys from various countries to stop at inns, change horses, and have food and lodging.
When the postmen at Songzhou Station saw the Tibetan credentials, they immediately did not dare to neglect them. While arranging food and accommodation for Lu Dongzan and his entourage, they quickly delivered the message to Chang'an.
Although Lu Dongzan repeatedly streamlined his entourage during this mission to the Tang Dynasty, he still had to negotiate with the Tang Dynasty on behalf of Tubo. Personnel, tributes, etc. were indispensable. The mission was still bloated and could not speed up. As for the post station,
A fast horse can travel six steps or one hundred and eighty miles in a day. If there is an emergency military situation, it can travel an additional three hundred miles a day. In the most extreme state, it can even travel five hundred miles a day!
Before the mission arrived in Guanzhong, the news had already been sent to Chang'an, which gave the court enough time to prepare for the reception and discuss countermeasures.
Lu Dongzan rested for one night in Songzhou, and the next morning he got out of bed rubbing his sore waist, gathered the envoys and continued on his way.
But after walking for half a day, we had to stop before we could get out of Songzhou territory.
The horses probably ate bad beans and all had diarrhea...