When Guo Song returned to the capital, it was already noon the next day. As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the mansion, Butler Wang came up to him and said: "This morning, someone from the palace came to see the envoy. He said that the emperor had summoned him. I said that the envoy had gone to the manor.
, may come back today, so they will ask the envoy to enter the palace as soon as possible after he comes back."
"I see!"
Guo Song helped Xue Tao out of the carriage and said to her: "You should go back to the house first! I will enter the palace now."
"Husband, won't you leave until lunch is finished?"
"It's probably an urgent matter, otherwise the emperor wouldn't summon me. I'll have lunch when I get back."
"Husband, be careful!"
Guo Song nodded, got on his horse, and galloped towards the city with his two followers...
Half an hour later, Guo Song arrived at the Zichen Palace. After waiting outside the palace for a while, a eunuch came out to welcome him and said: "At last, Governor Guo is here. The Holy One is about to send someone to urge him."
"What happened?" Guo Song asked.
"It seems that the Tibetan envoys came and wanted to help the Tang Dynasty regain the Hexi Corridor."
This was indeed unexpected news, but Guo Song wanted to know more about the purpose of Tubo's suggestion.
Not long after, he came to the outside of the royal study. The eunuch went in to report for him. After a while, he came out and said: "The Holy Spirit orders you to come in!"
Guo Song straightened his clothes a little and quickly walked into the imperial study room.
In the Imperial Study Room, Emperor Li Shi was standing by the wall with his hands behind his hands, looking up at the large map on the wall.
Guo Song quickly stepped forward and bowed, "See your Majesty!"
Li Shi nodded and said apologetically: "Aiqing is newly married, but I summoned Aiqing. It is really a matter of great importance. It is related to the future of the Hexi Corridor. I must summon Aiqing to discuss it."
"State affairs are of paramount importance, and all ministers are at your disposal at all times."
Li Shi was very satisfied with Guo Song's attitude. He said slowly: "I'm looking for you because the Tibetan envoys are here. They arrived yesterday afternoon. I asked Han Xiangguo to contact them. The news reported by Han Xiangguo early in the morning was that Tubo sent troops to help.
Let’s take back the Hexi Corridor.”
"What about the conditions?"
Guo Song said with a smile: "I believe Tubo is not here to do good deeds!"
"They set conditions, and they were very harsh. They asked us to give up the four towns in Anxi."
Guo Song pondered for a long time. Li Shi looked at him and asked with a smile: "Do you have any ideas?"
Guo Song hesitated and said: "We can only find it a little strange. The Tubo has occupied nearly half of Anxi. They have now withdrawn from the west of Congling. Logically speaking, it should be easy for them to occupy the entire territory of Anxi. Why do they have to do so?"
Is it necessary to send troops to Hexi in exchange for surrendering the four towns of Anxi?"
Li Shi said: "The Zhengshitang believes that the Tubo state is too weak to seize the four towns of Anxi, so it wants to use this method in exchange for occupying the entire territory of Anxi. As for sending troops to Hexi, I am afraid it is only a symbolic amount of troops."
Guo Song shook his head, "I don't agree with this view!"
Guo Song's statement surprised Li Shi, but it was also expected. He smiled slightly and asked with interest: "What do you think, Aiqing?"
"Wei Chen feels that since the country's power is weak, the national policy should be to shrink, rather than continue to expand and occupy the entire territory of Anxi. At the very least, it should strive to maintain the status quo, so Tubo's proposal is a bit contradictory."
"Can Aiqing see through their true intentions?"
"Wei Chen believes that they may have three intentions. One may be that they are showing weakness, intentionally leaving an impression on the Tang Dynasty that their national power is weak, weakening the Tang Dynasty's guard against them, and creating conditions for them to raid the Tang Dynasty in the future;
The second possibility is that they want to surrender without fighting, and wait until the Tang Dynasty withdraws its troops to give way to Anxi, causing the Anxi countries to completely despair of the Tang Dynasty. Then they can permanently occupy Anxi; the third possibility is that they are also attacking Hexi.
The corridor idea made us think that what we brought in was a foreign aid, but it was actually a wolf."
Li Shi took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Which one do you think is the most likely?"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "Wei Chen personally prefers the second possibility."
"Tell me why!"
"Both the first and the third are tactics, and their effect is only temporary, but the second is a strategy. Once we really give up Anxi on our own initiative, we will completely lose the hearts of all countries. Anxi
From now on, we are no longer connected.”
"But the question is, where will the Tang army in Anxi withdraw its troops? Have you ever considered this?"
Guo Song bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have been to Anxi and know the situation in Anxi better. Tubo may not necessarily let us all withdraw from Anxi. They may suggest that we first let the two towns of Shule and Khotan, and let the Tang army retreat to Kucha."
, it sounds like we can concentrate our forces for defense, and the plan seems feasible, but once we voluntarily give up any town, it means betrayal of the local people, and the Kucha people will no longer trust us, and sooner or later we will lose the entire
Anxi was completely lost and would never come back. Guo Xin told me personally that he would rather live or die with the four towns of Anxi than give up any place. As long as the Tang army never gave up, even if it was occupied by Tibet, we would still have something.
If we give up the day we win back, we will have no chance at all.”
Guo Song's words made Li Shi wake up from his dream. He nodded, "None of the prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty thought of this, but Aiqing was the only one who thought of it. This shows that Aiqing stands higher than them and can see further!"
...........
Guo Song resigned and left. Li Shi paced back and forth in the imperial study with his hands behind his hands. The suggestion put forward by Tubo had made him excited. If Guo Song hadn't poured cold water on it in time, maybe he would have really agreed and finally recovered.
The Hexi Corridor has always been his dream.
Like all young emperors who have just succeeded to the throne, Li Shi has great ambitions and ambitions. He not only longs to recover Hexi, but also longs to recover Beiting and Anxi, restore the glory created by his ancestors, and let the flag of the Tang Dynasty be planted in Congling again.
But all the ministers opposed the Tang Dynasty's re-opening to the west. The reason was very simple. Internal unrest, the vassal towns in Hebei, the Central Plains, Jianghuai and even Bashu were like cancerous tumors all over the texture of the Tang Dynasty, seriously eroding the country of the Tang Dynasty and making the Tang Dynasty
Just like there were two imperial courts, the internal instability of the Tang Dynasty seriously restricted the energy of the imperial court and made it difficult for the imperial court to maintain its financial resources.
Although the confiscation of the wealth of Li Fuguo, Yu Chaoen, Lu Sigong, Yuan Zai and others gave the imperial court a breather of relief from its depleted finances, after all, this was just an accidental gain and could not last long. The national power of the Tang Dynasty simply could not bear to fight on two fronts at the same time.
.
It’s just that Li Shi was unwilling to give in. This was obviously a rare opportunity. Both Tubo and Uighur suffered losses. Tubo had insufficient people and weak national power, while Uighur faced the challenge of Ge Luolu and was unable to invade the Tang Dynasty. Such a good opportunity, but he turned a blind eye.
Watch it slip from your hands without being able to catch it.
Is there a way to regain the Hexi Corridor, Beiting and Anxi at the lowest cost?
Only now did Li Shi realize his father's foresight and put Guo Song in the position of Ganzhou. Guo Song was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. He dragged Xue Yantuo's tribe to death at such a small price in Fengzhou. His father obviously
He also saw this, and his thoughts were the same as his own, to regain Hexi and Anxi at the minimum cost.
Although the late emperor Li Yu never told his son Li Shi why he appointed Guo Song as the governor of Ganzhou, Li Shi truly understood his father's foresight in making this decision from an emperor's perspective.
At this time, a eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Han is here!"
Li Shi nodded, "Let him come in!"
After a while, Han Huang quickly walked into the imperial study, bowed and saluted, "See your majesty!"
"No gifts, please give me a seat!"
A palace maid brought a soft pillow to Han Huang. Han Huang thanked him and sat down.
"How was the discussion with the Tibetan envoy?" Li Shi asked.
"Weichen is here to report this matter!"
Li Shi nodded and motioned for Han Huang to continue.
"Tubo proposed a new compromise plan. They could understand that the Tang army in Anxi had nowhere to retreat, so they promised that the Tang army could continue to stay in Qiuci and Yanji. As long as the towns of Shule and Yutian were given to Tubo, Tubo would send troops
Five thousand troops attacked Shazhou and attacked from head to tail with the Tang army, driving the Shatuo army out of the Hexi Corridor."
Li Shi's eyes narrowed and he asked calmly: "What about the opinions of the Political Affairs Hall?"
"The political hall thinks that it is difficult to defend the four towns with the troops in Anxi. It is better to shrink the troops and defend the two towns of Kucha and Yanji. Tubo's plan is acceptable, but the key is that Tubo must fulfill its promise and return Shazhou to the Tang Dynasty.
This is the key to this entire agreement."
Li Shi sighed softly in his heart. In terms of strategic vision and far-sightedness, the prime ministers in Zhengshitang were really not as good as Guo Song.
He said slowly: "Don't you think it's strange that a Tibetan envoy can directly decide on a new compromise plan without reporting it to Zanpu?"
"Weichen believes that the so-called compromise plan is actually Tibet's real negotiation plan."
Li Shi shook his head, "I cannot accept any of Tubo's plans for Anxi!"
Han Huang was startled, "Your Majesty, why is this?"
"People's hearts!"
Li Shi said coldly: "As long as the Tang army abandons any town in Anxi, it will be tantamount to betraying the people of Anxi, and we will completely lose the people of Anxi. This is the real intention of Tubo. Assisting in attacking the Hexi Corridor is just a cover."
Han Huang couldn't say a word for a long time.
Li Shi took a few steps with his hands behind his back and continued: "The Anxi Tang Army defended the four towns for decades, from young to old. They did not fall on the battlefield, but in the end they fell at the court's negotiation table. How sad.
!”
He turned back and said: "As long as I am still the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, I will never allow such ridiculous things to happen!"
Han Huang was so ashamed that he stood up and saluted and said: "I didn't think carefully and made a mistake!"