Tai Chi Hall, Li Shimin's study.

After the restructuring of the army, Wei Chigong succeeded Fang Xuanling as the secretary of the military department. He hurriedly reported to Li Shimin with a side newspaper.

While reading the side newspaper, Li Shimin sent someone to call Li Jing and others to come over to discuss.

After a while, the three princes and important ministers arrived.

Li Shimin reported on the situation of Tubo's attack on Tuhun Valley.

The Tuhun Valley was mainly entrenched in the area of present-day Qinghai and Gannan, with a population of 670,000 and an army of 170,000, and they had been harassing the Central Plains since the Sui Dynasty. It is currently in a state of hostility with the Tang Dynasty.

Not long ago, Tubo sent people to make friends with the Tang Dynasty, and Li Shimin personally met with the Tibetan delegation and reached a willingness to have friendly exchanges with each other. Now that Tubo is attacking Tuhun Valley, on the surface, it is extremely beneficial to the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin asked: "What do you all think about the Tubo attack on the Tuhun Valley?" ”

Fang Xuanling first said: "Congratulations to the emperor, Tuhun Valley has always been an enemy of my Datang, Tubo attacked Tuhun Valley, even if it can't be defeated, it can weaken their strength, this matter is a good thing for Datang." ”

The three princes and ministers all thought so.

Li Shimin asked: "So what countermeasures should we take?" ”

Prince Li Chengqian said: "Two groups of Hu people are fighting, what do you have to do with the Tang Dynasty? The more intense they fight, the more benefits they will do to Datang. Erchen thought that the court should sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and ignored it. ”

His words were supported by the eldest grandson Wuji and Wei Zheng.

Li Ke believed that it was necessary to actively respond to the offensive of Tubo, and he said: "Tubo and the Tang Dynasty are friendly countries, and the Tuhun Valley is the enemy of the Tang Dynasty. Erchen thought that the imperial court should send troops to join forces with Tubo to destroy the Tuhun Valley. ”

His words were endorsed by Hou Junji and Wei Chigong, and Li Jing also expressed his approval.

Li Tai did not express his opinion, and he expressed no interest in military matters at all.

Now, in front of Li Shimin, there are two roads, one is to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and the other is to cooperate with Tubo to attack the Tuhun Valley.

At this moment, Cen Wenwen suddenly said, "I don't know what His Royal Highness King Liang's opinion is?" ”

Li Ke glared at Cen Wenwen dissatisfiedly, and said in his heart: "There are so many people here, all of them are princes and important ministers of the imperial court, why are you mentioning the three evils?" ”

Li Chengqian was also a little dissatisfied, and he also looked at Cen Wenwen with reproachful eyes.

Cen Wenwen looked at his nose and nose as if nothing had happened.

Li Shimin smiled: "By the way, King Liang will be back in a few days, I should listen to his opinion."

There was no opinion on this. The three princes slandered in their hearts: "This three evils, why does he have a share in everything?" ”

Next, Li Shimin expressed his opinion, he was inclined to unite with Tibet to attack the Tuhun Valley, and he instructed the General Staff to make preparations in accordance with this opinion for the time being.

Soon after, Li Su himself did not return, but his recital arrived. After reading Li Su's recital, Li Shimin fell into deep contemplation.

Soon, in his study, everyone was called again to discuss. After reading Li Su's recital. Everyone has their say.

The crown prince Li Chengqian's proposal to wait and see what happens last time was rejected by Li Shimin. He has now changed his tune and supported Li Shimin's opinion of attacking Tuhun Valley. He said: "The son thinks that my father's opinion last time

is very correct, Tuhun Valley is the enemy of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo is a friend of the Tang Dynasty, King Liang's suggestion is very absurd, how can there be any reason to help the enemy deal with his friends? ”

Li Ke's proposal last time to join forces with Tubo to attack the Tuhun Valley was adopted, and this time of course he insisted on his own opinion. He said: "Erchen agrees with His Royal Highness the Prince's opinion, or send troops to defeat Tuhun Valley, the old enemy of the Tang Dynasty. ”

After speaking, he specially glanced at Hou Junji and the others, meaning that you all supported this opinion last time!

Unexpectedly, Li Jing said excitedly: "The opinion of His Royal Highness King Liang is the old man who seeks the country." Surrender. ”

Wei Zheng said: "The minister agrees with the general's opinion, this is the most beneficial choice for the Tang Dynasty at present." ”

Wei Chigong said: "Datang is indeed not ready for a full-scale war with Tibet. Longyou Dao has fought with the Tubo army several times before, and the combat effectiveness of the Tubo army is very strong, especially our army, as soon as it enters Tubo, it feels out of breath and cannot fight at all. ”

It turned out that Li Su, the king of Liang, gave a detailed introduction to the changes in Tubo over the years, especially the courage and talent of Songtsen Gampo himself. Through these introductions, it basically subverted the understanding of the high-level of the Tang Dynasty on the ignorance and backwardness of Tubo.

They suddenly discovered that right next to Datang, there was a powerful enemy lurking with hundreds of thousands of soldiers!

The western border of the Tang Longyou Road borders with Tibet. Between the northeastern part of Tibet and the western regions of the Tang Dynasty, there is the Tuhun Valley.

The situation is similar to that of India, China and Pakistan. The Tang Dynasty did not have the ability to wage a full-scale war with Tibet, and Tibet was not prepared for this. The location of Tuhun Valley is extremely important.

Li Su suggested that the Tang Dynasty had just quelled the civil strife and annexed the grasslands and the Western Regions, and what the current thing to do was to recuperate. Therefore, in the current situation, it is better to maintain the status quo. Leaving the Tuhun Valley to contain Tubo.

Therefore, he suggested that the Tuhun Valley should be aided in terms of war materials, and that reinforcements should be sent when necessary to ensure that the Tuhun Valley would not be annexed by the Tibetans. As long as the Tuhun Valley exists, Tubo will not have the ability to attack Datang, which will win time for Datang to recuperate.

Fang Xuanling said: "In the recital of His Royal Highness King Liang, there is a sentence that the minister agrees with very much - between countries, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. Tuhun Valley is currently in danger, and Datang will be able to win Tuhun Valley's gratitude and respect at this critical moment, and will be able to turn enemies into friends. The minister supported the proposal of His Royal Highness King Liang. ”

The crown prince Li Chengqian said unconvinced: "The Tang Dynasty helped Tuhun Valley, didn't that offend Tubo, aren't you afraid of Tubo's revenge?" ”

Li Jing said with a smile: "His Royal Highness King Liang's strategy is a conspiracy, even if Tubo can clearly see the intentions of the Tang Dynasty, he does not have the ability to start a war with the Tang Dynasty and the Tuhun Valley at the same time." In this case, Tubo will not only not start a war with Datang, but will take the initiative to befriend Datang and prevent Datang and Tuhun Valley from jointly attacking them. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince need not worry. ”

At this time, Li Tai, the king of Wei, spoke, he had already seen the situation clearly, and he said: "Erchen also agrees with the opinion of King Liang. ”

At this time, the eldest grandson Wuji said: "The minister agrees with His Royal Highness King Liang's opinion, and at the same time there is a proposal - His Royal Highness King Liang is familiar with foreign affairs, so this matter will be handed over to His Royal Highness King Liang to do, and you can get twice the result with half the effort." ”

The eldest grandson Wuji was worried that Li Su would return to Chang'an, and he just took advantage of this incident to prevent him from coming back.