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Because the arguments in favor of a war against Nanzhao prevailed, Emperor Li Longji also made the decision to wage war against Nanzhao.

At the beginning of October, the imperial court issued an edict to set up the Erhai Road Marching Department, with Gao Shi, a military servant, as the general of the Erhai Road, and Wang Sili, who was reappointed as the general of the Left Guard, and Li Fude, the general of the Right Guard, as the deputy commanders, with 100,000 soldiers to crusade against Nanzhao.

After the court passed the resolution on the conquest of Nanzhao, Li Longji had an edict to the king of Nanzhao, Ge Luofeng, ordering him to go to Chang'an in person to ask for guilt and explain why he was attached to Tubo and confronted the Tang Dynasty. However, after receiving the edict, Luo Feng, the king of Nanzhao, did not follow the imperial court order to remove the domestic annex, let alone come to Chang'an in person to ask for the guilt, but only replied to a document. The document explained the reason for attaching to Tibet, saying that it was because of the coercion of the Tibetan army, and expressed his willingness to make friends with the Tang Dynasty for generations and no longer raise troops to fight Ge Yunyun.

If it was changed to before, the reply of the Nanzhao King Ge Luofeng could also be accepted by the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Dynasty, but now that Tubo has been destroyed, and because of the defeat of the previous several expeditions to Nanzhao, Prime Minister Wei Jiansu and others did not sell the accounts of Nanzhao, and repeatedly told Emperor Li Longji that he would completely pacify Nanbo and bring Nanzhao land under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, so as not to leave future troubles. In the end, Li Longji agreed to raise a large army to crusade against Nanzhao.

Under Yang Xi's suggestion, Gao Shi also asked several times to lead the army to the expedition, Yang Xi and Guo Ziyi also said good things for him, and finally Li Longji agreed to take Gao Shi as the general manager of the Erhai Road march, and ordered him to lead Wang Sili, Li Fude, Chen Huiguang, Hao Tingyu, Li Baoyu and others to be the sub-managers, raise very elite troops, and crusade against Nanzhao.

The attention of the Tang Dynasty was once again focused on the upcoming war, and many officials were working hard to prepare for it.

This war can be carried out, in which Yang Xi's function is indispensable, he tried to persuade Li Longji through a variety of channels, and finally Li Longji agreed to go to war against Nanzhao. Yang Xi's theory of "feeding war with war" was supported by many ministers of the DPRK and China, and the court and the people would not be burdened by foreign wars, and there was not much reason for many people to oppose it.

If you catch another 108,000 Nanzhao prisoners. Many of Datang's infrastructure projects are no longer without labor.

Although Yang Xi felt that frequent wars would make the court aggravate any taxes, he still hoped that there would be wars, so that the court's attention would be diverted to foreign wars, and there would definitely be fewer battles between the court and the court, otherwise he would have a very sad time during the period of filial piety.

He didn't want to have a fight in the court in the two years of his filial piety because of factional struggles and the issue of the crown prince, and even the fight was very fierce.

After the imperial court issued an edict to fight, Yang Xi also personally went over to say hello to Gao Shi.

"Brother Duff, you have won the post of marching commander as you wished, and I hope that you can live up to expectations and achieve a great victory in this battle! Avenge the defeat of our Tang army at the Nanzhao over the years. This is also a wish for my father. He can be messed up in Nanzhao's affairs. ”

When Yang Guozhong was in power. Although he deliberately concealed the defeat in the Nanzhao War, it was eventually known, and it almost became a joke, an excuse for political opponents to attack Yang Guozhong. Yang Guozhong was made disgraced. Now that Yang Guozhong has passed away, the dead are the greatest, Yang Xi hopes to do something good for Yang Guozhong, repair Nanzhao fiercely, and even destroy it.

Yang Xi also hopes that because of this battle, Gao Shi will have some more combat exploits and be promoted.

Gao Shi almost completely understood what Yang Xi meant, and promised vigorously, saying that he would be cautious and not repeat the mistakes of previous years. We must strive for troops to enter Erhai Lake, destroy Nanzhao, and expand the territory for the Tang Dynasty.

After Gao Shi received the edict from the imperial court, he also immediately made preparations and collected all the emergency situations between him and Nanzhao in the past few years. Prepare to take a closer look, and ask the imperial court to let the men and horses who are ready to go to the south for training to adapt to the climate and terrain of the south.

Not to fight unprepared battles, this is one of the most basic essentials for a general, and Gao Shi knows this very well.

The Einsatzgruppen team, which has already numbered about 2,000 people, has already been dispatched to the south one step earlier.

Most of the places where the special forces train and operate are in the north, and they are not very familiar with the situation in the south, which requires a process of training and adaptation. Earlier than the large army went to the south, there was a few months of adaptation and training process, Yang Xi felt that they could fully adapt to the climate and environment of the south, and made great contributions in this campaign.

When the whole court was busy preparing for this battle, Guo Ziyi came to visit Yang Xi's mansion.

He came to Yang Xi to talk to him about his little grandson.

"Ziliang, isn't this expedition to Nanzhao a bit too hasty?" Guo Ziyi asked Yang Xi this question straight to the point.

Yang Xi was stunned by his father-in-law for a while, and finally could only answer with a wry smile: "Father-in-law, the son-in-law doesn't think so, in fact, the son-in-law thinks that the war against Nanzhao should be carried out when the attack on Tubo is launched." ”

"Oh? Do you think so? Yang Xi's answer surprised Guo Ziyi.

His son-in-law actually felt that the war against Nanzhao was launched late, not too early and too hasty.

Yang Xi saw the consternation on Guo Ziyi's face, and immediately explained: "If you attack the hinterland of Tubo from the direction of Nanzhao, the march will be much smoother." It's just that at that time, I didn't expect the war in Qinghai and Anxi to be so smooth, and when the war between Qinghai and Anxi was launched, there was no intention of attacking the hinterland of Tibet. Nanzhao and Tubo formed an alliance, when I fought with Tubo in the Tang Dynasty, Nanzhao was also in the south and ready to move, at that time, if you use troops against it, maybe now Nanzhao has been pacified, and my Tang Dynasty soldiers have pointed to some cities! After several years of conquest, the combat strength of our Datang army has been greatly improved, and I believe that it will never replicate the tragic situation of the defeat in the battle against Nanzhao a few days ago. ”

Having said that, Yang Xi still admitted that it was indeed a bit hasty for the imperial court to launch this war, "Father-in-law, the time from the proposal to the decision to go on the expedition this time is quite fast. In addition, the armies with the best combat power have been fighting in the north, and they are not familiar with the situation in the south, and they need to recruit soldiers from the south for this expedition, so in this case, it is indeed very hurried to immediately launch a war against Nanzhao. However, the imperial court did not give time for the attack on Nanzhao, and the preparations could be done slowly. If we make preparations slowly, we may be able to exert greater pressure on Nanzhao and make them prepare for war throughout the country, and if there is turmoil in their country at this time, it may be the result of chaos and the whole body. Even when our army is formed and goes to the front, the Nanzhao army will surrender when it hears the wind. This war should not be in a hurry to end, you can take it slowly, and it will be okay to drag it out for a few years. Anyway, my Datang is quite rich now, and it can be dragged out, but Nanzhao can't afford it!"

Yang Xi's theory made Guo Ziyi cry and laugh, and he immediately pointed out the root point, "Ziliang, according to the old man's thoughts, you can't be idle during this time, hoping to transfer the internal pressure to the outside, and use a war to cover up the battle in the court, so as to avoid the dispute between you and the prince from coming early." You are still keeping filial piety now, and you can't come out to do things, so you hope that the war will drag on a little longer, and it is better to wait until the war is over and your filial piety period has arrived. Now that Gao Shi has also gone to lead the army, the military reform will definitely stop. If your filial piety is over and the war stops just now, you can just take over this matter without letting the power fall into the hands of others, and the prince will not be able to help you at all!"

was almost caught in Guo Ziyi's words, Yang Xi couldn't pretend to be confused, and could only smirk twice and said: "There are some things that my father-in-law said, but what my son-in-law thinks is that I hope to destroy all foreign enemies as soon as possible, and return Datang to comprehensive peace." Isn't Tibet completely destroyed? If you want to enter the hinterland of Tibet, Nanzhao is a must-take, so it is also a good choice to capture it as soon as possible. ”

Guo Ziyi also laughed twice and said, "Ziliang, although the old man feels that this battle was launched in a bit hasty, he also agrees with the war against Nanzhao. It is only in wartime that the status of military generals can be improved. If the war is not held for a long time, the status of the military generals in the DPRK will be greatly reduced. You and I are both soldiers, and if there is a war around, the court will use us a lot. If there is no war for a long time, we people will probably be snubbed by the emperor, haha!"

Guo Ziyi's words made Yang Xi suddenly wake up, and he really hadn't thought about it. When I heard Guo Ziyi say this, I felt very reasonable. The military generals of the DPRK and China gained power, all when there was a war, and in peacetime, they were all in charge of the civil service. Looking at all dynasties, this is not the case. When a dynasty was just established, wars were frequent, and military generals had more say in the court. But as the war subsided, the role of military generals slowly declined and was slowly marginalized.

If there is no war in the Tang Dynasty for a long time, it is likely that a prime minister like Guo Ziyi, who was born as a military general, will lose the value of his existence in the court. After all, Guo Ziyi's role is reflected in the battle, and there is no particularly outstanding performance in other aspects.

To say that Guo Ziyi's talent is very good, Yang Xi does not agree, at least Guo Ziyi, who has been the prime minister for more than a year, does not have many useful suggestions in other aspects. If the Tang Dynasty stops fighting abroad, Guo Ziyi's prime minister is likely to be replaced by other ministers.

"What my father-in-law said is very reasonable!" Yang Xi laughed along, "Then it seems that the imperial court has not been able to stop foreign wars." ”

War does not necessarily consume the bottomless pit of wealth, neither the current Turks, nor the Jurchens and the Mongols behind them have caused the country to go bankrupt because of frequent wars, and they are getting richer and richer. When they were having a hard time, they waged war and plundered their wealth. The Tang Dynasty could also learn from their methods, at least when waging war against tribes and states such as the Tibetans and Turks. The occupation of land in those places is of little use under the present conditions, but the plundering of their wealth is very useful, both in terms of property and population.

Moreover, in later generations, there were too many unequal treaties signed on the heads of the Chinese, and now they can use the victory of the war to sign similar treaties on the heads of other countries or tribes. War, in many cases, can create great wealth for one's own country!