Because Li Shimin's anti-intermediary plan played a role, the uncle and nephew of Mantis and Tuli were successfully separated. Tuli was convinced by Li Shimin and did not want to be his enemy again.

He thinks that only heroes like Li Shimin have a common language, so he is willing to become a real brother of the opposite sex with Li Shimin. Driven by his inflated ambitions, he has been trying to conquer the splendid rivers and mountains of the Tang Dynasty through the Guò War.

The second wonder:

According to the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, in July of the ninth year of Wude (626 AD), Li Shimin, who had just ascended the throne and had not had time to change his year name, was about to face the test of sincerity. The Khan wanted to take advantage of the handover of the Tang Dynasty and Li Shimin's unstable foothold to go to the Central Plains to plunder, if he could destroy the Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop. The army of more than 100,000 people marched south to attack Jingzhou (present-day Jingchuan, Gansu), and then advanced to Wugong (present-day Shaanxi ∮ωáń∮∮ロba, .nsb.←mXiwugong), invincible all the way.

On 24 August, the Turkic army attacked Gaoling (present-day Gaoling, Shaanxi). Li Shimin appointed General Wei Chi Jingde as the commander-in-chief of the field army in the Jingzhou area (the chief of the Jingzhou Road March) and marched into Jingyang to defend against the Turks. After Wei Chi Jingde arrived at the front line, he immediately organized a counterattack and fought a fierce battle with the Turkic army, and Yu Chi Jingde was really unstoppable, capturing the enemy general Ashdewu and killing more than 1,000 Turkic cavalry.

Although Wei Chi Jingde took Xiao in the Battle of Jingyang, he was still unable to stop the advance of the Turks. The main force of the Khan entered the north of the bridge on the bank of the Weishui River, only 40 miles away from Chang'an City! The Turkic cavalry lined up on the north bank of Weishui, and the flags fluttered for dozens of miles. Chang'an's army was empty, with only tens of thousands of horses, and it had to implement martial law, and the soldiers and civilians were panicked.

The mantis sent his advisers to Chang'an. Scouting the Tang Dynasty is virtual and real. Zhi Sili boasted: "The two khans of Mantis and Tuli have commanded millions of troops, and now they are here!" Li Shimin said: "I once made a pact with your Khan face to face. Why are you backsliding? Besides, when our army went, you two khans told me well. So. I have also given you innumerable jewels and silks. How dare you march into the vicinity of my capital without permission, and still boast here?

≮ I'll kill you, come and sacrifice the flag! "I was so frightened that I begged for mercy. Xiao Yu, Feng Deyi and other ministers were afraid of making a big fuss, so they persuaded Li Shimin to send this guy who didn't know the height of the sky and the earth back with courtesy.

☆ The people did not agree, but imprisoned him in Menxia Province and waited for his fate. He decided to defuse the fight himself and teach the greedy mantis another lesson. So, Li Shimin took Xiao Yu, Gao Shilian, Fang Xuanling, Zhou Fan and other 6 military generals out of Xuanwu Gate to Weishui Bridge. Talking to the mantis khan across the water again.

"Old Tang Book" recorded: Li Shimin sachs scolded, full of anger, and asked why the mantis betrayed the covenant? The Turkic nobles were very shocked when they saw Li Shimin's "heavenly face", and they dismounted and knelt down one after another, but they couldn't stop them. A moment later, the Don army arrived. The armor was clear, the banner was displayed, and the military appearance was neat, and the Turks were very frightened and could not figure out the details of the Tang army.

☆ The people of the world and the mantis each sat on their horses, and the army confronted each other from afar. Xiao Yu thought that Li Shimin was careless and underestimated the enemy.

☆ Shimin first taught him a lesson and revealed his strategic intentions. Li Shimin said: "My thinking has matured. It's not something you can understand in advance. The Turks attacked because they thought that something had happened in our dynasty and that they could no longer fight. If we close the city gate and blindly defend, the Turks will definitely plunder the Central Plains.

So. I just brought a few people out to play against him, showing that I was fearless. We also lined up the great army to let them know our confidence in the decisive battle. They went deep into the territory of Datang. I'm afraid I won't be able to go back. So if there is a war, we will definitely win.

If you make peace. It can maintain the overall situation of peace. Defeat the enemy, just do it in one fell swoop! "All of them made Li Shimin's anticipation and control. It didn't take long for the mantis to send someone to ask for peace talks, and Li Shimin promised to "give the Turks another chance." The next day, Li Shimin and Mantis swore an oath to kill the white horse on the Weishui Bridge, signed a peace agreement, and the Turks withdrew their troops in disgrace. …

Speaking of this temporary bridge, there is really some origin. This is not a casual bridge, this is a very famous bridge. The temporary bridge, now known as the Xiwei Bridge, is located on the Shahe River in the southwest of Xianyang, Shaanxi, and was built in the Western Han Dynasty. Because the bridge is far away from the first gate in the southwest of Chang'an City in the Han Dynasty - Zhangcheng Gate, and this gate is also called the convenient gate, so the bridge is also called the "convenient bridge".

Xiwei Bridge was the main traffic road from Chang'an to the Western Regions and Bashu during the Han and Tang dynasties. Du Fu's "Soldier Carriage Travel": "The grandmother and wife are sending each other off, and the dust is not seen on the Xianyang Bridge", which refers to this bridge. In the Tang Dynasty, the West Weiqiao Bridge is also a place to send off guests, Wang Wei's "Weicheng Song": "Weicheng is light and dusty, and the guest house is green and willow-colored."

persuade the gentleman to drink a glass of wine, and there is no one in Yangguan in the west, "It also happened here." The alliance between Li Shimin and Jieli made this bridge famous all over the world. However, in the Anshi Rebellion, in the process of Li Longji's escape to Sichuan, in order to cut off the pursuit of the rebels, the bridge was ordered by Yang Guozhong to be set on fire, and then it was abandoned.

The Turks have all withdrawn, and Xiao Yu and others in the Tang army camp are still in the clouds. On behalf of many soldiers who could not understand why they had won, he asked: "When Jieli led the troops of the whole country to attack, many generals asked for orders to fight him. You didn't approve.

Now the Turks have withdrawn on their own, why is that? Li Shimin was also made angry and funny by these not very smart courtiers, so he had to give them another "vivid lesson". "I have just taken the throne, the country is not completely stable, and the people are not yet rich, so peace is the best policy.

Once a fight breaks out with these people, it will certainly bring great casualties to the officers and men, and the common people will suffer. Therefore, we can suspend hostilities so that the people can recuperate, and at the same time, we can show our favor and faith to these minorities...... The Turks were numerous but discordant, and their kings and ministers were mercenary.

Jieli Khan was west of Weishui, but many of his generals came to see me. I get them drunk and tie them up, and this form is very good for us. I also secretly sent Changsun Wuji and Li Jing to secretly lead an army to Youzhou (now Beijing) to respond.

If our army had cut off the Turks' rear route and set up an ambush in front of the battle, victory would have been easy. But. I have just taken over, and it is important to be at the helm of the country steadily. In the event of a fight with them, both sides will surely suffer heavy casualties. They were defeated by us. but they will not perish. Then it will grudge us because of fear, is it worth it?

Now, everyone has laid down their arms and shaken hands, and we have just lost some of our possessions. The Turks must be arrogant and unambitious, and pride is a harbinger of destruction. Therefore, the ancients said, 'If you want to get something, you must first give them something' (if you want to take something, you must stick to it). After Xiao Yu and the others heard this, they threw themselves on the five-body body that Emperor Li Shimin admired. They all dismounted, bowed to the emperor again and again, and said, "This is not what we stupid people can think of!" ”

So, Li Shimin ordered Dou Lukuan, Zhao Sui and others to escort the Turks to retreat. Jieli presented 3,000 horses and more than 10,000 sheep to the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin refused to accept it, and said to the Turkic envoy: "Let you Khan send me all the Central Plains people you captured before, what is the matter with sending these livestock!" In the eyes of the nomadic Turks, cattle, horses and sheep were a symbol of wealth, but Li Shimin, who grew up under the agricultural civilization, knew that population was the greatest wealth. The people, especially the peasants, were the labor force and the main bearers of taxes and forced labor in the feudal state. This is the difference between civilizations!

Historical records. It's amazing. We can call it "the alliance Hu Lu bridge to declare the treaty, show the strength of the six horsemen to retreat from the enemy". The old and new "Book of Tang" describe this in much the same way, which shows that this matter should basically be in line with the facts. Of course, there is inevitably some exaggeration in the specifics. deliberately beautified Li Shimin, despised and dwarfed Jieli Khan. In fact, Li Shimin is not as spirited as stated in the "Old Tang Book". At this time, the Tang Dynasty's national strength was limited. The army was caught off guard. Li Shimin also implemented a suspicious plan and a delaying tactic under the circumstances of being forced to do so. His personal momentum is indeed very intimidating. The "aura" is very strong. Jieli was full of confidence when he saw Li Shimin, and the Tang army was majestic. I was deflated first. Jieli's ambition is really not proportional to his ability! When encountering a strong man like Li Shimin, he could only admit it. When Jieli heard Li Shimin's promise to reward a lot of gold and silver treasures, he also had a staircase to go down. So, I asked for an alliance. A big war just like that, once again magically died down. This is the famous "Weishui Alliance". …

The Weishui Alliance avoided the Tang Dynasty's battle under unfavorable conditions and stabilized the situation for itself. It bought time for economic development and accumulation of strength, and was an important turning point in the changes between the Tang Dynasty and the Turkic strength. Next, the shape of the Eastern Turks will take a sharp turn, and the Tang Dynasty, which has accumulated a lot of strength, will completely eradicate this great trouble.

Pacify the Eastern Turks

After Jieli withdrew from the Turks, various potential crises continued to rise. The power of the Turks became more divided, and the prestige of Jieli continued to decline. However, Jieli also continued to increase the extortion of various ministries, and the nobles plotted to rebel one after another. Shortly thereafter, there was a split within the Eastern Turks, and the Xue Yantuo, Hui Hui, Bayegu, Tongluo and other tribes who opposed the Jieli Khan became more dissatisfied with him, and Xue Yantuo was appointed as the Khan. As the saying goes, "the house leaks and it rains, and the broken ship encounters the wind", which is not false at all. The poor Turkic region has been hit by heavy snowfall and frost and drought year after year, and a large number of livestock have frozen to death and starved to death, and their power is rapidly declining.

Inspired by Li Shimin's gentle policy, the Turki Khan also stepped up his contacts with the Tang Dynasty. Tuli first expressed his willingness to join the Tang Dynasty and broke with Jieli Khan. In the second year of Zhenguan (628), the Turks sent an envoy to Li Shimin, saying that the contradiction between himself and Jieli was already very acute, and asked Li Shimin to send troops to attack the Turks, and he should cooperate with the outside world.

So, Li Shimin ordered Qin Wutong to lead the soldiers and horses of the state to respond. In December, Tuli and his cronies Yu Sheshe, Yin Netler and others led their troops to Shun, which again greatly weakened the power of the Turks. After Tuli came to Chang'an, he was grateful to see Li Shimin's grand reception and generous reward. Li Shimin also worshiped him as the commander of the Second Army of the Forbidden Army (General of the Right Guard), the king of Beiping County, and the household of 700, and later added the title of governor.

Li Shimin said to him: "I want the Central Plains to be stable, and I don't want your clan to perish, so let you be the governor." Don't attack each other, you can be a barrier to Datang for a long time. In 631, at the age of 29, Tuli died of illness in the Central Plains, and Li Shimin personally wrote an inscription on his tombstone to show his condolences.

On the Tang side, under Li Shimin's hard work, the rule was more stable and the economy was restored. Li Shimin actively prepared for war against the Turks, and even allowed the soldiers to practice martial arts in the palace Xiande Hall, and gradually cultivated an elite army that could fight well. At the same time, the Tang Dynasty also obtained bases for attacking the Eastern Turks such as Heng'an (present-day Datong, Shanxi) and Shuofang (present-day Wushenqi, Inner Mongolia). Datang Tiangong is beautiful. The wind and rain are smooth.

In the autumn of 629, Guanzhong had a bumper harvest. Li Shimin believed that the time was ripe to fight back against the Eastern Turks. In the winter of this year, Li Shimin sent the generals Li Jing to lead Li Tao, Chai Shao, Xue Wanche and others. Led hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the Turks. In the first month of the second year (630), Li Jing entered the Tun Evil Yang Ridge (now Inner Mongolia and Lingel), and attacked Dingxiang (now Dingxiang, Shanxi) at night and defeated the Turks.

When the Turkic nobleman Kang Sumi and others saw that Jieli's defeat was decided, they brought Yang Guang's Empress Xiao and grandson Yang Zhengdao as a greeting gift and came to surrender. By February, Jieli could only hide in Tibet and fight guerrilla warfare everywhere. When they fled to Tieshan (north of present-day Yinshan in Inner Mongolia), only tens of thousands of horses were left with wolves.

Jieli had no choice but to send an envoy to Datang again. But. This time, I don't have the arrogance I had last time. On behalf of Jie Lilai, he pleaded guilty to the Tang Emperor and asked the whole country to be attached to the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin sent Tang Jian, the minister of banquet and sacrificial affairs (Honglu Siqing, Zheng Sipin), and the general An Xiuren to hold the scepter representing the state to appease the overwhelmed stubbornness. Stubbornly lost his strength and hurriedly reported the good news to the Turkic country, and Datang accepted our request for peace talks, and Jieli breathed a sigh of relief. However, the Turks never thought that this was just a political strategy of the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty was already working to completely solve this old and difficult problem that had been a headache for the Central Plains Dynasty for decades. …

Originally. Li Shimin had long doubted Jieli's credibility, and he decided that this was just Jieli's delaying tactic, and he was no longer willing to give Jieli, who was dying and struggling, any chance to preserve his strength. He decided to urge Li Jing and them to strike while the iron was hot. Give Jieli the final blow and completely solve this untrustworthy guy.

In March, Li Jing and Li Tao took advantage of the opportunity for the two sides to contact and negotiate. Found the hiding place of the main Turkic forces and marched in a big way. The Tang army annihilated the Turkic army in one fell swoop near Iron Mountain. Occupied the north and south of the desert. The frightened Jieli Khan, who had long since lost his prestige, found a horse and prepared to flee west to Tugu (yù) Hun (a branch of the Xianbei tribe). The control zhì area is in present-day Qinghai).

However, when he fled to the tribe of his nephew Shabaluo, he was captured by the forces of Zhang Baoxiang, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Tang army, and was immediately sent to Chang'an as a prisoner, and the Eastern Turks perished (in 682, the remnants of the Turkic forces re-established the Later Turkic Empire, and finally died in the Hui in 744). The Tang Dynasty finally eliminated this powerful force that had been in danger of the border for many years, and its territory expanded to the north of today's Lake Baikal. Some of the tribes that originally belonged to the Turks attached Xue Yantuo to the north, some went west to the Western Regions, and the remaining more than 100,000 people surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

This battle was the crowning achievement of Li Jing's military career. Li Shimin said to him excitedly: "Li Ling brought 5,000 men and horses, during which he surrendered to the Xiongnu, and he still left his name in history. Now you only lead 3,000 light cavalry deep into the enemy's territory to recover Dingxiang and threaten the north, which is really an unprecedented feat in ancient and modern times! Soon, Li Jing was named the acting prince of the country for his merits.

The era of Li Shimin was the most violent period of the Tang Dynasty's border expansion, and it was also the period of the greatest victory. During the Zhenguan period, the Tang Dynasty successively won victories against the Eastern Turks, Tubo, Tuyuhun, Gaochang, Yanqi, Western Turks, Xue Yantuo, Goguryeo, Qiuci and even India, which laid the foundation of the Tang Dynasty for nearly 300 years. The Tang army attacked Dingxiang, annihilated the Turks, and captured Jieli Khan alive, which was also the most glorious victory in the Tuobian War in the history of the Tang Dynasty.

Jieli Khan was also the first supreme ruler of the Steppe Empire to be captured alive by the Central Plains army. On the third day of the fourth month, the high-spirited Emperor Li Shimin ascended the Shuntian Gate (the south gate of Chang'an Palace) and summoned his captive, the Turkic Jieli Khan. Li Shimin reprimanded him to his face for constantly betraying the alliance, being strong and warlike, and enumerating his five major crimes of plundering the people.

As a loser, Jieli no longer has the slightest right to speak. In the face of a once-in-a-lifetime hero like Li Shimin, he has long lost his former majesty, and at this time, he can only sift his legs, his soul is scattered, and his mouth is full of begging for mercy, singing praises to Li Shimin's great sage, hoping that others can spare his life. Some people are like this, usually high-flying and domineering, but when it comes to life and death, the greed for life and fear of death is exposed.

Dictators especially have a deep attachment to life, Li Longji, who fled to Sichuan in a hurry during the Anshi Rebellion, the Empress Dowager Cixi who fled to Xi'an in disguise during the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and Chiang Kai-shek in the Xi'an Incident are not all such virtues? Li Shimin saw that this Jieli Khan, who had once made him a little jealous, now fell at his feet pitiful and looked like a water dog. The sense of accomplishment and vanity were all satisfied at once.

Therefore, the victor Li Shimin's tone slowed down a little. It was decided to let him go for the time being. Li Shimin said to Jieli: "Whoever has merit to me, I will never forget him; I have a grudge against you. But I'll end up forgetting about him. Speaking of which, your guilt is indeed not small. You have been untrustworthy many times and violated the territory of my Datang.

However, since the Weishui Alliance, you have not committed large-scale crimes, so I can not kill you first, but only record your crimes first, so as to see the aftermath. Jieli is grateful for Datang's grace of not killing. …

Subsequently. Li Shimin placed Jieli and his family in the Royal Carriage and Horse Administration (Taifu Temple) and entertained them generously. Jieli is still sullen, after all, the scene of shouting and shouting and hugging is gone forever. He did not live in a house, but set up a tent in the yard (like the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi).

He often sings and weeps with his family, and gradually loses weight and looks haggard. When Li Shimin found out, he was extraordinarily gracious and sent him to serve as the governor of 虢 (gó) Prefecture (Thorn History, the state is governed in present-day Lingbao, Henan). And said to him: "Yuzhou is close to the mountains, and there are many wild animals such as elk, so you can go hunting often." Jieli was reluctant to go to the prosperity of Chang'an. Li Shimin appointed him as the commander of the second army of the forbidden army (the general of the right guard), and rewarded him with a large number of farmlands.

Four years later, a generation of heroes died of illness, and Li Shimin summoned his old subordinates to cremate him according to Turkic customs, and also built a tall tomb for him in the east of Bashui. Posthumously crowned him as the King of Righteousness. and let his son inherit his position for life. Li Shimin is moving everyone, including his original enemies, with his style of doing things and personality charm of repaying grievances with virtue.

After the fall of the Eastern Turks. Many of the tribes moved to the Tang Dynasty. What to do with them, that's a big question. Li Shimin convened the ministers to discuss. Some ministers advocated that they should be divided into states and counties in the interior and that their lives and customs should be changed. Make them gradually sinicized and become Han Chinese.

There were also some ministers, such as Wei Zheng, who believed that the Turks were "not of our race, and their hearts would be different", and that moving to the interior would cause trouble, and advocated that they should return to their original places. Li Shimin listened to Wei Zhengyan on many important issues, but this time he did not adopt his opinion, and agreed with Wen Yanbo's proposition. Wen Yanbo resettled the Turkic people who migrated inward in Shuofang (present-day Wushenqi in southern Inner Mongolia) to preserve the original tribes, which were still governed by chiefs, maintained the original customs and habits, and still focused on animal husbandry production.

This also reflects Wei Zheng's narrow-mindedness and short-sightedness and Li Shimin's broad-mindedness. It turned out that the Turkic leaders were appointed and resettled respectively, which pacified the Turkic tribes who moved inward, and many Turks who moved inward lived in Chang'an City. This is the ancient "regional ethnic autonomy".

According to statistics, there were nearly 10,000 Turkic families in Chang'an City at that time, and the Tibetan and Han people lived together in the city, and some of the ethnic minorities wore Han hats, and the Han people also wore Tibetan hats. Li Shimin also appointed a large number of Turkic nobles as officials in the imperial court, and all the leaders of the Turkic tribes who came to Chang'an were worshiped as generals, Zhonglang generals and other senior military attachés.

There were more than 100 Turkic military attachés above the fifth rank, accounting for almost half of the imperial court. In the court, you can see the Turkic chieftains wearing Tang Dynasty official uniforms and carrying swords, and the Tang Dynasty has become a veritable multi-ethnic regime. Even the people of the Song Dynasty said that the "ministers of Yidi" came to the Central Plains in the Tang Dynasty.

In this way, the Turks from top to bottom, from the inside to the outside, are completely convinced of Li Shimin and the Tang Dynasty. A few years later, the Turkic people who moved into the interior were no different from the Han Chinese through intermarriage and exchange. This submission was voluntary, thorough, and gentle, and made many later dynasties envious and beyond their reach.

In 657 of the Li Zhi era, the general Su Dingfang eliminated the stubborn and fierce Western Turks, and finally made the Turkic forces officially withdraw from China. The Eastern Turkic issue was gradually resolved, and there was a strong national power in the southwest, which was also on an equal footing with the Tang government. Sometimes reconciled with the Tang Dynasty, and sometimes made the Tang Dynasty feel uneasy, it is - Tubo. In dealing with Tibet, Li Shimin took a mild measure. (To be continued......)