At the end of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the remnants of the Eastern Turks were attached to the Tang Dynasty under the leadership of Ashina Simo, and the Western Turks were divided, and they left the Mongolian Plateau under the leadership of the Shaba Luo Yehu Khan and embarked on a long journey to the west. It was not until 400 years later that the Seljuk Turks reappeared in the westernmost part of Asia. After another 300 years, that is, in the middle of the 13th century, this people, after several ups and downs, finally established a powerful Turkic state at the junction of the two continents of Europe and Asia, and destroyed the Eastern Romans, influencing Europe for 500 years. This was the Ottoman Empire, which was at its peak. Well, the latter paragraph is the Italian silver of this son, and whether the Ottoman Empire was established by this group of Western Turkic defectors needs to be interviewed to know, but I don't think I will live to that time.

The Liangzhou Tiele Qibi Department was attached to the Tang Dynasty, and Uncle Li allocated the Hetao area to its farming and grazing, which made the border security of the Tang Helan Mountain, Fengzhou, and Shengzhou line have been consolidated, and the population has been enriched to a certain extent, and the long-term border troubles have finally been alleviated, and the Western Turks in the northwest are now in a period of peace, and since the last Khan fled to Tocharo, they have not recovered their vitality, which has greatly reduced the military pressure of the Tang Dynasty in the West.

At this time, the envoys of Goguryeo and the envoys of Tubo arrived in Chang'an at the same time, and Uncle Li still attached great importance to the relationship between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty, which was temporarily in the honeymoon period, and for the arrival of the Goguryeo envoys, Uncle Li had decided to continue to entangle on this issue.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's talk about what you think now." Uncle Li stroked his long beard and said solemnly, this is where the Military Staff Institute is located, except for me, a young man, the rest of the people in the hall are all important ministers of the court, and Su Dingfang is very favored by Uncle Li for his military exploits, and often lets him also participate in some heavyweight military research activities, such as the current incident, and the others, that is, my father, Li Shiji, Changsun Yinren, Yu Suiliang and other old faces.

Su Dingfang and I have a common language, and my official position is not big, so I automatically and consciously squatted at the end together, chatting in a low voice about boring topics such as which restaurant in Chang'an has novel dishes recently.

Uncle Li's cousin, Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, took the lead in speaking at this time: "According to the minister's opinion, Goguryeo, fighting, it is definitely going to be beaten, but the timing is not right. ”

"Oh? Why did the Taoist sect say this? You have always been very interested in the Liaodong attack, why did you change your surname today? Uncle Li was intrigued and motioned for his cousin to continue. Li Daozong, this Uncle Li's cousin is not a light generation, but also a famous general, who has made great efforts for the battle of the founding of the Tang Dynasty many times, and has a very good relationship with Uncle Li.

---------------------------------------------------- Li Daozong smiled, stretched out his hand and knocked on the border of the huge sand table map, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Chen wants to fight Goguryeo, but it's not a year or two, for more than ten years, I can't help but look forward to expanding the territory for Your Majesty, my Tang Dynasty is a hundred times stronger than the former Sui, I really feel ashamed not to take Goguryeo, but at the moment, our most important thing is the north." ”

"North?" Uncle Li groaned slightly, raised his eyebrows and pointed at the north end of the sand table like a sword: "You mean Tiele?" ”

"It's Tieler!" Li Daozong, the prince, nodded and said, "Mobei has been plagued by the Central Plains since ancient times. In the Han Dynasty, the strength of the Great Wall could not cover the Huns alone. The Sui Dynasty was prosperous in the world, and could not bend the iron cavalry of the Turkic Khan. Now that the Turks are going west, Hui Qibi He Li led the ministry to attach, and the north and south of the desert are not unified, which is a godsend! The minister thought that he should quickly send a large army to take advantage of the situation, plough the court and sweep the holes, and eradicate the trouble of Xue Yantuo Mobei in one fell swoop. Koryo doesn't ask for the time being. ”

"Xue Yantuo? Qing is too worried, the current Xue Yantuo Department is just a fat deer who is dying and struggling, don't say that my Tang Dynasty can bring out a large army to defeat its country, just the Western Turks' eyeing is enough for them to be exhausted. Uncle Li smiled confidently.

The eldest grandson Wuji opened his mouth and said with a smile: "What Your Majesty said is very true, since the first battle of Beiyi, Xue Yantuo's strength has been greatly damaged, the population has been reduced by two, and the army has almost been swallowed up by my Datang There is nothing left, plus this post-war compensation, although they have temporarily maintained their status, however, our Datang has taken out their national strength ......" The eldest grandson Wuji made a gesture of grabbing, which made Uncle Li squint his eyes and laugh proudly: "If you talk about this merit, it is none other than the old man's beloved son-in-law." ”

"Where, if it weren't for your father-in-law, how could your son-in-law have these little skills." Hurriedly probed and said modestly, Uncle Li smiled and pointed his finger at me. "You kid, your credit is yours, the old man is not blind, but well, this time's credit, put it first, and later, count it together, anyway, you are the old man's son-in-law, and I will not treat you lightly."

Uncle Li's words made everyone present laugh, I looked helpless, old rascal, I can't think of meritorious service and accounting?

Su Dingsu, who was on the side, squeezed over, bumped me with his shoulder, and said in a low voice: "Brother Xian, congratulations to you for your brother, and when the time comes, you will be rewarded, but don't you forget to be a meal for your brother?" I gave Su Dingfang, who was hippie smiling, a roll of his eyes: "You are not afraid of being supported." ”

At this time, Uncle Li Ji stood up, touched the short beard under his chin, and walked to the sand table, his actions finally calmed down everyone's noise, Uncle Li Ji pulled the corners of his mouth: "The cold land in the north of the desert is not conducive to a long-term war." During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing fought hard with the Xiongnu, often suffering accidents, and the army was damaged. And Li Guang and Li Ling's ancestors and grandsons were also defeated one after another. Therefore, Weichen thinks that the use of soldiers today should be in Goryeo, first, Goryeo is the same as my Tang Dynasty, which is based on farming, and there is neither the strength of the bow and the strength of the fat horse, nor the strength of the iron armor. Emperor Yang of the previous dynasty swept the ground as a soldier, and could not be peaceful, with Yang Xuangan, Yu Culture and the chaos in the country, the army lost its supply, not invincible. Now my Tang Dynasty is clear and peaceful, and the treasury is full. His Majesty sent 100,000 troops, which is enough to wipe out. Even if His Majesty does not allow him to submit, the flag will not be able to reach the Yalu River. However, as long as my Tang soldiers go out of Yuguan, it will be enough to recover the land of Liaodong. ”

Li Shimin nodded: "Saibei and Liaodong are all empty and cold places, with long winters and short summers, which makes the war in the north of my Datang not be beneficial for a long time, and this obstacle has plagued my Datang for more than 20 years, but, Zhuqing, you don't know that there is one thing that can be used by my elite soldiers of Datang to keep out the cold." ”

Uncle Li had a very proud expression, looking at those important ministers of the court, but he didn't look at me, well, I guessed with my little toes, what else can there be besides cotton?

Sure enough, under the hesitant gaze of the ministers, Uncle Li had already let a forbidden soldier wearing a set of cotton clothes and pants and armor into the main hall. On the side, several eunuchs walked in with a few sets of cotton clothes and trousers. There are also lined gloves that are leather on the outside and tucked into cotton on the inside. There are also cotton boots that are also leather-based.

Uncle Cheng was even more straightforward, took off his boots directly, took the sample to try them on, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this thing is so warm, and it's not like that new leather boot that always likes to cluck." ”

---------------------------------------------------- the use of cotton products is far easier to obtain than fur, and it is easy to produce in large quantities, which can greatly improve the ability of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to continue to fight in the cold winter.

However, at this time, the counselor Chu Suiliang said to Uncle Li with a serious face: "When the Turks are strong, the Central Plains soldiers cannot come out of the fortress. The Turks are gone, and the north of the desert is depressed. At that time, the tribes ran and did not belong to each other. Your Majesty must have a king in his land, but he personally descended the seal book and made Xue Yantuo the khan.

The former Xue Yantuo was obedient, and His Majesty was afraid that he would not be able to convince the public, so he promised to marry to help his authority. and Xue Yantuo sat down and broke off his marriage contract. It's me who repeats things and loses faith in Di Yi. Outside the Great Wall, there are countless tribes, and they have their own ups and downs. If Xue Yantuo is destroyed, then those who rise up and replace him don't know how to allow Khan and what to do! I, Datang, regained this poor land with a large army, and I can fight but not win, I can win but not defend, and I can defend but not for a long time. Once the food is exhausted, the millions of dollars will be wasted! Confucius once said: 'Go to the army, go to eat, do not believe.' 'If he comes, and he brings his soldiers, and he returns, he will be virtuous. Although he is Rongdi, he is not a human-faced beast, if the time comes, why not accept it? Si Mo and He Li are so focused on Your Majesty, and they cover it for this. Therefore, the minister thought that he should send a new envoy and marry him, so that my dynasty would have no regrets in the Khan, and the Khan would have no resignation in the world! ”

Hearing this, not only me, but even Uncle Li Ji and Uncle Cheng and a large number of battlefield veterans all looked at each other angrily, Chu Suiliang's face was also very thick, as if he couldn't see it, Uncle Li frowned slightly, did not object, and turned his hands upside down, as if he was pondering. Su Dingfang, who was standing next to me, was childlike, covered his cheeks, squeezed his eyes at me with a wrinkled brow, and said, "Mother, why are you so sour, my brother's two front teeth are going to fall out." ”

(To be continued)