Li Shimin said this, everyone naturally quieted down, waiting for Li Shimin to say anything else, "What I just said is just one thing, the second is that I am not just inspecting the world, my final destination this time is to go to Dunhuang County in the Western Regions, and before going to Dunhuang County, there will be a large number of troops accompanying me, so let's put it this way, I want to take this opportunity to directly use force against Tuyuhun!" ”

"Your Majesty, by all means!" If everyone was surprised and shocked just now, they were not too shocked, after all, they all knew why Li Shimin was like this, the change in Xuanwumen was just a year ago, although they didn't say anything about the improper position, but you can't stop the people from saying it.

Li Shimin inspected the disaster area, obviously to solve this matter, but when they heard that Li Shimin was going to use force, they couldn't bear it, Li Shimin had just succeeded to the throne for a year, and Datang had just stabilized, so he was going to use force at this time, don't forget, what happened just last autumn!

Therefore, as soon as Li Shimin's words came out, don't talk about these civil ministers, even if they are military generals, similar to Wei Chigong and Cheng Yanjin, they all looked at Li Shimin with some astonishment.

"Stop, I know what you're thinking, and I know why you're stopping me, but I'll tell you a few things, and you'll know why." Li Shimin said lightly.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, but they were not in a hurry to argue with Li Shimin, but were quietly waiting for Li Shimin's statement.

"The last time we discussed in the court, Huo Gang, the Great Han Force of the Western Regions, you should all know, and now I have received the latest news." Li Shimin glanced at everyone, "More than 200,000 Turkic people from the Eastern Turkic Xue Yantuo Department have all joined the Great Han Department, and they are the kind that completely belong. ”

"Now the Huogang tribe has a population of more than 500,000 people, and has nearly 10,000 elite cavalry, and it is all elite heavy cavalry wearing Mingguang armor, and their war horses are all thousands of miles of horses, the kind that travel thousands of miles a day."

"If you count the Turkic cavalry, Huo Gang has more than 100,000 cavalry."

"Secondly, Huo Gang has this conflict and contradiction with Liangguo Gongan Xinggui, although he and our Datang currently have various trades, but he and An Xinggui are revenge for killing their father, you don't think he won't take revenge, right?"

"The weakness of the Tang Dynasty has been known to the world since last year's Weishui Alliance, Jieli is just a brave and unscrupulous person, and he is as timid as a mouse, and Jieli is not a climate, but Huo Gang is different. According to the information I have obtained so far, Huo Gang left Yangguan with only more than 1,000 people at that time, and although he had 1,000 elite soldiers to join, there were only 2,000 people, and his population has reached 400,000 in only seven or eight months. ”

"You tell me, if Huo Gang is given two years, how far will Huo Gang develop?!"

"Liangzhou Guazhou has been repeatedly burned and looted by the Turks before, and our troops can barely defend the entire Liangzhou, but now, if Huo Gang leads the army to attack, which of you is sure to hold it completely?!"

"If Huo Gang unites with Jieli and attacks at the same time, are you sure?" The corners of Li Shimin's mouth hooked up a faint smile.

Li Shimin can't talk about other things, but if he talks about marching and fighting, he Li Shimin still has a gully in his chest.

Sure enough, after Li Shimin finished speaking, everyone immediately fell silent, including Du Ruhui, and their expressions became extremely serious, because what Li Shimin said was already related to the safety of the entire Tang Dynasty!

This is no longer a question of whether to consume food or not, and even Wei Zheng didn't say much.

"Your Majesty, if that's the case, shouldn't we strengthen the defense of Liangzhou? If we take the initiative to attack, can we defeat Huo Gang? The march of the army, even under the pretext of His Majesty's inspection of the Western Regions, Huo Gang estimates that he will not be unprepared, even if we attack suddenly, but with so many Turkic people, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to eliminate the Han at one time, right? Du Ruhui thought about it and asked.

"When did I say that I attacked Huo Gang?" Li Shimin smiled slightly.

Everyone was stunned at this moment, you just told us about Huo Gang's threat for a long time, and now you say that you are not attacking Huo Gang?

"Come and see." Li Shimin stood up directly from his position, and with Li Shimin's movements, Chang Lin and the others next to him unfolded a huge map of the Tang Dynasty in front of everyone.

"Huo Gang is a threat to us, but now Huo Gang is trading with us, and it is a lot of trade, he needs time to absorb these populations, and we Datang also need to develop."

"I think that Datang has stabilized and developed, and our potential is much greater than Huo Gang's, and you should all believe this." Li Shimin said.

All the ministers nodded, "However, there is a huge problem here, and that is Tuyuhun!" Li Shimin picked up a wooden stick from the side and pointed to Tuyuhun next to him.

"Such a large tribe in Xue Yantuo's department has defected to Huo Gang, not to mention why, but with this influence, then it is not impossible for Tuyuhun to surrender to Huo Gang."

"What will happen if Tuyuhun surrenders to Huo Gang?" Li Shimin pointed to the map.

Everyone looked at the Tang Dynasty territory map and fell into deep thought, what would happen? Does this need to be asked? The entire Hexi Corridor, that is, Liangzhou and Guazhou, is like a long and narrow canyon that has penetrated deep into the enemy's hinterland!

Because once Tuyuhun threw himself into Huo Gang, it meant that the entire Liangzhou was Huo Gang's territory!

That is, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Alxa in Inner Mongolia in later generations were all Huo Gang's territories, and only the entire Gansu and the part to the east of Datang were the territory of Datang. With the long and narrow terrain of the Hexi Corridor...... This means that the opponent can pinch up and down at any time!

With such terrain, no matter how many troops there are in the Tang Dynasty, it is useless!

The point is that if Liangzhou is lost, the entire Guannai will face Huo Gang's troops.

"Do you need me to say anything more now? Now Huo Gang is not stable, and we are not stable, so he won't think about it, and Tuyuhun won't think about it much, the population of the entire Tuyuhun is only seventy or eighty thousand, and the number of soldiers who can fight is only more than 10,000. ”

"If we attack from three directions at the same time, we can occupy the entire Tuyuhun in the fastest time."

"And if we occupy Tuyuhun, it means that the Qilian Mountains will be a natural barrier between us and Huo Gang, and our hinterland will be well protected, including the Hexi Corridor. And we also have a horse farm with enough horses to breed. Li Shimin looked at everyone and said.

These ministers immediately pondered, because what Li Shimin said was very reasonable, if they didn't do it now, once Tuyuhun surrendered to Huo Gang, it meant that it was impossible for them to take the initiative to attack Huo Gang, but Huo Gang could take the initiative to attack them at any time.

And just like Li Shimin said, Tuyuhun's strength is actually very weak, don't look at Tuyuhun has also invaded the Hexi Corridor before, that's because Tuyuhun is supported by the Turks behind it, if there were no Turks, Datang would have cleaned it up a long time ago.

"If Your Majesty's news is true, now is indeed the best chance." Chai Shao next to him also suddenly spoke.

Li Shimin glanced at Chai Shao quietly, there was naturally a reason why he asked Li Ji to find Chai Shao before.

"Because since Xue Yantuo has joined Huo Gang, it means that Xue Yantuo must have broken away from the Eastern Turks, that is to say, Jieli and Huo Gang have already had a conflict, at this time, if Jieli and Huo Gang have a conflict, Jieli will not dare to offend us and Huo Gang at the same time, and Huo Gang will not offend us and Jieli at the same time."

"Then Tuyuhun at this moment is alone!" Chai Shao pointed to Tuyuhun on the map and said.

The other ministers all nodded thoughtfully, mobilizing troops in the famine year, this is the next policy, but if you can take Tuyuhun, stabilize the situation in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, and be beneficial to all the follow-up strategies of the Tang Dynasty, it is not unacceptable!

The benefits outweigh the disadvantages! The point is, as Chai Shao said, once such an opportunity is missed, there will be no such opportunity.

"Generals, if you take Tuyuhun, how many troops will you need to use?" Wei Zheng next to him didn't object, but asked another question.

As soon as Wei Zheng spoke, Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, if even Wei Zheng, a donkey, was persuaded by him, then the others should not be a problem.

Or to be precise, these ministers know what is really important, if Li Shimin does not go out for these reasons, it is just for Li Shimin's own ideas, but if Tuyuhun is taken, this is not only for the sake of Datang to expand its territory, but also related to the future strategic layout of Datang.

Then the famine and some other effects are secondary, and Li Shimin has directly counted himself in this matter, and after thinking about it carefully, they found that this is really the best way.

In particular, this is an unprecedented opportunity.

"If there are 20,000 cavalry, in a month's time, the minister will be sure to take the main force of Tuyuhun, as for the follow-up, the stationing of 5,000 cavalry plus 5,000 infantry can control the entire territory of Tuyuhun, but we can supplement part of the follow-up material supply from the local area." Li Jing next to him thought for a while and said.

"But now there is a question, there is a famine this year, what about our grain and grass?" The eldest grandson Wuji next to him said, "This year's food is not enough, if you want to fight, the source of food and grass." ”

"The war horse trade between us and Huo Gang before, Huo Gang has always asked for food, but I have stopped it after there are signs of famine this year, but the grain transported by the five surnamed Qiwang to Liangzhou and Guazhou is still in place, and I will buy this grain from the five surnamed Qiwang and use it to transport it to the border in the name of disaster relief, and then launch a direct attack." Li Shimin said directly.