The cow cyclamen is still so humble, at least it seems. A secretary of the Ministry of Industry, there are few servants in the family, and the things rewarded by Li Longji do not dare to be used, and they are all sealed.

A conspicuous seal was affixed to the door of the storeroom at home. To this extent, it can only be said that it is more comfortable to go back to Hexi as a magistrate.

Fang Chongyong led Wang Zhongsi to visit the mansion of Niu Xianke, and he couldn't believe that this was a mansion with six books.

The furnishings are shabby, and there are only a few servants.

According to the "unspoken rules" of the Tang Dynasty officialdom, a house with six Shangshu must have at least fifty slaves and maids, and a maximum of four hundred.

Between this number, it will be accepted by public opinion, and no one will ridicule and criticize it.

If it is less, it will be described by the historian as "poor and ugly", which will make people laugh at it; Of course, if you have a high literary talent and are famous in Chang'an, you can ignore it.

For example, He Zhizhang, who has few slaves and maids in the family, and is in a high position, will be regarded as the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest".

And if there are too many slaves and maids, they will be criticized by the world for being greedy and extravagant, such as the dog-legged son Wang Ji under the command of Li Linfu during the Tianbao period, the history books say that his servants in the family are not counted, and the mansion is like a palace city.

Obviously, the shabby of the ox cyclamen is not a good reputation in the elite circle of Chang'an.

"The humble house is simple, please sit down."

Niu Cyclamen invited Fang Chongyong and his party to sit down in the study, and poured a cup of "winter drink" for the two of them - a soup made of ginger and some herbs, which can ward off the cold, but it is also quite "simple".

Fang Chongyong took a sip, it was very choking, the taste was really not good, and he tried his best to hold back it so that it didn't squirt.

"Tang Jin's matter, I still have to thank Fang Xiaolangjun, although the Hexi soldiers did not get these rewards in the end, but Tang Jin's reputation has already been played. In the future, the white silk from Liangzhou will be transferred to Chang'an, woven into Tang brocade, and then sold back to the Western Regions, which can benefit the people of Liangzhou. ”

The cow cyclamen solemnly saluted Fang Chongyong.

Although he arrived in Chang'an, his heart was still in Hexi. After entering the center, Niu Xianke couldn't give full play to his skills at all, and the idle and non-practical atmosphere in the six departments also made him very uncomfortable.

The imitation of Sogdian brocade has been popularized, and the Hexi Corridor, which is close to the water, is the area that has benefited the most. Although Fang Chongyong has his own selfish intentions, what he did was a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people, especially for the people of Hexi.

These are the rights and wrongs, and the cattle cyclamen knows them in their hearts. Otherwise, he is a secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and he is not a cat or a dog who can come to visit.

"General Wang wants to go to Hexi to make contributions, right?"

Niu Xianke looked at Wang Zhongsi with a smile and asked, the other party's intention has actually been revealed. It's not that Niu Xianke doesn't know Wang Zhonghei, and the two have been in contact with each other in Hexi in their early years, although they are not too close.

"That's true."

Wang Zhongsi nodded very reservedly.

Yes, he did stay in Hexi for a few years, but compared to Niu Xianke, he can be called "ignorant" about Hexi affairs.

Since he was "ignorant", he had to go to a "professional" for advice, so Wang Zhongsi agreed with Fang Chongyong's idea very much. Now prepare more, and when you arrive in Liangzhou, you won't suffer a loss.

"Hexi affairs, only Tibet, the rest is not worth mentioning."

The cow cyclamen sighed.

Wang Zhonghe's face changed slightly, and his father Wang Haibin died at the hands of the Tubo people. Since he started the army, the enemies he fought with were all Tibetans.

Wang Zhongsi spent three years in Hexi when he was young, and was known for daring to fight. However, when it comes to the study of the Tibetan people, it is still quite one-sided, and the understanding is not deep.

"How does the Tibetan army compare with the Tang army?"

Fang Chongyong asked curiously.

"Songtsan Gampo sent Lu Dongzan to the Tang Dynasty, and brought a precious goose-shaped gold wine vessel to Emperor Taizong, which was made of goose gold, seven feet high, and three pieces of wine in the middle."

Niu Xianke said quietly, and did not directly answer Fang Chongyong's question.

Songtsen Gampo was the leader of Tibet a hundred years ago, and the wine vessel he sent broke Fang Chongyong's illusions. He had always thought that the Tang Dynasty craftsmen brought by Princess Wencheng fattened the Tubo people and made them master the advanced smelting technology.

But when you hear from the cow cyclamen, it doesn't seem to be the case.

"The Tubo spear is thinner and longer than the Han people, the bow is weak and the armor is strong, everyone uses the sword, does not fight, and walks with the sword. Supplemented by Wuduo, advance and retreat freely.

The armament of Tibet is not weak. ”

Niu Xianke explained to Fang Chongyong.

"What's Udo?"

Fang Chongyong discovered an unfamiliar word.

"Udo is also called Odo.

It is made of Tibetan yak hair and twisted into coarse wool, and then woven into braids.

There is a three-inch collar at the upper end of the braid, which is put on the middle finger when used, and a palm-sized oval ooti is woven in the middle to put stones and clods, and the end is made of wool as a whip.

This thing can be used not only for the military, but also as a sharp weapon for herdsmen to drive cattle and sheep.

If you want to drive cattle and sheep, pinch the two ends of the black with your hands, put a stone or clod of soil in the black ladder, raise the whip and swing it, and then let go of one end, and the stone will fly to dozens of zhang or even one or two hundred zhang away, so that the head animal changes direction.

Herdsmen use the ability of Wuduo is strong, and some people can hit a distance of more than 100 zhang, so Wuduo is not only used to drive livestock, but also used to drive away wild beasts.

As for the masters in the Tubo army, within dozens of zhang, they shot the eyes of birds and birds, and there was no missing bullet. ”

Niu Xianke took the trouble to explain to Fang Chongyong, and there was no high-ranking official at all.

Wu Duo is the most hated weapon of the Tang army when it was fighting with Tibet, and there is no one. Stone bullets are kinetic weapons, and they hurt when hit on the body, and it is useless to be protected by armor. If the Tang soldiers were hit by the stones thrown by Wu Duo, they would often break bones and lose their combat effectiveness.

From this, it can be seen that the Tang army and the Tubo army fought very dangerously. It is far from the "one Han top five hu" often said in ancient books. What's even more terrifying is that the Wuduo material is easy to obtain, and the stones thrown out by centrifugal force are extremely powerful, and can be used by men, women and children.

Wang Zhongsi also said with emotion:

"Wu Duo is just that, and there are even more Tibetan nobles who wear armor. This kind of chain mail wraps around the whole body, and only the eyes are exposed. Whether it is attacking or charging, they are all sharp and unafraid of bows and crossbows.

Tubo's armed forces are self-contained, not imitating the regulations of the Tang Dynasty, and they are all self-controlled, which should not be underestimated. ”

This horse is invincible!

Fang Chongyong originally thought that Tubo should be similar to nomads such as Turks and Xiongnu, but he didn't expect that it was not the case at all.

The Tibetan armament is so sharp!

"Although the technology of Tubo is influenced by my Tang Dynasty, it mainly comes from Persia and Dashi to the west of the Western Regions."

As soon as he thought of the strength of the Tibetan people, Niu Xianke couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

At this time, the population of the Tibetan Empire was about 10 million, and the population of the Tang Dynasty was about 60 million. Looking at the population alone, Datang has an absolute advantage.

However, whether it is the Western Regions, Longyou, or Jiannan, the population carrying capacity of these places bordering Tibet is limited. There are 60 million people in Datang, and they are not all pressed against Tubo!

Therefore, in some areas, because of its geographical advantages, Tibet is in an active, even absolutely active strategic situation.

The initiator of the campaign is often not the Tang Dynasty but the Tibetans.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is bitterly cold in winter. Therefore, the Tibetan people are also accustomed to wage war in autumn, only to spend the winter in warm areas.

Niu Xianke gave Wang Zhongsi and Fang Chongyong a general introduction to the general situation of Tubo, and you and I completed this missing impression map in a word.

"The most terrible thing is that Liangzhou City, the foundation of the Hexi Corridor, is within the attack range of Tubo. The Tubo army in Xincheng, an important town on the Tibetan frontier, can start from there to pass through the Qilian Mountain Conduit and directly attack Liangzhou City, which is just a stone's throw away.

If the city of Liangzhou is lost, the connection between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions will be severed, and the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate will also be cut off from Middle Earth. ”

Wang Zhongsi told Fang Chongyong concisely where the main points of this battle were.

For Datang, Liangzhou City is a place of higher importance than Youzhou City. If Liangzhou City is lost, the strategy of the Tang Dynasty to guide the Western Regions will collapse completely. Tubo's minions are lurking not far from Liangzhou City, how is this not a worrying matter?

If Datang has a little bit of strength, he will try his best to keep Liangzhou City intact.

Seeing that Fang Chongyong's face was so frightened that his face tightened, Wang Zhongsi laughed, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Tubo is strong, and we are not weak." Liangzhou City has the Chishui Army, the first strongest army of the Tang Dynasty, with 32,000 soldiers under it. ”

The overall strength of the military town is another one, there are 32,000 people in just one army, and it is indeed the only one in Datang, and it is not too much to describe it as the "first strong army".

You must know that the Mo Dou Army that Cui Qianyou was in before actually had only a few thousand soldiers.

"Yes, the majesty of the Chishui Army has never been seen since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. In ordinary military towns, the number of soldiers is only a thousand, and the few are even only a thousand. The Chishui Army was established in the second year of Wude, named after the Chishui in Chiwu Town, Liangzhou, and has a history of 100 years.

The subordinate soldiers are also the largest in the Tang Army, and they are fully replenished every year.

Similar to the Dadou Army guarding the Great Dou Valley in the surrounding towns, the soldiers are only 7,005 and a half, and they are often short of staff. Due to the weakening of the Turks, the Baiting army in the northwest of Liangzhou City had fewer soldiers. ”

Niu Cyclamen also explained.

Da Dou Tu Gu, also known as "Da Dou Ba Valley" or "Da Dou Gu", is located in Fang Chongyong's previous life in the southeast of Gansu Minle County, Gansu Province, Gansu Province at the junction of the two provinces of Biandukou Pass. Since ancient times, it has been a shortcut to Qinghai Huangzhong in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu.

When Tubo marched into the Hexi Corridor, he first had to cross the Great Doutug Valley. The Tang Dynasty set up a large fighting army to defend Tubo in this place, which was under the jurisdiction of Hexi Jiedu Prefecture.

In the northwest of Liangzhou, there is Baitinghai (the northern lake area of Minqin County, Wuwei, Gansu Province), where the Tang Dynasty set up the Baiting Army to defend against the Turks, and it is also under the jurisdiction of Hexi Jiedu Prefecture.

The Chishui Army is the only strategic mobile force in the Hexi Corridor that does not have a specific task of guarding it, and its task is to attack and counterattack, and it is the last link in the "mobile defense" strategy of the Tang Frontier.

The defense of Tibet in the Hexi Corridor was to set up military towns at various key points, with one army or even one defender to capture the town, and the Chishui Army was responsible for defending and counterattacking when the battle was stalemate.

What Fang Chongyong didn't know was that after the Anshi Rebellion in history, the Chishui Army was ordered to march east to Guanlong, and it was the first batch of ace troops to arrive. After the main force of the Tang army (newly recruited) hung up in the Battle of Tongguan, there was a troop vacuum in Guanlong.

Before the western army reassembled its army in Lingwu, for a whole year, a regiment of the Chishui Army resisted the entire rebel army (8,000 Luoluohe, 100,000, and 100,000 Hebei regular army rebels) until the final decisive battle of Xiangji Temple.

After all, it is the founding father of the Tang Dynasty, and its combat effectiveness is extremely strong.

Now, the Chishui Army is an important defensive force responsible for blocking the Turks in the north and the Tibetans in the south, and the soldiers are all brave and good at fighting.

If you are not good at fighting, you can't do it, your family is in the Hexi Corridor, and you are already in Tuntian, similar to the government soldiers, if you don't fight to the death, you will lose everything and then you won't even have a place to stand on the cone.

"Tubo implements the strategy of fighting to support war, and I am not the only one who is slighted. Its generals did not cherish their soldiers, and it was common for them to lose tens of thousands of people in a war.

Against Tibet, you can't just talk about killing, this is the most troublesome place. The Tibetan people generally have a short life, and they are dying and only seeking glory for a while. ”

Wang Zhongsi sighed, in his former military career, he was used to seeing life and death. He was deeply impressed by the cruel determination of the Tibetan people who were not afraid of death and did not take human life seriously at all.

The lives of five Tubo people are exchanged for the lives of one Tang people, many Tubo nobles are willing to gamble, do the Tang border generals dare to gamble?

No one dared to take up this question, and neither did Wang Zhonghe.

In fact, because of the harsh living environment on the plateau, the life expectancy of Tubo from Zampu to slaves was generally lower than that of the corresponding class in the Tang Dynasty. The famous Songtsen Gampo only lived to be 34 years old. In the history of Tibet, Zampu, who was young and died when he was strong, is even more innumerable.

This was true of the aristocracy, not to mention the serfs at the bottom.

Life is like summer flowers, death is like autumn leaves, which may be the true portrayal of the life of the Tibetan people.

"Let's talk about the affairs of Hexi, the affairs of Tubo, that is what the ministers of the court should worry about."

The cow cyclamen smiled gently, and the wrinkles on his old face were all huddled together.

"Niu Shangshu is right."

Wang Zhongsi nodded slightly.

The enemy of Tibet...... In his cognition, it cannot be eliminated by the Tang Dynasty. The so-called border defense is often just doing its best.

"Of the five states in Hexi, only Liangzhou and Ganzhou can be self-sufficient in grain and grass, and the other three states need to be imported from these two states. Therefore, the Hexi Corridor must not be cut off by Tibet.

If you are going to Hexi, please be sure to stay in Liangzhou in case of accidents. ”

"The Doulu Army in Shazhou (Dunhuang), the Moli Army in Guazhou, the Yumen Army in Suzhou, and the Jiankang Army in Ganzhou are not the main forces under the jurisdiction of Hexi Jiedu Prefecture, and the four armies together are not as good as the Chishui Army. If possible, try not to serve in these four armies, the risk is very high. ”

"Hexi is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and if you are trapped in one place, you can't hold one place, and only if the enemy is outside Hexi, it is the best policy."

Niu Xianke said one by one, and Fang Chongyong even took out a pen to write it down one by one.

In this way, it was not until the drums of the curfew sounded that he and Wang Zhongsi reluctantly left the mansion of the Ministry of Works.

On the way home, Wang Zhongsi was thoughtful, and suddenly asked: "Do you have time tomorrow, let's go out of Chang'an to have fun, and I will teach you a little means to save your life." ”

"Huh?"

Fang Chongyong was stunned, he didn't expect Wang Zhongsi to make such a move.