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Because opinions in favor of war against Nanzhao prevailed, Emperor Li Longji also made the decision to launch war against Nanzhao.

In early October, the imperial court issued an edict to establish the Erhai Road Marching Department, with Gao Shi, the Minister of Military Affairs, as the general manager of the Erhai Road March, Wang Sili, who was renamed as the general of the left guard, and Li Fudou, the right general of the army, as the deputy general manager. They commanded 100,000 troops to attack Nanzhao.

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After the imperial meeting passed the resolution of the war against Nanzhao, Li Longji once issued an edict to Nanzhao Wang Geluofeng, ordering him to remove his domestic attachments and go to Chang'an in person to plead guilty and explain why he attached himself to Tubo and fought against the Tang Dynasty.

However, after receiving the edict, Prince Geluofeng of Nanzhao did not

In accordance with the imperial order, he not only attached himself to the country, but also did not go to Chang'an to plead guilty in person. He only replied with a document. The document explained the reason for attaching himself to Tubo, saying that he did so because he was forced by the Tubo army, and expressed his willingness to fight with Tibet from generation to generation.

The Tang Dynasty had good relations and no more wars.

In the past, the reply of Nanzhao King Geluofeng would have been accepted by the Tang monarchs, but now that Tubo has been destroyed, and because of the defeats of several previous expeditions to Nanzhao, Prime Minister Wei Jiansu

They did not betray Nanzhao, and repeatedly suggested to Emperor Li Longji that they should completely pacify Nanzhao and bring Nanzhao under the control of the Tang Dynasty to avoid future troubles. In the end, Li Longji agreed to mobilize a large army to attack Nanzhao.

Under Yang Xi's advice, Gao Shi also requested several times to lead the army on the expedition. Yang Xi and Guo Ziyi also put in good words for him. Finally, Li Longji agreed to appoint 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 will be in charge of the branch, and they will raise ten elite troops to attack Nanzhao.

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

This war could be carried out, in which Yang Xi played an indispensable role. He persuaded Li Longji through various channels, and finally Li Longji agreed to go to war with Nanzhao. Yang Xi's theory of "fighting to support war" won many opinions in the DPRK and China.

With the support of ministers, the court and the people will not be burdened by foreign wars. Many people oppose it and there is not much reason.

If another 108,000 Nanzhao prisoners were captured, many infrastructure projects in the Tang Dynasty would not have to worry about running out of labor.

Although Yang Xi felt that frequent wars would increase the court's tax burden, he still hoped that wars would occur, so that the court's attention would shift to foreign wars, and there would definitely be less fighting between the court, otherwise he would

Life was very difficult during the filial piety period.

He did not want to have a fight in the court due to factionalism and the issue of the crown prince during the two years of his mourning, and the fight would even get very fierce.

After the imperial court issued the edict for the war, Yang Xi also went over to congratulate Gao Shi personally.

"Brother Dafu, you have obtained the position of chief marching officer as you wished. I hope you can live up to expectations and achieve a great victory in this battle! To avenge the defeat of the Tang army at Nanzhao over the years, this can be regarded as fulfilling a wish for my father.

, he was very worried about Nanzhao’s affairs.”

When Yang Guozhong was in power, although he deliberately concealed the defeat of the Nanzhao war, it was eventually known and almost became a joke. It was an excuse for political opponents to attack Yang Guozhong, and Yang Guozhong was disgraced. Now that Yang Guozhong has passed away, the deceased

For his own sake, Yang Xi hoped to do something good for Yang Guozhong. He would severely repair Nanzhao and even destroy it.

Yang Xi also hoped that Gao Shi would gain some more military exploits and be promoted due to this battle.

Gao Shi almost completely understood what Yang Xi meant, and he kept promising, saying that he would be careful not to repeat the mistakes of previous years, and would definitely fight for troops to enter the Erhai Lake to conquer Nanzhao and expand territory for the Tang Dynasty.

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After receiving the imperial edict, Gao Shi immediately made preparations. He collected all the emergency situations of the war with Nanzhao in the past few years, prepared to take a closer look, and asked the imperial court to send all the troops who were preparing to go to the south.

Training to adapt to the climate and terrain of the south.

Do not fight an unprepared battle. This is one of the most basic essentials for a general, and Gao Shi knew this very well.

The special operations team, whose number has reached about 2,000, has already been dispatched early and headed to the south.

Most of the places where the special operations team trains and fights are in the north. They are not very familiar with the conditions in the south and need a training and adaptation process. They go to the south earlier than the large forces, and they have to adapt and train for several months.

In the process, Yang Xi felt that they could fully adapt to the climate and environment in the south and make great achievements in this campaign.

While everyone in the court was busy preparing for this battle, Guo Ziyi came to visit Yang Xi's house.

He came to talk to Yang Xi through his wife, who was visiting his grandson.

"Ziliang, is this expedition to Nanzhao a little 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 he could only reply with a wry smile: "Father-in-law, my son-in-law doesn't think so. In fact, my son-in-law thinks that the war against Nanzhao should be carried out when the attack on Tubo is launched.

"

"Oh? You actually think so?" Yang Xi's answer surprised Guo Ziyi.

His son-in-law actually felt that the war against Nanzhao was launched too late, rather than too early or too hastily.

Yang Xi saw the shock on Guo Ziyi's face and immediately explained: "If we attack the Tibetan hinterland from the direction of Nanzhao, the march will be much smoother. But at that time, I didn't expect that the war in Qinghai and Anxi would go so smoothly.

During the war, there was no plan to attack the hinterland of Tubo. Nanzhao and Tubo formed an alliance, and Datang and I

When Tubo was fighting, Nanzhao was also preparing to move in the south. If we had used troops against it at that time, maybe now Nanzhao has been pacified, and our Tang army has already pointed at Luoche City! After these few years of fighting, the strength of our Tang army has

The combat power has been greatly improved, and I believe that the tragic failure of the Nanzhao war a few days ago will never be repeated again."

Although he said this, Yang Xi still admitted that the imperial court was a bit hasty in launching this war, "Father-in-law, from the proposal to the decision to go out, the time is very fast. In addition, the most powerful armies have been in the north.

battle, south

They were not familiar with the situation. They needed to recruit sergeants from the south for this expedition. Therefore, under such circumstances, it was indeed very hasty to launch a war against Nanzhao immediately. However, the imperial court did not specify a time for the attack on Nanzhao. Preparations could be made

do it slowly

.By slowly making preparations like this, we may be able to put greater pressure on Nanzhao and allow them to prepare for war throughout the country. If there is domestic turmoil at this time, chaos may spread throughout the country.

The result. Even

Our army has been formed and when it goes to the front line, the Nanzhao army will surrender after hearing the news. There is no need to rush to end this war. You can take your time and it will be fine if it drags on for a few years. Anyway, our Tang Dynasty is quite wealthy now.

It’s starting, but Nanzhao can’t afford to delay it!”

Yang Xi's theory made Guo Ziyi dumbfounded, and he immediately pointed out the root cause, "Ziliang, as I think, it's because you can't stay idle during this period, and you hope to transfer the internal pressure to the outside and start a war.

To cover up the fight in the court and prevent the dispute between you and the prince from coming early. You are still observing filial piety and cannot come out to do it.

thing, so you want the war to drag on longer. It is best to wait until the war is over and your period of filial piety has come. Now that Gao Shi has gone to lead the army, the reform of the military system will definitely stop. If you keep your filial piety and end it, the war will

If you stop just now, you can take over this matter without letting the power fall into the hands of others. The prince can't do anything to you!"

Guo Ziyi's words almost hit his mind. Yang Xi could no longer pretend to be confused. He could only giggle twice and said: "My father-in-law said a lot, but what my son-in-law wants is to defeat the foreign enemies as soon as possible."

Destroy them all and restore complete peace to the Tang Dynasty. Tubo has not been completely destroyed, right? If you want to enter the hinterland of Tubo, Nanzhao is a must-take place, so capturing it as soon as possible is also a good choice."

Guo Ziyi also laughed twice and said: "Ziliang, although I think this battle is a bit hasty, I still agree with the war against Nanzhao. Only during the war can the status of the generals be improved. If the war has not been held for a long time,

, then the status of generals in the court will be greatly reduced. You and I are both soldiers, and there are wars around us, so the court will use us more. If there is no war for a long time, we people may be ignored by the emperor, haha

!”

Guo Ziyi's words made Yang Xi suddenly wake up. He had never thought about this. When he heard what Guo Ziyi said, he felt that it made sense. The generals in the DPRK and China gained power only when there was war, and in peacetime.

Civil servants are in charge. Looking at all dynasties, it is always like this. When a dynasty is first established, wars are frequent and military generals have more say in the court. But as the wars subside, the role of military generals gradually declines and is gradually marginalized.

change.

If there had been no war in the Tang Dynasty for a long time, it is very likely that a prime minister like Guo Ziyi, who was a military general, would lose the value of his existence in the court. After all, Guo Ziyi's role was reflected in the battles, and he did not perform particularly well in other aspects.

Yang Xi does not agree that Guo Ziyi is very talented. At least Guo Ziyi, who has been the prime minister for more than a year now, does not have many useful suggestions in other aspects. If the Tang Dynasty stops its foreign war, then Guo Ziyi's position as prime minister will be very good.

May be replaced by other ministers.

"What my father-in-law said is very reasonable!" Yang Xi laughed loudly, "Then it seems that the imperial court has been unable to stop foreign wars."

War is not necessarily a bottomless pit that consumes wealth. Neither the current Turks nor the Jurchens and later Mongols caused the country to go bankrupt because of their frequent wars. Moreover, they became richer and richer as they fought. When life was difficult for them, they would launch wars.

Looting wealth. The Tang Dynasty also

You can learn from their methods, at least when launching wars against tribes and countries like Tubo and Turks. The occupation of land in those places is of little use under current conditions, but the looting of their wealth is very useful.

, whether it is property or population.
Chapter completed!