Chapter 324 Strategic Purpose
After explaining the important matters, Li Heng talked about his friendship with several concubines before letting them leave.

Only Li Heng and Yang Yuhuan were left in the room.

Li Heng said to Yang Yuhuan, "After I go to war, I hope you will take care of all the affairs in the mansion. If there is any unusual movement, you can kill first and report later."

Yang Yuhuan was startled and said, "I will report everything to you, my dear."

Li Yan said: "I believe you."

Yang Yuhuan was touched and said, "I will do my best to live up to your trust."

Li Heng smiled back, pondered for a moment, and said, "I have some dirty information about the civil and military officials in the Northeast. I will give it to you later. If the time is up and there is no movement from An Lushan, you can give the dirty information to Yu Yao and ask her to pass it on to Yang Guozhong. Tell Yang Guozhong that she got it from Li Xiu, Du Youlin and others."

"Yes." Yang Yuhuan agreed, thought for a moment, and said, "But even if you say so, it won't stand up to scrutiny."

Li Heng said: "I know it won't stand up to scrutiny, but I'm afraid they don't have time to investigate."

Yang Yuhuan said: "That's right, we have no way out."

Li Heng hugged Yang Yuhuan and said, "We are husband and wife, and we will advance and retreat together. Even if we fail, I will have no regrets."

Yang Yuhuan said softly, "Like you, I have no regrets in my life."

The two smiled at each other, hugged each other tightly, and said nothing more.

……

After explaining the affairs of the government, Li Heng arranged the political affairs in Hexi and then set off for Shanzhou.

In the Shanzhou government office, Li Heng and the main generals of Helong gathered together.

After greeting each other, Gao Xianzhi took the lead and said, "Your Highness, the court is determined to fight against Tubo this time, but the peace agreement between Tang Dynasty and Tubo has not been broken. If we take the initiative to break the agreement, we will have no reason to fight."

Li Heng was very happy to see that Gao Xianzhi had thought of the point that the army had no reason to fight, and said, "It seems that General Gao has led a righteous army."

"It's all because of your Highness's teachings." Gao Xianzhi smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm also worried that if the war continues to stalemate, Tubo and the Tang Dynasty will stop fighting and make peace again. The court will accuse your Highness of 'provoking a conflict'. Your Highness is self-disciplined and has never had any evidence against him. I'm afraid this time he will give you a reason to criticize him."

Li Heng said: "This is all for the future. If we don't fight now, we will all be finished."

Gao Xianzhi asked: "Then what excuse should we use to send troops?"

Li Heng said: "The Subi tribe has already had conflicts with Tubo, and they are preparing to go to Tubo and surrender to the Tang."

There are five Ru in Tubo, four of which are old tribes of Tubo, and the other one, Sunbo Ru, is the Subi tribe.

More than a hundred years ago, before Subi was conquered by Tubo, Subi was a matriarchal tribe with the queen as the leader.

After being conquered by Tubo, Subi became the frontier connecting Tubo and the Tang Dynasty. Influenced by Tubo and the Tang Dynasty, women's rights gradually declined, but the queen was still in charge.

Tubo's policy towards Suobi was mainly to appease it, and to use Suobi as a food and grass base to compete with the Tang Dynasty. It was said that Tubo's whole country was strong, and half of its military rations and horses came from Suobi. Gao Xianzhi knew the importance of Suobi to Tubo, and said happily: "If we can recruit Suobi, we will be able to severely damage Tubo's vitality."

Li Heng nodded and said, "Not only the Suobei, but also many tribes such as the Dangxiang and Qiang are willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty. So this time we are not going to use military force against Tubo, but to help these tribes restore their country."

"It's all due to your majesty's power!" Gao Xianzhi sighed, "Your Majesty commanded the four towns of Longyou Road, aided Xiaoboluo in the west, took Daboluo, controlled the old land of Tuyuhun in the east, and took Qinghai Lake and the Yellow River's nine bends in the middle. The other tribes feared your majesty's power and naturally surrendered willingly."

Gao Xianzhi's words have some truth to them, but they also seem to be flattering Li Heng.

The absorption of these western tribes began in the Qin Dynasty. In the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang defeated Tuyuhun half-crippled and absorbed many Tuyuhun people.

By the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty had advanced westward, forcing the small countries in the west to flee or surrender, so that many soldiers in the Western Town of Longyou Road were from ethnic minorities, and many aristocratic families in the four towns were also from ethnic minorities.

For example, the Qibi clan was a Turkic people, the Chen and Yao clans in Hexi and Longyou were Sogdians, and the Li clan was a Dangxiang clan.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, tribes such as Tuyuhun, Dangxiang and Qiang were afraid of the might of the Tang Dynasty. Many of them requested to submit to the Tang Dynasty and asked it to register them as households.

But Li Shimin did not agree. He only gave them official titles and adopted a system of restraint and subjugation.

Of course, Li Shimin did this not because he had no idea of ​​unified household registration, but because under the circumstances at the time, the Ji Mi system was the best solution.

First, these tribes are nomadic and do not like farming, so it is difficult to form effective management.

Second, the terrain of these tribes is very complex, either high mountains or deserts. On the plains, you can run 600 miles a day at a fast pace, but in these places, running 100 miles a day is considered fast. Managing these places, the input-output ratio is completely disproportionate.

Third, these tribes were very loose. They were called Dangxiang and Qiang because the leaders of the alliances of the tribes were Dangxiang or Qiang. They were very complicated. For example, there were more than a dozen Dangxiang tribes and dozens of Qiang tribes. These tribes had different ancestors, cultures, and political tendencies, and they often attacked each other. Instead of trying to unify them and make them more threatening, it would be better to let them disperse and govern themselves, which would be better for the Tang Dynasty.

Li Heng knew all about these things, but he still accepted Gao Xianzhi's flattery, smiled slightly, and asked, "Before going to war, there is always a strategic goal. What do you think we should achieve this time?"

The generals were stunned when they heard this.

They have always followed orders. As for where to fight, they usually listen to the imperial court, or at the very least, the commander-in-chief. They have no say in anything.

Wang Zhongsi saw everyone looking at each other in bewilderment, and he stood up and said, "From what I have seen, the imperial court seems to want to occupy all of Tubo's territory."

"That's impossible." Gao Xianzhi stood up and retorted, "We can only nibble away at Tubo step by step. If we want to win the throne in one battle, it will only tire the Tang Dynasty."

"I think so too. The key is where we have to fight to satisfy the court." Wang Zhongsi came to the map and gestured on it, saying, "We have already occupied Qinghai Lake and the Yellow River's Nine Bends. Beyond Dafeichuan is an uninhabited area. Beyond Mohuanchuan and over Jishishan Mountain is the Sunbo Rusubi tribe. To the west, beyond Dabolü, there are the Xiangxiong, Yangtong, Qiang and Dangxiang tribes. Only by crossing these tribes can we attack the core of Tubo."

Gao Xianzhi agreed with Wang Zhongsi's analysis, but he was also undecided, so he could only say, "I will obey your orders, Your Highness."

The generals followed and said, "We are waiting for your orders, Your Highness!"

Li Heng also came to the side of the map and said, "Some tribes in the Suobei and Dangxiang tribes have already expressed their willingness to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but if we want to completely conquer them, they will only unite and resist, putting us in a passive situation. The slogan of our military deployment is to help these tribes restore their country, and this is also our military purpose."

(End of this chapter)