Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

Walking into the political hall of the Dashi Palace, Zhou Jun looked around.

The golden domed sky envelopes the entire hall.

Hundreds of food officials stood in the hall, all looking towards the door.

With the support of his servants, Caliph Mansur sat back on the throne and said to Zhou Jun: "Guests who have come from afar, please come closer."

After listening to Sayer's translation, Zhou Jun walked forward a little further and came to the steps under the throne. He bowed to Mansour and said some respectful words.

Straightening up, Zhou Jun looked into the hall with the corner of his eye.

Compared with the orderliness in the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty, although the rituals of many nobles and officials in Dashi were relatively loose, their status could be generally seen.

Not only that, when they received the envoys of the Tang Dynasty, the food officials in the palace were vaguely divided into two factions.

When one group looked at Zhou Jun, they nodded and smiled, with a more friendly attitude; the other group had an expressionless face and eyes full of hostility.

Zhou Jun didn't understand what was going on between the two groups at first. When he saw Abu Muslim walking into the hall and standing in the latter group, he gradually understood.

The group of people with a friendly attitude are the peace faction of the Dashi Country; while the other group of people with a cold attitude are naturally the war faction.

Zhou Jun thought about this and said to Mansour: "There is no enmity between Dashi and Datang. There are caravans and scholars between each other, so they should live in peace."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone shouted: "The Tang Dynasty relied on the strong to bully the weak and was robbing by nature!"

Zhou Jun heard this and looked over. The man shouting was a general from the main war faction.

Gao Xianzhi was a disciple of Wuming. Just because he was greedy for the wealth of the nine surnames of Zhaowu, he launched an army to plunder the Shi Kingdom, killed the king of the Shi Kingdom and many nobles, and took his people as slaves to pretend to be a war hero.

He killed a prince from the Stone Kingdom and left a legacy of disaster.

This was a major failure in Anxi's governance during the Tianbao period. The Anxi Protectorate lost its righteousness, which made the countries in the Western Regions start to guard against and even hate the Tang Dynasty, which also gave Dashi an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Zhou Jun lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said: "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has always valued peace and sympathized with his subjects. However, Anxi is more than 6,000 miles away from the capital of the Tang Dynasty. The previous governor of Anxi was a Goguryeo, domineering and greedy for money.

Acts are often biased, and it is unusual for the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to fail to investigate the situation in time."

After a pause, Zhou Jun continued: "The border generals love great achievements and often regard themselves as heroes. They do not respect their superiors and do not obey the king's orders. I wonder if there are no such domineering border generals in Dashi Kingdom who do not obey the king's orders?"

When asked this question, Zhou Jun turned his attention to Abu Muslim, one of the main militant faction.

Everyone present could see the implication of Zhou Jun's words, as long as they were not stupid.

Abu Muslim dared to arrange swordsmen and axemen in front of the Caliph to embarrass the envoys of the Tang Dynasty. He even dared to carry weapons with him and block the door of the government hall. This move was indeed a bold act.

It can be seen from this that the domineering border generals mentioned by Zhou Jun are the same situation whether in the Tang Dynasty or Dashi.

When Abu Muslim saw this, he was shocked. He did not care about keeping a low profile, and quickly shouted to Zhou Jun: "Placing all the responsibility for the war on the head of the border general is sophistry! Please think about it, it has been a hundred years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

, at first the territory was maintained along the Hexi Corridor, but now it has moved more than 5,000 miles westward, directly advancing to the Khorasan Province. How can such a speed of encroachment be solely the responsibility of the border generals? After all, the Tang State was extremely ambitious.

, their thirst for land never ends, sooner or later, they will invade Dashi!"

After hearing Abu Muslim's speech, there were many exclamations in the palace.

Whether it is the war faction or the peace faction in the palace, as long as they think that the Tang Dynasty has captured a large area of ​​Anxi in a hundred years, and its increased territory can even be compared with the entire Dashi Kingdom, they will feel fear in their hearts.

Datang naturally became extremely vigilant.

When Zhou Jun heard this, he shook his head first, then smiled and said: "This is a wrong view."

When everyone heard this, they all looked puzzled.

Zhou Jun: "In the second year of the General Chapter (669), that is, more than 80 years ago, the Longyou Road of the Tang Dynasty reached the Persian Governor's Mansion in the west and the Jiankun Governor's Mansion (Turkic Bone Department) in the north. If we only talk about the territory

, the Anxi territory of the Tang Dynasty more than 80 years ago was wider than it is today. Have you ever thought about why, after more than 80 years, the Anxi territory of the Tang Dynasty has not only not expanded, but has shrunk a lot?"

As soon as these words came out, the big cannibals in the palace began to think deeply.

Yes, why is the territory of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty smaller than it was more than 80 years ago?

Zhou Jun: "Is it because the Tang Dynasty's national power has become weaker and the combat effectiveness of the army has declined... Of course not. In the first battle of Talos, Gao Xianzhi led 20,000 Anxi troops. Dashi not only had 150,000 coalition troops, but also had the right time.

, the advantage of geographical location. Even in this situation, the Tang army and Hu Congjun killed nearly 50,000 enemies and suffered thousands of losses. If the Geluolu people had not defected before the battle, who would win and lose in that battle would still be a matter of one

The unknown.”

"In the Second Battle of Talos, the Anxi Army only had 9,000 soldiers. The Dashi Army not only had several legions, but also had a strong city to defend. It only took three days for the Anxi Army to defeat the Dashi Army and win the battle.

We defeated all the cities near Talos and lost less than a thousand soldiers."

Hearing this, many Dashi officials in the palace originally only thought that Dashi was strong and did not know the strength of the Tang army. After hearing such results, their first reaction was disbelief. After repeatedly confirming that the other party was not lying, they looked at Zhou Junzhi again.

, many people's teeth chattered, their two legs trembled, and their hearts changed from arrogance to fear.

Caliph Mansur, who was sitting on the throne, moved his body uncomfortably and asked Zhou Jun: "Since the Tang Dynasty has a strong military, why is the territory of Anxi shrinking?"

Zhou Jun: "Three reasons."

Mansour: “What three reasons?”

Zhou Jun: "First, the capitals of the Tang Dynasty are Chang'an and Luoyang, which are too far away from Anxi. Both political orders and supplies will be consumed in the middle, and there is a worry that they will be beyond reach."

This chapter is not over yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading! Mansour nodded slightly: "Indeed, I looked at the map presented by the merchants. Chang'an is far from Khorasan Province. Even riding a horse will cost four

Many months... What about the second reason?"

Zhou Jun: "Second, the biggest threat to the Tang Dynasty does not come from the west, but from Tubo in the south. Tubo is located on the plateau, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Both men and women, old and young, are good at riding horses and hunting. It can be said that the whole country is armed. Tubo and

The Tang Dynasty borders Qinghai. If the former goes out of Dafeichuan, the cavalry army can reach Chang'an in just three days. For the Tang Dynasty, it can be said that it is like a bullet in the throat."

After careful consideration, Mansour said: "The Hexi Corridor is narrow and slender. If the Tang Dynasty advances westward too fast, the Tubo people can go north and cut off the Hexi Corridor, cutting the Tang Dynasty's territory into two parts: east and west. It seems like this

, one of the main reasons why the Tang State reduced its defense in Anxi was to guard against the Tibetans... Then there is the last reason?"

Zhou Jun: "The last reason is the frontier general mentioned earlier."

Mansour: "Front general?"

Zhou Jun: "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not want the border generals of the Anxi Protectorate to send troops westward."

Mansour: "Why?"

Zhou Jun: "To the west of the Anxi Protectorate, there are small countries with the nine surnames of Zhaowu. It would be easy for the border generals to use troops to capture these small countries. However, judging from the map, the western end of the Tang Dynasty territory will be

It seemed extremely bloated, creating a situation where the tail was too big to lose. In addition, Anxi was too far away from the capital of the Tang Dynasty. If one of the generals had a second heart and secretly cultivated strength, the Tang court would not be able to detect it in time, and secondly, it would be difficult to mobilize troops to deal with it.

It is extremely difficult. Therefore, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not want Anxi to expand too much, also out of consideration of guarding against frontier generals."

When Mansour heard this, he finally understood.

But soon, the Caliph of the Great Food Empire carefully recalled the last paragraph and suddenly heard something else.

If the Tang Dynasty is replaced by Dashi, and Anxi is replaced by the Khorasan Province...

Thinking of this, Mansour suddenly looked at Abu Muslim with complicated eyes.

The third reason mentioned by Zhou Jun just now was ostensibly to explain that the Tang emperor wanted to guard against General Anxi, but in fact it was to remind Caliph Mansur... Abu Muslim, the highest governor of Khorasan Province, originally issued the order

When marching into Talas, do you have selfish motives for expanding your territory and strengthening your strength?

Thinking of this, Mansour was full of thoughts and said to Zhou Jun: "Today's discussion will end here first. Please ask the Tang envoy to rest first. As for the next negotiations between the two countries, I will hold a special banquet and explain it slowly.

talk."