Chapter 337: Surrender
The reason why Tubo was caught off guard was related to its internal forces.
Although the Qiang people in the Hehuang land are also divided into several tribes, they are still nominally affiliated with the largest tribe.
After receiving the weapons and armor from the Song Dynasty, the largest tribal leader of the Qiang people directly invited the leaders of various tribes, showed his strength, and promised that as long as he could destroy the Tubo tribes and unify the Hehuang land, he would allocate some territory to those tribes. tribe.
After all, the Qiang people are still nomadic people and have always maintained the habit of tribal self-control.
Therefore, when the largest tribe showed its strength, the other tribes were not reluctant to comply.
But Tubo is different. Tubo was originally a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral country. It was a unified country established by Songtsen Gampo after annexing many tribes.
After the split, no one among the various tribes obeyed the other.
This is the difference in consciousness between tribalism and unity.
Just like the Han people, the world is in chaos and the princes are fighting for hegemony, and few surrenders.
Because even if you surrender and survive, you will be put under house arrest, and the end will be very miserable.
Nomads rarely fight hard, and the strong are respected.
If you can't fight, you will surrender. Generally speaking, you can still control the original tribe, no different from the Tu Emperor.
The largest tribe in Tubo is called the Luosang tribe, which also received weapons and armor from the Song Dynasty.
But after he obtained the weapons and armor, he thought about annexing all the Tubo tribes, and did not think about surrendering.
Because he knew that those tribes could not surrender.
As a result, before he could attack the Tibetan tribes, the Qiang people had already attacked.
But by doing this, the Qiang people were helping the largest tribe in Tubo.
Those small tribes originally united to resist the largest tribe, and with the restraint of the Qiang tribe, they maintained a balance.
Now that the Qiang tribe is coming, those small tribes can't resist it, so they quickly ask for help from the Luosang tribe.
The leader of the Lausanne tribe asked them to surrender, but the small tribes had no choice but to agree first.
The leader of the Luosang tribe quickly mobilized soldiers and horses from various small tribes to form a large army to fight the Qiang people.
…………
Qinzhou City
After hearing the information from Hehuang, Gu Tingye frowned.
At this moment, a soldier reported outside: "Command, Lord Wang is here!"
After a while, Wang Shao walked in.
"Brother Zichun came just in time. The situation in Hehuang is a bit unexpected. I was just wanting to discuss it with you." Gu Tingye said.
"I am here because of this matter." Wang Shao said solemnly: "I did not expect that the Qiang people could achieve unification so easily."
For the nomadic people Some of their habits are actually not clear to the Han people.
After all, the Liao Kingdom had already completed its unification, and when it came to measuring the Qiang people, they did not change their mindset. They felt that the Qiang people would be the first to send troops to unify the various tribes.
Who knew that the largest tribe of the Qiang people just showed its strength and relied on the weapons and armor sold to it by the Song Dynasty to get the other tribes to surrender and obey its orders.
“Not to mention the Qiang people’s sneak attack and annihilation of several Tubo tribes, because there was no civil war, there was no loss of strength. Although the Tubo tribes have agreed to surrender, time is short and there is no time to integrate internal forces. Now It’s no different from the alliance, I’m afraid it won’t last long,” Gu Tingye said solemnly.
According to their original plan, the Qiang and Tubo were both defeated, and then the Song Dynasty used the autumn wind to sweep away the fallen leaves and capture Hehuang in one fell swoop.
Now that such a change has occurred, if they had not intervened early, the Qiang people would probably have unified Hehuang. However, if they had intervened early, the Qiang people would not have suffered much loss in strength. If they wanted to annex Hehuang, it would have taken more time.
Once Xixia intervenes, it will be troublesome.
"The world depends on man and God decides on it. There is nothing we can do about this situation, but it is not entirely a bad thing." Wang Shao said with a smile.
"Huh?" Gu Tingye looked at Wang Shao in confusion: "Why did brother Zichun say that?" "Now the Great Wall is being built in the north, and there are floods in Jiangzhou and other places, and the treasury is empty. Even if Hehuang is conquered "It's also a big burden for the court," Wang Shao said.
"What Brother Zichun said is what I am worried about. Now that the chaos in Hehuang is happening, what I am most worried about is that the court officials will not agree to send troops." Gu Tingye sighed.
There were floods in Jiangzhou and other places, and the officials forced courtiers and wealthy businessmen to donate money, and he also learned the news.
He also specially went to Yangzhou to repair books and asked his grandfather to donate more.
Mr. Bai gave up the salt business long ago because of Gu Tingye's persuasion.
When Gu Tingye came to the northwest to take up a post, Mr. Bai also returned to Yangzhou.
After waiting for so long, what we are waiting for is chaos in Hehuang.
But because of the flood, all the court's money was used for disaster relief.
Now that Hehuang is in chaos, even if Zhao Xing wants to send troops, the courtiers may not agree.
"Your Majesty has been waiting for so long. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Your Majesty will not give up. When chaos breaks out in Hehuang, there is no need to mobilize troops from Bianjing. As long as Hehuang can be captured quickly, there will be no Problem. But after taking Hehuang, the border between the Song Dynasty and Xixia will be extended, and troops will still have to be mobilized from Bianjing. This is the most troublesome," Wang Shao said.
Hearing this, Gu Tingye frowned slightly and said, "Brother Zichun, do you mean to surrender?"
"That's right!" Wang Shao smiled and said, "The Song Dynasty lacked cavalry, and the Qiang people were nomadic. Almost everyone in the nation is good at riding. If they can recruit surrender, they can immediately form a cavalry, and there is no need for the court to increase troops to defend Xixia."
"Brother Zichun, if you are not of my race, you will have a different heart. Since ancient times. "There are many people who recruit foreigners, but most of them will rebel. Even if the Qiang people are surrendered, if they betray at a critical moment, the consequences will be disastrous!" Gu Tingye said seriously.
Everyone knows that nomads are natural cavalry. Since ancient times, no one has recruited nomads.
But the nomads who surrendered often rebelled.
There are many factors causing this situation.
If these people are used as cannon fodder, Gu Tingye sees no problem.
But Wang Shao really wanted to recruit these people to defend Xixia.
If Xixia really comes over and the Qiang people take the opportunity to rebel, how will they respond?
"Zhong Huai, it all depends on manpower. If we don't do this, do you think the court can support the invasion of Hehuang and the subsequent defense of Xixia?" Wang Shao said.
He also knew Gu Tingye's worries.
But the purpose of conquering Hehuang was to lengthen the border with Xixia.
In doing so, Xixia was forced to increase its border defense forces and achieve the goal of defeating Xixia.
But in turn, the Song Dynasty also needed to increase its troops for defense.
If there had been no floods, the autumn harvest would have been imminent, which would have been enough to support the Song Dynasty in conquering Hehuang and increasing its troops for defense.
But now that there are floods, even if Zhao Xing uses means to force officials and wealthy businessmen to donate money and food, he can only deal with the current situation.
The subsequent post-disaster reconstruction and resettlement of the people will require the court to spend a lot of money and food.
And this also gave the courtiers a reason to oppose sending troops.
Only by doing this can the pressure on the court be reduced and this matter promoted.
Gu Tingye has been waiting for so long and is not willing to give up. How can he be willing?
"Are you sure?" Gu Tingye asked after a long silence.
"The Qiang people were able to integrate so quickly. I thought carefully about it because of the nomadic people's strong mentality. As long as the plan is right, there is still a good chance." Wang Shao said.
"If you want to do this, please ask His Majesty for instructions." Gu Tingye hesitated for a while and said.
"This is natural!" Wang Shao nodded and said: "Now that Hehuang is in chaos, if we need to mobilize troops next, the troops we have are not enough, so we will naturally have to report to His Majesty."
( End of chapter)