Chapter 2116 Differentiation and Checks and Balances
Even if the Xueyantuo Khanate was destroyed and the Tang Dynasty established the Hanhai Protectorate here, it would not be possible to station too many defenders.
Mobei is too big, with a vast territory, sparsely populated areas, and a bitterly cold climate. If you want to rule this area, you can only rely on the local Hu tribe. The Qibi tribe, which has always been friendly with the Tang Dynasty, is the best choice.
Of course, support and opposition are the best ways to rule an area far away from home.
It is not enough to rely solely on one Qibi tribe. This will cause the Qibi tribe to become a dominant family. Today, the Qibi tribe is willing to dormant under the rule of the Tang Dynasty and work as a submissive person. But when the entire Mobei is reduced to Its rule will promote its rapid growth.
With power comes ambition.
Who knows that the Qibi tribe today will not become another Xue Yantuo in the future?
When His Majesty Li Er supported the restoration of the East Turkic Khanate and placed it in the Chile River in Monan, he used it as a buffer between the Tang Dynasty and Xue Yantuo to restrain each other. However, he did not expect that the East Turkic Khanate would collapse. Xue Yantuo developed rapidly, which resulted in a huge gap in power, forcing Datang to face Xue Yantuo's threat.
Now that Xue Yantuo is about to be destroyed, the Tang Dynasty must support two spokesmen to rule Mobei and suppress the other tribes. At the same time, it must always control these two spokesmen to restrain each other and oppose each other so as not to take advantage of the opportunity to become bigger. This is actually extremely difficult.
The Qibi tribe must be won over. This is the tribe closest to the Tang Dynasty among the tribes in Mobei Tiele, but the choice of the other tribe must be cautious.
Fang Jun is now thinking about Uighur.
As the most powerful tribe among the Tiele tribes second only to Xue Yantuo, the Uighurs have strong soldiers and horses, are brave and good at fighting. Their tribe is entrenched in the Longcheng area at the foot of Langjuxu Mountain, with a large population and prosperity. The reason why Fang Jun hesitated was that the Uighurs were too powerful. Historically, Xue Yantuo fell under the attack from both sides of the Tang Dynasty and the Uighurs. Then the Uighurs rose rapidly and brought a lot of trouble to the Tang Dynasty.
Especially now that the Uighurs have formed an alliance with the Pugu, Tongluo, Bayegu and other tribes, they are powerful and difficult to control.
If you are not careful, you will suffer the consequences.
*****
Fang Jun and Qibi Heli seemed to be having a casual banquet, but in fact they were testing each other and fighting with each other.
Fang Jun wanted to support the Qibi tribe to become the helper of the Tang Dynasty in ruling Mobei, but it was necessary to limit its power and curb its development; Qibi Heli tried his best to win the Qibi tribe's right to speak in Mobei. He was not willing to just serve as the Tang Dynasty's ruler. His lackeys, hawks and dogs, until one day the cunning rabbit dies and the lackeys cook...
Of course, the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.
Qibi Heli knew that Fang Jun did not have the power to decide who would assist Datang in managing Mobei, but he had great influence on His Majesty Li Er and had an influence on this matter that should not be underestimated to a large extent. Moreover, what Fang Jun said The kindness shown also served him well.
The two exchanged cups. Qibi Heli personally held the pot and filled Fang Jun a glass of wine, and asked: "The textile factory set up by Su Wen Erlang in Huating Town, Jiangnan purchased a large amount of wool from the Western Regions. Nowadays, the Western Regions are not peaceful either. The Western Turkic Khan Yugushe defeated him first Guo Xiaoke caused the defeat of tens of thousands of Tang troops, and was then defeated by the British army. His soldiers suffered numerous casualties, and they only escaped with their lives by fleeing to Tochara. Ashina Nishu's grandson lost his prestige and lost his prestige in the Western Turks. With the support of the ten surnames, he was deposed Yugushe proclaimed himself Yibi Shekui Khan and sent envoys to Chang'an to ask for the imperial edict of the Tang Dynasty. How could Yugushe be willing to be deposed? A war was about to begin in the Western Regions, and the war was chaotic. Yes, it may affect Erlang Business... Why not transfer part of the share of wool purchased from the Western Regions to Mobei? If Erlang purchases wool in Mobei, whoever dares to spoil your good deeds will be killed immediately. His whole family!”
What people in the world pursue is nothing more than power and wealth.
If the Qibi tribe can become the assistant of the Tang Dynasty in ruling Mobei, they must have stable interests to share with those tribes. Otherwise, can they still ride on horses and carry swords to kill tribes one by one?
There is no end to the killing.
If we can maintain a stable chain of interests with Fang Jun, it will not only promote the relationship with Fang Jun, but also enable many tribes to defect to the Qibi tribe because of the interests of wool, which will immediately greatly increase the power of the Qibi tribe. .
Fang Jun naturally knew what Qi Bi Heli was thinking, and there was nothing wrong with that. Cooperation was a matter of mutual benefit.
Of course, the Qi Bi Department cannot make money alone. We still need to carefully seek a balance...
"Nowadays, the sales of woolen fabrics within the Tang Dynasty have gradually become saturated, and I am afraid that it will not be possible to increase production in a short period of time. However, overseas sales are now expanding. As long as the nobles of Japan, Silla, Nanyang and other places recognize woolen fabrics, they will surely With the outbreak of production, the demand for raw materials will naturally increase. As long as the wool from Mobei is purchased, the Qibi Department will definitely be one of the partners. ”
Qibi Heli chuckled and said: "That's great, then I'm just waiting for Erlang to get rich!"
He was smiling on his face and cursing in his heart.
Damn “one of the partners”!
The Han people are really annoying. They always keep in mind the strategy of restraint and balance. Even if they believe in the loyalty of the Qibi tribe, they must support another tribe. As the imaginary enemy of the Qibi tribe, they will never allow the Qibi family to dominate big.
Where is the need to be so cautious?
Today's Qibi tribe is no longer the same era as the "Great Khan" together with Xue Yantuo. Not only is it far less powerful than Xue Yantuo, but even the Uighurs have firmly suppressed the Qibi tribe. Unless they are crazy, they will Follow the example of Xue Yantuo and dominate Mobei.
Without the support of the Tang Dynasty, the Qibi tribe would have been swallowed up by the remnants of Huihe and Xue Yantuo in a few days...
But this is the consistent strategy of the Han people, which is to divide, contain and balance.
You have to say that this trick is very effective. It uses barbarians to control barbarians, which keeps the Hu people in internal strife all year round. They fight among themselves endlessly for power, and give the Han people a chance to recuperate. After finally defeating the competitor, he will face the powerful Han army and be defeated again, and then it will be divided, contained, and balanced...
Unless one day a genius will appear in the Hu tribe and quickly unify the tribes, or there will be a serious natural disaster in the Han area that will cause social unrest, then it will be possible to break through the Great Wall and invade the Central Plains. Otherwise, don't even think about it.
At this time, soldiers came to report outside the door.
"Bazhuo actually stood in front of Xue Yantuo's army, with a sword in his hand, and was promoted as Xue Yantuo Khan?"
Fang Jun looked at the battle report and couldn't help being surprised.
Yinan Khan led the army to a huge defeat in Zhao Xincheng, causing Xue Yantuo's main force to lose ten to sixty-seven. The remaining remnants of the army fled back to Yazhang with Yimang, fought and retreated, and retreated to Longcheng under the cover of the blizzard. At present, Xue Yantuo's effective strength is the remnant army led by Yimang, and the tribes controlled by Bazhuo and Tulishi who were expelled by Yinan Khan. Each of the three parties has more than 20,000 troops, and the total strength is about 60,000 to 70,000.
There are a lot of people, but the quality of the soldiers is uneven, and the combat power is not even a little bit lower than before. After all, Xue Yantuo's vitality was severely damaged in the battle of Zhao Xincheng, and all the elite soldiers died miserably. Now these soldiers and horses are all improvised...
Moreover, the three princes each have their own shortcomings, and no one will obey the other. Even if they have 60,000 to 70,000 troops, they will fight on their own and have their own plans, and they will be really vulnerable.
However, now Bazhuo has killed Yimang brazenly and recruited all his soldiers. The strength of his troops has increased sharply, his command has been confirmed, and his power cannot be underestimated.
If you want to defeat it, you must go through a fierce battle.
Don't forget that there was another sudden loss. The battle report said that he had led his tribe to move westward, and seemed to be planning to leave Mobei and defect to the Western Turks. But who can guarantee that this man would not kill a carbine and suddenly appear in front of the Tang army? Behind you?
Qibi Heli said sternly: "Bazhuo is a cruel and violent person, but he is good at battle formations and his military ability is more outstanding than the other princes. You must not be careless. Moreover, the ground of Dragon City is backed by water and mountains. Once the battle situation is unfavorable, You can retreat to Langjuxu Mountain. The mountains are high and densely covered with snow. It will be even more difficult to wipe them out."
Fang Jun also had a headache: "It's true. If you don't kill the snake, you will suffer from it. If you can't annihilate them all in one battle, Xue Yantuo will be reduced to pieces in the future. From time to time, soldiers will come out of Langjuxu Mountain to invade, which will be very annoying. If you don’t tell them, it will lead to great losses. But is there any way to make them fight to the death and not collapse at the first touch?”
This is Mobei, the territory of the Tiele people.
Once the Xueyantuo people gave up large-scale corps operations and instead hid in the mountains to engage in "guerrilla warfare", the Tang army would have no choice but to deal with it...(End of Chapter)