Chapter 2271 The inertia of history
From ancient times to the present, the Han family has been the leader of the world. Countless ethnic groups have emerged on the grasslands and deserts. There are also huge empires such as the Huns and Turks who are accustomed to war and are rampant for a while. However, without exception, they are all against The rich and fertile Han country is full of yearning.
Once upon a time, if they could become an official of the Han Dynasty, I don’t know how many nobles of the prairie barbarians were willing to spend all their money and give up their noble status and become naturalized as members of the Han family...
Having a Han household registration is the most glorious thing.
Being able to incorporate the subjugated Persian prince into the Tang Dynasty, grant him a household registration, and provide him with political asylum was already a very high level of treatment. For the countries in the Western Regions, sandwiched between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, and now that the Arab Empire has extended its tentacles, the country may be destroyed within a short time. The royal families and nobles of these countries in the Western Regions relied on the Silk Road to earn huge wealth. If they could become Han Chinese and live in Chang'an after the fall of their country, it would be a dream.
So as long as the Tang Dynasty shouts such words, the hearts of the entire Western Region will return to the Tang Dynasty.
This is something that even sharp swords and guns cannot do.
His Majesty Li Er was very pleased. What could be happier than seeing his heir grow up?
For the Tang Dynasty, even though the Arab Empire was the overlord of West Asia, it was too far away from the Tang Dynasty. The entire Western Region was not yet within its territory, so why bother about the Arab annihilation of Persia?
Just remind the Anxi Protectorate to warn Arab armies not to enter the Western Regions. The rest does not matter and cannot be controlled...
Li Ji glanced at Fang Jun and said slowly: "According to the battle report from the Anxi Protectorate, there are now widespread stories in the Western Regions of the Arab army's contribution to the Persian state... It is said that as early as three years ago, the Arab army had surrounded The Persian kingdom closed the city to the west, but the Persians fought desperately and defended the capital. It was impregnable and the brave Ala The Arab soldiers were helpless. As a result, in the spring of this year, the Arab army used a new type of weapon. Under the attack of this weapon, the solid city walls of Ctesiphon were like landslides, ice and snow melting, and the entire city wall exploded with earth-shattering sounds. After the city was destroyed, the Arab army broke into the city and started massacre..."
The hall was silent for a moment, and everyone looked at Fang Jun.
Fang Jun sat on the last chair, touched his chin, looked at the beams with beautiful patterns painted in oil paint, and smiled bitterly.
Gunpowder is the most outstanding invention of China, but it has never been used in war. It was not until it spread to West Asia that the West Asians improved the formula of gunpowder, giving it the power to destroy the world. It was put into war, and later spread to Europe.
The time when the West Asians improved gunpowder was after the Battle of Henros. The Arabs, who controlled most of the Western Regions, acquired papermaking technology and the method of making gunpowder.
The reason why Fang Jun used Zhentian Lei with the Arabs in exchange for high-quality war horses was because he knew that it would not be long before gunpowder would become a technology fully mastered by the Arabs. Instead of waiting for this advantage to be automatically abolished after a hundred and eighty years, it would be better to Now exchange it for something useful.
But who would have thought that maybe it was the possession of Thunder Thunder in advance that suddenly accelerated the pace of the Arab Empire's eastward advance, and even the time to capture the western city was advanced by several years.
What is particularly important is that Fang Jun, who advocated trading Zhentianlei with the Arabs, became the "sinner" who indirectly led to the collapse of the Persian Empire...
Of course, the Tang Dynasty didn't care whether the Persians lived or died, so this "crime" didn't matter.
However, if the Arabs continue to advance eastward and march into the Western Regions to join the Tang army, the historical "Battle of Hengrus" will begin a hundred years ahead of schedule, and the Arab army will use the Thunderbolt on the Tang army...
Fang Jun will probably become the sinner of "enemies"!
A lifetime of fame will be wasted...
And in his opinion, this possibility is very high.
Armed with religion, Arab warriors possess the characteristics of being brave and fearless, fearless of life and death, and are brave and fearless. They have never been in contact with Eastern civilization, and they have never taken Eastern civilization into their eyes. Under the leadership of Umar I, the Arab army was invincible and their morale was high. They would even take the initiative to attack the Tang army, hoping to pacify Inner Asia. area, the soldiers crossed the Congling Mountains and reached the Western Regions, eventually spreading the gospel of the prophet throughout the East...
Fang Jun didn't care too much about whether he was convicted of "collaborating with the enemy". Even if the Arab army obtained the Thunder Thunder at this stage, it would be impossible to crack the formula of gunpowder.
He was just worried that once the Arab army fought with the Tang army in the Anxi Protectorate, the Tang army, which was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength, would be defeated, which would reduce the prestige of the Tang Dynasty in Inner Asia and the Western Regions, leading to a series of hidden dangers.
Even the Tibetans, who were short of domestic food due to "highland barley wine", would take the opportunity to go north and cut off the Hexi Corridor, leaving the Anxi Protectorate alone in the Western Region and becoming an enclave.
In fact, this has happened in history.
During the mid-Tang Dynasty, Tubo took advantage of the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty and sent troops north to capture the Hexi Corridor, cutting off the transportation links between the Anxi Protectorate and Chang'an. The Tang Dynasty troops guarding the Western Regions, led by Guo Xin, the governor of Anxi and Beiting, and Liuhou Yangxigu of the four towns, lost contact with the central government of the Tang Dynasty and cut off foreign aid. Anxi launched a fierce struggle with the Tibetan army.
From then on, the Western Regions were "isolated" from Chang'an, and they fought alone for more than fifty years!
It was not until many years later that Guo Xin sent an envoy to Huihe to return to Chang'an by chance. When the envoy from the Anxi Army arrived in Chang'an, Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty realized that the Anxi Protectorate was still holding on. He couldn't help but burst into tears, and there was a lot of crying in the court...
However, the Tang Dynasty at that time was no longer the powerful empire that once had millions of people and controlled the world. Its weak finances and chaotic court made it impossible for them to open up the Hexi Corridor and connect the four towns in Anxi. They could only symbolically The imperial edict seals the generals and soldiers of the army.
In the third year of the Yuanhe reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, it was a snowy winter. It was the most tragic moment in the history of the Tang Dynasty's border guarding in the Western Regions - the last remnant soldier of the Anxi Protectorate was guarding the military fortress in Qiuci alone. Under the siege of Tibet, they ran out of ammunition and food. The white-haired General Guo Xin, the nephew of the famous Tang general Guo Ziyi, drew his sword and shouted loudly. Amidst the loud shouts of killing, the sallow-looking Tang soldiers held weapons and fought the Tubo army on the top of the city. A bloody battle, all of them died heroically, and no one surrendered!
The Tang Dynasty’s political and military jurisdiction over the western region ended!
The Anxi Protectorate, which represented the glory of the Tang Dynasty and even China, has since fallen...
……
Thinking of this, Fang Jun stood up, walked to stand in front of His Majesty Li Er, bowed and saluted, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty clearly knows that although the countries in the Western Regions surrendered to the British army, they have different hearts. How can they be willing to do so?" Will you accept the leadership of the Tang Dynasty? If you get the chance, you will definitely rebel! If the Anxi Protectorate is defeated, the prestige of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions will inevitably be reduced, and the dissatisfied countries in the Western Regions will definitely be ready to take action. In addition, they have been coveting the Silk Road. The Tubo...I am afraid that if I sit back and watch the Arab army enter Inner Asia, the consequences will be extremely serious.”
He could not just watch history repeat itself. Today's Tang Dynasty was not the late Tang Dynasty that sat back and watched the Western Regions fall and was helpless. As long as an army entered the Western Regions and joined forces with the Anxi Protectorate to guard against the Arab army, they would surely guard Congling and the Western Regions would be impregnable.
If Tubo dares to go north, then give him a hard blow back!
His Majesty Li Er glanced at Fang Jun in surprise. Unexpectedly, he still expressed his opposition even though Li Ji, Cen Wenwen, Li Xiaogong, and even the prince all expressed their opinions.
He always valued Fang Jun's opinions.
He looked at Li Ji and asked, "What do you think Maogong does?"
Li Ji stroked his beard with his hand, pondered for a while, and said slowly: "The words of the prince's consort are actually an old man's plan for the country, but..."
He paused and continued: "At present, all the military strength of the empire is seriously tilted eastward. Your Majesty's dragon body has recovered. The Eastern Expedition after the beginning of spring is the top priority. All actions must make way for the Eastern Expedition to ensure that the Eastern Expedition The expedition is foolproof. Under such circumstances, it is really difficult to mobilize troops to rush to the Western Regions.”
Fang Jun fell silent immediately.
All said and done, the Eastern Expedition is the most critical step in His Majesty Li Er's grand plan for hegemony, and there is absolutely no room for failure. (End of chapter)