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Chapter 927 Falling into a trap

Fang Xuanling and Li Jing looked at each other, with a hint of worry and confusion in their eyes.

Especially Fang Xuanling, after Li Jing's reminder, he already knew that the Right Wise King was very cunning and often looked ahead three steps in strategic calculations. The impulsive and violent Turks in the past, under the command of the Right Wise King, every move made people tremble with fear.

Outside Lingzhou City, he mobilized 500,000 troops and gave up the chance to annihilate the Yi people. He must have had a bigger plan.

what is it?

While Fang Xuanling was thinking hard, Li Jing's eyes flashed, and he stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty, I have an idea. I wonder if it is right or not?"

"Brother Jing, tell me about it." Li Shimin was cheered up. If there was anyone who knew the Right Wise King the best, it would be Li Jing.

"If my guess is correct, this may be related to the Right Wise King's next strategy."

Seeing Hou Junji and Fang Xuanling looking at him inquiringly, Li Jing said calmly, "Think about it, everyone. We haven't had much contact with this Right Wise King, but when did he make his first move, and how did he do it?"

"Duke Wei said that he attacked Mobei?" Hou Junji asked in surprise.

"wrong."

Fang Xuanling's eyes lit up as he said thoughtfully, "The Right Wise King first took action in Liaodong. At that time, he hid behind the scenes while Jie Li came forward and attacked the Three Han lands together with our Tang Dynasty."

At this point, Fang Xuanling's expression froze, his body trembled suddenly, his expression tensed up instantly, and he said in shock: "Duke Wei means that the Right Wise King deliberately let Yi Nan go, and he is using the same old trick again, intending to plot against the Western Regions of our Great Tang?"

"Not bad!"

Under Li Shimin's solemn gaze, Li Jing pondered: "From the moment this man appeared, I focused all my attention on him. I found that he is particularly good at hiding behind the scenes and using enemies to achieve his goals."

"Never take direct action unless it is absolutely necessary."

"In the past five or six years, he first lurked beside Jie Li, assisted Jie Li and his son in their campaigns to the east and west, reorganized the eastern part of the grassland, and then instigated the Turkic army to move south and destroy Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje, three small countries that had been isolated from the northeast for thousands of years."

"Then he used assassins to get rid of Jie Li, took over the power of the Turkic Khanate, used Shi Luodi as a substitute, and marched west to the northern desert."

"From the course of this Western Expedition, I have discovered that the Right Wise King's military talent is not very high. He mostly wins by force and surprise. Even so, every time he attacks, he injures a thousand enemies and loses eight hundred."

"The casualties in each battle were not less than those of the enemy, and were even much greater. However, after defeating the enemy, he took a large number of prisoners under his command. So on the surface, it seemed that his strength was increasing with each battle, but in fact, he was just strong on the outside but weak on the inside!"

"It's just that this deficiency was concealed by the simple and crude fighting on the grassland. Although the Right Wise King's military command ability is not as good as that of the famous generals in the Central Plains, he can still handle it on the grassland."

"Add to that his vision of the general situation and his ability to maneuver, and it seems even less important."

"Especially, this person seems to be very proficient in the art of controlling people. Although the people he uses may not be brave and good at fighting, they are all loyal. There has never been a case of rebellion by his generals. This is almost unbelievable in the process of the rise of grassland forces throughout the ages."

As Li Jing analyzed, he shook his head in disbelief.

As a leader, during the process of rising, no matter how compassionate and cautious one is, rebellion is inevitable. Li Jing didn't know what method Li Yan used to magically gather the grassland people, who had never been loyal, together.

Li Jing didn't know that Li Yan had the Eyes of Truth, so there was no need to worry about rebellion. Anyone who showed disloyalty could be dealt with immediately, either by being transferred to another position, or by being divided into two groups to exercise checks and balances, or even by being put on the casualties list to be dealt with.

We will never wait until the other side has gathered a large number of people and the disaster has become serious.

After Li Jing finished speaking, the other three people in the hall nodded silently. This was the fact, but they just didn't analyze it as carefully as Li Jing did.

Li Shimin's face looked very ugly. Such a person was almost a natural king. Li Shimin would rather the other party was a figure like the King of Chu than to be as proficient in the art of being an emperor as Liu Bang.

After saying that, Li Jing brought the emperor and his ministers, who had different thoughts, to the map of the Tang Dynasty on the side of the study.

"The eastern region has no depth. To the east is the sea. The matter has been settled. There are no variables. What remains is the western region."

Li Jing pointed to the distant Western Regions and said, "Your Majesty, please look. The Western Regions were originally the territory of our Great Tang. After the Battle of Dingxiang, the grassland forces collapsed. Our Great Tang took advantage of the situation and sent troops westward, conquering Yizhou, Xizhou, Yanqi and other places outside Yumen Pass, and set up Tingzhou Protectorate."

"Anxi Protectorate was set up in Qiuci, Qiewei, Shule, and Yutian." "Even in the more distant places of Suiye, Xiuxun, Dayuan, Kangju, Gumo, Anxi, etc., Mengchi Protectorate was set up."

"Your Majesty, our battle line is too long. In addition, there are many countries in the Western Regions, and there are powerful forces in the north and south. If there is any disturbance, we will not be able to hold on."

In the past, Li Jing had advised Li Shimin many times not to spread his business so widely, trying to expand his business in both the grasslands and the Western Regions. The Tang Dynasty was only strong enough to operate in one direction, and the result of pursuing superficial prosperity was that none of the directions would be fully conquered.

Li Shimin did not listen, and now he is faced with such a situation. The grasslands he had taken over had been maintained with great difficulty for five or six years, but now they are being lost easily, and the Western Regions will also face a great test.

"Your Majesty, the Right Wise King has made such a big noise in the north this time. In order to deal with the pressure from the Turks, the Emperor has drawn troops from all over the Tang Dynasty to reinforce the interior of the country, especially the cavalry from the Western Regions, which has been brought back in large numbers. As a result, our control over the Western Regions has been greatly weakened."

Li Jing said worriedly, "I don't know whether the Right Wise King had planned this move long ago, or it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. If it was a temporary adjustment, then this person's strategic vision is simply amazing; if he had planned it long ago, his scheming is too terrifying."

"He took advantage of the opportunity when the emperor was withdrawing troops from the Western Regions and gave up on completely annihilating the Xueyantuo tribe. He drove the Yi people back to the west in order to spread cholera in the Western Regions."

"Yinan had already reached the limit of expansion in the northwest, and the next step was very likely to be to the Western Regions. However, the westward advance of the Turks disrupted Yinan's steps and attracted his attention. He was afraid that Mobei would be swallowed up by the Turks, so he hurried south."

"His Irtysh River Valley has a very advantageous geographical location, a thousand miles north of Yumen Pass. As long as he goes south, he will block the passage from the Central Plains to the Western Regions. General Hou also discovered that Yi Nan wanted to seize Bailong Pass."

"Plotting to seize the Thirteen Prefectures in Hexi and cut off the connection between the Central Plains and the Western Regions."

"At this time, the Right Wise King let go of Yi Nan's more than 100,000 brave and combat-ready soldiers. It is not difficult to imagine that Yi Nan will definitely try to restore his strength next."

Li Jing pointed to the large territory at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and said, "This is the rear of the Yi people, connected to the central grasslands. Even if the Yi people are unwilling to move south, the Right Wise King only needs to move his forces across Mobei and into the northern part of Jinshan and slowly move westward."

"Under such military pressure, the Yi people will be forced to migrate south to avoid the enemy's sharp edge. Moreover, the land of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions is fertile, vast and prosperous, which is exactly the capital for the Yi people to accumulate strength and rise again."

"So I predict that after this falling out, Yi Nan will have no more scruples. His next step will be to stir up the situation in the Western Regions, march south in large numbers, and swallow up the Western Regions and the three major governorates left by the Tang Dynasty to expand his power."

After hearing Li Jing's analysis and conclusion, Li Shimin's face changed drastically. Hou Junji was also surprised. He had never thought that Li Yan's seemingly reckless behavior contained such a big conspiracy. Fang Xuanling also felt dizzy.

Fell into a trap!
Before the war between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks actually started, the Tang Dynasty was already passive and at a disadvantage. They always thought that victory or defeat would only be decided when the war actually started.

But now it seems that before the war even started, the Tang Dynasty had already made many mistakes and was being plotted against everywhere.

Li Shimin's face was as cold as ice, and he said decisively: "Then I will immediately stop the transfer of troops from the Western Regions and strengthen support for the Western Regions?"

Fang Xuanling also shook his head dejectedly at this time: "Your Majesty is useless. The Western Regions are too far away from us. It is thousands of miles away and the journey is long. Sending too few troops will be useless. Sending too many will easily lead to the separatism of the foreign towns, which will be difficult to eliminate."

"In the final analysis, our roots in the Western Region are too shallow. Unless there is no major threat in the north, we will definitely not be able to hold on."

Li Jing also said: "Your Majesty, don't forget that the Turkic army of one million is still lurking in Yinshan. Our defense is insufficient, so how can we spare the energy to fight on two fronts?"

"Although I have analyzed that the Right Wise King will not start a war easily, if the interior of the Great Tang Dynasty is really empty, then the Turkic's empty attack may turn into a real invasion. No one dares to prevent this result. After all, the interior of the Great Tang Dynasty is more important than the Western Regions."

Li Shimin was furious: "What should we do now? This Right Wise King is so treacherous and cunning. He released the wolf Yi Nan to the Western Regions, and brought his army to the north to contain our Tang Dynasty, causing hundreds of thousands of our troops to gather here."

"To fight but not to fight, to retreat but not to retreat,"

"With such a stalemate, even if there is no war, our Tang Dynasty can only watch as Yi Nan gradually conquers all forces in the Western Regions."

Fang Xuanling said with an unpleasant expression: "Your Majesty, what you should worry about now is not the Western Regions, but the crisis that is right in front of you?"

"Are you talking about Fengzhou?" Li Shimin was stunned and blurted out.

"No, I am talking about Mo Nan."

Fang Xuanling said worriedly: "After the Right Wise King dealt with the Xueyantuo, the next step is most likely to be the Ashina Yun tribe in the south of the desert. They are all outside the Great Wall and have few troops. They are not as strong as the Xueyantuo. If the Right Wise King divides his troops and marches eastward again."

"If we take over the southern part of the desert, will the Tang Dynasty really have no power left on the grassland to contain the Turks?"

(End of this chapter)