Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 148 Open the door! free trade!

Tang and Gao had an in-depth and frank exchange of views on the recent border frictions. The two sides enhanced their understanding and agreed to maintain communication in the future.

To put it simply, it's like talking at cross purposes and the two sides simply can't see eye to eye.

With Li Ming's setting poem as the scene, and the fact that the enemy leader was forced to the top of his own hill to negotiate, the tone of Tang's attack on Gao's defense was basically set.

As the party that actively sought peace, Goguryeo naturally had to give up its interests.

In addition, Yeon Gaesomun also hoped that the Tang Emperor would confer on him a title such as "Duke of Pyongyang County".

As long as he could gain recognition from the Central Plains dynasty, he could use it to intimidate opposition forces within Goguryeo and enhance the legitimacy of his rule.

However, Yeon Gaesomun refused to agree to Li Shiji's condition of ceding ten cities including Xuantu and Jian'an.

Yeon Gaesomun also had his reasons. What kind of war was he fighting? He was fighting an offensive war, and the war did not actually spread to the mainland.

Do you have the guts to come and bang your head against my wall? You know I don't have that ability.

The Tang army had clearly not yet invaded, and if they ceded the important cities just like that, a big hole would be torn in the mountain city's defense line in vain.

It is not known whether Goguryeo will be dismembered by the Tang Dynasty in the future, but he will definitely be torn into pieces by the other four major tribes when he returns.

Li Shiji couldn't help knocking on the table:
“The condition of ceding ten cities is not a bargaining condition, but an order from His Majesty the Emperor.

"Before I set out, His Majesty personally gave me instructions on the post-war arrangements.

"You have defied the Tang Dynasty and have been punished by the power of thunder, yet you still dream of being crowned by the emperor? Are you trying to tease me?"

His meaning was clear:

You shamelessly launched a sneak attack on our Tang Dynasty, only to be beaten back and then retreat in disgrace, and you're just pretending nothing happened?
There is no such good thing in the world. At least leave a piece of meat before leaving!

Yeon Gaesomun's attitude was also quite straightforward:
“The fortresses in those ten mountains are indestructible, and the people there are tough and sturdy. It is not something that a Molizhi like me can decide whether they stay or go.

"If you want it, just come and get it yourself."

If you have the guts, your tens of thousands of troops with thousands of miles of supply lines can come and take down the bunkers one by one.

Even if the Tang army could defeat Goguryeo and behead tens of thousands of people, what would that do?

As long as the Tang Dynasty cannot gain a firm foothold in Liaodong, you can use us as cannon fodder, and it can also save us some military pay.

Neither side gave in and the argument lasted from morning to noon.

"I'm tired, everyone, drink some water and take a rest."

Li Ming sat there bored, his ears almost callused. He took the excuse of taking a lunch break and pulled Li Shiji aside.

"What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

It's easy to figure out that Yeon Gaesomun is just stupid, not tired of living.

How could they possibly give up the key cities on the defense line when the homeland was intact?
What you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiating table.

Li Ming is very aware of his own strength.

As a light infantry force that was tenacious in combat, scientifically trained, and adept at mobile warfare, the Red Turban Army had no problem cutting off the obscene hands that Goguryeo extended to them.

But when it comes to conquering cities and territories, I can only say that I am still very new and I need to practice more.

No matter how sharp a sword is, it cannot cut the roughest rammed earth.

If Li Ming wants to acquire the ability to engage in urban siege warfare, he will have to develop for a very, very long time.

What's more, although the starting point of Ping and Ying states is very low, the upper limit is not high either.

It was somewhat unrealistic to expect to rely on this meager war potential to storm a few of Goguryeo's strong cities and tear a hole in their mountain city defense line.

Moreover, if there is another civil unrest in the local area after the violent occupation, it will increase the cost of maintaining stability and add fuel to the already tight blood groove in Liaodong, which will not be worth the cost.

This is why Li Ming resolutely changed the national policy.

The strategy of annexing Goguryeo was transformed from a victory of conquest to a cultural victory.

It not only saves time, effort and cost, but also minimizes resistance in the occupied areas.

Therefore, it is quite meaningless for someone like Li Shiji to be so stubborn and insist on taking over the land.

It won't produce any results other than wasting time arguing.

From a rational analysis, do they have any bargaining chips in Liaodong that can force Goguryeo to surrender?

"Eh? Your Highness asked me what effect I want to achieve?"

Li Shiji was stumped by Li Ming's question:
"But... this is not my personal intention.

"I am only the general manager of the army, not the head of the Honglu Temple, and certainly not an angel authorized by Your Majesty. I do not have the authority to reach an agreement with the enemy chieftain at will."

"what?"

Li Ming was also choked by Li Shiji's answer: "Then you..."

"As I just said, the ten cities mentioned are the war targets that Your Majesty told me before I left."

It turns out that the boasting you just did at the negotiation table was not just empty talk?

What you said about "His Majesty's order" is true. It was really Li Shimin who was micromanaging remotely...

Li Ming wanted to complain, but he couldn't.

That's right, except for himself, who else in the world would fake an imperial decree just to show off...

"It will be fruitless if you continue to argue like this." Li Ming said earnestly:

"What should we do if Yeon Gaesomun keeps refusing to agree? Should we continue to fight?"

Facing Li Ming's irony, Li Shiji thought for a moment and nodded:
"Yes."

Li Ming stood in awe:

"Spring ploughing is about to begin. We in Liaodong can't afford to fight anymore."

What's the difference between asking me to use the Red Scarf Army that I have worked so hard to gather to fight to the death against the fortresses and asking me to castrate myself?
If we want to fight, let Li Er do it.

Li Shiji lowered his voice and said:

"If we start a war with Goguryeo again, it will definitely not just be a matter for Liaodong."
"It's about the entire Tang Dynasty."

Li Ming frowned:
"What do you mean?"

Li Shiji narrowed his eyes slightly:
"Your Highness, you think that Goguryeo brazenly invaded Liaodong, wantonly trampled on the face of the Tang Dynasty, and caused Wei Shizhong to die of depression.

"Your Majesty, will you just let it go?
“The troops of the Weizhou Governor’s Office are only the vanguard. Their strategic goal is to delay the enemy’s main force and protect the safety of Your Highness and the other nobles.

"The real main force is gathering."

Li Ming's eyes twitched:
"You mean... Father wants to..."

"Let's achieve our goal in one battle and use this as an opportunity to wipe out Goguryeo." A fierce light flashed in Li Shiji's eyes.

Li Ming felt a little tingling on his scalp.

Huh? So Li Er, you really want to fight? I was just joking...

According to the original plan, Goguryeo should have been slowly infiltrated by his Liaodong military garrison and eventually taken over.

How come a "Tang Dynasty" suddenly appeared in the middle? !
Grab my cheese!

I can save it for last, but you are not allowed to lick it!
When playing the map coloring game, which behavior is the most frustrating?

The worst thing is that the land you want to occupy is taken away by your allies!

If the Tang army really bypassed Li Ming and conquered the entire Goguryeo, would they give him a share of the spoils?
I want to eat fart!
By now, Li Shimin and the entire court have become suspicious of Li Ming.

Given the unification nature of the emperor's profession, he might even want to take back his power as the "Jiedushi of Liaodong". As for the new lands and counties, he would definitely not be given them to him.

As for how the Tang Dynasty should govern Goguryeo, given the limited communication level and governance capabilities in the classical era, most of them would forcefully restore history.

An Andong Protectorate was established, and troops were stationed in the county seat, while the vast rural areas were still ruled by the local people and a system of controlled rule was practiced.

Then the remnants of Goguryeo united with other barbarian tribes, resurrected on their homeland and created a "New Goguryeo" Bohai Kingdom, which made the emperors of later generations cry out in pain.

Finally, when this interglacial period ended, the Northeast was frozen again, and China lost the opportunity to get involved in the Northeast. It was not until more than a thousand years later that the Northeasterners took the initiative to enter the pass and head towards China.

Li Er, you must resist the urge to do that and don't become a historical sinner!

"Ahem, I have a new plan."

Li Ming coughed dryly:
"We can completely tame Goguryeo, so that it will never again cause trouble for China."

If someone else said this, Li Shiji would just respond with a polite smile.

Soldiers are all very simple and are born to obey your majesty's orders.

No matter whether His Majesty's order was reasonable or not, Li Shiji would carry it out to the letter and would never question it.

This was the way this surrendered general from Wagangzhai who defected to the Tang Dynasty protected himself.

But Li Ming's opinion was something that this high emotional intelligence general, who was wise enough to protect himself, had to listen attentively.

Who made him win? Whoever wins is right.

Li Ming came closer and said, writing and drawing on the paper:

"I will propose these conditions, such and such. You will accept them for now and report back to my father first."

Li Shiji said with some embarrassment:
"What if Your Majesty disagrees?"

"Then tear up the agreement. What's so difficult about that?" Li Ming thought Li Shiji's question was childish. An agreement that the Tang Dynasty is willing to abide by is an agreement. When the Tang Dynasty is not happy with it, it is just toilet paper.

You, Yeon Gaesomun, are not convinced? If you are not convinced, just keep it to yourself. If you have the guts, come and chop me down?
Li Shiji thought for a long time and could only nod:

"So be it."

…………

At noon that day, Yeon Gaesomun returned to Pyongyang victoriously in a carriage.

After his eloquent speeches and both literary and military threats, the Tang Dynasty finally gave up all the conditions of ceding territory, paying compensation and paying tribute.

However, in order to save face, the Tang Dynasty added a few insignificant, inexplicable clauses that even Yeon Gaesomun could not understand.

Goguryeo ended the war that was caused by its own clumsy hands without paying any substantial price (as we all know, cannon fodder is not considered human)!
Yeon Gaesomun even earned the title of "Duke of Pyongyang" for free!

Strictly speaking, an appointment application for "being conferred the title of Duke of a County" has been submitted, and the Tang Dynasty court still has to go through an internal process. Go back and wait for notification.

"When I become the Duke of Pyongyang, I'll see who among those tribes of rebels in the country dares to disobey me!"

Yeon Gaesomun was thinking proudly, imagining himself sitting on the throne, facing the ministers crawling on the ground, waving this peace agreement that was extremely beneficial to Goguryeo, and saying passionately:
I brought peace to a generation!
"Our country took the initiative to provoke, but we were able to escape unscathed. Could it be that the Tang Dynasty is just a glittering facade, and Li Shimin is not as powerful as the rumors say?"

After surviving the disaster, Yeon Gaesomun began to think about making further advances:
"The ones fighting against our army were the bandits from Pingzhou, and we didn't see any Tang troops.

“From this, we can see that the Tang Dynasty must be extremely weak internally, and Li Shimin is even weaker!
"It was because Rongliu King Gao Jianwu was incompetent that he was beaten to the ground by a few bandits.

"As long as I go, it will be easy to crush the little prince of Pingzhou to death! Hahaha~!"

Yeon Gaesomun gritted his teeth and snorted coldly.

The kid gave Yeon Gaesomun a warning at the beginning, making him lose face.

But Yeon Gaesomun is most concerned about face.

This gave him deep-rooted hatred and humiliation, even greater than the pain of heavy casualties among Goguryeo soldiers.

On the way back to Pyongyang, Yeon Gaesomun began to plan a surprise attack on Liaodong with his accumulated strength, continued efforts and a second strike.

He swore to cut open that naughty boy's heart and use it as a drink to avenge his previous humiliation.

Given the size of Goguryeo, wouldn't it be as easy as drinking water for it to take over Liaodong, which belonged to the Tang Dynasty, as long as it rested and recuperated for a period of time?
In the midst of hatred and excitement, he completely ignored the last three lines of the agreement:

Tang and Goguryeo agreed that free trade was the ballast of bilateral relations, and Goguryeo should open its market to Tang and should not restrict the rights of Tang citizens to trade, exploration, mining and other rights within Goguryeo.

Both sides reiterated the importance of freedom of the press, and that Tang citizens had the right to publish newspapers within Goguryeo and Goguryeo had no right to interfere.

The Northeast is the common home of the two countries. In order to prevent sandstorms and protect water sources, the Tang Dynasty has the right to station environmental protection organizations in Goguryeo to prevent excessive cultivation, animal husbandry, smelting and other acts that damage the environment.

…………

"Even if His Majesty agrees, will Yeon Gaesomun abide by the agreement?"

After seeing off the Goguryeo delegation, Li Shiji murmured worriedly.

That guy doesn't look very good, I'm afraid he might rebel.

Li Ming observed Li Shiji's micro-expressions while showing an innocent and cheerful smile:

"What are you afraid of? With the Tang army of Yingzhou Military Governor's Office to deter us, why should we be afraid of Goguryeo's rebellion?"

"Oh?" Li Shiji raised his eyebrows slightly.

After Li Ming became the governor of Liaodong, the status of Yingzhou Military Governor's Office became very embarrassing.

First of all, the local governance power that the Governor's Office held concurrently would definitely be gone, and the power would be returned to the government.

The issue is military power.

All the troops in the world are under the control of Your Majesty. This has been the universal truth since the Zhenguan period.

However, given His Highness Li Ming's overbearing character, would he tolerate leaving a thorn like the Governor's Office in his heartland of Liaodong?

The court officials generally believed that His Highness Li Ming would definitely find a reason to "invite" the Governor's Office out.

He had his reasons, because the Governor's Office in Yingzhou was different from other places and was not a purely military institution.

Instead, it is a military-political integrated institution unique to the vassal states.

Nowadays, the vassal states have been completely abolished, and Yingzhou has become a direct state under the Liaodong military garrison.

It is legally justifiable to eliminate the Governor's Office, the "remnant of the previous dynasty".

Therefore, the stay or departure of Yingzhou Military Governor's Office has become a window for the court to observe the true attitude of His Highness Li Ming.

Staying means that he is still a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty and is willing to be controlled by the central government.

If not, then His Highness Li Ming's real motive...

It’s hard to say.

"Your Highness means that... the Yingzhou Governor's Office will be kept?" Li Shiji could hardly hide his surprise.

Li Ming responded with an even more surprised expression:
"Of course, why not?
"As the general has seen, we in Liaodong are so poor that we have to queue up to get food, and to the north we have the evil-minded and ferocious Goguryeo.

"Without the Tang army stationed there, how can we protect the safety of the people of Liaodong?"

He brought to life the portrayal of a little kid who couldn't live without his father's care.

Regardless of whether the people were drinking meat soup or northwest wind, this attitude made Li Shiji deeply agree:

As expected, His Highness Li Ming still has our Tang Dynasty and the Tang Army in his heart!
"Not only that." Li Ming's eyes rolled around:

“I would also like to ask my father to set up a governor’s office in Pingzhou as well.

"We will work together with Yingzhou to strengthen the Liaodong border defense."

This sentence almost made Li Shiji speak up for His Highness Li Ming.

Those civil officials in the court are really worrying about nothing. They are actually worried that the Liaodong Jiedushi will rebel?

How could a rebel actively request to deploy the imperial court's armed forces in the core of his territory? !
"So..." Li Ming's mouth curled:
"General Li, please return to Chang'an as soon as possible and bring back my decision as soon as possible."

…………

Yes, that's right, the Yingzhou Military Governor's Office is a nail that Li Shimin drove into my core territory.

If I let the Governor's Office stay, it would be equivalent to exposing myself to the court's range of military projection.

If the court is dissatisfied with me, I can use force to stop it at any time.

If I told the Governor's Office to get out, it would expose my intention to break free from the constraints of the court.

This would arouse the emperor's suspicion, and any action would be used as evidence to label you a traitor.

Regardless of whether he stays or leaves, the imperial court will surely win, and there is no solution to the conspiracy...

?
Have you ever thought about what would happen if I drove another nail into the nails of the imperial court?

"General Xue, be careful on your way back to Yingzhou."

Li Ming stood on the avenue and said goodbye with a smile to Xue Rengui, who was moving his troops back to the camp, and the Yingzhou Army he led.

Yes, the battle of Pingzhou is over, and it is time for the Yingzhou troops who came to support Pingzhou and were forced to "stay" because their retreat routes were cut off to return home.

"Please rest assured, Chairman!"

Xue Rengui, the theoretical guerrilla general of the Tang Dynasty, bowed solemnly to Li Ming on his horse.

The soldiers he led were the absolute main force of the Yingzhou Army.

At least in terms of organization, it belongs to the Yingzhou Army.

"Remember to wear your helmet and don't let your red scarf show." Li Ming pointed to his head and reminded.

"Oh! I almost forgot..." Xue Rengui quickly put on his helmet and hid his true identity.

In theory, they were brave and fearless soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.

Secretly, they all joined the Red Turban Army as individuals.

It was organized into five levels: detachment, squad, company, battalion and column, and was under the command of Hou Junji.

Moreover, with them as the core, they can further infect... no, influence the grassroots soldiers of other Yingzhou armies.

This is what it means to put new wine in old bottles.

The imperial court’s Yingzhou Military Governor’s Office still exists.

But it is hard to say who the soldiers inside will obey.

"Goodbye!"

Xue Rengui led the "Yingzhou Army" singing songs of discipline and marching eastward in neat steps to the accompaniment of a military band.

Looking at the rolling yellow dust, Li Ming suddenly had a wonderful realization -

The essence of human beings is actually a makeshift team.

The so-called Governor's Office is essentially no different from bandits.

When everyone below you obeys you, the entire organization will be "taken over" by you.

The bandits are like this, the Governor's Office is like this, and the Pingzhou provincial government is like this.

What about other, higher-level institutions?
For example, the one in Taiji Palace, can it also...

(End of this chapter)