Chapter 241: The source of the river is engraved on the stone, rich spoils of war

Three days later, Li Xuan took his generals and subordinates to see the source of the Yellow River.

He cited the example that the water at the source of the Yellow River is as crystal clear as jade, but becomes turbid as it flows through the Central Plains.

I hope that my subordinates and generals will not forget their original aspirations and never let themselves turn yellow and become hideous and terrifying over the years.

Many subordinates and generals took Li Xuan's words to heart.

Gao Shi and Cen Shen wrote "Congratulations to Doctor Li on Capturing the Zamp of Bai Hai" and "Patrolling the Source of the Yellow River with Doctor Li" respectively to commemorate Li Xuan's achievement in incorporating the source of the Yellow River into the territory.

Yan Zhenqing wrote "The Great River Preface". Before the preface, he wrote about the beginning and end of the Battle of Dafeichuan, including the horse trampling on Baihai, the capture of the Zamp, the crossing of Xingxiu River, and the questioning of the source of the Yellow River. In addition to Li Xuan, dozens of Hu and Han generals were mentioned.

The preface is written in regular script, which is powerful, upright and majestic. Li Xuan couldn't put it down and viewers praised it endlessly.

After Li Xuan returned to Hexi, he would summon skilled craftsmen to carve "The Great River Preface" and Yan Zhenqing's war memorial in Yan Zhenqing's handwriting on a large stele and erect it at the source of the Yellow River.

Engrave on stone to record the achievement!

The Yellow River is the mother river of China. Countless emperors and literati have dreamed of reaching its source.

Li Xuan expanded the territory of the Tang Dynasty to the source of the Yellow River, which was a greater achievement than any other territorial expansion.

When Li Xuan was inspired, he also wrote "Song of the Source of the Stars and Rivers", a five-character ancient poem with twenty sentences and ten rhymes.

This is his first original poem.

It was completed in one stroke without any pause.

Li Xuan had studied the rules of poetry hard before, and although he had written some poems, they were destroyed by Li Xuan after only a short while.

Because the poems he wrote himself cannot be compared with the masterpieces he plagiarized.

Li Xuan feels that the "Song of the Source of the Stars and Rivers" he has written now is a masterpiece, so he boldly released it to the public.

He experienced two lives, witnessed the sufferings of the people, served in the army for several years, and fought in hundreds of battles.

Although not necessarily like a first-class poet.

But in one's lifetime, one must always leave behind a few chapters.

Poetry is the spirit of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In this soaring era, even Li Linfu could write a few poems, and Li Xuan had long been integrated into the Tang Dynasty.

Afterwards, Li Xuan personally shot and killed more than ten adult white-lipped deer near the source of the Yellow River and shared the fresh venison with his subordinates and generals.

This venison was definitely not enough for all of Bai Hai's soldiers, so Li Xuan gave some of it as a reward to the soldiers who killed more than five enemies.

The other soldiers could only eat mutton.

The soldiers therefore worked harder and more diligently. Marshal Li shot the stag himself and gave it as a reward to the warriors. What an honor it was!

Li Xuan visited sick soldiers in Baihai again.

These soldiers were not suited to the bumpy ride, so they went to Baihai to recuperate.

Once you adapt to the environment here, things will be much better.

Li Xuan ordered Li Fei Shouyu at the Bayankala Pass, Geshu Han at the Xiangride River, and Xin Yunjing at Baihai to temporarily guard the garrison.

Li Feiyuanli led a thousand warriors but failed to catch Chidai Zhudan, and finally met Li Xuan in Baihai. Li Xuan did not let him go back, but ordered him to stay in Xingxu River temporarily, to keep an eye on the Tibetan herdsmen, and to take good care of the livestock for him.

Li Xuan also hoped that these livestock could reproduce more. Pastures could be established around Xingxu River, Yugu Zongliequ and Baihai, and there was no shortage of fresh water. Except for the high altitude and the cold weather, there were no other problems.

Whenever we attack Tubo again, Bai Hai will definitely be at the front line, and Li Xuan must be in charge.

He had already decided to establish Baihai County with the Bayankala Pass as the dividing line and including Yugu Zongliequ, Baihai and Xingxuchuan.

The State of Subi was established in Doma and the area of ​​several hundred miles east and west of Doma, and was under the jurisdiction of the King of Subi.

In this way, the Subi Kingdom would be attacked from both sides by the Tang Dynasty, and it would be difficult for them to rebel against the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, there are still Suobi people south of the Bayankala Pass, but those Suobi people have been highly integrated with the Tibetans.

For example, the Subi Caibang family was one of the four major noble families of Tubo, and actually regarded themselves as Tubo people.

Li Xuan can’t take care of those things for the time being.

In early February, Li Xuan, with his personal guards and Chishui Tiaodang, escorted the Tubo Zamp and ministers of various tribes to the Bayankala Pass, and went north along the Dafeichuan ancient road to Dolma.

When Li Xuan was heading for Baihai, the Tang army's cavalry and infantry attacked Moluzan's tribe, and Molingzan stepped forward to subdue the Subi people.

Relying on the surrendered Qinghai Tuyuhun, he easily subdued the Tuyuhun tribe that migrated to the Fuluochuan area.

Destroy the nobles and confiscate their wealth, cattle and sheep.

Especially the Tuyuhun royal family, which allowed the Tang army to gain a lot of gold, silver and treasures.

Li Xuan planned to move the Tuyuhun tribe back to Qinghai, where there were ready-made arable land and pastures.

The generals of the Dangxiang, Tongjia and other tribes surrendered voluntarily.

There was no punishment for the surrendered generals, and the gold and silver remained theirs. They were only ordered not to exploit the people, otherwise they would be severely punished.

In the future, they will still be generals, but they will be generals of a certain county under the command of the Tang Dynasty. Their nature is the same as that of the Tuyuhun soldiers under Murong Xihao.

Li Xuan knew that he must not treat the tribe that voluntarily surrendered as an example, as this would lose his credibility. Next time, other tribes would not dare to surrender and would fight to the death.

The rest of the royal family and nobles met the same fate as the Tuyuhun royal family.

These royal families and nobles still have a certain influence, so they imprisoned these royal nobles in one place and made them serve separately.

As long as there are no royal family or nobles, these Hu people will be easier to educate.

As for the Tubo tribe, the same method was still used for the Xingxuchuan Qianhu Suo, with troops stationed to guard it and strip it of its weapons.

Even if you have an inch of weapons, you have to report it to the Tang army.

Three days after Li Xuan arrived in Duoma, the last Tongjia tribe north of Baihai surrendered.

The Tongjia were located in the area of ​​Dajishishan (now Animachen Mountain), and it was difficult to eliminate them.

They were set up in Dongdai by Tubo, and some Tubo officials resisted stubbornly.

Now the Tongjia generals who surrendered to Li Xuan were afraid of Li Xuan's majesty and completely became Li Xuan's lackeys, leading the Tang army to kill Tibetan officials and Tongjia nobles who rebelled.

As soon as Li Xuan arrived in Duoma, he ordered Liu Dan, Yan Zhenqing, Gao Shi, Cen Shen, Duan Xueshi and others to write a battle report together, as more detailed reports were needed.

All the tribes that will be conquered later and the spoils that will be counted will be recorded.

Now there is only one isolated city left in Tubo - Shibao City!

The lonely Stone Fortress stood on the Chiling Mountain, with more than a thousand Tibetan soldiers, and they had no idea what the battle situation was.

Little did they know that the nearest Tibetan soldiers were more than a thousand miles away from them.

The Tang army didn't need to attack Shibao City at all, and perhaps they didn't need to wait until the food ran out.

If the ruler, belt and pearl are placed under Shibao City, the defenders of Shibao City will surrender.

All 330,000 men were lost, and there was no possibility of any support from Tubo.

More than ten days later, Gao Shi, Yan Zhenqing and others had basically completed the battle report.

At this time, Li Guangchen and other subordinates told Li Xuan about their gains.

In this battle, Tubo dispatched 330,000 troops, including 3,000 soldiers in Chaka Salt Lake and 3,000 soldiers in Fushi City.

The number of Tibetan logistics personnel captured or killed was not counted.

Only Tibetan warriors, Tibetan slaves accompanying the army, Tibetan affiliated soldiers and slaves were counted.

These are collectively called Tibetan soldiers!

Among them, the Subi King Mo Lingzan led tens of thousands of Subi soldiers to join the light.

This is an achievement on the battlefield.

The Tongjia, Dangxiang and Tuyuhun surrendered because they were left with no other options, so they were considered prisoners.

A total of more than 127,600 Tibetan soldiers were killed.

More than 192,000 people were captured, including more than 85,000 Tibetan warriors, more than 48,000 Tibetan slaves, and the rest were Tibetan subordinates.

There is no need to say much about the captured Zamps, kings, and ministers, and the killed Tubo prime ministers, marshals, and generals.

According to statistics, some Tibetan soldiers escaped and have not been found to date.

They either froze to death in some mountain range or escaped.

At the suggestion of his subordinates and generals, Li Xuan included the missing Tibetan soldiers among the captives.

Because few Tibetans escaped from the Bayankala Pass.

Except for prisoners captured by individuals and teams, all other prisoners will be counted as military merits and divided equally.

By taking into account the prisoners who were missing or possibly died on the mountain, the soldiers could receive some military merit.

Even if each person received ten cents more on average, they could buy some rice.

A total of more than 13,700 Tang troops from the four border towns were killed in battle or died of illness, more than 9,300 were injured, and more than 4,000 were sick.

A total of more than 6,600 people from the Hexi Hu, Tuyuhun, and Bailang Qiang tribes died in battle or from illness, more than 4,200 were injured, and more than 1,500 were sick.

The ratio of casualties to prisoners was 330,000, which was as high as ten to one.

Li Xuan considered death from illness as death in battle and also provided compensation.

Next, the subordinates reported the number of people conquered. These were not considered military merits, but they were also a kind of achievement and would definitely be rewarded.

If Li Xuan killed innocent people and took credit for his achievements like An Lushan did, he would receive a greater reward, but he would not do such a thing.

When Gao Shi was in Youzhou, he wrote poems criticizing the soldiers of Youzhou.

According to the agreement, the Tang Dynasty did not interfere with the Subei tribes, and a total of 750,000 people from the Dangxiang, Qinghai Tuyuhun, and Tongjia tribes were conquered by the Tang Dynasty, most of whom were the elderly, women, and children. Li Xuan released the surrendered Hu soldiers from various tribes and replenished the male population, making these tribes grateful to Li Xuan.

Especially in the case of Tuyuhun in Qinghai, all the nobles were conquered by Li Xuan, and the soldiers surrendered voluntarily.

Li Xuan also decided to distribute the cattle and sheep of the Tuyuhun nobles, as well as the farmland planted with wheat, barley and beans in Qinghai to them.

In this way, he gained the loyalty of the Tuyuhun tribe in Qinghai.

The awareness of the Dangxiang and Tongjia tribes was slightly lower, but Li Xuan did not intend to establish the Dangxiang State again and was preparing to station troops in their territories.

The tribal king and the royal family had been arrested. The generals of the Tangut and Tongjia tribes were afraid of Li Xuan. As defeated generals, how could they dare to ask Li Xuan to crown them kings? After Li Xuan released the tribal soldiers, they spread the word that Li Xuan was a god from heaven and dared not have any other thoughts.

The Tibetan population captured in this battle, including the Qianhu Suo in Xingxu River, totaled more than 197,000 people.

Except for the Xingxuchuan Qianhu Suo, Li Xuan moved all the Tibetans to Qinghai to facilitate control and education.

In the future, we need to develop Qinghai and plant cotton, which will require population.

Li Xuan planned to use the lowest-ranking slaves in Tibet to manage the captured warriors.

Sending a small number of soldiers will save the Tang Dynasty's manpower.

The status of the lowest-ranking slaves in Tubo was even lower than that of sheep and dogs.

They are the group that is most likely to be grateful for favors.

After finishing the population aspect, Li Guangchen continued to report the spoils to Li Xuan.

In this battle, more than 50,000 intact war horses and more than 20,000 ordinary horses were obtained.

A total of 70,000 horses of all sizes were obtained from the ranches of Tuyuhun nobles, Dangxiang nobles, Tongjia nobles, and Tubo Qianhu Suo.

More than 412,000 cattle, sheep, and llamas were captured on the battlefield.

More than 2.5 million livestock including cattle, sheep, camels, donkeys, dogs, mastiffs, macaques and poultry were obtained from the ranches of Tuyuhun nobles, Dangxiang nobles, Tongjia nobles, and Tubo Qianhu Suo.

This does not include the private property of the Tuyuhun, Dangxiang and other Hu peoples.

More than 1.3 million shi of wheat, barley, and soybeans were obtained from the Tibetan cities and granaries of the powerful.

On the battlefield, more than 15,000 sets of iron armor, more than 37,000 sets of leather armor, more than 20,000 slings, 1,100 crossbows, and 32,000 bows were seized.

There are more than 400,000 weapons including knives, spears, swords, guns, sticks, hammers, shields, and large shields.

In addition, 3,000 sets of iron armor, 17,000 sets of leather armor, as well as various long and short weapons, including daggers and swords, totaling 200,000 pieces, were seized from the warehouses of the powerful, the inventory in the Tibetan city, and the Tibetan thousand-household offices.

Under Li Xuan's strong request, the Tibetans were not allowed to keep too many knives, even short knives for cutting meat, and all of them had to be handed over by force.

From the royal family and nobles, more than 260 carts of gold, silver and jewelry, and more than 3,000 carts of silk, linen and furs were obtained.

Other strategic materials such as copper, iron, oil and fat are also immeasurable.

Li Xuan made a clear list and asked Yan Zhenqing, Gao Shi, Liu Shan and others to record the spoils in the battle report.

Li Xuan did not embezzle any of it.

There is no need to swallow up the spoils now. Even if you take away a hundred carts of gold, silver and jewelry, it would only be a small act of greed.

Those who steal the hook will be punished, and those who steal the country will be martyred!

As long as he is well prepared, he can gain huge wealth in a short time.

During the dormant stage, Li Xuan would not touch business or covet spoils of war.

According to custom, one tenth of the gold, silver and jewelry could be retained to reward the soldiers.

The rest were all transported via the Hexi Changxing route to Chang'an.

The spoils of war such as cattle, sheep and other livestock are raised in Helong. If Chang'an wants them, some will be sent there. If not, they will be left here.

Just like war horses and horses, new pastoral supervisors will definitely be established.

Li Xuan fought for years, and although he lost a lot of war horses, he gained more and more war horses.

He made the various pastoral supervisors more powerful than before he was the herdsman in Longyou.

Li Xuan also introduced stallions from the Western Regions to improve the breed.

If nothing unexpected happens, the number of official horses will exceed one million in a few years.

……

"General Li, this is the report on the Battle of Dafeichuan. Please take a look."

Yan Zhenqing and others finally drafted the congratulatory message and handed it to Li Xuan.

"The Book of the Defeat of Tubo and the Capture of the Zamp at Dafeichuan".

This record of the detailed process of the Battle of Dayechuan is more than ten times more detailed than the battle report before Yan Zhenqing wrote "Preface to the Great River".

This is more than just a congratulatory message, it's like a book.

The book begins with the feud between Tang and Tubo, accusing Tubo of destroying the alliance between uncle and nephew and undermining the friendship between Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng.

Gaozong, Tianhou Dynasty, Zhongzong, and Ruizong, the relationship between them is stated one by one.

Three consecutive alliances and countless invasions enumerated the crimes of Tubo.

Especially when talking about Li Longji, Li Longji's wisdom and bravery and Chidai Zhudan's cruelty and ruthlessness formed a sharp contrast.

From the Kaiyuan period to the fifth year of the Tianbao period, all the fighting was blamed on Tubo.

Then there was "In accordance with the holy strategy and relying on the majesty of heaven, in July of the fifth year, the troops of the four towns were mobilized to punish Tubo forever."

From the initial arrangements, the plan of seeing through the true and false of Tubo; to the Tang army's delaying tactics, burning the grassland to drive Tubo to Dayuechuan; to the Tang army's surprise attack on Chaka Salt Lake and Fushi City, General Li defeated Fushi with one arrow.

The 14,000 cavalry of the Tang army's Lintao army detoured deep into the heart of Tubo, passing through Baihai to Huashixia and Wuhai City.

The Tang army then surrounded Dafeichuan, using the terrain and the psychology of the Tibetans to put continuous pressure on them.

Finally, Tubo was forced to start a cavalry battle, with hundreds of thousands of cavalrymen fighting together.

Li Xuan led his personal guards and the Chishui Army to attack and kill all the eighteen fierce generals of Tubo.

The Tibetan cavalry were frightened and their morale plummeted.

This is a battle that determines the outcome.

Other battles are also recorded, including the infighting on Dafeiling.

Especially Li Xuan's battle record, charging into the enemy line, beheading the general, pursuing on snowy nights, and constantly killing Tibetan cavalry and blocking cavalry.

Even the stabbing of the fake Zamp to death in Huashixia was recorded.

The climax, of course, is the catching, ruler, belt, and pearl dan.

Liu Dan has excellent writing skills and he describes the environment and brings Li Xuan's heroic character to life.

I guess Li Longji would be very happy after seeing this.

In addition, the exploration of the source of the Yellow River was also included in the congratulatory letter.

There are also descriptions of other tribes that surrendered, such as Tuyuhun, Tongjia, Dangxiang, etc.

There is also a detailed record of the spoils.

After the finalization, Li Xuan personally wrote an additional sentence: "How can I allow others to snore beside my bed? If Tubo does not submit to me and kowtows in Chang'an, I will go straight to Luoshui next year."

In the first year of the Tianbao era, Wang Jue, the governor of Hexi, said at the end of his congratulatory letter: "I have gathered my own troops and am gathering troops day by day. Eventually, I will capture the city of Luoshui and Qingdi, cut off the head of the Zamp and hang it on the northern palace. Then my wish will be fulfilled."

Everyone thought it was just bragging, and Li Longji didn't even dare to hope for it, he just wanted to have a laugh.

Who would have thought that in just a few years, Li Xuan would accomplish the most difficult task, capturing the Tibetan king.

As long as we conserve our strength, stockpile enough supplies within two years, train plateau soldiers, and mobilize the civilians, we will be able to capture the city of Lhasa.

In later generations, people often made a mistake regarding the issue of vassal states, thinking that paying tribute or marrying a princess constituted a vassal state relationship.

In fact, Tubo was never a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, not even when Princess Wencheng married into the Tang Dynasty and Tubo paid homage to the Tang Dynasty.

When Tang and Tubo were at their best, they were just allies.

Two years ago, Tubo wanted to become a vassal of Tang, but everyone knew it was a delaying tactic, so they wanted to use it to build a city.

Once the city is built and the troops are deployed, the relationship will be torn apart immediately.

Not to mention marriage alliances and paying tribute, even being enfeoffed by the Celestial Empire would not necessarily be considered a vassal state. For example, the Huihe were only a nominal vassal state.

In fact, in Li Xuan's heart, he did not recognize such a vassal state.

The real vassal states were Bailang Qiang and Subi, where the Tang army could directly dispatch troops.

Later generations have always believed that there are two forms of vassal lordship: one is the semi-colonial nature of conquering through force and supporting puppet regimes; the other is to force other countries to become their protectorates through their own strong sense of oppression.

These two forms have one thing in common, that is, the loss of political independence and being controlled by others militarily.

Of course, the Tang Dynasty era cannot be compared with later generations.

Many nominal submissions are a manifestation of national prestige.

But national prestige is enough.

As long as Tubo accepted the title of Zamp from Li Longji, Li Xuan would not have to attack again next year.

Otherwise, given Li Longji's temper, he would most likely allow Li Xuan to continue the attack.

Therefore, Li Xuan simply took the initiative to say "How can I allow others to snore beside my bed?" to express the idea that everything is centered on the Tang Dynasty and the saints.

There is no need for any powerful countries to emerge around the Tang Dynasty.

There is only one emperor.

All barbarians must obey.

After the compilation of "The Book of Defeating Tubo and Capturing Zamp at Dafeichuan" was completed, Li Xuan sealed it.

Li Xuan also handed over to Li Longji the commendations, the list of recipients of the Hero Medal, the Warrior Medal, and the Jumping Medal that he had compiled during this period.

Among them, only eight persons, namely An Sishun, Gao Xiuyan, Nan Jiyun, Wang Nande, Geshuhan, Li Zhushi, Li Guangbi and Cheng Gui, received the Medal of Hero.

They killed the most enemies, pursued the deepest, and were the generals of all armies. Under the halo of Li Xuan, if you want to choose a few heroes in a great battle, you can only choose them.

The rest of the main generals and some elite soldiers were awarded the Medal of Warrior, a total of sixty-eight people.

There were 336 people who made great contributions to the battle, including 39 of Li Xuan's personal guards.

The Jumping Medal can be obtained as long as the number of enemies killed reaches the required number. In other words, as long as you are strong enough on the battlefield, you can get the Jumping Medal.

As for what medal Li Xuan holds, everyone in the world can see it...

(End of this chapter)