Chapter 296 Youzhou Dance King Bazhuo
On September 6, Li Shiji returned to Youzhou with his army and captives.

Together with Li Shiji were the leaders of various tribes on the grassland and their troops.

After all, there are more than 100,000 prisoners of war to guard, and fewer people will not be enough.

Li Xiang ordered his men to place the prisoners of war in a temporary prisoner-of-war camp, and then sent some people to guard them. He then began to hold a celebration banquet for the army.

This time, 30,000 Tang troops, in cooperation with 50,000 vassal troops, achieved a complete victory in the battle against the Xueyantuo - Western Turks. This achievement is certainly worth celebrating.

Li Xiang ordered his men to slaughter some of the cattle and sheep captured by the army, and combine them with fresh seafood from Wuqing to reward the soldiers who had won the battle.

The soldiers Li Shiji brought with him on this expedition were basically all from inland areas, and they had never tasted fresh seafood.

I did eat seafood in the military camp some time ago, but it was pickled salted fish, and the flavor could not be compared with fresh seafood.

The soldiers enjoyed the meal very much and found the celebration banquet very satisfying.

Recently, Li Xiang had nothing to do, so he wrote a song for the military band, which he adapted.

"Song of the Prairie Cavalry", which is praised as the best song of the 20th century.

It is just right and suitable to be used here.

After all, the land area of ​​the Tang Dynasty is not inferior to that of the Russian Bear.

The art of a country is closely linked to its territory.

For example, Japanese music is as difficult to stretch as their land; literature is also of the style of mono no aware, which was pioneered by Murasaki Shikibu and further developed by Natsume Soseki... Of course, the petty bourgeoisie prefers to use Japanese literature to establish their characters, such as Haruki Murakami, Dazai Osamu, etc., probably because they think it's cool.

As for the literature of the Southern Dynasties, even if it was bold and unrestrained, it was still restrained, and most of it was extravagant and gaudy.

However, although this song is called a "Cavalry" song, the cavalry here... emmm, also includes tanks.

When the celebration banquet began, Li Xiang asked someone to come on stage and play this song specifically for the soldiers, which received unanimous praise.

Even Li Shiji and Li Daozon asked to sing the duet again a few times, and Li Shiji could even hum along a few lines of "Heroes ride their horses across the grasslands, hey, the Tang Dynasty warriors gallop forward."

After the performance, the popular music of today will be played.

At the same time, Xueyantuo Khan Bazhuo and Western Turkic Yehu Ashina Helu were also brought up.

After learning that the person sitting above was the Crown Prince, the two of them saluted reluctantly.

Li Xiang didn't care about it, but asked Ashina Helu.

"Helu, now that you have been captured, what else do you have to say?"

Ashina Helu stiffened his neck and said, "I was originally a captive, and the Heavenly Khan treated me kindly, but I betrayed him today. Now the Heaven is wrathful and punishing me. What else can I say? I heard that the Han law requires that killing must be done in the city. I am willing to die in Chang'an and apologize to the Heavenly Khan."

"He is quite a man." Li Xiang waved his hand: "Then let's go to Chang'an and apologize to the saint."

Then he asked Bazhuo: "Bazhuo, now is the time for a celebration banquet. The army has its own military music, but unfortunately there is a lack of dancers. I think the Khan can follow the example of Duobi. What do you think?"

The Duobi that Li Xiang mentioned is the former Turkic Khan Jie Li and the Chang'an Dance King Ashina Duobi.

After being captured, this man performed a dance in the Taiji Hall, so he was called the Dance King of Chang'an.

Now Li Xiang's evil taste also came up and he also wanted to see the Khan dance.

Upon hearing Li Xiang's words, Ba Zhuo's face turned purple.

But there was nothing he could do. The situation was stronger than he was, and Ba Zhuo could only put on a forced smile and walk to the center of the field to dance to the music.

"I have to say, Bazhuo's dancing is pretty good." Li Daozon commented from the side: "But his expression management is not as good as Ashina Duobi's."

"I hope he won't be as narrow-minded as Ashina Duobi." Li Shiji stroked his beard and said, "Don't let this matter make you angry to death."

Li Xiang looked at the two old men and thought, you two are really more vicious than each other...

Ba Zhuo's dancing posture was also seen by some soldiers.

The next morning, the story of Xueyantuo Khan dancing at the celebration banquet spread throughout Youzhou.

Due to the subjective intention of the soldiers, the news even spread to the prisoner-of-war camps.

When the Xueyantuo people heard that their Khan was dancing on the spot, their faces turned red with shame and they wished they could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

"Your Highness, this is the account book, please take a look."

One day after the celebration banquet, Li Shiji came to the Youzhou government office and found Ideal, who took out an account book and handed it to him.

"Well, 80,000 people and 1.6 million strings of cash are not expensive." Li Xiang said in a relaxed tone, "These people just solved the urgent problem, but for dredging the canal, it is just a drop in the bucket."

"Your Highness, I have an immature idea." Li Daozon suddenly said from the side.

"Uncle, please speak." Li Xiang looked at Li Daozon.

Hearing Li Xiang's address, Li Daozong bowed again, and then said: "I think it would be better to set up a regular practice among the tribes on the grasslands. If they capture... prisoners of war, they can be brought to the Tang Dynasty to sell them. We will buy them at the price of 20 strings of cash per strong laborer. In this way, the Tang Dynasty can continuously obtain laborers and continuously weaken those reactionaries who are against the Tang Dynasty."

Li Xiang thought about it carefully and felt that this trick... was somewhat feasible.

It's just a little bit unauthentic.

But whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice, it is a good cat. No matter whether it is genuine or not, this is the Middle Ages. People in later generations will not use the moral standards of their own time to judge me, right?

"This strategy can be said to kill two birds with one stone." Li Xiang nodded in affirmation: "Let's use Uncle Weng's strategy. When we return to Chang'an, I will definitely recommend you for merit."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Li Daozon said without being polite and bowed.

Li Daozon is now in high spirits. He had made the bet on Li Xiang a long time ago. His second son is Li Xiang's right-hand man and they have such a close relationship. At least he doesn't have to worry within two generations.

The eldest son could inherit his title, and the youngest son, Li Jingren, had a close relationship with the crown prince, so he didn't have to worry about this. If Li Xiang was happy one day, Li Jingren's title might even be higher than that of the eldest son, Li Jingheng.

Speaking of Li Daozon, he was quite unlucky. Later, during the reign of Li Zhi, Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang took advantage of the case of Princess Gaoyang and Fang Yiai's rebellion to purge Wu Wang Li Ke and Li Daozon, who had always had a grudge against them. They demoted him to Xiangzhou, where he died of illness on the way. He was 54 years old.

However, this time with Li Xiang here, the Jiangxia Prince's Mansion will not repeat the same mistake.

"Your Highness, the Western Turks have also joined the rebellion this time. Should we also start to deal with them..."

Having said that, Xu Jingzong made a click gesture on his neck.

"There is no rush for this matter." Li Xiang waved his hand. "Ashina Helu's rebellion is indeed a reason, but now the Tang Dynasty still has to deal with the problems of Silla. We must not suppress one problem and let another one arise."

"Well, your Highness, what you said makes sense." Li Shiji also affirmed: "I also think that we should proceed step by step now. After we have wiped out the rebels in Silla, we can then attack the Western Turks and Japan."

After hearing what Li Shiji said, Li Daozong pondered for a moment and said, "Western Turks are on land, not too far from the Tang Dynasty, so it's easy to deal with. But Japan is isolated overseas, so it may be difficult to capture it for the time being."

"There's no rush for that," Li Xiang said with a smile, "Waguo is right there, and he can't escape. Once we've crushed the Silla rebels, we'll turn our attention to the Western Turks."

In Li Xiang's plan, Xueyantuo is a very important part.

Some people always put the blame for the demise of Persia on Li Shimin, but in fact, this is a bit shameless.

Yes, Persia did come to ask for help, but the Western Turks were still there at that time, and Li Shimin was not a fool who acted on impulse. Persia was quite far away from the Tang Dynasty, and the real situation was unclear. No matter who was the emperor, it was impossible for him to send troops to help Persia resist the Arabs.

Not to mention what would happen if the soldiers were sent out and their retreat was cut off by the Western Turks, just say that when you were playing the RTS game, the fog of war on the map was not even turned on, and you dared to send out the troops?
This is bullshit.

It would be reliable if you put the blame on Li Zhi, but in fact, Li Zhi should not be blamed for it. After all, the Tang Dynasty under his rule had reached its limit and was not suitable to support Persia in resisting the Arabs.

It is true that the Arabs destroyed Persia in just a few years and became a powerful opponent of the Tang Dynasty's advance into West Asia, but all this was not something Li Zhi could have predicted. Even the most talented and ambitious emperor would not have thought that the Arabs could expand so quickly in a short period of time.

Besides, Persia is now a bottomless pit, and the country is extremely corrupt. Expecting to help them and make them stand up again is... harder than climbing to the sky.

The Persian nobles are greedy and corrupt. They control most of the country's wealth but are stingy with it. There is no need to support such a Persia. Going there would be like filling a bottomless pit.

The only way is to destroy Persia and then quickly get fat by eating its corpse.

This is how the Arabs quickly became fat in history.

"Your Highness means that we should attack the Western Turks and then conquer the Western Regions?" Di Renjie understood the meaning of the music and asked immediately.

"Yes, we will attack the Western Turks." Li Xiang smiled and pointed to the location of the Western Turks on the map: "Not only the Western Turks, but after we have taken the entire Western Region, we can continue to move westward. Our goal is here—"

Everyone looked in the direction Li Xiang pointed, looked at each other, and then asked, "Persia?"

"Yes, the Persian prince A Luohan came to Chang'an and asked me for help." Li Xiang said: "Today's Persia, just like the six countries back then, is facing the rise of a powerful country, and now Persia is almost at the end of its rope."

"Persia is in a very important location. It is also a good place. After we conquer Western Turkestan, we will take over Persia and prevent that powerful country from moving eastward." Li Xiang said with finality.

"This... Your Highness, aren't you being too hasty?" Li Shiji asked with a frown.

"It's not that we are too hasty, but that powerful country has risen too quickly." Li Xiang said with emotion, "This country is called Dashi, it is a religious country, their leader is called Caliph, from the Caliph to the ordinary people, they all believe in the same religion, such a country is very aggressive."

"Look, the Arab Empire is right here." Li Xiang pointed to the map he had drawn himself and introduced to everyone, "Above the Arab Empire is the Qin Empire recorded by Ban Chao, also known as Rome; and to the east of the Arab Empire is Persia. The Arab Empire rose between two powerful countries, but was able to defeat these two powerful countries without any chance of fighting back. Rome lost its rich Syria, and Persia was also losing ground."

"Such a country will obviously not be satisfied with Persia. If it continues to move eastward, it will sooner or later run into the Tang Dynasty."

In fact, Li Xiang was not exaggerating. During the Tianbao period, the Arabs continued to advance eastward and fought a battle with the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty in Talas.

In the ninth year of Tianbao, Gao Xianzhi defeated Shiguo and Tuqishi. Gao Xianzhi attacked Shiguo on the grounds that Shiguo "did not have the etiquette of a vassal".

Shiguo requested to surrender, and Gao Xianzhi agreed.

Soon Gao Xianzhi broke his promise, abducted the King of Shi and his followers, killed the elderly and children, and looted their property.

In the first month of the tenth year of Tianbao, Gao Xianzhi came to the court and presented several captured kings to Xuanzong. Gao Xianzhi was awarded the title of General of the Right Feathered Guards and beheaded the King of Shiguo.

At this time, Gao Xianzhi reached the peak of his military career.

The prince of the Shi Kingdom who managed to escape asked for help from the Black Arabs.

Gao Xianzhi took the initiative to attack the Arabs. He led the Tang coalition forces on a long-distance raid, penetrating more than 700 miles, and finally encountered the Arab army in Talas.

Gao Xianzhi's army consisted of several thousand Tang troops and more than 2 Karluk and Bathana troops; he led his army to fight the Arab army for five days, but the war ended in a stalemate.

The Black Arabs paid a large sum of money to bribe the Karluk army, but the Karluk army could not resist the temptation and suddenly rebelled. They joined forces with the Arab army to attack the Tang army, which led to the defeat of the Tang army.

However, this battle was not the fundamental reason for the Tang Dynasty's withdrawal from Central Asia. After this, the Tang Dynasty continued to expand in Central Asia and reached its peak in the 13th year of Tianbao.

The fundamental reason why the Tang Dynasty withdrew from its expansion in Central Asia was the An-Shi Rebellion.

The An-Shi Rebellion had an unprecedented impact on the Tang Dynasty and the entire Chinese civilization. It marked the complete end of Chinese civilization's strategy of expanding by force and then assimilating the conquered regions through culture.

An interesting thing is that this encounter did not affect the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Black Caliphate. In the first year of Zhide, the Black Caliphate even sent part of its troops to help the Tang Dynasty quell the Anshi Rebellion.

After hearing Li Xiang's explanation, everyone's hearts were lifted.

Such a country will definitely be a strong rival of the Tang Dynasty in the future.

"If what Your Highness said is true, the Arabs will probably be a powerful enemy of our Tang Dynasty in the next few decades." Li Shiji stroked his beard and sighed.

Li Xiang smiled indifferently, and then said: "Whether it is a strong enemy or a weak enemy, the court cannot underestimate the Arabs. It must not be treated as an enemy like the Turks and Xueyantuo."

"Yes." Di Renjie also said: "But from a geographical point of view, the location of Daqin is really a treasure land with convenient access in all directions..."

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)