As mentioned above, the ministers of the Tang Dynasty went to the court and had breakfast in the palace after they retired from the court.This breakfast is called "Retirement".After breakfast, Zhao Yunze was summoned to the Wude Hall by Li Shimin."
Peng Yu, yesterday you said that you had some thoughts about Liaodong, and you can tell me now."
Li Shimin said to Zhao Yunze.Zhao Yunze sorted out his thoughts a little and said, "Your Majesty, before the minister said his thoughts about Liaodong, the minister has something he wants to ask His Majesty. ”"But it doesn't hurt to say it.""
For foreign races, what attitude does Your Majesty mean by the minister, if the Tang Dynasty conquers the land of the foreign race, how will His Majesty deal with the people of the foreign race" Judging from the historical evaluation of later generations, the Tang Dynasty is tolerant and open, and Li Shimin's attitude towards the foreign race is also friendly.Because of this, Li Shimin is called "Heavenly Khan".Zhao Yunze naturally knew these things.But at this time, he must also probe Li Shimin's details.The things recorded in history have been whitewashed after all, and it is unknown whether the living Li Shimin can really treat the foreign people who returned to the Tang Dynasty as recorded in the history books.Moreover, Datang's territory is still very small today.Since the founding of the country, the military strategy has always been passive defense, and the territory has not expanded.There will be no conquered aliens.There were no ready-made examples to refer to, so Zhao Yunze had no choice but to ask Li Shimin directly.After Zhao Yunze asked this question, Li Shimin was silent for a long time before he said, "I also often think about how to deal with people of other races.Let's take the Turks as an example, if one day, the Tang Dynasty conquers the Turkic land, I feel that the treatment of the Turkic people should still be based on appeasement.Let them enjoy the same treatment as the people of the Central Plains.The whole world is not the king's land, and I naturally treat the people on the king's land equally. ”Zhao Yunze breathed a sigh of relief.With Li Shimin's attitude as a foundation, he dared to express his strategic ideas for Liaodong to his heart's content."
Your Majesty, on the way home, the minister passed by the Khitan Department and the Ya Ministry.These two tribes have sent a signal of goodwill to the Tang Dynasty.The minister's idea was "Let these two tribes be like Shuo Fang, first secretly defect to the Tang Dynasty, and then turn against the Eastern Turks at a critical moment" Without waiting for Zhao Yunze to finish speaking, Li Shimin said with a playful smile."
Well, that's what the minister meant, and His Majesty guessed it all."
Zhao Yunze said embarrassedly.Li Shimin smiled and said, "If I first met you Zhao Pengyu, I wouldn't have guessed your thoughts.But now, there was a plan to secretly collect the party in the past, and now there is a plan to provoke Tuli and Jieli to attack against the eyes, and when you talk about Liaodong, I can guess according to your style of acting, and I can naturally guess your thoughts. ”"Hehe, does Your Majesty think this is feasible?"
asked Zhao Yunze."
Whether this plan is feasible or not depends on the ratio of investment and income."
Li Shimin suddenly put on the face of a profiteer, "The Jin and Khitan departments, I'm afraid they won't just pay without favor, if they ask for too many benefits, if the Tang Dynasty gains more than they lose, this plan will lose its meaning." ”Zhao Yunze said: "Your Majesty, but please rest assured, the Khitan and the Yan Yan are not asking for many benefits.Their land was so poor that they didn't know what they could ask for. ”"Then what conditions did they put forward" "At present, there are two conditions that urgently need Datang to undertake, one is that these two ministries can directly trade with Datang; Second, Datang used grain as their military expenses for sending troops. ”Zhao Yunze said, "We only need to meet these two conditions, and the Jin Ya Department and the Khitan Department will become my Tang Dynasty's servant army in the future."
Only listen to the orders of the Tang Dynasty and participate in the battle. ”"The Servant Army is aptly named."
Li Shimin muttered as if talking to himself.Immediately, he frowned again and said: "These two tribes really only put forward this demand" These two requirements, in Li Shimin's opinion, can not be called conditions.Trade, this is a matter of mutual benefit.If Li Shimin was still prejudiced against businessmen and commerce before, then starting from last year's investment promotion conference, coupled with Zhao Yunze's remarks on business in the court, in the face of the huge profits and truth of Hongguoguo, Li Shimin has long been able to correctly position the contribution of businessmen and commerce to a country.With food for military spending, this is even more fine.Be a soldier and eat food, eat food and be a soldier.Since it makes people work hard, they always have to take care of other people's stomachs.Even if the Jin and Khitan departments were not mentioned, the Tang Dynasty would do the same.Seeing that Li Shimin was surprised, Zhao Yunze smiled slightly and said: "The minister has said that the Yan and Khitan departments are too poor.It was also blockaded by Goguryeo and Tuli.In our opinion, the conditions are not worth mentioning, but they take them very seriously. ”Li Shimin nodded and said, "That Peng Yu's idea, I should agree."
I'll leave this matter to you in secret.Anyway, the entire Eastern Turks can be stirred up into a pot of porridge by you, and it should be no difficult for you Zhao Pengyu to stir up the small Liaodong. ”"Your Majesty, this matter was raised by the minister, and the Ministry of the Yan Dynasty and the Khitan Department are also in contact with the minister, so naturally the minister should be responsible for the end."
Zhao Yunze responded, "But Your Majesty, the minister still has a deeper strategic concept for Liaodong. ”"Let's hear about the deeper strategic concept."
Li Shimin became interested again.The matter of accepting the Khitan Department and the Yan Ya Department as servant troops mentioned before was just a formality.Zhao Yunze also knew that Li Shimin would definitely agree.The "deeper strategic concept" he is going to talk about next is the theme of this recital.Zhao Yunze sorted out his thoughts again and continued: "Actually, the minister's final idea for the Jin Ya Department and the Khitan Department is to merge these two tribes into my Tang Territory.Let the people of these two tribes become the people of the Tang Dynasty.In this way, the Tang Dynasty formed a three-sided encirclement of Goguryeo.In addition, to the west from the Yan Ya Department and the Khitan Department, it is the land of the East Turks today, and to the northwest, it can strangle the Xue Yantuo Khanate.Liaodong here, for the Tang Dynasty, whether it is a short-term strategy or a long-term strategy, it is an important place" Li Shimin was silent for a while, and said: "You can annex the land of the tribes that obey my Datang, and the Tang Dynasty does not occupy the righteousness" Zhao Yunze smiled and said: "If the Khitan Department and the Jin Ya Department take the initiative to vote" "Then it is another matter." ”Li Shimin said, "However, even if the Khitan Department and the Yan Ya Department take the initiative to vote, the leaders of these two tribes also have the idea of obtaining the protection of the Tang Dynasty for the entire tribe."
The Tang Dynasty was still unable to station its soldiers and horses directly in Liaodong.If you want to play the strategic role of Liaodong, I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve results" Zhao Yunze said: "What the minister wants to say is how to assimilate the Khitan Department and the Yan Ministry, so that they obediently obey the dispatch of the Tang Dynasty." ”: