Chapter 6: Tubo enters the period of powerful ministers taking power

Section 1 The famous general Xue Rengui was defeated in Dafeichuan

The pure essence has a strange shape, and the bright sky is as far as the end. The jade peaks are surrounded by fresh air, and the lotus peaks are blooming with white flowers. Half of the rocks are covered with clouds and snow, and the high top is clear and hazy. Facing the hotel in the morning and evening, it is like a fairy home. I have heard about it for a long time, and I finally want to

I am poor and secluded. I am temporarily free from work, and I occasionally get the favor of my ambition. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no outside, and the beautiful place was China. Now, in the country of my uncle and nephew, who is across the quicksand.

Whether it is the Central Plains dynasty or other countries and nations, there is an unavoidable problem in feudal society, that is, the old emperor dies and the younger emperor who succeeds is too young to rule personally. In this case, there are only two solutions

.One is that the little emperor’s mother, the empress dowager, listens to politics behind the curtain and exercises power on behalf of her son. There are two consequences of this matter. One is that the empress dowager who sincerely considers the royal family, such as the empress dowager of Xiaozhuang in the Qing Dynasty, only assists

The little emperor, after the little emperor reaches adulthood, returns the power to the little emperor. There is another kind of situation where the queen mother's relatives are in power. They are greedy for the power in their hands and do not want to hand it over, or even want to replace it. This situation is common in Chinese history. Secondly

The first is that the old emperor arranged for auxiliary ministers before his death. There are two results in this matter. One is that the ministers will happily hand over their power after the emperor can take charge personally, and the other is that they are greedy for power and endanger the imperial power.

Tubo was not able to escape from this historical pattern. After the death of Songtsen Gampo, the young emperor was young, and power fell into the hands of the ambitious Gar. Dongzanyu Song Dynasty. So, can the imperial power of Tubo be transferred smoothly?

Let’s first talk about the Tang Dynasty at this time, because almost at the same time, the great emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong, fell ill and would die soon. What happened was that one day in 649 AD, the weather began to turn cold. Tang Taizong

Came to Cuiwei Palace outside the capital. In fact, Li Shimin had been suffering from illness since the beginning of this year, and now his condition has worsened. After visiting Cuiwei Palace this time, Emperor Taizong passed away within a few days. The year after her death

, Songtsen Gampo, the great leader of Tubo, fell ill and died. Maybe it was God's will that the two giants left the world almost at the same time.

After the death of Songtsen Gampo, his grandson Mangsong Mangtsen succeeded him. This child was just a child when he succeeded to the throne like Songtsen Gampo. Mangsong Mangtsen will be like his grandfather, with great talents and great strategies.

Can he be able to control this huge empire at such a young age? Judging from the subsequent historical development, Songtsen Gampo's grandson is far inferior to his grandfather, but the glory of Tubo has not fallen from the altar. Because Tubo is gone.

Songtsan Gampo, but there was also the strong minister Dongzanyu Song. This man had a great reputation. He had completed many difficult tasks during the reign of Songtsan Gampo. Tubo began to enter a situation where the king was strong and the ministers were weak.

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty initiated the rule of Zhenguan, and all the barbarians and Chinese people were impressed. Even the Turkic and Central Asian countries came to please Li Shimin one after another and called him the Khan of Heaven. Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet brought the relationship between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty closer.

relationship, but the two giants who created peace died at the same time, can the two countries still maintain peace as before? The answer is no. Tubo and the Tang Dynasty fought fiercely over the issue of Tuyuhun, and the Western Regions were also full of chaos. The East Zan Region

After Song Dynasty stabilized its rear, its troops headed directly towards the Western Regions.

The focus of the struggle for hegemony in the Western Regions is the Four Anxi Towns. The Four Anxi Towns (including Yutian, Suiye, Shule, and Qiuci), Hexi, and Longyou basically control the important channels from the Central Plains Dynasty to the countries in the Western Regions, especially the Four Anxi Towns.

Covering the north and south roads of the Silk Road, controlling these areas is undoubtedly equivalent to controlling the Silk Road, and the golden and white gold and silver jewelry, exquisite porcelain, smooth silk... will continue to flow.

The flow of people into Tubo stimulated every pore of the Tubo people and every nerve of the Tang Dynasty people all the time. At the same time, it also ignited the greed and desire in everyone's heart all the time.

In 60 AD, the Tang Dynasty and Tubo fought a war over the Western Region. Tuyuhun was on the main road connecting the East and the West. Whoever controlled this place would control the southern route of the Silk Road - the Qinghai Road.

This road is also connected to the Hexi Road, the northern route of the Silk Road. As early as the Han Dynasty, a heavy price was paid to open up the Silk Road. The Silk Road was of great significance to China. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty tried every means to open up the Silk Road.

To win this battle, Tuyuhun can also be used as a springboard to attack the Eastern Turks, thereby controlling the vast area east and south of Balkhash Lake and strengthening connections with the mainland. Tuyuhun is also the northwest barrier of the Tang Dynasty. If allowed,

Taking it away from Tubo meant that the northwest of the Tang Dynasty was exposed to Tubo attacks. Therefore, whether or not Tuyuhun could be captured was related to the stability of the Tang Dynasty's frontiers.

For Tubo, it is now stepping up its development to the east, and Tuyuhun is the first battle for Tuyuhun to develop eastward. If you control Tuyuhun, you can compete with the Tang Dynasty for the Longyou area. In the north, you can control the Hexi Corridor, cut off the Silk Road, and then control

The entire Western Region has also strengthened its capital to compete with the Tang Dynasty. By occupying Tuyuhun, it can also obtain material support here and gain more bargaining chips in future confrontations with the Tang Dynasty.

In order to fight for Tuyuhun, Gar and the Dongzanyu Song Dynasty made a lot of preparations. He commanded the army to cut off Tuyuhun's retreat. At the same time, he wanted to test the Tang Dynasty's reaction to the Tubo occupation of Bailan. The Dongzanyu Song Dynasty also sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty

He proposed to Mangsong Mangzan and on the other hand, he personally inspected the Ningzhong area to prepare for the war.

In 659 AD, the Song Dynasty in the Eastern Region began to lead a large army to attack Tuyuhun. However, the Tubo army encountered the famous Tang general Su Dingfang during their first attack. The Tubo general fell into the Tang army's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain, and was tightly surrounded. The Tubo soldiers

They rose up to resist, but were still unable to break through the siege. Tubo was defeated in the first battle. The Tang Dynasty won the first battle and gained momentum. King Tuyuhun immediately led his troops to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. In 660 AD, Tubo once again sent a large army to attack Tuyuhun. Tuyuhun

This time, with the protection of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo shamelessly sent people to Chang'an to express his grievances. In fact, Tubo did this just to test the Tang Dynasty's attitude towards this matter.

Because Tubo was powerful, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty refused Tuyuhun's request for help. As a result, Tubo became even more unscrupulous. In 663 AD, the Tubo army attacked Tuyuhun. A minister of Tuyuhun defected to Tuyu and told him everything about Tuyuhun's internal situation.

During the Song Dynasty in the Gar and Dongzan regions, Tubo defeated Tuyuhun with lightning speed. Tuyuhun Khan led Princess Honghua to flee to Liangzhou and moved to the interior.

After Tuyuhun was destroyed by the Tibetans, the Tang Dynasty realized the seriousness of the problem. In 663 AD, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty sent Zheng Rentai, the governor of Liangzhou, as the general manager of the Qinghai Road March, and sent troops to guard Liangzhou and Shanzhou respectively to guard against the Tibetans.

In order to make the Tang Dynasty admit the fact that it had occupied Tuyuhun, Tubo deliberately admitted its guilt and asked for marriage to ease bilateral relations. The Tang Dynasty military officials saw through Tubo's trick and flatly refused

They accepted Tubo's request and sent people to Tubo to severely condemn their behavior. Tubo used its usual tactics of just making fun of them in front of the envoys sent by the Tang Dynasty. They did not really realize their mistakes and gave up.

Tuyuhun. The Tang Dynasty had no other way to deal with this arrogant and unreasonable behavior of Tubo.

So why did the Tang Dynasty, which was more powerful than Tubo, dare not directly send troops to attack Tubo? This incident must have started from the war between the Tang Dynasty and Goryeo when Tubo attacked Tuyuhun. From 655 AD to 669 AD, the Tang Dynasty

The entire country was sent to attack Goryeo, and the war lasted for 15 years. This war involved too many troops of the Tang Dynasty, which made it impossible for the Tang Dynasty to mobilize more soldiers to deal with Tubo.

Moreover, the Tang Dynasty did not have unified opinions on sending troops to Tibet. It was not until the end of the Goryeo War that the matter was put on the Tang Dynasty's agenda. The first thing that had to be solved was how to place Tuyuhun Khan. Originally, it was planned to put them

They were placed on the south side of Liangzhou, but they were worried that they would continue to be attacked by Tibet in this place. Finally, after unanimous discussion with all the ministers of the Tang Dynasty, they decided to adopt a preemptive strategy. To ensure the safety of Tuyuhun Khan, it was necessary to send troops first.

Tubo completely defeated them to thwart their arrogance. However, everyone disagreed on the issue of when to send troops. Some people thought that it was not appropriate to send troops at this time when floods and droughts were ongoing in the country. Also,

Some people think from a tactical point of view that Tubo is too far from the center of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang army marched long distances to mobilize troops and troops. They are afraid that by the time the army reaches Tubo, the opponent has already escaped, and it is not easy to win deep into the enemy's territory. Others think that aid to Tuyuhun is imminent.

When the Tang Dynasty military officials were hesitant, Tubo had already taken military action first.

In April 670 AD, Tubo sent troops to capture 18 states in the Western Regions. The Tang Dynasty's rule in the Western Regions began to waver, and Tubo was still aggressive. The Tang Dynasty had to face up to this problem. The Tang Dynasty decided to send troops to Tibet.

This time, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty appointed Xue Rengui, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, as the general manager of the march. Under the banner of escorting King Tuyuhun back to his country, the army raised 100,000 troops to conquer Tubo. The army went deep into Dafeichuan in the south of Qinghai Lake and wanted to attack Wuhai. But Wuhai

The terrain in Hainan is dangerous, and as the saying goes, before the troops move, food and grass go first. It stands to reason that the Tang army should transport the food and grass supplies to the front line first, but this will inevitably slow down the march. Xue Rengui was afraid of missing the opportunity, so he ordered the troops to be divided into two groups. One of them had 3

Thousands of heavy troops advanced slowly in the rear, and the main force was led by himself to advance lightly. The purpose of this tactic was to lure the enemy to attack, and then take the opportunity to surprise the Tibetan army.

Although Xue Rengui was thoughtful and well-prepared, the sky was unlucky. Guo Daifeng, the marching general in charge of escorting grain and grass supplies, relied on his own merits. He believed that he should be the coach of this troop dispatch. He had always been dissatisfied with Xue Rengui's appointment as the coach.

In order to prove that he was smarter than Xue Rengui, he did not follow Xue Rengui's arrangements. Instead, he continued to lead the troops forward according to his own ideas, which was exposed to the eyes of the enemy. As soon as Guo Daifeng's army arrived in Wuhai, they were attacked by Tubo.

The attack of 200,000 troops. All the food and grass of the Tang army were seized by the Tibetan army. As a result, the Tang army had to retreat to Dafeichuan.

Gar Qinling, the son of Gar Yusong, led 400,000 cavalry troops wearing armor, helmets, finger guns, swords, spears and bows and launched a fierce attack on the Tang army. The reason why Tubo had so many troops and supplies was that they occupied

It has nothing to do with Tuyuhun. Tubo mobilized a lot of strategic materials locally, especially military rations and horses, more than half of which came from Tuyuhun. Tuyuhun has become a powerful military supply base for Tubo, continuously providing various military supplies to Tubo.

It is necessary to have the support of Tuyuhun, and Tubo is more familiar with the topography of this place, which is more conducive to Tibet's war.

Wuhai is an important transportation thoroughfare on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This place is about 4,000 meters above sea level and is also the key to the Battle of Dafeichuan. Most of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were from the Central Plains, so they traveled long distances through the northwest to reach the plateau.

, the marching speed was very fast, and they were already hurried into battle before they had time to adapt to the plateau climate. At this time, many soldiers in the army had symptoms such as dizziness and diarrhea, so a considerable number of troops in Dafeichuan were already suffering from diseases.

unable to engage in combat.

When the morale of the Tang army was low, the Tubo army took the lead in launching a general attack on Xue Rengui. The Tubo army's 400,000 troops faced the Tang army's 100,000 troops. It can be said that Tubo occupied the right time, place, and various favorable conditions. The Tang army was naturally no match for the Tubo army, and soon it

was defeated by the Tibetan army. The entire Tang army was wiped out in this battle, and Xue Rengui had to write to Gar Qinling to ask for peace. This war broke the myth that the Tang army was invincible, and also made Gar Qinling famous.

.And from then on, a century-long war began between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. The war between the two sides was mainly concentrated in the Western Regions and Jiannan Road.

In the Battle of Dafeichuan, the Tang army lost most of its elite troops, and the Tang government had to adopt a contraction strategy. In 672, the Tuyuhun royal family left Qinghai, where they had been living, and moved to Lingzhou. Tuyuhun, a royal family that had existed for more than 350 years

The kingdom just disappeared from people's sight forever.

Tuyuhun was destroyed, and the buffer zone between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo no longer existed. Tubo had completely controlled the source of the river. This place was lush with water and grass, and the nobles no longer had to fight for pasture. Although the Tang army suffered a defeat in the Battle of Dafeichuan

Although they were defeated miserably, they did not give up the fight in this area. However, in another battle between the Tang army and Tubo in 673 AD, they suffered another defeat. This time, the Tang Dynasty truly realized that not only could Tubo not be eliminated, but it would also become a

His own serious problem. Although in the subsequent constant battles between the two sides, good news often came, but for the Tang Dynasty, in order to achieve greater victory, the first obstacle to overcome was the natural environment. Before these natural barriers could not be overcome,

, the Tang Dynasty could only take a defensive stance.

Tubo continued to conquer the Hexi and Longyou areas, and the Tang Dynasty had to shrink its sphere of influence to the current Riyue Mountain line. In order to resist Tibet's pressing pressure, the Tang Dynasty strengthened defenses in the Helong area. The two sides fell into a confrontation situation until

The Anshi Rebellion broke out, and the confrontation between the two sides began to change.

Although the Tang Dynasty was generally on the defensive, the domestic war faction never gave up the proposal to send troops to Tibet, and King Luo Bin was the most typical representative. In 679 AD, Tubo invaded the Western Regions again. At this time, King Luo Bing, who was already 52 years old,

He wrote a poem to Pei Xingjian, the Minister of Rites, who was kind to him, expressing his wish to join the army to serve the country. He soon got Pei Xingjian's consent. King Luo Bin followed the army to the northwest border and began his military career. In the northwest border

The war with Tubo provided a lot of material for King Luo Bin to write poems and poems. King Luo Bin was a poet full of patriotism and emotions about traveling, and most of his poems expressed this emotion. King Luo Bin pioneered the frontier poetry of the Tang Dynasty.

While guarding the frontier, he missed the life in Chang'an very much and wrote the famous long poem "Guarding the Border City for a Long Time, There is a Huai Jingyi".

King Luo Bin (approximately 619-687), Han nationality, courtesy name Guangguang, was born in Yiwu (now Yiwu, Jinhua, Zhejiang). He was a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty. Together with Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, and Lu Zhaolin, he was known as the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty". Among the four heroes, he wrote the most poems.

.His name and epithet come from the Guan Gua in the "Book of Changes": "Observe the light of the country and make use of the king."

King Luo Bin was born into a poor family. He was able to write poems at the age of seven and was known as a "child prodigy". It is said that "Ode to the Goose" was composed at this time. King Luo Bin was especially good at seven-character songs. His famous work "Emperor Jing Pian" was a rare long work in the early Tang Dynasty and was considered a masterpiece at the time.

He also garrisoned the border city for a long time and wrote many frontier fortress poems. For example, "The evening phoenix is ​​in the mist, and the new melons shine on the border in autumn. The stove fire penetrates the army wall, and the beacon smoke reaches the garrison tower." He is passionate and ambitious, and he is familiar with what he sees and hears.

After Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty was restored to power, he issued an imperial edict to Luo Wen and obtained hundreds of articles.

According to "New Notes on Three Hundred Tang Poems", King Luo Bin was a native of Yiwu, Wuzhou. In his early years, he was in despair and preferred to travel with his disciples. Later, he became a subordinate of Taoist king Li Yuanqing. He once served in the army in the Western Regions, traveled to Shu as an official, and served as an imperial official.

He was also imprisoned for thief, and he vigorously defended his injustice in his poems. After being released from prison, he became the Prime Minister of Linhai County, feeling unhappy. During the Ruizong Civilization (684), Xu Jingye launched an army to attack Wu Zetian.

All the letters and messages were written by him. His dedication failed, and King Luo Bin's whereabouts are unknown. He may be said to have been killed, or to have fled, or even to be a monk in Lingyin Temple. His life's deeds are quite strange, and he is close to those of a political strategist.

There are many collections of Luo Binwang's poems and essays collected by later generations, among which "Luo Linhai Collection Notes" written by Chen Xijin of the Qing Dynasty is the most complete.

King Luo Bin's father was the magistrate of Bochang County in Qingzhou and died in his post.

After his father's death, he lived in Boshan, and later moved to Xiaqiu County, Yanzhou, where he spent his early years in poverty and poverty.

From 650 to 655 (Yonghui, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty), he was a subordinate of the Taoist king Li Yuanqing. The Taoist king asked him to state his talents, but he was ashamed to show off his talents and refused to obey the order. Later, he worshiped Lilang and became a scholar of Dongtai Xiangzheng. He was relegated due to his affairs.

, joined the army in the Western Regions and guarded the frontier for a long time. Later he entered Shu and lived in the army of Li Yi, the general manager of Yaozhou Road. He put down the barbarian rebellion and was responsible for many literary and political affairs. When he was in Shu, he interacted with Lu Zhao and paid tribute to his neighbors.

In 678 (the third year of Yifeng), he was later transferred to the post of Chief of Martial Arts and Chief of Chang'an, and the Chief of Chang'an entered the court as the censor. When Wu Zetian came to power, Luo wrote many satirical letters and was imprisoned. Luo's "Song of Cicada in Prison" ", there is a saying: "It is difficult to fly in due to the heavy dew, and it is easy to sink when the wind is loud. No one believes in nobleness, who can show his sincerity?" to express his grief and indignation. The next year, he was pardoned and released.

In 680 (the second year of Tiaolu), he was appointed as the Prime Minister of Linhai County, and was known as Luo Linhai in the world. He abandoned his official position and traveled to Guangling, writing a poem to express his ambition: "The sword is cherished in Chu, and the golden spine is promised to be reported to Korea."
To be continued...