Ximen Haodao: "I heard that King Yongzang, the leader of the Bohai Kingdom, is just a puppet. The one who really controls the government is Moli Zhiyuan Gaijian. Molizhi is the official position of the Bohai Kingdom, just like the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, but Yuan Gaijian
The power in Gai Jian's hands is greater than that of the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty. Not only does he control the government, but he also holds military power. He is so powerful in the Bohai Kingdom that King Yongzang dare not even say no to him."
After a pause, his expression became a little solemn, and he said softly: "The Yuan Gai family has existed since the founding of the Bohai Kingdom, and they have been powerful ministers for generations. The Bohai royal family has also always intermarried with the Yuan Gai family, so now
The blood of the Bohai royal family also flows with the blood of the Yuan Gai family."
"What is Yuan Gaijian's attitude towards our Tang Dynasty?" Qin Xiao asked.
Ximen Hao and Hua Kuan looked at each other, shook their heads and said: "Of course you know, during the reign of Emperor Wuzong, the Bohai Kingdom robbed people and property on the northeastern border, and once invaded our territory of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Wuzong was furious, and then he launched an army to march eastward.
It took nearly ten years to get Bohai to surrender."
Qin Xiao knew that there were two periods when the Tang Empire was the most powerful. The first one was at the beginning of the founding of the country, when the Tang soldiers under Emperor Taizu Taizong were vigorous and invincible, and the other period when martial arts was at its peak was the time of Emperor Wuzong.
.
Emperor Wuzong's cavalry of the Tang Dynasty swept across the world, and all barbarians surrendered.
The Bohai Kingdom was able to withstand the powerful cavalry of the Tang Dynasty for nearly ten years before surrendering. It can indeed be seen that although the Bohai Kingdom is small, it is not easy to conquer.
"The Tang Dynasty's expedition to Bohai cost a lot of money, food, troops and horses. Naturally, Bohai did not surrender at his request." Ximen Hao said slowly: "Emperor Wuzong ordered Bohai to escort the general of the Bohai Navy to the Tang Army's camp, otherwise he would refuse to surrender.
He refused to accept Bohai's surrender and even decided to attack the capital of Bohai. The survival of Bohai was at stake. The general of the Bohai Navy was at the end of his rope. He wanted to lead the Bohai Navy to fight stubbornly. However, the villain heard that the Bohai Navy had been fighting for so many years.
At the end of the road and no longer willing to fight, he launched a mutiny and directly kidnapped General Bohai and sent him to the Tang army."
"Then General Bohai is...?"
Ximen Hao nodded and said: "The Bohai general is the ancestor of Yuan Gaijian. After he was sent to the Tang army camp, he was quartered on five horses according to the order of Emperor Wuzong."
Qin Xiao sighed: "So, Yuan Gaijian and our Tang Dynasty still have a deep hatred?"
"Although the Yuan Gai family suffered setbacks, it had deep roots in the Bohai Sea. Although it was once weak, by Yuan Gai Jian's generation, the population was prosperous and there were many talented people. Yuan Gai Jian's brothers and sons were all brave people. Yuan Gai Jian
Jian Geng is a tycoon with both civil and military skills." Ximen Hao said with emotion: "When Yuan Gai Jian was young, he had already wiped out the political opponents in the DPRK one by one. After taking control of the power, although he still professed his vassal status to me in the Tang Dynasty, his actions continued.
, fighting everywhere, from the sea in the east to Xingshan in the north and Shanhaiguan in the west, all under the control of the Bohai Sea. In addition, the Bohai Navy conquered the Black Forest and conquered the forest tribes of the Tusun people. The military front directly threatened the Tusun people to the west of the Black Forest.
Compared with the Bohai Kingdom during the time of Emperor Wu Zong, the strength of Sun's various tribes can be said to have increased."
Qin Xiao has never been interested in the Bohai Sea, and he is in Xiling, which is far away from the Bohai Sea. He knows very little about the situation on the Bohai Sea. But at this moment, what he said finally made him understand that in the northeast of the Tang Dynasty, there are still
There is such a powerful force.
"Bohai was once beaten to the point of death by the Tang Dynasty. How could the Tang Dynasty make it rise again?" Qin Xiao vaguely felt that compared to Li Tuo and his ilk in Xiling, the Bohai Kingdom in the northeast was probably a greater threat to the Tang Dynasty.
Sooner or later, it will become Datang's biggest worry.
Ximen Hao and Hua Kuan looked at each other, both seemed hesitant, and did not explain immediately.
Qin Xiao quickly understood and asked softly: "Is it related to the current saint's enthronement?"
Seeing Qin Shaoqing say it himself, Ximen Hao no longer hesitated and nodded slightly: "What you said is absolutely true. The saint has been on the throne for nearly twenty years. Although the martial arts of the Tang Dynasty were not as good as before when the previous emperor was alive, he was so thin
A camel is bigger than a horse. The surrounding barbarians are still in awe of the Tang Dynasty and dare not show any disrespect." After thinking for a while, he said: "After the saint ascended the throne, the state army rebelled and the barbarians took advantage of the situation to invade. Although they were eventually defeated by the imperial court one by one.
It was pacified, but it also caused great damage to the vitality of the Tang Dynasty. The Moli people were extremely cunning. Yuan Gaijian was in power at that time. He did not take advantage of the situation to invade Liaodong, but launched an offensive against other small tribal countries in the surrounding areas. After Wu Zong pacified the Bohai Sea,
The Bohai feudal princes divided the Bohai Kingdom into seven forces to check each other. Because of this, the seven Bohai princes dispersed the power of the Bohai Kingdom, and the threat to the Tang Dynasty was greatly reduced. But from the internal strife in the empire,
, Yuan Gaijian quickly conquered the Seven Hous, reunified the Bohai Kingdom, and then continued to expand externally. By the time the Tang Dynasty recovered, Bohai had become a behemoth in the Northeast, and it was no longer easy to deal with them. "
Hua Kuan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Not only is it not easy, with the current situation of the Tang Dynasty, it is almost impossible to use troops against Bohai. Xiling was captured by the rebels, and the imperial court did not send troops to suppress it. Compared to Xiling, Bohai's strength is beyond
In a matter of seconds, the imperial court will not even be able to recover Xiling, so there is no need to use troops against the Bohai Sea."
"This is true." Ximen Hao said: "Back then, Emperor Wu Zong had powerful cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, and the soldiers were brave and good at fighting. Even so, it took nearly ten years to completely conquer the Bohai Sea. Now my martial arts skills of the Tang Dynasty are not comparable.
Back then, things were going up and down, and it would not be easy for us, the Tang Dynasty, to conquer the Bohai Sea again." With a solemn expression, he slowly said: "In addition, in the past few years, the Bohai Kingdom has sent a large number of horse dealers to trade with various Tusun tribes, and has reserved a large number of war horses.
, I don’t dare to talk nonsense, but they are so prepared, probably just to make things difficult for me, the Tang Dynasty, one day. My lord, you are an official of the imperial court, so the imperial court has to guard against this."
Qin Xiao nodded slightly, thinking that the Tang Dynasty was surrounded by dangers, but Kyoto was still singing and dancing, and he didn't know if the saints and courtiers had made arrangements to deal with the threat from the Northeast?
"Mr. Ximen, please send more people to pay attention to the situation of the horse trade in the north." Qin Xiao pondered for a moment and said softly: "You try to buy as many horses as possible from there. If possible, let your people also pay attention to it.
It’s best to know the details of the Li people’s trade there, such as which Tusun tribes they trade with, and how many horses they purchase from Congyuan every month. The more detailed the better.”
Ximen Hao hurriedly raised his hands and said: "Don't worry, sir. Since you have given me the explanation, I will arrange a group of people to inquire about the trade situation of the Moli people." "Sir, please forgive me for talking too much." Hua Kuan suddenly said: "The imperial court's strategy.
, we ordinary people naturally don’t know, but if we watch the Moli people continue to trade with the Tusun people, and they reserve more and more war horses, it will definitely be detrimental to the Tang Dynasty. The villain thinks that the court must also think of some ways,
Stop the Moli people from unscrupulously preparing for war."
Qin Xiao nodded and said, "Mr. Hua, do you have any good ideas?"
"Don't take this good idea seriously." Hua Kuan looked at Ximen Hao and asked, "My dear, we are trading flattery on the grassland. Which goods are easiest to trade with the Tusun people?"
"The most popular thing on the grassland is silk." Ximen Hao said: "Silk is a hard currency on the grassland. All tribes in Tusun are willing to exchange horses with us for silk. In addition, it is porcelain, and then medicinal materials and tea.
There are many diseases in the grasslands. Although they also have their own herbal medicines, the most effective ones are the herbs shipped from our Tang Dynasty, so our medicinal materials are also very popular in the grasslands. My dear, you are in the medicinal materials business.
Every year, I help you sell a lot of medicinal materials to the grassland."
Hua Kuan laughed, and then said: "So silk and porcelain are the easiest to trade on the grassland, and these two goods are the specialties of our Tang Dynasty. Although the Bohai Kingdom also followed our example and imitated our production of silk and porcelain, the craftsmanship is not the same as ours.
It's a world of difference, and that's why they sent a large number of traders to our Datang Dynasty to buy silk porcelain." After a pause, he said seriously: "Sir, can the court issue an order prohibiting Bohai traders from selling in our country?
They purchased silk and porcelain in the Tang Dynasty. The goods they purchased at a low price were exchanged for horses, and both sides took advantage. If we prohibit them from purchasing at a low price, they will not be able to compete with our traders from the Tang Dynasty in the Tusun tribe."
"Sir, this is a good idea." Ximen Hao said immediately: "The imperial court does not have to ban it directly, but Bohai merchants cannot purchase by themselves in the Tang Dynasty. They need to trade with designated officials and merchants, and they must buy at a high price. The checkpoints along the way must also prohibit the Bohai Sea.
The merchants' goods are strictly inspected. If they want to transport silk porcelain back to the country, they must have a document from the government with the quantity clearly written on it. If the number is wrong, the source will be traced immediately. If someone in the Tang Dynasty sells silk porcelain to them privately, they will be severely fined.
In this way, the capital of Moli people to buy horses will be cut off, which will inevitably cause heavy damage to them."
Qin Xiao thought to himself that the method Ximen Hao said would be fundamentally beneficial to the silk merchants and porcelain merchants in Jiangnan. Of course, it would also be beneficial to horse merchants like Ximen Hao, but if it were to be implemented in this way, it would
Bohai merchants also caused a huge blow.
"I will report this matter to the court." Qin Xiaowei pondered and nodded: "After all, Dali Temple can't control these matters. I can make a report to the court, but whether to implement it or not still needs to be decided by the relevant yamen."
He stood up and said: "Mr. Ximen, you have family matters, so I won't disturb you anymore. Let's have a good chat when you have free time later."
"Sir, why don't you have a simple meal here?" Ximen Hao stood up hurriedly and said: "You haven't even had a cup of tea, this...!"
Qin Xiao said with a smile: "I still have something to do, let's forget it today, but you will have to eat sooner or later." He said goodbye and left, while Ximen Hao and Hua Kuan walked out of the street.