"Bai Lan, the Dangxiang Qiang people live to the east of the highlands, across the mountains from Hanzhong. It is said that there are paths connecting them, and there are some pastures there, where the Qiang people have been grazing cattle and sheep for generations.
Most of the Tuyuhun tribes were located in Xihai County. At its peak, the Qiang tribe occupied two areas, Baihai and Xihai. There were also large tracts of pasture there for them to live and reproduce, and there was no shortage of water.
I think that there are many pastures, and people will occupy them sooner or later, but it is so remote that people from the Central Plains rarely visit it. If you want to manage it, you have to think of another strategy."
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As Feng Deyi narrated, Li Po gradually forgot to eat.
Feng Deyi's strategy can be said to be a big article on how to govern foreign nations, and some of Li Po's ideas coincide with each other.
First of all, Feng Deyi did not think that sending some officials to remote places would be of much use, but at the same time, he also believed that although it was of no great use, it must be done.
The division of prefectures and counties and the dispatch of officials recommended by the two provinces Zhongshu and Shangshu were the basis for the Tang Dynasty to rule these places. However, there were precedents for this in the Western Wei Dynasty and the former Sui Dynasty, but it could not make the Tuyuhun and other tribes completely surrender, and the effect was not good.
In view of this, we need to find another way.
For example, use practical and effective means to change the lifestyle of these foreigners.
He felt that the authority of the tribal leader should be weakened first, so that the tribesmen who lived in poverty knew that the tribal leader was not their God, let alone a God-blessed person sent by the gods to dominate them.
Only the officials of the Tang Dynasty could give them a better life and protect them from cold and hunger. Chang'an was the place where their gods cared most about.
Just like what Li Po did in the north, he distorted their beliefs, gave them a certain degree of living security, and let them know that the officials of the Tang Dynasty were more worthy of respect and trust than the tribal leaders.
This is just the first step. I believe that the officials in Liangzhou have already done this. Otherwise, the northwest would not have been so calm in the past two years. It is just that it is not done thoroughly enough and it is still relying on the tribal leaders to govern the tribesmen.
The first stage was actually to allow the vassal tribes to recognize the authority of the local government of the Tang Dynasty.
The next step would be easier. For example, in the highlands, counties should be set up, especially those with good pastures. Local governments would control them, conduct population censuses, restrict the movement of herdsmen back and forth, and collect taxes from them.
Another option is to exchange grain for the herdsmen’s cattle and sheep, changing their food sources and structure, and even teaching them to farm on their own.
At the same time, teach them Chinese, attract them with the elegant etiquette of the Central Plains, and change their own customs and habits from these bits and pieces.
For example, they believe in gods. There are so many gods in the Central Plains, and all of them have extraordinary origins, boundless magical power, and are all "efficacious". Why do they have to follow the Turks to believe in some god?
This is clearly an extremely comprehensive assimilation strategy.
The more critical point is that Feng Deyi felt that he could use food to control these foreigners who gradually changed their living habits. When they got used to exchanging cattle and sheep for food and rice, then these foreigners would be the same as those Turks on the Yunnei Grassland.
Human beings are no different; they will become the herdsmen of the Tang Dynasty, constantly delivering cattle, sheep and other meat to the Tang Dynasty.
When the Tang army completed their training in Xihai and other places and could reach the highlands, they would put another set of shackles on the highland tribes.
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Li Po listened carefully and gradually began to wonder if this guy had been transported through time. Many of his ideas were very advanced. Has anyone given you a dream?
On the fall of an atheist...
Well, this all-round assimilation policy is even more perfect than Li Jing's plain barbarian policies.
Yizhou has gradually restored its rule over southern Shu in recent years, and has cultivated countless barbarians, and even among the barbarians, they have given rise to the names of high mountain barbarians and flat land barbarians.
The strategy of using barbarians to control barbarians has achieved great results, which is undoubtedly due to Li Jing's original strategy of neutralizing barbarians.
But now Feng Deyi's advice is no less than Li Jing's, it can even be said to be even worse.
Feng Deyi's mouth was dry when he spoke, and his head was even a little dizzy. Seeing that the emperor had not spoken, he was also worried. He had been thinking about this article for some time, and now he used the incident in the highlands as an opportunity to present it.
.
He originally thought about writing it in this chapter like Shangshu and Zhongshu, but in the end he was cautious and wanted to talk to the emperor first.
His previous advice to Li Po had already changed the strategic direction of the Tang Dynasty, but now he is continuing his efforts and taking firm steps towards the ranks of famous officials in the early Tang Dynasty.
The most important thing at the moment is that he wants to hang his portrait in Lingyan Pavilion.
In his opinion, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If he loses it, given his age, he will probably die in silence...
............
It became quiet in Liangyi Hall.
Li Po was thinking a lot, and inspiration was rushing out. After a long time, he raised his head and looked at Feng Deyi, who was staring at him eagerly. Hey, why didn't you say anything?
Only then did he realize that he had finished speaking and was waiting for his judgment.
Li Po took a sip of wine with a slight embarrassment, looked at Feng Deyi, whom he had always regarded as the number one flatterer of the Tang Dynasty, and said with appreciation: "They say that listening to you speak is better than reading ten years of reading. What you said is very pleasing to my ears.
More than ten years of experience?"
Feng Deyi immediately put his heart back to where it was before, bowed his hands in thanks and said, "Your Majesty, you are too complimentary. If not for Your Majesty's wisdom and kindness, how could I dare to talk nonsense in front of the Emperor?"
Li Po shook his head and said: "There were many famous officials in the former Sui Dynasty, but from my perspective, the legacy is very sparse. There are only a few people like Qing and He Dafu..."
Just this sentence made Feng Deyi's heart lively again. He couldn't help but look at Xue Yuanjing in the corner of the hall, fearing that he didn't hear clearly and missed something.
Because these two words of praise from the emperor are of great importance to him, they can almost be used as the final words of his life. Whether he will be remembered by future generations after a hundred years will depend on this.
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"After you get back, please sort it out before playing... You still have to take care of yourself and don't overwork yourself. You are indispensable to me."
Feng Deyi nodded gratefully and said with a choked voice, "I have nothing to say about your Majesty's kindness to me. I also want to stay with your Majesty for a few more years, but I am too old to be driven. Alas...
..."
"I am an old man, but my ambition is thousands of miles. A martyr's ambition is endless in his old age. You are not old yet, you have great insight and wisdom, you have made many mistakes, and you are not yet an octogenarian. How can you be called an old man?"
Li Po was in a good mood, but he tried hard to deceive him, but he could see that Feng Deyi's health was really worrying, and it was God's blessing that he could stay in the post for another three to five years.
He sighed with some regret in his heart, life, old age, illness and death are really something that no one can escape...