Chapter 2237: Endure humiliation and seek peace, cede land and indemnity
Chapter 2237: Enduring humiliation and seeking peace, ceding territory and paying compensation
The authorities are confused and the onlookers are clear.
Li Shimin also knew that Tang State was in a very difficult situation, but as he was on the inside, he obviously could not see it as clearly as Jiang Shang, who was on the outside.
Under Jiang Shang's reminder, Li Shimin should step out of the overall situation and look at the battle between Qin and Tang Dynasty, but he saw a completely different scenery... The Tang Dynasty was really in danger.
Just reading the beginning of the letter, Li Shimin still felt that Jiang Shang was a bit alarmist. After all, although the Tang Dynasty was in a difficult situation, it still had a strong foundation and had local advantages. It could support an army of 300,000 for a year.
The Qin army fought continuously in battles without stopping for a moment. How long can it hold on now?
It won't take more than two months at most.
Before Ying Hao proclaims himself emperor, the Qin army will definitely cease fighting, recuperate, digest the results of the war, and restore national strength.
Therefore, as long as the Tang Dynasty survives this period of time, the danger of national subjugation will naturally be resolved.
Li Shimin originally thought so, but after reading Jiang Shang's letter, his back was completely soaked in cold sweat, and his face was full of fear and horror. He obviously realized that his thoughts were too simple.
He far underestimated the danger of the current situation and had unknowingly fallen into Li Jing's scheme.
Yes, the Qin Army's continuous combat capability is not strong, but with the cooperation of Li Jing, Zhang Liao, Huo Bing, Wei Qing and other famous generals, plus more than 200,000 elite Qin Army, it can be achieved in two months.
Too many things.
The Qin army does not need to occupy the entire Guanzhong, it only needs to occupy the city of Chang'an. No, it does not even need to occupy Chang'an. It only needs to break the gate and attack Guanzhong. This is already a victory for the Qin army.
Once the gate of the Tang Kingdom is broken, the Qin army can continuously transport troops to Guanzhong, and by then even if it is wasted, it will be able to kill the Tang Kingdom.
The Qin State had seven states, more than 20 million people, and nearly a million troops. What could the Tang State do to compete with the Qin Army?
Just twelve counties?
The difference in national power between the two sides is too great, and Qin is inherently invincible.
If we win and occupy the three counties in Guanzhong, if we fail, we won't lose much. At most, we will only lose a few troops, and Qin's national strength can quickly replenish it.
On the contrary, what about Tang? If you win, you will gain nothing; if you lose, you will only lose more.
The longer the war in Tang's homeland is delayed, the greater the losses will be.
They fought back and forth and turned Guanzhong into a white ground. In the end, only the Tang State was injured, while the Qin State suffered no losses.
Therefore, this has been an unequal war from the beginning.
Li Shimin thought that delaying time could avert danger, but in fact it was a dead end.
There is only one way to fight against Qin from beginning to end, and that is to gather a group of allies to fight against Qin and jointly bear the losses of fighting against Qin. Only in this way can we ensure that we will not be annexed by the Qin army.
The Tang State is now facing a five-pronged siege by the Qin Army. It has no reinforcements from outside and no elite troops at home. It relies on the power of one country to fight against Qin. It is just a mantis trying to act like a chariot and not overestimating its own capabilities.
Li Shi certainly knew about this, and he also wanted to draw allies to share the pressure, but the time chosen by the Qin army was too bad. None of the surrounding princes could directly send troops to support, and the Tang army could only fight alone.
Regarding this dilemma, Jiang Shang gave a solution in his letter, which is: all the people should become soldiers and use war to promote peace.
At first, Li Shimin didn't understand its meaning, but after reading it, he understood it.
The Southern Han Alliance attacked Qin in five directions, and the four kingdoms of Shu, Han, Tang, and Sui sent troops. Why did Qin only target Tang after the war, but did not attack Shu, Chu, and Sui 30,000?
In addition to the fact that the Tang State was close to the Qin State and its strength was greatly reduced, the most important thing was that during the Tang State, it was the only country in the Southern Han Alliance that shook the foundation of Qin's rule.
You know, the Tang army reached the city of Luoyang, and Luoyang was both the capital of Han and the future capital of Qin.
The capital of the country is surrounded by enemies. This is a shame for any country, let alone Qin, which is the overlord of the princes.
Therefore, the Qin State naturally had to flex its muscles to maintain its dominance, otherwise it would expose the fact that it was strong on the outside and weak on the inside, causing a chain reaction among other princes.
The Qin State wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, and the Tang State was the most suitable chicken. All other countries, including Wei, Song, and Wu, were the monkeys to be warned.
It has to be said that the Qin State's attack on the Tang Dynasty seemed to be to seize Guanzhong, but in fact it had multiple other purposes, and it had far-reaching consequences no matter what level it was.
The attack on Guanzhong was just a means for Qin to achieve its goal. It was good if it succeeded, but it didn't matter if it failed. It would be a big deal to try again later, as long as the goal was achieved.
Therefore, for the Qin State, Guanzhong can be occupied or not, but the Tang State cannot give up Guanzhong.
Although the Tang State had twelve counties, the essence was concentrated in the three counties of Guanzhong. If Guanzhong was lost, it would not be able to afford so many troops. It would directly withdraw from the ranks of powerful countries and become a poor and weak country. Therefore, the Tang State
It is absolutely impossible to give up Guanzhong.
There is more than one way to protect Guanzhong, but fighting Qin alone is undoubtedly the stupidest and most thankless way, and Li Shimin chose the stupidest way.
The fundamental purpose of Qin's attack on Tang this time was to avenge its humiliation, to show off its force, and to frighten the princes. The occupation of Guanzhong was incidental.
Therefore, Jiang Shang proposed to Li Shimin that before the situation had completely deteriorated, he should take the initiative to bow to Qin and sue for peace and a truce.
Now that Ying Hao is about to proclaim himself emperor, if Li Tang is willing to bow to Qin, surrender his royal title, become a tributary to Qin, or even cede territory and pay compensation, there is still a high possibility of a truce between the two countries.
The Great War between Qin and Tang in Guanzhong stirred up the hearts of the world, and other countries were also watching how this drama would end. If the Tang State took the initiative to profess its vassalship but the Qin State refused to accept it, this would undoubtedly make other princes sad and intensify the alliance among the various princes.
This is what Qin does not want to see anyway.
Moreover, Jiang Shang did not let Li Tang remain a vassal state of Qin. He was just enduring the temporary humiliation. As long as the allies of the Southern Han Dynasty could breathe a sigh of relief, the situation would be completely different.
If Qin wants to invade Tang by then, Tang may still not be its opponent, but it will never be able to fight alone and fall into such a passive situation.
All in all, the sooner the war ceases, the smaller the Tang army's losses will be. Moreover, it is not too late to surrender. Even if the Tang army suffers losses, they will still be within an acceptable range.
Once Fenglingdu, Aoguan, and Wuzhangyuan were defeated at any of these three places, the price the Tang army would pay would be unbearable if they wanted to give in.
Of course, facing a tiger and wolf country like Qin, blindly retreating will only encourage its arrogance.
In this regard, Jiang Shang proposed that the Tang State implement the policy of all people as soldiers in the Guanzhong area to show his determination to not be afraid of a battle and fight to the end.
Only in this way can the Qin State realize that the Tang State is a hard nut, and the price of swallowing Guanzhong in one go is too high, even the Qin State cannot afford it.
If you use music to seek peace, peace will perish;
If war is used to promote peace, peace will survive;