Chapter Five Hundred and Seventy-First The Death of the War
Drinking wine and showing mercy to each other, relationships turn upside down like waves.
Prime Minister Bai knew that he was still pressing his sword, and the elders of the rich family laughed and flicked their crowns.
The grass is all wet with drizzle, and the flower branches are about to move in the cold spring wind.
There is no need to ask about the floating clouds of the world. It is better to lie down high and eat more.
——"Drinking with Pei Di" Wang Wei
…
Bai Fu asked: "Then why did you join the army and join the Anxi Army in the expedition to the Western Regions?"
Tie Zhui looked up at the stars and started chatting: "When we joined the army and conquered the Western Regions, on the one hand we were young and passionate and wanted to get out of our hometown and see things outside;
On the other hand, it was also because the troops in the Western Expedition were well paid. If they won the battle, they would receive additional rewards.
To put it bluntly, the purpose is to earn more money, retire from the army in the future, marry a wife and build a big house for my family when I return to my hometown.
It will take many years to realize these wishes if you work hard in farming in your hometown. If you join the army, you can earn it in three to five years.
If one day in the future, they can make money safely, who would be willing to hold their head in their hands all day long, fearful, use knives and guns, and fight and kill?
Making a living by chopping off other people's heads, arms and legs is a crime!
The so-called enemies on the battlefield are all caused by oneself.
In fact, we are all born to our parents and raised by our parents. We don’t know each other and we have no grudges or grudges. Why would we want to kill someone?
Sometimes, I see those raw melons and eggs on the battlefield, waving weapons and shouting. I think to myself, did your parents give birth to you to let you lose your life here? Instead of honoring your parents, you come here to show off.
What the hell!"
Bai Fu was puzzled and said: "Those who offend the powerful Han will be punished no matter how far away they are. To expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty, on the one hand, it can cultivate more land and feed the people. On the other hand, it can not promote etiquette and promote the power of the Tang Dynasty."
?"
Tie Chui disapproved and said with a contemptuous smile: "Most of the countries in the Western Regions are Gobi and desert. Oasis with lush water and grass are also the territory passed down from generation to generation by the Hu people. In the final analysis, they are also their homes.
If we Han people are either too poor to survive, or we are criminals exiled to the border areas, who would be willing to leave our homes and go there to cultivate land?
As for Xuanhua etiquette and promoting the power of the Tang Dynasty, it is purely a thing invented by you scholars and is designed to deceive hot-blooded young people."
Bai Fu was stunned.
Tie Zhui took a sip of wine, and the strong liquor entered his throat, which brought back memories:
“Relying on showing off force and promoting etiquette will only make the foreigners unconvinced and deepen their grudges.
Back then, I accompanied General Gao Xianzhi on an expedition to the Western Regions. It was euphemistically called, to open up territory for the Tang Dynasty and conquer the barbarians.
At the beginning, the Anxi army had strict military discipline and only killed Hu soldiers from the countries in the Western Regions who fought with the Tang army and resisted.
Later, General Gao's military exploits became more and more prominent, his official position became higher and higher, and his appetite became bigger and bigger. Every time he captured a city, he was not satisfied with the treasures handed over by the kings' courts, and began to indulge his soldiers in burning, killing and looting.
Once the mouth was opened, military discipline disappeared.
The comrades who joined the army together at that time were all honest farming children at first. Later, they attacked cities, captured territories, burned, killed and looted.
I couldn't bear to see it anymore and couldn't change it, so I left the army in anger.
…
We felt that we were promoting the etiquette of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the countries in the Western Regions felt that we were trampling on their homes, so they resisted from the beginning.
When the Anxi army maintained strict military discipline, everyone could still live in harmony. When military discipline was disrupted, not only the nobles of the Western Regions were unwilling to submit, but even the local people spontaneously resisted.
Anxi soldiers would be targeted by locals for sneak attacks and assassinations as soon as they left the military camp.
In the beginning, a hundred Anxi soldiers were able to unite a country. Later, hundreds of Anxi soldiers were able to defend a city.
The cost of garrisoning troops is getting higher and higher, and the difficulty is getting higher and higher.
Tens of thousands of Anxi soldiers were scattered like sesame seeds across thousands of miles of the Western Region. There were not enough troops in each place. Once the opponent counterattacked, all the Tang troops were often killed..."
At this point, Tie Zhui took two swigs, choked in his throat, and even coughed out tears.
It took Tie Hammer a long time to regain his composure and continued: "
After leaving the Anxi Army, because I was familiar with the customs and customs of the countries in the Western Regions, I did not return home. Instead, I joined the Sogdian caravan and became a cook. When I met the horse bandits who were robbing them, I occasionally served as an armed guard.
Good business!
From Samarkand to Chang'an, he sold spices, jade, and horses from the Western Regions to Chang'an, and then sold silk, porcelain, and tea from Chang'an to the Western Regions.
The reward for one round trip is equivalent to three years of being a top soldier.
The larger Sogdian caravan, after deducting expenses such as food for people and horses, and taxes paid to travel to and from various countries, made more money from one round trip than General Gao captured and plundered from the Shi Kingdom.
I thought at that time, if General Gao knew this, would there be any need to fight and plunder?
As long as we maintain security and order along the Western Region and allow the caravans from all countries to pass without hindrance, isn't it better than destroying all the countries? Not only can we make a lot of money, but we don't have to let our old brothers bury their bones in a foreign land and return their souls to their hometown.
"
Bai Fu was deeply convinced and said: "Tuiban, what you said makes sense. We can not invade other countries, but if the enemy invades the country, we must not take the world as our own responsibility and defend the Tang Dynasty?"
An Lushan rebelled, didn't you also go into battle again?"
Tie Zhui stretched out his index finger, waved his hand, and said: "Defend the Tang Dynasty? Whose Datang Dynasty belongs to it? I think it is to protect the emperor and his family, right?"
Whether the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was called Li Longji or An Lushan, we ordinary people don't care.
The reason why I returned to the army and followed Marshal Guo to annihilate the Yan army was not to protect the emperor, nor to protect Li Tangzhengshuo as they said, but because that dog in Anlushan ordered the massacre of the city at every turn! Massacre of the unarmed people!
Once the Yan army captured the city, they would kill all men, women, children, old and young! Wherever the Yan army went, rivers of blood flowed, and they committed rape, robbery, and all kinds of evil!
Is this Fan Yangjun of the Tang Dynasty who once shocked Liaodong? What a beast!
If this kind of army that is inferior to beasts is not wiped out, who among the people in the world can survive!
Therefore, Han people like Laoge and Xiucai, people from Gaochang, Shiwei, and Mohe like Luotuer, Lynx, and Eagle Eyes came from all over the world to join the Tang army and share the same hatred with the enemy to destroy the Yan army.
You just asked me why I trust these barbarians. This is the reason.
They participated in the war, not for the Hu-Han conflict, not for the Li and Tang royal families, but for their family members, companions and innocent people who died in the war.
Little Bailong, if you study more, you will have more opportunities.
One day you become a high official and listen to your brother's advice.
If we don't fight, everyone can get rich. If we don't kill people easily, we won't worry about being killed back, and we can sleep peacefully at night.
Only by leaving a way for ordinary people to survive can the world be at peace.
Let everyone have the opportunity to earn enough money to marry a wife and build a house, so that young people can have a career and avoid trouble, and every household can be reunited, old and young, and live happily.
…”
Tie Chui's words are crude but not crude, and his words are thought-provoking.
Although the perspective of looking at the problem is different from that of Taifu Xu, Master Zhongsi and other famous Confucian generals, the core point is to stop the war!
Only by stopping the war can the country be peaceful and the people be safe, and the country be strong and the people be prosperous!