Chapter 247 Rebuilding the Protectorate of the Western Regions
Chang'an
For the sake of the stability of the court, Li Shimin finally chose to stop.
Of course, he could not release those officials who had already been caught, but he would not continue to pursue them.
A lot of things happened in Chang'an during this period, but as the capital of the Tang Dynasty, it had witnessed so many changes that the people of Chang'an were no longer surprised.
At night, the curfew has begun, and Chang'an City is filled with silence.
Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hooves outside the city.
The soldiers guarding the city looked outside the city with sharp eyes.
However, it was dark and nothing could be seen clearly.
Not long after, the sound of horse hooves stopped, and by the light from the top of the city, the young guard saw three people standing on horseback.
The young general was about to ask a question when he suddenly saw the flag behind one of them, his eyes narrowed, and he shouted: "Open the city gate!"
The soldiers below did not dare to delay and quickly opened the city gate.
The three people below the city saw the city gate open and rode directly into the city.
…
"See Your Majesty!"
Li Shimin's face was filled with joy, and he waved his hand and said: "Your Majesty, no courtesy!"
During this period, Li Shimin had a gloomy face every day.
All the civil and military officials suddenly saw Li Shimin smiling, and they all wondered in their hearts what happy event made Li Shimin so happy.
Li Shimin smiled and said: "My lords, I received an urgent military report from Eight Hundred Miles last night. In the battle of Gaochang, our Tang Dynasty will win a great victory!"
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!" All officials stood up to congratulate.
Li Shimin laughed a little and said: "Haha, how do you think Gaochang should be dealt with?"
"Your Majesty! Gaochang is thousands of miles away from the Tang Dynasty. It's like useless. I think we should withdraw our troops!" Li Daozong, the new Minister of War, said.
Li Daozong was a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan's cousin, and a royal family member.
It was taboo for the clan to be in charge of troops, and since Li Shimin ascended the throne through special means, all the clan's soldiers retreated and surrendered their military power.
Li Shimin asked Li Daozong to be the Minister of War. Li Daozong refused several times, but Li Shimin never agreed.
Li Daozong saw that he could not refuse, and since the Minister of War did not have military power, he had no choice but to agree.
Li Shimin nodded, he also felt that Gao Chang was useless.
Although occupying Gaochang is an attempt to expand territory, it is too far away and is not suitable for stationing troops permanently.
"No, since your Majesty has captured Gaochang, you should rebuild the Western Region Protectorate." Fang Xuanling said.
In 60 BC, in order to manage the unified Western Regions, the Western Han Dynasty established the Western Regions Protectorate in Wulei City (in today's Luntai County), formally established officials and garrisoned troops in the Western Regions, implemented administrative orders, and began to exercise national sovereignty. This is the "Han Dynasty".
It is said in "The Biography of Zheng Ji" that "the order of the Han Dynasty moved to the Western Regions!" The Western Regions have since become an integral part of the Central Plains.
However, the Central Plains dynasty was often in turmoil, resulting in less and less control over the Western Regions.
After the fall of the Han Dynasty, there was no dynasty reestablishment for hundreds of years.
The establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions broke the isolation of small countries in various parts of the Western Regions, which did not communicate with each other. It created an increasing number of mutual exchanges between various regions in the Western Regions under the unified management of the central government, and enhanced the relationship between the city-states and various ethnic groups in the Western Regions.
Mutual understanding and trust also enhanced the close ties between the Western Regions and the mainland, and strengthened the recognition of the central government in various parts of the Western Regions. From the end of the Western Han Dynasty to the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the situation in the Western Regions was turbulent, but some small countries in the Western Regions still sent people to the Central Plains to request
The central government dispatched the Protector of the Western Regions, which reflected the trust and loyalty of the countries in the Western Regions to the central power. Even after the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty and during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, many city-states in the Western Regions still retained the seals issued by the Han Dynasty.
All the ministers in the court looked at Fang Xuanling in surprise.
They had not been able to rebuild the Western Region Protectorate for hundreds of years. They really couldn't figure out where Fang Xuanling got such confidence.
"Does Prime Minister Fang think now is the time to rebuild the Protectorate of the Western Regions?" Li Shimin asked.
He also had this plan, but now that the grassland is in chaos, his thoughts are focused on the grassland.
Fang Xuanling analyzed: "Your Majesty, although some countries in the Western Regions respect the Tang Dynasty as their suzerain state, there are also many who have evil intentions. The destruction of Gaochang State this time is when the countries in the Western Regions fear the Tang Dynasty. If you are not sure
This is an opportunity to establish the Western Region Protectorate. It will be difficult to establish it in the future."
"There is now civil strife in the grassland, and Xue Yantuo and the Western Turks are at war. However, because the Tang Dynasty has a large number of troops in the Western Regions and border passes, both countries are on guard. If the Western Regions Protectorate is established at this time, the two countries will be afraid of the Tang Dynasty and will not be able to fight with all their strength.
Zhan. "Your Majesty, compared with the Western Turks and Xue Yantuo, establishing the Western Region Protectorate is a trivial matter." Li Daozong said.
In his opinion, the most important thing is to withdraw troops and allow the Western Turks and Xue Yantuo to fight without reservation.
Although Xi Turk and Xue Yantuo fought over Liuli Lang.
But they are not stupid. There are hundreds of thousands of troops on the border of the Tang Dynasty and in the Western Regions. If they fight with all their strength, they will give the Tang Dynasty a chance to benefit.
Li Shimin nodded, this was exactly what he was worried about.
"Your Majesty, you don't need to retain many people to establish the Protectorate of the Western Regions. You only need to send some officials to maintain the connections between the Tang Dynasty and the countries in the Western Regions. Otherwise, if other countries cut off the trade routes of the Tang Dynasty in the future, will it be difficult to continue sending troops to conquer?"
Fang Xuanling argued hard.
"Would it be too dangerous to only retain some officials?" Li Shimin was a little moved. If he could establish the Western Region Protectorate and allow the Western Turks and Xue Yantuo to fight, of course he would be willing.
Just by sending some officials there, it would be beyond the reach of the countries in the Western Regions to attack them.
"Your Majesty, not to mention that the countries in the Western Regions are now afraid of us, the Tang Dynasty, and dare not take action. The most they can do is to act in a disguised manner." Fang Xuanling said.
Li Shimin nodded. Killing a few officials would have no impact on the Tang Dynasty, but it would offend the Tang Dynasty.
As long as the countries in the Western Regions are not stupid, they will at most ignore the officials of the Tang Dynasty, but they will not take action against the officials of the Tang Dynasty.
"The Ministry of Personnel selects officials and will go to Gaochang today to rebuild the Protectorate. Order the princes to gather. When the officials arrive, they will immediately return to the court!" Li Shimin ordered.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
…
"Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully signing in. The reward is: the wood kiln firing method."
Lin Xuan was stunned by this huge surprise.
The Chai kiln was fired in the early years of Zhou Xiande after the Five Dynasties. It came from Zhengzhou, Henan at that time. During the Five Dynasties, Zhengzhou governed the city, Xinzheng, Xingyang and other 7 counties. The place was originally suitable for making pottery, and because Shizong's surname was Chai, it was named.
Also known as the imperial kiln, it was renamed the Chai kiln from the Song Dynasty. Its porcelain is as green as the sky, as bright as a mirror, as thin as paper, and has a sound like a chime. It is moist, delicate and has fine lines, and its exquisite color is different. It is the crown of all kilns in ancient times, but
The bottom is mostly coarse yellow earth color.
However, after Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, he felt that firewood kilns were too wasteful and ordered the ban on kilns.
Later, the wood kiln firing method was lost.
The firing method of porcelain in the early Tang Dynasty was not yet perfect.
The porcelains that became popular in later generations were all made after the Tang Dynasty.
In addition to the relatively small amount of porcelain inherited from the Tang Dynasty, another reason is that the porcelain of the Tang Dynasty is not as exquisite as that of later generations.
Lin Xuan had thought about making porcelain before, but it was hard to make a plan without rice.
He doesn't know how to do this.
Everyone knows that porcelain is made from clay.
But firing porcelain is really not that simple.
Now that he has a firewood kiln that is the best among all kilns, Lin Xuan can't wait to go back and start firing immediately.
He also wanted to see how exquisite the legendary firewood kiln was.
But we have no choice, now we are in Gaochang, we can only wait until we go back.