An Lushan's name surfaced in Li Shimin's mind only briefly before he pressed it down again.
That was a matter a hundred years in the future. There was no use worrying about it now.
And given the conditions of that time, even without an An Lushan, there would at most have been a delay of ten or twenty years. In the end, there would still have been an An Luhai or an An Lulou rising all the same.
Changsun Wuji, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke, his expression still tinged with lingering fear.
"Your Majesty's foresight reaches ten thousand li. Yet traitors harbor mad jealousy, and base barbarians lie in wait, seeking to sever the Tang's flourishing."
"I regret only that I could not use my own body to shield Your Majesty from blades and spears. I pray only that the Son of Heaven remains safe and unharmed."
Seeing that Changsun Wuji's eyes had actually reddened, Li Shimin felt a touch embarrassed instead.
He had always been confident in his own safety—for instance, just before the New Year, he had gone out with only a handful of the Jinwu Guards.
But on second thought, had he encountered several dozen such desperate Turkic fighters, he would likely have had no choice but to die on the spot.
Before Qin Qiong could even remind him, Yuchi Jingde had already stepped forward, bowed, and knelt.
He said nothing, but everyone understood what he meant.
"Jingde, sit," Li Shimin said, personally reaching out to pull his beloved general back up.
"When I go out in the future, I will be sure to bring this door-god along."
Only then did Yuchi Jingde break into a wide, satisfied grin.
…
As for Li Shimin's assassination attempt, the people gathered in the Chengdu prefectural office showed no interest whatsoever.
In the Spring and Autumn period, assassins had been everywhere—many of them acting in vengeance for fallen patrons.
You, Li Erfeng, wiped out someone else's state, and you didn't expect them to come at you with a dagger?
By comparison, Kongming felt more emotion when it came to those Turkic generals who surrendered to Tang and won merit.
"Back in Emperor Xiaowu's time," he sighed, "if Zhao Xin, under the Marquis of Changping, had been more cautious, he might not have failed to become such a figure."
Zhang Fei blinked, rummaged through his memory, and finally recalled who that was.
After Emperor Xiaowu launched war against the Xiongnu, the earliest men to be enfeoffed were Marquis Xi Zhao Xin and Marquis Chiyuan Le—earlier even than Wei Qing.
Zhang Fei understood why: both were Xiongnu by origin, clearly a case of 'spending a thousand gold to buy horse bones.' And Zhao Xin truly was capable—he had taken first merit at the Battle of Yinshan.
The problem was that after the defeat at Mobei, he surrendered to the Xiongnu again, rose high among them, and caused no end of trouble for the Han.
They had paid dearly for the horse bones—only for the bones to run away.
"Strategist, don't be disheartened!"
Zhang Fei thumped his chest and vowed, "Once my cavalry is fully trained, Old Zhang will capture a few Qiang and Hu men and make them dance for you."
"Let you enjoy the same treatment as the Tang emperor!"
With that interruption, Kongming could only laugh, half amused, half exasperated.
[Lightscreen]
[Though Erfeng looked dashing when he overruled all opposition, when the Turks had him scrambling left and right, he did complain:
'Wei Zheng advised me to restore Gaochang, and I did not heed him. Only now do I reproach myself.'
This was Erfeng's usual pattern of reflection:
Assassinated by Turks—reflection: I should have listened to Wei Zheng.
After destroying Gaochang—reflection: I shouldn't have listened to Wei Zheng.
After establishing Xizhou and getting pressured—reflection: I should have listened to Wei Zheng after all.
The reason Erfeng felt this way was that at this time, the Western Turks had reunited, and the Tang garrisons in Xizhou were under considerable pressure.
As for the Western Turks—those who have watched Ten-Thousand-Brother might find this familiar.
After Duolu Khan smashed the Western Turks and seized half their territory, he turned around and surrendered to Tang.
This left the Western Turks both relieved and furious.
Relieved, because Duolu Khan was brutally strong, beating them into the dirt; once he left, they could finally breathe.
Furious, because he would rather go to Tang as a general than remain a khan!
Though the Western Turks recovered their lands, their internal unity only worsened.
In this situation, the newly enthroned Khan, Qieli Shi, pulled off what he considered a brilliant maneuver.
Simply put, he split the Western Turks into ten tribes.
Then he assigned five tribes each to the Dulu and Nushibi divisions—what we'll call the Left Wing and Right Wing.
And Qieli Shi believed the genius of this move lay here:
the Left Wing and the Right Wing were sworn enemies.
If nothing went wrong, Qieli Shi would successfully play the balance game and restore Western Turkic glory—no question about it!
And then, as expected… something went wrong.
This balancing act lasted less than three years before the two wings beat each other senseless.
Qieli Shi himself was jointly driven out and fled into exile in Yanqi.
It was under these circumstances—while the Western Turks were tearing themselves apart—that Erfeng both ordered Hou Junji to attack Gaochang and added fuel to the Western Turkic chaos:
he personally invested Qieli Shi's nephew as the new Great Khan.
Barely a year after Tang established Xizhou, the Left and Right Wings reached a conclusion:
the Great Khan appointed by Erfeng was defeated and killed, and the Western Turks reunified.
The first thing the reunited Western Turks did was put pressure on Tang—hence Erfeng's lament.
Yet though he spoke of regret, Erfeng never once considered abolishing Xizhou.
And soon, events took a turn.
In 642, the Western Turkic Great Khan announced to all states of the Western Regions:
'I am going to attack Kang. When that happens, you tell me—am I more impressive, or is the Heavenly Khan?'
This slap in the Heavenly Khan's face sent Western Turkic morale soaring. They swiftly conquered Kang, conveniently looted Mi as well, and seized vast wealth.
But the Great Khan refused to share the spoils with his subordinates, and internal tensions resurfaced.
At this point, Erfeng launched a dazzling series of moves:
At the end of 643, he sent envoys to the Western Regions, investing Qieli Shi's descendants as Great Khan, courting the pro-Tang faction and accelerating internal strife.
At the start of 644, under envoy coordination, pro-Tang factions within Yanqi—previously aligned with the Western Turks—began to stir unrest.
In April of that year, Hou Junji was executed, and Tang's internal situation stabilized once more.
In July, Erfeng issued an edict to attack Goguryeo.
In August, he ordered Guo Xiaoke, Commander-in-Chief of the Xizhou Route, to attack Yanqi.
Eleven days later, Guo Xiaoke led three thousand light cavalry in a surprise strike on Yanqi's capital, captured its king, and Yanqi was destroyed.]
Liu Bei watched the complex Turkic names with interest.
Looking at the cycles of division and reunion among the Western Turks, he was faintly reminded of that internal conflict in Eastern Wu—personally orchestrated by a certain elder brother-in-law.
"The dispute of the Two Palaces?" he ventured.
"Similar, but not the same," Fa Zheng said, shaking his head as he added,
"If you want balance, you must ensure that both hostile sides depend on the Great Khan."
"What these Turks did was no different from helping both sides consolidate their forces."
"Truly… self-destruction."
In Fa Zheng's view, even dividing the ten tribes should have involved mixing enemies together.
Instead, they were separated cleanly and clearly—like placing weapons directly into the hands of two sworn foes.
Once that happened, it was hard not to stab the other until see-through.
Kongming chuckled softly.
"This Tang emperor really knows how to use that 'Heavenly Khan' title bestowed by the tribes."
"Investing the weak to restrain the strong—that is balance."
"That first Great Khan who sparked the Western Turkic chaos should have studied a bit harder."
Liu Bei, watching the emperor's step-by-step maneuvers, felt equally conflicted.
"Yanqi… destroyed."
Unlike Gaochang, Yanqi had existed since the Han opened the Western Regions.
A small Western state, surviving from Former Han to the present, and from the present into Tang—only to finally fall now.
"Elder Brother, this Yanqi—"
Zhang Fei began eagerly, only to be cut off at once.
"Yide, do you have a plan for attacking Guanzhong?" Liu Bei asked flatly.
He was genuinely afraid his third brother would start calculating Yanqi's national lifespan on the spot, so he forcibly twisted the topic.
Zhang Fei felt a bit wronged. He had only wanted to volunteer to wipe out Yanqi—why wouldn't Big Brother let him speak?
As for a Guanzhong strategy… wasn't that what Strategist Pang was for?
…
Even the ministers in Ganlu Hall listened to the Western Turkic turmoil with keen interest.
At present, most intelligence came from traveling Hu merchants.
Given the principle of 'do business, avoid trouble,' these merchants usually paid their fees and fled as fast as possible when passing through Western Turkic lands.
As a result, their understanding of Western Turkic affairs was not necessarily more accurate than that of later generations.
Hou Junji, for his part, was diligently explaining:
"The current Western Turkic Great Khan is named Nishu. I hear he is harsh and strong-willed, having personally killed the previous khan to take the throne. Many of his people remain unconvinced."
"This must be the source of the Left–Right Wing enmity spoken of later."
"Your Majesty's act of bestowing titles upon Western Turkic khans was inspired beyond measure!"
"No wonder I took Gaochang without Western Turkic interference—Your Majesty was already planning from a thousand li away!"
"That Turkic khan dares to slight Your Majesty. I am willing to lead a usable force, seize him, and parade him in triumph outside the Shuntian Gate!"
As he spoke, Hou Junji recalled the grand spectacle when Li Jing and Li Shiji presented captives in Chang'an.
When would the protagonist finally be him?
Still, his mouth kept going—he would be first to secure the Western Regions for His Majesty!
"That Turkic khan hoards the spoils alone—such narrow vision, yet he dares claim the title of khan. He does not know death!"
"At this rate, the Western Turks are finished—Hou Junji is executed?"
His words jammed to a halt. Trembling, he turned his head and met Li Shimin's calm gaze.
Tears immediately spilled.
"Your Majesty, it seems I am fated not to see Great Tang unify the Western Regions."
"I beg Your Majesty to punish me for privately looting Gaochang."
Seeing Hou Junji sobbing, Li Shimin sighed and helped him up.
"Do you remember our talk at Xuanwu Gate?"
Hou Junji nodded, then hurriedly shook his head, then recalled it should have been a conversation just days ago, and finally nodded again uncertainly.
Seeing his trusted minister's terror, Li Shimin felt a trace of reluctance.
"As long as you remember—it still stands."
Hou Junji tried hard to recall, but could not piece it together completely.
Still, he understood one thing: as long as he did not cross the line, there would be no fatal disaster.
But…
Looking at the small words Gaochang on the light screen, Hou Junji's feelings were tangled beyond measure.
Knowing heaven and earth, knowing past and present—seeing one's own name, seeing Tang's greatness.
What he wanted now was no longer merely not crossing the line.