[Lightscreen]
[Perhaps because he had seen Li Jing's snow-night surprise raid on Dingxiang in his youth and been deeply impressed by it, Su Dingfang later developed a particular fondness for surprise attacks as well.
In Su Dingfang's original plan, the Pamirs should have hosted a brutal, hard-fought battle.
But looking at this thick-skinned fellow who had tied himself up without being asked, Su Dingfang could only say—
This was really not in the plan.
The surrendered Duman was pinched by the nose, figuratively speaking, and escorted back to Chang'an by Su Dingfang.
Su Dingfang received commendations for merit.
Duman received a registered household in Chang'an.
Li Zhi received the opportunity to present captives at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Everyone, in short, had a bright future.
After this battle, the regions around the Pamirs were completely pacified.
The following year, Tang officials spent tremendous effort re-dividing the administrative structure of Tang's western territories.
The land was simply too vast, making the task anything but easy.
According to Tang records, the sixteen states west of Khotan and east of Persia were reorganized into governorates, totaling:
Eighty prefectures,
One hundred and ten counties,
And one hundred and twenty-six military commands.
Only at this point did the "Westernmost Road Stele" erected by Li Erfeng at Tongyuan Gate west of Chang'an become fully true:
"From here to the Westernmost Road: nine thousand nine hundred li."
At this time, the straight-line distance from Chang'an to the Caspian Sea was roughly 4,700 kilometers—equivalent to just over 10,400 Tang li.]
Li Shimin slowly exhaled.
It was as though a massive painted scroll had been unrolled before him—
and now, that scroll had reached its end.
Suppressing the inexplicable emotions in his heart, Li Shimin's first instinct was to praise the young man:
"To make rebels surrender without fighting—
Dingfang, your might is formidable indeed!"
Su Dingfang rubbed his cheek in embarrassment.
Yet he honestly felt there was little to boast about.
In fact—just as the light screen had said—he felt a bit disappointed.
Elite troops.
Forced march.
A carefully planned surprise attack.
And the enemy just… surrendered.
Only captives, no kills.
All that damned time spent on the road!
And to make matters worse, that hurried encounter battle along the way hadn't even been recorded for merit!
A massive loss!
While constantly reminding himself to stay steady in the face of imperfections, Su Dingfang put on a thoroughly humble expression:
"This was not Su Dingfang's might,
but His Majesty's might—
entrusting me with confidence,
and using Tang's prestige to cow the bandits."
Li Shimin was even more pleased.
Young people were good—
not arrogant, not impetuous, and they knew humility.
As for—
Before Li Shimin's gaze could even sweep over, Hou Junji had already lowered his head in self-awareness.
Li Shiji's face, meanwhile, was practically written full of envy.
Why was it that when he risked his life to destroy Xueyantuo, it was brushed over in a single line—
Yet Su Lie taking ten thousand men on a sightseeing round trip got such a detailed account?!
In Li Jing's chapter, he had turned into the demonic Daoist Xu Maogong.
In this young general Su Dingfang's chapter, he was reduced to a supporting role.
Clearly the three great war gods of early Tang—
So why was his name missing?!
Li Shiji nearly wanted to look up to the heavens and sigh.
Uninterested in watching the thirty-year-old emperor putting on airs, Du Ruhui studied the map carefully, then finally sighed.
"It's still too far."
Fang Xuanling nodded.
"To control the Western Regions directly via the Four Garrisons of Anxi is already no easy feat."
"From Chang'an, crossing the Pamirs and returning—even at a fast pace—takes more than half a year."
"If something changes in Central Asia, by the time word reaches Chang'an, everything is already over."
Du Ruhui nodded.
"Hence the need for jiedushi."
Though they knew nothing of future technology, after much thought, granting regional commanders authority to decide matters on the spot was indeed the only method Tang currently had.
But that also meant—
The border armies would become hardened elites through constant warfare,
while the imperial heartland, long at peace, would gradually grow lax in military preparedness.
The jiedushi would, in turn, become an unstable factor within the empire.
So even though the territory had not yet expanded to such an extent, the two were already worrying ahead of time.
"Still," Li Shimin said,
"the land of Tubo is fertile—yet sparsely populated."
From the preliminary reports submitted by the Hundred Cavalry Bureau, every single one mentioned Tubo's severe lack of people.
Merchants traveling far and wide inevitably dealt with Tubo to some extent.
Among merchants, they were often called the Yarlung Qiang, or Yarlung Hu.
When trading with them, the most popular commodity—
Was human beings.
And now, future generations would describe Tubo's campaigns against Tuyuhun and the Bailan Qiang as "annexations,"
which itself revealed how desperate they were for population.
Li Jing, fully in step with Li Shimin's thinking, said:
"In that case, our policy toward Tuyuhun may instead have allowed Tubo to grow stronger."
"If we move against Tuyuhun again, should we sweep up the tribes around Qinghai and relocate their women and children to Hexi?"
"Or preemptively station troops at Jishi Mountain?"
"Or…"
Li Jing examined the map carefully, then pointed to another location.
"Da Feichuan."
Li Shimin nodded—then shook his head, lowering his voice.
"If we could show weakness to lure the enemy,
or use captives as bait, destroy their armies, and seize their able-bodied men…"
All fragments of information about Tubo mentioned by the light screen had already been specially compiled by Du Ruhui.
So everyone now understood—
The single most important factor behind Tubo's sudden rise was climate.
Cold land became warm.
Barren land became fertile.
But people were not crops—
they could not grow overnight.
And from the looks of it, Tubo's solution to population scarcity was simple:
Conquest.
Annexation.
Li Jing proposed holding mountain passes with heavy troops, securing an invincible position, and advancing step by step.
Li Shimin was even more direct and ruthless—
He intended to cripple Tubo's fighting forces outright,
like pulling the fangs from a tiger,
or clipping the claws of a wolf.
For a time, several generals fell into deep thought.
[Lightscreen]
[Time continued forward two more years.
Among the tribes of the Western Regions, someone once again stepped forward to stroke the tiger's whiskers of Great Tang.
This time, the "experience baby" was the Uyghur tribe.
This tribe had originally been one of the tribes within the Xueyantuo Khaganate.
In the twentieth year of Zhenguan, the Uyghur khan Tumidu responded to Second Phoenix's decree to destroy Xueyantuo and rose in rebellion.
After Xueyantuo was erased, he proactively submitted to Tang,
receiving the titles of General Who Cherishes Transformation and Governor of the Hanhai Protectorate.
In 648, internal strife broke out among the Uyghurs.
Tumidu was killed by his nephew.
Tang took the initiative to uphold justice, pacified the unrest,
and appointed Tumidu's son, Poluo, as the new General of the Left Xiaowei Guard and Governor of Hanhai.
Poluo had appeared earlier in our story.
Tang beat up that fool "Little Lu" the Pineapple Khan three times—
Poluo participated in two of those battles.
A good comrade.
In 661, Poluo fell ill and died.
A familiar story unfolded once again.
His nephew, Bisu Du, seized the position of Uyghur khan—
And to prove how formidable he was, made a bold decision:
Attack Great Tang.
In Little Du's view, Tang's military strength this year should be stretched thin.
After all, he had heard that to the east, Tang had simultaneously opened two battlefields:
Su Dingfang was busy in Goguryeo.
Liu Rengui was grinding experience in Baekje.
Tang shouldn't have time to deal with him.
What Little Du wanted was the Tang-bestowed title of Governor of Hanhai.
Only with that title could he be considered the legitimate leader of the Uyghurs.
So his plan was simple—
Cause Tang a bit of trouble.
Apply a bit of pressure.
He guaranteed that once the title was in hand, he would immediately become Tang's number one loyal dog.
Unfortunately—
Little Du knew nothing of Tang's true power.
Li Zhi didn't play along at all.
With Goguryeo and Baekje both in full swing, the Heavenly Emperor personally opened a third battlefield—
And from the very first move, it was two armies at once.
On the Tiele Route, Zheng Rentai served as Grand General-in-Chief, with Xue Rengui as his deputy, launching a frontal attack.
On the Xian'e Route, Xiao Siye served as General-in-Chief, with Sun Renshi as his deputy, advancing early to block Little Du's retreat from the southwest.
This battle was—
Xue Rengui's battle of fame.
And also—
A battle of humiliation for the Tang army.]
"Got it. Another rising general," Zhang Fei said.
He didn't even have the energy to roll his eyes anymore.
"Are Tang's famous generals grown from the ground or something?
One harvest after another, never-ending."
Kongming laughed heartily.
"With such vast territory, naturally there are hundreds of thousands of men fit for war."
"If famous generals didn't emerge in waves, that would be strange."
"But why call it a battle of humiliation…"
Kongming couldn't figure it out.
Even just looking at the numbers on paper, his evaluation of the Uyghurs was simple:
A rabble.
This wasn't to say the Uyghurs were incompetent—
But after years of campaigning, just how sharp Tang blades were,
the Uyghur cavalry surely knew better than anyone.
This usurping khan might force Uyghur riders onto the battlefield—
But he could never force them to fight to the death.
So how did it become a humiliation?
Surely the two Tang armies didn't clash with each other over credit?
That would be absurd beyond belief.
[When we discussed the An Lushan Rebellion, we emphasized that Tang valued military merit above all.
As a result, many people achieved their Tang dreams through military exploits.
Xue Rengui was among the best of them.
Xue Li, courtesy name Rengui.
His ancestors had once been prominent, but his father died early, and the family declined.
In his youth, Xue Rengui had to farm for a living.
When your ancestors were all famous generals or officials,
but you yourself spend every day wrestling with crops—
It inevitably made Xue Rengui feel his fate was lacking.
Though he possessed excellent martial skills,
he became obsessed with geomancy—studying feng shui daily, trying to change his destiny.
Utterly feudal superstition.
Feng shui might not change fate.
But a good wife?
That really can make life smoother.
Seeing her husband nearing thirty, with nothing but a strong body and mastery of bow and horse—
Today studying physiognomy, tomorrow geomancy, the day after observing omens—
Madam Liu grew anxious.
So she advised him:
"My husband possesses talent that surpasses the age.
It's not that your fate is bad—you simply haven't met the right opportunity.
Now the emperor personally campaigns in Liaodong.
Isn't that your opportunity?"
"First gain fame on the battlefield.
After returning home wealthy and honored, you can study feng shui all you want."
Praised until he floated on air, Xue Rengui immediately dropped the hoe he had been using to dig up his father's grave,
Took up his blade and bow,
And joined the army, heading for Liaodong.
In the Goguryeo war, Xue Rengui wore white robes on the battlefield—flashy to the extreme.
He walked in and out of enemy formations as if strolling through a garden.
Li Erfeng was stunned:
"This man is even flashier than me—he must be excellent material!"
After returning to the capital, the overjoyed Xue Rengui encountered the same problem as Su Dingfang.
Appointed as a Zhonglang General, stationed at Xuanwu Gate—
Which, translated plainly, meant: guarding the palace's north gate.
He sat in that guardhouse for ten years.
In fact, Xue Rengui had it even harder.
Whenever the emperor traveled, he had to go along too—
Guarding the north gate in a different location.
That year, Li Zhi went to the Wannian Palace to escape the summer heat.
Unluckily, a flash flood erupted in the middle of the night.
Faced with the raging waters, the guards fled in panic.
Li Zhi was terrified:
"My life ends here!"
Xue Rengui was overjoyed:
"My chances arrives here!"
Thanks to Xue Rengui's desperate warning, Li Zhi escaped the Wannian Palace in the dead of night, avoiding death by drowning.
Li Zhi decided Xue Rengui was reliable—
So he let him guard the gate for another five years.
Xue Rengui probably felt his brain turn to mush.
But fortunately—
Li Zhi was different from Erfeng.
He actually remembered names.
In 658 and 659, Li Zhi dispatched troops to harass Goguryeo for two consecutive years.
At that time, he remembered that his lifesaver seemed to have come from the Liaodong front.
Thus, an edict was issued, and Xue Rengui was stuffed back into the war.
Xue Rengui performed with outstanding valor.
So when Little Du started causing trouble in 661,
Xue Rengui finally rose from gate guard to deputy general.
Xue Rengui was moved to tears—
Being a general in Great Tang was way too competitive!
But at last—
The moment to truly take off had arrived.]