Chapter 10 Ceding Territory and Paying Indemnity (Part 1) (First Update, Seeking Votes)

  Out of the Imperial Palace, Du He rushed straight to the palace.

  Li Shimin was entertaining foreign envoys who had arrived in Chang'an at a banquet in the imperial palace, and couldn't get away, so he told him to wait in the study.

  Du He was idle in the study room and planned to find a book to kill time, saw "Wu Zi Bing Fa" on the bookshelf.

  "Wu Zibing Fa" is a famous ancient Chinese military treatise, written by Wu Qi, a renowned general of the early Warring States period. It is a military work that rivals "Sunzi Bingfa". Unfortunately, most of it has been lost to history, leaving behind only scattered fragments.

  Du Ruhui's study also had "Wu Zi Bing Fa", but only six chapters, yet these six chapters were enough to benefit Du He greatly, I don't know how many chapters Li Shimin's "Wu Zi Bing Fa" has.

  Du He opened the book page, only to see that the blank space around the title was filled with countless small characters. After calming down and taking a closer look, he recognized that this was Li Shimin's handwriting, which greatly piqued his curiosity. As he carefully read on, it turned out that these were actually annotations written by Li Shimin for "Wu Zi Bing Fa".

  Roughly translated, this "Wu Zi Bing Fa" still only has six chapters, merely over a thousand words, but Li Shimin wrote nearly ten thousand words of annotations.

  Moreover, each annotation of a chapter will cite classic battles in history and actual combat examples. From the giant deer war, Pengcheng war, Gaixia siege during the Qin and Han dynasties to the destruction of Liu Wuzhou war, Tiger's lair war and other battle examples during the Sui and Tang dynasties are all recorded one by one.

  Ancient people liked to write articles that were abstruse and incomprehensible, not to mention the lack of punctuation, and they were all dry and lofty principles. Unless one has a certain foundation in literature, whether or not one can read them through is a problem.

  But with Li Shimin's annotation, this military book immediately became more profound and easier to understand than the original version.

  Since Li Shimin couldn't come for the time being, he simply took out his notes and carefully read them against the original text. The more he read, the more he admired Li Shimin. He secretly sighed: Uncle Li's achievements in literature are almost making me forget that he is also a great military general. In terms of military standards, even Li Ji's uncle may not be able to surpass him.

  Especially when reading the article "Zhi Bing", he was even more amazed: "Li Shu is indeed a thousand-year-old emperor, and his thoughts on literature and military affairs are really beyond ordinary people."

  "Cough, cough!" A sudden dry cough was heard from upstairs.

  Du He was startled, and hastily raised his head to look around, only to see Li Shimin already sitting in the great hall. His face was somewhat red, with a mixture of shyness and excitement, perhaps due to having drunk too much wine, but more likely because of that one unintentional phrase "thousand-year emperor".

  The title of "One Emperor for a Thousand Years" is an evaluation by later generations, and naturally did not exist in the Tang Dynasty.

  For the first time being called this way, Li Shimin actually felt a bit embarrassed.

  Du He secretly smiled and asked: "Uncle Li, when did you arrive?"

  "It was just a moment ago that I saw you were deeply absorbed in your reading, and didn't disturb you!" Li Shimin straightened his posture and asked: "What you were just reading was the 'Treatise on Military Strategy' from Wu Zi?"

  Du He smiled and nodded: "Wu Qi's use of the military is heavy on governance, every word and sentence can be said to be pearls! Uncle Li in his annotations explained the principles within, along with governing the country and practicing, making one feel refreshed!"

  Li Shimin said, "Wu Qi was originally a brilliant military strategist and statesman who had mastered the art of governance. The principles of governance are hidden in the Art of War, but ordinary people just don't notice them. When I was young, I admired Huo Qubing, admiring his majestic sweep across the eight directions. At twenty, I changed to Han Xin, recognizing the importance of strategy in warfare. After ascending to the throne, I came to appreciate Wu Qi even more. The strength of Huo Qubing was outstanding for a time; the strength of Han Xin was remarkable throughout his life; but the strength of Wu Qi could dominate several generations."

  Du Huo's mind is ahead of his time, this is the elevation of ideological realm. Huo Qubing's style is strong and hard, the Xiongnu are terrified at the wind, but ultimately only a temporary victory or defeat; Han Xin's strategy is profound, almost every battle has a strange plan, often with the smallest victory to achieve the greatest results, for Liu Bang laid down a vast foundation. Wu Qi's emphasis on governance, both in governing the army and governing the country, strong army and prosperous nation, only when the army is strong and the country is prosperous can truly dominate the world, can create a vast empire, and be the champion of the century.

  "Wu Qi opposed both the masses' fondness for war and the emphasis on moral virtue, while neglecting military preparations. He believed that only by cultivating civil virtues internally and preparing military strength externally could a country become powerful. I completely agree with this point, so in addition to conquering the four directions, I do not forget to govern the country, lest it fall into a situation like that of Emperor Wu of Han." Li Shimin smiled and said: "Since you like it, I'll give you this book. If it helps you, it will also be a blessing for the Great Tang!" With a generous wave of his hand, he gave the book to Du He.

  Du He got it and put it away like a treasure.

  "Right, you little scamp didn't come to see me about books, did you? You came because of Tibet?" Li Shimin mused to himself: "I think Tibet seems to have a deep-seated feud with you, always targeting it."

  Du He secretly thought in his heart: "It's not that I have been enemies with you for several lifetimes, but it's that I have been enemies with the Tang Dynasty for several lifetimes." If it weren't for the fact that the Tubo was the strongest enemy of the Tang Dynasty in history, he wouldn't be so targeted at the Tubo.

  "Li Shu is wise, and I indeed came for Tibet... I heard Father say that Uncle plans to negotiate with Tibet?"

  Li Shimin also nodded without concealing: "This is not only my intention, but also the consistent intention of Fang Xiang, your father, Wei Qing's family, Hou Shangshu, Li Ji General and even Wei Gong Li Jing old general. Do you have any objections to this?"

  Du He's face was slightly sweaty, and he hastily said: "Uncle Li, don't use these heavy hitters to scare me. I don't think it's wrong for us to negotiate with the Tibetans. The Silk Road has brought immense benefits to the Tang Dynasty that cannot be put into words. Therefore, the focus of the Tang Dynasty should be on expanding the Silk Road, rather than putting its energy into the small Tibetan region. Isn't this a brilliant idea? But, Uncle, don't you think that negotiating with them like this is letting the Tibetans off easy?"

  "We should know that our Great Tang is a victorious country, while they, the Tubo, are a defeated country. A defeated country fears us and hopes to make peace with us, which is not easy, so they have come to beg us for it. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity to gain some benefits, how can we justify the sacrifices of our 800,000 soldiers on the front lines?"

  Du He's words caused Li Shimin's thoughts to be somewhat short-circuited.

  Victorious country, defeated country, profiteer, and extortionist!

  After sorting out for a while, he finally cleared his mind, and a hint of enlightenment and excitement flashed in his eyes. He said hastily: "Don't be stunned, make it clear!"

  "That's right! This war, because of Tubo's provocation, caused our Great Tang to labor and mobilize troops, marching thousands of miles. Who is the culprit behind all this? It's Tubo, so they should pay for the military expenses, which is reasonable. Moreover, our army lost thousands of soldiers, all of whom died at the hands of the Tubo people, so who should pay for their families' living expenses? Naturally, it's still Tubo. Furthermore, Tubo breached Songzhou and needs to repair the city walls; this cost also needs to be borne by Tubo! Also, in order to defeat Tubo, I, your humble servant, have been working day and night, with a head full of white hair, making me worry for days on end. Collecting thousands of taels of gold from them as brainpower fees is only reasonable and just. Li Shu... do you think what I said is correct?"

  Li Shimin was stunned, hastily nodded his head, looked at Du He's shiny black hair, and put on a righteous and gentlemanly appearance: "That makes sense, I also think we don't have the obligation to pay these expenses!"

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