Chapter 21: Raising the Mountain Wolf

  The middle-aged man said that using barbarians to control barbarians is indeed Li Shimin's clever move, and Du He cannot deny this point.

  In the past, when facing foreign tribes, China was often in a passive defensive position due to geographical factors. Li Shimin's move allowed China to break free from this predicament: he arranged the dependent tribes along the borders of the Tang Dynasty, so that if an enemy were to invade, they would encounter these dependent tribes rather than unarmed civilians.

  With the escort of these barbarians, Datang had enough time to prepare for the expedition.

  This spared the people of the Great Tang from the sufferings of war and also avoided the economic blow brought by the war. The cleverness of this move is beyond words. Only Li Shimin had such a broad mind to make these barbarian tribes surrender.

  Li Shimin was too generous, he wanted the great Tang to flourish all over the world, and he wanted the whole world to feel the culture of the great Tang. Therefore, exchanges with various countries were completely open, poetry, agricultural books, Buddhist scriptures, historical books, medical classics, calendar methods, and even architecture and engineering skills, as long as foreign tribes wanted to learn, they could all be preserved in the Tang Dynasty.

  This is undoubtedly nurturing a tiger and inviting calamity.

  Taking Japan as an example, during the Tang Dynasty, Japan was only a slave society, with a huge gap compared to the great Tang Dynasty. However, because they sent envoys six times to learn from the prosperous culture and feudal production methods of the Tang Dynasty, it promoted social progress, allowing them to leap into the feudal era, and rapidly develop.

  If Japan on the other side of the ocean was affected so greatly, how much more would be the alien peoples who were near at hand?

  Du Huo had always held the idea that people of different classes were inherently different, so he looked down on Li Shimin's approach with disdain and didn't even bother to consider it.

  He said coldly, "I'm not saying that we shouldn't accept those wolf-like barbarians, on the contrary, Your Majesty's move is a clever one! However, in the process of contact between the two sides, Your Majesty has been too generous, sharing everything with the barbarians. Culture can be shared, but can technology also be shared?"

  Duhe's words are by no means alarmist, and the most typical example is Tubo.

  In the 15th year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong of Tang married Princess Wencheng to Songtsen Gampo. According to the "Tibetan Royal Family Inheritance Mirror" and other records, when Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, her entourage was extremely large, and Emperor Taizong's dowry was very rich. There were "Buddha statues, treasures, golden jade bookcases, 360 volumes of scriptures, various golden jade ornaments". Also, there were many kinds of cooking food, various flower-patterned brocade mats, 300 kinds of divination classics, mirrors for distinguishing good and evil, 60 kinds of construction and technical works, 100 kinds of medicinal prescriptions, four medical treatises, five diagnostic methods, six medical instruments, and also carried various grains and wild rice seeds.

  Almost all of the cultural essence of the Tang Dynasty was obtained, which promoted the development of Tubo's economy, culture and military.

  Later generations praised him for this move, saying that it strengthened the friendly relations between the Han and Tibetan peoples.

  What's the actual situation?

  Li Shimin raised a wolf and raised a ferocious Zhongshan wolf.

  Because of the acquisition of various cultures from the Tang Dynasty, the Tubo Kingdom became unprecedentedly powerful and suddenly became the strongest enemy of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions. Not only did it occupy the Anxi region of the Tang Dynasty, cutting off the Silk Road, but also broke into the capital city of Chang'an, looting all the treasures in Chang'an.

  Du He still can't understand why letting foreigners experience and promote the culture of the Tang Dynasty is not a bad thing, but rather it's about creating prosperity and strength through engineering techniques, medical treatises, and farming technologies that are fundamental to a country's flourishing.

  Li Shimin gave away these precious things, isn't it equivalent to nurturing a potential powerful enemy?

  "Let the barbarians feel the prosperity of our great Tang, what's wrong with that?" The middle-aged man seemed to have also slightly realized the severity of the problem, but still put on a strong face.

  "It doesn't matter!" Du He smiled slightly: "The significance of the existence of culture is exchange, only through exchange can we progress, and self-enclosure will only lead to regression. However, there are some things that do not exist in exchange, such as smelting technology. The smelting technology of my Great Tang Dynasty is unparalleled in the world, and it's almost possible to compete with the best in the world. What benefits would my Great Tang gain from passing on this smelting technology? None! Passing it on will only make the weapons of other tribes sharper, and their armor more solid. Since my Great Tang won't benefit from it, why not keep some of it to ourselves, so that the swords of my Great Tang are forever sharper than those of other tribes, and the armor of my Great Tang is forever stronger than theirs? Isn't that wonderful?"

  When he said this, Du He thought of the Japanese sword. The Japanese sword is one of the world's three famous blades, but without the technology of the Tang Dynasty and without the Tang sword as a model, how could they have invented the Japanese sword?

  The middle-aged man's expression changed, but his eyes gradually brightened. He slapped his thigh and laughed: "Today I was enlightened. Let the culture of the Great Tang be widely spread, let the world feel the prosperity of our Great Tang, and let all countries come to congratulate us, it's not a bad thing. But governing the country is about benefits, there are some things that benefit others but harm oneself, indeed should not be taught to them."

  Du He secretly admired him, and the middle-aged man's sentence "governing the country is more beneficial" was really well said.

  Although it is only four words, although it is not a profound principle, under the atmosphere of petty people valuing benefits and gentlemen valuing righteousness, it is indeed difficult for middle-aged people to say straightforwardly "governing the country with benefits".

  "Hearing you speak is better than reading ten years of books! Come... I'll toast to you!" The middle-aged man raised his wine cup high.

  Du He also raised his cup to welcome him, and they drank it all in one gulp.

  Middle-aged people no longer discuss national affairs, but only talk about romance and beauty.

  Two people sharing one mouthful and one cup, drinking with great relish.

  Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the two of them ended up competing in a drinking contest until the very end.

  "Come on, kid!" The middle-aged man's belly was slightly bulging, and two jin of wine had already gone down his throat.

  Du He was calm and composed, smiling leisurely, saying: "I usually don't drink because once I hold a wine cup, it means someone else will have to be carried back lying down."

  Provocation, this is obviously naked provocation.

  A flash of electricity flickered in the middle-aged man's eyes, and Du He also narrowed his eyes.

  The guard beside him rubbed his eyes hard, as if he had seen a strong electric current colliding in the eyes of the two people. Although he didn't know what electricity was.

  Two men were fighting on the top floor, when they suddenly heard a noisy sound coming from downstairs, and simultaneously looked down.

  The middle-aged man frowned: it turned out to be a group of people fighting on the street.

  To be exact, it was a group of over ten people ganging up on one person.

  The one being besieged was Luo Tong.

  When they saw each other's faces clearly, they both exclaimed in unison: "It's Luo Tong!"

  The two of them exchanged a glance, both looking worried.

  Lu Tong's martial arts skills were exceptionally strong, but those dozen or so people were also no ordinary fighters. Judging from the situation, Lu Tong had already fallen into a precarious and desperate position.

  "Be careful!" Du He suddenly found that there was a person behind Luo Tong who had actually drawn out a dagger, and the dagger went straight to Luo Tong's back and stabbed him.

  Just as he was about to be stabbed, an object fell from the sky and hit the thief on the head, knocking him unconscious.

  Du He let out a breath of air, Chu Liu Xiang's hidden weapon technique was also one of the best in the world. As his apprentice, Du He's skills were naturally not inferior.

  Middle-aged people busy gesture beside bodyguard go to help.

  Du He took a step ahead, he actually jumped directly from the fourth floor window over ten meters high.

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