Volume 1 The Wind Rises Chapter 45: Palace Strategy (Part 1)
Luo Youdu recalled the little bits of information he got from Zhao Kuangyin when he came to thank him.
I thought about the details in Wang Pu's "Strategy for Pacificating the Border" and summarized the words in my mind.
Guo Rong and Wang Pu both waited patiently.
Especially the former, who looked expectant. During their last in-depth chat, he realized that Luo Youdu knew everything about the world.
What we need now is his ability.
"Should we attack aggressively or develop steadily? The first thing we need to consider is the opponent. Who is our opponent?"
"Was it the powerful Liu Han? Or the isolated Meng Shu? Or the economically powerful Southern Tang? Or even the Nanping and Wuyue who surrendered on the surface but did not obey orders?"
"neither!"
"I believe that our greatest enemy is the Khitan, the northeastern barbarians who have given themselves the imperial title of Great Liao."
Guo Rong and Wang Pu were not surprised to hear this, if they could not see through this.
They are not worthy of being the strongest monarch-minister combination in the Five Dynasties.
Luo Youdu continued, "The Khitans call us barbarians, but if we really treat them as barbarians, we will be in big trouble. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, our Central Plains weapons and armor were superior to the barbarians, enough to wipe out the advantages of their cavalry and archery. However, Emperor Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, which not only opened up the path for the Khitans to move south, but also gave millions of people in Yanyun to the Khitans. This included blacksmiths, doctors, scholars, farmers, and everything else, which belonged to our cultural heritage. Later, Yelu Deguang led his army south to the Central Plains, captured Kaifeng and destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty, and plundered a large number of talents from the Central Plains to the northeast."
"From this moment on, our advantage in weapons and armor has completely disappeared. On the contrary, their advantage in cavalry and archery is still alive and well. Therefore, I believe that the Khitan is the only strong enemy of our Great Zhou and we must be careful! As for the Southern Tang , Meng Shu, Liu Han and the like, they are all trapped beasts and cannot be compared with the Khitan."
Guo Rong nodded and sighed, "Yes, I have a deep understanding of the Khitan's strong fighting power. A few days ago, the King of Wei came to the capital and I talked to him about this. At present, the only army that can fight against the Khitan soldiers is the Tianxiong Army under his command, which has experienced hundreds of battles. It is more than enough for defense, but it is difficult to attack."
In the battle he fought to show off his power after ascending the throne, he suffered a loss at the hands of the Khitan.
Luo Youdu smiled and said, "The only good thing is that the Khitan is now in chaos. I often consult with the merchants in the market to understand the situation in the north. I analyze the slight details and draw conclusions. Because of the succession issue, the king and his ministers are alienated, and the ministers often rebel or flee to the Central Plains. I think that before their government is unstable, it is a godsend opportunity for our Great Zhou to mobilize troops."
"As the King of Wei said, our Great Zhou army cannot compete with the Khitan army for the time being. But we all have two shoulders to support one head. Will we Chinese men really lose to the northern barbarians?"
"I absolutely do not believe it."
"Your Majesty has selected the best warriors in the world to train in the palace. This is one of the ways to strengthen the army. But training without fighting is no different from talking about war on paper. I think we should fight while the Khitan internal strife is fierce, solve the worries, strengthen the army through fighting, and then strengthen the country."
Guo Rong said in a deep voice: "What are you worried about?"
Luo Youdu replied: "Nan Tang, Meng Shu."
Guo Rong asked again: "What do you mean by this?"
Luo Youdu answered neatly: "Your Majesty is a great sage who has never concealed his desire to unify the world. Southern Tang, Meng Shu, Liu Han, and Khitan cannot be unaware of this. None of these four countries want to see our Great Zhou become more powerful. As long as they have a little brain, they will certainly follow the example of Sun and Liu in the Three Kingdoms period to fight against Cao. If my estimation is correct, the four countries have already had envoys secretly communicating with each other and have made an agreement to support each other. If Your Majesty wants to march north to recover the lost land of Yanyun, Southern Tang, Meng Shu, and Liu Han will never sit idly by. At that time, with four directions attacking, our Great Zhou will not be able to take care of all four sides. How can the great cause of the Northern Expedition be accomplished?"
Now is not the time for all the people to be enlightened. National justice is nonsense in the eyes of the rulers.
Luo Youdu remembered it clearly. There were historical records that in the twenty-one years, the Southern Tang and Khitan had official exchanges with each other more than 40 times. There were even more secret communications that were not recorded in the books.
At first, the purpose was to make friends with distant countries and attack nearby ones so as to facilitate the entry into the Central Plains. But as the ambition faded, the purpose began to change to prevent the Central Plains from becoming too big and threatening itself.
"The Liu Han national strength has been greatly damaged by the Battle of Gaoping. The Khitan is in internal turmoil and has no intention of looking south. The King of Wei is stationed in the north. There is no need to worry for the time being. This is the best time to resolve the worries."
Guo Rong said: "Nan Tang, Meng Shu, where do you think we should start?"
Luo Youdu said: "Meng Shu, Meng Chang took advantage of the troubles in the Central Plains and sent Sun Hanshao to capture Fengzhou, and He Jiancheng, the governor of Xiongwu Army, surrendered with Qin, Cheng and Jiezhou. As a result, Meng Shu has extended his tentacles into Qinchuan. He can lead his troops to attack Guanzhong at any time and place, posing the greatest threat to our army."
"Therefore, I believe that we must first recover the four states of Qin, Cheng, Jie, and Feng, and drive Meng Shu back to the land of Bashu."
"Even with Prime Minister Zhuge's ability, he was helpless in the face of the extremely difficult Shu Road. What about Meng Shu? We only need to recover the four states of Qin, Cheng, Jie, and Feng, and send a good general to guard Qinchuan. Unless Meng Shu produces another Prime Minister Zhuge who needs the whole country's strength to deal with, the West will have no worries about military troubles."
Guo Rong's eyes flashed with a stern look, and he said, "After stabilizing the situation in Guanzhong, the next step is Southern Tang?"
Luo Youdu pondered for a moment and said, "Compared with Southern Tang, I think it would be most beneficial to take Nanping first."
When he said this, Guo Rong and Wang Pu looked at each other and saw each other's surprise.
Luo Youdu pretended not to know, but he understood in his heart.
The core idea of Wang Pu's "Plan for Pacificating the Border" is narrated in eight words: "First the easy, then the difficult; first the south, then the north."
Indeed, compared with the Khitan, the Southern Tang does belong to the category of Easy.
But is Southern Tang really that easy to attack?
As a person from later generations, Luo Youdu naturally understood it.
Southern Tang was indeed no match for Great Zhou, but it was by no means easy for Great Zhou to conquer Southern Tang.
At least from a historical perspective, Southern Tang was a prosperous and wealthy country with 35 states. Its territory and population might be inferior to that of Later Zhou, but its national strength and financial resources were not inferior, and it also had the natural barrier of the Yangtze River.
The current emperor Li Jing is not comparable to Li Yu.
Historically, it took two generations, Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin, twenty years to pacify the south and unify half of China.
Then they faced a complete Khitan and the evolved Liao Dynasty.
There was the wise emperor, Emperor Jingzong of Liao, Yelü Xian, good ministers and famous generals, Yelü Wuzhi, Yelü Xianshi, Gao Xun, Guo Xi, Yelü Xiuge, Yelü Sha, Yelü Xiezhen, and Han Derang, and also a legendary empress dowager, Xiao Chuo.
Faced with such a lineup, Luo Youdu did not look down on Zhao Er.
So what if Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin didn’t die?
Can we definitely win against such a lineup?
Wang Pu’s “Plan for Pacificating the Border” is very clever, just like Zhuge Liang’s Longzhong Strategy.
Even a wise man like Zhuge Liang could not have expected that Sun Quan would stab Guan Yu in the back at the most critical moment.
What about Wang Pu?
