Volume 1 The Wind Rises Chapter 46: Palace Strategy (Part 2)
Looking at Wang Pu's "Plan for Pacificating the Border", we can see that he saw the threat of Khitan soon after Guo Rong ascended the throne, so he avoided the real and attacked the fake, started with the easy and then moved on to the difficult, and went from south to north, intending to fight a decisive battle against Khitan with the whole country's strength.
From the overall perspective, there is nothing wrong with this strategy.
He was extremely far-sighted and wise. Among the five generations of talents, Wang Pu was the best, without any exaggeration.
However, Wang Pu could not have expected that Khitan would reach his peak twenty years later.
There are wise kings above, famous ministers in the middle, and good generals below.
The Liao Dynasty was united, the ruler and his subjects worked hard to govern the country. They paid attention to agriculture, built water conservancy projects, reduced taxes, rectified the administration of officials, and trained the army. Liao had completely learned the methods of governing and strengthening the country.
Facing such a Liao Kingdom, the difficulty of conquering it suddenly increased to a nightmare level.
Therefore, "The Strategy for Pacificating the Border" is not wrong from the perspective of this era, but from Luo Youdu's perspective, it has huge hidden dangers.
If we really want to unify the south, destroy Southern Tang, Later Shu, and Southern Han, it will take too long for the Khitan to recuperate.
As they grew up, they sorted out the internal strife, cultivated famous ministers and generals, absorbed the culture of the Central Plains, and transformed into a country that could compete with the Central Plains.
Guo Rong said in a deep voice: "Sir, you know that Nanping was the first to acknowledge the existence of our Great Zhou and has always respected and admired our Great Zhou."
Luo Youdu nodded and said, "Of course I know."
Nanping, also known as Jingnan, was one of the smallest regimes during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
When it was at its smallest, there was only one city, Jiangling.
The reason why the Gao family of Nanping was able to survive in this chaos was because of their face that could serve as a wall.
No matter who it was, as long as he became emperor, he would happily congratulate and then express his submission in order to obtain rewards. At his peak, he used his own country to pay tribute to Southern Han, Min, Southern Tang, and Hou Shu, shamelessly asking for rewards, and was regarded as a "high-handed person" by the surrounding powerful forces.
The current king of Nanping is Gao Baorong, the son of Gao Laizi.
Historical records show that Gao Baorong was pedantic and stupid, and had no ability to govern the country. Therefore, he entrusted all matters, big or small, to his younger brother Gao Baoxu to handle, and he only knew how to eat, drink and have fun.
Luo Youdu doesn't think so. Gao Baorong is definitely hiding his abilities.
As a small country sandwiched between Later Zhou, Later Shu, Southern Han and Southern Tang, it had no room for development at all.
Therefore, after Gao Baorong ascended the throne, he clung to the Later Zhou Dynasty, constantly showed goodwill, and from time to time persuaded Later Shu and Southern Tang to submit to Later Zhou Dynasty. He was truly a good minister.
The Great Zhou was also very happy with this three-good minister and rewarded him continuously. At first, he was the Inspector of the Grand Tutor and concurrently the Palace Attendant. Later, he was granted the title of Prince of Bohai and concurrently the Minister of the Central Secretariat. Finally, he was directly made the Prince of Nanping and the Minister of the Central Secretariat. He was rewarded one after another.
When Guo Rong attacked Southern Tang, Gao Baorong responded by sending troops, and the commander Wei Lin led 3,000 troops out of Xiakou to respond.
And then it’s gone, just for show.
It can be clearly seen that Gao Baorong clung to the Hou Zhou Dynasty and always called him daddy and worked hard for him, but he never did anything practical for his daddy.
In essence, he was a warlord who only followed orders and not declarations, and he did not want the Later Zhou Dynasty to unify the world.
As long as the Later Zhou Dynasty was not unified, he could sit firmly on the throne of King of Nanping.
If the Later Zhou Dynasty really unified the country, how could Nanping Kingdom be preserved?
Guo Rong remained silent, he was not stupid.
Luo Youdu emphasized his tone and said, "I think we cannot aim to destroy Southern Tang and Meng Shu. Southern Tang and Meng Shu are trapped beasts. If we give them ten or twenty years to develop, they will not be able to threaten our Great Zhou in the slightest. But if we give Khitan twenty years to develop, our Great Zhou will face a prehistoric beast. Your Majesty, Khitan's chaos is temporary. We cannot give them too much time to let them grow comfortably."
Wang Pu's expression changed slightly as he realized the problem he had overlooked.
Conquering Southern Tang and Meng Shu would consume national strength and time. The more time it took, the stronger the Khitan would become.
It is easy to defeat Meng Shu and Southern Tang, but it will take more than one or two years to destroy them.
Guo Rong closed his eyes and pondered for a long time before he said, "When do you think we should stop?"
Luo Youdu said: "As long as we take over the four states of Qin, Cheng, Jie and Feng, Meng Shu will not have to worry about them. If we leave them trapped in Shu, Meng Chang will destroy them. As for Southern Tang, we can take the rich land of Jianghuai to strengthen the economy of our Great Zhou, and then divide the river with Southern Tang. We can force Southern Tang to give up its name and submit to our Great Zhou. Let it pay tribute to us every year to help us fight against Khitan in the north."
In history, when Guo Rong conquered the fourteen states in Jiangbei and Huainan, he had already keenly noticed the shortcomings of "The Strategy for Pacificating the Border".
Therefore, he did not follow the policy of "Pingbian Strategy" and continue the southern expedition. Instead, he chose to change his strategy and march north to attack Khitan, intending to take over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
However, after capturing the three passes and three states, Guo Rong suddenly fell ill and had to return to Kaifeng, where he died shortly afterwards.
Some people said that if Guo Rong had not died, he would have been able to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
If we only refer to this Northern Expedition, Luo Youdu doesn't believe it.
Early death often brings regret and pity, so there are endless possibilities.
But the reality is cruel. The sixteen states of Yanyun, the first seven states and the last nine states, are a big chess game. At the beginning, taking three or five states is really nothing.
Take the Gaoliang River Chariot God for example. Zhao Kuangyi led the tired soldiers who were attacking Northern Han and also captured five states in one breath and reached the city of Youzhou.
If Zhao Kuangyi had died of illness at this time, and the legend of the God of Cars had been lost, would he have been even more awesome than Guo Rong?
The deeper into the hinterland, the more difficult it is to capture . If the Southern Tang stabs them from behind at this time, Guo Rong will be in the same situation as when he first went north, and the chances of success will be slim.
But there is still great hope that Guo Rong can live another ten or twenty years, and of course the same goes for Zhao Kuangyin.
Guo Rong frowned and said, "It's easy to deal with Meng Shu, as he has the natural defenses of the Shu Road. As long as the Southern Tang is not destroyed, who can guarantee that he will be able to behave himself during the Northern Expedition?"
Wang Pu said in admiration: "So we need to seek to capture Nanping. Our army cannot control the Yangtze River defense line if it captures the land north of the Yangtze River, but is easily controlled by the natural barrier. But if we control Nanping and Jiangling, we can completely occupy the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. We can train a navy in Jiangling and roam the Yangtze River to take advantage of the natural barrier of the Yangtze River. If the Southern Tang dares to mobilize troops, the Jiangling navy can go south along the river at any time and attack the capital of the Southern Tang, Jiangning."
As he spoke, he bowed to Luo Youdu with sincere admiration, and then said to Guo Rong: "Congratulations, Your Majesty. Mr. Luo's talent is ten times that of Pu. With Mr. Luo's help, most of the world will be under your control."
Luo Youdu hurriedly returned the gift and said he didn't dare!
Guo Rong laughed loudly: "Gentlemen, there is no need to be modest. Wenbo is my Xiao He, and Youdu is my Zhang Liang. We each have our own strengths. When I conquer the world in the future, Youdu will be by my side, and Wenbo will be in the rear to coordinate. With our monarch and ministers working together, there is no need to worry about the unrest in the world!"
