Spoiling History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

[And there is another interesting thing about the destruction of Gaochang Kingdom.

The Silk Road in the Western Region can be roughly divided into the North Road, the Middle Road, and the South Road.

Among them, the southern route of Shanshan, Jingjue, and Khotan was abandoned at the end of the Sui Dynasty. As for the reason for its abandonment, Xuanzang wrote in his travel notes when he returned:

The city of Niyang has been swallowed up by the desert. It can only live on a large swamp that is three to four miles wide. The road is very difficult to walk. This city of Niyang was an ancient country in the third century AD. Its demise was probably due to the desertification of the land and the disappearance of the oases. .

In this case, the only ones that could be taken were the middle road and the north road, but these two roads were very close to each other, and Yi Wu of the north road took the initiative to surrender to the Tang Dynasty in the fourth year of Zhenguan.

In this case, Gaochang State actually became the chokepoint for guarding the Silk Road, but not only did it not surrender, it even grinned at Erfeng.

Don't blame the petty Erfeng for causing trouble for you.

The war in Pinggaochang was almost brought down by Erfeng alone.

In December of the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong ordered the Tang Army's iron cavalry to go to Gaochang.

The ministers and ministers all advised: Your Majesty, no matter how we attack from such a distance, it will be difficult to defend even if we defeat him, so we should say goodbye.

The emperor will not listen.

In August of the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, Gaochang was destroyed.

Regarding the handling of Gaochang, the ministers and ministers once again had different opinions.

Wei Zheng objected, thinking that since the chief culprit was dead, it was enough to restrain the troops. Guarding was a waste of money, and the gains outweighed the losses.

He also said that if troops were sent to garrison, seventy or eighty of the garrison soldiers could die.

Chu Suiliang objected, thinking that sending troops to guard this place would waste people and money, so he suggested that Gaochang be established as king and his son be held hostage.

The emperor will not listen.

The judgment of Gaochang was a rare incident in which Zhenguan ministers collectively misjudged the situation, because this was during the period when Tibet's national power was rising.

At this time, if Erfeng did not take the lead in conquering Gaochang against all opinions, then after the rise of Tibet, the window for Datang to manage the Western Regions would be completely closed.

At that time, if you want to manage the Western Regions, the cost may be dozens or hundreds of times that of destroying Gaochang.

With Anxi as the fulcrum, the Yanqi Protectorate was established in the 18th year of Zhenguan, and the four towns of Anxi were established in the 22nd year of Qiuci.

Then in the fourth year of Emperor Xianqing's reign, the Western Turks were destroyed, and a series of military operations seemed to come naturally.

So later Cen Wenwen went out to flatter Shu: The pacification of Gaochang was entirely due to two people.

One is His Majesty's sage and foresight, the other is Hou Junji's skill in fighting, but as for the other courtiers, they are all a disservice!

The death of the garrison that Wei Zheng fantasized about never happened. In the 16th year of Zhenguan, Guo Xiaoke went to Xizhou to serve as the governor and wrote down his experiences.

Passing through the old capital of Gaochang, the garrison soldiers at that time were all happy. 】

After reading this, Du Ruhui felt that he didn't even have to look back, he could imagine the expression on His Majesty's face now.

This is also true. Du Ruhui didn't even turn around when he heard His Majesty's voice from behind:

Xuancheng, do you think the Gaochang Kingdom should be destroyed?

The voice is very kind, but anyone can hear the excitement contained in it.

Wei Zheng is neither humble nor arrogant:

I think that since I have learned that the Lord of Gaochang will come to pay tribute next year, it is inappropriate to discuss such an issue now.

Li Shimin asked for trouble and curled his lips with a smile on his face.

A wise decision in itself is nothing, but when a wise decision that defies all opinions is affirmed by future generations a thousand years later, the feeling of satisfaction is simply incomparable.

Didn’t you see that even Hou Junji was laughing from ear to ear?

How many generals dream of destroying a country? But now that the light curtain has informed us in advance, how can we not be overjoyed?

Hou Junji, who was so happy, even had an inappropriate thought in his mind:

Should we simply disturb the tribute paid by the Lord of Gaochang?

Otherwise, if Your Majesty uses some means to defeat the leader of Gaochang, where will he find the merit of destroying the country?

However, this thought was deeply suppressed in his heart in an instant.

Li Jing, who had caught Jieli Khan with his own hands, looked as usual, more curious about the contents of the light screen.

Li Shi𪟝 felt a little sour, so he settled for the next best thing:

Your Majesty, that Tubo...

This matter needs long-term consideration. Li Shimin restrained his smile.

There had been intelligence collection on Tubo before, and merchants claimed that the land of Tubo was filled with miasma.

Headache, labored breathing, easy fatigue, difficulty exerting strength, etc., all very strange.

Although it is known that it will be called high-reaction in later generations, it is still unknown how effective that bowl of candy can be.

But as long as he has the opportunity, he will never mind giving the other party a hard blow. The hatred of Hexi and the incompetence of his descendants will be remembered in his heart.

At this time, Du Ruhui frowned and interrupted Li Shimin's thoughts:

Everyone, there is something wrong with this record...

Everyone looked over and saw Du Ruhui pointing at Xuanzang's record in front of him and saying:

The light curtain said that there was a famine in the third year of Zhenguan. The government allowed the people to survive on their own, so Master Xuanzang went west.

There was indeed a drought and locust disaster in Xuzhou in June this year, but the Turkic war had ended by then and there was no famine.

Li Shimin said Ah and immediately understood: there was a deviation in the history of Datang and Guangmu.

If there was no famine, then such a decree would naturally not be issued, and Xuanzang would naturally still be in the Central Plains or the South, and would have difficulty leaving the Western Regions.

what to do? The ministers in the Manlu Hall looked at each other in shock.

…

The Tang Dynasty's decision regarding Gaochang State really suppressed everyone in the Chengdu government office.

It only took a year before and after, but his country was destroyed?

Liu Bei murmured, fascinated in his heart:

This Tang Dynasty really has the style of a strong man!

Liu Bei fought the battle of Yiling for almost eight months, and then lost everything.

Hanzhong and Yizhou both won, but they fought for several years.

Moreover, Hanzhong was defeated miserably, and Yizhou defeated Pang Tong.

They are far inferior to how neatly Li Erfeng destroyed the country!

So Liu Bei also admired the Tang emperor more and more.

Zhang Fei whispered:

I just hope that when the Tang Emperor gets older, he won't be like Emperor Xiaowu.

[Going to the Western Regions to learn Buddhist scriptures was not something Master Xuanzang decided upon with a pat on the head. Someone had already walked this path beforehand.

AD 399, this year is the third year of Long'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the first year of Changle in Houyan, the sixth year of Emperor Chu of Later Qin, the twelfth year of Taichu in Western Qin, the second year of Tianxing in Northern Wei, the fourth year of Longfei in Houliang, and the third year of Taichu in Southern Liang. Beiliang Shenxi for three years. 】

No, this is the same year?

Zhang Fei looked in disbelief and counted carefully:

Eight countries stand side by side?

Is it such a mess?

Even Kong Ming felt a little shocked, rubbed his face and said with difficulty:

No wonder future generations will talk about it with gnashing of teeth.

[In this year, the Buddhist master Faxian set out from Chang'an, passed through the Western Regions to Tianzhu, traveled to more than thirty countries, collected a large number of Sanskrit classics, and successfully returned home after fourteen years.

Because it was still a troubled time, Faxian walked cautiously along the way.

When he was in Dunhuang, the local governor gave Faxian a lot of help. This governor was named Li Hao, and he was the one who was later forcibly recognized as his ancestor by Erfeng. Therefore, I have to say that the fate was quite strange.

Later, Faxian wrote Records of the Buddhist Country about what he saw along the way. He died five years after returning to China and was known as an innovative figure in Buddhism.

There is a small island in our current Nansha Islands named Faxian Ansha in memory of this famous monk. 】

The sea and sky are the same color, and the splendor is boundless. This is Kong Ming's sigh.

Not to mention Kong Ming, everyone in the hall was staring at the scenery in the light curtain. After all, they had never been to the beach.

This is an intoxicating blue. In the blue, there is a small island that is mostly immersed in the sea water, with only the head slightly above the sea.

Around this island known as Faxian Shoal, there are two beautiful white giant ships patrolling.

There was another line of words under the light curtain, and Pang Tong read it directly:

The Faxian Shoal is my country's inherent territory and has indisputable sovereignty.

Pang Tong's eyes were clear and he praised:

This monk went to a foreign country to obtain scriptures during his lifetime. After his death, his name will always be in the border area. His descendants will not forget his merits. This is also a good ending.

The screen in the light curtain slowly shrank, and the small island just emerging from the sea gradually became invisible.

Soon the screen was changed to a map that everyone had seen several times. Kong Ming studied it:

The meaning of this line is that all the territory within it will be the territory of later generations of China?

Liu Ba looked at it and felt it was a pity:

The territory line has been drawn to the side of this big island. Why not just occupy it? Isn't that much better than the small island in the sea?

Kong Ming thought of the messy things in later generations and said leisurely:

Thousands of years have passed since the past...Thousands of years have passed since slaves devoured their masters, invaded countries, and changed the world.

[Master Xuanzang was so obsessed with going to Tianzhu to obtain Buddhist scriptures because of the example of Dharma Appearance.

It's just that compared to Fa Xian, who was quite low-key, Xuanzang's life was much more high-profile, like cheating.

After arriving in India, Xuanzang said that he would go to the best place. He successfully entered Nalanda Temple and studied various Buddhist classics under Jie Xian.

After five years of dedicated practice, Master Xuanzang set out again and traveled alone to dozens of countries in ancient India. No one in the Buddhist scriptures could dispute him.

In India, Xuanzang wrote three thousand verses in Hui Zong Lun, which refuted the views of Shi Ziguang, a Buddhist master at that time. Shi Ziguang felt ashamed and asked Chandhara Monk to come and embarrass him, hoping to avenge his shame. However, Chandhara Monk He was afraid of Xuanzang's power and did not dare to speak out. Suddenly Xuanzang's reputation became even more powerful.

Later, Xuanzang argued on behalf of the Nalanda Monastery with those who were conforming to the world, but the opponent was speechless; he debated with the Hinayana commentators and won again.

King Harsha held a separate Buddhist conference for Xuanzang in Qunv City. Eighteen Indian kings, three thousand Buddhist scholars, and two thousand heretics, no one could give Xuanzang a hard time. Xuanzang's reputation was forever river.

It can be said that Xuanzang fully explained what it means to be a Buddhist scholar in India, and he alone dominates India in Buddhism.

In addition, in his spare time, Master Xuanzang also translated Laozi into Sanskrit, creating a wave of cultural export.

What he saw along the way into India was written by Xuanzang into the twelve volumes of Journey to the West of the Tang Dynasty, which provided sufficient material for Wu Chengen to later write Journey to the West.

At the same time, Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty has become India's most important historical document for studying ancient India in modern times. A thousand years later, India came to China to learn from it. Who would have thought?

In our modern times, there is a statue of Master Xuanzang next to the Daci'en Temple in the Evernight City of the Tang Dynasty.

This Buddhist master gazed affectionately at the Evernight City of the Tang Dynasty in the south, as if he had seen the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty across a thousand years. 】

This chapter is not very emotional, I'm sorry.