Chapter 2241: Endure humiliation and seek peace, cede territory and pay compensation

Chapter 2241 Enduring humiliation and seeking peace, ceding territory and paying compensation

Chapter 2237: Enduring humiliation and seeking peace, ceding territory and paying compensation

Father, like son.

Li Shimin also knew that Tang State was in a very difficult situation, but as he was on the inside, he obviously didn't see it as clearly as Jiang Shang, who was on the outside.

At Jiang Shang's reminder, Li Shimin should step out of the overall situation and look at the battle between Qin and Tang Dynasties in Guanzhong, but he saw a completely different scenery... The Tang Dynasty was really in danger.

Just reading the beginning of the letter, Li Shimin felt that Jiang Shang was a bit alarmist. After all, although the Tang State was in a difficult situation, it still had a strong foundation and local advantages, which could fully support an army of 300,000 for a year.

The Qin army has been fighting continuously without stopping for a moment. How long can it sustain now?

 It will only take two months at most.

 Before Ying Hao proclaimed himself emperor, the Qin army would definitely cease fighting, recuperate, digest the results of the war, and restore national strength.

 Hence, as long as the Tang State survives this period of time, the danger of national subjugation will naturally be resolved.

Li Shimin originally thought this way, but after reading Jiang Shang's letter, his back was completely soaked in cold sweat, and his face was full of horror and horror. He obviously realized that his thinking was too simple.

 He far underestimated the danger of the current situation and had unknowingly fallen into Li Jing's scheme.

Yes, the Qin army's continuous combat capability is not strong, but with Li Jing controlling the situation, Zhang Liao, Huo Bing, Wei Qing and other famous generals joining forces, plus more than 200,000 elite Qin troops, it can be achieved in two months. Too many things.

The Qin army does not need to occupy the entire Guanzhong, it only needs to occupy the city of Chang'an. No, it does not even need to occupy Chang'an. It only needs to break the gate and attack Guanzhong. This is already a victory for the Qin army.

Once the gate of the Tang Kingdom is broken, the Qin army can continuously transport troops to Guanzhong. By then, even if it is wasted, it will be able to kill the Tang Kingdom.

Qin State has seven states, more than 20 million people, and nearly one million troops. What can Tang State do to compete with the Qin army?

Just twelve counties?

The difference in national power between the two sides is too great, and Qin is inherently invincible.

If we win and occupy the three counties of Guanzhong, if we fail, we won't lose much. At most, we will only lose a few troops, and Qin's national strength can quickly replenish it.

 What about the Tang state on the other hand? You will gain nothing if you win, and you will only lose more if you lose.

The longer the war on the Tang State's homeland is delayed, the greater the losses will be.

Fighting back and forth, Guanzhong was turned into a white field. In the end, only the Tang State was injured, while the Qin State suffered no losses.

 So, this was an unequal war from the beginning.

Li Shimin thought that delaying time could avert danger, but this was actually a dead end.

There is only one way to fight against Qin from beginning to end, and that is to gather a group of allies to fight against Qin and jointly bear the losses of fighting against Qin. Only in this way can we ensure that we will not be annexed by the Qin army.

The Tang State is now facing a five-pronged siege by the Qin Army. It has no external reinforcements and no elite troops at home. It relies only on the power of one country to fight against Qin.

Of course, Li Shi knew about this, and he also wanted to draw allies to share the pressure, but the time chosen by the Qin army was too bad. None of the surrounding princes could directly send troops to support, and the Tang army could only fight alone.

 For this dilemma, Jiang Shang gave a solution in his letter, which is: all the people are soldiers and use war to promote peace. Li Shimin didn’t understand its meaning at first, but after reading it, he understood it.

The Southern Han Alliance attacked Qin in five directions, and all the four kingdoms of Shu, Han, Tang, and Sui sent troops. Why did Qin only target Tang after the war, but did not attack Shu, Chu, and Sui 30,000?

In addition to the fact that the Tang State was close to the Qin State and its strength was greatly reduced, the most important thing is actually that the Tang State was the only country in the Southern Han Alliance that shook the foundation of Qin's rule.

You must know that the Tang army reached the city of Luoyang, and Luoyang was both the capital of Han and the future capital of Qin.

The capital of the country is surrounded by enemies. This is a shame for any country, let alone Qin, which is the overlord of the princes.

Therefore, Qin naturally has to show off its sword and muscles to maintain its hegemony, otherwise it will expose the fact that it is strong on the outside and weak on the inside, which will cause a chain reaction among other princes.

The state of Qin wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, and the state of Tang was the most suitable chicken. All other countries, including Wei, Song, and Wu, were the monkeys to be warned.

I have to say that the Qin State's attack on the Tang Dynasty seemed to be to seize Guanzhong, but in fact it had multiple other purposes, and it had far-reaching consequences no matter what level it was.

 Attacking Guanzhong is just a means for Qin to achieve its goal. It's good to succeed, but it doesn't matter if it fails. It's a big deal and it's better to come back later, as long as the goal is achieved.

 So, for the Qin State, Guanzhong can be occupied or not, but it is impossible for the Tang State to give up Guanzhong.

Although the Tang State has twelve counties, the essence is concentrated in the three counties of Guanzhong. If Guanzhong is lost, it will not be able to afford so many troops. It will directly withdraw from the ranks of powerful countries and become a poor and weak country. Therefore, the Tang State It is absolutely impossible to give up Guanzhong.

There is more than one way to protect Guanzhong, but fighting Qin alone is undoubtedly the stupidest and most thankless way, and Li Shimin chose the stupidest way.

The fundamental purpose of Qin's attack on Tang this time was to avenge its humiliation, to show off its force, and to frighten the princes. The occupation of Guanzhong was incidental.

 Therefore, Jiang Shang proposed to Li Shimin that before the situation had completely deteriorated, he should take the initiative to bow to Qin and sue for peace and a truce.

Now that Ying Hao is about to proclaim himself emperor, if Li Tang is willing to bow to Qin, surrender his title as king, become a tributary to Qin, or even cede territory and pay compensation, there is still a high possibility of a truce between the two countries.

 The Great War at Guanzhong between Qin and Tang Dynasty stirred up the hearts of the world. Other countries are also watching how this drama will end. If Tang State takes the initiative to profess its vassalship and Qin State refuses to accept it, this will undoubtedly make other princes sad and intensify the alliance between various princes.

 This is something Qin does not want to see anyway.

Furthermore, Jiang Shang did not let Li Tang remain a vassal state of Qin. He was just enduring the temporary humiliation. As long as the allies of the Southern Han Dynasty could breathe a sigh of relief, the situation would be completely different.

If Qin wants to invade Tang, Tang may still not be its opponent, but it will never be able to fight alone and fall into such a passive situation.

 All in all, the sooner the war ceases, the smaller the Tang army's losses will be. Moreover, it is not too late to surrender. Even if the Tang army suffers losses, they will still be within an acceptable range.

Once Fenglingdu, Yaoguan, and Wuzhangyuan were defeated at any of these three places, the price the Tang army would pay would be too high to bear if they wanted to give in.

Of course, facing a tiger and wolf country like Qin, blindly retreating will only increase its arrogance.

In response to this, Jiang Shang proposed that the Tang State implement the strategy of using all the people as soldiers in the Guanzhong area to show that his side was not afraid of a battle and was determined to fight to the end.

Only in this way can the Qin State realize that the Tang State is a tough nut, and the price of swallowing Guanzhong in one gulp is too high, even the Qin State cannot afford it.

 Seek peace through twists and turns, and peace will perish;

 If war is used to promote peace, then peace will survive;

 (End of this chapter)