Chapter 337 Surrender
The reason why Tubo was caught off guard was related to its internal forces.
Although the Qiang people in the Hehuang area were also divided into several tribes, they were still nominally affiliated with the largest tribe.
After obtaining weapons and armor from the Song Dynasty, the leader of the largest Qiang tribe directly invited the leaders of various tribes, demonstrated his strength, and promised that as long as they could destroy the Tubo tribes and unify the Hehuang area, he would give some land to those tribes.
After all, the Qiang people are still a nomadic people and have always maintained the habit of tribal self-control.
Therefore, when the largest tribe demonstrated its strength, the other tribes were not averse to following suit.
But Tubo was different. It was originally a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral country. It was a unified country established by Songtsen Gampo after he annexed many tribes.
After the split, no tribe was willing to submit to the other.
This is the difference in consciousness between tribalism and unification.
Just like the Han people, when the world was in chaos and the princes were fighting for supremacy, there were very few surrenders.
Because even if you surrender and survive, you will be placed under house arrest and your end will be very miserable.
Nomadic people rarely fight to the death, and the strong are respected.
If you can't win, just surrender. Generally speaking, you can still control the original tribe, which is no different from a local emperor.
The largest Tibetan tribe was called the Losang tribe, which also received weapons and armor from the Song Dynasty.
However, after he obtained weapons and armor, he wanted to annex the Tibetan tribes instead of persuading them to surrender.
Because he knew those tribes would never surrender.
As a result, before he could take action against the Tibetan tribes, the Qiang tribe attacked instead.
However, by doing so, the Qiang people were also helping the largest tribe of Tubo.
Those small tribes originally united to resist the largest tribe, and with the help of the Qiang tribe as a restraint, they maintained balance.
Now that the Qiang people are attacking, those small tribes are no longer able to resist them, so they quickly ask for help from the Luosang tribe.
The leader of the Lausang tribe proposed that they surrender, and the small tribes had no choice but to agree.
The leader of the Luosang tribe quickly drew troops from various small tribes and formed a large army to fight against the Qiang people.
…………
Qinzhou City
After hearing the information from Hehuang, Gu Tingye frowned.
At this moment, a personal soldier came in to report: "Commander-in-chief, Lord Wang is here!"
After a while, Wang Shao walked in.
"Brother Zichun, you've come at the right time. The situation in Hehuang is somewhat unexpected. I was just about to discuss it with you." Gu Tingye said.
"I am here for this matter as well." Wang Shao said solemnly, "I did not expect that the Qiang people would be able to unify so easily."
The Han people are actually not clear about some of the customs of nomadic peoples.
After all, the Liao Dynasty had already completed unification, and when it came to weighing the Qiang people, its concept had not changed. It was believed that the Qiang people would also send troops to unify the various tribes first.
But who knew that the largest Qiang tribe only demonstrated its strength and relied on the weapons and armor sold to it by the Song Dynasty to make the other tribes surrender and obey its orders.
“Not to mention that the Qiang people have destroyed several Tibetan tribes through surprise attacks, but because there has been no civil war, there has been no loss of strength. Although the various Tibetan tribes have agreed to surrender, time is short and they have no time to integrate their internal forces. Now they are no different from an alliance, and I’m afraid they won’t be able to hold out for long.” Gu Tingye said solemnly.
According to their original plan, the Qiang and Tubo tribes would be defeated in a fight, and then the Song Dynasty would take over Hehuang in one fell swoop like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Now that such a change has occurred, if they do not intervene early, the Qiang people may very likely unify Hehuang. But if they intervene too early, the Qiang people will not suffer much loss in strength, and it will take more time to annex Hehuang.
Once Xixia intervenes, we will be in trouble.
"Man proposes, God disposes. There's nothing we can do about this situation, but it's not entirely a bad thing." Wang Shao said with a smile.
"Huh?" Gu Tingye looked at Wang Shao in confusion: "Why do you say that, Brother Zichun?" "The Great Wall is being built in the north, and floods have occurred in Jiangzhou and other places. The national treasury is empty. Even if we conquer Hehuang, it will be a huge burden for the court." Wang Shao said.
"What Brother Zichun said is also what I am worried about. Now that Hehuang is in chaos, what I am most worried about is that the court officials will not agree to send troops." Gu Tingye sighed.
Floods occurred in Jiangzhou and other places, and the government forced court officials and wealthy businessmen to donate money, and he also learned the news.
He also specially wrote a letter to Yangzhou, asking his grandfather to donate more.
Old Master Bai had given up the salt business a long time ago because of Gu Tingye's persuasion.
When Gu Tingye came to the northwest to take up his post, Old Master Bai also returned to Yangzhou.
We have been waiting for so long, just for the chaos in Hehuang.
However, because of the flood, all the court's money was used for disaster relief.
Now that Hehuang is in chaos, even if Zhao Xing wants to send troops, the court officials may not agree.
"Your Majesty has waited for so long. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and Your Majesty will not give up. There is no need to transfer troops from Bianliang to deal with the rebellion in Hehuang. As long as Hehuang can be taken quickly, there will be no problem. However, after taking Hehuang, the border between the Song Dynasty and Western Xia will also be extended, so troops still need to be transferred from Bianliang, which is the most troublesome thing." Wang Shao said.
Gu Tingye frowned slightly when he heard this and said, "Brother Zichun, do you mean to surrender?"
"That's right!" Wang Shao smiled and said, "The Song Dynasty lacks cavalry. The Qiang are a nomadic people, and almost everyone is good at riding. If we can recruit them to surrender, we can immediately form a cavalry, and there is no need for the court to send more troops to defend against Xixia."
"Brother Zichun, those who are not of our race must have different hearts. Since ancient times, there have been many examples of surrendering foreign races, but most of them rebelled. Even if the Qiang people are surrendered, if they betray us at the critical moment, the consequences will be unimaginable!" Gu Tingye said seriously.
Everyone knows that nomadic peoples are natural cavalry, and there have been attempts to subdue nomadic peoples since ancient times.
However, the nomadic peoples who surrendered often rebelled.
There are many factors that lead to this situation.
Gu Tingye thought there was no problem if these people were used as cannon fodder.
But Wang Shao's intention was indeed to recruit these people to defend against Western Xia.
If Western Xia really attacks and the Qiang people take the opportunity to rebel, how should we respond?
"Zhong Huai, everything depends on human efforts. If we don't do this, do you think the court can support the military campaign against Hehuang and the subsequent defense against Western Xia?" Wang Shao said.
He also understood Gu Tingye's worries.
However, the purpose of conquering Hehuang was to lengthen the border with Western Xia.
Doing so would force Xixia to increase its border defense forces, thus achieving the goal of bringing Xixia down.
But on the other hand, the Song Dynasty also needs to increase its troops for defense.
If there had been no flood, the autumn harvest would have been approaching, which would have been enough for the Song Dynasty to capture Hehuang and increase its troops for defense.
But now that floods have occurred, even if Zhao Xing uses some means to force officials and wealthy businessmen to donate money and grain, he can only deal with the current situation.
The subsequent post-disaster reconstruction and resettlement of the people would require the court to spend a large amount of money and grain.
This also gave the court officials a reason to oppose sending troops.
Only by doing so can we reduce the pressure on the court and facilitate this matter.
Gu Tingye has been waiting for so long and is unwilling to give up. How could he be willing to do so?
"Are you sure?" Gu Tingye asked after a long silence.
"I have thought carefully that the Qiang people were able to integrate so quickly because of the nomadic people's admiration for the strong. As long as we plan properly, there is still a good chance," said Wang Shao.
"Whether or not to do this, we should ask His Majesty for permission." Gu Tingye said after hesitating for a while.
"Of course!" Wang Shao nodded and said, "Now that Hehuang is in chaos, if we want to mobilize troops next time, the troops we have will not be enough, so we must report to His Majesty."
(End of this chapter)