Chapter 301: Fight First and Talk Later, a Wishful Thinking

The words of Ma Xidong, the general of the Ministry of War of the Goguryeo Dynasty, immediately made Gai Shiwen, who represented the interests of the nobles in the court, speechless.

Yes!

If a mutiny is provoked, no one can bear this responsibility.

Gai Shiwen is also very clear in his mind that the current Goguryeo Dynasty is at the peak of its national strength and military power since its founding more than 700 years ago.

At the same time, it is also a stage in which the ambitions of the military generals, including King Gao Zang, are rapidly expanding.

The 600,000 troops across the country (now only 570,000) are the best proof.

Obviously, the lesson of Cui Dongyuan, the general of the Western Expedition, who was defeated in Liaohe and 30,000 Goguryeo warriors died on the battlefield, is not enough to alert these arrogant soldiers who are eager to tear off a few pieces of meat from the sleeping lion of the Central Plains Dynasty. Instead, it aroused their bloodthirsty and warlike nature.

However, how could the Tang Dynasty, which was created by Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian in the Central Plains at that time, be comparable to the Great Xin Dynasty that destroyed the country?

Chen Huaian started the rebellion with 8,000 soldiers and horses, and in less than three years, he overthrew the Great Xin Dynasty with 1.5 to 600,000 soldiers and horses, and even defeated the Turks who had been entrenched in the Mobei grassland for hundreds of years and destroyed their country;

And the Tubo Kingdom, which took advantage of the natural geographical advantages of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and tried to take advantage of the civil strife of the Great Xin Dynasty to fish in troubled waters and get a share of the pie, was not directly beaten to the Potala Palace by the army under Chen Huaian's command, and finally had to bow down?

And, the 36 countries in the Western Regions, headed by the Huihe Han Kingdom, which one was not subdued by Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian.

This group of reckless men, led by the pro-war general Ma Xidong, actually wanted to use the 600,000 soldiers and horses of the Goguryeo Dynasty to fight against the million-strong army of the Great Tang Dynasty. Isn't this a mantis trying to stop a chariot?

Gai Shiwen is one of the few sober people in the radical Goguryeo Dynasty.

Of course, this may also be related to his early experience.

As an envoy who personally participated in the peace talks between the Goguryeo Dynasty and the Daxin Dynasty during the Zhenwu period of the Daxin Dynasty, and who was stationed in Jinling for several years, Gai Shiwen knew the Central Plains Dynasty very well.

He also had interactions and friendships with Chen Polu, the father of Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian and the King of the Daxin Dynasty.

Both Chen and his son were good at using troops, and they would never give up until they achieved their goals.

Now, the Tang Dynasty's military force is pointing directly at the Goguryeo Dynasty. In addition to peace talks and vassalage and the disaster of national destruction, Gai Shiwen really can't think of any other third outcome.

It is for this reason that Gai Shiwen will strongly advocate peace talks with the Tang Dynasty, vassalage to Emperor Zhaowu Chen Huaian, and restore the relationship between the two countries as a suzerain and a vassal.

Unfortunately, the court of Goguryeo has been taken over by the young and vigorous "young generation", and no one is willing to listen to the unpleasant advice of this old man who is nearly 60 years old!

Ah——

In the end, after being retorted by the words of the General of the Ministry of War Ma Xidong, Gai Shiwen, who didn't know how to answer, could only sigh helplessly with a red face.

"Lord Gai, General, please be patient, please be patient——"

At this time, Prime Minister Li Zhenghao stood up with a smile on his face, took the initiative to be a peacemaker and smooth things over, and said with a smile: "Listen to what I have to say;"

"Lord Gai and the general's starting point is for the eternal foundation of my Goguryeo Dynasty. The millions of people of my Goguryeo Dynasty can have two people to escort them. It is a blessing for the dynasty, the king, and the people!"

It must be said that Prime Minister Li Zhenghao's ability to smooth things over is first-class.

As soon as he came up, he gave a compliment to General Ma Xidong and Lord Gai Shiwen, which eased the tense atmosphere between the two.

Li Zhenghao continued to smile and said, "What the general said is not without reason. At present, the morale of our Goguryeo Dynasty army is high and the fighting spirit is high. Judging the success or failure of the battle in Liaodong will inevitably hit the morale of the soldiers in the army;"

As he said, Li Zhenghao cast his eyes on Gai Shiwen, looked at him sincerely and said, "Lord Gai, you should also know the importance of military spirit and morale to an army;"

"Although General Cui and the Western Expedition Army suffered a defeat in Liaodong and lost 30,000 troops;"

"But a year ago, General Cui and the army stationed in Yizhou, that was also a victory. "The great victory in Liaodong, annihilating more than 50,000 Liaodong defenders of the Great Xin Dynasty in one battle, and incorporating the four counties of Liaodong into the territory of the Goguryeo Dynasty;"

"Over the past year, the four counties of Liaodong have contributed a lot of taxes to the Goguryeo Dynasty, and I believe Lord Gai is well aware of it;"

"You can't deny the achievements of General Cui and the Dynasty's Western Expedition Army because of a temporary defeat, right?"

"Lord Gai, don't you think so?"

Listening to the words of Prime Minister Li Zhenghao, who was increasingly inclined to the general of the Ministry of War Ma Xidong, Gai Shiwen's face became more and more gloomy.

Just as he was about to reprimand Li Zhenghao, the latter suddenly changed the subject: "But——"

Li Zhenghao smiled and ignored Gai Shiwen's eyes that seemed to want to cut two taels of meat from him. He turned to look at the rather proud general of the Ministry of War Ma Xidong and said: "But, what Gai said is not without reason;"

"Since the founding of the Goguryeo Dynasty, it has gone through the Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties for more than 700 years. No matter how the Central Plains dynasties changed, we generally maintained a vassal and suzerain relationship with the Central Plains dynasties, although we had conflicts and frictions with them from time to time, but for most of the time, we maintained a vassal and suzerain relationship with them;"

"The reason is that our Goguryeo Dynasty cannot compete with the huge Central Plains Dynasty in terms of national strength, armaments, population, and resources;"

"In order to ensure that millions of people are free from the disaster of war, they can only bow down to the Central Plains Dynasty and pay taxes and tributes;"

"But the taxes and gold and silver paid to the Central Plains Dynasty every year are also a considerable amount. If this tribute can be used for domestic construction, then the national strength of our Goguryeo Dynasty will definitely be able to reach a higher level!"

After a pause, Li Zhenghao continued to speak eloquently and incessantly: "Now, the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains has launched an invasion, which is nothing more than wanting to restore the relationship between the suzerain state and the vassal state of both sides. "The relationship of a vassal state, wanting my Goguryeo Dynasty to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty every year as before;"

"However, after the painstaking management and development of successive Goguryeo kings, the national strength and armaments of my Goguryeo Dynasty have reached an unprecedented peak;"

"Even if it still cannot get rid of the relationship of a vassal state of the Central Plains Dynasty, at least it should take this opportunity to re-sign a contract to reduce the annual tribute of gold and silver;"

Finally, Li Zhenghao brought the topic to Gai Shiwen again, and said with a smile: "Lord Gai, isn't this the suggestion you made when you wrote to the king?"

"You can submit, but you can't pay taxes and tribute!"

Hmm?

Hearing this, Gai Shiwen couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, wondering why Li Zhenghao was talking around and brought the topic to this place!

Although Gai Shiwen had his doubts, he still nodded and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I meant!"

"Lord Gai, that's right!"

Li Zhenghao clapped his hands and said, "If we want to re-conclude the alliance between the suzerain and the vassal state and modify the content of the alliance, it is naturally not something that you and I can achieve by talking big in the court;"

"The founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Chen Huaian, can't let us manipulate him and say that he won't pay taxes or tributes;"

"In the end, all this still has to go back to the battlefield first, and then the two sides will negotiate at the negotiation table;"

"So--"

At this point, Li Zhenghao deliberately paused, then cast his eyes on the treasure king Gao Zang on the throne of the hall, and said slowly: "My king, all the lords, generals--"

"In my opinion, the war between the Goguryeo Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty is inevitable!"

"While our army is in high morale, if we can defeat the Tang army's eastward advance in one fell swoop, then our Goguryeo Dynasty can break away from the shackles of the Central Plains Dynasty and become an independent kingdom;"

"Even if we are unfortunately defeated, we can return to the negotiation table and negotiate with the Tang Dynasty. The worst that can happen is to restore the previous relationship between the suzerain and the vassal state!"

As he said, Prime Minister Li Zhenghao deliberately glanced at Gai Shiwen and said meaningfully: "For peace talks, Lord Gai is familiar with it;"

"With Lord Gai in charge, the army of our Goguryeo Dynasty can go all out. Regardless of winning or losing on the battlefield, our Goguryeo Dynasty will eventually be invincible;"

"Lord Gai, don't you think this is the truth?"