The news soon reached Cheng Chuliang, and they held an emergency meeting to study the matter. We absolutely cannot pay for our military expenses ourselves, especially when fighting in the Western Regions.
If we were fighting somewhere else, our military expenses might not be so serious. But now we have already spent half a year's fiscal revenue of the Tang Dynasty. If we can't earn back this money, the court will have no problem for the time being, but we must never open this loophole.
They remembered Li Xiang's words clearly in their heads, and they also knew about Emperor Wu of Han. If a war did not pay off, the entire country could still hold on, but the generals in the future would use this war as an example. What if the second or third wars did not pay off in the future?
Li Xiang had also told them that only by gaining wealth through foreign wars would our nation and country understand the benefits of foreign wars. If every war left our people burdened with heavy burdens and left them with no benefits, then what was the point of waging war? Was it simply to satisfy the rulers' fantasy of military exploits?
This is something that is absolutely unforgivable, so after discussion, the generals in the Western Regions decided that they must arrange the money immediately.
If it were before this war, we could have arranged it to the tribes in the Western Regions, but we can't do that now. After all, they brought people to fight with us on the battlefield, and they are quite powerful. If we give them the money, these guys might organize a resistance. Not only will we not be able to collect the money, but our rule in the Western Regions may also be in crisis. This can be said to be a very bad strategy.
When we cannot obtain wealth in the territory of the Arab Empire, we can adopt such a strategy, but we have not tried it yet, so we cannot do anything similar.
In order to ensure the economic security of the heartland of the Tang Dynasty, we can rob the countries in the Western Regions, but if it doesn't come to that, we can't use such barbaric methods. The countries in the Western Regions are the barrier of the western part of the Tang Dynasty. We must never allow our troops to rob unless it is absolutely necessary.
But there is no such concern within the jurisdiction of the Arab Governorate of Anton. You have already sent troops to follow His Royal Highness the Prince to attack us, so why should we save face for you?
About seven days later, everyone thought that the disaster might have passed, especially the tribes around Samarkand. They also thought that their guilt had been absolved. After all, General Feng had assured them that those things had nothing to do with them and were all the business of Prince Salaman and Governor Faisal.
So these people also put their minds at ease. In addition, they had heard some legends about the Tang Dynasty, so they believed that the Tang army would not target them, and their lives returned to normal.
But seven days later, at noon, they discovered a large number of troops in distinctive armor in the east. These people were all from the Tang Dynasty. Wasn't the war here over? Why did so many people come from the east?
Feng Chucai was too lazy to explain to these people, so he took his men directly into the Tang Dynasty military camp. Qu Tushou and his troops traveled for seven consecutive days before arriving in Samarkand.
"It's really hard for you. It's only been 7 days. I think there are quite a lot of people here, about 20,000?"
General Feng has not been idle these days. Because he has too few men under his command, he has no way to rob the surrounding areas. But now that our support troops have arrived, he can no longer sit idle. During this period of time, he has asked his men to find out about the surrounding tribes, including which tribe is rich and which tribe is poor. He has all of this in his mind so that our people will not be at a loss as to where to start when they arrive.
"Over 25,000 men have come, all cavalry, but there aren't many artillery or musketeers. So there won't be a hard fight, will there?"
Qu Tushou brushed off the dust on his head and drank water in big gulps. They were exhausted after the past few days of hard work. In order to get here as quickly as possible, many of them slept on the way.
"I've explained it very clearly in my letter. Just bring your men here. I've pretty much investigated the situation of each tribe. In a tribe of 1,000, there are usually only 20 to 30 capable fighters. The rest are basically the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the young. That Arab prince has been a great help to us. He directly took away all the young and strong men from each tribe. I guess they're all in our prisoner-of-war camps now. So if we want to take action against the tribes, we have more than enough men now."
Feng Chucai said very confidently that if there were still some young and middle-aged people in each tribe, then their task would probably not be so easy to complete.
The biggest difference between nomadic people and farming people is that they have more troops. Although their total number is not large, all the young and middle-aged people can fight. If they do not have any combat skills, they will not be able to survive in such a wasteland.
But it is different for agricultural people. Their total population is larger, but the armies they fight in are specially trained. In normal times, these ordinary people participate in various economic production at home and have never carried out any military operations, especially in the wealthy areas of Jiangnan.
Therefore, if the young and middle-aged people of each tribe still stay in their original tribe, no matter how serious the losses they suffer on the battlefield, it will be difficult for us to take away their tribe’s production materials.
"I heard that most of the good stuff has been taken away. I'm afraid there won't be anything left except the cattle and sheep after we get here."
Qu Tushou looked down on those things from the bottom of his heart. Although these things were very valuable, the freight alone would be a considerable fortune to transport them from such a long distance to the economic heartland of the Tang Dynasty. But there was no other way now. If you didn't want this, you would have to face the loss here.
"General, you are wrong. There are quite a few war horses, and what about their men?"
Feng Chucai's face showed a malicious expression, and Qu Tushou and the deputy general beside him also laughed out loud...
