Li Zexuan did not expect that the teachers and students of the Academy would encounter such a big crisis in Taiyuan City. He expected that the Turks would interfere after knowing the purpose of the Academy's journey to the north. But according to his expectation, the Turks would most likely take action in Yunzhou. After all, it was at the border of the Tang Empire and the Emperor was far away. But he never expected that the Turks would directly throw out the "trump card" in Taiyuan City. Shouldn't they first test the situation in Taiyuan City and then launch the "fatal blow" in Yunzhou?
The series of actions of the Turk spies were not logical, but it was precisely because of this that they caught everyone off guard!
However, Li Zexuan also did not expect that his father-in-law would coincidentally intercept the secret letter of the Turk spies. This was too crucial. If not for this coincidence, the situation of the Academy's teachers and students would be even more passive. They did not even know who the enemy was, let alone talk about dealing with them!
Of course, what Li Zexuan did not expect the most was that the leader of the Turk spies was actually Zhao Deyan!
Although he wasn't very familiar with history in his previous life, he had still heard of Zhao Deyan! This guy was the biggest traitor in the Tang Empire!
But compared to the other traitors in history, the great traitor Zhao Deyan did not leave much infamy in the annals of history. On the contrary, many people of the Central Plains even had a rather good impression of him. The main reason for this was that Zhao Deyan was not 'qualified' to be a traitor. His actions in the Turks had not only failed to help the Turks, but had even helped the Great Tang!
The TV series "The Rule of Zhenguan" about Xieli obtaining Zhao Deyan was very interesting. Zhao Deyan was originally the provincial governor of the Tang Empire. Li Shimin found that he was good at flattery and did not have any real talent, so he decided to let him harm the Turks.
Li Shimin first removed Zhao Deyan from the position of provincial governor and then let Zhao Deyan follow the Tang Empire's delegation to the Turks. After Zhao Deyan arrived at the Turks, his flattery made the Great Khan feel very comfortable, so he decided to put Zhao Deyan in an important position. In order to let Zhao Deyan serve Xieli wholeheartedly, Li Shimin even sent Zhao Deyan's family to the Turks.
As the history books were limited, there was no record of how Xieli obtained Zhao Deyan. The 'Comprehensive Mirror for Aid of Governance, Volume 192' only recorded that, 'Xieli Khan obtained the Chinese Zhao Deyan, entrusted him with the task.'
At the end of the Sui and the beginning of the Tang Empire, the Turks had an absolute advantage over all powers. In 615 AD, Emperor Yang of Sui, who still considered himself as an emperor, patrolled north to Yanmen. When the Turkic cavalry received the news, they took the opportunity to head south. They were like a hot knife through butter, conquering most of the areas near the Gate of Yan. In a panic, Emperor Yang of Sui hid in Yanmen Prefecture. The Turks sealed sealed and surrounded surrounded surrounded surrounded surrounded surrounded. The Turks's's, the's's's, the Turks''s. The usually insufferably arrogant Emperor Yang of Sui was actually scared to the point of tears after facing the pressure of a real battle. And, the's to the Yang's, the Tang's Tang Tang, Yang, Yang, increase to the end, the's.
After this battle, the reputation of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate soared, and it became the hegemon of the Northeast Asian steppe. Reaching the peak, they expanded their territory from the Khitan and Shiwei tribes to the vast region between Tuyuhun and Gaochang in the west. The chiefs of the various tribes and the rulers of the small countries all submitted to the Turks.
After the Sui Dynasty was wiped out, the Turks became even more prosperous. At that time, the various warlords in the north of the Zhongyuan more or less had dealings with the Turks. Amongst which included Li Yuan, who was based in Shanxi. He even submitted to the Turks so that when he attacked Chang An, he could borrow five hundred Turk cavalry. Through this method of borrowing the tiger's might to give the opponent a great deal of psychological pressure.
The power of the Eastern Turks was growing stronger by the day, and they even seemed to have the ability to threaten the Great Tang and aspire for the throne of the Central Plains. But to the Khan of the Eastern Turks, Xieli, there had always been a worry in his heart. He longed for supreme authority like Li Yuan and Li Er!
When the Turks started, their rule was really simple. The other nobles under the Khan also had a lot of power. In their own tribes, they kept their original laws and were not interfered with by the Khan. The emperor of the Central Plains had the right to control the life and death of his subjects, but for the Turkic Khans, this was only a dream.
Hence, Xieli appointed Zhao Deyan, who had escaped to the grassland, to carry out a huge political reform. Xieli hoped to use this to strengthen his power and unify all the tribes that had autonomy.
Zhao Deyan, who was appointed, did not fail his mission. He had brought the methods of ruling the Central Plains dynasty to the grassland without any changes. Hence, the Khan forced the Turks to carry out a 'Han style reform'.
At that time, the Zhongyuan Dynasty had a very advanced country management system. For example, three provinces and six departments, the Prefecture and County administrative system, etc. This system was much more advanced than the Turks' administrative system.
The crux of the problem was that this advanced system was suitable for China, which focused on agriculture, but not for the nomadic Turks. It was like how a strict personnel system was suitable for big companies but not for small private enterprises. Xieli did not understand this theory, so he gave Zhao Deyan full authority to push forward the Turks' administrative system reform.
However, the Turks were used to the simple, violent, and effective administrative system. They had a lot of resistance towards Zhao Deyan's reform. To push forward the reform smoothly, Zhao Deyan used the power given by Xieli to suppress the Turks who were against the reform. Zhao Deyan's reform was pushed forward in the face of heavy resistance, causing the Turks to be unhappy with Xieli.
This matter was recorded in the 《Aid of Governance Tongjian》, Volume 192》, the original text was: "Virtuous words have their own power and fortune, changing the old customs much, the government decrees are cumbersome, the people are beginning to be displeased."
Zhao Deyan copied China's administrative method, complicating a simple problem, causing all the major Turkic tribes to complain about the Great Khan Xieli. Under Zhao Deyan's influence, many Turks were not willing to work for Xieli. The tribes that had the conditions and the chance started to think of ways to break away from Xieli's control. Some even went to the Tang Dynasty. For example, the Khitan tribe leader a few months ago led his tribe to defect to the Tang Dynasty. A large part of the reason was that Xieli had started to become disloyal on the grassland.
So, to a certain extent, even though Zhao Deyan was a big traitor, he was a "big traitor" who had made great contributions to Li Er!
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