Chapter 90

Li Shimin no longer leaned back but sat up straight. Li Chenggan also turned a page, took a deep breath, and prepared to write, for this was no longer casual conversation but a formal discussion.

Xia Hongsheng also sat up straight and said, "The method I propose is actually occupation, but not just sending a military force and setting up a protectorate. It is a thorough and complete occupation, not only of their land and people, but also of their economy, culture, thoughts, and ways of thinking, as well as every habit of their daily lives. We must thoroughly imprint the Tang Dynasty on them, making the grasslands an ordinary region of the Tang Dynasty, and making the Turks and others consider themselves Tang people. This is a very long process, taking perhaps one or even several generations to complete. However, it is a one-time solution, and it is not an impractical idea. Although it will indeed be a long and arduous process, assimilating a nation has never been easy."

Xia Hongsheng stopped here, wanting to see Li Shimin's reaction before deciding whether to continue. He believed, and could see from the astonished expressions of Li Shimin and Li Chenggan, that they had never had such thoughts or heard such ideas. They might have thought of the Turks one day submitting to the Tang Dynasty, but only to the extent of the Turks' downfall.

Li Shimin's expression first turned blank, then deep in thought, a mix of confusion and excitement. It seemed as if a new door had appeared before him, but he did not know how to open it.

After a long while, Li Shimin lifted his head and looked at Xia Hongsheng. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, as if he had found a direction. He opened his eyes wide and said in a deep voice, "Go on!"

Xia Hongsheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the forms of war are varied, but their purpose is always the same: national interests. The lives of the people, the territory of the state, economic strength, political stability, and control over external affairs—all these are national interests, and we wage war to protect them. The forms of war are varied, and so are the ways to protect national interests. Besides military conquest, there are many other ways to wage war. Military war is always the last resort. Before that, there can be diplomatic wars, economic wars, cultural wars, and many others. The complete and thorough occupation I mentioned earlier requires the combined use of these various forms of war. To attack the Turks, we must align with righteousness in diplomacy, so that our actions are justified. I need not elaborate on this, as the alliances and strategies between nations are also part of diplomacy, and Your Majesty is well-versed in this. The battlefield is also where Your Majesty excels, and we have many famous generals, so I need not say more. What I want to discuss is how to use economics and culture to control the Turks after defeating them."

Li Shimin's eyes grew brighter, and he stared intently at Xia Hongsheng. "Please continue, Your Excellency!"

"Your Majesty..." Xia Hongsheng began, but then heard a "gurgle" from the pavilion. Since Li Shimin and Li Chenggan were both waiting quietly for him to speak, the sound was particularly clear.

Li Shimin, full of anticipation, was met with this sound and immediately looked embarrassed. Li Chenggan, about to write, accidentally made a blot on the paper.

"Ah, I woke up late this morning and didn't eat breakfast... Please forgive me, Your Majesty, and Crown Prince," Xia Hongsheng scratched his head and apologized.

Li Shimin shook his head with a smile, looked outside, and saw that it was already noon. He then turned to Wang De, who was standing by, and said, "Go and prepare the meal. I will dine here with Prince Chenggan and Minister Xia today."

Wang De bowed and left the pavilion to call the eunuchs to prepare the meal.

"Hehe, thank you, Your Majesty!" Xia Hongsheng bowed to Li Shimin and then continued, "Economic war is not about managing the world, but rather about trade. It is a commercial struggle between opposing sides to gain strategic advantages and win the war. For example, if we are about to fight a war, we can buy up their food supplies, causing them to lack provisions. This is a simple form of economic war. Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty is rich in resources, and some of these are essential to other countries but cannot be produced there, such as silk and tea. These neighboring countries rely on trade with the Tang Dynasty to obtain these goods. This is our advantage. Using the Tang Dynasty's abundant resources and wealth, we can encourage merchants to do business in these neighboring countries. If they lack salt, we sell it to them; if they lack silk, we sell it to them; if they lack food, we sell it to them at a discount. We can even guide their economy through trade. For example, if they want to buy our food, tea, and silk, we don't want money; we want cattle, horses, and sheep in exchange, and we offer them a discount. If they can produce a thousand pounds of food in a year, we will give them two thousand pounds in exchange for a few hundred cattle, horses, and sheep. Your Majesty, if you were in this situation, would you choose to grow your own food or trade cattle, horses, and sheep for it?"

"The grasslands are not suitable for farming, but they are perfect for raising cattle, horses, and sheep. In this case, I would choose to trade cattle, horses, and sheep for food," Li Shimin thought for a moment and answered.

"Exactly, Your Majesty. Food can be traded this way, as can salt and silk. Even the cattle, horses, and sheep can be processed and resold to them. The nomadic lifestyle is rough, while the lifestyle in the Central Plains is refined. We can keep the horses, process the beef into jerky, and weave the wool into cloth, then resell these products to them. It is easier to go from frugality to luxury than from luxury to frugality. Once they are accustomed to wearing silk instead of animal skins, eating carefully prepared meat instead of boiled meat with salt, and drinking tea instead of sheep's milk, and these things can only be obtained through trade with the Tang Dynasty, we will gradually control their trade. Eventually, everything they need will have to be purchased from Tang Dynasty shops, and Tang merchants will be firmly established there. They will control all the shops and resources in these countries. At that point, they will be at our mercy. If they resist or try to start a war, we can simply cut off economic ties, close the markets, and stop trade. They will have no food, salt, clothing, or tea, and their lives will be reduced to a barren grassland and a few cattle and sheep. They will be accustomed to the refined life we provide, and those who initiate war will face the resentment of the people, who will blame them for ending their comfortable and prosperous lives. Your Majesty, would such a Turk still be a threat to us?"

Li Shimin's eyes were wide open, and his mouth was agape. With his strategic mind, he could easily imagine a Turk who depended on Tang Dynasty merchants for survival, unable to cause any trouble.

Li Chenggan, however, was frowning, still not fully understanding. So Xia Hongsheng decided to explain it more simply: "Let's use a simple example. Suppose Zhang San and Wang Wu are neighbors. Zhang San only raises sheep and cannot do anything else. He needs to buy cloth for clothes, food, salt, and all his daily necessities from Wang Wu in exchange for sheep. One day, Zhang San is unhappy with Wang Wu and says, 'You took my land, and I'm going to beat you up.' Wang Wu replies, 'Go ahead, but I won't sell you anything anymore. You will have no salt, no food, no clothes, and nothing else.' At this point, can Zhang San still attack?"

Li Chenggan's face suddenly cleared, but then he frowned again and asked, "If Zhang San doesn't attack this time, his hatred won't disappear. If he ever has a chance to break free from Wang Wu, won't he take revenge even more fiercely, releasing all his pent-up anger?"

Hearing Li Chenggan's question, Li Shimin also nodded and looked at Xia Hongsheng.

"This is where another form comes in, the cultural war," Xia Hongsheng smiled and continued, "Your Majesty, Crown Prince, when Qin unified the six states, he ordered the standardization of the chariot gauge, the writing system, and the moral code. Why did he do this?"

"To consolidate the unification. At the time, each of the six states had its own governance and writing system. To control the people of the six states, the First Emperor ordered the standardization of the writing system. These measures were all aimed at maintaining control over the people of the six states," Li Shimin, well-versed in history, answered immediately.

Xia Hongsheng nodded. "Exactly. This is an example of a cultural war. A person from the far west once said that to destroy a nation, one must first destroy its culture. After defeating the Turks and occupying their land and people, we should not leave after they submit. We should firmly control that land, leaving soldiers, merchants, and culture. We should establish schools there, where all the young people will learn our language, our culture, the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and the principles of a gentleman. We should prohibit the use of the Turkic language, even in private conversations, and require the use of the official language of the Tang Dynasty. All the descendants of the Turks will be educated from a young age, speaking the official language of the Tang Dynasty, learning the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and being taught that they are part of the Tang Dynasty. In a few generations, that land will be Tang, not Turk. No one will speak Turkic, write in Turkic, or distinguish between Tang and Turk. The Han and the Turks will both be Tang people, and they will grow up with this belief, no longer knowing what Turk means."

Li Shimin and Li Chenggan were both stunned, unable to speak for a long time.

Xia Hongsheng did not expect them to understand immediately but hoped to plant this idea in their minds. Once the seed is planted, it will eventually sprout.

This process, however, is extremely difficult. Just look at the situation in the West in later times; it will not be simple at all!