Chapter 124: Armchair Strategy

Inside the main hall of the Zhang family estate, those once-prominent local powerholders all wore expressions of shock as they listened to Fang Laique recite one Tibetan military regulation after another.

Although they did not know what the Tibetan military regulations actually were—those were military secrets—they were thoroughly familiar with the Tang army's own regulations.

After all, their family members serving in the army were everywhere to be found.

The two sets of military regulations shared commonalities; one could even say they reached the same goal by different routes.

In short, what Fang Laique had recited could absolutely not be fabricated nonsense.

If so, Fang Chongyong's words just now carried a certain degree of credibility!

A man whose attendant could recite Tibetan military regulations—could he be a simple character? That was an easy judgment to make.

"Alright, that's enough."

Fang Chongyong raised a hand, signaling Fang Laique to shut up. Fang Laique, who had been reciting with great enthusiasm, fell silent instantly, very obediently.

This "human recitation machine" had now become the most dazzling figure in the hall, stealing his thunder.

Of course, this alone was still not enough to convince the local grand families. Preparedness averts peril—for the sake of self-rescue, Fang Chongyong had made many preparations.

He was not the type to sit and await death, waiting for rescue.

"Prefect Fang's attendant is truly gifted."

Zhang Quan said with a smile, seemingly unwilling to take the bait.

The implication was obvious: Fang Laique's attendant did indeed have real skill at recitation, and it proved that Fang Chongyong, like his father Fang Youde, was no ordinary person.

But it still did not prove that Fang Chongyong could predict events like a god!

Particularly regarding this Tibetan matter—who dared say the Tibetans were going to attack Shazhou? It was spring now, and the Tibetans would be busy farming and herding!

"Yan Zhuang, unroll the map and show it to everyone."

Fang Chongyong ordered Yan Zhuang expressionlessly, his official authority fully on display at this moment. Seeing this, the local grand families no longer dared to voice challenges like Zhang Quan had.

Yan Zhuang instructed the servants here to bring a stand, then hung up a pre-prepared map of the Hexi region. This map was nothing unusual—it was the kind merchants carried on the Silk Road. Only many places had been annotated by Fang Chongyong, including all the Tang army garrison points marked with notes.

"The Tibetans have always wanted to sever the connection between our Great Tang and the Western Regions, so previously, they kept their focus concentrated on Liangzhou.

However, Liangzhou had the formidable Chishui Army and bordered the Longyou Military Commissioner's defense zone, where reinforcements numbering in the tens of thousands could arrive at any time, so it was not convenient for the Tibetans to strike.

Last time, they advanced north along the Mingshui (Shule River), captured Guazhou, and destroyed its city walls. At that time, the five prefectures of Hexi nearly lost four of them; only because the soldiers of our Great Tang border army fought bravely did the Tibetans fail in their designs.

This time, the Jiankang Army has already been redeployed to the Dadouba Valley line in Liangzhou, and the Moli Army's garrison is farther from Guazhou, and even farther from Dunhuang.

If this time the Tibetans advance north along the Ganquan River (i. e., the Dang River) to strike Dunhuang, while sending one army on a feint against Dadouba Valley to pin down reinforcements from Liangzhou, what do you all think should be done in response?"

When Fang Chongyong finished speaking, everyone present turned pale.

This tactic was not unusual at all, because the Tibetans had used this very move during the mid-Kaiyuan era, and with considerable results! The only flaw in this approach was that these two routes were not convenient for the encampment and march of an army of over a hundred thousand.

It could only be a surprise attack, not a steady advance.

But the advantage was that once successful, if they could take either Guazhou or Shazhou—or both—they would completely disrupt the Tang army's deployments!

The Tang army's troop movements would be under the Tibetans' "command."

Back then, it was Zhang Shougui, then the commander of the Jiankang Army and now exalted as Left Minister, who deployed an "improved Empty City Stratagem" to turn the tables, buying time for subsequent Tang reinforcements.

Otherwise, no one could say how badly the situation in the Hexi Corridor might have deteriorated. At worst, the Great Tang would have lost all its western territories except Liangzhou.

But this time, if they truly struck, the Tibetans would most likely not fall for the trick—there would definitely be a hard battle to fight.

The Tibetans playing it this way carried great risk indeed; if the battle turned against them, even withdrawing their forces would be difficult.

Only, once the Tibetans succeeded, the strategic gains they would obtain would be unimaginably vast.

"What Prefect Fang says does indeed make some sense."

As the leading figure among the local grand families, Zhang Quan nodded slightly and said.

"Gentlemen, I will not belabor the current situation further. What do you think should be done?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a grave expression.

Heh heh, that little speech just now had nearly fooled even himself—the more he spoke, the more he felt the Tibetans really would do this.

However, mountains and terrain did not all appear on a map. The Tibetans attacking this way was not impossible, but they would need to cross snow mountains, traverse the desert, and travel light.

Where would they have such ability!

Fang Chongyong silently marveled at his own brilliance and invincible rhetoric!

"The Tibetans commit every atrocity—burning, killing, looting—and the grain our families store outside the city is not safe either. Why not temporarily store it in the public granaries within the outer city, to be kept by the Doulu Army?

If the Tibetans come to attack, this will serve as military rations to supply the army's needs. If the Tibetans do not come, this grain will serve as fair-priced grain in the public granaries to stabilize market prices."

Zhang Quan said without batting an eye.

As soon as Fang Chongyong heard this, he immediately understood the other party's intent. Sure enough, a grand family leader who could command a hundred responses locally was no ordinary person.

If the Tibetans came, this grain would be their "protection money," supporting the Tang army in fighting the Tibetans to the death. There was nothing wrong with this, because even if they did not hand it over, the Tibetans would seize this grain after occupying Shazhou anyway.

They would not even need the Tibetans to occupy Shazhou city.

If the Tibetans did not come, then... this Prefect Fang would certainly be unable to escape the consequences and would at the very least be investigated and punished by the court. And they, the local grand families, storing grain in the public granaries used to stabilize grain prices—this matter could not be hidden, and sooner or later the authorities and local commoners would find out.

This would amount to currying favor with the next Inspector, while the common people of the Dunhuang area would also be grateful for their benevolence, thereby elevating their families' prestige locally.

In short, whether the Tibetans came or not, they would not lose out! Their main granaries were all within the inner city; the granaries at their rural estates outside the city, though the exact amount of stored grain was unknown, would certainly not cause them serious harm.

For Fang Chongyong, with this batch of grain, the Doulu Army would face no risk of running out of food this winter.

This proposal could be called a win-win choice.

Before coming, Fang Chongyong had guessed that the local grand families would surely make some gesture, but he had not expected them to be this straightforward.

"I shall thank you all on behalf of the people of Shazhou. With official duties to attend to, I will take my leave now."

Fang Chongyong bowed to the crowd with hands crossed, then departed with Fang Laique and the others, without the slightest delay.

He had no other good solution for the massive pit of the court's unpaid military salaries—his strategy boiled down to one word: stall!

If he could stall half a year, he would stall half a year; if he could stall a year, he would stall a year. Today's meal could at least buy him two or three months, which would let him drag things out until next spring!

As for what to do after that, he would figure it out when the time came. Since Brother Ji didn't even act like a proper person, withholding border army funds, what could he, the Inspector, do about it?

Is it only Ji Ge who lies flat and does nothing? Fang Chongyong feels that in this regard he is by no means inferior to Ji Ge.

……

With the arrival of spring, the five prefectures of the Hexi Corridor (excluding Shazhou) gradually stood down from military mobilization, and soldiers of the various frontier troops returned home to farm, leaving each border army in a state of "understrength."

Each year, from early autumn to early spring, marks the peak period of Tibetan incursions. Therefore, after the farming season, the military‑agricultural households must send able‑bodied men to the frontier, rotating guard duties among the Hexi armies.

Moreover, after early spring, the Tibetans themselves are not a professional army separated from agriculture; they also have to tend to farming.

Thus the border enters a relatively peaceful period, and the troops in the Hexi armies gradually return home to farm, rotating in succession, so the manpower naturally remains understrength.

The front along the Hehuang line consequently falls into a stalemate, with neither side launching a large‑scale offensive, only engaging in brief skirmishes at key local points. Each engagement involves no more than a hundred soldiers and causes no notable ripple.

However, the Hexi Military Governor's Office in Liangzhou received several urgent official letters sent from Shazhou!

The first letter, from the Governor of Shazhou Fang Chongyong, complains that the court has repeatedly failed to pay the Doulu troops, withholding both last year's winter garments and this year's spring garments; the soldiers are deeply disgruntled and may mutiny. Should any mishap occur, this Shazhou governor would be powerless.

Please, the Liangzhou Office, promptly supplement the military stipends without delay.

Xiao Jiong read this and could only lament; this year the stipends for all five Hexi prefectures are overdue, not just the Shazhou Doulu troops! He has already petitioned the court for funds, which replied that it is being processed and the arrears will be paid. With that said, what else can this Military Governor do?

He certainly can't just raise his arm and call for rebellion, can he?

Since everyone is just complaining about poverty, and the cries have reached Xiao Jiong from more than just Fang Chongyong, he simply ignored the matter.

This Military Governor cannot conjure up military funds; if the court continues to withhold money, he will tacitly allow the Hexi armies to rob Western Region Hu merchants to supplement their finances!

If the first letter was not unexpected for Xiao Jiong, the second official letter is rather sensational.

Fang Chongyong claimed he received local "intelligence" indicating that many Tibetan monks have been scouting Shazhou's terrain and the Tang army's dispositions, "potentially engaging in subversive acts."

Consequently, he bolstered the defenses of Shazhou and judged that the Tibetans are highly likely to attack Shazhou this spring. He also plans to begin training consolidated troops, hoping the Hexi Military Governor's Office will promptly supply the necessary stipends and grain for their training.

As for why the Tibetans would attack Shazhou, he listed a long series of reasons numbered one through six, the entire text filled with phrases like "I think," "I feel," "probably."

The third official letter, also related to the second, rambles with a lot of filler; essentially it warns that the junction between Shazhou and Guazhou—where the Tibetans previously made a surprise raid—is dangerous and could be raided again, requesting the Hexi Military Governor's Office to dispatch a troop to garrison Shazhou.

In short, four words: protect me quickly!

Seeing Fang Chongyong's "distress letter," Xiao Jiong could only laugh and cry at the same time.

The Tibetans attacking Shazhou—what nonsense, the whole thing is just Fang Chongyong's speculation, with no evidence at all.

If we follow Fang Chongyong's logic, every prefecture in the Hexi Corridor is under direct Tibetan threat, and no place is absolutely safe.

According to the Tang army's "mobile defense" deployment in Hexi, aside from Liangzhou, the other four prefectures—regardless of who is there—if attacked by the Tibetans must hold out for reinforcements, as their own forces cannot defeat the enemy.

Fang Chongyong posed a dilemma to Xiao Jiong: whether to dispatch troops to Shazhou, and if so, which army should be sent?

Xiao Jiong suddenly recalled that the Later Turkic Khaganate had been destroyed, and Baiting Sea had become a "great rear." The disbanded Baiting Army and its troop deployment are still under debate with no conclusion. Could the Baiting Army be dissolved, its soldiers stationed south of Shazhou to form a new army?

Xiao Jiong immediately summoned Wang Zhongsi and others to the Hexi Military Governor's Office, preparing to find someone to share the burden.

That day, senior military‑civil officials of Liangzhou gathered in the main hall of the Military Governor's office to discuss the series of troubles caused by Fang Chongyong.

After reading the letters, everyone thought intuitively: that kid Fang Chongyong really loves to cause trouble!

He always brings up some matter to you for no reason.

However, you can't say his words are entirely unreasonable, because there is indeed a possibility of Tibetans attacking Shazhou.

It's like someone choking to death while drinking water—an almost impossible event, yet it has happened in real life, so such extreme cases cannot be completely ruled out.

Originally it wasn't one's own concern, but if anyone now says the Tibetans will definitely not come, it's like voluntarily boarding a ship and a gambling table, betting against this "simpleton" Fang Chongyong! Yet they could have avoided this situation.

But having these senior officials endorse Fang Chongyong's view and back him up would appear overly absurd and undermine their composure.

Thus, for a moment everyone hesitated, wishing they hadn't opened those letters, hoping they remained unaware of the trouble.

"Gentlemen, I think a rumor may have some basis; strengthening Shazhou's defenses, being prepared, is not wrong.

How about moving the remnants of the Baiting Army and the Gan Zhou consolidated troops to Shazhou? South of Shazhou lies Longle Mountain; using that name, we could establish the Longle Army with three thousand soldiers.

The military commissioner would be Guo Ziyi, and the deputy military commissioner Xin Yunqing.

Additionally, redeploy one thousand troops from the Wei Rong Army (garrisoned at the former Tibetan New City) after this rotation to garrison Changle County in Guazhou as a reception force, with the military commissioner being Cui Qianyou.

What do you all think?

Wang Zhongsi said calmly.

The others looked at each other, muttering inwardly.

No wonder he's the father‑in‑law; he truly goes out of his way to look after his son‑in‑law, and his behavior is unmistakably blatant!

But after thinking it over, everyone felt relieved.

Any family with a future son‑in‑law like Fang Chongyong would certainly protect him. He's still a child, already a governor before marriage—what will he become when he grows up?

Wang Zhongsi's stance was clear: he was betting that the Tibetans would attack Shazhou, promoting talent without avoiding relatives, disregarding rank, and personally endorsing his future son‑in‑law.

This matter indeed forces Wang Zhongsi to bear some political risk, but it's not a major issue— it's a controllable risk.

If the Tibetans come, Wang Zhongsi's arrangement is a stroke of genius—'I anticipated your anticipation'—guaranteeing great merit.

If the Tibetans don't come, though the possibility is high, it would merely be a futile effort, causing no personnel loss, only some expenditure of money and grain.

It would only affect Wang Zhongsi's personal reputation. A perpetually nervous, jittery commander naturally isn't popular.

After quietly weighing it, Xiao Jiong immediately decided, "Then we'll follow what the military commissioner said. Moreover, transfer twenty thousand bolts of silk from the Liangzhou Office treasury to the Shazhou Office to support the troops."

Xiao Jiong also added a bundle of firewood to the stove!

He has already received a clear signal from Li Linfu. If the chance arises, he should win over Fang Youde's son Fang Chongyong, at least make a good impression—he may be of great use in the future!

An Lushan, the military commissioner of the Pinglu Army and a direct protégé of Left Prime Minister Zhang Shougui, has recently been promoted to Deputy Military Governor of Pinglu. Once Li Shizhi returns to court, An Lushan will become the Military Governor of Pinglu—just a matter of time.

He may even be appointed sole Military Governor of Youzhou!

When that happens, Zhang Shougui's power will surge, inevitably disrupting the current central court dynamics.

Because An Lushan is Zhang Shougui's adopted son!

This puts immense pressure on Li Linfu, who has achieved nothing militarily. Zhang Choujian Qiong, who once obeyed him, is now aloof and rarely follows orders. Li Linfu urgently needs a border general who will obey commands.

A beneficial yet costless matter—why not do it?

Li Linfu's gaze has already focused on Fang Chongyong. He vaguely recalls that, though young, this man's methods are quite 'agile.'

More importantly, Fang Chongyong is Fang Youde's only son; just that alone makes him worth investing in.

What Fang Chongyong didn't know was that Yang Yuhuan had died, Fang Youde had been demoted to Lingnan, Yang Zhao had taken control of the prosperous Yangzhou Prefecture, and Ji Ge began to indulge in wine and women.

Everything had long since ceased to be what he had imagined, becoming utterly unrecognizable. And the Great Tang was also slowly sliding into an unfathomable, unknowable abyss.

(End of chapter)