At the time of the Tang Dynasty, it was particularly prosperous and vast. The vast land meant the Tang Dynasty's ability to conquer. If the soldiers and horses are not prosperous, and the soldiers are not fierce, how can they expand their territory to this point? Chang'an Avenue is bustling with people. At night, the lights are even more colorful, and the noise symbolizes the prosperity of the people's lives. The country is prosperous and the people are safe, this is the symbol of the great power also!
It is also by virtue of strong national strength that all countries are willing to bow down to their subjects. Most of the surrounding countries succumbed to the Tang, but there were some exceptions, such as Tubo, which was one of them.
As we all know, Tubo has always maintained a hostile attitude towards the Tang Dynasty, and from time to time it will harass the Tang Dynasty's borders. In terms of strength, Tubo is far inferior to Datang. Why do you have the courage to riot five times? In contrast, India's strength is much weaker. Why doesn't Tubo pick soft persimmons and pinch Them against India?
Photo: Stills of the lively Chang'an Avenue of the Tang Dynasty
In fact, to know this answer, we must first know the national conditions of Tibet and India. The national conditions of Datang have been introduced above, and the place of Tubo is actually not rich, and it is a barren land compared to Datang. Whether it is land resources or other resources, they are relatively scarce. On the other hand, Datang is extremely rich, and courage arises under desire, so it is determined to confront Datang tit-for-tat.
Let's look at India, which is in a low latitude region and the temperature is relatively high. If Tibet were to invade India, the high temperature would be a threshold that could not be bypassed. You know, Tubo is mainly cavalry. If they fought in the heat of India, the horses would naturally not adapt, and the soldiers would not be able to exert their original strength.
In addition, between Tibet and India, there are himalayan mountains as a barrier, which is a natural danger. If you attack India, it will take a lot of effort. Even if india is defeated, there will be little material.
Because India is also a country with scarce resources. Therefore, it is really not worth it to fight this war.
Image: Stills of horses that do not adapt to the heat
Tubo and Datang are different again, and belong to the border relationship. If an army is raised to invade, it will take a lot less effort. This is also one reason why Tibet did not fight India and specifically opposed the Tang Dynasty.
In addition, Tubo itself is not weak, although it is much inferior to The Tang Dynasty, but it can still fight with one. Even if the battle was lost, it could still reap a lot of benefits, and a large amount of money and grain had been transported back to Tibet. Therefore, even if the battle is lost, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
On the contrary, even if the attack on India was won, it would not be able to obtain such abundant resources. Under the temptation of resources, exchanging small losses for large benefits is the best choice. Tubo naturally knew what to choose, and instead of winning the battle in India, it was better to lose the battle in datang. The reason is that people do not want to lose the big because of the small, but only want to be small and big!
Image: Stills of Tubo and Datang
During the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang and Li Shi, due to the policy of "loosening the outside and tightening the inside", contradictions arose within the Tang Dynasty, and some places also provoked rebellions. After the rebellion of the Jingyuan army, it broke through all the way and also laid down Chang'an.
A single rebel army can take the capital, which shows that the tang dynasty rule at that time has already had problems. At that time, the situation was urgent, and Li Shi had to flee Chang'an. When Tubo saw this scene, he was naturally excited and busy trying to help Li Shi and wanted to help him.
Of course, this is not a good intention, but full of purpose. On this condition, Tubo sent troops to help Tang Dezong suppress the rebels, and in return, Tang wanted to give The land of Anxi and Beiting to Tubo.
This requirement is obvious, that is, it values the land of Datang. This issue concerns the interests of the state, and Li Shi naturally does not dare to easily agree to it.
Photo: Li Shi escapes from Chang'an stills
Giving land is equivalent to giving away the land, which is irresponsible to the frontier soldiers! It is also a betrayal of the national interest! The ministers were very fiercely opposed. Therefore, in such opposition, Li Shi had to refuse this matter. In the end, relying on Datang's own strength, the rebellion was suppressed.
However, as a ardent heart for Tubo, Tang Dezong still gave back some relatively, and gave 10,000 silk horses to Tubo as a thank you. Because Tang Dezong also wanted to have a good relationship with Tubo, this is equivalent to buying people's hearts and minds. But Tubo's appetite is so small, this ten thousand silk horses are not even an appetizer.
What Tubo's eyes are focused on is the rich resources that Datang has. Datang is equivalent to a piece of fat meat, and the mouth is full of food. It is not easy to eat this piece of fat meat, so Tubo has to intrude five times and grab a little bit.
Image: Tubo stills
After the Anshi Rebellion, Datang began to decline. There was already a very serious crisis within the Tang Dynasty, and it was difficult to take care of even the affairs of the dynasty's governance, let alone defend against foreign enemies. Therefore, at this time, Tubo was extremely active, and at this time, Tubo's strength gradually became stronger.
Therefore, Tubo also found the right time and sent troops to attack. In just one year, many territories of Datang fell into the hands of Tubo. For example, Lanzhou, Hezhou and other places. It can be seen that Tubo is still relatively strong, and the reason why he dares to provoke Datang is also a certain reason.
Subsequently, Tubo and Hui formed an alliance and joined forces to invade the territory of the Tang Dynasty. At this time, the Tang soldiers were already difficult to resist, and even Chang'an was always in danger. At that time, Hexi Jiedu made Yang Zhilie see that the situation was in crisis, so he came up with a plan and directly sent troops to raid Tubo. Yang Zhilie led 5,000 elite soldiers and went straight to Tubo, but it did not play any role, but it suffered heavy casualties.
Therefore, Tubo's greed for "eating fat meat" is also because it has this strength, not blindly.
Photo: Yang Zhilie went straight to Tubo stills
The contradiction between Tubo and The Tang Dynasty has lasted for more than two hundred years. During this period, the friction between the two sides was innumerable. Tubo consumed a lot of manpower and material resources, and also invaded datang. As for the weak india at that time, Tibet turned a blind eye and did not care at all. In fact, there is not much to do with Tibet and India, and naturally there are not too many contradictions.
However, Tibet also sent troops to India, and according to the history books, there are two records of sending troops. The first dispatch of troops was actually to help quell the rebellion of Tianzhu. At that time, the Tang official Wang Xuance went to Tianzhu, which coincided with the chaos. So he fled to Songtsen Gampo, borrowed soldiers and horses, and then went to Tianzhu to quell the rebellion.
As for the second dispatch of troops, it was to get the Buddha's relic. At that time, the Tubo soldiers and horses were strong, and the North India region did not dare to fight with them at all, and surrendered one after another. The two launches were easy to win and not challenging at all.
Image: Stills of the Tang Dynasty
Of course, Tubo did not get more benefits. Therefore, naturally, I will no longer print the idea of degree, but I will want to fight with Datang to the end.
Article author: Dahui
The entire graphic was produced by the team of the Big Cafe Say History Studio!