Today, how to understand the word "leader"?
First of all, it should be possible to "lead the team", whether it is as small as an organization or as large as a country, when the arm is raised, countless people respond, that is to say, it must have a strong influence;
Second, they should play an exemplary role, and they certainly can't do it without taking the lead in directing others.
Third, help the vulnerable, which many people may not understand. In fact, it is easy to understand, for example, why did Song Jiang in "Water Margin" become the leader? He likes to do good deeds, and as soon as others open their mouths, he is quite generous and does not care about returns. Such a person, everyone likes to follow. And this principle works anywhere.
Speaking of the Tang Dynasty, this is a very glorious period of history in Chinese history, with unprecedented national strength, economic development, and cultural education reaching a new historical level. Of course, posterity pays more attention to the domestic affairs of the Tang Dynasty, and as for the interaction with the international community, it seems that in addition to the war and the dispatch of Tang envoys, the rest seems to be far away.
In fact, unless there is only one country on the planet, no one can be left alone. This is true a thousand years later, and it is still the same a thousand years ago. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was very powerful, but there was another newly emerging force that should not be underestimated, that is: the Great Food (later the Arab Empire). Of course, on the Mediterranean plate, there was also a Roman Empire.
At that time, the expansion of the Great Eclipse force led to the defeat of the Persian state (now Iran). The new king, Belus, unable to resist the strong attack of the other side, fled east along the Silk Road to Tochara (present-day Afghanistan), where he was protected by the local tribal chieftains and given some respite.
Although the situation of the war improved for a time with the help of the tocharian tribal armed forces and recovered some territory, the other side bet a lot of military strength, and soon because of the battle, Belus even ran out of defensive strength. Therefore, under the last resort, Belus once again sought "political refuge" from Datang.
According to historical records, when the Arabs invaded Persia, Belus's father, Yazdegeld III, asked the Tang Dynasty for military assistance several times, but tang Taizong refused. Later, in 654, when Belusi was about to make a comeback, he asked the Tang Dynasty for help, but was rejected by Emperor Gaozong of Tang on the grounds that the road was too far.
First, we must preserve our own strength, and then seek other things.
In 661, Belus again sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty for help, which shows that this time he knew that the Tang would not refuse his request, and might even be able to help him militarily.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty was a fairly open dynasty, and foreign trade was quite active. Although the economy of a dynasty is directly tied to its power, there is another aspect that is easy to overlook, that is, the security of trade and trade. In ancient times, as now, trade was as disputed, and whoever made the final decision was obviously a powerful country.
In the eyes of the surrounding countries, the Tang Dynasty was a very powerful country. Therefore, Belus had to choose a country that could compete with the big food at least in military strength.
Moreover, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty at that time had a title of "Heavenly Khan", which was simply understood: the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was the co-lord of the world. That is to say, the Tang Emperor at that time had absolute international discourse power.
Later generations also understood this title as some kind of international organization at that time. In fact, there is still a difference, no matter how big or small the organization, there is always its program and organizational structure. The origin of this title is due to the fact that the campaign to expand the border began with Li Shimin was almost smooth, and many of the surrounding foreign tribes were either destroyed or voluntarily surrendered.
Emperor Gaozong of Tang agreed to Belus's request very happily, and also sent a special envoy Wang Ming into the western region of Central Asia to establish the Persian Governor's Mansion, and named Belus as the local governor, and in 662 Tang also made Belus the King of Persia. In this way, it was equivalent to bringing Persia under the care of the Tang, but did not send the Tang army to station.
Even so, Persia later fell again under the constant coercion of Arab armies.
Seeing this, Li Zhi was very generous and let people build a Persian temple in Chang'an as a meeting place for Persians, and placed it in Chang'an LiquanFang. It also divided Luoyang Xiushanfang and Lidefang into Persian communities. In 677, Belus died. The place of death, one said Chang'an, the other said Luoyang.
Persia was gone, and there was no other action at the Great Eclipse, but if they were not jealous of the strength of the Tang Dynasty, how could they stop there? After all, the descendants of the Persian royal family are still there, which has always been a hidden danger.
In fact, Dashi and Datang had fought each other, and they were still unconvinced after losing several times. Later, in the Battle of Qiluo, Dashi once again gathered 200,000 troops to suppress the Tang army. At that time, the Tang army was only 30,000, and the result was that Ge Lulu suddenly rebelled, resulting in the defeat of the Tang army. This was the only time that the Arabs defeated the Anxi Army in several border clashes between the Arabs and the Tang Dynasty.
At that time, the foreign forces around the Tang Dynasty were very powerful, Tubo, Turks and so on. Here, there is a contest of national strength, as well as a contest of combat weapons and a contest of platooning. Because the Tang Dynasty was more open and confident, the momentum in the war was definitely superior. Just like now, the powerful countries always give people a sense of aggressiveness in their arrogance.
In terms of influence, in Asia at that time, the Tang Dynasty should be in the top position;
In terms of action, for the righteous side, the Tang Dynasty will always intervene in time to save each other.
Doesn't this reflect the attitude that a great power should have? It is precisely because of this that more countries will make friends with the Tang Dynasty, which is not simply learning or communicating, but feeling that the Tang Dynasty can lead the world into a better era.
Resources:
[History of the Persian Empire, Old Book of Tang, Taizong Benji, Old Book of Tang, Fourth Emperor Gaozong]