Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

As the view before his eyes swiftly changed, Li Hongyun's mind simultaneously reviewed the entire Wei River Covenant while pondering the key to this successful passage.

From the prior instance of inhabiting Emperor Taizong's body, it was apparent that this was an extremely formidable body, and, moreover, the naturally occurring muscle memory seemed even more considerable than those stronger ones before.

Li Hongyun speculated that this might be related to his actual circumstances.

When he had used General Qin Kaiyun's body, Li Hongyun could also feel the potent strength residing within, but it was not as palpable as in Emperor Taizong's body.

This might stem from the fact that General Qin Kaiyun was more skilled in horsemanship and spearmanship, whereas Emperor Taizong excelled in horsemanship and archery.

Therefore, with Li Hongyun already adept in archery, he could better manifest Emperor Taizong's formidable prowess.

Moreover, General Qin Kaiyun's instance could not obtain talents to enhance his riding skills, whereas in this instance, Li Hongyun still inherently possessed the talent "proficient in bow and horse," which further facilitated his complete exploitation of Emperor Taizong's equestrian and archery skills.

It could be said, this was the occasion where Li Hongyun's personal combat strength was the most explosive.

Thus, in terms of personal martial might, Li Hongyun should roughly be able to demonstrate about eighty to ninety percent of Lord Qin's formidable strength.

Regarding the Wei River Covenant, it was a very critical historical event for the Liang Dynasty.

Its significance lay in assisting the Liang Dynasty through its most challenging period, avoiding warfare with the Turkic people under the most adverse circumstances, and waiting until three years later during the Turkic's vulnerable phase, when after three years of recuperation, Emperor Taizong decisively struck and obliterated the nation.

However, there were still many disputes online about the details of the Wei River Covenant.

For instance, many believed that the covenant was embellished and beautified by Emperor Taizong. At that time, it was certain that the Liang Dynasty had "emptied their treasury," providing vast amounts of gold, silver, jewels, riches, and women, only then securing the Turkic's retreat.

And because this was disgraceful, it was not detailed in the historical records.

Naturally, Li Hongyun scoffed at this.

There was a simple logic to it.

When the Turkic retreated, the Liang Dynasty certainly gave some gold and silver treasures from their treasury, but these treasures absolutely were not abundant.

Moreover, the later offering from the Turkic people of a large number of horses and sheep was not the Liang Dynasty's attempt to cover up a scandal; rather, it was a normal part of the negotiations.

Those who believed that the Liang Dynasty had "emptied their treasury" and compensated with money and women to the extent of national effort to negotiate peace were operating on an intellectual level that basically reached that of Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Gaozong of Qi.

There's a simple principle: only those capable of combat can negotiate peace. What you cannot obtain on the battlefield will also inevitably be beyond reach at the negotiation table.

Those who think that just because the Liang Dynasty "emptied their treasury" and vigorously compensated with land and money, then the Turkic people, having eaten their fill, would retreat, are greatly underestimating the ambition and intelligence of the Turkic people.

The Emperors of the Qi Dynasty always carried this mindset; whenever negotiating peace with foreign tribes, they accepted whatever terms the tribes brought forward immediately and unconditionally, believing that by satisfying the other's demands, the other party would definitely retreat.

Consequently, this naturally led to the Jingping Incident.

Because such weakness and compromise would let the other side see through your true condition, and since you are willing to agree to such humiliating terms, it naturally means you have no worthy troops at home, you completely dare not fight.

If that's the case, why would I retreat?

Why not simply annihilate your nation, plunder your cities, then at that time any amount of gold, silver, treasure, and female slaves will be at my whims? Why should I still be negotiating with you?

And many fail to grasp this simple logic, hence believing that the Wei River Covenant must surely have been an agreement filled with humiliation, that it must have given the Turkic people substantial benefits in exchange for their retreat.

They do not understand, when you offer the Turkic people enough benefits, they are even less likely to retreat.

Thus, returning to the true essence of the Wei River Covenant.

Before signing this covenant, Emperor Taizong had certainly made all necessary preparations for warfare.

He first dispatched Yuchi Jingde to attack, defeating a detached force of the Turkic and killing one of their generals, all while preparing for battle, and he might have even devised a plan to assassinate Jie Li Khan.

After making sufficient preparations, he then strongly approached Wei River, displaying unparalleled strong confidence that instilled fear in the Turkic people.

And the Turkic people were already aware of Emperor Taizong's strength.

It was said that back when Emperor Taizong was pacifying Liu Heita, he encountered the Turkic people. His response was to shoot back directly with large arrows.

The strong bows and large arrows of Emperor Taizong were several times stronger than ordinary ones, even his arrows were several times thicker than normal arrows.

After receiving the arrows shot by Emperor Taizong, the Turkic people passed them around among themselves, considering them to be "divine."

Furthermore, with the illustrious military achievements Emperor Taizong made during the hunt through the Central Plains, the Turkic people were well aware of his renown.

This was precisely why the Turkic people dared not confront him directly, always avoiding his sharp edges.

The premise of a bluff strategy is that you must be impressive enough yourself that the other party believes you to be a military genius, inevitably with an ambush.

If you're not well-known and still attempt a bluff… Well, that's just not knowing how you're going to die.

Like during the Jingping Incident, would Emperor Yingzong dare to employ a bluff?

The Jin soldiers would not suspect any deceit; they would just attack without hesitation, resulting in the ridiculous scenario reminiscent of the invincible divine troops.