Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

From the very beginning when he chose the River East and Taiyuan routes to invade, until later when he directly headed south through the Wei River valley, approaching Chang'an; from initially avoiding confrontation with Lord Qin upon meeting him and choosing to fight other generals first, to beginning to attempt a standoff with the strongest force of the Liang Dynasty, Lord Qin, on Wulong Slope.

It can be said that every step Jie Li Khan took was in preparation for bringing down the Liang Dynasty as much as possible.

By the time of the Pact of the Wei River, Jie Li Khan's capabilities, insight, and projection of military force were without any issues; this long-distance raid striking directly at Chang'an could be considered a textbook example of how the northern nomadic tribes conducted warfare.

Had there been a more mediocre emperor, even if the city of Chang'an could hold, it's likely that the entire Guanzhong plain would have been wantonly trampled under the hooves of the Turkic people.

If the Turkic had won a great victory, then Jie Li Khan's prestige would have rapidly soared, and his position would have been further solidified.

But he had the misfortune of meeting the bane of his life.

Perhaps only Dou Jiande could understand such helplessness.

Li Hongyun thought for a moment. If he truly put himself in Jie Li Khan's position, without any supernatural advantages or prior knowledge of the future, he would most likely have made the same choices as Jie Li Khan.

Whether it was on Wulong Slope or by the banks of the Wei River, amidst the fog of war that hindered him, Jie Li Khan made what he believed were the most prudent choices with the highest chances of victory.

But with this, he had also completely lost his chance.

Of course, even if Jie Li Khan truly lost his sanity and decided to gamble at all costs, it's not certain that the course of history would have changed significantly.

After all, Jie Li Khan's failure was not merely a matter of making one wrong decision.

What was showcased in the contest between the two sides was a comprehensive crushing of intelligence, psychology, and military strength.

After the Pact of the Wei River was established, the Turkic people did not head south again for the whole three years.

This was certainly due to the gradually emerging internal conflicts among the Turkic people, but a more important reason was that the Pact of the Wei River had thoroughly shattered Jie Li Khan's prestige.

If during the conflict at Wulong Slope, Lord Qin, leading his elite cavalry through the rain, forced Jie Li Khan to retreat, stabbing deeply into his prestige, then the Pact of the Wei River was like smashing Jie Li Khan's prestige with a hammer.

Chiefs of various tribes crossed the bridges over the Wei River one after another to pay their respects to Emperor Taizong of Liang, leaving only Jie Li Khan on the opposite bank, which already reflected a critical point: Jie Li Khan's prestige and control were seriously insufficient.

Obviously, after several years of repeated invasions to the south and repeatedly returning empty-handed after being thwarted by Lord Qin, the chieftains of various Turkic tribes had come to understand a fact.

Since you, Jie Li Khan, did not dare to attack when you were at your strongest and the Liang Dynasty was at its weakest, and couldn't accomplish anything—your 200,000-strong army was just taking a trip to the Wei River—then any future military action of yours would naturally also be fruitless.

So, even if Jie Li Khan refused to accept defeat and wanted to gather a large army to head south again, whether those tribal chiefs would still listen to him was now a big question mark.

That year, Emperor Taizong of Liang was twenty-eight years old.

The power dynamics between the Liang Dynasty and the Turkic had completely reversed.

The ministers of the Zhenguan Era began to diligently administer and train their troops, providing relief to disaster-stricken people amidst continuous natural calamities, restoring production, and at the same time, constantly attempting to divide the Turkic tribes, preparing for the war of annihilation that could start at any time.

On the side of the Turkic, Jie Li Khan's reputation collapsed completely, many tribes refused to submit and began to defect in droves, and even quite a few tribes directly switched allegiance to Emperor Taizong of Liang, whom they regarded as their Khan.

The entire order of the steppe began to reshuffle, laying the groundwork for the later war in which the Liang Dynasty would annihilate the Turkic.

…

Li Hongyun's vision cleared the second obstacle.

He felt himself getting closer and closer to the core of this historical segment.

With renewed effort, he directly touched the third layer of dark energy.

This time, instead of showing a specific year, Li Hongyun's vision remained godlike, hovering over Chang'an, and focused on a very crucial area.

The Xuanwu Gate.

The previous trip Li Hongyun made to the Wei River to establish the treaty with the Turkic people was through the Xuanwu Gate, in the company of Fang Xuanling and others.

The Xuanwu Gate was originally built by the previous dynasty; it was the north gate of the Da Xing Palace. When it came to the Liang Dynasty, they renovated the Da Xing Palace into the Taiji Palace, opening two gates on the north side, with the Xuanwu Gate located to the west, and the Anli Gate to the east of the Taiji Palace.

The Xuanwu Gate stood on the elevated ground of Longshou Slope, next to the Western Inner Garden, overlooking the imperial city, commanding a strategic vantage point over the Taiji Palace.

It can be said, to control the Xuanwu Gate was to control the Taiji Palace; to control the Taiji Palace was to control Chang'an; and to control Chang'an meant controlling the entire country.

At this moment, the game kept showing intricate details of the Xuanwu Gate, indirectly hinting—or rather, explicitly indicating—the objective of this stage to Li Hongyun.

Clearly, what he was to experience next was the historically famous Xuanwu Gate Incident.

The Xuanwu Gate Incident proved to be one hurdle Emperor Taizong of Liang could not avoid.

"Who am I going to play this time?

"Directly as Lord Qin?

"Or as his opponents, the Crown Prince and Prince Qi? Or perhaps, as Emperor Gaozu of Liang?"

To Li Hongyun's surprise, unlike before, his vision did not possess someone directly; instead, it remained in a godlike perspective, circling over the entire Chang'an.