The trend of Arab expansion to the east has always been very strong, which created a serious conflict with the interests of the Tang Dynasty. On the surface, the Battle of Talas took place during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, but in fact, the contradictions between the two sides had long reached the point of irreconcilability.
The period of Tang Gaozong coincided with the rise of Arabia and the rise of the Tang Empire. In the 7th century, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty succeeded in unifying the great cause, with the help of natural disasters, quickly resolved the Eastern Turkic threat, and invaded the Western Regions, achieving a military presence.
The Tang Dynasty's rule in the Western Regions was basically stable, and the canonization of the Persian prince as the king of Persia meant that the two powerful forces had been opposed.
The collision of the Tang Empire with the Arab Empire: The Arabs continued to advance eastward, capturing Samarkand, the capital of the Tang Dynasty's vassal state of Kang, which was undoubtedly a challenge to the Tang Dynasty's dominance in the Western Regions.
So, why didn't the Tang Dynasty fight back? Is it because of fear? Of course not. Behind the Tang Dynasty was a difficult opponent - Tubo. Therefore, I would like to say that there are two and a half hunters in this hunting ground in Central Asia, and this half is Tibet.
Because of the Western Regions at that time, the protagonist was not Tubo, although Tubo later became the protagonist for a long time. The rise of Tubo also set its sights on the fat of the Western Regions, and once captured the four towns of Anxi, making the Tang Dynasty face the dilemma of being attacked on both sides.
In this case, it was natural for the Tang Dynasty to first address the threat behind it, and then to compete with the Arabs. In addition, during this time, Arabia was also mired in civil strife and could not continue its eastward expansion.
Thus, in the 7th century, there was no substantial conflict between the two.
1.After 20 years of repeated contention, the eastward expansion of Dashi finally led to the re-establishment of the four towns of Anxi. The Arabs also freed their hands at this time and continued to advance eastward. After the Tang Dynasty resolved the Turgish issue, the last buffer zone with Arabia disappeared, and conflict was inevitable.
2.The ambitions of the Tang Dynasty swelled, and the countries of the Western Regions gradually rebelled. However, the Tang Dynasty's military presence in the Western Regions had been close to a hundred years, and the ruling institutions were stable and mature, and the Western Regions countries were accustomed to the rule of the Tang Dynasty and were relatively obedient.
However, the autonomy of the border military generals of the Tang Dynasty was too large, and Gao Xianzhi, as a general guarding the Western Regions, had strong military ability but was greedy, and he punished the wealthy Shi State militarily on the grounds of not abiding by the "courtesy of the vassals", so that the imperial court recognized him, but caused unease among the countries of the Western Regions.
Gao Xianzhi (stills) Under his brutal rule, the prosperous country of Shiguo quickly turned into a purgatory on earth. What is speechless is that even though Shiguo had surrendered and the king was escorted to Chang'an, Li Longji did not hesitate to kill him.
This disrespect for small countries exposed the ambition and arrogance of the Tang court. However, Gao Xianzhi's brutality was not without a counterattack. One of the princes of the Stone Kingdom managed to escape and spread the word about Gao Xianzhi's actions, causing people to fear that they would be wronged.
In search of protection, these small states began to seek the powerful Black Food as a backer, further increasing tensions between the two powerful empires, and the conflict between the two sides was on the verge of breaking out.
It turned out that the defeat of the Tang Dynasty army in film and television dramas was not caused by the defection of pig teammates, but because of the failure of an expedition. So, how was this expedition launched?
Let's take a look at the record of the "Zizhi Tongjian". According to records, after Gao Xianzhi learned the news that the small country had asked Da Shi for help, he did not hesitate and immediately organized 30,000 Han troops and Fan troops, preparing to take the initiative to attack.
Despite the strength of the Great Eat, Gao Xianzhi was still confident in this expedition, believing that 30,000 men would be enough to solve the problem.
The Tang Army and the Great Food Army met after a arduous trek, and the Great Food Army had an army of more than 200,000 troops, far surpassing the Tang Army in strength. The two sides fought fiercely for many times, and although the Tang army was inferior in numbers, the formation was stable and once had the upper hand.
However, just when the Great Food Army was helpless, there was a problem within the Tang Army, and the Grolu Department suddenly defected, and the Tang Army suffered from the enemy. As for why the Grolu tribe defected, it may be that they have been oppressed for a long time and do not want to lose their lives here.
Despite this, the Tang army still held its ground and showed a tenacious will to fight.
In the Battle of Talas, although the Tang army was scattered by the Great Food Army, Gao Xianzhi was able to lead his troops to break out of the encirclement, which is enough to prove that the Tang army is strong. Although in the end, only a few thousand people of the Tang army were killed, which was in stark contrast to the disparity in strength of the Great Food Army, Gao Xianzhi left calmly and did not organize the strength to fight back.
The impact of this war was not as great as one might expect, but was discussed more in the West. This is because this war was the only large-scale contest between the Arabs and the Tang Empire, and it was a collision of two powerful empires.
Unfortunately, the war did not come into the eyes of the supreme rulers of both sides and had limited influence on both sides. In the Tang Dynasty, the wars against the Khitan, the Xi people, and even the Nanzhao during that period were defeated, and this defeat in the far Western Regions did not have a great impact on the strength of the Tang Dynasty.
The enemy's weak but repeated defeats are tempting us. We should search the mountains and forests to the left and right. Feng Changqing took his advice, and sure enough, he found an ambush, defeated the enemy, accepted their surrender, and returned.
In other words, after Gao Xianzhi's defeat in the Battle of Talas, Feng Changqing, as his successor, soon led an army on an expedition against the Great Bolu Kingdom and achieved a great victory. If the Battle of Talas had had a significant impact on the Tang Dynasty's military power in the Western Regions, it would have been absolutely impossible for Feng Changqing to regain such a strong strength in a short period of time.
In addition, there are a few things that can be used as evidence. In 752 AD, An Lushan mobilized more than 100,000 troops to carry out a large-scale conquest of the Khitan; In 753 A.D., Geshuhan defeated the Tibetan army and recovered all of the Yellow River.
These large-scale military campaigns showed that, despite the defeat at the Battle of Talas, the foreign policy of the Tang Empire was not greatly affected.
Feng Changqing: Then why do I say that the Battle of Talas was the farewell of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions? Because shortly thereafter, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, and the Tang Dynasty no longer had the ability to control the entire Western Regions.
The evil consequence of the Battle of Talas was that the international order in Central Asia, with the Tang Dynasty at its core, began to waver. Although the campaign did not have an impact on the foundation of the Tang Dynasty, and even had a limited impact on the rule in the Western Regions in the short term, it brought some problems to the Tang Dynasty in the long run.
The most obvious point is that the Tang Dynasty's long-standing dominance in the Western Regions was changed. After Tang Gaozong completely conquered the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty almost unified the rivers and lakes in the Western Regions, and tens of thousands of Tang troops firmly controlled the entire region.
However, the advent of the Great Eclipse broke this pattern, and the small states of the Western Regions began to take advantage of it, and the absolute control of the Tang Dynasty was challenged.
After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty's military forces in the Western Regions were transferred to quell the rebellion, and Islamic forces took the opportunity to infiltrate and gradually encroach on the countries in the Western Regions, making them enter the stage of Islamization.
Not only that, but the severance of the Silk Road also deprived the Central Plains of the opportunity to understand the West, resulting in the subsequent closure, which is a huge regret. The situation was grim at the beginning of the Anshi Rebellion, and the prestige of the Central Plains Dynasty was greatly reduced, and even a military victory could not be recovered.
Although Gao Xianzhi's wanton ravages against the small countries in the Western Regions cast a shadow on the image of the Tang Empire, Feng Changqing's long-range raid was still able to defeat the Great Bolu Kingdom, proving the strength of the Tang Dynasty's military power.