Originally, the name of this book was "Return to Tang", but I always felt that the name was missing something. After careful consideration, I finally realized that it lacked the grandeur and the magnificent momentum of the Tang Dynasty.

Indeed, since I chose to go before and after the Anshi Rebellion, this book was destined to be a type of farming and living a small life. Many major events occurred from the fifth year of Tianbao to the fourteenth year of Tianbao, such as Xiao Bolu, Shibao City, the Li Yang battle, the An Yang battle, etc., but the major events that really affected later generations were the Anshi Rebellion and the Battle of Talas, one was internal affairs and the other was diplomacy. The former affected China's thousand-year history, and the latter changed the political pattern of Central Asia for thousands of years.

The Anshi Rebellion did not happen by chance, but was inevitable of system deterioration. The most direct reason for the Anshi Rebellion was the collapse of the military system in the mainland, the military government had no soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers were placed on the frontier.

As we all know, the system of government troops is based on the equal-field system. However, large-scale land annexation since the Middle Tang Dynasty destroyed the equal-field system, so the system of government troops naturally had no basis for its existence. In this case, even if there is no An Lushan, there will be Shi Lushan, Tian Lushan, etc.

The consequences of the Anshi Rebellion were two: one was the separatist rule of the vassal states, and the other was the complete loss of the horse-raising base of the Han people. The separatist rule of the vassal states led to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and also led to the emergence of the Song Dynasty, which emphasized culture and neglected military affairs. The loss of the horse-raising base in Hexi and Longyou made the Han people unable to gain the advantage of cavalry and were repeatedly defeated by nomadic peoples such as the Khitan, Jurchens, and Dangxiang. The political and military disadvantage led to the Song Dynasty being eventually destroyed by the powerful Mongols, completely interrupting China's development process.

Let’s talk about the Battle of Talas again. There have been many different opinions on the cause of the Battle of Talas and there is no conclusion yet. However, Lao Gao believes that the Battle of Talas was actually a diplomatic and military conflict caused by the internal affairs of the Tang Dynasty. Because the decline of the Tuqi Shiren gave the Tang Dynasty aspiration to rebuild the Shattered Ye Army. The Tang Dynasty’s strong westward advance would inevitably trigger a counterattack from the Arabs, and eventually led to the Battle of Talas.

In fact, if the Battle of Talas wins, it can completely change the internal affairs of the Tang Dynasty and alleviate domestic conflicts through colonial means. Of course, whether the court is willing to implement it or not is the same.

But if a strong modern person intervenes, will history change? This is where the overview of this book is written.

Having written this, the title of the book "Return to the Tang Dynasty" is indeed less powerful, so "Tianxia" came out. Only "Tianxia" can express the mood of Lao Gao's writing a work that traverses the Eurasian continent.

The general trend of history is inevitable, but history has many accidents. It is these accidents that make history confusing and fascinating.
Chapter completed!