The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 226 Fighting Spirit Burning
This year is definitely not a good year for the land of the Central Plains. Li Mi and Wang Shichong have been confronting each other for nearly half a year in the Xingyang area. Since the beginning of the year, the two armies have been in Xingyang, and they have developed from small fights to life-and-death struggles. They did everything they could, piled up soil and shot arrows, dug tunnels, piled up firewood and burned the city... In short, all available methods were used.

Although Wang Shichong had few soldiers, he was extremely resilient. Li Mi's hundreds of thousands of troops took turns to fight for more than half a year, but they dragged themselves hard enough. Not only Huang Junhan, Cheng Yaojin, Xie Yingdeng and other dozens of generals were captured, but also Liang Dao He was attacked several times by Wang Shichong, which made Li Mi grit his teeth, but there was nothing he could do. Xingyang Jindi Pass was managed by Wang Renze, like a tortoise shell. Several storms failed, and Li Mi finally had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​storming .

This is not when the Wagang Army hastily entered the country and plundered the people, and was beaten away by Yang Yu. Wang Shichong was obviously prepared for this battle. Since he arrived in Luoyang, he has consciously strengthened the strength of Xingyang. All kinds of defense equipment are available.

After several fierce battles, the two sides have temporarily entered a reconciliation period. Unfortunately, Wang Shichong can afford to wait, but Li Mi's military rations have already begun to run out.

There are two root causes: one is excessive fighting. Since Zhai Rang Yu Daye’s 12-year uprising until now, the war has continued and there is no chance to rest. The civil and military officials in the local area are extremely bandit. The way of plundering and plundering; the second is to resort to military force. After conquering Luokoucang, it often maintains an army of 40. The daily consumption is an astronomical amount, which becomes a heavy burden. It took less than three months to lose 10,000+ troops. It has risen to 40. This is not Li Mi's intention, but the generals of various factions. Annexing one or two small 'warlords' is okay, but if the whole army stacks up, the generals of each army will definitely resist collectively.

This is also the hidden danger left behind when Luokou Cang announced the release of grain to the world, and the powerful and anti-kings of the counties came to vote. Although it gained momentum at the time, it also became the biggest difficulty in reform.

Facing Wang Shichong, who is few and outnumbered, fighting to the death, Li Mi thinks it is a miracle that he has been able to fight until now.This is ridiculous, but it also shows the difference between the army and the army.

After he was blackmailed by Wang Shichong and took away 60 tans of grain, the grain from the autumn harvest was almost gone. If he didn't think of a way, the army's morale would be weakened by the lack of food. If Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, and Du Fuwei jointly attacked, it would really be over.

"King Wei!" Just as Li Mi was thinking about these things, Shan Xiongxin, Xu Shiji, Wang Bodang, and Fang Xuanzao walked into Li Mi's official room.

"Why are you all here?" Seeing the four of them, Li Mi forced a smile on his face, and sat down while supporting Xu Shiji, who was still seriously injured.

Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiji were originally Zhai Rang's hardcore supporters, but Zhai Rang is like a small commoner who gets rich and peaceful, which disappointed the ambitious Shan Xiongxin and Xu Shiji. Changing, the two also admire his courage and vision, and think that Li Mi is a hero who can do great things, compared to Zhai Rang, who is far inferior.

But when Zhai Rang and Li Mi were fighting at the beginning, the emotional two still favored Zhai Rang. At that time, they thought that Zhai Rang was kinder than Li Mi, and he was not as vicious and cunning as Li Mi. That is the biggest difference between the two.

After Zhai Rang was killed in battle, the two who had no sense of loyalty, under Li Mi's efforts to win them over, took it as a matter of course to vote for it. After their identities changed, the two felt that Li Mi's "insidious and cunning" was a must-have for a hero. , is a necessary quality for superiors.Now both of them are highly valued by Li Mi.Together with Wang Bodang, he became Li Mi's direct line general.

At this time, Li Mi sighed: "The four of you came together, but to persuade me not to use troops against Dou Jiande?"

The four looked at each other, Qi Qi shook their heads, Fang Xuanzao frowned and said, "How could your Highness have such a weird idea? Although our army is exhausted at this time, it is more than enough to deal with Dou Jiande. Our army is not as powerful as before. If we let him Dou Jiande's siege and plunder, some generals may have second thoughts. If Dou Jiande is allowed to develop, our rear will be unstable and the morale of the army will be turbulent. Once we are defeated for a while, we only need Dou Jiande to send people to charge, and I am afraid that it will immediately become a rout. .”

"It's just that there is not enough food in the army at the moment. If we continue to fight, I'm afraid our army will mutiny within a month!" Li Mi smiled helplessly: "The battle of the army is too expensive. It's not that I don't want to fight, but that my strength doesn't allow it." .Excessive war is militarism, which will cause great harm to the country and the people. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made great achievements externally, but internally it was "wasted at home, and the household registration was halved", and the land under our rule was originally the richest in the world. However, the world was in chaos. First, there was the tyranny of Emperor Wu of the Sui Dynasty, and the people were in dire straits. Later, there were riots, and the separatists attacked each other. The people were killed and injured. In order to survive, they all fled to the north. Although it is not common to say that nine out of ten It’s empty, but it’s almost completely uninhabited.”

Fang Xuanzao is right, and Li Mi is right here too.

The facts are actually like this. The main battle can develop the economy and make the country strong, but it makes a country's combat power weak; Both sides have advantages and disadvantages.

Li Mi had a struggling expression on his face. He wanted to fight, but he was also worried about harming Baixin and hurting Wei's economy.

"Your Highness, there may be a way to solve the crisis of food and grass!" Uncle Wang's eyes flashed a fierce look: "Just give me a thousand elite soldiers, and within three days, I will be able to gather food."

Li Mi turned his head to look at Wang Bodang, he naturally knew where the food Wang Bodang was talking about came from, it was nothing more than exploiting the powerful families in the territory, he frowned and said: "This is not good."

Uncle Wang said: "Those who achieve great things should not stick to trivial matters!"

"I agree!" Xu Shiji coughed a few times, and said: "Our soldiers were forced to revolt by the Sui Dynasty and the aristocratic family when they had no way out, so we were forced to revolt. Pleading for the people is our original intention, and it is also the foundation of our life. Now with the influx of aristocratic families, we have become farther and farther away from ordinary people. Without the support of the people, how long can we hold on?"

Xu Shiji did not target Li Mi personally, because although Li Mi has many problems, he is quite simple and thrifty.It's just that he is a descendant of the "Eight Pillar Kingdom of the Northern Zhou Dynasty", and his bias towards the aristocratic family is too serious, causing many people to say that he has forgotten his origin.What's more serious is that the children of the aristocratic families who have become officials have higher eyes than the top, and look down on reckless heroes like them, thus laying the groundwork for hidden dangers.

As soon as the words were spoken, Xu Shiji had no worries, and he solemnly said: "The power of the aristocratic family in Luoyang was deeply rooted, and Wang Shichong also compromised with the aristocratic family, but the result was notorious and unpopular. He himself, the powerful families and gentry in Luoyang were almost wiped out by him, and the rest fled to our country of Wei. Wang Shichong then faithfully implemented the policy of benefiting the people of the Sui Dynasty. In just a few months, It made Luoyang stable, and it is now the aspiration of all people. Moreover, the family is extinct, but Wang Shichong's money bag has grown a lot, and he has become one of the few princes with potential in the world today. Why is his army willing to replace him? Work hard? Because the army not only fights for Wang Shichong, but also fights to protect the homeland, so they would rather die than surrender. When he passes through this hurdle, he will burst out with terrifying potential! How can we deal with the discord between us?"

Wang Shichong quickly stabilized Luoyang by turning a gourd into a ladle. The period was no more than four months. The speed was beyond everyone's expectations. Moreover, seeing that Luoyang was faintly recovering, Li Mi couldn't help but move his mind, so he followed Yang Dong bought a detailed treatment plan from Dong, but was forced to abandon it after implementing it for a while. Now that Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, and Du Fuwei are all thriving because of it, Li Mi also feels that he should implement it: "Shi Ji said that we should also implement it." Use Yang Tong's strategy of governing the world?"

"The general trend is like this, so I have to. Otherwise, the people under the rule will have to run away." Xu Shiji is very clear about Yang Tong's foresight and foresight. The reason why he dumped various governance strategies on the princes is to let the aristocratic family understand. Even without their support, the world will still operate as usual. When all the princes use his tricks, and when he dominates the world, the resistance from the aristocratic family and the gentry will be much smaller, and the anger of the aristocratic family will be controlled by each. The princes will bear it.But so what if he knew he was being used by Yang Tong?In order to retain the people and stabilize the foundation, can't we just rush forward?

Now the major princes around the Wei state are implementing Yang Tong's strategy of governing the country, and have achieved a lot of results. The two ends of the Wei state lead to the loss of a large number of people and soldiers who do not want to live a life of wandering every day. , If things go on like this, they must be sucked up by the surrounding forces.

"Sir, what do you think of Shiji's discussion?" Li Mi thought for a while, then looked at his mastermind, Fang Xuanzao.

If the governance of the Sui Dynasty can be followed, the people will settle down, but they will also lose many talents.

"It depends on your highness's determination!" Fang Xuanzao sighed, bowed to Li Mi, and said in a deep voice: "Now under your highness, there are already many children from aristocratic families who have joined the government. Five surnames and seven sects have poured in. Your highness If so, I am afraid that these talents will be lost.”

"If you don't do it, the common people will run away! Moreover, reusing the children of the aristocratic family will cause dissatisfaction among the generals." Xu Shiji said.

"That's true." Fang Xuanzao agreed very much, he thought for a while, and said: "We might as well set aside a few counties to reuse and resettle the people, implement the governance strategy of the Sui Dynasty, and then spread it to the whole territory step by step."

"Wonderful!" Li Mi's eyes lit up.

Xu Shiji, who was thinking hard and to no avail, also grinned, and they all fell into a misunderstanding.They all thought that the implementation should be implemented in the whole territory, but they didn't expect that in addition to the promotion of the whole territory, they could also be divided and divided. There are many counties and counties that are almost empty under the rule, and the people are filled one by one, and the interests of the family are not harmed. !

Li Mi's eyes fell on Fang Xuanzao, and he said, "Mr. You Lao sorted out the neighboring counties with convenient irrigation, fertile land, and safe location, and distributed the land to the people!"

"Here!" Fang Xuanzao responded, and then said, "An information about Guanzhong."

"Could it be that the Sui and Tang Dynasties are at war?" Li Mi raised an eyebrow when he heard this.

"Say yes and no!"

"What's the matter? Tell me the truth." Li Mi said with a serious face, pretending to be angry.

Fang Xuanzao said with a smile: "Qin Wang Yang Yu led a team of light cavalry, sneaked into Guanzhong from Pingliang County, and burned the Daxing Palace to the ground. If Li Yuan hadn't seen the opportunity early, he might have been captured alive, but that's all. His sons, grandchildren, favorite concubine and daughter-in-law were all captured alive and sent to Hedong."

"hiss!"

Li Mi took a deep breath and said, "It's so cruel!"

"It's really ruthless!" Fang Xuanzao smiled and said, "Is Your Highness still beating Dou Jiande?"

Li Mi was taken aback, knowing that Fang Xuanzao saw that he was hesitating on the issue of Dou Jiande, and deliberately used this matter to stimulate himself, and said with a smile: "If you don't even dare to fight a little Dou Jiande, how will you face this one in the future?" Tiger. After I defeat Dou Jiande first, I will compete with this tiger."

However, there was no hesitation in Li Mi's eyes, instead, there was a heroic fighting spirit. Yang Tong burned the Daxing Palace, but Li Mi's infinite fighting spirit was aroused.

Wang Bodang said loudly: "Your Highness, do you still want to get food from the family?"

"How can we fight without food?" Li Mi ordered calmly, "Choose those who have a bad reputation! Then, branch off to the aristocratic families who are involved."

(End of this chapter)