The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 256 Expansion of 40 troops
"Trash, everything is trash."

It was already a month later when Li Yuan learned that the Sui army had secretly set off to go to Goguryeo.

When he heard the news, Li Yuan was furious. It took a month for such important information to pass to Chang'an.

"Father, this matter is due to the fact that the son-in-law is not doing well, and the subordinates failed to inquire about this news in time."

"My lord!" Chen Shuda said at the right time, he got up and said, "Chang'an Daxing Palace, Li Jiancheng looked at Li Yuan with a wry smile. In fact, Li Jiancheng can't be blamed. Their intelligence organization suffered a devastating blow in Yecheng because of the food price incident." , After that, the Sui Dynasty strictly controlled the personnel coming and going, and it was unable to develop for a long time. Moreover, the Fifth Sui Army was not stationed in Yecheng like the permanent army. They entered Taihang Mountain, Yangqu Mountain, Lishan Mountain, Wangwu Mountain, Hengshan Mountain, It is normal for Xiaowutai Mountain, Wutai Mountain and other mountain ranges to attack the remaining bandits and leave Yecheng for a month or two. Because of this, people have become accustomed to the actions of the Fifth Army of the Sui Dynasty, and the intelligence personnel in Yecheng made an empirical error. As for the construction The naval military port in the Bohai Sea, far away from the political, cultural and economic center of the Sui Dynasty, has never been paid attention to. This matter is really not the fault of His Highness the Crown Prince."

Seeing Chen Shuda speak, Li Shimin couldn't help but glanced at his most important adviser, Pei Ji, but unfortunately Pei Ji lowered his head and squinted his eyes, as if he had fallen asleep, and didn't say a word.Li Shimin and Pei Ji have worked together for many years, so they naturally know each other's thoughts: this "little matter" cannot shake Li Jiancheng's position in Li Yuan's mind, and the current Tang Dynasty needs to do its best to the outside world, and it is not the time to pursue responsibility, waiting for many small mistakes When all of them broke out together, that was the time to deal a fatal blow to Li Jiancheng.

"Second minister!" "Second minister!"

After Chen Shuda came out, Dou Wei and Liu Wenjing stood up and agreed. The two of them are now Li Jiancheng's people, so they naturally want to stand for Li Jiancheng.

Xiao Yu sighed slightly in his heart, this is the consequence of conniving at the dispute between his sons and daughters, as the saying goes, since the five of the six phases of the "Zheng Shi Tang" attached themselves to Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, the following civil and military officials have followed suit, although not so much It has developed to the point where one side supports it and the other side must oppose it, but many policies that benefit the country and the people have been delayed or canceled because of party differences.

Although the officials below have little power, they are still ministers. Their strength can still be overwhelming. There is no way, because if the side they are attached to loses and the other inherits the great cause, if they are dissatisfied with the small officials, There was no way to live that day, and because of this, the courtiers below fought quite fiercely.

On the contrary, these high-ranking ministers, although they stand in line, they are not afraid at all, because they are the ministers of the "Zhengshitang". No matter who takes the position, their status will not be threatened too much. No matter how bad it is, keeping the family safe is no problem.Therefore, it is possible to look at the problem objectively.

"It doesn't matter, this is the lack of intelligence in Yecheng, the emperor should learn from it and let them always supervise the actions of Yang Yu and other core personnel." Li Yuan has always been tolerant of his son and the clan.

"My son, thank you, Father!" Li Jiancheng secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

Li Yuan nodded: "What do you think about Yang Tong's expedition to Goguryeo?"

The Xue-Liang Allied Army, Tuyuhun, and Sui Army were like three sharp daggers against the main artery on the head and neck of the Tang Dynasty, making Li Yuan feel like a thorn in his throat and a thorn in his back. He compensated Da Sui without hesitation, no longer entangled with Da Sui, but turned around to deal with the weaker Xiao Xian.

However, the Sui army was too strong, and it frightened him by entering the customs from time to time, so that the Tang army never dared to let go of its hands and feet to fight a battle. Therefore, after entering the customs, Li Tang was always passive, and his hands and feet were tied in both actions and battles.

Yang Tong is now on an expedition to Goguryeo, and Li Yuan feels that his chance has come.Because Goguryeo is recognized as difficult to fight.

In the 17th year of Kaihuang, the Great Sui conquered Chen Guo and unified the world. King Tang of Goguryeo was very afraid when he knew about it, because Goguryeo took the opportunity to annex Liaodong during the civil strife in the Central Plains, and secretly flirted with East Turks and Chen Guo. Interfering in the unification war of the Central Plains dynasty, so I was very afraid of Emperor Wen of Sui's retaliation.So border military defense facilities were built, deep ditches and high fortifications were built, food and grass were accumulated, and the army was prepared for war.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty wanted to be in the world for the first time, and he didn't want to use swords again, so he just issued an edict to reprimand him.The King of Goguryeo was very frightened and submitted a petition to show his obedience.In the second year, Gao Yuan, the new King of Goguryeo, plundered western Liaoning. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was furious after hearing this, and sent Han King Yang Liang, Gao Jiong, and Wang Shiji to conquer Goguryeo with a water army of 30. It was unbearable, food and grass were in short supply, and the navy was also destroyed by strong winds. The Sui army had no choice but to withdraw because of the "eighteen or nineteen dead".

After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he restored brief diplomatic relations with Goguryeo.But in the seventh year of Daye, when Yang Guang went out to visit Zhuojun County, he asked Gao Yuan, the king of Goguryeo, to come to court, and the rebellious Goguryeo people directly rejected Yang Guang.In a fit of rage, Yang Guang launched the Battle of Goguryeo. He sent 110 million soldiers from the whole country to conquer Goguryeo.It's a pity that the sky failed, and Yang Guang was constantly used by the Goguryeo people to delay the army. In addition to the bad weather and the lack of food and grass, more than 40 troops were wiped out south of Sashui.

In the ninth year of Daye, Yang Guang once again personally conquered Goguryeo, which finally aroused Yang Xuangan to rebel and was forced to return to China to quell the rebellion. The second conquest of Goguryeo ended hastily.In the second year, Yang Guang sent troops to conquer Goguryeo for the third time. Although Goguryeo defeated the Sui army many times, but his family was weak, he killed [-] enemies and lost [-], so he couldn't hold it anymore, so he asked to surrender.Yang Guang also went down the donkey, withdrew his troops and returned home.

The Sui Dynasty never took advantage of the above four Goguryeo Wars. Although Yang Tong defeated Liaodong in the "Fifth Goguryeo War", Li Yuan always believed that it was not because Goguryeo was not resistant to war.Because the main force of Goguryeo was fighting Silla in the south at that time, the Sui army had the advantage of manpower and sneak attack.

Now this "Sixth Battle of Goguryeo" is different, because Goguryeo took the initiative to fight this time, they must have made sufficient preparations, how can the prepared Goguryeo army be easy to deal with?It's not to say how strong the Goguryeo army is, but they have the convenience of the right time and place. When the Sui army arrives there, it is difficult to fight freely.Although the strength of Goguryeo is far inferior to before, the Sui Dynasty is not the original Sui Dynasty. Therefore, in Li Yuan's view, the two sides will eventually fall into an infinite confrontation.And this is a god-sent opportunity for Li Tang to rule the world.

"Yang Tong relied on the cavalry to fight the Turks. The Sui Dynasty was well-equipped and there were countless cavalry generals. The combat power of the cavalry was no less than that of the peoples on the grasslands. Naturally, the fight was very fast and very successful."

Xiao Yu participated in the battle of Goguryeo and was familiar with Goguryeo. After explaining the reasons why the Sui army won on the grassland, he continued to talk eloquently: "Goguryeo is different. Goguryeo is surrounded by mountains and seas, with frequent rainstorms and a harsh and bitter living environment. They have absorbed the advantages of our Central Plains and built a large number of strong cities on dangerous terrain. Nine of their ten cities are surrounded by mountains and rivers. Riding horses there is not very useful. Too many war horses will cause huge pressure on logistics. !"

"Xiao Aiqing and I have the same views!" Li Yuan laughed loudly, swept them one by one in front of everyone with high spirits, and then said: "In my opinion, the best way to fight Goguryeo is to advance by land and water. Drag Goguryeo to the front line, and then threaten its capital, Pyongyang, with a navy. So the navy is a necessary force. However, the navy of the Sui Dynasty declined because of Yang Guang’s three conquests of Goguryeo. There are thousands of ships. But the navy is more complicated and difficult to build than the army. If there are no good generals to train, it is useless to have more warships. Zhang Zhenzhou, the commander of the navy in the Sui Dynasty, was just a partial general who came to protect his son, and his ability must have been unexpected Where to go? Therefore, I thought that the Sui Dynasty’s naval forces would not be able to take on important tasks. Goguryeo may not be strong now, but they have a unique geographical advantage. And they are very good at using their own advantages, so they take one step at a time and are not good at defense and counterattack. Only by giving the opportunity to Goguryeo can we seek a chance for a decisive battle. But in this way, the Sui army with a weak navy will be dragged into the quagmire of the war."

"Holy Majesty is wise!"

Pei Ji understood Li Yuan's thoughts, and said from the side: "Goguryeo has always wanted to make a comeback in Liaodong, but they were held back by Silla, so they dared not act rashly. Now my Central Plains is torn apart, and the Sui Dynasty is just one of many princes. Goguryeo thought that the opportunity had come, and their ambitions began to swell. The minister thought that they took the initiative to send troops because they saw the weak successor of the Sui Dynasty."

At this time, Liu Wenjing said slowly: "It is not the first time that Goguryeo took advantage of the internal turmoil in the Central Plains. As early as the Han and Wei Dynasties, the Central Plains Dynasty had always owned the four counties of Liaoxi, Xuantu, Liaodong, and Lelang in Liaodong. Even Pyongyang belonged to the Han Dynasty." Counties and counties, but the Central Plains fell into chaos after the Wuhu chaos, so Goguryeo took the opportunity to expand westward and gradually expanded its line of influence to the east of the Liaoshui River. It is precisely because Goguryeo seriously threatened the security of Youzhou. So after the Sui Dynasty unified the world, it successively extended its power to the east of the Liao River. Goguryeo is in trouble."

"I participated in the third battle of Goguryeo in the Sui Dynasty, and I can understand why Yang Guang didn't destroy Goguryeo at that time, because the Sui Dynasty was full of wars and the court already had the strength to control the population and land of Goguryeo. If Goguryeo was destroyed at that time , In the end, only Silla and Baekje could be cheaper. Therefore, Yang Guang knew that Goguryeo's surrender was unreasonable, but he had to follow the city's donkey's retreat. Yang Tong fought against Goguryeo, no matter what the result, but it can also consume The potential of Goguryeo created the conditions for us to regain our homeland in the Tang Dynasty. The grassland peoples are all powerful for a while, but Goguryeo is different. They have been passed down for nearly a thousand years. When conditions permit in the future, they must be wiped out and restored to the Han Dynasty. Territory, otherwise, this country will definitely become a big problem for our Central Plains."

Everyone was moved by Liu Wenjing's words. They didn't expect that he was considering destroying the kingdom of Goguryeo.

"Don't worry, Zhaoren, I will definitely destroy Goguryeo." After Li Yuan made a solemn promise, he asked again: "I want to know if the imperial court's money and food can support us to recruit another [-] to [-] troops."

In fact, Li Tang's total army strength has reached 35, but Li Yuan wanted to take this opportunity to expand his army, and then put down the Xue-Liang coalition army and Nanke Xiao Xian with lightning speed.After the two sides are safe, the army will be tempered, and Li Tang will have the strength to compete with the Sui army.

However, the key to supporting an army of 40 lies in population, because issues such as soldiers' salaries, supplementary armaments, and combat military resources all require a large number of population to be supplied in the rear.

Generally speaking, raising one soldier with six young adults is the limit, and the exploitation of the people is extremely heavy. It is better to raise one soldier out of ten, but it will be very difficult due to the low production capacity.

But that's it, the 40 army also needs 400 million young and strong to support, and these 400 million young and strong need to support their own families, so after all of them are divided up one by one, the prerequisite for raising a 40 army is that at least 1000 million people are needed.

In terms of the territory and population really controlled by the Li Tang Dynasty, raising an army of 20 is already the limit of five to one. However, the reason why Li Tang has kept more than 30 troops is that apart from the strong support of the Guanlong dignitaries, Still risking economic collapse.So Li Yuan's decision to expand the army to 40 is completely crazy.

Li Yuan also knew that he was taking a risk, and he was very worried, but the battle between the Sui army and Goguryeo was a godsend opportunity for Li Tang to expand his territory, and he really didn't want to miss it. At this moment, he was very conflicted and nervous.

Hearing Li Yuan's intention to expand the army, not only Duguzheng, Dou Wei, Liu Wenjing, Pei Ji, Chen Shuda, Xiao Yu, the six ministers of the "political affairs hall", but also Prince Li Jiancheng and Jin Wang Li Shimin were also frightened.

(End of this chapter)