The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 443
"Report to the Holy One!" Fang Xuanling said in the official office of Xingluo City: "More than half a month ago, Li Tang sent envoys to meet the King of Wei and invited the King of Wei to form an alliance with Li Tang to prevent the Great Sui from crossing south. The king agreed without thinking about the mystery behind it for a while, but just a few days ago, Li Tang aggressively attacked Luoyang and asked Wei Wang to send troops according to the agreement, and Wei Wang knew that he had been fooled..."

"Excuse me!" Before he could finish speaking, Yang Tong interrupted him, "Luoyang is Wang Shichong's territory, and Qingzhou is Dou Jiande's territory. Are these all within the scope of your common defense?"

"That's not true. What we signed was that one side of the covenant was attacked by the Sui Dynasty, and the other side needed to send troops to assist. As for the territory of Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande, it did not include it. If the Sui Dynasty attacks Bashu, Jingxiang, and Hongnong and Xiangcheng, which Li Tang just captured, we will send troops to defend the Sui Dynasty." Fang Xuanzao said.

"Why did you leak the secrets of your two families to me?" Yang Tong looked at Fang Xuanzao and smiled, "Could it be that Mr. Fang intends to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side? If that's the case, then I welcome you very much. Ling and servants under the door can be easily appointed."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness, but your Majesty has misunderstood it!" Fang Xuanzao also knew that it was difficult to avoid this problem, and he couldn't explain it clearly, because the agreement between Er Li was too targeted, and the hostility was revealed from the moment it was signed. .

Fang Xuanzao's most troublesome question was how to convince Yang Tong that the State of Wei did not have the sincerity to be an enemy of the Sui Dynasty. He thought about it for a long time, and finally came up with a reason that was not a reason.He smiled wryly and said, "To be honest, King Wei didn't want to form an alliance with Li Tang at all, but Li Tang put pressure on us and promised to give us hundreds of thousands of shi for emergency food, so we were forced to agree to form an alliance with him in order to protect ourselves." , but we actually don’t want to be an enemy of Sui, so the lower officials came to explain one or two things to the Holy One.”

"I think I roughly understand what Li Mi means." Yang Tong understood, completely understood, and said with a smile, "Li Mi doesn't want to offend Li Tang, nor does he want to offend Da Sui, but he doesn't want to be neutral, so he borrows the covenant to trick him." Li Yuan's food, and at the same time, he was afraid of angering Da Sui, so he sent Mr. to come here to explain. Is my guess right?"

"That's right!" Fang Xuanzao saw that his younger brother was sitting on the sidelines, so he knew that he couldn't hide it, so he simply admitted it, but his face was burning hot when he met his younger brother's playful gaze.

Yang Tong also couldn't help laughing.

However, he still welcomes Li Mi's swaying left and right, because in this transaction, Li Mi flattered both ends and did not offend, and even got Li Tang's food for nothing.And since I know the details of Li Tang, I can use this gap to make a fuss. It can be said that I am the biggest profiteer, and it is Li Tang who is unlucky.

Having figured this out, Yang Tong smiled and asked, "Then what's your plan? Or, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Returning to the Holy Lord, King Wei's original plan was to send troops out of Dongjun to confront the army of Sui Jijun. Of course, King Wei didn't really want to fight Da Sui, but to find an excuse to avoid Luoyang. Sui's marching speed is too fast, so next we will garrison at the intersection of Chen Liu and Junyi, if the Holy Majesty can let us deceive Li Tang, I will be very grateful." Fang Xuanzao cupped his hands and said.

Yang Tong thought for a while, then said calmly: "I can cooperate with you, but sir also knows that there can only be one emperor in the world, and we will meet each other one day in battle. There is no need to talk about friendship and favor. When I interact with foreigners, What you pursue is to govern the country with emphasis on profit and interests first, although you are not foreigners, you are also enemies in the future, so I hope you will show enough benefits to impress me."

Fang Xuanzao also admired secretly, Yang Tong's words of "governing the country with emphasis on profit" are really incisive. Although it is only four words, it is not a profound truth, but under the social atmosphere where villains value profits and gentlemen value righteousness, a dignified generation of emperors It is really not easy to be able to say "governing the country with high interests" in a grand manner.

Fang Xuanzao pondered for a while: "We really don't have much to offer. When we defeated Yu Wenhuaji, we seized a lot of priceless treasures! Except for using some gold and silver to buy livestock from Tai Sui, the rest We haven't touched any of our belongings. If the Holy Majesty doesn't mind, we are willing to take some out."

The wealth of Yu Wenhuaji is actually the wealth that Yang Guang brought from Ziwei Palace in Luoyang to Jiangdu. Hundreds of large ships were transported, and the gold alone was worth 10,000+ catties, not to mention the priceless jewels and jade, rare objects, calligraphy and paintings of famous people. Speaking of which, this originally belonged to the old Yang's family, so Yang Tong could accept it: "I don't know how much you plan to give me?"

Fang Xuanzao was overjoyed, as long as Yang Tong was willing to accept everything, he quickly said, "The King of Wei is willing to give half of it back to His Majesty."

"I want all the jewels and jades, rare objects, calligraphy and paintings of famous people. Those are the belongings of my royal family, plus [-] catties of gold." Yang Tong said this, and continued: "In addition, I have to add one more condition."

Fang Xuanzao sighed inwardly, Yang Tong really had his own ideas, no matter how much wealth they gave them, it would be useless, if they had known this, they should have listened to his request first, but Yang Tong's lineup was too huge.

Yang Tong occupies the northern land and is supported by countless talents. Even when he is away, he is still surrounded by fierce generals like clouds and counselors like rain. This kind of absolute background is not comparable to that of a hero in the field like Li Mi. Under this majestic atmosphere, Self-proclaimed that the mountain collapsed before him and his color remained unchanged, he was like a country bumpkin, his mind was severely suppressed, and he made a wrong step and a wrong step.

After all, Fang Xuanzao is a person with extraordinary intelligence, and he quickly understood that Yang Tong's formation was completely disturbing his mind, but unfortunately, his cards had already been revealed, and regrets were useless, so he had no choice but to follow the trend: "My lord, please say !"

"Li Yuan is not an idiot, and there are countless capable people under his command. If he pretends to fight, I'm afraid he won't be able to hide it. As for me, I originally wanted to use this battle to recover Dongjun, Jibei, Dongping, Jiyin, Liangjun, Yingchuan, and Huaiyang. Seven counties." Yang Tong said calmly: "Mr. Fang knows that our Sui can force Li Shimin to withdraw his troops through Guanzhong and Bashu, and also knows that our Sui can use [-] troops to contain Li Shimin in Luoyang first, so that he cannot Extricate yourself, any of the above steps, I, Da Sui, can avoid Li Tang, and then send hundreds of thousands of land and water troops to attack Li Mi who is seriously underpaid..."

This is not a threat, but the fact that there is such a plan. Since Yang Tong decided to go south, he has already made preparations to move the defense line southward. Only in this way can the south bank of the Yellow River be connected into one piece, and Qingzhou can be taken unscrupulously.

Of course Fang Xuanzao knew that Yang Tong had this strength, otherwise he would not have tried hard to persuade Li Mi to take advantage of the Sui and Tang Dynasties and lead the main force to develop southward.But along the way, he still found that he had underestimated the Sui army.On his way from Chenliu to here, densely packed Sui soldiers can be seen everywhere, even the county soldiers stationed in small county towns are comparable to Li Mi's elite existence, and it is said that these people are still weak people who have been eliminated. What kind of terrifying existence would it be?

Fang Xuanzao felt horrified at the thought of the hundreds of thousands of troops far surpassing Wei State in terms of number, combat power, and equipment. This also strengthened his determination to persuade Li Mi to go south as soon as possible, because Li Mi did not fight on the plain. There is no chance of winning, and only the south where the water network is criss-crossed can contain the overwhelming iron-blooded cavalry of the Sui Dynasty.

Strength lies there, so Yang Tong's words cannot be said to be a threat.

Seeing that Fang Xuanzao's face was cloudy, Yang Tong said with a smile: "There are many factions in the Wei army, and Li Mi must have a headache too. He exchanged a few counties that were doomed to be unable to defend and was destroyed for a pure Wei army, and Li Yuan's Absolute trust and a lot of food, I think it is quite worth it. What do you think, sir?"

"The Holy Majesty wants too much land, and I don't have the right to agree to it. I will go back and discuss it with the King of Wei. Once the King of Wei agrees, I will give the treasure and the land as soon as possible." Fang Xuanzao knew that Li Mi was in the battle of Jingxiang. , Because of factional issues, he has repeatedly missed good opportunities, and he knows that Li Mi wants to get rid of these warlords in his dreams, but he has no excuses, and he dare not do it himself.It's just that although he was moved by what Yang Tong said, he didn't have the right to decide, and he couldn't tell Yang Tong who to eliminate. After all, it was not honorable to use the enemy to eliminate dissidents, and Li Mi had to nod to do it.

"Li Mi is a smart person, I know he will make wise choices." Yang Tong smiled meaningfully.

"This is what the lower officials are looking forward to!" Fang Xuanzao smiled bitterly, Li Mi regards some factions as if they were attached to the bones, and would definitely agree to Yang Tong's request, he was sure of that.It's just that the land to be relinquished still needs to be negotiated. What Yang Tong asked for was far beyond their tolerance.

Yang Tong ordered: "Allow twenty five-toothed boats to escort Mr. Fang back! By the way, ten boats will be empty."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Fang Xuanzao twitched the corner of his mouth, bid farewell and left.

……

Yang Tong was silent for a while, then sighed, "Li Mi judged the situation and made the decision that is best for him. On the contrary, I never thought of trying to win Li Mi over! I just wanted to use Du Fuwei to restrain him. He is better than me in this regard. Much stronger."

"It's not that Li Mi has a far-sighted vision than the Holy One, but the way of survival of the weak. If the Holy One and Li Mi are placed in a different place, they will rack their brains to survive." Fang Xuanling smiled slightly, and continued: "The Central Plains is the four In the land of war, the Wei army has been consumed too much energy these years. If they occupy Qingxu, they can rely on the Yellow River in the north and the sea in the east to keep the rear safe. Development, even if it can't win the world, but at least it is a big force that separates one side."

"They were delayed by 'the one who wins the Central Plains wins the world'. Both Zhai Rang and Li Mi wanted to dominate the Central Plains, but in the end they lost both with Yu Wenhuaji and Wang Shichong, leading to today's decline. In fact, even Wang Shichong is the same."

"Looking back at Li Yuan, he was actually misunderstood by Guanzhong and Tianxia. Although Guanzhong is in danger, it is also a cage that makes people unable to see the outside world clearly. It is because of this that he blindly seeks greatness. When Bingzhou was not stable, we fought in all directions with Guanzhong as the center, and finally when our army marched westward, we couldn't even send a single reinforcement."

"What's Li Mi's intention?" Yang Tong smiled wryly, that's how Li Yuan played around with the whole world in history.

Fang Xuanling was silent for a moment, and pondered: "In the era when all the heroes of the world came together, after more than ten years of great waves washing away the sand, there are very few left. Now there are those who are fighting for the world's power, none other than Da Sui, Li Yuan, and Li Mi. The rest are not worth mentioning. Among the three families, Li Mi is the weakest. Neither Hebei nor the Central Plains can be plotted...The south of the Yangtze River is criss-crossed with water, thousands of miles of fertile fields, and countless people. Li Zitong and Li Zitong are not wise lords. The people are rich and the country is rich but they don’t know how to save compassion. A wise man thinks of a wise king. If the humble minister is Li Mi and wants to build a long-term imperial career, he must go to the south of the Yangtze River, and then seek survival during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. And development... Wait for the Sui and Tang Dynasties to suffer from both defeats, and then pursue Jingxiang... and then follow the example of Sun and Wu to unite the weak against the strong, and great achievements can be expected."

Yang Tong nodded, and said with some concern: "Xuan Ling's words are extremely true. According to this, Du Fuwei is really in big trouble."

Du Ruhui said: "Du Fuwei can't beat Li Mi, so he can flee west and go south. And if our army advances quickly, it may not be impossible to win the world in one battle."

Yang Tong couldn't help laughing, "I have a lot of family affairs, but I should meddle in my own business, it really shouldn't be."

Pei Renji on the side cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, since Li Mi has two heads, shouldn't Pei Xingyan's mission be changed?"

Yang Tong nodded, and instructed Ling Jing, "Tell Pei Xingyan a copy of this story, and send him [-] slaves from the plains, so that he will be ready to go west and recover Qingzhou."

"Your Majesty!" Pei Renji said worriedly: "The scope of this battle is too large and too wide. I am worried that Xingyan will not be able to take on such an important task. I suggest that Your Majesty send capable people to assist."

"As the Shangshu said...Xingyan really has no experience in commanding such a big battle..." Yang Tong hesitated a little, and then said to Du Ruhui: "Keming will sail eastward immediately to serve as Xingyan's military adviser. We must fight this battle well. .”

"Here." Du Ruhui responded with a bow.

(End of this chapter)