The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 480 Li Yuan's Routine

The sky in Xiangyang is like a silver snake, the clouds are dense, the rain is majestic, there are endless desolation and tension

Although Li Yuan decided to go on a personal conquest when he was ready, but the heavens were not good, Li Yuan’s bloodiness aroused by Chai Shao was instantly wiped out by the downpour, but the situation in Li and Tang became more and more difficult day by day, and Nanyang was even more precarious. It must not be delayed.

So Li Yuan repeatedly emphasized that 'everything should be kept simple', but the crown prince was away leading the army, and the emperor suddenly came to him for a personal expedition. Naturally, there would be many urgent matters and important positions that needed to be arranged.

This is also the reason why Li Yuan never left the imperial court when he ascended the throne. If it was changed to the Great Sui Dynasty, Yang Tong would be able to lead his army away with just one word. It is not uncommon for the dynasty. Whether I am in the center of the court, all the officials can perform their duties and manage the military and government affairs of the court in an orderly manner. This is also related to Yang Tong's willingness to delegate power and dare to delegate power!In fact, the Wei State was similar to the Sui Dynasty. Li Mi was also an "emperor" on horseback.

The Tang Dynasty will not work. One is that Li Yuan only trusts his son at critical moments, and now the son who is capable of taking charge of himself is not around. Li Yuan has to be careful about important candidates such as the supervisor of the country and the guard of the imperial capital before the trip. After all, it is not uncommon for people to be entrusted with non-human beings, and it is not uncommon for them to turn into wolves in the end, especially in the unstable situation of the Li and Tang Dynasty.

It took four days to finally find a suitable candidate.

In a hurry, Li Yuan summoned the generals in the army to go to the hall to discuss matters in the middle of the night. All the generals woke up from their sleep and heard that it was the call of the Holy Majesty. How could they dare to resist?After a hasty preparation, he came to the palace.

There are a lot of people present today, apart from the adult clan members, civil and military officials such as Duguzheng, Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Dou Gui, Zhao Cijing, Chai Shao, Feng Shaoshi, Duan Lun, etc. all came.

Sun Shunde, General of Zuo Xiaowei, Dou Cong, General of Youtunwei, Tang Jian, Assistant Minister of Internal History, Liu Shilong, Minister of Honglu, Zhao Wenke, Supervisor of Dushui, Xun, a samurai from the Ministry of Treasury, Li Sixing, General of Hussars, Shi Xu Shixu, Chief of Zuotunwei Wait for all the "Taiyuan Yuanmou heroes" to be listed...Although it is not complete, except for Liu Wenjing, Liu Hongji, Yin Kaishan, Li Gaoqian, etc. None of the civil and military affairs with a little weight will be lost.Make the magnificent hall full of people,

At this time, regardless of martial arts, they all put on bright armors. Under the light of transparent candles, the polished armors gleamed, giving people a grand momentum of gatherings in the army and twinkling stars.

Li Yuan, who hurried up to the hall, was dressed in gold armor and had a sword hanging from his waist. When he saw the shocking scene in front of him, his heart was full of excitement and his face was filled with joy. In an instant, he seemed to return to the years of dancing and burning with passion, and his left hand held the sword tightly around his waist. With a powerful wave of his right hand, he said in a bold voice: "Nowadays, the front line is tight, and every moment is a priceless treasure. Those red tapes have been avoided, and I will not greet you any more!"

Li Yuan's words made people want to scold her!

Why waste four days when you know 'every moment is priceless'.four days!How precious wealth is this?
No wonder some people were so impulsive that they wanted to curse.

Chai Shao believed that the royal conquest was of great importance, and it would not be possible to leave in a short while. In order to avoid delaying the war opportunity, he could send people to Nanyang to arrest Li Shentong first, take over the defense, appease the morale of the army, and actively prepare for the war, so as to provide a safe Nanyang for the emperor's arrival.

This suggestion is very reasonable and practical, and it also takes into account the safety of the emperor, and has been unanimously appreciated and supported by all civil and military officials.However, Li Yuan disagreed.

Although he didn't go into detail about the reason, many people knew what he meant: why should I go to Nanyang when everyone else is doing everything?What else can I do?

But what are the consequences of not listening to Chai Shaoyan?

It was Zuo Tiancheng who marched in the rain and unexpectedly conquered Jutan, Xincheng and other twelve cities, causing all the north of Nanyang to fall, and the flames of war were almost burning to Neixiang County in Xiyang County.

If it weren't for Li Yuan being the Emperor Li Tang who had no way out, 'everyone else can surrender except him', everyone would suspect that he was a spy of the Sui Dynasty.

Li Yuan, who was immersed in the glory of the past, naturally didn't know the various thoughts of the "general" under his rank. After thinking about the past for a while, he finally sat on the dragon chair. It must be because the gorgeous armor didn't fit well. Li Yuan changed his sitting position three times to be safe. , Comfortable, then looked around, and said with a solemn expression: "Everyone, the situation is very corrupt now, and it has reached a critical moment of life and death,... I have decided to go on the expedition myself, but you also know that God is not good, this rainstorm is also I don't know how long it will last, if I sit and wait for the rain to stop, I am afraid that the Sui army will attack outside the city of Xiangyang. Therefore, I decided not to wait! We must send troops as soon as possible. You can say whatever you want, and all the marching plans will be tonight Let's discuss it!"

'You just know'

This sentence emerged in the minds of all the civil and military forces, and everyone was helpless to have such an independent and arbitrary husband.

Helplessness is helplessness, and we still have to think of a way.

Anyone who is qualified to stand in the palace hall has a little bit of military knowledge, even Chen Shuda and Xiao Yu know a thing or two, Pei Ji is even more powerful, he used Li Yuan's phrase of "doing things cheaply" For this reason, Li Shenfu, the coach in charge of Bingbei's defense, was emptied, not to mention, and he became the de facto commander, overthrowing all the reasonable layout of Li Shenfu, and appointing a large number of cronies, thus opening the door for Li Tang to lose again and again. , although he was defeated and returned by the Sui army with all his hair shaved off and nine scars branded on him, but no matter what, he was a commander in the past, and he had a little bit of military common sense. Ever since his eldest son, Lawyer Pei, tragically died in the Daxing Palace incident against Yang Tong, he has aged a lot, and he is not as aggressive as before in court.

Orthodox literati still know about military affairs, and real generals are not good at it. In this troubled world, people are not as good as dogs. As warriors, they have a few lives in their hands. , how well he has survived until now, that is his skill.

Now that the national crisis is imminent, none of the civil and military officials dare to joke about such a matter of life and death. Everyone's attitude is full of prudence, and they quickly get to the point according to Li Yuan's request.

"Qizou Shengshang, since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince took away [-] cavalry, the Ministry of War has dispatched troops to defend Xiangyang in a timely manner. Regardless of the Jinwu Guard and other soldiers maintaining local stability, there are about [-] cavalry that can be mobilized at any time!" Li Yuan's confidant The important minister Zhao Cijing was the first to respond. He is not only the Minister of War, but also one of Li Yuan's sons-in-law.

"8 people is really too few." Li Yuan was silent for a long time after listening, and then said surprisingly: "My Tang Dynasty is Yang Tong's first-choice enemy. Difficulties, only 15 soldiers and horses are not enough to defeat the enemy!"

As soon as this remark came out, not only the ministers lost their voices immediately, but even many veterans fell into a trance.

What is the concept of a hundred thousand soldiers and horses going out?
It is to withdraw all the combatable soldiers in the entire Xiangyang County, but take all the troops away, what kind of elite troops will be used to ensure the safety of Xiangyang?
Among the civil servants, Dugu understood Li Yuan's deep meaning in just an instant, and if he wiped out all the elite teachers in Xiangyang, then he naturally didn't have to worry about the fire in the backyard.Although he guessed Li Yuan, he just smiled and closed his eyes to think, giving the impression that he was thinking about countermeasures.

"Your minister!" Just when doubts appeared on everyone's faces and they were about to question, Zhao Cijing, who had been in a good mood with Li Yuan earlier, replied again, and solemnly said to the emperor and all the ministers: "Since the cessation of conquest of all ethnic groups outside the territory, Yang Tong has Planning this battle here, the military reform has been going on for more than a year, and there are four major armies in Lintao, Hanyang, Hanchuan, and Shangluotun in the north of Datang. The division of Zhan can attack the border at any time. Fortunately, the Dangchang, Wudu, Qinghua, and Xicheng counties that are facing him are well defended. This has repeatedly defeated the opponent's tentative attacks and made him calm down. The four armies have not changed yet, but there is no guarantee that they will not go south. Therefore, our army should concentrate its superior forces as soon as possible, and win the southeast war as quickly as possible in the shortest possible time. Send elite troops to strengthen the northern defenses."

This is an indelible fact, so it has been recognized by many veterans in the army, even if he has his own ideas, Duguzhen has nothing to say.

"The Sui army, with Yang Shanhui, Luo Shixin, Xue Wanjun, and Qin Qiong as the main generals, seized our land from Shangluo, Henan, and Fuyang respectively. Qin Qiong's army even conquered Nanyang County, causing all the land north of 'Xincheng-Nanyang' to fall. Nanyang is in a hurry! Everyone, if Qin Qiong abandons Nanyang at this time and marches westward with his troops, there will be no soldiers to defend the north of Xiyang's inner village. Once the Waiwu Pass is lost, Xue Wanjun can send troops from Shangluo to join Qin Qiong. There will be as many as 12 elite divisions, and they will be able to continuously provide military and material support from Guanzhong. At that time, they only need to rely on Wuguan and set up camp at the western foot of Funiu Mountain and north of Xishui, and they will be able to stop us from Xiangyang. The division of the army went north, and was able to cut off the way for the crown prince and the king of Jin to go south, so that the two highnesses fell into a desperate situation surrounded by the Sui army. Without the support of the imperial army and food and grass, the situation of the two highnesses can be imagined." There was a sudden silence, only Zhao Cijing's voice kept echoing.

This time, everyone has no reason to object to going out.If you object, you are putting the crown prince and King Jin at risk. If you object, you want to kill the two most outstanding highnesses of the Li and Tang Dynasty. What are your intentions?
Zhao Cijing paused for a while, seeing that no one came out to refute, and then said: "According to reports from the spies, there are thousands of sails and hundreds of boats competing on the Yellow River every day. The power cannot be underestimated. Whether it is an active attack or a strict defense, it will not change the fact that the enemy is outnumbered. The continuous military failures have caused heavy losses to our elite troops in the Tang Dynasty. To put it bluntly, even if an additional 20 troops were added, the ministers would not think it was too much. If the war drags on for another day, our Tang Dynasty will be more dangerous, and to defeat the Sui army's offensive, it will take all the strength of the country! "

All civil and military officials were silent.

The Great Sui was victorious in all battles, and used various methods such as war compensation to blackmail and squeeze the defeated countries. Whether it was Goguryeo, Eastern and Western Turks, or the Central Plains princes such as Li Yuan, they all suffered from it, and even more despicably used old money to empty the major forces. With the supplement of these materials, the Sui Dynasty became stronger and richer... All in all, the national power of the Sui Dynasty flourished with a series of military victories, and then fed back to the army. The pressure on the Li-Tang border increased greatly. For these, Anyone who had contact with the Sui Dynasty felt the same way!
But there are also some people with wide-eyed eyes and unbelievable expressions. In this era, the traffic is blocked and communication is inconvenient. In addition, the Li Tang court deliberately played down the consequences of defeats. Some people did not realize the situation of the Li Tang Dynasty they are loyal to until now. It's so bad, they now have a feeling: Li Tang was pinned to the ground and beaten before the Sui army had time to take it seriously.

What Zhao Cijing said may be a little exaggerated, but it is also true. The current Sui Dynasty stomped a little bit, and the Li and Tang dynasties who suffered from it must be vigilant!
Li Yuan expected that no one would stop him, so he said: "Some people say that I did not follow the request of the king of Jin to expand the army by 30. I was conservative and irresponsible in ignoring Li Tang's real situation! In fact, do I not want to expand the army by 30? I think about it, I dream about it. But according to the current national strength of my dynasty, I have no power... In recent years, my Tang Dynasty has conscripted soldiers one after another to resist the tyrant Sui Dynasty, but the tyrant Yang Tong never gave us a chance to breathe. It is normal for the newly recruited army to lose to the well-trained tiger and wolf division! It is no wonder that the soldiers fighting in front... If our Datang treasury is full, we will be able to recruit young and strong, and train uninterruptedly in the four seasons. It's not that there are no soldiers to use. Speaking of it, every word is full of tears."

"Fortunately, I have made preparations. There is another good year in Sichuan, and the harvest is very objective. Otherwise, there would be no need to fight this battle! If you want soldiers but no soldiers, money and no money, and food but no food, everyone should just surrender. But the problem is that Yang Tong won't give us a chance to surrender. If we surrender, we will die, and if we fight, we will have infinite chances. Do you think this is the reason?" Li Yuan's tone was slightly melancholy, but there was a teasing look on his face, He was mocking the selfishness of the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty, who only had a family in his heart but no country.

"Qi Zou Holy Majesty! Although I am young, I have also read a lot of poetry and books. Under the teaching of my father, I know that there is a country to have a family. At this time of national crisis, I donated [-]% of the family property on behalf of the father as military funds. " Li Daoyan, the prince of Huai'an, spoke out at the right time and generously donated money, which can be said to be concerned about the country and the people.

"Okay!" Li Yuan clapped his hands and said, "As expected of the younger generation I rely on, you really lived up to my expectations. Now I make you the king of Jiaodong and the governor of Longzhou."

"Thank you for your grace!" Li Daoyan wept with joy.

The civil and military ministers understood everything. No wonder the emperor did not make a conclusion on Li Shentong's case, and let Li Shentong be his king of Huai'an and the commander of the Nanyang army. It turned out that the two sides had reached an understanding long ago.Li Shentong is greedy by nature, and [-]% of his family property is not a small amount. Now it is used to buy a title of county king, which can be regarded as his family. There must be some stories that outsiders don't know.

"My lord, I don't want the king of Jiaodong to be more beautiful than before, so I would like to donate half of my family property as military funds." Zhao Cijing smiled.

Chai Shaodao: "As a general of the Li Tang Dynasty and half of the royal family, the Tang Dynasty and the future will be both prosperous and injurious. However, with Yang Tong's tyranny, once our dynasty loses, the country will be ruined and the family will be destroyed in the end. Instead of letting the family property fall into the hands of the tyrant, it is better to use it as military funds, and the final general will also donate half of the family property."

Master Feng said: "As a member of the aristocratic family, both the Tang Dynasty and the future will be prosperous and all will suffer... The final general is also willing to donate half of the family property."

Duan Lun spoke impassionedly, and finally said: "The general is willing to donate half of his family property..."

……

The royal relatives and relatives all stood up, and one or two expressed their willingness to donate half of the family property.With a smile on his face, Li Yuan skillfully praised him.

Manchao Wenwu's complexion became quite ugly.They all found Li Yuan's routine, and the shameless routine came again, but what can they do if they understand?

What the sons-in-law said made sense. Now that everyone is on the pirate ship, there is no way out. Once Li Tang's rotten ship sinks into the sea, it will not end well.After all, Emperor Yang Tong of the Sui Dynasty is a murderer without blinking an eye. He is not like the previous emperors, who can treat families with hedging bets generously. His positioning of the enemy is quite simple and rude. As long as one person in your family holds a position , then your whole family is his enemy, this is the positioning of ordinary people, there is still a way to survive, and the punishment is acceptable; All of them are Yang Tong's unending enemies.

Those present are not aristocratic families, they are inextricably related to the aristocratic family. Once it falls into the hands of Yang Tong, even if you survive, you will have to go to the frontier fortress to undergo cruel labor reform, and you will not be able to return after three or forty years. But those present People, even if they live in a superior environment, few can live for another 40 years. If they are sent to do heavy work such as digging roads, three or four years will be good.

And why did Li Yuan dare to use this method again and again to squeeze various families?Don't even bother to change words?Why did the various aristocratic families close their doors angrily and yell at Li Yuan, but still donate money to him with a smile on their faces?It's not that there is no way out.

Li Yuan gave everyone the feeling now, no, he was just a rogue, and his idea was 'I can't raise soldiers if you don't give me money and food, I failed and died miserably, and your whole family will die too'.

As the saying goes, 'It's better to live than to die'. Under the premise that there is still a chance of life, no one wants to die!So every time facing Li Yuan's shameless blackmail, after everyone scolded them, they would obediently give money, food and things. The only difference was that the amount of "donation" was different each time. Long-term blackmail, no matter how rich a family is, there will be times when he swallows it up.

But so what?
Facing Li Yuan's smooth routine again, the two of them bit the bullet, gritted their teeth and reported their own numbers, trying to report as little as possible, how much is a number, right?
Li Yuan didn't mind, he smiled and praised, how much is a number, right?He accepted them all with a smile, and skillfully handed out various titles according to the amount donated!

Ordinarily, many ministers who are used to it should be able to frankly face the rare "tacit understanding" between the monarch and his ministers, and they also thought that their self-cultivation was perfected by Li Yuan, but when they reported the numbers, they were all still half-dead with anger... In the end Could it be that the representatives who were "excited" so "grateful" and blushing were honored by the ancestors, and the descendants kowtowed for their grace.

(End of this chapter)