The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 597 Willow Dark Flower Bright Another Village

It was the end of the year at this time, and the heavy snow had finally stopped. The thick clouds over Xiangyang City made the people in the city feel depressed. With the birth of Wu Chuansi and his arrogant and unscrupulous killing style, everyone felt Shrouded in the shadow of death, this Spring Festival was not in a good mood at all, and they didn't even dare to prepare peach charms, for fear that Wu Chuanwei's pawns would use this as an excuse to say that their family was celebrating the great victory of the Sui Dynasty.

Today's court meeting was originally the day when the county guards from all over the country returned to Beijing to report on their duties. Just as everyone was bustlingly reviewing the gains and losses of the year and planning for the next year, Luoyang secret agents suddenly sent an urgent report, saying that the army of the Sui Dynasty would expand by 50 in the coming year. The news shocked Li Yuan so much that he had to suspend the court meeting ahead of time, ordered the local officials to rest in the posthouse, and summoned his confidant ministers to the Wude Hall to discuss countermeasures.

When Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin and the other prime ministers saw this urgent report, everyone's faces were pale and their hearts were terrified.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Yang Tong's expansion of the army by 50 is to prepare for the next year's war. With his inexplicable hatred for the Li Tang Dynasty and his constant targeting, the first choice enemy is Li Tang, who is also a peaceful corner. Yang Tong is so aggressive. , It is really a little respite and I don't want to leave it to the Li Tang Dynasty. Once this news comes out, the government and the people will be in turmoil and panic all day long.

Li Yuan was very worried. He knew that except for the royal family who had to stand on his side consistently, the Guanlong dignitaries, the southern gentry, and the Guandong gentry who followed him on the surface were nothing but grass. , these people not only sent representatives to Luoyang one after another, but their support for him has also changed from going all out to coping and slowing down their work. These people are now unreliable. The dynasty would fall apart, and the heads of the Li clan would surely become tributes to Yang Tong.

Faced with this sudden and important news, the military and political meeting of Li Tang's political party ended in the morning and lasted until the afternoon, but still did not come up with any results. After all the wisdom of everyone, they couldn't think of a solution.

The powerful Sui Dynasty made everyone helpless. Now, except for using comparable strength to fight head-on, any surprise attacks, anti-estrangement strategies, alienation strategies, and strategies to encircle Wei and save Zhao are all ridiculous jokes.But the question is, how can the Li Tang Dynasty, which has only a complete Bashu and a small half of Jingzhou, have a military strength comparable to that of the Sui Dynasty?

Li Yuan was very lustful, became an emperor and indulged in life in the harem, his body had been hollowed out by excessive drinking and sex, the imperial doctor had told him implicitly that if he continued to indulge himself like this, he might be seriously ill within three years.In order to live longer, Li Yuan followed the imperial doctor's advice and began to take care of his body, but he is no longer young, and in addition to the fact that everything has not gone well in the past few years, he has worked hard, so his body is not as good as Dou Gui, who is much older than him , I couldn't bear the physical exhaustion at first, and I have already returned to the imperial study to rest for a while, let everyone continue to discuss countermeasures.

Without Li Yuan's suppression, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin began to argue again. The two brothers expressed their opinions, and they both had reasons, and neither of them was willing to back down.
Li Jiancheng believed that Li and Tang's economy was on the verge of collapse, and explained the actual situation of Li and Tang from the perspectives of government affairs, people's livelihood, and national strength, and advocated sticking to the people and implementing the policy of strategic contraction.

But Li Shimin firmly disagrees with retreating. He believes that once he retreats now, the Sui he will face will be bigger and stronger in the future, and Li Tang will have no strength to stand up.He also thinks that now is the best time to invade Nanjun, because after the Sui Dynasty took over the land donated by Xiao Xian, they cleaned up the officialdom and aristocratic families with iron and blood, making all the counties messy and full of contradictions, plus Li Jing and Du Ruhui , Qin Qiong, etc., who are in charge of civil and military affairs in Luoyang, should concentrate their forces to preemptively strike. With the support of those local tyrants who have suffered from the poison of the Sui Dynasty, they can completely seize Nanjun with lightning speed and send Mianyang, Jiangxia, Baling, Wuling, etc. Twelve counties, as long as this step is completed, then everything in Li and Tang will suddenly become clear, not only can reduce the pressure on Chongling, expand the strategic depth of Li and Tang Dynasty, get more troops, but also connect with Lin Shihong in the east and Feng An in Lingnan, This victory can even boost Li Tang's sluggish morale.

The two brothers won the support of all the prime ministers for their own claims. After the 'reconciliation', they tore their faces in the court for the first time.
"I also know that now is indeed the best time to capture the southern part of Jingzhou, and I want to fight too. But you don't know the difficulties of the court at all. After the salaries of officials and soldiers and the pensions of soldiers who died in battle were distributed, Zuo Zang is now empty, and the stock of copper coins is less than 15 guan , This is still the result of using all the internal funds. If the two-month salary owed to the officials of the court is paid, how much will the 15 yuan be left? The warehouses in all counties and counties have been looted, and even the large and small warehouses belonging to the people themselves The grain has also been embezzled for military use. This year, there have been frequent snowfalls, and many counties and counties have been severely affected, not to mention other counties and counties, even the refugees near Xiangyang, and the imperial court has no money or food to help."

Li Jiancheng on the main hall was full of anger, and said loudly: "Letters from troops stationed all over the country urging food and money to the imperial court are sent to the Ministry of Civil Affairs like snowflakes every day. Officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs are all in a state of distress. Financial difficulties have come to this stage, and the morale of the army that lacks food and clothing is low. According to reports from Xiaogong and Sichang, several incidents of concentrated disturbances have occurred in the Chongling barracks. How can such an army fight again? How can they win? Victory? We must focus on stability at this time. We must wait until we get through the difficulties and the summer grain harvest before considering seizing Jingzhou. This is the most sensible choice. I can guarantee that the result of forcing troops now is that our army will not fight Self-destruct."

"His Royal Highness Jin, I also think that what the prince said is reasonable. You are the leader of the army, and you know that wars are fought with national power. Our national power in the Tang Dynasty really cannot support a war now. Even if we are lucky enough to win the entire territory of Jingzhou , but with our military strength, fighting power and fighting will, we are not at all the opponents of the tiger and wolf divisions of the Sui Dynasty. And money and food. If the army is defeated in Jingzhou, what will we have to defend Xiangyang and Bashu? For the current plan, we can only implement strategic contraction and accumulate strength to watch the weather." Dou Lukuan, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, came out to support Li Jiancheng,
Speaking of which, Dou Lukuan is also a close relative of Yang Tong. He is the son of Dou Lutong, the Duke of Nanchen County in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the nephew of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. Governor of the state.Because of the move of the capital, there was a rift between Li Yuan and the powerful and powerful in Guanlong. In order to appease the powerful and powerful in Guanlong, and split up the Dugu faction and the Dou faction, Li Yuan promoted Dou Lukuan, who belonged to the Dugu faction, as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, in charge of the livelihood of the world, but for Dou As far as Lu Kuan is concerned, the head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who is heavily in debt, is not a good job.

"My minister agrees!"

"My minister agrees!"

"..."

After Dou Lukuan, Pei Ji, Dou Gui, Chen Shuda, and Xiao Yu also clearly supported Li Jiancheng. They were all civil servants, and they must speak from the standpoint of government affairs.This is not a dispute between factions, civil and military, but that Li Tang's finances are very severe, and the almost dry national power cannot support a big war.

Seeing everyone's opposition, Li Shimin, who was helpless, looked at the silent Liu Wenjing, and asked bitterly, "Liu Xiangguo, do you also think we can't fight, or shouldn't fight?"

Liu Wenjing was silent for a while, looked around for a week, finally fixed on Li Shimin, and sighed: "Your Highness's painstaking efforts, everyone can understand! If our army misses this good opportunity, it will be difficult to win in the future. The whole army is afraid of the Sui army. It will only deepen day by day, the morale of the army will even collapse in the confrontation, and the people will completely lose confidence in my Tang Dynasty, but understanding is understanding, and reality is reality. Stay away from the edge. If we forcefully fight on, we will lose the popular support and popularity, but between the military and the public, I value the latter, and the public is the source of the morale of the army."

Speaking of now!

No one supported Li Shimin's adventure. Everyone thought that sending troops to Nanjun was not worth the loss. Tang Jun was lucky to win Jingzhou, and Yang Tong's big report would come soon;So no one wanted to start a war lightly, but everyone knew that this battle was inevitable, and the war was only a little time away. When the Sui army's expansion was completed, it would be the day when the war would resume.

Li Tang, on the other hand, could only watch helplessly as the army prepared for the war, and more powerful combat power came over the city, passively welcoming the arrival of the great war.In the final analysis, the problem is that Li Tang has lost too much. With his current weak family background, he can't bear it no matter whether he wins or loses.And Yang Tong, even if he used 50 lives to fight Li Tang's 10 people, he still won Li Tang in the end.

This is the embodiment of the gap in national strength.

"I understand!" Li Shimin was so bitter and in pain that he couldn't say a word.

The empty hall was dead silent, and a needle could be heard falling.Everyone looked different, thinking about their own thoughts silently.

At this time, an eunuch said loudly: "There is a decree from the Holy Spirit, all ministers can go back to rest first, and His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the King of Qin will go to the Imperial Study Room after dinner."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. From the morning to the afternoon, everyone was tired and hungry. Through this oral order, it was known that the Holy Majesty wanted to mediate the relationship between the Li brothers, so everyone dispersed.

……

But he said that when Li Yuan returned to the imperial study, he wanted to take a good rest, but the rotten situation made him unable to close his eyes at all, so he couldn't sleep, so he sat by the window and stared blankly at a branch in the courtyard. The vigorous plum blossom tree is in full bloom in the middle of winter, but the branches of the transplanted old plum are bare, without buds and leaves.Li Yuan suddenly felt oppressed in his heart, as if he was being pressed down by a ten thousand jin boulder. He really wanted to transform into a dragon, but he couldn't even catch his breath. He felt like he was about to suffocate to death!
Thinking of the winter when he became the master of Guanzhong and Daxing Palace, he was full of vigor and high spirits, and his life and popularity reached the top of the world. Relying on a huge number of troops, with Guanzhong as the center, he divided the battles between Guanbei Liangshidu and Hexi Xue. Ju, Zhu Can of Jingzhou, and Heluo of Dongtu, he knew that as long as he conquered these territories before the end of the war between Yang Tong and the Turks, he would be able to annihilate Yang Tong and Yang Tan with overwhelming momentum, and then rule the world, making Li Tang a A truly great dynasty, and he, Li Yuan, can become Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty who founded the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years.However, Li Tang's army was not as powerful as he imagined, and Xue Ju was not as incompetent as he thought. Not only did no one surrender the city, but they repelled Li Tang's army time and time again. The battle between Li Tang and Western Qin almost ended. It burned to Guanzhong.At the same time, in addition to Li Xiaogong's great achievements in attacking the south, Li Shimin, Li Shentong, Li Shenfu, Li Shuliang, Li Deliang, Li Xiaoji, Chai Shao and other royal relatives and relatives whom he had placed high hopes on were defeated one after another. , when he specialized in Xue Ju.Yang Tong won a brilliant victory in Mayi that attracted worldwide attention. Just when everyone thought that Yang Tong had won a tragic victory, he suddenly invaded Bingzhou, and the battle of Bingzhou led by Pei Ji was defeated so quickly and thoroughly. Shentong, Shi Wanbao and others performed very well in Hedong. However, due to the lack of military support in Guanzhong, they still could not reverse the situation in Bingzhou. The Li Tang Dynasty, which lost the land of Longxing, was very disappointing. Every Sui Dynasty will be defeated, and the defeat will be compensated. The wolf who received Li Tang's money and food is at the height of his power.It has developed so far that the current Li and Tang Dynasty seems to be at the end of its rope.

Li Yuan knew that once he was defeated, it would be an extravagant hope to live in seclusion until the death of Empress Chen, because Empress Chen was an enemy of the Sui Dynasty, and keeping him alive could regain the hearts of the people in the south, and he was Yang Guangji. The trusted minister asked him to stay in Taiyuan at a critical moment, but in the end he betrayed the Sui Dynasty, and Yang Tong would definitely kill him.

"Yang Tong's son is aggressive and has expanded his army by 50. Once the reorganization is completed, Xiangyang and Bashu will inevitably be attacked. What should I do? Do you want to watch Yang Tong act recklessly and wait for death in peace? What should I do...how on earth should I defeat the coming million Sui army?"

Li Yuan was getting older, his health was not good, and he suddenly received such shocking news, he looked even more haggard, as if he had aged many years in an instant.

He looked at the distant sky in a trance. After a long time, his voice became very distant, and there was a trace of unspeakable hatred: "Back then, Duguzheng and Dou Wei told me that although all the heroes in the world rise together, They are all the same as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. They are bandits who can't make a big climate. They are the vanguard of our Tang Dynasty to dominate the world. Their only role is to consume the blood and vitality of the Sui Dynasty. To easily unify the world, even Xiao Xian, Shen Faxing, and Li Zitong would submit to the Tang Dynasty and become my ministers, but the facts have proved that Duguzheng and Dou Wei were wrong, and they were quite wrong. Yang Guang had already buried a I should have known about the chess piece from the time Yang Tong was transferred to Hebei! It's a pity that we discovered it too late, making this piece our biggest threat."

"I have never been able to fight against Yang Guang since I was a child. I am not as good as him in civil and martial arts, I am not as good as him in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and I am not as courageous as him. I should know that he is not so easy to fall. You say... Should I not rebel against the Sui Dynasty? Shouldn't you be the emperor?"

Behind him was only an old eunuch who served him. This person was a person he had grown up with Yang Guang in the past and provided him with a lot of top-secret information.

The old eunuch heard the emperor's words with a sense of depression, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you must not think about it. Yang Tong is domineering, and one day he will be overthrown by the world's family. Now the world's family is concentrated in our Great Tang. With these With the help of talented people, our Great Tang Dynasty will definitely be able to unify the world, and the Holy One should not be overly mournful because of temporary gains and losses. If the body of the dragon is damaged, what should the Great Tang Dynasty do?"

"Hey, aristocratic family? I am a person from a noble family, of course I know what a noble family is. Everyone used to be a noble family, and they joined forces to fight against the Sui Dynasty royal family. When I become a royal family, they will join hands to fight against me again. If I fight Instead, they went to fight the people who took my place. This is history..."

The old eunuch didn't know where to start to answer. He has served the emperor for many years and knows his ambitions well, but for him to say such words, it can be seen that he has no confidence in the confrontation with Yang Tong and is almost on the verge of collapse .

Li Yuan's heart was gloomy. The old eunuch turned his heart and comforted him: "The Holy Majesty must not lose his fighting spirit, otherwise he will surely die! What troubles the Holy Majesty is nothing more than money, food and the army. These problems may not be unsolvable."

"How to solve it?" Li Yuan stared at the old eunuch with burning eyes.

"This……"

"If you have something to say, I won't blame you."

The old eunuch hesitated for a moment, and said: "It's not that the Holy Majesty has no army, the key is that it is difficult to obtain such an army, it depends on whether the Holy Majesty can make up his mind."

Li Yuan frowned and said, "Are you referring to Zhuang Ding of various manors?"

The old eunuch shook his head slightly and said: "When the old slave was still by Yang Guang's side, I never heard him scold the nobles in Guanlong for two reasons: one is that during the disaster years, many nobles hoarded countless money and food in their large manors. However, they kept their food spoiled and their money rotted, and they refused to give out a grain or a copper coin to help the people and share their worries. The second reason is that there are a large number of private troops hidden in each manor. Everyone is planning to rebel against the Sui Dynasty."

Li Yuan knew that the old eunuch was not only referring to the money and food resources of the Guanlong dignitaries in Bashu, but also the people in Zhuangzi. These people were named Zhuang Ding, but their training and equipment were no worse than elite teachers.

This kind of private army is actually a compromise he reached with the Guanlong dignitaries, just like Yang Jian promised the Guanlong dignitaries to keep his parts for the throne.

The nobles of Guanlong started their careers with the army, and they attached great importance to the army. In order to deal with the chaos in the world and protect their private estates from bandits, they recruited many strong men. These people are well-trained and equipped with the same equipment as the previous Xiaoguo army Similarly, there are tens of thousands of people in all the families, and Li Yuan has always been worried about these powerful private troops. Although they are scattered all over the place, if they are gathered together, it is enough for Li Tang Jiangshan to change his name.

When Li Tang was strong before, Li Yuan was not too worried, but the Li Tang dynasty has fallen to this stage, so he is very worried that this army will launch a mutiny at a critical moment, especially now that the Sui Dynasty has made peace with the world's aristocratic families It is very likely that the Guanlong dignitaries will gather this army to kill officials and rebel, and cooperate with the Sui army inside and outside, just like they betrayed the Sui Dynasty and dedicated Bingzhou, Guanzhong, and Bashu to themselves.

As soon as he thought of this, Li Yuan's hairs stood on end, and cold sweat dripped down his face.

He used to be able to tolerate this army, but Li Tang is now in crisis, and this uncontrolled army has become his confidant, and he can't sit still when he thinks of the Guanlong dignitaries who are drifting away from him.This also made him determined to eradicate this hidden danger, even if it caused short-term turmoil in the government and the opposition.Once successful, the internal troubles will be resolved, and countless money, food and land will be obtained.

If the method is safe, he can even get an elite teacher. At that time, he may not be Yang Tong's opponent.But this matter is of great importance, he has to ask the two sons he relies on the most first.

(End of this chapter)