The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 615 Angry Xiao Yu
Xiao Yu heard that twenty Guanlong aristocratic patriarchs were visiting the envoys of the Sui Dynasty, and he hesitated for a while. He didn't know whether he should report to the emperor first, or go to the post house to visit Fang Xuanling.

But soon, someone made a choice for him. At this time, only a burst of laughter came from inside, and Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Cen Wenwen sent the Patriarchs out of the gate.

"I heard that the two envoys have the name of 'Fang Mou Du Duan', and I saw them today, and they are indeed dragons and phoenixes."

"Where is it! This is His Majesty Emperor Shengwu's false love for the two of us, and it can't be taken seriously."

"Mr. Fang is too polite! Please also convey the meaning of my Zhao family to Emperor Shengwu."

"Definitely!" The sharp-eyed Fang Xuanling saw Xiao Yu on the side, smiled in his heart, and said pretending not to know: "Every patriarch's loyalty to my Tai Sui, I will definitely convey the truth to the Holy Majesty. The Holy Majesty is open-minded. Great kings, even Dou Jiande and Xiao Mian can be reused, let alone the Guanlong family who contributed to the founding of the Sui Dynasty?"

"Oh?" Although Duguzheng is over seventy years old, his eyesight is not blurred, his ears are not deaf, and his silver hair gives people a hale and hearty feeling. When Fang Xuanling said that Yang Tong reused Dou Jiande and Xiao Mi, he immediately came to him. Gaining energy, he asked: "Mr. Fang, it seems that Dou Jiande and Xiao Xian only have titles?"

"Mr. Dugu didn't know something. Our dynasty followed the example of the "selection of Cao Qigui" in the period of the first emperor, and established a "cabinet" to deal with state affairs. There were seven "prime ministers". Later, all memorials were approved and executed by the cabinet. There are Dou Jiande and Xiao Mian, what is this but reuse?" Fang Xuanling said sincerely.

"In the troubled times, the monarchs, ministers and common people are involuntary, they can only obey the general trend and follow the trend. I remember that the Holy One once said a word to Xiao Xian in Jiangxia, that is, 'Brothers are here to overcome the calamity, and when we meet, we will smile and forget all kindness and enmity' .” Du Ruhui chimed in from the side.

Everyone exclaimed again and said in succession.

"'Brothers are here to save all the robberies, meet each other with a smile and forget all kindness and enmity' This poem shows the magnanimity of Emperor Shengwu. "

"That's right! Mr. Fangshi came too timely. If Mr. Fangshi hadn't explained it himself, we would have been confused for a long time."

"'Brothers are here to save all the robberies, and when we meet each other, we will smile and forget all kindness and enmity' This poem has benefited me a lot. If I had known that Emperor Shengwu had such a heart, I would not have to worry about it for so many years. I can finally sleep well tonight , thank you three envoys for clarifying the confusion."

"The three envoys are the most important ministers of His Majesty Emperor Shengwu. Naturally, they understand the broad-mindedness of Emperor Shengwu the most. I finally understand it. I thank the three envoys for their sincerity."

"..."

"Patriarchs, don't worry, today's sage is no longer a vassal who guards a region. His mind is no longer limited to the simple 'those who follow me prosper and those who oppose me perish', but the mighty kingly way of benevolence and aid to the world! This point It can be known from the fact that he accepted Dou Jiande, Xiao Xian, King Goguryeo, and Turkic Khan." After Fang Xuanling responded to the patriarchs, he continued: "What the future Sui needs is to recuperate, appease the people, and stabilize the Sui Dynasty. Fundamentally, to cultivate the next generation of talents for the Sui Dynasty, and to use talents in an eclectic manner.”

"The king of true benevolence and righteousness!"

The masters are more at ease.

……

Listening to many Guanlong patriarchs cheering and encouraging everyone to express their sentiment and loyalty, Xiao Yu was surprised and sad at the same time.These people are the core force that supported Li Yuan against the Sui Dynasty and supported Li Yuandeng to ascend to the Ninth Five-Year Supreme Throne, but what are they doing now?
Anti Tang and Sui!

The idiom Chao Qin Mu Chu was written for these people.

At this moment, he finally understood the real purpose of Fang Xuanling's mission to Xiangyang. Yang Tong did not intend to cease war with the Tang Dynasty at all, but to win over these Guanlong forces, divide the strength of the Li and Tang Dynasty, and ease the resistance for the battle to destroy the Tang Dynasty. .

Thinking of this, Xiao Yu felt sad and felt that Li Tang's situation was getting worse. Yang Tong had always adopted a strong and coercive attitude towards the aristocratic families, but now he compromised with the Guanlong nobles who were the main force against the Sui Dynasty. Yes, this shows that Yang Tong's army will soon attack Xiangyang. At that time, even if these patriarchs will not oppose Tang, they will not be able to contribute more to Li Tang, even if they work, they will not contribute.

Finally the greetings are over.

A group of patriarchs of Guanlong nobles walked out of the post house contentedly, only to find that Xiao Yu was just outside the gate, but they didn't panic at all, let alone talk to Xiao Yu, all of them looked indifferent. Get on the carriage and drive away.

Xiao Yu didn't care about them either.He has experienced this situation for several years, but he is used to it.The Guanlong nobles were indifferent to him, in the final analysis it was a matter of power.

The Guanlong nobles have been the main force of the Li Tang Dynasty from the beginning to the present. In order to support Li Yuan's unification of the world and overcome the difficulties, all the Guanlong nobles have money and strength to contribute, so that Li Yuan's treasury is abundant and the army is full of food.But after Li Yuan established the country, he used the Guandong gentry and southern gentry who had not made any great achievements, which made the Guanlong nobles very dissatisfied with Li Yuan and hostile to Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing and others.

At this time, Fang Xuanling 'finally' saw Xiao Yu, and stepped forward to greet him with a smile: "It turns out that Mr. Xiao is here, why didn't you send someone to say it first, so that the inferior people can welcome you."

Xiao Yu smiled wryly and said, "Mr. Fang is too busy, so I'm sorry to disturb you."

Fang Xuanling heard the meaning of Xiao Yu's words, he chuckled: "This is an accident, I didn't know you guys were so enthusiastic, I will explain to the envoy inside, please come in!"

"Please!"

A group of people walked into the front hall of the post house, Fang Xuanling asked Xiao Yu to sit down, and served the good tea brought from Luoyang to the entourage.

Xiao Yu took a sip of the tea soup and stared at Fang Xuanling: "Could it be that the emperor of the Gui Dynasty wanted to divide the relationship between our Tang monarch and his ministers by means of alienation, so he specially sent Fang envoys to win over the nobles of Guanlong?"

Xiao Yu expressed her dissatisfaction, and asked Fang Xuanling's reason for coming to the point.

Fang Xuanling took a sip of tea and shook his head: "Mr. Xiao is thinking too much. It has been less than two hours since we entered the city. I don't know where the various Guanlong families are. What do you mean? It’s someone who came to visit me, can I turn him away? If it spreads, what will people say about me? My personal reputation is nothing more than that. I remember that when Xiao Shijun went to Yecheng, many people came to visit him, but we treated him calmly. Don’t tell me your country doesn’t even have this kind of heart?”

Xiao Yu said apologetically, "I was so confused, I just talked nonsense without thinking clearly, please forgive me!"

"I'm not angry, I just feel sad." Fang Xuanling shook his head and sighed: "Since ancient times, the two countries have fought with all means. We understand that you slandered the late emperor and the emperor, and the envoy also Those who have served as close ministers to the late emperor should know that no matter how critical the Sui Dynasty was, they never adopted such cruel and overbearing means of suppressing the common people. You became an official earlier than me, and you have more experience than me. The truth about the ant nest... please forgive me, if the emperor of the Gui Dynasty did not strictly restrain Li Yuanji and let him act recklessly and kill innocent people and officials, Li Tang would be destroyed by him sooner or later. You have also seen it with your own eyes , these Guanlong families were taken away by my Great Sui, and even Guanlong’s fundamental Guanzhong was lost. They hate my Great Sui more than anyone else, but how did they behave today? You just watched all of them Arrived. This is exactly what Mencius said, "Those who attain the Tao will help more, those who lose the Way will have little help. If there is little help, relatives will help them. If there is much help, the world will obey." You are an upright, open and aboveboard person People, I think we should think more about the common people.”

"Fang Shijun's kind words are touching." Xiao Yu sighed, and said with a wry smile: "Actually, I also understand that these Guanlong aristocratic patriarchs' open visits to Fang Shijun are not purely for their own benefit. There are many reasons for your dissatisfaction, please forgive me for not being able to say, as for whether King Qi is going too far, it is not something I, a subject, can stop."

Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "As an outsider, I cannot interfere in Li Tang's internal affairs. In fact, to a certain extent, the more unscrupulous and arrogant Li Yuanji is, the more beneficial it is to us. Do you think this is the reason?"

"..." Xiao Yu felt bitter in his heart.

"Let's not mention this matter. I think Mr. Xiao came to visit, so he should ask me the purpose of this mission?" Fang Xuanling said bluntly.

"That's right." Xiao Yu nodded, "Mr. Fang's arrival was so sudden that we were not prepared at all. If I don't even know why Mr. Fang is here, we really don't know where to start. Please be sure to speak clearly so that I can report the truth.”

Fang Xuanling asked several officers to fetch a map and hung it on the shelf, Fang Xuanling walked to the map and said with a smile: "This time the mission to Xiangyang is actually because the Holy Majesty wants to make a deal with the Tang Dynasty. "

"What's the deal?" Xiao Yu also walked to the map.

Fang Xuanling lightly tapped Xiangyang with a wooden pole, then drew a circle, and said, "We want to use a one-year truce in exchange for complete Jingzhou."

Xiao Yu's complexion changed, and he asked in a deep voice, "Please explain in detail."

"Okay!" Fang Xuanling nodded, and continued: "To be specific, Li Tang exchanged the five counties of Xiangyang, Chongling, Jingling, Yiling, and Fangling for a one-year truce. As for the real purpose of envoy Xiangyang, if your country has an idea, I will also have full authority to discuss with your country on behalf of the Holy One."

"Gone?"

"Gone!"

"It should be Li Mi that your country really wants to fight?" Xiao Yu picked up another small wooden pole, pointed at Li Mi's territory, and said with a smile: "Li Mi still has Liang Commanderies, Han Commanderies, Huaiyang, Ruyin, Huaibei, etc. in Huaibei." The seven counties of Pengcheng, Donghai, and Xiapi. These places are intertwined with the Sui Dynasty and contained a large number of Sui troops. With the steady style of Emperor Shengwu, the Huaibei area should be recovered first to avoid fire in the backyard, and then I will consider Datang. The reason Sending Fang Shijun to Xiangyang should be to defraud Jingzhou, I don't know if I guess right?"

Fang Xuanling just smiled, and automatically ignored Xiao Yu's self-satisfied eyes, then returned to his seat, and said with a smile: "With our million-strong army in the Sui Dynasty, we can completely fight on two fronts. In the eastern battlefield, our army can take over Xiao Yu's eyes." The seven counties mentioned by Shijun can only stop north of the Huai River. On the western front, we only need to wipe out the Tang army with low morale and insufficient training or contain it in Jingzhou. Entering Bashu from multiple directions, does Mr. Xiao think that the Li and Tang courts still have troops to resist? When I was sent to Xiangyang, another mission was sent to Jiangdu. The deal discussed was similar to that of your country. County in exchange for a one-year truce, Li Mi's situation is not much better than Li Tang's, even worse, I think he should make a wise choice."

Xiao Yu laughed angrily: "What does the envoy Fang mean to you mean that your army has not yet determined the direction of the expedition?"

"That's true!" Fang Xuanling said calmly: "If Li Mi agrees to give up the seven counties in Huaibei, we will fight Li Tang; and vice versa!"

This is the solution that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui came up with on the way in response to the current situation. Both Li Yuan and Li Mi have serious internal conflicts, and they don't want Da Sui to attack them at this time. The time of the one-year truce is sold, and whoever agrees quickly will not be the first target of Tai Sui's attack.

Looking at Fang Xuanling's gentle and elegant smile, Xiao Yu suddenly felt an unspeakable depression, and he really wanted to slap her across the face.

If Li Mi agrees first this time, Li Tang may not have a next time. It will only take two or three years... No, Yang Tong will be able to flatten the Li Tang Dynasty in just one year. It may shake the status of Sui. Indeed, the alliance can cause some troubles for Yang Tong, but at most it is only trouble, because as Fang Xuanling said, Sui's current strength can completely start a full-scale war.Although the princes from all walks of life have reached an alliance on paper, they all have their own little ideas and don't want to be the first bird, which makes the so-called alliance always stay on paper.

Based on Xiao Yu's understanding of Li Mi's strength, it is very likely that he will agree to Sui's conditions, and then spend a year to kill Meng Haigong, recuperate, train the army, and establish a southern country similar to Soochow.

If Li Mi chooses to compromise, then Li Tang will be the first target of the Sui army's attack. At that time, what should Li Tang do?

There was a bitter smile on Xiao Yu's face, the person who came up with this method was really insidious, this was a rogue plot carried out on top of the great national power of the Sui Dynasty, even if all the princes saw it, Yang Yu one by one There is no way to evade the meaning of breaking.Because everyone has their own little plans, and they don't want to be the first choice enemy of the Sui Dynasty. This also means that the so-called joint resistance against the Sui Dynasty has become a big joke.

"This strategy is ruthless! It's killing people invisible." Xiao Yu angrily threw the wooden pole on the table.

"The world has been in chaos for too long, and it's time to end." Fang Xuanling said with a smile: "This is the general trend."

Is it trendy?
Maybe, it's just that this kind of matter is not something that Xiao Yu can decide.

(End of this chapter)