The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 693 Poor Guanlong Allied Army
At dusk, by the Zhushui River in Yongqing County at the junction of Fangling and Xiangyang, a mighty army was setting up camp.This is exactly the part of the Guanlong nobles who were called rebels by the Li and Tang courts. Although not all the troops of the families participated, most of the Guanlong nobles could not bear Li Yuan's skinning-style exploitation. That's all for hope, but the Li Tang court headed by Li Yuan is like a dying old man, depressed. Since Li Yuan, Li Tang's monarchs and ministers seem to have nothing to praise except for fighting for power and profit. At the time of interest, many veteran Guanlong nobles responded to Dugu's call and sent private troops from the clan; they sent troops on the side of the "Qing Emperor" this time, in order to hope that Li Yuan would change his original intention, admit his original promise, and recognize the private parts of each family Secondly, I also hope that Yang Tong will see the sincerity of the Guanlong nobles. No matter whether they succeed or not, at least they sent troops this time, which brought great trouble to Li Yuan and created opportunities for Yang Tong to send troops.

This is a well-equipped and well-trained elite army. Except for the lack of tall Hequ war horses, it is exactly the same as the previous Xiaoguo army. It has horizontal knives and lances made of fine iron, extremely strong Mingguang armor, and is resistant to most crossbows. Yashi's eagle-edge helmet, especially the generous treatment and post-war pension, made the soldiers willing to go to war generously for their master.

Their equipment and treatment are completely incomparable to the Tang army. Because of this, Li Yuan is very afraid of this army that is not under the control of the court, for fear that they will stab him from the inside when the war is at a stalemate.But at the same time, he was extremely jealous of this army.

If the head of the Guanlong nobles hadn't collectively visited Fang Xuanling who was on an envoy to Xiangyang, and if Dugu hadn't sold his letters, Li Yuan would have tolerated this army and the Guanlong nobles for the sake of internal stability.

However, with the decline of the Tang Dynasty and the fall of the Wei Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty was in full swing, all the families of the Guanlong nobles were ready to move, and the Dugu family had already betrayed the Tang Dynasty a few years ago, which made Li Yuan especially chilling and afraid ;If the Sui army came to the city, what would happen?
Therefore, for his own rule and for the survival of the Li family, Li Yuan decided to eradicate the Guanlong nobles' army before their rebellion, and solve his biggest confidant trouble.Only in this way can I defend Yizhou, otherwise, no matter how steep the rivers and mountains are, they will be conquered from the inside by the Sui Dynasty. When Li Tang entered Guanzhong, wasn't it the nobles of Guanlong who opened it from the inside?But the Guanlong nobles now intend to open the gate from the inside and let the Sui army they opposed in the past enter. Li Yuan will definitely not allow this to happen.

The army composed of the private tribes of the Guanlong nobles was only in the early [-]s, but as they came from Shangyong, some families joined the army along the way, and it has grown to more than [-]. The banner of "Qing Jun side, eliminating traitors, and Zhengchao Gang" is called "North Town Army".

At first, most people suggested naming it after the Guanlong Allied Army, but Dugu Yanyun refused. He felt that the development of the Guanlong aristocracy has almost reached the point where everyone shouts and beats it. It is not an exaggeration to call it a notorious traitor. Standing up the banner of the Guanlong Allied Army will only make people disgusted and disgusted; There will be a thorn in Li Yuan's heart when he entered Guanzhong. This name will affect everyone's future life, so there is no harm but no benefit.

The 'Beizhen Army' is different, because the Guanlong Group originated from the 'Northern Wei Six Towns'.

As early as the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuobagui, Emperor Daowu, established his capital in Pingcheng.On the grassland north of Yinshan Mountain, there is a powerful nomadic tribe called Rouran.Whenever the army of the Northern Wei Dynasty went south to fight, the Rouran cavalry would invade the northern border of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Pingcheng, the capital of the country, was often threatened.In view of this, Emperor Daowu focused on shifting defenses, prospered Jian and pro-virtuous, and supported him as a town.So the border towns in the Northern Wei Dynasty began to take shape, and they were collectively called "Beizhen" at that time.

After Tuoba Tao, the grandson of Emperor Daowu, succeeded to the throne, more than [-] people from the five prefectures of Tiaoliang, Si, You, Ding, and Ji built large-scale border defense projects from Shanggu in the east to the ancient city of Hanshuofang in the west.

The status of "six towns" was thus established.

From west to east, there are Woye, Huaishuo, Wuchuan, Fuming, Rouxuan, and Huaihuang. These six military towns mainly defend against the invasion of Rouran in the north and defend the country Pingcheng.The generals of the six towns were served by nobles from Xianbei and warriors from Liangzhou. The garrison soldiers were mainly from Xianbei, and there were also "children of strong clans" from the Central Plains.And the six major military groups evolved from the "six towns" are the embryonic form of the Guanlong nobles.

Later, the Northern Wei Dynasty split into the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty. Instead of being lonely, the "Six Towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty" took advantage of the situation to launch a mutiny, stole the highest power of the imperial court, and made the Northern Wei Emperor their puppet. , In one fell swoop, established the glory of the Guanlong nobles for hundreds of years, and single-handedly created the Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang dynasties.This is also a unique and brilliant miracle in history. Yang Tong’s ancestor Zuo Ming founded the Western Wei Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Yang Jian sought to call the country the Sui Dynasty. It can be said that "Northern Wei Beizhen" and "Northern Wei Six Towns" are also the glory of Yang's ancestors. Dong has no reason to deny this glorious deed involving his ancestors.Even if their "Northern Town Army" did not arouse Yang Tong's nostalgia for the glory of his ancestors, at least they would not resent and reject them as he did for the Guanlong nobles.At the same time, it expresses the good wish of "Yongzhen North" for the Sui Dynasty.It can be said that Dugu Yanyun put a lot of thought into the naming.

But what Dugu Qianyan didn't know was that when he erected the flag of the "North Town Army", this army implied the concept of self-reliance, and when the generals kept saying "I am the North Town Army", the strength of the soldiers Faith has changed subtly, and the objects of allegiance of the soldiers seem to have shifted from the Guanlong nobles to the 'Beizhen Army'.

Dugu Yanyun was in his thirties. He was originally the youngest son of Dugu Kai, but because his uncle Dugu Sheng and his cousin swore to defend Emperor Wu of the Sui Dynasty during Jiangdu's change, the father, son, uncle and nephew all died heroically. It caused great trouble for Yu Wenhua and the occupation of Jiangdu City and Jiangdu Palace. After the coup, the family was liquidated by Yu Wenhua and no one could escape. After Qing Yun's discussion, he adopted him and became Dugu Sheng's follower.

Later, Yang Tong's career flourished, while the Li Tang Dynasty, because of Li Yuan's father and son fighting for power and profit, the government and the public were in a mess. Deeply worried, Dugu decided to renew his relationship with the Sui Dynasty for the survival and development of the family, but Yang Tong at that time denounced Guan The Long nobles were the largest anti-thief gang in the Sui Dynasty, and their stand was extremely firm, and they would never compromise with the Guanlong nobles.Duguzheng made a fuss about the dead Dugusheng, and he asked Dugucheng to take Dugu Qingyun and Dugu Yanyun to the Yecheng Heroes and Martyrs Cemetery to pay homage to Dugusheng's tomb.

This time, it's okay for Yang Tong not to admit it.After all, the sons of loyal ministers and martyrs paid homage to their father and uncle with great fanfare, and everyone in the world watched Yang Tong's reaction.Yang Tong clearly knew that this was Duguzheng's idea, but he had to admit it was a shameless conspiracy.In desperation, Yang Tong had no choice but to meet the two brothers, and let Dugu Qingyun inherit his father Dugu Kai as the Duke of Runan County, and Dugu Yanyun inherited the Duke of Ji Guo from Dugusheng, and was demoted to the Duke of Hexi County according to the system.

Ever since, the pair of brothers became courtiers of the Sui Dynasty. Duguzheng, who had fulfilled his wish, let them leave the Dugu clan and establish themselves as a family, and they were not allowed to be generals in the Tang Dynasty; , So he was full of talent, but never served in the Tang Dynasty, and lived a leisurely life with the vain title of the Sui Dynasty on his back.

Now that the Dugu clan is at the end of life, the successor Patriarch Dugu Cheng used the two pawns left by his uncle.If they succeeded against the Tang Dynasty, they would be the heroes of the Sui Dynasty, who could take care of the Dugu family and let the Dugu family continue;

The camp was set up.

Dugu Yanyun summoned his generals to discuss matters in the main tent of the Chinese army. He belongs to civil and martial arts, and he is a disciple sent by various Guanlong noble families to lead their own soldiers and horses.

The heads of the various families first decided to use the method of coercion to force Li Yuan to promise not to attack the private army and fields. This is the consensus reached by the various families. They all think that they have not yet reached the point of rebellion, and they just want to show Li Yuan some color Look, in short, it is to demonstrate to Li Yuan and let him know that the Guanlong nobles are not fish to be slaughtered.The consensus among the Patriarchs is that Dugu Yanyun and the others can do very little.

And now it's even harder.Since their patriarchs and clansmen fell into the hands of the imperial court, this group of people dared not occupy a place to stand on their own, nor dared to capture a certain section of the Hanshui line of defense, nor did they dare to let the Sui army enter, even the county soldiers and ordinary people Don't dare to hurt.Now that the situation has evolved, they find that they can do nothing and dare not do anything.

But the Tang army around them didn't have any worries. Once they had a good chance to win, they would tear them to pieces.This extremely passive situation left everyone at a loss.In the end, it was decided to march into Xiangyang and force Li Yuan to release the patriarch and clansmen, but what about after arriving in Xiangyang?They found themselves unable to do anything except demonstrate.

Faced with this unfavorable situation, everyone felt a pain in the head and almost went mad with depression.In the final analysis, the problem still arises with the leader Dugu Cheng. They were originally in the dark, but Li Yuan was in the open. If the families were allowed to leave Xiangyang secretly in batches, everything would suddenly become clear. , and Li Yuan was afraid that they would directly surrender to the Sui Dynasty and let the Sui army enter, so he could only ask for their share.

It is precisely because Dugu Chengshoushu has no foresight at both ends that the great situation has become so complicated and passive.

"General." A soldier lifted the curtain and entered, cupped his hands and said, "There are dozens of villagers clamoring to see the general."

"Old man?" Dugu Yanyun asked suspiciously, "What did they see me doing?"

The guard smiled wryly and said, "I don't even know about the lowly position. They must see you before they will say so."

Dugu Yanyun pondered: "Let them in."

"Here."

The guards went out and welcomed a group of white-haired old men in. These people had red faces and well-dressed clothes. They were obviously famous people in the local area.

An old man said: "General, Jingxiang has finally improved a little, but the general is going to die. The general might as well kill us if he really wants to do this."

The generals headed by Dugu Yanyun were astonished. After looking at each other for a while, Dugu Yanyun frowned and said: "We have marched from Shangyong to this point, and we have not committed any crimes all the way. There is no loss of life. We will not bear the crime of the elder."

"It turns out that the general intends to overthrow the Tang emperor and establish himself as the emperor. It's disrespectful." An old man said.

When the generals heard the words, they felt black lines all over their heads, Dugu Yanyun smiled wryly and said: "There is no such thing, the elders misunderstood."

"Then why did the general send troops here?"

"Elders, we are neither going to massacre, nor are we going against the Tang Dynasty." Dugu Yanyun knew what they were worried about, so he explained: "The reason for sending troops is because the Holy One favored the treacherous king Li Yuanji, and favored the treacherous ministers Pei Ji and Xiao. Yu, Chen Shuda, Han Zhi, Feng Lun. They killed good officials indiscriminately and caused harm to the people, which caused the people of Xiangyang to be in dire straits. Now the country is in crisis. We don’t want the Tang Dynasty to be destroyed like this, so we remonstrated with the emperor and asked him to get rid of the traitors and sycophants , To rectify the guidelines of the court, let the Tang court take the right path of reusing loyalty and loving the people. Our purpose of sending troops is for the good of the court, and also for the local people. How can we hurt innocent people?"

Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Feng Lun and others were the characters Li Yuan introduced to balance the court, but the patriarchs of the Guanlong nobles believed that these people had taken away the illustrious power that should have belonged to them, so they included the Guanlong nobles. In the ranks of traitors and sycophants, if the military remonstrance succeeds, these people will undoubtedly die.

Dozens of old men looked at each other, and an old man cupped his hands and said: "Although that is the case, if there is a battle, there will be winners and losers, and deserters will appear. Deserters will definitely cause disaster to the village. What should I do?"

Dugu Yanyun suppressed his displeasure, and said patiently: "We haven't fought a single battle so far, and the rations are our own. We haven't hurt a single person or robbed you of any rations. We are known around the world as teachers of benevolence and righteousness and civilization. The Sui army is nothing more than that. What do you want us to do?"

"I hope the general will promise in writing that the army will not destroy crops, break into houses, rob food, and will not kill innocent people indiscriminately," said the old man.

All the generals frowned upon hearing this.

This request is no longer a matter of signing a contract, but is related to the dignity of the 'North Town Army' and the morale of the entire army.They were already in an extremely unfavorable passive situation, and it would be an exaggeration to say that they were walking on thin ice. If a group of old men forced them to sign a contract, the morale of the Beizhen army would plummet. How could they face the Tang army in all directions?
"The elders are too much. This is purely a difficult situation." Dugu Yanyun was extremely angry in his heart, but he couldn't kill this group of old men who didn't know how to advance and retreat. He hoped that they would retreat in the face of difficulties, and said coldly: "You guys The requirements of not destroying crops, not breaking into houses, not robbing food, and not killing innocent people are nothing more than 'not disturbing the people'. This is actually the original intention of our Beizhen Army. I can promise you that even if war breaks out, we will restrain military discipline. I will not do anything that would kill innocent people indiscriminately and disturb the people, but there is absolutely no written promise."

"Don't even agree to this request?" The old man said disappointedly.

Seeing Dugu Yanli couldn't bear it anymore, Zuo Xingjun Sima Yu Qinming took up the conversation: "Elders, if the soldiers of our army are really the same as the soldiers of the ogre king Zhu Can, do the elders think that a promise is valid? "

"This..." The ogre king Zhu Can has done all kinds of bad things, even eating people. His promises are no different from farting, so Yu Qinming's words made dozens of old people collectively dumbfounded and unable to answer.

Yu Qinming went on to say: "You elders don't understand military affairs, and you don't know that this promise is related to the morale of our soldiers and our army's victory or defeat. Naturally, it must not be written. We can only say that we will see each other in time." People, please come back."

When these old men left, the first general said: "These people are too much."

Yu Qinming shook his head, "They are terrified of the protracted war. What they want is nothing more than food and family reunion. This request is actually very simple, and it is not excessive at all."

Dugu Yanyun sighed: "We are walking on thin ice. If we offend the local people, we will be enemies on all sides. Everyone must restrain the army."

"Here." The generals responded with a heavy heart.

…………

However, after the local old people left the barracks, they looked at the respected old man together, and someone asked, "Old Liu, how did this promise have something to do with the morale of the army? What do they mean?"

Mr. Liu thought for a moment with a sad face, then shook his head and said: "I don't understand military affairs, and I don't understand the relationship between promises and the army. But they didn't even give us the simplest written promise, and said that written promises can't restrain the army... I They think that their hidden meaning is that everything is easy to say if the military remonstrance is successful. If the military remonstrance fails, then it will be ignored. Under normal circumstances, the army after the defeat will set up troops to rob in order to improve the morale of the army and unite the army. Lu Mingyue, Zhu Can, Wang Shichong has done this kind of thing...they should do it too."

Everyone was shocked: "Then what should we do?"

Mr. Liu said: "Before the war, every general thought that he would win, and that he could become the master of one side. In order to stabilize the place in the future, he treated the people as his own before the war. If he won, It is indeed better for the people. But if it fails, they will flee after robbing. We can't pin our hopes on these generals."

"Old Liu is right. Since ancient times, there is always no big mistake in being careful. We can't pin our hopes of survival on these troops who turn into bandits in an instant."

"We went back to the village immediately and asked the villagers to hide food, money and things as soon as possible, let the old, weak, women and children take refuge in the mountains as soon as possible, and let the young and strong who run fast stay in their homes, and hide in the mountains once the war breaks out."

"That's right. All the crops that can be harvested have to be harvested. Although the harvest is reduced, it can last for a while. If they are robbed, the villagers and their families will starve to death."

"..."

Years of war and chaos have also allowed the common people to sum up the method of survival and self-protection, and immediately think of a way to take refuge.

………………

Dugu Yanyun and others never dreamed that their frank treatment not only did not have the effect of calming people's hearts, but caused panic among the local people. This kind of panic among the people, centered on Fangling Yongqing County, spread to the surrounding area. Later, people followed suit, resulting in large-scale fleeing in the few counties in Jingxiang controlled by Li Tang. The people hid money and food, helped the old and the young to leave their homes, and went to the mountains to escape the upcoming war.

This refugee wave, which belongs to Li Yuan's troubles, is undoubtedly an opportunity for Yang Tong.

(End of this chapter)