The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 778
The news that Yang Tong entered Guanzhong, marched into the plateau, fought against Ertu at Jishiguan and won a hearty victory spread all over the world. Tubo, who fought for no reason, was defeated by Yang Yu on the frontal battlefield. It once caused great and small countries and tribes such as Bolu, Nuerguo, Xiangxiong, Subi, Fuguo, Pengyu and other tribes to have headaches. , Niang Chisang Yangton, Niang Shangju, Geerlu Saigon, Geergu Ado, Niang Tonggu, Niang Chisang, Wei Moye... and so on, dozens of heroes died in this way. In the hands of Sui, invisibly, the power of the Great Sui in the Western Regions was greater than before, and it strengthened the hearts of the countries in the Western Regions to further develop friendship with the Great Sui.When the news spread to the Central Plains, the Sui Dynasty was full of jubilation, and the Li and Tang Dynasty, who were troubled both at home and abroad, heaved a long sigh of relief.

You know, after the death of Li Mi, Yang Tong showed an aura of vowing to destroy the Tang Dynasty. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers marched on the frontier, sharpened their knives, and pointed at Jingzhou and Yizhou, which caused the Li and Tang Dynasty to bear a huge burden. However, on the other hand, the strong threat of the Sui army eased the sharp conflict between Li's father and son.

At the beginning, Li Shimin took the army to Dangchang without authorization. In name, he went to train troops and defend against the Sui army in the north. In fact, he controlled tens of thousands of troops, which completely failed Li Yuan's plan to seize his army, kill his people, and comfort the army's subordinates to sacrifice to the dead.

Facing the siege of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who died in battle, Li Yuan had no choice but to issue an edict of guilt, grant family pensions, and act as a Zen throne.For Li Shimin, the instigator, Li Yuan was naturally very annoyed. On the one hand, he set up the Yinping Governor's Mansion and sent Dou Gui to take over the [-] elite soldiers stationed in Pingwu, Yicheng, Wenshan, Jinshan, and Pu'an. Ten imperial edicts were issued to order Li Shimin to go to Chengdu to pick him up, but Li Shimin ignored them all the time, and his intention to respect Tang and stand on his own was clearly revealed.

Li Yuan even had the heart to conquer the rebellious son himself, but he never imagined that when he entered Shu, he himself was ambushed by the Liao people, and suffered a big loss in Luchuan and Hejiang, losing tens of thousands of elite soldiers, countless treasures and nearly a hundred people. In order to redeem his family members and one eye of Li Yuanji, and to appease the Liao people, Li Yuan had to empty the 20 shi of grain accumulated in Luchuan City. .

Seeing that the conflict between Li and Tang's high-level officials was about to intensify, Yang Tong entered Guanzhong in a high-profile manner at this time, and stationed heavy troops in Lintao and Heyuan counties, assuming the momentum of going south to destroy Tang. To enable Li Shimin to put aside his past suspicions and deal with the Sui Dynasty with all his strength, Li Yuan could only restore Li Shimin to the title of King of Jin, and named him Marshal of Zhengbei University, which was regarded as acknowledging his control of tens of thousands of troops in Dangchang.However, the fact was once again beyond Li Yuan's expectation. Yang Tong didn't attack Li Shimin in Dangchang at all, and just sent his army to the plateau to attack Tubo and Tuyuhun.

This made Li Yuan very disgusted. If he had known that Yang Tong was going to make a second spit, he would not have conferred the title of Li Shimin. Now it is better, Li Shimin can stand upright and self-reliant in the name of Marshal of Peking University.

Lianggong County of Dangchang County is where the county government is located. Li Shimin developed [-] soldiers. Except for Hou Junji who led an army of [-] troops to sit in Tongchang, and Liu Hongji who led an army of [-] soldiers stationed in Wudu County, the remaining [-] recruits and [-] Chijia The army was all stationed near Lianggong County, and Li Shimin did not live in the county seat. He lived in the barracks with the soldiers and took the time to train the army.

In the white handsome tent, Li Shimin stood in front of a map with his hands behind his back, meditating silently. Although he was far away from the Li-Tang Center and had cut off communication with the imperial court and information sharing, he was still able to learn from the information he had built. The agency 'Hundred Knights' got the latest information.

Connecting all kinds of scattered information together, Li Shimin discovered a huge crisis, but the specifics have not been cleared yet.

"Your Highness." At this moment, a handsome young scribe walked in.His name is Chu Suiliang, and he is the son of Chu Liang, a scholar of Jin Dynasty.

At the beginning, Li Shimin was not like what he is now. At that time, he felt that the crown prince was thousands of miles away from him, so he didn't think much about it.But with more and more military achievements and higher reputation, Li Shimin gradually found that he was not that far away from the crown prince.So he changed his previous style and began to make up for political tricks, learning how to govern the world, and under the advice of Yin Kaishan, Su Shichang and others, he set up a literature museum following the example of Yang Tong's original "one pavilion and three pavilions". A group of scribes with great talents were recruited. Among them, the recruited talents included Chu Suiliang's father, Chu Liang.

Chu Liang's ancestral home was Yangdi, and later traveled to Yuhang County. He rose to fame and was recognized by Chen Houzhu as an official. After Chen's death, he became an official in the Sui Dynasty. After Xue raised his troops, he forcibly canonized him as the servant of the Huangmen of the Western Qin Dynasty and participated in secrets. However, Chu Liang did not feel good about the Western Qin who had killed too much. Later, when Li Shimin conquered the Xue family, Chu Liang simply took his son Chu Suiliang with him. He defected to Li Shimin, who was thirsty for talents.

As for Chu Suiliang, he is also a man of erudition and talent, proficient in literature and history, especially good handwriting. Even a warrior like Xue Ju can't put it down. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was named Tongshisheren.After being cast under Li Shimin's family, he was promoted by Li Shimin, who loves calligraphy, to join the military as a recorder. His official position is not high, but his status is important.

When Li Shimin turned around and saw that it was Chu Suiliang, he asked with a smile, "What's the matter?"

"Your Highness, Yin Changshi is asking to see you." Chu Suiliang replied hastily.

"Please."

"Here." Chu Suiliang quickly stepped back and invited the dusty Yin Kaishan in.

At this time, Yin Kaishan could be called Li Shimin's Xiao He, in charge of the civil affairs of Dangchang, Tongchang, and Wudu counties, as well as the food and clothing of the army.He saluted: "I heard that His Highness didn't drink a drop of water all day, are you worried about Jingzhou, attacking Ertu is just a strategy of the Sui Dynasty to divert the audience?"

Li Shimin motioned Yin Kaishan to sit down and said in a deep voice: "I always feel that the truce agreement between Tang and Sui Dynasty is unreliable, and it seems that Yang Tong's march to the plateau at this time has something to do with us."

"Why does Your Highness think so?"

"This is Yang Tong's usual trick." Li Shimin first came to a conclusion, and then produced evidence: "When Yang Tong took control of Jizhou and Youzhou, everyone thought he would calm people's hearts and restore civil affairs in Erchuan, but he falsely One shot, one brain is enough for the Khitan and Xi people, and they took advantage of the trend to recover Liaodong, which caused a big loss to Goguryeo, which focused on the south; then, Shibi went south in a big way, and everyone also thought that his focus was in Mayi, but he They just bypassed the frontal battlefield, ran for thousands of miles, and took down Khan Tingyicheng City in the southern Turkic region in one breath... All subsequent wars were so unexpected that people were caught off guard, but no matter whether it was my Tang Dynasty, Dou Jiande, Li Mi No matter whether it is Liang Shidu, East or West Turks, everyone always falls for his tricks because of internal problems. But this time, because Yang Tong went to the plateau, we started to have signs of internal fighting again, which makes me think that we Go the old way again."

Yin Kaishan sighed: "Actually, I also have this kind of awareness. With the power of the Sui Dynasty at this time, there is no need to cease fighting with us at the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, in the last battle with the Beizhen Army, we were caught in a flood, which caused The whole army is wiped out. If Xue Wanjun goes southward, the three counties of Xiyang, Xicheng, and Fangling will be owned by the Sui Dynasty, and they can even come to Xiangyang. , This will give Nanyang Yang Shanhui the opportunity to defeat the enemy. If Li Jing goes north from Nanjun again, no matter whether it is to capture Yiling or trap Xiangyang, neither the Holy Majesty nor the prince can escape. But such a good opportunity, Yang Tong Let it go for nothing."

"Could it be the truce agreement that restrained Yang Tong?" Chu Suiliang, who was listening silently, said suddenly.

"No." Yin Kaishan shook his head: "Yang Tong has a very good saying, this sentence is 'The only function of the covenant is to tear it up', who can say such a thing, how can he be a truce agreement? Constraints? In fact, if we have the opportunity to control the enemy, we will also tear up the agreement and deal a fatal blow to the enemy. Therefore, Yang Tong must have bigger plans."

Seeing that Li Shimin was silent, Chu Suiliang asked again: "What does Yin Changshi think Yang Tong's plot is?"

"Yang Tong's scheming is very deep." Yin Kaishan said with a wry smile: "The biggest problem for the two emperors of the Sui Dynasty, Wen and Wu, was that they did not want to exchange for the complete demise of the Guanlong nobles at the price of turmoil in Guanzhong. Falling apart, Yang Tong learned this lesson, so he couldn't tolerate the Guanlong nobles who repeatedly rebelled, but at the same time he didn't want to bear the name of butcher. So he asked Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui to go to Xiangyang in the name of a truce. The purpose was unsuccessful, but Fang and Du blatantly separated the relationship between the Holy Majesty and the Guanlong nobles based on the general trend of the world, and instigated the Guanlong nobles to rebel. The purpose of the Long nobles. Afterwards, the crown prince went to Luoyang and brought up the truce again. Among them, there was a condition that was not written on the paper, and that was to ask me, the Tang Dynasty, to slaughter the gentry."

Chu Suiliang was shocked. He originally thought that Li Jiancheng's killing spree in Xiangyang was to confiscate grain, pig iron, gold, and copper coins from the gentry as military expenses. Who would have thought that behind this, there was the shadow of the Sui Dynasty. In this way, the nobles of Guanlong , Guandong gentry, and southern gentry were obviously killed by the joint efforts of Sui, Tang, and Wei. Sui was behind the scenes, while Datang and Li Mi were the direct murderers.

After a while, he asked: "So, Yang Tong is planning to repeat his old tricks and use the power of my Tang Dynasty to cut off the strong men in Yizhou?"

"I think it is." Yin Kaishan said: "Because of the unfavorable transportation, the two emperors Wen and Wu of the Sui Dynasty did not have enough control over Yizhou, making it a world dominated by the nobles of Yizhou and the nobles of Guanlong. The nobles of Guanlong are now smashed to pieces. There is a situation in which the Yizhou wealthy family dominates. If Yang Tong destroys our Tang Dynasty, he will definitely face the land-based and extremely xenophobic Yizhou wealthy family. The decisive battle of the Sui and Tang Dynasties was prolonged, and let me face the Yizhou nobles. The Holy Majesty and the court officials knew that this was a conspiracy, but they had to hold their noses and admit it."

After Yin Kaishan said this, Li Shimin's mind was clear, but there were still some puzzles. He said: "As far as I know, Yuan Ji, Li Shentong, and Li Xiaoji also dealt with the rich people in Yizhou. Now there are not many influential wealthy families left, even if they survive, even if Yang Tong finally defeats my Tang Dynasty, if he deals with these people, it will not have much impact on Yizhou."

"This is Yang Tong's brilliance." Yin Kaishan smiled bitterly, "Yizhou's nobles are dead, but there are still people in Yizhou. The people of Yizhou have just been allocated fields, and their support for our Tang Dynasty has reached an unprecedented level. If the Sui army entered the country at this time, these people would flock to join the army in order to protect their hometown and fields. Even if Yang Tong got Yizhou, he was still in the war and killed many young and strong Yizhou, and married the people of Yizhou. The unsolved hatred. Without the support of the people, Yizhou will eventually be a source of instability. After all, the only way for my Tang Dynasty to gain a chance of survival is to expand the army. As for the wealthy clan of Zhou, the money and food from the proud clan will be exhausted one day, and the imperial court will naturally increase taxes on the people, once the people are overwhelmed and regard the Great Tang as a tyranny, what capital does our Great Tang have to fight against the Great Sui Dynasty?"

In fact, Li Shimin's power is a microcosm of the Tang Dynasty. In order to deal with the Sui army in the north, he captured strong men in the three counties of Dangchang, Tongchang, and Wudu, and expanded the army to as many as [-]. This is also because he brought a lot of money and food when he went north. If the supply for maintaining the army is exhausted, the three counties that are small and barren with little land and few people will not be able to support so many troops. At that time, Li Shimin has only two options, one is to disarm the army, and the other is to increase taxes.

As Li Shimin's chief steward, Yin Kaishan knew very well about Li Shimin's dilemma, but in fact this was also the dilemma of the entire Li and Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin couldn't help but gasped, all doubts were cleared up. In order to survive, the Tang Dynasty tried their best to expand their army and engage in an arms race with the Sui Dynasty. The result depends on whose economic system falls first.

"It turns out that the real danger of our Tang Dynasty is not foreign enemies, but the huge military expenditures that the weak national power has to bear." Li Shimin immediately said: "This matter must be notified immediately to the father, let him reduce the army, and do not hurt the people because of the army. .”

Yin Kaishan sighed, "Your Highness, are you willing to disarm the army?"

"This..." Li Shimin sighed dejectedly, of course he didn't want to disarm the army, so why didn't his father think so?
Chu Suiliang's heart moved, he looked at Yin Kaishan and said: "Chang Shi, although Yang Tong is decisive and brave, he is bold and reckless, and he believes in the way of imperial power. Although he has millions of people , if there is an assassin sneaking in, one person can be destroyed."

Yin Kaishan shook his head and smiled wryly: "Yang Tong fought from Luoyang to the north, and then from the north to the south. All the heroes at home and abroad have suffered from him, and now his military methods are getting more sophisticated. Yang Tong is not easy, not to mention, even Daoist Qihui who is known as the best sword in the world can't plot against him, and he was easily killed by him, there is no one in Tang Dynasty who can beat Yang Tong."

Chu Suiliang thought for a while and said, "Chang Shi, do you still remember Xue Ju's death?"

How did Xue Ju, who was in his prime, die?

Of course, he didn't die from a sudden illness, but was poisoned by Chu Liang who had already descended to Tang secretly.

Yin Kaishan sighed slightly: "Back then I was able to kill Xue Ju, because my father had the opportunity to get close to Xue Ju. Yang Yu's side is different. We have searched secretly for many years. Although there are as many people who hate Yang Tong as the sands of the Yellow River, But these people can't calculate Sapporo at all. Yang Tong seems magnanimous, but he attaches great importance to respect and inferiority. Generals who have not reached a certain level are not qualified to approach him. Even if he is poisoned to death, Yang Gongren, Yang Shanhui, Wei Yunqi, and Yang Shidao , Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, Pei Xingyan and others will also do their best to assist Yang Zheng in power. As long as these people are still there, the Sui Dynasty will not be chaotic; poisoning Yang Tong will only attract millions of people. The Sui army's brutal revenge, and my Tang Dynasty obviously cannot bear the price of poisoning Yang Tong."

"The common man in the past has become the confidant of the Tang Dynasty!" Li Shimin patted the table and said with regret: "If I had known this, I should have joined forces with Shibi at all costs to kill this tiger first. And north, and then march into Guanzhong."

Yin Kaishan didn't answer the question. Li Yuan, not Li Shimin, was in charge of the Li Tang Dynasty. Even if Li Yuan and Shibi attacked Yang Tong from north to south, they could not threaten Yang Yu. Xinkou Fortress has deployed heavy troops. Although the Tang army is numerous, most of them are miscellaneous soldiers. There is no way to deal with an upright army. If there is a stalemate with the Sui army, Yang Tong, who returned from a great victory, will be the first to clean up. Li Yuan, Li Tang's The ending is not much better than that of Liu Wuzhou, so naturally there is no such thing as occupying Hedong and taking control of Guanzhong.

Yin Kaishan fully understands that Yang Tong is a peerless hero who fights harder and harder as long as he doesn't die. A few years ago, Yang Tong made great achievements, but Yang Tan easily took away his achievements in the war, and left Luoyang in despair. Of course, it doesn't mean that Yang Tan, who has the support of the Kanto gentry, is no good. It's just that comparing Yang Tong's current momentum and achievements, it's hard for people to imagine the embarrassment Yang Tong once had.

At this time, Chu Suiliang suggested: "Your Highness, Chang Shi, I think the most urgent thing is to get in touch with Tubo Langri Zanpu, let him understand Yang Tong's tactics and tactics, and use the power of Ertu to achieve the purpose of consuming the Sui army's strength." If there is a chance, Yang Tong must not be given a chance to survive. In addition, try to get in touch with the Eastern and Western Turks, and if they are willing to send troops, at least part of the Sui army will be dispatched."

Li Shimin nodded, looked at Yin Kaishan, and asked, "What do you think is the best way to climb the mountain?"

"Langri Zanpu Chen Bing's place is not far from Tongchang. We can contact him nearby. Even if the Second Tu coalition forces can't kill Yang Yu, they should kill more than 20 Sui troops." Yin Kaishan thought for a moment, then said : "However, it is not easy for the Second Tubo allied forces to destroy the Sui army. It is only because Yang Tong won a beautiful and big victory a few days ago. The loss of more than [-] people in Tubo is second. The key is that dozens of warriors died. Langri Zanpu couldn't find so many strong generals to supplement in his eagerness, so even if he was willing to deal with Yang Tong with all his strength, a single stone pass would be able to stop the Ertu coalition forces from advancing, as for the East and West Turks... "

"Why?" Chu Suiliang asked.

Yin Kaishan sighed, and said to Chu Suiliang: "It is true that the Eastern and Western Turks were torn apart by Yang Tong, and it is true that many tribes hate Yang Tong, but given Yang Tong's reputation on the grassland, I am afraid that these tribes would rather surrender Yang Tong. , did not have the guts to touch the territory of the Sui Dynasty. Do you know..."

"In the past, every winter, the Turkic people would build tents under the city wall to avoid the wind and snow, regardless of whether the Sui Dynasty agreed or not. But now, Yang Tong has drawn a ten-mile-wide sphere of influence outside the new Great Wall. Anyone who enters Among them, grazing is the enemy of the Sui Dynasty. For so many years, the Turkic people would rather freeze to death than dare to enter this sphere of influence."

"..." Chu Suiliang was at a loss for words, but for some reason, a sense of pride and honor was vaguely felt in his heart.

"But who can go to Tibet as an envoy?" Li Shimin asked.

Li Shimin is equivalent to self-reliance, and his living environment is quite bad. He has no reinforcements inside and strong enemies outside.What he is most worried about now is that after Yang Tong kills Tubo, he will go from Zoige Grassland to Tongchang County. Once he gets there, he will be finished.

"Your Highness, I would like to take this trip. If possible, I will get some war horses for Your Highness." Chu Suiliang begged for orders
"Okay, let Dengshan go through this." Li Shimin thought for a while, and found that Chu Suiliang was indeed the most suitable candidate at the moment.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Nanyang Basin is like a revolving door between Guanzhong, Hanzhong, and Jingbei, which can be entered from all sides and attacked from all sides.From a global perspective, the Nanyang Basin has the characteristics of extending from east to west and converging from north to south.Xiangyang and Nanyang are located at the north and south ends of the basin. The formation of these two important towns also represents the confrontation and stalemate between the interests of the north and the south in this area.Whenever the northern and southern dynasties confront each other, the north and the south often occupy Xiangyang and Nanyang and enjoy the Nanyang Basin.In the battle between East and West, the Nanyang Basin is an attractive area, whether it is in the process of tackling key problems or going out of the Guandong East.

Nanyang County, located in the Nanyang Basin, is located in the north-south hub, with abundant water and soil, and a prosperous population. If you can sit here, you can retreat and defend according to the danger, sit and watch the princes of the Central Plains fight each other, and go south to Jingzhou to occupy the two states of Jing and Yi.

Xinye County in Nanyang County is located where many rivers converge. Dozens of rivers originating from the Funiu Mountains in the north converge in Xinye County, and finally flow into Han River in Xiangyang in the south.

Because there are many rivers passing through here, the water source is abundant and the land is fertile, Nanyang County has also become a land of prosperity. However, in the era of great chaos, Nanyang County was burned, killed and looted by the bandit Zhu Can. Zhu Can was the most brutal of all the princes. Wherever the army went, no grass grew, and wherever the army went, the people were used as food, resulting in the death of the Nanyang generation and the extinction of the population.

Although Zhu Can has been killed, the consequences he caused still affect Nanyang today.Nanyang, which was originally famous for its prosperity, was full of devastation and the people's livelihood was in decline. Li Yuan later failed to conquer Nanyang and returned without success. However, he was unwilling to let Nanyang completely fall into the hands of the Sui Dynasty, so he forcibly moved the people of Nanyang to Xiangyang, resulting in Nanyang's population being less than [-]% of what it was in its heyday .

Although the new prefect has already taken office, the population and land censuses have been completed, and the land equalization system has been implemented, the most critical population has not been filled for a long time.

Zhu Can’s cannibalism and Li Yuan’s forced relocation are on the one hand, and on the other hand, Nanyang County is close to Xiangyang and Chunling counties, and it is the front line of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Therefore, even if someone escapes from Xiangyang, the Sui Dynasty is cautious Placed in Yingchuan, Liangjun, Huaiyang and other inner counties.

Not long ago, the Sui army that ended the Sui-Wei war rushed to the Sui-Tang border one after another, making preparations for the Sui-Tang war in various important places, and Nanyang County was facing Li Xiaogong's 12 troops, so Yang Shanhui was in charge of Nanyang County and became a key supplement Object, the troop strength has changed from the initial 13 to the current 30, including most of the main battle soldiers of the Second Army, the Third Army, the Fifth Army, and the No.11 Army. The big one made Li Xiaogong and Chai Shao in the south feel uncomfortable sleeping and eating.

But with so many troops gathered here, the amount of food consumed every day is also an astronomical amount. Yang Shanhui saw that Nanyang County is fertile and has convenient irrigation. The soldiers and slaves recruited years ago were all designated as Tuntian soldiers. They used the good opportunity of the truce to garrison 30 million hectares of land in Nanyang, which solved the problem of food for the army, achieved the goal of self-sufficiency, and reduced the burden on the court.

In the wilderness south of Xinye County, close to the east bank of the Feishui River, there stands a military camp covering an area of ​​more than one thousand mu.

The battle flags fluttered all around the barracks, and the four-foot-tall "Sui" battle flag was high above, flying over the south sky with majesty.

On both sides of the camp gate stood two sentry towers as high as three feet high. Five sentries were patrolling the towers, watching the surrounding situation vigilantly.

A few miles to the south of this camp, there is a low hill covered with dense forests, and the spacious official road to Xiangyang, which is two miles wide from north to south, passes through the north of this hill.

It is midsummer, and the vegetation on the mountain is full of vitality.All kinds of birds were chirping, and at this time, on a lush tree, three scouts from the Tang army were looking at the huge Sui army camp from a distance.

From their seats, they could clearly see the situation of the camp in the distance.Tents were lined up neatly one after another, and groups of soldiers practiced neatly on the school field in the South Camp Gate. You could also see dense patrols patrolling the camp.

"Can you count them clearly? How many big tents are there?" A Tang army scout asked in a low voice.

"There are about [-] large tents, all of which are medium-sized tents of the Sui army. Generally speaking, one tent has one troop."

"That is to say, there are still 25 Sui soldiers in the barracks here?" The man under the tree frowned.
The scout on the tree pondered for a while, and said: "The Sui army is mainly composed of cavalry, even the infantry have horses, at least half of them are ordnance, food, and tents for stables. In this way, there are about 13 Sui troops in the barracks." .”

The scout under the tree quickly drew the terrain and camping map on the paper, and marked the number of troops and horses aside.

After the scout finished recording, he asked again: "Have you seen the handsome flag clearly?"

The scout on the tree looked at it for a while, and said softly with some helplessness: "It's still the battle flag with Sui characters, and the one that is a little lower than it is also the flag of Yang Shanhui."

Because the Sui army was engaged in farming in Nanyang, soldiers came and went constantly, no one knew how many people were in the barracks, and no one even knew whether the main general Yang Shanhui was still there or not, so Li Xiaogong would send out scouts every day to monitor closely the activities of the Sui army. Every move.

While talking, a group of Sui army cavalry galloped towards this side from the official road, and the Tang army scout quickly shrank back, hiding in the branches and leaves of the trees, and the grass under the trees.

They waited until the Sui army patrolled far away, and they quietly left the hill, pulled out their horses in the woods at the foot of the mountain, and galloped towards Chongling in the south...

(End of this chapter)