The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 922 Li Yuan's Curtain Call Is Inevitable
The afterglow in the sky was as red as blood, and Yang Tong, who was discussing good things, ran back to the painting boat in the imperial garden to enjoy the coolness. Although there was no shortage of ice in the palace, he didn't dare to use it for fear of aggravating his condition, so he could only blow the natural wind to drive away the heat.

The evening wind was blowing his hair, and the long hair loosened from the bath was fluttering in the wind, which was just right for his mood at the moment.

Before leaving the Qianqiu Palace, another urgent report was sent from the Chengdu side, saying that Li Shimin had carried out drastic reforms in the political arena of the puppet Tang Dynasty. The former ministers and generals of the old generals, the first to bear the brunt are Pei Ji and Li Shentong, who have no talent and no virtue. Compared with Li Shentong, who lost his military power and became the minister of Zongzheng Temple, Pei Ji has become a dead body.

Among the two ministers of martial virtue, Li Shentong was greedy, but he didn't have much trouble with the courtiers, while Pei Ji was not.

He is sinister and vicious, and the city is extremely deep. After Li Tang established the country, he was mercenary, and he didn't talk to anyone. No one knew what he wanted to do. When he was with him, his gloomy eyes would always make people shudder.

In addition, he is very concerned about fame and fortune, and he can do anything to make a name for himself. Although everyone admits that he has brains, no one likes him, and many people keep a distance from him intentionally or unintentionally.However, Li Yuan didn't care about Pei Ji's character and popularity. He was superior and only judged success or failure based on his merits. Besides, Pei Ji also made contributions when planning the uprising, and cooperated with Li Yuanji in the action of getting rid of Liu Wenjing. It somewhat brought back Li Yuan's goodwill.

However, after the Xuanwumen coup ended, everything before Pei Ji became something that could kill him.Therefore, Li Shimin counted his crimes and used his head to quell the grievances of the officials, which won the applause of the central officials. Yang Tong's uncle and Li Shimin's confidant Yuwen Shihe took over his post.

Dou Gui, because he supported Li Shimin to launch the Xuanwumen coup, became the one who made the most profits. Now he has been promoted to the general of the Wusan government, the minister of the Ministry of war, and the second guard in the military. Li Shimin, as he wished, quelled the grievances of the Dou faction in the army.

Zhao Cijing, who was assassinated by "Pei Xingyan" in Wenshan County, also received compensation. According to the law, there will be more generous treatment, and important officials such as Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, and Dou Lukuan will also get something.

Li Shimin's direct descendants, such as Yin Kaishan, Liu Hongji, Duan Zhixuan, Hou Junji, Li Zhixi, Li Anyuan, Yu Zhining, Tang Jian, Jing Junhong, Liu Shiren and others have also soared in status.

After all these appointments and dismissals, Li Shimin managed to stabilize the situation of the Li Tang Dynasty, which was not a good thing for the Sui Dynasty.

"Fever and cold are the most forbidden evil spirits to enter the body. Husband, it is better not to blow the wind." At this time, Yang Qinfang's voice came, and she was seen walking in a plain white dress, and the setting sun reflected on her face. It feels ethereal, slim and graceful, as bright as a clear lotus out of water, with wet and shiny hair draped over her shoulders, and a plum blossom on her forehead, which looks a bit like the charm of Guanyin.

However, when she got closer, Yang Tong's feeling changed again. The light and soft dress seemed to reveal her skin under the clothes. The poems such as "Lan breasts and snow pressing plums" probably describe Yang Qinfang's beautiful mood at the moment.

It's just that although Yang Qinfang's clothes are light, soft and thin, she doesn't have the slightest color taste. From the inside to the outside, she has a fresh and unpretentious air, and her clear eyes seem to hide a touch of extreme tenderness.

No matter how noble a person is, as long as he falls in love with someone with all his heart, he will lower himself into the dust for that person. Now, Yang Qinfang is obviously bathing in the sweet river of love. The fusion of soul and flesh not only calmed her down Her grievances and sorrows brought her indescribable happiness, and her whole body glowed with a gentle look.

Or standing too close, Yang Tong not only smelled the faint fragrance, but also saw her lower her head shyly, her elegant neck was like a swan pecking at its wings, a blush spread onto her fragrant cheeks without knowing when, The beautiful and fragrant breasts are like a pair of nephrite jade, nodding gently in the evening wind, waiting for its owner to reach out and pick them.

"I'm fine now." Yang Tong was amused and surprised when he saw that the girl who used to be so careless is now always shy. They have shared the same bed many times, and it's still like this. This huge contrast was really unexpected.

In fact, Yang Qinfang is different from Yang Tong's other women. She grew up in the palace and was deeply influenced by the royal culture and etiquette. She often represents the face of the royal family. She is more traditional than others in her bones. Recognized for life, it also appears to be particularly docile and obedient.Of course, there are reasons for her upbringing, but with her temperament and methods of taking a group of little girls to suppress the bandits, if she didn't love Yang Yu, cherish his love, and cherish her own gains, how could she be willing to give up? ?

"Listen to the sound, it's indeed much better than in the morning. But you can't blow the wind..." Yang Qinfang forgot to be shy, and after speaking happily, she led Yang Tong into the side of the boat.

Once inside, Yang Qinfang saw the eight-style delicate side dishes on the small table, steaming, and asked in surprise, "Husband hasn't eaten yet?"

Yang Tong said: "It's no fun eating alone. If you still don't come when the sun is setting, then I'll eat it alone."

Yang Qinfang's heart warmed up, and when the two returned to Miyagi, she also took a bath, but girls are always slower than men, so she quickly cleaned her hands and sat down at the table to clothe Yang Tong who had already sat down. After taking a chopsticks of vegetables, he served him another half bowl of japonica rice porridge, and said happily: "Next time, my husband doesn't have to wait for me. What if I get hungry?"

Yang Tong smiled and said, "I'm not that weak."

Yang Qinfang took a mouthful of rice and asked again, "Sister Xiuning and Sister Mingyue didn't come back?"

"No! Ning'er has been away from the battlefield for too long, and her physique, strength, and agility are not as good as before. In order to hurry up and recover, she asked Mingyue to intensify her training. The two of them just spent time in the barracks." Yang Tong smiled narrowly. Said: "Actually, I know that they are creating unique opportunities for the two of us."

Yang Qinfang was so ashamed that her ears were red, but when she thought of her sisters being so considerate, she felt very grateful. After a while, she quickly changed the topic and changed the matter to today's emergency report: "Speaking of it, Li Yuan is miserable enough. Anyway, he was also the founding emperor, but his son rebelled, and none of his officials fought for it. Thinking about it carefully, Li Yuan is a failure enough to be a man."

"It's normal." Yang Tong said: "For Li Yuan, he has come to the point where he has betrayed his relatives and lost his way. In fact, not only now, but also as early as the Eastern Expedition failed, and the Guanlong nobles were forced to rebel step by step. His political career has come to an end. As the saying goes, "If you want people not to know, you have to do nothing." When Li Yuan used despicable means to assassinate his uncle Duguzheng, although the pseudo-Tang courtiers did not dare to say anything, many people Through some clues, I guessed that it was Li Yuan who killed Duguzheng, and also guessed that behind the rebellion of the Guanlong nobles was the fact that the emperor took a fancy to their money, food, land, and manpower. It's just that no one dared to say it because of Li Yuan's prestige." It is also the reason why Li Yuan issued the Zen order in Xiangyang, but the ministers seldom made admonitions. If Li Yuan had not contradicted his promise and actually handed over the imperial power to Li Jiancheng, everyone would have looked at him highly, but Li Yuan did not. He arrived in Chengdu Later, in order to consolidate the imperial power, he not only ordered Li Yuanji to be Benjali to cut off people he considered disloyal, but also imprisoned the wise Li Jiancheng through various conspiracies and tricks, and killed Liu Wenjing, who was ordered to open the Tang Dynasty... All of this made Everyone was scared and chilled by this tyrant, and they wished that he would die soon. It was because of this premise that Li Shimin lobbied Dou Gui, and then Dou Gui easily believed him, and quickly helped Li Shimin contact a group of generals and courtiers This is also the reason why after the Xuanwumen coup, no courtiers came out to appease the difficulties. In fact, Li Yuan reused Li Yuanji and Li Shentong, two confidantes, not only to calculate the needs of his courtiers, but also out of necessity. For that."

Yang Qinfang asked, "Why is that?"

"It was because of my great power in the Sui Dynasty, which prompted him to use very violent and radical methods to renew the life of the puppet Tang Dynasty. But when Li Jiancheng fell, it was time for Li Yuan, who used his power to the extreme, to call the curtain. It was because the officials of the Puppet Tang Dynasty no longer dared or believed in him, nor did they think that this guy who had been defeated repeatedly could bring the Puppet Tang to the light, and Li Yuan's predicament of betraying his relatives and being separated from top to bottom made the entire Puppet Tang Dynasty lose its cohesion , no matter who such a king is, there will be no good results. So even if there is no Xuanwu Sect coup, he will not have any achievements under the betrayal of his relatives."

Speaking of this, Yang Tong paused for a while, and gave an example: "This is like Fu Chai, the king of Wu. After killing Wu Zixu, he fought for years regardless of the tiredness of the people. After exhausting the hearts of the people and being betrayed by the Yue Kingdom, , although Fu Chai came to his senses, it was too late. It took nine years from the betrayal of the Yue State to the demise of the Wu State. It is a falsehood to say that King Wu Fu Chai has not awakened and worked hard in the past nine years. But once the human heart is an invisible thing that is related to the destiny of the country, once it is gone, think again. Cohesion is extremely difficult, and it would be even more impossible if the country had another strong enemy who could not see the tiger. Neither could Fu Chai, nor could Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It would be even more difficult for Li Yuan, who did not have the accumulation of generations."

"So Li Shimin stepped on Li Yuan, a tyrant, and Li Yuanji, a thug, in order to cater to the hearts of civil and military officials, and in the interest of civil and military officials. As for the fratricide, that is the Li family's own business, and it has nothing to do with civil and military officials. However, Li Yuan’s sad curtain call and no one to calm down, one is because he was spurned by everyone, the other is that he has carried all the crimes and resentments, and the third is that Li Shimin’s superiority has given the officials more or less a chance to breathe, after all The new king has new hope." Speaking of this, Yang Tong laughed again: "The result of the Xuanwumen coup was to sacrifice one Li Yuan and save the entire puppet Tang Dynasty."

"So, the current False Tang is more difficult to deal with than Li Yuan's False Tang?"

"Theoretically so."

"Then..." Yang Qinfang pondered for a while, seeming to have something to say, but it was inconvenient to speak.

"Any more questions? Just ask." Yang Tong's dynasty said that the harem should not interfere in political affairs, but Yang Tong did not prohibit them from asking politics. After all, living in such a family, "Don't ask politics, don't know politics." It is simply deception.

Instead of covering up and making the husband and wife suspicious of each other, it is better to put everything on the table, so that at least many unnecessary misunderstandings and troubles can be eliminated.

Yang Qinfang stabbed the chopsticks into the rice bowl one by one, and asked softly: "So, it is because of the loss of the father's heart that the world is in chaos and the coup in Jiangdu Palace is also caused?"

"That's it..." Yang Tong was stunned when he heard it, never expecting that Yang Qinfang hesitated for a long time, and what he asked was this, what did he say?
Looking at Yang Tong's weird gaze, Yang Qinfang suddenly said with happiness, "You don't need to answer, just pretend I didn't ask."

"There's nothing to cover up. In fact, I was in such a mess in the Sui Dynasty. Of course, there are also factors related to the loss of people's hearts."

"Then why do the common people support Da Sui now?"

"It's because the people who suffered from the war began to reflect. They found that the anti-kings who turned back and forth were worse, more cruel, more hateful, and more inhumane than us. So they changed back and supported us."

"This... this is really unreasonable..."

"Human nature is so complicated, there's no way around it." Speaking of this, Yang Tong suddenly smiled strangely, "You call my royal grandfather and grandmother your father and mother, and your mother and queen your sister-in-law, so what is our relationship? Isn't it a mess..."

Yang Qinfang was stunned, her pretty face was flushed with blood because of this remark, she couldn't help but coquettishly said: "I, I, I will change..."

"Then hurry up, lest you have a child and mess up your seniority."

"En." Yang Qinfang's long eyelashes drooped down, the shy look of the young woman was charming, but her eyes were black and bright like stars.

The two ate while talking, and the eight side dishes were very light, clearly prepared according to Yang Qinfang's taste.Seeing that Yang Tong didn't eat much, she felt slightly uneasy: "Is this dish not to your husband's taste?"

Yang Tong shook his head and smiled, "That's not true, it's just that the weather is sultry and I'm not too hungry now. Otherwise, let alone the dishes are delicious, and just by being with you, a beautiful beauty, I can have a big appetite." open."

"Husband made fun of him again." Yang Qinfang said softly, "Then let the imperial chef prepare some dishes later."

"Okay! We'll eat together when we're tired."

Yang Qinfang's small face was blushing all over, and she whispered: "Well, I... I and I will listen to you!"

………………

At the same moment, the setting sun in Chengdu City was as blood-red, imitating Daxing City, Chengdu City was like a huge chessboard bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun. Li Shimin, who is the author, is not as leisurely as Yang Tong.

In a side hall next to the Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin was discussing major issues with a group of civil and military officials.

He said to the crowd: "I just received news from Padang that Li Jing's offensive has become more and more fierce these days. He has been attacking the water villages on both sides of the Yangtze River and the iron chains blocking the river day and night. Let’s face the reality, and now we are in a crisis, let’s all speak freely!”

Everyone has already obtained the content of the discussion in advance. In fact, everyone is very clear that after the Xuanwumen coup, the Sui army will definitely take the opportunity to attack Yizhou, and will never give Li Shimin time to calmly rectify the government. Now the Sui army's decisive battle intention is very obvious. And Li Jing is just one of many Sui armies, let's see how they dealt with the Tang Dynasty.

Xiao Yu saluted and said: "His Royal Highness, please let Rong Chen say something first."

Li Shimin nodded, "Xiao Xiang, please tell me."

"Your Highness, among the many Sui armies, I believe that Li Jing's route is the most threatening. They have supplies from the Yangtze River waterway, and they don't need a lot of people to transport logistics. Given the vast territory of the Sui Dynasty today, even if they fight for a few years, they will not be able to shake it. The Sui Dynasty had strong financial resources, but for the Tang Dynasty, which only had Yizhou, it could not bear endless wars."

Xiao Yu said: "Not to mention money and food, the key is that our weapons and equipment are consumed too much; since the Sui Dynasty cut off trade, we have not been able to get iron ore, and only relying on the output of Pingqiang iron mine is simply a drop in the bucket. , This is also the reason why the Holy Majesty cast copper ingots into arrow clusters. Since Li Jing launched the attack, the daily consumption of arrows has been an astonishing amount. If this continues, there will be no arrows to use. With it Compared with other Sui armies, we can take advantage of the terrain and stones to keep the Sui army out of the country. After breaking through Padang, the flames of war immediately spread to the Chengdu Plain. With the Sui Army's sharp cavalry and weapons, it was difficult to defend the Chengdu Plain. Moreover, our troops in the Chengdu Plain were too small, just over 3 soldiers , Chengdu alone is not enough to defend, let alone defend other places, if there is turmoil in other places, what do we use to counter the rebellion?"

Xiao Yu's words aroused murmurs in the hall, and even Li Shimin frowned slightly. Not to mention that he didn't feel much, but after Xiao Yu's analysis, he also felt that leaving more than 3 soldiers in the Chengdu Plain was really owed. consider.

Dou Gui said, "Although Xiang Xiang's analysis is reasonable, the Sui army in each of the four directions has [-] elite soldiers, and there are many other slave soldiers. Mausoleum, or enter the Chengdu Plain from Wenshan, Lintao, and Hanchuan, then we are all finished."

Dou Gui's words made everyone feel that they were stretched thin. The Tang Dynasty clearly had about 30 troops, but in the end it was not enough to defend Yizhou. At this time, Chen Shuda said in a deep voice: "If this is the case, There are only two ways, one is to recruit troops, but we have almost turned the ground into soldiers, if we forcefully recruit troops again, I am afraid we will rebel; the second is to redeploy the army and withdraw troops from some safer places For example, there are 15 soldiers in the counties of Dangchang, and in the opinion of the veteran, it is completely possible to transfer [-] to [-] soldiers back to the defense."

Dou Lukuan also said, "Your Highness, I also agree with Chen Xiangguo's opinion."

Seeing that no one objected, Li Shimin nodded and said, "Since no one objects, then we should bring back [-] Tubo troops. It is the Chengdu Plain that is the battlefield for the cavalry, and in addition, another [-] Tang troops will be withdrawn."

All the ministers agree with each other.

Another new problem came up. Li Shimin had sent [-] recruits to the four directions before, and [-] of them were sent to support Badong County. The Bajun training in the east and west is also to prevent the Liao people in the area of ​​Luchuan. It's time to advance, but the question now is who should lead the army to aid Padang.

Li Shimin thought for a while, and then made a decision: "My idea is not to bother the two masters. Since the [-] soldiers in Berkshire are commanded and trained by the right-wing general Hou Junji, we should simply use him as the main general of the reinforcements. After all, the soldiers have only been in the same position for less than a month, and they are already in a situation where they don't know the generals and the generals don't know the soldiers. If another general goes to command, I am afraid that the combat power of this new soldier will be even lower. I have guarded Yiling County with the same terrain, which is more suitable than generals who have no experience in this field. Then I will appoint Gao Changshi as the governor of Badong Governor's Mansion to take command of the battle situation, do you have any opinions?"

This plan is tantamount to placing Hou Junji as the No.1 under Gao Shilian. Hou Junji was exaggerated in his early years. Later, he followed Li Shimin to fight in the north and south, and made military achievements. He was gradually appreciated by Li Shimin and was able to participate in the planning of various affairs. Although this person has a bad temper, Gao Shilian is smooth and good at coordinating relationships. It should be said that the combination of the two of them is a better idea, and everyone nodded in approval.

……

The next day, the order arrived at Bajun, and Hou Junji led the Tang army to march towards Badong.

Badong County is the main throat connecting Jingxiangtong and Bashu. Its status is no less than that of Yiling County, which has been recovered by the Sui Dynasty. It can be said that as long as the Sui army occupies Badong, the road to the west will be unimpeded, and as long as the Tang army occupies Yiling, then it can also threaten the land of Jingxiang.

Hou Junji naturally also knew the strategic position of Badong County. He heard the news that the Sui army was marching westward. Fearing that Gao Shilian, who was tired of soldiers, would make a mistake, he asked veteran Li Anyuan to lead [-] elite troops to go ahead to support Zigui, which was at the forefront of the war. The county, with the fortification of Zigui County and Gao Shilian's army, together with the reinforcements of the [-] troops, is enough to hold this throat.

After marching day and night, [-] soldiers have already passed Yun'an County, Badong County. According to the normal marching speed, they can reach Renfu County, the county government, in about two days, and then reach the destination Zigui County after another two days.

Due to Li Anyuan's urgency, the Tang army marched eastward without rest, along the winding mountain road to the county in front.

But Li Anyuan never dreamed that just to the northeast of them, there was an army of about [-] people rushing towards Renfu County.

(End of this chapter)