Sui Dynasty: I, Yang Guang, am both scrupulous and stable

Chapter 300 Expedition to Goguryeo

Yang Guang said in surprise: "Father, the deployment of the southern front has been basically completed. Everything is ready and all we need is the east wind. If we abandon the southern front at this time and attack Goguryeo first, I'm afraid it wouldn't be appropriate."

"Our army will definitely be able to attack Nanchen next year at the latest, and there is a high probability that we can do it within this year. I am confident that I can take the capital of Nanchen within half a year to a year. If I go to Goguryeo at this time, all my previous efforts will be in vain."

Yang Jian lamented softly: "Well, I thought there would be no fighting on the Western Front, but I didn't expect it to start. And according to Lao Si's character, this battle will definitely be finished. Now that Goguryeo is facing a powerful enemy, if the fighting starts again on the Southern Front, I am also afraid that the Sui Dynasty is fighting too many wars now."

The emperor's worries were not unreasonable, but Yang Guang argued with reason: "My father, Tuyuhun, and Goguryeo should not have any influence on the country. I feel that my father is too cautious in calling Goguryeo a powerful enemy."

However, Yang Jian had no expression on his face and said with firm eyes: "No, according to our information, Goguryeo has a high probability of mastering the manufacturing of firearms. Nan Chen has used many methods and spies to still know little about firearms, but Goguryeo has the ability to make firearms. This This is what I am most worried about, and the other thing is... Goguryeo is inauspicious."

Yang Guang looked at Yang Jian. Yang Jian was obviously still worried about King Wei. The young man King Wei died suddenly for no reason. This kind of thing was too abnormal. According to the doctors, Yang Guang guessed that the hemangioma in King Wei's brain burst. , but there is no way to talk to Yang Jian about this matter.

Yang Jian felt that Yang Shuang was poisoned or killed, but he finally accepted the theory that he died for no reason. He felt that it was unlucky to conquer Goguryeo.

Sometimes Yang Jian is indeed a very superstitious person.

"Father, I think that Goguryeo should not be conquered yet. The latest warship built by me will be put into the sea within two years at most. At that time, we can cross the sea and attack Goguryeo from behind."

Yang Jian waved his hand: "I have decided to conquer Goguryeo first, and then conquer the Central Plains. You can lead the troops there."

Yang Guang understood Yang Jian's intention and sighed softly: "Father, I still feel that this is not the best idea, but my father has made up his mind and I will definitely obey my orders."

Hearing Yang Guang's statement, the emperor nodded: "You have always been the most sensible. Both your mother and I are well aware of this matter. If you do this well, the reward will definitely be great."

"Father, when will my son go to war?"

"If it's an emergency, we'll leave tomorrow at the latest."

If they set out tomorrow, Yang Guang won't even have time to understand the current battle situation clearly and will have to set off urgently.

Before Yang Guang left the palace, he said to Yang Jian: "Father, Meng Lan is pregnant and my son is out fighting. Please help me and take care of me."

After Yang Guang left, Empress Dugu said to Yang Jian: "Your Majesty, you see my concubine is right. Even if it is not what he wants, as long as it is your order, he will definitely obey it."

The emperor said nothing and walked toward the East Palace alone. The queen never accompanied the emperor when he went to the East Palace.

Yang Guang returned home and urgently summoned Li Yuan to discuss the matter. Li Yuan was a little surprised to learn that Yang Guang was going to Goguryeo.

"Your Highness, it would be better if you won the battle in Goguryeo this time. If you fail to restore the decline, I'm afraid it will have a big impact on you. You have every reasonable reason to refuse."

"Of course I know the serious relationship between it, but my father gave the order, and I had to obey it. I thought about it in front of the palace. There are good and bad things about this matter."

Yang Guang continued: "You have also thought of the disadvantages. As for the advantages, I can take this opportunity to take over the entire land that the prince was once in charge of. Although my father did not say it explicitly, taking charge of the Youzhou Army and the elites of Shandong is equivalent to He has mastered most of the troops previously controlled by the prince.”

"Your Highness, having too many troops is not necessarily a good thing."

Li Yuan could instinctively say this, and Yang Guang understood that Li Yuan put himself first in his considerations.

"Excessive military strength is good or bad. I am very measured in this matter. I have to shoot when the arrow is on the string. We will not discuss this matter. I called you here because I have arrangements for the next step."

Li Yuan sat up and corrected himself a little.

"Your Highness, you said."

"When I go to Goguryeo, I will take Yu Wenhuaji with me, and I will arrange for Yang Xuangan to go to Shandong. There are many prominent families in Shandong, and the Kong family in Qufu is also there. I will ask him to help me make connections. I am afraid that the network that the prince contacted before is in urgent need now. Someone takes it.”

Li Yuan looked worried: "Your Highness, is Xuangan really okay?"

"I will arrange for others to assist him, but for these scheming noble families, Yang Xuangan's frankness may have other uses."

Youzhou City is an important town in the northeast. Once Youzhou City fails, it will first affect the famous families in Shandong. In the distribution map of the Sui Dynasty, apart from Daxing City and Luoyang, the famous families in Shandong are the most prosperous.

Previously, Yang Yong was in charge of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Under Yuan Xiaoju's operation, he still established sufficient friendly relations with these prominent families. Now, although Yang Yong has not yet given an explicit order to step down, these people know the direction of the wind best.

First, we must prevent ourselves from being affected if Yang Yong really steps down. Second, we must also consider how to maintain the relationship between them and the central government after Yang Yong steps down.

Power is a big tree that these noble families must cling to, and Yang Xuangan will be Yang Guang's choice to recruit these people.

There was certainly a reason for choosing him.

The first is his identity. He is the eldest son of Yang Su and a veteran nobleman. His identity is equivalent to those of these noble families. In other words, he is the top noble family. It is reasonable for him to be chosen as a candidate.

Furthermore, it is difficult to find a character like the silly son of a landlord, which will make other noble families feel lucky when communicating with him, and they will instinctively put down their guard and think back, look at our Jin. Your Highness, as long as they are loyal to him, even the stupid sons of landlords will be entrusted with important tasks.

Isn't this just nepotism?
Although nepotism is not a good word, it is very important to a prominent family.

The most important thing for a powerful family to continue is the continuation of power. However, no matter how powerful a family is, it is impossible to guarantee that there will be awesome figures in every generation. Moderation is often the best choice, so they must have A nepotistic leader for our own group.

They were willing to choose Yang Yong before, not only because Yang Yong was in charge of the Northern Qi region, but also because when Yang Guang was in Luoyang, he executed Baijia and Magu on the street for their disobedience.

Magu is an official with a big family, but the Bai family is a serious and distinguished family. Although it cannot be compared with the big aristocratic families, it is much bigger than the average squire. The fact that Yang Guang executed him on the spot has already spread throughout the Sui Dynasty. Let other noble families be frightened by this news.

Although Yang Guang had a very good reputation among the people because of this, it also made noble families afraid to visit him.

The purpose of letting Yang Xuangan go this time is to improve relations and take over the famous families for his own use. Li Yuan can actually be a candidate, but he has to take care of the affairs of Daxing City, and he really doesn't feel comfortable leaving it to others.

Yang Guang's attitude towards these powerful families was different from now. He was a little resistant before because he instinctively felt that these people would be a stumbling block to the development of the Sui Dynasty in the future. However, over the years, he slowly discovered that unless he launched something like the Yellow Turban Army Or something like the Huang Chao Uprising, otherwise it would be really difficult to eliminate the harm to the powerful families.

Take it step by step and treat it slowly.Yang Guang then said: "Li Yuan, when I am not in Daxing City, all the firearms needed on the Western Front battlefield must be met without any gaps."

Li Yuan nodded.

"Also, the most elite members of the Yingyang Guards were sent to follow Yang Xuangan to Shandong and quietly to Qufu to secretly investigate the matter about the crown prince's first seal to Mount Tai."

Li Yuan asked with some confusion: "Your Highness, His Highness the Crown Prince is currently under house arrest in the East Palace. Why do you still care so much about this matter?"

Yang Guang frowned slightly: "I don't know how to talk about this matter, but when I think about Feng Chan Taishan, I feel something is wrong. I can't tell what is wrong, but even if it makes me care, I still send the smartest one." Some people went over to investigate, please remember to be careful about this."

"If my father asks, we can answer bluntly, saying that when we received the news, the prince went to Mount Tai to sacrifice to heaven and earth first, but the matter was strange, so we secretly collected evidence. Now that the prince has been imprisoned in the East Palace, it may be the final straw for him. A straw, but remember to just talk about the investigation and not any evidence."

Li Yuan nodded. He understood that this matter might be discovered by the emperor "very coincidentally" or "very well" at some point in time after Yang Guang went to Youzhou.

"The confidentiality of firearms factories and steam warships remains as usual and must be done well. During this time, we got news that the Nanchen people spent a lot of money to get the blueprints and manufacturing methods from our people."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will keep an eye on this matter personally."

Yang Guang patted Li Yuan on the shoulder: "Li Yuan, the task I give you is the heaviest. During the time I am not in Daxing City, I have to work on you."

"Your Highness, you are serious. It is Li Yuan's honor to serve His Highness."

"There is no need to be so polite between you and me. Whenever Yang Guang and I can accomplish anything, you, Li Yuan, are always the first to do it."

After arranging Li Yuan's work, Yang Xuangan and Yu Wenhuaji arrived.

Yang Guang asked Yang Xuangan to follow his team to Shandong and then asked: "Xuangan, can you do this?"

Yang Xuangan said very confidently: "It's just chatting and drinking tea with some noble family members. I'm confident. I just don't know, Your Highness, can I accept the gifts they give me?"

"keep it."

"Then I'm relieved. But eating, drinking, gambling and gambling are all your own responsibility. Your Highness doesn't need to worry."

Yang Guang looked slightly melancholy today, but he was relieved by Yang Xuangan's words. He always thinks of things very simply, but he can always find the simplest way to clarify things.

Then he said to Yu Wenhuaji: "You have led troops to Youzhou before. Are you familiar with the generals in Youzhou?"

"My time in Youzhou is short, so I can only say that I know the generals above the rank, but I can't say that I'm familiar with them."

Yang Guang was slightly melancholy: "After what happened before, the Youzhou Army is now suffering from internal and external troubles, and the morale of the army must be uneven. I was ordered to go to Youzhou in the face of danger. Facing such a defeated army, I am afraid that it will be difficult for such a disorganized army to fight in a short time. It takes time to revive the morale of the army. If the morale of the army is low, the war will be unfavorable. It seems that we will have to mobilize more troops to support the situation."

Yu Wenhuaji suddenly said: "Your Highness, I am very familiar with them, but Li Jing has been in Youzhou for a long time, and General Yin Shou valued Li Jing very much. I suggest that Your Highness ask Li Jing to write a letter to General Yin Shou's eldest son. Master Yinshi, Master Yinshi is loyal and talented in martial arts. After the death of General Yin Shou at the age of 20, he became a meritorious minister and moved to General Hussar. However, he was not reused. The Yin family has a great reputation in Youzhou City. Your Highness can use it. He will then gather the people of King Wei, I believe it will be much easier than reorganizing the troops."

"Okay, this method is feasible. Immediately order Li Jing to write a letter to Master Yin Shi. When I arrive in Youzhou, I want to see him in person first."

Even if you think carefully when receiving an order in a critical situation, there will still be some oversights.

By the time things were arranged, it was almost evening, and Yang Guang arrived at Xiao Menglan's room without eating dinner.

Yang Guang said with some embarrassment: "Meng Lan, Youzhou is at war with Goguryeo. My father ordered me to go to Youzhou to stabilize the morale of the army and fight against Goguryeo."

Xiao Menglan couldn't help but show a sad expression, and tried her best to smile and said: "Your Highness, you don't have to worry about me, everything is fine in the palace, you are going to go on an expedition..."

"Meng Lan, I'm sorry."

"Your Highness, you are a general on an expedition, how can you say sorry to your concubine?"

Of course Xiao Menglan also knew that Yang Guang's expedition this time meant that there was a high probability that Yang Guang would not be able to be with them when their first child was born.

But Xiao Menglan has always been a person who knows the importance of things. The country is more important than the family. Yang Guang is more important than himself.

Slender and gentle fingers brushed Yang Guang's cheek, gently rubbed his brow, and said with a distressed face: "Your Highness, I have noticed that you have frowned a lot recently, and you always have a lot of troubles. You didn't have so many worries before you got married to me. It's because I neglected my duty. As a wife, you have to make your husband worry."

"Menglan, why am I worried because of you?"

"Then please smile more, Your Highness. You are usually decisive in making decisions, but you always hesitate when meeting me. In this case, I will feel that I am dragging down His Highness."

"how could be?"

"Your Highness, please move forward as always. I will never be a drag on you. I will raise you well in the palace and give birth to the child safely. Besides, Mr. Sun is always at the palace. With him here, there will never be any problems.”

Yang Guang hugged Xiao Menglan gently: "Wait until I come back."

The next day, when the ministers learned that Yang Guang was going to Goguryeo, Yang Guang was already ready to leave.

Yang Guang first went to the military camp on the outskirts of Beijing to order troops. Since this was a rapid march, he would not bring many guards with him, so the soldiers he ordered would set off after him.

But today I went to order troops and brought someone that no one else had thought of.

Sun Simiao.

"Mr. Sun, can the medical soldiers go to the battlefield?"

(End of this chapter)