Because the Sui army strictly blocked the news of the Jianghuai River, it was difficult for the Tang Dynasty to get news of Du Fuwei's rebellion from within the Jianghuai River. On the contrary, the Sui army would spread some fake news to Chang'an through merchants. For example, in the second letter written by the brocade merchant Jin Shirang to his eldest son, the news of the fierce battle between the Northern Sui naval army and Du Fuwei's army in southern Hefei.

Of course, Hefei City had already been closed and blocked, and Jin Shijie could not see it with his own eyes. He just found out about the war from the government and believed it.

But strategic deception is just a illusion. As long as it is an illusion, there will be more or less flaws exposed. Even if it is not from the Jianghuai River, it will be leaked from other places.

At noon that day, a tavern near Dongcheng City was filled with guests. Two middle-aged scholars sat in front of the window on the second floor, one sighing and the other was comforting.

The person who seemed worried was Chu Liang, a scholar in Li Shimin's mansion. He was sulking about his son's marriage. Xiao Yu, who was far away in Zhongdu, wrote to him, wanting to marry his niece Xiao Yuexian to Chu Liang's son Chu Suiliang. The two families have this marriage. The Xiao family is a famous family in Jiangnan and the Chu family is a Yuhang family. The two families are a matchmaker.

Chu Liang's daughter-in-law was originally Yu Shinan's youngest daughter, but because she was too weak, she died less than a year after getting married, and her offspring did not stay. So Chu Liang, who was eager to receive Xiao Yu's letter, agreed immediately.

But soon Chu Liang got another news that Xiao Yu's granddaughter turned out to be Xiao Xian's daughter, which surprised Chu Liang. Xiao Yuexian had no problem with being a widow in his young widow. The key was that she was Xiao Xian's daughter. How could her son marry a princess of the devastated country? Chu Liang wrote a letter to his son Chu Suiliang, asking him to refuse the marriage. Unexpectedly, his son fell in love with Xiao Yuexian at first sight, and the two fell in love. Chu Suiliang ignored his father's objection and had already taken his own initiative to marry Xiao Yuexian as his wife.

Chu Liang was so angry that he wanted to break off the father-son relationship with his son, but his son wrote back to him that he would never divorce his wife no matter what. This made Chu Liang extremely depressed and had to drown his sorrow with alcohol.

The person sitting opposite him to comfort him was a good friend and colleague Yao Silian. Yao Silian was about fifty years old and from Jiangnan. He was very close to the Chu family's ancestral land. Both of their families were moved to Chang'an because of the demise of the Chen Dynasty, and they became close friends.

Yao Silian filled Chu Liang with a glass of wine and advised: "Since the husband's marriage was made by His Highness the King of Qi himself as a matchmaker, I don't think there is too much risk. Whether Xiao Xian is the king of the country to be destroyed is the key to how the superiors view this matter. Perhaps the Tang Dynasty thinks he is the king of the country to be destroyed, but the Northern Sui may not think so, otherwise Zhang Xuan would not use Loufan County to exchange for Xiao Xian. It is said that the private relationship between the two of them is not bad. I personally think Xiao Xian will be an official in the Northern Sui Dynasty, so he will be a minister of the Northern Sui Dynasty and the legitimate son of the Xiao family. This marriage is still a marriage between the Chu family and the Xiao family. Brother should not pay too much attention to Xiao Xian's background."

Chu Liang drank the wine in the glass and sighed: "If Xiao Xian was really an official in the Northern Sui Dynasty, I would have accepted this marriage, but if he would be under house arrest like Chen Shubao, my son would marry his daughter, his future and reputation would be completely ruined."

"My brother is too worried. Xiao Xian was not destroyed by Zhang Xuan, so he can't reach the point of Chen Shubao. Besides, Xiao Yu is the Prime Minister of Northern Sui Dynasty. He recognizes Yuexian as his granddaughter. Suiliang married Xiao Prime Minister. More importantly, Suiliang has already married her as his wife. The two are in love. Brother, just wait to hold his grandson! Don't worry about yourself anymore."

Although Chu Liang would be persuaded without a few words, someone comforted him, it was better than suppressing his depression in his heart. He felt a little more comfortable and said, "Severing the relationship between father and son is just an angry word. I just hope he doesn't regret it in the future."

The two chatted for a few more times. At this time, someone next to him said in a muffled voice: "Who said that Jianghuai is empty and has no soldiers? I saw tens of thousands of cavalry going south with my own eyes. At that time, Du Fuwei's shadow was still missing. How could Jianghuai have no soldiers to garrison?"

Yao Silian and Chu Liang looked at each other, with doubts in their eyes. They quickly got up and came to a banquet next to them. There were three men who looked like businessmen. The man who spoke just now was a black-faced businessman in his thirties.

Yao Silian bowed and said, "My brothers, I've disturbed you."

Seeing that they were both older and well-educated people, the three merchants quickly stood up and returned the greeting, "Don't dare! What are the instructions of the two gentlemen?"

Yao Silian smiled at the black-faced businessman just now and said, "I want to ask this brother for advice. I wonder if I can see you?"

The black-faced businessman hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Please sit down and talk!"

Yao Silian and Chu Liang sat down beside them. Yao Silian smiled and said, "I am a native of the country. What kind of business do you do with my three brothers?"

"We are all fur merchants, from Liangjun. We collected some goods last winter. I heard that the price in Chang'an is good, so we came to sell the goods."

"I see!"

Yao Silian is a cunning person. He would not ask in a hurry as soon as he came up, but instead chatted for a few words before slowly turning to the topic.

Yao Silian smiled and said to the black-faced businessman: "I heard from this brother just now."

"Don't let your surname be king."

"Just heard from this brother Wang that he had seen tens of thousands of cavalry going south to Jianghuai with his own eyes. What's going on?"

The black-faced businessman hesitated and said, "It was just my casual words, both gentlemen, please forget it!"

"Did you just talk nonsense?"

"It's not that he talks nonsense, but" the black-faced businessman has been away for many years. He knows that he should not say a lot of things, which will bring him unintentional disasters.

"If you don't talk nonsense, then it's very valuable. Maybe it can bring great benefits to me. Please rest assured, I promise there will be no danger."

The black-faced businessman had no choice but to smile bitterly: "Then I'll just talk about it! I'll just say what I saw with my own eyes."

"Please say it!"

"I bought fur in the Dabie Mountains last winter. Because the mountains were blocked due to heavy snow, I lived in Huoshan County for more than a month. The news was blocked and the transportation was very inconvenient, but I often got good goods. I bought more than a dozen of top-quality fox skins there. It was probably from late November that the Northern Sui cavalry arrived in Huoshan County one after another. In my memory, there were four or five batches of cavalry. They just said that they came here to train so that the county people should not be afraid, but I have never seen them trained. Fortunately, they never disturbed the people and even did not contact the people in the county at all."

"How many cavalry are there?" Chu Liang asked.

"There are about 20,000 to 30,000 people, which is much more people than Huoshan County, and the camp built is also larger than Huoshan County."

"When did they leave?"

The black-faced businessman shook his head, "I left Huoshan County in early February. They were still there when I left. As for when they left, or whether they are still in Huoshan County now, I don't know."

Yao Silian and Chu Liang both realized the seriousness of the problem. They asked the three of them for their addresses and hurried back to the Qin King's Mansion.

In the study, Li Shimin listened to the reports of Yao Silian and Chu Liang with a serious expression. He had always opposed the Eastern Expedition. He had long suspected that Du Fuwei's rebellion was problematic. With Zhang Xuan's unsparing personality, how could he be unprepared for the Tang Army of Jiangxia at all, and there were no troops in Qichun County and Lujiang County?

However, Li Shimin had no evidence, while other ministers showed handfuls of evidence to prove that Du Fuwei's success was brilliant. However, behind Du Fuwei's brilliant results, the weak control of the Northern Sui Dynasty over the Jianghuai was reflected. This is the biggest doubt. Zhang Xuan was not lucky enough to get to this day, but powerful military control. Now he is not even as good as Wang Shichong, how could Li Shimin not doubt it?

So far, they have not received any letters from Du Fuwei, and everything is all kinds of rumors. Today, Yao Silian and Chu Liang unexpectedly received an information, which made Li Shimin's back chill.

Li Shimin walked two steps behind his hands: "Huoshan County belongs to the Dabie Mountains. What are the tens of thousands of cavalry going to the mountain to train? It is obvious that they are hiding in the mountains. Where do you think these tens of thousands of cavalry will be now?"

Yao Silian said: "Your Highness, Huoshan County belongs to Lujiang County, less than 300 miles away from Hefei. Du Fuwei entered Lujiang County from Qichun County. It took at least ten days to increase his troops from four to five thousand to ten thousand to ten thousand or twenty thousand. I think tens of thousands of Sui army cavalry would never tolerate Du Fuwei's rampage in Lujiang County. They could completely annihilate them in one battle. How could they calmly go to Siding Mountain to establish their foundation? It was impossible."

Chu Liang also said, "There is another important question. What are the tens of thousands of Northern Sui cavalry hiding in Huoshan County? Have your Highness considered it?"

Li Shimin nodded slowly, "I suspect that our Eastern Expedition was a big trap dug by Zhang Xuan, and I even more doubt that Du Fuwei had actually been destroyed."

Yao Silian suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "Then is it a bit strange that Qu Tutong was transferred at this critical moment?"
Chapter completed!