At this time, Pei Ji stood up and bowed and said, "Zhang Xuan has always been far-sighted in his work. Weichen thinks that this should be an action he had planned long ago. It will never be a whim. The Sui army occupied Pujin Pass, which poses too great a threat to Guanzhong and Chang'an. However, if the troops are not strong enough, it will not be able to capture Chang'an. Therefore, Weichen thinks that Zhang Xuan's original intention is not to continue attacking Guanzhong or Chang'an. He is likely to just make a gesture, in order to revenge us to attack Huguan when he attacked Goguryeo."

As soon as Pei Ji finished speaking, Liu Wenjing snorted coldly and said, "Will Zhang Xuan be so bored? Will he take revenge on us for a small Huguan?"

Pei Ji was immediately angry and glared at Liu Wenjing and said, "The emperor said that everyone expressed his opinions. I just expressed my own ideas. Why should Liu Prime Minister target me everywhere?"

Everyone was overwhelmed. The two of them had to face each other wherever they went. They refused to calm down such an important discussion. Li Yuan was very unhappy and said to Liu Wenjing impolitely: "What do Liu Xiangguo have any opinions? Please tell me!"

Liu Wenjing quickly stood up and bowed and said, "I also accepted General Ma's inference. Zhang Xuan is currently in the Central Plains. If he intends to attack Guanzhong in large numbers, he will definitely return to Zhongdu to take charge. Therefore, this time he attacks Pujin Pass, he must have other profound meanings."

"What is his meaning?" Li Yuan asked afterwards.

"Weichen thinks it should be inferred from what Zhang Xuan is currently doing."

Liu Wenjing's words suddenly pointed the direction for everyone. Chen Shuda hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Liu Xiangguo is right. Zhang Xuan is currently leading his army to compete for the Central Plains. It must be that the situation of the Central Plains has undergone a drastic change, so Zhang Xuan ordered the army to take action from the north and capture Pujin Pass."

The situation became clearer and clearer, and Li Yuan immediately ordered: "Zhao Cijing, the Minister of the Ministry of Propaganda, came to see me immediately!"

Zhao Cijing was waiting outside the hall. When he heard Xuanzhao, he quickly walked into the hall and bowed and said, "I am here to see Your Majesty."

"Mr. Zhao, is the latest battle report from Central Plains today?"

"Report to Your Majesty, the battle report has just arrived. Because the road was soaked by heavy rain, I am re-copied the reputation and sorted it out. Your Majesty, please wait for a moment, and you can submit it to Your Majesty in a quarter of an hour at the latest."

Li Yuan was anxious and could not wait for a quarter of an hour, and then said anxiously: "Just tell me what the big changes have happened in the Battle of Central Plains?"

"Report to Your Majesty, His Highness, the King of Qin, led his army to defeat Wang Shichong again in Chengxiu County, Xiangguo County. Wang Shichong has retreated to Yique County. The situation is very critical. The latest news is that Zhang Xuan personally led 50,000 troops into Yingchuan County, and is confronting General Qu Tutong's army."

As soon as the news came out, all the ministers in the hall understood that this was the plan to surround Wei and save Zhao. The Sui army occupied Pujin Pass, threatened Guanzhong, and forced the Tang army to withdraw from the Central Plains.

Li Yuan sighed and said, "What a plan to surround Wei and save Zhao. This move is decisive and cruel. Not only does it tear off the armistice agreement between the two armies signed last year, but it also makes me frightened!"

Ma Sanbao stood up again and reported: "Your Majesty, our situation is actually very critical. Our troops are empty south of Taiyuan, and the Taiyuan army was restrained by Liu Wuzhou and could not move south. If the Sui army continues to increase its troops in Hedong County, it will probably really attack Guanzhong in large numbers."

"What should we do?" Although Li Yuan's tone was calm, he was a little anxious, and an undetectable look of anxiety flashed in his eyes.

Ma Sanbao said again: "Taiyuan City should be able to squeeze out some army. Your Majesty can lead General Li Xiaogong to immediately lead 10,000 troops south to attack Zhuguanxing, and find a way to cut off the Sui army's path to westward. Although the possibility of success is not high, it can at least delay the Sui army and gain some time. I think that Your Majesty will immediately transfer back to the Central Plains army to support Guanzhong."

"Does the general refer to the transfer of all the Central Plains troops back?" Chen Shuda asked.

Ma Sanbao bowed to Chen Shuda and said, "I think it's not enough to keep a part of the army to protect the interests of our Central Plains."

Everyone was silent. Ma Sanbao's meaning was very clear. He immediately withdrew from the Central Plains. However, Li Yuan had planned the Eastern Expedition to the Central Plains for a long time. At present, the Tang army had achieved fruitful results. How could he be willing to give up easily?

Li Yuan pondered for a long time and slowly said to everyone: "The results of the Central Plains cannot be easily given up. Since the Qin King has occupied Xiangguo County, he can go to Hongnong County to withdraw some of the troops, such as asking General Qu Tu to lead 30,000 troops back. I think Guanzhong should be fine."

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Although Li Yuan asked the ministers to block the news that the Sui army occupied Hedong City and Pujin Pass, the news spread like wildfire and spread in the court first. Then many Chang'an tribes received exact news from letters sent by Feige from Fengyi County. The Sui army captured Pujin Pass, and the news that Guanzhong was facing a crisis spread throughout Chang'an City as if it had grown wings.

For a moment, Chang'an was in a panic, and an uneasy feeling spread rapidly in Chang'an. The most obvious thing was the price of rice, which was the weather vane of the crisis. Overnight, the rice price rose from a hundred ciders to a hundred ciders of rice. Many families rushed to the rice shops in Chang'an with rice bags. In the afternoon, the rice price rose to a hundred ciders of rice.

Not only did the rice prices rise rapidly, every household began to pack up their fine money and materials, preparing to consider escaping from the city and hiding from relatives in the countryside when the crisis is serious.

Chang'an West City is a distribution center for bulk goods. A large amount of grain, cloth, oil, and livestock come in and out here every day, and the business of each store is particularly prosperous.

Diagonally opposite the north gate of Xicheng, there is a wine shop called Wenchang Ju Restaurant. Although the scale is only medium in Chang'an, the location is good and the daily business is quite prosperous. Another background of this wine shop is a piece of information point in Chang'an by the Sui army. After nearly a year of hard work, the information point in Chang'an by the Sui army has expanded to thirteen places, and this Wenchang Ju Restaurant is one of them.

At noon, the business of Wenchang's restaurant was very prosperous, and the three floors were filled with guests. The guests were talking about the affairs of Pujin Pass. There were already seven or eight versions of the affairs of Pujin Pass. Each version was like a real one, and all kinds of rumors were spread from places like the restaurant.

At this time, a young scholar hurried into the restaurant. The shopkeeper who was greeting guests in the lobby saw the young scholar. He hurriedly came up and smiled and said, "It turns out that it is Mr. Gao. It's been a long time since I saw you. I'm still an old seat today?"

The young scholar nodded with a smile, and the shopkeeper gave him a wink and continued to smile: "Young Master Gao, please come upstairs!"

The young scholar named Gao Jin was born in the Gao family of Bohai, but he was just a concubine. He served as the magistrate of Gaotang County. Zhang Jin said that he had abandoned his official position and went home to study and farm. He defected to Zhang Xuan three years ago and has now been promoted to join the army. A few months ago, he was sent to the Chang'an Intelligence Office to join the army.

Although Gao Jin is in charge of internal affairs, he also has certain tasks. He is mainly responsible for single-line contact with a senior official from the Chang'an court.

Gao Jin and the shopkeeper went to the third floor. The third floor was full of single elegant rooms, and they arrived at the most elegant room on the east side. Gao Jin pointed to the next door, and the shopkeeper quickly whispered: "There is no one next door!"

Gao Jin then pushed the door and walked into the Ya Room. There was already a guest in the Ya Room. He was a middle-aged man with fair skin. He wore a veil hat and a crimson official robe from the Tang Dynasty. He stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back. Gao Jin hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Students meet the minister!"

The middle-aged man said lightly: "I want to go back immediately. There is only one news to tell you that the emperor has decided to transfer 30,000 troops from the Central Plains to return to Guanzhong, and the King of Qin will continue to stay in the Central Plains."

After saying that, the middle-aged man turned around and left the room. The door sounded softly and the footsteps quickly walked away.

Gao Jin sat in the room for a while and then left the restaurant. He did not walk far away, but came directly to the West City.

There is a large store in the northeast corner of the West City. There are more than 20 stores of all sizes, which are specialized in selling various four treasures of the stationery. Since Chang'an people have a high demand for stationery paper, the business here is also very prosperous. It is crowded with customers from morning to night. There are often government tolerances to come to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstones, especially paper demand is the largest, which is the best-selling product among stationery.

Although the goods store is small, it hides its dragons and tigers. One of them mainly sells paper. Wenbao Store, called Donghai Paper Store, is the main intelligence station of the Sui Army in Chang'an. No one would have thought that this store, which was filled with the smell of paper tent, was actually Zhang Xuan's window to understand various trends in Chang'an.

Gao Jin came to the Donghai Paper Store. More than a dozen customers were choosing stationery paper tents in the front hall. Dozens of baskets of various sizes were piled up in the store, and various empty scrolls were piled up, while white hemp and jute paper were two stories high. Two friends were greeting the guests. When Gao Jin came in, one of them hurriedly came up.

"Has Master Yang returned?"

"Just come back! It's inside."

Although this is the main intelligence station of the Sui army in Chang'an, the intelligence leader Yang Chonglan rarely stays here. He appears at various intelligence points in Chang'an every day, listens to the deacons' reports on the situation, and then brings the important information back to Gao Jin for processing.

Gao Jin walked directly into the backyard and went up to the second floor. Yang Chonglan was writing at his desk. He looked up and saw that it was Gao Jin. He quickly put down his pen and asked with concern: "Have you seen someone?"

Gao Jin nodded, "He told me an extremely important information, which is the thing we care about the most."

Yang Chonglan hurriedly closed the doors and windows and asked in a low voice: "Did Li Shimin withdraw his troops from the Central Plains?"

Gao Jin shook his head, "Li Yuan is only willing to withdraw 30,000 people and come back. Li Shimin will continue to lead the army to stay in the Central Plains."

Yang Chonglan's expression became solemn. In any case, this was an extremely important intelligence, and he needed to send the information to Zhongdu immediately.
Chapter completed!