Chapter 40

The disaster is in the east

Yang Guanggang picked up the wine glass. Queen Xiao’s questions made him ponder for a while, put down the wine glass and sighed: “I don’t know either. Please remember it.”

"Your Majesty, the prophecy itself is a very vague thing. It is said that the surname Li is Li. There are no one million or one hundred thousand people in the world. And it may not be officials. Among the rebellious thieves, there are also people with the surname Li, such as Li Hongzhi in Guanzhong and Li Zitong in Jianghuai. Perhaps they are them. For example, some soldiers in the army are soldiers of the Great Sui Dynasty today. Maybe they will rebel next year. There are some people who do not have the surname Li, but maybe they were once Li. What I mean is that Your Majesty is too suspicious, which will make the ministers panic, and instead make them consider their own way of retreat. The murder of Li Hun and Li Min has shocked the court and the civil and military in the court. Everyone in the court should be comforted at this time and remove the fear of the ministers."

The reason why Dugu Zhen tried to connect the relationship between Empress Xiao at all costs was that only Empress Xiao could persuade Yang Guang. Although Yang Guang did not like to listen to advice, it was not absolute. Sometimes he would listen to his wife Empress Xiao’s opinions.

Yang Guang pondered silently, and Empress Xiao advised him again, "Although I have lived in the palace for a long time, I also know that the world is not peaceful. External troubles in Nanping, so we should maintain the unity of the king and his subjects at this time. If Your Majesty kills the ministers for a prophecy without origin, causing the king and his subjects to be disconnected. I think this is even more serious than external troubles, and internal and external troubles. Your Majesty, this is an ominous sign!"

Yang Guang remained silent, and Empress Xiao no longer advised him. The family just finished lunch speechlessly.

Yang Guang returned to the imperial study room and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. His wife, Empress Xiao, touched him. When he heard the prophecy, he instinctively thought of taking the Guanlong nobles. This was because he had already determined in his heart that the Guanlong nobles were his greatest threat. Although the killing of Li Hun and Li Min was related to the prophecy, he also wanted to take the opportunity to clean up the Guanlong nobles again.

But everything has its disadvantages and advantages. Killing people like this is indeed likely to cause self-injury to the ministers. If you kill them, you still have to kill them. But you can't be so anxious. You have to take your time. After the ministers forget the prophecy, they will find other excuses to kill. As long as the rhythm of the murder is lengthened and slowed down, it will not cause self-injury to the ministers.

At this time, a eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, Li Yuan, the remaining guard in Taiyuan, asked for a meeting!"

Hearing the name of Li Yuan, Yang Guang's mouth twitched unconsciously, which was also one of the targets he wanted to kill. He originally wanted to find an excuse to kill him during this inspection of Taiyuan, but at this time, Empress Xiao persuaded Yang Guang to change his mind. He could use Li Yuan first to appease the ministers' self-indulgence, and then find an excuse to kill Li Yuan later.

"Announce him to meet him!"

After a moment, Li Yuan quickly walked into the imperial study room, knelt down on both knees, and kowtowed respectfully to Yang Guang, "My minister Li Yuan kowtowed to Your Majesty, Long live Your Majesty!"

Yang Guang could feel the fear in Li Yuan's heart at this moment. He smiled, "Your dear, don't have to give a big gift, just keep your body flat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Yuan stood up and said, "I only received a certificate from the court a few days ago. Your Majesty inspected Taiyuan. I didn't have time to prepare. Please forgive me for my unprepared reception."

"I don't feel anything wrong, you don't have to blame yourself."

Yang Guang didn't say anything else, and Li Yuan didn't know what to report for a moment. A brief silence appeared in the room. Although it was only a short moment, it still made Li Yuandu's back soaked. Yang Guang then asked indifferently: "Can there be bandits in Hedong?"

"Report to Your Majesty, there are dozens of rebel bandits in Hedong's territory, but most of them are weaker. There are three rebel bandits with slightly greater power. One is Liu Miao King of Lishi County, followed by Lingqiu Zhai Songbai, and Jiangjun Jingpantuo and Chai Baochang. Among them, Jingpantuo has the largest power, with more than 100,000 people."

"Is there any Taiyuan County?"

"There were three or four branches of Taiyuan County, with only a thousand people, and they were all wiped out by ministers. Now there is no rebel bandit in Taiyuan."

Yang Guang glanced at him and said coldly: "Lishi County is right next to Taiyuan, and Jiang County is also south of Taiyuan. Since you are left behind by Taiyuan, why don't you go to suppress the bandits?"

"I dare not do anything without His Majesty's will."

"It is not possible to suppress bandits across borders without authorization, but you can apply to the Ministry of War. If you get approval from the Ministry of War, you can go to Lishi County and Jiang County to suppress bandits. Why don't you apply?"

Li Yuan lowered his head and whispered for a while: "I dare not!"

Yang Guang showed a smile on his face. He knew why Li Yuan didn't dare. Cross-border bandit suppression had become a common excuse for Yang Xuangan, Yuan Hongsi, Yang Yuanqing and others, so he didn't dare. This was indeed a timid and cautious person.

Yang Guang wanted to kill Li Yuan because his surname was Li. He thought that he would rather kill a thousand people by mistake than letting go. However, Li Yuan himself was a timid and cowardly person. Yang Guang did not have much warning to him, and he could use Li Yuan to appease the ministers' self-indulgence.

"Although the bandits in Hedong are not fierce, they should not be taken lightly. I specially allow you to suppress bandits across borders and grant you the ambassador to seek arrest on Hedong Road. I will give you a year to completely quell the bandits in Hedong. A year later, if there is another bandit in Hedong, then don't blame me for turning against you!"

Although Yang Guang did not say it clearly, Li Yuan still heard that Yang Guang would kill him next year, and the reason was that the bandit suppression was not good. He felt a chill in his heart, but his face was full of emotion and loyalty. "I will definitely live up to the holy hope and wipe out the Hedong rioters as soon as possible."

Li Yuan slowly retreated, Yang Guang looked at Li Yuan's back, his murderous intent flashed, but slowly calmed down. He had to wait a little longer to kill this person.

Three days later, Yang Guang's inspection team continued to go north. After a few days of rest in Fenyang Palace, in mid-July, a hundred thousand inspectors arrived at the south bank of Zihe River. This place is still within Mayi County. There is a towering Great Wall dozens of miles north. It was built in Daye in the third year. It stretched from Zihe to Yulin, which is more than 200 miles long. Walking west along the Great Wall, you can reach Yulin County in two days.

But at this time, Yang Guang was not in a hurry to go to Yulin County, or he did not dare to go to Yulin County rashly. Although he kept saying that he would inspect Yulin County, Yulin County was already Yang Yuanqing's sphere of influence, and he had to think twice.

The next day, the prefect of Yulin County, Wang Hongzhi, rushed to Yang Guang's headquarters and was taken to ** City. Wang Hongzhi was born in the Wang family in Taiyuan and served as the prefect of Yulin County for six years. He had lived a simple life, but after Yang Yuanqing's power expanded eastward, he pushed him to the forefront.

He was very nervous. He signed the joint defense agreement of the six counties in Guanbei two years ago. He was warned by the court, but was not dealt with. Last year, Fengzhou expanded eastward and included the entire Hetao Plain in his pocket, but he was unable to stop it. He didn't know how to explain to the emperor, but he had to come.

"I am the prefect of Yulin County, Wang Hongzhi, to see Your Majesty!"

Wang Hongzhi lowered her head, not daring to look at Yang Guang's face, and waited for Yang Guang's anger tremblely, but unexpectedly, Yang Guang was not angry, but a gentle tone, "Wang Aiqing is not willing to give him a favor."

Wang Hongzhi was extremely ashamed. He knelt down and cried, "I am cowardly and incompetent, and I am unable to protect Yulin County for Your Majesty. I am guilty!"

Yang Guang wanted to push Wang Hongzhi out and behead him, but he still needed to use Wang Hongzhi to hold back his anger, but Wang Hongzhi's kneeling to confess his guilt was beyond his expectations.

"Wang Aiqing, please come up. I want to know the situation in Yulin County now. I heard that Yang Yuanqing built five new cities along the Yellow River, right?"

Wang Hongzhi stood up and said, "That's true. Since the beginning of last year, he has built five new cities on the north bank of the Yellow River. It is very fast and continues the Chinese name, called Xi'anyang County, Chengyi County, Yiliang County, Linwo County and Heyang County. He himself appointed the county magistrate and stationed troops in the city. Each city has at least 3,000 troops, and has stored a large amount of material, food and military resources. He said it is used to defend against the Turks."

"Defend the Turks?"

Yang Guang sneered, "That's an excuse for him to expand eastward."

"Yes! I think so in my heart."

Yang Guang glared at him fiercely, but he still suppressed his anger and asked again: "Where is he now? Is he in Yulin County?"

"Report to Your Majesty, he is not in Yulin County now, so he should go back to Fengzhou."

Yang Yuanqing was not in Yulin County, so Yang Guang was relieved. He continued to ask: "How many garrisons in Yulin County are there, and how many county soldiers are under your command?"

Wang Hongzhi lowered his head in shame, "I have no soldiers or soldiers in my hands. The army of Yulin County is controlled by him. At present, there are 3,000 troops stationed in Yulin County."

"Then what's the use of me asking you to be the prefect?"

Yang Guang finally couldn't help but get angry and slapped the table, "Come, drag this useless person out and behead him!"

Dozens of guards rushed in and dragged Wang Hongzhi outwards. Wang Hongzhi was so scared that he was scattered and begged loudly, "Your Majesty, please spare me! Please spare me!"

"Kill!" Yang Guang showed no mercy, and his anger was vented on this useless prefect.

After a moment, with a scream coming, the guards came in and reported, "Your Majesty, you have been beheaded."

Yang Guang had a blue face, and his anger was not gone. He immediately ordered: "Transfer my will and the army will march towards Yulin County!"

Just as the 100,000 inspectors marched towards Yulin County along the Great Wall, a grassland falcon flew over the Sui army, crossed the Great Wall, and continued to fly north for more than 300 miles. On the northern bank of Fuqibo on the northernmost border of the Great Sui Dynasty, there was an endless Turkic camp that stretched for a hundred miles. The Turkic Shibi Khan had led 400,000 troops to the border of the Sui Dynasty.

The falcon flew through the camps one by one, and finally, guided by the eagle flute, it flew towards a huge tent covering an area of ​​several acres. This was the Turkish king's tent. A young man stood in front of the tent, with a golden helmet and golden armor, with a cold eyes as a hawk. He was Shibi Khan of the Turkic tent.

Shibi Khan stretched his arms, and the falcon sang, and his wings closed and fell on his arm. Shibi Khan took off a roll of sheepskin tied to the eagle's legs.

The sheepskin was full of information. He looked it and his eyes were filled with a smug smile. The Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty actually appeared in the north of the Sui Dynasty. He ran to the hunter like a fat and tender deer.

"Tell me my order, the army is ready to set off!"
Chapter completed!