The next morning, 80,000 troops were neatly lined up in the wilderness north of Jinyang Palace. Almost all of the 80,000 troops were cavalry, each soldier was holding a war horse, bright helmet, sharp spear, and high morale. Everyone's eyes were filled with expectations for the coming war.

In front of Jinyang Palace, Yang Yuanqing, wearing a golden helmet and armor, was saying goodbye to the seven prime ministers one by one. Among the prime ministers, Du Ruhui thought the most about how to protect the safety of the people of the Sui Dynasty. As long as the people are safe and sound, all wealth can be recreated.

He slowly walked to Yang Yuanqing and whispered: "Your Highness, I have a suggestion."

"You tell me! What suggestions?"

"I think the people of Mayi, Yanmen, Dingxiang and Loufan should be allowed to escape from the dangerous areas spontaneously, and they should be allowed to flee south so as to reduce losses as little as possible, just like the people of Fengzhou retreated to Lingwu County in the south."

Cui Junsu next to him said, "But there are nearly one million people in these four counties. If a huge tide of escape is formed, it will put a lot of pressure on the south, and I guess more people are fleeing to Taiyuan."

"What does it matter if you escape into Taiyuan? There are 200,000 tents in our warehouse, which can be used to resettle victims and 500,000 stones of food. In addition, many of them have food when they escape. I think for Taiyuan, it is nothing more than the city becoming crowded, but this can save more people's lives. The population is our greatest wealth now!"

Du Ruhui's last words aroused Yang Yuanqing's resonance. In fact, he also wanted to protect the population, so he ordered local governments to organize villagers to enter the city, but he was a little worried about the defense of the county town.

When the Turks surrounded the late emperor Yang Guang in Yanmen County, they had more than 40 cities in a row. Can those small counties block the iron hoofs of hundreds of thousands of Turkic troops? What's more, most small counties have no soldiers to guard them.

He also knew that the Turkic army was not really unable to attack the city. In Fengzhou, the Turkic ladders left a deep impression on him.

Indeed, once the Turks conquer a county town, the people in the city will be massacred and plundered, and this situation must not be allowed to happen. Du Ruhui's suggestion is very good. The people should be told the danger and let them choose to escape on their own.

"I have adopted the suggestion of Prime Minister Du. I will ask the army to mobilize the people of the four northern counties to flee south. I also hope that Taiyuan can be prepared to accept it, and the Jinyang Palace. I guess it will not be able to stop the attack of Turkic cavalry, and I will also have to evacuate in advance. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor can retreat to my mansion."

"Your Highness, please rest assured that the Political Affairs Hall is already formulating an evacuation plan."

After Yang Yuanqing finished his instructions, Qin Qiong quickly walked forward and bowed to salute. "I am not aware of your duties!"

Qin Qiong was given an important task this time, and he will lead 40,000 troops to protect the safety of Taiyuan. His calm and steady style made Yang Yuanqing feel relieved.

Yang Yuanqing also bowed and replied to Qin Qiong solemnly: "I only have one word to you. You must remember that even if you kill 100,000 Turks, the contribution you have made is not as good as not allowing the Turks to enter the city."

Qin Qiong bowed and replied, "I remember the humble position. I will never let the Turkic army enter the city, nor will I be greedy for merit and leave the city."

Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly. "The safety of the capital and even the safety of our Great Sui Dynasty depend on General Qin."

Qin Qiong nodded silently, and he felt extremely stressed on his shoulders.

At this time, a guard shouted: "Your Majesty is here!"

The ministers on both sides made way out, and dozens of guards walked quickly in a carriage. The one sitting on the carriage was the little emperor Yang You. Today, Empress Dowager Xiao was unwell, so he came to see Yang Yuanqing off.

Although he was just the nominal emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty, he was the king of a country after all. He could not stay out of the war against the Crown War, which was related to the fate of the Great Sui Dynasty. He used his own way to express his support for the Sui Army's northern expedition.

Logically, as an emperor, Yang You should be sitting in a chariot. The chariot is also a large chariot. The difference is that the chariot is carried by only a few people, while the chariot requires hundreds of people to carry it. This is obviously unrealistic and is inconsistent with the usual low-key Yang You style. Yang You used the excuse of practicing rigorous economies and refused to ride a chariot, and just rode a pavilion-style carriage like a minister.

Yang You's arrival made the ministers bow to show their respect for him. Yang Yuanqing quickly walked forward, knelt down on one knee, and bowed high, "Marson of the North Zhengbei Yang Yuanqing, see Your Majesty!"

Here, Yang Yuanqing did not use the title of King Chu, nor the official position of Shangshu Ling, nor the position of regent. Instead, he saluted Yang You as an army marshal. This not only showed respect for Yang You, but also maintained his dignity, but also allowed the ministers to see his low attitude.

At this time, he was like Cao Cao at the end of the Han Dynasty and had become the actual controller of the Sui Dynasty. However, he still needed to make a gesture to show that he maintained the order of the monarch and ministers, maintained orthodoxy, and set a model for the ministers. However, for the order of the monarch and ministers, it was not Yang You, but Yang Yuanqing.

Yang You hurriedly walked down and helped Yang Yuanqing up, "The King of Chu does not need to perform this great gift. I can't accept it. Please get up quickly!"

Yang Yuanqing stood up and smiled and said, "I am going to fight against the Turks today. Please rest assured that you will definitely defeat the Turks and protect the Great Sui Dynasty."

"I hope so too."

At this time, a Yang Yuanqing's personal guard came forward with a copper plate. A bottle of wine was placed in the copper plate. Yang You picked up the wine bottle and handed it to Yang Yuanqing with both hands. "This bottle of wine is to be to the King of Chu. May the King of Chu be victorious and expel Hu Tu!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yang Yuanqing took the wine bottle and drank it all, then raised the drunkenness high, attracting applause from hundreds of ministers around him.

At this time, the sound of "dong!dong!' war drums came from a distance. This was auspicious time for the expedition. The army was urging to set off. A personal soldier came to the war horse. Yang Yuanqing turned over and bowed to everyone on the horse and said, "Dear ministers, the army has set out!"

The ministers saluted one after another, "I wish your Highness a victory in the flag and expel the captives!"

Amid the sound of drums, 80,000 Sui army set out to fight, flags waving, covering the sky and the earth, and 80,000 troops marched towards the north in a mighty manner.

.........

Yang Yuanqing finally adopted Du Ruhui's suggestion, and he ordered more than a thousand soldiers to go to Dingxiang, Mayi, Yanmen and Loufan counties, and ordered officials to persuade the people to go south to take refuge.

Under the threat of Turkic troops massacre and plundering women, panic escapes broke out in dozens of counties in the four counties. Millions of people gave up their homes and fled to the south with their grain and meager property. The government also opened warehouses to release grain and used the grain of the official warehouse to provide relief to the refugees.

The road to the south was crowded with fleeing people, intermittent, and the team was a hundred miles long. Some were riding donkeys, some were driving carriages, some carried loads, and a pair of children were in the baskets in front and back, while their wives carried meager family property. Most of them were family members, and one family was a group of people, taking care of each other and supporting each other, heading towards Taiyuan.

On both sides of the road, Niu Jinting was ordered to lead 10,000 cavalry and 3,000 female guards to protect and take care of the sick or in distress along the way. According to Yang Yuanqing, this escape can be panic and in a mess, but it can't be tragic of death from illness and starvation.

On the other side of the road were the soldiers from the northern expedition. They were neatly lined up and full of morale. They rode north next to the refugees. Their appearance brought great comfort to the people fleeing south. People kept stuffing eggs and bread to the soldiers, and cheers followed by waves. Only under the threat of war can the army show its incomparable importance.

Yang Yuanqing rode a horse slowly in the team. He was surrounded by dense flags, and five hundred personal soldiers were guarding him, and the eighty thousand troops he led did not have much baggage.

In fact, nearly a month ago, when he sent Li Jing north, the war preparations began. A large amount of military supplies and grain tents were transported to Shanyang County in the north, which was the county seat of Mayi County and a strong city, which would become the logistics center of the Sui army.

Yang Yuanqing silently looked at the crowds of people who went south to escape the war. The scenes of escape made him deeply touched. At the reciprocity of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, heroes fought for hegemony, and life was like ants. Many heroes did not realize the importance of human beings. They did not realize that the people were the most precious resources and were defeated one after another. Yang Yuanqing's success lies in his understanding of the importance of the people. A people is a source of taxation, the source of food, and the fundamental guarantee for the Sui Dynasty to be able to be strong.

Du Ruhui was right. As long as these people fleeing south are protected, no matter how the Turks invaded, the Sui Dynasty will become stronger again, and the people will be the creators of wealth.

Thinking of this, Yang Yuanqing's heart was ups and downs. He immediately ordered his personal soldiers and said, "Transfer my order to the entire army, and do not disturb the people. Anyone who dares to bully refugees will be severely punished according to military law!"

.........

Fuqibo, this is a lake in the north of Mayi County. It is surrounded by hundreds of miles of endless grasslands. This area is rich in pastures and numerous rivers. It is the best place to graz. When Yang Guang visited the north, he met with Shibi Khan, who was about to ascend the throne.

At this time, the Fuqibo area became the temporary home of the Wutu tribe. Tens of thousands of Turkic herders who went south lived and reproduced here, grazing millions of cattle, sheep and horses. They exchanged cattle and sheep with the Sui Dynasty for food, salt and life essential food, and lived a peaceful and satisfying life.

The Sui Dynasty also sent dozens of scholars to the north to teach the herdsmen and children here to teach Chinese. The clothing of women in the Central Plains gradually became popular among the girls of the Wutu tribe. The Wutu tribe did not dislike the expansion of Han culture. Instead, their chief Anulli encouraged this trend of Chineseization.

But their existence in the south has always been a thorn in the eyes of the Turkic Khan. The war of extinction has finally arrived. They will have to face a major choice, whether to surrender to the Turkic headquarters, return to the grassland, or continue to go south and enter the Central Plains of agricultural civilization.

But this choice did not confuse Anulli. She resolutely decided to go south. At noon that day, Anulli received urgent news from the Sui army. The beacon tower in the north showed that a large group of Turkic cavalry invaded. Anulli knew in her heart that this must be the main force of the Turkic army.

She ordered the general Amuttu to lead 10,000 troops to cut off the rear. She personally led tens of thousands of tribes to evacuate to the south. At this time, Jie Li Khan's vanguard was less than a hundred miles away from Fuqibo, and the war was about to break out.

.........
Chapter completed!