Chapter 10 Preparation for the Battle of Gaoli

"What's the matter?" Yang Guang asked coldly.

"Your Majesty, the Turkic Golden Sword Prince Consort sent an envoy to come, hoping to meet Your Majesty."

"The Prince Consort of the Golden Sword?"

Yang Guang was stunned for a moment, "Isn't this person with the Turkic Khan?"

"Your Majesty, the prince-consor Wutu of the Golden Sword is currently the second largest Turkic force. His wife Ashinanuli is the eldest daughter of Qimin Khan. Because he is dissatisfied with Shibi Khan, the two have broken up. At present, Wutu's tribe is distributed in the north and has an army of 200,000 in his hands. He hopes that His Majesty can recognize his existence."

Yang Yuanqing's words made Yang Guang's eyes lit up. This was the situation he most wanted to see. The Turks experienced internal strife and split. He hurriedly asked: "Where is the messenger now?"

"In my tent."

"Your tent?"

Yang Guang glanced at him suspiciously, "Why is it in your camp?"

"Report to Your Majesty, I saved the life of this Golden Sword Prince Consort twice during the battle on the shore of Hari Lake in Renshou. He has always been grateful to me."

Yang Guang didn't say anything, and immediately ordered the guards to go to Yang Yuanqing's camp to pick up people. The imperial study became quiet. Yang Guang lowered his head to criticize and correct the memorial, ignoring Yang Yuanqing, and even without looking at him. At this time, Yang Guang stopped writing, and he remembered the prophecy again, "Jing Xiangyang, born on the day of the year, goes to the Western Regions and wants to be king!"

His eyes gradually narrowed into a slit. Yang Yuanqing had been in Fengzhou for too long and could no longer let him take charge of the army.

Yang Yuanqing stood aside silently, feeling the depressing atmosphere in the imperial study room. He deeply felt the profound meaning of the unpredictable heart. Last night, Yang Guang was eagerly waiting for him and discussing the final plan for dealing with the Guanlong nobles. But tonight, he was as cold as ice for himself, and his tone was full of doubt.

On the surface, it seemed that it was because of Princess Yicheng's affairs, but Yang Yuanqing knew in his heart that Princess Yicheng's affairs were just a fuse. Even if Princess Yicheng's affairs were not, they would be triggered by other things. The fundamental reason was that the struggle with the Guanlong nobles no longer required him. In the last battle, Yang Guang had to take charge of the matter himself. Yang Yuanqing had no value in use. In addition, Yang Lihua's death, Yang Guang no longer had any concerns about him.

At this time, a guard walked in and reported: "Your Majesty, someone has brought it."

"Bring him in!"

After a moment, a Turkic envoy was brought in, and he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "The Turkic Golden Sword Envoy kowtowed to His Majesty the Holy Emperor Khan, and wish His Majesty a long life."

When he said it was Turkic, Yang Yuanqing translated it into Chinese.

Yang Guang smiled on his face, "Get up, I have something to do."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The messenger stood aside, and Yang Guang glanced at Yang Yuanqing, meaning to let him be the translator. He smiled and said, "Do you, the prince consort of the Golden Sword, have you trust me?"

"have!"

The envoy took out a letter and handed it to the eunuch next to him. The eunuch gave it to Yang Guang. The letter was written in Turkic and Chinese, and Yang Guang could fully understand it. He read it carefully. The general meaning of the letter was that Shibi Khan was suspected of killing his father. Wutu led his tribe loyal to him to Mobei to fight against Shibi Khan. He had 200,000 armored soldiers in his hand. He hoped that the Sui Dynasty could also provide support. He was willing to be loyal to the Sui Dynasty.

Yang Guang pondered for a moment, then stood up and came to the wall, looked at a Turkic map on the wall and asked, "Where is your prince consort's tribe now?"

"Report to Your Majesty, there are 14 tribes in the middle of Jianhe River, with a population of more than 600,000. If the two tribes of Xiagas and Dubo who are loyal to the prince-consort, they will exceed one million people."

Yang Guang found Jianhe and was thousands of miles away from the northwest of the Turkic tent. He nodded and returned to his seat and asked, "Is it because your son-in-law suspected the cause of Qimin Khan's death that he and Shibi Khan turned against each other?"

"Your Majesty, in fact, the Khan of Qimin did not want to pass the position of Khan to Duji. He wanted to establish his third son Duji Si a few years ago. However, when Duji was young, the Khan of Qimin ordered his son-in-law to teach Duji Si martial arts, which meant to entrust his orphans, which made Duji very jealous. At that time, the conflict between the prince-consort and Duji was very sharp. This time, the Khan of Qimin suddenly died, and the cause of his death was unknown, Duji established himself as Khan, which was opposed by many tribes. My son-in-law did not recognize his position as Khan and led the tribe to move north."

After Yang Yuanqing finished translating, Yang Guang fully understood that this was very exciting news. With the Turkic golden sword prince Wutu, Shibi Khan did not dare to go south, and he had no worries and could launch the Battle of Goryeo with all his strength.

Yang Guang said slowly: "The Golden Sword Prince Consort is willing to surrender to the Great Sui Dynasty and regard me as my king and father. This is something that makes me extremely pleased. I don't know what kind of support the Golden Sword Prince Consort needs from the Great Sui Dynasty?"

The envoy hurriedly said: "First, I hope that Your Majesty can grant the title of the Golden Sword Prince Consort, so that all Turks can know that the Great Sui Dynasty recognized the existence of the Golden Sword Prince Consort. Secondly, we are willing to exchange cattle and sheep for salt, cloth, grain and tea from the Sui Dynasty."

Yang Guang pondered for a long time and asked again: "Is the prince supported by your son-in-law by his side?"

"Report to Your Majesty, the third prince is still in the Turkic tent, and the prince-consort cannot take him away."

Yang Guang originally wanted to grant another Turkic Khan, but since the little prince was not in his hands, he had to give up and took a peach bamboo white feather arrow from the table and handed it to the envoy, "Tell the prince-in-law that the Great Sui Empire will fully support him. I will grant him the Yehu of the northern Turkic region. I will soon be envoys to go north to formally enthrone. As for the trade requests you made, I fully agree to Fengzhou's responsibility for trade with you."

The envoy was overjoyed and was deeply grateful. Yang Guang ordered the prince-consort Wutu to reward him and sent someone to send the envoy back.

Only Yang Guang and Yang Yuanqing were left in the imperial study. Yang Guang originally planned to take away Yang Yuanqing's military power and change him to the court's civil servant, but the appearance of the Turkic son-in-law Wutu changed his mind again. He also needed Yang Yuanqing and Wutu to contact him to restrain Shibi Khan.

But he could not give Yang Yuanqing special preferential treatment as before. That was for Princess Leping's face. Now that Princess Leping has passed away, he also wants to take back Yang Yuanqing's privileges.

Yang Guang looked at Yang Yuanqing and said slowly: "According to the Sui Dynasty's rules, the families of the frontier military ministers must stay in the capital. Your family members are by your side. The generals of other border towns have complaints, which makes it difficult for me to deal with. You should send your wife and children back to the capital! I will ensure their safety. In addition, Fengzhou has too many populations and heavy government affairs, so it is not appropriate to integrate military and political affairs. I have repeatedly considered it. It can be divided into multiple counties, but military and political separation is required. You will still serve as the general manager of Fengzhou. When the prefect of Wuyuan County, I decided to let Yang Shidao serve as the position, so you don't have to serve as the part-time position."

Yang Yuanqing took a deep breath. Yang Guang did not deprive him of military power. This was his greatest luck. He immediately bowed and said, "Respect the order!"

"I'm a little tired, step back!"

"I'm going to leave!"

Yang Yuanqing slowly withdrew. When he retreated to the gate, he heard Yang Guang's cold voice, "I just think Princess Yicheng is dead."

Yang Yuanqing was shocked.

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In October of the sixth year of Daye, Yang Guang returned to the capital and immediately issued a war preparation edict, ordering 30,000 rich people in the capital to purchase military horses, and then set up a prefecture in Shandong to raise horses for military service, causing the price of war horses to soar overnight, and a horse of 100,000 yuan, and all the wealthy families in the capital were suffering.

Then Yang Guang ordered the construction of a million-stone granary in Luhe Town in Liucheng County and Huaiyuan Town in Yan County. He also issued an edict to recruit 600,000 civilians in Qi County, Bohai County, Pingyuan County, Qinghe County, Jibei County, Beihai County, etc., to prepare their own ox carts and dry food, and transport all the grains of the official warehouses of the six counties to Liaodong. Those who dare to send grain and dare to privately corrupt officials and grain will be executed.

The order was issued to the six counties, and the people were immediately resentful. At this time, the drought in Qi County, Jibei County and Beihai County was extremely serious. The floods broke out in Bohai County, Pingyuan County and Qinghe County to the north of the Yellow River swept across the fields. The autumn grains in the six counties were all harvested, and hungry people were everywhere.

The edict issued by Emperor Yang Guang at this time seemed to be even worse. The officials of the six counties did not dare to disobey the imperial edict. They forced the families with cattle to serve the people in counties and townships, and 300,000 ox carts were collected. Each ox cart transported three stones of rice. The two of them pushed one together and ordered them to bring their own dry food and transport one million stones of official grain to Liaodong.

On the official road to the north, there were endless people transporting grain. The road was difficult and far away. Along the way, there were dead men and sick cows everywhere. The ox carts were slow, and it took at least two months to go to Liaodong. Most of the dry food they carried with them could only last ten days, which was not enough. The men could only steal food from official food. Before they arrived in Liaodong, half of the food had been eaten. The men could only share the remaining official food and flee to the thief.

This is the civil servant who transports grain, but the real crisis occurs in the six counties and local counties. Since official grain has become military grain, no government dares to open warehouses to release grain to help the victims. Millions of hungry people are hungry and food is exhausted. Those who are obedient and observant can only wait for the day of starvation to come, and robbery may still survive. Heaven is grieving and people are angry, and the conflict between officials and the people has reached the extreme.

In Zouping County, Qi County, on the official road about 30 miles away from the county town, a team of more than 500 cavalrymen were galloping towards Zouping County. The leading official was Zhang Xutuo, the governor of Qi County. The cavalry beside him were all Qi County local troops, led by Qin Qiong, the commander of Guoyi. They received an emergency request from Zouping County Magistrate. Tens of thousands of hungry people were about to break out, and they led their troops to suppress them.

Along the way, the fields were barren, the land was cracked, all rivers were dry, and people and animals could be seen everywhere. Zouping County was the county with the worst disaster in the Qi army.

"Mr. Magistrate!"

Qin Qiong rode his horse to catch up with Zhang Xutuo and asked, "The official warehouse cannot be released, why not open the charity warehouse to release grain?"

Zhang Xutuo glared at him fiercely and angrily scolded: "There is still shitty food in Yicang!"

Zhang Xutuo has been running for more than a month, his lips have already burst into flames, his voice is hoarse and his temper is extremely irritable. Perhaps he thinks he shouldn't scold his subordinates, his eyes are softer and he asked, "How is your family's situation?"

Qin Qiong smiled bitterly, "My family is fine, and there is still a little grain storage. I sent twenty kilograms of rice to Shixin yesterday. I heard that his family had no food."

Zhang Xutuo sighed. His family was almost out of food. His family was barely bare and he sold all the money he could. He was going to send his wife and daughter to Beijing and ask his apprentice Yang Yuanqing to take care of him.

Qin Qiong hesitated and said, "Monkey King, can you suppress it slightly relax? After all, the people are forced to a dead end."

Zhang Xutuo shook his head, "You don't know that the reason why Zouping County is more serious than other places is that someone deliberately provoked it."

Qin Qiong was shocked, "Does the county magistrate refer to the giant thief Wang Bo in Changbai Mountain?"

Zhang Xutuo said angrily: "It's this thief!"

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Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a monthly ticket!

...
Chapter completed!