Time has passed, and the night is getting deeper and deeper. The entire Jinyang Palace is already silent, and the palace gate is closed. There are only a group of patrol soldiers patrolling the provincial and provincial platforms from time to time.

The buildings in each provincial platform were pitch black and very quiet, but the third floor of Ziwei Pavilion was still on, and it was the official room of the King of Chu, which means that the King of Chu was still in Ziwei Pavilion.

This made the patrolling guards even less careless. More than 300 people guarded Ziwei. In their memory, it seemed that His Royal Highness of Chu had not stayed so late yet, what happened today?

Yang Yuanqing was indeed worried today. Pei Ju said that his biggest weakness was that his defense line was too long. It started from Liaodong in the east and reached Helan Mountain in the west. In fact, it was not just Helan Mountain, but also the farther Hexi Corridor, Dunhuang and Yiwu, and it was also his territory there.

Today he deeply felt what Pei Ju said. When the Turkic Hu cavalry on the grassland gradually returned to strength, his vast border became a huge burden. The flexible and maneuverable Turks could attack Liaodong, Youzhou, Yandai, Fengzhou, and even crossed the Ganman Mountain to attack Dunhuang and Yiwu.

It takes at least 300,000 troops to defend such a long border, but now he is far from able to provide 300,000 troops to defend the northern border, and he can't even provide 100,000 troops.

Since ancient times, the nomadic peoples in the north have been the number one enemy of the farming people in the Central Plains. From the destruction of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the entry of the Qing Dynasty into the pass, the figures of the nomadic people have never disappeared from the land of the Central Plains.

Wherever nomadic people pass, killing, looting, extinction of population, and thousands of years of history of Han civilization is actually a history of resisting the invasion of the northern nomadic peoples.

But the Han civilization did not completely adopt a defensive stance. Large-scale defensive counterattacks were often seen, so what about him, Yang Yuanqing?

From the origin, like Tang, he also inherited the mantle of the Sui Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty had a powerful army. He adopted the strategy of Huairou and Big Stick to tame the grassland wolf.

However, the Sui Dynasty was unable to eradicate the roots of the Turkic people. However, after the Sui Dynasty weakened, the Turkic Qimin tribe that it had built with one hand quickly showed its hideous fangs and rushed towards their former benefactor. This only shows that the failure of Huairou's methods and shows that the Sui Dynasty did not see through the wolf nature of the Turkic people.

He, Yang Yuanqing, must not repeat the same mistakes. Although Yang Yuanqing has formulated a long-term strategy to deal with the Turks, how to resolve the current crisis? He can use the troops of the whole country to deal with the Turks like Fengzhou, but what should the Tang Dynasty do?

Yang Yuanqing sighed, and he had to be glad that he had made the decision at that time. He would keep Dou Jiande in Qingzhou, otherwise he would now fight against Li Wei in the east and Li Tang in the west. There were Turkic wolf behind him, surrounded by the enemy on three sides, and the Sui Dynasty was really in danger.

Now at least he doesn't have to worry about Dongfang. Dou Jiande blocked Li Mi for him. Now he only needs to consider the Tang Dynasty and the Turks.

The only thing he is worried about now is that he is attacked from both sides. The Turks and the Tang Dynasty launched an attack on him at the same time. However, after he successfully ambushed the Turkic envoys, the possibility of the Tang Dynasty and the Turks conspiring to attack the Sui Dynasty was no longer high.

But if he started a war with the Tang Dynasty, would the Turks take the opportunity to attack Mayi County? Or if he started a war with the Turks. Will the Tang Dynasty take the opportunity to attack the inner gate?

It is entirely possible, even 90% possible. If so, how should he deal with it?

During this period, Yang Yuanqing had been considering this issue. He originally thought that the threat of the Turks could be solved after winter, but God seemed to be against him. Tomorrow is November. There is still no snowfall on the grassland and no heavy snow blocking it, and the Turkic cavalry appeared north of Fuqibo.

Now Yang Yuanqing has no choice. The Turkic cavalry patrols have broken through the northern border from time to time and entered the Sui border to attack the remaining troops of Wutu. When the threat of war comes, he must first stabilize the Tang Dynasty. Then concentrate his troops against the Turks, and then turn around to deal with the Tang Dynasty after defeating the Turks.

At this time, the neighing sound of war horses faintly came from outside the gate of Jinyang Palace. It was heard particularly clearly in the night. Then a crack was opened in the small gate of Jinyang Palace. Under the faint light, three figures followed the guards into the palace.

Yang Yuanqing was excited and he could see clearly that the figure of the person in charge should be Wei Ben. Has the problem been solved in just over an hour?

The people coming closer and closer, it was Wei Ben. The two followers behind him were carrying a box. Yang Yuanqing smiled with satisfaction. Although Wei Ben was a little less foresight, his ability to solve problems was indeed very strong. He originally considered replacing Wei Ben, but now Yang Yuanqing has temporarily put aside this idea.

Wei Ben entered Ziwei Pavilion. Soon after, his footsteps appeared outside the door. Pei Qingsong reported: "Your Highness, General Wei is here!"

"Come in!"

Yang Yuanqing turned around and the door opened. Wei Ben quickly walked into the official room with excitement on his face. Behind him, two guards carried into a tin box. Wei Ben knelt down on one knee and whispered: "Report to Your Highness, I am humble to do my duty!"

"Thank you for your hard work, General Wei!"

Yang Yuanqing comforted him with praise, walked to the iron box again, kicked the iron box with the tip of his boot, making a dull sound, "Is this fake silver money?" Yang Yuanqing asked with a smile.

Wei Ben hurriedly opened the box, and there was indeed a white box of fake silver coins inside. Yang Yuanqing reached out and grabbed it. The silver coins slid from the gap between his fingers and fell on the pile of silver coins, making a jingling sound. He clicked and asked again: "How many are there in total?"

"Report to your Highness, there should be 10,000 in total, but today they used 1,000, and now there are still 9,000 in the box."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Tomorrow you will find a way to take back the thousand fake silver coins you used and take them back as much as possible."

"I understand!"

Wei Ben took a stack of documents from the guards and presented them to Yang Yuanqing with both hands, "These are some important documents found in the restaurants in Bafang. Please check them out."

Yang Yuanqing took the document and read it. There was a record of Tang Feng's bribery, Tang Feng's various strongholds in the Sui Dynasty, and a list of Tang Feng's main backbone personnel.

Yang Yuanqing looked through the bribery records without showing any expression. There were twenty-three officials, the highest rank of sixth rank. Li Shouzhong was really an incompetent person.

Wei Ben bowed and said, "I plan to do something overnight tonight and arrest all the criminals overnight."

Yang Yuanqing pointed to the twenty-three Sui officials who had accepted bribes, "Don't move these officials for the time being!"

"Yes! I remember it."

Yang Yuanqing took the list of Tang Feng members again. He pondered for a moment and handed it to Pei Qingsong casually, "Cross a copy!"

Pei Qingsong took the list and walked out quickly. Yang Yuanqing paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, thinking about how to deal with this matter and wiped out the Tang Feng in Taiyuan. The Tang Dynasty would definitely send new people to come, so he had to find a way to leave some clues.

Thinking of this, he asked Wei Ben again, "Tell me what happened!"

Wei Ben then told Yang Yuanqing in detail the process of extermination of the restaurants in the world. Yang Yuanqing pondered for a long time and said, "Don't arrest other members of Tang Feng. Kill Li Chongshou and other arrested people and go back to create an illusion. Burn the fifth floor of the restaurant at dawn. Then use a large number of inner guards to surround the restaurant, lift their bodies of Li Chongshou and their bodies out of the restaurant, and create some momentum. Let more onlookers. Do you understand what I mean?"

Wei Ben thought for a while and suddenly understood. "Your Highness meant that the others of Tang Feng thought that Li Chongshou had not betrayed them, and all the lists were burned down, so the Tang Dynasty would leave one or two backbones, which left us a handle in the future."

Yang Yuanqing smiled and nodded, "That's what it means, you guys do it!"

"Please rest assured that everything will be handled by your nobles."

In fact, Yang Yuanqing only needs to give a directional instruction, and everything in the inner guard will be handled. Yang Yuanqing doesn’t need to worry about this. Wei Ben knew what to do. He bowed and retreated, but Yang Yuanqing called him again, "Wait a minute!"

Wei Ben stopped and turned around and bowed: "Please give instructions from your Highness!"

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Use the Eagle Letter to the Chang'an Intelligence Hall, and asked them to find a way to tell Yang Shidao, saying that the Sui Dynasty would make the greatest sincerity, completely cancel the issuance of silver and money, and at the same time close the Huining County Silver Mine."

Wei Ben was shocked. He didn't understand why Yang Yuanqing made such a big concession to the Tang Dynasty. Is it necessary to show weakness to the Tang Dynasty? But he didn't dare to ask more questions. He bowed and slowly retreated.

At this time, Pei Qingsong walked in and handed the copied list to Yang Yuanqing. Yang Yuanqing looked at it and put it on the table. He wrote a warrant, ordering Huining Silver Mine to close immediately and all miners temporarily retreat to the Chitie Mountain Camp.

He handed the warrant to Pei Qingsong, "Transfer it to Pei Xingyan with the eagle letter!"

...........

At dawn, a raging fire suddenly ignited on the fifth floor of the Bafang Tavern, and thick smoke rushed into the sky. At this time, the gate of Beishi City had just opened, and the fire at the Bafang Tavern immediately alarmed the shops and neighbors of the restaurants in Beishi City.

Everyone rushed to put out the fire, but the scene in front of the restaurant shocked everyone. More than a thousand inner guards surrounded the restaurant, and more than a dozen bodies were carried out from the restaurant. They were not burned to death, but were covered with arrows and covered in blood.

One of them was Li Shouzhong, the owner of the Bafang Restaurant. He also killed him with a knife. A battle knife pierced his chest and lay on the cold ground, dying with his eyes open.

The soldiers of the inner guards were busy putting out the fire. No one seemed to pay attention to the dead, so they threw them in the open space outside the restaurant. A large group of people surrounded more than a dozen bodies and talked about Li Shouzhong's true identity. How could he be killed by the inner guards?

Wei Ben was still standing on the second floor of Yuan'an Restaurant, staring at more than a dozen bodies of Li Shouzhong and others, and watching the movements of the people around him.

At this time, a thin man quietly approached Li Shouzhong. He squatted in front of Li Shouzhong's body, as if checking the wound, but while the person was unprepared, he reached into Li Shouzhong's waist and quickly took off a bronze medal from his waist.

All of this fell in Wei Ben's eyes. He turned his head and asked his subordinates, "Who is that thin man?"

His subordinates stared for a moment and replied: "He is the shopkeeper of the Shushan Tea Shop in Taipei City, named Zhao Wenzhong. He ranks seventh on the list. Shushan Tea Shop is also a branch hall of Tang Feng."

Wei Ben nodded, Tang Feng's man indeed came, and he immediately ordered: "Don't worry, let him do everything."

Wei Ben quickly walked downstairs and came to the gate. A soldier stepped forward to report: "General, the fire on the fifth floor cannot be extinguished, and it has been burned."

"You fools!"

Wei Ben cursed the soldiers for being incompetent and seemed very anxious. He quickly swept to Zhao Wenzhong from the corner of his eyes and found that he was not far away from him, staring thoughtfully at the fifth floor that was completely engulfed by the fire.

A hint of undetectable and complacent smile appeared at the corner of Wei Ben's mouth.

.........

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