There is an official road between Daxing City and Renshou Palace. This was the road that Yang Su specially sent people to expand when Renshou Palace was built.
After all, every time Emperor Yang Jian went to Renshou Palace, there were huge ceremonial guards, and if the road was too narrow, even the imperial carriage could not pass.
Yang Ming has been to Renshou Palace several times and walked through the official road, but he also took a shortcut once.
Because he has always known that the change in Renshou Palace was the last hurdle for his father Yang Guang.
After passing this hurdle, he became the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
Yang Ming led the vanguard cavalry, a total of 500 people, and hurried on the road with all their strength. They took this small road. The road was not easy to walk and was quite bumpy. Fortunately, Yang Ming and the others were riding horses, so it was relatively easy.
He learned from Prince Xian Ma Liupin that the Yulin Guards who took Yang Yong away only had 200 people, all of whom were wearing armor.
As for the Five Hundred Prince's Palace Tribes he is currently carrying, only the swords, bows and arrows are left, and all the armor and stomach are removed to reduce the pressure on the horses.
As long as the opponent doesn't remove his armor, Yang Ming is still confident that he can catch up.
As for Li Yuan, he is far behind. This person is unreliable, especially at this juncture. It would be about the same if he were replaced by Pei Ju or Yu Wenshu.
Around mid-afternoon, that is, four o'clock in the afternoon, Yang Ming faintly heard a burst of fighting.
The sound came from the front, but it was difficult to see clearly because of the distance between the mountains.
Yang Ming knew that Yang Yong was probably intercepted by someone, so he ordered the cavalry to speed up. After going around a few corners, Yang Ming looked down from a high position and saw two groups of people fighting on the official road in the distance. .
On one side were the Yulin cavalry with bright armor and stomachs that reflected dazzling light in the sun, and on the other side were civilian soldiers, but their equipment was very neat.
Yang Ming rode his horse and stood on the high ground, no longer in a hurry, quietly watching the changes in the situation below.
Since the Yulin Guards were all cavalry, they only had iron shields in their hands to defend against bows and arrows, but they could protect people but not horses.
In the early stage, the group of civilian soldiers who looked like bandits did not dare to approach, so they could only draw their bows and shoot, killing more than a dozen horses of the Yulin Guards.
Although the official road is wide, it is not suitable for hand-to-hand combat, not to mention that one side is a slope and the other side is a low cliff, so the cavalry cannot play any role.
The group of people who had been placed in the villages and towns outside Renshou Palace in advance were all experienced in the battlefield. There were already more than a dozen dead horses piled up in the official road, blocking the way forward.
And they were scattered around, like a net, only missing arrows.
The Yulin Guards were fully armored and almost unafraid of bows and arrows, but their horses were weak, so they had no choice but to dismount, form a square formation, and slowly advance forward.
The two groups of people started fighting with the pile of dead horses as the center line.
Infantry with armor or without armor are two different things. Although the miscellaneous soldiers are constantly receiving reinforcements and their numbers are increasing, reaching close to a thousand in a short period of time, they still cannot withstand the impact of the Habayashi Guards. .
The sword cannot cut, the arrow cannot shoot, only stones can be thrown.
In this case, the lethality of stones against the armored Yulin Guards is far more effective than swords.
Yang Ming had been watching the situation in the field, and finally discovered that among the Yulin Guards, there was a very familiar figure wearing armor, surrounded by more than a dozen people.
Yang Ming knew Yang Yong very well. Although he couldn't see his face clearly from a distance, Yang Ming was sure it was Yang Yong due to his subconscious actions.
Where he was now, there was no road leading directly to the official road, so the sergeant could only abandon his horse and go down the slope.
So he ordered Pang Niu to take 300 people down.
Although these people had taken off their armor, there were flag officers carrying the banner of King of Hedong, so they were easily recognized.
Pang Niu led his men to charge down the hillside, not targeting the Yulin Guards, but those miscellaneous soldiers.
After seeing Yang Ming's flag, the group of civilian soldiers began to retreat one after another, and quickly retreated to the rear in a panic.
After Pang Niu led his men to chase for a hundred meters in a pretentious manner, they returned to meet up with the Yulin Guards.
"General Pang, you came at the right time," said the leader of the Yulin Guards, named Liu Ju, and Pang Niu was originally from the Yulin Guards, so the two knew each other.
Pang Niu stepped forward and asked, "What's going on with you?"
Liu Ju ordered the roads to be cleared and the troops to be in order, and said:
"I was sent back to the capital on my humble duty to hand over official duties. On my way back, I was blocked by strong bandits. Fortunately, General Pang arrived in time."
Pang Niu chuckled: "King Hedong went to Renshou Palace to pay his respects to the Supreme Being. I didn't expect to run into something like you."
Liu Ju was stunned when he heard this: "Where is the King of Hedong?"
"You'll see it later," Pang Niu said.
Liu Ju suddenly looked alert, retreated slowly, and gestured backwards. Immediately, dozens of Yulin guards were waiting for him, while the rest were unaware of the situation and were completely unaware of the situation.
At this time, Yang Ming had already rode around the slope and entered the official road from the path.
When he rode his horse and appeared in front of Liu Ju, his eyes were always on the figure in the crowd in front of him.
Liu Ju did not step forward, but just raised his hand towards Yang Ming from a distance: "Thank you, Your Highness, for the rescue."
Yang Mingli ignored him, but pointed the riding whip in his hand:
"Bring that person to me."
Liu Ju was shocked and turned pale. He quickly held the knife and retreated: "Your Highness, please forgive me. I am responsible for carrying out official business under orders. Please be accommodating. If Your Highness has any doubts, please go to Renshou Palace to meet the Holy Spirit."
Yang Ming chuckled and shouted in the distance: "How are you, uncle? Please move forward and allow my nephew to say hello to you."
Yang Yong, who was wearing armor and stomach, looked ashen at the moment. Now that he was recognized, he would definitely not be able to hide. He pushed away the Yu Linwei who was blocking him, took a few steps forward, and said:
"I was ordered to go to Renshou Palace to attend to my illness. If you stop me, you will be disobeying the imperial order."
Yang Ming smiled and said: "That's a coincidence. I also want to go to Renshou Palace. The road ahead is dangerous and the bandits may come back. So let me let my nephew escort my uncle for the journey."
Yang Yong said loudly: "Without any fuss, someone from Renshou Palace will come to take care of you."
His words were used to bluff Yang Ming, hoping to warn him not to act recklessly. After all, this place was less than thirty miles away from Renshou Palace.
At this time, Liu Ju also hurriedly stepped forward and unfolded an apricot-yellow scroll towards Yang Ming: "Here is the Holy Apostle, please take a look at it."
What the hell, Liu Shu, this bastard, has already completed the imperial edict?
The imperial edict was placed here, and Yang Ming did not dare to mess around. Although he was surrounded by the royal family's personal followers at the moment, he was absolutely obedient, but after that fool Li Yuan caught up and saw the imperial edict, he would definitely not dare to act rashly.
And he couldn't kill Yang Yong with thunder. Since the situation was unclear, he didn't dare to take action easily. He was afraid that Liu Shu would jump over the wall and kill his father and the others.
Yang Ming chuckled: "In that case, let's go our separate ways."
After saying that, Yang Ming whispered to the people around him, and then he took Chen Kui and other two hundred people to walk in front, while Pang Niu and others walked around behind, following the Yu Linwei.
Front and back, forming an enclosure.
Yang Ming, on the other hand, was slowly moving forward, slower than walking.
He was not waiting for Li Yuan, but thinking about what to do next.
According to the imperial decree, Li Yuan was no longer reliable. There was an emergency at that time, Pei Ju and the others were not there, and Yang Ming had no close followers in the Wei Mansion, so he could only bring Li Yuan, who happened to be on duty in the palace.
Things didn't go well from the beginning.
Nothing can happen to Dad and the others. Yang Ming's current identity and qualifications are not enough. Even if Dad dies, he won't be able to get in.
If Yang Yong and Yang Guang died, the Sui Dynasty would immediately be in chaos. It was uncertain whether the old Yang family could continue to control the world.
Now it seems that the only option is to give it a try.
The army of Pei Ju and others will arrive in two days at the earliest, and Yang Ming cannot delay that long now.
After clearing his thoughts, Yang Ming secretly sent someone to inform the mixed troops in front led by Guo Yan's second son Guo Siben, and told them to lay in wait for his signal before leading his troops to attack the Yulin Guards.
He must destroy the imperial edict, otherwise something will happen if Li Yuan comes.
When the team passed by the grain farm of a village, the vanguard army led by Yang Ming suddenly started to rush forward, and the adjourned troops led by Pang Niu, who had received the instruction, also hurriedly retreated, leaving the Yulin Guards behind.
On a spacious open space.
"Array up!"
Realizing that the situation was not good, Liu Ju quickly ordered the Yulin Guards to set up a formation.
It was at this time that countless people poured out of the villages and woods on both sides of the official road and rushed towards the Yulin Guards.
This time it's not like the last time, just to delay, this time it's life-threatening.
Yang Ming, Yu Linwei, and Guo Siben are all dressed in bright colors and will not hurt their own people.
After receiving Yang Ming's instructions, Chen Kui led his army to rush over on horseback.
In this small-scale fight, the total number of people was less than 2,000, but the well-equipped Yulin Guards were able to hold on for an hour before being strangled to death.
On the other hand, Yang Ming suffered heavy losses, with 300 dead and more than 500 injured.
There was no way, Guo Siben's miscellaneous army was an ambush and did not dare to put on armor, while Yang Ming's troops took off their armor in advance in order to rush on the road, so they suffered a big loss.
With or without armor, the difference is huge.
China introduced iron and steel technology from Persia, India and other places during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and iron and iron were the ancient key.
The mainstream process used in the Sui Dynasty is called potted pattern steel, which means wrought iron with extremely low carbon content obtained by the fried iron method and pig iron with high carbon content are fused together and repeatedly forged to obtain a uniform texture.
of iron.
This thing has a high failure rate and low output. It is basically only equipped to the Habayashi Guards. Moreover, due to technological limitations, it can only be used to make weapons and cannot be used to make armor.
The Yulin Guards are equipped with bright light armor, fine scale armor and chain mail. All the weapons are made of iron and steel. One is worth ten, which is no exaggeration at all.
The Yulin Guards led by Liu Ju were completely wiped out at Yang Mingfang's great cost.
Of course, Yang Yong will not die, he just received a few blows and some skin injuries.
After receiving the imperial edict, Yang Ming immediately set fire to it.
Then they had the armor removed from all the Yulin Guards, collected them and hid them in a residence.
Yang Yong's armor and stomach were also removed, and he was dressed in a royal attire, with his hands tied behind his back and his mouth stuffed with strips of cloth.
Yang Ming didn't want to talk nonsense to him, so he just said calmly:
"Uncle, I'd better let my nephew escort me on my last journey. I don't trust it if I leave it to someone else."
Subsequently, Yang Ming ordered all the people in the village to be driven away, and the troops rested on the spot, waiting for Li Yuan's arrival.
In a private house, Yang Ming patted Guo Siben on the shoulder encouragingly:
"Longji (Guo Si's original abbreviation) did a good job this time. This king will not forget it, and neither will the prince."
Guo Siben nodded and said, "This is my duty as a minister."
Guo Yan is a die-hard member of the Jin Dynasty. When he defeated the crown prince Yang Yong, he did a lot of work behind the scenes. At this critical moment, he did not hesitate to involve his second son directly.
This is the routine of every powerful family. The eldest son should not be allowed to do shady things. The eldest son must be completely selected out, so as not to end his relationship with him after something happens.
Unlike Yang Xuangan's stick, in history, during the rebellion, all the brothers were involved, and in the end the entire clan was killed and their incense was cut off.
Li Yuan's rebellion was recorded in history books as being coerced by the people of the world. This was also the reason. Later, when the situation became good, Jiancheng was allowed to participate.