Gao Hong and Lin Zhengde respectively belonged to the left and right Yiwei of the former Sui Dynasty. In the former Sui Dynasty, the left and right Yiwei were the garrison of the capital. They were the product of the heavy-handed military layout promoted by Yang Guang.
What does it mean to put emphasis on the leader and neglect the foot? It is similar to Yang Guang's idea of building Luoyang City. He deployed heavy troops in places like Luoyang and Chang'an, invited soldiers from all over the world, and restricted the border garrison.
This is completely opposite to the strategy of the late Tang Dynasty in another time and space. At that time, the Tang Dynasty set up various military governors and vassal towns. It was obviously a situation where the internal affairs were neglected and the external affairs were emphasized. This is how the Anshi Rebellion came about.
There is nothing to criticize about what Yang Guang did above. In order to prevent the Guanxi clan, as well as the remnants of the Northern Qi and Southern Chen from causing rebellion, the imperial court naturally had to tighten its grip on military power. This was also a prerequisite for centralization of power.
It’s just that whether you focus on the head and the foot, or on the internal and external, it ultimately depends on the governance level of the emperor and his ministers. If the results are not good, no matter how right you are, it will be regarded as a foolish act in the eyes of the world.
For example, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty eradicated the influence of Empress Wei, revitalized the Tang Dynasty, and created the prosperous Kaiyuan Dynasty. His achievements are not insignificant. However, with the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty declined from prosperity and lost all the capital.
It is inevitable that it will give people the impression that he is similar to the later Qianlong, who took advantage of his predecessors and forcibly created a prosperous age.
In the end, it was pushed to beauty and beauty, which is an old trick of literati, but it can't stop the people of the world from talking...
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Gao Hong and Lin Zhengde served in the left and right guards and were both from Kansai.
When they went out with the army, they were both in their twenties and in their prime. But twenty years later, their hair was gray and they looked old. With their ragged clothes and rough skin, they looked worse than villagers in the countryside. A bit more miserable.
It's just that when they came to Li Nian, tried their best to straighten their bodies, and loudly announced where they belonged, they could still see some shadows of the Sui army officers and soldiers in them.
This is undoubtedly a sad thing.
In his prime years, he went to war with the army and failed to make any achievements, yet he ended up like this. It was a complete tragedy. Any aspiring man would probably feel the same way when he met them.
The wheel of history rolls forward. Some people are high on the wheel and are high-spirited, but more people are reduced to mud and crushed by the wheel of history.
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Li Nian is also an authentic Kansai person, but the time when the heroes of Kansai were proud and dominant has long passed, because now the person who is the emperor is Li Po.
What is the origin of Li Po? His ancestral home is in Guanxi, and he raised troops in the Jin Dynasty.
To put it in layman's terms, the Kansai people are not good to him, and the Jin region is his home base.
In this way, the situation is different from that of Yang Jian, Li Yuan and others. Although the Kansai people still occupy an indispensable position in the court, it can be imagined that like the former Sui Dynasty, all major military and political affairs were out of the control of the Kansai people. The hand pattern is impossible.
From the ministers of the dragon, more than a dozen generals came from Jin, and more than half of them were from Jin, which is enough to explain the problem.
Li Nian had followed Li Po for many years, and his situation was similar. Although he was from Kansai, he was closer to the Jin faction in the DPRK.
After so many years of fighting in the south and the north, he was also very disgusted with the story of the Kansai family's attempt to seize power.
Especially when he accompanied the army in the expedition to Liaodong, he was particularly disgusted by the behavior of the people in Kansai who were playing tricks in the army and treating others as fools and hawks and dogs.
Of course, after so many years of training, he has become a mature military commander. He also knows that when he conquered Liaodong, the people in Kansai were also helpless.
How can the struggle with imperial power be eliminated by taking one or two steps back? The Battle of Liaodong back then was just like the stage for the confrontation between Yang Guang and the powerful nobles of Kansai.
And they, these unknown people, were of no importance at that time. They would just die if they died. No one would shed even a drop of tears for them.
The two people in front of me look pitiful now, but back then they were under the left and right guards, and they were almost the emperor's own troops.
A leading military officer is nothing, but Takahiro is an honorary guard with a sixth-grade military rank. With his surname, he looks like a strongman among the Kansai people. He may have been so high-spirited and bossy back then.
Li Nian looked at Gao Hong and the two with a confused feeling, and countless thoughts passed through his mind.
The arrival of the two people was actually not surprising.
Both the Silla people and the Baekje people have said that there has always been a rebellion in Goguryeo. It is actually not accurate to say that it is a rebellion. It is the sequelae of the former Sui's conquest of Liaodong that have been bothering the Goguryeo people.
More than 300,000 Sui troops entered the hinterland of Goguryeo. Although they were defeated in one battle, Goguryeo's self-confidence expanded to a certain extent.
But in fact, the former Sui Dynasty's first conquest of Liaodong caused an almost devastating blow to Goguryeo's national power. The Goguryeo people who were killed or injured in the war could not go to the Sui army.
What is even more frightening is that more than 300,000 Sui troops were defeated thousands of miles away in the hinterland of Goguryeo. In addition to the dead, injured and captured Sui soldiers, there were hundreds of thousands of people scattered in the mountains and wilderness of Goguryeo.
For more than ten or twenty years, these defeated soldiers have been causing trouble for the Goguryeo people and continue to destroy the social structure of Goguryeo.
It was like a slow poison, eroding Goguryeo's body.
It was not until recent years that this situation has improved. The main reason is that most of the defeated Sui soldiers were old, and their descendants did not have such hatred for Goguryeo, and it was much easier to recruit them.
If the Goguryeo people were given another ten years without anyone disturbing them, the wounds would slowly heal, and perhaps the vitality of Goguryeo society would be increased.
After all, these outsiders brought not only wars and killings, but also advanced political and military ideas, as well as various craftsmanship skills that the Goguryeo people lacked.
But Tang Jun is here...
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Li Nian stepped forward and supported the two of them, "Please get up quickly. After all these years, the two of you can still remember your motherland. It shows how courageous you are."
Gao Hong fell to the ground and couldn't even speak clearly as he howled.
Lin Zhengde felt better, and he stood up and choked with sobs: "We are like lone geese here, looking forward to the king's return day and night. Today we can finally see the general. It shows that God has treated us well."
Listening to these words, you can understand that both of them are not ordinary people. When they heard Li Nian's Kansai accent, they were even more excited.
Gao Hong finally stopped crying and wiped his tears and said: "Let the general laugh. I have been away from home for a long time. I have been in this ghost place for many years but I can't escape. I accidentally heard that the general led his army here a few days ago, so he summoned
These people came to surrender. I hope the general still has some loyalty to me and can take me in..."
Li Nian asked them to sit down, shook his head and sighed: "So that you can know that the Sui Dynasty has died, and now the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are here.
I am General Zuo Wuwei, the founding Duke Li Nian..."
After hearing this, Gao Hong looked at each other with complicated eyes that they probably didn't even understand what kind of emotions they contained.
The Sui Dynasty died, and the Tang Dynasty came into being.
They had heard some rumors of this and that in the mountains and forests before, so they were not completely ignorant. Especially after leading the people here and having a brief conversation with the soldiers of the Tang Army, they were somewhat mentally prepared.
What should the remnants of the former Sui Dynasty say when they saw the officers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty? Just like the branches and leaves falling from a big tree, seeing the big tree being chopped down by someone, for them who had been living in the enemy's territory for a long time, it was undoubtedly a disaster.
Received another heavy blow.
Just like when the former Soviet astronauts boarded the space station, but the former Soviet Union disintegrated, can you understand the astronauts' mood? I'm afraid it can't be described by MMP, right?
The two of them were speechless when they heard this, but they thought of the sun, moon and stars flag hanging in the Tang army's camp. Although it was slightly different from the Sui flag, some shadows of the Sui Dynasty could still be seen on it.
They all stood up and beat their chests to give Li Nian a military salute.
Li Nian pressed his hands and asked them to sit down again, "Speaking of which, you and I are considered colleagues. When we marched into Pyongyang, I served in the army..."
The two of them opened their eyes wide after hearing this, and couldn't help showing a little joy on their faces.
The Kansai people, we all fought side by side, the Great Sui Dynasty was completely destroyed...
Of course, it is not surprising to people in the aristocratic clan. After the fall of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, wouldn't everyone still be the officials of the Sui Dynasty?
Gao Hong rubbed his hands, which were as rough as tree bark, and said happily: "It turns out that the general and we are still brothers.
Some people said before that we have been forgotten for so many years since we have been living outside. I don’t believe it. So many of us died here. Isn’t there anyone who wants to pick up the bones? How can we forget the blood feud so easily? It seems that we are
You’ve come to the right place.”
Lin Zhengde also nodded heavily in agreement, "If you don't avenge this hatred, you will be in vain. General, although there are not many of us, we are too old to be driven, but our hatred against the Goguryeo people is as deep as the sea. Here we are.
It has been entangled for many years, and I already know this mountain forest well.
With us guiding the way, we will definitely be able to help the general kill them all."
After the two people calmed down a little, the flames of hatred began to burn in their chests. Whether they could go back to the Central Plains was second to none, and credit was not in their eyes.
They just want to give an explanation to the people who have died over the years, the injuries they suffered, and their miserable and helpless lives.
This is exactly what Li Nian needs.
"How many loyal people like you are there today?"
Gao Hong shook his head and said silently: "Not much. If the general could come ten years earlier, maybe tens of thousands of people could come to serve the general within a wave of his hand.
But now, there are not many people, life is too sad, some people get married and have children here, just like the two of us, we also stole a few Goguryeo women and had children..."
At this point, both of them lowered their heads in shame. Gao Hong swallowed before continuing: "Some people even voted for the Goguryeo people, and more people died in the battle.
Only we lonely ghosts are left, with no backbone but unwillingness, and we have managed to survive until now. In a few years, when we die, no one will remember the blood and hatred, right?
Like ashes, they are about to be extinguished in the distance."