In the Li Yuan Mansion in Taiyuan, the housekeeper led Taiyuan deputy left-behind officer Gao Junya and hurried towards the inner house. It was already dark. Two maids were holding lanterns to lead the way. The orange lights illuminated the path.
"How could he fall off the horse?" Gao Junya frowned. Li Yuan was not said to be skilled in bow and horse, but he had at least been riding horses for decades. How could he fall off a horse and actually break his leg?
Gao Junya was full of doubts. The Holy Emperor ordered Li Yuan to go to Jiangdu to serve as the Prime Minister, but he found various reasons to delay the trip. Now he actually broke his leg. Gao Junya suspected that this was another excuse for Li Yuan to deliberately pretend to have broken his leg.
He sneered in his heart. The Holy Emperor gave him a secret decree. If Li Yuan dared not go to Jiangdu again, he would be suspected of treason. He ordered him to behead him. Gao Junya also suspected that Li Yuan had disobedient intentions. He attacked the rebel army several times and killed a large number of them.
He surrendered his troops and became county soldiers, but still concealed himself. What did he want to do? Did he also want to raise troops to rebel?
Gao Junya suspected that Li Yuan had the intention to rebel, but he had no evidence, and he was weak in Taiyuan. He only had 5,000 troops under his command, and the rest of the troops were controlled by Li Yuan. This made Gao Junya worried about Li Yuan, and also worried about Li Yuan.
Fear
He knew that Li Yuan had got a thousand-mile horse, which was also a fierce horse and difficult to control, so he asked, "Did Mr. Tang get injured while trying the horse?"
"Isn't it? Everyone advised me not to try, but he didn't listen and insisted on riding. As a result, he fell off after running less than a hundred steps and broke his leg. Alas."
The housekeeper sighed, shook his head, and led Gao Junya into the backyard and walked to the inner hall. The housekeeper stopped and said respectfully: "General Gao, please come in. There is a maid inside who will lead General Gao to the ward."
Gao Junya didn't have the slightest doubt. He pushed the door and entered the inner hall. The light in the inner hall was so bright that he couldn't open his eyes. As soon as he entered the inner hall, Gao Junya was stunned. There were dozens of people standing in the inner hall.
There were two people sitting, one was Dou Wei, the head of the Dou family, and the other was Li Yuan who should be lying on the hospital bed. He sat cross-legged and looked at him with a smile on his face. He didn't look like he had broken his leg.
Gao Junya suddenly woke up and realized that he had been fooled by Li Yuan's trick. He drew his sword and rushed out. Li Xiaogong and Li Yuanji, who were hiding behind him, pounced on Gao Junya and pushed Gao Junya to the ground. Li Yuanji
He took his sword and kicked him hard in the face.
"Yuanji"
Li Yuan waved his hand, "Okay, don't mess around."
Several personal guards came forward and tied Gao Junya up. Li Xiaogong and Li Yuanji retreated. Li Yuan stepped forward and smiled slightly: "General Gao, I don't want to do this to you. I really have no choice but to invite you here because I want to discuss important matters together."
"
Gao Junya sneered: "What a big deal, it's just that you, Li Yuan, want to rebel."
Li Yuan shook his head, "I don't want to rebel, I just want to save the people from fire and water. I am still a minister of the Sui Dynasty. I just want to wipe out the chaos and bandits in the world and welcome the Holy Emperor back to the capital. That's all."
"Huh, it's better to say it than to sing it. Li Yuan, you don't have to confuse me. If I didn't have five thousand troops in my hands, would you have persuaded me so earnestly? I'm afraid you would trample me to death like an ant with one kick. I feel very sad.
It’s clear, don’t have wishful thinking, I, Gao Junya, will never rebel against you, Li Yuan.”
Li Yuan's expression changed, Heyan Yuese disappeared, and he became extremely fierce. He stared at Gao Junya and said coldly: "Since you want to toast and refuse to eat, then don't blame me for being cruel."
Gao Junya closed his eyes and said nothing. Li Yuan waved his hand and said, "Take him down."
Several guards gagged Gao Junya and carried him down. At this time, Li Shimin walked in and bowed and said: "Report to father, all the dozen guards brought by Gao Junya were captured, and none of them escaped."
Li Yuan was refreshed and asked again: "Is there anyone willing to join us?"
"Only two people are willing, and no one else is willing."
"It's enough for two people to walk"
Li Yuan immediately ordered Li Xiaogong: "Take five hundred people to Gao Junya's mansion, arrest his family, and at the same time get his order to mobilize troops and arrows."
He then said to Li Shimin: "If you appease the two soldiers well and give them heavy rewards, you should also let them understand that their families are in our hands and we must make them obedient."
"The child understands"
Li Xiaogong and Li Shimin went together. At this time, Dou Wei laughed and said: "Does Mr. Li want to use the command arrows and two personal soldiers to seize Gao Junya's five thousand army?"
Li Yuan nodded and said with a wry smile: "Besides, I have no other choice. Gao Junya refuses to surrender, so I can only use tricks to get him. I don't want to have to fight a fierce battle when I don't want to get into trouble."
........
An hour later, Li Yuan used his command arrow to falsely convey Gao Junya's order. Using an emergency meeting as an excuse, he summoned ten of Gao Junya's generals to the military office and captured them all with soldiers who had ambushed them in advance. Li Yuan then sent his troops to
The crowd took over Gao Junya's army, and early the next morning, he publicly executed Gao Junya for collaborating with the enemy and treason.
Three days later, Pei Ji, the eunuch of Jinyang Palace, opened the Jinyang Palace and presented Li Yuan with 400,000 sets of armor, nearly one million dan of grain, countless silver coins and various military supplies and tents.
Li Yuan immediately recruited righteous men from various counties in the east of Hedong. The number of applicants was overwhelming. Within ten days, Li Yuan recruited more than 80,000 soldiers, all of whom were equipped with regular army armor. By now, Li Yuan had nearly 200,000 soldiers. He was powerful and rich in money and food.
At this time, Li Yuan had widely circulated the prophecy: "The law exists, morality exists, and the emperor in white will come out of the East China Sea." Even a three-year-old child in Hedong knew this. Li Yuan ordered the three armies to change their flags and change their banners, with white as the honor. The left arms of the officers and soldiers in the three armies were wrapped in white cloth.
He himself rode a white horse, wore a white robe, and a silver helmet. He called himself Duke Baiyi, respected him as the general, and built the general's palace.
Pei Ji was the chief historian, Liu Wenjing was the Sima, Tang Jian and Wen Daya were the scribes, Wen Dayou was the scribe, the warrior Yu was the Kai Cao, Liu Zhenghui, Cui Shanwei, Zhang Yuandao were the Hu Cao, and Yin Kaishan was the government.
Peng, Changsun Shunde, Liu Hongji, Dou Cong, Wang Changxie, Jiang Baoyi and Yangtun were the left and right commanding forces.
Li Yuan also made the crown prince Li Jiancheng Duke of Longxi, the commander-in-chief of the army on the left, and the second son Li Shimin the Duke of Dunhuang and the general on the right. Each of them commanded an army of 50,000, and both had official subordinates. Li Yuan also made Li Yuanji the governor-general of Taiyuan.
Thirty thousand troops stayed at Jinyang Palace, and he immediately divided his troops into two groups and marched towards Guanzhong.
In early March of the twelfth year of Daye, Tang Guogong and Li Yuan who stayed in Taiyuan announced a crusade against the rebels. Yang Xuangan led an army of 150,000 to march toward Guanzhong, officially kicking off Li Yuan's rebellion against the Sui Dynasty.
........
In the Luoyang Palace, Dugu Zhen walked quickly with his head lowered, looking worried. Today Luoyang has received an urgent report from Li Yuan to raise troops. This made Dugu Zhen happy and a little worried. He was happy that Li Yuan finally seized the opportunity to raise troops. Currently, Yang Xuangan and Sui
Both armies were defeated, which was the best opportunity to raise troops. This opportunity was seized by Li Yuan, and he was able to use the Turkic army to contain Yang Yuanqing, which shows that Li Yuan has enough brains and vision. This person really hides his secrets.
But Dugu Zhen was a little worried, how should he get out? In fact, Li Yuan sent a letter to him more than half a month ago, telling him that he was about to raise troops, and Dou Wei also got the news at the same time. Dou Wei rushed to Taiyuan in time, and the Dugu family
Because the assets are too big, he has been busy dealing with them. At the same time, he is not like Dou Wei, who can leave at a moment's notice. Dugu Zhen is the first assistant officer of Dongdu after all.
There is another deeper reason, that is, Dugu Zhen believes that the time is not yet ripe for him to defect to Li Yuan. Li Yuan has not yet shown that he has the power to dominate the world and is at least 80% sure of conquering the world, so he will defect to Li Yuan.
On the other hand, Li Yuan actually recruited nearly 200,000 troops, which was beyond Dugu Zhen's expectation. This shows that Li Yuan was on guard against himself and was unwilling to use the Dugu family's connections in the army. If Li Yuan really won the world, then the Dugu family would
How to ensure benefits?
Duguzhen thought about it and decided to help Li Yuan once more. He must establish his own power in Li Yuan's army...
Dugu Zhen walked quickly all the way to the Xuanying Hall of the East Palace, where the Yue King Yang Tong handled government affairs. Every morning, five assistant ministers would discuss government affairs here.
When Dugu Zhen walked into the study, he saw that Duan Da, the doctor of Guanglu, Wei Jin, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Huangfu Wuyi, the general of the Youwu Guard, and Lu Chu, the Yousilang, had all arrived and were waiting for him.
"Old minister, see His Royal Highness the King of Yue." Dugu Zhen stepped forward and bowed deeply.
"Prime Minister Dugu, no courtesy, please take a seat."
Among the five, Dugu Zhen is the prime minister, so he is also the chief minister and has a high status. Yang Tong also respected him particularly and invited him to sit at the top.
Yang Tong is only fourteen years old this year, but he is young, mature and intelligent, and is deeply loved by Yang Guang. The chaos of the current situation and the constant outbreak of major events make him worried. He should have been a cheerful and happy young man, but because of the turmoil in the world, he was
become gloomy
"Prime Minister Dugu, we have just discussed it for a while. Now there are two major events. One is the large-scale attack of 300,000 Turkic cavalry on Fengzhou, and the other is that Li Yuan of Taiyuan went to Guanzhong to quell Yang Xuangan's rebellion without being summoned."
As soon as Yang Tong finished speaking, Duan Da, the official of Guanglu, snorted coldly and said: "Your Highness, you don't have to cover for him. Why do you want to quell Yang Xuangan's rebellion? Li Yuan clearly raised an army to rebel, proclaimed himself a general, and also made his two sons county princes.
What qualifications does he have to be canonized? Even the flag has changed. Apart from rebellion, what other reason can there be to explain what he did?"
Duan Da was also a military commander and had a straightforward character. In addition, he had a bad relationship with Li Yuan. He mercilessly criticized Li Yuan's so-called peace in Guanzhong.
Yang Tong hurriedly said: "Mr. Duan, please be patient and listen to Prime Minister Dugu's views."
Dugu Zhen sighed and said: "In my memory, Li Yuan is a timid and cowardly person. The Holy Master also thinks so. I would never believe that he started a rebellion. Maybe he had some last resort difficulties and had to
He did some misleading things, but after all, he still called himself Sui Chen, announced to the world that he would go to Guanzhong to suppress Yang Xuangan's rebellion, and also advocated welcoming the Holy Emperor back to the capital. I thought that he should not draw conclusions easily until the last moment."
Dugu Zhen's obvious preference for Li Yuan caused dissatisfaction among the other four people. Everyone knew that Li Yuan was Dugu Zhen's nephew. Of course, he would not admit that Li Yuan was a rebel.
In fact, Dugu Zhen came half an hour late. Within this half hour, everyone had reached a consensus. The Yue King Yang Tong also made the decision to attack Li Yuan. He just wanted to give Dugu Zhen a face and listen to his opinions.
Dugu Zhen doesn’t even know
Huangfu Wuyi sneered, "Then how do you explain that he changed his flag? He actually used a white flag, which is the flag of the Turks. When the Turkic army was marching south, he raised the white flag of the Turks. What does this mean? He thought he was changing into white clothes.
Don’t others understand how beautiful he is?”
Wei Jin is the second-ranking figure in the Jingzhao Wei family, the younger brother of the family leader Wei Ji, and serves as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He wondered: "The Turks attacked Fengzhou and Li Yuan rebelled. I think there is something fishy. Could it be Li Yuan and the Turks?"
A certain tacit agreement was reached. The Turks attacked Fengzhou and held Yang Yuanqing back. He took the opportunity to capture Guanzhong, so he used the white flag."
"Absolutely impossible"
Dugu Zhen flatly denied, "If everyone agrees that Li Yuan is a rebel, I have nothing to say, but if it is said that Li Yuan colluded with the Turks, it is absolutely impossible. In the last battle of Yanmen, Yang Yuanqing defeated the Turks. How can the Turks not
Want revenge? I think the Turks' attack on Fengzhou is their established strategy. It has nothing to do with Li Yuan. It's just that Li Yuan seized this opportunity."
Yang Tong nodded, "Okay, let's not talk about whether Li Yuan colluded with the Turks, but he recruited troops privately, sent troops without being called, and conferred official positions without authorization. These are all crimes of treason and injustice. I will not tolerate him. I have ordered Huben Lang to general
Song Laosheng led his army to intercept, and ordered Qu Tutong to temporarily withdraw from Guanzhong and garrison Hedong County. Li Yuan was not allowed to enter Guanzhong. In addition, Yang Yuanqing asked for support. I don't know what to do? We can discuss it."
At this time, Lu Chu had been silent. He was the head of the Lu family in Fanyang and one of the leaders of the Shandong gentry. At this critical moment, he wanted to stand up and speak for Yang Yuanqing.
"Your Highness, I think it is unrealistic for the imperial court to send troops to support, and it is also unrealistic to provide financial and food support. After all, Fengzhou is too far away. I suggest that the imperial court can adopt a method of solidarity. On the one hand, the imperial court should commend Yang Yuanqing for his achievements in defending the Sui border and fighting against foreign invasions.
On the one hand, he called on the righteous men from all counties in the Sui Dynasty to rush to Fengzhou to participate in the fight against the Turks, and allowed Yang Yuanqing to be canonized as an honorary officer below the sixth rank, so as to show the court's support for Fengzhou's fight against the aliens."
There was silence in the room. Everyone could tell that Lu Chu was partial, but what he said made sense. Even if someone wanted to object, they couldn't. After all, Yang Yuanqing was indeed fighting against the Turkic invasion.
At this time, Yang Tong slowly said: "Gu has always believed that Yang Yuanqing was the pillar of the Sui Dynasty. The emperor's grandfather Yanmen was in trouble. He led the army to serve the king and was recognized by the emperor's grandfather. Since the emperor's grandfather gave Gu a certain amount of power, then Gu will
Some decisions can be made. Yang Yuanqing led the army to fight against the 300,000 Turkic army and serve the country. As a court, we must not remain indifferent. Even if we cannot provide actual support, we must express our solidarity with him. I completely agree with Lu Shijun's suggestion. That's it.
It’s decided”
........
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