At noon, Yang Yuanqing's army arrived in Xianyang, about half a mile away from Xianyang City. The gate of Xianyang County was wide open. County Magistrate Wei Yijie led a dozen officials to surrender.
Wei Yijie is the younger brother of Wei Ji and an important figure in the Wei family. He was originally appointed as the Minister of Rites. Because of Liu Wenjing's case, he was demoted to the magistrate of Xianyang County. There were no garrisons in Xianyang County, only more than a hundred veterans were opened.
When Wei Yijie closed the city gate, he knew that he could not defend the city, and was afraid that the Sui army would plunder the people's food, so he had no choice but to open the city and surrender.
A Sui army soldier led Wei Yijie to Yang Yuanqing. Only then did Wei Yijie realize that it was Yang Yuanqing, the King of Chu who had arrived in person.
He was frightened, knelt down on his knees, raised the county magistrate's seal and ribbon high, and said in tears: "Xianyang Kaicheng welcomes His Highness the King of Chu, begging His Highness to spare the people of Xianyang for the sake of not resisting, and do not hurt the people.
.”
Yang Yuanqing smiled faintly and said, "Mr. Wei, don't worry. I came to Guanzhong not to kill the people. On the contrary, I came to provide relief to the poor in Guanzhong. Please raise me! I don't want the seal of the county magistrate."
Wei Yijie was even more surprised. There was 20,000 shi of grain in the Xianyang official warehouse. Is Yang Yuanqing going to open the warehouse to release grain? Wei Yijie didn't dare to say much, so he had to stand up and say, "Your Highness, please go to the city to rest!"
When the Sui army attacked Chang'an at noon, many soldiers were injured by arrows and needed care. He nodded and turned to Luo Shixin and Cheng Yaojin and said, "You two go and place your brothers well, and don't disturb the people.
Then open the warehouse and release grain to provide relief to the poor in Xianyang, both men, women, young and old, and can receive food!"
"Abide by the order!"
Luo Shixin and Cheng Yaojin bowed at the same time, and the two rushed to lead the army into the city. Yang Yuanqing came to the county government under the escort of hundreds of personal soldiers, and he also needed to calm down and consider the next strategy.
In the county government hall, the personal soldiers quickly put together the sand table, while Yang Yuanqing stood in front of the sand table and pondered. Today, he was sure that Li Yuan would withdraw his troops and return to aid immediately. The prince Li Jiancheng would definitely be here immediately.
When returning to aid, the army is at least 50,000, but will the army on Li Shimin return to aid?
Yang Yuanqing was worried that it was this. His surprise attack on Guanzhong was largely to put pressure on Li Shimin and force him to withdraw his troops back to Guanzhong. He gave up the capture of the Central Plains, but with Li Shimin's talent, he would definitely see through his intentions and he would
I will not withstand the pressure and will never withdraw my troops back to Guanzhong.
Yang Yuanqing, based on his intuition, felt that Li Shimin would probably withstand the pressure and refused to withdraw his troops back to Guanzhong. After all, this was an opportunity to occupy the Central Plains. Now that the Sui army had just finished fighting the Turks, the hinterland of Hedong suffered heavy losses. The soldiers were physically and mentally exhausted, and they were indeed unable to fight again.
The battle of the Central Plains.
Li Shimin should see this opportunity. There is a great possibility that he will not withdraw his troops. If so, how should he deal with this unfavorable situation? Yang Yuanqing walked back and forth around the sand table with his hands behind his back. He was thinking about countermeasures. At this time, Cheng
Yao Jin rushed in and shouted as soon as he entered the lobby: "Your Highness, guess what did I find?"
Yang Yuanqing's thoughts were interrupted, and he was displeased. He turned around and glared at Cheng Yaojin fiercely. Cheng Yaojin suddenly realized that he was so scared that he lowered his head and did not dare to say a word. Yang Yuanqing snorted: "
I will spare you this time. I will dare to trek into the lobby again next time, and I will be responsible for thirty military sticks!”
"Yes! I remember it."
Yang Yuanqing then retracted his thoughts and asked, "What did you find?"
Cheng Yaojin no longer had the excitement he had just now. He said tremblingly: "Bei Zhi and Shi Xin opened the warehouse and released grain. When I inspected the warehouse, I found that there were many long ladders, which were strong and tall, all three or four meters tall, which were very suitable for siege. We
Aren't you not carrying siege weapons? These ladders..."
This discovery made Yang Yuanqing quite interested, and he immediately said: "Let's go! Let's take a look."
The warehouse in Xianyang County is on the left side of the county government, about one mile apart. The warehouse is actually two concepts. The warehouse is to store grain, and the warehouse is to store money and goods. The grain of Xianyang County is composed of two large grain silos, which store a total of 20,000 yuan.
The stone grain was guarded by dozens of yamen runners.
At this time, the granary had been taken over by the Sui army. Luo Shixin led 500 soldiers to open the warehouse and release grain. Tens of thousands of people arrived after hearing the news, carrying sacks and donkeys. Many people even sent their entire family to the army. Anyway, the Sui army did not
know.
There were more than a dozen long teams in front of the granary, which were thousands of steps away. Although there were crowds of people, they were in order and there was no situation of looting. Hundreds of Sui soldiers and cavalry maintained order.
Yang Yuanqing rode his horse slowly, surrounded by his personal guards, and the county magistrate Wei Yijie followed by the side with a horse. He looked worried. These were all tax grains, and all grains were released to provide relief. How could he explain to the court?
Yang Yuanqing pointed at the people who were queuing up to receive the food and said to Wei Yijie: "Most of these people were dressed in rags, and they were obviously poor people. Isn't it a good thing to give them food relief? Why is County Magistrate Wei still so frowning?