Luoyang is located in the center of the Central Plains dynasty. It has been a hub city connecting the southeast and northwest since ancient times. Merchants from all over the world come here, and the flow of passengers is endless. The prosperous commerce makes Luoyang city extremely prosperous. There is usually a lot of traffic, and materials from all over the country are transported through convenient water and land transportation. A steady stream of people gather here. When the canal connecting the north and the south was opened and the Sui Dynasty moved its capital here, its hub role was further reflected.
Looking at the Luoyang City Wall made of green bricks from a distance, it is like a huge continuous dragon, majestic and majestic; the towers, arrow towers and gate towers dotted on it are also majestic, majestic and beautiful. When you get closer, you can appreciate the grandeur and splendor of Luoyang City. People under the city are really as small as ants.
At the turn of Shen and You, the sun sets in the west and the temperature becomes colder. However, the straight and spacious official roads leading to the capital were busy with traffic and pedestrians. A shabby, strange-looking team that always maintained a guard of honor appeared outside Dongshangmen Shangchunmen.
"Commander of the Brigade, who are these people? Judging from their attire, they are neither common people of the Sui Dynasty nor aliens from the Northeast. Where did these people come from?" A soldier guarding the city pointed at Sui Sui. Approaching the team, he quickly said to the brigade commander next to him.
The Imperial Capital has a large flow of people, and people with different clothes will flock here. Over time, the soldiers of the city defenders will be able to judge the origin of each other through their clothes and hairstyles. However, in this huge team, everyone looks different. They are all very thin and small. Although they are all wearing Hanfu, they obviously don't fit well and appear to be very loose around their bodies.
That's all. The key is that these people shaved their foreheads, temples, and hands, and then put their hair in a bun on top of their heads. In addition, they had beards all over their faces, which made them look extremely weird.
The soldiers guarding the city and the passing merchants saw this strange person for the first time, and they all started talking curiously.
"I don't know, but judging from their clothes and hairstyle, they are definitely not from the Sui Dynasty. Brothers, please be careful." The brigade commander saw that this strange team had three to four hundred people. He said that although this is the imperial capital, There won't be any enemies approaching, but it's better to be careful. After giving an explanation, he picked up the bone flute hanging around his neck, played several times hard, and passed the garrison on the city gate.
The soldiers on the city also noticed this strange-looking team. After hearing the warning from their colleagues below the city, an archer strung his bow and put a hammer on the bow and arrow. Waiting for the opponent to hit the target, he quickly shot it in front of the opponent.
The Ming Dy made a sharp sound and accurately hit the front of the team. The arrow shaft sank into the ground, leaving only the arrow feathers buzzing and trembling on the ground. The strange team immediately stopped moving forward. Someone immediately ran out of the crowd. He dropped his sword in front of everyone, raised his hands above his head, walked step by step towards the city gate, and said in a strange Chinese accent: "Dear Sui warriors, we are not enemies."
The brigade commander, who was ready, came forward with his fifty well-armored soldiers. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, stared at the opponent indifferently, and asked coldly: "Who are you? Where are you from? Where do you come from? Where?"
"Back to the general, my name is Ono Meizi. She is the official envoy of the Japanese envoy. Prince Shotoku, um, on the orders of King Suigu of our country, I have come to see the emperor of the Sui Dynasty. I have presented my credentials and am willing to conclude an alliance with the Sui Dynasty. , become a friendly country." The hairy person who calls herself Ono Meizi humbly prostrates on the ground and touches the ground with her forehead, looking extremely humble. 【Note 1】
"Oh?" The brigade commander looked at this girl in confusion. He really didn't know what this thing was? However, through the other party's self-introduction, he finally figured out that the other party was from a country called Japan. This person was the envoy who led the team to meet the saint. However, this kind of major matter between countries is really not something that he, a small brigade commander, can decide.
He thought for a while and said to Ono, "Get up, but you have to wait here and let me report."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Miss Ono climbed up, nodded and bowed and said to the brigade commander: "General, go slowly, don't be in a hurry."
The brigade commander nodded, turned around and walked into the city. In Luoyang City, where dignitaries, princes and princes were everywhere, he was just a small role. However, a dignified envoy from a country actually knelt down and kowtowed to him. A feeling of superiority from the heavenly kingdom suddenly arose spontaneously, and I couldn't help but straighten my body.
It's windy when you walk.
"Commander of the Brigade, where did the other party come from?" When the Commander of the Brigade returned to the city, several soldiers who were on high alert quickly asked.
"The other party claimed to be an envoy from the Japanese country. He came here specially to pay homage to the saint, and he also tried to establish relations with me, the Great Sui Dynasty!" The brigade commander originally planned to report it to the commander-in-chief, but he thought that the other party was an envoy of a country after all, so he could not be careless or negligent. He thought for a moment, then took the reins of the horse from a soldier, got on the horse and said, "I'll report it to the Ministry of Rites."
"Here!" the soldiers responded.
"You will keep an eye on them and never let them run amok." The brigade commander confessed again, and immediately galloped towards the east city, where the six departments of Shangshu Province were located.
.
.
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At the same time, Yang Guang was meeting Changsun Cheng and Shi Xiang who had just arrived in the side hall of Renshou Hall.
After reading Qimin Khan's letter full of humility, Yang Guang threw it on the eucalyptus table. Seeing Zhang Suncheng and Shi Xiang put down their tea cups, they had already recovered. Yang Guang asked: "What did Qimin Khan say?" Yes? What else do you want?"
Changsun Cheng glanced at Shi Xiang and saw that he had no intention of speaking. He knew that the other party respected him, so he cupped his hands and said, "Sage, Qimin Khan said that the late emperor pitied him and sympathized with him, so he married Princess Anyi to him. He was rich in everything. He also said that his people were jealous of him and wanted to kill him. When he was desperate and on the verge of death, the late emperor and the Sui Dynasty allowed him to survive and asked him to do He also said that the saint still took care of them as carefully as the late emperor, so that they lacked nothing, so he has always been extremely grateful and cannot express his gratitude enough."
When Yang Guang heard this, he just sneered.
He had had enough of Qimin Khan's high-sounding polite words. If Qimin Khan was really so honest and humble, he would not have preserved his strength when Bujia Khan went south to Liangzhou; nor would he have ordered his second son Ashina to wait until Yang Ji's second expedition to the Great Lakes region. Lephesheth made a strong expedition to the west.
Afterwards, Qimin Khan not only put all the responsibility on Ashina Qilifushe, but also personally escorted Ashina Qilifushe to Beijing to apologize. But Yang Guang was not a fool, how could he not know about Ashina Qilifushe? Is Lifushu just a scapegoat? How could we not know that the mastermind behind the scenes was actually Qimin, the Great Khan of East/Turk?
Changsun Cheng continued: "He also stated that he was not a great khan, but one of thousands of subjects of the saint. He was willing to lead the Turks to abandon their barbaric bad habits and change to wear Han clothes, speak Chinese, write Chinese characters, and practice Chinese. Li, like the Han people, settled in the city and asked the saints to send famous teachers to guide them into civilization."
"He is daydreaming!" When he heard "wear Hanfu, speak Chinese, write Chinese characters, and hold Han rites", Yang Guang thought this was a great opportunity to assimilate the Turks, and then Chang Suncheng said "Guide them to enter civilization." , but it made him very vigilant, and said to Changsun Cheng: "As long as they are respectful to the court, there is no need to change their clothes."
Yang Guang has always had the idea that "those who are not from my race must have different hearts", so he is very wary of foreign races. The place where the Central Plains dynasty is ahead of foreign races is the long-standing civilization, culture, and hundreds of skills... If he sends out famous teachers If he carefully guides the Turks and helps them enter civilization, Yang Guang is completely a sinner through the ages who keeps tigers in trouble, so he categorically rejects the sinister hidden under "wearing Han clothes, speaking Chinese, writing Chinese characters, and holding Han rituals" Be careful. 【Note 2】
"Here!" Changsun Cheng responded.
"What else did he say?" Yang Guang asked again.
"Saint!" Changsun Cheng laughed and cupped his hands and said, "I told him that wherever the emperor of the Central Plains visited, local officials would personally sweep and repair the imperial roads to show their sincere respect. Since he regarded himself as a subject of the Sui Dynasty, You should follow the Sui style to welcome the saint."
"Then what?" Yang Guang suddenly became interested.
"Then?" Changsun Cheng chuckled: "After he learned about the saint's itinerary, he decided to mobilize all the Turks to build two imperial roads a hundred steps wide specifically for the saint, one of which started from the northern border of Yulin in the south and reached the southern Khan in the north. Tingya Zhang; the other one starts from the north of Yulin in the east and ends at Ji County, Zhuojun in the west." [Note 3]
"Together these two roads, there must be three
Four thousand miles, right? "Yang Guang is an emperor who likes to carry out big projects, but Chang Suncheng's words made him take a breath of air.
He looked up and down at the cheerful Chang Suncheng, thinking that it was not without reason that Vajra Nu and Chang Suncheng had become close friends and sons and daughters. The two of them are really equally ruthless when it comes to dealing with aliens! The difference is that King Kong Slave plays the bright side, while this guy likes to play the dark side.
His method of killing people without swords and without blood is several times more powerful than waging war directly. If the Turks built such a long road in such a short period of time, the people would be in dire straits and their muscles and bones would be damaged; and in the Sui Dynasty , but got a few avenues for no reason.
"There should be!" Changsun Cheng said cheerfully, and then added: "If the saint spreads the news, I will think that he has even built the official road in the Hexi Corridor."
Yang Guang's face paused and he said, "We can't catch all the money, let Qimin Khan repair these two first!"
"Here!" Changsun Cheng responded. He hesitated for a while and then said: "Sage, the Turks have already moved north en masse. If he builds roads, he will naturally mobilize countless young people to move south. I am a little worried that Qimin Khan is not well-intentioned. If the saint allows him to go south in a big way, our country will have to guard against it!"
"Roads need to be repaired, and defenses must also be defended!" Yang Guang paused for a while, and suddenly sneered: "But I hope he is not so kind, just let me try out the Beijing soldiers after the military reform, and the Xiaoguo Army's Combat power."
Changsun Cheng and Shi Xiang were stunned for a moment, but in an instant, everyone in the two people's tribes was happy. Changsun Cheng even said excitedly: "Sage, after the sage organized the army and the martial arts, the Beijing army has become powerful; I, I Although I don’t know how powerful the Xiaoguo Army is, the one hundred thousand soldiers and horses are all the best among the best. After such a long period of training, they will probably become a strong army. These two armies have to deal with the Eastern Turks, whose strength has been greatly reduced. It’s a no brainer.”
"No matter what you say, the Eastern/Turks have surrendered to our Sui Dynasty. If we launch a war against the vassal countries for no reason, what will other countries think of our Sui Dynasty? So whether to fight or not depends on Qimin Khan. Do you know what's interesting or not?" Yang Guang smiled knowingly. Changsun Cheng and Shi Xiang were not only his close confidants, but also had military backgrounds like him, so they were eager to make meritorious deeds in their lifetimes!
And as an emperor, why wouldn't he want to command thousands of troops to attack cities and seize territory and then fight on the battlefield?
"Yes!" Changsun Cheng and Shi Xiang responded.
At this time, the light at the door dimmed, and a chamberlain appeared outside. He bowed to Yang Guang from a distance and said, "Sage! Yang Xuangan, the Minister of Rites, has something important to see you."
"Oh?" Yang Guang frowned and nodded: "Let him come in."
Soon, Yang Xuangan entered the palace. After the ceremony, Yang Guangcai asked, "What important matter does Yang Shangshu have?"
Yang Xuangan said: "Sage, Ono Meizi, the envoy of the Japanese Kingdom, came to see the saint on the order of King Tuigu, the queen of the country, hoping to establish friendly relations with us, the Sui Dynasty."
"Japanese country?" Yang Guang, Chang Suncheng, and Shi Xiang were startled when they heard this name. They naturally knew about the Japanese country in the sea, because the "Book of Han" clearly recorded that "there are Japanese people in Fulelang Sea, divided into more than a hundred people." The country comes to present to the king every year." In that year, the Japanese slave country, one of the "more than a hundred countries", sent envoys to Luoyang with offerings to congratulate them, and sacrificed 160 slaves. Han Guangwu gave them seals and ribbons.
But for a long time after that, this country had no contact with the Central Plains Dynasty; until the early days of the founding of the Emperor, King Yongming sent envoys to the Sui Dynasty to obtain the Lotus Sutra. After that, the two parties broke off contact again. Why did their envoy suddenly appear in Luoyang?
"It is the Japanese country!" Yang Xuangan nodded and introduced to the three people in detail: "The Baekje envoy mentioned this Japanese country when he visited not long ago. At this time, the Japanese country was under the leadership of the powerful minister Su Ga Mazi. With my family’s power under my control, Suga Mazi, like Dong Zhuo and Yu Wenhu, controlled the power of the entire Japanese kingdom.”
After coming to a conclusion for Su Wo Ma Zi, Yang Xuangan went on to talk about the specific incident: "The previous king, King Chongjun, was dissatisfied with Su Wo Ma Zi's arbitrary and arbitrary power, and the conflict with him was sharp. In the twelfth year of the founding of the emperor, Su Wo Ma Zi learned that Chong Jun King Jun wanted to eradicate him, so he took the initiative and ordered his general Zhiju of the Eastern Han Dynasty to kill the king. After Chongjun was killed, the heirs of the royal family fought for the king.
The fight for the position of king is life-and-death. In order to prevent the Japanese kingdom from falling into greater chaos, Suga Mazi intervened and proposed to make King Minda's queen, King Suiko the king, as the king. "
"Wait a minute!" Yang Guang interrupted Yang Xuangan and asked doubtfully: "Isn't the previous king of Japan King Yongming? Why is he King Chongjun?"
Yang Xuangan said: "Back to the saint, both Yongming and his predecessor, Minda, were the sons of King Qinming. After Minda's death, Yongming succeeded him, but he only served as king for two years before he died. And this Chong Jun is his successor."
"That's it!" Yang Guang nodded: "Let's continue talking about King Tuigu!" Yang Guang was more interested in this living queen. After all, this was the first queen he had heard of.
"Here!" Yang Xuangan exclaimed, then continued: "It is said that King Tuigu had no chance to become the king, but her identity is more complicated. She is the daughter of King Qinming and the queen of her half-brother King Minda. At the same time, She was also the niece of Suga Mazi, so Suga Mazi’s proposal was unanimously approved by all parties; in this way, King Suigu became the first queen in the history of the Japanese Kingdom. However, to this day, this queen is still at the mercy of the Soga family. puppet."
Yang Xuangan was not well received by the emperor in the court because of his previous stupid things. And in the family, because he, the head of the family, could not restrain his mother and wife from being attracted to Zheng, he, the head of the family, was not a human being inside and outside the family. The emperor was unavoidably dissatisfied. Since he became the Minister of Rites, he has tried his best to fulfill this position well.
What he is talking about now is mainly provided by the Baekje envoy who is very close to the Soga family. However, he only listened to it as an anecdote at the time, but he never expected that it would come in handy at this moment.
"..." Yang Guang was stunned when he heard this. Not only was this queen a queen, but she was also married to his brother?
Barbarians, indeed barbarians.
When Zhang Suncheng heard this, he smiled at the thoughtful Yang Guang and said: "Sage, it seems that the Japanese country has severed contact with me, the Sui Dynasty, because of the internal decoration. Ono, in the name of the queen of that country, Come to see the saint, could it be that you are trying to show off your power?"
"I'm afraid Changsun Gong's words are true!" At this time, Yang Guangyou didn't know how big a "surprise" Miss Ono would bring him. After saying this, he then told Yang Xuangan: "Yang Shangshu, since the Japanese envoy Since I’m here, I’ll take some time to see this little girl tomorrow. Well, they’re guests from afar, so please settle them in the inn without any disrespect.”
"I obey!" Yang Xuan responded.
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[Note 1: At that time, the title of the king of Japan was not "Emperor", but "King". Even if there was one, it was posthumously given. 】
[Note 2: Qimin Khan replied to the above list, thinking that "I am no longer the Turkic Khan of the past, but a supreme subject. I am willing to lead the tribe to change their clothes, just like the Chinese." The emperor thought it was impossible, and said, "Why bother if you are respectful and respectful? Change clothes?"]
[Note 3: "(Qimin) then pulled out his sword and cut it from the grass in the garden. His nobles and other tribes competed for his service. So he started from the north of Yulin, reached Qiya, and reached Yuji in the east. It was three thousand miles long and hundreds of miles wide. Step by step, the whole country will serve and open up a royal way. When the emperor heard that it was a plan, he would be pleased to see it."]
