In the afternoon, the sky was dark and stormy. Gao Yuan looked out from the window of the palace in Liaodong City. The sound of wind and rain poured in from the open window. His eyes were filled with fine and rapid rainstorms. The cold air was wrapped in bone-crushing moisture. However, he just stood with his hands behind his hands. He stood for less than half a mile. hours.
Dozens of guards stood far behind Gao Yuan, each of them only dared to communicate with their eyes and did not dare to make any sound.
They knew that the king was in a very bad mood. After losing Mozhou, the king and Lu realized that land warfare would be the focus of the Sui Dynasty and Goguryeo, so they decided to build a thousand-mile Great Wall; however, manpower and material resources were scarce. , so that they could not build it within ten years, they had to settle for the next best thing. According to the characteristics of the mountains and rivers, they spent a lot of manpower and material resources to build three lines of defense and deployed heavy troops.
But no one expected that the so-called three "iron walls" would become a big joke. Goguryeo's defense line suffered a miserable defeat under a fierce offensive by the Sui army. Not only did they wipe out all the 200,000 elite soldiers on the first line of defense, but they were also defeated by the Sui army in just a few days. Internally, the troops were pushed to the north of the third line of defense.
Fortunately, Yang Ji did not have any navy or ships. Otherwise, he would most likely have reached the south bank of Daliang River at this time. However, Daliangshui is not the Liaoshui with a wide riverbed, but if Yang Ji has enough troops, he can still cross the river with rafts. On their side, the morale of the army is low, the people are panicked, and the situation is really not good.
After a long time, a burst of rapid footsteps came from outside the door. The person who came was Gao Huidun. He opened the door and came behind Gao Yuan in three steps and two steps at a time. He whispered: "Your Majesty, there is someone who claims to be the envoy of the Sui Army. , let people hold Yang Ji’s letter and ask for an audience.”
Gao Yuan suddenly turned around, his square and resolute face twisted, and asked in a deep voice: "Where is the envoy?"
"Just outside the door." Gao Huidun said softly.
Gao Yuan nodded: "Let him come in."
"Here!" Gao Huidun turned around and walked out.
Gao Yuan looked around at the guards in front of him and waved his hand: "You guys get out first!"
"Here!" The guards did not dare to neglect and filed out.
Gao Yuan put his hands behind his back and clenched his fists subconsciously.
Yang Ji sent an envoy to see them the day before yesterday, saying that they had more than 20,000 wounded Goguryeo soldiers. Impressed by the bravery of the Goguryeo army, he decided to return them to Goguryeo, but he had a small request, that is, he gave them Without enough treatment for these wounded soldiers and enough money for travel expenses, his army had no food to eat, no military pay to pay, and no medicine to treat. So he hoped that Goguryeo would mean something, that is, he would pay back every soldier. , Goguryeo gave him ten stones of grain and ten pounds of copper.
There are more than 20,000 wounded soldiers, which means more than 200,000 stones of white grain and more than 200,000 pounds of yellow copper.
This matter had already caused a stir once the news came out from the mission. Many people were waiting eagerly, hoping that Gao Yuan would redeem their relatives, while the Liaodong soldiers were also watching silently.
Even though Gao Yuan and Yuan Ziyou were unwilling to support the enemy, their hearts were so deep that they had no choice but to redeem their wounded soldiers. What would the soldiers think if they didn't redeem it? What do the people who have children serving in the army think? Of course, I think that the king and Da Duilu have no regard for human life and are no longer willing to serve them.
As for Yang Ji, this was another very shameless conspiracy against them; they could not resolve it at all. If Yang Ji really gave the wounded soldiers good treatment and money, food and travel expenses, they would even give more; but If this happens, the pensions they have to pay to the families of wounded and wounded soldiers will also increase steadily. If they don't pay, the Goguryeo soldiers and people will think that they are not even as good as their enemies.
To put it bluntly, this is a battle for people's hearts, and its dangers are even more terrifying than a war with real swords and guns.
Not long after, Gao Huidun strode in with a person. The visitor was a civil servant. His black robe was mostly wet from the rain. He walked steadily and had a strong body. He carried a horizontal knife on his back, and the handle came from his shoulder. Exposed, there was a biting murderous aura all over his body.
Gao Yuandong's hole suddenly shrank. He could feel that this civil servant had killed many people and was a very dangerous person. He was definitely not a pure civil servant. And the knife on his back was not a decorative object, but a The real murder weapon.
The visitor took a few steps forward, bowed slightly, and said, "Ling Jing has met the Liaodong County Duke when he joined the army on the march to Liaodong Road."
The Duke of Liaodong was conferred by Yang Jian before Gao Yuan invaded the Sui Dynasty. However, Gao Yuan later asked Yang Jian to be crowned king. To a certain extent, this move was already a provocation, but Yang Jian considered that the Turkic Khanate was powerful and the Northeast of the Sui Dynasty needed stability, and it was not appropriate to have another powerful enemy. Although he was very unhappy, he was restrained by the situation and still named Gao Yuan as his successor. The king of Goguryeo.
Soon after, Gao Yuan really led the Northeastern/allied forces headed by Goguryeo to invade the Sui Dynasty, thus triggering that tragic expedition. Since then, relations between the two countries have dropped to a freezing point.
At this time, Ling Jing called Gao Yuan the Duke of Liaodong. In fact, he reduced Gao Yuan's status and influence to the level of a dog slave like the emperor in his eighteenth year. At the same time, he also showed Gao Yuan the attitude of Yang Ji and the Sui Dynasty.
Gao Yuan also understood this, and felt an indescribable aggrievedness in his heart. However, the situation was not as good as others, and because of the redemption of prisoners and wounded soldiers, he saw the dawn of peace talks, so he could only tolerate Ling Jing's name. Living.
He looked at Ling Jing, forced a smile and said: "Ling joins the army without any courtesy, please sit down!"
"Thank you, Lord Liaodong, but this is not necessary. It's just because we are seriously short of manpower in Shansong City, and Goguryeo has many wounded soldiers, so I don't have much time to spend here." Ling Jing didn't appreciate it, he cupped his hand and asked He said: "I came here just to ask Lord Liaodong, I wonder if you have any objections to the price of ten stones of grain and ten kilograms of copper per person?"
Gao Yuan frowned and said: "This is too much. Our land is barren and the country is small and the people are few. We can't afford so much money and food at the moment. Can we reduce it by half?"
Goguryeo was rich in copper and iron, but what it lacked was a fertile land for grain production and a population for farming and mining. Over the years, they have used a large amount of copper ingots to buy a lot of grain from Youzhou, so the price of grain for ten dan per person is now fully affordable.
But in business, the key is to save when you can; if it can be halved, the accumulated money and food saved will be a huge amount.
"My lord has always been easy to talk to, and he also knew that Duke Liaodong was in trouble. When he went south for his humble post, he said that everything was easy to talk about." Ling Jing glanced at Gao Yuan and smiled: "If Duke Liaodong meets a small request, my lord We can send all the wounded soldiers here without even asking for a grain of rice or a tael of copper."
"Oh?" Of course Gao Yuan also knew that this so-called "small request" was more demanding than money and food, but he still asked curiously: "But I don't know what King Wei's request is?"
Ling Jing said seriously: "My king said that the Sui Dynasty and Goguryeo are separated by a thin layer of water. To me, the Sui Dynasty, Goguryeo is an indispensable good son and good daughter. There is no obstacle or difficulty between father, son and father. We share a common hatred. The reason why the trouble has reached this point is that the evil slaves are sowing discord for their own selfish purposes."
Seeing that Gao Yuan's face turned dark after hearing this, Ling Jing calmly continued: "As a father, how can you ask for money and food from your children? As long as Duke Liaodong hands over the evil slaves to the Sui Dynasty, everything will cease to exist. . As for money and food, there is no need to give any more. In addition, the king has also considered what Duke Liaodong said about 'the people are few', so he is very willing to solve Duke Liaodong's confusion."
"This is a letter written by the king himself. Duke Liaodong will know it as soon as he reads it." After saying that, Ling Jing handed the letter to Gao Huidun who was standing aside.
Gao Yuan's heart sank. If nothing unexpected happened, the so-called "evil slaves who deceive their masters" refer to the northern faction headed by the Yuan brothers. From the bottom of his heart, he really wanted to uproot the Northern Group, but they must not engage in internal strife at this time, let alone rely on external forces to do so, otherwise, the country would be ruined.
As for "willing to resolve the confusion of Duke Liaodong", it is nothing more than ceding the territory to the Sui Dynasty with "a large number of people".
He glared at Ling Jing coldly, took the letter from Gao Huidun and read it, but as he expected, Yang Ji didn't say a polite word in the letter, and directly made two conditions to him: First, the Sui Dynasty The dynasty is a peace-loving country, and this war was completely initiated by Goguryeo. Goguryeo will definitely hand over Yuan Ziyou, Yuan Zicheng and other war criminals to the Sui Dynasty.
Second, the Liaodong Plain and Liaodong Peninsula north of the Yalu River have been the territory of the Central Plains since ancient times. Goguryeo must return them to the Sui Dynasty, and the two countries will be bounded by the Yalu River in the future.
As long as Gao Yuan agrees to these two conditions, Yang Ji will return the captured and wounded soldiers without taking any money and will not proceed with the further war.
Not only are these two conditions very harsh, Gao Yuan will not accept either of them.
What annoyed Gao Yuan even more was Yang Ji's lack of sincerity. If he agrees to these two conditions, Yang Ji can return the prisoners and wounded soldiers, and he can leave. However, if the emperor sends others to lead the troops or to fight, it will not only have nothing to do with Yang Ji, but also have nothing to do with the treaty. It doesn't matter at all.
In short, Yang Ji still wants to fight and continues to fight, and has no intention of stopping.
In addition, a big trap was set for Goguryeo. Because Yang Ji knew that the contradiction between the north and the south of Goguryeo was prominent and the relationship between the monarch and his ministers was delicate, he deliberately put on a hypocritical face of "the price is negotiable" and that everything is negotiable. Then in the negotiation process again and again , step by step to drive a wedge between the north and the south, and step by step to drive a wedge between him and Yuan Ziyou. Once they make the north and the south, the monarch and his ministers distrust each other, the next step will definitely be to fight against each other.
In fact, the Sui Dynasty had been using this method. However, because the two parties being alienated originally did not trust each other and were suspicious of each other, when the Sui Dynasty used it, the two parties being alienated knew clearly that it was a tactic to alienate each other, and on the surface they both said " This is a plan to alienate the Sui Dynasty." But secretly, both sides began to be suspicious and distrustful of each other out of "what if" thoughts. The Sui Dynasty also succeeded frequently because of this.
If Yuan Ziyou knew the contents of this letter, he would definitely be worried that he would betray him in times of crisis. By the same token, if someone from the Sui Dynasty came into contact with Yuan Ziyou, he himself would not dare to believe that Yuan Ziyou, who had conflicts with him, could remain loyal to the end.
Well, let alone the future. Even now, he is a little worried about Yuanzi Youlian Sui Gao.
Thinking about it, he didn't dare to continue thinking or talking about it.
If he continued to talk and delay, he was afraid that Goguryeo would split without the Sui Dynasty coming to fight.
Gao Yuan put the letter away and said to the hateful Ling Jing: "These conditions are too harsh and we will never agree. As for the ransom, it will be as decided by King Wei."
"The Duke of Liaodong is wise!" Ling Jing praised him, but secretly thought to himself: Gao Yuan will be cut off as soon as possible. It seems that he is not that easy to deal with.
Gao Yuan said: "The amount of money and food is large, I hope the exchange time can be extended for half a month."
If it can be delayed for half a month and there is no fighting for half a month, Yuan Zicheng can successfully evacuate the soldiers and civilians of Guiduan, Xincheng and other places to the south bank of Daliang River. When the time comes, they can fight again!
"There can be a grace period, but the time cannot exceed three days." Ling Jing categorically rejected. He said, "I hope Liaodong Duke will prepare as much money and food as possible during this period. Otherwise, there may be more wounded soldiers."
Gao Yuan frowned and said: "Three days is too little. We really can't transport so much money and food. Why don't we just take five days!"
Ling Jing pondered for a moment, then he said, "I can't take charge of this matter. Let me go back and ask, but I hope Liaodong Gongxiu will pass it off as a good one."
Gao Yuan needs time, but why not Yang Ji? However, Ling Jing will naturally not go along with the other party's rhythm. If he agrees, it will make the other party suspicious, which will not be conducive to subsequent matters.
"Of course!" Gao Yuan was silent for a while and then asked: "Ling joins the army, I wonder if Song Zun is alive?"
Song Zun was his confidant general. He and Yuan Ziyou appointed him as the northern coach because of his stability and good defense. However, the northern army was defeated by Song Zun's "stability and good defense".
Although Gao Yuan was extremely dissatisfied with Song Zun, their southern faction really didn't have any good generals. If he was still alive, they would buy him back.
Ling Jing smiled and said: "Alive!"
"I want to redeem him together." Gao Yuan looked at Ling Jing expectantly: "I wonder how much it will cost?"
"General Songzun, he is naturally different from others!" Just when Gao Yuan and Gao Huidun thought that Ling Jing wanted the lion to open its mouth and kill them, Ling Jing continued: "We are not only Instead of accepting money, we have to award him the Medal of Honor in accordance with the standards of the Liangzhou Army."
"Ah?" Gao Yuan and Gao Huidun couldn't help but be stunned. In their opinion, Song Zun was the head coach of the first army, and his price must be ridiculously expensive. However, they did not expect such a result.
Ling Jing solemnly stated the reason why he did not want money but reward: "Liaodong Gong and General Gao don't know. My king has always made clear rewards and punishments. He thinks that because of General Song Zun and General Li Yong, our army can easily arrive There are so many wounded soldiers on the north bank of Daliang River. Therefore, when the king was discussing merit and rewards, he decided to award General Song and General Li first-class merit and a silver medal as encouragement."
"At the same time, I also hope that the two generals will continue their efforts and strive to be awarded special merit again."
After Yang Ji defeated Tuyuhun, he suddenly came up with nine levels of merit and nine kinds of medals based on the court's honorary officer system. Even Yang Guang deeply praised this, but this system was somewhat different from the honorary officer system. It overlapped and was not very mature yet, so Yang Guang asked Yang Ji to continue to improve it and it has not yet been promoted throughout the army.
The Medal of Honor has been awarded to some members of the Liangzhou Army, but it was the first time that it was awarded to the enemy, which was also ridiculous.
Although Ling Jing also felt that Song Zun and Li Yong had indeed helped the Sui Dynasty, awarding them medals felt ridiculous, and he didn't really agree with them. But now I saw Gao Yuan and Gao Huidun were so angry that they almost vomited blood. He approved.
Gao Yuan took a deep breath, tried hard to suppress the urge to vomit blood, and asked with a smile: "In that case, I would like to thank the King of Wei on behalf of General Song and General Li. But I don't know if I, Gao Yuan, am qualified to win the title of King Wei." The King’s Medal of Honor?”
Ling Jing smiled and said: "If Duke Liaodong agrees to these two conditions! Let alone the medal, it will be awarded by the Duke of the country, the prince, or the saint. However, Duke Liaodong needs to go to Xijing or Dongjing to receive it. .”
"Yes, I will definitely go to Daxing one day." After Gao Yuan finished speaking, he silently added in his heart, "I will go with hundreds of thousands of troops." '
Ling Jing glanced at him and guessed that he understood what he was thinking. He smiled slightly and said, "That's it, it's time to go back to your humble position."
After saying that, he bowed and left.
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Shansong City is located on the north bank of Daliang River, more than thirty miles away from the river. Prince City and Xiabao City on the south bank are the two strategic fortresses of Goguryeo's third line of land defense. They are located southeast and southwest of Shansong City respectively. To the northwest of Shanquan City are Guiduan City and Xincheng, and Yuanzicheng is located. Lishan City is three to four hundred miles away to the west.
At this time, Yang Ji had arrived at Shansong City and was discussing the military situation with the generals in the city lord's mansion. When he read the battle report from the north, a big stone in his heart finally fell, and he said to everyone: "Two days ago, Yu Zhongwen used a trick to lure the enemy and annihilated and captured more than 15,000 elite soldiers of Yibao in the wild. On the way back to Momi City, Yibao was killed by Hulujin, who was instigated by Gai Wenda. Seeing that the situation was over, the defenders of Maigu City also persuaded Hulujin to surrender the city. At this point in the war, our army's north , there is no serious danger.”
Hearing these words, all the generals showed excitement on their faces. I felt even more relieved.
Since the beginning of the war, all the soldiers in the army have been either fighting or galloping on the road to fight, without any formal rest and recuperation. The soldiers and horses have long been exhausted, and their combat effectiveness has been severely weakened.
The key is that their front is too long and their combat area is too wide, which makes their troops very loosely dispersed. The combination of the two makes their situation extremely dangerous.
It was precisely because he was worried about the attack of the Goguryeo army and the fatigue of all the soldiers in the army that Yang Ji not only watched Yuan Zicheng gather the soldiers and civilians from city to city, but also took the initiative to release his attitude of negotiation to Goguryeo and negotiate for rest. and time to gather troops.
Gao Yuan and others must have known that he was deliberately delaying time, but this time Goguryeo was beaten too quickly and too badly. The soldiers and civilians of Liaodong were even more insecure and panicked, so Gao Yuan also needed time to reorganize the army. Prepare for war and appease people's hearts, so in the end, instead of exposing them, they happily pretended to be stupid and dealt with them.
】
"Your Majesty, now that the war in the north is over, we must gather all the armies here as soon as possible." Yang Yichen expressed his opinion and then analyzed: "The general believes that what the enemy and we are fighting for now is time. Whoever gathers more troops will use it." Whoever has less time will be able to take the lead in the next battle."
"Especially Lishan City, where Yuan Zicheng is located, is extremely important. To the east of this city, you can attack Shansong and Fengfu City. To the west, you can cross the Liao River and attack the Huaiyuan Camp of Liaodong County. To the south, you can retreat to Baiyan City on the south bank of the Daliang River. ; If he gathers the soldiers and horses from Xincheng, Guiduan, Xuantu and other cities, there will be at least 70,000 to 80,000 elite soldiers, and countless young and strong soldiers. If so, our army will be in danger of being attacked from both sides. And General Han Hong is stationed there. The soldiers in Lijiabao are not enough to resist Yuan Zicheng and Gao Dayang on the south bank."
Lijiabao is located southwest of Shansong City and southeast of Lishan City. On the opposite bank are Baiyan City and Xiabao City. If these five cities are put together, then it is the intersection of the "x" shape. In view of the importance and difficulty of defending the city, Yang Ji appointed Han Hong, who was good at defending the city, as the city's chief general, and Xue Shixiong and Wang Xingben as deputy generals. Their total strength was 30,000.
These soldiers and horses are indeed enough to deal with the 70,000 to 80,000 elite troops that Yuan Zicheng can gather, or Gao Dayang on the south bank. However, if Yuan Zicheng and Gao Dayang join forces to fight, it will be quite dangerous.
"I don't have any troops to send!" Yang Ji sighed and said with a wry smile. "Actually, now is the best time to attack Yuan Zicheng, but we don't have any extra troops. Although Duke Pei, Li Jing, Cui Hongsheng, and Yu Zhongwen all brought troops to help, they can't quench their thirst from far away."
"Your Majesty, Yibao is dead and there is no more serious trouble in the north." Hao Yuan also felt very sorry. He pondered for a long time and then suggested with his hands raised: "Yang Shanhui and Wei Yunqi are in the Changchun area. They can be sent south to help. As for stubborn resistance in the corner. The small and medium-sized cities will be handed over to General Yuwen to take care of them."
Yang Yichen said: "Your Majesty, Hao Canjun's method is excellent and it can be done in accordance with the law."
"That's all we can do!" Yang Ji nodded and said to Hao Yuan: "Pass me to order the second general to let Zhucheng go for the time being and immediately lead his troops to join Shansong. At the same time, I ordered Yuwenshu to lead his troops to station in Changchun Tun. , coordinating all matters in the rear."
"Follow your orders!" Hao Yuan said, cupping his fists.
"Zhu Can, we are waiting to closely monitor the whereabouts of Yuan Zicheng and the troops in Xincheng, Guiduan and other cities. If there is any military information, report it immediately!" Yang Ji said loudly to the door.
Zhu Can said outside: "My lord, don't worry, the general has already made arrangements."
"If Ling Jing comes back, let him come and see me as soon as possible." Yang Ji confessed again.
"Here!"
"Master Yin Shi!" Yang Ji thought that he must have a vigorous army on hand to deal with possible changes, so he decided to adjust the current defense and ordered Master Yin Shi: "You hand over the Daliang waterfront defense to General Tudi will be in charge, and your troops will enter the city to rest."
"I will obey your orders!" Master Yin Shi stood up and obeyed his orders.
Yang Ji glanced at Tudiji and said, "General Tudi, you must guard your defense line and never let the enemy sneak in."
"I will obey your orders!"
After pondering for a long time, Yang Ji nodded again: "Xue Ju!"
Xue raised his head and stepped out of the queue: "The general is here!"
"You go to the military camp outside the city to exchange Yuchi Gong back. From now on, you will be the rear army of General Tudi." Tudiji's military level is far worse than that of Yinshishi, and Yuchigong is not as good as Xue Ju. If you exchange like this, then It forms a high and low match. After Yang Ji finished explaining Xue Ju's mission, he said to Tudi Ji: "General Tudi, if you encounter any difficulties or if there are any major movements by the enemy, you can report them to me and General Xue respectively."
"Here!"
The three generals bowed and left the hall together.
