As soon as this sudden personnel transfer in the imperial court was made public, it immediately shocked the city of Luoyang. Especially the fact that the highly respected Su Wei "turned reality into fiction" deeply puzzled many people.
However, people in the court thought that this was a matter of course and a matter of time: since the first year of Renshou, although Gao Jiong, the leader of Yang Yong's party, was not beaten to the end, he went to Liangzhou to become the envoy to the Western Regions. , causing the center to become dominated by Yang Su and Su Wei. When the new emperor ascended the throne, he appointed Gao Jiong as Taichang Qing and in charge of the construction of the Tongji Canal. However, when he returned to the central government, because he deliberately minimized his existence, the influence of this famous official had dropped from the top to the second place. Layers of stairs.
By the time Yang Su passed away, Su Wei was already the only one in the family. He often relied on old people to regard himself as the founding father of the country. Even when facing Yang Xiong, Pei Ju, Changsun Chi, Xiao Jue, Li Ziquan, and Zhang Heng who were also prime ministers, he still used a condescending and elder tone. There is no need to say more about the six ministers and the six ministers.
Everyone has a similar status. Gao Jun, Yang Xiong, Changsun Chi, Niu Hong, Yang Da and others are the founding fathers of the country. And you, Su Wei, often have this kind of attitude. Who can stand it?
Su Wei himself was better off. After all, his condescension was only reflected in his words and tone. However, the officials who were attached to Su Wei were different. They pretended to be powerful and took advantage of others' power. They directly shouted at and humiliated their colleagues and subordinates. , making Solvay's reputation already infamous and infamous in places he didn't know.
Seeing him ending in such an embarrassing situation, everyone was secretly happy. Only those officials whose honor and disgrace were completely tied to Su Wei jumped out to argue fiercely. However, the heated debate at this time not only failed to save Su Wei, but instead aroused the resentment of the civil and military officials against the Soviet faction. When the resentment surged like a flood from a leaking embankment, there was a big explosion.
Snowflake-like impeachment memorials kept coming to Yang Guang, but Yang Guang withheld them and did not make any comments. The emperor's ambiguous attitude triggered a second wave of impeachments.
Although Su Wei was smart and smooth, he never imagined that he, who had always been "gentle and gentle", would have so many political opponents and offend so many people. When the impeachment storm intensified, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and took the initiative to submit his resignation to the emperor.
Yang Guang also didn't expect that Su Wei had so many political enemies. In order to calm down the public anger, he put on a show in the court, and then dismissed the newly appointed Prince Shaobao from his post, calming down the turmoil.
It is said that after the settlement between Su Wei and Yang Da, he returned home and was drunk for two days, and then summoned some staff to discuss the matter. The content of the discussion is unknown. However, his eldest sons Su Kui and Su Er completed the settlement soon and went to Shanshan in the northwest and Shanshan in the northeast as ordered. Xiangping.
Seeing that Su Wei was so knowledgeable, Yang Guang stopped paying attention.
He was very competitive and wanted to surpass Qin Shi Han Wu and his father Yang Jian. However, Yang Ji was worried that after the Sui Dynasty conquered the surrounding alien races, Yang Guang would be killed like Gao Yuan, so he started early. He created a transcendent enemy for the Sui monarchs and ministers. This person was the over-hyped Alexander, and he also said that Alexander's empire was several times larger than that of the Sui Dynasty.
Yang Guangxin believed it was true. This not only gave him a new goal to surpass, but also gave him a sense of crisis that time could not wait for us. He felt that in addition to destroying the surrounding foreign races, he also wanted to twist the people of the Sui Dynasty into a unified dynasty. Only when the Sui Dynasty had unity within and peace all around could he defeat the Turks, then attack the Western Regions, then attack the West, and kill the so-called Alexander.
It is precisely because of this grand goal and the lack of time that he has people fight against corruption every day, and he will kill corrupt officials whenever he has nothing to do.
Corrupt officials and incompetent mediocre officials are now scared to death of him, but the people's love and admiration for him is growing day by day. But Yang Guang himself always believed that he had not done enough and that the Sui Dynasty was not stable enough. He was so busy every day that he did not even have time to pamper his wife.
When the Su Wei incident ended, Yang Guang's tense heartstrings relaxed. Then, he plunged into endless official duties.
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Yang Ji, who is far away in Liaodong, doesn't know about the central matter. At this time, he had already arrived at Chang'an City in the pouring rain. Of course, this Chang'an was not Han Chang'an in Guanzhong, but Chang'an in Liaodong.
Chang'an is located in the upper reaches of Xishui River and northeast of Pyongyang City.
More than ten miles away. Entering the city, Yang Ji was stunned. The main street of this city is connected to the city gate, and the main streets intersect with each other. The road is separated into three strands by ditches, and there are dense pine, cypress and locust trees planted on both sides, exactly like the city of Chang'an in the Han Dynasty.
Chang'an City is not far from Pyongyang City and has become the base camp of the Sui army's forward. The main force of the forward, led by Yang Yichen, is seizing the time to prepare to attack Pyongyang City. There are not many defenders in the city. The general who stayed behind in Chang'an City was Zhou Fashang, one of the deputy marching commanders of Liaodong Road and the naval commander.
This is not because Yang Yichen and others did it intentionally, but because the army headed by Zhou Fashang was a latecomer. He and the marching commander Shi Yang Jing had not yet met the commander, and it was unreasonable both emotionally and rationally. Therefore, Zhou Fashang and Yang Jing took the initiative to volunteer. Stay and wait for Yang Ji, Pei Ju and others.
After the meeting, the group entered Chang'an City.
Yang Ji looked at the scenery and layout along the way, and couldn't help but say: "This city is really surprising, it's like a shrunken Han Chang'an city!"
He grew up in Guanzhong and was no stranger to the Han Chang'an City not far from Daxing City. Although the palaces and official offices of Han Chang'an City were demolished by Yu Wenkai and "installed" in Daxing City, many native Chang'an people still live in the city, and traces of the streets and palaces still show their former style. Now that he has arrived in Chang'an City, Daifang County, Yang Ji can walk to the government office based on his feeling almost without any guidance from outsiders.
Hu Lujin, who was accompanying him, heard this and couldn't help but smile and said: "The biggest characteristic of Goguryeo is learning and imitation. They not only occupy our territory in the Central Plains, but also rely on the culture and advanced skills learned from the Central Plains to deal with the Central Plains. In addition to Chang'an, its capital Pyongyang City, the inner city of Zhongdu, and Seoul, also known as the Southern Capital, were also built after the layout of Chang'an City. It is precisely because the land, culture, and official system were stolen from the Central Plains, so when facing the Central Plains dynasty, the kings and ministers of Goguryeo always With inexplicable uneasiness and self-pity. Especially with the rise of the Sui Dynasty, their uneasiness is increasing day by day."
"Whether it was the attack on Liaodong County in the 18th year of the founding of the Emperor or the deployment of troops at the border this year, it was actually a manifestation of fear of the Sui Dynasty and a desire to be recognized and valued by the Sui Dynasty. The general will regard this as a sign of inferiority and self-respect. The contradictory mentality of wanting to defeat the Great Sui but also being afraid of the Great Sui is incredible."
Yang Ji strongly agrees with Hu Lujin's conclusion. Whether it is Goguryeo now or the Bangzi Kingdom in the future, their mentality is the same.
Yang Ji washed up in the back house of the government office, put on clean clothes, and came to the meeting hall refreshed to meet Zhou Fashang and Yang Jing. He took a sip of tea and asked Zhou Fashang: "Mr. Zhou, how are the preparations ahead? ? Do you think the Pyongyang offensive and defensive war is easy to fight?"
"Your Majesty, the front is ready. Although our army has not launched a formal attack these days, it has been harassing the soldiers and civilians in the city every day, consuming their physical strength and energy. As long as the enemy is slack and tired, it will launch a fatal blow. As for whether it is a good fight or not, It's really hard to say..." Zhou Fashang pondered for a moment and explained: "Pyongyang, like Liaodong City, is also an important city in the shape of "Hui". The total number of people in the city is about 400,000. The main generals are Yuan Zicheng, Gao Tiancheng, and Gao Yue; the defending soldiers are 40,000 elite soldiers transferred from the southern defense line, and more than 40,000 private troops from the royal family and famous nobles. In addition to these 80,000 well-equipped elite soldiers , as well as the county soldiers south of Sa River. "
Looking at Yang Ji, Zhou Fashang said in a deep voice: "Unlike Liaodong, Yuan Zicheng, Gao Tiancheng, Gao Yue and others not only told the soldiers and civilians about the tragic defeat of the north and the fall of Gaoyuan before our army arrived, but they also opened the city For three days, the soldiers and civilians were allowed to leave Pyongyang. This means that most of the soldiers and civilians in the city were not affected by the war in the north, and most of them were determined to live and die together with the country."
Regarding Zhou Fashangzhi's words, Yang Ji was actually prepared in his heart. After all, Goguryeo is a country that has been inherited for nearly a thousand years. In addition, in the core area of Goguryeo, successive monarchs and ministers have always demonized the Central Plains dynasty. The Goguryeo people who don't know what's going on are bound to resist desperately when faced with a decisive battle related to the country and themselves.
But as long as the Sui army captured Pyongyang City and annihilated the die-hard elements in the city who were stubbornly resisting, the country's backbone would be broken. In the future, they will no longer have the courage to be enemies with the Sui Dynasty, and the counties of the Andong Protectorate will be stabilized by this battle, and "Goryeo" and Silla Baekje will also be more in awe of the Sui Dynasty.
On the contrary, if the Sui Dynasty peacefully settled the "Sa Shui Zhu Shui" plain, then this
The power that has been completely preserved will definitely kill officials and rebel and cause trouble in the days to come.
After listening to Zhou Fashang's report, Yang Ji said very calmly: "Since these people want to live and die with Goguryeo and die for Goguryeo, then let them all die!"
The calm words and indifferent tone gave Zhou Fashang and Yang Jing a creepy feeling.
The name of the God of Killing is well deserved. Killing hundreds of thousands of people at will is really brutal!
However, although Zhou Fashang and Yang Jing were shocked, they did not object, and even thought it was reasonable; after all, the soldiers and civilians in the city chose to be enemies of the Sui Dynasty, and it was natural and reasonable for the Sui army to kill all their enemies; if Yang Ji's useless benevolence and righteousness to the enemy was making fun of the lives of the Sui soldiers, and at the same time he was irresponsible for the families of the soldiers.
Zhou Fashang raised his hands and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to issue an order to massacre the city?"
"The order to massacre the city will only arouse the enemy's fighting spirit and determination to fight to the death. If our army rashly issues this order, it will be a great help to Yuan Zicheng and others!" Yang Ji thought for a while and then said: " Before launching a siege, let Gao Jianwu lead his people outside the city to promote the Sui Dynasty's policy of calming the people and equally dividing the land. At the same time, tell the soldiers and people in the city that as long as they give up resistance, I, the Sui Dynasty, will not care."
Zhou Fashang nodded and commented: "Your Majesty, this method is excellent. It can disintegrate the anti-Sui will of some soldiers and civilians in the city."
"Have the envoys from Silla and Baekje arrived?" After roughly understanding the battle arrangements ahead, Yang Ji changed the topic. In fact, the enemy and us have been fighting until now. The Sui army only needs to capture Pyongyang City, and then this expedition will end with a great victory for the Sui army. As for the war ahead, Yang Yichen, Yang Lun, Li Jing, Li Zixiong, Cui Hongsheng, Han Hong and other generals were in charge, so Yang Ji felt relieved.
If there weren't many major follow-up matters that needed to be resolved on behalf of Sui Dynasty, he wouldn't even bother to go south. The most important thing is to represent the Sui Dynasty in dividing the territories between the "reborn Goryeo" and Silla and Baekje; in the end, the three countries of Haedong will conclude the so-called covenant of never being enemies.
"The people from Silla and Baekje have been waiting in the city for three days." After Zhou Fashang finished answering, he raised his hands and asked, "Does the king want to see them?"
"I must meet you!" Yang Ji saw that he, Yang Jing, and Pei Ju were all wearing ordinary clothes, and the clothes were a little inappropriate, so he said to Zhou Fashang: "Let me change into formal clothes with King Dao and Mr. Pei. Meet them again. Arrange for them to come here in an hour."
"I will obey your orders!" Zhou Fashang responded and left.
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