After the New Year, the countdown to the conquest of Goguryeo was about to begin. Yang Ming knew that as the crown prince, and his father insisted on conquering Goguryeo himself, he had to take charge of the capital.
However, it was absolutely impossible for Yang Ming not to intervene in such a major all-out war that had watershed significance in the rise and fall of Zuo, the Sui Dynasty.
Su Lie, Pei Xingyan, Luo Yi, Liang Shidu, and Qin Shubao were young generals who were recommended by Yang Ming and successfully entered the army to lead the army, and were expected to participate in expeditions in the future.
Don't underestimate young people. Young people have shortcomings, but they also have strengths that older people don't have.
The young general has arranged it, then the senior general will do it next.
Historically, as the general marshal of the land march, Yu Wenshu suffered a complete defeat. He gave away all the 350,000 elite troops who entered the hinterland of Goguryeo from Liaodong.
There are many reasons for this. Comrade Yang Guang's micro-management must have done his part, but Yu Wenshu's incompetence cannot be ignored.
Over in Luoyang, Wei Xianhui's father, Wei Zhen, was in the province. The selection of generals for the future expedition to Goguryeo had come to an end. Wei Zhen sent the list to Yang Ming early.
There are twenty-four people on the list, divided into twenty-four marching commanders of the land and water armies. Nine of them are under the control of Yu Wenshu, and the remaining fifteen are under the personal command of Emperor Yang Guang.
These nine groups are the vanguard army, namely Yu Wenshu, Yu Zhongwen, Jing Yuanheng, Xue Shixiong, Xin Shixiong, Zhang Jin, Zhao Xiaocai, Cui Hongsheng, and Wei Xuan.
The other fifteen groups are Su Wei, Lai Huer, Zhou Fashang, Dou Kang, Yang Zhiji, Hu Sizheng, Wei Yunqi, Liu Changgong, Mai Tiezhang, Yu Wenhuaji, Shi Xiang, Qu Tutong, Dugu Sheng, Guo Rong, Ashina Danai.
Yang Ming knew from history that it was actually the nine armies that attacked Goguryeo, and the remaining fifteen armies, except for the navy who came to protect the children, did not go up at all.
There are many reasons for this. First of all, what Yu Wenshu took away were absolutely elites. The remaining fifteen troops, except for Yang Guang's imperial guards, had worrying strength. Furthermore, there was not enough food and grass.
An army of more than one million people, with people eating horses and chewing, can't be supplied even if all the country's efforts are devoted to supplying it.
The total population of the Sui Dynasty, currently documented by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, is 46 million people. Calculated equally between men and women, there are 23 million men. If you reduce this by half for the elderly and the weak, that is 11.5 million.
Yang Guang mobilized an army of 1.13 million people and provided logistics support for 2 million civilians, for a total of 3.13 million people, accounting for a quarter of the total requisitionable population.
Are you going to fight?
Historical records show that the Sui Dynasty conquered Goguryeo. From preparation to defeat, the total number of soldiers and civilians died between 670,000 and 700,000, and one-tenth of the country's male labor force was consumed in this way.
Five fierce men also died, Mai Tiezhang, Yu Wenkai, Yang Xiong, Yang Da, and Duan Wenzhen. The losses were huge.
But in this life, Yang Xiong took advantage and lived a very comfortable life in the capital.
The defeat of the Nine Route Army was equally miserable. One unavoidable factor in this was that Comrade Yang Guang arranged nine comfort envoys among the Nine Route Army. To put it bluntly, they were recruiting surrender.
The comfort envoy was not subject to the control of the marshal of the army and directly approached the emperor, so that Goguryeo faked surrender. Yu Zhongwen was not fooled. However, the comfort envoy Liu Shilong intervened. He chose to accept Goguryeo's surrender, but Yu Zhongwen could not control him.
If it were Gao Xi and Yang Su, they might dare to disobey orders in front of the battle, but Yu Zhongwen does not have the courage, although his grandfather Yu Jin was one of the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty and came from the orthodox Guanlong Group.
As a result, they fell into the trap and let Goguryeo fall victim to it.
In the list Wei Zhen gave Yang Ming, nine comforters were prominently listed, and Liu Shilong's name was even more eye-catching.
Yang Ming can actually understand, because the highest level of pretense is to show off in front of living people, not dead people. When his father set up the comfort envoy, he actually believed that Goguryeo would definitely surrender, and he wanted to show off to the king of Goguryeo and all his officials. In front of you, pretend to be like this.
Therefore, Yang Ming not only wanted to intervene in the selection of nine generals, but also crossed out these nine comfort envoys.
But it is actually extremely difficult to accomplish these two things.
He could write to some big bosses in the central government and ask them to come forward to help. However, if the prince controlled the Luoyang court, his father would be suspicious of him, which would be detrimental to him.
Furthermore, it is difficult to replace these nine people. They are either senior, confidants of the emperor, or Yu Wenshu can use them easily.
Since the Nine Route Army is under Yuwenshu's control, Yuwenshu's deployment and command must first be taken into consideration. If the subordinates are not obedient, how can Yuwenshu lead the army?
Yang Ming has been having a headache because of this matter during this time.
If he had conquered it himself, Goguryeo would have been destroyed, but unfortunately there was no such thing.
But he can't go to Luoyang now, otherwise he can change a lot of things by himself, and even masturbate Yu Wenshu's marching marshal.
There are indeed few people in the Sui army who have higher qualifications than Yuwenshu.
The military attaches great importance to seniority and prestige, which is crucial to morale. If the candidate for the head coach does not have enough prestige, the morale of the soldiers below will be unstable.
Yang Ming wants to change generals, but his father won't agree. What should he do? Then change the coach. Although my father will definitely not agree, but at least there will be a stalemate, maybe he will be allowed to change the general.
This is bargaining. If you offer a higher price first, you will have a chance to make a small profit. Otherwise, if you directly offer a low price, Comrade Yang Guang will not negotiate with you.
So Yang Ming thought about it for a long time that night, made a list, and sent someone to Luoyang Menxia Province, who presented it to the emperor in the court.
Otherwise, if he writes a letter directly to his father, it will definitely come to nothing. As long as the memorial can be placed in the court, many big shots who are close to him will be able to act accordingly.
This list is also nine people.
Yu Zhongwen, Xue Shixiong, Zhang Jin, Cui Hongsheng, and Wei Xuan remained unchanged, and Li Jing, Yang Yichen, and Zhang Dinghe were added to the list. Eight people returned to Long Live Temperance.
You know, Yu Wenshu is older than Shi Wansui, and Shi Wansui's prestige in the army, after the death of Yang Su, Han Qinhu, and He Ruobi, should be number one now. Of course, leaving aside Gao Xi, Gao Xi has always been the first person in both civil and military fields.
Yang Ming didn't need to ask whether Shi Wansui was happy or not. He was happy but Yang Guang was not happy.
At the court meeting in Luoyang, Yang Da, the minister of Huangmen, held the prince's memorial in both hands and stood up and said:
"The prince recommends Duke Shi Wansui of the State of Lu to be the general marshal of the march to conquer the foreign countries. He recommends Li Jing, Yang Yichen, and Zhang Dinghe to replace Jing Yuanheng, Xin Shixiong, and Zhao Xiaocai as the general manager of the march. Your Majesty, please visit."
As soon as these words came out, the court was in an uproar.
Yang Guang suddenly frowned. Isn't this kid smelting iron? Do you want to get involved in this matter? How much hatred does he have with Yu Wenshu?
"Your Majesty has appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Twenty-Fourth Route. The Crown Prince's recommendation is actually overstepping his authority." Yu Wenshu stood up and said with an ugly face, "I am already making preparations. Changing the commander at this time may affect the morale of the army. Please be clear to Your Majesty."
As soon as Pei Ju found out that the memorial was submitted by a subordinate, he knew what to do. It was obvious that the prince wanted someone to help him fight for him in the court, and he naturally did his part, so he smiled and said:
"His Majesty plans to conquer Goguryeo in the spring of next year. There is still a year of preparation. Everything can be planned calmly. For foreign wars, Duke Lu is indeed more suitable."
He was mocking Yu Wenshu, who was fighting internal wars, while Shi Wansui had always been responsible for fighting external wars.
Otherwise, why would the Turks be afraid of Shi Long live? But I am not afraid of Yu Wenshu because I have never dealt with him before.
Yu Wenshu immediately became angry, pointed at Pei Ju and said: "Military and state affairs are like facing an abyss. Every detail must be carefully considered. Pei Gong regards it as child's play, which is disgusting."
Pei Ju smiled, spread his hands and said, "Xu Guogong can listen to everyone's opinions and see who they think is better, you or Shi Wansui."
"Of course Shi Wansui," Yang Yue said, "If I remember correctly, Xu Guogong has no experience in fighting foreigners, right?"
Yuwenshu knew in his heart that he would not give up this position even if he died, so he retorted based on reason:
"Shi Wansui fought against the Eastern and Western Turks, which were completely different from Goguryeo. Although Goguryeo was a foreign state, its customs and culture were roughly the same as those in the Central Plains. The farming industry was copied from us, and its scale was already established. How could it be the same as the nomadic barbarians? language?"
At the moment, there was a Turk standing in the court, not just an ordinary person, Chuluo Khan, to be precise, his name is now Hosana Khan.
The reason why Chu Luo appears here today is because Yang Guang wants to use their Turks. They are currently placed in Ashina Danai in Loufan County. He has 10,000 Turkic elites under his command. Yang Guang has already incorporated them into the army. Ashina Danai was appointed as the general manager of one of the marches. Chuluo felt that he should be the one to go, so he met with Yang Guang today.
Yang Guang had already rejected him just now, and he was already in a bad mood. Now he was scolded by Yu Wenshu, saying that the Western Turks were not as good as Goguryeo. He must be unhappy, so he used the Chinese language he learned from his mother Xiang. :
"If you are so powerful, why was Shi Wansui the one who attacked the Western Turks instead of You? Is it because you are too powerful? Then why haven't I heard of it?"
In fact, he had heard of it, and now he was just deliberately mocking it.
Yu Wenshu was angry: "Do you need to hear about it? A barbarian and a defeated general, what qualifications do you have to speak here?"
"Xu Guogong made a mistake," Niu Hong suddenly frowned: "Although he is a surrendered minister, he is also a khan. He is my guest and friend of the Sui Dynasty. It is not something that Xu Guogong can insult at will."
This is a fact, Chu Luo is not a prisoner, and his treatment in the Sui Dynasty is in accordance with the standards of foreign kings.
You cannot insult or kill this person because you have to take care of the feelings of the Western Turkic people.
Even though the Western Turkic Great Khan Shekui wanted to kill Chu Luo at the moment, if the Great Sui Dynasty killed someone, Khan Shekui would be happy and would have a legitimate excuse to invade the Sui border in the future.
Yang Guang reprimanded Yu Wenshu, then comforted Chu Luo and said:
"Don't worry, I have state affairs to discuss, so you can go down first."
Chuluo glared at Yuwenshu fiercely, made an insulting Turkish gesture, saluted Yang Guang and left.
Yu Wenshu couldn't understand that insulting gesture, but Pei Ju did.
It has the same meaning as the Sui Dynasty's "Fuck Your Mother".
(End of chapter)
