The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 188 Wily and calculating
In the Chaoyang Hall of Shenwu Palace, Yang Tong, who couldn't care less about food, gathered together with Yang Gongren, Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Wei Zheng, Wei Yunqi, Kong Yingda, Liu Zhenghui, and Ling Jing.

"Your Highness, a major event has happened in the Western Qin Kingdom. Xue Ju died of illness, and his second son, Xue Renyue, was passed on to the throne at the end of his life. Xue Rengao became the Generalissimo of the Army and Horses. Xue Rengao conquered the Great Earthquake Pass, and Zong Luohou conquered Hechi!"

This news was beyond Yang Tong's expectation. Xue Ju had always been physically strong, why did he suddenly die of illness?Moreover, it was not the eldest son Xue Rengao who ascended the throne, but the second son Xue Renyue. Could it be that Xue Renyue played the role of patricide?But judging from the subsequent development, it doesn't look like it!

"The Xiqin tree has fallen and the monkeys are scattered, the Xue brothers are short of food, and their troops are only so small. Isn't it courting death to fight Li Yuan?"

"He's dead!" Wei Yunqi said with a wry smile, "Xue Rengao took more than [-] people at the cost of the Great Earthquake Pass. He left behind [-] defenders and rushed to help Hechi, but was beaten by Li Shimin." Ambush! Xue Rengao was defeated, and Xue Renyue was defeated and retreated to Heyuan County. Zong Luohu's subordinates were wiped out, and he himself was killed by his generals. His head was dedicated to Li Shimin. The guards of Dazhen Pass surrendered without a fight. The breakthrough was defeated, and the hero Xin Liaoer led only a few hundred riders to flee north to Pingliang County."

"The Tang army was flat on all three fronts, and their morale was greatly boosted. Then they fought back massively. Qu Tutong defeated Liang Luoren, the cousin of Liang Shidu, in Liangyuan County, Anding County, and wiped out more than [-] enemies. , Dangchang, and took Lintao County in the Western Qin Dynasty without bloodshed, and Li Shimin conquered Tianshui and Longxi County."

After a while, Yang Tong asked calmly, "How did our army behave?"

"Xue Wanjun, governor of Huining County, took the opportunity to send troops to occupy Jincheng County and Fanghan County. Duan Decao, governor of Wuwei County, led [-] troops to occupy Xiping County and Waterhe County! Wang Fubao, governor of Lingwu County, was ordered by Li Dudu to lead [-] elite cavalry. Settled in Huining County, together with Xue Wanjun, pinched Li Shimin in Longxi from north to west, and Duan Decao confronted Zhang Shigui in Fanghan County." Wei Yunqi looked gloating and couldn't help laughing.

"It's Li Yuan's bad luck to meet this group of fierce people. My old father-in-law managed to beat up Xue Ju, and finally made wedding dresses for us for nothing!"

Yang Tong sympathizes with Li Yuan very much. You must know that today in history, he has almost unified the Central Plains.But now?Guan Zhong was threatened by Li Jing one after another, and blackmailed by himself one after another.

Yang Shidao laughed and said, "Just take it back to Guanzhong."

"That won't work! Guanzhong is too complicated, and it's not easy to manage at all! Sigh, how can this response be blackmailed? I'm really worried. Why can't Li Jing and the others lose or return?"

Everyone rolled their eyes when they heard this, Wei Zheng said with a smile: "Let him marry another daughter and give him a dowry."

Yang Tong fainted, this old Wei is not serious anymore.

"Here is an urgent letter sent by Li Dudu's flying horse, please read it Your Highness." Yang Gongren submitted a letter.

Yang Tong opened the letter and read it carefully. Li Jing said in the letter that Li and Tang wanted to negotiate, and he temporarily stood still. At the same time, he said that Xue Rengao and Xue Renyue hoped that the Sui Dynasty could provide food assistance. In return, they would launch the Hexi offensive when the situation stabilized.

Xue's request made Yang Tong a little moved. If they could really occupy Hexi and cut off the source of horses in the Tang Dynasty, that would be good, but he was also a little worried. All the men were expelled from the army to join the army. The people in the Hehuang area were very angry. Their father and son did not hesitate to seek refuge with the Turks in order to stand on their own. Tuyuhun people, they are desperate, they are very likely to lure Tuyuhun to participate in the Central Plains War. In this way, Xihai County and Heyuan County, which Yang Guang has worked so hard to conquer, may fall into the hands of Tuyuhun again. He would rather let such people Li Yuan killed him, and then asked Li Yuan to take the trouble to maintain the peace of the frontier.

However, the ethnic policy of the Tang Dynasty in history made him very disgusted. Li Shimin's border policy was to let the Turks rule the Turks, the Khitan people rule the Khitan, and the Tuyuhun people rule the Tuyuhun. This system was still feasible when the court was in its heyday. So they stood up one after another, and in turn threatened the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin's tricks made all ethnic groups show their sharp teeth during the Li Zhi period.

Relatively speaking, Yang Tong prefers the Sui Dynasty’s policy of occupying one area, governing one area, and Sinicization. This kind of ruling method of occupying land and setting up counties, setting up officials, and moving people to settle in is undoubtedly a real control over the sacrifice of countless soldiers. The territory conquered by life, like Yiwu County, was conquered in the Yang Guang era, and it has been completely naturalized in less than 20 years. , has long since re-established the country.

But after thinking about it, Yang Tong still felt that before he was unable to govern so many places, he should support the Xue brothers, lest they directly lower Tuyuhun, so as to drive a wedge in the Western Regions in this way to protect the family. The influence of ruling in the Western Regions, no matter whether Li Tang takes it or the Xue brothers hold it, it is still the territory of the Han family, and it will not involve international disputes if it is recovered in the future, but relatively speaking, Li Tang is definitely stronger than the Xue family. Brothers are more reliable, if Li Tang and Tuyuhun are allowed to fight, one can consume Li Tang's national power, and the other can keep the rule of the Han family.

At this point, there are two decisions.

One is to support the Xue brothers to gain a foothold in Yaohe and Heyuan, and the other is to sell Xiping, Yaohe, and Fanghan to Li Yuan, so as to achieve the goal of consuming the national power of Li Tang and Tuyuhun while preserving the country.Of course, it is also possible to use these three counties to exchange his Pingliang and Honghua counties with Liang Shidu. To the south is Li Yuan's territory. Neither of these two major forces can be provoked by him. There is no room for development here, so this guy must be having trouble sleeping and eating. To be able to escape from the encirclement of the Sui Dynasty is probably what he wished for. .

When he expressed his thoughts, everyone unanimously agreed to exchange land with Master Liang, because in this way, the Great Sui's territory in Guannei Road would not have a big hole. Yan'an County in the east and Yan'an County in the west It is also very convenient to connect with Jincheng County, and more importantly, after Liang Shidu went to Xiping, Jiaohe, and Fanghan, if Li Yuan wanted to get a place to raise horses, he would have one more opponent and needed to fight one more enemy.

Regarding Li Yuan, everyone has also changed from being disapproving at the beginning to now paying attention to it. Li Yuan may have some personality flaws, but it is by no means that he is not good enough. It is because he has never had a chance to rest since he started his army in Taiyuan, so he was prepared for a long time. In two years, Great Sui was repeatedly defeated. If he was given a year, his army would definitely transform into an elite.

Moreover, he is very capable in the direction of governance, especially in the way of balance. When dealing with the powerful and powerful in Guanlong, he focused on supporting the Dugu family and the Dou family. In the court, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin were also used by him to maintain his throne.

Since the end of the Battle of Bingzhou, with Li Yuan's deliberate support, the conflict between the eldest son Li Jiancheng and the second son Li Shimin has gradually become public. This conflict may not be a battle for the succession, but just a difference in political views. The conflict between their brothers Li Yuan not only did not interfere, but continued to give Li Shimin military power, thus putting a certain amount of pressure on Li Jiancheng, the prince.

There are two reasons why Li Yuan supported Li Shimin to fight for the crown prince:

One is that Li Yuan is in the prime of his life, and he has a lifespan of more than ten or twenty years, while the crown prince Li Jiancheng is already thirty. If there is no accident, Li Yuan still has 20 years of emperor's life, but Li Jiancheng was already 20 years old at that time If there is no one to restrain him, it is difficult to guarantee that Li Jiancheng will take risks and launch a palace coup.Now the rise of Li Shimin has caused Li Jiancheng's party to focus on Li Shimin's gradual rise from the throne.

[-]. Now is the era of troubled times, Li Yuan has no choice but to give his sons great autonomy and let them form a powerful team to win the world for him. If there is only one simple faction, then such things as forcing the palace are very likely to happen, and the two sons are of equal strength. It is beneficial for Li Yuan to control them.

How can such a scheming person be easy to deal with?What's even more powerful is that he took advantage of Yang Tong's tendency to hate the powerful and powerful in Guanlong, and devoured the powerful and powerful in Guanlong step by step, so that the other party had to rely on his side and provide him with a steady stream of nutrients. If he can rule the world, then, The nobles in Guanlong had become frighteningly weak. At that time, Li Yuan could do whatever he wanted to deal with the nobles in Guanlong.

Today's Guanlong dignitaries are firmly suppressed in Guanzhong, and Yang Tong will not accept these people, so in fact, the Guanlong dignitaries have no choice but to follow Li Yuan all the way to the end, and even support another person to replace Li Yuan I dare not, because the situation in Guanzhong is really dangerous. If there is civil strife in Guanzhong, only Yang Tong will benefit. The rich and powerful were in bad luck, because they were the huge force that promoted Li Yuan's rebellion, and they were also the key factor in the turmoil of the Sui Dynasty, and Yu Wenhua, who killed the king, also came from the powerful and powerful in Guanlong. Dong will never let them go.So, in fact, the rich and powerful in Guanlong had no choice but to follow Li Yuan's rhythm.It can be said that this is also the biggest bonus that Li Yuan has obtained after repeated failures, and with the full support of these people, Li Tang will eventually burst out with terrifying energy.Being able to take advantage of foreign aggression to play around the selfish Guanlong dignitaries, I have to say that Li Yuan is a very powerful character.

It was for this reason that everyone supported Yang Tong's comprehensive suppression of Li Yuan, so that Guanlong's money became the money of the Sui Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)