The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 610 The situation is declining, Dou's choice

A big fire caused panic in Xiangyang, replaced by an atmosphere of uneasiness. People hid at home and did not dare to go out.Xiangyang, like a dead city, only has dogs that are loyal to guard the house and protect the master. They don't know how high the sky is and how thick they are at the search soldiers. .

The search by the soldiers entering the workshops gave every household a sense of urgency that the war was coming. As soon as the soldiers left, the common people began to pack up the poor money they could get, so that they could escape from Xiangyang in time and go to relatives in the countryside when the crisis came.

Opposite the north gate of Dongcheng, there is a restaurant called Lingyun Winery. Its scale can only be regarded as medium in Xiangyang, but the location is good, and the business is booming every day.The background of this restaurant is Qi Wang Li Yuanji, so it has never been harassed by Wu Chuan soldiers. Over time, it has become a meeting place for officials, at least eating and drinking here, without worrying about Wu Chuan soldiers arresting them.In fact, Lingyun Commercial Bank, including Lingyun Winery, was an intelligence agency of the Sui Dynasty Commerce Department under the rule of Li Tang.

When Li Yuanji was still staying in Taiyuan, Lingyun Trading Company had already become a subordinate of King Qi. At first, it gained support from Li Yuanji by giving a large amount of bonuses, and gradually developed into a direct affiliated trading company of Li Yuanji, selling stolen goods for him. Once, when paper books flooded the world, Li Yuan was not also an enemy of the aristocratic family, and could not be directly introduced into the territory under Li Tang's rule, so he asked Li Yuanji to smuggle a large number of books from the Sui Dynasty into the Tang Dynasty through Lingyun Trading Company, and then sold them to small shops everywhere. Let paper books spread throughout the country.Li Yuan's methods cannot deceive the aristocratic family, but Li Yuan did not openly support paper books, secondly, he did not popularize the knowledge of counties and counties, and thirdly, he did not open a course to select scholars, and he always used the nine-rank middle system to protect the political privileges of the aristocratic family. They thought of poor scholars It is difficult to become a talent, and there is no opportunity to become an official, and not every family is like Duguzheng, who is so bold as to support others in seeking to usurp the throne, and no one is in trouble with Li Yuan.This kind of tacit understanding also made the aristocratic family mistakenly think that Lingyun Trading Company is the emperor's money-making tool. It has developed smoothly under Li Tang's rule these years. With such an aboveboard career, Lingyun Trading Company can be regarded as the number one in the world.

Noon is the peak time for meals. Thanks to the support of officials, the business of Lingyun Winery was not affected by the fire, and it was booming as usual.

The private rooms on the third floor were full of guests, and all of them whispered about the fire. Up to now, there have been more than ten theories about the origin of the murderer. The actions of the aristocratic family who secretly took refuge in the Sui Dynasty...every statement is true, but the most acceptable one is the aristocratic family. The truth is like listening to a story. There is no fun to make people 'self-conscious'. In short, all kinds of gossip are derived from Lingyun Winery and spread.

At this time, a young scribe walked into the winery, and the shopkeeper who was sitting to collect the bill saw the scribe, and hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "So it's Mr. Yang. I haven't seen you for a long time. Is it still the old seat?"

"En!" The young scribe nodded reservedly, and then went upstairs by himself.

This young man named Yang Jing has an extraordinary background.He is the great-grandson of Wei Zhao Wang Yang Shuang. His grandfather Yang Ji and Teng Wang Yang Lun were framed by Yang Su, who had the ambition to rebel. The purpose was to cut off the backbone of the royal family one by one. , Manchurian response.It made Yang Guang unable to keep the two kings. In addition, he was turned against by his younger brother Yang Liang. Under the echo of everyone, Yang Guang, who was suspicious, sighed and said, "...Although the law of the king is selfless, and the law is based on righteousness, but the law is not selfless." In the Yingong family, there are relatives in courtesy.To the extreme, unbearable love. ’ So Yang Ji and Yang Lun were removed from their clan and deposed as citizens. Yang Ji moved to Dingxiang and was protected by Jiang Fengyi (Princess Yicheng). Yang Ji's family sneaked into Li Tang's rule and continued to engage in espionage.

However, Lingyun Trading Company is Yang Tong's sharpest and most powerful knife, and he will never use it unless it is absolutely necessary, so many shopkeepers hired nearby don't know that the big proprietor Han Zhi is the zero and one of the Sui Dynasty, because Xiangyang is the most An important intelligence gathering point, so the shopkeeper of Lingyun Winery is a member of Black Ice Terrace.

Yang Ji is another branch independent from the outside world. He didn't even know that Lingyun Trading Company was a spy organization of the Sui Dynasty. It can be said that the two did not know each other. This is what Yang Tong did to protect the other Lingyun Trading Company. Lingyun Trading Company is now The family is big and the business is big, and it affects the whole body. Once exposed, the black ice platform will be fatally hit.The most important thing is that Han Zhi is not only Li Yuanji's first confidant of staff, but also the governor of Qi Wangfu who received Li Tang's salary. From the fourth rank of the official residence, he has the full power to replace Li Yuanji in handling military and political affairs, and always let Yang Tong deal with it at the first time. Knowing Li Tang's military and political trends, he and Zhao Deyan beside Jieli Khan played no less than a hundred thousand soldiers, and they are important figures who must not be sacrificed. It is a pity that Han Zhi and Lingyun Trading Company cannot get rid of the relationship, otherwise, Yang Tong will make him a separate existence.

Yang Jing is very low-key in Xiangyang, usually studying and practicing martial arts at home, learning military books and war strategies, rarely going out, mainly contacting a high-ranking official Li Tang one-on-one, and whenever major events happen in the city, he will go to Lingyun Winery to meet.

He walked to the third floor with ease. This floor is full of private rooms, which are already full, but his goal is not here, but a wide balcony looking south.The guests are all dining in the private room at this time, and there are only occasional food delivery waiters in the aisle; there is a guest on the balcony watching the scenery, this is a middle-aged man with a slender figure and fair skin, wearing a gauze hat and wearing a Tang Dynasty dark suit. In a crimson official robe, he stands in front of the railing with his hands up and down.

Since ancient times, the clothing colors of officials of different ranks have been strictly distinguished. However, during the period from Wuhuluanhua to Sui Dynasty, various rules were hit by unprecedented impacts; Officials can wear purple robes, officials below the sixth rank can wear red and green, petty officials can wear blue, civilians can wear white, but butchers, merchants, and domestic slaves can only wear black robes, and soldiers can wear yellow robes. Clothing colors from other classes shall not be used.

After the Jiangdu Rebellion, Yang Tong made some innovations in clothing. It was stipulated that princes and those of the third rank and above should wear purple and gold jade belts; Silver belts; eighth grade dark green and ninth grade light green, with copper belts; ordinary people (common people with Sui nationality, including ordinary people, butchers, businessmen...) wear yellow and white, with iron belts; slaves wear black, with black belt.This regulation makes the nine-rank official uniforms different in color, and the rank and status of all social members and the ranks of officials are clearly displayed, formally formed by purple, crimson (vermilion), green, blue, yellow, white, and black. A sequence of colors composed of seven colors.

Tang inherited the Sui system and copied all the official rituals. Judging from the attire of this senior official, Yang Jing already knew that the other party was a fourth-rank senior official, so he hurried forward to salute: "Students see the envoy!"

"I have four pieces of news for you: 50. Your Majesty knew that the person who set the fire was a spy of the Sui Dynasty, but he didn't want to admit it, and his intentions were unknown; [-]. The fire was extinguished in time, and there were about [-] shi of grain left; [-]. There was this grain. Based on this, the Holy Majesty decided to expand the army by [-]; Fourth, the Holy Majesty has already received Jiawu Chuansi from King Qi, but his attitude is ambiguous."

As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, he turned around and left the balcony. The footsteps quickly went away. After a while, Yang Jing heard the sound of the door opening and closing. He didn't know which elegant room the man went to, but he was not curious. People, otherwise, they will only harm others and themselves.

He stayed on the balcony for about a moment, and then left Lingyun Winery. He circled around a few times, got into an alley, made sure that no one was following him, and went around to Dongshi not far away.

Xiangyang East City is a distribution center for bulk goods. A large amount of grain, Sichuan brocade, cloth, oil, salt, and livestock come in and out here every day, and there are also many shops selling luxury goods.Most of these shops have a certain background, knowing that the fire was an accident, all of them opened their doors with confidence and boldly. Other small shops have always used this kind of shop as a political weathervane, so they followed suit. The door of the store was opened, and gradually, some high-ranking officials and dignitaries came to visit.

In the southeast corner of Dongshi City, there is a large store with more than 30 stores. This store specializes in the four treasures of the study and luxury goods. Since Xiangyang is the capital of the Li and Tang Dynasties, there is a large demand for stationery and luxury goods. The people who come and go are all high-ranking officials, noble ladies, or servants of wealthy families. The most consumed commodity is undoubtedly cheap paper from the Sui Dynasty.

A stationery store named Baodingge is Yang Ji's main information station. No one would have thought that this book-filled store is actually a window for Yang Tong to understand Li Tang's movements.

When Yang Jing came to Baoding Pavilion, he saw dozens of guests in the front hall picking out the four treasures of the study. Dozens of baskets were filled with empty scrolls, and papers of various colors were piled up to two stories high. Five assistants were greeting the guests. Yang Jing stepped into the hall, and a waiter hurriedly greeted him.

"Is grandfather there?"

"Yes, it's inside."

This is Yang Ji's intelligence headquarters, but as the leader, Yang Ji is afraid of meeting someone who knows him, so he rarely goes out, and stays in the store every day to analyze intelligence. As for patrolling various small intelligence points, his son Yang Hong In charge, Yang Hong got the information and brought it back to his father for processing, and finally the young Yang Jing went out to release the eagles.Xiangyang is a city where the descendants of aristocratic families are concentrated, and there are countless young people who go hunting with eagles and running dogs, and Yang Jingza is not noticeable among them.
Yang Jing walked into the backyard and went up to the second floor. Grandfather Yang Ji was writing at his desk. When he saw his grandson coming, he put down his pen and asked with concern, "Jing'er, have you seen anyone?"

Yang Jing bowed and said softly: "Grandfather, grandson has seen someone. He told me some very important information. There is one thing that we are most concerned about."

Yang Ji asked in a low voice: "Army expansion?"

"Exactly!" Yang Jing said: "The man said that Li Yuan already knew that the fire was the work of our army, but he didn't want to admit it. The reason is unknown. Because the fire was extinguished in time, there were still more than 50 shi of grain that had not been burned. Guang, thanks to this, he decided to expand the army by [-]. In addition, Wu Chuansi has changed hands."

"Having 50 shi of grain to feed the existing army and distribute Lumi to the officials, now he dares to expand the army by 200, and the grain will run out within three months. Li Yuan is like a desperate beast!" Yang Ji sneered, pondering After a while, he said, "However, he exchanged 80 million shi for grain, and there are still about [-] shi not in place. In this way, he can persist until the harvest."

"Grandfather, do you want to send this message to the imperial capital?"

"In any case, this is an extremely important piece of information that needs to be sent to the imperial capital immediately so that the Holy Majesty can prepare."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

at dusk.

Dou Gui, who was ordered to appease the people of Xiangyang, handed over the order to Li Yuan not to stay any longer. He came out of the palace and went straight to his mansion.

The Dou family was one of the leaders of the Guanlong nobles, and they kept pace with the Dugu family. Their ancestors were Xianbei nobles, and they were extremely important relatives of the emperor in the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Li Tang's late Empress Dou was the daughter of the Dou family, and Dou Kang's mother was Princess Wan'an, the elder sister of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty Yang Jian. To Li Yuan, he has torn his face with the Sui Dynasty. Compared with the relatively low-key Dugu family, the children of the Dou family mainly developed in the army. Dou Kang, who died in Guanzhong, Dou Dan, who died in the fire, and General Youtunwei Dou Cong used to be the backbone of the Tang army. It was Dou Jing, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who was also a military officer. Many key wars involved Dou's children, which caused the relationship between the Dou family and the Sui Dynasty to be completely shattered. Dou Gui Although envoys were sent to Luoyang to inquire about news, they were just inquiring.

Difficult state affairs made Dou Gui a little unhappy. As the Patriarch of the Dou Clan, he had to consider the future of the Dou Clan. He had already seen the current situation very clearly. It was the general trend for Yang Tong to drive Li Yuan into Bashu. What can be changed, where will the Dou family go at that time?What about the many Guanlong nobles attached to the Dou clan?
He is a man who knows how to fight, he understands the gap between veterans and new recruits, not to mention expanding the army by 50, even if he withdraws [-] troops, Li Yuan is not Yang Tong's opponent. At the same time, he is very clear that the reason for Li Tang's repeated defeats is the emperor Li Yuan.

At the very beginning, Li Yuan gave people the impression that he had a long-term vision, a strong view of the overall situation, and a strong strategic vision. The full support of the Guanlong nobles made him rich and powerful, with a strong foundation, and he looked very powerful and had the momentum to unify the world.But since the establishment of the dynasty, what Li Yuan has done is not the same thing at all. He is nepotism, self-willed, jealous, and talents with both ability and virtue are not used at all. Because of this, the Li and Tang Dynasty fought and failed repeatedly, destroying the great empire.If it was just a military defeat, the Li and Tang dynasty still had room to restore power, but now, it has become a complete defeat in all aspects of politics, military affairs, economy, popular support, military spirit, morale, etc. This move indicates that the Li Tang Dynasty has come to the step of betraying relatives.

Back in the mansion, I learned that my younger brother Dou Cong had been waiting in the study for a long time. In fact, Dou Cong's military power had been completely deprived. The twelve guards were restructured, and the military power of the general was distributed to the two generals under him, and the daily military affairs were taken care of by Chang Shi.The two generals of Zuo Tunwei were Li Xiaoyi, the second son of Li Shentong, and Duan Lun, the son-in-law, and Pei Xianzong, the second son of Pei Ji, as Chang Shi.Not long ago, on the grounds of recovering from illness, he went to Sichuan to inspect Dou's manor and deal with the disaster situation. He just rushed back to Xiangyang from Chengdu.

"Little brother has met elder brother!" Dou Cong hurriedly greeted his elder brother when he entered the door.

"When did the second brother come back?"

"I just arrived in the afternoon, so I waited for my brother here, and I haven't returned home yet."

Seeing his serious expression, Dou Gui understood in his heart. He closed the door and signaled his younger brother to talk in the inner study.At this critical moment, Li Yuan's method of supervising the important officials of the court may be stricter, especially after the incident where he indulged Wu Chuan to harm Xiangyang and slaughtered the officials of the Ministry of War, everyone became more careful.

"Second brother knows about the major events in Xiangyang!"

"I heard, have you found out the real culprit?"

"The king of Jin said that it was done by people inside. Liu Xiangguo and Chen Xiangguo overturned the theory of the king of Jin, thinking that it was a strategy of the Sui army to draw salary from the bottom of the pan!" Although Dou Gui did not participate in the analysis, he also had people in the court who already knew about it. During the debate in the court, he told Dou Cong about the matter in detail.

"Liu Xiangguo and Chen Xiangguo are right! Why didn't His Majesty reveal the real murderer?" Dou Cong was very puzzled.

Dou Gui smiled wryly and said, "I think the Holy Majesty is so terrified that he doesn't even have the courage to admit that the arsonist was the work of the Sui army. The situation is worrisome!"

Dou Cong gasped. He left Xiangyang less than two months ago, is the situation so serious?He pondered for a while, and then asked: "How much time do you think is left? My younger brother means that it is the time for the Sui Dynasty to fully attack the Tang Dynasty."

Dou Gui said: "I think Xiao Xian's descending to the Sui Dynasty means that Yang Tong has turned his strategic vision to Jingxiang. Although many people in the court said that the first choice enemy of the Sui Dynasty in the coming year is Lin Shihong, I think Lin Shihong is not worth mentioning. This can be seen from the fact that Zhang Zhenzhou and Qin Qiong built docks, built warships, and trained sailors in Donglaijiangxia respectively. The main general who wiped out Lin Shihong was selected from these two. Now that the Sui army is expanding and resting, the next step is bound to be a storm Ordinary offensive, this is also Yang Tong's usual style in civil wars. It is said that the source of soldiers for the expansion of the army is all veterans who were laid off before. The combat power of these soldiers is not inferior to the elite of our dynasty. It can be compared, you can fight without training, and it will take at most one or two months to reorganize. Therefore, in February next year at the earliest, or March at the latest, Yang Tong will attack Jingxiang and force my Tang court into Bashu to complete the confrontation. Tang, Wei, Chu, and Meng Haigong's strategy of dividing and isolating, and then gathering heavy troops to wipe out one by one. We only have three or four months of preparation time at most. In just a few months, how can the new recruits be the opponent of the tiger and wolf army?"

After a pause, Dou Gui let out another long sigh, "Speaking of which, the old fox from the Dugu family is still cunning and cunning. The Dugu family is the Dugu family, and the emperor is the emperor. Support those who should support them, and those who should not support them will definitely not support them. The Dugu family left room to choose to advance and retreat with ease; while I, the Dou family, bet on the sage, and immediately invested all the manpower and material resources of the family, thus obtaining many high positions. But in fact, if the sage unites the world, my Dou family will inevitably The fate of the sly rabbit, because as an emperor, the Holy Majesty will not allow any family to threaten his imperial power; if the Holy Majesty fails, no matter whether it is Yang Tong or Li Mi who will eventually unify the world, he will not let him go. The Dou family who supported Li Tang. Our Dou family used too much force to compete with the Dugu family for the leadership position of the Guanlong nobles, causing us to fall into the dilemma of neither advancing nor retreating..."

"It's not brother's fault!" Dou Cong said softly.

whose fault?
The brother-in-law of the two brothers, Dou Wei, the former head of the family!
In fact, their brothers have always opposed it, but Dou Wei was overwhelmed by Duguzheng, and the leaders of the Guanlong nobles lost their minds, and did not listen to good advice from the audience.He died, and it was all over, but he left a mess of a dilemma to Dou Gui.

But their brothers didn't know that Dou Wei's desperate move made Dugu feel that he had lost, and finally made a promise to Yang Tong to give up [-]% of the land in order to gain a foothold in the Sui Dynasty again.

"Don't talk about this!"

Dou Gui waved his hand, no matter what, my uncle is doing it for the good of Dou Shi, now that there is no one left, it is not only meaningless to pursue right and wrong, it is also disrespectful to the elders!
Dou Gui looked at Dou Cong, and said slowly: "It is said that Dugu Cheng went to Luoyang in the name of paying homage to Dugu Sheng, who died in Jiangdu."

Dou Cong said without hesitation: "I guess the Dugu family is also considering the way forward, and other Guanlong nobles should have their own plans."

"That's for sure. Nobody wants to hang themselves from a tree."

Dou Cong stood up and said, "It's never too late to make up for it! How about I go to Luoyang and talk to Yang Tong in detail?"

"Not urgent!"

"Why?"

Dou Gui said: "Yang Tong either abandoned those who surrendered in Xiancheng, or killed them to anger the common people. At the same time, in Nanjun, Jiangxia and other counties, the military department of the Sui Dynasty also set off a bloodbath. Could it be that the southern gentry were slaughtered with knives and knives, even if local turmoil was caused, they had to be killed to the end, forcing many gentry to flee to Xiangyang and Jiangnan to seek refuge. And the envoys of those aristocratic families who went to Luoyang did not receive substantive promises. It's because my sincerity is not enough, but I feel that Yang Tong does not accept the aristocratic family in his bones."

"Yang Tong said that the secret of the aristocratic family is 'disloyalty'. Without our help, he can still win Jingxiang and Bashu, and he doesn't need to compromise with anyone and give up some benefits that should be at his fingertips. If we abandon the Lord and seek Rong, how can he think highly of us? Now that every family is rushing to Luoyang to seek loyalty, do you think he really accepts these duplicitous people?"

Dou Cong was startled. After thinking about it carefully, he really realized that Yang Tong had never compromised with anyone. Even if the other party surrendered, he would sue the people and get rid of him justifiably. As a result of the negotiation, one by one was wiped out. In just a few months, more than ten or twenty counties were wiped out by him.At this time, the aristocratic families who rushed to Luoyang to pledge their allegiance may have already been included in Yang Tong's must-kill list.Thinking of this, Dou Cong was startled.

Dou Gui glanced at his thoughtful younger brother, and then said, "It's better for us to wait and see how things change. If the Sui army attacks, we'll follow the trend and maybe there's still a glimmer of hope. What does the second brother think?"

"I agree."

"You had a confrontation with Yang Tong in Daxing, what do you think of him?" Dou Gui looked at Dou Cong with burning eyes.

Dou Cong's expression changed, and he said in a deep voice, "Domineering and confident! It's exactly the same as Yang Guang."

In the past, Li Yuan was unwilling to fall in Guanzhong. In response to the request of the Guanlong nobles to "return to Guanzhong", he gathered all the dark forces of the Guanlong nobles and launched the Daxing Palace Change. The main generals who carried out the plan were Dou Kang and Dou Cong.

result!Dou Kang was killed by Xue Wanbei in Fufeng Taibai Mountain, and Dou Cong was captured alive by Yang Yu in Daxing Palace.If it wasn't for tracking down the mastermind who betrayed their Dou faction, Dou Cong would have killed himself at that time. Unfortunately, after so many years, the mastermind has never been found out, which made Dou Cong very regretful and angry.

Dou Gui asked: "Domineering, confident?"

Dou Cong nodded: "That's right, Yang Tong is very domineering and confident. He said many things that should not be told to the enemy."

"Yang Tong's self-confidence is a good thing for Dou! As long as we are humble and don't fulfill the task requirements, there may not be a way out." Speaking of this, a dangerous light flashed in Dou Gui's eyes, and then he continued: "Yang Tong Since Dong wants to kill all the powerful families in the world, we can collect evidence of some people's crimes to make it easier for him to do things."

"Search for whom?"

"The Dugu family!"

(End of this chapter)