The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 640 Everything is ready, set sail for an expedition

Early the next morning, a golden light appeared on the distant horizon of Gaomi Military Port, and a red sun rose slowly where the water and the sky met.

Seeing this scene, more than a thousand knights from the west slowly slowed down.

"Dong'er, have we arrived yet?" Yang Qinfang, who was valiant and valiant, was full of surprise and joy when she saw the Xuanjia army stop slowly, with a strong sense of exhaustion.

Not long ago, she and Yin Mingyue went to Xiangyang. After the two killed Dugu Huai'en, they brought a group of Shura guards to kill several Dugu disciples and succeeded in blaming Li Yuan.In order not to be unable to keep up with Yang Tong's journey to the south, the two ran back to Luoyang and finally arrived on the day Yang Tong set off, which made the two women very lucky.

"We have arrived!"

Yang Tong also slowed down the speed of the horse, and ran non-stop for a few days, and they finally arrived at their destination, Gaomi Military Port.

This is the first time Yang Tong has arrived at this military port, and next he will ride the wind and waves to expedition to the south.

"Dong'er, aren't we going to fight in the south? Why did we come to the beach?" Yang Qinfang asked puzzled.

Yang Tong smiled but did not answer, at this time a group of cavalry came running from a distance, with five generals at the head.One is Yu Chigong, one is Su Dingfang, one is Xue Wanche, one is Niu Jinda, and the other is Zhang Zhenzhou, the commander of the navy.

There are four other people. They are the captains of the navy's fleets, Laiheng and Laiheng, Zhou Shaode, Zhou Faming's son, and Ma Guiqian, the general.

Zhou Faming's grandfather was Zhou Lingqi, the chariot general of Nanliang, his father was Zhou Jiong, the governor of Nanchen, and his second brother, Zhou Fashang, was a general of Wuwei in the Sui Dynasty.During the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Zhou Faming was the prefect of Jiangxia. He sent three sons to attack Mianyang, Yong'an, and Qichun. After two years of hard work, the father and son had no food inside and no reinforcements outside, so they were forced to surrender to Xiao Mian, and later to the Sui Dynasty.

The Zhou family is good at water warfare. Zhou Faming, his second son Zhou Xiaojie, and his third son Zhou Shao are now assisting Qin Qiong in Jiangxia.The eldest son Zhou Shaode and the general Ma Guiqian went to Gaomi Military Port and became Zhang Zhenzhou's generals.

Everyone urged the horse to come forward, cupped their fists and saluted: "See Your Majesty!"

Yang Tong said solemnly: "Gu Nai is Yang You, King of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the generals have mistaken him."

Yang You sits in Nanyang in the name of the emperor, and Yang Yu added the title of "Yang You" as Qingxu Supervising Censor, responsible for supervising officials in Qingxu and Xuzhou, inspecting prefectures and counties, correcting prisons, cleaning up court rituals, etc. , is the imperial envoy, which is an official position set up for himself for the convenience of travel.

When everyone heard Yang Tong say that, they all burst into laughter.

Yang Tong asked with a smile, "Have the troops arrived yet?"

"My lord, the [-] troops of the First Army have arrived at the military port!"

Yang Tong asked Xiang Zhenzhou again: "Where are the food supplies and siege equipment? Have they been delivered to the ship?"

Zhang Zhenzhou, whose skin was tanned, said energetically, "All are on board, and we can set off at any time."

"Go, take a look!"

Yang Tong urged his horse to go to the pier. Only then did Yang Qinfang, Yin Mingyue and other Sui Xuanjia generals realize that they went directly to the south by boat, not to participate in the Qingxu battlefield that Yang Gongren was in charge of.

Curious, Yang Qinfang hurried forward and asked Yu Chigong in a low voice, "Mr. E, where are we going?"

Yu Chigong knew that Shura Wei was good at assassination, and sometimes it could turn the world around, and Yang Qinfang was already a general of Shura Wei, so he was not surprised that she went out with the army, he bowed and said with a smile : "The military aircraft is top-secret, so please don't ask, Your Highness. In short, I won't let you down."

He cupped his hands and smiled, rode his horse and followed Yang Tong.Seeing that Yu Chigong didn't want to say more, Yang Qinfang felt helpless, so she drew her horse and followed closely.

The sea has already been parked with large five-toothed warships, fighting ships, warships, bridge boats, Ge boats, walking boats, red horses, and scouts.Building boats and fighting ships are the main warships, and the warships are mainly used for raids; the red horses and scouts are used for sentry.In addition, there are many large sea ships for transporting troops, food, horses and weapons

From a distance, it looks like a mountain stretching tens of miles beyond the horizon. These two thousand ships are like warriors awakened from the night, revealing their vitality. During this period, warships are constantly sailing In and out.

At this time, the pier was extremely busy. Dozens of wooden towers several feet high were erected beside the pier, and dozens of soldiers chanted slogans to turn the winches.During the rotation of the long rope, bags of heavy grain were hoisted high and sent smoothly to the big ship moored on the shore.Also loaded onto the big ship were bundles of dismantled heavy siege equipment and armored tents.

This kind of busy scene actually started half a month ago. After half a month of hard work day and night, most of the supplies have been boarded.

In the open space hundreds of steps away from the wharf, more than 2000 tents were stationed, stretching for more than 20 miles.Not long ago, there were hundreds of thousands of troops coming and going in Henan County, which was dizzying. The details of the forces of all parties were unknown. It was at that time that the soldiers of the First Army secretly came to the military port by boat. They have all arrived, plus more than [-] naval officers and soldiers, a [-] army has been secretly assembled here. If the auxiliary army and the army guarding the military port are included, the number of the Sui army will be even greater.

It can be said that everything is ready now, and the fleet can leave the military port to expedition to the south of the Yangtze River as soon as the coach Yang Tong gives an order.

"Your Majesty!" Someone not far away suddenly shouted loudly. Yang Tong looked back and saw the Xuanjia Army get out of the way, and two men in bunting were running towards this side. He couldn't help laughing. The two are Li Chun and Yu Wenwen, the left and right servants of the Ministry of Industry. They will also go out with the army and be responsible for managing the artisan camp.

The two galloped forward, threw their stirrups off their horses, and went forward to salute together: "My minister sees the Holy One!"

"When marching outside, pay attention to efficiency; there is no need to bring those vain gifts from the court to the army!" Yang Tong signaled the second minister to waive the ceremony.

"My minister obeys." Li Chun and Yu Wenwen got up quickly
Yang Tong knew that these two people were highly skilled, and their arrival meant that the skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry had already been in place, so he asked with great interest, "How many people are here from the Ministry of Industry?"

Li Chun, the left servant of the Ministry of Industry, replied: "My lord, half a year ago, in order to complete the mission of expedition to the South of the Five Ridges, the Ministry of Industry sent more than [-] craftsmen to Gaomi Military Port to make warships day and night, but the progress was far behind No, so we hired more than [-] craftsmen from the people, all of whom are good shipbuilders."

Yang Tong was very embarrassed when he heard it. At the beginning, he had a hot head and made a battle plan to go south by boat and expedition to Lingnan, but in the end he couldn't keep up with everything, so the plan of expedition to Lingnan was delayed and had to be suspended; But fortunately, the urgently built ships were not in vain, and they came in handy after all.

He nodded and said to everyone: "Everyone go to the big tent of the Chinese army to discuss matters."

As he spoke, he led the crowd towards the handsome tent.

The large tent of the Chinese army is located in the east of the camp. The sand table transported from Luoyang is being spliced ​​by artisans. This sand table has a circumference of five feet. Lingnan and other places all appear.This sand table is exquisite in workmanship, and the famous mountains, rivers, lakes and official roads are all presented in an intuitive way, just like a sand table map of the world.

The sand table hadn't been fully set up yet, and the marching Sima Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui each held a map in their hands. Fang Xuanling commanded more than a dozen military garrison troops to plant small flags on the city, while Du Ruhui was in charge of making corrections.

Secretary Lang Yu Shinan watched silently from the side, reminding Fang Xuanling from time to time.

Yang Tong knew very well that Yu Shinan, who was famous for his loyalty, friendship, blog, poetry, and calligraphy, was not a military talent, but what he valued was Yu Shinan's understanding of Jiangnan.

Yu Shinan is from the south of the Yangtze River, with a very good family background. When he was a teenager, he worked hard and thought hard, and sometimes he didn't wash his face or comb his hair for more than ten days.In the Daye period, Yu Shinan was successively awarded the title of Secretary Lang and promoted to Living Roomer.Yu Chuo and Yu Zizhi were ordered to compile "Changzhou Jade Mirror" and "Qu Yu Tu Zhi". Relatively speaking, "District Yu Tu Zhi" is even more remarkable. This huge volume records the customs, historical facts, products, geography, etc. of various counties and counties across the country.As one of the chief editors of "Qu Yu Tu Zhi", Yu Shinan's understanding of the geography of the world is countless times higher than that of the emperors and ministers of the Sui Dynasty.With such a geographer by his side, at least the Sui army would have one more chance of winning.

Yu Shinan always wanted to have a few words with Yang Tong, but he never had a chance to be alone. At this time, seeing Yang Tong standing in front of the sand table watching, he bowed his hands and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I have a few words for you." I don't know if I should say it or not."

Yang Tong said with a smile: "I've never liked talking out loud, it doesn't matter if I have something to say!"

"Although I have no military knowledge, I also know that this trick is very clever. However, the seven counties in Huaibei and the eastern part of Jianghuai are occupied by Li Mi. Our navy in the Sui Dynasty went south along the coast. If we win, we will go straight to Jiangdu City. If there is a loss in the rear The news reached the ears of the enemy generals, and Wei Jun, who was worried about his parents, wives and children, would be shaken and uneasy. But in case the war comes to a stalemate, and Zuo Pushe and General Du Fuwei are unable to break through the situation, our army will It has become a helpless and lonely army. As the king of a country, the Holy One shoulders the important task of unifying the world and stabilizing the country. Personal safety is related to the fate of a country. I have thousands of soldiers in the Great Sui Dynasty, and anyone can do it for me. Shuai, according to my opinion, the Holy Majesty should be in Luoyang to command the three armies, and the battle in the south of the Yangtze River should be done by a few generals. Why should the Holy Majesty lead the army to fight Li Mi in person when he is in danger?"

"I also know that my own safety is related to the peace of the world, and I really shouldn't go into battle in armor and lead the army myself."

Yu Shinan was even more puzzled, but he didn't come out to disturb him. He only heard Yang Tong say again: "I asked my right servant to shoot Yang Shanhui in Nanyang to suppress the Chongling Tang army. An army of 20 was stationed in Huai'an, and the soldiers were directed at the two Li, making it impossible for the two sides to join forces. Duan Decao and Shi Jin, who were stationed in Nanjun, were guarding against Li Shimin in Yiling, and Qin Qiong was stationed in Jiangxia to make Lin Shihong unable to support Li Mi. In the Qingxu battlefield, Zuo Pushe led an army of [-] in charge, Xie Yingdeng in the Yingchuan area, Du Fuwei and Yao Junsu in the Jianghuai area, and Luo Shixin as a mobile army in the middle. Such a large battle, only need to go from north to south , advancing steadily from west to east, and will soon recover the seven counties of Huaibei, which is more than enough to deal with a mere Li Mi. However, after the military is over, it will also involve matters such as post-war reconstruction and stability in Jiangnan. If Jiangnan is unstable, it is likely to The emergence of new separatist forces, it is up to me to step in."

Yu Shinan nodded, and asked again: "From the tone of the Holy Master, it seems that Jiangnan is very important?"

"Of course!" Yang Tong smiled and said, "The north and the south have been divided for hundreds of years, and they are hostile to each other. After the founding of the Sui Dynasty, although the north and the south were quickly unified, it was only a formality. In fact, the emperor’s grandfather dug the Grand Canal, improved the status of Jiangdu, reused people from the south, reduced taxes, and benefited the people in the south of the Yangtze River. These are actually excellent measures. However, in the war of destroying Chen, it was only the Chen Dynasty that was destroyed, not the Chen Dynasty. The old system in the south of the Yangtze River was completely smashed in a bloody way, which led to the fact that the old forces in the south represented by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River were still very strong. They formed an alliance out of profit and violated the policies of the imperial court. Therefore, the method of the emperor's grandfather's concession of profits has never allowed the North and the South to realize the unification of hearts and minds. On the contrary, these Jiangnan gentry were not grateful for the emperor's grandfather's gesture of favor. Yu Xin, they are not satisfied with what the imperial court has given, and they all want to get more and more. This can be seen from the performance of the Jiangnan gentry after the Jiangdu change."

Yu Shinan was silent when he heard the words.

After the extermination of Chen, and in the long years to the middle of the great cause, the place with the most rebellions was the southern land. Rebellions and rebellions, large and small, all had the shadow of the Jiangnan gentry.After the change in Jiangdu, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River watched coldly. No family cared about Yang Guang's life, and no family voiced their opposition to Yu Wenhuaji. They all took the opportunity to expand their power turf, and supported Li Zitong and Shen Faxing to plot the world. , trying to rule the river.It can be seen that from the time when Yang Guang sold well during the Jin Dynasty to the eve of the Jiangdu change, he did not influence a family of Jiangnan gentry.

what is the reason?
Naturally, it is the deep-rooted influence of the old forces in the south of the Yangtze River. These aristocratic families are immortal, and the people in the south are always kidnapped by them to their chariots. The gentry started.So to some extent, we can only sit back and watch them step by step.

However, the local people did not dare to resist the local aristocrats in line with the idea that "county officials are not as good as current officials". In this way, they can arbitrarily use the name of the court to collect money and harm the people, and let the court take the blame for their crimes.In other words, the old forces in the south are the great obstacle to the unification of the people of the north and the south. If they are not destroyed, the world will be restless.

At this time, Yang Tong said: "War is the best way to destroy the old forces. Only by annihilating these people can the government's government orders be carried out unimpeded, and the people can enjoy the favorable policies of the court. Only when it is put in place can the locality be truly stabilized. At that time, the southern tax can be used to support the imperial court to restore the people's livelihood in the Central Plains. Now the land of the Central Plains is riddled with holes, and it is difficult to support the land of Henan after the war only with the savings of the north. Only by going to the south, which is rich in natural resources, can the court quickly overcome the difficulties after the war. Among them, the emperor needs to make a promise, so that the people will believe that the court treats them equally and does not care about their crimes of being thieves. Only in this way can the people in the south feel at ease Production, to deliver money, food and materials to the land of the Central Plains."

What Yang Tong said was the truth, the reason why the Li and Tang dynasties in history were able to quickly restore the economy and realize the rule of Zhenguan.The reason is that money and food from the south were continuously transported to the north by the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty.The Kaiyuan prosperity in the mid-Tang Dynasty was also due to the dredging of water transportation, so that a large amount of materials from the south were transported to the north, thus making Guanzhong and the north more prosperous than ever.

The two prosperity of the Li and Tang Dynasties and the lingering for more than a hundred years after the Anshi Rebellion actually benefited from the Grand Canal dug by the Sui Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, whoever controlled the water transportation took the initiative in the war.In the Song Dynasty, Zhao Da simply established his capital in Kaifeng on the banks of the canal.

Yu Shinan finally understood Yang Tong's intentions. Thinking of the southern land where two crops a year and three crops a year, he also very much agreed with Yang Tong's idea of ​​attaching importance to the south. It seemed extremely important."

Yang Tong said with a smile: "The world was in chaos before Shu was in chaos. The world has been ruled but not ruled. The importance of Ba and Shu is self-evident. The Qin Dynasty conquered Chu and the Great Sui eradicated Chen. It all started with Ba and Shu. I understand Ba and Shu's strategic position very well. .”

Yu Shinan nodded and said, "It's good that the majesty understands, and I won't talk too much about the humble position."

Yang Tong's thoughts returned to the issue of this naval expedition. Today's general strategy has been determined, but many details need to be confirmed.

Yang Tong said to Zhang Zhenzhou, "How long does it take to get from here to the Yangtze River?"

Zhang Zhenzhou has a wealth of sailing experience. He has traveled this route many times, and immediately bowed and said, "My Majesty, if the wind is favorable, it can be reached within five days. If the wind is against the wind, the slowest is only ten days." about."

Speaking of the direction of the wind, Fang Xuanling, who arrived earlier, said, "In the past few days, I found that all the wind blows is from the south, and occasionally there is also a north wind. The direction of the wind seems to be uncertain."

This is also the most critical question that Yang Tong wants to understand. Navigation is different from marching on land, and the journey is full of unpredictable dangers.

At the beginning, Emperor Wen led an army of 30 sea and land troops to attack Goguryeo with Han Wang Yang Liang Xiegao, Wang Shiji and General Zhou Luohu.Both Gao Jiong and Wang Shiji are well-known generals who have experienced many battles. The former Gao Jiong was shrewd and capable.But when their army of 30 land and water marched hand in hand, the army drove straight in and won every battle. However, the navy in charge of logistics and supplies encountered a big storm. Most of the ships sank in the sea. Rest and recuperate, let the Goguryeo army attack and defeat.Gao Jiong and Wang Shiji, who went deep into the hinterland of Goguryeo, could not conquer the key fortresses, and when the rainy season came, the land supply was completely interrupted, and the navy in charge of logistics was buried in the sea, resulting in insufficient food and grass supply. In the end, it ended in defeat, and 30% of the soldiers and horses were left on the land of Liaodong.If the navy arrived as scheduled, how could there be three subsequent expeditions to Goguryeo?
And Yang Tong just now found that the flag's feet were flying to the north, which meant that the wind was from the southeast, which made him a little worried, for fear that his army would not be able to reach the mouth of the Yangtze River as scheduled.

As the captain of the Sui Navy, Zhang Zhenzhou has spent most of these years running around in the sea, and has a deep understanding of the nautical charts and wind directions in the southeast sea area.He immediately replied: "My lord, we feel the southeast wind now because the Taihang Mountains and Taishan Mountains in the distance block the north wind from the south, but the north wind is actually blowing on the sea; if we come to observe after the third watch at night, Everyone will find that it has become the north wind and the northwest wind, but now it is the time when the wind direction is exchanged. It will not be long before the north wind will be replaced by the south wind, which is the same every year. In order to obtain accurate wind direction information, these These conclusions were reached after questioning no less than a thousand experienced fishermen over the years and confirming them one by one.”

Yang Tong asked, "How long will it take for the wind direction to change?"

Zhang Zhenzhou replied: "According to the climate in previous years, the wind direction will change in about ten days, but after the beginning of spring this year, the cold weather is longer than usual, and the north wind is estimated to last longer. These warships all It is a newly built new ship, all using the labor-saving pulley combination developed by the Ministry of Industry and Kaitian Institute, even if the sails are folded, it can reach the Yangtze River Estuary within ten days with only manpower."

"That's good." Yang Tong breathed a sigh of relief. In this case, there was still time. He asked Fang Xuanling again, "How is the army preparing?"

Fang Xuanling understood what Yang Tong meant, and immediately bowed and replied, "My lord, all the supplies are ready, and the army can board the ship and set off at any time."

Yang Tong nodded slowly, and said to the generals: "If the wind is northerly on the third day, then let's go with the wind tonight!"

"Here." Everyone responded one after another.

At this time, a personal guard quickly entered the account and presented a forward military report. Yang Tong took the military report and read it, and said to the crowd overjoyed: "Lu, Gu, Zhang, Zhu, Shen, Wang, Thank you, etc. The patriarchs of the Jiangnan gentry gathered in Lu's Bieyuan, conspiring to launch the Jiangdu Change, and Li Mi found out that the plan was not secret, and now they are suppressed by Li Mi's blood victory, and the counties and counties in the south of the Yangtze River are in chaos. .”

As for his own calculations, the deliberate disclosure of the Black Ice Terrace, and other dark dishes that annihilated the Jiangnan gentry and damaged his image of being wise and martial, Yang Tong naturally ignored it.

"Godsend opportunity!"

"Li Mi committed his own crimes and cannot live."

"..."

The generals who didn't know what was going on were all smiling. They were all battle-tested people, so they naturally knew what it meant for the enemy to fall into civil strife.

Only Fang and Du, who understood the truth, looked at each other and smiled.

As for Yu Shinan, he sighed. As a Jiangnan person, he still finds it hard to accept that so many Jiangnan gentry clans that have been passed down for hundreds of years have been destroyed in this way.

(End of this chapter)