The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 679
Two days passed in a flash, and when night fell, the city gates in Xiangyang were suddenly closed, no one was allowed to enter or leave, and no one was allowed to walk on the street. Wu Chuanwei went out again, and groups of heavily armed soldiers ran on the street. Okay, their armor gleamed coldly under the rain, their blades were sharp and murderous.

Pedestrians on the street dodged one after another and looked at Wu Chuanwei in horror, but soon there was a notice posted that Wu Chuan's army was chasing people who had colluded with the Sui army.Thousands of Wuchuan soldiers rushed towards their target in dozens of groups.

In the mansion of Dugu Mansion, Dugu Cheng was sitting at the table and writing letters to the heads of the various families. He also keenly captured the peaceful chaos in Xiangyang, realized that the storm was coming, and asked them to arrange for their relatives to leave Xiangyang. Now Dugu Cheng finally realized that he Neglecting his own safety, only by sending his family out of Xiangyang under Li Yuan's eyes can he have a basis for advancing and retreating when there is an incident.

For some reason, Dugu Cheng was a little upset at this moment. He stopped writing and sighed. Since Dugu Huai'en was killed, he felt that Dugu Mansion seemed to be being targeted by someone. He hoped that the family could be transferred out this time, if something happened. , the Dugu family is finished.

"Patriarch, Wu Chuanwei has rushed into the mansion."

Dugu Cheng was taken aback, stepped forward and opened the door, only to see the butler standing outside with a look of panic, Dugu Cheng shouted sharply: "What did you say?"

"Patriarch, hundreds of Wu Chuan guards have come in, claiming that the Dugu Clan cheated and leaked military information." The housekeeper glanced nervously at Dugu Cheng.

Dugu Cheng's face changed drastically, what he was most worried about was being discovered by Li Yuan.

At this time, the sound of chaotic footsteps came, and nearly a hundred Wuchuan guards rushed here. They also found Dugu Cheng, and everyone rushed forward to surround Dugu Cheng.

A school lieutenant said: "If the Dugu family mainly wants to be decent, please cooperate with us!"

"You guys had better not mess around, Princess Jin is a woman from my Dugu family." Dugu Cheng looked at the weapon in the opponent's hand, sighed secretly, and dropped the sharp sword in his hand.

"Patriarch Dugu can rest assured."

Dugu Cheng had no choice but to walk to the hall of the front yard under the surveillance of the soldiers. After a while, Yu Yun, Zhao Yuan, Wei Kuangbo, Yu Wenxin...etc. Guanlong Patriarchs were also sent here by Wu Chuansi.

Everyone with different expressions sat on the seats, and the whole hall was full. If there was not a team of Wuchuan Guards who were murderous, people who didn't know would think that this was a gathering of the noble Patriarchs of Guanlong.

Looking at these patriarchs who were usually proud and arrogant, Han Zhi took a sip of the tea leisurely, smiled, cupped his fists and said, "My lords, I act according to the holy order, and I will look to Haihan for any inappropriateness."

Although everyone hated this minion of Li Yuan extremely, they didn't want to cause disaster for themselves, especially Han Zhi brought a box, which made them even more nervous, and they didn't know what was in it. The Guanlong aristocrats who supported Li Yuan's founding, usually regarded themselves as the heroes of the founding of the country, and used power to seek illegal benefits. If you really want to act according to the law, even if you have a hundred heads, it is not enough. He just looked at Han Zhi with a cold face, for fear that the other party would see the uneasiness in his heart from his expression.

Han Zhi said again: "Presumably everyone knows that Li Mi is defeated. The next step is naturally the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The current situation is very critical. My Tang's rear cannot drag the front army back, but the imperial court does not have any rewards for land. Soldiers, in order to boost the morale of the army, the Holy Majesty hopes that the nobles of Guanlong will share the worries of the imperial court and donate land, money and food to the court. Previously, the eight major families including Dou Xiang, Doulu Xiang, Changsun family, and Hou Mochen all voluntarily donated [-]% of their land and [-]% of their property. Family slaves and half of the wealth. As a commendation of each family's support for the Tang Dynasty, the Holy Majesty bestowed the titles of Dukes on the heads of the eight major families, and the heirs of each family also received the titles of Dukes of the County. As long as you are interested, the Holy Majesty will ensure everyone's safety .”

Everyone felt relieved when they heard Fang, it turned out that Li Yuan could not produce evidence of their rebellion, but instead exploited them even more, but if they surrendered, it would not be long before Li Yuan would take everything from them again, who could bear Li Yuan Such cruel exploitation?
Dugu Cheng also heaved a sigh of relief, and he said slowly: "We support the Holy Majesty's army and are loyal to the Tang Dynasty. We have a relationship with the Holy Majesty that both prosperity and loss are related, so we are naturally willing to do our best to support the Tang army in fighting. It's just that we donated too much money and food last year, and now we all have more than enough energy. Please forgive me for a few months, after the autumn grain harvest, we will fully support the court and take back this season's grain, and we will also Donate the field to carry out. Is this okay?"

"Everyone, there would be no you without the Tang Dynasty. Everyone knows this. Although the Sui army is aggressive, as long as we hold the Hanshui defense line and Xiangyang, the Sui army will not be able to attack Jingxiang and Bashu." Dugu Cheng swept everyone With a glance, he said, "What do you think?"

Dugu Cheng became a lobbyist, and he also hoped that everyone would understand that Li Yuan is in a hurry now, and he can do anything. As long as he agrees to Li Yuan's conditions, everyone can survive the catastrophe, and then it can be dragged until the Tang Dynasty perishes.

Yu Yun knew that in a few months, it would be difficult to say whether there would be a Tang Dynasty, and Dugu Cheng was completely delaying the attack, so he immediately declared his position loudly: "Dugu Gong said it very well, it is my duty to support Datang with all my strength."

"My Yuwen family seconded the proposal." Yu Wenxin said hastily.

"I seconded Webster."

"I, Mrs. Zhao..."

Everyone is human, and when they realized that they were not acting on their own will, they all showed their loyalty.

"Everyone is so loyal, I will report the truth to the Holy One." Han Zhi was almost moved by these impassioned 'loyal ministers', and was also disgusted by their performance, and then said: "I will not repeat money, food and land, I believe everyone will Those who actively support the imperial court. Let me tell you another thing, I hope you will be as generous as before."

"If there is anything else, you might as well just say it directly." Dugu Cheng said coldly.

"Everyone knows that once the Sui army attacks our Tang Dynasty, it will inevitably fight on all sides. However, we have too few elite troops, and because the Holy Majesty wants to fight the Sui army in Jingxiang in order to comply with your request, so we are on the Hanshui defense line. Too many troops have been distributed, and the imperial court now has very few soldiers available. It is really difficult to compete with the Sui army, which is coming from a great victory. If it is not possible, firstly, there is too little time, and secondly, it is because we are worried about provoking a civil uprising, so we still need everyone’s support.”

"Your Majesty knows that every great family has private soldiers, ranging from hundreds to thousands, or even more. These thousands of private soldiers are well-equipped and well-trained, and they may be more powerful than the most elite troops in the imperial court." Let. There are about 6 to [-] people in total, so the Holy One hopes that everyone can lend Zhuang Ding to the court, and then return them to everyone after the war is over."

What Han Zhizhi said was undoubtedly what Li Yuan meant. He wanted to acquire tens of thousands of elite troops without bloodshed.As long as they seize the army in the hands of the Guanlong nobles, the Guanlong nobles are like tigers without claws, and then they will settle the case of treason with them.

However, many patriarchs are not fools. Private trilogy and farm property are their core interests, and they are also the bottom line of the Guanlong nobles. Li Yuan promised not to touch their interests at the beginning, and promised that they could keep the private trilogy. Fully support Li Yuan's advance to Guanzhong, but now, Li Yuan is obviously ready to tear up the original agreement.

Li Yuan said it was a loan in name, but everyone knew it was a tiger borrowing a pig, and there was no return, and the private army was their last force against Li Yuan. As long as the army was in hand, Li Yuan had some concerns.Without the protection of the army, they are big fat sheep at the mercy of others.What's more, Li Yuan has already used force to arrest people, the conflict between the two sides has reached the point of irreconcilability, it is even more impossible for everyone to hand over the private army, otherwise they will surely die.

Dugu Cheng thought that Li Yuan didn't know that everyone was about to rebel, so he became more courageous, and said sharply: "We can donate money, food and land, or even all of them, but don't mention Zhuang Ding's matter again."

Da Xirui, the head of the Daxi family, also said: "The Holy Majesty promised us to keep Zhuang Ding before he raised his troops. We don't believe that the Holy Majesty will go back on his word and keep his word. We need to confirm it with the Holy Spirit!"

"So, you don't believe my words?" Han Zhi asked with a smile.

Zhao Yuan said coldly: "It's not that we don't believe it, but that the matter is too serious. We hope to confront the Holy Majesty in court. If the Holy Majesty destroys the original promise, we have nothing to say. In short, we cannot accept your one-sided remarks."

"The Holy One is full of opportunities, so you can see them as soon as you want?" Han Zhi said viciously, "Whether it's money, grain, fields, or Zhuang Ding, it's up to you to make decisions now. It's all in Dugu Mansion. Think about it. When you hand over all the money, food, farmer and land deed, you will naturally be released. If not, no one will leave half a step."

After finishing speaking, Han Zhi turned and left. Dozens of Wuchuan guards followed him one after another. Dozens of patriarchs looked at each other in blank dismay. Through Han Zhizhi's words, they understood that Li Yuan would not meet them, and they all felt trembling and uneasy.

Slowly, everyone looked at the small box left by Han Zhi. The contents inside were obviously for everyone to see.

Dugu Cheng stepped forward to open the box, inside was neatly placed letters, he picked up a copy to read, his eyes widened suddenly, and his heart beat violently, it turned out that this was written by the old Patriarch Dugu Zheng to Yang After reading Dong's letters one by one, he found that many letters were unknown even to himself as the head of the family. In addition, there were also letters written by himself to the heads of various families, which should have been copied by Wu Chuanwei from the secret room of the family.

Dugu Cheng sat down on the ground, as if his heart had fallen into an abyss.All the Patriarchs also came forward one after another and found some private letters of their own, and their expressions changed drastically, as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

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

Dugu Mansion has been surrounded by more than 3000 Wuchuan Guard regiments, and their families have been sent here for centralized control by Wuchuan Guard, while the coachman and his followers are escorted to Wuchuan Guard Prison for detention. When Han Zhi led his men out from the gate of Dugu Mansion, the gate It was closed with a bang, and Wu Chuanwei sealed the door.

At this time, the deputy general Dou Xiaode stepped forward and said with a smile: "Sir, the expressions of these Patriarchs must be very exciting."

Dou Xiaode is a child of the Dou family, the grandson of Dou Kang, and the eldest son of Dou Dan. He already knew that many people in his family were framed to death by the Dugu family, including his grandfather and father. He naturally hated the Dugu family.

Han Zhi snorted coldly, "They're all a group of self-righteous guys. They think they can fight against the Holy One and the imperial power, so let them suffer."

Dou Xiaode nodded in sympathy and said: "Sir, you are right. Now that you have turned your face, you can't give in. King Qi is not in Xiangyang, so I ask the general to persuade the emperor. If you don't take this opportunity to deal with this group of people, you will be killed in the future." There will be endless harm."

Han Zhi nodded, "I'm entering the palace, and I'll leave it to General Dou here. There are a group of old foxes here, the general should be careful, and don't let anyone escape. If someone goes to inform the private army, these people will There will definitely be a rebellion, and it will be a catastrophe for our Tang Dynasty."

"Thank you sir for your teaching!" Dou Xiaode answered with awe.

Han Zhi confessed a few more words, got on his horse and ran towards the palace.

(End of this chapter)