A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"Your Majesty, nearly half of the railway line from Luoyang to the east has been laid. However, due to Qingzhou being the birthplace of the Sui Dynasty, the eastward railway line has been tilted to the south, and it has now reached Jinling City."

"Your Majesty can use this as an excuse to make a southern tour to Jinling."

"At that time, someone will definitely tamper with the railway. Your Majesty only needs to secretly travel by water to Jinling, send a double to depart from the railway, and you can safely arrive in Jinling and wipe out those who tamper with the railway and those families that are eager to cause trouble."

"Incidentally, this will serve as a deterrent to the world, showing the consequences of daring to attack the railway, and preventing anyone from attacking the railway in the future."

"Why need a double? I'll sit in the carriage and see who dares to move!"

Yang Guang said domineeringly.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

Zhang Wei was startled; he dared not actually use Yang Guang's life as bait.

"No need for further words, my mind is made up."

"My golden-armored warriors are absolutely capable of protecting my safety."

Yang Guang felt incredibly safe driving his 3000 Golden Melon Warriors, whom he had personally trained.

The families of these 3000 Golden Gourd Warriors were all brought to Luoyang City by him. He personally assigned them residences, and ensured that their families could receive free medical treatment at the Luoyang Medical College. Their children were also enrolled in the best schools by Yang Guang.

He would often send his own children along to play with the children of these golden-armored warriors.

He believed that everyone inside was willing to die for him and would do everything in their power to protect his safety.

"Go and make the arrangements."

"I await your good news."

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Yang Guang pointed at Zhang Wei and said.

"I obey your decree."

Zhang Wei couldn't dissuade Yang Guang, so he had no choice but to let Yang Guang make the arrangements himself.

However, the current Sui Dynasty is full of martial prowess, so there should be no problem.

"I have another idea."

"I am preparing to hold a martial arts competition among warriors from a hundred nations."

"The Wei family has always been known for its martial prowess, and there was once a famous story of them breaking through a city gate with a single halberd."

"In my opinion, these are all baseless rumors. How could human power move the city gate? What would be the point of having a city gate then? It must be that the Wei family secretly spread these rumors to increase their own deterrent power, simply spreading misinformation."

"Under my discerning eyes, it's nothing but a joke."

"If the Wei family does not participate, it will damage the Wei family's reputation, making people think that the Wei family is afraid to fight and that the historical records are all false."

"If the Wei family is involved, I don't believe that the Wei family's martial prowess is really that strong. If they are defeated on the arena, the myth of the Wei family's superior martial prowess will be shattered, and the Wei family's mythical image will also be broken."

"A bleeding god will no longer be revered and feared by the great families."

"Then I can seize the opportunity to carry out that act of slaying the gods!"

Zhang Wei was somewhat skeptical of Yang Guang's guess, after all, those were not some unofficial historical fiction, but were written in official history.

It's a pity his family isn't a truly powerful clan; otherwise, there would be records in the clan specifically stating that all of this is true, and that one should never even think about fighting those non-human beings!

Why did the wonderful tradition of fighting disappear as early as the Han Dynasty?

It's all because of these animals!

Based on this information gap, Yang Guang and Zhang Wei devised this plan.

Zhang Wei soon spread the news that Yang Guang was preparing to travel south in a steam-powered carriage, and this news quickly became a topic of discussion among the people of Luoyang.

Although steam engines had already been put into use in Yanzhou, given the transportation conditions of that era, apart from those aristocratic families, the ordinary people of Luoyang had almost never been to Yanzhou, and naturally had never seen the steam engines that were rumored to be miraculous.

The people of Luoyang were extremely curious about this steam carriage; they wanted to see how a carriage without horses could move.

The courtiers also advised against Yang Guang's southward journey, asking what kind of behavior it would be for the emperor to run around aimlessly.

The instability in the south was nothing more than a minor ailment to them, not worth mentioning.

This era was unlike the original history, where the North and South were divided for over a century, with the elites migrating south and the Five Barbarian Invasions taking place, leaving the North and South of the country almost as two separate ethnic groups.

In order to maintain his rule over the country and prove that the country had been unified, Yang Guang made several southern tours to protect the unity of the nation.

In this era, those minor disturbances in the South were utterly insignificant.

Those Jiangdong rats are not worth mentioning.

If they dare to cause trouble, the imperial army can easily quell the rebellion once it arrives.

A son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof; how could he do such a dangerous thing?

However, this time Emperor Yang of Sui firmly rejected the idea. Yang Guang directly placed his golden-armored warriors in the court, displaying an aura that anyone who opposed him would die.

He didn't believe the Wei family would interfere in such a matter.

This matter does not involve people's livelihood, so the officials naturally will not unite.

After trying their best to dissuade him, the forces loyal to Yang Guang realized his determination and began to turn their guns on him in support of his orders.

Yang Guang's expression softened slightly; it seemed that as long as the Wei family wasn't involved, his subordinates could still be used.

However, as long as the Wei family is involved...

A shadow fell over Yang Guang's heart.

I'll bury this thought deep in my heart and focus on dealing with the powerful families of the world first.

The Minister of Works stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the number of steam-powered vehicles in the country is currently insufficient, with only about 50 vehicles."

"At most, we can only pull a little over 30,000 people. Your Majesty, please make the decision."

"It's alright. Order the cavalry to follow on both sides of the train. This southern tour is also to visit various places and observe the people's lives, so as not to become unaware of the hardships of the common people while staying in the deep palace."

"The steam car doesn't need to be too fast; the same speed as the cavalry is fine."

"You can bring less baggage; it can be supplied locally."

The ministers: "..."

How can you say such things when you're making people do forced labor and even provide them with their own food?

"Whom does Your Majesty intend to bring along?"

The Minister of Rites stepped forward and asked the question.

"Empress, concubines, princes, princesses, officials, palace maids, eunuchs, imperial guards, students of the Imperial Academy..."

"I've done the calculations, and 150,000 people are enough."

With each word Yang Guang uttered, the Minister of Revenue's face grew darker.

One hundred and fifty thousand people is enough!

You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household!

No, that's not right. It's that the person in charge doesn't manage things and doesn't know the cost of daily necessities!

The expenses for 150,000 people amount to an astronomical figure every day.

Not to mention that the Imperial Guards were all cavalry, and the food and rations consumed by a single cavalryman were 5 to 10 times that of an infantryman.

These were the elite troops of the Imperial Guard, and their horses were all top-quality warhorses. They consumed ten times the amount of provisions and supplies as infantry.

Yang Guang wanted to bring 100,000 imperial guards. How much money and grain would it take to feed these 100,000 imperial guards and their horses?

The national treasury was already stretched thin just to support the people conscripted by Yang Guang, let alone have the resources to support such a large-scale southern tour team.

"Your Majesty, the national treasury does not have enough money and grain!"

"I know, so I ordered the collection of grain and fodder from various regions, thus avoiding the waste of transportation costs. Isn't that wonderful?"

The Minister of Revenue was speechless; he understood what Yang Guang meant.

During the reign of the late emperor, in order to enable better development in various regions, each region was allowed to retain 20% of its tax revenue locally to improve the local people's livelihood.

It seems that Yang Guang had his eye on this money and grain.

Seeing that he had convinced all his ministers, Yang Guang felt triumphant.

"My lords, I have prepared to hold a martial arts tournament in Luoyang, bringing together warriors from a hundred nations!"