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

The Great Xia sent these people here to cause trouble. They even left their wills before coming to the Great Sui, not expecting to return alive.

Their sole mission here is to muddy the waters, to expose the Sui Dynasty's outward strength but inner weakness to all nations, and to ignite the ambitions of the various vassal states.

They don't need to say anything more; their very existence is the biggest blow to the Sui Dynasty.

Apart from the countries surrounding Great Xia, which already knew that Great Xia had established itself as an empire, countries further away were unaware of this news.

Upon learning of this in Luoyang, they quickly sent people back to China.

A self-established empire is a slap in the face to the Sui Dynasty, but the problem is that the Sui Dynasty has not taken any action so far, seemingly tacitly approving the establishment of this country.

After detailed investigation and with the deliberate disclosure by the Great Xia, they learned that this was because the Great Sui had actually been defeated by the Great Xia.

After extensive inquiries confirmed the authenticity of the news, the myth of the invincible Great Xia in the minds of various countries was shattered.

If a god is injured, the collapse of his throne is not far off.

It is not gods that get hurt, but people.

The ambitions of various countries have been successfully exposed by the Great Xia. It is foreseeable that after this martial arts tournament, countless more people will claim the title of emperor or king.

The allure of being ordained by Heaven and enjoying eternal life is irresistible to anyone.

I'm afraid that any country would change its era name, call itself emperor, and establish a system of government.

At that time, the greatest advantage of the Sui Dynasty's legitimacy will be completely gone, and the Divine Empire, located in the center of the world, will no longer have the advantage of ruling over all nations.

This martial arts contest, on which Yang Guang had placed high hopes, lost all its political significance.

Even if Yuwen Chengdu ultimately wins the crown, the strongest warriors from all the countries would only last 50 moves against him.

But this is ultimately just reckless courage. In battles between nations, even a mighty general can never decide the overall outcome.

Unless you are the kind of abnormal person like the Wei family, who can kill gods and Buddhas if they stand in your way, and can destroy cities and fortresses with your physical strength, you can't influence the entire battle situation.

Moreover, the Wei family's group of freaks are not only freaks in terms of martial prowess, but also in leading troops and commanding battles, which are among the best in the world.

Yuwen Chengdu is far from being good enough. Even if he is a great fighter, he can't defeat one person alone. But if a group of people attack together, they can hold off Yuwen Chengdu.

Or just send a bunch of cannon fodder to surround him and let him kill. How many can he kill?

100, 200, 1000?

For the top nations of that time, even if they had to sacrifice thousands of cannon fodder to hold off Yuwen Chengdu, they could still manage to do so.

This loss is insignificant to them.

……

Below the stage of the Hundred Nations Warriors Tournament, two spirited young men were watching the martial arts competition on the arena with great interest.

The slightly older one had already started growing a beard and glanced helplessly at his younger brother.

"Shimin, fighting in the ring is ultimately just a display of brute force; one should not become obsessed with it."

The young man was none other than Li Shimin, later praised as one of the greatest emperors of all time.

Now only a teenager, he could only smile awkwardly at his older brother who had taught him since childhood, saying, "Brother, I know."

From childhood, his older brother had taken great care of him, treating him like a brother and a father.

However, his older brother was so strict with his studies that he both respected and feared him.

His elder brother watched him study military strategy and the Four Books and Five Classics day and night, checking his progress every night, leaving him no free time.

He had to beg to come and watch the martial arts competition.

"Brother, since Father's title of Duke of Tang will eventually pass to you anyway, wouldn't it be better to let your younger brother be a playboy?"

"A green robe, a white horse, a sword in hand, roaming the world—what could be more exhilarating?"

Li Jiancheng looked at his younger brother with a complicated expression; he wanted this kind of life too.

But as the heir apparent of the Duke of Tang, he bore heavy responsibilities, and many things were beyond his control.

That's why he worked so hard to cultivate Li Shimin, hoping that one day Li Shimin could help him shoulder this responsibility, allowing him to live a carefree life and find solace in nature.

It was nothing more than the title of Duke. Now that the world was in chaos, the title of Duke in the Sui Dynasty might be worthless in the future, so Li Jiancheng didn't care.

"Don't forget what you promised me. In seven days, I will check your progress in learning the Six Strategies."

Li Jiancheng turned his gaze to the ring, speaking in a 37-degree manner as if he were speaking at a 0-degree angle.

Li Shimin's face fell. Looking at the exciting competition before him, he felt that he didn't have much of a feeling anymore.

He was intelligent from a young age, so how could he not see through his brother's thoughts?

However, Li Jiancheng had been teaching him since he was three years old, and his authority was deeply ingrained. He was still a young boy and not the mature emperor of the future, so he dared not refuse.

He now pins his hopes on the fact that the teacher his father found for them isn't as rigid as Li Jiancheng, so that he can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let's go, the game is over."

Li Jiancheng put away the book in his hand and beckoned Li Shimin to get up and leave, saying, "We still need to hurry to Yanzhou to find a teacher; we can't waste any more time."

……

After the martial arts tournament of 100 warriors concluded, the delegations from each country dispersed.

After obtaining detailed intelligence from them, several major powers of the time declared themselves independent and ruled as sovereign states.

In a short time, more than a dozen new empires appeared in the world, and many small countries were also eager to make their move. However, due to their lack of strength and fear of being attacked by the surrounding empires, they temporarily suppressed their thoughts.

However, these small countries are also forming alliances with each other. Once the alliances are established and they have the strength to resist the major powers, they will gradually declare themselves emperors or kings.

Yang Guang suffered repeated setbacks and began to become decadent, indulging in wine and women, and increasingly conscripting the people to build palaces for him.

In September of the tenth year of the Daye era, Yang Xuangan raised an army in Liyang and quickly seized the surrounding three prefectures, amassing an army of 100,000. This was the largest rebellion in recent years, and he was also the first high-ranking official of the court to rebel.

Yang Guang flew into a rage in the court and ordered Yuwen Chengdu to personally lead troops to attack.

In the eleventh year of the Daye era, Yuwen Chengdu led the imperial guards to defeat Yang Xuangan. After his defeat, Yang Xuangan committed suicide in Liyang.

The pacification of this war did not mean peace for the world. Inspired by Yang Xuangan's rebellion, uprisings across the country have spread like wildfire.