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

In the twelfth year of the Daye era, uprisings broke out in seventeen prefectures throughout the north and the Central Plains, with each prefecture having its own beacon fire and each prefecture having its own rebel king.

On the advice of Yuwen Huaji, Yang Guang toured Jiangdu to avoid the onslaught of various rebel groups in the north.

The emperor's hasty retreat to avoid the wrath of the rebels greatly encouraged uprisings across the country, drawing more and more counties into the rebellion against the Sui Dynasty.

Li Mi and Zhai Rang joined forces at Wagang, unifying the rebel forces across the Central Plains. They ambushed and killed Zhang Xutuo, a famous general of the Sui Dynasty, in Xingyang, and the Wagang army became renowned throughout the land.

Dou Jiande used a feigned surrender to defeat the Sui general Guo Xuan, incorporated Gao Shida's former troops, unified the Hebei rebel army, and dominated the Hebei region with a strong and well-equipped army.

Du Fuwei captured the shipyards in the Jianghuai region, built a navy that rivaled that of the Sui Dynasty, seized control of the Jianghuai region, and set his sights on Jiangdu.

Lin Shihong established himself in Jiangdong, possessing the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, and had already formed a separatist regime. He established the state of Chu and openly proclaimed himself king.

Other heroes and powerful figures also occupied various states and counties, with countless individuals spanning multiple states and counties.

There was not much land left that Yang Guang could directly control, and various regions stopped paying tribute to the court, leaving Yang Guang with no resources for enjoyment.

Yang Guang was known for his extravagant and wasteful lifestyle, squandering the tributes from the entire empire. Now, with only a few provinces remaining under his control, the tributes from those provinces were far from sufficient for his enjoyment.

Yang Guang discovered that his favorite Shu silk was gone. He no longer had new clothes made of Shu brocade and could only wear inferior silk or wear his old clothes a second time.

When has Yang Guang ever suffered like this since he ascended the throne?

Driven by his desire for pleasure, Yang Guang actually became somewhat more energized.

Yang Guang gathered the imperial army and had it led by various generals. He abandoned the closest threat, Du Fuwei, and instead sent troops westward to open up the road to Shu, recover Shu, harvest Shu brocade, and make new clothes for him.

In the end, it was only after several court officials threatened to kill themselves that Yang Guang finally gave up.

After discussions among several generals of the imperial court, they planned to first defeat Du Fuwei, then eliminate Li Mi, take control of the Central Plains and the Jianghuai region, march south to Lin Shihong, eliminate Dou Jiande in the north, and then eliminate all the rebels in various places to unify the country.

Yang Guang was extremely dissatisfied with these veteran generals when he discovered that Shu, which he needed most, had been relegated to the bottom of the list.

If it weren't for his reason telling him that he still needed these veteran generals to quell the rebellion, he probably would have dragged these disobedient subjects out and beheaded long ago.

If you dare to disobey him today, will you dare to rebel tomorrow?

Is there no reverence left for emperors?

After the court assembly, Wang Shichong was ordered to go north to guard Luoyang, the eastern capital, and to defend against the Wagang Army.

Chen Leng led the last 10 imperial guards south to attack Du Fuwei. Du Fuwei had a large army and many ships, occupied the Jianghuai region, and his morale was high.

After Chen Leng's analysis, Du Fuwei had a fatal flaw, which was also a common flaw among all the major villainous forces in the world: they did not have enough manpower to manage their subordinates. Many of them were just filling in the numbers, which led to their lack of staying power.

One major defeat can lead to a complete collapse.

Chen Leng chose a defensive strategy to wear down Du's army, which would both defeat Du Fuwei and minimize the losses of the imperial army.

The imperial court only has so much wealth left; every penny saved counts.

Du Fuwei wasn't stupid; he could naturally see through Chen Leng's intentions. So he racked his brains, trying every possible way to get Chen Leng to take the initiative.

However, Chen Leng remained unmoved, determined to play the coward.

In the end, Du Fuwei had no choice but to resort to a dirty trick: he sent Chen Leng a woman's dress to mock her as "Old Lady Chen."

As a military general, Chen Leng was full of vigor and could not bear such a great humiliation.

He was thoroughly enraged and assembled a large army to fight Du Fuwei to the death.

On the day of the decisive battle, Du Fuwei took the lead and charged into battle with his troops.

On the Sui army's side, a general aimed at Du Fuwei and fired a cold arrow, which struck Du Fuwei squarely in the forehead and lodged in his bone. With the arrow lodged in his head and blood streaming down his face, Du Fuwei looked like a demon, utterly terrifying.

"I won't draw my sword until I kill you!"

Du Fuwei roared and continued to lead the charge, cutting down enemy generals and seizing flags.

None of the Sui army's generals could rival him; he successively beheaded them and forced his way to the general who had shot him with a cold arrow.

With a few swift moves, Du Fuwei killed the general's personal guards. His bloodshot eyes fixed on the general, he grinned maliciously.

"You shot this arrow in; now you pull it out yourself!"

The general was intimidated by Du Fuwei's imposing presence. Trembling, he grasped the arrow with both hands and pulled it out. Blood gushed out from the wound, making Du Fuwei look even more like a demon crawling out of hell.

Despite the pain, Du Fuwei beheaded the general with a single stroke.

He carried the head of a Sui general in one hand and charged through the Sui army repeatedly. Wherever he went, the Sui soldiers retreated in fear.

Du Jun's morale soared, and he fought with increasing ferocity, relentlessly charging after Du Fuwei. The imperial army suffered a crushing defeat, and Chen Leng escaped back to Jiangdu with only ten thousand or so remaining soldiers.

After Du Fuwei incorporated the surrendered Sui army, his strength greatly increased, becoming no less than that of Li Mi, who occupied the Central Plains. Together with Li Mi, they were known as the two heroes of the North and South.

Chen Leng commanded the last elite troops of the Sui Dynasty. Now, the Sui Dynasty's army consisted only of border troops in various regions. However, the imperial court's military orders could not reach the border troops at all, and Emperor Yang of Sui was no longer able to command the border troops.

Before the Central Plains are reunified and a new unified dynasty is established, the border troops will no longer obey anyone's orders, but will instead guard the frontier and wait for the establishment of a new empire.

The only Western Region border troops still under Yang Guang's command have not yet received news of the complete chaos in the world. By the time they find out, the Sui Dynasty will probably have already perished.

After news of Chen Leng's defeat in battle against Du Fuwei spread, all the major powers in the land vied for the title of king, no longer caring about the Sui Dynasty.

In the thirteenth year of the Daye era, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, who had returned from their studies in Yanzhou, went back to Taiyuan.

Li Yuan ordered a feast to be prepared to welcome them back.

After the meal, Li Yuan summoned Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to his study and asked them what knowledge they had learned.

Although they have maintained correspondence over the years, it is ultimately not as effective as face-to-face interaction.

In particular, Li Jiancheng said that although he had studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry back then, he only scratched the surface.

Unexpectedly, Li Jiancheng was quite talented in this area and was directly accepted as a personal disciple by Wei Cheng, the Prince of Yan. Even Li Shimin was just an outer disciple.

It's a pity that Li Jiancheng didn't learn the art of governing a country; otherwise, as the personal disciple of the Prince of Yan, who was taught the art of governing a country, he would definitely have been a candidate for the founding emperor.

Pity.

Li Yuan sighed inwardly.

"Father, the world is in chaos. The Sui Emperor is tyrannical and cruel, the people are suffering, resentment is boiling, and righteous armies are everywhere."

"Not long ago, the last elite army of the imperial court was defeated in the Jianghuai region. The Sui Dynasty's fate is sealed. Our Li family must make plans as soon as possible."

After catching up with Li Yuan, Li Shimin began to persuade Li Yuan to raise an army.

However, Li Yuan was somewhat timid. He had witnessed how powerful the Sui Dynasty was at its peak, with its mountains of money and grain, and the ability to easily summon an army of 500 million. This made him hesitant to launch a military campaign.