Yang Guang is a person who is resolute and unwilling to follow etiquette, and after entering the Daxing Palace, he walked directly to the holy seat and sat down. Then, without waiting for everyone to finish saluting, he asked straight to the point: "A few days ago, the recital of Yuan Honghe, the governor of Youzhou, has you all seen it?"

"I've seen it. ”

Duan Wenzhen, the secretary of the military department, held the jade gui in his hand and walked out of the crowd: "The 300 ships in Donglai Haikou have all been completed, 200 granaries in Zhuo County, 5.2 million stones of grain storage, 79,000 pieces of various types of ink armor, and 15 million arrows. In the north of Zhuo County, 450,000 soldiers from various guards have also gathered, which is similar to the record of our military department. Only the matter of Zhuojun Xinggong is outside the responsibilities of our military department. ”

"Now, everything is ready!"

Yang Guang's eyebrows were slightly raised, full of interest: "I will drive north tomorrow and lead the army to conquer Goguryeo." I have summoned you here today to stay in the prison country after my northern expedition—"

But before his words fell, an old and majestic voice came out of the hall: "Your Majesty! The minister thinks that the matter of Your Majesty's personal conquest still needs to be discussed. ”

When everyone in the hall heard this, they were not surprised, and they all turned their eyes to Fan Zigai, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the rear.

The white-haired old minister, who was nearly seventy years old, walked out of the ministers tremblingly: "Your Majesty, that Goguryeo is just a small country, with only four million people and no more than 100,000 armor. As long as you send a general and lead 200,000 troops to attack it, you will be able to destroy the withering and decaying and destroy the country. Why do you need Your Majesty to recruit in person, and you can't work for a million?"

"Really?"

Yang Guang smiled, and didn't care about Fan Zigai's offense: "But Aiqing, don't forget, in the eighteenth year of the emperor's reign, it was this small country in your mouth that made my father and emperor disgraced." ”

In the eighteenth year of the emperor's reign, the king of Goguryeo led more than 10,000 cavalry to attack Liaoxi, but was repelled by Wei, the governor of Yingzhou. After that, Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Yang Jian, with Han King Yang Liang and Wang Shiji as the marching marshals, led 300,000 land and water to attack Goguryeo, with Shangshu Zuo Servant Gao Gong as the long history of the Han Dynasty, and Zhou Luohu as the head of the navy. However, due to heavy rains, transportation was not continued, resulting in a large number of diseases among the army, and the navy also encountered winds on the way, and many ships were lost. The 300,000 Sui army, before reaching the Goguryeo territory, had already suffered eight or nine tenths of the casualties.

Emperor Wen of Sui was helpless, and because the king of Goguryeo apologized for his crimes, he called himself "Liaodong Dung Soil Minister", so he took advantage of the situation to withdraw his troops and treated him as before.

"It is precisely because I remember that I have to advise, the so-called lesson from the past, the teacher of the future!"

Fan Zigai held the jade gui in his hand and said expressionlessly: "Goguryeo is thousands of miles away from my Great Sui, and there is an ocean between it, so you need to trek through mountains and rivers and make a detour to Liaodong. And the expedition of the army, hanging outside the borders, is unpredictable. Once there is an epidemic breeding, or natural disasters obstruct the road, the ministers are afraid of the turmoil of the mountains and rivers. The art of war is cloudy, and if you don't think about victory, you should think about defeat first, and your majesty will think about it. ”

An old man in a red robe beside him hesitated for a moment, and then took a step forward: "Chen Suwei seconded the proposal, since ancient times, the Son of Heaven must not be taken lightly, Your Majesty has strategized and sent a powerful general to go, Goguryeo is just a scabies, so there is nothing to be afraid of, why should Your Majesty stand under the dangerous wall?"

This is Su Wei, an important minister of the dynasty, a veteran of the three dynasties, his father is the son of Su Sui, the former dynasty branch of the Shangshu, who assisted in the reform of Yuwentai, and his achievements are highly respected.

After the Great Sui Dynasty and Zhou, Su Wei was also appreciated by Emperor Wen of Sui, and assisted the emperor with the late Gao Ying, the Duke of Bohai County, and participated in confidential information.

So far, Su Wei has succeeded to the throne, and Su Wei has served as the right servant of Shangshu. Although he was dismissed for events in the third year of the great cause, after the ups and downs, he was appointed as Taichangqing and Nayan, not only one of the five nobles of Cao Cao, but also the actual ruler of the DPRK, which shows the importance of love.

Su Wei did not approve of Yang Guangdong's expedition to Goguryeo, but he knew that he didn't like to listen to people's advice, so he forbears it so far, but Yang Guang wants to conquer it in person, and Su Wei never dares to agree.

Yang Guang still didn't speak, only shook his head slightly, and his face was no longer pale.

Pei Yun, the imperial historian, was out of the list at this moment, and said with a dissatisfied expression: "The expedition of Goguryeo has been disputed many times in the court, and there has been a conclusion a long time ago. His Majesty's edict to send troops was also issued in the seventh year of the Great Cause. Do you want Your Majesty to go back on your word? Can you still take back the edict you issued?"

When he said this, he sneered and asked: "Fan Shangshu said that the lessons of the past and the future are the teachers of the future, but this is a big mistake and unfair! Since the fourth year of the great cause, our dynasty has dug the Yongji Canal, sent people to explore and map the terrain of Liaodong and Goguryeo, and gathered grain and grass military resources in Zhuo County, and built another 300 sea ships. Your Majesty has been thinking about this battle for four years, but Fan Shangshu said that Your Majesty has never learned from the past?"

Zuo Yiwei's general Yu Wenshu followed closely, and his voice was like a flood bell: "Your Majesty's million-strong division, with a banner covering the sky, such a division is unprecedented, and then there are our soldiers who are well fed, and the military armor and equipment are far superior to that small country of Goryeo.

Fan Zigai pondered for a moment when he heard this, and then continued: "In the first year of the Great Cause, the imperial court sent 4 million people to build the eastern capital and open the Jiji Canal; in the second year of the Great Cause, 2.4 million Ding men were recruited to dig trenches, from the east of Longmen to Changping and Jijun, and arrived at Qingguan, crossed the river, went to Junyi and Xiangcheng, and reached Shangluo to set up the customs for defense; in the third year of the Great Cause, the imperial court sent another 2.4 million people to build the Great Wall of Yulin; in the fourth year of the Great Cause, the Son of Heaven sent more than 1 million men and women in Hebei counties to open the Yongji Canal;

In the fifth year of the Great Cause, he conquered the Tuguhun, and in the sixth year of the Great Cause, His Majesty toured the south and repaired the Jiangnan River. Nowadays, the people everywhere have long been overwhelmed and have changed color when they hear the service. Especially in Henan, Shandong and other places, not only the people's livelihood is withering, but the cultivation is out of time, and the fields are barren.

Please be considerate of Your Majesty, and postpone the day of the expedition a little. Or, send a general to lead the army east. Just as General Yuwen said, Goguryeo is barbaric, why do we need to kill chickens with a knife?"

When Yang Guang heard this, his expression was already very calm, he frowned, and looked at Pei Yun: "Is it really as Fan Aiqing said?"

"In recent years, the conscription has been indeed onerous, but the imperial court has also exempted all the servants from rent as compensation. ”

Pei Yun bowed to Yang Guang: "And since Your Majesty ascended the throne, he has implemented a policy of light punishment, not only raising the age of Cheng Ding to twenty-two years old, but also exempting the women of the world, which is unprecedented." I privately thought that His Majesty's benevolence was beyond the reach of the ancient saints. ”

"The words of the Holy Monarch are too much, I love me, I'm afraid I won't say anything!"

Yang Guang shook his head slightly, and then asked Li Yuan: "What about you, Shude?

At first glance, Li Yuan only felt that his scalp was numb, and he thought to himself, how much more is this forced labor? It will only be more serious than what Fan Zigai said.

People everywhere, especially in Shandong, Shanxi and Henan, have long been overwhelmed.

Pei Yun said that the ancient sage monarch couldn't reach it, and it was even more of a joke.

I remember that in the first year of the Great Cause, more than one million people died just by building the Eastern Capital and the Tongji Canal. The dead servants are fourteen or fifteen years old, and they carry Ding Dong to Chenggao every month, and to Heyang in the north, and the cars look at each other.

In the seventh year of the great cause, the imperial court also requisitioned and sent the people south of the Jianghuai River and the ships to transport Liyang and Luokou Zhucang rice to Zhuo County, the ships were more than 1,000 miles, carrying soldiers and armor and the tools of capture, hundreds of thousands of people galloped back and forth, crowded the roads, day and night, the dead pillowed each other, and the stinky roads were full of filth.

This is what he saw with his own eyes, in the past, he served as the county guard of Lou Fu, and personally relieved Lou Fu 14,000 servants to enter Beijing, but the last survivors were less than 30%.

His cousin may indeed love the people, and after he ascended the throne, he also repeatedly practiced benevolent government.

However, the ministers of the poor family were more flattering, and the officials below who were responsible for building the eastern capital and supervising the construction of the canal, in order to meet the holy will, chased the construction period, and urged the servants in every possible way, all at the cost of human lives.

All His Majesty can see will always be the majestic palace, the straight royal road, and the magnificent canal.

As for the accumulated white bones left by those servants, they have long been swept away.

However, Li Yuan never dared to say these words in front of Yang Guang. He pondered for a moment, and then replied in a condensed voice: "Fan Shangshu's words are true, when the ministers were in charge of Zhengqi before, and when Longer Prefecture was in charge, the civil evasion of the people has happened repeatedly, especially in recent years, and the people are afraid of servitude like tigers. However, Goguryeo is also a big trouble for my henchmen, and it must be eliminated.

But the so-called lion fights the rabbit, and with all his strength, I can't despise it because of its small country. When the minister heard that the former first emperor wanted to conquer Chu, he first asked Wang Jian that he needed 600,000 troops, and then asked Li Xin, who only needed 200,000 horsemen. As a result, the latter was defeated by the city father, and the former was wiped out in one fell swoop."

As soon as he said this, he saw several people in the crowd cast surprised glances. There was surprise, ridicule, and annoyance.

But then, everyone didn't pay attention to this person. A clear and sonorous voice sounded after the ministers.

"The conquest of Goguryeo is indeed imperative!"

The person who interjected was none other than the imperial historian Pei Yun:

"Since the reign of the first emperor, Goguryeo has united the Turks in the north and the Chen Dynasty in the south, with the heart of the tiger and wolf, peeking into the territory of the Great Sui, and controlling the Khitan and the Yan tribes for their own use, and causing trouble to the northern Xinjiang, violating the border 27 times, slaughtering more than 100,000 border people, so that the four seas cannot be peaceful.

It is that after His Majesty ascended the throne and swept away the Quartet, his king Gao Yuan was still ambitious, did not obey the etiquette and did not obey the courtesy, and two years ago he wanted to secretly form a Turkic aid, and the plot was unpredictable. If such wolf ambitions are not severely punished, I will inevitably follow suit with evil neighbors in all directions. Moreover, the four counties of Lelang, Xuansu, Zhenfan, and Lintun are the old land of our Central Plains! Therefore, the expedition of Goguryeo is imperative. Presumably, colleagues, there is no objection?"

When he had said this, he scanned the temple with an oppressive gaze, and saw that all the people were silent and speechless.

Pei Yuncai raised his sleeves slightly and saluted Yang Guang: "But as Tang Guogong said, although Goguryeo is a small country with only four million people, the country has become stronger and stronger in recent years, and there are Khitan, Ya and other clans as its wings, which must not be underestimated."

And if I want to be thrifty with the people's power, I should go all out and wipe out Goguryeo in one fell swoop. Once the war is prolonged, it will only multiply the loss, contrary to Fan Shangshu's desire to be frugal and frugal. For example, Your Majesty, you think that the minister's knowledge is shallow and not enough to be trusted, so why not ask a few people present in the art of war?"