In the south of Yecheng City, a group of Sui troops escorted more than a dozen Tang envoys from Ji County to the north.

The person at the head is in his early forties, with thick eyebrows and starry eyes, and a dignified and upright appearance, this person is this luggage Doctor Tang Guanglu, Song Guogong, and Xiao Yu, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

After entering the city, a prosperous scene suddenly came into Xiao Yu's eyes, although Yecheng is also divided into high-walled squares like Chang'an, but Yecheng retains the Shifang system at the same time, the houses on the street are all shops belonging to the government, merchants are allowed to lease shops to sell commercial goods, and sign a contract once a year, but the requirements for businessmen are not to occupy the road to operate, not to operate without a license, not to deface the street, etc., otherwise the right to operate will be revoked.

Before that, there were markets in the city, and all the shops were concentrated in special markets, such as the two major markets of Chang'an, the East and West markets, and Luoyang, which also had three major markets: South City, West City, and North City.

Merchants had to concentrate on the market to do business, and even divided into special districts, where all the banks were operated together. The common people live in a square area, which is like a community in later generations, which is closed and isolated, with a square gate and a square wall, even if it is a square resident next to the street, they are not allowed to open doors and windows on the square wall. Stalls are not allowed on both sides of the street.

This design is easy to manage and good for defense, but it is not conducive to the life of the people, for example, the residents of Chang'an City can only go to the east and west two cities to buy a food, and the people living in the south city have to walk several miles to buy a vegetable in the morning.

And the sky is not bright, the door is not open, and when it gets dark, you can't go out of the door to the street. All kinds of regulations have made the lives of the people of Chang'an extremely inconvenient.

In Yecheng, the streets are full of official shops, and if people buy and sell, they can buy them as long as they go out of the workshop. It is also to break the neighborhood restrictions, Yecheng is obviously very lively, only to see people coming and going on the street, all kinds of shops standing on the street, peddlers and pawns shuttling back and forth, a sense of peace and happiness is swaying.

Xiao Yu's eyes fell on the car window, through the gap between the pines and cypresses, you could see the situation on the street, most of the men, women and children on the street were plump and ruddy, indicating that they lived a relatively rich life, but their clothes were relatively simple, of course, there were also a lot of brightly colored satin silk, but more loose and fine linen.

Li Yuan's task to Xiao Yu was to get the four counties of Jincheng, Caohan, Douhe and Xiping through negotiations, especially after Wuwei was occupied by the Great Sui, the road of Longxi - Lintao - Caohan (or pouring the river) - Xiping County was the only way for Li Tang to go to the Western Regions and obtain Ma Yuan, but the latter three counties were taken advantage of by Yang Tong's group of people and took it down without a single soldier, and the anger of Li Tang, who was killed and killed, can be imagined. These counties involved Li Tang's most fundamental strong army construction, because without horses, the cavalry of the land king could not be formed at all, and Li Yuan's implication was that if he could not get it back through negotiation, he would fight for it by force.

But Xiao Yu and other Xiangguo know more about Li Yuan's eyes on Huining County in the hands of the Great Sui, Xiao Yu once appeared in the Sui Dynasty Shi Lang, is very familiar with Huining County, and also knows that there are excellent silver and copper mines there, since the occupation of the Great Sui, every month there are hundreds of large ships through the Yellow River to transport countless copper ingots and silver ingots to Yecheng, in order to carry silver and copper ships to avoid the rapid water Sanmenxia, the Great Sui even dug a canal on the rock east of the entrance on the left side of the Yellow River. In order to avoid the risk of sailing in the Sanmenxia of the Yellow River. The canal is more than 400 meters long, 30 meters wide and 10 meters deep. The two walls are steep, the upper mouth is slightly wider than the bottom of the river, and a plank road is also built on the bank.

For the Sui Dynasty, the abundant gold, silver and copper mines in Huining County were very important, but they were also strategic materials needed by Li Tang, and in order to seize this county, Li Tang would sooner or later use troops against the Great Sui.

Xiao Yu knew that Yang Tong would not back down, and Li Tang's army and being surrounded by Guanzhong on three sides were really worrying, if it was a battle, Xiao Yu was worried about Li Tang. However, Li Yuan still had the idea of what to expect, and planned to take Caohan, Doohe, and Xiping through negotiations, and when the time was ripe, he would take the two counties of Huining and Wuwei by lightning, so as to open up the channel with the Turks. But Xiao Yu didn't think that the arrogant and domineering Yang Tong would agree, and the most important thing was that Li Tang didn't have any exchanged objects in his hands. If you didn't come up with the slightest thing that made Yang Tong happy, how could people give you four counties for nothing? And this is also the reason why other Xiangguo can't come when they are sick, because they are afraid of annoying Yang Tong and being shaved back like Pei Lian, and until now, Pei Lin is ashamed to see people. But he eats the king's fortune, and can only be loyal to the king's affairs and do his best.

Come to Shenwu Palace, Shenwu Palace!

Yang Gongren and Kong Yingda have been waiting here for a long time, and the three of them know each other, these are all important figures in the Sui Dynasty, especially Yang Gongren, who is the first minister to follow Yang Dong in the most dangerous period, and his status in the Great Sui is second only to Yang Dongzhi, which can be said to be under one person and above ten thousand people. Kong Yingda is not far behind, in charge of the compulsory education of the Great Sui, can be called the 'teacher' of thousands of students, and is deeply loved by people all over the world. The greeting of these two big names made him feel a great pressure.

Xiao Yu stepped out of the carriage and walked forward quickly to salute: "There are two adults who have been waiting for a long time, sin, sin." ”

Yang Gongren said with a smile: "Xiao Xiangguo is a distinguished guest of the Great Sui, we have been slacking off along the way, please forgive me." ”

"The journey was very smooth, the Sui army guards were very good, and Lord Yang was serious." Xiao Yu originally had 500 followers, but the Great Sui did not let them enter, but the Sui army escorted several of their envoys to Yecheng.

This time Xiao Yu shouldered the heavy task of reconciliation with the Sui Dynasty, and it was a matter of empty gloves and white wolves, he was a little nervous, since the Great Sui and Li Tang broke out the battle of annexing the state, the Tang Dynasty has been in a situation of being beaten, which made the Guanlong magnates dissatisfied with the imperial court, especially the incident of Li Jingbing's arrival in the pass, which also caused the people of Guanzhong to lose confidence in the Li family.

Kong Yingda next to him said with a smile: "Xiao Xiangguo should have been allowed to rest for a few days, but we estimate that Xiao Xiangguo is also anxious, so let's talk about it briefly!" ”

"Ugh! There is no hurry. ”

"......" Yang Gongren and Kong Yingda looked at each other.

"Two adults, can you let me meet Princess Pingyang first?" Xiao Yu was very helpless, because he found that he still didn't think of how to negotiate, and he didn't know where to make a breakthrough.

He wanted to observe for a few days first, gather some information about the recent Great Sui Dynasty and then define it, which was crucial for the next step, and if he didn't understand the other party, he couldn't maximize his benefits.

Xiao Yu wants to delay for a few days first, take time to fully understand Da Sui before meeting Yang Tong, at least he has the capital to talk, and Li Xiuning is obviously a good breakthrough.

"I will pass the word to the palace, as for whether Concubine Li will see it or not, I can't guarantee it." Yang Gongren said with a smile.

"Thank you, Lord Yang!" Xiao Yu bowed,

Sure enough, in the afternoon, Li Xiuning's message came from the Ministry of Rites.

The place where Li Xiuning met Xiao Yu was called Fengyi Palace, and during the New Year's holidays, Empress Xiao and other royal women met with the families of officials, which was a common practice.

"Chen Xiao Yu see Her Royal Highness the Princess!" Xiao Yu bowed.

"Xiao Xiangguo is exempt, please take a seat." Li Xiuning raised her hand slightly, after she married to Yecheng, she lived a very happy life, Yang Tong had no views on men and women, and she did not have any embankment because she was Li Yuan's daughter, she is now the deputy marshal of the Flying Feather Bow Cavalry, and she is in charge of this alien army together with Shui Tianji, and she goes to the barracks every day to train soldiers.

"Thank you!"

After Xiao Yu sat down, he arched his hand and said, "I have been ordered to make peace with Da Sui, and I ask the princess to help." ”

"Is that what my father meant?"

"Princess, please!" Xiao Yu presented a letter written by Li Yuan himself.

Li Xiuning took it apart and looked at it, her father did not mention the slightest family affection, but in a commanding tone, she asked her to persuade Yang Tong to strive for the greatest interests for Li Tang, Li Xiuning felt sad in her heart, in the end, in the eyes of her father, she was just a tool to realize the struggle for power, not a daughter. She looked at the familiar handwriting, which was so dazzling at this time, that she was dizzy and her heart ached to the extreme. Inadvertently, I couldn't help but think of what my eldest brother Li Jiancheng said when I married into the Great Sui, "When I arrived in Yecheng, everything was important to myself, everything was important to my husband, and everything was important to the Yang family." ”

She gritted her teeth and said lightly: "I understand what my father meant. I also asked Xiao Xiangguo to go back and tell his father: I just want to say that I am just a woman, and national affairs have nothing to do with me. When I married King Qin, I was the wife of King Qin, born as a member of the Yang family, and died as a ghost of the Yang family. ”

Li Xiuning has a strong temperament, especially a man, but it involves the dispute between her father and her husband, which makes it difficult for her to make a choice, helping her father means hurting her husband, helping her husband will hurt her father, she is caught in the middle and it is difficult to choose, when these words came out, her heart was also happy.

Of course, she is just a side concubine of Yang Tong, but she likes Yang Tong and the current life very much, Yang Tong believes in her talent and gives her a platform to show, whether it is military and political or other things, Yang Tong has never concealed it, and at least five or six times out of ten times to adopt her reasonable suggestions, even if she does not adopt, she will put on a reason to persuade her, instead of using her husband's identity to force down, which makes her very warm.

Yang Tong has a common language with her, can talk together, unlike other people, there is no power to refute in front of her, often her whimsy, when she is in the Li family, she will be treated as a joke by her father and brother, in front of Yang Tong she can speak freely, Yang Tong does not say all the approval, but can also give reasonable opinions, often can say the key point, and her wild ideas, in Yang Tong not only is not prejudiced, Yang Tong often patiently gives her some answers, and even cites evidence, but she can't keep up with Yang Dong's footsteps, Often Yang Tong's casual words make her think about it for a long time, and even for a long time she can't understand it, and finally Yang Tong has to explain in detail, in short, being with Yang Tong makes her feel that she is not so different, and she is very happy to be lonely all the time.

In addition, Yang Tong really loves her!

In this society where men are inferior to women and strict classes, Yang Tong's love for their sisters is simply rebellious and unusual!

The servants and maids are the property of the head of the family, and the sisters and women are the tools of the head of the family, not only squandering them at will, but also holding the power of life and death!

Li Xiuning is obviously talented, why is he not valued in his own family, and even deprived of the military power he has worked so hard to obtain?

It's because women are outsiders, outsiders who will become 'guests' sooner or later! Treating others with himself, Li Xiuning was shocked and moved by Yang Tong's idea of getting along with each other on an equal footing and treating everyone equally.

Thinking about all the things after marrying Yang Tong, Yang Tong never forced himself to do anything, and never forced himself to do what he didn't like to do, in order to keep her from being embarrassed, let her jump out of the dispute between Sui and Tang Dynasty more clearly.

How lucky is it to meet a husband who respects and loves him? How can I be willing to harm him?

"Princess, you are Li Tang's princess after all! It should be for the sake of Li Tang's interests. Xiao Yu wanted to persuade again.

"The water that was spilled, the daughter who got married, from the moment I left Chang'an and set foot on the land and territory of the Great Sui, I was a member of the Yang family! I hope my father won't embarrass me again, I know what I need, I don't need Xiao Xiangguo to teach. Li Xiuning's face became ugly, and his tone was very cold, with a hint of threat in his coldness. For a woman, when she has no children, her husband is always the first and foremost person.

Li Xiuning's cold tone made Xiao Yu very unhappy in his heart, but after all, Li Xiuning was the concubine of Princess Li Tang and King Qin of the Great Sui, and Xiao Yu didn't dare to turn her face and attack.

The smile on his face faded, and he said lightly: "Princess, no matter what you say, you are the daughter of the Holy One after all, at least you don't want the Holy One to be exhausted." ”

Li Xiuning also restrained the anger in his heart, "Xiao Xiangguo is also an elder who is a father, do you want your daughter-in-law to harm the interests of her father-in-law's family to her mother's family?" Also, I heard that Xiao Xiangguo was brought up by Emperor Taizongwu and the Empress Dowager, should you be the first to see the Empress Dowager who brought you up with hard work? Shouldn't we first worship Emperor Wu, who has the grace of birth and nourishment, and the grace of knowing and encountering? ”

Li Xiuning has a strong and upright personality, hates hypocrisy, and hates men who lose their backbone and family affection for fame and fortune the most, and it is obvious that Xiao Yu is also among the soft bones she despises.

Xiao Yu blushed with shame! He lowered his head and did not dare to reply.

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