Among the various forces in the world, Dou Jiande's palace should be the smallest and most humble one, this is Dou Jiande's poverty and lack of financial resources to build a palace; The second is that his capital has never been stable, and on the other hand, Dou Jiande, who was born in a poor family, is frugal by nature and does not like luxury.

Fuchu! Dou Jiande and Changshi Kong Deshao were meeting with the Sui envoys.

The envoy was Zhang Xuan of the Department of Rites, because he was extremely good in diplomacy, and successfully persuaded Du Fuwei to surrender to Sui, so he was also promoted and became a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, in charge of the diplomatic department of the Department of Rites.

The three of them exchanged a few words, and Dou Jiande did not ask Zhang Xuan about the purpose of his trip, but talked about the people who left Qingzhou: "Three years ago, many people in Qingzhou fled to Jizhou; In the past few years, due to the war, some have gone one after another. I wonder what happened to these people? Please also inform me, sir. ”

Zhang Xuan solemnly said: "The general's love for the people is admired by his subordinates." However, although the general can rest assured, in the heart of the saint, whether it is a northerner or a southerner, there is only one identity, that is, the people of the Great Sui, and the saint has always treated his own people equally... After the people of Qingzhou arrived in Jizhou, they were all properly resettled, and they dare not say that everyone is rich, but they have no worries about food and clothing, and live and work in peace and contentment. ”

"Thank you, sir!" Dou Jiande sighed and said: "It is said that it is difficult to leave the homeland, but the people of Qingzhou were forced to leave their hometown, which is all my Dou Jiande's sin." ”

"The general should know! The departure of the people of Qingzhou is not only forced by life, but also represents the people's determination is the trend of the times. Zhang Xuan looked at Dou Jiande and said in a sincere tone: "The uniform land system implemented by my Great Sui enables the people to have their land, and each family can also get the ploughing cattle and horses presented by the imperial court; During the slack period, the imperial court's 'work for relief' law gave the people the opportunity to earn money to subsidize their families...... And Yixue makes reading and learning no longer a luxury, when the children of the people are successful in learning, they can enter the government through the imperial examination; Therefore, the Datong world where the old have something to rely on, the young to learn, and what to learn is useful, has been in reality in the Great Sui. Coming all the way from Luoyang, the people of Xingyang, Dongjun, Dongping, Jibei, Qi County and other places along the way are working hard with the help of the government, and everywhere is in full swing and full of vitality. After entering the North Sea, it is a barren countryside, and the village is completely ruined and silent... In stark contrast to the land controlled by the imperial court, there are countless scrawny people who help the old and the young to rush to Qi County...... This shows that the people who have suffered from the war yearn for peace and are full of yearning for the Great Sui, isn't this exactly what the people want and the trend of the times? The general loves the people like a son, so why should he do it when he knows he can't do it? ”

Although Zhang Xuan's words made Dou Jiande extremely unhappy, he also knew that his army with mixed results, as well as the only three remaining counties, it would be difficult to dominate the world, if the Sui army of Qi County attacked, he would not be able to hold out for a few days, and even without fighting, his 80,000 army would have collapsed without a fight. After thinking about it for a long time, Dou Jiande finally sighed: "I already understand the intention of Mr.'s coming!" But no matter how I say it, I am also a hero, and now that the world has not yet been unified, the Holy God may be able to tolerate me and use me as an example to recruit the world's heroes. But after he unifies the world, can he still keep me Dou Jiande? ”

Zhang Xuan said with a smile: "The saint is very similar to Liu Xiu of the Han Dynasty, the current Great Sui is the saint inch by inch, and his world does not rely on the strength of the first emperor." If you really want to think about it, it is not an exaggeration to call the saint the founding king, except for the name of the Great Sui, the country of the Great Sui has nothing to do with the previous Great Sui in his bones; For this world, the saint has absolute control. The various institutions he created were deeply supported by the people; Even if the general rebels after the general, I am afraid that few people are willing to abandon the existing good life to follow, this is one of them; Second, the general is over fifty years old, and there are no heirs under his knees, to say something hurtful, even if the general can lay down a large territory, no one will come to inherit it, and once the general is not alive, the country that he has worked so hard to build will collapse. So what reason does the general have to rebel? For the general, the saint knows these situations, so the general can rest assured. ”

"I'm afraid that the saint will have different hearts."

A trace of disdain flashed in Zhang Xuan's eyes, he looked at Dou Jiande proudly, and smiled coldly: "The general thinks too highly of himself. If the saint wants to pacify Qingzhou by force, he only needs to send two fleets and send 20,000 troops to Donglai and Gaomi respectively, and he can easily recover these two counties, or he can send a large army to kill from Langxie into Gaomi, and then use cavalry to capture Donglai; And all the troops in the general's hands are here, and they are so pinned down that they can't move, and there is no way to rescue them. Of course, the easiest and most troublesome way is for Yang Zuo to attack from the front and annihilate the general with a thunderbolt. Does the general think that these tens of thousands of miscellaneous soldiers can win the iron-blooded army of my Great Sui? It's not that he is underestimating the general, the saint wants to kill the general, it's as easy as a finger. ”

"That's what I don't understand." Dou Jiande smiled bitterly, he admitted that he had no strength to resist, it was very easy for Yang Tong to kill and annihilate him, but Yang Tong didn't kill him once and for all, but instead came to surrender to him, which was really strange and illogical.

In fact, when the Holy Lord said that he wanted to surrender the general, the civil and military officials were not only stunned, but also did not understand why the Holy Lord made the decision, and even many people spoke out against it! After all, it is not difficult for me to annihilate the general, and it can be done once and for all. When the saint gave three reasons for not killing the general, there was no more opposition. ”

Dou Jiande and Kong Deshao glanced at each other, and they both saw a deep look of inquiry in each other's eyes, as the leader of this force, Dou Jiande was even more surprised, in the final analysis, he was the anti-thief of the Great Sui, and Yang Tong had no reason to forgive him, but now, there were actually three reasons not to kill? It's weird.

"Please make it clear, sir."

"First, since Wang Bo's rebellion, Qingzhou has been in turmoil for more than ten years, the country has withered, the people's livelihood is poor, and the corpses of starvation are all over the ground, but after the general arrived in Qingzhou, he not only restrained the soldiers, but also treated the people well! The local governance was in good order, resulting in no large-scale starvation in the land of Qingzhou, and the saint believed that the general was meritorious to Qingzhou, to the people, and to the Great Sui! Zhang Xuan said with a strange expression.

Dou Jiande laughed, but said truthfully: "I did this for myself, but I didn't think about it so much." ”

"The saint has the world in his heart, and in his mind, all the people of the Great Sui are his people, and he thinks that if a thief benefits the people, then his merits are ten thousand times stronger than those of corrupt officials. Regardless of the general's intentions, it is a fact that the people have benefited. ”

"What's the reason? … Why is the saint so weird? ”

"It's good for the general to get used to it!"

"......" Dou Jiande was speechless.

"Second, the Holy Lord hates the traitors who betray the interests of the nation the most, and the general has repeatedly defeated the Japanese slaves who came across the sea in Donglai and Gaomi, and has contributed to the nation; In the same way, regardless of the general's intentions, it is a fact that the people have benefited. ”

"Third, the situation in Hebei was very complicated back then, not only the generals, but also dozens of thieves led by Gao Kaidao and others, if the imperial court cleared them one by one, it would be a protracted war, and the strength of the saint at that time was quite weak, if it fell into the quagmire of war, it would be unable to extricate itself, and eventually waste a lot of manpower, material resources, energy and time; In order to fight against the imperial army, the general gathered people from all walks of life in Hebei together, and finally gave the saint the opportunity to complete the battle; After this battle, the internal worries in the land of Hebei were completely eliminated, and the Holy Lord mobilized limited troops without any worries, thus winning one fruitful war after another! The Holy One said that he had to thank the general! ”

Zhang Xuanyou remembered that when Yang Tong said these words, his expression was very indifferent, but the pride and atmosphere in the words convinced everyone, and it was because of the strong admiration that Zhang Xuan had when he spoke, even if he didn't have to feel it deliberately, he could feel it.

When Dou Jiande heard this reason, his heart was a little blocked, and at the same time, he couldn't help but have a little more respect for Yang Tong, such an open-minded person, whether he was an enemy or a friend, was admirable after all.

"Thank you, sir!" Sighing, Dou Jiande looked at Zhang Xuan, "Let me think about it for a few days." "Actually, he was moved. He is already in his fifties, and he has no children under his knees, not only does he have no energy to rebel, but he also has no meaning to rebel, and he just wants to spend his old age in peace.

Zhang Xuan didn't say anything like Junjie who knew the times, got up and said with a smile: "Then I'll wait for the general for three more days, how about it?" ”

Dou Jiande nodded slowly and said in a deep voice: "To descend or not to descend, within three days, I will give Mr. a formal answer." ”

"Okay, then I'll leave it now! Waiting for the general Jiayin. Zhang Xuan bowed and withdrew from the mansion.

"Sir!" Dou Jiande got up to send him off.

……

After Zhang Xuan left, Dou Jiande was silent for a long time.

At this time, Kong Deshao, who had not spoken, stepped forward and sighed: "Your Highness, you should now understand the reason why we advocate respecting Sui and self-reliance, right?" ”

Dou Jiande was stunned for a moment, and then he was full of gratitude, until now he understood that Kong Deshao had already considered a retreat for him, if he had been called the emperor at the beginning, there would be no room for turnaround, he was silent for a long time, and sighed long: "Does Mr. Kong think I should surrender?" ”

"Your Highness, there are more than 100,000 elite Sui troops on the other side of Zishui, once they launch an attack, it will inevitably be a thunderous momentum, if there is no rebellion of Liu Heimin and Wang Xiaohu, and the strength of a battle, it will not work now." Kong Deshao's eyes showed a trace of sadness, and he said gloomily: "Emperor Shengwu launched a battle for the belonging of the world this time, he wants to concentrate all his strength to deal with many heroes, there is no extra strength to guard against us, he will not give us a chance to breathe, and our only three remaining counties, surrounded by the sea on three sides, the bordering Bohai, Qi County, Lu County, and Lang Evil are all owned by the Great Sui, even if you get out of the battlefield by luck this time, what can you do?" Your Highness, we are now dead if we don't descend, and there is no third way to go, if we don't seize this last opportunity, it will be too late to regret it. ”

"Alas!"

Dou Jiande sighed lowly, "I, Dou Jiande, don't like luxury, don't like beauty, and don't covet power; The rebellion was really forced by the situation, and I just wanted to find a way to live and have something to eat for my hometown fathers and elders! Now that the people of our hometown have long lived and worked in peace and contentment, and we have gone to the general trend, why should we cause unnecessary casualties for our own selfishness? Even if Emperor Shengwu reneged on his word and gave me a death, it would be worth it in exchange for the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. ”

"Actually, Your Highness, you can rest assured, Emperor Shengwu will not kill you."

"Why?" Dou Jiande said.

Kong Deshao said seriously: "Emperor Shengwu has given the people the best life, His Royal Highness can't give this, naturally no one will follow; Second, Emperor Shengwu must have outlived His Highness, so he didn't have any worries about His Highness. ”

"Uh......" Dou Jiande was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly, and laughed at himself: "If I descend to Li Yuan and Li Mi, they are afraid that their descendants will be harmed by me, and they will naturally be everywhere, if I die first, it will be fine, if I don't die, I am afraid that I will also be executed." And Emperor Shengwu is only in his early twenties, how could he be afraid of me? As long as Emperor Shengwu is still there, what am I, Dou Jiande? No matter how much he jumped, he couldn't turn over his palm; And if I die, how can there be any aftermath that will not be in the future, he has absolute confidence in himself; I really, really think so highly of myself! ”

The decision is made!

Dou Jiande was too lazy to wait, and directly asked people to recover Zhang Xuan, expressing his willingness to surrender to the Great Sui.

Zhang Xuan took out Yang Tong's letter of appointment: canonized Dou Jiande as the county prince of Zhangnan and the general of Dingdong, the six-rank military official, rewarded 10,000 pieces of money and 50,000 pieces of silver, and gave Zhangnan two hectares of good land, a Zhangnan mansion, and a Luoyang mansion;

As for his activities, Dou Jiande was not restricted in the slightest, and the Great Sui State was allowed to act, and even promised that if his ambition did not die, he could serve in the army.

Dou Jiande was greatly moved, he knew that this was not only Yang Tong's atmosphere, but also his own self-confidence, but Dou Jiande was not a person who did not know proportion, nothing else, he would definitely not serve in the army.

Following!

Yang Gongren led the army into Beihai and took over Dou Jiande's 80,000 troops, and a generation of heroes Dou Jiande withdrew from the stage of hegemony and faded out of the world's vision!