Soon, the news of Xiao Mill's surrender to the Great Sui reached the hands of all the princes, which immediately caused a huge storm, and more importantly, Xiao Milling was not only nominally surrendered, but the Sui army had substantially entered Nanjun. The terrifying strength of the Great Sui, the vast land, and the tens of millions of people were all trembling by these princes. Since then, whether it is Li Yuan, Li Mi, or Lin Shihong, they all border on the Great Sui, and anyone may become the next target of the Great Sui.

Although after retreating to Xiangyang, the strong enemy buckled the border, and he knew that it was impossible to destroy Xiao Miao, but he still approved the plan of his second son Li Shimin, preparing to seize Nanjun, extending the Hanshui defense line to the east, and then waving his army south, occupying Xiao Miao's territory inch by inch, so that Jingxiang and Bashu could be integrated, so that they could live in the south. However, with Xiao Miao's surrender, Li Shimin's plan to raid Nanjun was no longer realistic, just because Wen Yanbo reported that Du Ruhui had already seen through their plan to attack Nanjun along Jingshan, Zhangshui (not Yecheng), and Nanjun. Li Yuan's heart began to rise, he knew that Yang Tong would not sit idly by and watch the Tang army expand eastward, there would definitely be action, and sure enough, he soon received an urgent express report of eight hundred miles. It is said that the first army of the Great Sui led by Qin Qiong was stationed in Nanjun, and the general Zuo Tiancheng led 20,000 Sui troops and 20,000 Yuan Liang troops were stationed in Changlin, causing Li Yuan's surprise attack on Nanjun to be stillborn.

The Imperial Study of the Martial Arts Palace.

Li Jiancheng, Shimin and several important ministers were urgently summoned by Li Yuan, and he handed the express newspaper to everyone to circulate, and for a while, there was silence in the imperial study.

"Xiao Mo would rather be a minister than a master, but I looked down on him." Seeing that everyone was silent, Li Yuan, who was on the throne, shook his head and sighed.

Dou Liang, who was 'recovering from his illness', said with an ugly face: "This Xiao Mianning is really unproductive, he actually gave up everything and went to Luoyang to be an idle person who was under much surveillance, instead of joining forces with us to fight against Sui, this matter is too surprising." ”

"There is nothing surprising, Xiao Milling's territory is an unexpected dessert brought by the strong deterrent power of the Sui Dynasty. Yang Tong is too strong, so strong that Xiao Mo does not dare to be an enemy with him. ”

Li Jiancheng saw it more thoroughly, he knew that once Yang Tong completely digested Xiao Miao's territory, there would be more places bordering the Tang Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, although most of these places could not march, but it was still possible for a small group of Sui troops to enter. Compared with the Great Sui Dynasty with strict household registration, there are a large number of family slaves who are not registered in the Tang Dynasty, even if there are strangers entering the country, the local officials of the Tang Dynasty are unable to recognize and investigate, if the Sui army is sabotaging in the heart of the heart, the trouble will be great, and Li Jiancheng has no doubts about whether Yang Tong will do this, just because the Eastern Turks have been brought down in this way.

"Holy Lord, we can't do something? Could it be that he watched Xiao Miao's territory being eaten away by Yang Tong? The Ministry of Industry Shangshu Dugu Huaien said urgently.

"Compared with the Sui Dynasty, our army is not as good at fighting as people, but now it is even inferior to the number of troops. I just want to do something and can't do it. Li Shimin glanced at Dugu Huaien lightly and said: "These days, there have been urgent reports from Tongchang, Danchang, Wudu, Yicheng and other counties, saying that a small group of Sui troops entered to sabotage and intended to seize the city. In my opinion, the eastern region should also be fast, and I am worried that there are almost no soldiers in the east, and if the Sui army finds a mountain trail, the war will soon sweep through Bashu. ”

The two brothers were worried together, and Li Jiancheng hurriedly responded, "Father, the words of the second brother are exactly what the sons are worried about. ”

Xiao Yu suggested: "Holy Lord, it is already a fact that Xiao Milling has descended to Sui, and it is difficult to change anything. The most important thing now is to contact Li Mi and Lin Shihong as soon as possible, so that the two can annihilate Du Fuwei as soon as possible, occupy the Jianghuai land as soon as possible, and lead away part of the Sui army, so as to reduce the heavy burden of the Tang Dynasty and give us the opportunity to send troops. ”

"Send someone to contact you immediately, Li Mi and Lin Shihong should also receive the news."

"Whoa!"

Li Yuan nodded, and asked everyone again: "Everyone talk about it!" What about the current situation? ”

The crowd was silent.

Xiao Miao's surrender to Sui was too sudden, and no one dared to say that his own method could cope with the current situation that had changed.

After a long time, Liu Wenjing arched his hand and said: "Holy Lord, Weichen is willing to throw bricks and lead jade, let's say a few words first." ”

Li Yuan has always disliked Liu Wenjing's stinky temper, but Liu Wenjing has become a little 'quiet' during this time, and he is no longer like before, saying ugly words that make him unable to get off the stage, seeing that everyone has nothing to do, he took the initiative to speak again, Li Yuan nodded with satisfaction, "Liu Xiangguo, but it doesn't hurt to say it!" ”

Liu Wenjing said unhurriedly: "First of all, we must understand that Xiao Miao's regime is the same as the Turkic tribal system, and his regime is composed of many small forces; Xiao Mill, like the Turkic weak Great Khan, has been unable to subdue these small leaders, so Xiao Mill's surrender does not mean that these people have also surrendered to the Sui Dynasty. And Yang Tong's strength is notoriously strong, these people know that their interests will be taken away by Yang Tong, so when Yang Tong takes back these interests, there will definitely be some turmoil. And Yang Tong went south for more than half a year, he gained too much territory, dozens of counties, which need to be digested one by one, in order to exterminate the bandits, he also set up a special military department, used to suppress bandits and suppress local Haoqiang, Haoqiang under the name of Xiao Mo is not an ordinary bandit, each has a regular army, these have to be leveled by Yang Tong, that is to say, in addition to the few counties actually controlled by Xiao Miao, other places have to be fought by the Sui army. ”

Liu Xiangguo is right, Xiao Miao's territory has nominally been returned to Sui, Yang Tong's usual style is to conquer one place, govern one place, and stabilize one place, and Yang Tong should focus on digestion next. I wonder what Liu Xiangguo thinks we should do next? ”

It was Chen Shuda who spoke, and since Pei Lin went to Xiyang, Liu Wenjing's speech had one less natural enemy to refute, so that his train of thought could be postponed.

Liu Wenjing smiled slightly: "The north of Chungling is Yang Shanhui, which causes our army to be unable to move, if Yang Tong really wants to attack the Tang Dynasty, then he should let Qin Qiong attack Chungling from the eastern direction of Han, and the eastern front of the Hanshui defense line will be solved without a fight." I believe that Yang Tong is also very aware of this, but he didn't, but sent Qin Qiong into Nanjun, which sent a message to Weichen: I don't move your Chungling, and you don't want to get involved in my Nanjun. ”

Liu Wenjing's analysis made everyone feel that the clouds were dissipating, and if you think about it carefully, there is indeed this meaning.

Li Yuan thought for a while, frowned, and said, "It may also be that he simply doesn't want our army to infect Nanjun." ”

Liu Wenjing shook his head: "If Xiao Mo is the main one, King Jin's surprise attack plan will naturally succeed, but if the enemy is replaced by the Sui army, these tens of thousands of people are in danger of being wiped out, and dividing troops to raid Nanjun is in line with Yang Dong's needs." Du Ruhui said it in advance, indicating that the Sui army did not want to fight now. ”

Xiao Yu also said at this time: "Liu Xiangguo is right, there is news from the Lingling side that Yang Shan will be stationed in Handong County with 20,000 troops, and the main will be Li Zhengbao. These two armies are more than self-preservation, but not enterprising. This also shows that Yang Tong will not attack Chungling County for the time being, and sending troops to Nanjun is to warn us that we are not allowed to attack, so once we attack Nanjun, or any place that originally belonged to Xiao Miao, there will be a conflict with the Sui army, and the situation will be more complicated, and at that time, the war will not be limited to Jingxiang. ”

"Then according to the opinion of the three prime ministers, we can only give up all offensive plans and can only defend passively?" Li Shimin said unhappily.

"No!" Liu Wenjing said: "Weichen has always disapproved of raiding Nanjun, first of all, the strength and number of our army are not as good as the Sui army, even if there are 10,000 or 20,000 people, we can't afford it; Secondly, even if Nanjun gets it, it can't be kept, and it doesn't mean much! Weichen felt that it was more important to train the army hard, and we should maintain the current state of confrontation, seize the time for Yang Tong to digest the results of the battle, on the one hand, make full preparations for war, and on the other hand, train an iron army at any cost. ”

Liu Wenjing's attitude is clear, strengthening army building is the top priority, Li Tang can't afford to provoke the Sui Dynasty, don't take a chance to provoke Yang Tong. Xiao Yu also means this, don't lead to the outbreak of all-out war because of impossible fantasies.

Li Yuan sighed and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Tang Dynasty has been at war since its founding, and the imperial court is on the verge of collapse. ”

Chen Shuda responded and said: "Wechen visited the market, the people are tired of war, and now the morale of the army is also low. ”

Li Yuan nodded, and asked Xiao Yu again, "What about Xiao Xiangguo's opinion?" ”

Xiao Yu knew that what Li Yuan said was an excuse, he was afraid of being beaten by Yang Tong, but he knew that the war was too heavy a burden on the imperial court, and he was also a little against rash war.

"Holy Lord, all the grain we collected before was transported to the front line, and the Eastern Crusade failed and fell into the hands of the enemy. This year's grain harvest is poor, the tax has been unable to meet the daily expenditure of the imperial court, there is still surplus grain to support the end of the year, but too many fallen soldiers need to be compensated in time, Weichen estimated, at least more than one million stones, and our official warehouse only has 400,000 stone left, not to mention the end of the year 100 officials Lu rice expenditure, the question now is how we should pension, if it can't be in time, the officers and soldiers in the army will be dissatisfied, and the morale is not high, I'm afraid ......"

I'm afraid of what?

I am afraid that the army will be disheartened and will collapse without a fight.

Everybody knows that.

"Or, peace talks?"

Dugu Huaien's words caused a bunch of white eyes. There is no money, no food, what to use to negotiate peace with Yang Tong. Cession of land?

Dugu Huaien said: "Yang Tong has gone south so far, he has experienced countless wars, large and small, and he is also exhausted, and the Central Plains has been in turmoil for more than ten years and has suffered serious damage. Just now, you also think that you don't want to fight any longer, and as long as the two sides treat each other with sincerity, we don't have to pay any compensation. If nothing else, let's at least get a sniff, right? If he doesn't fight, but we keep waiting for us, won't we spend countless money and food in vain? ”

Liu Wenjing asked rhetorically: "If we make peace with Yang Tong, what will Li Mi, Lin Shihong, and Meng Hai Guild think?" Will they still believe us? ”

"This ......"

Li Yuan was originally a little tempted, but as soon as he heard Liu Wenjing say this, he waved his hand and said, "Sui and Tang are already enemies of life and death, and there is no point in peace talks." We should go all out to train and strengthen the army, and as for the issue of money and food, we should first use the internal funds, and we must not let the army's morale be scattered. ”

"Whoa!" Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief,

The emperor can legally obtain a part of the state's treasury and taxes, and the proportion of different taxes is not the same, and the luxury jewelry is relatively high. Li Yuan, who arrived in Xiangyang, was clean and slippery, and he was more ruthless than before, and no matter how poor and bitter he was, he was not willing to use internal funds to supplement the country's expenses, so he had a lot of private wealth, and there would be a lot left to fill the shortfall. Now, Xiao Yu doesn't have to worry about money.

。。。。。。。。。。。。。

On the other side, Yang Tong was also talking to the minister. Yang Tong said with a smile: "Keming wrote again, saying that it was originally Xiao Miao's henchman, and under Xiao Miao's persuasion, he had put down his military power and regime, decided to return to the Great Sui, and would take his family to go north with Xiao Miao." ”

"Holy Lord, with the surrender of Xiao Miao, we have gained another important place for grain production." Yang Shidao, who is in charge of people's livelihood, said with a smile.

He is talking about the Jianghan Plain, where the river network is dense, the land is fertile, the population is large, and it has always been a major grain producing area in the south.

"Yang Shangshu, this is wrong! More than one! Yang Tong said with a smile.

"Oh?" Yang Shidao arched his hand and said, "Please make it clear to the Holy Lord." ”

"There were several important grain-producing areas in our Great Sui Dynasty, namely the Liaodong Plain, the plains south of Yanshan and the north of the Yellow River, the eastern region between the Yellow River and Huaishui, the Jianghuai region, the Jianghan Plain, the Taihu Lake Plain, the Poyang Lake Plain, the Dongting Lake Plain, and the Chengdu Plain. You know that. With the surrender of Xiao Miao, the Jianghan Plain and the Dongting Lake Plain are all owned by the Great Sui, and only a few areas are not under the jurisdiction of our Great Sui. And in addition to these, there is another place that everyone has forgotten. That is the southern part of Lingnan near the sea, which is estimated to be called the Pearl River Delta, where there are unique conditions. Because of the climate, rice matures very quickly, often three harvests in a year, as long as the population increases, the fields increase, it bursts out of the production capacity is stronger than any grain production area. In the future, the population will increase, and the Jiangnan and Dongting Lake areas will be twice a year, and the Pearl River system will be three times a year.

"The current Jiangnan has not been developed, especially the two lakes and the Lingnan area, which are in people's minds, are primitive areas where smoke miasma is raging and wild beasts are rampant. If we wait until Jiangnan, Lianghu, and Lingnan are fully developed, the grain of Dasui will basically be worry-free. I can tell you one thing for sure, that is, 'the lake is ripe, and the world is full'......"

Everyone was moved

What does the country rely on to develop?

Population!

What does the population depend on for feeding?

Grain!

Therefore, population is an important indicator to measure the strength of a country in all dynasties. According to Yang Tong, the potential of these places is much higher than that of the Central Plains, and it is worth developing them one by one.

"In this way, sending criminals to Lingnan will allow them to live a good life?" Liu Zhenghui said depressedly.

"I can't say that, there is a lot of potential, but it has not yet been developed, and it is really poor at the moment, and what is the result of this? It is the poor mountains and bad waters that come out of the people. Yang Tong raised the letter in Yang's hand and said, "According to Xiao Miao, there are people in Lingnan now. ”

"Shengshang, the Lingnan people have existed since ancient times, although they are quite numerous, but they are low-educated, poorly equipped, and each has its own king, just like the northern tribes, without a unified command, they can't threaten the south at all." Kong Yingda said.

"Kong Shangshu can know, why are the wingmen so weak?" Yang Tong turned his head to look at Kong Yingdadao.

"The wingmen don't know the art of war, they only know how to plunder, whether it is equipment or tactics, the difference is too far. And all of them are unruly, and no one obeys anyone, so they can't form a unified and powerful force. Kong Yingda said with a smile.

"The art of war can be learned, and if the equipment is not good, it can be refined, but the real reason is that the Central Plains Dynasty has been restricting their development all along." Yang Tong shook his head and said: "Food and salt can only maintain daily life, weapons and armor can only resist ordinary beasts, these basic resources are stuck in the hands of the imperial court, so every time they dare to resist, they will be suppressed, over time, they are naturally afraid of my Central Plains like a tiger, their lifeblood is controlled by the imperial court, so it is not that they are weak, but that our imperial court is weakening them in various ways." However, since ancient times, those who were sent to Lingnan by the imperial court were all highly intelligent people, and this kind of people hated the imperial court to the core, so they also taught some advanced things to the bureaucrats, and some even multiplied for generations, forming a tribal leader, and they also contributed to the civilization of the Lingnan bureaucrats, so we must not look at today's bureaucrats from the perspective of the past. Otherwise, you'll suffer. ”

"Whoa!"

Fang Xuanling asked, "Holy Lord, is there someone who is gathering the big and small forces in Lingnan?" ”

"There really is such a person!" Yang Tong nodded and said, "This person's name is Feng An." ”

"Holy Lord, Weichen knows this person, and he has several faces." Yang Shidao arched his hand and said.

"Tell me about it."

Speaking of which, Feng Ang also has an extraordinary background, he is a descendant of Feng Hong, the king of the Northern Yan Kingdom during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Northern Yan, Feng Hong's son Feng Ye stayed in Gaozhou. Feng Ye's grandson, Feng Rong, served as the assassin of Luozhou in Southern Liang. Feng Rong's son Feng Bao, married Mrs. Xian, the daughter of the Yue family surnamed Xian in Gaoliang, Lingnan, and thus became the leader of the Gaoliang Yue tribe, and the Southern Liang court appointed him as Gao Liang Taishou, and compared to Feng Bao, Mrs. Xian is ten thousand times better, she is a great heroine, Feng is loyal to Chen Guo, after the destruction of Chen State, Lingnan area is not attached to the Great Sui, several states are based on Mrs., called the Holy Mother, to protect the territory and the people. Emperor Wu, who was the king of Jin at the time, took out the letter left by Empress Chen to Mrs. Xian, telling her that the state of Chen had perished and that they should be submitted. And this Feng Ang is her grandson. ”

"Feng An's character is Mingda, and at the beginning of the door, he was awarded the Song Kang County Order. When Wang Zhongxuan rebelled, Feng Ang followed the orders of his grandmother Mrs. Xian to quell Wang Zhongxuan's rebellion, and Emperor Wen awarded the Gaozhou Assassin History, and then he successively quelled the rebellion of the fangs in Chaozhou, Chengzhou and other five states, and awarded the Golden Purple Guanglu Doctor and Hanyang Taishou. He went to Liaodong with Emperor Wu and moved to the general of Wuwei. When Yang Shidao said this, he clicked.

Yang Tong smiled for a moment, and then said: "After Yu Wenhua and the rebellion, Feng Ang returned to his hometown in Lingnan and gathered seventy or eighty thousand soldiers. He is attached to Xiao Mo and Lin Shihong, but in fact, he is a force on one side, whether it is Xiao Mo or Lin Shihong, he cannot command. He now occupies the eight counties of Cangwu, Yongping, Xin'an, Yongxi, Gaoliang, Hepu, Ningyue, and Zhuya, and is the governor of Lingnan. In other words, Xiao Mo nominally donated more than 30 counties, but Feng An's eight counties cannot be counted, and if I want to really recover Lingnan, the Feng family headed by Feng Ang is the roadblock. ”

Yang Shidao asked, "What does the Holy Lord mean?" ”

"Yang Shangshu, you said that in this world, who else has the strength to destroy Sui?" Yang Tong asked rhetorically.

Yang Shidao said: "Of course not, the Holy Lord only needs to give an order, and my Great Sui can gather millions of male soldiers with combat experience, and there is no need to worry about money and food, there is no one in the world that can compete with the Great Sui, and it is good that they can protect themselves." But now the problem is different. ”

"Yang Shangshu is right! Then I will not allow the existence of a country within a state. ”

Yang Tong understood what Yang Shidao meant, the Great Sui had already occupied three-fifths of the territory, and the foundation was strong, even if it was a big defeat or two, it would not damage the foundation, before that, if you focused on defense, no one could get in. But with the surrender of Xiao Miao, the territory of the Great Sui became a long 'lollipop', the east of the 'stick' is Lin Shihong, the south is Lingnan Feng An, and the west is Li Yuan.

What is distressing is that the enemies of all three sides are in danger of mountains and rivers, either mountains or water. In a sense, the main battle divisions of the Great Sui were not very good at fighting on this terrain; If you want to fight the water thief Lin Shihong, the role of the navy will definitely be greater.