When the emperor arrived at Zhuojun, it was already April 25 of the fifth year of the great cause, from the capital Daxing to Zhuojun a total of more than 3,000 miles, it only took more than 40 days, in the era when there was no machinery to rely on both legs or horses to walk, this marching speed can be said to be very remarkable, not to mention that there is an emperor in it, if there is no canal can be said to be completely impossible.

Zhuo County close to May, the weather temperature is extremely ambiguous, Zhuo County is already a remote place for the Great Sui, and has not been developed much, the population of the whole county adds up to less than 100,000 people, from the highest point of the dragon boat, there is a green tree everywhere, the hillside, the plain is covered with dense forests, the city wall of Zhuo County seems low and narrow, think about the future generations such a city alone can accommodate 20 million people, the gray air is full of high-rise buildings, Yang Yong suddenly has a feeling of vicissitudes.

I'm here, I've seen that what I want is not conquest but protection, and I hope that a thousand years from now, you can still see dense forests here instead of yellow sand flying.

"Your Majesty, Xue Shixiong, the county guard of Zhuo County, led the officials in the county to wait for the emperor to receive you." Zhao Nian's voice sounded in Yang Yong's ears, disrupting the emperor's thoughts.

"Xue Shixiong, let him come up."

"Yes."

Not long after Zhao Nian went down, an old man in his fifties climbed up to the top of the dragon boat, kowtowed, and said: "Wechen Xue Shixiong greets Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty!" Banzai! Hooray! ”

"Old General Xue, please get up." Yang Yong said kindly.

"Long live Weichen Xie!" Xue Shixiong stood up, although he was full of gray hair, he had his own majestic posture, this Xue Shixiong was not a simple character, he especially liked to play war games when he was a child. He often invites a group of children to draw the land as a city, attack and defend each other, and be the commander-in-chief. If someone disobeyed the order, Xue Shixiong whipped him mercilessly. It's been a long time. No one is afraid, so every time they play a combat game, the children listen to Xue Shixiong's command in a regular manner.

When Xue Shixiong was seventeen years old, he followed Emperor Wu of Zhou to participate in the Pingqi War, and when he opened the emperor, he had several military exploits, fought against Tuyuhun and Turkic, pacified Panyuyi and Fang Rebellion in the south, Xue Shixiong returned with a big victory, perhaps because he played war games since childhood, and the soldiers and horses brought out by Xue Shixiong have always been in order. Two years ago, Yang Yong transferred Xue Shixiong to Zhuo County as the county guard, that is, he valued Xue Shixiong's ability to train troops and fight wars and be good at getting along with people, and he wanted to build Zhuo County into a large rear for the conquest of Goguryeo.

Now Xue Shixiong really lives up to the emperor's expectations. With a population of only 100,000 in the whole county, it welcomed the arrival of more than 100,000 government soldiers within a month, without the slightest mistake, and now most of the government soldiers have arrived at the front line, and there are more than 100,000 people from all over Zhuo County who have rushed to deliver various materials to the front line, everything is in order, and it can be said that Xue Shixiong has made great contributions. Presumably, many of the white hairs on Xue Shixiong's head were born in the past month or so.

"Old General Xue. It's been a hard work for more than a month, and I heard that the old general has four sons, and everyone is a hero, I don't know if it's outside? Let them meet with you. ”

"Back to the emperor, this is a matter for the ministers." Xue Shixiong hurriedly humbled, but when he saw the emperor mention his four sons, Xue Shixiong's face couldn't help but have some smugness, and his four sons were named Wan Shu, Wan Shu, Wan Jun, and Wan Che. Everyone has the courage to be unstoppable, especially the third son Wan Jun, the fourth son Wan Che is even more outstanding, and there is a great tendency for the blue to be better than the blue, Xue Shixiong of course wants his son to be appreciated by the emperor. It's just that he said with embarrassment on his face: "Your Majesty has praised the four dogs of Weichen. It is a blessing for a dog to see His Majesty, but there is a shortage of food on the front line. Wechen has sent all four of them out, and they can't see His Majesty's holy face for the time being. ”

"That's it, then next time." Yang Yong said lightly, a thought flashed in his heart, after the end of this expedition to Goguryeo, the five of their father and son should be transferred to one side, otherwise the entire Zhuo County will become the world of the Xue family, for this kind of thought, Yang Yong is as natural as breathing, this is also for their good, saving the suspicion of the monarch and the ministers in the future.

"Your Majesty, the palace has been arranged, can the emperor set off?" Xue Shixiong asked carefully.

During the construction of the Yongji Canal, in order to please the emperor, the deputy supervisor of the canal construction, He Qi, proposed to build a palace for the emperor on the side of the canal every sixty to eighty miles or so, for the emperor to use when he went out on patrol, this distance is just the distance of the dragon boat for a day, although Yu Wenkai and a group of honest officials think that this move is too wasteful, but they do not dare to oppose it clearly, they can only report to the emperor for processing.

If you go out on patrol for every day in the future, you can stay in the palace for one night or play for a few days, which is undoubtedly a very pleasant thing, but Yang Yong did not reach such a luxurious point anyway, and issued an order to approve He Yitong, but he still agreed to build two palaces on the canal, one is located in the middle of the Yongji Canal, and the other is located in Zhuo County.

This time, although Yang Yong passed by the palace in the middle of the Yongji Canal, he just glanced at it from a distance and did not stay, this time he arrived in Zhuo County, if he wanted to rush directly to the front line, this palace could only pass by in a hurry.

No one dares to guess what the emperor's itinerary is, and can only roughly predict, and the local officials can only make preparations with both hands, however, Zhuo County, as a large rear, is also the place where the government soldiers gather, and now there are still 50,000 government soldiers waiting for the emperor's will, and it is natural for the emperor to stay in Zhuo County, sure enough, the emperor nodded: "Yes." ”

"Wechen obeys!"

Coming down from the dragon boat, the emperor took the carriage directly, escorted by Xue Shixiong, Mai Tiezhu and others, and went to the direction of the palace, the palace of Zhuo County naturally could not be compared with the Forbidden City of later generations, but it was also a courtyard covering an area of dozens of acres, which had been newly decorated, and there were more than 200 eunuchs and palace maids in the palace.

To tell the truth, although the dragon boat ride was smooth sailing all the way, just sitting for more than a month, Yang Yong still felt a trace of tiredness, this tiredness is more mental than physical, and the emperor rested in the palace for two days before starting the official office.

There are still 50,000 forbidden troops who followed the emperor, and the vast number of people and horses suddenly occupied the barracks left by the original government soldiers, and all kinds of materials were piled up in the barracks, fortunately, it was not yet the rainy season, otherwise they would be piled up in the open space and drenched in heavy rain, and they would definitely be destroyed a lot.

On the first day of the first month of May, the Sui army erected three pontoon bridges on the Liao River, and the army began to rush to cross, the Goguryeo people used bows and arrows to intercept on the river beach, but they were defeated by the Sui army's divine arm bow, and the Goguryeo corpses on the river beach were thousands, and the Sui army only paid the price of more than 300 people to successfully cross the Liao River.

When the news reached the rear, the entire Sui army was thunderous, and the small Goguryeo was nothing more than that, Yang Yong was also very happy, and ordered to reward the six armies, and countless wine and meat were transported from the rear like flowing water.

On the third day of the fifth month, the Sui army pushed to the city of Liaodong, and the 200,000 troops attacked the city day and night, and attacked the head of the city of Liaodong several times, but they were all driven down desperately by the army of the Goguryeo people.

The 6th and 7th days of May ...... On May 12, the Sui army was still attacking Liaodong City, a small Liaodong City, which had blocked 200,000 Sui troops for more than ten days, and was still firmly in the hands of the Goguryeos.

After the emperor came out of the capital, he did not delay all the way, but after stopping in Zhuo County, there was no sign of moving forward, and the remaining 50,000 soldiers of Zhuo County waited for the emperor's order to go out, but they never waited for the emperor's will.

Among the seven armies that set off first, there were all good ministers and fierce generals, Yu Zhongwen, Shi Wansui, Yuan, Wei Wensheng, Li Hun, Han Hong, and Yuan Wei each led an army, He Ruobi only led half an army as the commander-in-chief of the front line, and on the front line of Liaodong, there was also Luo Yi, the general of Dongyi, to help the battle, in fact, the number of people and horses has exceeded 200,000, in order not to affect the command of the front, Yang Yong stayed in Zhuo County, if these people can't even capture Liaodong City, it will be too disappointing for Yang Yong.

Seeing that the middle of May was about to pass, the news from the front was still unsatisfactory, although the Sui army almost captured Liaodong City several times, but still let the Goguryeo people drive out, the army has suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, and the Liaodong City is covered with the blood of Sui and Gao soldiers.

The Emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty naturally could not be secretive, and the Goguryeo people had already received the news that Liaodong City not only had 100,000 troops of Goguryeo, but also enough soldiers to defend the city to eat grain and grass for more than half a year, and all kinds of equipment to defend the city were complete.

The government soldiers who remained in Zhuojun in the rear and the forbidden army that followed the emperor asked for battle, but the emperor seemed to be in no hurry and refused to allow it.

On this day, the emperor was still dealing with the petitions of various generals in the army, especially the forbidden army, which was eager to try, holding the most generous military salary in the world, but with the emperor's personal expedition, they could only hide in the rear, of course they were not satisfied.

Zhao Nian came to the emperor's side lightly and said, "Your Majesty, Zhou Fashang, and Zhou Luoyu, the two generals are here." ”

"Okay, they're finally here, please." Yang Yong said happily, and threw the concerts of the generals in his hand on the table.