Yang Tong's first day of the New Year was spent in Jiangdu, Jiangdu County Cheng Cui Deben accompanied Yang Tong to see the scenery in the Wangjiang Pavilion of Jiangdu Palace, Yang Tong came out of Chang'an this time to travel, it was Qu Tutong and Wei Xun who accompanied him, and brought two hundred guards. When the political hall approved, Yang Tong was stunned, and he couldn't figure out whether he was really worthless, or if Jiang Du was a scary trap all the way, and some conspirators were waiting to take their own lives.

Unexpectedly, there was nothing to do all the way, and no one came to disturb me, and when I went to every place, the local officials were politely entertained in accordance with the rules; When he arrived in Jiangdu, Cui Deben took care of the whole process, and according to the approval of the political affairs hall, he opened a palace in Jiangdu Palace for Yang Tong to live temporarily, but there was a little less palace maids and the like.

Jiangdu, known as Guangling in ancient times, Huaizuo Mingdu, Zhuxi Jiajia, a night of goose feathers and heavy snow drifted by, now look down from a high place, it is a white and vast piece of silver; Snow dance pear blossoms, light white veil covers every corner, among the flowers and trees, full of ink paintings, like a dream. Not far away, the Slender West Lake has turned white, and the romantic snow scene has attracted many tourists, puppies running in the snow, and children happily throwing snowballs, giggling.

Yang Tong found that he had never had such a childhood, so he unwillingly looked back and asked Cui Deben: "What does Yang Chong mean when he wants Yang Zhengdao to return to Chang'an?" ”

Cui Deben did not answer directly, but told a story: "King Yue once discussed with Cui Chuzhi about governing the world, saying that there are four means, royal road, emperor road, domineering, and humanitarian. The royal road is the path that the king takes, and the road is correct and strong; The emperor is what Zhuangzi said, 'if you have nothing to gain, the world will return'; hegemony is the story of the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, which is rampant in the world; humanity pays attention to people-oriented, people-centered, and humanities to become the world. ”

The wine glass in Wesson's hand flickered, and the wine spilled; Confucianism also talks about humanity, kissing, respecting, and growing, there is a difference between men and women, and the great humanity is also completely different from the humanity that Yang Chong said. Facing Yang Tong's surprised gaze, Wei Xun shook his head and muttered, "I'm old, I'm useless." ”

Cui Deben didn't expose it, drank the wine in the toast in one gulp, motioned to the waiter to pour the wine, and said: "Yang Chong has no experience in governance, so he has been trying again and again to see which method is more suitable for the Great Sui." The royal way is the most undesirable, what is right in one's own eyes may be a disaster in the eyes of others; Yang Chong is not from an emperor's background, and it is difficult to achieve the four words of returning to the heart of the world, so in the end, he chose either domineering or humane. If he is hegemonic, he will continue to expand his territory, and he needs the support of all domestic forces; If it is humane, it will be a disaster for the nobles. ”

Yang Tong and the others all understood how similar Yang Chong's current situation was to Yang Guang's back then. The reason why the people around Yang Guang continued to support Yang Guang to fight everywhere was that he hoped to transfer all the contradictions to the external contradictions. For the sake of his great achievements, Yang Guang had to make concessions again and again, eradicate dissidents again and again, and finally messed up his own country.

Wei Xun and Qu Tutong didn't dare to speak, but Yang Tong was immersed in troubled thoughts, and only after a long time did he raise his head, let all the idle people go out, and said: "Yang Chong wants Yang Zhengdao to return to Chang'an in order to completely attack Li Shimin, Liang Shidu and others, but he will inevitably start a war with the Turks; I see, thank you, Lady Cui. ”

Yang Tong really understood, if Yang Chong could defeat the Turks in this situation, then the army and the people would be crazy about it, and no one could stop Yang Chong's upward pace; If Yang Chong fails, it is likely to be another Saint Heavenly Son. Yang Chong should have realized this, and let Yang Zhengdao return to Chang'an, just in case; But let yourself move around at will, I'm afraid you still have to lure out those old ministers who are loyal to the Son of Heaven.

Cui Deben said with a smile: "The scenery of Jiangdu is beautiful, and when the temperature rises in a few days, it will be green in a blink of an eye, and the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant; The prince might as well stay for a little longer and have time to go to the beach to see the shipbuilding. These ships were completely different from the previous ones, and they added a lot of creativity, and if Zhou Fashang was alive, he would definitely applaud his son. ”

But what disappointed Yang Tong was that he went to the shipyard, Zhou Shaoji was not enthusiastic about him, except for a greeting when he first arrived at the shipbuilding base, and then ran away for work reasons, leaving a junior officer in charge to accompany the explanation. Wei Xun was busy talking about business everywhere, and only Qu Tutong was firmly following Yang Tong and running around; Qu Tutong was experienced and knew that although Yang Chong would not kill Yang Tong, he would not be able to keep any general from speculating on Yang Chong's intentions, and Li Yuan's assassins would not let go of such a good opportunity.

If Yang Tong dies, he will definitely be able to set off a storm in various parts of Chang'an, slandering the reputation of Yang Chong and Chang'an Political Affairs Hall among the people, Qu Tutong believes that Li Yuan will not fail to make a move. Fu Gongyou and Cui Deben also see it this way, every time Yang Tong travels, he secretly arranges hundreds of military experts to follow, anyway, there is no war in Jiang, and the soldiers in the military camp are idle. Yang Tong's whereabouts, every five days, will be written as a report to Zhuojun and Chang'an.

Before the Lantern Festival, a battle report from Hexi came, and the Liang division attacked Rulin and was defeated by Wang Ting, the commander of Xiazhou; Hu Special Service and Desire Gu She led 10,000 golden wolf troops to harass Hetao and were intercepted in Huaiyuan County. When he went south to Jiuquan, he was intercepted by an army of 10,000 led by Xifeng Changshan and 10,000 troops at the pass of the Great Wall, and was killed by Wei Chigong's 10,000 troops and killed 4,000 people.

Yantuoshe and Duman did not go well, so they simply changed their plans, and after capturing Xiaogu County, they besieged Dunhuang, divided their troops to plunder Zhangye, Dunhuang and other counties, and plundered more than 5,000 men and women. The Sikong Xing army went out to rescue Dunhuang, killed 500 people in the first battle, took 2,000 horses, and captured 5,000 people; Subsequently, Sikong Xing and Xifeng Changshan counterattacked, and Yantuo and Duman were defeated. Yang Ji and Qi Bige originally defended Zhangye, but counterattacked when the Turkic army retreated, and captured 4,000 horses and camels.

The two sides fought a battle in the ice and snow, and the Turks lost 10,000 soldiers, but they still destroyed the city facilities in the area of Juyan and Xiaogu, and robbed a large number of people; However, Sikong Xing's report said that due to the weather, most of the people who were looted by the Turks were frozen to death due to lack of food and clothing. Yang Chong understood that as soon as this case was opened, the frontier would fall into non-stop war, and the day of a full-scale conflict with the Turks was getting closer and closer, so it was necessary to get rid of Li Shimin, an unstable factor, in the shortest possible time and unify the northern frontier.

(End of chapter)