Yang Yichen successively exterminated the rebels of Zhang Jincheng and Gao Shida, and the large number of thieves in the north was left with only Wagang thieves. Zhang Xutuo led the troops for many years, but he did not taste defeat, and finally suffered defeat among the Wagang thieves. Although Yang Guang, in order to appease the people, issued an edict saying that Zhang Xutuo had won the battle, the people of the world were neither deaf nor blind, and they still knew the truth, and Wagangzhai faintly became the head of the rebels in the north.

In order to resist the imperial army, the weak traitors joined Wagangzhai one after another. In just over a month, the Wagang Army had nearly 100,000 troops, and countless loads of grain and grass.

At the same time, in order to recruit more rebels, Wagangzhai did not deliberately conceal the news, and the news soon spread to Xingyang, shocking all the soldiers led by Zhang Xutuo, and the big tent was full of gloom.

"The Wagang thieves are based on the village, and it is already difficult to exterminate, but now the momentum is huge, but I am afraid that there is no chance." Zhang Xutuo analyzed the facts: "There are only 20,000 horses in Xingyang, and it is already the best result to be able to resist the siege of the thief army. ”

The strength of the Wagang thieves is five times that of Zhang Xutuo's army, as long as the Wagang thieves are willing to ignore the losses, and Xingyang has no reinforcements, Zhang Xutuo leads more than 10,000 people, and it is impossible to hold Xingyang. Fortunately, there are many fish and dragons in Wagang Village, and Xingyang cannot be threatened in a short time.

"General Zhang, although the Wagang thieves are weak in combat power, they can improve their combat power through drills, and what can we do?" Li Xuanba faced Zhang Xutuo and arched his hand and said: "Xingyang is hundreds of miles away, if the thief army adopts tired tactics, how can we deal with it?" ”

The people in the big tent knew very well in their hearts that it was impossible for reinforcements to appear in Xingyang. Yang Guang toured Jiangdu, took away more than 100,000 troops, Luoyang City is the eastern capital of the Great Sui, naturally it is impossible to let the garrison go to Xingyang, Yang Yichen fought again and again, the army was tired and needed to recuperate, Li Yuan fought with the Turks in the north, and it was impossible to pull out, the nearest army to Xingyang, only more than 10,000 people in the Tiger Pass.

But Tiger Prison Pass is the gateway to Luoyang, how dare Pei Renji send troops easily?

"Xuanba, what do you think we should do?" What Li Xuanba can think of, Zhang Xutuo can of course think of, what he is thinking about now is how to advance and retreat.

Li Xuanba was silent for a moment and replied, "Give up Xingyang and retreat to the Tiger Pass." ”

For the current situation, Li Xuanba's suggestion is undoubtedly the most correct. If Zhang Xutuo gave up Xingyang and led his army to join Pei Renji, even if the Wagang thieves had 100,000 people, it would be impossible to capture the Tiger Pass. But there are hundreds of thousands of people in Xingyang County, where can they move to?

"It would have been impossible for Ben to leave Xingyang." Zhang Xutuo knew that Li Xuanba was not greedy for life and afraid of death, so his face did not show gloom, and said calmly: "Even if he dies in Xingyang, he will protect the people of Xingyang County." ”

Qin Qiong and the others had already guessed Zhang Xutuo's choice, and they were not surprised at all, they stood silently in the camp, waiting for Zhang Xutuo's order.

Li Xuanba saw Zhang Xutuo's resolute attitude, and he no longer persuaded him. In fact, Li Xuanba didn't want to see Xingyang reduced to scorched earth, but he was different from Qin Qiong and the others. Qin Qiong still had a trace of illusion about holding Xingyang, but Li Xuanba knew that Xingyang could not be held, and even because of Zhang Xutuo's defeat, Pei Renji had to surrender to the Wagang thieves.

Since saving Zhang Xutuo, Li Xuanba is no longer afraid of changing history, and he really wants to try whether he can hold Xingyang, so he did not insist on persuading Zhang Xutuo to leave. Zhang Xutuo has decided to defend Xingyang to the death, and in the following days, Xingyang County began to strengthen the city defense, and Zhang Xutuo's army practiced every day, rain and snow.

Compared with the stormy storm in the north, the situation in the south is even more severe, and the rebel thieves are simply inexhaustible and inexhaustible. In the early dynasties, the ministers of civil and military affairs persuaded Yang Guang to return to the Eastern Capital as soon as possible, and even Pei Yun strongly agreed.

"The rebels in the south have not been exterminated, I am the emperor of the Great Sui, do I want to flee from Jiangdu because I am afraid?" Yang Guang only used one sentence to make the ministers dare not say more.

After retiring from the early dynasty, Yang Guang left Yuwen Chengdu and Laihu'er alone. "The Manchu Dynasty is civil and military, and I believe in the two of you the most." Yang Guangming said: "The purpose of my stay in Jiangdu, Chengdu already knows, come to protect the child, can you see it?" ”

"The old minister understands His Majesty's intentions." After Yuwenshu's death, Lai Hu'er was appointed as the third secretary of Kaifu Yitong and took over the post of General Zuo Lingwei, which can be said to be a great favor. Therefore, Laihu'er felt that he should be loyal and straightforward, so he said: "Although the old minister understands, he does not dare to agree. ”

Yang Guang did not show the slightest unhappiness, and said calmly: "Why? "Your Majesty is the king of a country, and you should not be in danger." Lai Hu'er bowed down and replied: "The people are stupid and can't distinguish between right and wrong, and it is not wise for Your Majesty to give them the opportunity to rebel." ”

"If I hadn't done this, how would I have known that there are so many traitors in the world?" Yang Guang sneered and said: "Many counties in the south, except for Jiangdu, there is no pure land, you say, this world is still the world of the Great Sui?" Is it still my world? ”

"Since Your Majesty already knows who is loyal and who is treacherous, why didn't you send troops to exterminate these rebellious ministers and thieves earlier, so as to calm the world?" Yuwen Chengdu arched his hand and said: "As long as Your Majesty gives an order, Weichen is willing to lead the army to defeat the rebels." Yuwen Chengdu has forgotten Li Xuanba's instructions, not to mention that in his opinion, Jiang is guarded by an army of 100,000 troops, and Yang Guang is unlikely to be in danger.

"The thieves in the south are getting too much to bear, but the north is too quiet, so we have to wait." Yang Guang shook his head and said, "It's almost the New Year, let's let their heads stay for a few more days." ”

Lai Hu'er was still not at ease, and wanted to persuade again, Yang Guang waved his hand and said, "You don't have to persuade again, if you don't find out those people, my heart will feel uneasy." ”

Leaving the main hall, Yang Guang took a step to the harem, and Empress Xiao prepared hot soup and had been waiting for a long time.

"Your Majesty, why are you suffering?" Empress Xiao looked at Yang Guang's tired expression, and couldn't help but persuade: "Since you are already planning to abdicate, why bother with it?" ”

"The first emperor handed over the powerful Great Sui to me, how can I let Gao'er face the current Great Sui?" Yang Guang took off the emperor's mask and said with a smile: "When I sweep away the hidden dangers, I will pass the throne to King Zhao, and then stay in Jiangdu with you, and also avoid the cold in the north." ”

"Can you really put it down?" Empress Xiao knelt down beside Yang Guang and gently kneaded his shoulders for him. Yang Guang said casually: "Since the people of the world don't understand me, what else do I worry about them?" Although she said it freely, Queen Xiao still heard the loss. Yang Guang knew that he couldn't hide it from Queen Xiao, paused, and continued: "As Lai Hu'er said, the people of the world are stupid! ”

Empress Xiao sighed softly, not knowing how to comfort her. She has lived with Yang Guang for decades, so she can naturally understand Yang Guang's thoughts, but unfortunately the world can't understand it.

The change of dynasties, the rise and fall of the world, this is a war game of the powerful, innocent people, but always live the most painful and humble life.

In order to change this situation, Yang Guang opened the imperial examination, hoping that the people would no longer be oppressed by the nobles, but when the magnates raised troops to rebel, these people actually echoed and pointed the spearhead at the court and themselves, which made Yang Guang gradually disheartened, so he had the intention of abdicating.

"Perhaps for the people, being alive is the most important thing." Empress Xiao thought for a long time and said softly: "Their eyes can't see a hundred years later. ”