Although Zhang Xuan's concubine has some friends who have a good relationship with him, he is still very low-key, and he did not cause any repercussions in the well of Jiangdu, where he likes to talk about the wind and snow, but everyone is talking about recruiting the child who will be born in a few months, will it be Xiaolang or Xiaoniang?

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, time passed like a rush, and in the blink of an eye, it was late February, and the day of the Great Sui and the Turkic alliance gradually came.

At this time, it is already spring flowers, the snow in the north has completely melted, the peach blossoms in various places have arrived, the river water has soared, the originally bare mountains and fields have also been dressed in green, becoming lush, flocks of birds and finches have swept the sky, and the leisurely wild deer are grazing by the stream, and there is a scene full of vitality everywhere.

In the vast grasslands north of Mayi County, an army of tens of thousands of people is slowly moving north, this army of about 30,000 people, is the core army that guards the Sui Emperor Yang Guang.

According to the previous agreement reached between the two sides, in order to ensure the sincerity of the alliance, the armies of each side should not exceed 30,000 on the banks of Fuqibo, and within a range of 500 miles, the respective armies of each side should not exceed 50,000.

According to the accurate information obtained by the Sui army, the army of the Turkic Shibi Khan, who was stationed north of Fuqibo, was only more than 25,000 people, and there was a Turkic cavalry hundreds of miles away, with no more than 30,000 people, and all the information showed that the Turks faithfully carried out the agreement reached between the two sides.

Yang Guang also gladly implemented the agreement reached between the two sides, only letting 30,000 Xiaoguo cavalry escort north, while Qu Tutong led 20,000 troops to be stationed in Shanyang County as a response, and the general Yun Dingxing led 50,000 troops to be stationed in Loufu County, as the second wave of response, and the general Xue Shixiong led the last 50,000 troops to be stationed in Taiyuan as the third way to respond.

Such a careful arrangement does not violate the agreement between the two parties. It can also ensure the safety of the Son of Heaven, and if there is any unfavorable situation, they can also quickly retreat back to Taiyuan.

During Yang Guang's first northern tour nine years ago, he rode the imposing Guanfeng Xing Temple, which was a movable castle with a circumference of eight miles. Surrounded by an army of 200,000 people, he marched quickly on the vast grassland, attracting the worship of thousands of grassland subjects, which was also the apex of the prestige of the Great Sui Emperor.

At this time, Yang Guang could only sit in a royal tent built on a huge wooden cart, and there were twelve pairs of large wooden wheels on both sides of the wooden cart, which were dragged by eighty-one strong horses, which were much shabby compared to the mobile castle of the year.

What made Yang Guang even more unhappy was that. He was only escorted by 30,000 troops, and nominally negotiated between the two sides, but in fact it was the hard-line attitude of the Turkic Khan, and if he did not agree, he would cancel the alliance, and all the way north, his face was gloomy, and he never said a word.

This time, dozens of important ministers followed him by Fu Qibo, all of whom were on horseback. Following on both sides of the royal tent, everyone's hearts were heavy. I feel that it is not a taste in every way.

They all remembered the northern tour in the third year of the Great Cause, when the national strength of the Great Sui reached its peak, all countries worshipped, and the Turkic Qimin Khan was prostrate on the ground, not daring to look up, what a beautiful scenery they were at that time. But this time it is completely different, needless to say that it is not as good as the worship of the various ethnic groups in the steppe back then, and even the two sides can not negotiate on an equal footing, and even the location of the alliance is also designated by the Turkic Khan, which is clearly the Great Sui Emperor went to the Hajj Turkic Khan.

Shabby royal tent. The weak troops, even the honor guard was forced to cancel, these are all appearances, but the problem in the bones is the decay of national strength, and today's Great Sui is far less powerful than it was back then.

At this time, Wei Xuan, the secretary of the military department, whispered to Pei Ju: "Pei Gong, the strength of 30,000 cavalry is too thin, which makes people feel uneasy!" ”

Pei Ju smiled bitterly and said: "30,000 troops are actually not small, the key is that the reserve army is too small, there are only 150,000 troops in total, this is almost the army of the country, if it is like back then, with a million Sui troops as the backing, even if we take 10,000 cavalry to the north, the Turks will not dare to act rashly." ”

Wei Xuan sighed, "Pei Gong is right, the millions of Sui troops disappeared in the blink of an eye, the Son of Heaven is nominally implementing elite troops and streamlining the government, but in fact he is destroying the Great Wall, I really don't understand, why did the Son of Heaven disband the military governments of the counties?" ”

Pei Ju shook his head, "He is actually very helpless, three years after the great cause, the annexation of land by the scholars in various places is becoming more and more rampant, the self-cultivated farmers have decreased sharply, and the court taxes are getting less and less year by year, where can he afford to raise a million army, if it is left to the local government to raise the army himself, then these military governments will inevitably become the private army of the noble clan, repeating the scene of the local warlords in the late Han Dynasty, so instead of being controlled by the local army by the powerful warriors in various places, it is better to disband it directly, although the army is a little less, at least it is still in the hands of the imperial court." ”

Wei Xuan was silent for a moment and said: "The key is that the three expeditions to Goguryeo have consumed too much national strength!" ”

Pei Ju still shook his head, "The three conquests of Goguryeo are just a waste of the old capital left by the first emperor, and they can't move the strength of the imperial court, and the fundamental reason is that the land annexation is becoming more and more serious year by year, just like the chronic plague, which has seriously weakened the financial taxes of the imperial court, and last year's taxes were only less than 20% of the four years of the Great Cause." ”

Wei Xuan was taken aback, "Is it so serious?" ”

"Otherwise, why would the Holy Lord rather endure the humiliation, but also to ally with the Turks to eliminate the hidden danger of the Turks going south, once the Turkic iron cavalry marched south, the imperial court was powerless to resist at all, and Guanlong and Bingzhou would be deeply devastated, I am afraid that the Great Sui will collapse and disintegrate, and the Great Sui is now suffering from internal and external troubles, and the situation is very grim."

Wei Xuan was silent, he also knew that the land annexation involved the interests of too many forces, and the imperial court was powerless to stop it, even he Wei Xuan himself had two manors in Guanzhong, with 3,000 hectares of land, and controlled hundreds of tenant slaves, let him return the land and dissolve the tenant slaves, would he do it? Wei Xuan sighed secretly, the Great Sui disease has entered the bone marrow, and it is difficult to heal.

At this time, a cavalryman galloped over, bowed to Pei Ju and said, "Qi Pei Gong, the Holy Lord summons!" ”

Pei Ju nodded to Wei Xuan, and then urged the horse to follow the cavalry to the imperial tent of the Son of Heaven, at this time the team had stopped moving forward, and ran to the imperial tent, a eunuch stood on the wooden platform and said with a smile: "Pei Gong, please!" The Holy One waited in the tent. ”

Pei Ju got off the horse, boarded the platform with the support of several guards, and walked into the big tent.

The area of the Son of Heaven's imperial tent is about five acres, composed of seven or eight sub-tents, the Son of Heaven's bed, the queen's bed tent and the court's imperial tent are among them, Pei Ju walked into the imperial tent, but saw the Son of Heaven Yang Guang standing in front of the map with his hand, staring at the map hanging on the wooden shelf.

Pei Ju hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "The old minister sees Your Majesty!" ”

After a long time, Yang Guang slowly turned around and said, "Pei Gong, I just received an urgent letter from Princess Yicheng!" ”

Princess Yicheng is the sister of Yang Guang, the first to marry Qimin Khan, after the death of Qimin Khan, and according to Turkic customs, became the wife of his stepson Shibi Khan, she is also the political power of the Sui Dynasty in the Turks, and has a high prestige in the Turks.

Pei Ju felt the anxiety in Yang Guang's tone, and he was secretly surprised in his heart, could it be that Princess Yicheng had any unfavorable news?

Yang Guang continued: "Princess Yicheng advised me to go north carefully, she said that Shibi Khan was extremely dissatisfied with the Great Sui because of the death of Shi Shu Huxi, and in this case the alliance between the two sides would not have any positive results. ”

Pei Ju knew very well that Shi Shu Hu Xi's death, in Beihai died in the hands of Zhang Xuan, Shi Bi Khan put this account on the head of the Great Sui, Pei Ju said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Shi Shu Hu Xi's death is just an excuse for the other party, the fundamental reason is that the Turks are getting stronger, and the fire of Shi Bi Khan's ambition is becoming more and more vigorous." ”

Yang Guang sighed for a while, and then asked, "Then Pei Gong thinks I will continue to go north to the alliance, or go back?" ”

"Did the princess say that the alliance was in danger?"

"She didn't say that there was danger, she just said that the beginning was not sincere, and the alliance was meaningless, so I was advised to be careful."

Pei Ju groaned and said: "The old minister suggested that His Majesty can suspend the north, first send someone to investigate the intelligence, if there is no danger, even if Shibi is not sincere, we should also go to the alliance, we can't be caught by him The excuse of sending troops to the south, the minister knows the internal situation of the Turks very well, and without sufficient excuses, it is difficult for Shibi Khan to send troops south." ”

Yang Guang looked at the map again, they were still fifty miles away from Fu Qibo, and Shibi Khan was also on his way to Fu Qibo, they were the Heavenly Empire, they couldn't be too eager, that would be to surrender their identity.

Thinking of this, Yang Guang nodded, "What Pei Gong said is reasonable, spread my will, and the army will be stationed on the spot!" (To be continued.) )