Licheng County, Qi County, where Dou Jiande's new capital is located, at noon, Dou Jiande rode a horse to inspect the streets as usual, followed by more than 100 personal soldiers.

It has reached the most lively noon, but the pedestrians on the street are still sparse, and it is rare to see groups of people appearing, and the population of the entire Licheng County is less than 30,000 people, most of whom are military households.

Dou Jiande has long been accustomed to this kind of scene of population depression, and he has no emotion, he knows that most of the people in Qingzhou have gone to Hebei, some to join the army, and some to build water conservancy, in exchange for food to support their families.

Although Dou Jiande sometimes hates, he knows in his heart that he can't support so many people, and it is not necessarily a bad thing to let them go to Hebei to survive, but looking at the depression on the street, his ambition has faded day by day.

In fact, even Dou Jiande himself had no interest in Emperor Cheng, and under the persuasion of Kong Deshao, he changed his name to King Xia, appointed Kong Deshao as the governor of King Xia, and left all government affairs to him to deal with, he only managed to train soldiers, although he only had 20,000 soldiers in his hands, he also wanted to train these 20,000 soldiers into the most sharp army.

"Is the food distributed today?" Dou Jiande turned around and asked Sima Qi, who accompanied him on the tour.

Due to the shortage of food, Dou Jiande implemented a grain rationing system as early as last autumn, distributing grain every three days, each person could get a pair of rice and a dried fish, halving the number of old people and children, and killing more than a dozen officials who embezzled grain.

Qi Shanxing is the second Wenchen under Dou Jiande, second only to Kong Deshao, although his ability is not strong, and he is not knowledgeable, but Dou Jiande took a fancy to his integrity and integrity, so he handed over the food ration to him to deal with, and Qi Shanxing also did his best. No major problems arose.

He hurriedly bowed down and said, "Back to the prince, the food has been distributed today, and everything is going well." ”

Dou Jiande nodded, and asked again: "I heard some people complain that the ration of dried fish is generally very small, what's going on?" ”

Qi Shanxing smiled bitterly, "Your Highness, the sea is quite stormy now. Our fleet is all small boats. I can't stand it, so I have been sheltering from the wind and waves in the harbor, and there are only small fish left in the warehouse, and this matter was reported to the prince two days ago. ”

Dou Jiande then remembered that there seemed to be such a thing, and he forgot about it. I had to smile apologetically and ask again, "Then how is the wind and waves now?" ”

"I've already sent someone to inquire, but it's only January. It won't last long if there are wind and waves, and it is estimated that the fleet has already gone to sea. ”

Dou Jiande nodded, at this time. A soldier in the distance rushed quickly, "Lord Wang! The soldier shouted loudly.

Dou Jiande stopped the war horse, he recognized the soldier as the duty of the palace today, could it be that something happened to the palace?

In a moment, the soldiers ran. Panting breathlessly, he said, "Report to the prince...... The envoy of the Sui Dynasty came and waited in the palace. ”

This news made Dou Jiande stunned for a moment, why did the envoy of the Sui Dynasty come, he groaned slightly, and immediately ordered: "Go home!" ”

Everyone turned their horses' heads one after another and escorted Dou Jiande to the palace.

Dou Jiande's Xia Wangfu is the use of the original Xu Yuanlang has not yet finished the Lu Wangfu rebuilt, covering an area of less than 20 acres, in all the secession forces in the world, his mansion is the smallest one, even Liu Heimin's Qi Wangfu is twice as large as him, this is of course Qi County suffered from war, the people are poor, and cannot afford to build a palace on a large scale, on the other hand, it is also because Dou Jiande is frugal and does not like luxury.

At this time, in the guest hall of the Xia Wangfu, Yang Yuanqing's envoy Wen Yanbo was drinking tea unhurriedly, and Kong Deshao sat on the side to accompany him.

Wen Yanbo was the Taishou of Zhuo County, and because he was extremely outstanding in the implementation of the uniform field system, he successfully reconciled the land contradictions between the scholars and the common people, and was set up as a model of the uniform field system.

Wen Yanbo was also promoted as a high-level scholar, and was about to enter the dynasty as the head of the household department, and will be directly in charge of the implementation of the Tianxia Juntian system, this time by Yang Yuanqing's dispatch to Qingzhou.

The reason why Wen Yanbo was sent to Qingzhou was because Wen Yanbo had always been respected by Dou Jiande, and when Dou Jiande was in Hebei, he invited Wen Yanbo to him several times to serve as the prime minister, but Wen Yanbo politely refused.

At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside, Dou Jiande strode in, and as soon as he entered the lobby, his hearty laughter echoed in the lobby, "It turned out to be Wen Taishou, I haven't seen you for a long time, don't come unharmed?" ”

Wen Yanbo also stood up and bowed and said, "It came abruptly, without prior notice, please forgive me!" ”

"Where, Mrs. Wen is willing to come, just to give me Dou Jiande's face, where do you need to report in advance, please sit down!"

Dou Jiande and Wen Yanbo sat down separately, Kong Deshao also sat aside, Dou Jiande ordered someone to serve tea again, the three of them exchanged a few words, Dou Jiande sighed, "The drought in the summer and autumn last year made the people of the six counties of Qingzhou miserable, and most of them fled to Hebei, I want to ask, how many people in Qingzhou fled to Hebei?" Can you tell Jiande? ”

Wen Yanbo thought for a while and said: "Not long ago, I also talked about this matter with His Royal Highness the King of Chu, and the King of Chu mentioned that there were about 500,000 people in Qingzhou who fled to Hebei one after another, and about 100,000 people who fled to Liang County and Dong County. ”

"That's 700,000!"

Dou Jiande sighed, "The total population of the six counties of Qingzhou is only more than 800,000, and more than eighty percent of the people have fled. ”

Wen Yanbo persuaded: "The prince should know that the people's minds are determined to be the general trend, now Hebei is pacified, all counties and counties are implementing the uniform land system, the implementation of the cultivator has their own land, although the people of Qingzhou can not divide the field in Hebei, but they also have official land to plant, the rent is completely free, the government also provides cattle and horses to help cultivate the field, when I go south, it is already the season of shock, the land of Hebei is everywhere in chūn cultivated land, a piece of vitality, on the contrary, after crossing the Yellow River, it is a dead silence, the land is barren, the village is dilapidated, and Hebei is in stark contrast, Doesn't the prince understand that the world is the trend of the times? ”

Dou Jiande bowed his head and was silent, although what Wen Yanbo said made him very uncomfortable, but he couldn't get angry, he knew very well in his heart that he still wanted to kill back to Hebei with his current strength, it was almost a white dream, he wanted to stop the Sui army from recovering Qingzhou, and it could also be a mantis arm to block the car, he actually couldn't survive this year. It's just that......

Dou Jiande finally sighed, "I, Dou Jiande, am just a peasant, and I was forced to rebel, which can be regarded as a meritorious career, and I can be called a hero, I am nearly fifty years old, and I have already passed the age of not being confused, if I surrender to Yang Yuanqing." Yang Yuanqing may allow me? Maybe he won't kill me now. But what about after rì? When he sits firmly in the country and unifies the world, can he still leave me Dou Jiande as a trouble? ”

What Dou Jiande said was from his heart, he was also a hero in the world, he understood his ambition, and Yang Yuanqing would never leave him with this trouble. Even if he doesn't die now, he won't be left behind in the future, which is his biggest worry.

Wen Yanbo smiled slightly: "The people of the world have a mind. Even if the prince wants to rebel in the future, how many people do you think will be willing to follow? Abandon the land you have gotten, and abandon the homeland you have worked so hard to build. How many people can abandon their wives and children's parents? As the prince himself said, he is nearly fifty years old, and he has no children under his knees, and the prince can still live for a few years. So why rebel? His Royal Highness the King of Chu knows in his heart, but the prince actually can't get up. ”

Dou Jiande shook his head, "It's that His Royal Highness the King of Chu has different hearts." ”

Wen Yanbo sneered, "To say something unpleasant, the prince can't help but think too highly of himself, if the king of Chu wants to kill the prince and eradicate the remnants of Qingzhou, as long as he sends a 10,000-strong cavalry to sweep over, can the prince's 20,000 troops withstand it for three days?" If His Royal Highness wants to kill the prince, isn't it easy? Why bother with a backdrop. ”

Wen Yanbo's words made Dou Jiande also a little puzzled, he knew in his heart that there were only a few hundred war horses in his army, and if it was really 10,000 Sui cavalry swept away, his army would be defeated in a battle.

Yes, Yang Yuanqing could easily destroy him, so why did he surrender himself? Dou Jiande was a little puzzled.

Wen Yanbo sighed and explained: "This is because His Royal Highness the King of Chu has the world in his heart, from the sixth year of the great cause Wang Bo began to rebel, it has been seven or eight years, the country is withering, the people's livelihood is poor, His Royal Highness really doesn't want to kill anymore, so he would rather tolerate the prince, and His Royal Highness personally told me that when the prince was in Hebei to collect grain, he did not touch the grain of the righteous warehouse, and treated the people well, just by virtue of this, you can spare the prince's life, if the prince descends, he can return to his hometown to retire, as long as he lives in a simple place and does not make friends with the old department, he can naturally enjoy his old age in peace, These are the exact words of His Highness. ”

Dou Jiande was said to be moved, and he also knew very well that the general trend of the world had been decided, even if he wanted to rebel, no one would respond, not to mention that he was nearly fifty years old, had no children under his knees, and had no power to rebel, he would definitely not rebel again, he just wanted to spend his old age in his hometown peacefully.

The key is whether Yang Yuanqing will be suspicious of himself, whether he has the capacity to tolerate others, listening to Wen Yanbo's tone, it seems that someone will monitor him, which is also normal, 'live in a simple place, do not make friends with the old department', this is Yang Yuanqing's condition.

Dou Jiande walked to the front of the lobby with his hands behind his back, looking at the willow branches in the yard that had already sprouted green buds, at this moment he really longed to return to his hometown, sit by the small river behind his old house to fish, and enjoy the vitality of the chūn day.

"Alright! Let me think about it for a few more days. Dou Jiande finally made up his mind.

Wen Yanbo immediately got up and said with a smile: "Then I will wait for the prince to think about it for three more days, and after three days, if the prince is willing to surrender, we will discuss the surrender in detail." ”

Dou Jiande nodded slowly, "Then we will make a decision, three days later, whether it will be lowered or not, I will give you an official answer." ”

Wen Yanbo left, Dou Jiande stood in front of the hall and pondered for a long time, at this time, Kong Deshao, who had not spoken, slowly stepped forward and said, "The prince should understand now!" Why did I persuade the prince not to be the emperor? ”

Dou Jiande was taken aback, and he realized that if he became emperor, there would be no room for reversal.

"Did Mr. Kong also persuade me to surrender?"

Kong Deshao nodded, "The general trend of the world has gone, if the prince does not seize this opportunity, he will definitely regret it too late." ”

Dou Jiande also sighed lowly, "Yes! I Dou Jiande does not admire Ronghua, not close to the woman, I just want to give the people of Hebei a bite to eat in the troubled times, now the people are determined, Hebei has been thriving, why should I destroy this hard-won stability, even if I die, I can be blind. ”……

Three days later, Dou Jiande found Wen Yanbo and officially expressed his willingness to surrender to the Sui Dynasty, Wen Yanbo took out Yang Yuanqing's handwritten letter, in which Yang Yuanqing named Dou Jiande as the Duke of Zhangnan County, rewarded him with 5,000 taels of silver, gave him 10 hectares of land, and allowed him to return to his hometown for the elderly.

Ten days later, Luo Shixin led 10,000 cavalry into Qi County and took over Dou Jiande's 20,000 troops, and Dou Jiande, a generation of heroes across Hebei, disappeared.

Twenty years later, Dou Jiande, who was nearly seventy years old, felt ill when he visited Qingcheng Mountain in Shuzhong, and finally died of illness in Chengdu