In the cabin of the ship is a simple sand table, mainly in the area of Pyongyang, including sea access, some major mountains and cities, and the sand table also includes domestic cities.

Laihu'er picked up the wooden pole and pointed to the inner city, "It is about one hundred and twenty miles from the domestic city to Pyongyang, and the cavalry can arrive in one day, and then the Goryeo army should be combined with the outside world, and the strength of the army will be several times that of ours, which is not conducive to our siege." ”

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and said: "After the three expeditions of the Sui Dynasty, the strength of the Goryeo army has been greatly damaged, and the so-called main force is only more than 100,000 people, and my 30,000 elites are not afraid, and they dare to fight with it." ”

Laihu'er smiled bitterly, "Your Highness, the problem is that the Goryeo people will not fight to the death, they will harass and attack the city, or destroy our warships, and they will delay, a battle will drag on for half a year and a year, and the Sui army can't afford to drag it out!" The Goryeo people have always been strong, once the Sui army wants to conquer them, they will inevitably all the soldiers and rebel en masse, and the 30,000 army wants to destroy a country, it is really unlikely, the number of troops is still too small, and the 100,000 army may be able to do it. ”

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "I really don't have time to delay in Goryeo for a long time, this eastward expedition to Goryeo can only be regarded as a surprise attack, at most a month, we must return to Hebei." ”

"But ......"

Lai Hu'er worried: "How to deal with the main force of the Goryeo army, we need to think about a good plan." ”

Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly, "I have already considered the plan, Gai Suwen will definitely cooperate with the Sui army." ”

Lai Hu'er was stunned, he didn't know the deep meaning of Yang Yuanqing's words......

Located on the bank of the Aplu River in the north, about 100 li away from the capital Pyongyang and less than 100 li away from Liaoshui, the inner city of Goryeo is an important strategic city in the northern part of Goryeo.

The domestic city was also the fief of the Yuan family, and during the Sui Dynasty's three expeditions to Goryeo, the army controlled by Yuan Taizuo did not fight with all their might. Rather, it was the army of the King of Goryeo who fought hard. As a result, Wang's army suffered heavy losses, and less than 30,000 of the more than 100,000 troops remained.

After the end of the Battle of Goryeo, the situation in Goryeo underwent subtle changes. The army controlled by the Yuan family became the main force of the Goryeo army, and naturally, the powerful Yuan Taejo became the real ruler of Goryeo.

However, Yuan Taizuo is more stable after all. Many things are not revealed, and despite his great power, he still maintains enough respect for the king of Goryeo.

Moreover, most of the Goryeo courtiers were also loyal to the king of Goryeo, and the plain Gaowon also had enough authority, and the pattern of the monarch and the prime minister was not completely broken.

But in just a few months from last winter to this spring, two major events occurred in Goryeo that were enough to seriously affect the political landscape of Goryeo.

First, the king of Goryeo, Gao Yuan, died of illness in the autumn and winter of last year, and the throne was inherited by Gao Jianwu, who was less than 30 years old. His qualifications were shallow, and although he had a group of ministers loyal to him, he no longer had the authority of his predecessor, Gao Yuan.

The second is in the spring of the Liaodong Campaign. Prime Minister Yuan Taizuo was captured by the Sui army. Yuan Taizuo's son Yuan Gai Suwen inherited his father's military power and the position of Xiangguo.

But the ambitious Gaisuwen was not as subtle as his father, and seized power by soft means. Gai Suwen was not, he was sharp, and the first thing he did was to set up an army of messengers, and every day he had to send his government affairs from Pyongyang to the city for his approval.

As a result, there were actually two political centers in Goryeo, one in Pyongyang and the other in the city, and his actions made the courtiers extremely unhappy and rebuked him for his arrogance.

And Gai Suwen's response was to assassinate the most opposed Wang Shu Gaoquan, use the Gao Litang he founded to spy on the courtiers, and assassinate five or six ministers who opposed him in a row.

For a time, everyone in Goryeo was in danger, and no one dared to criticize Gai Suwen anymore, but there were more people who hated him to the core, and many ministers also began to buy killers and prepare to attack him.

Gai Suwen was also afraid of being assassinated, so he simply stopped going to Pyongyang in the past few months and stayed in the domestic city.

In the afternoon of that day, a group of people came from outside the city, and about 100 Goryeo soldiers escorted several people who looked like civil officials of the Sui Dynasty.

The first envoy was Xie Sili, and after he persuaded Laihu'er in Jiujiang County, he received a new order from Yang Yuanqing and rushed to Liaodong non-stop.

In the plan proposed by Pei Ju to seize the resources of Goryeo, there are two important chess pieces, one chess piece is Laihu'er, who is good at water warfare and is familiar with Goryeo, and the other chess piece is Yuan Taizuo, these two are directly related to the success or failure of Yang Yuanqing's Goryeo strategy.

Today, Xie Sili came to lay the chess piece of Yuan Taizuo.

When the group came to the city, the leader of the Goryeo soldiers said in a loud voice: "Please tell the general that the envoy of the Sui Dynasty has arrived from Liaodong." ”

Xie Sili also stepped forward and shouted to the city: "Tell Gai Suwen that my surname is Xie and my name is Xie Sili!" ”……

During this time, Gai Suwen was quite troubled, he got a news a few days ago that the Sui Dynasty was going to release his father Yuan Taizuo back, which really worried him.

Due to Yuan Taizuo's accidental capture, there was also a struggle for military power within the Yuan family, mainly with Gai Suwen's two uncles participating in the competition.

Gai Suwen did not have an advantage, and in the end, with the support of several of his father's old subordinates, he seized military power and became the heir of his father Mo Lizhi.

Mo Lizhi is an official name, that is, the prime minister of the Central Plains Dynasty, but Gai Suwen's inheritance is not very reliable.

On the one hand, the king of Goryeo has not officially recognized his legal inheritance status, and according to the inheritance regulations of Goryeo Molizhi, the next one can only inherit after the death of the previous Molizhi, or the previous Molizhi officially resigns to the king of Goryeo, and the king of Goryeo will appoint the next one.

On the other hand, Gao Jianwu's hatred for Gai Suwen also made him unwilling to hand over Mo Lizhi's position to Gai Suwen.

It is the influence of these two aspects that makes Gai Suwen unable to justify his name, and can only rely on power to exercise the position of Mo Lizhi on behalf of his father.

It is for this reason that Gai Suwen is really worried in his heart, once his father returns, will he still be able to retain his military power?

Power is a sweet poison that makes everyone who tastes its wonderful taste unable to extricate themselves, and the same is true of Gai Suwen, who has been in power for more than half a year and has made it impossible for him to give up the power in his hands, even if his father asks for power. He was also reluctant to hand over the power in his hands.

Gai Suwen once sent two killers into Taiyuan. attempted to kill his father in captivity, but the two killers eventually failed to find the place where Yuan Taizuo was imprisoned, so they had to give up.

At this time, Gai Suwen had already received news from Liaodong. His father had arrived in Yeon-gun, ready to hand over to Goryeo at any time, which made Gai Suwen extremely anxious. He only dared to send someone to Taiyuan to assassinate his father, and then framed it for the Sui Dynasty.

But he didn't dare to do it after his father entered Goryeo, in that case, his uncle and several of his father's old generals would not be able to spare him, and Gai Suwen had tried his best in the past few days, but there was nothing he could do.

In the room, Gai Suwen was like an ant on a hot pot, pacing back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. A guard reported outside the door, "General, there's news from outside the city. A Sui Dynasty envoy arrived. Will the general receive you? ”

Gai Suwen was taken aback, the envoy of the Sui Dynasty actually arrived. He pondered for a moment and asked, "What is the name of the messenger, do you know?" ”

"It seems to be called Xie Sili."

This name made Gai Suwen say without hesitation: "Please come to my house." ”

Gai Suwen paced around the room with his hands behind his back, no longer like an ant on a hot pot like in the afternoon, and quieted down a little, and the arrival of the envoy of the Sui Dynasty gave him a glimmer of hope.

Especially Xie Sili, of course he knows who this Xie Sili is, he is nominally the squire of the Sui Dynasty's military department, but in fact, he is Yang Yuanqing's confidant, and his secret control of the Sui Dynasty even surpasses that of Ziwei Pavilion.

Gai Suwen had an understanding that Xie Sili did not come on behalf of the Great Sui, but on behalf of Yang Yuanqing, and his arrival must be related to his father.

About half an hour later, footsteps sounded outside the door, and then a soldier reported: "General, the envoy of the Sui Dynasty has arrived." ”

"Bring him in!"

The door opened, and several soldiers walked into the room with Xie Sili, Xie Sili glanced at this room, if it weren't for what the soldiers said just now that he couldn't understand, he would definitely think that he was in the Central Plains, and all the furnishings in this room were exactly the same as the Central Plains.

The celadon vase and copper incense burner placed in the corner of the house, the wall is hung with the picture scroll of the Wei and Jin dynasties, against the wall is a row of books, the books in it are imported from the Central Plains, and the innermost is placed two expensive rosewood couches, next to the couch are placed copper crane lampposts, and a few candles are lit, so that the light in the room is soft and bright.

At this time, Xie Sili's eyes fell on the master of the room, a man about thirty years old, with an extremely slender figure, a thin waist and a wide back, fair skin, and a pair of slender eyes full of coldness and arrogance.

This person is Yuan Gai Suwen, who holds the military power of Goryeo, which reminds Xie Sili of the Goryeo intelligence spy captured half a year ago, he himself confessed that he is Gai Suwen's brother, and now it seems that this person is not lying, and the two do look very similar.

Xie Sili arched his hand and smiled: "See General Yuan!" ”

Gai Suwen nodded slightly, without a trace of a smile on his face, "Mr. Xie, please take a seat!" ”

Xie Sili was also not polite, walked to the couch and sat down, Gai Suwen also sat down, and a maid served tea, following the example of the Sui Dynasty, and Goryeo also began to drink tea.

Gai Suwen pondered and asked, "What is Mr. Xie here for?" ”

"Naturally, it was for Ling Zun's matter, His Royal Highness the King of Chu and Ling Zun reached an agreement to let Ling Zun return to the country at the cost of 300,000 stone grain, and Ling Zun agreed, but His Royal Highness the King of Chu still wanted to ask General Yuan's opinion."

"What do you mean!"

Gai Suwen stretched his face and asked, "Can I still stop my father from returning to China?" ”

Xie Sili took a sip of tea and said casually: "In fact, whether Ling Zun returns or not has no impact on the Sui Dynasty, if General Yuan is unwilling to return to the country, it is not impossible." ”

Gai Suwen's eyes narrowed, Yang Yuanqing really came to the conditions, he knew very well that he didn't want his father to return to China, Gai Suwen didn't hide it, and directly sneered and said, "Say it!" What conditions did Yang Yuanqing offer? ”

Xie Sili shook his head, "I don't know what the specific conditions are, but the general manager just said that General Yuan will understand soon." ”

Gai Suwen was stunned, what does this mean?