Not long after, there was a sound of footsteps outside the tent, the curtain was opened, and a middle-aged man with a big beard followed his soldiers into the big tent.

Without waiting for Yang Yuanqing to get up and say hello, Dou Kang stepped forward with an arrow, startling the soldiers, it was too late to catch him, but unexpectedly, Dou Kang knelt down for Yang Yuanqing on one knee, and said in a deep voice: "The criminal minister Dou Kang sees His Royal Highness the King of Chu!" ”

His words are very meaningful, the word 'criminal minister', the pun on the words, not only refers to Yang Yuanqing's arrest of him back then, but also refers to his current service in the Tang Dynasty, lowering his stature very low, giving Yang Yuanqing enough dignity, and then fighting for the rights and interests of the Dou family.

Yang Yuanqing hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, "General Dou doesn't have to be like this, please get up quickly!" ”

The two looked at each other, and they couldn't help laughing together, the opportunities in life were really wonderful, back then, Yang Yuanqing, who was only fifteen years old, led hundreds of soldiers to design and arrest Dou Kang, and Dou Kang also yelled at that time: 'Little thief, one day, we will see you again!' ’

Dou Kang was right, more than ten years later, they met again, but it became Dou Kang's surrender to Yang Yuanqing.

The two laughed loudly, which immediately eased the atmosphere of the big tent, Yang Yuanqing of course attached great importance to the Dou family, this is the Guanlong Haoqiang in the Guanlong region second only to the Dugu family, and Li Tang has a deep relationship.

Dou Rail, Dou Kang, the two pillars of the Dou family, one is the prime minister of the dynasty, the other is the general manager of Shuzhong, and now Dou Kang personally comes to find himself, which is enough to show that the sincerity of the Dou family is by no means as simple as a temptation.

It can also be seen how deep the crisis within Li Tang has become, even the Dou clan and the Dugu clan, which are second only to the clan, have come to find a way out, and Li Tang is really to the extent that everyone has betrayed his relatives.

"Mr. Dou, please take a seat!"

Yang Yuanqing was extremely polite, and he would treat all those who were conducive to his unification of the world, especially in the Guanlong region, and he must get the support of the Guanlong nobles.

As the saying goes, there are no eternal enemies and no eternal friends. He Yang Yuanqing was the sworn enemy of the Guanlong nobles back then, and after he established the New Sui, he was also hostile to the Guanlong nobles.

But when his strength was enough to destroy Li Tang, the attitude of the Guanlong nobles changed. began to scramble to take refuge in him, in the final analysis, it was the word 'interests'.

The two sat down, and Yang Yuanqing said with a smile: "My impression of Mr. Dou is still the same as more than ten years ago, but when I saw Mr. Dou today, I found that Mr. Dou has not changed at all." It's still the same as before, and Mr. Dou has a skill in recuperating his face! ”

Yang Yuanqing is right, this has always been Dou Kang's complacency, he is fifty years old this year, and he has been like this since he was thirty years old, and he has hardly changed, which surprised many people.

Dou Kang smiled slightly: "The key is my beard, twenty years. The shape has never changed, so everyone thinks I have a good way to shave off this beard. I don't think many people will know me anymore. ”

"Huh! What is the true face of Chief Dou, to be honest, I am really interested. ”

A bright light flashed in Dou Kang's eyes, and then he squinted his eyes and said: "Compared with more than ten years ago, Your Highness has changed a lot, and it is completely different, this majesty reminds me of the ancestor of the past." ”

Dou Kang is very good at slapping horses, and he actually compares Yang Yuanqing to Emperor Wen Yang Jian, which implies that he has the appearance of unifying the world.

The two chatted for a while. In fact, it is to ease the atmosphere and pave the way for the next serious conversation.

At this time, the atmosphere of the big tent has been very relaxed, and the two chatted about the things of the year, although there was hatred and embarrassment at the time, but after more than ten years, they are now talking. It's a bit nostalgic. Even Dou Kang, who was originally deliberately flattering, sighed with embarrassment.

"If the first emperor hadn't fought Goryeo, concentrated his forces to quell the bandits in various places, and then rested with the people and provided disaster relief in time, he really wouldn't have landed in the miserable situation later, but it's a pity that ......"

Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly, "If that's the case, there is no chance for the two of us to sit together at this time, right?" ”

Dou Kang was stunned, he actually forgot that Yang Yuanqing was the biggest beneficiary, and for a while his smile was a little embarrassed, and he touched the back of his head, "I'm really sorry!"

"Just kidding, don't mind."

Yang Yuanqing smiled indifferently, and then turned to the topic, "I don't know that this time Manager Dou came to ......"

He stopped the words behind him dramatically, and looked at Dou Kang with a smile on his face, waiting for him to give him an answer.

Dou Kang pondered for a moment, took out a letter from his arms, put it on the table, and pushed it to Yang Yuanqing, "This is the handwriting of the head of the Dou family, everything you have to say is here." ”

Yang Yuanqing took the letter, opened it and read it slowly, then put the letter on the table and diverted the topic, "How is Li Yuanji in Bashu?" ”

"What else can he do, hunting during the day and playing with women at night, he is not interested in anything other than these two things."

"Isn't he interested in military power?" Yang Yuanqing asked with a smile.

Dou Kang was stunned for a moment, his mind turned sharply, he suddenly understood what Yang Yuanqing meant, his face showed embarrassment, and said with a wry smile: "Your Highness's idea may be in vain, although Li Yuanji spends all his time drinking, he attaches great importance to military power, and now Bashu has no troops, 60,000 troops have been transferred by the prince to attack, Bashu is actually very empty now." ”

"I'm just talking, don't care, Mr. Dou."

At this time, the atmosphere in the big tent was slightly tense, Yang Yuanqing had already finished reading Dou Liang's letter, and the gossip had been finished, it was time for him to express his position, Dou Kang still had a smile on his face, but there was a nervousness in the smile that could not be concealed.

Yang Yuanqing also bowed his head and was silent, Dou Liang clearly expressed his support for himself in the letter, and was willing to cooperate with the Sui Dynasty to stabilize Guanlong, but he did not mention some practical issues in the letter, such as money, grain, and land, which made Yang Yuanqing a little disappointed.

He hoped that Dou Kang would make it clear and support the implementation of the Juntian Order, that is, to make concessions on the land, but Dou Liang avoided it, I don't know if he deliberately avoided it, or because of the first contact, he didn't want to mention it too early, but anyway, the land is talking, and even if he can't clean up the Dou family in the future, now he needs to pull the Dou family over first.

After thinking about it for a long time, Yang Yuanqing said slowly: "I have understood the intentions of the Dou family, first of all, I am very grateful to the chief manager Dou for coming in person, which shows the sincerity of the Dou family, I Yang Yuanqing only has one sentence, I have no insoluble grudge with the Dou family, the Dou family is willing to support the Sui Dynasty, I accept and welcome." ”……

Dou Kang returned to Chang'an overnight, and the next morning, Yang Yuanqing led the army to continue to return to Taiyuan, and two days later, the army was less than ten miles away from Taiyuan City, and the cavalry of the Sui army marched slowly on the wide galloping road.

Not long ago, there was another heavy snowfall, and the roads and the fields on both sides were covered with thick white quilts, and the two heavy snows completely solved the drought since summer and autumn, so that the land was greatly moistened, which was a very gratifying scenery, although the heavy snow covered the ground, and the cold air hit people, but every soldier could feel the joy that permeated the fields.

Many farmers stood on the ridges, pointing to the heavy snow in the field and talking, looking forward to next year's harvest, which made Yang Yuanqing suddenly think of a proverb, 'This winter's wheat covers three layers of quilts, and next year sleeps with steamed buns', under the heavy snow is the seedlings of winter wheat, and now it has been covered with two layers of quilts, will there be another snow?

Thinking of next year's bumper harvest, Yang Yuanqing couldn't help but feel a burst of relaxation, looking into the distance on both sides, the north is the rolling Taiyuan West Mountain, and then close to the front of the woods and villages, in front of the village is an endless wheat field, which extends to a hundred miles away.

At this time, Yang Yuanqing suddenly heard someone shouting: "Stop!" Rebel, stop me! ”

'Rebel? Yang Yuanqing was stunned for a moment, he looked for the sound on both sides, he soon saw that on the ridge in the south, two people were running one after the other, in front of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old posterity, and a middle-aged man more than a dozen steps behind him, the latter ran with his head down, and the middle-aged man shouted and chased behind, and the direction they ran in was just aimed at Yang Yuanqing.

Yang Yuanqing's personal soldiers suddenly became nervous, rushed forward together, and surrounded the two of them, but the middle-aged man didn't care about the soldiers, grabbed the wrist of the descendant, and said viciously: "Come home with me!" ”

Hou Sheng suddenly shouted, "I want to join the army, Dad, don't stop me!" ”

This is really a father and son, Yang Yuanqing was a little interested, so he smiled and said, "Bring the two of them up." ”

After a while, the two were brought up by the soldiers, and some soldiers told them Yang Yuanqing's identity, so frightened that the two of them knelt down in front of Yang Yuanqing's horse at once, Yang Yuanqing asked the old man with a smile, "It's a good thing for your son to join the army, why stop him?" ”

The old man kowtowed, and couldn't help but burst into tears and said: "The old man's surname is He, he originally had three sons, the eldest son and the second son were all in the army, but the two of them unfortunately died in this battle with the Turks, the old man only has this one son, and he doesn't want to lose him again." ”

The old man's words made Yang Yuanqing awe-inspired, he nodded, and said to the descendants: "There is a rule in the Sui army that only sons can't join the army, I'm sorry, I can't accept you." ”

The latter shouted, "But I want to join the army, Your Highness, all the young people in the village want to join the army, defend the frontier, and fight against the Turks, I can too, I beg Your Highness to accept me as a soldier!" ”

Yang Yuanqing saw that the eyes of the future were full of endless expectations, and tears flowed out, which was indeed difficult to refuse, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

At this time, a personal soldier whispered a few words to Yang Yuanqing, Yang Yuanqing nodded, and smiled at the old man: "That's it!" You can make him a palace guard, and I guarantee him that he is safe and sound. ”

As a palace guard, the old man was also willing, he hurriedly kowtowed, "Thank you Your Highness for taking care of you!" ”

Yang Yuanqing smiled at Hou Sheng: "Since you want to join the army, then I will fulfill you." ”

He turned around and ordered a personal soldier, "Take him to Jinyang Palace to find Xue Liang, just say that it is my intention, but make an exception to join the army." ”