In May of the 11th year of the Great Cause, the Battle of Goryeo had officially ended under the begging of the Goryeo king Gao Yuan, and Emperor Yang Guang returned to the capital.

Although the rebellion of the Great Sui was at a low ebb in the ninth year of the Great Cause, it was suppressed by the cruel town of "Spreading Wings and the God of Fire", but in the tenth and eleventh years of the Great Cause, the tide of rebellion surged again, and the momentum was even greater. Wagangzhai Zhai Rang and Li Mi supported more than 200,000 soldiers; Dou Jiande of Qinghe County collected Gao Shida and Zhang Jin to call the rebels, and then raised troops, with more than 200,000 troops, attacking the city and plundering the village, and the momentum was huge.

There are more than 100,000 troops in Hebei Wei Dao'er, Lu Mingyue made a comeback again in Douzigang, with more than 100,000 troops, crossed the Yellow River, entered Zhu'a County, and echoed the 100,000 army of Zuo Xiaoyou in Qi County, in addition to hundreds of rebels from all over the country, gradually changed from peasant rebellion to rebellion of wealthy clans in various places, they were no longer limited to the countryside, but attacked the county, and the city was king, which began to seriously threaten the foundation of the Great Sui Dynasty.

At this time, Yang Guang has been overwhelmed by the rebellion one after another, the previous rebellion was only in the countryside, but now most of the rebellions are local tycoons, they attack the city and plunder the county, kill the officials, defeat the Sui army, the bad news came one after another, last year Yang Guang was ruthless, the Jiangnan rebellion was not effective Tu Wanxu and Yu Juluo were both dismissed from their posts and questioned, Yu Juluo was wounded by an arrow, died of illness on the way back to Beijing, and Tu Wanxu died in Dali Temple Prison.

Last year, Yang Yichen was impeached by the imperial history for appointing subordinate officials without authorization because of his high prestige and more than 100,000 soldiers, so he was suspicious of Yang Guang and died of illness shortly after the deposition of military power.

Yang Guang's henchmen were in great trouble, but Yang Yuanqing of Fengzhou took advantage of the battle of Goryeo to begin to expand eastward, building five cities on the north bank of the Yellow River, expanding his sphere of influence to Mayi County, which made Yang Guang shocked and angry, and decided to crusade against Yang Yuanqing.

And at this moment, a nursery rhyme began to circulate in the capital, 'Peach and plum, there is a world, Yang's extinction, Li's prosperity', an ominous omen shrouded the sky over the capital.

…….

There is a house covering an area of five acres in the Beijing Daohua Fang, which is Zhang Xutuo's house, Zhang Xutuo was transferred back to Beijing to serve as Guanglu Temple Secretary because of Yang Yuanqing's self-reliance, but he was dismissed after only two months, and for two years, he has been idle at home, receiving a golden purple Guanglu doctor's salary, and living a poor life.

Although there was nothing to do in the capital, Zhang Xutuo had been paying attention to the changes in the situation in the world, and Yang Guang's decision to go east again made him anxious, and he begged the saint to abandon the plan to go east to Goryeo, but his performance was like a stone in the sea, and there was no response.

At the same time, he also paid more attention to the situation in Qi County, he maintained correspondence with several confidants, just two days ago, Zhang Xutuo received a letter from Qin Qiong, saying that the thief marshal Lu Mingyue led more than 100,000 troops to cross the Yellow River and stationed in Zhu'a County, and the thief marshal Zuo Xiaoyou divided his troops into two ways to attack Zouping County and Linji County, and Xu Yuanfang, who was too guarded, decided to lead the army to rescue.

This news made Zhang Xutuo very anxious, this was obviously Lu Mingyue's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain, and use Zuo Xiaoyou to transfer Xu Yuanfang's main force from Licheng County, and then he took advantage of the weakness to attack Licheng County, if Xu Yuanfang returned to help, he would inevitably be ambushed.

Zhang Xutuo wrote a letter to Yang Guangyu overnight to report the matter, begging Yang Guang to transfer troops to support Qi County, he was anxious, if Licheng County was breached, Qi County would be finished.

In the room, Zhang Xutuo fidgeted, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, he seemed to have a situation in his mind that Licheng County was breached, the fire was soaring, Lu Mingyue plundered, burned and killed adultery, hundreds of thousands of people scattered and fled for their lives, and the families of the generals in the army were in Licheng County, if the county town was breached, it would inevitably be chaotic, Zhang Xutuo hated Xu Yuanfang's stupidity and unwisdom in his heart.

At this time, there was a knock on the door, and his wife's voice came, "Master, someone is looking for you!" ”

"Who is it?"

"It seems to be from Toyosu."

Zhang Xutuo's face sank immediately, this was the third time Yang Yuanqing had sent someone, he was unhappy in his heart, but he still had to see him, after all, the person who came from Fengzhou had traveled thousands of miles, and it would be a little rude if he didn't see him behind closed doors.

"Invite him to the guest hall!"

Zhang Xutuo was very disgusted with Yang Yuanqing's self-reliance, and even hated it, if it weren't for Yang Yuanqing's anti-Sui, he would have cut off all relations with Yang Yuanqing a long time ago.

Zhang Xutuo came to the guest hall with his hands behind his back, and there was a young scribe in his twenties sitting in the guest hall, this person was Yang Yuanqing's scribe Zhang Liang, who was ordered to enter Beijing, and persuading Zhang Xutuo was only one of his tasks.

Zhang Liang's fingers were not broken, Du Ruhui interceded with Yang Yuanqing for him, and finally spared him, Zhang Liang has been assisting Du Ruhui for the past two years, and Du Ruhui is quite important, and recommended him to Yang Yuanqing as a clerk.

Zhang Liang sat in the guest hall and thought about how to persuade Zhang Xutuo, he saw that Zhang Xutuo's home was dilapidated, it was estimated that he was living a poor life, Zhang Xutuo had no real job, only a loose official, then he could only take half of his salary, and there were only two hundred and fifty stone of grain a year, and there were no other subsidies, it is said that Yongye Tian had already been sold, there was no income from the field, and his life was very poor, maybe this was a breakthrough.

At this time, footsteps sounded, and the tall and mighty Zhang Xutuo walked in from outside the house.

Zhang Liang hurriedly stood up and saluted, "See the general!" ”

"Please be seated!"

Zhang Xutuo's tone was very cold, he was not good at hiding his emotions, and his annoyance with his apprentice Yang Yuanqing made him not have a good face towards Zhang Liang.

Without waiting for Zhang Liang to speak, Zhang Xutuo waved his hand and said: "If you persuade me to go to Fengzhou, then I only have three words to reply, "Impossible!" ，”

Zhang Liang laughed dryly and said, "Why is the general so stubborn? Before leaving, the chief manager said to me that one of his masters had been killed by the current emperor, and he did not want the other master to die at the hands of the emperor. ”

Yang Yuanqing's concern made Zhang Xutuo's face slightly better, but he still shook his head, "Yu Juluo was not killed by the saint, he was dismissed by the saint for his ineffective suppression of bandits, and he burst to death with arrow sores on the way, this is normal, he should be punished if he does not do things well, I don't think there is anything wrong with the saint." ”

"But the Holy Lord dismissed the general from his official position without any reason, and he has been idle for two years, how unfair is this to the general?"

"You're wrong!"

Zhang Xutuo retorted: "The saint did not treat me unfairly, on the contrary, this is exactly the saint's tolerance for me, the apprentice supports the army and stands on his own, who dares to use his master?" The Holy One just didn't let me serve as an official, but he still retained my loose official and title, if I had been replaced by someone else, I would have been pushed and cut down a long time ago, isn't this the Holy One's tolerance? I don't even have anyone to watch, I can go anywhere, and I feel that the Holy One is kind to me. ”

"But...... The general's mansion is too poor, if the general is willing to go to Fengzhou, the glory and wealth, the position of power, do you still have to worry? ”

Zhang Xutuo was furious, stood up, glared at him angrily, and said, "I don't welcome you, you can go!" ”

Zhang Liang's face was full of embarrassment, a little overwhelmed, Zhang Xutuo snorted, strode out, and when he walked to the door, he stopped again, and said coldly: "You go back and tell Yang Yuanqing that his father rebelled, and he was forced to support Sui and stand on his own, I don't blame him, but I won't help him, but if he dares to rebel against Sui, I, Zhang Xutuo, will personally cut off his head, and then I will apologize to Da Sui to wash my Zhang Xutuo's innocence." ”

After speaking, Zhang Xutuo didn't look back, strode away, and after a while, Zhang Liang smiled bitterly, no wonder when leaving, the manager said that he could do his best, Zhang Xutuo was really ...... Ay!

Zhang Xutuo returned to the room, his heart was still angry, he forgot to ask just now, tempting him with money and power, is it Yang Yuanqing's meaning, or the black-faced scribe's own meaning, if it is Yang Yuanqing's meaning, then he is really blind and teaches such a despicable person.

But Zhang Xutuo slowly calmed down, he felt that it should not be Yang Yuanqing's meaning, people said that he could see the old since he was a child, Yang Yuanqing was an extremely high and self-disciplined person when he was a child, he was not so vulgar, at least he knew that money and power could not impress him, if he had this intention, he should have brought it up for the first time.

Thinking about this, Zhang Xutuo's heart felt a little better.

At this time, his wife's voice came from outside the room, "Master, come out quickly!" Someone from the palace has arrived. ”

Zhang Xutuo was startled and walked out of the room quickly, "Where is the person?" ”

"In the courtyard, there are two eunuchs."

Zhang Xutuo almost trotted all the way to the courtyard, he vaguely guessed that it was a matter of Qi County, he handed over the fold to the saint a few days ago, it must be that the saint saw it, and there would be eunuchs coming to him, Zhang Xutuo's heart was extremely nervous, but he was full of expectations.

There were two eunuchs standing in the courtyard, their faces were unhappy, the walls were mottled, there was no painting, the eaves were broken, which was mandatory, and a long rotten wood filled with beams to support the gatehouse, which showed that Zhang Xutuo's family had no money, and naturally they could not give them benefits.

The shabby situation in Zhang Xutuo's house made them extremely unhappy, and then Zhang Xutuo ran up and arched his hand: "Two, let you wait for a long time." ”

The two eunuchs glanced at each other, and when they saw that Zhang Xutuo didn't say anything, they couldn't help but scold him in their hearts for not being interesting, and they didn't even want to announce the holy decree, so they said coldly: "General Zhang, the Holy Lord ordered you to enter the palace, come with us!" ”

"Two fathers-in-law, allow me to change my clothes."

Zhang Xutuo was wearing a shabby official robe, which was his robe more than ten years ago, and he had always used it as household clothes to wear at home.

The two eunuchs said impatiently: "The Holy Lord ordered you to meet you for half an hour, and now there is still a quarter of an hour left, do you want the Holy Lord to wait for you?" ”

Another eunuch sneered: "After this point, the Holy Lord will not see you again, you think it out yourself." ”

"Let's go!"

Zhang Xutuo didn't care about changing his clothes and ran out of the door, he couldn't let go of this opportunity no matter what.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Xutuo rode his horse and galloped to the imperial city, and the two eunuchs had already been thrown away by him.

…….