Jiangdu has become a trapped dragon, the north is the sphere of influence of the Wagang army, the west of the Jianghuai area is Du Fuwei, Fu Gongyou's territory, there are nearly 200,000 righteous troops, the south is occupied by Shen Faxing and Li Zitong, they each lead more than 100,000 troops, south of Poyang Lake is Lin Shihong, Jingxiang area has been occupied by Xiao Mill, at this time the Sui Dynasty has been in turmoil.

In the imperial study, Yang Guangzheng carefully painted the pieces of land on the map that still belonged to the Sui Dynasty in red with a red pen, while the eldest grandson Yang Hou stood aside with vermilion paint.

Yang Guang put down his pen, he saw that there were only two counties left in Luoyang Gucheng and Jiangdu and Danyang, as well as some unknown counties in the south and Bashu, he couldn't help but sigh, "Is there only so little bit left in my country?" ”

Yu Shiji said cautiously on the side: "Your Majesty, Youzhou and Liaodong should also belong to the imperial court. ”

Yang Guang shook his head, Xue Shixiong, the governor of Youzhou, was defeated by Dou Jiande in the river, and died of illness soon after, the Youzhou army was mastered by the deputy general Luo Yi, but he killed the counties of Youzhou and drove them away, appointed himself as the governor of Youzhou, and appointed himself as the governor of Youzhou, which was already de facto independent, how could it still belong to the Sui Dynasty.

At this time, Yang Tan, the king of Yan next to him, bit his lip and couldn't help but say, "Grandfather Huang, my grandson thinks that Wuyuan County, Lingwu County and other five counties in Guanbei can be painted red. ”

Yang Guang hesitated, Yang Yuanqing's self-reliance is different from Luo Yi, after all, he still admits the imperial court, and major matters are reported to the imperial court, and to a certain extent, it can be painted red.

Yu Shiji said on the side: "Your Majesty, if Youzhou does not belong to the imperial court, then Weichen thinks that Yang Yuanqing should not be painted red." ”

Yang Hou's face swelled red, blood surged up in his head, and he pointed at Yu Shiji and scolded: "You minister, Yang Yuanqing led the Fengzhou army to fight against the 300,000 Turkic army, but you concealed it and did not report it, Yang Yuanqing exposed Li Yuan's collusion with the Turks, you still concealed it and did not report it, everything related to Yang Yuanqing, you either concealed it or slandered it, just because you have a personal vendetta with him, do you want to destroy the Great Sui alive for your own hatred?" ”

Yu Shiji's face turned pale, and he knelt down, "Set a piece of loyalty to Your Majesty, please Your Majesty!" ”

Yu Shiji concealed Yang Yuanqing's fight against the Turks, which was revealed by Yang Hou three days ago, Yang Guang was furious, punished Yu Shiji for one year, and demoted the two levels of officials, this matter did not wronged him.

But concealing Li Yuan's collusion with the Turks, Yang Tan really wronged Yu Shiji, this matter was ordered by Yang Guang to be sealed, and no one was allowed to mention it, because this incident caused panic in the Xiaoguo Forbidden Army, and there were rumors in the army that the Turks would take away all the women concerned, and the wives and daughters of most of the Xiaoguo Forbidden Army were in Guanzhong, triggering a wave of army flights.

Fortunately, the news of Yang Yuanqing's defeat of the 300,000 Turkic army came in time, and Yang Guang immediately ordered people to spread the matter widely in military vehicles, which gradually calmed down the panic of the soldiers.

Yang Guang glared at Yang Tan fiercely, "Tan'er, you talk to Yu Xiangguo like this, don't apologize quickly!" ”

Yang Tan's stubbornness came to his heart, and he said loudly: "Sun Er will not apologize to this minister, he hid the truth from the emperor's grandfather, distorted the facts, came to the general to build a ship in Danyang to recruit troops, and asked for money and grain several times, but he ignored it, forcing the general to have to pay for the shipbuilding by himself, these imperial grandfathers don't know, he is no longer a minister, but a traitor to the country, please ask the emperor's grandfather to behead this person, in order to thank the world." ”

Yang Guang knew that what Yang Tan said was the truth, and he had also punished Yu Shiji, but now he still needed Yu Shiji to stabilize the situation in Jiangdu for him, so he sighed, "Yu Aiqing, I will take good care of my grandson, you step back first!" ”

Yu Shiji held back the hatred in his heart, and slowly retreated, only Yang Guang and the eldest grandson Yang Tan were left in the imperial study, neither of them spoke, and Yang Guang did not punish his grandson, but raised the pen to paint Wuyuan County, Lingwu County and the rest of the Guanbei counties red, he put down the pen and smiled at Yang Tan, which means that you should be satisfied now!

Yang Tan lowered his head and said ashamedly: "Don't, I lost my temper just now." ”

Yang Guang touched his grandson's head lovingly, "Grandfather's heart is a little stuffy, accompany grandfather to the back garden for a walk!" ”

Yang Tan nodded, and Yang Guang changed into a short coat, wearing a middle shirt on his head, holding a cane, and walking towards the back garden with the support of his eldest grandson.

At this time, it is the middle of summer, everywhere is lush and green, full of vitality, the dragon liquid pool in the back garden of Jiangdu Palace is full of lotus leaves, between the lotus leaves, several branches of the Chinese have poked their heads out, the dragonfly stands on the top, the weeping willows on the shore are still clinging, the breeze is light, under the reflection of the sunset, the back garden is particularly beautiful.

More than a dozen eunuchs, palace maids and guards followed from afar, Yang Guang walked slowly between the paths with a cane, since the Yanmen change last year, the Great Sui Dynasty was worried about internal and external troubles, and the huge pressure made Yang Guang's body collapse in just half a year, he was only forty-eight years old this year, but he looked like a sixty-year-old person, his body was weak, and he also needed crutches to walk......

"I have decided to make you the emperor's grandson, but I have not issued an edict for a long time, do you know why?"

"My grandson doesn't know."

Yang Guang sighed, "It's all my responsibility that Da Sui has come to this point, I don't want to hand over the current Da Sui to you, and I don't want you to bear any responsibility...... All the sins of the Great Sui are borne by me. ”

Tears welled up in Yang Tan's eyes, and he choked up and said: "But Grandfather Huang, the matter has not yet reached such a serious level, we still have Bashu, and more than a dozen counties in the south, and we still have the army." ”

Yang Guang shook his head, "The key is that Li Yuan occupies Guanzhong, and behind him is the support of the entire Guanlong nobles, I know very well that the Guanlong nobles are the number one enemy of the Great Sui, and the Wagang Army is actually the power of the Guanlong nobles, and the Guanlong nobles are also the foundation of the Great Sui, I wanted to break this foundation, but I didn't have time to build a new foundation, which eventually led to my defeat, and I didn't want to admit defeat, but when I heard that Li Yuan occupied Guanzhong, my heart died." ”

"But the emperor's grandfather can issue an order to reseal Yang Yuanqing's anti-Turkic merits, and then order Yang Yuanqing to attack Guanzhong, and Luoyang's army will attack from the east, and it will definitely be able to destroy Li Yuan."

"Even if I give him an order, he will not go to Guanzhong, his current strength is not enough to pacify Guanzhong, but will completely trap him in Guanzhong, he knows better than anyone else."

"But......" Yang Tan wanted to say something, but he didn't know where to start.

Yang Guang gently held his grandson's shoulders and sat down on a stone pier, he looked at the lotus leaves on the water, his eyes revealed an indescribable complex gaze, and he sighed slightly after a while: "Hou'er, I know that you like Yang Yuanqing very much, because your father once entrusted your brother to him, and you regard him as an uncle, and your brother Dong'er told me about it, and I can understand your feelings, so just now you reprimanded Yu Shiji, and I didn't really punish you, but you really don't know Yang Yuanqing, except for me, I'm afraid no one can see through him. ”

Yang Tan bit his lip tightly and did not interject his grandfather's words, he felt that there was a powerful persuasive power in his grandfather's words, although he couldn't tell where the source of this feeling was, but this time he felt that what he said was right, and he listened patiently.

Yang Guang glanced at his grandson and said with a slight smile: "Haven't you always urged me to reward Yang Yuanqing for his anti-Turkic merits in the past two days?" Do you know why I haven't been rewarded for a long time? ”

"My grandson doesn't know."

"Because I want to crown him as the king of Hongnong.

Yang Tan was taken aback, and named Yang Yuanqing as the king, this is something he never thought about, how could the emperor's grandfather think of sealing the king with a different surname, Yang Hou's heart suddenly moved, in fact, Yang Yuanqing is not a different surname.

Yang Guang seems to be caught in a kind of reminiscence of the past, he is recalling the four years of Renshou, in the White Jade Pagoda, Yang Yuanqing's promise to him, forever the shield of the Great Sui, under the Yanmen City, he repeated this promise, at this time Yang Guang felt an extremely complex emotion in his heart, he finally understood the profound meaning of Yang Yuanqing's words, the Great Sui is still the Great Sui, but ......

But Yang Guang was not angry, nor was he hostile to Yang Yuanqing, he only had a deep sadness in his heart, and there was a trace of hope in this sorrow that even he couldn't say, if the Great Sui Dynasty could still exist, maybe it was a kind of luck in misfortune, so that when he went to see the first emperor in the future, there would be a little bit of face.

Yang Tan pondered for a long time and said: "He is now the Duke of Chu, and for his great achievements in fighting against the Turks, he should indeed be crowned the king of the county." ”

Yang Guang's face showed a bitter smile, the eldest grandson's thoughts were too far from him, and he also felt that his thoughts were ridiculous, and he actually wanted to use Yang Yuanqing to extend the strong Sui, and he really couldn't open his mouth to his grandson for this reason.

Yang Guang stood up, walked back slowly with a cane, and Yang Hou supported him.

"Grandfather Huang, when will you be able to issue an order to commend Fengzhou for fighting the Turks this time?" Yang Tan asked in a low voice.

"You can commend the Fengzhou Army first, and as for Yang Yuanqing, let's talk about it later!" Yang Guang sighed, his heart was full of confusion, and he didn't know whether he should make Yang Yuanqing the king of the county.

Early the next morning, Yang Guang officially issued an edict to the world, rewarding the Fengzhou army for fighting against the Turks, all the officers and soldiers of the Fengzhou army were added to the rank of honorable officer, and the Fengzhou army was given the title of loyalty and bravery, and the fallen soldiers were doubled, Pei Renji, Li Jing, Yang Sien and other ten meritorious generals were awarded the county duke and the county duke, but surprisingly, this edict did not mention the reward of Yang Yuanqing, the governor of Fengzhou, which made the entire court full of confusion inside and outside the court.

But another edict, about condemning Li Yuan's collusion with the Turks, Yang Guang hesitated for a long time, and finally did not issue this edict, he was worried about causing panic in the army again.

, [In history, the reason why Xiaoguo mutinied in Jiangdu was actually because Li Yuan promised the Turks that all the children in Guanzhong would return to the Turks, so after the news of Li Yuan's occupation of Guanzhong reached Jiangdu, it triggered Xiaoguo's panic and escape, and finally was mutinied by Li Ran, the son of the Guanlong nobles. 】