Chapter 539: Iron-fisted Reduction of the vassal states
Chapter 539: Iron-fisted Reduction of the vassal states
South of Wei County, Yuwen Shu led an army of 80,000 to defeat the 100,000-strong army led by Yang Ling himself. Yuwen Chengdu also defeated Liang Pusa's 30,000-strong army and beheaded Liang Pusa.
Yang Ling was defeated in three battles and retreated to Anyang County. He had no choice but to ask Xiao Moke, the old general whom he had demoted twice, to come out to defend the city.
The imperial court's 400,000 troops surrounded Anyang County, leaving only 80,000 defenders in the city.
King Yang of Qi was completely disheartened. He locked himself up in the palace and drank and had fun. He no longer cared about the defense of the city. He didn't care about the life or death of the city, and his subordinates were in a panic.
Wang Long was in charge of the defense of West City and had 20,000 troops under his command. Seeing that the situation was not good, he hurriedly summoned his sons.
"The King of Qi is about to be destroyed. Whoever surrenders quickly will survive. We must surrender tonight. Who of you is willing to make the trip?"
Wang Shichong raised his hand and said, "Father, let me go!"
Wang Long had the same idea. Wang Shichong was smart, capable, and good at speaking. Only he could save himself and his sons.
He immediately handed the letter to his son and lowered him into the city in a basket under the cover of darkness.
The main general of the Sui army that besieged Xicheng was General Tu Wanxu of the Left Wuhou Guard, who was also one of the trusted generals of Emperor Yang Guang. He knew Wang Shichong and they had a good relationship. When he heard that Wang Long was willing to surrender, he hurriedly took Wang Shichong to see the emperor.
Emperor Yang Guang has been very anxious these past two days. He has learned that his elder brother Yang Yong and his son have escaped, which makes him hate them to the core. If he had known earlier that he should not be so soft-hearted, he should have killed Yang Yong, and there would not have been so many troubles.
Yang Guang also vaguely guessed that this was done by the Guanlong nobles in retaliation for his move of the capital to Luoyang. He wanted to kill all the Guanlong nobles, but he was afraid to do so because the Guanlong nobles were representatives of the Xianbei people, and most of the generals in the army were Xianbei people.
The Guanlong nobles represented the Guanzhong forces, and the elite soldiers in the army all came from Guanzhong. No matter how much hatred Yang Guang had in his heart, he had to endure it and would find an opportunity to deal with the Guanlong nobles.
Dealing with the Guanlong nobles is a long-term plan, but returning to Luoyang is the top priority.
Just when Yang Guang was feeling anxious, a guard reported that Wang Long had sent his son Wang Shichong to ask for surrender. Yang Guang was cheered up and thought that what he wished would come true. He quickly ordered people to bring Wang Shichong into the tent.
Wang Shichong knelt down and paid homage. Yang Guang angrily said, "I have treated you and your son well. Why did you betray me?"
Wang Shichong cried, "Your Majesty, we are officials of the Prince of Qi's palace. It is our duty to be loyal to the Prince of Qi, but we do not want to betray Your Majesty. We came to Your Majesty today because we were inspired by the great cause."
This is where Wang Shichong’s cunning lies. After all, the King of Qi is the son of the emperor and he cannot be belittled, so he explains it by saying he is loyal to the King of Qi and surrendering for the sake of justice.
Although Yang Guang called Yang Ling a beast every day, he was the only one who could do that. If others joined in the scolding, he would feel unhappy. So when he heard Wang Shichong say that being loyal to the King of Qi was their duty, he felt a lot better.
"How is that beast now?"
"Your Majesty, the King of Qi has locked himself up in his palace, drinking with tears in his eyes. Although he refuses to admit his mistakes, I know that he regrets it deeply in his heart."
"Are you pleading for that beast?"
"I am not speaking for him. Your Majesty wants to kill me, and I have no complaints. But I still have to tell you the truth. He is simple-minded and has no patience. He was instigated by Han Wang Yang Liang and the Guanlong nobles and rebelled. But he regretted it afterwards. He just wanted to save face and would not listen to us no matter how we persuaded him."
Yang Guang nodded. Wang Shichong was right. His son was just like that, simple-minded and with a bad temper. That was why he did not consider making him the crown prince.
"You mean, he was instigated by Yang Liang to rebel?"
"Your Majesty, Yang Liang's former subordinates are all loyal to the King of Qi. It is obvious that this was Yang Liang's instruction!"
Yang Guang was filled with murderous intent. He let them go once, but they killed his son. This time he must kill them resolutely and not be soft-hearted. Yang Guang nodded and said, "I accept your father's surrender. Let him surrender the city immediately!"
At the first watch, the west gate was opened, and Wang Long led 20,000 troops out of the city to surrender. Tu Wanxu and Yu Juluo each led 30,000 troops and successively rushed into Anyang City.
The fall of Anyang City caused chaos in the city. The morale of the Qi Wang army collapsed and they surrendered one after another. In the chaos, Qi Wang Yang Ling was escorted out of the palace. He was already drunk and could not even walk. He collapsed in front of his father like a puddle of mud.
Yang Guang smelled the alcohol on him and was disgusted. He shouted, "Take him back to Luoyang and put him in jail. I don't want to see such a rebellious son again in my life."
Yang Ling was dragged away, and then a group of civil and military leaders including Xiao Moke, Qiao Zhongkui, Wang Lu, He Shangui, Wang Dan, Ruru Tianbao, and Yu Gongli were brought up.
These people were all former subordinates of Yang Liang. Yang Guang showed no mercy this time and ordered that all those involved in the rebellion, except Wang Long and his son, be beheaded. Hundreds of captured civil and military officials were all killed.
Yang Guang also secretly ordered a trusted eunuch to return to Luoyang with poisoned wine to execute the imprisoned Prince of Han Yang Liang and Prince of Qin Yang Jun. He would rather bear the infamy than allow these hidden dangers to live in the world.
Yang Guang then issued another decree, appointing Imperial Censor Pei Yun as the commissioner for the construction of the canal. All the soldiers from Hebei who participated in the rebellion and all those who had participated in the National Protection Association were punished along with their three clans. All members of the three clans, regardless of gender or age, were forced to work on the canal.
There were cries of grief everywhere in Hebei, and nearly two million people were forcibly driven by the government to dig the canal.
The rebellion of his second son Yang Ling and the escape of the former crown prince Yang Yong seriously stimulated Yang Guang. He began to reflect that his tolerance was not responded to and would only make those who opposed him become more and more aggressive. His heart began to harden and he began to implement an iron-fisted rule of the country. All those who dared to oppose him were resolutely suppressed and would never be tolerated.
Yang Guang also issued an edict to change Xiao Xia's title to King of Liang and appoint him as the governor of Jiannan Road, ordering him to take office immediately and not allowing him to take any soldiers with him.
The current Jiannan Road governor Guo Yan will immediately return to Beijing to report on his work and will be assigned to another position.
At the same time, Yang Guang appointed Yuwen Shu as the pacification envoy of Jiangnan Road and Yu Juluo as the deputy envoy. The two led an army of 200,000 and more than 1,300 ships south.
This was a plan he had prepared long ago. Once the rebellion of his second son Yang Ling was suppressed, he would immediately reduce the fiefdom of his third son Yang Xia without wasting a moment.
Yang Guang no longer wanted to give Xiao Xia another chance to explain, and directly put pressure on Xiao Xia with a tough attitude. If Xiao Xia did not leave Jiangnan Road and go to Shuzhong, then he would face the emperor's iron-blooded suppression.
On the same day that Anyang City was broken, Xiao Xia successfully made nitrocellulose. He used dry distillation of gallstones to obtain sulfur dioxide, dissolved it in water to obtain dilute sulfuric acid, and then distilled and purified it to obtain sulfuric acid with a slightly higher purity. He then reacted it with saltpeter to obtain nitric acid, and finally, he obtained nitrocellulose.
Of course, there are many steps involved. You must obtain relatively stable nitrocellulose before you can use it, and then carefully cut it into small pieces and mix it into the black powder.
Why did it have to be mixed in with black powder? Because the output was small, it could only be mixed with black powder. However, when black powder with nitrocellulose was added, its explosive power increased by two to three times, so it could easily blow up the iron shell. The iron fire bomb was thus successfully developed.
The key here is to obtain sulfuric acid. Historically, sulfuric acid was successfully refined by Taoists in the late Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty.
Perhaps at the same time when Xiao Xia was extracting sulfuric acid, a Taoist priest in a Taoist temple accidentally obtained sulfuric acid. He didn't know what it was, so he named it green vitriol oil.
Of course, Xiao Xia only provided technical guidance, and the specific work was done by the craftsmen. As a result, there were two explosions and one fire, killing seven craftsmen and two craftsmen had their hands blown off. The reason was that nitrocellulose was extremely unstable, and in the end, every possible way was used to stabilize it.
With the iron fire mine, the warship test was successful. The craftsmen made the iron fire mine into sleeve-sized iron caltrops and fired them with crossbows. The sharp caltrops pierced the wall of the ship. After an explosion, a five-foot-wide hole was blown in the ship, and the river water rushed in, and it soon sank.
At the same time that Yuwen Shu led his army south, Xiao Xia received an urgent military report from Hebei.
(End of this chapter)