Chapter 543 Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron

Chapter 543 Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron

Chapter 543 Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron
There are 1,800 main keel bones in Warehouse No. 3. They are the keels of large ships that Emperor Yang Guang ordered the court to collect from various northern counties last year. The most important part of every large ship is equivalent to the human spine. The materials for making keels are not only difficult to find, but also extremely time-consuming. It takes at least two to three years to make a keel. Therefore, as long as these 1,800 keel bones are destroyed, the attack on Jiangnan will be completely futile.

In addition to 1,800 keels, Warehouse No. 3 also contained some shipbuilding ingredients, mainly ropes and tung oil, with several hundred barrels of tung oil alone.

A dozen men in black worked together, pouring barrels of tung oil onto the dragon bones, more than two hundred barrels in total. They also ignited a large bag of gunpowder, and the tung oil immediately began to burn.

They then quickly got into the tunnel and desperately climbed out. When they came out of the tunnel, thick smoke was billowing from the top of the warehouse behind them. Soldiers were desperately beating gongs and rushing from all directions to put out the fire.

A dozen men in black ran away and soon disappeared into the night.

The warehouse burned more and more fiercely, all the tung oil was ignited, the flames burned through the roof, the heat waves were rolling, and the firefighters could not get close at all.

They had no choice but to give up the third warehouse and focus on saving the first and second warehouses.

The third warehouse burned for two full days, with thick smoke rising dozens of feet into the sky. Even the city of Luoyang could be clearly seen. Emperor Yang Guang specially sent someone to inquire about the situation and learned that the shipyard had been burned and all the keels had been burned. It would be impossible to build new ships within three years.

Yang Guang was furious and immediately ordered the beheading of General Ma Zhaoying, the commander-in-chief who was protecting the shipyard. He also ordered the dismissal of Minister of Works Su Wei, Supervisor of Craftsmen Li Min and other officials, a total of more than 40 people.

At this time, Yuwen Shu's report came, and he started by boasting about himself, saying that he had made a great leap forward and had captured Jiangdu.
Then he said that the Jiangnan army had a water warfare weapon, which made a thunderous sound when it exploded, and all the ships were smashed to pieces. When the army crossed the river to attack Jiangnan, all the ships were destroyed in the river.

In addition, the food routes have been attacked repeatedly, the logistics food has been burned, and the army has less than 20 days of food. Food and warships are urgently needed. We beg the emperor to allocate food urgently.

This report made Yang Guang even more depressed. There were no ships left in Luoyang, so he had no choice but to issue an order to send food to Jiangdu using 30,000 camels.

At this time, news came from the north that Qimin Khan had died and his son Duoji succeeded him, known as Shibi Khan. He continued to make Princess Yicheng the queen and Khatun, and at the same time gave Fengzhou to the Khatun as a fief.

This news made the imperial court deeply worried. Fengzhou is the Hetao area, which has always been the land of the Sui Dynasty. Later, it was lent to Qimin Khan. After Qimin Khan unified the grassland, he never returned Fengzhou to the Sui Dynasty. Later, it became the fief of his son Duoji.

It was not until Yang Guang inspected the grassland and met with Qimin Khan that Qimin Khan agreed to return Fengzhou to the Sui Dynasty within three years. Now Qimin Khan has passed away, and his successor Shibi Khan has actually given Fengzhou to Princess Yicheng as a fief.

On the surface, it was the princess of the Sui Dynasty who obtained Fengzhou, but in fact this fiefdom was only nominal and was essentially occupied by the Turks.

Yang Su wrote to Emperor Yang Guang, suggesting to start building the Great Wall to prevent the Turkic army from moving south and raiding the interior. Emperor Yang Guang approved Yang Su's application and mobilized nearly one million people from Hexi Road, Guannei Road, Hedong Road, Youzhou and Liaodong to start building the Great Wall. The construction of the Great Wall was divided into two parts. One part was to repair the Qin Great Wall, and the other was to build a new Lingwu Shuofang Great Wall of about 700 miles. 500,000 people from Guannei Road were specially mobilized for its construction.

This shows that the Sui Dynasty exploited the people through labor. It consumed two million laborers to build the Eastern Capital, and then forcibly conscripted another million laborers to dig the Tongji Canal. Now it forcibly conscripted another two million laborers from Hebei to dig the Yongji Canal, and at the same time conscripted another million laborers to build the Great Wall.

The Sui Dynasty was crushed by endless large-scale projects. If it weren't for these huge projects that cost the people a lot of money and labor, the Guanlong nobles' attempts to overthrow the dynasty would have been ineffective.

That morning, Yang Guang summoned Xiao Cong and Yang Su. Why? Because the grain being transported to Jiangdu was attacked by a group of bandits including Li Zitong and Du Fuwei in Xia Pi County. Most of the grain was stolen, and half of the camels were also stolen.

The 200,000-strong army had less than ten days' worth of rations, and Yuwen Shu once again urgently urged for food.

Xiao Cong hurried over and happened to meet Yang Su at the door of the imperial study. Xiao Cong hurriedly stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Prime Minister Yang, why did the emperor summon you urgently?" Yang Su whispered: "I guess the emperor has the idea of ​​compromise."

“Is it because of the pressure from the Turks?”

Yang Su smiled bitterly and said, "Both. The Jiangdu army has a food problem. The new Turkic Khan has named himself Shibi Khan and no longer needs us to confer the title. The peace in the north is coming to an end. The emperor is now exhausted and wants to find a way to end the withdrawal of the feudal system."

"This is an opportunity to persuade the emperor!"

"It's an opportunity!"

The two walked into the imperial study, only to see the emperor standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back, not saying a word. The two looked at each other, bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

Yang Guang sighed and said, "Please take a seat, my dear ministers!"

"Your Majesty is worried! This will harm the dragon's body." Xiao Cong said cautiously.

"I want to be happy, but I can't be happy. What should I do?"

"What is your Majesty worried about?"

"My efforts to reduce the power of the vassal states have failed, and the threat from the north has reappeared. There are rumors that the new Turkic Khan has an army of 400,000 when he ascended the throne. Is he demonstrating to me?"

Yang Su said slowly, "When the Five Barbarians invaded China, these barbarians invaded the south at every turn. They all tasted the sweetness of enslaving the Han people. So as long as the northern barbarians are strong, they will have the urge to invade the south. This is why Your Majesty is eager to build the Great Wall. However, Your Majesty's 200,000 elite troops are trapped in the southeast. The soldiers are not used to the climate and it is impossible to cross the river. Why doesn't Your Majesty withdraw the troops?"

Yang Guang said gloomily: "If I withdraw the troops, he will occupy Jiangdu again. Wouldn't that make the world laugh at me?"

Xiao Cong advised: "Your Majesty, I know Xiao Xia very well. He has never done anything extreme since he was a child. If Your Majesty does not want him to return to Jiangdu, then negotiate with him and let him continue to stay in Jiangnan to stabilize the south."

Yang Su also advised: "Your Majesty has an army of 200,000 heading south, and Xiao Xia has not openly rebelled like the King of Qi. Since he has not rebelled, he is still a minister of the Sui Dynasty. This is an internal conflict. If we negotiate and everyone makes concessions, the matter will be over. Your Majesty can focus on the Turks in the north, or abolish the governors of Jiannan Road and Longyou Road, which will be half successful in reducing the power of the vassal states."

Yang Guang summoned Yang Su and Xiao Cong with the intention of compromising. He nodded and said to Xiao Cong, "Please ask Prime Minister Xiao to go to Jiangnan and negotiate with him on my behalf. I have four basic requirements that he must agree to.

First, I want to establish a crown prince, and he must not seek to seize the throne; second, his territory is bounded by the Yangtze River, and he must not cross the Yangtze River; third, when I conquer Goguryeo, he must send troops to help; fourth, his total military strength must not exceed the current number. "

Xiao Cong bowed and said, "I will definitely not let your majesty down!"

(End of this chapter)