Chapter 575 Hit it off

When Xiao Xia's fleet arrived at Longwei Island, the Goguryeo envoy also arrived ahead of time. The Goguryeo envoy naturally came to Longwei Island on the merchant ship that Xiao Xia had sent back. The envoy's name was Yuan Wending, and he was the brother of Prime Minister Yuan Taizuo and also the ambassador of Goguryeo.

Xiao Xia sat down in his own tent and asked someone to bring the Goguryeo envoy Yuan Wending. Soon, Yuan Wending was brought into the tent by Zhou Fashang.

The upper echelons of Goguryeo could all speak fluent Chinese and had no problem with language communication.

"Ambassador, please take a seat!"

Xiao Xia waved his hand and asked Yuan Wending to sit down with a smile.

"The situation in Liaodong is not good. I wonder what the situation in Goguryeo is like?"

Yuan Wending sighed and said, "If Your Highness is referring to the epidemic, Goguryeo is also in a terrible state. Not only is the army infected on a large scale, but the people are also suffering. The number of deaths is too countless. It is too tragic. May I ask Your Highness if you have any epidemic prevention measures? Help the poor people of Goguryeo."

Xiao Xia said slowly: "The first is to isolate the patients, the second is to disinfect with quicklime, the third is to drink boiled water, and the fourth is to keep the toilet away from the residential area. We also use these four methods ourselves."

Yuan Wending was overjoyed and stood up to thank him, "Your Highness, please be magnanimous and tell me!"

Xiao Xia said calmly: "Let's make it short! You hand over all the Sui army and civilians to me, and I will release all the Goguryeo prisoners of war. I will release them without any other conditions. If you dare to play tricks, I will turn Pyongyang into a ghost town."

Yuan Wending smiled bitterly and said, "Everything is up to your Highness!"

"Where are the Sui army soldiers and civilians now?"

"The Humiliating Fortress at the place where the Qingchuan River flows into the sea."

Xiao Xia said immediately: "I will send a boat to pick them up. After everyone is picked up, I will send your people back to the Pyongyang River. I warn you, don't play tricks, otherwise Goguryeo will end up being destroyed."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. We are eager for the people from the Sui Dynasty to leave as soon as possible."

Xiao Xia nodded, "Then it's a deal. You go back now, and my ship will pick you up in three days."

Yuan Wendi said goodbye and left.

Xiao Xia immediately ordered Zhang Zhenzhou to arrange three camps on Crab Island, one for the sick, one for observation, and one for healthy people. He also divided the ships into two parts, one for picking up patients and one for picking up healthy people. He also sewed a large number of gloves and masks with cloth, and at the same time, sprinkled lime all over the Crab Island camp.

The healthy ones were transported to Qiuyicheng on the south bank of the Taedong River for observation. Qiuyicheng had already been occupied by the Sui army.

Three days later, the first batch of 400 large ships slowly arrived at the mouth of the Qingchuan River. The north bank of the Qingchuan River was crowded with people, all of whom were Sui army prisoners of war and civilians. They had been waiting here since early morning. Everyone was extremely excited, staring at the sea until their necks were sore.

When they saw the ship flying the Sui army's battle flag, they cheered and many of them knelt on the ground and cried bitterly. They thought they would never be able to return home in this life, but they did not expect to be rescued so soon.

Zhang Zhenzhou met Yu Zhongwen and Yang Yichen, clasped his fists and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin asked to take everyone to Crab Island first, observe for a few days, and then transfer the healthy people to Longwei Island. I hope the two generals will understand that the epidemic must not be brought back to the Sui Dynasty."

Yu Youwen sighed and said, "Everything is decided by His Royal Highness Prince Jin!"

Zhang Zhenzhou immediately ordered tens of thousands of infected people to board the ship, most of them were civilians, and some were soldiers. They supported each other to board the ship and lay directly on the deck. Four hundred large ships turned around and headed for Crab Island. There were military doctors on the island who prepared a large amount of medicine. As long as they could get treatment, the infected people could gradually recover.

Then a thousand large ships sailed into the Cheongcheon River and began to bring healthy soldiers and generals to Qiuyicheng on the south bank of the Taedong River. Five days later, the first batch of Sui soldiers from Qiuyicheng arrived at Longwei Island. Xiao Xia met Yu Zhongwen and Yang Yichen. When they saw Xiao Xia, they couldn't help but shed tears. Xiao Xia ordered people to serve them hot tea.

"The disease first broke out in the Liaodong labor camp, and then 100,000 laborers transported food into Goguryeo. Many of them were infected, which led to the outbreak of the plague in Goguryeo. I heard that you also suffered heavy casualties from the disease?"

Yu Zhongwen nodded and said, "The Goguryeo people didn't care whether we lived or died. They mixed the sick and healthy people together. We isolated ourselves, but it was still very tragic. More than 60,000 of our soldiers died, and most of the 100,000 civilians died. There were still 50,000 sick. In fact, half of our soldiers were infected with the disease, and only a few thousand healthy civilians were left. The rest were sick. If Your Highness hadn't come to rescue us, we would have died in a foreign country."

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I captured Pyongyang City and captured a large number of Goguryeo royal family, ministers and their families, so they are eager to exchange them."

Yu Zhongwen and Yang Yichen looked at each other. So that's what happened. Yang Yichen asked again, "How is the emperor doing?"

"The emperor is fine and has already taken a boat back to Luoyang."

Xiao Xia then arranged for the two to rest. The next morning, the first batch of Sui army soldiers returned to Donglai County. Xiao Xia took the second batch of soldiers to Longwei Island, sent the second batch away, and then took the third batch.

But starting from the second batch of soldiers, Xiao Xia sent them directly to Jiangnan. Xiao Xia did not intend to hand over these elite soldiers to the court.

The Sui army was defeated in Liaodong, and the 500,000-strong army was almost wiped out, and only a few thousand of the 1.1 million civilians escaped.

When the news came, the whole country was in an uproar and outraged. The nobles from all over the country severely criticized the emperor for his willful and reckless disregard for human life. Hebei and Shandong were even more gloomy and there were cries of grief everywhere. More than one million young and strong people had died, and their wives, children, parents and relatives, more than tens of millions of people were affected.

This disastrous defeat seriously shook the foundation of the Sui Dynasty, and uprisings broke out in various places. More importantly, the big fish began to eat the small fish. Liu Badao's army, which had been defeated by Zhang Xutuo before, split into more than a dozen rebel armies, and they all defected to Dou Jiande in Gaojipo. Dou Jiande's military strength increased greatly from the original 10,000 people to over 50,000.

Zhai Rang's Wagang Army also exceeded 50,000 people and was very powerful.

Faced with the surging public opinion throughout the country, Emperor Yang Guang, who returned to Luoyang, unexpectedly remained silent. In August, Emperor Yang Guang finally issued an edict, requiring all localities to unite and suppress the bandits with all their might.

Yang Guang finally recovered from his depression. One important reason was that he finally got the news that the Jiangnan Army led by Xiao Xia had actually broken through Pyongyang City, defeated 100,000 enemy troops, and then annihilated the Goryeo Army in Beishe City and occupied Liaodong.

The series of victories was beyond Yang Guang's expectations. Not only that, he also exchanged the Goguryeo nobles for the 200,000 captured troops.

Yang Guang felt mixed emotions for a while. He was happy that the outcome of the Liaodong battle was not so bad, and he did not have to blame himself so much. But he was worried that Xiao Xia's great victory further highlighted his incompetence. Xiao Xia led only 50,000 troops and was defeated repeatedly, while he led an army of 500,000 and was almost completely wiped out. This sharp contrast really made Yang Guang feel unhappy.

Yang Guang was dissatisfied and had the idea of attacking Goguryeo a second time.

Yu Shiji saw that the emperor wanted to attack Goguryeo again, so he took the opportunity to persuade him: "The victory of the Jiangnan Army actually proves that your majesty was not defeated by Goguryeo, but by the weather, terrain and epidemic. In fact, we were not prepared.

Your Majesty, we did not have sufficient military doctors and medicines, which made us helpless against the epidemic. We did not have enough river-crossing and siege weapons, which made it difficult for us to cross the river and attack the city. We did not have enough understanding of the despicable nature of the Goguryeo people, which led to us being betrayed. If we can fully learn from the lessons and make plans before taking action, I believe that we can completely defeat the small country of Goguryeo in one fell swoop. "

Pei Yun also advised: "Your Majesty, war is a test of national strength. Although we have suffered a defeat, Goguryeo is in a worse situation. I heard that Goguryeo was ravaged by an epidemic and its population was drastically reduced. If we lose one point, they lose seven points. If we march east again next year, we will surely destroy Goguryeo with an overwhelming force."

Yang Guang was very pleased with their advice. He nodded and said, "I want to prove to the world that I am not a defeated king. I will stand up from where I fell."

Yang Guang issued an edict, appointing Fan Zigai as the Minister of War, with full responsibility for preparing for the second Eastern Expedition.

(End of this chapter)

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