Chapter 580 3 Keys
Chapter 580 Three Keys
On the third day of October, the emperor officially issued an edict, criticizing Goguryeo for its refusal to be civilized and resistance to the Celestial Empire. He also denounced Goguryeo for colluding with the Turks and plotting to seize Liaodong. The edict ended with just one sentence: Next April, the Sui Dynasty will invade Goguryeo again.
Previously, only a few high-ranking officials knew this secret, but now that the emperor has officially issued an order, it is a sure thing.
This news seemed to have spread throughout Luoyang City overnight. The city was in an uproar. Almost everyone, whether they were wealthy and powerful people or peddlers, were shocked. They were first extremely stunned, and then they were deeply angry.
Everyone thought that the emperor had repented, but unexpectedly, not only did he not repent at all, he even went further and even planned to march east again!
Almost every public occasion in Luoyang City was denouncing the emperor's absurd decision. People could no longer suppress their anger and publicly criticized the emperor for ignoring public opinion and acting recklessly.
If only a few individuals criticized the emperor in this way, they would surely be arrested and beheaded by the government, but there were too many people criticizing him to control it, so both Jingji Prefecture and Luoyang County remained silent.
But criticizing alone is useless, and the emperor will not listen. It is necessary to use practical actions to persuade the emperor to cancel the second eastern expedition.
The first person to write a letter was Yu Zhongwen. He had been captured, and the great shame made him silent after he returned. But when he heard that the emperor was going to march east again, Yu Zhongwen's eyes burst into deep pain. He could not let others bear his pain, so he resolutely broke his silence and wrote a letter strongly opposing the attack on Goguryeo.
"I dare not speak rashly, but I can tell your majesty clearly that if the Sui Dynasty attacks Goguryeo again, it will still be defeated without a doubt!"
The four words "will certainly fail" deeply hurt Emperor Yang Guang. He was so angry that he immediately ordered Yu Zhongwen to be imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.
"No matter what means you use, you must make him write a letter of repentance tonight!" Yang Guang said harshly.
At dawn the next day, Yu Zhongwen did not write a letter of repentance, but died tragically at the hands of a group of cruel officials.
However, Yu Zhongwen's death did not scare off the opponents. After the first Liaodong War, Yu Zhi, the prefect of Heshui who was dismissed from his post, wrote another letter to the emperor, strongly opposing another attack on Goguryeo. Yang Guang was extremely angry and ordered Yu Zhi to be arrested and beaten to death in prison.
Immediately afterwards, the brothers Xiao Cong and Xiao Yu jointly wrote a letter to the emperor, opposing another attack on Goguryeo. This time, for the sake of the queen, Yang Guang did not execute them. Instead, he dismissed them from their posts and stripped them of all their titles and honors.
Emperor Yang Guang also became ruthless and publicly announced that anyone who dared to persuade the emperor to cancel the attack on Goguryeo would be killed without mercy. In the face of the bloody massacre, no one dared to persuade the emperor anymore.
But just a few days later, a joint memorial from King Xiao Xia of Jin and Gao Jiong was delivered to Luoyang. The two clearly opposed attacking Goguryeo next year and suggested recuperation before destroying Goguryeo five years later.
This memorial signed by Jin Wang Xiao Xia forced Emperor Yang Guang to take it seriously. After reading it several times, Yang Guang became a little shaken. Could it be that the people really could not bear the burden?
For two days in a row, Yang Guang was a little restless. He was still wavering between giving up and making up his mind. If he gave up attacking Goguryeo, wouldn't he have killed the wrong person? But if he didn't give up, what would happen if the Sui Dynasty was destroyed because of the shortcoming of the civil uprising?
Yang Guang is not a fool, he also understands the principle of the wooden barrel.
That afternoon, Yang Guang summoned Yu Shiji. He really couldn't make up his mind and wanted to hear Yu Shiji's opinion.
After reading the memorial, Yu Shiji's eyes finally fell on Gao Jiong's signature. He felt a little jealous. This old man had been away from the court for so many years, but he was still influencing the emperor? If he could convince the emperor, what would be the point of him being the prime minister?
Personal resentment and dissatisfaction eventually became the dominant factor in Yu Shiji's heart. He wanted to refute this memorial, even if it was a letter from Prince Jin, he had to refute it because it had the signature of that old man on it.
"Your Majesty, I understand the intentions of the Prince of Jin. As a minister, the Prince of Jin will certainly focus on the people's livelihood. But as the Son of Heaven, Your Majesty cannot look at things from the perspective of the Prince of Jin. You must look at things from the perspective of the monarch. You must stand higher and see further."
At this point, Yu Shiji secretly glanced at the emperor and saw that he was thoughtful. It was obvious that what he said touched his heart. He was the emperor and had to look at this issue from the perspective of the emperor. Yu Shiji took a deep breath and said slowly: "Your Majesty should think about this. If the Turks and Goguryeo collude and attack the Sui Dynasty from both the east and the west, can we withstand this two-sided attack?
Moreover, Your Majesty has evidence that Goguryeo is indeed secretly colluding with the Turks. Your Majesty attacked Goguryeo because of the internal power struggle among the Turks, which gave us a strategic opportunity. If we follow the King of Jin's suggestion and attack Goguryeo again in five years, will we still have this strategic opportunity? Once we attack Goguryeo, will the Turks take the opportunity to attack us in a big way?
Or conversely, if the Turks attack in large numbers and we try our best to resist them, will Goguryeo take the opportunity to capture Yan and Liucheng counties and then attack Hebei?"
A series of rhetorical questions made Yang Guang sigh and mutter to himself: "We attacked Goguryeo because of this strategic opportunity!"
When Yu Shiji saw that the emperor's frown had relaxed halfway, he knew that he was about to convince the emperor.
He continued, "Although many of what His Royal Highness Prince Jin said makes sense, there are three key issues that he did not mention. I think His Royal Highness Prince Jin did not consider them completely."
Yang Guang raised his eyebrows, "What are the three key issues?"
"The first key problem is that Your Highness the Prince of Jin has overlooked the fragility of Goguryeo's national strength. After experiencing the double blow of war and epidemic, Goguryeo's national strength is also extremely weak, ten times weaker than us, and it is vulnerable. If we attack Goguryeo again next year, we only need 200,000 troops and a month to easily defeat it, march straight into its capital Pyongyang."
Yang Guang nodded slightly. In fact, this was the original reason why he wanted to launch the second war against Goguryeo. Goguryeo had suffered a serious plague, with heavy casualties, and was no longer able to resist the massive attack of the Sui army. Yu Shiji mentioned this again, which invisibly strengthened Yang Guang's reason for attacking Goguryeo.
"My dear Yu, please tell me the second key question!"
"The second key issue is that we have learned our lesson and we know how to fight Goguryeo. The King of Jin defeated the Goguryeo army of 100,000 with only 50,000 troops, and annihilated the Goguryeo army in Beishecheng and swept across the Liaodong Peninsula. This shows that the Goguryeo army itself was very weak and was no match for the Sui army.
The Goguryeo army only took advantage of the city and terrain to prevent the Sui army from exerting its combat effectiveness. Once we attack Goguryeo for the second time, we will concentrate our forces and quickly move south, then get the first supply from the mouth of the Yalu River, the second supply from the mouth of the Cheongcheon River, and finally get the third supply from the water in Pyongyang City. We don’t have to worry about logistics supply at all.”
"well said!"
Yang Guang slammed the table. Yu Shiji explained the entire battle in detail. They did not need to consider the logistics and transportation issues at all. They could directly get supplies by water. Since the Prince of Jin could transport the Sui prisoners of war away from the mouth of the Qingchuan River, they could also get food supplies. Yang Guang did not consider this at the beginning, which made him regretful.
"Your Majesty, there is one last crucial issue that King Jin has not considered!"
"You say!" Yang Guang was already 90% convinced.
Yu Shiji said slowly: "Your Majesty, since we rely on sea transportation for the second attack on Goguryeo, there is no need to recruit many civilians. We can fight Goguryeo entirely with national strength, so how can we say that we will harm the people's strength?"
Yang Guang was enlightened, and he woke up from his dream. That's right! When he attacked Goguryeo for the second time, he no longer needed civilians for logistics and supplies, so how could he harm the people's strength?
Yang Guang was finally persuaded by Yu Shiji. At this moment, he finally made up his mind to attack Goguryeo for the second time. No matter who persuaded him, he would not accept it.
(End of this chapter)