Chapter 597: Xuan Gan Uprising
Chapter 597: Xuan Gan Uprising
In a mansion in Anyang County, Yang Xuangan said to dozens of members of the Yangwu Society: "Everyone, the tyrant has gone to Liaodong. The time is ripe. The anger of the world is boiling. We should follow the will of the people and overthrow this incompetent and unjust monarch. I, Yang Xuangan, have already risked everything. Everyone, please raise your hands if you want to join me!"
Since the gathering was held in Anyang County, everyone knew what was going to happen. Since Yang Xuangan had already pointed it out, dozens of people present raised their hands.
Yang Xuangan was overjoyed and immediately read out the "Manifesto to Punish the Tyrant Emperor". Everyone then signed and put their fingerprints on the manifesto.
Yang Xuangan and his men changed into armor and led two thousand soldiers to the canal. There were hundreds of grain ships moored on the canal, all loaded with bags of grain. Yang Xuangan gathered tens of thousands of civilians and shouted, "I am a supreme leader, my family has a huge fortune, I am rich and noble, I want nothing, now I don't care about ruining my family, just to help the people of the world out of their predicament and save the lives of the common people!"
Yang Xuangan took a deep breath and shouted again: "My fellow villagers, the emperor is cruel and merciless. I, Yang Xuangan, will enforce justice on behalf of heaven and avenge the innocent people who died. Warriors who are willing to follow me to avenge my grievances, please join my army!"
The people in the counties along the canal suffered the most. Everyone had relatives who died in various labor services. Hatred had long been buried deep in their hearts. At this moment, Yang Xuangan completely released their hatred. Tens of thousands of people raised their arms and shouted, "Revenge! Revenge!"
Yang Xuangan was overjoyed and immediately ordered two thousand soldiers to distribute weapons and armor to everyone. He obtained 40,000 troops, and two thousand servants were appointed to positions above the rank of fire chief. All members of Yang Wuhui were appointed as generals.
Yang Xuangan distributed hundreds of thousands of strings of money and tens of thousands of shi of grain on the ship to the soldiers, who cheered.
Of course, the copper coins and food could not be taken away for the time being and had to be temporarily placed on the boat.
Yang Xuangan led tens of thousands of troops and marched towards Liyang Warehouse.
The commander of Liyang Cang was Qu Tugai, the brother of Qu Tutong. He led 5,000 troops to garrison Liyang Cang. At this time, Qu Tugai also got the news that Yang Xuangan had rebelled and was leading tens of thousands of people to attack Liyang Cang.
Qu Tugai was horrified and hurriedly sent spies to inquire about the other party's situation.
In the afternoon, the spy came back to report, "General, the enemy is all wearing leather armor, holding spears and swords, all of them are very well equipped, not a mob."
Qu Tugai's heart began to beat fast. He hoped that the enemy was a mob of people wearing cloth and holding hoes and wooden sticks. Even if he only had 5,000 troops, he could defeat them. However, the enemy had tens of thousands of well-equipped people, and he only had 5,000 people. He was definitely no match for them.
Qu Tugai finally decided to abandon Liyang Warehouse, retreat to Henei County, defend Linqing Pass to the death, and at the same time send people to Luoyang for help.
Yang Xuangan easily occupied the Liyang granary without encountering any resistance. He was extremely proud and immediately ordered the granary to be opened and the grain to be released. When the news spread, millions of people from Ji County, Wei County, Qinghe County, Wuyang County and other places rushed to the granary in carts and on mules and donkeys, full of hope to share the grain.
Yang Xuangan took the opportunity to recruit soldiers. In just a few days, his army reached more than 100,000 people. There were already a large number of weapons and armor in the Liyang warehouse, which were equipped for Qi County.
At this time, Li Mi suggested to Yang Xuangan: "Qu Tugai knows that we are rebelling, and he will definitely defend Linqing Pass to the death. However, the commander of Hulao Pass may not know this. I suggest that you send a special force to cross the Yellow River and head south, pretending to be the Sui army to seize Hulao Pass. As long as we take Hulao Pass, the army can directly cross the river and head south to Luoyang."
Yang Xuangan was overjoyed, and immediately ordered his brother Yang Xuanzong, the Tiger Guard General, to lead 3,000 troops to cross the river with Li Mi to Hulao Pass.
Yang Xuangan led a large army towards Linqing Pass, preparing to feint an attack on Linqing Pass. In fact, he led his army to Ji County, preparing to cross the Yellow River in Ji County and head south.
There is a Li's cloth shop in the east of Liyang County. This is an intelligence point stationed in Liyang County by the Jiangnan General Administration. Xiao Xia knew that in history, Yang Xuangan would rebel during the Second Eastern Expedition. He specially ordered the Intelligence Agency to deploy an intelligence point in Liyang County last autumn.
The shopkeeper of the cloth shop was named Li. He was startled by the urgent ringing of bells in the city early in the morning. He hurried out of the shop to check, and saw dozens of county soldiers rushing into the city in a panic, shouting, "Close the city gates quickly, someone is rebelling!"
The soldiers on the city wall quickly closed the gates. Shopkeeper Li was shocked. He stepped forward and grabbed a soldier and asked, "Young man, who is rebelling?"
"Yang Xuangan has rebelled. He has led tens of thousands of troops to occupy Liyang Warehouse and is coming to kill us soon. Let's run!"
The soldiers broke free from Manager Li and ran towards the county government office. Dozens of soldiers shouted along the way: "Yang Xuangan has rebelled! Yang Xuangan has rebelled!" Both sides of the street were suddenly in chaos. Manager Li did not dare to be reckless and sent one of his men to the top of the city wall to check. Liyang County and Liyang Warehouse were less than ten miles apart, and the information about Liyang Warehouse could be clearly seen from the top of the city wall.
Soon, the waiter came back and reported, "Boss, it's true, the Liyang warehouse is full of troops, at least tens of thousands of people."
"Has the flag of the Sui Dynasty been lowered?" the shopkeeper asked anxiously. This was the most crucial point. If the flag fell, it would mean rebellion.
"I can see clearly that the flag is gone."
The shopkeeper hurried back to the room, wrote an urgent message and stuffed it into a thin red mailbox. The red mailbox represented urgent and important information. He tied it to the leg of a carrier pigeon and threw the pigeon up. The pigeon circled in the air for a few times and flew towards the southeast.
The carrier pigeon will transfer information in Pengcheng County, and then another carrier pigeon will continue to fly to Jingkou County.
The commander of Hulao Pass was named Pan Jiangong. He was Yuwen Shu's confidant. After Yuwen Shu was assassinated, the emperor appreciated Yuwen Shu's loyalty and gave important positions to the generals recommended by him. Pan Jiangong was promoted and was named Huben Langjiang, commanding two thousand troops to guard Hulao Pass.
At this time, he did not know that Yang Xuangan had already rebelled in Liyang. Pan Jiangong was lustful and fond of wine, and indulged in sensual pleasures every night.
That night, Yang Xuanzong and Li Mi led 3,000 men to Hulao Pass. Li Mi led the army to hide in the dark, while Yang Xuanzong led more than a hundred soldiers to the gate of Hulao Pass. He urged his horse forward and shouted, "I am Yang Xuanzong, the Tiger Guard General. I am returning to Luoyang on the order of the emperor. Open the gate quickly!"
The captain on duty on the top of the city wall hurriedly said, "General, wait a moment. We will go and report to the commander-in-chief right away!"
The court has stipulated that the passes around Luoyang will not be opened at night unless there are special circumstances, but this must also be decided by the Lord.
The captain on duty ran towards the city. Inside the commander's mansion, Pan Jiangong was drinking and having fun with two prostitutes, looking extremely ugly.
The guards did not dare to enter the house, and reported outside the door, "General, Tiger Guard General Yang Xuanzong has been ordered to return to the capital, saying that he has an urgent matter. May I ask if you agree to open the door?"
Pan Jiangong was having fun and was not willing to put on clothes and go to the top of the city wall, so he asked, "How many people did he bring?"
"General, I brought about a hundred people!"
There weren't many people, so they could be let in. Pan Jiangong immediately said, "Check his token. If he is indeed sent by the emperor, then open the gate to him!"
"Follow the order!"
The guards went, and soon after, the captain on duty ran up to the top of the city wall and asked, "General Yang, the city gates can only be opened and closed at night under special circumstances. Do you have the emperor's token?"
Yang Xuanzong was well prepared. He took out the golden medal of the emperor forged by his brother. His father Yang Su had a golden medal of the emperor in his past, which allowed him to enter and leave the capital at night. After Yang Su's death, the gold medal was returned to the court, but Yang Xuangan secretly forged one before handing over the gold medal. Unless you verify it with the emperor himself, you can't tell that it is a fake gold medal.
The captain on duty put down the basket, took the gold medal, and checked the map of the emperor's gold medal. It was indeed a high-level gold medal for entering the city.
After checking everything, the captain ordered the city gates to be opened. Yang Xuanzong led his troops into the city. As he took the gold medal, he swung his sword and chopped off the captain's head. The captain was caught off guard and his head was chopped off. Yang Xuanzong shouted, "Fire!"
Three torches were lit, and Li Mi immediately led three thousand soldiers to charge towards Hulao Pass.
(End of this chapter)