Chapter 608 King Jin's Plan
Chapter 608 King Jin's Plan
In Luoyang, Fan Zigai hurried to the emperor's imperial study. He had replaced Pei Yun as the left prime minister. The reason why Fan Zigai was promoted was, on the one hand, because he cooperated with the King of Jin to attack Goguryeo, and on the other hand, because Pei Yun's son Pei Shuang supported Yang Xuangan's rebellion and now served as the Minister of Justice in Chang'an, which made the emperor extremely dissatisfied, so Pei Yun had to resign from the post of left prime minister.
"Your Majesty, there is good news from Jiangnan!"
Yang Guang had been very anxious recently and hadn't heard any good news for a long time. He was refreshed and asked quickly, "My dear, what good news do you have?"
"Your Majesty, upon returning to Jiangnan, the Prince of Jin immediately issued the Prince of Jin Order, severely accusing the Chang'an royal family of splitting up the Sui Dynasty and criticizing the Chang'an regime as a fake regime. To show his support for the court, he has ordered the transportation of one million dan of grain and five hundred thousand strings of money to the court, in addition to thirty thousand war horses. The Prince of Jin has also sent soldiers to escort along the way."
Although Luoyang was not short of food, Xiao Xia's attitude really made Yang Guang feel relieved. He still relied on father and son to fight! Although their father-son relationship was not very good, at the critical moment, the son was the son and would not be vague on matters of principle.
"Any other news?"
Fan Zigai handed a memorial and a letter to Emperor Yang Guang, "This was sent by His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin over a distance of 800 miles. I have read the memorial, but the letter is a private letter, so I dare not open it and give it to Your Majesty!"
Yang Guang opened Xiao Xia's memorial, which contained a lot of content, including what Fan Zigai said, but there was other content. Xiao Xia explained in detail in the memorial why he sent troops to Beihai County and Qi County. It was because Gao Shida and Liu Badao attacked Qi County and Beihai County. In addition, Meng Haigong of Dongping County and Xu Yuanlang of Lu County seriously threatened the security of Qi County, Beihai County and Gaomi County. That's why he ordered troops to be stationed in these three counties and to receive refugees fleeing from all over the place.
Xiao Xia was very prudent in everything he did. Although he sent troops to the other three counties of Shandong Peninsula, he never interfered with government offices or touched government warehouses and property. In this way, he confirmed his intention to suppress bandits and would not arouse resentment from the court. The court also acquiesced in the military presence of the Jiangnan Army in the three counties.
For example, when he conquered Liaodong, he waited until the emperor and all the officials had left before he showed up to take over, thus avoiding the embarrassment of the emperor's retreat.
This is in sharp contrast to Yang Ling. Although they both exercised self-governance, Yang Ling had no bottom line. He trampled on the dignity and interests of the court, and risked the world's condemnation by sending troops to attack the emperor's carriage, attempting a mutiny. In the end, he was disgraced and became a prisoner.
Xiao Xia maintained this sense of propriety. He could obviously swallow up the entire Jiangdu City in one gulp, but he never touched it.
For example, in the case of Nanjun. When the news of Xiao Xin's rebellion came, the court generally regretted that they should have handed Nanjun over to King Jin. Otherwise, Xiao Xin would not have developed so quickly and swallowed up the four counties of Yiling, Jingling, Mianyang and Anlu in one breath.
Yang Guang was now in a difficult situation. He wanted to ask Xiao Xia to suppress the bandits, but was worried that they would take the opportunity to occupy Jingxiang. However, the imperial army had to focus on dealing with Chang'an. He could only appoint Qu Tutong as the governor of Nanyang, controlling Nanyang and Xiangyang counties and temporarily suppressing Xiao Xin in the south.
Xiao Xia's memorial relieved Yang Guang of many of his concerns. He was silent for a while and said, "We can return Jiangdu County to Prince Jin. In addition, Prince Jin will be responsible for suppressing Xiao Xin's rebellion!"
At this time, Yu Shiji, who had just come in, said, "I heard that Xiao Xin and the King of Jin have a past. Would it be inappropriate to let the King of Jin deal with him?"
Yang Guang waved his hand and said, "I know the situation of the Xiao family very well. Prime Minister Yu is worrying too much."
Fan Zigai hesitated and said, "I am afraid that the King of Jin will suppress Xiao Xin and he will not withdraw his troops from Jingxiang."
Yang Guang smiled bitterly and said, "I have considered this, but it is better to hand Jingxiang over to the King of Jin than to let the rebels occupy it. Besides, Xiao Xin has accepted the title of Chang'an. If I attack Chang'an from Wuguan, what should I do if Xiao Xin stabs us in the back?"
Fan Zigai nodded, "Your Majesty is wise. The Prince of Jin has a clear attitude and strongly opposes the Chang'an pseudo-regime. For this reason, he deserves your Majesty's trust!" Fan Zigai and Yu Shiji withdrew. Yang Guang opened the letter written by Xiao Xia to him. The letter actually advised him to reconcile with the Guanlong nobles. The foundation of the founding of the Sui Dynasty was the support of the Guanlong nobles and the Guanlong gentry. Now these two major forces have turned to support the Chang'an pseudo-regime. This is a very dangerous signal.
In the letter, Xiao Xia persuaded Yang Guang to take advantage of the conflict between the Guanlong nobles and the Chang'an royal family, temporarily reconcile with the Guanlong nobles, and make use of Dou Yan's relationship.
Yang Guang was silent for a while. He was certainly not a fool. He also knew the importance of the Guanlong nobles. So over the years, the Guanlong nobles had made many small moves, even including supporting his son Yang Liang's rebellion, but he endured it all.
Now the Guanlong nobles have all run to Chang'an, which really made Yang Guang angry for a long time. But if the Guanlong nobles suddenly come back and want to cooperate with him, Yang Guang will not refuse. As long as the Guanlong nobles are willing to cooperate with him, at least they will not fully support Yang Yong, then he will have hope of defeating the puppet regime.
Xiao Xia's suggestion also touched Yang Guang's heart, that is, he could make use of Dou Yan's relationship.
Dou Yan is currently the only Guanlong nobleman who remains in the court, serving as the Minister of Taichang Temple. He has a very good relationship with Yang Guang. When Yang Guang was demoted, the only one who remained loyal to him was Dou Yan. He has always been trusted by Yang Guang. Even when Dou Yan's son Dou Dexuan participated in Yang Xuangan's rebellion, Yang Guang did not hold Dou Yan accountable.
Yang Guang pondered for a long time and decided that he could give it a try and use Dou Yan to pass some information to the Yuan and Dugu families.
Dou Yan was also very uneasy during this period. The Guanlong nobles retreated westward collectively, but he stayed in Luoyang. He didn't know what his final fate would be. What's more, his second son Dou Dexuan actually became the main general of Yang Xuangan's rebel army, which made him even more angry.
It's not as simple as his son participating in Yang Xuangan's rebellion, but that he became the leader of the rebellion. From ancient times to the present, betrayers have never had a good end. These bastards hid behind themselves and pushed their son out. Thinking of this, Dou Yan felt a surge of hatred in his heart.
That afternoon, just as Dou Yang had returned to his residence, an eunuch came running up to him, panting, and said, "Mr. Dou Si, His Majesty has summoned you!"
Dou Yan was stunned for a moment. The court had already been dismissed, so why did the emperor summon him?
He did not dare to delay and hurried to the palace. Soon he was led by the eunuch to wait outside the Ziwei Hall. At this time, Emperor Yang Guang had not returned yet and was still reviewing memorials.
If we talk about diligence in state affairs, Yang Guang was much more diligent than his father Yang Jian. However, Yang Guang's biggest problem was his character. In today's words, he was too literary and artistic, ambitious and unrealistic. He always had grand blueprints in his mind, and then immediately started to implement them, and they had to be completed in a short period of time. He never sympathized with the people's strength, and in just a few years he accomplished things that other emperors would take more than ten years or even decades to accomplish.
Benefits are proportional to costs. Huge benefits must be accompanied by huge costs. The cost he paid was the deaths of millions of people in the Central Plains and Hebei, which eventually led to the shortcomings of his rule and the collapse of people's power.
The collapse of popular power will lead to a series of serious consequences, including a sharp decline in population, a sharp drop in grain production, rampant banditry, rebellion by the gentry, financial collapse, and military collapse. Even though Yang Guang has realized the seriousness of the problem, it is difficult for him to save it. He can only try his best to prevent the situation from sliding into a worse direction.
At this time, an eunuch whispered at the door: "Your Majesty, Dou Siqing is here!"
Yang Guang put down his pen and said with a smile: "Summon him to the emperor!"
(End of this chapter)