Chapter 671 The Patriarch Visits
Chapter 671 The Patriarch Visits
At the same time as the Jiangnan navy and the internal guards launched a campaign to eliminate pirates, on the first day of February, Emperor Yang Guang led hundreds of officials and an army of 200,000 to march towards Guanzhong, officially kicking off the southern expedition against the Western Sui Dynasty.
Yang Guang arranged for his eldest grandson, Prince of Yan Yang Dan, to stay in Luoyang, and for his second grandson, Prince of Dai Yang You, to stay in Chang'an.
Yang Guang considered everything very carefully. He appointed Wang Shichong, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, as the garrison commander of Luoyang, commanding 50,000 troops to garrison in Luoyang. The military power was controlled by his eldest grandson Yang Dan.
At the same time, Yin Shishi was appointed as the governor of Xijing, commanding an army of 30,000 to assist King Dai Yang You in defending Guanzhong. Yang Guang was mainly worried that the Turkic army would invade the south again, so an army must be left in Guanzhong.
The army marched westward in a mighty manner and arrived in Guanzhong ten days later. Coincidentally, at this time, Yang Lihua's coffin also arrived in Guanzhong.
Yang Guang paid homage to his eldest sister's coffin and was extremely sad. He ordered all officials to pay homage. He personally presided over the funeral and buried the eldest princess' coffin next to the tomb of his mother, Empress Dugu.
In mid-February, Yang Guang led his army further south, heading towards Hanzhong via the Ziwu Valley.
Since last autumn, Yang Guang began to plan for the southern expedition. He stored a large amount of food and supplies in Hanchuan County for the southern expedition, and at the same time built the Hanzhong Palace in Nanzheng. He would stay in Hanzhong and personally command the two armies to attack Bashu.
One army, led by Wei Wentong, led 80,000 troops to attack Jianmen Pass. The other army, led by Chen Leng, led 30,000 troops to attack Jiameng Pass, and then entered Baxi County and entered Shuzhong.
The attack on Bashu was a relatively long process. Yang Guang designated Hanzhong as the secondary capital, where he continued to preside over state affairs and maintain the operation of the Sui Dynasty.
....
In Jinyang County, Taiyuan Prefecture, there is a Xu Ji cloth shop next to the south gate of the county. The owner is Xu Dingshan, a native of Luoyang. He runs the shop with his wife. There are three employees in the shop, and the business is good every day.
This Xuji cloth shop was actually an intelligence point set up by the Jiangnan Road Intelligence Department in Taiyuan. Xu Dingshan's son was a captain of the Internal Guard. The couple opened a shop in Luoyang and joined the Intelligence Department to assist. They took the initiative to come to Taiyuan to open a shop and became the Taiyuan intelligence point.
The Intelligence Department did not need them to explore confidential intelligence, but only required them to collect public intelligence in Taiyuan, such as public military movements, the market prices of important materials such as food prices, medicinal materials prices, etc., and the military's requisition of civilian laborers and civilian transportation vehicles.
That morning, security on the streets of Jinyang County was suddenly tightened, and more soldiers began to patrol.
Xu Dingshan immediately realized that something big had happened, because he found that the price of rice in the market had suddenly risen by 50% in the past two days, and all kinds of supplies began to be in short supply.
He was about to send his clerk to inquire when several officials suddenly came into the store and began to inquire about the store's situation, how many employees there were and how much stock there was in the store.
Xu Dingshan answered honestly one by one. The leading official took out a decree from Lord Tang and said to him, "Lord Tang requires the conscription of 100,000 civilians, as well as a batch of military supplies, food, livestock, cloth, salt, etc. You have three employees in your store, and according to the regulations, you must conscript two."
Xu Dingshan was startled and asked quickly: "If we requisition supplies, do we also need to requisition civilians?"
The official smiled and said, "The army is going to go out. We need everyone to contribute money, supplies, and labor. If you have money, you can contribute money. If you have supplies, you can contribute supplies. If you don't have money, you can contribute labor. Cloth is military supplies. If you are willing to contribute 100 pieces of cloth to support the army, then one person will be exempted. If you don't contribute, that's fine. I won't force you. In that case, you will have to take two of your men with you to contribute. You can consider it yourself."
Xu Dingshan discussed with his wife for a while, and then said to the official: "Then I will donate 200 pieces of cloth to support Lord Tang. I brought these guys from my hometown. If something happens, I will have a hard time explaining to their parents."
The official agreed immediately and wrote out a tax form, which clearly stated that Xuji Cloth Shop would be required to pay 200 pieces of cloth and two people would be exempted from military service.
The official ordered the soldiers to load 200 pieces of cloth onto the cart. Xu Dingshan found a chance and asked secretly, "I may need to purchase goods from Luoyang or Chang'an soon. Can you tell me where the war is going to break out?"
The official hesitated and said, "Master, please don't go to the south for the time being. It's not safe. Just stay in Taiyuan!" After the official left, Xu Dingshan immediately wrote a pigeon letter, put it in a red mailbox, and asked the waiter to rush outside the city to send the pigeon letter.
In Jiangdu, Xiao Xia met the head of the family Yuan Xiaoju who came from Luoyang, and Yuan Min was also received there.
This was the second time Xiao Xia met Yuan Min after he came to Jiangnan. Xiao Xia didn't like Yuan Min very much. He had the arrogance of an old aristocrat and was self-righteous in his bones. He even had an attitude that he was on an equal footing with her, which made Xiao Xia quite annoyed.
On the contrary, Xiao Xia liked Yuan Wenzhen more. Even though Yuan Wenzhen ran to help the Shanyue people, Xiao Xia was not angry. Yuan Wenzhen was at least humble, knew how to apologize, and knew his limits.
Xiao Xia asked Yuan Xiaoju to sit down and asked with a smile, "When did the master come to Jiangnan?"
"I just arrived yesterday. I wanted to come here at the beginning of the year, but I caught a cold and stayed in Luoyang for a month or two to recover. I only went out when the weather got a little warmer."
"Indeed, you can get sick easily in winter if you are not careful. You must keep warm and not be careless."
Yuan Xiaoju smiled and nodded, "Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness!"
He glanced at Yuan Min next to him and said, "I was not able to cooperate with Your Highness on the matter of Xiangyang County last time. I am very sorry!"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "At that time, we were faced with a choice: Donglai County or Xiangyang County. Donglai County is more important to us. Xiangyang County is just some territory, while Donglai County involves hundreds of thousands or even millions of refugees. Please forgive me, Patriarch!"
"I see, Your Highness cares about the refugees!"
"That's right. What I value most is population. During the Kaihuang period, the population of the Sui Dynasty reached 50 million. Now there may be only 40 million left. We must not lose any more. If the Yuan family is willing to help me spread the word and transfer the refugees to Donglai County, I will be grateful and remember this great favor."
Xiao Xia has made it very clear that if the Yuan family wants to support him, then they should focus on the refugees and not talk about territory with him.
Yuan Xiaoju pondered for a moment and said, "I'll propose a plan. Your Highness, please see if it can be implemented."
"Master, please speak!"
"Your Highness can set up several refugee reception points in the central part of the Central Plains, such as the Yellow River. Refugees can be given shelter as long as they flee to the Yellow River. Then Your Highness can send the refugees to Donglai County by boat. Our Yuan family will also go all out and mobilize all forces to publicize Your Highness's refugee reception and resettlement in the Central Plains and Hebei."
Xiao Xia said happily: "The head of the family must make it clear to the refugees that as long as they bring the legal land deeds and house deeds, when they return home in the future, the Sui Dynasty will recognize that they continue to own the land and houses they had before they took refuge."
This is the key issue. In the past, the refugees who fled here were basically landless people. People who own properties and land are basically unwilling to leave their hometowns. Even if they die in the war, they will not leave, for fear that the properties and land will not belong to them in the future.
Therefore, Xiao Xia has issued a series of refugee regulations since this year, the most important of which is this one, but he needs someone to promote it for him. Since the Yuan family has volunteered, he is also happy to see it happen!
Yuan Xiaoju praised: "Your Highness has grasped the key point. Please rest assured, the Yuan family will use all resources to promote your behalf!"
(End of this chapter)