The emperor didn't continue on Wu Yiyi's topic, he turned around and looked at Mu Xiaoyao, with undisguised admiration in his eyes: "You are the only person in the guard's department who has not disappointed me so far this year. In fact, before you came back, I already knew about the fiasco in the Northwest. I am fortunate to have not only loyal guards like you, but also loyal soldiers."
He paused for a moment, and instructed Su Buwei: "Let Zhuge Zhan come in, and he and Mu Xiaoyao will complement each other's news, so we can understand what happened in the northwest."
Fang Jie took a few steps back with his head down, thinking that it would be strange if Mu Xiaoyao had any loyalty to you, the emperor. But since the emperor said that, Fang Xie would not be so stupid as to say that it was all because of me and had nothing to do with you, the emperor!
Not long after, Zhuge Zhan, who had fully recovered, walked in quickly, first saluted the emperor, and then gave Fang Jie them a curious look.
The emperor pointed to Mu Xiaoyao and said, "She is the second person to come back from the northwest after you, and she is Qianhu from the Ouchi guard. You two will see and hear everything in the northwest. Tell me, I want to know the clearest truth from your words."
Zhuge Zhan said that he obeyed the order, and then told what he had seen and heard in the northwest. When he mentioned that every ten or even several miles on the grassland, he could see a pagoda made of the heads of soldiers from the Sui Dynasty, Fang Xie's face couldn't help but change. He knew that this was the custom of the Mongolian people, they would chop off the heads of their enemies and pile them up in the shape of a pagoda. Because they think that if the human heads are piled up like this, the human soul will not be reborn, but will be suppressed by the pagoda forever. This is an extremely vicious method, although Fang Jie doesn't think it really has such an effect.
Shen Qingfan nodded and said: "Maybe we withdrew earlier than General Zhuge, so I don't know much about the situation in the battle. I just know that the army was defeated very quickly, almost the entire front within ten days. It all fell apart."
"Less than ten days!"
Zhuge Zhan said: "Our left leading army guard is the last one to persevere, but from the time the right leading army guard was surrounded and defeated to the time our left leading army guard was surrounded, it took only four days, and our left leading army guard was surrounded by more than thirty The Wanmeng Yuan troops were besieging and were on the march, the enemy cavalry had an absolute advantage, and many battalions were crushed before they could form formation... We... persisted for four days."
In just eight days, the 700,000 army collapsed.
But this is only a big battle. I believe that the Sui army must have lost many small-scale troops after being defeated. Maybe there are still many Sui troops hiding on the grassland, unable to form a counterattack. After all, if you want to kill 700,000 troops plus millions of civilian husbands, it is definitely not something that can be done in eight or nine days.
"The minister was aware of Li Yuanshan's conspiracy, so he immediately sent someone to report to Hou Wenji, the Governor of Qingya, but the person I sent never came back..."
Mu Xiaoyao was silent for a while and said: "That night, I found many people around the camp, and immediately led my men to rush out. More than a hundred elites under my men killed more than half of them when they came out. I know that there must be something wrong with Hou Wenji... The minister led people sneaking all the way, and happened to discover Li Yuanshan's secret while avoiding the pursuers."
"What secret?"
The emperor seemed a little impatient.
Mu Xiaoyao said: "Li Yuanshan discovered a large-scale iron mine in the northwest, and sent heavy troops to guard it. The minister happened to find it when he was withdrawing, so he ventured in to check it out. He found that there were a large number of craftsmen gathered there, not just those who mined iron ore. Migrant workers... There, Chen and others found a large number of weapons and armors that had been built, as well as heavy siege equipment, a siege hammer that weighed ten thousand catties had been assembled, many ladders, catapults, and even There are siege vehicles."
The emperor frowned, and his face immediately changed: "Li Yuanshan...has been planning a rebellion for a long time. I sent troops to the northwest, but I gave him a chance... If there is no battle in the northwest, with his right guard and one guard, no matter what He doesn't dare to make trouble, even if he has prepared so many things."
His tone was very sad. Obviously, this man who can definitely be called Mingjun regretted his sending troops to the northwest for the first time.
"There are left and right leading guards in the northwest, and Zuo Xiao guards. If Li Yuanshan wants to cause chaos, he must first get rid of these three guards. I ordered an expedition to the northwest, which was originally a major event for the Sui Dynasty to expand the territory, but he used it Oh... this scum, who has forgotten that he is a Sui, actually bows down to the Mongolian barbarians!"
This sentence is actually exactly the same as Prince Yi's evaluation of Li Yuanshan.
"not only that."
Mu Xiaoyao said: "The three roads in the northwest have been blocked, and the official roads are all guarded by county soldiers. Mr. Mou Liangbi, Minister of the Ministry of War, is in charge of the army's logistics supplies, but most of the supplies are stored in the Shandong Road, and it is difficult for Mr. Mou to obtain warrants." After the implementation, most of the army's supplies were detained by Yuan Chongwu and others. When the army wiped out Mandu Latu's troops and rushed westward, the supplies could not keep up. But no one thought at the time that Yuan Chongwu and the others It’s not just about forcing Mo Liang Bi away, but about withholding materials for rebellion.”
"The minister arrested and interrogated a few people in Li Yuanshan's iron mine. They said that Li Yuanshan had secretly recruited people six or seven years ago. These people were recruited by him in the name of farming, but in fact they have been training."
"How many people are there?"
The emperor asked in a deep voice.
Mu Xiaoyao said: "It is said... no less than one hundred thousand."
…
…
The emperor sighed, holding the teacup in his hand but forgot to drink it: "I think Yuan Chongwu sent his son Yuan Chengshi to Chang'an at the beginning, but it was just to paralyze me. He may have made a plan a long time ago. Once the incident in the northwest When he wakes up, he will take Yuan Chengshi back from Chang'an. But he never thought that Yuan Chengshi would be killed... It is precisely because of this that he is determined to rebel."
He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself down. He is the emperor and doesn't want to show uneasiness in front of his courtiers.
"Yuan Chongwu has been writing to ask me to allow him to rest for three more months because of the pain of losing his son... I thought he was just testing my bottom line with their Northwest officials, but now I understand that he is still paralyzing me by writing letters. ... so scheming, my courtiers are all so scheming."
Fang Jie didn't know whether to interrupt, and subconsciously glanced at Su Buwei. When he looked up, he found that Su Buwei was also looking at him.
Su was not afraid of the other party's solution, who did not leave any traces. Fang Jie was startled, and then nodded.
"I think... His Majesty doesn't need to be too angry."
Fang Jie cleared his throat and said.
The emperor glanced at him and said, "You mean, I should feel happy when they rebelled?"
The voice was cold, obviously the emperor was in a bad mood.
Fang Jie sorted out his wording and said: "Your Majesty... Please forgive me for making an analogy. The Great Sui Dynasty is a towering tree. The Emperor Taizu planted the seeds back then. More than a hundred years later, this big tree has become the world's largest tree. The highest existence in the world. The common people and courtiers are all bugs attached to this big tree. Most of the bugs just use this big tree as their home and rely on the big tree to shelter from wind and rain. But there are too many bugs, and naturally There are also pests. They burrow holes in the big tree to try to make a profit ... thinking the tree is too tall and too big and you can't see everything when you're sitting in the canopy."
"Northwest is like a branch of this big tree. Many holes have been eaten by pests, but they cover it up very well. You can't find anything from a distance. If these pests don't jump out by themselves , you may not see it at all."
Fang Jie paused and continued: "Your Majesty, you are angry. You are angry because a few pests destroyed a big branch. But since the branch is already broken, just cut it off. After cutting it, A certain part of the big tree will definitely look bare and ugly, but it won't take long for new branches to grow stronger and stronger."
The emperor understood Fang Jie's meaning. After a long silence, he sighed and said, "I know what you mean...but those are three whole rivers and mountains. If I cut them down, I will feel pain myself."
Fang Jie bowed his head and said: "Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain... If these bugs don't jump out in a hurry, they will eat more and more holes in the big tree. When the time comes, it won't be a branch that breaks, maybe It's the trunk. If it takes longer, it may bite the roots."
"What do you think of the war in the northwest?"
The emperor couldn't help asking.
Fang Jie walked to the front of the map and pointed to a thick north-south line on the map: "This is the Wei River, like a knife mark, cutting off the northwest. Even if the rebel army has been preparing for a long time, there is no shortage of food, soldiers or supplies. , but they lack warships... If His Majesty makes a decree, mobilize the navy to block the big river, and no one is allowed to sell grain and grass to the northwest. Then send elite troops into small teams to enter the northwest, burn the granaries and grain fields... It will only take one year. The rebels in the northwest will be short of food. If the Mongolian people do not get rewards for a long time, they will not continue to support the rebels. The shortest is two years, and the longest is three to five years. The rebels will be defeated."
"But in the northwest... there are millions of my people."
The emperor frowned.
Fang Jie said: "After a year or two, the people in the northwest will be angry. They will think, if it wasn't because of Li Yuanshan and other rebels, how could they suffer like this? The climate in the northwest is cold. Originally, there was little food produced, and the common people usually had enough to eat and drink, but they didn’t have any food in stock. But if the three roads in the northwest were sealed off, people’s hearts would be chaotic, and the rebels would have no soil to rebel, and the branch would be destroyed. withered."
The emperor was silent for a long time, but still shook his head: "If you follow your strategy, at least hundreds of thousands of people in the Northwest will starve to death in two years!"
"I also feel sorry for the people, but if the war is not controlled within the three northwest routes, more people will suffer. If the grain roads are not blocked, and the rebels in the northwest will do their best, the people will not resist."
"Zhen will order the navy to block the Wei River, but it will not prevent the people from crossing the river."
The emperor thought for a while and said, "Fang Jie, I know that your plans are all for the sake of the Sui Dynasty. But I am the king of a country, and all the people in the world are my subjects. They have made mistakes, and I have to forgive them. If you are forced to Worry about the people, how do you know they won't rebel with the rebels?"
"As long as you can't cross the river..."
Fang Jie was interrupted by the emperor before he finished speaking: "Are I still afraid of those clowns? When the matter in Chang'an City is over, I will personally march. If I want to bring back the Northwest Three Ways, why would it take two or three years?" ?”
Fang Jie was taken aback and remained silent.
He knew that his strategy was really ruthless. It's not like no one did this in ancient times... Nian Gengyao was ordered to quell the Qinghai rebellion. This year, the general just surrounded but did not fight, blocked all roads, and did not allow a grain of grain to enter Qinghai. , and sent people to sneak in and burn the pasture and granaries. How many people died of starvation
However, His Majesty's personal conquest is really to pacify the northwest in an instant
Suddenly, Fang Jie's heart skipped a beat.
Since when did I become so cruel