Five months have passed since Fang Jie left Chang'an, and now more than 800,000 civilian warriors have gathered in Gyeonggi Province. These young and strong men from all walks of life in the Central Plains, with the ambition to win fame but on horseback, left their homes, took weapons and uniforms, and some traveled hundreds of miles, some traveled thousands of miles, and gathered in Chang'an. outside the city.
These brave men are divided into armies, battalions, and teams according to the organization of the soldiers.
According to the ancestral system of conscription in the Sui Dynasty, the families of soldiers were all members of the military and had certain privileges. Unless necessary, the recruitment of soldiers will never be selected from civilians other than those with military status. As for the recruitment of heroes this time, all children from good families can sign up. Those who are over seventeen years old and under forty years old, have no record of committing crimes and have a clean family background can join the army.
The several acropolis outside Chang'an City have been turned into huge military training grounds.
But the number of people signing up to join the army is still increasing, and young and strong men from all over the country with dreams of military success are constantly entering Gyeonggi Province. The official road was full of men heading towards Chang'an, wearing simple leather armor made by themselves and holding knives forged in the country's blacksmith shop. Some were leading horses, some were leading mules, and some were leading donkeys.
No one thinks that war is cruel. All they see in their eyes is a glittering future. In peacetime, they can only farm and do business, and have no way to change their destiny by their own abilities. But when the war came, they suddenly found a golden avenue appearing in front of them.
They are all ordinary people and have never seen rivers of blood on the battlefield.
They only remember the regrets in the hearts of their ancestors and fathers, and only look forward to a better future. All of them came here because of the famous saying "but on horseback". Who doesn't want to be a general who can stand on horseback with swords and swords?
By this time, Luo Yao's name had been mentioned countless times.
¡°When people are discussing, they often say, you see, back then Luo Yao was just a poor boy from a poor family. If it hadn¡¯t been for the war, he might still be herding sheep on the hillside of his hometown in the northwest, or weeding weeds in the fields with a hoe. Because of the war, this originally ordinary peasant boy became a big shot destined to leave a mark in the history books of the Sui Dynasty.
He is not from a military background, but he has won many battles on the battlefield because of his courage?
Among the young men who arrived in Gyeonggi Province, everyone¡¯s face was filled with excitement. They deliberately forgot that they might die in the northwest, and that behind every successful person in history there were piles of bones. They all feel that they have a chance to be the successful one, and others are the corpses.
The generals of each guard assigned many veterans to train these brave men. The veterans tried to tell the hot-blooded young people that war was not a child's play. But no one really listened. To them, the bloody stories told by the veterans were very good. Let their blood boil and their hearts be full of fighting spirit.
Even if the Sui Dynasty's treasury was full, food and grass could still be supplied, and wages could barely be paid, but it was obviously difficult to get the equipment together at once. After the screening, there were still more than 800,000 brave men left. The Ministry of War's treasury was almost empty and there was not enough for each of them to get a piece of leather armor.
Since these days, the emperor's mood seems to have improved a lot. Because of his call, the sons of Sui Dynasty came. No one is afraid and no one resists, they are all willing to sacrifice their lives for this empire. Therefore, the gloom in the emperor's heart was gradually replaced by enthusiasm. He would occasionally climb the towering Chang'an City wall and look down at the heroes below. At this time, he was sure that as long as he stretched out his hand and pointed forward, these men would scream. Rush in the direction he points.
It¡¯s certainly exciting, isn¡¯t it?
He is the supreme emperor and the helmsman of this empire.
Although he has not aged, he has not had this surging feeling for many years.
"With people like this, what do I have to worry about?"
He said with a smile.
The city wall of Chang'an City is too high. When you stand on it and look down at the outside of the city, the people below look very small. So the emperor couldn't see those brave men fighting over a sleeping place, couldn't see anyone actually daring to glare at the veterans, and couldn't see anyone taking advantage of the chaos to steal the few coins in the backpacks of those around him.
¡°He only saw that hundreds of thousands of people came for him.
"The people of the Sui Dynasty are always willing to sacrifice their lives for His Majesty."
Pei Yan, the Huangmen servant, pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, leaned over and said with a smile.
He was very satisfied with this little gift that Fang Jie gave him. It was obvious that this young man was very attentive. He only talked to Fang Jie once. Fang Jie must beI saw the look in his eyes was not very good. I have been reviewing memorials in the small room in the inner court all year round. No matter how bright the lights are, my eyesight is still getting blurry over the years.
These glasses are very good and make him see things much clearer.
He knew that the emperor also had one, which was also given by Fang Jie.
He did not hide the glasses from the emperor. On the contrary, he deliberately let the emperor see them. Sometimes when asking the emperor to remember a person's name, there is no need to say it. The gadget on the bridge of his nose reminded him of the young man who was held in the left midfield by Luo Yao.
"Luo Yao's left midfielder has arrived at Huangyang Road."
Pei Yan whispered: "We have already set up defenses on the south bank of the Huangniu River. With the left vanguard here, there is no need to worry about Huangyang Road. The imperial army has set out and only needs to attack Hexi Road. The rebels will never be able to stop His Majesty Tianwei."
"The idea you came up with was a good one."
The emperor smiled and said: "You said there is no need to mobilize troops to garrison Huangyang Road, because Huangyang Road is the barrier of the four southwest roads. Regardless of whether Luo Yao has a counter-intention, he will not sit idly by and watch Huangyang Road being in danger. I sent a message to mobilize one hundred thousand troops. , I have long expected that Luo Yao would not separate his troops, and he would immediately lead his troops northward. I cannot trust this person, but I still cannot do without him in the southwest. I think what you said a while ago is very reasonable. Luo Yao has no objection, why? He won¡¯t rebel against anything. If he has any intention of rebelling, he will rebel no matter what.¡±
"In the past, in order to guard against him, we mobilized troops to defend Jiangnan. Now think about it, why are we not forcing Luo Yao and me to drift away?"
"Your Majesty's Holy Might"
Pei Yan said: "Luo Yao goes north to Huangyang Road, which can not only disperse the rebel forces, but also transfer Luo Yao from Yongzhou, killing two birds with one stone."
The emperor hummed and looked at Xiaoyong under the city wall. His face was a little flushed, which was the excitement that was deliberately suppressed.
"I lost 700,000 elites in the northwest. Li Yuanshan deceived me once. I admit that I was fooled by him, but I will not suffer such a loss a second time. I sit on the four seas and the world is at home. 700,000 troops No, there are still 700,000 people and 70,000,000 people working for me! Does Li Yuanshan think that the emperor can just sit down and fight against me? "
"The foundation of the Sui Dynasty will last forever, and no evil spirit can even dream of coveting it!"
The emperor paused for a moment, then glanced at Pei Yan.
"You wear these glasses on purpose because you want to help Fang Jie speak?"
Pei Yan's expression changed, and he quickly lowered his head and said, "Of course I can't hide my little thoughts from His Majesty's eyes."
The emperor snorted and said: "You know that I hate opportunistic people and courtiers who work together to form factions."
"I don't dare!"
Pei Yan leaned down deeply.
"I know you don't have this intention. For so many years, you have sat in the inner court room and shared my worries for me. You have a detached status in the court. If you wanted to form a clique for personal gain, you would have been surrounded by countless sycophants."
"The glasses are very good. I have one too. They are more beautiful than yours!"
He said something and turned to leave.
Pei Yan raised the corners of his mouth, and there was a hint of pride in his eyes.
No one can grasp the emperor's thoughts more accurately than him.
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General Xu Xiaogong led his men on a tour of the heroic camp, his brows always furrowed. These brave men indeed seemed to have high morale, and none of them seemed to be convinced by anyone. But in Xu Xiaogong's eyes, these brave men, even if they had some outstanding martial arts skills, were just a bunch of sand. The original estimate was too optimistic, thinking that after several months of training, even if these people could not compare with soldiers, they would at least be able to abide by basic military disciplines.
The first few troops trained were barely usable, and when they were pulled out, at least the queues were in order. The quality of these people later became more and more worrying. There are even many villains among them who spent money to issue a document from the local government to prove their innocence, and suddenly transformed from local gangsters into soldiers of the country!
Can such an army really fight?
Xu Xiaogong, who has led the army for more than 20 years, is full of questions.
"Brother Xiaolian!"
While he was deep in thought, someone called him from behind.
Xu Xiaogong looked back and saw the newly appointed Zuowuwei General Liu Enjing chasing after him quickly.
Liu Enjing used to be a general in the right avant-garde. Later, because his father passed away, he had to observe mourning for three years. Zuo Wuwei rebelled and Yu Manlou was killed. The emperor ordered to rebuild Zuo Wuwei, and Liu Enjing came back out of love. This man is also a battle-hardened veteran. When he conquered the Shang Kingdom, he was once recognized as the most promising young man in the army. But decades have passed, and the young man who was full of blood now has two hairs on his temples.gray.
He is only less than fifty years old, but he looks like he has experienced many vicissitudes of life.
"Engu, why are you here?"
Liu Enjing quickly followed up and clasped her fists: "It's not just for the purpose of selecting soldiers. The Zuowu Guard has not yet had all the soldiers. The military families have picked and picked but still can't get enough people for one guard, so we have no choice but to come to the brave camp." Choose people.¡±
"well¡¡"
Xu Xiaogong sighed: "It's hard for you."
Liu Enjing shook her head, took Xu Xiaogong's hand and walked aside: "Brother Xiaolian, why don't you tell His Majesty, if these brave men continue to be uncontrolled, sooner or later there will be trouble."
"explain?"
Xu Xiaogong smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty issued three decrees in a row to reward brave people. In His Majesty's view, these brave people are the most loyal subjects. A while ago, there was some trouble among brave people. General Zuo Zhenwei killed several people according to military regulations. When His Majesty found out, he was furious and beat that general to the extreme and gave him twenty lashes. Who dared to say anything?"
"In the past two years, His Majesty's temperament seems to have become increasingly unpredictable."
Liu Enjing lowered her voice and said: "How about going to find Pei Yan? I heard that His Majesty trusts this person the most. If he is willing to talk, it might be useful. If this continues, no matter how many people there are, these brave men will not be able to do anything. It¡¯s a ragtag group of people, how can they be brought to the battlefield to defend themselves against the enemy?¡±
"Pei Yan?"
Xu Xiaogong snorted coldly: "If you have money, just go find him."
"In the past year, all your Majesty's thoughts have been on how to conquer the Northwest, and most of the affairs in the court have been left to Pei Yan. This man used to seem fair and fair, but now he is becoming more and more greedy. Take Huang Yangdao As far as the matter is concerned, according to reason, troops should have been mobilized for defense long ago, but His Majesty listened to Pei Yan and said that the rebels would force Luo Yao and prompt the left vanguard to go north to fight against the enemy This kind of death Such nonsense. I can say it!¡±
"Your Majesty is becoming more and more paranoid."
Liu Enjing sighed: "Although I have only returned to Chang'an not long ago, I can see that. His Majesty only has the northwest in his eyes, and rarely interferes with other state affairs. Except for the northwest, your majesty spends most of his time teaching the prince The prince has not yet At the age of ten, I heard two days ago that His Majesty has asked the Crown Prince to review the memorial. I can't figure out what is going on with His Majesty! "
"Perhaps we are thinking too far."
Xu Xiaogong was silent for a while and said: "The men and horses of the left vanguard have arrived at Huangyang Road. It is said that they have formed defenses along the Huangniu River. Luo Yao's ability to lead troops is still rare. As long as he has no dirty intentions, the rebels cannot win. And Your Majesty As the only heir of the prince, it is reasonable to value the prince"
"Who knows"
Liu Enjing shook her head: "I just hope this battle will be over soon."
Xu Xiaogong nodded: "Da Sui, no more big troubles can happen"
(It has been raining all night and half the day, and I am writing about the Sui Dynasty. When I wrote this chapter, my mood became gloomy.)