Chapter 365: The Prince of Yue
Strategic determination is a very valuable thing, but this rare quality cannot be used by the weak. Only the strong are qualified to talk about it.

The two major forces, Li Tang and Northern Yan, both have their eyes on Qingzhou. In fact, both sides understand that there have been wars every year in the past few years, and both sides have been depleted of their wealth. Therefore, if a large-scale military deployment is carried out in a short period of time, it will have a great impact on the agricultural production of the counties under their jurisdiction, so both sides are relatively restrained.

They all adopted similar approaches, hoping that Qingzhou could be used for their own purposes.

Afterwards, the Yang family members really made their choice.

In May, in Kaiyang, the capital of Langya Prefecture, Yang Sui "plotted" to capture Yang Kan, but failed, and then "chased and killed" him all the way. Yang Kan and several of his clansmen led more than 10,000 "remnants" and fled back to Qi Prefecture. They formally accepted the imperial edict of Dayan and led five prefectures, including Jinan, Le'an, Qi, Beihai, and Donglai, to submit. He became the General of the Eastern Expedition, the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Qingzhou, the Duke of Chu, and the Envoy with Special Envoyship.

Yang Sui also formally declared his allegiance to the Tang Dynasty and led the Yang family to offer the six counties of Langya, Taishan, Rencheng, Lu, Dongping, and Jibei, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanhui, who was far away in Luoyang, immediately asked the Luoyang authorities to grant Yang Sui an official position and title.

Li Yuan was very happy to get six counties for nothing, and immediately agreed to Li Yuanhui's request, and conferred Yang Sui the title of Duke of Yue and the Minister of Punishment. Yang Su's grandson Yang Bojun was made Duke of Hongnong and the governor of the city. Another two were made generals and six were made governors, still leading their old subordinates and under the command of Luoyang.

The title of Duke of Yue was the original title bestowed on Yang Su by the previous dynasty. Giving this title to Yang Sui was undoubtedly Li Yuan's way of expressing that the Tang Dynasty accepted your Yang family and returned them to the big family of Guanlong gentry.

Li Yuan had a lot to consider. First of all, the Yang family currently had little influence among the wealthy families in Guanlong. The currently prominent branch of the Hongnong Yang family was another one, but the Yang family's reputation and status were high enough, and without its old foundation, it could be used by Li Yuan.

Because of their lack of roots, the Yang family could only stay close to the emperor.

As for Li Yuanhui, after receiving Li Yuan's imperial edict, he immediately took a boat down the river and rushed to Dongjun in person. He met with his brother-in-law Chai Rong in Puyang to discuss how to receive the six newly surrendered counties, including the arrangement of defense and the arrangement of local officials.

Among them, Dongping, Taishan, Rencheng, Jibei and Lu County are all under the jurisdiction of Yanzhou. My brother-in-law Chai Rong is currently the governor of Yanzhou and is more familiar with the current situation in Yanzhou, so we still have to discuss it with him.

At the same time, Li Yuanhui also asked Yang Sui to bring the Yang family to Dongjun to meet and cooperate in accepting the work.

At the Puyang ferry, Chai Rong, the General of the Right Guard, Duke of Qiao, Commander-in-Chief of Yanzhou's military affairs and Envoy with Special Powers, Zheng Yan, the Governor of Yanzhou and Duke of Lu, Dou Zhun, the Prefect of Dongjun, and all the Yang family members headed by Yang Sui and Yang Bojun were all awaiting the arrival of the King of Qi.

Finally, a fleet appeared on the river. As it got closer, the flags on the Wuya fleet could be seen gradually.

"Grand Governor of the Eastern Shaanxi Province", "Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of the Guandong Provinces", "General of the Garrison Army", "Grand Minister of the Imperial Court", "Grand Commander", "Grand Commander", "Prefect of Henan Province", "King of Qi"

Li Yuanhui was wearing a dark round-necked robe, a jade crown on his head, and a bright red cloak. He stood on the deck, with several guards and staff standing behind him.

Looking at the people on the dock, Li Yuanhui said with a smile: "Let's go and meet the men of Yanzhou and Yuegong's family."

The Duke of Yue mentioned here is definitely not Yang Sui, because the edict was brought by Li Yuanhui and has not been read out yet. It refers to Yang Su, a versatile man of both civil and military talents who served as a general and a prime minister in the previous dynasty.

Whether commanding troops or handling government affairs, Yang Su was a first-rate expert. He was also a rare composite commander who was proficient in multiple tactics such as naval warfare and cavalry warfare.

Stepping off the ship, Chai Rong and his men greeted him, "Meet the King of Qi."

Li Yuanhui smiled and said, "No need to be so polite, everyone."

Afterwards, he ordered someone to read the imperial edict, which was mainly addressed to the Yang family.

Yang Sui and Yang Bojun bowed to the ground, accepted the appointment and thanked for the grace.

Later, Li Yuanhui saw soldiers lined up outside Puyang City. They were well-dressed and in neat formation. After asking, he learned that they were soldiers brought by the Yang family. Li Yuanhui praised them, saying, "They are quite like the old Yue Gong."

Yang Bojun said, "Thank you, King Qi, for your praise." After entering the city, they went into the meeting hall of Chai Rong's governor's mansion to discuss matters. Li Yuanhui sat in the main seat, Chai Rong and Zheng Yan sat on the left and right, and the rest of the people were seated according to the size of their official positions.

Yang Sui first took out two handwritten notes and presented them to Li Yuanhui. The first one listed the six counties that had surrendered, the current household registration of each county, the money and grain in the treasury, the number of acres of land, the garrison troops of the prefectures and counties, the current chiefs of each county and their hometowns.

The second volume records the number of troops commanded by the Yang family, the weapons, armor, arrows owned by each unit, who they are in charge of, the generals' hometowns, backgrounds and resumes.

Handing over these two items represents the Yang family's sincere allegiance to the Tang Dynasty.

Li Yuanhui unfolded it and nodded, saying, "Duke Yue is thoughtful."

Yang Sui bowed and said, "We have been displaced for ten years. Now, His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has not abandoned us and we can return to our hometown. We are very grateful. If you have any orders, we will obey them."

Li Yuanhui said: "Duke Yue is very polite. His Majesty is also in Chang'an and is looking forward to seeing you. But before that, General Chai and I will take over the six counties. In addition, I heard that the Duke of Hongnong is brave and good at fighting, and has the style of a famous general. Now is the time to use people, so please lend me a hand."

"King Qi, you are too kind. We will do our best to repay the kindness of your majesty and your highness."

Yang Sui's statement was very sensible, without any excuses. He knew that the treatment given by the Tang Dynasty was already better than what they had said.

Although Li Yuanhui promised him the position of governor of a state, the position of assistant minister was of the same rank as that of governor and was at the core of the government, which would be more conducive to the family's reintegration into the center of power.

He was also given the title of Duke. Most importantly, the Tang Dynasty was still prepared to continue using members of the Yang family to lead the troops.

This means that at least in the short term, there is no intention of abandoning the donkey after it has served its purpose.

Therefore, in the subsequent discussions on the arrangements of personnel in the six counties and the transfer and rotation of various troops, Yang Sui was extremely cooperative, and the suggestions he gave were extremely appropriate and well-organized, so much so that Li Yuanhui felt that he was truly a talent.

The Prince of Qi's Palace is now full of talented people, and there are seven or eight heroes who are capable of defeating ten thousand enemies. They are a group of fierce generals that even Li Er is envious of.

Among the staff, Li Qinglian and Li Yaoshi are good at military strategy, while Li Baishi and Dugu Ying are comprehensive top-level internal affairs talents, especially Dugu Ying who is a man of both civil and military talents.

Even though he had so many talented people under his command, Li Yuanhui still felt that Yang Sui was a rare talent, which shows his quality.

No wonder he could give advice to a reckless man like Zhai Rang and allow him to occupy two states.

However, although Yang Sui's abilities were outstanding, Li Yuanhui still did not have much intention of winning him over.

Because Li Yuan had taken a fancy to this man and gave him a high position and generous salary, he should have wanted him to go to Chang'an to work for him.

There is nothing to argue with the old man, and I can't win anyway.

Coincidentally, the talent pool of Li Yuanhui's Qi Palace is definitely better than that of Li San's Jin Palace, but not as good as that of Li Er's Qin Palace.

But the gap is not due to the loss of military generals.

He is a civil official and strategist.

The eighteen scholars of the Qin Palace were the real talent team that Li Yuanhui envied. Apart from the abilities of the eighteen scholars themselves, their connections were a huge force.

(End of this chapter)