Chapter 118: Second General
There was nothing wrong with the emperor wanting to conquer Goguryeo. Anyone in this position would have to defeat Goguryeo. There could only be one overlord. Goguryeo was unwilling to submit because they themselves were also plotting the position of overlord.

Goguryeo was composed of Mohe, Bei, Han, Turks, Silla and other people, but the majority were undoubtedly Han people, and nearly half of the country's population were also Han people.

Therefore, they also had the ambition to unify the Central Plains. The Sui Dynasty undoubtedly reached its peak in the hands of the emperor, and it was indeed the best time to wipe out the rebellion.

The emperor's mistake was that he wanted to lead the army personally and give orders, instead of letting professionals do the work, which led to his defeat.

After Li Jiancheng has secured his seat in the Central Plains in the future, he will inevitably have to pacify Goguryeo. This is an achievement that a qualified monarch must accomplish, but he will never lead the army in person like Yang Guang did.

It was obviously necessary to select a good commander and prepare food and grass, but it turned out to be like this, and the emperor's majesty was gone from then on.

Yang Guang praised Li Jiancheng highly and put the Liaodong County, which had just been established by the court, under the management of Li Jiancheng. He also promised that after Goguryeo was pacified in the future, the entire Liaodong region would be put under his management.

Liaodong County sounds big, but after the defeat and withdrawal, how much territory could it have? In fact, the Liaodong County that belonged to the Sui Dynasty only had a town called Tongding on the west side of the Liao River and two small counties. This was the result of the expedition of one million strong troops.

Li Jiancheng thanked the emperor, but the emperor showed no sign of listening and was still determined to avenge himself, so the officials behind him had no choice but to continue to persuade him.

It must be said that the emperor's temper became less severe after the defeat. If he were his old self, he would have picked a few people to kill as an example to scare the monkeys.

Guo Rong, the Left Imperial Household Doctor, advised: "If Your Majesty personally mobilizes the army, it will be very costly and the court cannot afford it again. Your Majesty should appoint a commander to lead the expedition."

The emperor slammed his desk and roared, "I can't do it myself, so how can I send someone to do it?"

This sentence stunned all the civil and military officials. Are you okay?

In the strange silence, the emperor's face turned red, and he finally said with grievance: "This time, I will let you do what you think is best!"

Before the civil officials could say anything, the military officers had already prostrated themselves and shouted, "Our emperor is wise!"

They were terrified that the emperor would do the same as this time. They didn't want to experience this feeling of being restricted again in their lifetime.

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The emperor led his civil and military officials back to the eastern capital Luoyang, and Li Jiancheng began to deal with the matters that had been dealt with while he was away. Li Jing's talent in this area was mediocre, and he was not good at socializing. He did not have any effective communication with the Lu family and other families, so all the important matters that needed coordination were put on hold.

After finishing the main tasks, he went to visit several families including the Lu family one by one. Everyone contributed money, food and land to retain the defeated soldiers and civilians who had fled back from Goguryeo.

Now the young and strong are the most valuable wealth. There are more women than men in the counties of Zhuo County, and there are widows in every family. They cannot survive on their own.

Of course, before Li Jiancheng withdrew from Liaodong, he had left Zhang Huli there. In the name of bandits, he gathered the soldiers left behind by Yuwen Shu and selected the elite ones from them.

There should be more than 200,000 people in total, and 170,000 to 180,000 of them returned one after another. The rest are still in various places in Goguryeo. They must have fled and couldn't find their way back for a while, and the emperor was too lazy to take care of them.

Now he had to lower his eyes and deal with the bandits. In just a few months, the number of bandits in various places in the country not only did not decrease, but increased. Qi County Wang Bo, Meng Rang, Beihai Guo Fangyu, Qinghe Zhang Jincheng, Pingyuan Hao Xiaode, Hejian Geqian, Bohai Sun Xuanya and others gathered together to attack and plunder, with the largest number of more than 100,000 and the smallest number of tens of thousands.

But the strength of the imperial court began to show, and Zhang Xutuo began to emerge. He defeated the rebel forces in various places and seemed invincible.

During this period, Yang Xuangan was not idle at all. The emperor's failure ignited his ambition, and he began to connect with his in-laws and old friends.

Yang Su offended many people, but he also promoted quite a few people. Some of them were closely tied to the Yang family. Even if he reported them, he would not have a good ending. If he did not participate, he would also be implicated when the truth came out in the future.

They just followed the rebellion. It was not a strange thing. Wasn't it the same in previous dynasties?
……

Winter came in a blink of an eye, and Li Jiancheng received a gift from the Turkic Shibi Khan, more than twenty heads. It was they who informed the emperor about the letter.

After receiving the gift, Li Jiancheng did not express anything, but just asked his envoy to go back. This time, Shibi Khan's letter was not to inquire about the news of the Sui Dynasty, but simply to complain to him and mock Yang Guang by the way.

Just as Li Jiancheng and his wife were preparing to celebrate the New Year in peace, two unexpected people came to Zhuo County. The arrival of Shan Xiongxin and Qin Shubao made them even more delightful than Shibi Khan's gift.

Although the first expedition to Goguryeo failed, Qin Shubao was promoted three levels as a hero who killed members of the Goguryeo royal family in battle, and could be considered a middle-level general in the Sui army.

Because there was relatively no war, people were relatively free, so they came with Shan Xiongxin under the pretext of visiting relatives.

It was not just because of curiosity, but more importantly, after becoming a middle-level general, he found that it was increasingly difficult to get promoted. There was one position for each person, and even if there was a position available, it had already been reserved by someone else.

Although General Lai Huer still has his title, his official position has not been restored, so this trip is more about finding a backer.

The two men were waiting in front of the prefect's mansion, leading their horses. Shan Xiongxin was feeling a little nervous, while Qin Shubao was observing the guards protecting the mansion and found that each of them was as good as his own confidants.

It's such a pity that such brave soldiers who are capable of following him into the army are just standing guard in front of the mansion gate as guards.

Soon the gates of the mansion were opened. In the cold winter, Li Jiancheng actually came out in his inner clothes to greet them. When he saw the two of them, he smiled and said, "Oh, you are such a distinguished guest. Please don't blame me for not being able to go outside the city to greet you in person."

Shan Xiongxin's eyes turned red and he tore off his fur coat and handed it to him: "My dear, why did you come out like this? It's freezing cold, don't catch a cold."

Li Jiancheng looked as if he had just realized something. "I was so happy that I didn't even notice it. Haha, Brother Shan and Brother Qin braved the cold weather and traveled thousands of miles to come see me. This is loyalty."

Then he took Shan Xiongxin's fur coat and put it on, as if he was not an outsider. Then he saluted Qin Shubao and said, "In the previous battle, only Brother Qin showed the power of our Great Sui. I have heard of your great name for a long time. It is a great honor to meet you today."

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(End of this chapter)