Chapter 132 Fishing in troubled waters
Here, Yang Xuangan was still telling the world about his ambitions with great enthusiasm, while Wei Wensheng, who was traveling day and night, deliberately stopped in Huayin, which was the ancestral tomb of the Yang family.

In such an urgent situation, he deliberately came here. The reason is self-evident.

Wei Wensheng had no other choice. No matter how hard he tried, it was too difficult to find officers in Chang'an who served under Yang Su and had no friendship with Yang Xuangan.

Therefore, what he was most worried about was that someone would surrender to the enemy in battle, so he decided to come here. After dealing with the Yang family's tomb guards, he immediately ordered people to dig up Yang Su's tomb, take out the corpse, and finally burn it to ashes and scatter them all.

Although the tombs of other elders of Yang Xuangan were not dug up, they were all flattened and the tombstones pushed down. Many people in the Sui army looked unhappy. As a son, no matter how broad-minded Yang Xuangan was, could he accept them?
Even if Yang Xuangan was willing, they didn't dare to do it. Who knows if he would take revenge on them later.

But everyone's complaints against Wei Wensheng became even greater. Even without mentioning whether Yang Xuangan would surrender or not, no one wanted to do something like digging up people's ancestral graves.

Yang Xuangan rebelled against the Yang family and usurped the emperor's throne. What does it have to do with them?
Wei Wensheng also knew that this was a risky move, so he quickly ordered his soldiers to clear a piece of space on a high hill with a pleasant view, set out the three sacrificial animals, and then worship in the direction of the late emperor's tomb.

"I, Wei Wensheng, the Minister of Punishment and the Internal Historian of Jingzhao, dare to announce to the spirit of Emperor Gaozu Wen that since the beginning of the imperial family, more than 30 years have passed, the military achievements and literary virtues have gradually spread abroad, but now Yang Xuangan has failed the emperor's grace and has become a snake and a pig, while bees and ants are flying around and swarming together, violating our royal strategy.

I, the second minister, have received grace and have devoted my heart to the Lord. I have led bears and tigers, and my ambitions are fierce and rebellious. If you are the spiritual leader of the country, you should let these ugly people break into pieces. If your great fortune is gone, please let this old minister die first. "

The late emperor naturally did not make any comment, and Wei Wensheng did not die on the spot, but speaking of the late emperor, he did calm the hearts of the soldiers. At least the morale was eased, and there was no longer a feeling of disintegration just now.

Then they had to talk about the issue of rushing to the rescue. Wei Wensheng meant to attack directly at Yang Xuangan's rear army and fight him at all costs. As long as they could suppress his momentum and surround him with troops from all over the world, Yang Xuangan would be defeated.

But the shortest route goes through Hangu Pass. If Yang Xuangan sets an ambush here, it will be a huge disaster. Li Yuan proposed to go east along the river in Shan County and go straight to Heyang to attack Yang Xuangan from behind.

Wei Wensheng did not want to take a detour and said, "Yang Xuangan's troops are insufficient. He must be trying his best to attack Luoyang at this time. He wants to enter the city and resist before the army encircles and suppresses him. Order the soldiers to advance!"

…………

The gate of Duke Tang's mansion was closed, and there were some people secretly watching not far away, obviously sent by Wei Wensheng or Prince Dai.

In the mansion, Li Jiancheng was waiting silently in his study. After a while, he heard a slight noise. Li Jin carefully moved the bookcase inside and pulled open the partition. Suddenly, someone jumped out from inside.

It is not easy to build a secret passage in Chang'an, and it is even more impossible to get outside the city, but it is easy to just dig a tunnel through the same neighborhood.

Li Jiancheng took the letter that was sent to him. How could he not have any plans for something like Yang Xuangan's rebellion? In history, Yang Xuangan was defeated too quickly. He wanted to let this dry wood burn for a little longer.

The first to arrive would be Wei Wensheng's troops, who would be the fastest. He had already dispatched them long ago, and when the time came, the people he had placed next to Yang Xuangan would advise him to set up an ambush at the pass.

But Wei Wensheng actually took Li Yuan away by force. Li Jiancheng had thought about going with the flow and resolving the issue once and for all, but he couldn't bear to do so. Although the relationship between father and son was not deep, Li Yuan had never treated him badly. After more than ten years of living together, how could there not be some affection? Moreover, even if he didn't consider him, he had to consider his mother.

Moreover, Li Yuan did not live in vain all these years. From outsiders' perspective, Li Jiancheng had a wide circle of friends, which was inherited from Li Yuan. This shows that Li Yuan also had a deep network of contacts among the relatives in Guanlong.

In order to conquer the world, one cannot waste even a single bit of strength. Otherwise, if he really wanted to do so, how could Li Shimin have lived to this age under his rule?

Therefore, he gave up this plan, but it was not important. Whether he set an ambush or not, Wei Wensheng was no match for Yang Xuangan. The main thing was Lai Huer who was about to come back.

Lai Huer was able to return so quickly because after he received the news of Yang Xuangan's rebellion, he returned directly to quell the rebellion without even asking the emperor for permission.

Facing his generals who insisted on waiting for the order to withdraw, Lai Huer gave a firm order: "Luoyang is under siege, which is a serious problem. Goguryeo's rebellion is just a minor problem. The country is in trouble. As a minister, you should do everything you can. How can you worry about gains and losses? If Your Majesty punishes me in the future, I will bear the responsibility alone. Anyone who disobeys the order will be punished by military law!"

But Lai Huer was not a fool. He led the navy back and ordered his two sons to meet the emperor immediately. On the one hand, he wanted to explain to him the reasons why he returned to the court without permission, and on the other hand, he wanted to serve as a hostage to express his loyalty.

Originally, when the emperor learned about this, he would reply, "The day you led your army back was the day I gave you an order. The king and his ministers are of one mind and are in agreement." This created a beautiful story of the king and his ministers knowing and trusting each other.

But Li Jiancheng had already ordered his men to rob and kill Lai Hong and Lai Zheng. The brothers and their personal guards were all quite skilled, but after all, they were few in number. Furthermore, they had to pass through Zhuo County, so how could they possibly resist the trap set up in advance by Li Jiancheng? Until their death, they thought that it was people arranged by Yang Xuangan who robbed and killed them.

In this way, the navy should have been able to rush to the rescue quickly, but given the emperor's suspicious and harsh nature, and the fact that the rumor that Lai Huer intended to rebel spread earlier than Yang Xuangan, he would definitely issue an order to remove Lai Huer's military power.

Changing commanders in the middle of a battle is a big taboo. The navy, which is already exhausted from all the traveling on the sea, will not have much combat effectiveness after this.

Then came the emperor's army, which was even easier to deal with. Before the emperor's army returned to Zhuo County, Li Jiancheng had his men set fire to all the emptied granaries to make it appear that Yang Xuangan had sent people to do it.

But he also deliberately left some for Li Jing and others to keep, so that he could give an explanation to the emperor. But it was definitely not enough to feed the emperor's million-strong army.

In this case, it would take a lot of time for the army to transfer grain from granaries and counties all over the place. The emperor could only gather a group of elite grain and grass and let them go first to provide support. In this way, Yang Xuangan could make trouble for a longer time.

Not only can it give Li Jiancheng some time to make more arrangements, but it can also allow the emperor to issue an order to seize the opportunity. Wei Wensheng only took away 70,000 elite soldiers. Chang'an is a place where there are at least 100,000 elite soldiers.

Of course, it is impossible for him to take them all away, but tens of thousands are enough. There are still 100,000 young and strong civilians, equipped with weapons and armor, which is a rare force.

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(End of this chapter)