Chapter 134 Waiting
Lai Huer was shocked, and he obviously understood why His Majesty was so anxious to recall him: "Your Majesty, since the day I withdrew the troops, I ordered my two sons Lai Hong to come and tell Your Majesty the whole story. Your Majesty... Didn't Your Majesty see them?"

When he spoke of the latter part, Huer's voice couldn't help but tremble. It had been so many days and he still hadn't appeared. There was only one possibility left.

Yang Guang also understood the situation immediately. What a sinister plan! How could Yang Xuangan have such foresight?

“I didn’t see either of them.”

Lai Huer could hardly stand up for a while. He had twelve sons, but each of them was his dearest to him, not to mention that the one who disappeared was his most beloved one, Lai Zheng.

Lai Huer suppressed the bitter feeling in his heart and said, "The traitor Yang Xuangan must have anticipated this and sent people to rob and kill Lai Hong and Lai Zheng in order to delay the army's return to encircle and suppress him. Your Majesty, I request that you send me back to the navy immediately."

The emperor was not worried about Lai Huer's loyalty, but worried that he would get angry and said, "It is enough for the navy to be led by Zhou Fashang. You go down and rest first, and then wait for me to mobilize food and grass, and then go together to encircle and suppress the rebellion."

Lai Huer wanted to say something, but the emperor was upset at the moment and was in no mood to comfort Lai Huer.

Lai Huer was also speechless. The navy were all his people. Although Zhou Fashang was the deputy general, he could not suppress those main generals at all. Although Yang Xuangan had not proven himself on the battlefield.

But everyone knew that Yang Su was most proud of his eldest son, whom he believed could inherit his mantle. If he personally led the navy, he would be confident of dealing with the situation. But if Zhou Fashang led the troops, that might not be the case.

But Lai Huer could not tell the emperor directly that I had squeezed out the deputy general whom you specially sent to check and balance him, making him lack prestige in the camp.

The next day, news from Chang'an was also delivered. Yang Guang felt a little relieved. After reading it carefully, he felt that he had not trusted Wei Wensheng wrongly and was resolute and decisive.

Not only did he immediately make the decision to rush to the rescue, but he also put all of Yang Su's former relatives and old friends under strict surveillance.

The emperor knew too well how the previous dynasty and his own empire came to be. If the Guanlong nobles could sit together and work together, it would not be impossible to bypass him and change the dynasty directly.

Otherwise, he would not have been so anxious to move the capital and promote the aristocratic families in Shandong and Jiangnan as a check and balance.

Soon news came from Luoyang that Lai Huer's third son Lai Yuan had surrendered to Yang Xuangan, forcing Lai Huer to go to the emperor to apologize with several other colleagues.

But the emperor was very tolerant at this time and did not pursue anything. However, the expression on his face and the anger in his eyes showed that this matter would not be let go.

Lai Huer knew that this son might not be saved.

.........

Li Jiancheng was confined in the palace, but Prince of Dai Yang You gave him many rewards, as if it were compensation, which looked very childish.

Judging from the time, Wei Wensheng should have fought with Yang Xuangan. Although he had more troops than Yang Xuangan, how could he defeat Yang Xuangan?

Wei Wensheng had led troops in the past, but he is now in his seventies. His loyalty cannot change the gap in ability. If Yang Xuangan cannot even deal with Wei Wensheng, how can he dare to rebel?

After waiting day after day, he was finally summoned into the palace by Prince of Dai Yang You. Li Jiancheng walked out of the palace dressed in a coarse cloth robe. He looked much paler and thinner.

As the palace guards entered the palace, the officials who stayed in Chang'an had already arrived. They were all talking about how powerful Yang Xuangan was. He was just like a king in the world, and he was invincible in the battle. There was no special strategy. Wei Wensheng personally led 40,000 vanguards to attack Yang Xuangan's rear army that was besieging Luoyang, but Yang Xuangan, who had already received the news, led his 20,000 elite troops to set up a battle array to wait for the Sui army.

Wei Wensheng had the advantage in military strength, and he thought that once a battle broke out, the Luoyang troops could come out of the city and attack him from both sides, and he would surely win.

But being outnumbered also has its own way of fighting. Unlike his father's habit, Yang Xuangan chose to lead the way. After the infantry engaged in battle, he personally led the cavalry to charge straight ahead. The roars of his horses and long spears frightened everyone he encountered, and no one could stop him.

Wei Wensheng was only in charge of commanding the troops in the rear, so the morale was naturally very different. Moreover, Yang Xuangan had also deliberately set up an ambush, and Yang Jishan, who suddenly appeared from the side, sealed the victory in one fell swoop.

After all, most of the brave generals who were able to fight against Yang Xuangan were taken away by the emperor to conquer Goguryeo. Those who remained in the country either served under Zhang Xutuo to suppress bandits, or had dealings with the Yang family and could not reach the front line in person.

Moreover, Wei Wensheng left no room for the officers to surrender, but ordinary soldiers did not have so many burdens. Except for the dozens of people who were digging graves, most of them dropped their weapons and sat on the ground to watch the battle when they saw this situation.

The emperor treated the people harshly. Since there were not enough young and strong men in the world, even women had to perform labor service to repair river embankments. How could the soldiers at the lower level be exempted from the hard work? Therefore, everyone thought that there was nothing wrong with changing the emperor.

The war situation deteriorated so quickly that Fan Zigai in Luoyang City immediately gave up his plan to attack from both sides of the city. The death of Wei Wensheng or his own death was insignificant. The only important thing was Luoyang City.

When everyone came to discuss the matter, Li Jiancheng stood silently with his hands hanging down, and did not speak at all. Many people also consciously did not mention him.

The only thing discussed in the court was whether to send troops to aid Luoyang, how many troops to send without affecting the defense of Chang'an, and who should lead the troops?

Some people, like Li Jiancheng, remained silent, while others volunteered to take the position. But who could make the decision here? The King of Dai couldn't do it, Wei Wensheng wasn't here, and the other officials couldn't do it either.

The first thing was to exclude those who recommended themselves. There was no other way. Yang Xuangan already had sixty or seventy nobles who had pledged their allegiance to him. Even several counties around Luoyang, including the commander of Hulao Pass, had surrendered.

……

Yang Guang, who had also received the news at this time, was also struggling. He was having difficulty raising food and fodder, as the grain from nearby counties had been confiscated two years ago.

The young and strong were forcibly conscripted to work as laborers to transport grain and were never released. The old, weak and sick at home could not grow much grain and could only barely make ends meet.

The emperor didn't care about these people, but the little food they had was not enough to solve the urgent problem. Even if it was forcibly requisitioned, it would not be enough for two days of consumption, and it would inevitably cause civil unrest. The emperor now knew that this was an extraordinary period and he could not provoke rebellion.

The food and grass he transported from all over the place was just enough to prevent the army from mutiny, but if he forced the army to go out on an expedition based on just this little food and grass, the emperor would also be afraid of the camp howling at night.

The amount of food and fodder needed by the soldiers lying still is much less than the amount of food and fodder needed for them to march on an expedition while carrying their weapons and supplies. Unfortunately, the food and fodder are being targeted by thieves on the waterways and mountain roads, so only a very small amount can be transported to Zhuo County.

He could only order Zhang Xutuo to suppress the bandits as quickly as possible and clear the grain supply route.

...............

(End of this chapter)