Chapter 149 Three Emperors
"Your Majesty." Li Mi slowed down his tone: "When faced with major events, you must remain calm, when faced with difficult situations, you must be flexible, and when faced with favorable situations, you must be restrained. Now that we can enter Luoyang before Yang Guang's army arrives to encircle and suppress us, it is already a blessing from heaven. We should act more cautiously at this moment.

"I know that Your Majesty hates the aristocratic families for being two-faced, but that's how things are in the world. We started the rebellion because the tyrants treated the aristocratic families harshly. If we do the same, we will lose Luoyang City the same way we gained it. I hope Your Majesty will think twice."

Yang Xuangan sighed slowly: "Master, I can issue an order, but if someone does not obey the order, what should I do?
Killing is easy, but with the enemy at hand outside the city, if I wantonly kill my confidants, I will lose the support of the people at home and lose the help of the people outside. The people will become demoralized and I will bring about my own destruction.

If I don't kill him, it means my will is as insignificant as a feather, and I will lose my prestige in the hearts of my subordinates and soldiers. It will be a matter of time before I lose my life and surrender. What should I do in this dilemma?"

Li Mi was speechless for a moment, but he still advised: "Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys or using a self-torture strategy is better than sitting back and watching. You must set some rules, otherwise what is the difference between us and those thieves and rioters?

Your Majesty, we have come this far. If we take one more step, the sky will be the limit. We must not relax!"

Yang Xuangan was silent for a long time and then nodded, "You are right. I will issue an order right away."

After receiving the imperial edict, Li Mi hurried to read it out, but the moment he walked out of the palace, he suddenly realized that Yang Xuangan didn't want to get involved at all, but was clearly waiting for him to be the bad guy.

Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys can be done by using someone who is already in a dangerous situation, and the strategy of inflicting pain on one's own brother can also be used, but he just waited for him to come before reluctantly issuing the order.

Li Mi couldn't help feeling a little discouraged. What happened to Yang Xuangan?
But he still went to convey the imperial edict and arrested and punished several people on the spot without showing any mercy. Now that things have come to this, hesitating will only damage his morale.

With Yang Xuangan's order and Li Mi's ruthless pressure, the group of civil and military officials who had suddenly risen to high positions were finally suppressed temporarily.

But those who had already occupied the mansion were unwilling to move, and the nobles who had been driven away had already fled to the homes of their in-laws and did not ask Yang Xuangan to return the mansion to them.

It is so difficult to please both sides.

.........

On the Sui army side, Li Jiancheng was quite relaxed after handing over most of his military power. Too many people needed to prove their loyalty to the emperor, and the emperor also felt it was not easy to give Li Jiancheng any more rewards.

Therefore, he was not allowed to lead the troops to attack the city. Li Jiancheng only had more than 20,000 direct subordinates under his command. Naturally, he was reluctant to let them be consumed in a futile siege, and was happy to do so.

However, in order to prevent the emperor from being suspicious, he still deliberately showed his desire to win credit, and confronted Yuwen Shu head-on. The conflict between the two families also escalated to the court, and they were constantly entangled with each other.

The emperor naturally sided with Yuwen Shu, but it was impossible for him to do anything to Li Jiancheng for him. Moreover, he was happy to see his two trusted ministers doing so.

Everyone thought it would continue like this, but the court received an urgent report that Liu Yuanjin of Yuhang had officially proclaimed himself emperor in Wujun. Zhu Xie and Guan Chong were appointed as left and right prime ministers, and they also appointed hundreds of officials.

The bandits in several counties including Piling, Dongyang, Kuaiji and Jian'an responded and respected him as the emperor. Liu Yuanjin took advantage of the situation and marched to seize these counties.

At one time, there were three emperors in the world, and Yang Guang was naturally very angry. At this time, Zhang Xutuo was in Beihai County to fight against Guo Fangyu, and after defeating him, he had to rush to pacify Zuo Xiaoyou in Qi County.

So the emperor asked who would go to fight against Liu Yuanjin. Everyone was a little hesitant. Although he was not as good as Yang Xuangan, according to intelligence, Liu Yuanjin had more than 100,000 soldiers. Li Jiancheng and Yuwen Shu naturally recommended each other without hesitation. In the end, it was obvious that Yuwen Shu won the emperor's favor. Li Jiancheng was ordered to lead his 20,000 troops to quell the rebellion immediately.

With only 20,000 men to pacify an army of more than 100,000, Li Jiancheng hurriedly said that the lack of troops might lead to major failures, but the emperor obviously did not take Liu Yuanjin seriously. He only ordered Li Jiancheng to lead the ambassadors of the twelve counties in the south of the Yangtze River to recruit soldiers along the way to suppress the rebellion.

So Li Jiancheng had no choice but to obey the order and go to the war. At this time, the benefits of the waterways built by the emperor became apparent, as he could go directly by boat to quell the rebellion.

In addition to Shan Xiongxin and Qin Shubao, Luo Yi also chose to go with him. Although the piece of meat in Luoyang, the eastern capital, was juicy, it was obviously not something that ordinary people could take a bite of. Even if they took a bite by chance, they would not be able to swallow it without the support of their family. Luo Yi was very clear about this.

In addition to the persuasion of Shan Xiongxin and Qin Shubao, he took the initiative to find Li Jiancheng and expressed his hope to follow the general to achieve great achievements. Naturally, no one cared about the stay or departure of a General of the Central Army.

Li Jiancheng asked the Minister of War for a transfer order, and the matter was settled.

Before leaving, Li Jiancheng looked at the majestic Luoyang and felt that even after he pacified Liu Yuanjin, Luoyang would not be able to be attacked unless there were some changes inside.

But this time he is not going to intervene. Let's see if His Majesty the Emperor has the ability to do so. This is the Eastern Capital that he personally ordered to be built.

Li Jiancheng sailed down the river without haste. He stopped in densely populated counties to recruit soldiers and meet his friends. He now held a prominent position in the government, and many people asked his old friends for help in introductions.

By the time they reached Danyang County, the army had barely exceeded 50,000 soldiers, but because they were recruited, their basic quality was quite impressive; at least they had a strong desire to fight and win merit.

These more than 30,000 people needed weapons and armor. Li Jiancheng asked for the imperial order in advance and then transferred all the necessary equipment from Jiangdu. After they were armed, they looked presentable.

After all, the other side is just a group of rabble, and they are very short-sighted. There are many bandits in the world, and no one dares to claim to be a king or an emperor.

With Yang Xuangan attracting the court's attention, if Liu Yuanjin concentrates on developing himself, the emperor will not send troops to destroy him. This man is just seeking his own death.

Among the 50,000-strong army, at least 20,000 are elite soldiers who have fought with Yang Xuangan for several months. Although the 30,000 have not seen blood, they are all strong and healthy men from good families who voluntarily joined the army to seek achievements.

Although the other side had 100,000 people, it was unknown how many of them were conscripted soldiers. They were just old and weak, skinny civilians holding wood sticks and wearing cloth and linen clothes.

The most elite 20,000 troops were led by Shan Xiongxin to directly capture Wujun, another 20,000 were led by Qin Shubao to sweep Piling and Yuhang, and the remaining 10,000 plus Luo Yi's elite troops were sent to Dongyang and Kuaiji.

Li Jiancheng leisurely visited Taihu Lake and visited famous hermits. He listened to the daily good news, slightly modified it and ordered people to deliver it to the emperor.

Occasionally, people would come to assassinate him, but the assassins trained by Li Jiancheng were able to assassinate even the emperor's grandson, and he would never lack capable men around him. Often, Li Jiancheng would not know how many people had died before seeing him until his personal guards reported at night.

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(End of this chapter)