Chapter 165 Yanmen
However, Li Jiancheng in Liaodong City felt unusually at ease at this moment. Yang Guang could no longer be viewed with common sense. If he returned to him, the risks would be completely uncontrollable.

The reason why the Li family in history was able to wait for the right time was because their power had declined. However, the power of the current Li family in the court is only significantly weaker than that of the Yuwen family, and is not much different from several other prominent families.

In such a situation, and with that peach and plum child who might explode again at any time, Li Jiancheng really didn't dare to go back. What's more, if he went back this time, he would have to hand over his military power, and all his hard work would be in vain.

Li Xiaogong said: "The imperial court has stopped sending grain and grass, but fortunately we have intercepted a lot of grain and grass in the past few years."

"What are the reactions of the noble families in Zhuo County?"

"As always, they even hinted that they could help us buy food from nearby counties and transport it to Liaodong City."

Li Jiancheng nodded after listening to it. This was the role of Yang Xuangan, who completely uncovered the secrets of the Sui Dynasty. Now, not to mention the aristocratic families, even the old men in the countryside could guess that it was almost time for a change of dynasty.

Before Yang Xuangan, those who rebelled were common people who could not make a living. After Yang Xuangan, the rebels were supported by aristocratic families and even by Turks.

Li Jiancheng now has over 100,000 soldiers and horses, 30,000 of whom are elite soldiers trained from suppressing Yang Xuangan's rebellion, more than 40,000 are Zhang Huli's Yanyun cavalry, and there are more than 50,000 naval forces.

All of them were old soldiers who had survived several battles, and their weapons and armor were the military supplies left behind by the emperor during the two expeditions, and their food and fodder were the stored grain that Li Jiancheng intercepted when he was the prefect of Zhuo County.

If you really count it, he is now more powerful than Yang Xuangan when he was at his peak. After all, Yang Xuangan only planned hastily for one or two years, while Li Jiancheng has been planning for this moment for more than ten years.

However, there are still problems. Except for Zhang Huli's troops, most of the soldiers under his command are from Guanzhong, and this is Liaodong. It may not be a problem for the time being, but if it goes on for a long time, I am afraid that their homesickness will cause a mutiny.

Therefore, Liaodong City was not a place to live for a long time, and he still had to find a way to return to the Sui Dynasty. However, he could not go back as a traitor, which was why he had to pretend to be nice to the court.

Building high walls, storing up food supplies, and slowly becoming king will never go wrong.

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The Donghai bandit leader Peng Xiaocai turned to plunder Yishui, Meng Rang plundered various counties from Changbai Mountain and occupied the Liang Palace in Laidu, the Qi County bandit leader Zuo Xiaoyou led an army of 100,000 to camp at Dungou Mountain, and Lu Mingyue, who called himself the Supreme King, led his army to attack Huaiyang County.

The bandit leader Wang Xuba of Shanggu called himself the King of Mantian and named his country Yan. The bandit leader Wei Daoer called himself Lishan Fei. They each had more than 100,000 men. They allied with the Turks in the north and attacked Yan and Zhao in the south.

The situation was like this, and the emperor issued an edict, ordering the people to move into the city because of the escape of households and the numerous thieves. The fields were distributed nearby, and castles were built in counties, post stations, and villages.

Zhang Xutuo and other loyal ministers of the court tried their best to save the country and became the new nobles of the court, while Li Jiancheng began to gain mixed reputations. He broke through Liaodong, entered Pyongyang and killed Gao Yuan.

This was something that everyone in the Sui Dynasty had been thinking about for a long time. He accomplished it without spending too much manpower and food on the court.

But it is also a fact that he stayed in Liaodong and refused to return upon being summoned. Even though he had reasonable reasons, it also showed that he was not a loyal minister of the emperor.

If it was before Yang Xuangan, Li Jiancheng would have been wanted for war, but now, there was strange silence. The court did not supply food and grass, but did not declare Li Jiancheng a traitor. Winter soon arrived, and heavy snow cut off the trade routes. There was no news from Liaodong City, except for occasional rumors that Li Jiancheng was leading his troops to resist Goguryeo with difficulty.

In late spring of the eleventh year of Daye, Liaodong City again asked the court for help, but the emperor refused. The court sent spies and found out that Liaodong City was in the midst of a war, which caused a lot of discussion in the court and the public.

But he was soon distracted by the emperor's affairs, because he was really preparing to go on a tour to the Turks. Naturally, the court officials all tried to dissuade him, even Yuwen Shu.

The emperor was furious when he saw this. How could these incompetent people know my intentions? The world is in such chaos now. The vassal states around the Sui Dynasty are also ready to make moves, and the Turks are the leader among them.

Only by stabilizing the Turks can the various vassal states be stabilized, and only in this way can there be a good environment to resolve internal affairs. Moreover, he also hopes to let Shibi Khan go to conquer Li Jiancheng this time. It would be the best thing to drive away the wolf and devour the tiger.

So the emperor led his concubines, civil and military officials, monks, nuns, Taoists, performers and more than 100,000 people, left the eastern capital Luoyang, passed through Taiyuan and Yanmen, and prepared to enter the grassland to tour the Turks again.

But just after arriving in Taiyuan, he received news that the border town of Lancheng urgently requested help. The Turks suddenly launched a large-scale invasion that day, burning, killing and looting. The garrisoning general Fan Angui led his troops to fight back, but due to their small number of soldiers and generals, they were defeated by the Turkish cavalry, and Fan Angui died on the battlefield.

The emperor was furious and shocked, and he couldn't help but recall the scene when he was on a northern tour in the past. The princes and nobles of the Turkic tribes, led by Qimin Khan, knelt on the ground and cleared the weeds for him. How respectful they were.

So the emperor did not back down. He decided to teach Shibi Khan a lesson in person, to let him know who the sage Khan was and to learn to be as respectful as his father.

Of course, he also knew that the situation was not so good, so he ordered the preparation of some valuable gifts to appease the enemy after the beating.

The emperor optimistically ignored the reminder from the governor of Loufan County and continued to march towards the grassland. Shibi Khan also sent a letter saying that he would come to see him soon.

As soon as they arrived at the edge of the Great Wall, the emperor ordered the establishment of a camp. Yes, the emperor could not lose face in any way. But just as the construction of the camp began, the emperor received a letter from Shibi Khan's wife, Princess Yicheng of the imperial court.

Shibi Khan was not coming to meet the emperor, but to attack him. Scouts also sent back news that a large number of Turkic cavalry appeared ahead, and their numbers were countless, only two or three days' journey away from the emperor.

The emperor felt like he was falling into an icy cave. He did not have a million-strong army to protect him, so under the persuasion of his ministers, he quickly turned around and retreated to the nearest Yanmen Pass fortress.

During the journey of two or three hundred miles, the emperor was rarely sober and abandoned most of the baggage, including the magnificent Guanfengxing Palace, the rolling mobile castle, and the musical instruments and gifts prepared for Shibi Khan.

In this way, they were able to enter Yanmen Pass first while being pursued by the Turkish cavalry. A day later, there were dense Turkish cavalry outside the city, and they were completely surrounded.

A rough calculation showed that there were more than 200,000 people, and they were still coming in an endless stream. Yang Guang couldn't believe that the Ashina family, who relied on the support of the Sui Empire to sit firmly on the throne of the Turkic Khan, had quietly gained such a huge force.

At that time, the total number of soldiers and civilians in Yanmen was no more than 150,000, and the Yanmen Fortress was not as tall and solid as Liaodong City. The arrows of the Turks could easily hit the city wall.

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(End of this chapter)