Chapter 43 Stealing the Sky
Although the troops were divided into two groups during this expedition, the crown prince was still the commander-in-chief. Therefore, this report of commendation would first reach Yang Guang, who would then submit it to the court.

Yang Guang thought for a moment, glanced at Changsun Sheng and then at Yang Su. Changsun Sheng's heart sank, and Yang Su immediately said, "In that case, let's reduce the impact of this battle."

This battle was caused by the invasion of the Turks. In a broader sense, it was a national war concerning the Sui Dynasty. In a narrower sense, it was just a border friction between the two countries.

If the battle dragged on for a long time, the tragic casualties on both sides would naturally be revealed, but the battles on both battlefields ended very quickly, and the casualties on the Sui side were also very small.

This also leaves room for maneuver, and Yang Guang, as the commander-in-chief, has a lot of power of interpretation.

Yang Xuangan said: "For the sake of Your Highness's great cause, how can I be stingy with my own achievements?"

The remaining people's eyes fell on Changsun Sheng. The credit for this battle mainly went to him, and it was not just his own achievement. His subordinates attacked and poisoned people for fame and fortune.

If the general does not commend his subordinates for their achievements, who will be willing to fight for him and die for him in the future?

But Chang Sun Sheng had no other choice. He could not go against the trend, so he stepped out and said, "Your Highness, the decision is entirely up to you. I will not argue."

The rest of the people could only follow suit and express their opinions. The war turned into friction, and their contributions were naturally greatly reduced.

Yang Guang knew that what he did was not right, so he promised them solemnly: "I will not forget what happened today, and I will be rewarded in the future, and it won't be long!"

…………

Yang Guang ordered Yang Su to rush back to the capital, and the army began to withdraw. The conscripted civilians and local soldiers also returned to their hometowns. Changsun Sheng stayed here to appease Qimin Khan and help him take over the remnants of the Turkic army and expand his power.

After returning to Beijing, Yang Su immediately went to see the emperor and simply summarized the battle as follows: "The Turks have retreated. They were not invaders, but were just grazing."

Without boasting about the Crown Prince's martial arts, there was naturally no reason to boast about the King of Han. Seeing that the dust had settled so quickly, Yang Jian subconsciously thought that it was just friction, otherwise how could the Turks retreat so quickly.

Yang Su said the same thing at the court meeting the next day. The court officials did not dare to question the current Zuo Pushe, not to mention that many people in the court had already sided with Yang Su, so they naturally sided with him.

Only then did Yang Su accept the report of merit. Yang Jian ordered the officials to discuss the merits. As the first meritorious official in this battle, Changsun Sheng was only promoted one rank, and the official awarded with honors was promoted from the third rank to the rank of Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and this was based on his accumulated merits.

Li Jiancheng, who had the head of the main Turkic general, was only regarded as the leader of a small Turkic tribe. After all, this Anlishijin had never been heard of by the emperor and ministers of the Sui Dynasty, which showed that he was an unknown and incompetent person.

Therefore, he was only promoted to the fifth rank of Deputy Chief of the Left Guard of the Crown Prince, while He Ruobi was acquitted, Yang Su and others were only rewarded with some money and silk, and there is no need to mention the rest.

As for Yang Liang, his contribution was naturally counted even less, but they were not here now, so they naturally had no way to complain. Before they came back, the court's commendation would be announced, and they could only accept the decree and express their gratitude.

On the way back to Beijing, Li Jiancheng received the news of his promotion, and he knew that the matter was settled. The prince could use the future as an appeasement to barely suppress the dissatisfaction in the army, and he also relied on the prestige of Yang Su and Changsun Sheng as a guarantee.

The King of Han naturally did not have such conditions. Yang Guang's move was extremely vicious. Not only did Yang Liang fail to win the hearts of his subordinates, but he was also hated. After all, the soldiers and officers under him did not know so much.

They only think about the merits they have earned in this battle and what they can get for themselves, their wives and children. If it is not in line with their calculations, or even a big discount, the consequences will be very serious, and it will be a big blow to the prestige of the generals.

People like Yang Su, who treated soldiers as consumables, knew that the soldiers' contributions could not be swallowed up, and they would rather make up for them themselves than take away their food.

Since it was just a border friction, there was no grand triumphal ceremony. After deploying the troops outside the city, everyone followed the prince back to the capital, went to the court to pay homage to the emperor and returned the military command.

After hearing the news again, Yang Jian encouraged everyone with words, then gave a banquet as usual, and also rewarded everyone with some gold and silver objects, after all, they had won a victory.

By the time the King of Han led his troops back to the capital, everything had already been settled. Yang Liang didn't say anything. With the lessons learned from his brothers' past, he didn't dare to confront his vicious and cruel second brother.

But who is Yang Liang? He owns the country and can even mint his own money, so he doesn't care about the court's rewards. But if the others lead the troops to fight, they must give an explanation to their subordinates.

However, Shi Wansui, who had the highest status among them, had a long history of bad deeds in front of Yang Jian, so he would not believe what he said and sent him away directly.

In the 17th year of Kaihuang, Shi Wansui was ordered to go to Nanning Prefecture to suppress the Cuan Wan. He crossed the Xi'er River into Qulanchuan and fought for more than a thousand miles, defeating more than 30 tribes of the Qiang people in the southwest and capturing more than 20,000 people.

All the tribes were greatly frightened, and Cuan Huan was forced to surrender again. Shi Wansui sent an envoy to request to bring Cuan Huan to the court. However, Cuan Huan was afraid that he would never come back, so he bribed Shi Wansui with several ships of gold, silver and jewelry.

Blinded by greed, he released the enemy secretly. King Yang Xiu of Shu was the first to hear about it. He did not want to report it but only wanted to get a piece of the pie, so he sent people to demand the two ships of treasures.

But Shi Wansui was unwilling to share the treasure, and was even more worried that if the King of Shu knew about it, His Majesty would also know about it, so he made up his mind to sink all the treasures into the river. Naturally, the King of Shu hated him deeply, and when Shi Wansui returned to the court, he would report the evidence of his crime.

Yang Jian did not suspect anything at first, but the next year Cuan Wei rebelled again. This time, the court officials also followed suit and impeached Shi Wansui, accusing him of taking bribes and allowing bandits to rebel, causing troubles on the border, and showing that he had no integrity as a minister.

Yang Jian still felt that there might be a mistake, and repeatedly questioned Shi Wansui in private, but Shi Wansui insisted that he had not accepted the bribe. Even when the rebellion over there, Cuan Wan, told the truth, Shi Wansui still refused to admit it.

Yang Jian was so angry that he threatened, "Whether you admit it or not, I will kill you tomorrow morning!"

Shi Wansui was frightened and confessed his guilt. Crown Prince Yang Yong, Zuo Pushe Gao Jiong and Zuowei General Yuan Min pleaded for him, and he was spared the death penalty, but was also dismissed from his official position.

In fact, he was no different from He Ruobi. They both offended the emperor, but because he still had some talent as a general, he was allowed to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence.

No matter what such a person said, Yang Jian would not believe it. The emperor could not be blamed for this, but only Shi Wansui himself.

Since ancient times, there have not been so many loyal ministers and good generals who put aside their personal desires and serve the country. The more capable the generals are, the more likely they are to have strange tempers and are extremely difficult to get along with.

When the imperial court employs people, they often look at their abilities rather than their moral character. If we really talk about moral character, none of the civil and military officials in the court, including the emperor, empress, and princes, could hold on to the honorable position.

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(End of this chapter)