Chapter 68: Something to Say

  Chen Kefu and Li Benlei arrived at the imperial tent when many officials had already gathered inside the huge golden imperial account.

  Although he was in Liaodong, this time the ministers of the imperial court basically all came with the emperor, and even many of the generals of the Twelve Guards and Four Garrisons had arrived. Chen Kefu glanced over and saw that Left Wing Guard General Yuwen Shu, Left Xuewei General Jing Yuanheng, Right Wing Guard General Xue Shixiong, Right Yuwei General Zhang Jin, Right Wuhou General Zhao Xiaocai, Gaoyi Taishou and Acting Left Wuwei General Cui Hongsheng, Left Tunwei General Yuwen Huaji, Left Wuwei General Pei Renji, Vanguard General Wang Rengong, and Left Wu Hou General Yang Yicheng had all arrived.

  Everyone in sight was a high-ranking military general, while civil officials like Pei Shiyu, Pei Yun, Li Yuan and Yu Shigui were already seated below Emperor Yang Guang.

  As soon as Chen Kefu entered, an attendant brought over a cushion and placed it beside the generals. Chen Kefu and Li Benlei hastily sat down. After sitting down, he secretly glanced at Yang Guang with his eyes, and indeed, his face was dark, and his eyes were scanning back and forth in the tent.

  The whole account was full of high-ranking officials wearing purple robes above the third rank, but at this time no one dared to whisper to each other. Although everyone wanted to know what had happened, no one dared to speak first.

  An unusual silence in the account, after a while, the inner attendant came forward and said, "Your Majesty, except for Kuai Ye and Zhou Luohou, the two great generals of the water division who are in Pingyang, all officials above the third rank have arrived."

  Yang Guang stood up from the couch, still holding the secret report in his hand, and walked several dozen steps in the tent, saying in a low tone, "Yang Xuangan has rebelled!"

  As soon as this remark came out, it really startled many officials in the account. Who is Yang Xuangan? That's the son of Yang Su, Duke of Chu State, and Yang Su dominated the central government of the Great Sui for decades, monopolizing state power for many years. Many officials here had some connection with Yang Su, more or less.

  Although Yang Su is now dead, his son's rebellion has caused them to become worried. Rebellion has always been a big deal, especially when it involves high-ranking officials and aristocratic families. If they are not careful, it will lead to a case that implicates many people, and if they are not careful, they will be pulled down with him, without even knowing how he died. Such things have always happened during the great purges, at this time, everyone starts to become nervous and anxious. Those who relied on Yang Su's recommendation or had a relationship with him were even more shocked, thinking desperately about how to clear their names.

  At that time, the crown prince was overthrown and the King of Han plotted a rebellion. Many officials in the court were implicated and executed. Now, no one knows who will be next.

  "Yang Xuangan rebelled in Linyang, and secretly ordered his confidants to disguise themselves as envoys from the eastern coastal regions, falsely claiming that the naval general-in-chief, Liu Heita, had already revolted. Now, Yang Xuangan is using the pretext of attacking Liu Heita to mobilize troops on a large scale, and has ordered various places to send troops to assemble in Linyang. According to an urgent report sent by the defender of Dongdu, Yang Xuangan has already gathered over 10,000 soldiers."

  Yuwen Shu rose to his feet and said indignantly, "The Yang family has received great imperial favor for generations. Since the founding of the Sui dynasty, there has been no one who has surpassed them in receiving imperial grace. Now they have actually committed such a heinous and unrighteous act. Your Majesty, I request to lead an army of 100,000 to quickly exterminate the Yang rebels."

  The Grand Master of Remonstrance, Pei Yun, also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Yang Guan's brother, Wu Benlang, who is in charge of Yang Xuanzong, and Yingyang Langjiang, who is in charge of Yang Wanshuo, are both following Your Majesty's carriage this time. Please quickly issue an edict to order the Imperial Guards to kill these two men."

  The other officials also stood up and seconded the motion, Chen Kefu sat at the end of the seat, watching the performance of these ministers, and couldn't help but feel amused in his heart. At first, which one was not under Yang Su's command, even Yuwen Shu, a favorite minister of Yang Guang, had to be polite when he saw Yang Su. Now that there is an opportunity, it is actually so unscrupulous to personally take the stage and tear each other apart, this also makes him see the cruelty inside the Sui court.

  Yang Guang swept his eyes over the crowd, waved his hand and said, "It's too late, Yang Jian had long been prepared, as soon as something happened, he sent someone to inform the two of them, and they have already escaped back to Hebei first."

  Yang Guang threw down the secret report in his hand, "That Yang Xuan was somewhat famous for his talent, but that's just because of his father's remaining prestige. I didn't expect him to dare to rebel against me. In my eyes, he is nothing but a brave but strategy-less martial artist, not worth fearing. The real internal problem is that I heard Li Mi, the Duke of Puyang, actually took the initiative to join the rebellion and has become Yang's main strategist."

  Chen Kefu's heart lit up when he heard the name, and indeed, as the course of history would have it, Li Mi, who was over 30 years old, had finally emerged to rebel. He was indeed a hero or someone who couldn't bear loneliness, but in any case, his appearance this time would also end in obscurity.

  As soon as Li Mi became the mastermind of Yang Xuangan, all the ministers took a deep breath. Although Li Mi only inherited his father's title of Duke of Puyang and held no official position, the ministers present were very familiar with him. Li Mi was the great-grandson of Li Xie, a famous general of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, whose ancestors had followed the fierce warrior Murong Chui (a prominent member of the Murong family) in battles north and south; he was an absolute scion of a noble family. His father, Li Kuan, was also a famous general at that time and was granted the title of Duke of Puyang for his contributions. After Li Kuan's death, Li Mi inherited his father's title at a young age and became the enviable Duke of Puyang!

  This child has a rather unusual appearance, with "a sharp forehead and angular face, and eyes that are bright and clear", making him a memorable young master. From a young age, he loved to think deeply and enjoyed reading books; not only was he well-versed in both literature and martial arts, but his ambitions were also far-reaching; whether it was ability or talent, he had already left his peers far behind!

  Li Mi, although not in office, had been astonishingly talented since childhood and grew up to be very famous among the nobility, with great strategic thinking. Even the original Yuwen Shu, Yang Su and other ministers were on good terms with him, it can be imagined that this person's rebellion shocked many of the ministers.

  "Your Majesty, we wish to lead a light cavalry army back to the Central Plains, and bring back the heads of several rebels as an offering to Your Majesty." As soon as Yang Guang's words fell, all the generals immediately stood up and asked for orders.

  Yuwen Shu said, "Your Majesty, I was blind to Li Mi's true nature when we were in Chang'an. He often came to my residence to play chess and chat. Now that he has become a rebel, I am shocked. I request an order to lead 50,000 light cavalry back to Hebei, capture the heads of those rebels, and present them to Your Majesty."

  Yang Guang was also hesitant and resentfully said, "Those two rebels are nothing but ants in my eyes, unable to stir up much trouble. What's hateful is that they chose this time to ruin my plan to conquer Goguryeo. This time, it seemed like the city of Liaodong could be taken down with one battle, and Goguryeo would also be trampled by my great army. But Yang Jian actually cut off my grain supply in Hebei. No wonder the grain was delayed for many days, he always made excuses, I didn't expect that he actually wanted to cut off my grain supply, making my army disorderly without a fight. Fortunately, Chen Pogun took down Xincheng, and the other generals also took down Sansu and three other cities, otherwise how could my army go one day without grain?

  It has to be said that Yang Xuangan's move was ruthless. The large army of Yang Guang, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, stationed in Liaodong, consumed a huge amount of grain and fodder every day, but he dragged his feet and refused to provide supplies. If it weren't for Chen Kefu and others bringing back grain this time, once the army faced a food shortage, they would be vulnerable to attack by Goguryeo, and might even suffer another disastrous defeat like the previous Liaodong campaign.

  "Your Majesty, at this time, the court should quickly dispatch a general to lead a light cavalry to quell the rebellion. Yang Guang is from a powerful family and Yang Su was once his subordinate and friend all over the world. Moreover, with the current situation of rebellions rising in all directions, if we don't take action early, once he gains a foothold and unites those rebels, it will be troublesome. Furthermore, as long as Yang Guang is not eliminated, the grain supply line for my Liaodong army of one million soldiers will be cut off for another day. We still have some grain and fodder now, but we can't keep going on like this."

  Yuwen Shu hastily followed, saying, "General Yang is right. Now that our great army has gathered in Liaodong, the Central Plains are empty. If we don't quickly eliminate them, I fear there will be endless troubles later." For Yang Guang and his group, those muddy-legged rebels were always looked down upon, even if tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people rebelled, it would be difficult to become a force to be reckoned with, and could be eliminated in one morning. But for those aristocratic families, even court officials who plotted rebellion, that was completely different, one misstep and they could become a major threat.

  Yang Guang nodded, "The two of you are right, so let the Left Wing Guard General Yuwen Shu and the Left Martial Guard General Yang Yizhen lead 100,000 light cavalry to set out tonight and quickly quell that rebel Yang's party. Another decree is being prepared, ordering officials in all regions to immediately investigate and arrest Yang's party members. All of them will be taken down for trial. Also, order the naval commander, Qieli, to take down the Right Martial Guard General Li Zixiong and send him to Dongdu for trial. After you all return, immediately investigate the military for any members of Yang's party. Those who are implicated will be arrested and tried together with Yang and his cohorts after they are captured."

  The "obedient" officials of the Ministry of War immediately received the imperial edict.

  "Your Majesty, shall our army continue with the original plan and attack Liaodong City tonight?"

  Yang Guang pondered for a moment, "Let's temporarily cease military action. At present, Liaodong City is like fish meat on our chopping board; we can take it whenever we want. Let the generals rest for now and wait until the two of you have pacified Yang Jian before attacking Liaodong City again. By then, with a single effort, we can directly capture Pyongyang."

  Chen Kefu listened for half a day and did not expect such a result. He could not accept such a result, so he hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

  Yang Guang was taken aback for a moment when he saw Chen Kefu, who had something to say. Today's meeting was the highest level of meeting. Chen Kefu was only a fourth-rank official, but his honorary and military titles allowed him to attend this meeting. Yang Guang didn't notice him because Chen Kefu hadn't spoken up.

  "What do you have to say?" Yang Guang thought Chen Kefu was a fierce general, but he didn't think Chen Kefu could participate in politics or governance. He didn't think Chen Kefu would have any good suggestions for such a big matter. However, out of his liking for Chen Kefu, he nodded and let him speak.

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