Chapter 4 (Part 2) The Willow is Dark and the Flower is Bright

  Having recited someone's famous quote, Chen Yingliang, who was quite familiar with the history of Sui and Tang dynasties, asked again: "Brother, do you know why the emperor first personally attacked Goguryeo?"

  "I know." Zhao Songzi was also a knowledgeable person and replied: "The imperial court discovered that Goguryeo sent an envoy to form an alliance with the Turks, and the emperor was worried that the two would collude and invade our Central Plains, so he used this as an excuse to send 300,000 troops to personally conquer Goguryeo?"

  "Brother, have you seen the map of our Huaxia? Chen Yingliang asked again, then gestured and said: "The location of Goryeo is right on the edge of Liaoxi Plain, to the north are the Tungusic beasts, to the west are the Turkic iron cavalry, to the south is our Great Sui's Liaoxi Corridor, and to the south of the Liaoxi Corridor is the North China Plain."

  "If that's the case, if Goguryeo really joins forces with the Turks to attack our Central Plains, they will immediately be able to form a pincer movement against our Great Sui's Liao Xi Plain. If this strategic location falls, not only will we lose the northeastern horse-producing region, but we will also have to station heavy troops in the Liao Xi corridor to strengthen our defenses, paying an even greater price in money, grain, and manpower. Because if the Liao Xi corridor is lost again, our Great Sui's North China Plain will be left defenseless, while Goguryeo can exert pressure on our Central Plains at all times, posing a constant threat to our central region, making it impossible to defend, and even more difficult to launch a counterattack."

  "So! We must make the Goguryeo barbarians perish and become extinct!" Chen Yingliang waved his hand, saying excitedly: "The Goguryeo barbarians are just like the Turkic barbarians, they have long been coveting our rich and prosperous Central Plains land! If our Great Sui does not send troops to subdue and intimidate the Goguryeo stick, and then kill them all, our Huaxia's northeastern borders will never know peace!"

  "Because the sticks are ungrateful white-eyed wolves, they are opportunistic and will assist the evil at every turn. As soon as they have a chance, they will absolutely not miss the opportunity to fiercely bite our Great Sui once! Even if it means serving as dogs or slaves for other barbarians, these sticks will still harbor hatred and hostility towards us Huaxia, saying that they must snatch away everything that belongs to our Huaxia!"

  Qiao Song Gongzi listened intently to Chen Yingliang's views, feeling that although Chen Yingliang's hatred for Goguryeo was somewhat extreme and didn't understand why he scolded Goguryeo as "sticks", but also felt that Chen Yingliang's analysis was very reasonable and his strategic judgment was correct. After nodding secretly, Qiao Song Gongzi asked again: "Younger brother, in your opinion, what is the outlook for the Emperor's second expedition against Goguryeo?"

  "It's all bad luck and little good fortune." Chen Yingliang sighed, not daring to beat the unreasonable southerner, and instead drank another bowl of wine. As he poured himself a drink, he said gloomily: "The Emperor's goal is right, but the method is wrong. To deal with Goryeo, do we need to mobilize tens of thousands of troops and have the Emperor personally lead the campaign? Mobilizing so many troops and traveling such a long distance to conquer Goryeo will not only be unbearable for the common people, but also make it difficult for our Sui army's logistics to keep up. If the war becomes protracted, our Sui people will bear an even heavier burden, and it will be even harder to guarantee supplies for the front lines. Before long, we'll be forced to retreat due to lack of food."

  Chen Yingliang, who had already drunk his face red and his neck thick, put down the almost empty wine jug again, picked up his wine bowl, and said to Qiao Song Gongzi, who was listening intently: "In my opinion, the best way for us to deal with Goguryeo now is to exhaust them. We should send out small detachments of troops to attack them, three to five thousand elite soldiers at a time would be enough. The scale of our expeditionary forces can be fully borne by the Great Sui, but it's different for those Goguryeo bastards. Their country is small and their people are few, so even if they respond to our detachments, they will have to mobilize all their national strength."

  "In that case, the Goguryeo stick will be miserable." Chen Yingliang said with a drunken tone: "We don't ask to defeat Goguryeo once and for all, we just need to force them to mobilize their national army every time, kill some of their soldiers and civilians, destroy some of their farmland and cities, delay their farming season, and retreat after seeing an opportunity. Let the Goguryeo stick be exhausted from responding, never having a peaceful day. In this way, it won't take a few times for the Goguryeo stick to exhaust its national strength, have no soldiers to recruit, no food to eat, and internal strife will arise on its own. Then our Great Sui can send out heavy troops to annihilate them, and that would be as easy as turning over one's hand."

  Finally ended the lengthy and eloquent speech, Chen Yingliang, who was parched and tongue-tied, lowered his head to drink again. However, Qiao Songzi was thoroughly shocked, thinking to himself: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't dare believe that this 17-year-old young man could propose such a correct and reasonable strategy for defeating the enemy! If the Emperor were to adopt this strategy in battle and annihilate the Goguryeo barbarians, it would be as easy as turning one's hand!"

  By the way, this strategy was the one that ultimately led to the destruction of Goguryeo by the Tang Dynasty. It was a plan copied from later generations by Chen Yingliang, and the person who came up with this plan happened to be the first person to say "Those Goguryeans are nothing but barbarians".

  After deliberating for a long time, Qiao Songzi suddenly asked Chen Yingliang again: "Xian-di, my brother has another question. Since you want to join the army and make meritorious achievements, why did you think of going to surrender to Tang Gong Li Yuan and serve under his command?"

  "This...". Chen Yingliang hesitated for a moment before answering: "I've heard that Tang Gong Li Yuan is eager to recruit talented people, and he only values ability not background. I think that by joining his camp, I'll have more opportunities to stand out, so I had the idea of going to join him."

  "Really?" Qiao Songzi nodded, looked at Chen Yingliang again, and then said: "Younger brother, Tang Gong is good at befriending heroes from all sides, I've also heard of it. But as far as I know, even if Tang Gong is eager to find talents, he won't associate with or heavily use just anyone. Younger brother, you don't have a strong background or a famous name, so even if you go to rely on him, it's hard to get his favor."

  "Then start from the grassroots." Chen Yingliang confidently replied: "I am not a person who is good at being high and distant, I am confident that as long as I have the opportunity to serve the country, I will definitely shine brightly and show my talents. Therefore, I will not care about the height of the position or the treatment, I just need one opportunity, just one chance to show off!"

  "Well said, you have spirit!" Qiao Songzi applauded and hesitated for a moment. He highly appreciated Chen Yingliang's strategy and insight, and with a smile, he made up his mind and said: "Yingliang, my brother can give you this opportunity, but I don't know if you are willing to accept it."

  "Brother, can you give me this opportunity?" Chen Yingliang was taken aback.

  "Indeed." Qiao Song nodded and said, "Not to deceive you, brother, I too was once an official in office. Although I am now idle at home, my father has always been serving the imperial court and is currently on the Liaodong battlefield as a supervising officer. The other day, my father sent me a letter saying that the Liaodong army lacks civil officials and asked if I would be willing to go to the Liaodong army to serve."

  "Brother, I've seen your calligraphy and it's not bad. Today, I also saw your literary talent several times and I deeply admire you." Qiao Song Gongzi smiled and said: "My wife is currently pregnant, so I really can't leave now, but the opportunity is here. If you're willing to go to the Liao Dong military to serve, I can transfer this opportunity to you and write a letter of recommendation for you. You take the letter of recommendation to see my father in Liao Dong, and he will definitely give you a position to show off your skills."

  He glanced at Chen Yingliang, who was already speechless, and Qiao Songzi smiled and said: "Of course, considering that my younger brother did not have any official titles or honors before, if he went to the army, his position would definitely not be very high. Generally, it would be as a clerk or secretary under a certain general, but these positions are close to the generals and can even participate in military strategy discussions. The treatment is also better than the same level of martial arts official. If my younger brother wants to make a big show, this kind of position is more suitable for him when he first enters the official career than being an official in a county or prefecture."

  With iron shoes, there is no place to find, and the arrival is not in vain. Chen Yingliang, who was worried about not being able to enter officialdom, was overjoyed at this moment, nodded hastily and said: "I am willing, I am willing, I can guarantee that I will not disappoint my brother's recommendation, and I will not let my brother and uncle down!"

  "Alright then, it's settled." Qiao Song Gongzi nodded and reminded him: "However, brother, I have something to say beforehand. Right now, Liaodong is the frontline of the war, our Great Sui army and the Goguryeo army are fiercely battling there. If you go there, although there will be many opportunities, the danger will also be great!"

  "Wealth and honor are to be found in danger!" Chen Yingliang, fueled by wine, waved his hand and shouted loudly: "If you're afraid of death and danger, and don't dare to venture out, will opportunities for success fall from the sky? It's settled then, I'll go to Liaodong to join the army, no matter what the outcome is, I won't regret it!"

  Qiao Song Gongzi smiled and nodded, still satisfied with Chen Yingliang's courage and ambition. But it was only at this time that Chen Yingliang suddenly remembered something important, and asked in a hurry: "Brother, who is your father after all? Since your father's official position is so high, why are you still dressed like this? Living in the poorest Nan City of Daxing?"

  "My father's name is Fang Yanqian, and he currently holds the position of Fu Yu Dao Jianjun. He is a clean official and often teaches me that it is easy to go from thriftiness to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to thriftiness. He does not allow me to live in luxurious houses, wear fine clothes, or indulge in extravagant food and drink." Qiao Song Gongzi smiled and replied: "I dare not disobey my father's teachings, so I live here instead. I also deliberately keep a low profile and do not let the neighbors know about our family situation."

  "There's more." Zhao Song continued, "But I didn't expect that living here would allow me to meet a young talent like you. It seems my father was right, 'talent is often found in humble families'."

  "So that's how it is." Chen Yingliang first nodded in sudden realization, then discovered another strange thing and asked hurriedly: "Brother, aren't you surnamed Qiao? Why did you just say your father was surnamed Fang?"

  "Who said I'm surnamed Qiao?" asked Qiao Song Gongzi, even more confused than Chen Yingliang. "I, your foolish brother, am surnamed Fang and named Xuanying, with the courtesy name Qiaosong. How is it that you, my virtuous younger brother, don't even know this?"

  "Big brother forgive me, little brother really didn't know......"

  Chen Yingliang hastily made a gesture of apology, but before he could finish speaking, Chen Yingliang suddenly jumped up three feet high, pointing at Qiao Songzi and shouting loudly like a pig being slaughtered: "What? Fang Xuanling? Brother Qiao, you are Fang Xuanling?!"

  "My foolish brother is Fang Xuanling, what's wrong?" Fang Xuanling asked back, then exclaimed, "Younger brother, younger brother, what's wrong with you? Why are you lying on the ground?"

  Chen Yingliang indeed fell to the ground, one reason was that he couldn't bear the blow of being in close proximity to Qian Gu Xiang, and two was physical problems - although Ge Song Gongzi brought only a pot of ordinary thin wine, but for a young man who had been relying on wild vegetable porridge to fill his hunger for a long time, drinking more than half a pot of wine at once was absolutely unbearable.

  "Has he passed out? Brother Yingxian, your capacity for wine is too shallow!" After carefully checking Chen Yingxian's condition, Fang Xuanling found that Chen Yingxian had simply succumbed to the effects of excessive drinking and fallen to the ground. Only then did Fang Xuanling put his mind at ease and let out a slight sigh of relief. Afterwards, Fang Xuanling silently thought to himself: "Those Goguryeo people are nothing but barbarians, unworthy of benevolence or righteousness, and cannot be held to the usual standards of propriety. From ancient times, they have been treated as no better than fish or turtles, and even if one were to kill them by the tens of thousands, it would not be a cause for shame."

  "This writing style is strange, how come it's so similar to mine?"

  "It's probably just a coincidence, but it seems that you and I are really unusually compatible brothers."