Vol 2 Chapter 2597: Yang Shuang, King of Wei, Alliance of Sui and Tibet

Chapter 2597 Wei Wang Yang Shuang, Alliance of Sui and Tibet

Chapter 2593: Wei Wang Yang Shuang, the Sui-Tibet Alliance

 Kan Ze, who was in charge of the envoy to the Sui State, was personally welcomed by Yang Guang after arriving in the Sui capital.

Yang Guang naturally didn't want to come. After all, Da Qin had already slapped him in the face, but he couldn't resist the persuasion of his subordinates.

Da Qin sent more troops to Wuwei, but also sent envoys to the Sui State. This was obviously telling the Sui State, don't be nervous, my target is not you, but if you don't know what is good and what is evil, then it will be difficult to tell what happens next.

 No force dares to ignore the threat of Da Qin.

Emperor Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty took a chance, but was pushed to the ground and rubbed by the Qin Dynasty. Now his intestines are almost green with regret.

The strength of the Sui State was not as good as that of the Yuan State. Faced with the threat of the Qin Dynasty, Yang Guang was naturally angry, but he was still powerless. After all, the country's power was too weak and he could not be strong-willed in the face of the Qin Dynasty.

In addition, the Sui Kingdom has not yet recovered from the losses suffered in the Liangzhou War a few months ago. The extreme expansion of the army has taken away all the family capital. How can it dare to challenge Da Qin before the new troops are formed.

Therefore, no matter how dissatisfied Yang Guang was, under the rational persuasion of his subordinates, he could only endure the aggrievedness in his heart and personally welcome the Qin envoy Kan Ze into the city.

 Kan Ze did not use his power to overwhelm others, but stated the interests and consequences to Yang Guang in a matter-of-fact manner, which could be regarded as giving the good-looking Yang Guang a step down.

That day, Yang Guang summoned the civil and military officials of Sui and everyone in the Yang family to discuss how to respond to Kan Ze.

Speaking of the Yang family, as the top aristocratic family in the world, the Yang family naturally has a trunk and branches.

Li Shimin destroyed the Yang family, but Yang Jian's lineage was independent and fortunately escaped, and now it has become the Yang family.

When they learned that the Yang family was wiped out by Li Tang, and only three members of Yang Jian's brother and sister's family were left alive, the children of the Yang family in the Sui Dynasty were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat, and they felt so lucky in their hearts.

I'm glad I chose Yang Guang instead of Li Shimin. Although many people were actually forced by Yang Guang, if they had not gone with Yang Guang, they would have been among the Yang family's genocide members.

When Yang Guang and Li Shimin were fighting for hegemony in Guanzhong, it was when they needed the family's help the most, but the Yang family was trying to help Li Shimin, an outsider, deal with their own family.

In the end, Yang Guang was lost and ran away from Liangzhou, but the head of the Yang family was exterminated by Li Tang, which was considered retribution and self-inflicted punishment.

At present, except for Yang Jian, Yang Chan, and Yang Chenxiang, most of the Yang family's children are in the Sui State. They can be regarded as completely bound to the Sui State.

However, since the Sui Dynasty established its foothold in Liangzhou, it has experienced a series of wars, and many of the Yang family's descendants have sacrificed a lot, and now there are not many direct bloodlines left.

In addition to Yang Guang and Yang Su, there are only a few people such as Yang Zheng, Yang Zan, Yang Song, Yang Shuang, Yang Jun, Yang Xiu, and Yang Liang.

These seven people are all hidden figures in the Sui and Tang Dynasties in the Bronze Hundred Calls. The first four are Yang Jian's brothers, and the last three are Yang Jian's sons. Among them, Yang Zheng and Yang Shuang have the most outstanding abilities.

Especially Wei Wang Yang Shuang, who took command and was granted the title of king when he was only nineteen years old. He led the army to conquer the Turks three times as a marching marshal and defeated the Turks twice.

The Sui Dynasty actually had three wars with the Turks. The first Sui-Turkish War ended with the Sui Dynasty's defeat. The Sui Dynasty was forced to continue to pay tribute to the Turks like the previous dynasty.

But just one year later, the Sui Dynasty decided to stop paying tribute, and the Turks therefore launched the second Sui-Turkish War, which was still advancing in four directions, and the Sui Dynasty also faced a life-or-death moment.

But in the second Sui-Turkish War, Yang Jian boldly used his fifth brother Yang Shuang, who was just twenty years old, but battle-hardened and talented, to command 200,000 Sui troops against 400,000 Turkic troops.

In this battle, both the Sui Dynasty and the Turks fought hard. In the early days of the war, the Turks had the advantage due to their numbers. However, Yang Shuang was unhurried and fought steadily. In the end, he defeated the Turkic Shabolu Khan in the Battle of Baidao and suffered heavy losses. Four hundred thousand Turkic troops also saved the young Sui Dynasty.

Yang Shuang was definitely the most talented and one of the top players in the early Sui Dynasty, but unfortunately, like Huo Qubing, he died of illness at a young age.

 Huo Qu died of illness at the age of twenty-three, while Yang Shuang died of illness at the age of twenty-five. It is really a pity that God is jealous of talents.

If geniuses like them could live longer, I believe they would contribute more classic battles to future generations.

Yang Shuang's implanted identity is still Yang Jian's younger brother, but he is of the same generation as his son Yang Guang, and is even a few years younger than Yang Guang.

Yang Guang trusted this uncle who was younger than him very much and put Yang Shuang in great importance, so he appointed him as the governor of Haizhou. Basically, Yang Shuang led his army to conquer the Sui counties in Haizhou alone.

“My lord, please accept the invitation from the Kingdom of Shu. I, the Sui Dynasty, can no longer turn against the Qin Dynasty, at least not until the military expansion is officially completed and the Tibetan army goes to the plateau.”

As soon as Yang Shuang made this statement, he not only received the support of many military generals, but also agreed with many civilian officials.

It’s not that they are cowardly, but there is really no need to risk war and offend Qin just to attend a ceremony in Shu. It is not cost-effective.

Not many people in the Sui Kingdom were very rational, but the good-looking Sui King Yang Guang was a little irrational. But now that he had the steps, and there were so many people under his command who objected, he naturally agreed.

"In this case, I, the Sui Dynasty, will not be involved in Liu Yu's enthronement ceremony."

 After saying that, Yang Guang breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked: "Prime Minister Gao, how is the progress of our Sui State's military expansion plan?"

Sui Prime Minister Gao Jun quickly stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, under the extreme expansion of our army in the Sui Dynasty, our current strength has reached 250,000, of which there are only 100,000 veterans, and the other 150,000 are still in urgent need. Trained recruits.”

Yang Guang frowned, obviously not satisfied with this data, and General Yang Su asked:

“As far as I know, Wei, the weakest state in the Central Plains, has a population of more than 3 million in ten counties, and can reach an army of 300,000 under extreme expansion.

Our Great Sui Dynasty spans three places in the Lianghai Western Region, sitting on five counties in Liangzhou, seven counties in Haizhou, and three counties in the Western Regions, a total of fifteen counties, with a total population of 2.88 million.

Our Sui State’s territory is much larger than that of Wei State, and its population is not much less than that of Wei State. How come we are so far behind Wei State in terms of maximum military expansion? "

Hearing Yang Su's words, Gao Jun smiled bitterly and said: "General, this can't be calculated like this. The Kingdom of Wei is located in the Central Plains. Even though it has been devastated by the war and lost more than half of its population, it is still a sacred land. Most of the counties in Sui Dynasty are desolate.

In the past two years, the king has vigorously developed internal affairs, reclaimed wasteland, encouraged commerce, and conducted trade with the Western Regions. This has improved the national strength of the Sui Dynasty a lot, but it can only afford the consumption of an army of 250,000. "

 This is also a very cruel fact for the Sui Kingdom.

Although the Sui Kingdom ceded half of Wuwei County to Da Qin, it completely occupied seven counties in Haizhou and established three counties in the Western Regions. Now the total population is nearly 300 people. There are 600,000 to 700,000 young people in the country. Naturally, more people can be recruited. Many soldiers.

 But since you have recruited the people into the army, you must be responsible for all their military expenses, food, etc., as well as weapons, armor, horses and other combat equipment.

 However, although the territory of the Sui State was vast, seven or eight times larger than that of the Wei State, most of it was barren land, and its fiscal revenue was only two-thirds of that of the Wei State.

With the current national strength of the Sui State, supporting an army of 250,000 is the limit. If there is any more, the finances will completely collapse.

 So, it’s not that Yang Guang doesn’t want to continue to expand his army, but that he can’t afford it.

“But before Qin expanded its army, the number of troops in Yongliang was only 200,000. After the expansion, there should be at least 300,000.

If our Sui Dynasty only has twenty-five troops, how can we resist it once the Qin army really attacks? Gao Gao said with a look of unwillingness.

Yang Guang and Gao Yan both fell silent.

Da Qin is indeed too strong. Once it really sends troops to the northwest, it will be a war of national subjugation for the Sui Kingdom.

Yang Guang really wants to say that we still have Tubo as an ally, but after these two years of exchanges, he has basically figured out the details of Tubo.

Although Tubo has a population of three million and an army of 300,000, it is really too backward.

Let’s not talk about tactics and tactics. In terms of equipment alone, I dare to believe that some people in the Tibetan army two years ago still used bronze wares.

Tubo has just transitioned from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, but the Central Plains are no longer satisfied with steel weapons, but are researching lighter and harder hundred-refined special steel.

 The two weapons and equipment are not at the same level at all.

With the full support of the Sui Dynasty, Tubo also built steel plants and began to transition to the steel age, but the development time was still too short after all.

In the past two years, although Tubo vigorously developed the steel-making industry, due to limitations of experience and resources, only half of the army was able to complete the equipment change, eliminating iron weapons and replacing them with more powerful steel weapons. The other half of the army Still using iron equipment.

In fact, the progress of the Tubo army has been extremely rapid, but in Yang Guang's eyes, it is still far behind. Compared with the armies of other countries, there is a big gap, let alone compared with the Qin army.

Such a weak army, for the Qin army who was armed to the teeth, no matter how large the number was, it was just a loss of lives. How could it help the Sui Dynasty?

If the Qin army cannot be defeated, the Tubo army can retreat to the plateau and linger for a while, but the Sui country will only end up with the end of the country.

Yang Guang knew how serious the situation faced by the Sui State was, but the Sui State was weak and could not afford more troops. The way to continue to expand the army was blocked, so the only way to go was to help the Tibetan army increase its combat effectiveness. .

“The Sui Dynasty is isolated and helpless in the northwest. Once it goes to war with the Qin Dynasty, Shu will not be able to rely on it at all. Only Tubo can be an ally, but the Tubo army is too weak.

Previously, at the invitation of King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet, my king sent Gao Changgong to lead 500 Xiaoguo troops into Tibet to serve as an instructor camp to help the Tubo troops train. I thought there were not a few of them, but now it seems that there are still too few. . "

After saying that, Yang Guang looked at Yang Shuang below and ordered: "Yang Shuang, you will bring another 2,500 Xiaoguo troops into Tibet, and you will be fully responsible for the training of the Tubo army. You must do your best in the shortest possible time." Possibly improve the combat effectiveness of the Tibetan army.

Now only Tibet can help the Sui Dynasty survive this crisis of national subjugation. "

 “Nuo.” Yang Shuang said seriously.

The reason why Yang Guang sent Yang Shuang was naturally because he was the best general in military training in the Sui State. The Qing Navy and Xiaoguo Army he created were the most powerful in the Sui Army. Even General Yang Su was very talented in military training. Not as good as Yang Shuang.

Tubo King Songtsen Gampo was excited and moved when he learned that after Yang Guang sent Gao Changgong, he actually sent Yang Shuang, the governor of Haizhou, to help Tubo train troops.

Over the past two years, the Sui State has provided a great deal of help to Tubo. Steelmaking, mining, salt production, papermaking and other industries have all received help from the Sui State.

To put it bluntly, the changes that have occurred in Tubo over the past hundreds of years are not as big as the two years when the Sui Kingdom intervened.

Songtsen Gampo also knew how much the Sui had helped Tibet, so he directly stated that he wanted to form a brotherly state with the Sui and would never let the Sui down as long as he was alive.

His statement naturally made Yang Shuang very satisfied. After all, even if it did not rely on the influence of various industries, it could make the relationship between Sui and Tubo stronger.

 The Sui State helped Tubo so much, and the help was not in vain. It also gained a lot of benefits from it, which was fed back to the development of its own country.

At the same time, the Sui State also learned from the Qin Dynasty's method of controlling the Wei State, and also inserted people into various industries in Tubo.

Although this is unlikely to completely control Tubo, while helping its development, it also exerts Sui influence throughout Tubo in a subtle and subtle way.

Songtsen Gampo only thought that Sui was helping him out of good intentions, but he didn't know that Yang Guangda had evil intentions from the beginning.

Yang Guang worked so hard to support Tubo, he just wanted Tubo to defend himself against the Qin Dynasty. If the timing was not really right, he might even have the intention of completely annexing Tubo.

 (End of this chapter)