The Zhongyuan Festival on Jinyang Street and Jinyang River is still going on, but some small streets and alleys in the west of the city are very quiet, although every household also hangs lanterns, and there is a bon at the door, but the pedestrians are very scarce, and most of the Taiyuan people have run to the main street and the river.

At this time, a carriage came from a distance, followed by a dozen followers, and the carriage stopped in front of a large mansion, and the lantern at the entrance of the mansion had the word 'Du Fu' written on it, which was Du Ruhui's mansion.

An attendant ran up the steps to call the door, and an old face appeared in the window, it was Su Wei, the chief minister of the Sui Dynasty.

Su Wei was so old that he hardly cared about government affairs anymore, and his existence was more of a symbol, symbolizing the continuation of the Great Sui.

Yang Yuanqing attaches great importance to this famous minister who has been the prime minister since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty, although he is not as virtuous and respected as Gao Gong, and there are many shortcomings, but his stabilizing role is incomparable to others.

Su Wei came to find Du Ruhui for an important matter.

After a while, the side door of Du's mansion opened, and Du Ruhui personally greeted him, and the general owner did not go out to greet him personally, most of them sent his nephews and brothers to greet him, but Du Ruhui knew that this Su Wei shelf was very large, and he cared about this kind of etiquette very much, and he would be much more comfortable when he went out to greet him.

Su Wei saw Du Ruhui go out in person, his eyes were smiling, Du Ruhui really respected himself, he got out of the carriage, Du Ruhui hurriedly stepped forward to support him, "Old Xiangguo beware!" ”

"Huh! There is Laud Xiangguo. ”

Su Wei got out of the carriage, straightened his waist, and said with a smile: "I disturbed Du Xiangguo's rest today." ”

"Where! Where! It should be the younger generation to go to the house. ”

Su Wei nodded, "Then let's go inside and talk!" ”

"Su Xiangguo, please!"

Du Ruhui led the way in front and took Su Wei to his outer study, and the two entered the room, and Su Wei saw that the room was brightly lit. Green smoke was billowing from the incense burner in the corner of the room, and a book of notes was placed on the table, which seemed to be only halfway written.

The two sat down separately, a maid served tea, and Su Wei pointed to the table, "Is Du Xiangguo still writing a song?" ”

Du Ruhui nodded, and sighed slightly: "The imperial court is short of food, and now the Central Plains are laid." I still need to spend a lot of money and food to resettle the people, and to be honest, I'm worried. Without food, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice! ”

Although Su Wei is the nominal head of the five ministers, Du Ruhui is the left servant of Shangshu, which is the real minister of real power. He is responsible for the expenditure of money and food for the imperial court. He was under a lot of pressure.

This time Yang Yuanqing attacked the Central Plains, although Du Ruhui was not an opponent, he did not support it, held a neutral position, and he was now extremely worried about the food problem.

Su Wei could understand Du Ruhui's difficulties. He also smiled and responded, "Hebei's expenses in the second half of the year are a little smaller. I thought I could take a breath, but the expenses of the Central Plains came again, but this year's grain harvest was poor, and I can understand Du Xiang's difficulties. ”

Both of them smiled bitterly, complaining and complaining, but the capture of the Central Plains was from the overall situation. It is indeed worth celebrating, Su Wei said: "Seize the Central Plains." Although the days are a little tighter, as long as we are routine and economical up and down, we can still get through this difficulty, but the strategy of seizing the Central Plains is not trivial, and this is the most crucial step for us to seize the world. ”

Du Ruhui nodded, "I also know this, His Royal Highness's capture of the Central Plains is a very exciting event for the whole court, I heard that there is a lot of grain in the spoils of war, adding up to 300,000 stones, with this grain, at least it can cope with the Central Plains for half a year, and the army can hoard fields and plant a little millet in the short season, I estimate that I can get through this difficulty." ”

Of course, Du Ruhui also knew that Su Wei came to find him so late, not as simple as talking about food, there must be something big, and after a deep sigh, Du Ruhui asked tentatively: "Su Xiang seems to have something wrong?" ”

"Of course, you don't have to come to the door!"

Su Wei smiled mysteriously, he took a sip of tea, and then said unhurriedly: "Actually, I have been thinking about one thing, that is, about the accession of His Royal Highness the King of Chu, this time the battle of the Central Plains is over, I think the time is ripe." ”

Du Ruhui didn't speak, lowered his head to drink tea, and listened to Su Wei continue, Su Wei saw Du Ruhui's expression was flat, and his heart was slightly stunned, and he said: "In fact, after the Hebei Campaign ended, I was thinking about this matter, and I also talked to the King of Chu, but the King of Chu did not express his position, so after the Battle of Hebei, the matter was not over, I guess the King of Chu felt that the time was not ripe, but now that the Central Plains Campaign is over, we have the upper hand, at this time, no matter the prestige and merits of the King of Chu have reached a new height, I think the time is ripe, So I came to find Du Xiangguo tonight....."

Speaking of this, Su Wei glanced at Du Ruhui meaningfully, and the meaning of his eyes was to ask: 'What do you say?' ’

Du Ruhui is still pondering, he has actually considered this matter, but he has not considered maturity, from his original intention, he feels that the conditions are still a little bit worse, and there is no feeling that it will come to fruition, the key is that Luoyang and Chang'an have not been taken, and the emperor's qi has not been fully condensed.

Du Ruhui sighed and said: "I can understand Su Xiangguo's feelings, in fact, there are many people in the court who are talking about this matter, which shows that the king of Chu is expected to ascend the throne, but I think the real decision is still in the hands of His Royal Highness the King of Chu, Su Wei doesn't think that His Royal Highness is not very keen on this matter?" ”

Su Wei was stunned, "What did Du Xiangguo say?" Why is His Highness not enthusiastic? ”

Du Ruhui said slowly: "Actually, I have been paying attention to the thoughts of His Royal Highness the King of Chu, if he really intends to ascend the throne, then he will definitely take Luoyang and move the capital south, after all, Taiyuan is just to accompany the capital, not as justifiable as Luoyang, but he has no intention of taking Luoyang, maybe he is just a strategic need, but I think that any strategy is not as good as his desire to ascend the throne, which can only show that his intention to ascend the throne is not strong." ”

Su Wei also fell into deep thought, he had to admit that Du Ruhui had a point, if the king of Chu really wanted to ascend the throne, then it was inevitable to take Luoyang, but the king of Chu did not ......

"But just because His Royal Highness the King of Chu didn't take Luoyang, he decided that he didn't have the idea of ascending the throne, I think he was still a little too hasty, Du Xiang, we should confirm with His Royal Highness the King of Chu face to face."

Du Ruhui nodded, "I'll confirm this matter!" ”

After a pause, he added with a smile: "Of course, I will convey Su Xiangguo's strong desire for him to ascend the throne to the King of Chu." ”

Su Wei squinted his eyes and laughed, saying that Du Ruhui is not very sophisticated, and this is also false! ……

Yang Yuanqing's army had ended the campaign in the Central Plains, and he appointed Xu Shiji as the chief of Xingying's soldiers and horses, leading an army of 50,000 to guard Yingchuan County, and at the same time appointed Niu Jinda as the training envoy of the Central Plains regiment to recruit 30,000 county soldiers in the Central Plains. The rest of the army was stationed in Hedong and Hebei, and Yang Yuanqing led 30,000 elite troops back to Taiyuan by land.

The tens of thousands of captured Tang troops were temporarily placed in Tuntian, Hanoi County, and these troops were all Guanzhong and Shu people, and Yang Yuanqing would use these troops to exchange food for the Tang Dynasty to solve the problem of food shortage in the Sui Dynasty.

That night, the Sui army returned to Taiyuan County and camped on the banks of the Fenshui River, thirty miles away from Taiyuan City.

The moon was as round as a silver plate, sprinkling the bright light on the earth, and the soldiers of the Sui army also put down thousands of yin lamps in Fenshui to express their sorrow for the deceased.

Yang Yuanqing stood on the shore and silently made a wish for rest to a huge water lotus lamp, and then took the torch and lit the oil pan in the water lotus lamp, the fire ignited, and several soldiers struggled to push the water lotus lamp into the river, with the undulation of the waves, the water lotus lamp gradually floated to the middle of the river.

At this moment, a cavalryman galloped from the camp, and he shouted from afar: "Chief! ”

"What's the matter?" Yang Yuanqing greeted him.

"Du Xiangguo is here, waiting for the manager in the big tent."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, walked quickly to the war horse, turned over on the horse, and urged the war horse, and hundreds of guards followed him towards the camp.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Du Ruhui stood in front of the sand table accompanied by Li Jing, admiring the results of the Central Plains War.

Li Jing pointed to the south with a wooden pole in his hand and said: "In this battle of the Central Plains, in addition to the three counties of Nanyang County, Xiyang County and Runan County, the rest of the counties in the Central Plains were all pocketed by the Sui army, especially Liang County, Li Mi's Wei army is gradually withdrawing, once the Wei army is completely withdrawn, Liang County will also be incorporated into the territory of the Great Sui." ”

Du Ruhui pondered for a while and asked: "Why don't Nanyang County and Xiyang County take it?" ”

At this time, Yang Yuanqing's laughter came from behind him, "Those two counties are used as a buffer, the Tang army can't garrison troops, and we won't garrison troops, this is a compromise I reached with Li Xiaogong." ”

Du Ruhui turned around, only to see Yang Yuanqing walking in from outside the tent, Du Ruhui hurriedly bowed and saluted, "Your Royal Highness the King of Chu will see your majesty!" ”

"Du Xiangguo has worked hard to run the government."

Yang Yuanqing stepped forward with a smile, picked up the wooden pole and pointed to the two counties of Nanyang and Xiyang, and continued to explain to him, "These two counties are actually the same as Hongnong County, they are all crossed by Funiu Mountain, there are many mountains, there is not enough arable land, the population is not large, the strategic value is not large, and I don't want to directly border the Tang army, so I sent people to Li Xiaogong to reach a temporary agreement." ”

After a pause, Yang Yuanqing said again: "Of course, if the Tang court refuses to recognize these two counties as a buffer, then the Sui army will not hesitate to occupy them. ”

Du Ruhui nodded, "I understand what His Highness means, that is, not to take Jing Xiang for the time being." ”

Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly, "Du Xiangguo's eyes are really like a torch, now it is difficult for the imperial court to afford large-scale battles, I plan to recuperate for a period of time, recuperate, and wait for the strength of the imperial court to gradually become sufficient, and the vitality of the Central Plains will be restored, and then consider sending troops to destroy Dou Jiande first." ”

Yang Yuanqing invited Du Ruhui to sit down, and ordered his soldiers to serve tea, Li Jing knew that they had important matters to discuss, so he excused himself to retreat, and only Yang Yuanqing and Du Ruhui were left in the big tent.

At this time, Du Ruhui groaned and said, "I came to find His Highness tonight because I have a major matter to discuss with His Highness. ”

Du Ruhui looked at Yang Yuanqing's eyes and said slowly: "The Central Plains Battle has ended, has Your Highness considered the matter of ascending the throne?" ”