Yang Yuanqing didn't expect that the price he offered was so attractive, and the registration was hot, and in just three days, 8,000 young people signed up to be miners, and even some strong women asked to sign up, and there was also a phenomenon of privately pulling relationships and asking for favors.

Not only Huining County, but also Wuwei County on the other side of the Yellow River, and Pingliang County in the east, have also heard the news and are constantly rushing to Huining County.

At this time, Yang Yuanqing also received news that the Tang Dynasty had sent Xiangguo Xiao Yu as a special envoy and had rushed to Taiyuan to negotiate the release of the captured officials who were prisoners of war.

After getting this news, Yang Yuanqing gave up the plan to return to Lingwu County, and immediately turned around and returned to Taiyuan, and the team rushed all the way, and two days later, more than 1,000 cavalry escorted Yang Yuanqing to arrive in Fushi County, Yan'an County.

Fushi County is the seat of Yan'an County, with a population of nearly 4,000 households, surrounded by deep loess and ravines, which is a typical loess plateau.

Almost all the people here are digging cave dwellings, on the deep loess mound, there are a glance of caves everywhere, and it is rare to see the houses in the east of the Central Plains, but in the county seat, there are still many bungalows.

A few miles away from the county seat, a cavalry galloped to report, "Chief Qiqi, the envoy of the Tang Dynasty has arrived in Fushi County." ”

This news made Yang Yuanqing slightly stunned, Tang Envoy was not waiting for him in Taiyuan, but ran to Yan'an County, is he in such a hurry?

Pei Qingsong next to him sneered, "Your Highness, it is estimated that they got the news of Huining County." ”

Yang Yuanqing thought about it for a while, there is indeed this possibility, the chief envoy of the Tang court is Xiao Yu of Xiangguo, Xiao Yu is a very stable and rule-oriented person, he actually rushed to Yan'an County in Taiyuan immediately, it should have been an urgent will from the Tang court, and it has been eight days since the Sui army took Huining County, and the Tang court must have gotten the news.

"Where is the Tang Envoy now?" Yang Yuanqing asked the messenger again.

"Back to the general manager, Tang Envoy and his party live in the Ping'an Inn in the county seat."

"Go to the Yan'an County Barracks!"

Yang Yuanqing gave an order, and more than 1,000 people accelerated their horses and galloped towards the military camp in the south of the county seat. Tang envoy was in a hurry to meet him, but he was not in a hurry......

The Tang envoy Xiao Yu arrived in Fushi County only two hours before Yang Yuanqing, and he was originally waiting for Yang Yuanqing to return in Taiyuan, but just two days earlier, he received an urgent warrant from Emperor Li Yuan, ordering him to rush to Guannei to stop the Sui Dynasty from encroaching on Huining County.

Xiao Yu once served as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry of the Sui Dynasty and was very familiar with the situation in Huining County. He also knew that there were a lot of minerals over there. After pacifying the Western Qin State last year, he proposed to develop the mineral deposits in Huining County.

However, at that time, the government affairs hall considered that the transportation was inconvenient and the mineral deposit was too close to Lingwu County. The development of mineral deposits will attract the intervention of the Sui army, so it was decided not to excavate the mineral deposits in Huining County for the time being, but he did not expect that the Sui army would not be polite. Forcefully occupy the mineral deposits of Hoeryeong-gun.

The Sui army's occupation of Huining County not only ceded the mineral deposits to the Sui Dynasty, but also threatened the security of Wuwei County in Hexi.

In Li Yuan's emergency warrant to Xiao Yu, he asked him to try his best to get back Huining County through negotiations, and Huining County must not be lost, which means that if he can't get it back through negotiations, he will recapture it by force.

Xiao Yu was worried and felt extremely stressed, he knew that the Sui Dynasty's capture of Huining County was a deliberate plan for a long time, and even Yang Yuanqing went in person. It shows the determination of the Sui Dynasty.

Since the Sui Dynasty seized Huining County, it was absolutely impossible to give it up again, and for the Sui Dynasty, the rich gold, silver and copper deposits in Huining County were also their strategic needs.

In the room, just when Xiao Yu was worried, footsteps sounded outside the door. An entourage reported, "Xiangguo, a team of soldiers came outside, saying that Xiangguo was invited to meet on the order of the King of Chu." ”

Xiao Yu stood up suddenly, surprised and delighted. Has the King of Chu returned? He walked out the door quickly, "Where are the people?" ”

"Right outside the inn!"

Xiao Yu walked out of the inn. I saw a group of soldiers standing outside the door, and he said loudly: "I am Xiao Yu, the envoy of the Tang Dynasty, but you came to me on the order of the King of Chu?" ”

A captain stepped forward and saluted, "His Royal Highness the King of Chu has arrived at the military camp outside the city, and ordered us to come and invite your envoy to go to the military camp for a while, I don't know if it is possible to go now?" ”

"Please wait a moment, I'll change my robe."

Xiao Yu went back to the house to change into an official uniform, took the official paperwork, took two entourages, and rode away with the soldiers out of the city.

Out of the city, a moment came to the front of the camp, the military camp became heavily guarded because of the arrival of Yang Yuanqing, and there were patrols from afar to interrogate, and the captain who led the way explained: "The person who came is a messenger from the Tang Dynasty, and he was brought into the camp to meet by the order of the governor!" ”

The patrol sentry got out of the way, and the captain waved his hand, "Xiao Xiangguo, please!" ”

Xiao Yu's expression was solemn, he straightened his clothes and headed, and walked towards the camp of the Sui army......

In the camp, Yang Yuanqing was standing in front of a map and pondering, he had just received the news that the fleet of Lingwu County, a total of more than 1,000 flat-bottomed tugboats, had set off from Huile County and sailed to Liangchuan County to start transporting high-grade silver and copper ore.

It is not far from Huile County to Liangchuan County, only more than 400 miles, and it can be reached in three days by waterway, if the ore is successfully transported back, and there is a ready-made smelter in Lingwu County, at the latest in a month and a half, the copper and silver ingots he needs can arrive in Taiyuan.

At that time, he had a large amount of silver and copper resources in his hands, and he was able to issue coins smoothly, a moment he had been waiting for for a long time.

The mines of Huining County were too important to him, and he would not return Huining County to the Tang Dynasty anyway, preferring to fight.

At this time, a personal soldier reported at the door of the tent: "Chief Qiqi, the Tang envoy has arrived!" ”

Yang Yuanqing walked out of the big tent unhurriedly, and saw Xiao Yu at a glance, he and Xiao Yu are also old friends, they have been familiar with each other since the Great Cause years, but they have not seen each other for several years.

"Xiao Xiangguo, I haven't seen you for many years!" Yang Yuanqing greeted him with a smile.

Xiao Yu hurriedly took two steps forward and bowed, "Xiao Yu has seen His Royal Highness the King of Chu!" ”

"Xiao Xiangguo doesn't have to be polite, I also heard that Xiao Xiangguo arrived in Taiyuan, so I hurried back, but I didn't expect to meet in Yan'an County, which is also too coincidental."

"The main reason is that Xiao Yu is in charge of state affairs and doesn't want to interrupt His Royal Highness the King of Chu's inspection of the six counties in Guanbei, so he specially came to meet His Highness."

"It's hard work Xiao Xiangguo, please!"

"His Royal Highness the King of Chu, please!"

The two politely walked into the big tent with each other, sat down according to the guest and host, and a personal soldier served them tea, Yang Yuanqing picked up the tea and said with a smile: "I have always had a question in my heart, it is a personal question about Xiao Xiangguo, I don't know if to ask?" ”

"Your Highness doesn't have to be polite, just ask if you have anything."

"I've always wondered why Xiao Mo didn't restore his homeland and instead served Li Tang instead of rebuilding the Liang Dynasty in the south, and Xiao Xiang was also a descendant of the Liang Dynasty's royal family?"

In fact, many people have asked Xiao Yu this question, including Li Yuan, Xiao Yu replied to Li Yuan, the general trend of the world will be unification, and with Xiao Miao's bearing and ability, he is obviously not a person who unifies the world, rather than being a slave of the country, but being the founder of the country, this answer is deeply praised by Li Yuan, and now Yang Yuanqing asks him the same question.

Xiao Yu pondered for a while, and said with a faint smile: "It varies from person to person, if Xiao Mo can have half of the mind and talent of Manager Yang, I am willing to follow him, but his suspicion is too heavy, and his mind is not tolerant, and if he follows him, the country will be ruined sooner or later, what's the point?" ”

"Xiangguo means that if you follow Li Tang, the country will not be ruined?" Yang Yuanqing looked at him with a smile.

"This ...... Judging from the current situation, it is the Tang Dynasty that is stronger than the Sui Dynasty, doesn't His Royal Highness the King of Chu recognize it? ”

"I don't admit it!"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head and smiled: "If Tang is stronger than Sui, then it should be the Sui envoy who went to Chang'an, why is it the other way around now, Xiao Xiangguo has come to the Sui Dynasty?" ”

Xiao Yu's face turned red, in fact, the government and the opposition all said that Sui was strong and Tang was rich, but the high-level Tang Dynasty did not want to admit it, but the facts are here, the battle of the Central Plains was defeated by the Tang Dynasty, so he had to bow his head to sue for peace.

Xiao Yu smiled bitterly, "This is the benevolent see the benevolent, the wise see the wise, let's not talk about it, this time I came to Taiyuan, mainly by my pilgrimage to the entrustment, and His Royal Highness the King of Chu to discuss some of the aftermath of the battle of the Central Plains." ”

Yang Yuanqing's smile disappeared, his face became serious, and he nodded: "Xiao Xiangguo, please speak!" ”

Xiao Yu thought for a while and said, "Before talking about the aftermath, I would like to ask His Royal Highness the King of Chu, why did the Sui army occupy Huining County and break the calm situation in the pass?" In fact, no matter how much the Sui and Tang dynasties struggled, I don't think it should be carried out in Guanzhong, the current calm situation in the Guanzhong has been maintained for two years, and it is not easy to come by, I hope that this is just a misunderstanding on the pilgrimage, and I hope that the Tang army can withdraw as soon as possible and restore peace in Guanzhong. ”

Yang Yuanqing took a sip of tea from his teacup, pondered for a moment and said: "When the Sui and Tang dynasties signed the armistice agreement, they only said that they would reduce the troops under their respective control in the pass, and it seems that an agreement on border division was never reached. ”

"But ....."

Without waiting for Xiao Yu to distinguish, Yang Yuanqing waved his hand to interrupt his words, "Since there is no territory, then the Sui army occupies Huining County, which means that there is nothing to blame, I remember very clearly, when the Sui army attacked Hebei, the prince Li Jiancheng led the army to occupy Yan'an County, since the prince Jiancheng can occupy Yan'an County, then why can't I occupy Huining County?" Xiao Xiangguo favors one over the other, which is inevitably ridiculous and generous. ”

Xiao Yu was speechless, and said for a while: "In this case, I'm afraid it will hurt the peace, and the Tang Dynasty military will not sit idly by and watch Huining County lose." ”

"Humph!"

Yang Yuanqing snorted coldly, he took out a letter and threw it in front of Xiao Yu, "This is a distress letter written by Xiao Mo of the Liang Dynasty, begging the Sui Dynasty to send troops to Jingxiang to help him recover his homeland, and the Sui army and military do not want to sit idly by and watch the Tang army occupy Jingxiang." ”

This is a naked threat, Xiao Yu's face turned white and red for a while, and finally he said helplessly: "Okay! Let's not talk about the matter of Huining County, let's talk about how to deal with the aftermath of the Battle of the Central Plains? ”

Yang Yuanqing's attitude was extremely tough, he shook his head, "If there is no explanation for the matter of Huining County, there is no point in talking about the aftermath of the Battle of the Central Plains." ”