Suddenly, with a rush, a large area of ​​flames rose into the air. It turned out to be the area where Li Zitong set up an ambush, which had long been covered with tinder oil and other objects that caused fire. The sound of crying for help in the sea of ​​fire became smaller and smaller, and finally only the crackling and burning sound of flames.

Not long after, a charred and disgusting smell of flesh could be smelled within a radius of dozens of miles. The next morning, Luyang Lake was shrouded in a "miss". In fact, there would be no fog in the middle of winter, and it was the smoke of the fire. The original reed marsh had become a large area of ​​darkness, densely packed with reed stems burned into charcoal. It brought people a sense of dense fear and gave them goosebumps.

Sui army soldiers entered the fire and searched, and found one burnt charred corpses of Li Zitong bandits. After counting, there were more than 14,000. It seemed that the Wagang army of Li Zitong's troops was completely destroyed.

In the next more than a month, Jiangdu, Huainan and Jiangdong Wu were serene. Yang Guang's self-criticism and general amnesty edict had spread all over the world in the first two or three months, causing great shock to the heroes in the world.

The anti-kings in the north were all trying to seize the time to attack and annex each other and integrate their forces. They all knew in their hearts that whether they were seeking to compete for the Central Plains, to win the imperial hegemony in the world, or to surrender to the Great Sui Dynasty and become a nobleman in the world, they were all related to their own strength and territory.

Lin Shihong, Jiangbiao, to the west, naturally would not covet the Jiangdong area in Huainan, which was headed by Yang Guang at this time. He could only develop towards Lingnan in the south and Jingzhou area occupied by Xiao Xian.

By March of the 14th year of Daye, it was already the season when spring was warm and flowers were blooming. All the tribes in Jiangdu City were ready to return to the east.

In the side room of Liangyi Hall of Jiangdu Imperial Palace, Yang Guang was discussing the route and strategies of returning to Kyoto with the generals.

Yang Guang swept his eyes over the faces of the ministers one by one and stayed on Dou Xian. A few months ago, Yang Guang asked Dou Xian to do an errand to inquire about the form of the heroes in the north. Of course, this is also a benefit for Dou Xian, who was eager to return to Guanzhong to visit his father. In a few months and a winter, Dou Xian made a round trip along the canal waterway and roughly discovered the situation and situation of the traitors entrenched in Guanlong, Henan, Hedong, Henoi, Qingxu and other areas.

"Dou Xian, you just came back from the north. What do you think?" Yang Guang asked.

Dou Xian had already had something to say. When he heard Yang Guang's question, he hurriedly answered: "Your Majesty. At present, the power of the Wagang Army Li Mi has occupied the entire four prefectures of Guqing, Xu, Yu, Yan, and is known to have a million troops, but actually has more than 300,000 soldiers. This is just the force that Li Mi can command himself, and there are hundreds of bandit armed forces like Li Zitong who are under the banner of the Wagang Army. On the surface, they are also nominally obeying Li Mi's orders. These armed forces are also as many as 400,000 or 500,000."

"That means that it is impossible for us to return along the original route of Jiangdu from the past few years?" asked Shen Guang on the side.

"Yes, we came to Jiangdu back then. Although we claimed to have gone to Jiangnan for 100,000 Xiaoguo, in fact, these 100,000 people included palace servants, boatmen and boatmen, and all kinds of people in the periphery army that guaranteed supplies. In fact, there were only 50,000 people who were assigned to the Xiaoguo Army, and more than 30,000 of these 50,000 were auxiliary soldiers. There were only more than 10,000 people in the real Xiaoguo Guard. So it was unrealistic for us to fight back to Luoyang, the eastern capital step by step according to our origin, that is, Tongji Canal in the canal, step by step. Unless the emperor can mobilize southern soldiers to help us return to the north," Dou Xian replied.

Everyone turned their eyes to Yang Guang, but he flatly rejected the proposal. "The garrisons of the counties and counties in the south still have to guard the south. Don't forget that there are Jiang Biao Lin Shihong and Jing Xiang Xiao Xian in trouble in the south. Besides, you soldiers from the north are eager to return home, so will their soldiers from the south be willing to leave their hometown for a long time?"

Li Cai, who had been silent, couldn't help but feel calm. He was afraid that Yang Guang would be afraid of the difficulty of returning north and then changed his mind. He hurriedly said: "If we travel lightly, the emperor only took the Xiaoguo Jingzhi on a light boat and the fast ship, loaded with the food and grass, and could still fight back to the Dongdu all the way. As long as the emperor returned to the Dongdu and then took the center, all kinds of local princes would come to surrender, and the world would naturally gradually calm down." Sima Dekan also nodded and agreed.

Chen Guang shook his head and said, "The Tongji Canal is completely within the control area of ​​the Wagang thieves. When we return north, Li Mi will definitely set up layers of defense along the Tongji Canal. Even if we only return with Xiaoguo soldiers, we must stop and stop, and continue to fight against the Wagang thieves who sniped our Wagang. And they may also recruit civil servants to block the Tongji Canal. In this way, our supplies may not be supplied or there will be a gap."

Lai Hu'er also added: "Besides, how can the emperor return to Beijing and keep the queen and palace maids and concubines in Jiangdu? What kind of convention does this mean?"

Everyone suddenly fell into silence, waiting for Yang Guang's decision. They thought Yang Guang would also fall into anxiety. They looked at him, but found that Yang Guang's expression was relaxed and seemed to be confident.

Seeing that they were speechless, Yang Guang spoke: "Whoever said that I must bring the queen and palace maids, concubines and princes to me when I return to Dongdu. They will naturally stay in Jiangdu first. After I clear the north-south road along Tongji Canal, it will not be too late to take them back to Dongdu."

"Of course, if we return on the same route, not to mention that the baggage cannot keep up, it will be too late. What I need to return to Dongdu is the word "fast". At most half a month, I will sit on the throne of the Daxing Hall of the Luoyang Palace to hold a court meeting. The longer the delay, the later the hearts of the people in the world will be able to be gathered, and the more difficult it will be to calm down the world."

When everyone heard this, they were extremely surprised. They didn't know what their lord could do to bring more than 15,000 Xiaoguo army back to Dongdu in half a month. Even if the Xiaoguo army is elite and the Wagang army is motivated, others have millions of people. Even if you are blocking the road and letting you kill, you will have to kill for a few months. Moreover, there are many elite soldiers and soldiers in the Wagang army. Everyone pricked up their ears and listened carefully to Yang Guang's sage, for fear of missing a word.

"We don't go through Tongji Canal, but we still go through water. Otherwise, we will not be able to carry more than 10,000 people and horses for half a month's supplies, nor will we be able to arrive in Luoyang quickly." Yang Guang continued to say with the old god.

"Don't go through Tongji Canal? Is the emperor trying to walk on the sea route and go up the Yellow River to the Dongdu?" Sima Dekan exclaimed, and he patted his head and said, "Oh, of course it is impossible. How long will it take to go? Besides, there is Wagang in the south of the Yellow River Basin and Hebei and Henei in the north, which is even more difficult to move. Look at my confused mind."
Chapter completed!