My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 316 Drastic changes
The Sui Dynasty had not been so noisy for a long time.

Countless soldiers and laborers left their posts and set off on the roads.

With a million troops marching together, the empire's important roads were densely packed with people, stretching endlessly. In addition to the soldiers, there were also laborers serving corvée labor. The total number of people mobilized reached a terrifying three to four million.

Standing on high ground and looking out over the roads on both sides, all you can see are countless people.

The local county government was almost in collapse. All the officials were mobilized, half to collect taxes and half to conscript men. After preparations were made, local officials escorted supplies and manpower to Zhuojun.

The officials were working tirelessly, their eyes bloodshot with greed, while all the administrative and other tasks that they should have been doing came to a standstill. There was nothing to do, whether it was to get things done or to get things done.

Li Xuanba rode his warhorse, and his elite troops were ordered to clear the way for the emperor's carriage.

The emperor's private road was relatively quiet, but in the distance, hordes of people swarmed about like ants whose nest had been destroyed. The imperial roads seemed unable to handle such a flow of people, with hundreds of thousands stuck on the road. The chaos and noise were a scene that Li Xuanba had never even dreamed of.

This is only the Central Plains; the situation in Hebei is truly unimaginable.

The soldiers continued their advance, laughing and talking about beheading people for military merit, their expressions eager and their morale high.

They were completely different from the laborers in the distance.

Many of the laborers in the distance were responsible for transporting rice. They used small carts to transport the rice. There were more than 600,000 carts of various sizes on the road. Two people pushed three shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice. The road was very difficult to travel, and the destination was very far away. Three shi of rice was not even enough for the drivers to eat on the round trip. Many carts had only traveled halfway when they began to go hungry, and there were cases of killing officials and robbing grain.

In the years since the emperor took office, he has been building palaces, digging canals, and constructing cities. The forced labor has been continuous, and fields in various places have been abandoned, leading to famine. This time, the massive forced labor has taken half of the able-bodied laborers in China out of their hometowns, causing the official system to collapse. Both those who escorted and those who were escorted were crying out in despair.

The local officials were no better. Because the court ordered them to collect taxes for the laborers' travel expenses, they began to plunder on a large scale. Their targets were no longer limited to the poor people, but also the wealthy in the city, the scholars who farmed and studied, and the backbone of the country. These people were also plundered and oppressed by the officials.

Large numbers of scholars, merchants, landowners, and self-cultivating farmers began to flee their hometowns and become thieves.

The original bandits were just wandering knights who couldn't make a living and peasants without land. Now, the bandit groups are led by powerful families and scholars, and have a large number of strong self-cultivating farmers under their command. These people who can't make a living have gathered together and begun to plunder the empty rear areas.

The expedition had only just begun, and they hadn't even engaged in battle with the enemy yet, but the situation at home had already reached an uncontrollable point.

The road was littered with corpses, wild dogs roamed in packs, and the stench of decay carried far and wide.

But all of this had nothing to do with the emperor.

Yang Guang was in a very good mood at the moment. He was hesitating whether to go by land or by water.

According to his original plan, he intended to go to Jiangdu and then travel north by waterway from Jiangdu. However, Su Wei submitted a memorial stating that the emperor's entourage was too large, and if they took a detour, it would likely dampen the morale of the army. He suggested that they should proceed to the front lines as soon as possible and not waste time.

What Su Wei was truly worried about was the depletion of the Imperial Guards, but he couldn't say it directly. He could only go around in circles, using morale as an excuse. The emperor then listened to his advice and began to travel to the destination by land.

Yang Guang spent the rest of the journey discussing upcoming battles with the officials accompanying him, completely ignoring what was happening outside.

Li Xuanba rode his warhorse silently at the head of the procession.

Thick smoke could be seen rising in the distance, and without Li Xuanba giving any orders, knights went to deal with it.

The returning knight, with a severed head hanging from his waist, proudly told Li Xuanba that a rebellion had broken out over there, with commoners killing officials and rebelling. He claimed that the thick smoke they had just seen was caused by them.

But as they advanced, the thick smoke became more and more frequent, and even the knights' expressions began to change. They were no longer excited at the beginning; they gradually became astonished, numb, and then fearful.

The further they went, the more frequent the rebellions became. They could even see four or five plumes of smoke rising at the same time, and there were even cases of thieves daring to ambush them on the road ahead. The knights looked at each other, their eyes filled with surprise.

To be honest, many soldiers didn't even know where Liaodong was.

The military officers probably knew, having seen it on a map, and roughly knew its direction and how far it was. But for the ordinary soldiers, they probably knew where Liaodong was, but they had no idea how far it was from them or how long it would take to get there.

And this time, they had it.

As the army marched into Hebei, the weather began to cool down, and the smiles on the soldiers' faces became less pronounced.

The emperor was anxious to reach their destination and urged them on day and night. Li Xuanba's troops were doing relatively well; their daily drills had paid off, and they were maintaining a high marching speed. However, the rest of the troops were falling behind, and some had even suffered casualties. Losses during a march were normal, but the emperor was furious upon hearing this news. He punished the officers who had been wounded or killed, demanding that such an incident never happen again.

As a result, the casualties ceased to exist, just as the chaos outside did not exist, and the officers dared not report it to their superiors at all.

"General!"

The scout returned on horseback, his face grave. "General," he reported, "there's a large force ahead."

"what?"

"There are a large number of people."

Li Xuanba frowned, looked at the knights on his left and right, and they nodded. He then led them forward.

When Li Xuanba led his knights to the front, the road was indeed blocked.

The people blocking the road were not thieves or laborers, but a group of elderly, weak, women and children.

A cold wind was blowing, but these people were not dressed very well; their clothes were tattered. Some were holding children, and some were pushing carts. They were all refugees.

Their expressions were blank as they stared at the group of soldiers who had appeared, their eyes filled with terror.

The knights behind Li Xuanba hesitated when they saw the appearance of the people in front of them.

They really enjoyed beheading people, but these old, young, and women in front of them...
Li Xuanba pursed his lips. "Make way!!"

"Make them retreat to both sides!"

The knight hurriedly said, "General! The chariot is coming soon. We can't let them crash into it. We should kill them."

Li Xuanba glared angrily at the knight, wanting to reprimand him, but he held back.

Yuwen Shiji, who was in charge of the trip, pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

This is the road for the emperor's travels. Commoners are not allowed to stand on either side, let alone enter within ten miles. If they were allowed to hide on both sides and collide with the carriage, the knights clearing the way would surely die.

Li Xuanba looked at the people in the distance, "General Yang!"

Yang Xuanzong hurried forward, and Li Xuanba whispered a few words to him. Yang Xuanzong hesitated for a moment, but seeing Li Xuanba's eyes, he nodded and rode over. He led the knights to drive the old and weak to the sides and gave them some instructions.

Li Xuanba then looked at Yuwen Shiji beside him.

"Lord Yuwen, could you please do me a favor? I would be eternally grateful if you were willing to help."

"You said."

When Yuwen Shiji appeared in the emperor's carriage, Yang Guang was quite surprised.

"Shiji, what happened up ahead?"

Yuwen Shiji said, "There is a village ahead. The people there say they had a dream in which a dragon flew over their heads and bestowed blessings. They have all come to watch, and the soldiers ahead are preparing to deal with them!"

Yang Guang's eyes lit up, but he said unhappily, "The people came to observe because they admire me, so why should they be punished?"

"Go get them some food, then send them home!"

"Your Majesty is merciful!!!"

(End of this chapter)