On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 466 Extravagance and Wastefulness

Since the Central Plains region was occupied by Cui Che, the Grand Canal connecting the north and the south naturally failed to appear in history.

Now is the time when the two Sui Dynasties are fighting for supremacy. How could Cui Che waste his national power on the canal?

He built many warehouses along the Yellow River. All the tax grains did not need to be transported to Jinyang, but could be placed in nearby warehouses. This also facilitated Cui Che's use of the Yellow River water transportation and the transportation of supplies when he sent out troops.

Yang Guang was a person who cared about ostentation. On this southern tour, since he planned to move the capital, he naturally brought all the civil and military officials, concubines and concubines with him.

Also setting off together were a 36,000-strong honor guard and a 100,000-strong Xiaoguo Army accompanying them as escorts.

The Xiaoguo Army is an elite infantry cavalry composed of strong men that Yang Guang recruited after creating a military force based on Cui Che.

Yang Guang's southern tour was almost like moving.

But compared with the historical tour to the south in the first year of Daye, this battle was really not on the stage.

On that trip to Jiangnan, Yang Guang took the water route. In addition to Yang Guang's own dragon boat, the fleet included more than 5,000 large and small ships.

There were 100,000 officials and 100,000 soldiers on board, and 200,000 cavalry accompanied them on both sides of the river.

At the same time, Yang Guang recruited 80,000 strong men as trackers, dressed them in uniform silk brocade clothes, and divided them into three teams to pull the boats day and night.

Of course, today's Western Sui Dynasty cannot support Yang Guang's extravagance and waste.

But before going on patrol, Yang Guang ordered a feather tax and asked people across the country to donate feathers.

During that time, the birds were caught in a vast people's war, and people from all over the country joined in the hunting of birds.

It's not that Yang Guang has a hobby of collecting feathers, it's just to decorate the team that followed him south.

Food must be donated wherever the Southern Inspection Vehicle passed through, and the surrounding area was five hundred miles away. Everywhere they went, local officials had to recruit 100,000 civilians to deliver food to Yang Guang's Southern Inspection Team.

If he couldn't finish the food, he would bury it on the spot, and Yang Guang went to the south of the Yangtze River in a wasteful and wasteful way, wasting people and money.

As for whether the people were suffering or not, Yang Guang might know it, but he didn't care. He never paid attention to the joys and sorrows of the Guizhou leaders.

It was not without officials' persuasion. Gao Jiong and Su Wei spoke to Yang Guang before he went on patrol, believing that the foreign invasion had not yet been eradicated and hoping that Yang Guang would cherish the people's strength.

But Yang Guang believed that if the emperor went on patrol without showing off, how could he frighten the local area and make Xiaoxiao feel scared?

Having suffered successive defeats in the war with Cui Che, now it is even more important to promote his majesty as the emperor with greater fanfare.

Su Wei shut up in time and was able to follow Yang Guang southward.

However, Gao Jiong argued hard and made Yang Guang displeased, so he left him in Guanxi and assisted Qi Wang Yang Jian together with Yu Wenshu.

Yang Jin was previously the general manager of Yangzhou and guarded the south of the Yangtze River. Now that Yang Guang is moving the capital to Jiangdu, as Yang Guang's only remaining bloodline, Yang Jin is naturally the most suitable candidate to stay in Kansai.

There is no need to elaborate on Yu Wenshu's loyalty. As for Gao Jiong, Yang Guang never doubted his loyalty to the Great Sui Dynasty. This Great Sui Dynasty naturally did not refer to the Eastern Sui Dynasty controlled by Cui Che.

As for Yang Xuangan, the new Duke of Yue who inherited Yang Su's title, he stayed in Daxing to observe filial piety for his father.

In Jinyang Palace, in the Prime Minister's Mansion, Cui Che heard about Yang Guang's extravagant and wasteful deeds along the way, and looked at the three dishes and one soup on the table in front of him, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Before the meal was finished, the female officer hurriedly broke into the Prime Minister's Mansion and said in a panic:

"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is about to give birth."

Cui Che secretly estimated the time, and then he felt happy: it was indeed his own seed.

He suppressed his happiness and asked:

"Where is Po Wen now?"

Knowing that Po Wen had gone to the Queen Mother's palace, Cui Che continued to pick up the bowl and use the chopsticks.

It's just that the speed of eating is obviously much happier than before. This calm appearance is still just an act.

If he didn't have any experience in delivering babies, he wouldn't be able to help much. I'm afraid Cui Che would have rushed to the Queen Mother's palace by now.

After lunch, Cui Che led a team of guards to the Queen Mother's palace.

Leaving the guards outside the palace, Cui Che entered the palace and waited outside the delivery room for more than half an hour.

Listening to the screams in the delivery room, even though he was no longer a father and had experienced this situation many times, Cui Che could not help but feel anxious.

It wasn't until the baby's cry came from the side room that Cui Che's suffering ended.

Po Wen carefully took the baby out and said with a smile:

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Congratulations, Your Majesty. Mother and daughter are safe. There is a new daughter-in-law in Prince Yan's palace."

Cui Che only worried about the gender of the child when Cui Qiji was born.

At that time, if the child Yang Lihua gave birth to was not a boy, Cui Che would not be able to touch the concubines to avoid giving birth to a concubine's eldest son.

As the heir to the family business, Cui Qiji could satisfy Cui Che in all aspects and meet his requirements. Now that he has his eldest grandson, how could he care about whether the child is a boy or a girl.

In comparison, Cui Che was more concerned about Doulu's safety. After hearing that mother and daughter were safe, Cui Che finally felt relieved.

After instructing Wen Po to keep her mouth shut, Cui Che ordered the female official to send a hundred pieces of cloth to Wen Po's house. Cui Che then took the baby girl from Wen Po's hands and carried her into the side room.

In the wing room, Queen Doulu's pretty face was pale. She had just given birth and was extremely weak. It could be seen that when Cui Che came in, she still wanted to struggle to salute.

"Don't move!"

Cui Che called her out:

"You lie down first and have a good rest."

Doulu said in frustration:

"I am incompetent and cannot bear an heir for the king."

The ancient people's concept of favoring sons over daughters was different from Cui Che's. In their eyes, the more children, the better.

Cui Che smiled and said:

"Whether it's a son or a daughter, I love them all."

Queen Mother Doulu looked at the child in Cui Che's arms with a very complicated expression, showing both pity and shame.

She knew that she was destined not to recognize her daughter.

Although the scandal between her and Cui Che has been spread all over the world, it is all based on rumors and there is no real evidence.

In Jinyang City, no one dares to catch Cui Che cheating with the Queen Mother.

However, if a powerful minister and the Queen Mother gave birth to a son, if this matter was publicized, even if people at the time did not dare to ridicule, future generations would despise it.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty, I cannot be the mother of this child."

Cui Che was silent for a long time. He placed the baby girl on the queen mother's pillow and said:

"Look at her more. When night falls, I will send someone to pick her up."

Cui Che turned around and left, but before taking two steps, he was stopped by Doulu:

"Your Majesty, how will you place her?"

Cui Che turned around and said seriously:

"She is not an illegitimate daughter. I will arrange a mother for her. You don't have to worry about it."

As early as he learned that Queen Mother Doulu was pregnant, Cui Che asked Yuchi Chifan to pretend to be pregnant. During this period, Yuchi Chifan rarely went out and tied a pillow in his house to pretend to be pregnant.

No more tonight

(End of chapter)