Chapter 42: External Anxiety and Internal Trouble

  Tang Ji Xue said, "Master Murong has always been a carefree cloud and wild crane, freely roaming. He doesn't know about these worldly affairs, which is also understandable. As for external threats, they are naturally the Turks, Tibetans, and Goguryeo. Although the Turks have split into two halves, their strength remains robust, with each side having over 200,000 troops. They constantly covet our fertile lands in the Central Plains, seeking to drive their horses south again. This is indeed a major concern for the Great Sui. The Tibetans have recently unified and established their country, with rapid development momentum. In these twenty years, there may be no issues, but later they will surely become a great enemy of the Middle Land. As for Goguryeo..."

  Yang Xiu didn't wait for Tang Ju to finish speaking, and slammed his hand on the wine table, coldly snorting: "Goguryeo is a small country, but it has big ambitions, not under the Eastern or Western Turks. On New Year's Eve at the Taiji Palace grand banquet, they sent an envoy named Yi Zhi Wende to find a monk from Tianzhu to stir up trouble, simply looking down on my great Sui emperor and officials as if they were nothing. It's just a pity that this king's 'Far Flying Divine Skill' has not been fully mastered, and was defeated by that Tianzhu monk, causing the two important ministers of my great Sui, Tang Guogong Li Yuan and Xu Guogong Yuwen Shu, to lose face. Really... humph!"

  Everyone was at a loss for words, and for a while, no one spoke. After a long time, the "Mr. Curtain" hesitated: "This little country of Goguryeo is indeed hateful. However... Alas, this is a national affair, and we Jianghu people can't help much. But if His Highness wants to take action against that Tianzhu monk, I, Curtain, can also try my best."

  Yang Xiu smiled and bowed to the "Mr. Mo" and said, "Mr. Mo is loyal to the country, I thank you in advance." The tone of his words was extremely polite. Yang Zhao listened quietly in the stone room below, wondering who this "Mr. Mo" was. Tang Zhong saw that Yang Zhao looked deep in thought, so he leaned over and whispered, "This Mr. Mo is Mu Xinghe, the leader of the Diancang Sect. His martial arts skills are renowned for being pure and flawless, and he has been known as the number one master of the southwest for over a decade."

  Tang Ji Xue refilled everyone's cups and said, "Goguryeo dares to despise our heavenly dynasty, with hearts that are not subordinate. Sooner or later, they will have to repay the debts they owe us today - but that is a matter for later. I suppose in ten years, there won't be many opportunities for war between our two countries. In fact, with the power of our great Sui dynasty, as long as we truly achieve unity and solidarity, it wouldn't just be Goguryeo, but even if we were to conquer the Eastern and Western Turks, what would be difficult? It's just that... Alas, as Confucius said, 'I fear that the troubles of the Ji clan will not come from outside, but from within.' Today's affairs are also like this. External worries are nothing to worry about, the true difficulties for our great Sui dynasty lie in internal strife."

  Meng Xinghe said, "I'd like to hear Tang Changshi elaborate on the details." The Long History of Shu Kingdom did not decline and said in a condensed tone: "The internal troubles of the Great Sui are currently in the southeastern regions of Jiangdong, particularly among the aristocratic families of Lingnan, especially the Song family. Most of them still insist that the southern talents are the orthodox ones of China. Either they miss the old Chen dynasty and refuse to serve as officials, or they rely on the master of the Song family, Duke Song Que of Jieguo. Song Que is openly a Sui minister but secretly harbors evil intentions. He relies on the strategic location of Lingnan to maintain his power and does things his own way, refusing to enter the court to pay respects to His Majesty. Although the land of Lingnan is nominally part of the Great Sui territory, it has actually been divided by the Song family to establish their own regime. Moreover, under the guise of trade and commerce, they have been constantly infiltrating our Shu region with their influence. Therefore, Tang can assert that as long as this official is not eliminated, there will be another war between the north and south in the future."

  These words are concise and to the point, every word hits the nail on the head. Yang Zhao under the stone room also listened and nodded repeatedly. But secretly laughed coldly in his heart, thinking that you speak eloquently, but in fact, the biggest internal worry of our Great Sui is indeed you, old King Shu, which is not mentioned?

  But then someone immediately chimed in, indignantly saying: "Tang Zhangshi is right! That Song Que guy has monopolized the products of Lingnan, and every year he colludes with Duzun Fortress to make a huge profit. He doesn't even leave us any bones to gnaw on! If this continues, we'll really become beggars and have to go out on the streets to beg for food! Alas, I can only regret that my martial arts skills are too weak; otherwise, I'd run to Lingnan and dig up the graves of all eighteen generations of Song Que's ancestors!"

  Originally, the surname was Yan, and his name was Yan Wangou. He was the master of the Yan family fortress in Fengdu. The ancestral transmission of the "Corpse Soul Skill" was mysterious and eerie, extremely vicious. Fengdu was located at the strategic point of the Three Gorges, occupying the Yangtze River waterway, and dominated the transportation business between Bashu and Lingnan, which was originally very profitable. However, with the powerful influence of Tian Dao Song Que and his alliance with Du Zhong Dusheng Fortress, the Yan family fortress's original tenfold profit was reduced to only half. It wasn't just him; other merchants in Shu also had similar circumstances. No matter what business they wanted to do, they had to first look at the faces of the Song family and Du Zhong Dusheng Fortress. The fat meat was definitely not available for them to eat; at most, they could only pick up the leftovers that others didn't want, just eating some leftover rice.

  It is often said that taking away a person's wealth is worse than killing their parents. The merchants of Shu have long held grudges against the Song family and Duzunbao. However, Song Que was personally appointed as the Duke of Qiao by Yang Jian. Although he had disloyal intentions, he had not made any treasonous moves. It was difficult to find a pretext to deal with him openly. On the other hand, Tian Dao's power shook Lingnan for twenty years, and he had never been defeated in his life. A few years ago, he defeated two great masters, Ba Dao Yue Shan and Nanhai Xianweng Huacuo, which made his prestige rise to new heights, making him unshakeable. The merchants dared not provoke the divine soldier Dong Huang Taiyi in his hands, no matter how much they hated him.

  Yan Wang continued to scold for a while, until she herself felt that it was pointless, and her voice gradually subsided. Yang Xiu ordered Tang Ju to refill everyone's cups again, and raised his cup, saying: "Feng Zhangmen, Mu Xiansheng, Yan Paozhu, the three of you are all renowned masters in the world, with profound martial arts skills. Although I am in a position of power, I have always admired you from afar. Today, it is a rare pleasure to meet you, and to learn that you are all so loyal to the country, I am truly overjoyed. Please, let us drink to the full."

  Everyone echoed that they didn't dare, and raised their cups to drain them. Yang Xiu spoke in a low voice again: "To be honest, this time I invited all the heroes and heroes to come to Chengdu for a gathering, besides celebrating my son's first birthday, I also intentionally asked everyone to lend a hand and help me do something big. If this matter is successful, the internal and external troubles of the Sui Dynasty will not be completely eliminated, but at least half of them can be solved. However, there are some difficulties in this matter, and it is necessary to take risks to succeed. Therefore, if you don't want to, I won't force you."

  The three people at the table stared at each other, thinking that there was no good banquet after all. No wonder your elder brother made such a big fuss about a child's birthday, but it turned out to be a move to cover up. The intention of the drunkard is not in the wine at all. Mu Xinghe, regardless of seniority or martial arts skills, is the highest among the three. He took the lead and said: "As long as it doesn't violate the laws of the imperial court, nor does it go against our chivalrous code of conduct, and it's within our power to do so, whatever orders you have, please speak up."

  Mù Xīng Hé's words were indeed cunning, no need to mention the imperial court's laws and regulations, just mentioning those two sentences "the chivalrous way's duty" and "within one's power", there was already a lot of room for maneuver. Yang Xiū and others were so clever, how could they not hear Mù Xīng Hé's evasive intentions? But the world is full of people seeking fame; the world is full of people seeking profit. He had confidence that he could absolutely move the three people in front of him. And if gentle means didn't work, he had already prepared a hard hand. Using both soft and hard tactics, he wasn't afraid that the three wouldn't comply. Yang Xiū was so meticulous, there was only one reason. To complete that big task, the divine weapons held by the three people were necessary assistance.

  Tracing back to the origin, this major event actually originated from a strange encounter of the previous master of the Tang Sect. In order for the big thing to succeed, the Tang Sect had been preparing for almost twenty years. Therefore, relatively speaking, Tang Ye was even more anxious about this matter than Yang Xiu. At this moment, he exchanged a glance with Yang Xiu, stood up and slowly said: "Feng Zhangmen, Mu Xiansheng, Yan Baozhu. I wonder if the three of you still remember the previous master of our Tang Sect?"

  The Tang Sect has over ten thousand disciples. Although they all share the same surname and clan, after several hundred years of growth, many people's blood relationships have become very distant. Furthermore, the position of sect leader is not inherited by a particular branch of the family, but rather selected by the previous sect leader and elder members together, with the most capable person taking the position. Therefore, the previous Tang Sect leader was not Tang Xiu's father; according to generation ranking, he should be called "clan uncle".

  At this time, Feng Ye heard Tang Jie mention it and immediately laughed: "The former master of your noble family, Mr. Tang You, was a refined and virtuous person with high prestige. He had always been fond of promoting younger scholars. When I first set out on my path, I also benefited greatly from the old master's kindness. Alas! Unfortunately, heaven did not bless good people, and Master Tang passed away suddenly due to illness in his prime. The Wulin of Shu lost a pillar, what a pity, what a lament!"

  Tang Jixue's expression turned serious, and he shook his head. "It was wrong. The old master's sudden death that year wasn't due to illness, but rather there were other hidden circumstances involved. It had something to do with one of his strange encounters. And it was this encounter that allowed us to discover a shocking secret that would shake the heavens and earth. That is... the Dragon swims in Minjiang River!"

  In the eighth year of Kaihuang, Yang Jian ordered Jin Wang Yang Guang to lead troops south to conquer Chen. The army was divided into two routes, one of which boarded ships in Shu and sailed down the Min River, preparing to exit the Three Gorges and attack Jingzhou. Unexpectedly, shortly after the ships set sail, they encountered a violent storm. The water level of the Min River surged, and the sky was dark. Countless large and small ships either lost control and capsized or were swept away by the current, colliding with hidden reefs in the river and sinking. It seemed that before even engaging the enemy, there was already a danger of total annihilation.

  At this critical moment, a dazzling red light suddenly burst out from under the Min River and shot up into the sky, splitting the clouds and revealing an aura of majesty that seemed sacred and inviolable. Immediately afterwards, the wind died down and the rain dispersed, and the originally dark and foreboding sky suddenly became bright and clear, as if by a miracle. In the midst of the chaos, countless officials and soldiers stood with their eyes wide open and their tongues tied, flustered and at a loss for what to do. Suddenly, someone - it was unclear who - pointed at the surface of the water and shouted wildly at the top of his lungs: "Dragon! There's a dragon in the water!"

  Everyone heard the shouting and leaned over the side of the boat to look down. Sure enough, they saw a huge black shadow in the water, from head to tail, dozens of feet long, circling around the fleet, twisting and turning, as if it was specially guarding the fleet from wind and rain.

  The heavenly dragon descended to guard, it was a great auspicious sign. In an instant, the fleet of tens of thousands of officials and soldiers cheered in unison, greatly boosting morale. At that time, they immediately regained their spirits, reorganized the ships into formation, hoisted the sails, and set off. Not long after, the two armies of Sui merged, and it was easy to conquer Chen, unifying the world. To commemorate this event, Yang Jian issued a sacred decree, changing the name of Nanan County, which the waterway passed through, to Longyou County (later changed to Leshan County, which has been used until the 21st century).

  However, at that time, witnessing the hidden dragon swimming in the Minjiang River was not only the Da Wei officials and soldiers on the boat, but also a bystander who had nothing to do with this matter, Tang Meng, the master of the Tang family. And his fate was also completely changed because of this hidden dragon.

  Tang You was visiting an old friend's home in Jiangdong. Due to the outbreak of war between Sui and Chen, he left his friend before the Dragon Boat Festival to return to Shu, avoiding the war. However, he coincidentally witnessed this unbelievable scene. As the master of the Tang family, Tang You excelled in both literary talent and martial arts, and was known for his love of traveling and broad knowledge. Unlike ordinary people or the illiterate soldiers on the warships, he was not surprised to see the dragon underwater, but instead felt an intense curiosity. He immediately used his lightness skill to chase after it along the riverbank.

  ——————

  The draft is almost used up with tens of thousands of words left, and I'm in a hurry. However, the weather is too cold, and I really can't muster up the energy to rush and finish it. Speaking of which, will tomorrow really come?

  PS: LKER screen stars He Hua, Xian Hu Cao, and also Gu Wan Yan three dragon set party debut, please applaud:)

  Finally... 12 as usual will worship and collect, Ali Ga Duo!