Chapter 1327

After being enfeoffed as a Marquis after one battle, Wang Yan had nothing to do.

The Turks were beaten into obedience, and the border market was very good. The Turks traded for the things they needed, and the Great Sui also earned money, killing two birds with one stone.

So Wang Yan, the newly appointed General of the Cavalry of Taiyuan, was somewhat idle. However, the garrison troops here, because it was a border area, had a considerable portion of standing forces.

So Wang Yan had nothing to do, so he took this group of garrison troops to train, discovered talented people among them to promote, and wantonly cultivated his own foundation in the army. Yang Guang had already made his words so clear, so he had no scruples.

With the veterans who fought with him as the backbone and the newly discovered talented people as the branches and leaves, he spread his influence among the Taiyuan garrison troops. In just a few months, he frequently made personnel adjustments, and even if he didn't completely control the Taiyuan garrison troops, he at least maintained a powerful influence.

Of course, he couldn't just rely on the officer structure to lead. If the rank-and-file soldiers at the bottom didn't recognize the general, he could lead for a while, but wanting to exert long-term pressure was impossible; he had to establish solid camaraderie.

For this purpose, and also out of the duty of protecting the border and the people, in addition to training, Wang Yan led troops on expeditions, fighting small battles every three days and big ones every five days, spending half a year traveling to various places to wipe out all the mountain bandits in Bingzhou.

Yang Jian almost peacefully took the world; there was no chaos or strife in the world, and it overall belonged to a governing age that made the cake bigger. The Reign of Kaihuang was affirmed by history. Yang Jian worked hard to govern, ended hundreds of years of division, and brought China back to unification, weakened the power of local powerful families, strengthened central authority, reduced taxes and corvée labor, and let the people rest.

Overall, the people could still live.

But some strongmen were unwilling to live like that and liked to kill and rob. It was just that the development of things was often destined; the strongmen at the beginning gradually became the dogs of wealthy families. The so-called inviting guests, beheading, and accepting them as dogs was just that.

Except for a few mountain bandit groups, most of the large and small groups had more or less some relationship with the wealthy families in Bingzhou. When Wang Yan was suppressing bandits, he even discovered that the border troops and wealthy families were selling contraband with the Turks.

However, Wang Yan did not make these things public; he just told Yang Guang so that Yang Guang would have some idea.

Actually, selling things to the Turks was not a big deal. After all, when the world was being contested at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Liu Wuzhou, Liang Shidu, Xue Ju, Dou Jiande, Li Gui, Gao Kaidao, Wang Shichu, and others all declared themselves vassals to the Turks.

Comparing it this way, selling some things to the Turks now, and being able to earn a lot of cattle, sheep, and horses from the Turks, at least wouldn't involve promising conditions like ceding land or joint governance...

Wang Yan's reputation among the border troops was at its zenith; his story of being enfeoffed as a Marquis after one battle was the eternal faith of the border troops. Added to the fact that Wang Yan came from the same background as them, and the dissemination by those soldiers who had fought with Wang Yan, Wang Yan had great prestige in Taiyuan. So even if their interests were damaged, the border troop generals didn't dare to let out a fart; their farting had no effect at all.

As for the Bingzhou clans, it went without saying. Yang Guang stood up for Wang Yan and also held evidence of their collusion with foreign enemies. Wang Yan had military power and could fight; if he were truly provoked, he would directly slaughter them, and no one could say anything.

So everyone was very honest, and everything was harmonious. Even Yang Guang controlled Bingzhou more and widely won the hearts of the people. Of course, the hearts of the people here referred to the people of the wealthy families.

However, Yang Guang was not a pushover; he still launched some projects, such as repairing roads and the like. Of course, they all mobilized corvée labor, but the conditions were relatively better. The people were definitely not relaxed, but it was far from the point of being worked to death.

This was, of course, what Wang Yan said: one must win the hearts of the vast masses of commoners to become an emperor through the ages.

In fact, Wang Yan had been influencing Yang Guang. Although Yang Guang was ambitious but lacked talent and was eager for quick success, he was not a complete fool. As long as many things were slowed down and time was used to exchange for space, there was still room for relaxation. It wouldn't lead to such intense contradictions that they couldn't be suppressed, causing the whole world to rebel.

Yang Guang was just too eager, launching big projects and fighting big wars, consuming too much of the people's strength. It was fortunate that Yang Jian had worked for twenty years, plus the wealth accumulated before; otherwise, Yang Guang might not have been able to sit on the throne for ten years, and he might have been finished in two.

So Wang Yan hoped that Yang Guang could slow down and not be too urgent, so that the Great Sui could stabilize and the people could die much less. Dealing with the powerful clans and noble families could not be solved in a day or two.

Fortunately, there was plenty of time, and Wang Yan believed that he could still successfully transform Yang Guang...

At the same time, in addition to fighting, Wang Yan also developed several ways to make money. One was dyeing cloth and brocade, and he also discovered the collusion between the border troops and the clans, receiving some gifts of land. In addition, there was another point: he was very fond of luxury goods in ancient times.

He also came up with soap, scented soap, perfume, and other daily necessities and cosmetics, which he sold to wealthy families and rich people. However, limited by the problem of promotional channels, they were only sold in Bingzhou and Daxing.

His raw materials were also insufficient, and animal fats were not so abundant, so he could only sell limited quantities, which instead increased their prestige and raised the price. Wang Yan also took the initiative to offer tribute to Yang Guang, but Yang Guang was very magnanimous, saying that it was not easy for Wang Yan to research a source of wealth and he didn't have a deep family foundation, so he didn't want Wang Yan's initiative tribute and even wanted to protect Wang Yan. Yang Guang still had great vision.

However, Wang Yan had also been promoting the raising of chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. He now had several farms, all of which were raising them. It was just that he lacked talents specializing in animal research and could not solve epidemics. Fortunately, he provided a safety net for those farmers, and the farmers, relying on the accumulation of experience, could always make progress, and little by little, they could develop talents.

At the same time, Wang Yan also began to manage the grain business, which was a very regional trade. Grain, oil, and so on were all controlled by local clans. It was not easy to insert himself into it; this was almost the lifeblood of the wealthy families.

They relied on land and grain to control the local people. Wang Yan didn't want to provoke them either; he just took a different path to acquire grain, refine it, and then sell it to the wealthy families at a high price, exchanging it for more grain.

In this way, it could be considered a disguised realization of the purpose of acquiring grain.

He only did business with the powerful and wealthy, all of which were high-value-added products. Although it was certainly not as profitable as selling to the common people, it was better because he wasn't stealing anyone's business, yet he earned a lot of money, and his family had a foundation and forces he could control.

At present, those working for his family were mostly veterans of the border troops and their families. After such a toss, Wang Yan both earned money and, together with Yang Guang, consolidated his power in Bingzhou...

Time came to November. On this day, Wang Yan was called to the Prince of Jin's mansion again.

Snowflakes were falling in the sky, and Yang Guang was in the mood to boil wine and admire the snow in the pavilion.

"Your Highness."

"Sit, pour the wine." Yang Guang pointed to the seat opposite him.

Watching Wang Yan sitting cross-legged there, Yang Guang shook his head with amusement: "Vulgar."

"Your Highness, I really don't like kneeling." Wang Yan smiled and drank a cup of hot wine, feeling it was quite good.

He was maintaining a persona; if he were to be truly aristocratic, Yang Guang would have to be left behind by three streets. It was just that he came from the ranks of the military and had never been accepted by the clans, and he had no intention of leaning toward them at all.

Was he sitting cross-legged? Was it vulgar? Obviously not.

It was all his loyalty to Yang Guang, a loyal and isolated official who only relied on Yang Guang.

Yang Guang waved his hand with a smile, not caring, and turned to say: "Go back and pack up. It's the end of the year again. We didn't have to go back last year because of the war, but this year we have to return to Daxing for the Great Court Audience, and we won't leave until next spring."

"Such a small matter, Your Highness could just send someone to inform me. I imagine Your Highness has other important matters?"

Yang Guang said: "A letter came the day before yesterday, three horses were run to death, and a messenger reported that Jiang Nan has rebelled. The Emperor has ordered Yang Su, Mai Tie-zhang, Lai Hu-er, Shi Wan-sui, and others to go and suppress the rebellion."

"They are all the backbone of our Great Sui. I imagine that once the army arrives, it can be quelled, and it is not worth worrying about."

Wang Yan knew about the rebellion in Jiang Nan. Because after the destruction of Chen, although the wealthy families of Jiang Nan moved north to Daxing, it also vacated power, allowing the local Jiang Nan powerful clans to rise. The Sui Dynasty sent northern officials to suppress these powerful clans, so the local Jiang Nan powerful clans couldn't hold back, so they connected with each other and pushed someone out to rebel.

Among them, the most powerful force was the rebel organization led by Gao Zhi Society. He declared himself emperor, established a small court, enfeoffed many ministers, had thousands of warships and tens of thousands of soldiers, and was wreaking havoc in Jiang Nan.

Yang Su led the suppression of the rebellion, taking other great generals with him, and in just a few months, he quelled the vigorous rebellion.

Afterward, Yang Guang was transferred to be the Yangzhou General to suppress the powerful clans and noble families of Jiang Nan.

So Wang Yan asked: "Does Your Highness intend to go to Jiang Nan?"

"I knew you would think of that." Yang Guang laughed heartily. "My brothers are all hard to use, and I have received your great merit here..."

"Not so, Your Highness. It is not that you received my great merit. The previous battle on the grasslands was all due to Your Highness's wise command, and Your Highness is even better at knowing and using people, letting me be the vanguard; only then was there such an achievement."

"You have become quite good at speaking."

"I have always only spoken the truth." Wang Yan raised his wine cup to invite him to drink.

Yang Guang was even more satisfied, drank a cup of hot wine, and continued: "Besides me, there are no other suitable candidates. Jiang Nan is wealthy, far stronger than this bitter and cold place. Ziyan, what is your opinion?"

"I will naturally follow Your Highness."

"I am asking you what your insight is?"

"If Your Highness wants to go, then go. Now Your Highness has widely won the hearts of the people in Bingzhou, and then taking a trip to Jiang Nan, with troops, money, and grain, you will naturally have no worries. Another day, even if the Crown Prince sits on the throne, Your Highness will have the power to raise troops to clear the side of the Emperor."

"You..." Yang Guang shook his head with amusement. "Then it is settled. You will follow me to Jiang Nan and fight with the wealthy families of Jiang Nan."

Wang Yan didn't say any nonsense; whatever Yang Guang said was what it was.

Although he was nominally the General of the Cavalry of Taiyuan and had already left the Prince of Jin's mansion, logically speaking, he didn't need to be transferred with Yang Guang. But since Yang Guang had said so, he could definitely transfer him there.

The Turks were indeed a scourge, and Wang Yan was indeed capable of fighting, but it wasn't as if they couldn't do without him here. In fact, whether it was the Eastern Turks or the Western Turks, they had all been beaten into declaring themselves vassals to the Great Sui.

The reason Yang Guang was trapped in Yanmen was because the Great Sui was already crumbling at that time, unable to exert the advantages of central authority, and Yang Guang had completely lost control of his empire, and the vast Great Sui had already fallen apart.

Later, Jieli Khan could be so arrogant and make a covenant with Li Shimin at the Weishui River, mainly because he took the opportunity to develop when the Great Sui was collapsing, reaching the peak state of the Turks.

Later, Li Shimin endured humiliation and worked hard with gritted teeth, and then Li Jing destroyed the Turks. Although there were remnants later, it was difficult for them to become a major climate.

So Wang Yan responded very straightforwardly, chatted with Yang Guang for a while, and then left and returned to his mansion.

He went straight into the back courtyard and found Xiao Mei, who was watching the child play in the warm room.

In March of this year, Xiao Mei successfully gave birth to a son, and Wang Yan named his new son 'Hong'.

At this moment, the little thing was wearing a small outfit, smacking his lips in the warm room, crawling around everywhere.

Seeing his father return, he stumbled closer and climbed up his father's leg, wanting to climb higher.

Wang Yan picked him up, threw him into the air and caught him, and the silly boy giggled. He was suspended in the air again, his small hands clutching his father's fingers tightly, his legs kicking back and forth.

After playing like this for a while, Wang Yan put the child on the ground and went to sit with Xiao Mei.

The maid serving in the room was sent out, and Wang Yan said: "We have to pack up again; we have to return to Daxing for the court audience. In addition, someone has rebelled in Jiang Nan, and Yang Su has been sent to lead the army to suppress the rebellion. The Prince of Jin intends to go to Jiang Nan, so we have to follow."

Xiao Mei didn't understand: "The situation in Bingzhou is excellent, why go at this time?"

"It is precisely because the situation is excellent that we must go. Even if the Prince of Jin doesn't go, I'm afraid the Emperor will also want the Prince of Jin to go. Rather than being passive, it is better to be active."

When Wang Yan said this, Xiao Mei understood.

It was because Yang Guang was doing too well in Bingzhou that he could not be allowed to stay in Bingzhou any longer. Otherwise, if Yang Guang managed Bingzhou like an iron bucket in the future, it would be too late to say anything. Even if Yang Guang didn't rebel, he would be forced to rebel.

So Xiao Mei said: "It seems the Emperor still favors the Crown Prince."

"This kind of thing cannot be solved in a year or two. The Crown Prince must make more mistakes, and the Prince of Jin must do better. This rebellion in Jiang Nan is because the local wealthy families were suppressed too hard. The rebellion can be quelled, but people's hearts are hard to appease; this is just giving the Prince of Jin something to do."

This was something Yang Guang himself understood. He knew how he was managing Bingzhou. In order to ensure the stability of the Crown Prince and guarantee the safe continuation of ruling power, a variable like Yang Guang had to be pressed back.

Arranging him to go to Jiang Nan was a good choice. Yang Guang would fight with the wealthy families of Jiang Nan, and everyone would calm down. From this, one could also see Yang Jian's wisdom.

Wang Yan laughed: "But it's not bad; we can do more business over there. I heard that there is land south of Lingnan, and there is a lot of grain there. When we get there, we can build ships to go to sea and send people to the south to take a look. Even if we can't bring back grain, we can bring back some spices, jewelry, and seafood, and we can still earn a lot."

"Then our foundation in Bingzhou..."

"It doesn't matter. Our position among the people in the army is not high enough to be targeted. Moreover, the Prince of Jin is still in front; the Prince of Jin will certainly not watch his hard work flow away. As for the remaining land, no one would be so stupid as to take it by force. We will move our business, leave the shops here to sell things, and take the craftsmen with us; it won't have any impact."

"Good, then I will go and arrange it. You go and play with the child." Xiao Mei said and acted, very straightforwardly.

Wang Yan couldn't really just watch the child. He was leaving soon and didn't know when he would be back, so he had to talk to his subordinates, appease them, and stabilize the current basic situation.

Right now, the Wang family had already grown, and there were thousands of people eating with the Wang family. It was truly a newly rising great family; it was just that the family was not prosperous, otherwise, it would definitely have considerable influence...