Chapter 1352: Suppressing the Rebellion

Although it was said to be one thousand elite cavalry, the team was actually not small.

There were over a thousand combat personnel, three thousand warhorses, and over a hundred people accompanying the army to carry out logistics work. These were all necessary configurations.

At the same time, in order to deal with the situation of overestimating themselves, Wang Yan carried out a mixed formation for the one thousand elite cavalry, half of which were heavy cavalry with armored horses, and half were light cavalry with flexible movements.

This way, they could attack and retreat, and everyone could be safe.

Wang Yan wasn't afraid of dying himself; he was afraid that the subordinates who had happily followed him out to earn merit would die too miserably.

In fact, if it weren't for worrying that Yang Guang's suspicion was too great, he could have pacified Yang Liang's rebellion alone. The reason was also very simple: there were quite a few of his people among Yang Liang's subordinates.

But accidents were hard to avoid, and as the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. He wasn't that arrogant; after all, although he wasn't afraid of trouble, he preferred ease.

Of course, the result didn't exceed Wang Yan's expectations; overall, it was still very easy...

Yang Liang overestimated his own strength. He thought that as long as he raised his arms and shouted, the territory he controlled would all respond, but the result was not so. Those who truly responded to him were only a small half.

The current Great Sui, regardless of the various contradictions, was indeed still very prosperous, showing a state of flourishing. People with brains wouldn't rebel at such a time.

Even if they were smart enough to look at the strength, the Great Sui had been fighting north and south for these years and had destroyed the Tujue, and its martial arts were extremely prosperous. Yang Liang certainly wouldn't be harder to fight than the Tujue, and he couldn't even manage to occupy one side; what kind of rebellion was this?

So most people chose to wait and see, to see what kind of situation Yang Liang could create, and then make a decision.

Wang Yan even received news halfway that because no one followed Yang Liang's footsteps to rebel, he was so angry that he fell ill. It couldn't be blamed on Yang Liang; the reality was just too skinny and too cold. Yang Liang, who had been smooth sailing, couldn't bear the blow, and getting sick was also a matter of reason.

But success or failure would not shift because of Yang Liang's pain. Wang Yan didn't encounter any decent resistance along the way. Except for when he first arrived and spent three days leading over a thousand people to defeat over ten thousand rebel troops, there was no more resistance.

The horses trotted forward all the way, and everywhere they went, the city gates were opened to surrender.

Wang Yan's handling method was very decisive. Every time he arrived at a place, he would spend two or three days collecting evaluations from commoners and soldiers about local officials and military generals. All the military generals with bad evaluations were killed, and people were promoted on the spot to take over. The civil officials who were too excessive were also killed, and the rest were imprisoned, waiting to handle big cases and implicate others later.

Then he left some troops to maintain local order, and the rest were directly incorporated, promoting some people to take office. Then he expanded the troops to receive other rebellious areas.

By this time, how Wang Yan handled civil and military officials had already spread in all directions. These people, of course, didn't surrender, but it was useless. They didn't surrender, but the middle and lower-level officers and the soldiers in the ranks would help them surrender.

When Wang Yan arrived at a place, he would accept the surrender and kill them on the spot, and still, some people could survive. As for military generals and officials, except for those with good reputations, no one could survive; it was a direct full-family execution, very decisive.

And so everyone became honest, indicating their surrender early, and those who knew their reputations were bad also took the initiative to gather together and be locked up by the soldiers. Only some military generals who held military power and knew they would die didn't submit, and there would always be some chaos, but they also fell into the ocean of soldiers, and not one survived.

Wang Yan just slowly led the constantly growing army north in an unhurried manner, slowly approaching Taiyuan.

Once he arrived in Taiyuan, what he saw was a large group of local bigwigs, officials, and military generals coming out of the city to welcome him, such as Li Yuan, and even officials and military generals from other places, as well as the open city gates.

Wang Yan knew this situation; it was those who hadn't followed Yang Liang to rebel earlier. Seeing Wang Yan sweep through without the slightest effort along the way, they couldn't sit still, so they very sensibly took the initiative to come and attack Taiyuan, giving Yang Guang an attitude of absolute support.

Li Yuan was rescued in this way. It was said that when Yang Liang rebelled, Li Yuan didn't support him, so the whole Li family was placed under house arrest by Yang Liang.

Reaching this point, Yang Liang's rebellion was basically equivalent to ending. The remaining things were to settle accounts after the autumn, and only after the accounts were settled could this matter be considered truly over.

Wang Yan slowly led the troops to approach, looking down at the crowd below from his horse: "Duke of Tang, what is the meaning of this?"

Li Yuan didn't care about Wang Yan's arrogant posture at this moment and bowed to pay his respects: "Greetings to the Duke of Danyang. These are loyal officials of my Great Sui, suppressing the rebellion for my Great Sui, making my commoners avoid being devastated, and guarding the peace and tranquility of my Great Sui."

Because he had dealings with Wang Yan and his status was sufficient, Li Yuan was sent to entertain Wang Yan, and of course, he was also responsible for talking to Wang Yan about the subsequent handling problems.

Wang Yan was fully responsible for suppressing the rebellion; it was an urgent matter, after all. Wang Yan could make the decisions here. Of course, whether Yang Guang would find trouble later was another matter, but at least now his words counted.

So this group of people in front of him were all hoping that Wang Yan would show mercy. The connections of big families were intertwined; Wang Yan had already killed a large group before, and he really couldn't kill anymore.

Smiling noncommittally, Wang Yan dismounted, and under Li Yuan's introduction, he got to know this group of people. The more prominent ones were Yang Yichen and Zhou Fashang, who were famous generals and were all quite awesome.

However, in front of Wang Yan, they were all overshadowed.

After all, Wang Yan's record was brilliant, and he was also an imperial favorite, already reaching the top. These people were all three grades lower than Wang Yan.

Wang Yan's attitude toward them was still okay, harmonious. After arranging for the large army to be stationed, he took over the city defense and led his own retainers into the city.

In the Prince of Han's mansion, he saw the Prince of Han, Yang Liang, who was under house arrest and lying on a sickbed.

At this moment, Yang Liang was very weak and pale. This illness of his hadn't healed yet when he was knocked down by an even bigger blow, which could be said to be adding frost to snow.

Wang Yan bowed very politely: "Greetings to Your Highness, Prince of Han."

Yang Liang leaned tiredly on the bed, pulling out a mocking smile: "How does Yang Guang plan to deal with this Prince?"

"He didn't say. Just recuperate well, and after you've recuperated, we'll send you to Daxing to wait for His Majesty's disposal." Wang Yan waved his hand. "Don't think about useless things; eating and drinking well is better than anything else."

Without having too much dialogue with Yang Liang, he considered Yang Liang's state as finished, and then Wang Yan went to see the large group of Yang Liang's subordinates who had been imprisoned by Li Yuan and others, and let his retainers find the previously determined list to compare one by one. Whether those who were there were dead or not was another matter, but those who were not there had to be found and killed.

After looking through it, Wang Yan followed Li Yuan and others to attend the banquet.

Good wine and food, bands and dancers, martial arts performances, a large group of people pushing cups and changing cups, all flattering Wang Yan and wanting to lift Wang Yan to the sky.

Afterward, they arranged for women to serve Wang Yan in bathing and sleeping, and Wang Yan happily accepted.

And so, until the next morning, Li Yuan found Wang Yan alone where he was staying and saw Wang Mou, who was wearing a black cotton-padded jacket and disheveled hair, drinking tea and sunbathing in the courtyard.

"The Duke of Danyang truly has good elegance." Li Yuan started with a small flattery.

Wang Yan laughed lightly and said very directly: "It's not me who is anxious, so why not have elegance? Duke of Tang, please sit."

Li Yuan gave a bitter laugh, sat opposite Wang Yan, and watched Wang Yan fiddling with the tea set: "I didn't expect the Duke of Danyang to be able to research such elegance."

He was talking about the brewing process of clear tea, as well as the corresponding various utensils.

In fact, when drinking tea soup before, there were also many items, and the scholar-officials just liked to make simple things complicated to appear elegant.

The brewing process of clear tea was, without a doubt, also researched by scholar-officials. Wang Yan was used to it; he was just picking up others' wisdom.

But the current scholar-officials felt quite disgusted, after all, such an elegant matter actually came from the hands of a mere commoner. I don't know how many people would scold Wang Yan every time they brewed fragrant tea with three or five good friends to feel comfortable.

"Perhaps it's because I'm too idle." Wang Yan smiled. "Duke of Tang also knows that I am not tolerated by big families, so my mind is all on these useless things, just to pass the time."

Li Yuan gave a dry laugh and didn't take this topic. While drinking tea with Wang Yan, he talked about useless things.

Seeing Wang Yan responding with a smile, Li Yuan finally couldn't hold it in anymore, coughed twice to clear his throat, and talked about serious business.

"I don't know how the Duke of Danyang plans to wrap things up?"

"Speak directly, what are your thoughts?"

"No, no, no, the Duke of Danyang misunderstood; it's not us, but them." Li Yuan waved his hands repeatedly, directly getting rid of the relationship. "It's just that I have had dealings with the Duke of Danyang and can speak to the Duke of Danyang, so they pushed me to speak. Their meaning is, let it end here."

After speaking, Li Yuan drank tea, as if he didn't care at all, regardless of what happened, it had nothing to do with him.

"Duke of Tang should know that the Prince of Han's rebellion is a big matter, and His Majesty has only just ascended to the throne. Such matters are absolutely not something I can decide, but I am acting under imperial orders."

"I don't know what the imperial order is?"

"It is naturally for the whole of Bingzhou to support His Majesty and be of one mind with His Majesty."

Li Yuan understood; most of those who followed Yang Liang in rebellion had to die.

Wang Yan was not just here to suppress the rebellion. As far as the result was concerned, suppressing the rebellion was easy for Wang Yan. The more important thing was to carry out a great purge of the whole of Bingzhou and strengthen Yang Guang's rule over Bingzhou.

Although Yang Guang had accumulated in Bingzhou, he had been away for a long time. This time Yang Liang's rebellion made Yang Guang see clearly that there were not as many people he could use as he had imagined.

So taking advantage of this good opportunity of Yang Liang's rebellion, Yang Guang sent the most capable Wang Yan to handle Bingzhou's military and political affairs, reorganize everything from top to bottom, and get a Bingzhou that listened to him.

And so Li Yuan broke out in a cold sweat, because their family had also accumulated for several years here. If Wang Yan carried out expansion, the foundation their family had painstakingly managed would be almost completely gone, and the flourishing Li family would be ruined. That was still the good situation; perhaps he couldn't run away either?

Wang Yan comforted him intimately: "Duke of Tang, don't worry. His Majesty has explained that if the Duke of Tang is not involved in the rebellion, then he won't target the Duke of Tang. His Majesty is still very magnanimous and keeps his word, absolutely a sage monarch of a generation. Duke of Tang can rest assured."

Li Yuan pulled out a forced smile, then carefully probed: "I don't know if the Duke of Danyang can raise his hand? Just give an explanation for this matter; why turn a small matter into a big one? I think the commoners of Bingzhou will all be grateful to the Duke of Danyang, and I won't let the Duke of Danyang's hard work be in vain."

"Alas..." Wang Yan shook his head regretfully. "Duke of Tang, it's already today; it's too late to say anything. You also know that my background is humble, and it is only because of His Majesty's trust that I have today. However, along the way, I have never been tolerated by big families, so I can only go down one road to the end.

Now that His Majesty has ascended to the throne, I am acting under imperial orders. If I don't make His Majesty feel at ease, how can I explain it when I return to Daxing? I'm afraid that the one who loses his life then will be me. Duke of Tang, if you were in my position, would you kill others or yourself?"

"You don't even need to think about it; it must be killing others. I have now accumulated a large family business, and the Great Sui is in its prime and increasingly prosperous. Even if I don't hold power, I want to live in wealth and leisure until I die."

"Duke of Tang, you have to understand that this is not my hostility toward big families, nor is it my own wish. I have always just been a knife; the one holding the knife is His Majesty. However, I have the consciousness of being a knife. I am the one who killed all the people; if there are any grudges, come find me."

Li Yuan was silent for a while, then shook his head and sighed: "Duke of Danyang, you won't last long like this."

"Who knows if it will last long or not?" Wang Yan smiled. "I only know that if I were still the small pawn from before, a figure like you, Duke of Tang, wouldn't even look at me, but now you are carefully pleading here. Creation plays with people. Duke of Tang, what can you teach me about the future?"

Li Yuan didn't speak again, because what Wang Yan said was a fact. It wasn't just bowing and scraping; they were rushing to kneel, and Wang Yan wouldn't even do it.

He was quite desperate, because he and they were all meat on the chopping board, only able to let Wang Yan swing the knife, and could do nothing else.

Wang Yan was the current War God and had also gathered and reorganized the rebel army. Even the border armies further north that were loyal to Wang Yan hadn't been mobilized yet. If all of them were counted, Wang Yan could mobilize nearly one hundred thousand troops here; what kind of waves could they make?

If they didn't move, they might live. If they moved, they would definitely die.

Thinking of these, Li Yuan couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, politely said goodbye to Wang Yan, and left.

Wang Yan continued to drink tea and flipped through a book, very comfortable.

He wasn't taking action now because he was waiting for the situation collected from all aspects, and he had to report the situation here to Yang Guang, letting Yang Guang make further decisions.

In fact, it was also because the bigwigs, local officials, and military generals here later attacked Taiyuan and captured Yang Liang, which was outside Yang Guang's plan, so he had to let Yang Guang reconsider whether or not to execute the original plan.

At the same time, this was also an opportunity for these big families.

They satisfied Yang Guang during this period, so they naturally preserved their foundation. If they couldn't, Wang Yan's butcher knife would naturally fall, and he would still be in a happy mood.

After all, these people were all recorded in his little notebook, and if he didn't kill them now, they wouldn't live in the future anyway; they had to die either way.

And so Wang Yan sat in command in Taiyuan, further reorganized the army, and temporarily acted as the Minister of the Secretariat of the Bingzhou Branch. After being busy for nearly a month, he finally received Yang Guang's reply, letting Wang Yan decide for himself.

Although Wang Yan had the consciousness of being a knife, Yang Guang's attitude still made Wang Yan shake his head with a smile; this kid had learned to be bad now.

What did it mean for him to decide for himself?

And so Wang Yan swung his butcher knife in Bingzhou...

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? (End of chapter)