Chapter 99: A Dilemma

Yuwen Huaji became increasingly angry. However, Su Fan just curled his lips, not caring at all. As for Yuwen Chengdu and the others, they also turned their heads, pretending not to see.

Perhaps in the past, they might have reprimanded Su Fan.

But now, they did not know how to reprimand him. Reprimanding him for not respecting his elders? This was a dispute between father and son, and it was not easy for them to intervene.

And Su Fan today had long since been a prodigal son returning home.

They were not blind and could see the development in Wu Jun. Although they were not as concerned as Old Man Yuwen Shang, Jiangdu was too close to Wu Jun.

They had also learned a thing or two about the changes in Wu Jun over these years from many people's mouths.

What Wu Jun looked like before and its changes now were naturally related to this disciple who was a dissolute youth in the eyes of outsiders before.

"Huaji, we know your ambition, but I did not support you before. You should know why."

Yuwen Shang glanced at Yuwen Huaji and said indifferently.

"Father, our Yuwen Clan's power is no weaker than the others. Why can't we?" Yuwen Huaji was unconvinced; he thought his father looked down on him.

As one of the four great clans, the Yuwen Clan's strength in the military was not a bit weaker than the Li Clan's. As for the Song Clan and the Dugu Clan, they were even weaker.

Because the Song Clan was far from the center of power, it was more like a divided warlord. As for the Dugu Clan, their power in the officialdom was stronger, but because their descendants were not promising, their influence in the military was becoming weaker and weaker.

"Hmph!" Yuwen Shang did not intend to explain. After all, he had argued with this son of his many times.

He still could not dispel this son's thoughts. Not only the eldest son, but even Yuwen Shiji and Yuwen Zhiji were ambitious.

However, ambition requires strong ability to support it; otherwise, one could only be a joke like that Yang Guang.

"Chengji, what do you think?"

Yuwen Shang did not argue with Yuwen Huaji but instead asked Su Fan.

This made Yuwen Huaji even more angry, but one was his father and the other was his own son. What could he do?

He could only suppress his anger and then look at Su Fan to see what "high opinion" he had.

"What is Father's plan?"

"Unite the generals of the Xiaoguo Army, kill Yang Guang, replace him, occupy Yangzhou, and use this as a foundation. Whether moving north to Xuzhou and attacking Luoyang or moving south to Jingxiang, we will have something to show for it."

Yuwen Huaji was not a complete waste; at least he had certain ideas.

Yangzhou was the old land of the Wu Guo during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty. If he could take Jingxiang and other places, his power would be comparable to the Wu Guo during the Three Kingdoms period.

Moreover, in the south, compared to the heroes of the north, they were a bit weaker. Except for the Song Clan in Lingnan, the other regional warlords were really not necessarily the opponents of the Yuwen Clan.

Once he really took it, perhaps there would be a chance, and even if not, he would have the power to secede in one region.

In the original timeline, it was a pity that Yuwen Huaji's ability was too poor, and killing Yang Guang made his reputation stink. Moreover, many of his subordinates did not obey him. After the failure of the northern expedition, he was quickly defeated and destroyed.

Afterward, Li Zitong occupied Jiangdu.

However, right now, Li Zitong was much worse than before. Wu Jun and other places were now under Su Fan's control.

After listening, Su Fan shook his head secretly. Although the plan was good, killing Yang Guang would certainly damage the Yuwen family's reputation.

"Father, do you know that once Yang Guang dies at the hands of our Yuwen family, the Yuwen family's reputation will stink? Contending for hegemony over the world requires not only one's own strength but also talents from all over. Then, what will Father do at that time?"

"At that time, Father will almost cut himself off from much of the power left behind by the Sui Dynasty."

Yuwen Huaji killed Yang Guang and indeed occupied Jiangdu, but his own ability was not enough to convince the public. Coupled with the fact that many old officials of the Sui Dynasty hated him, this was also one of the reasons for his failure.

Don't look at these old officials of the Sui Dynasty; their influence was not low.

"Then what do you say we should do?"

Rebelling without killing Yang Guang—what kind of rebellion is that?

As for holding the Emperor hostage to command the feudal lords, that was even more of a joke. Even Su Fan himself knew clearly that this point was absolutely impossible.

The Yang family was not the Liu Dynasty, which had a foundation of four hundred years. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the Liu family still had great prestige among the people. Therefore, when the heroes contended for hegemony at the end of the Han Dynasty, at first, no one raised the banner of rebellion.

Only that fool Yuan Shu stood up and declared himself Emperor, and as a result, he was quickly finished.

But the Great Sui was different. It had only been established for twenty or thirty years and could not penetrate the hearts of the people at all. Wanting to hold the Emperor hostage to command the feudal lords was simply impossible.

The warlords in various places would absolutely ignore it.

So, in reality, the Yuwen family had also fallen into a dilemma. Perhaps this was also the reason why Yuwen Shang did not agree with Yuwen Huaji.

Because he saw the biggest difficulty for the Yuwen family.

Whether to kill Yang Guang or not was a big test for Yuwen Huaji. After killing him, once his reputation stank, the problem would be big, unless you possessed the domineering power to suppress everything.

However, the Yuwen Clan certainly did not have it.

Contending for hegemony over the world is a competition of comprehensive strength. Talents are extremely important. No matter how bad Yang Guang's reputation was, if you took action to kill Yang Guang, you were a rebellious subject. Ordinary people would simply not be willing to follow you.

If you don't kill him, then keeping him might cause infighting.

Behind Yang Guang, there was still the Yang clan. Keeping him was equivalent to keeping a time bomb.

Therefore, the Yuwen Clan was not like the Li Clan and the Song Clan; they did not have so many concerns at all. They could develop to their heart's content.

"Killing Yang Guang is disadvantageous to the Yuwen Clan, and keeping him is even more disadvantageous, unless Yang Guang can be made to issue an edict and abdicate automatically."

Su Fan proposed a method, which was to let Yang Guang issue an edict of self-reproach. Anyway, his reputation was extremely bad. If he abdicated with an edict of self-reproach, then Yang Guang would not be the Emperor. In that case, whether he was imprisoned or whatever, he would not be much of a threat to the Yuwen family.

Even the Yang clan could not fight to the death with the Yuwen Clan for a waste.

"Doesn't Yang Guang have a few princes in the north? Once Yang Guang abdicates, those princes will all have a chance to ascend to the throne. It's a pity they don't have much power in their hands. At that time, they will all be controlled by ambitious people in various places."

"However, in this way, the Yuwen Clan can openly occupy Yangzhou, first move south to occupy Jingxiang, deter the Song Clan, and then sit and watch the civil war among the feudal lords in the north. When the timing is right, they can also take a bite."

Su Fan only had a certain vision in terms of the general trend. Perhaps he could not compare to those top-tier strategists, but he knew some general outlines.

Of course, compared to the north, the south certainly had a disadvantage in terms of population, but that was in history. In history, before the Song Dynasty, the development of the south was much worse than that of the north.

But after the Song Dynasty, it was different. This was also one of the reasons why Emperor Taizu of Ming was able to succeed in his northern expedition from the south.

However, this world was different. The development of the south, even if it could not compare to the north, still had some power.

Moreover, the north had warhorses, and the south also had a Flying Horse Ranch that could provide warhorses. This was also why the later Shaoshuai Army, with the help of the Song Clan's power, could form a north-south opposition with the Li Clan. ===== CHAPTER 100 =====