Chapter 680 Imperial Authority

Amidst the hustle and bustle, the Taoist lineage completed a feat with the help of the Taoist sect in the Central Plains.

It should have been the responsibility of the court. Two million young and strong laborers and hundreds of thousands of defeated soldiers were all standard "national foundations". Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty ignored it, and the court also turned a deaf ear to it.

Fortunately, with the martial arts master Zuo Youxian in charge, and some senior generals of the Sui army cooperating, the Goguryeo army did not have the opportunity to follow and attack.

What he needed to do was to appease the people and restore order, and then return safely with millions of people.

Zuo Youxian did all this, and his reputation was unparalleled for a while.

At the same time, both Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty and the court lost the support of the people.

Apart from anything else, more than 300,000 young and strong laborers have decided to take their families and settle directly in the northwest border.

In addition, there are 500,000 laborers who are in a hesitant stage.

But when Yang Guang announced the second expedition to Goguryeo and recruited a million civilians again, these hesitant civilians were frightened and immediately moved to the border with their families.

Hebei and the hinterland of the Central Plains were originally densely populated and were important tax collection areas for the Sui Dynasty!

As a result, when Yang Guang went on the second expedition to Goguryeo, the population of both places had lost to varying degrees and became quite sparse.

During the first expedition to Goguryeo, more than two million civilians could be recruited at will.

But by the second expedition to Goguryeo, the number of civilians that could be recruited had shrunk to just over a million.

When Zuo Youxian returned to Changgeng Temple in the border area, it was already the early summer of the eighth year of Daye.

During this period, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty invited him to become a royal worshiper, but he was naturally rejected directly.

The royal family itself has many masters. Although there are no martial arts masters, there is no shortage of masters at the late stage of innateness or even the peak of innateness.

With the protection of many masters of the Yinkui Sect, Yang Guang's basic safety is not a problem!

"Brother, you did a great job!"

When seeing Jia Huan, Zuo Youxian smiled softly when no one was around: "This time, you took away too many supplies from the Buddhist sect. I don't know how angry they are!"

"By the way, you helped expose the hidden strength of the Buddhist sect. It's really amazing!"

"The Buddhist temples along the Grand Canal in the north took out so much food. When I saw it, I was shocked beyond words!"

"I heard that even the owner of the Buddhist temple of Cihang Jingzhai came out of seclusion because of my brother's actions. ”

“So what? We can’t just watch countless civilians and defeated soldiers starve to death, right?”

Jia Huan said indifferently: “If it weren’t for the powerful Buddhist power there and the rich reserves of supplies, I wouldn’t have taken the initiative to ask for it!”

“If the Sui Emperor wanted to march west, our Taoist lineage could also provide a large amount of supplies. Isn’t it too far away and too late?”

“You, I don’t know how you can cultivate a righteous spirit!”

Speaking of this, Zuo Youxian was full of envy: “I heard that Jingnian Zen Temple The five hundred monks were suppressed by your righteous spirit and dared not act rashly? "

"It's not that exaggerated, senior brother, don't believe rumors easily!"

Jia Huan said with a smile: "That's because everyone in Jingnian Zen Temple knows that I won't kill people. Otherwise, if I really fight to the death, it will not be easy for me to achieve my goal!"

"Junior brother, you are too modest!"

Zuo Youxian said disapprovingly: "You are so powerful, can Jingnian Zen Temple still turn the world upside down?"

"I'm not worried about Jingnian Zen Temple, but I'm a little unsure of the depth of the White Horse Temple. ! ”

Jia Huan said frankly: "I have read a lot of classic books in the sect before, and there is information about Jingnian Zen Temple. It seems that Jingnian Zen Temple was established with the help of the White Horse Temple!"

"Is there such a thing?"

Zuo Youxian was surprised, and then shook his head and said: "Brother, are you too cautious?"

"I hope so too!"

Jia Huan said calmly: "It's not wrong to be cautious when walking in the world!"

Zuo Youxian didn't say anything else, but nodded silently to show his approval. His mood was no longer as excited as at the beginning.

Next, the brothers were busy arranging the increasing migration tide, so they had no time to care about other things.

Not only that, they also had to secretly promote many forces outside the Great Wall to put their main thoughts and energy on the Western Regions instead of the Central Plains.

It is no exaggeration to say that Yang Guang's failure to personally conquer Goguryeo had a huge impact on the northwest.

If it were a normal historical world, or a world without Jia Huan's rebirth of the Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty, the powerful tribes on the grasslands outside the Great Wall would definitely be shaken and rippled in their hearts, and began to examine the true strength of the Great Sui Empire.

But now that Jia Huan and the powerful Taoist lineage exist, these high-ranking officials of the tribes outside the Great Wall cannot be distracted, and they may die suddenly.

The area in the Western Regions is extremely vast, and desertification is not as serious as in the later industrial period.

The world of Tianfang has not yet been unified, and the area there is even more vast and the land is very fertile.

Not only that, you can also go directly into the territory of Tianzhu from the Western Regions.

At this time, there are many countries in Tianzhu and Buddhism is flourishing, which is also a very tempting piece of fat meat.

However, in the past, the grassland forces outside the Great Wall focused on the Central Plains, which is closer and easier to plunder. Isn’t it that they can’t do anything now?

Even if the high-ranking officials of the major tribes have any ideas, the lower-level herdsmen may not be willing to follow them.

The deepening of the wool trade has greatly improved the lives of the lower-level herdsmen, and they may even learn from the people in the Central Plains and settle in towns with city walls.

As long as we raise sheep in peace, we can make our lives better and better. Why fight and kill and take risks?

Even if the looting is successful, most of the benefits will be taken by the tribe's top leaders, and the lower-level herdsmen will still be poor. Why bother?

Of course, the lower-level herdsmen basically don't think of these principles. Naturally, they are the result of the Taoist priests who settled in the tribe, who intentionally or unintentionally instilled them.

Otherwise, how can we say that the Taoist lineage is based in the border areas and has done immeasurable merits.

Under the secret promotion of the Taoist lineage, some tribes outside the Great Wall that acted quickly have occupied a large area in the Western Regions and made a lot of money.

Such a situation naturally made the other tribes outside the Great Wall jealous.

Everyone likes the dazzling gems produced in the Western Regions, as well as spices and other very precious specialties.

Jia Huan predicted that as long as the guidance of public opinion continued, it would not take long for many tribes outside the Great Wall to take action, and at that time, the northwest border troubles of the Sui Dynasty would be so minor that they could be ignored.

Of course, during this period, the strength of the Daozu True Transmission will only grow stronger.

Unfortunately, the Great Sui has an emperor who likes to make trouble!

No one expected that Yang Guang would be so impatient to start the second expedition to Goguryeo.

It has been less than a year since the last defeat in Liaodong. Yang Guang, who has gradually recovered, has begun to sit still again. He is eager to re-establish the imperial authority by conquering Goguryeo.