When news broke that Ming had launched its Western Expedition and Jingmen Pass on Great Sui's eastern border had fallen, all of Great Sui was shaken.
Countless commoners were bewildered and at a loss, living in fear all day long.
Many factions near the east even migrated west overnight, terrified of being plundered and slaughtered by the Ming Army.
Since ancient times, whenever a dynasty suffered defeat, it was always the common people who suffered most.
But when the Ming Western Expeditionary Army subsequently entered the territory, it merely absorbed the local authorities and did not harass ordinary civilians, so it did not cause much unrest.
The Great Sui Imperial Court, however, was already scrambling like ants on a hot pan, at a complete loss over what to do...
The Sui Palace.
When Yang Guang learned the details of Jingmen Pass's fall, he flew into a rage.
"With three hundred thousand troops stationed there, my royal uncle actually surrendered without a fight! Does he mean to betray me and Great Sui?!"
"And Yuwen Tuo! I placed such trust in him, yet he disappointed me too!"
"They deserve to die! Every last one of them deserves to die!"
In the court hall, the civil and military officials listened to Yang Guang vent his fury with frightened expressions, but not one spoke.
Great Sui's last reserves had been the three hundred thousand elite troops led by Yang Lin and Grand Preceptor Yuwen Tuo.
They had thought that with Yang Lin and Yuwen Tuo personally going to Jingmen Pass, they would surely repel the Ming Army and defend Great Sui.
They had never expected Jingmen Pass to fall barely half a month after the troops set out.
Yuwen Tuo had been defeated, and Yang Lin, the Leaning-on-the-Mountain King, had surrendered without a fight.