Emperor Yang again orders that soldiers be gathered at Zhuo Prefecture, as he prepares a second campaign against Goguryeo in spring 613.
He also selects the most elite of the soldiers into a specialized corps, the Xiaoguo Army (meaning, "the strong and brave").
Hereafter, the Xiaoguo Army becomes his own personal guard.
In response to the conscription order, even more men desert and joined the agrarian rebels, throwing the northern central part of the empire into a state of confusion.
With the prefecture officials having little military training, the rebels largely go unchecked but for the efforts of the general Zhang Xutuo, who is able to defeat some of the rebels but is not able to generally suppress them.
