Not to mention Kong Jian, who was thrown out of the mansion to blow the cold wind, at this moment in the Xianghou Mansion, the Luyang Xianghou had ordered the chief steward Cao Ju to move out of the cellar two jars of wine that had been stored for more than 20 years.

I have to say that the wine of the past 20 years is different, after the mud seal is opened, a strong aroma of wine wafts in the house, not to mention that after boiling, the rich aroma of wine, tempting Peng Yong has no intention of talking to Liu Wei, Luyang Xianghou and others, a pair of tiger eyes stared at the wine tripod on the stove, secretly swallowing saliva.

After a while, when the wine was boiling, Peng Yong scooped a bowl, and then took a small sip of the hot wine, showing a little satisfaction on his face, and nodded and praised: "Good!" Good! It is worthy of more than 20 years of wine, it is really mellow, and I have not drunk such a rich wine for some years. ”

Hearing this, the Marquis of Luyang smiled and said, "If General Peng likes it, you can take a few altars with you on the return trip." ”

Hearing this, Peng Yong, who was eating wine with a bowl, suddenly glanced at the Luyang townsman with interest, and then said with a smile: "It seems that Kong Jian has never said anything wrong about this, a few people really want to ask something from Peng's mouth, well, for the sake of this wine, a few people just ask, unless it is inconvenient to say, Peng knows everything." ”

As he spoke, he took another sip.

Seeing this, Liu Wei and the Marquis of Luyang glanced at each other and asked cautiously: "General Peng, I don't know why General Wang suddenly levied money and grain from my Luyang......

"It's borrowed." Peng Yong corrected.

"Yes, yes, it's borrowed." Liu Wei nodded and said, "Is the garrison short of money and food?" ”

In fact, as far as he knew, Wang Shangde's so-called borrowing had never been repaid, but there was no need to make Peng Yong unhappy at this moment.

"Missing!"

Peng Yong put down the wine bowl and said: "Maybe according to a few people, General Wang's reputation is probably not very good, I am here to defend General Wang, General Wang has never deducted the money and food of the soldiers, maybe a few don't know, General Wang was born in a wealthy family, his family is rich, he has never paid attention to money and food, he has collected money and grain in Nanyang over the years, mainly for the soldiers under his command......"

Liu Wei was puzzled and asked, "Didn't the imperial court allocate money and grain?" ”

"The money and food of the imperial court?" Peng Yong chuckled, shook his head and said: "Let's put it this way, the imperial court has allocated 500,000 stone for military rations, and it would be good to have 300,000 stones in our army, as for the money, the military salary in the first half of this year, it stands to reason that after the beginning of spring, it will arrive in Wancheng in April and May, but in fact, this batch of military salaries has not yet arrived!" ”

Liu Wei and the Marquis of Luyang looked at each other, and Zhao Yu, who was sitting next to him, was also full of incredulity.

You must know that it is already mid-September, but the military salary in the first half of this year has not yet arrived?

"This ...... What's going on? Liu Jian asked in disbelief.

Peng Yong took a sip of hot wine and said: "The general has been urging him several times, but the court only has one sentence, wait, wait, and then General Wang inquired in many ways and found out that the treasury has no money at all." As he spoke, he lowered his voice: "Repair the Prayer Palace, and repair the treasury is empty." ”

"Prayer Palace?" The Marquis of Luyang turned his head to look at Liu Wei.

Liu Yi understood, lowered his voice and explained to the Marquis of Luyang: "When I was in the royal capital, I heard that it is said that in recent years, the holy dragon is not in good health, and someone has made a suggestion to Your Majesty, saying that it is to build a palace and worship the gods, so you can pray for blessings and prolong life, and Your Majesty ordered the construction of this longevity palace, and it is said that the people alone have requisitioned three or four hundred thousand people......

The townsman of Luyang was shocked when he heard this, after all, he only had thirty or forty thousand people in Luyang County, but the emperor of his Jin Kingdom requisitioned ten people from Luyang County to build a palace.

Probably thinking that it was inappropriate to continue this topic, Liu Wei diverted the topic and said to Peng Yong: "General Peng, I already know the difficulties of General Wang, but I also have difficulties in Luyang, and I can't hide it, over the years, refugees have poured into my Luyang one after another......"

As he spoke, he told Peng Yong about the cash-for-work.

Peng Yong listened, nodded and said: "What Liu County Ling said, I also know a little, this year's drought is indeed serious, many counties in Nanyang County have almost no harvest, maybe you have also heard about our army's forced requisition of grain, I do not deny it, there is, but there is no way, every time the imperial court transports military food, it is procrastinated, saying that it is 500,000 stones, but there are only 300,000 stones, if you do not collect grain from the local people, there will be a shortage of food for hundreds of thousands of garrisons in Nanyang, maybe there will be riots, soldiers riots, this is more serious than civilian riots, right?" ”

This reason, even Liu Wei and the Marquis of Luyang could not refute it, and at the same time, it also slightly changed the opinion of that Wang Shangde, at least Wang Shangde did not collect money and food for his own selfish desires.

At this time, Peng Yong took a sip of wine and said, "This time I brought that Kong Jian to Luyang, as you think, it was indeed Kong Jian who instigated it...... Previously, General Wang didn't care much about Luyang, and he didn't even know much about Yecheng, but after this Kong Jian arrived in Wancheng, he said to the general, saying that Yexian and Luyang counties were rich in money and grain, so the general sent me and the two of them here. ”

He spread his hands and recounted the story very cheerfully.

"Sure enough, it's Kong Jian!" The Marquis of Luyang scolded hatefully, and then said to Peng Yong: "General Peng, can you please return the current situation of my Luyang County to General Wang, and ask General Wang to change his mind?" …… Although I have some money and food in Luyang County at the moment, most of it is borrowed from Rushui County for the relief of refugees in the territory...... I mean, if I borrowed a lot of money and grain, I Luyang may fall into chaos because of this. ”

"This ......"

Peng Yong pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I can't make decisions about this matter. …… I can bring the words of the two to the general, but with what I know about the general, I don't think he will change his mind. ”

"Why?" Zhao Yu couldn't help but interject: "General Wang doesn't care that my Luyang County will fall into chaos because of this?" ”

Peng Yong turned his head and glanced at Zhao Yu, probably because Zhao Yu had left a pretty good impression on him when he humiliated Kong Jian, he thought for a while and explained: "Boy, the threat of the Jingchu rebels is much more serious than the chaos in Luyang County, Fang Cai that Kong Jian has a very good saying, Wanbei is more stable than Wannan, and you Luyang and Yexian have been more peaceful over the years, thanks to our army stationed in Wannan to resist the offensive of the rebels, you won't want that, if those rebels kill Luyang, They will kill your parents and sisters, occupy your family's mansion, and divide your family's land among others......"

"Huh?"

Zhao Yu was stunned when he heard this, and asked curiously: "Distribute it to ...... Who? ”

Peng Yong did not doubt that he had him, and replied with a smile when he heard this: "Of course it is distributed to those who have no land, how do you think the hundreds of thousands of rebels in Jiangnan came from?" It is nothing more than the head of the rebel army and the lure of the land. ”

『……』

Zhao Yu opened his mouth, and he suddenly realized that the 'rebellion' that Liu Wei, Luyang Xianghou, and Peng Yong were talking about seemed to be a little different from the rebellion he took for granted.

While Zhao Yu was pondering, Liu Wei asked Peng Yong: "General Peng, 200,000 stone money and grain, I have no money in Luyang County, please don't listen to Kong Jian's instigation, this person is jealous of the townsman, jealous of Luyang, trying to use General Wang's hand to make my Luyang fall into chaos, General Peng must not listen to his words." ”

Hearing this, Peng Yong asked Liu Wei rhetorically: "How much grain does your county have?" ”

"This ......" Liu Wei hesitated for a moment and underreported some amounts: "The grain is about thirty or forty thousand stones, and as for the money, it can probably have twenty or thirty thousand yuan." ”

Peng Yong glanced at Liu Wei, held the wine bowl and chuckled: "For the sake of this drink, I will believe it." But if I believe it, it doesn't mean that General Wang will believe it, to be precise, this time I am just a messenger and convey General Wang's words to Luyang, and I can't decide anything else. …… If there is really any difficulty in your county, you might as well go directly to Wancheng and explain to General Wang face to face, as long as General Wang accepts your words, then there will naturally be no more problems......

Liu Jian and the Luyang townsman glanced at each other, feeling a little helpless.

In the following time, Liu Wei and the Marquis of Luyang persuaded Peng Yong to drink more many times, and took the opportunity to ask some things about Wang Shangde, such as the latter's preferences, personality, and temper, and although Peng Yong knew this, he did not hide it - it was not a big deal anyway.

This meal of wine was eaten from afternoon to dusk, and Peng Yong was very happy to drink, and he was unsteady on his feet.

Unfortunately, the most fundamental problem has not been solved.

According to Peng Yong's statement, although Kong Jian opened his mouth and asked for 200,000 stone grain and 200,000 yuan, if Lu Yang could 'borrow' 100,000 grain and 50,000 yuan, Wang Shangde's side would also be satisfied, but unfortunately, although Luyang County could barely make up this amount, it could not hand it over to Wang Shangde, otherwise Luyang would be in chaos.

In this regard, Peng Yong can only express regret.

When he decided to return to Wancheng, Peng Yong said to Liu Wei and Luyang Xianghou: "After I go back, I will tell General Wang truthfully, as a reward for this wine, I will not sit back and watch Kong Jian open his mouth, but according to my understanding of the general, the general should not change his mind, you had better go to Wancheng to explain to the general in person, remember to do it as soon as possible, don't delay, otherwise...... That's all there is to say, a few of them are good at themselves. ”

Saying that, Peng Yong took Kong Jian, who had been waiting outside the Xianghou Mansion for a full afternoon, and returned to Wancheng.

After bidding farewell to Peng Yong, Liu Wei and Luyang Xianghou came to the study to discuss the matter, and Zhao Yu followed closely.

For a long time, there was silence in the study, because Liu Wei and the Marquis of Luyang learned from Peng Yong that Wang Shangde was a very difficult person to get along with, not to mention that Kong Jian would also come forward to make trouble and sabotage at that time, and it was really difficult to convince Wang Shangde.

But even so, he can only go, otherwise when Wang Shangde attacks Lu Yang, it will be a big deal.

Thinking of this, the Luyang townsman said in a deep voice: "Tomorrow, I will go to Wancheng, and this matter will finally start because of me." ”

Liu Jian didn't stop him, and said in a deep voice: "I'll go with you." …… After all, Liu is the commander of Luyang County, and this matter is unshirkable. ”

Just when the two of them made up their minds to make that Wang Shangde change their minds no matter what, Zhao Yu was also thinking about how to persuade the grumpy General Wang.