On the fourth day of Li Yuan's return to Beijing, Chang'an County ordered Zhang Mengzhun to receive a strange letter. The submitter of the petition is named Hu Laosi, who is a helper in the shop. He accused his sister's husband, the Tang Dynasty Shangshu, and the Qin Palace's governor Shi Liu Wenjing of behaving wildly and privately raising armor soldiers and colluding with the sorcerer and goddess to curse the Tang Emperor.

If it were placed in such a case of Diao slave falsely accusing the master on weekdays, Zhang Mengzhun would not bother to look at it, and directly beat the complainant with 300 spinal rods and stuffed the army. But in the past few days, the officialdom has been strange, and many people feel that something big is coming. With Zhang Mengzhun's head as the first county commander of the Tang Dynasty, he definitely can't block the angry blow of some people. Therefore, after receiving the complaint, he did not dare to slack off, and immediately ordered someone to take the complainant into prison, and he personally held the complaint paper and drove the carriage to his boss Dou Wei.

Jingzhao Yin Douwei was also startled when he received the paper. Knowing that he had received a hot charcoal today, he immediately did not enter the palace and asked Li Yuan to take a look at it. Li Yuan had just dispersed, and he was furious when he saw the paper, and ordered someone to drag the bully Diao Nu out and beat him to death. Then he ordered the warriors to capture Liu Wenjing and raid his home. The case was handed over to Xiao Yu, the Duke of Song Guo, Pei Lian, the right servant, and Li Gang, the Zhan Shi of the Prince's Mansion, to be tried together. Xiao Yu is smart, and at a glance, she knows that this case is very important. Li Gang is a square person, and although he was hinted at by the crown prince, he was unwilling to beat Liu Wenjing into a move. Pei Lin has always been a good old man and doesn't like to dump his colleagues. Therefore, after a discussion, the three of them brought Liu Wenjing out of the prison and asked kindly: "The public is already in the position and the ministers, although they have suffered some minor responsibilities at the moment, it is only a temporary difficulty. How could he do such a rebellious act? ”

Liu Wenjing wiped away her tears and replied with a wry smile: "At the beginning of the Taiyuan Uprising, I made a plan for Sima Youyi. Now you live in the first place, and there are many rewards. Liu's official reward is no different from everyone else. There is indeed dissatisfaction with the crusade to the west. I complained after drinking, and I complained about it, and I also argued with His Majesty in person. But if it is said that the wizard is a god and a man, and he curses His Majesty, and other village husbands and women don't bother to do it, Liu really can't do it! ”

Xiao Yu saw that Liu Wenjing was only locked up in the prison overnight, and she was already depressed like a homeless man. Knowing the heart to excuse him, he thought about it and continued to ask: "Since you didn't collude with the wizard to curse Your Majesty, why did you find a lot of Shinto things in your back house?" ”

Liu Wenjing sighed and responded in a low voice: "Your Excellency, you also know that I have a lot of female dependents in my family. Occasionally, one or two superstitious Shinto people do some tricks to help the immortals, just to relieve the loneliness of a while. I don't believe that, so I don't bother to care. But I didn't expect to get into trouble because of this! ”

"It's the brother of one of your concubines! What do you say about this? Pei Lin patted the paper and asked with a smile.

Liu Wenjing has worked with him for many years, although there have been some small conflicts in order to fight for power and profit, but he has not formed any big enemies. Hearing Pei Lian's question, he thought that he had the same purpose as Li Gang and the others, thought about it, lowered his head and replied: "That little concubine is jealous, and I have already been beaten into the firewood room as a servant, so I naturally have a grudge." This is Liu's failure to deal with the back house, which really bothers you. ”

"If you are not satisfied with the reward, can you say it in front of others after drinking?" Pei Lin smiled and asked.

"Did!" When Liu Wenjing mentioned this, she felt a little burned on her face. "In front of my brother Wen Qi, I said that I was unwilling to be subordinate to adults. Shame shame shame! ”

After casually asking a few words, the presiding judge Xiao Yu ordered someone to send Liu Wenjing back to the prison to settle down. Then he approved the four words "no evidence" on the case file and sent it to Li Yuan. Li Yuan looked at the interrogation record, frowned, and asked, "The paper is full of rebellious words, can't you really find any real evidence of rebellion?" ”

Song Guogong Xiao Yu and Zhan Shi Li Gang of the Prince's Mansion looked at each other, sobbing their mouths and not knowing how to answer. The right servant shot Pei Lin pointed to the interrogation record and said in a low voice: "It is true that the ministers have not found evidence of Liu Wenjing's rebellion, but judging by his words, his intention to rebel has been revealed. Moreover, this person also served as the marching commander of the Qin Palace, and Shi had many friends with the generals in the army. If you don't punish the crime, sooner or later it will be a great disaster! ”

Li Yuan had already made an appointment with Pei Lian and the others, and he made a pretentious act just to avoid falling into the vain killing of the minister, and he was mean and unkind. After listening to Pei Lian's words, he immediately took the case: "Honestly, if I read his merits and can't bear to punish them, I don't know how many people will kill themselves in the future." ”

Ignoring the expressions of Xiao Yu, the Duke of Song Guo, and Li Gang, the Zhan Shi of the Prince's Mansion, he immediately ordered Liu Wenjing and Liu Wenqi to confiscate their family property. Wives and concubines and children were reduced to commoners. When Li Shimin, the king of Qin, heard this, he couldn't dissuade him from left and right, and broke into the palace in the middle of the night to intercede for Liu Wenjing. The next day, Li Yuan issued another holy decree in the early court, punished the king of Qin for studying at home behind closed doors for three months, and cut the general Yin Kaishan off his title and demoted him by five ranks. Liu Wenjing and Liu Wenqi brothers changed from beheading after the autumn to beheading on the city wall on the same day to show the public for ten days.

was interrogated the day before, and Liu Wenjing thought that the turmoil was about to pass. I didn't expect to be executed so soon. shouted injustice at the officials who came to prison for execution. His younger brother Liu Wenqi was a military general, and he was far less afraid of death than his brother. smiled and whispered, "Don't shout." Save face for yourself. Do you think that when you helped Mrs. Li kill Wang Wei and Gao Junya for the crime of treason, did you manage the two of them? ”

After listening to her younger brother's words, Liu Wenjing suddenly realized. With a long sigh, he was killed. Li Yuan saw Liu Wenjing's head, and his anger had not subsided. Once again, the case of the excavation of the ancestral grave of the Li family when the army was raised. Spread a holy decree into Shannan Province to comfort the ambassador Li Xiaogong, and the army ordered him to immediately kill the marching commander Shi Li Jing and send him back to Chang'an with lime seals. The marching commander Shi Li Jing was so frightened that he knelt down and shouted injustice. Thanks to Shannan Province's consolation ambassador Li Xiaogong, he sighed for a long time and used his military exploits as a guarantee to leave Li Jing's life.

This series of storms blew down, and the ministers of the Tang Kingdom finally understood that His Majesty the Emperor was pursuing the rebellion, and it was true that he was taking the opportunity to repair the cronies of the King of Qin and build it for the crown prince. Thinking of the fact that Liu Wenjing could not escape the sky with two gold medals for avoiding death, he never dared to openly befriend King Qin from then on.

However, some low-level generals felt that Li Yuan's hand was too unrighteous. On the contrary, he deepened his sympathy for King Qin. This was unexpected by Li Yuanjunchen, but there was nothing to be done.

When the turmoil in the capital finally calmed down, the time was in the middle of summer. Good news came from the north, Dingyang Khan Liu Wuzhou went out hunting, fell off his horse, broke his head, and could not come to the court to ask about politics. The right servant shot Pei Lin once again proposed to lead the troops to the north, and by the way, he recruited the heroes of the north for the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan thought about it, and fulfilled the private promise of the two before.

Before the army left, Li Yuan took Pei Lian's hand and whispered: "Xuan Zhen, although you are good at planning, you are not a general. If it weren't for me, no one would dare to use it for a while, and I would never let you lead your troops to the battle. This time, Hedong can force Liu Wu and Zhou to be in chaos, and it is difficult to gain a foothold in Taiyuan. You don't have to ask for anything to win. Don't be anxious even if you're frustrated. Steadily and steadily, our national strength and military strength are ten times greater than Liu Wuzhou's, and the consumption can also consume him to death! ”

"Thank you, Lord!" After listening to this, Pei Lin hugged his fists and gave Li Yuan a military salute. He gathered an army of 50,000 and rode north.

A war dragged on for nearly four months from the beginning of planning to the specific execution, and the ministers under Liu Wuzhou, even if they were all deaf, had the institute to prepare. As soon as the two sides fought, Pei Lin suffered a big loss at the hands of the fierce general Wei Chi Jingde under Liu Wuzhou, and was shot by the opponent's six generals. The 50,000 soldiers and horses could not receive effective command orders and collapsed. I ran backwards for more than 200 miles, and I couldn't stand firm until I reached the foot of Jiujing Mountain.

With Li Yuan's previous assurance, although Pei Lin was defeated, he was not chaotic. He reorganized his troops and horses, guarded the road up the mountain and the back path, and wrote a letter to the imperial court asking for reinforcements. Wei Chi Jingde chased to the foot of Jiujing Mountain, and he didn't wait to take a step forward several times. I also heard that the Boling Army and the Youzhou Army had recently intended to move westward, and they were worried about the safety of Liu Wuzhou and had to withdraw their troops back to Taiyuan.

The danger ahead has been resolved, and the follow-up reinforcements have not arrived. Pei Lin had enough time to spare, and immediately summoned Chen Liangcheng, a military general stationed in Shangdang County, to discuss with him about the surrender of Cheng Mingzhen. Chen Liangcheng was a distant nephew of the late chief minister Shi Chen Yanshou, who was demoted to a local military attache because he was unfavorable in the battle with Chai Shao last year when he passed through Hebei. A few days ago, Chen Yanshou's funeral, he was not qualified to participate because he was a guilty person. At present, Geng Geng Yu Huai smiled after hearing Pei Lian's plan, and said very disdainfully: "If the boss doesn't come sooner or later, why did he choose to surrender his surname Cheng at this time?" A few months earlier, he could still earn a piece of land for Datang, but now he is about to become a lost dog, what is the use of recruiting him? ”

"How do you say this, didn't he just fall out with Dou Jiande?" Pei Lin was startled when he heard this, frowned and asked.

"Hehe, I don't know yet, right?" mentioned what happened to Cheng Mingzhen, Chen Liangcheng felt relieved. "This kid is like a tiger, born and died for Dou Jiande. But he didn't expect Dou Jiande to be worried about his territory. Some time ago, I wanted to recruit him to the palace to design and kill his soldiers and horses. Unexpectedly, he saw through it and fled overnight. But when the monk ran away, he couldn't run away from the temple, and when Dou Jiande was there, he persuaded Yang Gongqing, Wang Bo, Gao Kaidao and others together in less than two months. Then several armies went west at the same time, and Mingzhen that kid could indeed fight, but a good tiger couldn't stand a pack of wolves. At that time, I did not dare to act rashly without His Majesty's order. Otherwise, if I take the opportunity to climb over Taihang Mountain and insert another knife in his back, the person surnamed Cheng will die immediately! ”

"I know Chen Gongnai for the past." Pei Lin mentioned it seemingly irrelevantly, then smiled and continued: "You have the intention to kill the enemy and serve the country, and your heart is commendable. Your Majesty would be very happy if he knew. But that Cheng Mingzhen was told by me to His Majesty before I set out to surrender. Although he is in trouble now, it is always easier to give charcoal in the snow than icing on the cake, which is grateful. If you have any news about him, you may wish to tell me along with it. No matter how many people are left under his command, as long as he is alive, I must find him! ”

"It's going to be hard. Predecessor! Chen Liangcheng is a clever person, scratched his head, and the tone of his speech was changed to the tone of the younger generation to the elders: "I heard that a few months ago, the surname Cheng fought the last battle with Dou Jiande, and all the two counties of Xiangguo and Wu'an were put into it. Thanks to his familiarity with the road, he escaped into the giant deer. The giant deer is a big puddle, and the terrain changes every quarter. Without an insider to lead the way, Dou Jiande didn't dare to rush in. If you want to recruit him, you must first find the person who can enter Juluze. ”

"It's not that hard!" Pei Lin smiled and replied confidently. A few days ago, Wang Deren also hid in Taihang Mountain. I'm going to go and recruit him first. Although my Datang official is easy to do, he always has to pay a letter of nomination! ”

"Seniors are ready to recruit Wang Deren!" As soon as he heard this, Chen Liangcheng immediately came to his senses. "I know where he is? Before the beginning of spring, that kid once wanted to climb out of the mountain to find food, but I took someone to beat him up. If Your Majesty is willing to surrender him, I will send troops and horses to block his doorstep and keep it, so that I can sign an alliance under the city! ”

"No need!" Pei Lin waved his hand gently. "Eat the rice in one bite. Wang Deren was just an additive, and he couldn't use a large army to enter the mountains. Help me find a few brave locals to deliver a letter to Wang Junkuo in Hanoi for me. As long as Wang Junkuo can be subdued, Wang Deren is the turtle in the urn, and he has no choice but to be captured! ”

"It's easy for everyone to find. But ....... Chen Liangcheng didn't believe his ears a little. Wang Junkuo is also a fierce general, and he is known as Li Mi's favor. Hundreds of miles away, Pei Lin actually thought that a letter could recruit him, he was simply daydreaming. But his official position is 108,000 miles away from Pei Lian, and he can't figure out the other party's temperament, so the words of advice are not good, and he can't say it too bluntly, so he has to frown and act like a complaining woman.

In the end, Jiang is still old and spicy, and as soon as he saw Chen Liangcheng's expression, Pei Lin guessed the true thoughts in the other party's heart. He smiled and nodded and whispered, "You go and find the messenger." If this is successful, you will have half of it. If I don't take all the responsibilities, I will never let your junior suffer for me! ”

"The younger generations are not afraid to take responsibility! I just don't want to see my predecessors being ridiculed by thieves! The younger generation went to find people, and several big merchants in the city have been doing business in Hanoi County. Chen Liangcheng smiled wryly, turned around and retired. After a while, a businessman surnamed Liu in his forties was found to come and wait for the dispatch.

Pei Lin put down his body and said a few words to the merchant, and then asked him to send the written letter to Hanoi, no matter what means were used, Wang Junkuo would definitely be able to see it. Then he took out a letter of recommendation and put it on his desk, and promised with a smile: "Chang'an and Longyou are determined to have some materials at the beginning, and there is a shortage of them. His Majesty is afraid that profiteers will see the profits, and they will be shoddy, so they have always intended to find a few powerful businesses in Hedong to supply the inner palace. You are willing to take the risk to run for me, old man, and nothing else can give you the title of a righteous businessman, but you can still do the master! ”

"Thank you, Boss, for making it happen!" The merchant was still full of embarrassment at first, and Pei Lin was about to deliver such a big deal to his head, and immediately bowed down. "Although the boss is relieved, even if he is small, he will not dare to live up to the trust of the adult. The reputation of the disadvantage has always been well-known in the area of Hedong, and when His Majesty raised troops, the disadvantage was ......."

"Go ahead, and when I come back, I'll write all the credit on the fold!" Pei Lin waved his hand to stop the merchant's boasting. Hedong merchants have had a reputation for being bold and poisonous since ancient times, but when Taiyuan raised troops, except for the clansmen of Sicang who joined the army, that is, the samurai who did the timber business, no business was optimistic about Li Yuan's future. Therefore, the material supply of the Tang Dynasty is almost monopolized by the Hedong martial artists. Li Yuan was worried that the tail of the martial arts family would not be lost, and he had been thinking about finding some people to share the profits of the martial family. If the Liu family firm could make a contribution at this moment, wouldn't it just solve another trouble for the imperial court?

In such a smooth business, Pei Lin certainly wouldn't tell Shopkeeper Liu too clearly. The other party is also a clever person, good at observing words and feelings. Seeing that Pei Lin already had impatience on his face, he hurriedly made a gesture and walked backwards to say goodbye and go out.

There are more than three times the profit in the businessman dares to risk his head. This saying is applicable to all ancient and modern Chinese and foreign countries. I don't know what method was used, and five days later, Pei Lian's letter was delivered to the desk of Wang Junkuo, the chief of the Wagang Army in Hanoi. Wang Junkuo was not Li Mi's descendant in the first place, and there was a gap between the main camp of the Wagang Army, and the exchange of news and materials was not smooth between Xu Maogong's Liyang battalion, so he became increasingly estranged from Li Mi. At this moment, I received Pei Lian's letter, and I sighed for a long time, and I couldn't let go of my heart.

In the evening, when I went home, I took out the letter and discussed it with my wife. His wife is the maid of the Great Sui Palace given by Li Mi, and she has always had some vision. smiled and persuaded in a low voice: "Pei Lian, this old guy is so calculating, he actually talked about your boss and old friends back then. In order to achieve hegemony, even if my father was cooked, he had to share a spoonful of soup to drink, what was the brother back then? ”

"!" When Wang Junkuo heard this, he was furious and pushed his wife to the corner of the bed. "Those are the good brothers I made when I was poor, and I vowed to live and die together. Others can be so hard to meet their swords, but I can't pull that face! ”

"Then what if one day the Wagang Army and the Tang Dynasty go to war, the general and his former brothers meet on the battlefield, what will the general do?" The woman didn't feel aggrieved when she was beaten, but smiled, slowly got up from the corner of the bed, rubbed her thrusted shoulder, and asked softly.

"Then that ......," Wang Junkuo shook his head bitterly and repeated a few words in Pei Lian's letter in a low voice, "Hold the strings and ascend the throne, wouldn't you be scared!" This Pei Lao'er is really *** lacking in morality......"

The woman pursed her lips and smiled, admiring Wang Junkuo's current appearance very much, "Li Mi's guy even dared to kill the general with his life-saving benefactor Zhai Rang, do you think that guy is a person who can be rich and noble?" ”

"Alas!" Wang Junkuo shook his head slightly. His eyes couldn't hide his disappointment with the Wagang Army.

"In that case, the general simply surrendered to Datang, forget it, anyway, he will be an official wherever he goes!" The woman smiled and continued to persuade gently.

"Forget it?" Wang Junkuo looked at his wife's coquettish smile and frowned and asked.

"Isn't it? There is nothing to be nostalgic about the Wagang Army! The woman nodded, and there was a hint of cunning in her eyes.

"In that case, why didn't you say it earlier, and you have to go around the bend to get angry with me!" Wang Junkuo slapped it and fell gently like a feather when he reached the position.

"Smack!" There is a soft crunch in the contact between the palm of the hand and the body. Followed by another ** low cry, the candle flame was instantly extinguished. On summer nights, the moonlight gently ripples in the wind.