Soon after Pei Gai returned to Chang'an from Jinyang, Li Ju and Li Maoyue came to greet him and said: "Before coming from Jiankang, the king Yi Shao and Yu Zhigong of the minister's family wanted to see the Ming Gong. ”

Wang Xizhi and Yu Yi traveled north and west, obviously to study, but in fact, the main purpose was for the Jiangnan family to send these two children over to test Pei Gai's true intentions, and try to eliminate friction and get closer to each other. However, the two were obsessed with calligraphy, and they were troublesome and unwilling to pay attention to the family's mission, so they delayed mentioning the matter of meeting Pei Gai.

It wasn't until Pei should leave Chang'an and lead the troops to Jinyang that the two children finally remembered the family's trust, so they went to ask Li Ju twice in three days, when will Da Sima return? We hope to be able to meet him.

Pei Gai naturally knew their intentions, but he deliberately hung it, if you don't ask for it, I won't urge it - anyway, it's trying to destroy the caravan, how to clean up the Jiangnan regime, and can't put it on the agenda, you are not in a hurry, so what am I anxious about?

Therefore, it was not until this time that Li Ju conveyed the meaning of the second son, and Pei Gai agreed, saying that I had been away from Chang'an for a long time, so I had to be busy with official business first, and I would have to wait for a few days to be free, and then I would summon them to see him.

Three days later, Wang Xizhi and Yu Yi came together, please sign up. Pei should let them into the study, and the guests and hosts sat down - they were all chairs, although Yu Yi was not very used to it, he still sat down, but Wang Xizhi still sat on the chair and knelt, and his demeanor was very dignified. The height and bottom of the two families of Wang and Yu, and the looseness and strictness of the family style, can also be seen from this.

However, compared with the expression of the second son, Wang Xizhi was more relaxed, but Yu Yi felt quite cramped, and he didn't even know where to put his hands and feet. After all, he is only a sixteen-and-a-half-year-old child, not like Wang Xi's age of eighteen, even in the future life, he can be regarded as an adult.

Moreover, Wang Xizhi had seen Pei Gai in Jiankang before, and he was a gift of his son and nephew.

In fact, if it is really calculated according to generation, Pei Gai is Wang Rong's grandson, Wang Rong's grandfather Wang Xiong and Wang Lan are brothers, Wang Lan gave birth to Wang Zheng, Wang Zheng gave birth to Wang Kuang, and Wang Kuang gave birth to Xizhi - then Pei Gai still has to call Wang Xi "uncle"...... It's just that Wang Xiong and Wang Lan have been separated for a long time, and Pei should be counted from Concubine Pei, and he is the same generation as Sima Rui, so how dare Director Wang call himself "uncle"? Since Director Wang has a relationship with Pei Gai's peers, Wang Xizhi naturally has to be a head shorter.

Therefore, Pei Gai said that they were all friends, relatives and friends, and in the private room, there was no need to talk about MG, so Wang Xizhi said: "Jiankang is goodbye, the contract is wide for several years, and I have to listen to my uncle's teachings again, and I am overjoyed." Then he took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve, presented them with both hands, and said, "This is the little nephew's recent study, and I respectfully invite my uncle to be elegant and axe-correct." ”

When Yu Yi heard this, he quickly took out a few pieces of paper and handed them to Pei Gai. Pei Gai smiled on his face, but said in his heart: Let me correct the calligraphy of the "calligraphy saint"? Isn't that embarrassing......

Pretended to unfold it to look at it carefully, and then "tsk" was surprised, and even said "good words". Then he said to the two: "There is no order to learn, the master is the first, I have never been good at calligraphy, the word of the second son, but I know that it is good, and I can't say more than one word." He casually put the scroll on the case, and asked: "Since Qing and the others have come to Chang'an, they have lived for some time, have you enjoyed the beautiful scenery inside and outside the city?" What do you see? ”

Calligraphy is an art, not a technique, and technology may even be practiced repeatedly behind closed doors and studied alone, but art must be widely exposed to society, and even to the hearts of people, in order to achieve a masterpiece. Therefore, since these two children came to Chang'an, it is impossible for them to stay in Li Ju's mansion all day long, listen to Mrs. Wei's teachings, or bury their heads in hard practice, they will inevitably go out and walk around to find inspiration.

Wang Xizhi replied: "The scenery of Guanxi is very different from the south of the Yangtze River, and it is very different from the hometown of the foolish nephew (Langya, Xuzhou), although the phenology is similar, the mountains, rivers, grass and trees, and even the customs and speeches are also very different. The foolish nephew traveled north this time, and deeply felt that the country is big, the world is vast, and there are many famous mountains and beautiful rivers, and the wonder is indeed in calligraphy, which is quite helpful. ”

Pei Gaixin said yes, the original history of the "sage" nested in the south of the Yangtze River all his life, what he saw was narrow, and it would inevitably affect his attainments in calligraphy, if he could travel all over the north and south in this life, and see the mountains and rivers, maybe the achievement could be more peak--it is also a merit of mine. It's just that what I originally wanted to hear was not these empty words-

"Can you say anything about my administration?"

Wang Xi was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Yu Yi. This guy is obsessed with calligraphy, doesn't pay much attention to foreign affairs, and has little political interest, so he can't answer Pei Gai's question at all. Seeing this, Yu Yi immediately replied on behalf of his friend: "In Chang'an City, there is order, which is far better than Jiankang." Unfortunately, if the population is not yet prosperous, it is better to build a healthy population. ”

Pei Caixin said that this is not nonsense, Chang'an has been repeatedly attacked by soldiers, when I first came, there were only thousands of people in the city, it is not as good as a middle school in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is not as good as Jiankang? Since the "Five Horses Nandu", Wang, Yu and others are all based on Sima Rui, Nandu scholars, seventy percent of them ran to Jiankang, and the inside and outside of Nantang were almost crowded, and there were many natural people, not comparable to Chang'an - even if it was returned to the north one after another because of the Central Plains regulations, there should be a lot left. As for Chang'an, it is precisely because of the sparse population in the city that it will be more orderly than Jiankang - even in the era when Suo Qi was in power.

He asked a few more questions, but Yu Yi couldn't say anything ugly, so he just asked. Originally, he wanted to show the second son a new order that was different from the past, as well as his own ability to control the country, or he could put pressure on the Wang family from the side, but it was a pity that the two boys were not interested in political affairs—at least not yet—they couldn't see it at all.

However, in this way, there is nothing to say, and the scene is somewhat awkward. Yu Yi held back for a while before he finally had the courage to speak: "When the kid comes, the eldest in the family, the boy with many lives greets Da Sima......"

Wang Xizhi hurriedly said: "Exactly." Uncle Maohong also ordered his nephew to pay tribute to his uncle, and when Yun Qi sponsored his uncle to cross the river in the past, he was unexpectedly able to succeed in the Northern Expedition, and even reverted to Luo, Zuo Tianzi, Dingguanxi, and exterminated Hu Kou. Uncle Maohong was both pleased and envious of this achievement, and he thought about saying goodbye to his uncle and asking for benefits in person. ”

Naturally, this was taught by Wang Dao and others sentence by sentence, and the meaning in it was infinite. First mentioned the word "sponsorship", it was for the sake of the good of the past, and it was quite self-proclaimed, which means: If it weren't for our support back then, would Pei Wenyue be able to have today? You must not live up to your old kindness, and your friends are enemies.

Of course, if there is only this previous sentence, it may be contrary to Pegai's anger, so he later compliments Pegai, and shows that we recognize and sincerely respect your current achievements, and are willing to bow their heads and live under you.

Of course, Pei Gai did not misunderstand the true meaning of the words, and immediately nodded with a smile and said: "Our country is a heavy responsibility, and it is not advisable to stay away. It's time to wait. ”

The implication is: I am now the ruling power of the country, and my position is already higher than yours, do you still need to deliberately use the word "please benefit" to express your willingness to be in the lower position? If you want to reaffirm the old friendship, you should naturally cross the river to humble yourself, and at the same time, it also shows that the Jiankang regime is completely subservient to the Luoyang court.

As for Yu Yi, he was taught other words by Yu Liang and others: "The former Jiangdong was in turmoil, and the king of Danyang belittled Diao Xuanliang and begged to arrest Liu Dalian, but he heard that Liu Dalian fled north and came to Guanzhong to attach to Da Sima, I don't know if this matter is true?" ”

When Pei Gai heard this, he smiled and asked rhetorically: "Qing is in Li Maoyue's mansion, has it been that Liu Dalian is where he is now, and he has never heard of any position?" "Why do you knowingly ask?

"In the Jiangnan Rebellion, the sin lies in Zhou, Shen, Diao Xuanliang, and Liu Dalian, or there may be drastic changes, but they will not die. Today, Xuanliang died in vain and Shen Chong was born instead, and there are many hidden songs in Jiankang's play, which are not all untrue, and they are trying to destroy the karma for the country, and they can't be clearly examined by the committee. The king of Danyang is like Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, who did not send troops to fight Wu Chu and punished Chao first, and his stupidity is like this, but I don't know who is Yuan An? ! ”

Chao Cuo's radical method of cutting the feudal domain was indeed a major cause of the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu, but Yuan Ang persuaded Emperor Jing to kill him, mainly to avoid his own calamity and revenge, and it was really not for state affairs. Besides, thinking that if Chao is wrong and dies, chaos will end, and Wu Chu and other parliaments will take the initiative to collect troops and return to the domain, which is completely nonsense - if Yuan Ang really believes what he says, then he is a stupid uncle; If it is just a lie, it is an unforgivable sin than a mistake.

Pei Gai took this as an example, that is, the sword pointed at the Langya Wang family. Because there is no definite evidence, it is difficult for him to say that the rebellion of Zhou and Shen must have been instigated by the Wang family, but he can only say that Wang Dao and Wang Dun took advantage of the chaos to kill Diao Xie and Liu Kui, purely out of selfish intentions - just like Yuan An. He also said: "For the sake of the country's plan to destroy karma, the committee members cannot just see it." "In fact, it is conveying such a message: whether this matter has to be settled after the autumn depends on my mood, and it also depends on whether you will do it!

However, Wang and Yu were young and naturally difficult to comprehend Pei Gai's deep meaning, so they could only memorize what Da Sima said, every word, and even his expressions and movements when he spoke, so that after returning to Jiankang in the future, he would report to his elders at home. And Yu Yi was taught by Yu Liang, and suddenly mentioned Liu Kui's return to Chang'an, in fact, he had ulterior motives:

Diao Xuanliang and Liu Dalian may have grievances, and the younger generations have also found out. That is, Liu Dalian escaped from Jiankang on the same day, and when he crossed the river to the north, he was also rescued by his brother......"

"Oh?" Pei Gai seemed a little interested when he heard this, "but he didn't hear Dalian mention ......"

Yu Yi explained: "Liu Dalian may not know ......" so when Liu Kui fled in the carriage and horse of Wuxing Wangfu that day, Yu Liang saw it on the way, and Yu Liang replied to Qian Feng perfunctory, not to catch up. Pei Cai listened, and couldn't help but laugh secretly in his heart: No wonder you also came to Chang'an with Wang Yishao, it turns out that the Yu family also has the intention of clinging......

After thinking about it, he said: "Brother Ling and I used to be in Wang Maohong's mansion, and we had a lot of dealings, but although we were filthy later, it was mostly because of state affairs, and it was not selfish. But everyone is working hard for the country, and it is difficult to settle down, so why worry about the past? If Brother Ling indulges in Dalian, I know that he is not on good terms with Dalian, but I am not willing to harm him because of his personal anger. And Brother Ling is just forced by the situation. ”

"Forced by the situation", this can also be understood from another angle, it is "used by people" - Yu Liang is just a sharp blade of Wang Dao, if I give up my past suspicions with the Wang family, I will not blame Yu Liang anymore. Of course, the premise is that what Wang and Yu will do in the future must satisfy me.

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A few days after seeing Wang and Yu Er, Luoyang sent an urgent envoy to come, and the cloud thief approached Chenggao and Luozhong was empty, hoping that Da Sima could send troops to the east and temporarily stationed in Hongnong in case of emergency.

Pei Gai summoned the generals to discuss, Tao Kan was quite surprised, and asked: "The ancestor guards Xingyang, can't he protect Chenggao, but actually make the thieves approach?" ”

Pei Gai said: "In the past, I once patrolled Chenggao Pass with Zu Shizhi, and relayed Tao Jun's words, Zu Shizhiyun should build more Guancheng in order to prepare for emergencies, and build fortifications on the four mountains, and control it with horns. In my mind, I must have thought that Chenggao was dangerous, and the thief could not be spared, so there was no need to be prepared for heavy troops. However, it is not surprising that the elders of the DPRK and China are not familiar with military affairs, or because they are terrified because of this, they urgently summoned me. ”

Pei Wei said: "There is no reason for the soldiers to win, even if the ancestor is good at fighting, after all, the thieves will send troops to the country, in case they are subject to the outnumbered situation, and the opportunity is lost, so that the thieves break into Yiluo, then the morale of the people will be lost." Since it is a call to the court, the Ming Duke should urgently send troops to the east. He was looking forward to Pei Cai going to Luo quickly, so he naturally instigated it.

All the generals also asked for orders, and they were willing to go first.

Pei Gai said: "If Luoyang is really critical, the court will summon me to lead the army to the king, and now I will garrison Hongnong, which shows that the situation is not yet to the point where I will come out in person - send an army to Keye." ”

He also understands that the Xun family will not want to return to Luo, and the Zu family is probably not happy, so if I hurriedly run to Hongnong, and then I have to go to the court, saying that Luoyang is safe, Da Sima, you can return to Chang'an, then I will not only work in vain, but also lose face. Therefore, Pei Wei insisted on asking, but Pei Gai just didn't allow it.

Zhen returned from suppressing bandits from Taibai Mountain, and immediately rushed to say: "I will return to Chang'an in front of me, and the Ming Duke will be in Luoyang or there will be a police, and when the time comes, my generals can go to Yuqi - I was not allowed to fight Shihu before, and I will not be allowed to fight Shile now?" This time, Hongnong will be led by the last general! ”

Pei Gai's words the day before yesterday were really perfunctory, but since he said it, it was inconvenient to break his word and gain weight at this time. But if you want to come, you will run Hongnong to stay for a few days, theoretically, Zu Ti will not drop the chain seventy percent, and Chenggao Pass will not be lost, maybe Zhen Sui will not come to Hongnong, he will receive a paper order to retreat. If he is willing to toss, then let him go, it can be regarded as a big pull practice.

So he ordered Zhen to be the main general, Dong Biao to be the deputy general, and led a brigade of about 10,000 people, Keri left Chang'an and entered Hongnong.

However, not long after Zhen Sui left, another fast horse galloped into Chang'an City and presented Pei Wei with a joint letter from Wang Gong and Pei Xu. Pei Wei was shocked when he saw the letter, and hurriedly ran to meet Pei Gai, and said: "Luozhong has changed rapidly, and the court has killed Sheng Gong!" ”

When Pei Gai heard this, he couldn't help but be shocked, and hurriedly asked, "Who harmed Brother Sheng Gong?!" What is his crime, how dare the court do this? Hurriedly took the letter handed over by Pei Wei and looked at it carefully.

After reading it, the first thing he asked was: "Why is Wang Zi in Luozhong?" ”