In the spring of the third year of Jingde, the imperial court ordered Murong, the king of Liao, to help Liu Yan, the governor of Pingzhou, and send troops to attack Goguryeo.

At this time, the prestige of the Murong clan was extremely strong, half of Youzhou, and its land was connected to Tuoba in the west, and there were conflicts between the two families from time to time. Murong sent people to Luo many times to ask for performances, hoping that the imperial court would send a brigade to the north and join him to attack the east Tuoba "will definitely enter Yushengle in one fell swoop, capture the Qi clan and He, and eliminate border troubles." ”

Although Dong Tuoba was also nominally subservient to the Hua Dynasty, Tuoba He's acceptance of the title of king was a reluctant and impatient move after all, and it became increasingly difficult to restrain his subordinates, resulting in constant conflicts on the border, so it was logical for Murong to ask Tuoba to be defeated.

However, the courtiers discussed, but they thought that Tuoba especially the East Tuoba was no longer a concern, and only Murong was the hidden danger. In the final analysis, Dongtuoba is just stealing a few counties from the homeland of the Jin Dynasty, but Murong occupies most of Youzhou, nearly six counties, from western Liaoxi to Dai County. It's just that I think it was the Central Plains Dynasty that invited them to come in to help suppress Hu Xuan, but now even if the dynasty changes, it is impossible to make an edict on paper, so let people obediently quit.

Pei Cainai summoned Liu Kun to ask you that the land was cut by you, and now I want to take it back, you have to give an idea.

Although Liu Yueshi is famous, he is actually difficult to deputy, but he is not a mediocre person, and immediately suggested that Murong's staff officers Lu Chang and Yang Tan could be recruited to serve as the Taishou of Youzhou Prefecture.

Since these people were Murong's subordinates, they were left to their guards, and on the surface, they seemed to recognize Murong's right to rule over the counties of Youzhou, and believed that Murong would not refuse. However, they are so bad that they are Chinese, as long as they leave Murong's side and enter the herdsmen of China, after a long time, they will naturally be separated from the nomadic tribes, and the land under their jurisdiction can also be owned by the imperial court. And even if they don't put themselves in the right position, it is a common practice to keep the prime minister for three years, at most they are allowed to serve two terms, and when the time comes, they will be recalled to Luoyang, and it will be easy for others, and Murong will have nothing to say.

So he immediately ordered Yang Tan to be the Taishou of Daijun, Lu Chang to be the Taishou of Guangning, Fengxian to be the Taishou of Shanggu, You Di to be the Taishou of Yanjun, Xiqian to be the Taishou of Beiping, and still to Murong Han as the Taishou of Liaoxi.

As for Murong's request to attack the Eastern Tuoba, Pei Wei, Zu Ti and others all believed: "The Eastern Tuoba is declining and not a disaster, that is, if it wants to be destroyed, it should also be sent by the imperial court to recover the lost land and collect its people, and if Murong gets it, it will be difficult to restrain it." "Your Murong clan is very strong now, not weaker than Tuoba Yilu in the past, if you want to annex Dong Tuoba again, then do you still have it?

However, the emperor is far away, if it weren't for the imperial court not letting Murong go to fight the eastern Tuoba, he would definitely not dare to act rashly, and even if he asked to play now, it was just a matter of affection, if he was not invited, the imperial court would not have a problem with him. Therefore, after repeated discussions, in order to find an outlet for the Murong forces, an edict was issued to conquer Goguryeo.

Goguryeo lived among the mountains east of Liaoshui, and was a species of Buyeo and Bao, and strictly speaking, it belonged to a fishing and hunting people rather than a nomadic people, just like the later Jurchens. If Murong Xi attacked Tuoba, the two families were not only nomads, but also belonged to the same Xianbei, although it was just a big name, in fact, the customs and habits were far away, so they wanted to occupy their land and herded their people, which was very convenient; And if the east attacks Goguryeo, the Murong Department of the nomads may not be able to deal with those fishing and hunting peoples, it is difficult to find land, it is difficult to herdize its people, and even if it gets some benefits, it will not be very large.

And because of the complex terrain, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has conquered Goguryeo many times, but it is often easy to defeat and difficult to destroy. During the Cao Wei era, Qiu Jian once entered his capital and chased his king, but he could not occupy his land, and it was not long before Goguryeo made a comeback and disturbed Liaodong.

In the original history, Goguryeo reached its peak in the fifth century, and then it was forced by the Central Plains Dynasty to gradually shift the ruling center from Liaoning to the northern part of the peninsula.

Since it is difficult, let the Murong clan gnaw on it to consume his excess energy.

When Goguryeo was the reign of King Yifuli of Meichuan, the administration was harsh, the country was chaotic, and the people's hearts were uncertain, so they repeatedly disturbed Liaodong, in order to pass on the internal contradictions, so Murong sent his son Murong to lead the troops to meet with Liu Yan, and traced the Mazishui (Yalu River) up, won consecutive battles, and broke through the capital of Jingmaru in a few months, and then like Qiu Jian back then, a fire was burned to the ground. However, King Mikawa, like his ancestors, had no way to govern the country, ran as fast as he could, and fled east into the Buxian Mountains, making it difficult for the Chinese army to search for him.

In the end, Murong only captured thousands of families and returned them to the headquarters, and immediately ordered to reward Murong and summon Murong to the pilgrimage, that is, to confer a prominent position, and stay without sending it.

Liu Yan was ordered to march south after the war, and led his troops into Lelang and Daifang, in order to drive back the three Hans and restore the power of the Central Plains Dynasty in the northern part of the peninsula.

In the autumn, the Son of Heaven Shengshou was in vain according to custom, Pei Gai was already thirty-four years old, and the ministers invited a big feast and pardoned death, and the whole world congratulated, but like the previous two years, they were all rejected by Pei Gai.

How did the emperor celebrate his birthday? In the past, it was all a private matter of the Son of Heaven, at most, he summoned the ministers of the clan or literary attendants to have a birthday banquet and sing poems, which basically did not disturb the courtiers or even the common people. Originally, in history, it was not until one or two hundred years later that Emperor Wu of Liang, Emperor Yuan of Liang and other Buddhas prayed for their parents on their birthdays, and gradually formed the prototype of the holy birthday celebration.

In the third year of Renshou in the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen Yang Jian issued an edict: "June 13 is my birthday, and it is advisable to order the sea to be slaughtered for Emperor Wuyuan and Empress Yuanming." That is to say, on this day, no livestock was allowed to be slaughtered in the whole world, so the private affairs of the Son of Heaven were officially transformed into state affairs. Until the narcissistic Tang Xuanzong, in the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan, his birthday was set as the "Thousand Autumn Festival", and later renamed "Tianchang Festival", and the emperor's birthday became a legal holiday......

Pei Gai neither believes in Buddhism, nor is he so narcissistic, and he doesn't plan to make his birthday too grand, so the first two years were just a day of resignation and a simple celebration with his wife and children in the palace. This year's holy birthday is approaching, and Queen Xun came to ask, is it better to follow the practice of the year before and last year? Pei Gai shook his head and said, "I intend to invite my uncle and brothers, sons and nephews to a banquet this year, and celebrate with my relatives and relatives." "We can make it a little bit more lively.

So when the day came, the nobles of the clan would be forbidden. The main ones include Anfeng County Gong Pei Cui, Donghai County Gong Pei Wei, Xiping County Gong Pei Zhen, Lecheng County Gong Pei Bin, Gaoyang County Gong Pei Tong, Wuyuan County Gong Pei Tong, Xiangyuan County Gong Pei Zhan, Weiyang County Hou Peisi, as well as Pei Xu (Anfeng Gong Hei), Pei Kai (Donghai Gong Hei) and Pei Chang (Weiyang Hou Hei).

This is a family banquet or a family banquet, so everyone brought their wives, among which Pei Bin's son was the longest, who was already ten years old, and the rest of the third generation were mostly still in swaddling clothes. In addition, Pei Gai still has an aunt, married to Wei Shaozi Wei, a young widow, and is currently living according to her husband from her younger brother Wei Zhan, and she was also invited to come alone.

Wenxi Pei's family is flourishing and has many lineages, but after the Jin Dynasty was in turmoil, most of the main branches (Pei Mao's descendants) died, and the rest are these people, in fact, there are also the nephews of the Pei family of Weimen, Pei Xian's second sons, Pei Ru and Pei, but because of the attachment, they have long been removed from the clan register.

Therefore, in addition to the Weimen Pei family, the main participants belong to three branches: first, after Pei Hui, Pei Cui's father and son and Pei Bao's sons of Xipei; the second is after Pei Ji, the two sons of Pei Wei and Pei Wu of Dong Pei; The third is that Pei Si and Pei Chang's father and son are actually very estranged from each other, and they may not be as good as Pei Shuo, who once held the power of the clan, but he was the earliest to hold Pei Gai's thigh, and he came to follow each other after crossing to the south, so he took a big advantage.

At this time, Pei Cui had been relieved of his post as the assassin of Yongzhou and was reappointed as a servant; Pei Tong also ceased to serve as the assassin of Yanzhou, and was transferred to the military department; The only foreign appointment was Pei Kai, who was the assassin of Yuzhou, and happened to rush back to Luo to report on his work, and escorted the criminals.

What sinners? It is the Xiangcheng County Guard Cao Ling. Cao Wei was demoted to the Jin Dynasty before, and was arranged by the Xun family in Xiangcheng, although he tried his best to clamp his tail to be a man, after all, he had disturbed and divided Qingzhou for a long time, and there were many people in the court who hated him, and he didn't know how many pairs of eyes he had been firmly staring at Xiangcheng County. Finally, Pei Xu and Xiong Yuan got evidence from different channels, and they impeached Cao Wei for raising dead soldiers, and there were evil intentions, so Shang Shu immediately made a book, dismissed him from his duties, and escorted him to Luoyang for interrogation.

Therefore, during the banquet, after the celebration, Pei should have expressed his condolences to Pei Kai for his return, and by the way, he turned his head and asked Pei Wei and Pei Xu: "Can Cao Wei be killed?" Pei Xuan smiled and said: "Everyone can kill, if Your Majesty also has this heart, then it will be killed." ”

Of course Pei Gai hated Cao Wei, that guy also belonged to the anti-thief forces that raged in the Central Plains at the end of the Jin Dynasty, and the cruelty and crime he had committed were monstrous, how could he become a minister of the new dynasty and enjoy his life? Besides, it wasn't what I meant to recruit An Cao Wei at the beginning, it was all done by the Xun bureaucrats; And even Zu Ti has played secretly many times, and Yun Cao can't stay, so can that guy still survive?

He said to Pei Xu: "It must be determined as an iron case, and it must be invulnerable, and the law can be corrected." "If he was to blame for the past, Cao Wei would have died a long time ago, but the new dynasty has been under Zen for nearly three years, and it will be difficult to convince people to wait until the situation in Yan and Yu is stable. Then you can only kill him on the charges of impeachment, at most add "evil and not afraid", and you must not repent, but you must be convicted of the crime, and do not tell the truth.

Pei Xuan arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, relax your heart, it's all on the minister." "Thinking that Cao Wei is a rotten egg, it is easy to find the cracks in the eggshell, and even if it is a blame, no one dares not believe it.

Empress Xun interjected in time: "Today's family gathering, Your Majesty should not talk more about state affairs. "Are you right for you to say that there are women and children at the table?

Pei Caina smiled, raised his glass again, and everyone left the table to congratulate. It wasn't until he was full of wine and food that he let the women and children go down to rest for the time being, and Pei should have a special meeting with the relatives in the side hall, and put forward a major event in this regard:

"Yes, please seal the feudal kingdom, what do you think?"

"Feudal feudal state", that is, to be crowned king. Although Pei Xiu-Pei is originally thin, now Pei should be alone, let alone his own brother, even his cousins owe Feng originally had a cousin Pei Jing, and there was no news after Yongjia, it stands to reason that I heard that my cousin became the emperor, so I should come to vote, since I don't come, it is estimated that it is hanging, and there is no heir Unless Pei should give birth to a son, there is no king to be sealed.

However, it has been a practice since the Zhou Dynasty to seal the feudal brothers, of course, there was no emperor at that time, and there were no princes, but some ministers suggested canonizing several feudal kings to screen the royal family. Pei should suspect that this is Pei Wei or Pei Xu's idea, because only two of Pei have high merit, and they were prime ministers at the beginning of the country, so if they are crowned kings, these two goods are qualified.

Of course, based on the two people's understanding of Pei Cai's governance philosophy, it is estimated that if they are crowned kings, most of them will no longer be able to accept the position of prime minister, but Pei Wei can give up the throne to his brother Pei Kai, and Pei Xu can also find an excuse to transfer it to his cousin Pei Zhen Of course, it is still in the Son of Heaven, just like when Pei Ci let the Duke of Julu County and his brother Pei Jing, Emperor Jin Hui refused to listen.

But even if he is forced to leave the center because of this, the throne can be passed down from generation to generation, and the east and west Pei are expected to be higher than one other. In particular, the East Pei people are far less prosperous than the West Pei, and Pei Wei deliberately supports his second nephew, which is not surprising.

Of course, it cannot be completely ruled out that some courtiers figured out bad ideas on their own in order to flatter Pei Wei and Pei Xu, and without Pei Erpei's instructions; Even some people wanted to expel Pei Wei and Pei Shu from the center, but they did this and then retreated.

So today, while both families were there, Pei Gai immediately mentioned the matter. When Pei Wei, Pei Xu, and others heard this, they were all surprised or had to act surprised, and hurriedly kowtowed, saying: "The ministers are not Your Majesty's closest relatives after all, they are shy for the clan, and it is enough to be crowned as a county duke, and they really have no delusions, and dare to look at the king." And with the system of this dynasty, that is, the vassal king is not allowed to hold the land, herdsmen the people, and is not allowed to raise soldiers and soldiers, so he has the ability of the royal family of the Ping Domain? Why bother to be crowned? ”

Only Pei Si's father and son were silent, because they knew that even if Pei was crowned king, it would not be their turn, so why bother to make a blind statement, or anger those two families?

Pei Gai smiled and said: "Since I said this, I am definitely not tempting Qing and others. Qing and others are not only clansmen, but also have high credits, and the king is one or two, which is indispensable; As for the state system, if it is sealed in Yuanjiang, it should be banned, so that the herdsmen and soldiers will be used to seal the royal family as in the past, Zhou Fengqi, Lu Yu Dongyi, and Jin and Yan in Beidi. ”

Then he waved his hand, said you all get up, stop kneeling and kowtowing, and then took out a piece of paper from the desk, dipped the pen in ink, and wrote a few words.

Pei Wei and the others didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the emperor's gourd, so they had to keep silent for the time being, and the hall was silent for a while.

Seeing that after Pei Cai put the pen away, he turned the piece of paper over, faced everyone, and said slowly: "Such a number of places, you can be crowned king, the royal family of the Ping Domain, and if you want, you can choose a place, and although the king has not been able to get the land for a while, I have promised and will never regret it." ”

Everyone looked at it and saw three big characters written on the paper:

"Han, Yue, Xia."