Pei Mingyuan took a few steps forward and knelt down to his father, "Child Mingyuan, see your father."

Pei Jun nodded, "Get up!" ”

He swept his eyes, and saw a person standing not far behind Pei Mingyuan, nearly half a hundred years old, with a long robe and a scarf, three strands of white beard floating on his chest, his eyes were clear, not like an entourage, and there was a faint memory between his eyebrows, he was slightly stunned, and asked Pei Mingyuan: "Who is this?" ”

Without waiting for Pei Mingyuan to answer, the man took the initiative to step forward and salute, "In Xia Hu Yong, he is Zhang Dudu's staff, see Pei Xiangguo." ”

"Hu Yong?" Pei Jun read the name a few times, and asked suspiciously, "It seems that we have met before?" ”

Hu Yong smiled slightly: "The next name is Yong, as the name suggests, it means mediocrity, Xiangguo said that he had seen me, but it was actually because of my ordinary appearance." ”

"Sir, very eloquent." Pei Jun smiled slightly, then didn't ask any more questions, and took them into his study.

Walking to the door of the study, Hu Yong said in a panic: "I am just a commoner, how dare I enter the study of Xiangguo, I will wait outside the door." ”

"Is the gentleman really a commoner?" Pei Jun narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Hu Anran was the official worship of the prince's left concubine, and he was the fourth rank, and I was only a household servant at that time, half a grade lower than Mr." ”

When Hu Yong saw that he recognized himself, he smiled, "Then it's better to be respectful than to obey your fate." ”

Pei Jun glanced at Pei Mingyuan again, and when he saw him standing at the door, he smiled faintly and said, "Although you are my son." But you are now a judge in Zhang Huanjun. Business first, you can sit too! ”

Pei Mingyuan didn't say anything, he sat down, and the two maids offered them tea. Pei Jun got straight to the point and said: "Let's talk about the latest situation in Longyou first. ”

Pei Mingyuan gave his father a slight bow and said: "This time the Tubo attack on Tang is Zanpu Chisong Dezan personally led the army, there are more than 100,000 troops, it can be seen that the Tubo has been deliberate for a long time, according to the latest information, the Tubo army will now build ships on the other side of the Yellow River, once the ship is built, they will go down the river and attack Longyou." ”

Pei Jun took a sip of the tea bowl, and asked again quietly: "How many troops are there in Longyou now?" How are you going to deal with the Tibetan army? ”

Pei Mingyuan and Hu Yong glanced at each other, and he replied cautiously: "There are still 70,000 troops in Longyou. It is mainly located in Hui-gun and Geumseong-gun. ”

Pei Jun sneered and said, "Why should my son lie to me? Zhang Huan reported a total of 120,000 troops to the imperial court. 20,000 in Hexi, almost all the army was wiped out when Wuwei fell, Zhang Huan's expedition to Hehuang took away 60,000, and now there are 40,000 people, and most of them are new troops, is Zhang Huan recruiting private troops from the imperial court? ”

"Xiangguo only knows one thing, but doesn't know the other." Hu Yonggong smiled and said: "The governor of my family knows that Tubo is brutal, and in order to let the people protect themselves, he implements militia drills among military households, and says 30,000 more people. In fact, it is a militia group that has just been equipped, and it is not an unofficial army. ”

Pei Jun nodded, "I see, I thought that Zhang Yuanjun had enough troops to send the two of them." Do you need the help of the imperial court? ”

Sangkook laughed. The governor of my family is still in Hehuang, and now Longyou is in a hurry. It was difficult for us to resist the army of Tibetan tigers and wolves, and Madame sent us to ask the court for help. ”

Pei Jun pondered for a moment, and then said slowly: "You also saw it just now, I discussed this matter with Cui Xiang, and we agreed that now the strategic focus of Tubo has shifted eastward, and wars will occur frequently in the future, relying on Zhang Huan alone, I am afraid it will be difficult to resist, so the imperial court will send Shuo Fang Jiedu envoy again, and Zhang Huan will no longer serve concurrently." ”

Hu Yong didn't speak for a long time, he knew that there would be this consequence, if Cui and Pei didn't take advantage of it, it would be incredible, this is a political struggle, there is no mercy and mercy, in the final analysis, the strength is inferior to others, this point has been agreed by everyone before they came, as long as they keep the Longyou place, other places, they can only give up, in fact, this is no longer up to them.

Thinking of this, Hu Yong and Pei Mingyuan exchanged glances, and Hu Yong resolutely said: "As Xiangguo said!" ”

"Good! Then we'll make up our minds. Pei Jun stood up and said solemnly: "Longyou is my Tang Dynasty land, resisting foreign enemies is a matter within the court's responsibility, the cabinet has made a decision, the queen mother has also decreed, the court will send troops to rescue Longyou, the two of you have worked hard all the way, please rest first!" ”

Pei Mingyuan and Hu Yong went down, Pei Jun still stood in front of the window and pondered, he let Zhang Huan go to Hexi, that is, he hoped that Zhang Huan could become the root of the defeat of the Wei family and create opportunities for himself to go west, Zhang Huan really did not disappoint him, and drove away Wei Ge in only two years.

But what made Pei Jun strange was that Cui Yuan gave up this opportunity and let him go west, which was inconsistent with his Cui Yuan's consistent style, he could cross the river and go west, and take a share of this opportunity to invade the east of Tubo, but finally put forward the conditions for supplementing the Fengxiang army, didn't he know that after crossing the Yellow River, he could also go away from Yang County to supplement the Fengxiang army?

Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if there is no chance of this Tubo invasion, can't his Cui family replenish the Fengxiang army? They can completely take advantage of Wanxi, go to Hanzhong and finally go to Fengxiang, and the Wang family and the Wei family will give him this convenience, but Cui Yuan doesn't seem to understand this.

"That's not right! There must be something wrong with this. Pei Jun suddenly captured something sensitively.

At this time, the guards outside the door reported that Pei Shilang was here, Pei Shilang was Pei Jun's younger brother Pei You, and he was temporarily found by Pei Jun.

Pei You smiled when he entered the door: "Congratulations to the eldest brother." ”

"Come on! Come in and sit down. Pei Jun smiled and pulled him in and sat down.

"You may not expect that my son would negotiate with me on behalf of Zhang Huan's interests."

Pei You was stunned, "Is the eldest brother explaining the distance?" ”

"Who else but him." Pei Jun smiled bitterly and said, "And my baby daughter also seems to be biased towards Zhang Huan." ”

Pei You saw that the eldest brother was a little angry in his heart. smiled and comforted him: "Say the bottom." Zhang Huan is your son-in-law, Mingyuan is biased towards his brother-in-law, and Ying'er is biased towards her husband, which is also normal. Big brother, just relax your heart a little! ”

"Son-in-law?" mentioned that Zhang Huan was his son-in-law, Pei Jun couldn't help but smile coldly: "Does he really think he is my son-in-law?" The last time Cui Xiaofu interfered in politics, he did it secretly, and he put me together in Fengxiang again, is this the son-in-law supposed to do local affairs? I have long seen that this person is not willing to live under others, even if he marries my daughter, he just wants to use me, and there is no love between me and him for a long time. ”

Pei You was silent, in fact, didn't the eldest brother take advantage of others in the first place? If Zhang Huan hadn't taken Hexi, would he have married his daughter to someone else? Now he is talking about the love of Weng and his son-in-law. It's just that I want to take the opportunity to take Longright.

Pei Jun saw that he didn't speak. He continued: "I have decided to let Pei Yi be the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu and the assassin of Lingwu County, lead an army of 200,000 to cross the Yellow River to resist the Tubo army, and set off tomorrow. ”

Pei You pondered for a long time, and Fang Xu asked, "Big brother, do you want to take advantage of the situation to occupy the entire territory of Longyou?" ”

"No!" Pei Jun shook his head slowly, and he said coldly: "Zhang Huan still has the army in his hands, he can't tear his face for the time being, I will leave it to him in the three counties of Jincheng, Longxi, and Kaiyang, but he must hold his son hostage in Beijing." ”

Pei You immediately understood the intention of the eldest brother to call him, I am afraid that he wanted to let himself run to Longyou. Without waiting for Pei Jun to continue, he immediately stood up and bowed down and said: "The end of March is the busiest time of the year for the household department, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave, big brother should let others go!" ”

Pei Jun stared at him, and only said lightly after a while: "Then I won't force you." I'll let others do it. ”

March 25, 3rd year of Xuanren. The Empress Dowager Cui Xiaofu officially issued an edict and sent troops to rescue Longyou. On the same day, Pei's 200,000 Hedong army crossed the Yellow River from Dinghu County, Changhua County, and the army was divided into two routes, one way to the county, and the other road turned south, occupying Pingliang, Anding and other counties.

He Lou Wuji heard the arrival of the imperial army, immediately ordered the 40,000 Xiliang troops gathered in Huijun to go south to defend Jincheng County, on the other side of the Yellow River, the shipbuilding place Chisong Dezan learned that the Tang army of 200,000 troops came to help, knowing that the fighter had been lost, he was annoyed and angry, concentrated 80,000 troops to attack Huixi Fort, after a day and a night of bloody battles, 5,000 Tang troops killed more than 20,000 enemies, and finally because they were outnumbered, Huixi Fort fell, 5,000 Tang troops died to the last person, no one surrendered.

Deeply hated, Trisong Detsen shoveled Xibao to the ground, and he immediately led a large army south to Hehuang, cutting off Zhang Huan's retreat.

On March 30, Pei Yi arrived in Jincheng County

In the days when Zhang Huan was not in Longyou, Pei Ying has been supervising the normal operation of the various divisions in Longyou, she does not interfere in specific affairs, but she will appear in the barracks, Tuntian and military weapons manufacturing workshops every day, listen to the opinions of low-level soldiers and ordinary military families, and occasionally consult with Hu Yong, Luo Guangzheng, Pei Mingyuan and other left-behind officers to raise money and food to support the front line.

But from the beginning of the Tubo army's attack on Wuwei, Pei Ying reversed the posture of a bystander, took the initiative to convene He Lou Wuji and other military generals to discuss military arrangements, and sent Pei Mingyuan and Hu Yong to Chang'an for help.

As the situation changed day by day, the possibility of the Tubo army attacking Longyou was decreasing, but the father's intention to seize her husband's foundation became more and more obvious, and Pei Ying gradually fell silent.

At noon that day, Pei Ying was talking to Cui Ning, and suddenly the housekeeper came to report that the new Shuo Fang Jiedu envoy was asking to see him outside the house.

Of course, Pei Ying knew who this so-called Dishuo Fang Jiedu was, she pondered for a moment, and then said to the housekeeper: "Please ask Pei Zhijun to wait for the Jiedu Envoy, and I will be there immediately." ”

After that, she ordered Zhang Huandi to personally invite the military and political dignitaries of the Xiliang Army to Xingyuan, hesitated for a long time, Pei Ying suddenly sighed and said to Cui Ning: "My father is really greedy, we have given up more than a dozen states and counties north of Longyou, but he still wants to fight Jincheng County's idea, ordinary people don't know, and they think that I betrayed my husband's interests, how can I face the military and people of Longyou?" ”

Cui Ning has been carefully recuperated for more than a month, and his condition has improved a lot, although his body is still a little weak. But it's basically fine. She saw that Pei Ying was sad, so she put her arm around her shoulder and comforted her: "In this case, you can only ask the court for help, everyone's eyes are bright!" You have exhausted your mind to defend Longyou. I don't think anyone will accuse you except those with ulterior motives. ”

Pei Ying smiled bitterly, changed her clothes, and took the carriage to the Jiedu Envoy Xingyuan, which was located in the middle of Wuquan Street, about three miles away from Zhang Huan's Mansion, and soon, the carriage arrived at Xingyuan, at this time, many people had received Pei Yingdi's notice and rushed to Xingyuan.

Pei Yi originally wanted to talk to Pei Ying in private. She was persuaded to go home to visit her father and grandfather. Brought Zhang Huan's son back to Chang'an, but Pei Ying refused to see him in private, but met publicly in an official manner, Pei Yi was originally angry with Zhang Huan because of the incident of Fengxiang last time, and now Pei Ying didn't buy it, he was really unhappy in his heart, now he has 200,000 troops in hand, if it weren't for Pei Jun's prohibition on him to act rashly, he would have killed Zhang Huan's lair in one go.

There were already quite a few people in the lobby. Everyone was whispering, not knowing what was going on, but Hu Yong and Pei Mingyuan, who had just rushed back, faintly felt that something was wrong, while Pei Yi was admiring the paintings on the wall with his hands behind his back, and all the people who came. He ignored it.

"Madame has arrived!" The soldier shouted. Everyone stood up one after another and saluted Pei Ying who walked into the lobby. Pei Ying smiled and returned the salute to everyone one by one. At this time, Pei Yi slowly turned around, looked at Pei Ying and said with a smile: "I just came to talk about family life, why did my niece invite me here?" ”

Pei Ying stepped forward to give a salute, she lightly opened her lips and replied loudly: "Please forgive me, uncle, now the Tubo people are looking at the other side of the Yellow River, the situation in Longyou is tense, and my niece has to put public before private." ”

Pei Yi's eyes narrowed, and he said slowly: "Don't be afraid, niece, your father is worried about your safety, and he specially ordered Uncle Wei to lead an army of 200,000 to save you." ”

Pei Ying's face turned pale, and she immediately replied loudly: "We asked the court for help, in order to save the millions of people in Longyou and the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in the Tang Dynasty, if my father saves me, it is enough to send only one carriage, please Pei Yuanjun understand the good intentions of the court to send troops, don't misinterpret it, and chill our Longyou military and civilian land."

"Madame said it well!" He Lou Wuji took the lead in applauding, and there was a round of applause in the hall, He Lou Wuji glanced at Pei Yi and said coldly: "Our lady is deeply loved by the soldiers, Pei Zhijun will not succeed in sowing discord, let's talk less!" ”

Pei Yi looked up to the sky and laughed, he suddenly smiled, took out a scroll of holy decrees, and said loudly: "The queen mother has arrived, please ask Mrs. Pei to accept the decree." ”

Pei Ying was stunned, she slowly knelt down, "Minister Pei Ying takes the order!" Everyone in the hall knelt down.

Pei Yi took out the holy decree and unfolded it: "Longyou Jiedu made Zhang Huan wholeheartedly for the country, and the mourning family heard that he had a son, named Qi, and was overjoyed, and gave him a million dollars and five hundred silk horses, and honored him as the captain of the cavalry, and moved to Beijing from now on

"No way!" Without waiting for Pei Yi to finish reading, Sima Luo Guangzheng stood up with a red face all of a sudden, and he said sharply: "The son of the governor is the young master of my Xiliang Army, how can he be sent to Jingshi as a hostage!" ”

"Absolutely not." He Lou Wuji also stood up, pressed the handle of the knife and said, "If you want to take the son of the governor to the capital, first ask me if I agree to this knife." ”

Pei Yi was furious, "This is the queen mother's decree, what kind of identity are you waiting for, you dare to roar in court and despise the queen mother, this is a big crime of bullying the king!" ”

At this time, Xin Yunjing hurriedly came out and said: "Please don't be angry, everyone just doesn't understand the Queen Mother's decree, not contempt." ”

Xin Yunjing's son Pei Yi had to give it, he held back his breath and said: "Since Xin Shangshu said this, I shouldn't have heard it, but the Queen Mother Diyi has already issued an order, please Zhang Xiaogongzi go on the road immediately." ”

At a glance, seeing Pei Ying's expressionless face, Pei Yi couldn't help but say coldly: "What, Mrs. Zhang also has to resist and disobey?" ”

Pei Ying chuckled and said, "I heard that Shuzhong Zhu also has a son, why didn't the imperial court let him send his son to Beijing as a hostage?" ”

"Zhu has sent his brother to Beijing as a hostage, and there is no need to send his son."

"Is it okay brother?" Pei Ying pointed to the people around her and smiled slightly: "They are all Zhang Dudu's brothers, can they go?" ”

"Mrs. Zhang, don't take the topic away, the Queen Mother's will is clearly written, ordering Zhang to make the son of the monarch enter Beijing, I only have one sentence, will Mrs. Zhang accept the order?"

Pei Ying's face sank, and she said coldly: "What if I don't take it?" ”

"Don't pick up?" Pei Yi squinted his eyes and smiled, he said proudly: "Please don't forget, Madame, I brought 200,000 troops to Longyou, if Madame does not obey the order, then I have to lead 200,000 troops to Jincheng County to send Zhang Xiaogongzi into Beijing." ”

"What about an army of 200,000?" Pei Ying took a step forward, glared at Pei Yi angrily and said: "I still have 70,000 sons in Longyou, all of them regard death as home, but I can fight you to the death, if you don't believe it, then come and try it!" ”

After that, she turned around and ordered in a loud voice: "Where is General He Lou?" ”

He Lou Wuji stepped forward, "The end will be!" ”

Pei Ying stared at Pei Yi word by word and said: "You go and tell the brothers that someone is going to bring 200,000 troops to rob the governor's son, so that the brothers will eat their stomachs and sharpen their knives, and we will go to Chang'an to seek justice." ”

"Order!" He Lou Wuji took a big stride to leave, Pei Yi saw that Pei Ying was tough, and knew that things were a little big, his face was white and red, but he was at a loss, Xin Yunjing saw it in his eyes, he hurriedly stepped forward to stop He Lou Wuji, "General, take a step slowly, don't be angry, madam, I'll talk to Pei Yuanjun." ”

He pulled Pei Yi aside and complained in a low voice: "Do you want to force Zhang Huan to rebel? If he rebels, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"But the Queen Mother decreed

Before Pei Yi's words were finished, Pei Ying said aloud: "Please tell Pei Xiangguo, you have to leave a little room for everything, after Zhang Dudu comes back, he will explain it clearly to the Queen Mother and Cui Xiangguo, if Pei Xiangjun has nothing to do, please go back!" ”

Pei Yi had no choice but to hate and go, Pei Ying looked at his back and went away, suddenly knelt down for everyone, and said with tears: "The governor treats everyone well on weekdays, this time he suffered such a setback, I implore everyone not to abandon and not leave, and get through the difficulties with the governor, and make a comeback!" ”

Everyone in the hall knelt down together, and Luo Guangzheng said loudly on behalf of everyone: "Please rest assured, Madame, we are loyal and will never give up!" ”

At this time, the army of Trisong Dezan rushed to Hehuang, and the 30,000 Tubo troops who came from Jiuqu also quietly reinforced Shibao City, and Zhang Huan, who was far away in the depths of Hehuang, was already in extreme danger