It was late at night, and Pei Xingjian, who was tired, was lying on the desk and was writing hard.

Pei Xingjian was so busy that Xue Shao didn't have the opportunity to meet him privately until this time. The entourage brought an urn of venison soup, boiled by the moon slave.

"It's so late at night, why doesn't Pei Gong rest?" Xue Shao lightly put the soup urn aside and asked.

"Such a big event has happened ahead, of course I have to report to the imperial court as soon as possible." Pei Xingjian said.

It has always been that no matter what happens on the front line, the first object of accusation and suspicion is the commander of the army. Pei Xingjian had to strategize against the Turks, and at the same time take responsibility for this kind of thing in the locality, and this marching chief was really not good.

Xue Shao didn't make a sound to disturb, just waited on the side.

After a long time, Pei Xingjian finished writing the song, read it himself, and then said: "Chengyu, you take a look." ”

"Okay."

The song was written by the marshal to the emperor, and it was originally not good for others to show others. But since Pei Xingjian trusts him so much, Xue Shao is not hypocritical.

After reading it, Xue Shao found a problem in it.

"Pei Gong, the performance is generally not bad. But there's a small problem. ”

"What's the problem?"

Xue Shao said: "Is Li Xiantong Li Chongyi's henchman and accomplice...... It's really hard to say. ”

"Oh?"

Pei Xingjian was surprised and said: "According to the investigation and understanding of the old man after he came to the Dadu Governor's Mansion, Li Xiantong has always been the most active mutiny executor. Moreover, he is Li Chongyi's own grandson, can he not be one of the henchmen? ”

Xue Shao frowned and shook his head, he had already guessed that Tang Huaibi would definitely not "know everything" about Pei Xingjian. Li Xiantong's sensitive identity will definitely be hidden.

So Xue Shao carefully analyzed the inside story of Pei Xingjian's case and told him that if Pei Gong characterized Li Xiantong as a "mutinous henchman" in advance in the Feng Songshu, the Prime Minister would see it first. This is tantamount to "taking the lead in the first place", if the second sage wants to turn Li Xiantong into a "witness" to bring down Li Chongyi, it will be difficult to speak, and the courtiers of the Manchu Dynasty will say how can the second sage do this, and actually use the means of secret agents and discordant flesh and blood to deal with a minister?

In this way, the two saints will not be able to play well when cleaning up the mess, and they will fall into great passivity!

Pei Xingjian suddenly realized, "Tang Huaibi has hidden a lot from me, but fortunately, you have reminded me." Otherwise, the old man will invisibly offend the two saints again - the old man rewrites! ”

"Not in a hurry." Xue Shao snatched the pen from Pei Xingjian's hand and said with a smile, "Pei Gong has been busy all day all the way, and he has worked hard. Drink some nourishing deer soup! ”

Pei Xingjian smiled, "It's okay." ”

Just picked up the soup bowl, Pei Xingjian coughed violently and hurriedly put the bowl down again.

"Pei Gong seems to be sick?" Xue Shao was very worried.

Pei Xingjian coughed and waved his hand, signaling "don't tight".

After coughing for a while, Pei Xingjian finally relieved himself, and his face was already sickly flushed.

"Pei Gong, I'll go and ask the medical officer to come for you!" Xue Shao immediately got up.

"No, you don't! You sit down! Pei Xingjian grabbed Xue Shao and said, "I'm having an old problem." But whoever goes out on the expedition will cough. Once the battle is over, it will be better again. ”

"How so? Could it be that Pei Gong has never been healed? Xue Shao asked.

Pei Xingjian smiled and didn't answer, picked up the bowl and continued to drink the soup, and praised it after tasting it, "It's really delicious!" It's rare to be able to drink such a well-simmered deer soup when you're out on the march, which has a bit of Chang'an flavor! ”

"This is stewed by General An Da himself." Xue Shao said with a smile.

"Oh? Isn't that strange woman only dancing with knives and guns, and has such good cooking skills? Pei Xingjian said with a smile.

"She's going to get a lot. When I have time, I asked her to stew more nourishing broth for Pei Gong to drink. Xue Shao said.

"No, you don't." Pei Xingjian said with a smile, "I'm old, and my body can't be replenished." It's okay to drink a bowl once in a while, but drink it every day to make up for death. ”

Xue Shao twisted his brows, "Pei Gong, your body ......"

Pei Xingjian shook his head and smiled, put down the soup bowl, "My own body knows it in my own heart." Even my own Yangshou knows it in my own heart. ”

Xue Shao's heart was shocked!

"Actually, Congrong is really not a good road. So the old man told you at the beginning, I hope you don't regret it one day. Pei Xingjian said, "You must have experienced the pain of the march." When I was young, I didn't think of it, and even regarded it as a kind of heroism and heroism. As soon as you reach old age, you will know that you will have to pay a painful price to enjoy such heroism and heroism. At least the body, it will definitely not spare you. ”

Xue Shao nodded, in the past few months of military experience, he has indeed experienced the hardships of the cold weapon era. Not to mention casualties, marching and living alone are many times harder than modern warfare. It is not easy for a guard to be able to serve in the army for ten years without being crippled. Of all the veterans, there is no one who is not suffering from chronic diseases, and almost everyone has occupational diseases such as stomach disease, lung disease, and rheumatism.

Pei Xingjian is already in his sixties, he has eaten sand in the Western Regions for more than ten years, and after returning to the dynasty, he has repeatedly led troops to fight abroad, how can his body be able to bear it?

"Actually, it's too late for you to regret it now." Pei Xingjian said, "Take advantage of this opportunity to guard the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and you can become a civil official." ”

"There has to be someone to pay some price." Xue Shao was very indifferent and said with a smile, "My heart is as hard as iron. ”

"Okay!" Pei Xingjian nodded with a smile, and let out a long sigh of relief, "I really didn't expect that there would be such a big problem within the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion of Bingzhou." Fortunately, you, Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Jinxing are alert enough. Otherwise, I really don't know how much trouble the road will cause! …… Old man, my heart is palpitating! ”

Xue Shaoke didn't tell Pei Xingjian, if it weren't for me and Wei Yuanzhong forcing Li Xiantong and Wei Juyuan together, maybe they wouldn't have done it so early. In a sense, we are still one of the "pushers".

Of course, the longer they are allowed to brew, the greater the disaster!

"This time, you made a miraculous feat in your surprise attack on the Black Sands, and you eliminated this scourge in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion invisibly, and made another great feat." Pei Xingjian said, "You are really a lucky general of the Tang Dynasty." Perhaps, you really belonged to the army by nature. ”

"Of course!" Xue Shao smiled and agreed.

"You're really immodest." Pei Xingjian also smiled and said, "Since the old man has come to Bingzhou, he will easily bring the troops here to Shuozhou." Fu Nian was now stinky and hard, he was convinced that the Turkic tribes had won the hearts of most of the people in the steppe, he was so convinced that his army was invincible, and he even thought that the old man would not dare to do anything to him, and would be forced to release him back to the steppe. ”

"Dream his big dreams!" Xue Shao sneered, "Datang will never compromise him on such a critical issue!" ”

"Not necessarily." Pei Xingjian's two words made Xue Shao slightly surprised.

"How so?"

Pei Xingjian said: "The soldiers are the commanders of the people, and those who know the soldiers are not warlike." War is always the next step in solving problems. If a prisoner is returned, the war can be eased and reduced, which is a good way to deal with it. ”

"But in the long run, it's not a good idea." Xue Shao said, "If Fu Nian is put back, the grassland people will think that the Tang Dynasty is really afraid of the Turkic soldiers and is compromising." In this way, it will greatly breed their rebellious spirit! ”

"That's right." Pei Xingjian said, "So, we can only win and make friends!" ”

"What does Pei Gong mean is to fight a few tough battles first, to scare the Turks, and then put them back to Fu Nian to surrender?" Xue Shao asked.

Pei Xingjian nodded, "Actually, Fu Nian is like a puppet and a flag. Although he also has some descendants, the real power of the rebels is in the hands of the mastermind Ashwin. Fu Nian's great reputation in the steppe was very popular, which was his greatest value, which was why Ashdwin Fu conspired with him. If we catch Fu Nian or kill him, it will give Ashdwin Fu the opportunity to ascend to the heights, and use the opportunity to rescue Fu Nian and avenge Fu Nian to unite the hearts of the grassland tribes and strengthen the rebels. On the other hand, if we put Fu Nian back, then you think about it, what will happen? ”

Xue Shao thought for a moment and said, "One mountain can't accommodate two tigers!" ”

"That's right!" Pei Xingjian said, "Ashdwin Fu will definitely be suspicious, how could Datang be so kind, catch Fu Nian and put it back?" Could it be that Fu Nian has secretly taken refuge in Datang, is he coming back to persuade him to surrender or to be a traitor? ”

"Wonderful!" Xue Shao suddenly smiled, "Evil is right, Pei Gongqi, the commander of the war faction, is an old fox!" ”

Pei Xingjian smiled, "If we can let the rebels mess up from within, and our own people who are suspicious of each other fight our own people, then won't we be able to reap the benefits of fishermen and reduce the number of deaths?" ”

"I'll see it." Xue Shao nodded and said, "Fu Nian raised troops in the area of the Yellow River in Yinshan Mountain, and Ashdwin Fu rebelled against the Dadu Governor's Mansion, although they are all descendants of the Turkic Khanate, but in the past, they were two groups of people who did not interact with each other. If we take advantage of the rivalry and suspicion between them to cleverly divide them, it is indeed possible to make them fight among themselves! ”

"There's one person in the key." Pei Xingjian said.

"Who?"

"It's the captive." Pei Xingjian said with a smile, "Do you know, who is she?" ”

"Isn't she Fu Nian's daughter, a pseudo-Turkic princess?" Xue Shao said curiously.

"It's not." Pei Xingjian said, "She is the bloodline of the Ashina Khan family left by Jieli Khan. Ten years earlier, her father had inherited the title of county prince and had been appointed governor of Lingzhou, in charge of managing the Turkic Shun people who had settled in the Hequ area. At this point, the Turks believed that the real Khan had returned. However, her father fell ill and died not long after taking office. ”

"Unexpectedly, she is still a noble woman in the Tang Dynasty!" Xue Shaodao.

"Her father had no children under his knees, and in order to appease the Turkic Shunmin, Datang made an exception and named her the county lord of Shengde." Pei Xingjian said, "It doesn't matter whether she is a nobleman of the Tang Dynasty or not. The point is that she is the only princess in the minds of the Turks who is a true descendant of the Ashina family! Fu Nianqi is quite scheming, he was once a confidant and official under her father's command, and he has made some prestige with his father. After the death of his father, he treated the princess well and accepted her as a righteous daughter - isn't that equivalent to taking the reputation of the Ashi Khan family for himself? Fu Nian was able to raise troops in the Yinshan and Yellow River areas, and he used the name of the descendants of King Khan to recruit troops and horses. The princess's bloodline and identity were used by him to the fullest! ”

"I see!" Xue Shao thought in his heart, in this way, the value of the little she-wolf was actually greater than that of Fu Nian, a half-puppet. Maybe she doesn't have half the power and half the soldiers and horses under her command, but the background and bloodline are not only precious in the Tang Dynasty, but also on the grassland, and even better!

Throughout the ages, whenever a soldier is raised, he must pay attention to a person who is justified and has a famous division. Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven and ordered the princes to occupy all the time; Liu Bei took Kuang Fu Han as the banner, and the good ministers under his command gathered fiercely. Didn't Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, also set up a puppet child of the Yang family as the emperor, and then pretended to be replaced by Zen, which established the Tang Dynasty?

Now, the little she-wolf is an important banner in the hands of the Turkic rebels to "restore the Ashina family and rebuild the Turkic Khanate"!

Xue Shao suddenly had a great interest in the arrogant and domineering little she-wolf - this is definitely a baby bump!