Outside the gate of the palace, hundreds of internal guard soldiers held torches in their hands, illuminating the gate as if it were day, Wei Ben wore armor and helmets, pressed the hilt of his sword, and stared at the gate with gloomy eyes.

After the establishment of the Internal Guard Army in the tenth year of the Great Cause, he has been serving as the general of the Internal Guard, and the Internal Guard Army has grown from more than 1,000 people at the beginning to 12,000 people today, including the intelligence points of major cities, and has become an extremely important force in the Great Sui Army.

When the name Wei Ben is mentioned in Taiyuan, not many people know it, but when it comes to Wei Shaving, everyone knows it, and no one knows it.

In particular, this year, the internal security army seized three cases of counterfeit money in a row, and according to the law, they were all copied and beheaded, and on the streets of downtown Taiyuan, Wei Ben personally took charge of the knife and killed hundreds of people, from the elderly in their 80s to the children of two years old.

These three cases caused a sensation throughout the Great Sui, and the scene of bloody murder at the scene made tens of thousands of Taiyuan people who were onlookers unable to sleep at night.

But Wei Benneng has always served as the general of the internal guard not because he is ruthless, but because of his loyalty, he is Yang Yuanqing's earliest personal guard, loyal to Yang Yuanqing, and shrewd and capable, and won Yang Yuanqing's trust.

In addition to loyalty, there is also his understanding of Yang Yuanqing's intentions, for example, this time, he knows very well that Yang Yuanqing's purpose for dealing with the Wang family is by no means as simple as a forbidden sale of alcohol, he knows what he should do.

The gate opened, Wang Xu hurriedly walked out of the gate with more than a dozen clansmen, Wang Xu's expression was solemn, and when he saw hundreds of soldiers in armor outside the gate, his eyes flashed a trace of nervousness.

He didn't know how to end this case, but the facts were in front of him, their Wang family did violate the ban, brewing wine privately, and those who made private brewers should be beheaded according to the law, could it be that someone in the Wang family would fall to the ground because of this?

I saw Wang Xu come out. Wei Ben bowed his hand slightly: "I was ordered to come and inspect the criminal." The head of the family is expected to cooperate with the internal guard army to enforce the law. ”

Wang Xu pretended to be surprised, "The Wang family has always restrained their children and has never committed adultery. Where does this inspector begin? ”

Wei Ben snorted coldly, "The imperial court issued an order strictly prohibiting grain wine brewing before April, but tens of thousands of bottles of grain wine were seized in the Wang family's two liquor shops and shops. In the grange, a large number of wine-making utensils were seized, and the human and material evidence was conclusive, and the culprits were arrested. ”

Wang Xu couldn't pretend to be able to do it, he said with a blue face with his hands behind his back: "Violating the ban of the imperial court, it should be the government to arrest people, what does it have to do with the internal guards?"

"The ordinary decree is the responsibility of the local government, but the special prohibition is arrested by the internal guards, and the prohibition of alcohol is the third special prohibition, and the king envoy was the prime minister. I don't even know about this! ”

Special Ban No. 1 is a ban on the minting of money, Special Ban No. 2 is a ban on the trade of prohibited goods, and Special Ban No. 3 is a ban on the use of grain to make wine.

How could Wang Xu not know about these three special prohibitions. He was speechless. After a while, he said: "Who are the internal guards going to arrest when they come to the door?" ”

This is the key, Wang Xu needs to know the extent of the impact of this case. After all, he has been Xiangguo, he knows that a case can be big or small, and he can symbolically arrest a few shrimp soldiers and crab generals, and if it is over, he can also arrest a few small people and turn a big thing into a small one.

But it can also magnify the matter, from one point to one piece, this is to play the topic, so that the situation becomes serious, it depends on the intention of the decision-maker, for this wine-making case, it is to see what Yang Yuanqing's purpose is? Whether it's a matter of facts, or a play on the topic.

Wang Xu was very nervous in his heart, if the internal guards wanted to take him away, then the problem would be serious.

Wei Ben said coldly: "According to the confession of the prisoner at the scene, this case involves the children of the Wang family, Wang Jizhong, who is in charge of the wine store, Wang Qi who is in charge of the grange, and Wang Jiyun, who is in charge of the shop, these three people are suspected of being the masterminds, please hand them over, otherwise, the internal guards will enter the house and arrest people." ”

Although Wang Qi is Wang Xu's son, Wang Xu's heart is still relieved, and Wang Xuanzhi is not on the arrest list, which means that in this wine-making case, it is not aimed at the Wang family, but on a case-by-case basis, and only the main responsible person is arrested, and the case has not been expanded.

Wang Xu also knew that it would be impossible not to hand over people, so he turned back to his family and ordered: "Bring those three people quickly!" ”

The family received the order and left, Wang Xu finally squeezed out a wry smile on his face, and sighed: "The family is unfortunate, there are three children who have forgotten the law, this is my family education is not strict, and it is insulting!" ”

He said it a little lightly, and secretly glanced at Wei Ben, he was actually testing Wei Ben's attitude, and from Wei Ben's answer, it can be seen how much Yang Yuanqing attaches importance to this case.

Wei Ben was rude and fierce on the outside, but he was as thin as a hair on the inside, he heard Wang Xu's temptation, and said quietly: "This is also a matter of no way, every family has a difficult scripture to read, which family does not have a few bold children, and the manager also admits that this prohibition is unreasonable, it can only be temporarily banned, sooner or later it will have to be released, if it is not for the amount of wine that is too large this time, the manager may turn a blind eye, anyway, this matter will not be a big deal, and the head of the family does not have to worry too much." ”

Wang Xu was overjoyed in his heart, and hurriedly arched his hand and said: "The three sons of the Wang family are all sons of the Wang family, and one of them is still my son, and I hope that General Wei will take care of it more, and don't impose heavy punishments, I will be grateful in the future." ”

Wei Ben smiled, "It's easy to say!" Say! ”

At this time, the family brought out three children of the Wang family, the three of them had their hands tied behind their backs, their heads bowed, their faces were full of fear, and an officer rushed forward, carefully identified them, and turned around to report: "General Qiyu, it is these three people." ”

Wei Ben waved his hand, a few soldiers came up, took their arms, and escorted the three of them into a carriage, Wei Ben arched his hand to Wang Xu, "Thank you for your cooperation, I take my leave!" ”

He turned around and turned over his horse, and pointed with a whip, "Withdraw the army and return to the office!" ”

Two thousand Guards withdrew from the siege of the palace and returned to the New Guard Office in Beicheng, where there was a prison where prisoners were to be held temporarily.

Wang Xu kept looking at the team and walked away, then turned around and walked towards the inner hall, if he secretly drank more than ten catties of grain and wine, he would be beheaded, one of the three people was his son, and the two were the sons of his brother Wang Su, of course he couldn't let them be beheaded.

When he returned to the room, he immediately called Wang Xuanzhi and Wang Zhenxiao, and as soon as the two entered the room, Wang Xu said, "You say, what should we do now?" ”

Wang Xuanzhi was the most nervous at this time, once the three of them confessed to him. The guards will come and arrest him soon. He had to find a way to make this matter a big deal, and as soon as Wang Xu finished speaking, he said, "The master of the family." In this matter, we must find a way to intercede with Yang Yuanqing, can the head of the family go to the Chu Palace? ”

Wang Xu shook his head, "Since I was deposed. I don't have any influence, and I'm the one involved, so it's not good to intercede in person, so it's better to let other influential people intercede for us. ”

Wang Zhenxiao next to him suggested: "The head of the family might as well go to Pei's mansion, with our friendship with the Pei family, please ask Pei Ju to intercede, I think it should have an effect." ”

Wang Xu pondered for a moment, and finally sighed and agreed, "Okay then! I'll go to Pei's house. ”……

Pei Ju has been retired since he retired. He gradually disappeared from people's sight, became silent, and rarely heard from him again.

But Pei Ju still lives in Taiyuan. He was also following the development of the Sui Dynasty. His spirit was still very strong, far better than Su Wei's mental state and thinking ability. If he is allowed to be the prime minister, he can still be competent for tedious affairs.

But he still retreated without any affection, on the one hand, although Yang Yuanqing did not want the Pei family to be strong, on the other hand, it was Pei Ju who shifted his energy from the government to the family, and he wanted to lay out a century-old overall situation for the family.

Pei Ju is very discerning, knows how to advance and retreat, he knows that when a new dynasty is established, there are huge opportunities, but this kind of opportunity needs to be considered in the long run, to establish a steady stream of resources.

This kind of resource not only has to ensure that the Pei family's children are talented, but also to maintain the Pei family's status in the court, and more importantly, he must understand the governing strategy of the superiors, so that the Pei family can keep up with the rhythm and will never be abandoned by the superiors.

In the study, Pei Ju was discussing the current situation with his eldest grandson Pei Jin, although Yang Yuanqing valued Pei Qingsong very much and tried to let Pei Qingsong inherit the position of the head of the Pei family, but Pei Ju did not appreciate it.

The Pei family has the rules of the Pei family, Pei Qingsong is just a concubine, no matter how good he is, he cannot inherit the position of the head of the family, at most he can be the second person to assist the head of the family.

Pei Ju put a lot of effort into his eldest grandson Pei Jin, and his sons were relatively mediocre, so he could only pin his hopes on his grandchildren.

And Pei Jin is in his early thirties, which is the most critical moment in his career, if he can lay a solid foundation in the past ten years. Then after the age of forty, Pei Jin will be able to rise to the top until he becomes the prime minister.

"To understand the mind of a superior person, it is not only to see what he says, but more importantly, to see what he does, and what are his interests? In this way, he can judge his next move, the king of Chu won the Central Plains this time, but he did not pull out Wang Shichong of Luoyang, nor did he occupy Nanyang County and Xiyang County, it is obvious that his next target is not Li Tang, but should be Dou Jiande, completely unify the Central Plains. ”

Pei Jin frowned slightly, "Actually, Sun Er thinks that the King of Chu can completely annihilate Dou Jiande at the beginning, leaving no trouble, and he will not have to deal with Dou Jiande again today, he seems to be asking for trouble by doing so." ”

Pei Ju shook his head and smiled: "King Chu is not a god after all, and he didn't expect some things, when he left Dou Jiande, he wanted Dou Jiande to deal with Li Mi and use Dou Jiande's hand to weaken Li Mi, but he didn't expect that Li Mi would actually move south to Jiangdu and give up the Central Plains." ”

Pei Ju paused for a moment and said: "But these are not important to you, what is important to you is the change in the power structure of the imperial court, which requires the context of the king of Chu, let's review again, when the Hebei campaign ended, what changes occurred in the power structure of the court?" ”

Pei Jin thought for a while and said: "Before the start of the Hebei Campaign, it was my grandfather who retired, and Ziweitang began to adjust, and after the Hebei Campaign, he deposed Wang Xu and turned the five phases into seven phases. ”

"That's right, why did the King of Chu do this?" Pei Ju smiled and induced the eldest grandson's train of thought step by step.

"Sun Er thinks that this is the king of Chu balancing power and taking Hebei, so he needs to bring the Hebei clans, such as the Cui family and the Lu family, into the power structure, so that someone will give way and it will be logical to attack the Wang family."

Under the careful teaching of his grandfather, Pei Jin has gradually glimpsed the path of a little power change, and his thinking has begun to become clear.

Pei Ju was very satisfied with his grandson's clear thinking, and asked with a smile: "Now that he has won the Central Plains, what about his next step?" ”

"What's next? Next? ”

Pei Jin bit his lip tightly and thought hard, and at this moment, a report from the housekeeper came from outside the door, "Master, the head of the Wang family urgently asks to see you." ”