At the same moment when Liu Wenqi went to find his brother Liu Wenjing, a carriage also stopped in front of the Qin Palace, a eunuch rushed up, Pei Lin bent down and walked out of the carriage, and asked with a smile: "Is His Royal Highness the King of Qin here?" ”

"Your Highness is here!" The eunuch bowed and said, "Xiangguo, please come with me." ”

Pei Lin nodded, and followed the eunuch into the Qin Palace.

Entering the winter, the Hehuang area was covered with heavy snow, the walk was difficult, the cold was abnormal, and the Tang army temporarily withdrew to Longxi County, and after the army of Liang Shidu defeated Xue Rengao, it was strongly supported by Tuyuhun and temporarily solved the problem of grain and grass, and both sides were recuperating and waiting for next spring to fight again.

It is also because the Sui and Tang dynasties signed a reconciliation agreement, the Sui army concentrated on taking Hebei in the east, and the Tang army also had enough time to carry out strategic maneuvers, so that the morale gradually recovered and improved, and then attacked Xiping County, completely uprooting the thorn in the back of the Liang division.

Li Shimin handed over the defense to Liu Hongji a few days ago, and returned to Chang'an by himself, except for entering the palace to meet his father once, Li Shimin has been studying behind closed doors in the palace these days, and occasionally some subordinates will come to visit him.

Li Shimin had just sent his eldest grandson Wuji away, picked up a bowl and took a sip of ginseng tea, when a eunuch outside the door reported, "Pei Xiangguo asks to see!" ”

"Ask him to come in."

Pei Lin is Li Shimin's most powerful ally in the court, he is in a high position, and has always been valued by Li Shimin, although Li Shimin did not rest well last night and was a little tired, but Pei Lin came to visit, and he still met with a strong spirit.

After a while, Pei Lin hurriedly walked into the study, and couldn't hold back his heart, and saluted excitedly, "See His Royal Highness King Qin!" ”

"Pei Xiangguo, please take a seat."

Li Shimin could feel the excitement in Pei Lian's heart, and at this time the maid came in with two cups of tea, and when the maid left, Li Shimin smiled slightly: "It seems that Pei Xiangguo has something happy?" ”

Pei Lin picked up the hot teacup and covered his cold hands, and said with a smile: "I can't talk about happy events, but I feel a little interesting when I hear a piece of news." I have come to share with His Highness. ”

"What's the news?"

As early as Taiyuan, Pei Lin opposed Li Jiancheng leading the troops as the marshal of the Left Army, and at that time Pei Lin and Li Jiancheng had an estrangement, and Li Zhiyun's death, Pei Lin relieved Li Shimin. Saying that Li Shimin's shooting of his brother was a righteous annihilation of relatives, this incident completely angered Li Jiancheng, and the relationship between the two began to be bad, Pei Lin was afraid that Li Jiancheng's accession to the throne would be unfavorable to him, so he has been secretly supporting Li Shimin to replace Li Jiancheng.

In Pei Lian's view, it was a crucial step to let Li Shimin hold the military power of the Tang Dynasty, and he had already made Li Xiaogong an ally through the Tongguan incident. And the move to Liang Shidu without fighting made Li Shimin completely control the military power in Guanxi, and the next step is to gradually extend his influence to Kanto, this time Sheng Yanshi's rumors are the best opportunity, how can Pei Lian not feel excited?

Pei Yan said with a smile: "Sheng Yanshi sent hundreds of baskets of mountain fruits to the Sui army on the other side, and some people say that Sheng Yanshi bought a mansion in Taiyuan, and the money for the purchase of the house was not from him. Your Highness, in this way, Pujin Pass will change its commander. ”

Li Shimin pondered for a moment and said: "Regardless of whether this matter is true or not, don't care whether Pujin Pass wants to change the commander. Has Pei Xiangguo considered who made up this rumor? ”

Pei Lin nodded, "I have considered this question, either it is Sheng Yanshi's enemy, or someone in Pujin Pass wants to replace Sheng Yanshi, or it is the Sui army's divisive plan." ”

Li Shimin smiled faintly and said: "It should be the Sui army's plan to discord, Sheng Yanshi's prince's family, if Sheng Yanshi is demoted because of this, the prince will naturally think that it is me." ”

"But ......"

Pei Lin hesitated a little, "With the character of the saint." Regardless of whether this matter is true or not, he will definitely not let Sheng Yanshi stay in Pujin Pass again, can we seize this opportunity? ”

"You mean to say that whether it was done by the Sui army or not, we still have to seize this opportunity, right?" Li Shimin glanced at him. Leng asked coldly.

Pei Lin also knew that he was a little excessive, if it was indeed done by the Sui army, and he still wanted to use it, this would be a betrayal of the interests of the Tang Dynasty, but Pei Lian's principle of being a man is not poisonous, not a husband, the means are not important, the important thing is the result, as long as the goal can be achieved, you can do whatever it takes.

It's just that Li Shimin's coldness made him unable to say a word for a long time, he sighed, lowered his head, Li Shimin walked a few steps in the room with his hands behind his back, he suddenly turned around and asked: "If Sheng Yanshi is replaced, who do you think is most likely to take over the post of Pujin Guard?" ”

Pei Lian's spirits perked up, he understood what Li Shimin meant, and hurriedly said: "Feng Yijun Governor Xie Shufang is the confidant of King Qi, originally the saint wanted to use him as the general of Pujin Pass, but the prince strongly recommended Sheng Yanshi, the prince's intention is obvious, to control Feng Yijun, but also to control Pujin Pass, if the saint removes Sheng Yanshi, it is very likely that Uncle Xie Fang is also the general of Pujin Pass, followed by Chang He, the general of Guangtong Cang, he was once the deputy general of Sheng Yanshi, if Shengshang removes Sheng Yanshi, Chang He may also serve as the main general of Pujin Pass. ”

Li Shimin thought for a while and said: "Don't ask about Sheng Yanshi's affairs, naturally there will be a people's visit to report to the saint, you only need to do two things, the first thing, Xie Shufang's two clan brothers Xie Sili and Xie Yingdeng are both high-ranking officials in the Sui army, you might as well hint at the saint, the second thing, I heard that Chang He is afraid of the inside, he was found by his wife and forced to drive away this woman, you have to find this woman, settle her well, and then find a chance to return her to Chang He." ”

Pei Lin frowned slightly, "Your Highness, it seems that the strength is too weak to win over Chang He like this." ”

Li Shimin smiled slightly, "The position of the general of Pujin Pass is too thin, I still can't look down on it, I will clarify to the imperial brother about Sheng Yanshi, it is not what I did, but the division of the Sui army, as for Chang He, this person and Yang Yuanqing have a grudge against the teacher, he does not dare to surrender to the Sui Dynasty no matter what, you can take your time, and let him be grateful to me first." ”……

Li Jiancheng received Liu Wenjing's report, Sheng Yanshi actually had rumors circulating, this matter surprised him, he naturally thought that this was done by the King of Qin, the purpose was to intervene in the Kwantung forces and break the current balance of power, which made Li Jiancheng extremely dissatisfied.

Li Jiancheng walked all the way in the palace, he went up the steps and walked into the side hall of the Liangyi Palace, which was the location of the imperial study of the Tang Emperor Li Yuan.

Li Jiancheng walked to the door and directly instructed the eunuch: "Report for me, I want to see the saint!" ”

A eunuch hurriedly entered the room to report, and after a while, he came out and bowed and said, "Your Highness, the Holy Lord invites you to come in." ”

Li Jiancheng didn't say a word, and walked into the imperial study quickly, in the imperial study, Li Yuan happened to be reading the report of the people's visitor, the people's duty was mainly to visit the Guanlong people's support for the Tang Dynasty, after the Tongguan incident, the prestige of the Li dynasty was greatly hit, and Li Yuan had to start paying attention to public opinion.

This report clearly recorded the rumors about the Sheng Yanshi incident in the past few days, which really added a little worry to Li Yuan's heart.

"Father!" The crown prince walked in and bowed, "Erchen has something to say." ”

"What's the matter?"

Li Yuan casually put the report on the table, and subconsciously covered it with a note, Sheng Yanshi's crown prince, Li Yuan knew very well.

"Father, it's about General Sheng, I wonder if my father has heard any rumors?"

"Oh! You mean that Sheng Yanshi sent Shanguo to the Sui army, and I also heard about it, what does the emperor think about this matter? Li Yuan's tone was very flat, as if this matter was not a big deal.

But Li Jiancheng knows his father too well, his father's palace is very deep, and he is suspicious, if this matter is not resolved, although there is no problem with Sheng Yanshi now, he will inevitably fall into this matter in the future, Sheng Yanshi is a very important general of Li Jiancheng, and he must not lose letting Sheng Yanshi fall under the rumors.

"Father, General Sheng is a loyal general, and at the same time, he is both civil and military, and sends mountain fruits to the Sui army, Erchen thinks that this is in order to relieve the pressure on the border defense and prevent the two armies from clashing due to mutual distrust, quite a famous general, Erchen is willing to vouch for him, he will not have any disloyalty to the court."

Li Yuan laughed, "The emperor is too worried, I don't have any prejudices against General Sheng, this kind of rumor in the market is clearly someone maliciously provoking, I know very well in my heart, the emperor can write to General Sheng, let him lead the troops with peace of mind, don't be affected by this." ”

Father's statement made Li Jiancheng's heart let go slightly, and he hurriedly said: "Father, this kind of bad spreading of rumors is very easy to cause a crisis for the minister, and it must not be tolerated. ”

"It's not easy to check, and as long as you ignore this rumor, it will naturally disappear in a few days."

Li Yuan had no interest in investigating and dealing with rumors, and he changed the topic slightly, "But this incident reminded me that the border guards can't let a general be stationed for too long, and they must be rotated frequently, and I am indeed thinking about replacing the guards of Pujin Pass and transferring General Sheng to the capital for defense, hehe!" It has nothing to do with this rumor. ”

Li Jiancheng's heart sank into the abyss all of a sudden, and said that it didn't matter, it was clearly because of this rumor that his father would rather kill three thousand by mistake than let go of one person, Li Jiancheng knew his father too well, but his father did not dismiss Sheng Yanshi directly, this is to give himself face.

Li Jiancheng had no choice but to bow down and say: "Since my father has decided to change generals, my son is willing to recommend the generals to garrison." ”

Li Yuan nodded, as long as Jiancheng did not object to the transfer of Sheng Yanshi, then he could also give his son this face, he also knew that Jiancheng was unwilling to give up the military forces in the Kanto region, and Li Yuan also had some opinions on the second son Shimin's refusal to exterminate Liang Shidu, although Shimin kept saying that it was to restore morale and be safe, but Li Yuan suspected that Shimin wanted to use this time to consolidate his power in the army, so he was reluctant to attack Liang Shidu.

He really wanted to leave a little military power for the crown prince, so Li Yuan nodded, "Yes, who does the emperor recommend as a general?" ”

"Erchen recommended General Xie Fangshu, the commander of Feng Yi County, to serve as the general of Pujin Pass, or General He Chang, the general of Guangtong Cang, to serve as the general of Pujin Pass."