In the early morning of the next day, the wind blew strongly, and the sky was cold for a day and finally snowflakes, and a large group of civil and military officials gathered in front of the imperial city gate in twos and threes to wait for the court, looking at such weather, the military boss Yu Wenshu's brows were a little furrowed, and he couldn't help but whisper to the people around him: "It's not good, it happened to snow today, and the emperor's majesty may not be in a good mood today." ”

"Your Majesty doesn't like snow?" Chen Yinghao asked curiously.

"Your Majesty is a little afraid of the cold, so I like the Qionghua in the south, and I don't like snowflakes very much." Yu Wenshu, who was familiar with Emperor Yang of Sui's temperament, explained in a low voice, and reminded: "Ying Liangxian nephew, you have to be careful when you speak today, such a cold Heavenly Majesty will definitely not have a good temper if he wants to get out of the hot quilt and go to court." ”

Chen Yingliang agreed very carefully, and firmly remembered Yuwenshu's instructions - this is a lesson that Yuwenshu, the first favorite of Emperor Yang of Sui, finally summed up, I don't know how much blood and tears were paid during the period, if it weren't for the overall interests of the military and Yuwenshu's private interests involved in this incident, Yuwenshu would be willing to teach it to outsiders casually? Since there is such a precious opportunity, Chen Fuliang must of course study hard.

At this time, the civil and military officials who participated in the early dynasty had basically arrived, and Uncle Xiao also sneakily came to the crowd, and saw that Chen Yingliang, the thorn in his eye, did not stand with the backer Wenxi Pei, but fought with Yu Wenshu and Lai Hu'er, Uncle Xiao inevitably had some doubts, and finally Uncle Xiao remembered the reward of the morning dynasty the day before yesterday, and then understood the reason why several senior military generals suddenly got together, and then whispered to Uncle Xiao Guo: "There is a good show to watch, if nothing else, The Sixteen Wei Mansion has to be rewarded today, and His Majesty has laid out the carriage and horses. ”

Xiao Huaijing smiled happily, and also said in a low voice: "Brother, since His Majesty has made up his mind to vigorously reduce the reward, today we will simply vote for His Majesty, and try our best to persuade His Majesty to reduce some rewards and give some rewards for his military exploits, anyway, Tang Guogong has been framed and imprisoned by Chen Yingliang's thief and Yin Shishi, even if His Majesty's reward of money is not given to the army, it has nothing to do with Tang Guogong, and it will only be Chen Yingliang's thief who is unlucky." ”

"Brilliant plan!" When Uncle Xiao heard this, he immediately nodded in agreement, but he whispered uneasily: "But it can't be too explicit, this matter involves Yuwen Shu and Lai Hu'er, to prevent them from offending the family, we can only point the finger at Chen Yingliang's thief, anyway, this thief is the boss of King Qin at that time, this reward must be indispensable for him to express his opinions, we will not let him go when the time comes." ”

Uncle Xiao Guo was also overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly agreed. And the waiting room of each ghost fetus, Mao Shi is unconsciously arrived, the gate of the imperial city slowly opened, the civil and military officials each hugged the court, as two teams slowly advanced, the head of the civil official team is still Zuo Xiang Pei Ju, the military attache queue is still Zuo Yiwei General Yu Wenshu, the queue order is basically the same, only Chen Fuliang, who has not even grown hair, walked in the fourth place in the front of the team with Yu Wat, which seems a little nondescript, funny, and also makes a large group of gray-bearded military generals and military attaches behind a little bit of gnashing their teeth - God is too short-sighted, actually let such a yellow-haired boy climb to the front.

All the way into the Great Cause Hall of the Early Dynasty, the hundred officials had just stood still, and the hall had already sounded the voice of the chief eunuch who had arrived at the palace, and the hundred officials saluted, and Emperor Yang of Sui, who was wrapped in a heavy fur coat, strode up to the dragon chair and sat down, and still shouted angrily: "Zhong Aiqing, flat body." ”

As expected by Yuwenshu, Emperor Yang of Sui's temper was really not very good, Pei Ju had been very careful to deliberately pick good news to play, but Emperor Yang of Sui still looked unkind, humming and refusing to smile, so frightened that Pei Ju hurriedly concealed a lot of political affairs, and was also happy to Uncle Xiao Guo's eyebrows, knowing that as long as the matter of reward was mentioned today, there would definitely be no good fruit to eat in the Sixteen Wei Mansion. But what made Uncle Xiao Guo a little puzzled was that during the court meeting, the military attache did not say a word, and no one stood up to speak, as if he was not going to speak at all today.

The military attache didn't speak, which was also difficult for Uncle Xiao Guo, Uncle Xiao Guo gave a look to his brother, and Xiao Huaijing, who had an agreement with his brother in advance, got into the line: "Your Majesty, the kings of all walks of life gather in the eastern capital, camp outside the city, the money and food expenditure is huge, and it also brings a lot of inconvenience to the military and civilians in the eastern capital, and the New Year is approaching, please also ask your majesty to dismiss the army, so that they can return to their stations, facilitate farming, and also reduce expenses for the imperial court." ”

"What Xiao Qing said is very true." Emperor Yang of Sui, who was worried about money and food, was very appetizing when he heard this, and immediately turned to Yuwenshu after nodding his head, and asked, "Yuwenqing, have you agreed on the matter of reconsidering the reward?" It was agreed that the reward should be given as soon as possible and they should be withdrawn to their respective stations. ”

"Your Majesty forgives me, the military affairs are complicated, and it has not yet been agreed, so please wait for two days."

Yuwen Shu replied tremblingly, this answer of course puzzled Uncle Xiao Guo, and also made Emperor Yang of Sui quite dissatisfied, and shouted in an unkind tone: "Such a trivial matter, why hasn't it been agreed yet?" Hurry up, the morning after tomorrow will be up, and I must come up with a new reward! ”

Yuwen Shu was frightened and promised, and because of Emperor Sui Yang's bad temper, he hesitated whether he should act today, and finally he quietly pushed him with the back of Lai Hu'er, Yuwen Shu made up his mind, and said to Emperor Yang of Sui: "Your Majesty, Weichen still has something to play, this time King Qin's war, Chen Yingliang Chen Xiongqu (the name of the right Wuwei), once on the battlefield suddenly used a new weapon called firearms, fire-breathing projectiles, making a thunderous sound, the power is huge, and the Turkic barbarians are caught off guard. Frightened, out of curiosity, Wei Chen once watched it with his own eyes on the way home, and thought it was very novel and interesting, I wonder if His Majesty Xià intends to observe? ”

"Firearms?" Emperor Yang of Sui really became a little interested, and asked, "Yu Wenqing, the firearms you are talking about are really so novel and interesting?" ”

"Exactly." Yu Wenshu nodded, and explained: "Chen Xiongqu captured Yang Xuangan rebel thief in the previous life, and this time he captured the thief chief brother alive, all relying on the power of firearms, such a sharp weapon, Wei Chen thinks that if His Majesty is gone, he will regret it." Therefore, Weichen had the courage to order Chen Yingliang to prepare in advance and wait for His Majesty to observe the power of firearms at any time. ”

"Not good!" Xiao Xiao's uncle Xiao Huaijing felt a pang in his heart, knowing that once that ghost firearm pleases Emperor Yang of Sui, Chen Fuliang will definitely be more loved by Emperor Yang of Sui if he is a thorn in the flesh, so Xiao Huaijing did not hesitate, and immediately raised his wat and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks it is inappropriate, firearms are a thing, Weichen has also seen it on the battlefield, the prestige is too huge, it can often shock people to run upside down, Your Majesty Xià dragon body golden branches and jade leaves, if you are frightened, Weichen and others will be unable to atone for their sins even if they die." ”

Uncle Xiao Xiao soon found out that he had done something stupid, and as soon as these words of persuasion were finished, they immediately attracted Yu Wenshu's cruel gaze like a poisonous snake, and made Uncle Xiao Xiao tremble in horror and sweat like pulp - don't look at Uncle Xiao Guo is barely a relative of the emperor, if he fights with a super powerful minister like Yu Wenshu, Yu Wenshu can crush Uncle Xiao Xiao into powder with a little finger.

Fortunately, Xiao Huaijing's dissuasion failed to work, so it did not expand the contradiction with Yuwenshu, Emperor Yang of Sui only thought about it for a while, and quickly said: "Okay, since it was Yuwenqing who invited me, then I will go and have a look, pass the decree, drive out of the city, and go to the school outside the city to review Chen Aiqing's use of firearms." Chen Aiqing, immediately bring your firearms to the school yard, and I will go there to review them. ”

Chen Yingliang agreed, hurriedly left the palace first, and hurriedly went out of the city to mobilize the firearms team to be reviewed, leaving Uncle Xiao Guo to be big-eyed and small-eyed in the Jinluan Palace, and they didn't understand the real purpose of Yuwenshu and Chen Fuliang's move, but fortunately, Emperor Yang of Sui ordered hundreds of officials to accompany him and review the firearms together, so that the two Xiao Guo's uncles would not even know what Chen Yingliang was doing.

The firearms team has been prepared for a long time, Chen Fuliang gave an order, and the firearms team led by the three dogs immediately rushed to the large school field outside the city with the little ammunition left, and lined up on the school field that was already covered with light snow to wait for the review, when the sky was completely bright, Emperor Yang of Sui finally appeared on the edge of the school field, and then surrounded by hundreds of civil and military officials, Emperor Yang of Sui ascended to the platform, and only two regiments of Qian Peng firearms also shouted neatly, "Ten thousand years of the Son of Heaven!" ”

After some red tape, the firearms team's drill officially began, first of all, the formation of shooting straw figures, then the practice of gunpowder bottle throwing, and finally Chen Yingliang personally operated the gun, shooting the Mingguang armor twenty steps away with a copper gun, and also shot a small hole in the Mingguang armor that is difficult to pierce with a strong bow and a hard crossbow, which made Chen Fuliang, who was lowly in force, very proud, and also made the old neighbor Sangouzi couldn't help but praise, "General, you have good luck today." ”

The primitive firearms of this era, of course, the biggest role is to intimidate and intimidate, but this is enough, when I saw the copper musket spewing flame smoke, beating the straw man to pieces, smoking and catching fire, and then seeing the gunpowder bottle emitting dazzling fire and making a deafening thunderous sound, Emperor Yang of Sui, who was originally very happy, suddenly became very interested - brought these things to the honor guard, which was much more majestic than ordinary swords, guns, swords, and halberds. When he saw Chen Yingliang personally operating a gun and shooting through the Mingguang armor, Emperor Yang of Sui, who knew how much success Chen Fuliang had in martial arts, simply went down in person, and when he went to check the armor breaking of the Mingguang armor on the spot, he also took Chen Yingliang's musket in person, watched it over and over, and couldn't put it down.

Of course, it was not all praise, after asking about the range and rate of fire of the original musket, Feng An, the general of Zuo Wuwei, who was called Xiong Qu with Chen Fuliang, raised a question, and said: "General Chen, this musket seems to be a bit flashy?" In addition to being able to breathe fire and make loud noises, the rate of fire and range are inferior to ordinary bows and arrows, and once the enemy gets used to the loud sound of fire, won't he immediately become inferior to a bow and arrow? ”

"What Senior Feng said is very true." Chen Yingliang said respectfully: "In addition to the armor-piercing power at close range, the rate of fire and range of this musket are indeed inferior to bows and arrows, but this musket has one of the biggest advantages, that is, an ordinary soldier can be proficient in operation as long as he practices for a few days, and he is not affected by the wind and frost season. ”

"Then you might as well use a crossbow."

Feng Ang still didn't think so, and Chen Yingliang couldn't explain to him the huge difference between muskets and crossbows in terms of muzzle velocity, let alone the huge prospects of gunpowder, but fortunately, Emperor Yang of Sui himself played with the last gunpowder bottle for gunpowder weapons that could make loud noises, and said to Chen Yingliang: "Aiqing, since such a weapon has such an outstanding effect on frightening the enemy on the battlefield, then why don't you make more and create more chaos for the enemy?" ”

"Back to His Majesty, the cost is too expensive." Chen Yingliang was waiting for this sentence, and said with a wry smile: "I am not afraid of His Majesty's jokes, when I was in Qianjun, Weichen forced him to cry twice in order to let Xu Minlian and Xu Taishou take out money and grain to make these gunpowder weapons, and the second time he forced Xu Taishou to cry, Xu Taishou also threatened that if Weichen asked him for money to make such a weapon again, he would hang himself and show Weichen. ”

"Chen Xiongqu, is it too disrespectful to say such things in front of His Majesty?" Xiao Yu immediately dragged out her voice.

"It's okay, Chen Aiqing has already said that it's a joke." Emperor Yang of Sui, who had already been in a better mood, smiled and waved his hand, and asked Chen Fuliang about the cost of various firearms, Chen Fuliang was not polite, and doubled the price and reported it, but Emperor Yang of Sui couldn't help but be a little disappointed when he heard it, and said regretfully: "It's so expensive?" At present, the treasury is very tight, and it seems that it is difficult for me to equip the army on a large scale. ”

As he wished, Emperor Yang of Sui took the initiative to raise the financial issue, Chen Yingliang was no longer polite, and immediately asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, forgive Weichen for daring to ask, is the current treasury money and grain really so tight?" ”

"Chen Xiongqu, it's too much, right?" Xiao Yu dragged out his voice again, and said viciously: "You are not an official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, can you interfere in the affairs of the treasury money and grain?" ”

"Doctor Xiao, the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the husband." Chen Fuliang retorted unceremoniously: "As an official of the imperial court, the younger generation cares about the situation of the treasury, and also wants to try his best to reduce the burden of money and food for His Majesty, save the expenses of the imperial court, and use the limited money and grain to the places where His Majesty needs it more urgently." Do you want to be like you, just enjoy the high-ranking officials bestowed by Your Majesty, and don't think about sharing your Majesty's worries and solving problems for the imperial court? ”

"You? You are talking nonsense! Uncle Xiao Guo, who was confronted by Chen Fuliang for the first time, was suddenly furious.

"Doctor Xiao, is Chen Xiongqu's words wrong?" On the other side, Laihu'er spoke, and said viciously: "Eating the king's lu, the matter of loyalty to the king, sharing worries for His Majesty, and solving problems for the court, how can it be regarded as nonsense?" Do you want us court officials to be like you, who only care about personal pleasures and don't think about the affairs of the court at all? ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen also thinks that Dr. Xiao's words are a little inappropriate." For his own sake, Yuwen Shu also said: "Chen Xiongqu has already explained that his original intention is to share his majesty's worries, solve problems for the imperial court, and do his duty as a minister, but Doctor Xiao still accuses Chen Xiongqu of talking nonsense and being ignorant, and he really doesn't understand that Chen Xiongqu's loyalty is wrong. ”

Emperor Yang of Sui's cruel gaze turned to Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu was sweating profusely, so he had to change his words and say: "Weichen lost his words, please forgive your majesty." ”

"If you can't manage your mouth, shut up!" Emperor Yang of Sui scolded angrily, and then turned to Chen Yingliang and said: "What Aiqing said is very true, the current treasury money and grain are indeed a little tight, otherwise, how can I adopt Su Aiqing's advice and let you renegotiate the reward?" ”

When the critical moment came, Yuwenshu and Lai Hu'er both squinted their eyes to Chen Yingliang, and the generals behind them, such as Yun Dingxing and Qu Tutong, were even more breathless, but Chen Fuliang showed a look of great disappointment, and said in surprise: "It's a pity, originally Weichen still wanted to say that he asked His Majesty to build a palace in Danyang, so that His Majesty could use it when he visited Jiangnan." Since the treasury is tight, then Weichen will not dare to open this mouth. ”

Hearing this, Yuwenshu and Lai Hu'er of course wanted to strangle Chen Fuliang to death, and Pei Ju, Su Wei and others on the civil official's side also looked at each other, and they couldn't understand what medicine Chen Fuliang had taken wrong, and they dared to persuade Emperor Yang of Sui to build a new palace at this critical moment? Only Emperor Yang of Sui immediately smiled when he heard that he was right for his appetite and asked, "Chen Aiqing, why did you suddenly remember to ask His Majesty to build the Danyang Palace?" ”

"Your Majesty, that's right." Chen Yingliang said eloquently: "When Weichen bathed in the grace of heaven and was guarded by the feudal county, there was also a palace of His Majesty in Yongcheng, and Weichen out of curiosity, he had a general understanding of the palace of His Majesty, and as a result, he inadvertently found that although there are more than 40 palaces of Your Majesty, they are all located in the north of the Yangtze River, and there is no palace in the south of the Yangtze River. ”

"Of course, Weichen also knows that Your Majesty did not build a palace in Jiangnan, perhaps because of special considerations." Chen Yingliang added shamelessly: "But Weichen still feels sorry for the people of Jiangnan, who are also the people of the Great Sui, why can only the people north of the Yangtze River be comforted by the Son of Heaven?" Why can't the people of the Great Sui south of the Yangtze River see the dragon's face, see the majesty of the holy car with their own eyes, and bathe in the majesty of heaven? ”

"As for why the minister asked His Majesty to build a palace in Danyang, instead of building a palace in other cities in the south of the Yangtze River?" Chen Yingliang said more flatteringly: "Because everyone knows that although there are many martial arts and great achievements of the Emperor, when the emperor was alive, the first feats achieved by His Majesty were to lead Weichen's uncle Han Baohu and other generals to break through Danyang City, the capital of the Chen Dynasty, capture Chen Shubao, the unenlightened monarch, save the people of Jiangnan from the dire situation, and rebuild the thirty-two counties in the south of the Yangtze River, which is of great significance to His Majesty, so Weichen secretly thought that Danyang, the place where His Majesty and the dragon rise, should have a palace of His Majesty! ”

"This guy is even better than me!" Famous traitors such as Yuwenshu, Pei Ju, Yuwenshu and Pei Yun were all dumbfounded, and Yun Dingxing still exclaimed in his heart, "This kid, why is he more shameless than me?" ”

"Aiqing really knows my heart!"

While a large group of traitorous villains opened their mouths, Emperor Yang of Sui laughed loudly, and patted Chen Yingliang's shoulder heavily, and said with a smile: "What Aiqing said is very true, it is in line with my heart, Danyang is the place where my hidden dragon rises, and there should be a palace of mine, in order to commemorate my martial arts, the great cause of thousands of years, and it is also convenient for me to comfort the people of Jiangnan when I come to Jiangnan!" "Please build a palace in Danyang, instead of building a palace in other cities in the south of the Yangtze River?" Chen Yingliang said more flatteringly: "Because everyone knows that although there are many martial arts and great achievements of the Emperor, when the emperor was alive, the first feats achieved by His Majesty were to lead Weichen's uncle Han Baohu and other generals to break through Danyang City, the capital of the Chen Dynasty, capture Chen Shubao, the unenlightened monarch, save the people of Jiangnan from the dire situation, and rebuild the thirty-two counties in the south of the Yangtze River, which is of great significance to His Majesty, so Weichen secretly thought that Danyang, the place where His Majesty and the dragon rise, should have a palace of His Majesty! ”

"This guy is even better than me!" Famous traitors such as Yuwenshu, Pei Ju, Yuwenshu and Pei Yun were all dumbfounded, and Yun Dingxing still exclaimed in his heart, "This kid, why is he more shameless than me?" ”

"Aiqing really knows my heart!"

While a large group of traitorous villains opened their mouths, Emperor Yang of Sui laughed loudly, and patted Chen Yingliang's shoulder heavily, and said with a smile: "What Aiqing said is very true, it is in line with my heart, Danyang is the place where my hidden dragon rises, and there should be a palace of mine, in order to commemorate my martial arts, the great cause of thousands of years, and it is also convenient for me to comfort the people of Jiangnan when I come to Jiangnan!" ”