As soon as the fourth watch arrived, Chen Fuliang had to crawl out of the bed, yawn with panda eyes and yawn to leave Pei Hongce's mansion for a temporary stay, and followed his uncle to line up outside the imperial city gate to prepare for the court, and then he had to pay a smile to a large group of colleagues and subordinates and pretend to be grandsons, for fear that the action was not standard, and he would be impeached by some imperial historian -- Li Zixiong, the general of the Right Hou Wei who died in the hands of Chen Yingliang, had suffered such a big loss.

I thought that the early dynasty should have nothing to do with itself, and I was still thinking about how to handle the mountains of military affairs after the dispersal of the dynasty, who had wanted to discuss some political affairs, and after being rescued from the Turkic camp by Chen Fuliang's subordinates, Su Wei, the right prime minister, suddenly came out of the ranks, holding a jade wat and playing: "Qi Qi Your Majesty, when the Turks surrounded the car in the past, His Majesty Xià in order to boost morale, once issued a decree, all the meritorious soldiers who defended the city, straight up to the sixth grade, rewarded ten horses of silk and satin, and also issued a decree, Qinwang soldiers killed the enemy meritorious people, all from the recount reward. Wei Chen is brave, he feels that the honor is too heavy, and he should reconsider, please ask His Majesty for permission. ”

As soon as Su Wei's words were finished, the generals of the Sixteen Guards Mansion, such as Laihu'er, Chen Yingliang and Yun Dingxing, had already raised their heads like flying, and they all focused their eyes on Su Wei's face, their eyes were full of anger, and they all scolded Su Wei in their hearts for not being a thing, and deliberately harming the soldiers and himself, the generals of the army, Chen Fuliang still scolded in his heart: "Old man is not dead!" Old stuff! Forgot who saved you? If it weren't for those soldiers who threw their heads and spilled their blood to serve the court, you, an old immortal, would still be eating horse grass in the Turkic camp! It's not much to be ungrateful! ”

"What Su Aiqing said, is it inappropriate?" Emperor Yang of Sui opened his mouth and said hypocritically: "When Yanmen besieged the city, thanks to the brave battles of the soldiers defending the city, I was able to keep my thoughtfulness, and I persisted until Chen Yingliang and other Aiqing led the army to help, and the hard work was high, how can I take back the promise I made at will?" ”

"Oops!" Lai Hu'er and Feng Ang and other senior generals all changed color, and immediately saw from Emperor Yang of Sui's fake tone and attitude that Su Wei's words were already in the appetite of Emperor Yang of Sui, and then saw that Yu Wenshu, the general of Zuo Yiwei, who was in charge of the national military, hung his head and said nothing, and Laihu'er and Feng An, who had been fighting in the temple for many years, also immediately understood in their hearts, guessing that Yuwen Shu had known about the incident beforehand, and also guessed that Su Wei's words were not a hint or even an instruction from Emperor Yang of Sui - when the emperor wanted to break his promise, even if it was Emperor Yang of Sui, Also looking for a scapegoat to carry the black pot, isn't it?

Although it was only the second time he participated in the early dynasty and he didn't know much about the situation in the court, but after hearing the hypocritical tone of Emperor Yang of Sui, Chen Fuliang, who had been a man for two lifetimes, immediately felt that the situation was very bad, and quickly closed his mouth, not daring to open his mouth casually. As a result, Su Wei immediately said with a heartfelt voice: "Your Majesty is worry-free, under the whole world, it is not the king's land, the coast of the land, it is not the king's ministers, the whole world is your people, and the officials and soldiers of the whole world are all loved by you, now the country is difficult, the treasury is tight, in order to save expenses for His Majesty, but also to reduce the burden on the treasury, I think the soldiers of the Great Sui will also understand Your Majesty's hardships and voluntarily give up the rewards you deserve." ”

"It's ......." Emperor Yang of Sui looked embarrassed, and then turned to Yuwenshu and asked: "Yuwenqing, you are the general of Zuo Yiwei, the commander-in-chief of the world's military, what do you think of Su Aiqing's words?" ”

Although he is known for being able to pat himself on the back, the smile on Yu Wenshu's face this time is somewhat reluctant, and he said with a smile: "Your Majesty, what Su Xiang said is very true, Wei Chen thinks that the reward set before is too heavy, and it needs to be reconsidered. ”

Emperor Yang of Sui nodded, and followed Yuwen Shu to look down the ranks of military attachés, Laihu'er, Feng An, Chen Fuliang and others were all worried, for fear of being forced by Emperor Yang of Sui to make a statement, fortunately, Emperor Yang of Sui was too lazy to continue to go through the motions, and quickly said: "Since all of you Aiqing should reconsider, then do it, Yuwen Aiqing, you will renegotiate the reward with several generals of the Wei Mansion, and the result will be played in me, and then the new reward will be awarded." ”

Yuwen Shu trembled and agreed, respectfully received the order, and Emperor Yang of Sui, who was obviously in a better mood, waved his hand and said, "Nothing to do, retreat." ”

After that, Emperor Yang of Sui patted his ass and took the lead to leave, and hundreds of civil and military officials bowed and sent off, but as a result, Emperor Yang of Sui had just walked away, and the civil officials led by Pei Ju and Su Wei immediately slipped away, and the poor General Xu Guogong Yuwenshu was surrounded by a large group of military generals, and looked at Yuwenshu with different eyes. ”

Surrounded by a cadre of generals out of the main hall, on the way out of the palace, Yuwen Shu kept talking in a low voice with Lai Hu'er, and introduced to Lai Hu'er what happened yesterday evening on the shore of Ningbi Pond Lake, and Lai Hu'er, who was still angry before, quickly looked desperate, just at this time, there was an inner servant to summon Yuwen Shu to enter the palace to see, Yuwen Shu, who was in a hurry, was amnesty, and quickly whispered a few words to Lai Hu'er, and then couldn't wait to follow the inner attendant to slip away, Laihu'er had a gloomy face and whispered to the generals to continue to leave Miyagi with him.

Leaving the palace from Yingtianmen, he led the military attaches to a remote place away from the palace gate, and then came to Hu'er and said to everyone in a low voice: "There is no way to recover, you can only give in, you all go back and think about it, how to lower the reward in order to explain to the soldiers, draft some articles, and wait until Yuwen Zhuguo has time to spare, and we will get together again to discuss carefully." ”

Chen Yingliang, Yun Dingxing and Qu Tutong and other bitter people agreed in a low voice with sad faces, the most bitter of them was still Chen Yingliang, when everyone dispersed, Lai Hu'er stopped Chen Yingliang alone, and said to Chen Fuliang in a low voice: "Yingliang, you have to worry more about this matter, Wang Shichong does not belong to our Sixteen Guards, there are some things that we are inconvenient to say to him, you are the commander of King Qin, and his son-in-law, how he explains it will be handed over to you." Remember, be sure to let him pacify his subordinates, and don't let the soldiers make trouble in the Eastern Capital! ”

"Xiaguan will do his best." Chen Yingliang agreed with a sad face.

"Again." Lai Hu'er said in a low voice: "Pei Zuoxiang, you also go to investigate the rumors and see how much food the treasury can come up with to reward the soldiers, we can't undo it, but we must also try our best to get a little more reward for the soldiers." ”

Chen Fuliang agreed with a sad face again, and Laihu'er, who had a good character, patted Chen Yingliang's shoulder and sighed: "I'm sorry for you, I just encountered such a thing when I took office." However, you also have to understand the hardships of me and Yuwen Zhuguo, and it is difficult for us. Also, in this battle to defend Yanmen, 17,000 soldiers defending the city are all the elites of the left and right Yiwei of me and Yuwen Zhuguo, so we are even more miserable! ”

Chen Fuliang was silent, and sighed secretly in his heart, "Yang Guang, Yang Guang, you are really going to die by yourself, and you can do such a thing, don't you force the soldiers to stop working for you in the future?" Are you really out of money? Luokou warehouse next to Luoyang, as long as you take out one percent of the stored grain, it is enough to pay for the expenses of this Yanmen War! ”

Lamenting and returning to the Great General Wuwei Mansion located in the imperial city, Dugu Sheng and Huangfu Wuyi, who also participated in the early dynasty, were already waiting in the lobby, and as soon as they met, they couldn't wait to ask Chen Yingliang about the specific situation, Chen Fuliang's expression was even more sad, and said: "The two seniors forgive their sins, and the juniors don't know much about the situation now, so they can only wait for accurate news to tell you." For the sake of safety, please keep this matter confidential and must not spread it, so as not to shake the morale of the army. ”

Dugu Sheng and Huangfu Wuyi, who were not people inside and outside, nodded their heads, their expressions were extremely depressed, and Chen Fuliang said again: "Also, Xu Guogong and Rong Guogong have already said that this matter is irreparable, and we want to find a way to reduce the reward as much as possible, let's discuss it quickly and see how to reduce the expenses of the imperial court?" ”

"Counseling? How to negotiate? Dugu Sheng said with a wry smile: "Being a soldier to eat food, killing the enemy for meritorious service in exchange for rewards, since ancient times, we have lowered the reward for no reason, and the soldiers do not make trouble with geniuses." ”

"How can I explain to the soldiers?" Huangfu Wuyi coughed and wailed, "Although I did not participate in this Qinwang War, I organized the Qinwang Army in the Eastern Capital as the general of the Right Wuwei, and the casualties of the Right Wuwei this time were already relatively large, and if I cut the rewards of the soldiers, what face would I have to meet the soldiers?" ”

Chen Yingliang didn't wail, but he wailed even worse in his heart, "I'm the worst fucking one!" In this Yanmen battle, I am the commander of the whole army, and the exploits of the soldiers and horses of the Qinwang are all recorded and summarized by me. It just so happened that Lao Tzu was sealed so high this time, so it's no wonder that those old Qiu Ba are not more angry with Lao Tzu! ”

Wailing to wailing, Emperor Yang of Sui personally finalized the matter, there is no courage to be Hai Rui Bao Longtu Chen Yingliang and Dugu Sheng and other high-level right military guards are helpless, can only quickly discuss how to reduce the reward behind closed doors, because Emperor Yang of Sui had promised to double the reward of King Qin's army, Chen Yingliang and Dugu Sheng and others also quickly came up with a reduction plan, and decided to try to strive for eighty percent of the reward for the soldiers, at least fifty percent of the normal reward - that is, let the soldiers take the reward of peacetime war.

The reduction plan for military merit rewards has been set, and there is no bottom on whether he can get through guò, and when things come to this point, Chen Yingliang can only temporarily put the official duties of the right military guard aside, and temporarily entrust the official affairs to Dugusheng and Huangfu Wuyi, and he hurriedly left the general's mansion and prepared to go out of the city to the camp of the king of Jiangdu Qin to meet his father-in-law Wang Shichong, and secretly inform him of the news, so that Wang Shichong can be psychologically prepared and do a good job of appeasing the soldiers of Jiangdu, so as not to make the soldiers dissatisfied and make trouble, and the situation will be out of control.

The entourage was still waiting outside the gate of the imperial city, of course Chen Yingliang continued to go back to the city through the Ruimen, but when he just found his entourage in front of the gate of the imperial city, two unexpected characters suddenly came to Chen Yingliang's face, and knelt down to Chen Yingliang as soon as they met. ”

The people who came were Li Er and Chai Shao, the two rich sons who were dressed in brocade clothes in the past were unusual, all of them wore very simple coarse cloth clothes, and both knelt on one knee in the cold wind of late autumn and winter, and they were still shivering, looking very depressed. Seeing this scene, Chen Yingliang couldn't help but be even more strange, and hurriedly came to hold them with his own hands, and asked suspiciously: "Brother Shiminxian, Brother Sichang, what are you doing here?" It's not an outsider, so why bother doing this big gift? Hurry up, please get up, if you have something to say, please get up and say. ”

Li Er and Chai Shao both refused to get up, Chai Shao's face was gloomy, kneeling in front of Chen Fuliang without saying a word, Li Er was with tears in his eyes, his expression was very grief-stricken after killing two brothers in history, and he choked up and said to Chen Yingliang: "Brother Yingliang, the younger brother knows, our Li family is sorry for you, my father is even more sorry for you, the younger brother is sorry for a thousand words and ten thousand words, and you will not forgive our Li family." But I'm still going to be cheeky and beg you, and I beg you to say yes. ”

"Here we go again!" Chen Fu's conscience was bitter, and he quickly changed his indifferent expression, and interrupted: "Brother Shimin, if it is your father's business, then please excuse yourself, your father's matter is a Qin case, I have no right to interfere, and I don't have the courage to interfere, let alone be involved!" ”

"Brother." Li Er cried out and cried: "Are you really so ruthless? My father did something sorry for you, but this Qinwang War, he also made great contributions to the court and for you, the little brother is brave, I want to ask my brother to ask himself, this Qinwang War, if there is no Taiyuan Qinwang Army, no my father, no Li family, can you get such a big victory, can you establish such a feat? ”

"Whether your Li family has merit or not, it has its own national law to judge." Chen Yingliang, who had suffered a big loss, said that he would not be fooled again this time, and said with a straight face: "How should your father's crime be dealt with, it is also like the law of the mountain country is judged according to the law, and the emperor of the holy candle is personally decided!" I'm already an outsider and won't be involved anymore! ”

"Brother, are you really so ruthless?!" Li Er cried loudly, and directly hugged Chen Yingliang's legs - the pitiful appearance was just like when he killed his two brothers in history and sucked Li Yuan's ****.

Li Er and Chai Shao made such a fuss, and the entourage of hundreds of officials, who were bored outside the imperial city, of course, had already surrounded Chen Yingliang and the others, and while watching the excitement with great interest, they were talking in a low voice, Chen Fuliang saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly shook off Li Er, and said with a straight face: "Brother Shimin, have you made enough trouble?" I have already said that your father's case is a Qin case, and I am not an official of the Third Envoy Division, so I have no power to interfere in this case. I still have official business, farewell! ”

After that, Chen Yingliang rode the war horse led by his entourage and left, but at this moment, Chai Shao, who had never said a word, suddenly opened his mouth and shouted: "Stop!" ”

When he subconsciously strangled the mount, Chen Yingliang was surprised to see that Chai Shao's right hand flipped over, and he actually showed a stone that he didn't know where to pick up, held it high above his head, aimed the stone horn at his forehead, and roared with a hideous face: "Chen Yingliang, the grudge between my father-in-law and you is all because of me!" I was the one who forced you and my sister to divorce, I was the one who beat you, and I was the one who connived at your subordinates to burn your house and beat your family! There is a wrong, there is a debtor, today I take this life to make amends to you, I only ask you to raise your noble hand and save my father-in-law! His old man is as kind to me as a mountain, and I am willing to exchange my life for his life! ”

There was a lot of uproar, Li Er, who didn't expect Chai Shao to have such a hand beforehand, was also startled, and hurriedly stopped it, and the soldiers of the forbidden army guarding the imperial city also rushed up, raising their swords and guns to surround Chai Shao, but Chai Shao was not afraid, just blushing and yelling at Chen Yingliang: "How? As long as you nod your head, I'll end up in front of you! ”

There were more onlookers, Chen Yingliang also shook his head and sighed, he had no choice but to turn over and dismount, walked in front of Chai Shao, and said helplessly: "Brother Sichang, you really haven't changed at all, do you know what kind of crime it is to make trouble outside the gate of the imperial city?" ”

"As long as my father-in-law is safe, what crime am I afraid of?" Chai Shaotie blushed and pushed away Li Er, who came up to stop him, and roared: "The head has a scar the size of a bowl!" In order to save my father-in-law, I didn't care about anything! ”

"Filial piety is commendable, but it's a pity, you are too stupid, you were sold, and you have to help others count the money." Chen Yingliang looked even more helpless, and sighed: "If I guessed correctly, it was Li Erlang who pulled you to beg me, right?" Why don't you want to think about why he did this? And why did you kneel in front of the gate of the imperial city and beg me? He didn't want to save your father-in-law, but to make your father-in-law's matter even bigger, to the front of His Majesty, and to take the opportunity to drag me into the water and put me in a dilemma. ”

Shaking his head and sighing, Chen Yingliang turned to Li Er, and said: "Erlang, you are indeed a smart person, so smart that you are almost vicious, you know that Brother Sichang has a short temper, and he is extremely guilty of your father, in order to save your father, he will do everything, and he knows that I am kind-hearted, and he will definitely not categorically refuse, as long as I am a little."