In the study, Yang Yuanqing opened a list, this is a petition, which is densely signed with names, asking for the war of the Central Plains to be stopped, there are nearly one hundred and fifty people, and there are even the signatures of Lu Yu and Cui Hongyuan at the bottom.

This strong lineup of the list was enough to make Ziwei Pavilion difficult to parry, and he specially sent Wei Zheng to the Central Plains to find himself, put pressure on him, and implicitly hoped to withdraw his troops and leave the Central Plains.

Although it is indeed true that the imperial court's finances were tight due to the Central Plains Campaign, this signature has little to do with this reason, and the financial tension is a matter for the household department and Ziwei Pavilion Xiangguo, and has nothing to do with other ministers.

On the contrary, Du Ruhui, who was in charge of finance, and Yang Ziwei, the head of the household department, did not sign, and asked for the withdrawal of troops from the Central Plains on the grounds of financial constraints, but there was no signature of the official in charge of finance.

The fundamental reason is that the conquest of the Central Plains has affected the vital interests of Hedong officials and clans, and through two days of investigation, Yang Yuanqing has understood the real reason.

The Sui army seized Hebei and implemented the Juntian Order in Hebei, so that a large number of Hebei peasants who had fled the war were unwilling to become tenants anymore and began to leave the manor and return to their hometown in Hebei to receive fields.

A large number of Hebei peasants have returned to their hometowns, which has seriously affected the interests of Hedong officials, and now the tenant farmers who are farming in the major estates in Hedong are mainly the fleeing peasants from the Central Plains; once the Central Plains are taken and the land equalization order is begun to be implemented in the Central Plains, these fleeing peasants from the Central Plains will inevitably return to their hometowns, and only a very small number of local tenant farmers will be left in the estates in Hedong.

If there is no one on the manor to farm, then the officials will have no harvest, which will be a big problem, and Yang Yuanqing also knows this, but this must not be used as a reason to blackmail his own retreat.

Yang Yuanqing can tolerate these Hedong officials to oppose the Central Plains Campaign for their own interests, and he does not care, but he cannot tolerate the manipulators behind the scenes.

The manipulators behind the scenes are the Wang Party, that is, Wang Xu's forces, such as Liu Xuanmao, the Qing of Dali Temple, Xue Mingyi, the Shaoyin of Jingzhao, Xue Shu, the Taichang Shaoqing, and Wu Mengyuan, the supervisor of Dushui, etc., these are the backbone of the Wang Party in the imperial court.

There are also nearly twenty county officials, who are either children of the Wang family. Either they were Wang Xue's protégés, and they constituted the Wang family's power in Hedong.

In fact, Yang Yuanqing is not opposed to the formation of factions and factions, which is a normal thing, nor is he disgusted with the power struggle and interest struggle between the parties, and he will not become a court without struggle, he will not take these things to heart, as a superior person, he will also encourage the existence of these factions.

However, some factions turned their struggle to him, Yang Yuanqing. Challenge his authority. Is it tolerable or unbearable, this is beyond the bottom line of the factional struggle, this is going to have a power struggle with him Yang Yuanqing.

It's obvious. This time, Wang Xudang targeted him, inciting the discontent of the ministers of the Hedong Department and putting pressure on him. Asking him Yang Yuanqing to give up the Central Plains, he will never tolerate it.

The Wang family's alcohol ban case happened at this time, which undoubtedly gave Yang Yuanqing a chance to clean up the Wang Party, and he decided to use this opportunity to wipe out the Wang Party.

The decision has been made, and the key is what means to use, whether it is to cut the mess with a quick knife or cut the flesh with a blunt knife, which he has not yet decided.

At this moment, the housekeeper's wife reported outside the door. "Master, the grandson of the Pei family is here, and he asks to see him outside the mansion!"

Yang Yuanqing was slightly stunned, Pei Jin came, he glanced at the list, Pei Jin's signature ranked second, second only to Liu Xuanmao, the secretary of Dali Temple. This made Yang Yuanqing very dissatisfied, and it was precisely because of the signature of the eldest grandson Pei Jin that many Pei Party officials misjudged the situation and thought that Pei Ju supported the battle against the Central Plains, so they signed their names one after another.

Yang Yuanqing understands Pei Jin. Although he is more shrewd and capable, he always has the arrogance of the Pei family and grandchildren in his bones. It is this arrogance that often clouds his eyes and his reason.

Like this signature, I'm afraid it's also his arrogance that is at work, it should have nothing to do with Pei Ju, with Pei Ju's old scheming, he will definitely see that this is the Wang Party's behind-the-scenes manipulation.

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment, and then ordered: "Let him wait in the outer study." ”

After all, he is the grandson of the Pei family, and it is likely that Pei Ju asked him to come to him, and he also hopes to see Pei Jin gradually become mature.

Yang Yuanqing changed his clothes and came to the outer study unhurriedly, the door of the outer study was not closed, and Pei Jin could be seen sitting on the couch with his head bowed and pondering, with a very solemn expression.

Yang Yuanqing coughed lightly, walked into the room, and said with a smile: "Let Pei Shaoqing wait for a long time." ”

Pei Jin bit his lip, he suddenly got up and knelt down in front of Yang Yuanqing, "Pei Jin has come to ask for forgiveness and beg His Highness for forgiveness!" ”

Pei Jin's kneeling came very suddenly, Yang Yuanqing was stunned at first, and then reacted, with Pei Jin's high character, he would never kneel for himself, this must be Pei Ju's meaning, and even Pei Ju forced him to admit his mistake.

Yang Yuanqing didn't help him up, but sat down in his seat, pondered for a moment, and said, "What are you guilty of?" ”

"I shouldn't have taken the liberty to sign the petition, because I was confused for a while, and I listened to Liu Xuanmao's instigation, and it was also caused by some dissatisfaction with His Highness in my bones."

Yang Yuanqing was frank when he heard him, admitting that he was a little dissatisfied with himself in his bones, in fact, he should look down on himself in his bones, but this difference can be ignored, so he nodded slightly, "Pei Shaoqing, please!" ”

Pei Jin stood up, but he didn't dare to sit down again, he stood in front of Yang Yuanqing with his hands down, showing the respect of a courtier, and Yang Yuanqing asked lightly: "Do you know what the consequences of your signature have caused?" ”

"I really don't know, but this will cause a misunderstanding between His Highness and grandfather, I didn't report this matter to my grandfather in advance, and I have nothing to do with my grandfather."

"Your grandfather must not have known about this, and if he did, he would have broken your leg."

Speaking of this, Yang Yuanqing threw the inventory to him, "Take a look at it yourself!" Your name comes second. ”

Pei Jin has never seen this petition since he signed it, he carefully looked at the list behind him, his face began to turn white, sweat oozed from his forehead, and most of the Pei party members signed it later.

He finally realized the stupid thing he had done, and the name he signed made many members of the Pei Party mistakenly think that it was his grandfather's meaning, so he signed it, which was simply Liu Xuanmao deliberately asked him to sign, and he fell for it.

Yang Yuanqing saw that his lips trembled, and he knew that he had understood the stupid thing he had done, so he said to him seriously: "You are the grandson of the Pei family, and the official Shaoqing of Dali Temple, to a certain extent, you represent the head of the Pei family, I hope that through this matter, you will completely mature, don't be so naïve, the officialdom struggle is very cruel, there are traps everywhere, if you are reckless, I will not use you again, demote you to a commoner, and will not give you the opportunity to be the head of the Pei family." ”

Pei Jin gave a deep salute, "Pei Jin understands, my prejudice against His Highness will not be there anymore from now on, I will keep His Highness's words in mind." ”

Yang Yuanqing shook his head, "It's not just prejudice against me, your biggest problem is that you attach too much importance to the concubine, this is the root of all your problems, the future of the world is the world of meritocracy, the major famous families, which one reads the four words 'meritocracy' thoroughly, then it can achieve great development, you go back and think about the defeat of the Hongnong Yang family, originally this is a family that can be crowned by many people, but it is because they were obsessed with the concubine that it led to the sinking of today's family." ”

Pei Jin felt extremely shocked in his heart, if the Yang family did not drive Yang Yuanqing out of the house at the beginning, then the Yang family would be the Great Sui royal family, and the difference of one thought would lead to the destruction of a family, and this thought was the concubine and the concubine, it was time for him to reflect on himself......

Pei Jin's sincere apology made Yang Yuanqing see the sincerity of the Pei family, and finally made him decide to cross out the Pei party on the petition, and this time let the Pei party go.

The night was getting deeper, and Yang Yuanqing, who had been busy all day, finally felt tired and returned to the dormitory, where he would stay in his wife Pei Minqiu's courtyard tonight.

"The master is here!"

As soon as he walked into the courtyard, there was a maid's report at the door, Pei Minqiu's yard was very large, full of all kinds of precious trees, in front of the pool, there were groups of goldfish in the pool, and the middle walked to the front of the small building through a curved corridor.

The small building has two floors, the lower floor is the residence of the maid and servant and more than a dozen female guards, the upper floor is Pei Minqiu's room, the eldest son Yang Ning also lives on the second floor, and several female guards live next door to their mother and son.

Yang Yuanqing went up to the second floor and walked into his wife's room, but he saw his wife Pei Minqiu giving a deep salute.

Yang Yuanqing couldn't help but be stunned and laughed, "Why did you become so polite?" ”

Pei Minqiu said gratefully: "Thank you for your tolerance towards Brother Pei Jin. ”

"How do you know I'm tolerant of him? Did you see that? Yang Yuanqing asked curiously.

Pei Minqiu smiled slightly, "My inference is very simple, because I heard that Pei Jin came in despair, but left in high spirits, I can infer what mistakes he made, but I was forgiven by my husband, so I am deeply grateful." ”

"Yes, my lady is very smart, extremely smart!"

Yang Yuanqing was full of praise for his wife's cleverness, so he briefly said that Pei Jin had the courage to sign against him, and finally said: "Today, your grandfather learned what he did, scolded him and forced him to explain the situation, hey! This Pei Jin is in his thirties, he is still so simple-minded and naïve, I hope he can change his past mistakes this time. ”

Pei Minqiu also sighed slightly, "My clan brother has been cared for since he was a child, he has not suffered any setbacks, and he has developed a proud character, I hope that my husband can send him to the frontier to serve in the army and undergo training, which will be good for him." ”

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Look! If he still can't get rid of the arrogant stink in his bones, I really plan to send him to Fengzhou to serve in the army and hone him well. ”

Pei Minqiu hesitated for a moment, and then asked in a low voice, "Is the husband ready to clean up the Wang family?" ”

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and said slowly: "You don't have to ask about this matter, I know what to do." ”

Pei Minqiu didn't dare to say anything more, she received a letter for help today, which was written by her uncle Wang Xu, begging her to save her cousin Wang Qi, but she found from her husband's tone that it seemed that the Wang family was going to encounter greater trouble, not only Wang Qi alone, but she was really a little worried in her heart