There are priorities, compared with reporting to Emperor Yang of Sui for a reward, Zhai Hong's father and son's entry into Kou Kun is a trivial matter as big as a sesame mung bean, it has nothing to do with it, and it doesn't worry about Chen Fuliang, just a distant cousin Pei Xingfang who has been taken by Chen Fuliang is enough to strangle them, so let's take a look at the situation on Qian Xiangmin's side first.

Qian Xiangmin's unzippered mouth hurt him, and he needed to hand over his business before leaving, and he couldn't immediately set off south, during which Qian Xiangmin couldn't control his mouth, and shook his preparations to Jiangdu to many colleagues, and the result was less than a day, dozens of officials and magnates came to the door, all of them were the families of the civil and military officials who accompanied Emperor Yang of Sui to the south, either asking money to bring family letters to the people, or asking Qian Xiangmin to bring gifts to their families. As for the reason, of course, the world is in chaos and wars, the roads are blocked, and the traffic is difficult, and the families of these officials who are driving are eager to get in touch with their relatives and understand each other's situation, so they naturally have their eyes on Qian Xiangmin, who is ready to tie his head to Jiangdu with his head tied to his belt.

Qian Xiangmin, who is very good at being a person, in order to maintain the relationship with colleagues and please many bosses, of course, does not refuse to come, and all of them agree, but as the families of these driving officials bring more and more gifts, Qian Xiangmin gradually became a little unbearable, so he could only quickly end the receipt of the express delivery to the people, only promised to carry the letter, and refused to bring any more items. For this reason, he offended the families of many high-ranking officials and magnates, not to mention, and let a cadre of guards led by He Er complain about him very much - the road was dangerous enough, and what did he do with several truckloads of clothes, hats, shoes and socks and useless Guanzhong native products?

"These things are useless to us, but to the officials who accompany His Majesty, they are more precious than gold. He Er, you are from Qianjun, if you can eat a bite of Yongcheng's dried dates and Gaozhuang's crisp pears in Guanzhong, how much are you willing to pay? This is Qian Xiangmin's sophistry, and it is also a big truth from the bottom of his heart, which made He Er's guards close their mouths one after another, and no longer complain about Qian Xiangmin's troubles for them.

In this way, in the snowflakes, Qian Xiangmin took more than 20 selected Sui army masters on the road, and it was very sad that Qian Xiangmin, who had been shot by the official residence, and He Er, who had been awarded the sword preparation, the two incumbent Great Sui civil and military officials, together with their entourage, walked on the land road of the Great Sui, or to carry out such an important task as meeting Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, they even had to put on the clothes of the people and disguise themselves as ordinary merchants on the road. And what is even more sad is that not only are they not ashamed of such behavior, but they also take it for granted and must be.

As soon as they left Jingzhao County, which was directly controlled by Chen Fuliang, Qian Xiangmin, He Er and others had already experienced the difficulties of the troubled times, because they did not dare to cross the border beyond their authority, Chen Fuliang's Sui army in the eastern capital had no way to take the bandits in Shangluo County in the southwest of Daxing, and Shangluo Pengchong, who only had a few thousand township soldiers in his hands, also had no way to take the many thieves in the territory, and allowed the Shangluo bandits led by Zhou Tao to run rampant in the county, arbitrarily plundering merchants and officials who traveled between the north and the south, causing Daxing to communicate with the southern counties extremely difficult. The white bones on both sides of the official road are exposed in the wild, there is no rooster crowing for hundreds of miles, only wild dogs and jackdaws that eat human flesh and eat red eyes are scurrying around.

Qian Xiangmin has never been built in terms of luck, on the way south to Shangluo Junzhi, he saw the corpse of a pedestrian who had just been killed twice, but he never encountered a large group of bandits, and occasionally a few small thieves saw that Qian Xiangmin and his party were many powerful and carrying weapons, and they were also very well-behaved and did not come to trouble Qian Xiangmin. And after arriving in Shangluo, it happened that Shangluo Taishou sent troops to send food to Wuguan, and Qian Xiangmin and others were able to follow the township soldiers to go south out of the customs, and the luck was so good that He Er's entourage was amazed, and they all said that it was no wonder that Qian Xiangmin had gone through so many things with Chen Fuliang, and he could still live to this day.

The further south you go, the more dangerous it becomes, and there are more people and dead bodies along the way, but what makes Qian Xiangmin himself feel a little unbelievable is that because Zhou Faming, the super landlord of Yong'an, rebelled and raised troops, and was recruiting Liukou to attack Xiangyang City, the large number of Liukou in Zheyang and Nanyang counties south of Wuguan became people, and they responded to Zhou Faming's call to Xiangyang to participate in the siege of the city. Qian Xiangmin and his entourage were able to miraculously cross these two dangerous counties, but they were not as unlucky as the previous envoy Pei Ning, and died tragically in Nanyang.

Further southeast of Huai'an County and the first two counties are about the same, most of the domestic Liukou were tempted by the money and food after the capture of Xiangyang, in response to Zhou Faming's call to run to Xiangyang County further south, the bandits in the territory were greatly reduced, and at the same time, the city of Huai'an County, which is very small, was relatively dense, Qian Xiangmin and his party could stay overnight in the city during the day, but they wasted some more time to avoid the large group of bandits passing by, and still miraculously arrived at Tongbai safely, and took the Huaishui ferry to the south of the river.

Qian Xiangmin's good luck seems to end here, one of the two civilian boats hired by Tongbai is a thief ship, and the owner of the ship is eyeing several large truckloads of goods brought by Qian Xiangmin before agreeing to take Qian Xiangmin and others to Jiangdu, and is ready to ask Qian Xiangmin to choose whether to eat bandao noodles or wonton noodles at night. But fortunately, Qian Xiangmin insisted on asking Chen Fuliang for He Er, who had played a role, He Er, who was rescued from the thief's nest by Ma Sanbao, had been eating on the water, and the sailors of the black ship accidentally said a few words of incision in front of He Er, and then He Er immediately summoned people to strike first, killed the heroes of the black boat, and robbed their boat, Qian Xiangmin and others escaped another catastrophe, and were able to continue eastward with another regular civilian boat that had been scared stupid.

"I almost died on a boat, how chaotic is this Great Sui world? What hope can there be for this Great Sui River? This is Qian Xiangmin's wail when he looks at the bloody corpses in the cabin, and then, Qian Xiangmin hurriedly goes to change his pants that have been wet.

After killing the leader of the black ship and the sailors, and taking the safer waterway of the Huai River, Qian Xiangmin, He Er and others once thought that it was relatively safe, and discussed whether to go back to Chen Fuliang's place of origin to see the situation when they passed through the southern part of Qian County, but they soon found out that they were very wrong. As soon as they crossed Yiyang County and entered Yiyang County, they were stunned to see that the large and small cities south of the Huai River had changed color, and the vermilion Great Sui banner had disappeared, replaced by the apricot yellow Du Fuwei military flag.

After inquiring more carefully, Qian Xiangmin and others were stunned to learn that Yiyang had fallen into the clutches of Du Fuwei all the way to Liuhe, Gaoyou and other cities that were only more than 100 miles away from Jiangdu, and Chen Fuliang's former defeated general Du Fuwei was under the nose of Emperor Yang of Sui, controlling most of the Jianghuai land, and the hundreds of thousands of elite Sui troops stationed outside the Jiangdu City had no way to take Du Fuwei.

If it weren't for the fact that the road back was equally dangerous, our money to the people would no longer have the courage to go forward, but fortunately, Du Fuwei had already adjusted his rogue tactics at this moment, no longer completely relying on raiding homes and robbing houses for a living, and began to surrender to the support of intellectuals to establish political power, develop internal affairs, and lightly pay taxes and rectify law and order to buy people's hearts, so that the boat that Qian Xiangmin and his party were riding was not sacked by Du Fuwei's army, and at the same time relied on sufficient advance preparations. Qian Xiangmin, who disguised himself as an ordinary businessman, and bought the soldiers of Du who searched the boat, and at the same time rescued several women who were about to starve to death on the way, and pretended to be their family members to cover, so that they could continue to go down the Huai River.

After surviving countless hardships and obstacles, and experiencing countless fears, Qian Xiangmin and his entourage came to Pengcheng and Xiapi River sections that had been governed by Chen Fuliang, and the southern part of Pengcheng, which was once chaotic, was no longer populated, and Xiapi County, which was once an important source of money and food for Chen Fuliang, has also become a paradise for wild dogs and scavenging crows, and the very important Xucheng Wharf in the south of Xiapi has turned into a scorched earth, and only a few slender men with green eyes are soliciting business on the shore, but they can see the human arms cooked in their pots from afar. Qian Xiangmin and He Er didn't even dare to rely on the shore, and went directly down the Huaishui River to the east. Leaving those ragged slender men on the dock shouting, "Sir, all right, we're all starving, give us a bite to eat." ”

Shanyang County, the mouth of the river where Huaishui was transferred to the Tongji Canal, was also under Du Fuwei's control, and no ships were allowed to transfer to the Tongji Canal to the south, and Qian Xiangmin and He Er and others could only give up the goods on board, as well as the local products brought to the accompanying officials from Guanzhong, and disembarked in the upper reaches of Shanyang with letters and dry food, gold and silver, and went to Jiangdu by land to meet Emperor Yang of Sui.

On the way, they encountered the interrogation of Du Fuwei's soldiers several times, Qian Xiangmin and his entourage could only return to their hometown in Danyang under the pretext of returning to their hometown in Danyang, and even bribed and gave gifts to send these Du soldiers, more than 20 people all knew that it was difficult to return to Daxing this time in the south, but there was no way back, Qian Xiangmin and others could only continue to go to Jiangdu. During this period, Qian Xiangmin howled and cried several times, and He Er and others were also forced to fight with a team of Du soldiers who refused to let go, and three companions died.

Fortunately, when the thoughtful Chen Fuliang arranged escorts for Qian Xiangmin, he specially arranged two Jiangdu soldiers to act as guides for Qian Xiangmin and others when necessary.

At the beginning of the month, when he set out from Daxing and entered the territory of Jiangdu County, which was controlled by the Sui army, the time had already entered the second half of the first month of the fourteenth year of the Great Cause, and Qian Xiangmin, who was dressed appropriately at the time of departure, had also become ragged and unkempt, and his appearance was even more wolf than when he crossed the Wutai Mountains to Yanmen to meet Emperor Yang of Sui. So much so that when Qian Xiangmin and others finally met the patrolling Sui soldiers, they were treated by the Sui soldiers as the homeless and hungry people who could be seen everywhere in the Jianghuai area, holding knives and guns and shouting orders, forcing them to leave.

hurriedly stepped forward to explain, Qian Xiangmin originally thought that it would take a lot of tongue and effort to convince the Sui soldiers on the other side, but to Qian Xiangmin's surprise and sadness, he only said that he was from Guanzhong, and those Sui soldiers immediately surrounded him, and asked with ecstasy, "Are you from Guanzhong?" What happened to Yunyang County? I heard that Tang Guogong entered Daxing, has my family been washed in Yunyang County? ”

"My family is in Shiping, how is Shiping? It's close to Daxing, did the thieves mess around there? ”

"My home is in Ah Cheng, has Ah Castle been washed? Did the thieves enter Acheng? ”

"My family is from Qishan, what happened to Qishan? How is my mother and my father? ”

Hearing these questions, Qian Xiangmin, He Er and others all had an urge to cry, and when they answered as much as they could, most of the Sui soldiers from all over Guanzhong cried one after another, especially the Sui soldiers from Qishan, when Qian told the people that the county seat of Qishan had been attacked by Bai Yupo, all the food and property in the city had been looted and the residents of the county had been killed and injured, the tall man in his thirties actually lay on the ground and cried, while frantically hammering the ground, While crying hoarsely, all the names of relatives were muttered.

If it weren't for Qian Xiangmin himself, these Sui soldiers forgot to take him to Jiangdu to meet Emperor Yang of Sui, but on the way back to the city, Qian Xiangmin and others were still questioned by these Sui soldiers, and the Sui army patrol soldiers encountered along the way, after learning that they were from Guanzhong, also pounced on them as if they saw their relatives, and no longer paid attention to the patrol task, just inquiring about the situation in their hometown, and the crying of missing their hometown and relatives was always continuous, and countless Sui soldiers washed their faces with tears and cried into children.

Even if he wasn't a traverser, seeing such a scene, Qian Xiangmin couldn't help but feel worried, and said secretly: "This situation, isn't it good?" If His Majesty the Emperor insists on moving the capital to Danyang and never returns to the north, how many of these Guanzhong soldiers are willing to continue to protect him? ”

On the twenty-third day of the first month of the fourteenth year of the Great Cause, this day was the most beautiful day in Qian Xiangmin's life, when Qian Xiangmin, a small official from the ninth grade, came to the outside of Jiangdu City, there were nearly 10,000 people to greet him, of course, most of them were ordinary Guan sergeants, but also included a large number of high-ranking officials of the imperial court, civil and military officials who held real power -- in normal times, the servants of the confessors shot Qian Xiangmin, such a six-grade small official, they may not even bother to look at it.

Of course, Qian Xiangmin knew that these people wanted to inquire about the situation in Guanzhong, but Qian Xiangmin had more important things to do now, so he could only ask He Er and others to come forward to introduce the situation in Guanzhong to them, and then said to an official who had never seen an official position and seemed to be very high: "This lord, can you let the lower officials immediately visit the emperor's majesty?" Daxing was once occupied by Li Yuan's thief army, and His Majesty must have been very worried, and the lower officials had to report to him first that Chen Liushou had recovered Daxing. ”

The senior official on the other side reacted very strangely, not only did not agree immediately, but also thought about it for a while before saying: "You better go to see Pei Zuoxiang and Yu Shilang first, report the situation to them first, and then listen to their decision." ”

"Why?" Qian Xiangmin was confused, and hurriedly asked the name and position of the official opposite, and the high-ranking official replied that his name was Xiao Ju, so frightened that Qian Xiangmin hurriedly bowed and claimed to have seen Liang Gong.

Hearing the news of Qian Xiangmin's arrival, Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and other super magnates just didn't go out of the city to greet Qian Xiangmin in person because of their identity and face, but they also hurriedly gathered at the temporary Shangshutai in Jiangdu Miyagi, waiting for Qian Xiangmin to come to visit, and even waived the passing scenes of changing clothes and bathing, and directly let Qian Xiangmin, who was covered with mud, go to Shangshutai to meet them. And when Qian reported to the people that Chen Fuliang had successfully recovered Daxing, Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and other important ministers of the court also breathed a long sigh of relief, but there was still no joy on their faces, and they still frowned, not knowing what they were thinking.

After whispering to Pei Ju, Pei Yun and Yu Shiji and others that their mansion was safe and had not been looted by the rebels, Qian Xiangmin once again proposed to meet Emperor Yang of Sui to submit the Jie Zhang, but after Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and others discussed it in a low voice, they still shook their heads and refused Qian Xiangmin's plea. Then Pei Ju also said to Qian Xiangmin: "Qian Zhi, you have worked hard from afar, leave the report of the victory, go down to rest first, and we will arrange it for you to meet Your Majesty, and we will notify you when the time comes." Someone comes, send the person who sends the money to rest, arrange the best pavilion for him, and entertain him. ”

After walking thousands of miles, he almost lost his head countless times, and seeing that he would be promoted and rewarded soon, Qian Xiangmin would hand over the report chapter when he was stupid, and he had the courage to plead: "Pei Zuoxiang, it's not that the lower official refuses to accept the order, it is Chen who stays behind to explain to the lower official, and he must present his report to the emperor in person." ”

Qian Xiangmin was careful to hide from Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and other old foxes in the officialdom, and after looking at each other and smiling bitterly, Pei Yun got up under Pei Ju's signal, walked to Qian Xiangmin's side, and whispered in his ear: "Don't think that Pei Zuoxiang is trying to rob you of your credit, they are doing it for your good!" Let's tell you the truth, Your Majesty still doesn't know the news that Daxing was captured by Li Yuan's thief army, you go to see Your Majesty now and say that Daxing is recovered, what kind of fate do you say? ”

"Your Majesty still doesn't know the news of the fall of Daxing?" Qian Xiangmin almost didn't bare his eyes out of his sockets, and it took a lot of effort to suppress his voice.

Pei Yun nodded, and said in a low voice: "You may not know that the last time Ying Liangxian's nephew reported to His Majesty that Li Yuan had rebelled and asked for a decree, we hesitated for four days before using a special method to let His Majesty know about Li Yuan's rebellion, and three palace attendants died for this, and then we waited for five days, and when His Majesty's mood improved slightly, we asked His Majesty to send an edict to let Ying Liangxian's nephew send troops to quell the rebellion. ”

Qian Xiangmin opened his mouth wide, and suddenly remembered that before Chen Fuliang sent troops last time, Emperor Yang of Sui's will to send troops was indeed sent to the Eastern Capital much later than Chen Fuliang expected.

"Take it out, and you'll understand it in the future." Pei Yun whispered again: "Ying Liang is our nephew, you are his person, what are we going to do with your credit?" We are trying to find a way to let His Majesty not get angry about this, so that you can go directly to the report, there are many people's heads will fall to the ground, and your heads will also hang. ”

Qian Xiangmin didn't dare to listen anymore, and obediently took out Chen Fuliang's recital and handed it to Pei Yun, Pei Yun shook his head after taking it, sighed, and first sent Qian Xiangmin to leave Shangshutai to go to the pavilion to rest, and then turned to Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and others and said with a wry smile: "Hehe, it's time to discuss how to report this good news to Your Majesty, Zhugong, do you have a clever plan?" ”

Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and other super magnates also smiled bitterly, and their smiles were even more bitter than Pei Yun's.

At the same time, Qian Xiangmin went out with the Shangshutai officials, and just after leaving the gate of Shangshutai, he was immediately surrounded by many civil and military officials again, one of them was tall and full of flesh, and grabbed Qian Xiangmin's collar and asked menacingly: "Li Yuan's dog thieves entered Daxing City, and the general's mansion was ransacked?" Say it! Has General Ben's mansion been washed? ”

"General, ...... you?" Qian Xiangmin asked cautiously.

"General Right Guard! Yu Culture & ! "Tone.

Pei Yun nodded, and said in a low voice: "You may not know that the last time Ying Liangxian's nephew reported to His Majesty that Li Yuan had rebelled and asked for a decree, we hesitated for four days before using a special method to let His Majesty know about Li Yuan's rebellion, and three palace attendants died for this, and then we waited for five days, and when His Majesty's mood improved slightly, we asked His Majesty to send an edict to let Ying Liangxian's nephew send troops to quell the rebellion. ”

Qian Xiangmin opened his mouth wide, and suddenly remembered that before Chen Fuliang sent troops last time, Emperor Yang of Sui's will to send troops was indeed sent to the Eastern Capital much later than Chen Fuliang expected.

"Take it out, and you'll understand it in the future." Pei Yun whispered again: "Ying Liang is our nephew, you are his person, what are we going to do with your credit?" We are trying to find a way to let His Majesty not get angry about this, so that you can go directly to the report, there are many people's heads will fall to the ground, and your heads will also hang. ”

Qian Xiangmin didn't dare to listen anymore, and obediently took out Chen Fuliang's recital and handed it to Pei Yun, Pei Yun shook his head after taking it, sighed, and first sent Qian Xiangmin to leave Shangshutai to go to the pavilion to rest, and then turned to Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and others and said with a wry smile: "Hehe, it's time to discuss how to report this good news to Your Majesty, Zhugong, do you have a clever plan?" ”

Pei Ju and Yu Shiji and other super magnates also smiled bitterly, and their smiles were even more bitter than Pei Yun's.

At the same time, Qian Xiangmin went out with the Shangshutai officials, and just after leaving the gate of Shangshutai, he was immediately surrounded by many civil and military officials again, one of them was tall and full of flesh, and grabbed Qian Xiangmin's collar and asked menacingly: "Li Yuan's dog thieves entered Daxing City, and the general's mansion was ransacked?" Say it! Has General Ben's mansion been washed? ”

"General, ...... you?" Qian Xiangmin asked cautiously.

"General Right Guard! Yu Culture & ! ”