On the evening of the day he returned to the Eastern Capital again, Pei Hongce, who pulled Chen Yingliang's first hand more than two years ago, finally appeared, and took his only son Pei Xingfang to take the initiative to visit Chen Yingliang, a distant nephew, although he already had a blood cousin, Chen Yingliang still respected Pei Hongce, a good uncle, and did not put on the shelf of a villain's officialdom nouveau riche at all, and as soon as they met, he quickly respectfully saluted Pei Hongce, calling him uncle.

"Virtuous nephews don't have to be polite, please get up quickly, please get up quickly." Picking up Chen Yingliang with a smile, Pei Hongce looked at his distant nephew, and praised without a mouth: "I've grown taller again, I've grown stronger, I've become a big guy, yes, it's much stronger than when I first saw you, at that time, you were so thin and skinny, your face was pale and pale, that was as strong as now?" ”

"It's all thanks to my uncle." Chen Yingliang hurriedly drank water and thought about the source, and said: "If it wasn't for my uncle who pulled the first hand of the little nephew back then, how could the little nephew be today?" ”

"It's all up to you." Pei Hongce laughed, and Pei Xingfang over there couldn't wait to say, "Brother, do you know? When I heard that my brother you were canonized as the commander of King Qin by His Majesty the Emperor, my father was so shocked that even the brush fell on the table, and then I heard that my brother you broke the Turks and captured the thief chieftain alive, and my father was so shocked that he even dropped his chopsticks, and his younger brother almost choked to death by rice, how did you do it? Can it be so remarkable? ”

"Do your best, just a little luck."

Chen Yingliang smiled modestly, and hurriedly praised Pei Xingfang for growing taller and growing up again, and he would soon be able to succeed Pei Hongce, but Pei Xingfang didn't dare to be interested in this topic at all, and couldn't wait to ask again: "Brother, you have made such a great contribution to the imperial court this time, what kind of reward did Your Majesty give you?" Is it possible to become an official in the court and stay in the Eastern Capital? The little brother really wants to learn more Wen Tao Wu strategy from you. ”

The last thing Chen Yingliang wants to mention at present is this topic, but since Pei Xingfang asked, Chen Yingliang couldn't help but answer, plus this is also something that will be announced to the public sooner or later, so Chen Yingliang hesitated for a while, and then said with a wry smile: "Brother Xian, as you wish, I will be stationed in the Eastern Capital in the future, and Your Majesty has appointed me as the general of the Right Military Guard." ”

"General Youwuwei?" Pei Xingfang opened his mouth and said, "That's a member of the third grade, my father is only the fourth grade, brother, how old are you, and the official position is already above my father?" ”

"General Wuwei of the Right Guard?!" Pei Hongce was also taken aback, and hurriedly asked, "Is it a rumor?" Or has His Majesty been sealed in person? ”

"Uncle Yu, is it sealed by His Majesty, or in front of the hundreds of officials." Chen Yingliang answered truthfully.

Pei Xingfang was even more happy, and was busy saying hello to Chen Yingliang, but Pei Hongce was not happy, on the contrary, he had some worried looks, and said: "It's too high, you hold such a high position at such a young age, it is not very beneficial to you in the future, and then there is ......, virtuous nephew, what is your attitude towards Uncle Pei Renji Pei?" ”

"Uncle Renji hasn't communicated much with his little nephew." Chen Yingliang lowered his head and replied: "Uncle Pei Ju and Uncle Pei Yun have given guidance to the little nephew, and they want the little nephew to be cautious about the relationship with Uncle Renji, otherwise, even if Uncle Pei Ju is the head of the Pei family, it will be difficult to reconcile in the middle." ”

Hearing Chen Yingliang's words, Pei Xingfang, who is only seventeen years old, was of course taken aback, but fortunately, Pei Hongce taught Pei Xingfang well, although Pei Xingfang was strange, he didn't ask casually, and chose to keep his mouth shut. Pei Hongce nodded, and said with a gloomy face: "Your two uncles, the guidance you gave is right. Virtuous nephew, you may not know that it has not been a day or two since your Uncle Renji has been eyeing the position of this right Wuwei general, and in order to get what he wants, he did not hesitate to work with Yuwenshu to bring down Li Hun ....... ”

Speaking of this, Pei Hongce was a little eager to speak, and Chen Yingliang asked: "Uncle, what is the inside story of this matter?" I wonder if my uncle can let my little nephew know? ”

After hesitating for a moment, Pei Hongce said: "Now that you are also a party concerned, it's good to let you know, but don't spread the word." My grandfather and Brother Renji's grandfather are brothers, and they are very close by blood, so I know some secrets - your Uncle Renji, who was once the former general of the Right Military Guard, Li Jing and Li Zhuguo, was a favorite general, right-hand man, and also served as the chief general of the Right Martial Guard. ”

Speaking of this, Pei Hongce paused, and then said: "Originally, at that time, Brother Renji's additional officials were already Guanglu doctors from the first rank, regardless of rank, seniority or merit, they were enough to take on the important task of General Youwuwei, Brother Renji was determined to win this, and your Uncle Pei Ju also promised to seek this position for Brother Renji, and support Brother Renji as the first person in the military of our family, but I don't know for what reason, this matter has not been able to achieve my wish, Brother Renji didn't say anything on the surface, but he complained in front of me in private, said that Yun Dingxing's old sycophant relied on Yu Wenshu to become the general of Zuotunwei, but there was no news about what Brother Pei Ju promised him, does Brother Pei Ju have any opinion of him? ”

"So there was the aftermath." Pei Hongce lowered his voice and said in a deep voice: "In June this year, Brother Renji first sued Li Hun, the general of the Right Xiaowei, for rebellion, because the case involved my deputy Li Min, the young eunuch, and Brother Renji told me the truth in private, and he first told Li Min that he was actually the behind-the-scenes instigator of Yuwenshu, and in exchange for Yuwenshu to recommend him as the general of Youwuwei!" ”

"Is Yuwenshu involved?" Chen Yingliang's little face turned white, and then he said in his heart: "It seems that this Pei Renji may really have some problems in terms of character, I remember that he surrendered to Li Mi in history, and then surrendered to Wang Shichong, and finally wanted to be killed under Wang Shichong's account, and it was really unlucky to offend such a person for no reason." ”

"Nephew, now you understand how troublesome this matter is, right?" Pei Hongce said in a low voice: "For the important military position of General Youwuwei, your Uncle Renji did it as a wicked person, and he was infamy, and he also skipped your Uncle Pei Ju and directly made a private deal with Yuwenshu, so it is likely to anger your Uncle Pei Ju, the head of the Pei family, who paid such a heavy price, and finally let your nephew take the lead, what can he feel in his heart?" ”

"What's even more troublesome is the misunderstanding between me and Uncle Renji and his daughter." Chen Yingliang frowned, and hurriedly asked, "Uncle, what should I do about this matter?" ”

"It's not easy to do, even if Brother Renji and I are cousins, there are some things that can't be said explicitly, only hints." Pei Hongce frowned a little, and after thinking for a moment, Pei Hongce said: "In this way, in a day or two, you prepare a gift, and I will take you to visit Brother Renji, under the pretext of making a junior gift, and take the opportunity to make up for this rift between you and him." Fortunately, this is just an accident, Brother Renji is not a particularly unreasonable person, your courtesy is exhausted, I will give him some hints, I think he will not hold a grudge against you. ”

"I hope so." Chen Yingliang sighed secretly in his heart, and prayed in his heart: "I hope that Pei Cuiyun's girl will not make trouble when she goes home, otherwise this matter will be even more difficult to do." ”

talked some more gossip with Pei Hongce's father and son, and reported to Pei Hongce the good news that he had become a father and was about to get married, and the uncle and nephew broke up happily, and the night passed quickly. On the morning of the next day, Chen Yingliang and Wang Shichong, Yun Dingxing and other major generals of the Qin Wang Army were called into the court, in front of the civil and military officials, the meritorious Chen Yingliang was also officially appointed as the general of the right military guard, when the court put on the purple official uniform of the third grade, and accepted the congratulations of a red-eyed colleague, Wang Shichong and Yun Dingxing and other meritorious ministers also had their own rewards, Wang Shichong also won the coveted post of Jiangdu Tongshou, and Yun Dingxing also rewarded the false title of the second product.

Next, Chen Yingliang was of course even busier, on the one hand, he had to accept everyone's congratulations and congratulations, and on the other hand, he had to take care of the aftermath of Peng Suijun's affairs, and then there was the official appointment of the Right Wuwei General's Mansion, and met with Dugu Sheng and Huangfu Wuyi and other new subordinates who had been bosses, and dealt with the aftermath of the right Wu Wei Qin Wang Army. Dugu Sheng is very self-aware because his family power has been suppressed in recent years, and he is very self-aware and does not dare to covet Chen Yingliang's position, plus the tiger generals led by Liu Changgong and Xie Zichong also support Chen Yingliang, so Chen Yingliang was not resisted in the Right Wuwei General's Mansion and was lucky to get through the first difficulty.

Let's take a look at the situation of Chen Yingliang and his gang of political enemies or hidden enemies, when I saw Chen Fuliang, who was not even twenty years old, wearing a three-grade official uniform in the court, Feng Deyi, who had been forced to eat stone powder every day recently, of course had fire in his eyes, and Pei Ju and Pei Yun's opponent Yu Shiji in the court also had a bad face, and he was very unhappy that the political enemy had added another heavy general, but compared with Uncle Xiao Guo, Feng Deyi and Yu Shiji were nothing at all - Feng Deyi's eyes were just breathing fire, and Uncle Xiao Guo's eyes could directly eat people!

If you want to eat people, you want to eat people, now when Chen Fuliang is proud of the spring breeze, Xiao Yu, the uncle of the Great Xiao Country, and Xiao Huaijing, the uncle of the Little Xiao State, did not dare to mess around, so they could only watch Chen Yingliang, a little flea, soar into the sky and become one of the sixteen heavy generals of the Great Sui Army, and then after the dispersal of the dynasty, the big and small Xiao Uncle did not even have time to get together and scold Chen Yingliang for the villain's ambition, and immediately had to go around to contact the important ministers to rescue Li Yuan, and also entered the palace to beg Queen Xiao and the princess to intercede for the cousin-in-law, so that they could come forward to pour the pillow wind, Pray that Emperor Yang of Sui will forgive Li Yuan's big or small crimes, spare Li Yuan from death, and not return to Xiao Yu's uncle's mansion until it was slightly dark to learn about each other's activities.

Li Er is also in Xiao Yu's house, after the end of the Qinwang War, Li Jiancheng handed over the military power to Fan Zigai, and he also went to Taiyuan with Fan Zigai to accept the reorganization and review, Li Er entrusted Chen Yingliang with the blessing that he did not fall into the well, and returned to the Eastern Capital with Yun Dingxing's army, and then took the initiative to resign from his position in the army and leave the Zuotunwei army, and lived in the house of Xiao Yu, who was close to his relatives and had a good relationship, and actually participated in the rescue of Li Yuan, and also shouldered the important task of contacting the officials of the Li family in the center.

It was not early, Uncle Xiao Guo and Li Er discussed the rescue operation while eating, first of all, Xiao Yu said: "The queen mother has interceded for Tang Guogong twice, although His Majesty Xià did not let go and agreed to release him, but my sister can see that His Majesty Xià is still a little hesitant to execute Tang Guogong, Tang Guogong's niece Concubine De Niangniang has never found a chance, once there is a chance, Concubine De Niangniang will definitely try her best to plead." ”

"Duke Dugu of Shu Guo, Duke Yu Shiqian of Yan and Yuan Wen have also agreed to help." Xiao Huaijing also said: "It's just that His Majesty is still angry, and the Duke of Shu and they don't dare to jointly sign this seal, saying that as long as the three envoys show a little bit of rumor, they will immediately join forces to play, and implore His Majesty to open the net and spare Tang Guogong not to die." ”

"What is the attitude of the three envoys? Did Tang Guogong be convicted? Xiao Yu hurriedly asked.

"No, Pei Yun's old slippery head has closed his mouth very tightly, and he hasn't leaked the slightest rumor until now." Xiao Huaijing replied helplessly: "Even if the Duke of Shu Guo personally came forward to inquire about the case, that old slippery head has been playing haha, refusing to divulge a word about the case of Tang Guogong, and the officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory also reported to me secretly, saying that Pei Yun has not convicted Tang Guogong so far. ”

Xiao Yu scolded a swear word, and there was nothing she could do about Pei Yun, who was smoother than oiled loach, but Li Er, who had been listening to the side next to him, suddenly said: "If the little nephew is not bad, Pei Yun is also watching His Majesty's attitude, Guan Longba is the same as each other, in-laws with each other, and shelters each other, and if you offend one family, it is possible to offend the eight families at the same time, my father is the head of the Li Valve family, and his identity is even more extraordinary, even if Pei Yun is the second person in the Wenxi Pei family, he will never dare to convict my father without authorization, and he has a mortal enmity with Guan Longmen. So he must also be watching His Majesty's attitude, if His Majesty thinks that my father deserves to die, he will definitely not show mercy, if my father is pardoned, he will definitely not be stingy with this favor! ”

"It makes sense." Xiao Yu, who has always liked Li Er's cousin, nodded, and said: "If this is the case, then the third envoy here, we don't have to worry too much, as long as His Majesty nods and agrees to let Tang Guogong not die, Pei Yun and Zheng Shanguo's old slippery heads will definitely not dare to condemn Tang Guogong to death, and will only build steps for His Majesty, so that His Majesty has steps to go down." ”

The key has been found, but how to persuade Emperor Yang of Sui to pardon Li Yuan is a big problem, because whether it is Empress Xiao and Concubine Wang De or Uncle Xiao Guo, they have changed the three criminal facts of Li Yuan's concealment of the beginning and end of the letter, harboring and evasion, and sabotaging the war of King Qin - especially the sabotage of King Qin's war, which directly endangers the life and safety of Emperor Yang of Sui, and it is really difficult for the grumpy Emperor Yang of Sui to forgive Li Yuan, who indirectly harmed him. So after discussing and discussing, Uncle Xiao Guo had no choice but to beg Empress Xiao to continue to pour pillow wind - such a terrible thing, even if Uncle Xiao Guo opened his mouth to intercede, it was extremely dangerous.

"It's all Chen Yingliang's thief!" Xiao Yu suddenly dragged Chen Yingliang out and beat him again, and scolded: "If it weren't for this thief who wanted to compete with Tang Guogong and wanted to embarrass Tang Guogong's face, how could Tang Guogong let Wu Shitong come forward to stop the Taiyuan merchants from selling grain to him?" How could it be discovered by the sinister villain of the Yin World Master? ”

"Shhhhh Xiao Huaijing, who had been frightened by the Yin World Master, hurriedly reminded him to silence him, and carefully observed the surrounding maids, and said in a low voice: "Brother, you must guard against the wall having ears, the Yin World Master is narrow-minded, if you know that you are insulting him behind your back, maybe you will take the opportunity to slander him again." ”

"I'm fine here, I don't want you to be at home, temple fair!" Xiao Yu scolded angrily, and said: "The fact is also true, if it weren't for Chen Yingliang's thief and Tang Guogong competing for credit, how could Tang Guogong be held with such a dangerous handle?" ”

Xiao Huaijing stopped talking, just buried his head in eating, but Li Er's expression was gloomy, and he asked after a while: "Uncle cousin, I heard that Chen Yingliang has officially been appointed as the general of the Right Wuwei?" ”

"It's officially canonized today." Xiao Yu scolded weakly: "The clown jumped off the beam, and he put on a three-grade official uniform and stood behind Yu Wenshu. ”

"So, Chen Yingliang is already qualified to submit a table to His Majesty alone?" Li Er muttered to himself, and suddenly said: "Tomorrow, I will go to see him Chen Yingliang and beg him to intercede for my father and save my father!" ”

"Erlang, are you crazy?" Xiao Yu and Xiao Huaijing were both taken aback, and said in surprise: "Chen Yingliang's thief has such a deep grudge against your father, how could he come forward to save your father?" ”

"I'm going to give it a try anyway." Li Er said with a gloomy face: "I still have to pull Chai Shao to go, Chen Yingliang's thief can achieve the great merit of King Qin this time, and he will be awarded the title of General of the Right Military Guard, Chai Shao and I have made great contributions, plus we have a grudge against him, even if he wants to refuse, it is not easy to speak!" ”

Uncle Xiao persuaded Li Er not to humiliate himself, but Li Er insisted on not listening, and suddenly said: "Cousin-in-law, Uncle Xiao, if possible, when I go to plead with Chen Yingliang tomorrow, you'd better arrange one or two people from the Confessor and Si Litai to secretly follow and collect Chen Yingliang's words and deeds, which may be of great use." ”

………………

At the same time when Uncle Xiao Guo was puzzled by Li Er's intentions, Emperor Yang of Sui rarely lived in the imperial city of the Eastern Capital, on the shore of the beautiful Ningbichi Lake, Emperor Yang of Sui was also enjoying the imperial meal, and there were no beautiful concubines to accompany him, only the three civil and military courtiers of the left minister Pei Ju, the right minister Su Wei and the military boss Yu Wenshu, of course, the banquet was full of delicacies from the mountains and seas, wine and food, but unfortunately Emperor Yang of Sui was not in a good mood, constantly holding a golden cup and looking at Ning Bichi, as if there was something on his mind, Pei Ju, Su Wei and Yu Wenshu couldn't guess why Emperor Yang of Sui was like this, None of them dared to speak casually, and waited patiently for Emperor Yang of Sui to take the initiative to speak, and the atmosphere in the banquet was very dull.

Sure enough, after a long time, Emperor Yang of Sui, who was very good at giving favorites to his ministers, really spoke, and sighed: "Chen Aiqing and Yun Aiqing, these meritorious ministers have been sealed and rewarded, and the next thing is to reward the meritorious soldiers, these soldiers are born and died for me, and they should be rewarded, but unfortunately the country is not enough at the moment, and my hands are also very tight, how to award the reward, I don't know if you Aiqing have a good plan?" ”

"Is it because of this trouble?" Pei Ju and Yu Wenshu immediately understood Emperor Yang of Sui's voice, and their faces turned a little pale, because they heard that Emperor Yang of Sui meant to deduct the army's rewards.

"Your Majesty, regarding the reward of the army, Weichen thinks that it will be reconsidered." Su Wei, the right minister, immediately took over the conversation and said very strictly: "During the siege of Yanmen, His Majesty announced that the meritorious soldiers were directly promoted to the rank of captain of the Liupin Jianjie and rewarded ten horses of silk and satin. There are also rewards for the merits of the soldiers and horses of the kings of all walks of life, which should also be reconsidered. ”

It's not like there is Fan Zigai next to him in history, so he persuaded Emperor Yang of Sui to keep his promise, and after listening to Su Wei's rumors, although Pei Ju and Yu Wenshu complained bitterly in their hearts, they didn't dare to say anything, and Emperor Yang of Sui nodded again and again, and said: "It should be reconsidered, it should be reconsidered." ”

"It's over, it's hard for me to be a man now." Yu Wenshu lowered his head and sighed.

"My poor distant nephew." Pei Ju, who has a little conscience, also wailed in his heart for his distant nephew who saved his life, "You have just taken office, and you will not be able to explain to the soldiers immediately, what can you do?" "Following and collecting Chen Yingliang's words and deeds may come in handy."

………………

At the same time when Uncle Xiao Guo was puzzled by Li Er's intentions, Emperor Yang of Sui rarely lived in the imperial city of the Eastern Capital, on the shore of the beautiful Ningbichi Lake, Emperor Yang of Sui was also enjoying the imperial meal, and there were no beautiful concubines to accompany him, only the three civil and military courtiers of the left minister Pei Ju, the right minister Su Wei and the military boss Yu Wenshu, of course, the banquet was full of delicacies from the mountains and seas, wine and food, but unfortunately Emperor Yang of Sui was not in a good mood, constantly holding a golden cup and looking at Ning Bichi, as if there was something on his mind, Pei Ju, Su Wei and Yu Wenshu couldn't guess why Emperor Yang of Sui was like this, None of them dared to speak casually, and waited patiently for Emperor Yang of Sui to take the initiative to speak, and the atmosphere in the banquet was very dull.

Sure enough, after a long time, Emperor Yang of Sui, who was very good at giving favorites to his ministers, really spoke, and sighed: "Chen Aiqing and Yun Aiqing, these meritorious ministers have been sealed and rewarded, and the next thing is to reward the meritorious soldiers, these soldiers are born and died for me, and they should be rewarded, but unfortunately the country is not enough at the moment, and my hands are also very tight, how to award the reward, I don't know if you Aiqing have a good plan?" ”

"Is it because of this trouble?" Pei Ju and Yu Wenshu immediately understood Emperor Yang of Sui's voice, and their faces turned a little pale, because they heard that Emperor Yang of Sui meant to deduct the army's rewards.

"Your Majesty, regarding the reward of the army, Weichen thinks that it will be reconsidered." Su Wei, the right minister, immediately took over the conversation and said very strictly: "During the siege of Yanmen, His Majesty announced that the meritorious soldiers were directly promoted to the rank of captain of the Liupin Jianjie and rewarded ten horses of silk and satin. There are also rewards for the merits of the soldiers and horses of the kings of all walks of life, which should also be reconsidered. ”

It's not like there is Fan Zigai next to him in history, so he persuaded Emperor Yang of Sui to keep his promise, and after listening to Su Wei's rumors, although Pei Ju and Yu Wenshu complained bitterly in their hearts, they didn't dare to say anything, and Emperor Yang of Sui nodded again and again, and said: "It should be reconsidered, it should be reconsidered." ”

"It's over, it's hard for me to be a man now." Yu Wenshu lowered his head and sighed.

"My poor distant nephew." Pei Ju, who has a little conscience, also wailed in his heart for his distant nephew who saved his life, "You have just taken office, and you will not be able to explain to the soldiers immediately, what can you do?" ”