"Da Lang, you tell me the truth, what do you mean by hanging three straw men in Tongguan City just now? What did those enemy soldiers and the enemy generals shout later? Why do you give a gag order that soldiers who know the situation are not allowed to divulge a word? ”

"Si Chang, Si Chang's brother-in-law, don't ask, anyway, it has nothing to do with you, I gave the gag order for other considerations, and I can't leak the military aircraft matter."

repeatedly asked Li Jiancheng to tell the truth to no avail, Chai Shao left with disappointment and more suspicions, looking at the back of Chai Shao's disappointed departure, Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing, who knew the most inside information, frowned, didn't know what would happen next, and understood that there is no impermeable wall in the world, and today's events will sooner or later reach Chai Shao's ears and cause a monstrous disaster. Depressed, Liu Wenjing couldn't help but scold: "Chen Yingliang is a dog thief, the upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked, and the soldiers and generals brought out are more shameless than him, and such shameless rumors can be fabricated." Even if Chai Shao and him have a deep enmity like the sea, there is no need to make a plan in this regard, right? ”

"It's definitely not Chen Yingliang's order, although he is our enemy, he is not that kind of person." Li Jiancheng shook his head, saying that he didn't believe that his good friend Chen Fuliang, who was familiar at first sight, would do it to this point.

(Chen Fuliang: Brother Jiancheng, you still know me, this bad idea really didn't come up with me, I just clicked a few words casually in the letter, and Liu Gang, the despicable villain, did his own thing.) ）

Things have come to this point, it doesn't matter whether Chen Fuliang instructed the arrangement, the important thing is how to deal with the aftermath, Chai Shao's temper Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing both know that He Panren is on the battlefield in Tongguan again, and he still holds a line of soldiers and horses that should not be underestimated, and there will be consequences if the aftermath is not handled well, Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing dare not imagine it at all, in desperation, Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing can only send someone to report the matter to Li Yuan secretly, and at the same time strictly order the army to prohibit the spread of this matter, so that Chai Shao can know about it as soon as possible.

Yongfeng Cang to Li Yuan's current residence in Feng Yi Changchun Palace is only more than 80 miles, along the way are controlled by the rebels, Li Jiancheng sent a messenger all the way to the horse, the next morning to report the letter to Li Yuan, after seeing the letter, Li Yuan was also shocked and angry, scolded the Tongguan Sui army for being despicable and shameless, and used such a subordinate means to sow discord. Li Yuan's absolute confidant Pei Lian also knew that the situation was strict, so he said to Li Yuanjian: "General, although this matter is small, if it is not handled well, it will inevitably cause a big disaster, fortunately, the distance is not too far, the general may wish to go to Yongfeng Cang in person, one is to comfort the morale of the soldiers, the other is to personally inspect the military situation in Tongguan, arrange coping strategies according to local conditions, and the third is to quietly deal with the aftermath to avoid changes." ”

Li Yuan felt justified when he heard it, and immediately handed over the army to his second son Li Er, and arranged troops and horses in Zhongdan to prevent Qutu Tong Guò River from advancing westward, and he and Pei Lin led a team of light horses, under the banner of comforting the army and the people, and arrived at Yongfeng Cang in the afternoon of the same day, Li Jiancheng and others received the news, and personally led the army to the Weishui bridgehead to meet their father. Li Yuan also took advantage of the fact that the sky was still dark, personally came to the relief site to visit the people receiving relief, and delivered an impassioned speech to save the country and save the people, in exchange for thousands of people bowing on the spot, and the mountain shouted thanks, and then Li Yuan immediately rushed to the city of Tongguan, personally inspected this fateful battlefield, and formulated a strategy for breaking the pass.

The result of the personal inspection made Li Yuan's brows furrowed, the city of Tongguan was as steep and strong as ever, even if the moat had been completely filled with earth and stone corpses, and the road was not open enough, it also restricted the deployment of large-scale siege weapons, and it could only be dispatched in small batches to form a refueling tactic, which was easy to be set on fire by the Sui army, and it was difficult to form a fatal threat to the Tongguan wall. At the same time, Chai Shao and his wife also helplessly sued Li Yuan, saying that although Ma Sanbao was their former family, he was sensitive by nature, scheming and eloquent, and wanted to lure him out of Guancheng for a decisive battle, and the difficulty was not much less than breaking through Tongguan head-on.

"The vanguard of the Eastern Capital reinforcements has arrived in Tongguan, Chen Yingliang's thief has previously arranged strange soldiers to rescue Tongguan in Ruxiang, which proves that he attaches great importance to Tongguan, and must have given the Guanzhong defenders an order to defend the city and not allow for mistakes, our army is meaningless to attack again, it will only empty the troops, consume morale, it is better to follow Chen Yingliang's thief, but also based on the defense first, build strong fortifications to ensure the safety of Yongfeng Cang, and wait for the old man to take Daxing, and then turn around and clean up Tongguan is not too late."

As soon as Li Yuan made up his mind in his heart, a few people suddenly stood up in the city of Tongguan South City, shouting and summoning Li Yuan to the city to answer, it was obvious that the Tongguan defenders had found out that Li Yuan had arrived in person, Li Yuan was too lazy to pay attention, but suddenly dozens of soldiers in Tongguan City shouted neatly one by one, "Li Yuan old thief!" Congratulations on giving birth to a good daughter, sleeping with a man for a few nights, in exchange for tens of thousands of thieves, this deal is a good deal! ”

Before the words on the wall were finished, Li Yuan's face immediately changed, he never expected that the Tongguan defenders would have such a hand, Chai Shao over there heard such a shout, and heard the subsequent laughter on the wall, his face suddenly became iron-blue, and when he subconsciously turned his head to look at his wife next to him, Li Xiuning's pretty face had long been bloodless, and his silver teeth bit his lower lip, and he was also extremely angry - Li Xiuning's intelligence was better than Chai Shao's, of course he understood that the Sui army on the wall was viciously attacking someone.

At this point, He Panren, another party who was also present, finally sensed that the situation was wrong, and asked his companions on the left and right: "What do those officers and soldiers on the wall mean by shouting?" Are you talking about me? ”

No one dared to say anything, only Chai Shao's suspicious eyes stared at He Panren, and at this time, the neat chanting of the Sui soldiers sounded on the wall, "Chai Shao, the son was born, remember who he looks like, is it surnamed Chai, or is it surnamed He?!" ”

The deception was so great that Li Yuan's city government couldn't hold it back no matter how deep it was, so he simply slapped his horse forward, and when he reached the near wall, he raised his head under the protection of the personal soldier shield that hurriedly stepped forward, and scolded to the city: "Li Jing, shameless villain, after you are still famous, you actually used such a means to insult my daughter's innocence, you are not afraid that heaven and earth will not tolerate it, what a thousand people are referring to?" ”

"It's not me!" Li Jing was very helpless and replied loudly, "It's not my people, I didn't want my people to do this." ”

"It's not me either!" Ma Sanbao also hurriedly whitewashed: "Not only did I not do this, but I also asked my subordinates to prohibit talking about this matter, if I lie to you, I will be told to fight five thunderbolts in the sky!" ”

"It's me! Liu Gang, the governor of Tongguan! Liu Gang dared to do it, jumped out and shouted: "Li Yuan's old thief, the old puppet who rebelled against the country and the king, I asked someone to do it, what's wrong?" I'm just telling you a few words of truth, what can you do with me? If you have the ability, I'll fight you for 300 rounds! Don't dare to be guts, just kneel down and surrender, don't wait for Chen's left-behind army to arrive, kill you all over the nine clans, and then you will regret it too late! ”

"Shameless puppeteer!" Li Yuan pointed at Liu Gang with a horsewhip and scolded.

"Shameless old thief!" Liu Gang scolded back unceremoniously, and also grabbed a bow and arrow, and personally pulled the bow and released the arrow to shoot Li Yuan, although Liu Gang, who had eighteen kinds of martial arts, shot a feather arrow out of 108,000 miles, and the left and right soldiers still hurriedly took Li Yuan away, and Liu Gang let the soldiers release the arrows, while shouting loudly: "Chai Shao, do you have fucking eggs?" Don't think about it, why can your daughter-in-law pull up so many thieves, what else can she do except sleep with a man? If I were you, I would have committed suicide by jumping into the Yellow River a long time ago, and you would still have ...... face. ”

Although Liu Gang's mouth was blocked by Li Jing and Ma Sanbao together, and he was not allowed to continue to talk nonsense, but Chai Shao was still so angry that his forehead was bruised, and he rushed up with a roar, pulled his bow and arrows and released arrows at Liu Gang, but Liu Gang, who had been pulled back by Ma Sanbao and Li Jing, did not shoot, closed the arrows released by the Sui soldiers, and a middle Chai Shao's left arm, and the soldiers hurriedly stepped forward, covering Chai Shao with a shield and retreating, and on the wall of Tongguan, there was also a burst of vicious laughter.

Returning to the formation with a bow and arrow, Li Xiuning hurriedly came up to check Chai Shao's injury, but Chai Shao suddenly slapped her in the face, roared and roared: "Say! You and He Panren, did there ever such a thing? ”

Covering her face that was hot and swollen from being beaten, and then seeing her husband's distorted face that was almost red with anger, Li Xiuning couldn't believe that this was true, and was stunned for a moment. At this time, the slap sounded again, this time it was Li Yuan who slapped Chai Shao's face, avenging his daughter first, and then Li Yuan said coldly: "If you don't believe the old man's daughter, you can leave!" ”

The bird was silent, and after a long time, Chai Shaocai roared, and rushed to the far west, Li Xiuning, who had already come to his senses, knew her husband's temper, and was worried that he would have an accident in his anger, so he hurriedly shouted Chai Lang patted the horse and chased after him, and Li Jiancheng, who had a kind personality, also hurriedly sent his own soldiers to chase after him, so that he could help Li Xiuning if necessary. The third party, He Panren, was extremely embarrassed, and had to take the initiative to show his heart to Li Yuan, and said: "General, I can swear by the honor of my ancestors that my alliance with Li Niangzi is only to overthrow the tyrant Yang Guang, and nothing else." ”

"General He, don't worry, of course the old man knows that this is just a shameless rumor spread by the tyrant's lackey, and the old man believes you." Li Yuan barely squeezed out some smiles, first comforted He Panren with kind words, and then ordered to withdraw the troops, return to the Luokoucang camp to rest, and then ordered a big banquet to reward the thief in Guanzhong who came with Li Xiuning to join the army this time.

During the banquet, Chai Shao and Li Xiuning, who had red and swollen cheeks, came to the banquet site, Chai Shao, who had calmed down in his wife's crying, took the initiative to ask Li Yuan for guilt, and Li Xiuning, whose eyes were red and swollen, also begged Li Yuan to forgive her husband, fortunately, Li Yuan also knew that such a thing was unbearable for any man, and he did not have the same knowledge as his son-in-law, and he did not continue to care about it after a few words of comfort, and asked Chai Shao to toast He Panren to make amends, Chai Shao was also obedient, and after coming to He Panren with a wine glass, he also knelt down on one knee to He Panren and bowed his head, Said sincerely: "General He, it's me who is not good, I am wrong, I am impulsive, please rest assured, I will not mind those shameless rumors of the official army, this cup of wine should be made amends to you, you have a lot, don't care." ”

He Panren didn't suffer any loss, of course he didn't compare, but just returned the salute to Chai Shao, thanked Chai Shao for the toast, and returned Chai Shao a glass of wine, and Chai Shao currently resolved the previous grievances, and everyone dispersed happily.

Not to mention how Chai Shao and Li Xiuning spent the night, just said that He Panren returned to his camp with the smell of alcohol and the strange eyes of many rebel soldiers. How did the general take care of the aftermath? ”

"It's fine." He Panren waved his hand and said with a smile: "The general knew that this was a shameless rumor and believed me very much, and later Chai Changshi also figured it out, made amends to me in person, toasted, and the matter was settled." ”

Here we must explain the background of Li Gang's origin, Li Gang is not only a knowledgeable and talented Guanzhong celebrity, but also once served as a teacher for the abolished prince Yang Yong, and almost became a generation of emperors, but unfortunately because of his integrity, he offended Su Wei and Yang Su, the two powerful people, and was expelled from the court and almost went to prison. After finally clearing his name of Su Wei's fabricated crime, Li Gang resigned and returned to his hometown in Huxian County to live in seclusion, a hidden for more than ten years, some time ago Li Shentong broke through Huxian, Li Gang was held by the thieves under He Panren's command, although He Panren, who had heard of Li Gang's name, did not kill him, but forced Li Gang to give him the long history, Li Gang for his family's life, and because He Panren was really good to him, he could be regarded as obedient, so he has always stayed by He Panren's side.

Getting back to the point, after listening to He Panren's answer, Li Gang's expression was not relaxed, and he shook his head and sighed: "As the old man expected, the general really wants to turn big things into small things, and small things into small things. General He, it seems that you will not have a good time in the future. ”

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Li?" He Panren shook his eyes and asked, "How can I have a hard time in the future?" ”

"It's very simple, today's incident is unbearable for a man, even if Chai Shao forbears it temporarily, he will definitely leave roots in his heart, and get along with you, and he will never be as harmonious as before." Li Gang continued to shake his head, and said: "If the old man is not bad, the general will soon separate you from Chai Shao, so as to prevent you from getting along day and night, and suddenly have contradictions, which will then cause uncontrollable unexpected consequences." ”

"Separate is separated, what's the big deal?" He Panren smiled and said, "Anyway, I don't suffer a loss in this matter, even if someone mentions it again, it won't be me who looks ugly on my face." ”

Li Gang smiled bitterly, first looked left and right, and then said in a low voice: "General He, although the old man was forced by you to serve as the chief historian, but you treat the old man with courtesy and obey his words, this favor the old man can't forget, so the old man must sue you, even if the general wins Daxing in the future, or even the world, it will be difficult for you to have a better day, at least you will be sent to a remote and wild place to serve, and you will not be able to return to Beijing for life, and at worst, you will be killed!" ”

"Why?" He Panren's face changed greatly, and he woke up more than half of his wine at once.

"It's very simple, Chai Shao and Li Xiuning can't tolerate you, and the general can't tolerate you!" Li Gang lowered his voice and said: "As the so-called people are terrible, everyone is golden, even if today's matter is quietly suppressed, the rumors spread by the officials and soldiers will not disappear, and will only spread more and more widely, becoming a laughing stock in the world!" Even if the people of the world know that it is fake, they will definitely laugh at Li Xiuning's adultery, laugh at Chai Shao for being the eighth king of the turtle, and laugh at the general for relying on his daughter to act as a prostitute to get the world! ”

"General He, you can think about it carefully, if you are a general, can you tolerate such ridicule, and if you are Chai Shao, can you tolerate such humiliation? Now that you are still useful to them, of course, they can tolerate it for the time being, but in the future, they will become a big thing, how can they tolerate you? How can you stay in the capital and let the people in the capital remember today's incident when they see you? When the time comes, I will send you to a remote and savage place to serve, out of sight and out of mind, and I will already be polite to you. Wouldn't it be faster and easier to deliberately let you die on the battlefield, or fabricate some crime to get you beheaded? ”

He Panren's wine woke up, and his face gradually began to change, just at this moment, a few of He Panren's subordinates asked to see, He Panren also said that there was an order to receive him in the army, and he never thought that those generals would actually surrender their hands to He Panren again and again after entering the account, and asked with an obscene face when He Panren got on Li Xiuning, and how Li Xiuning's kung fu was in a certain aspect? He Panren was furious and shouted, "You don't believe me either? Do you also believe that Li Niangzi and I really have that kind of thing? ”

"Dashuai, of course we believe in you." Several generals smiled lewdly and said: "But Mrs. Li's little appearance is really moving, and we believe that as long as you have the opportunity, you will never miss it." After all, you are also a man, and if you don't have such an opportunity, then you are not called a man. ”

He Panren, who was not too flustered, changed his face even more, and he fully believed that today's matter was far from over, and the so-called adultery between himself and Li Xiuning would definitely be brought up again, becoming a sharp sword hanging over his head, and he might take his own life at any time! Under fear, He Panren subconsciously went to look at Li Gang, but saw Li Gang smiling at him, and the smile was still very bitter............

Li Gang's prediction seemed to be bad, the next morning, Li Yuan held a meeting in the Chinese army's big tent, and did not mention the transfer of He Panren, but just ordered to stop the attack on Tongguan, and make every effort to build Yongfeng Cangcheng to strengthen the defense, and build a strong camp with deep walls and high fortresses, to prevent the reinforcements from the eastern capital from going out to reinforce Daxing, and then Li Yuan left Yongfeng Cang with Pei Lin and returned to Changchun Palace. When it came time to arrange the camp, Li Jiancheng also took great care of letting He Panren camp to reduce the chance of being attacked by the Sui army, and the army of Chai Shao and his wife was arranged in front of the front camp, directly facing the Tongguan city five miles away.

People have selfish psychology, for such a result, He Panren, who also hopes to preserve his strength, is of course very satisfied, and when he talked about this matter to Li Gang, he rarely complained a few words about Li Gang's belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain, but Li Gang suddenly smiled bitterly and said: "General He, General He, is it the old man who spends the belly of a gentleman with a villain, or the general and the governor of Zuo are determined to drive you away, you can't see this?" ”

"What do you mean?" He Panren was confused again.

"The general asked us to garrison Yongfengcang, the purpose is twofold, the first is of course to prevent the eastern capital reinforcements from advancing west to reinforce Daxing, and the second is to send grain to the front line, escorting grain and grass to the city of Daxing, for the general to attack the city." Li Gang explained, shook his head again, and asked, "General He, now you should understand why Zuo Dudu wants you to camp after the army, right?" In the future, when Zuodu Governor sent people to Daxing to deliver grain, would he send the army that confronted the official army in the front camp or the army guarding Yongfengcang, or the idle soldiers and horses in the rear camp? ”

He Panren began to grit his teeth, and Li Gang said in a low voice: "First transfer you away from Chai Shao's side to avoid the expansion of the contradictions between you, and then use all kinds of wars to gradually consume the strength of your descendants, and when you are almost weakened, it will be much easier for the general to clean you up again." General He, got it? ”

He Panren's teeth rubbed for a moment, and he suddenly asked, "Mr. Li, what should I do then?" ”

"It's simple, just one word." Li Gang replied in a low voice: "Wait! ”

"Wait?" He Panren is a flurry.

"Yes, wait!" Li Gang nodded, and said in a low voice: "Bear with me for the time being, wait and see what happens, the general failed to take Tongguan in time, although on the surface, he is still fighting and winning battles, and the momentum is getting bigger and bigger, but he is already in an absolute passive disadvantage on the battlefield in Guanzhong, and when the guards of the Eastern Capital Chen leave Tongguan, it is when his death knell rings!" Although the old man has not seen Chen Liushou, he has already heard of his name, knows that he is magnanimous, thirsty for talent, and has promoted countless reckless heroes, when the time comes, as long as you are willing, Yongfengcang is the best gift you can give him! ”

He Panren was silent, but immediately remembered Ma Sanbao in Tongguan City, Ma Sanbao who was once just a mere family, and after thinking about it for a long time, He Panren finally nodded and said in a low voice: "Then wait and see." "It's a difference, in the early morning of the next day, Li Yuan held a meeting in the big tent of the Chinese army, and did not mention the transfer of He Panren, but just ordered to stop the attack on Tongguan, and make every effort to build Yongfeng Cangcheng to strengthen the defense, build a strong camp with deep walls and high bases, and prevent the reinforcements from the eastern capital from going out to reinforce Daxing, and then Li Yuan left Yongfeng Cang with Pei Lin and returned to Changchun Palace. When it came time to arrange the camp, Li Jiancheng also took great care of letting He Panren camp to reduce the chance of being attacked by the Sui army, and the army of Chai Shao and his wife was arranged in front of the front camp, directly facing the Tongguan city five miles away.

People have selfish psychology, for such a result, He Panren, who also hopes to preserve his strength, is of course very satisfied, and when he talked about this matter to Li Gang, he rarely complained a few words about Li Gang's belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain, but Li Gang suddenly smiled bitterly and said: "General He, General He, is it the old man who spends the belly of a gentleman with a villain, or the general and the governor of Zuo are determined to drive you away, you can't see this?" ”

"What do you mean?" He Panren was confused again.

"The general asked us to garrison Yongfengcang, the purpose is twofold, the first is of course to prevent the eastern capital reinforcements from advancing west to reinforce Daxing, and the second is to send grain to the front line, escorting grain and grass to the city of Daxing, for the general to attack the city." Li Gang explained, shook his head again, and asked, "General He, now you should understand why Zuo Dudu wants you to camp after the army, right?" In the future, when Zuodu Governor sent people to Daxing to deliver grain, would he send the army that confronted the official army in the front camp or the army guarding Yongfengcang, or the idle soldiers and horses in the rear camp? ”

He Panren began to grit his teeth, and Li Gang said in a low voice: "First transfer you away from Chai Shao's side to avoid the expansion of the contradictions between you, and then use all kinds of wars to gradually consume the strength of your descendants, and when you are almost weakened, it will be much easier for the general to clean you up again." General He, got it? ”

He Panren's teeth rubbed for a moment, and he suddenly asked, "Mr. Li, what should I do then?" ”

"It's simple, just one word." Li Gang replied in a low voice: "Wait! ”

"Wait?" He Panren is a flurry.

"Yes, wait!" Li Gang nodded, and said in a low voice: "Bear with me for the time being, wait and see what happens, the general failed to take Tongguan in time, although on the surface, he is still fighting and winning battles, and the momentum is getting bigger and bigger, but he is already in an absolute passive disadvantage on the battlefield in Guanzhong, and when the guards of the Eastern Capital Chen leave Tongguan, it is when his death knell rings!" Although the old man has not seen Chen Liushou, he has already heard of his name, knows that he is magnanimous, thirsty for talent, and has promoted countless reckless heroes, when the time comes, as long as you are willing, Yongfengcang is the best gift you can give him! ”

He Panren was silent, but immediately remembered Ma Sanbao in Tongguan City, Ma Sanbao who was once just a mere family, and after thinking about it for a long time, He Panren finally nodded and said in a low voice: "Then wait and see." ”