Hearing that someone came to visit Wei Zhongxian, it stands to reason that but just as Wei Liangqing was about to lead Gao Jie and the others to the backyard, Wei Zhongxian waved his hand to stop: "You don't have to avoid it, it's okay to stay here!"

Gao Jie was very puzzled by Wei Zhongxian's decision, but he heard that the person who came was a person who participated in the rebellion to exterminate Xu Hongru, and he also wanted to meet it.

Wei Liangqing's brother and sister also felt a little strange. On weekdays, when Wei Zhongxian sees guests, they all avoid them, and they don't know how today's guests are different from the past.

Wei Zhongxian didn't mean to explain at all, and still talked and laughed with them, as if he didn't take the visit of a guest seriously.

Soon, a group of three people were led to the living room. Gao Jie raised his eyes and saw that the person was about sixty years old, wearing a square scarf, wearing a cyan official robe, embroidered with a bear pattern, with a slightly dark complexion, a long white beard, a strong body, and bright eyes. On the left side of him was a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a cyan suit, with bronzed skin, and a body that was stronger and taller than the veteran, but his head was white and almost completely white, and the whole person looked a lot older. The last man, of medium height, was much shorter in comparison, he was thin and capable, but his hands and feet were quite slender, and his eyes were so flexible that he looked like an ape.

The three of them stepped into the living room and saw Wei Zhongxian dressed in casual clothes, like a middle-aged man, talking and laughing with a group of teenagers, without the slightest intention of getting up to greet him. The three of them couldn't help but be stunned, for the veteran who had been through the wind and waves for a long time, he returned to normal in an instant, grabbed a few steps, stepped forward and said: "Shandong Dusi Yang Guodong meets Grandpa Wei!"

Wei Zhongxian replied at this time, looked at Yang Guodong, and said with a smile: "It turns out that Yang Dusi has arrived, please take a seat!"

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, at the local level, the province was changed to the political envoy department of the Chengxuan political envoy, the provincial system was abolished, and the political envoy department (referred to as the political secretary), the criminal envoy department (referred to as the judicial department), and the metropolitan command envoy department (referred to as the capital division) were in charge of the administration, justice, and military affairs of a province, and were called the "three divisions". The three divisions are not subordinate to each other, and each is responsible to the central government. The Metropolitan Command and Envoy Department is responsible for managing the guards and military-related affairs within its jurisdiction, and is the highest military leadership body in the local peacetime, which is subordinate to the central Governor's Office of the Five Armed Forces and obeys the orders of the Ministry of War, which is equivalent to the commander of the provincial military region today. It's just that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, civil officials were the most important, and the status of military generals was greatly reduced, and the authority of the capital division naturally could not be compared with the other two divisions.

Yang Guodong thanked Wei Zhongxian, but did not sit down immediately, but pointed to the middle-aged white-headed man behind him and introduced: "Father-in-law Wei, this is the nephew of the lower official, named Yang Zhaoji, this time to encircle and suppress the bandits in Shandong, he is the chief military officer of Shandong. ”

Wei Zhongxian looked Yang Zhaoji up and down, nodded and said: "I have heard the name of General Yang Zhaoji for a long time, and when I saw it today, it really looks amazing, mighty and majestic, good!"

The white-headed Yang Zhaoji hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "Grandpa Wei has won the award!"

In the Ming Dynasty, in the event of an expedition, the general was appointed as the chief military officer, and the army was transferred to the guard, which was commanded by him. Therefore, the chief military officer is not a permanent official position, it is a temporary assignment, no rank, no fixed number, and most of them are filled by the duke, marquis, uncle, and governor. This time, Yang Zhaoji was able to serve as the chief military officer, because Xu Hongru's righteous army was powerful, and Shandong was turned upside down, and the official army repeatedly lost.

Yang Zhaoji, the word Taichu, the number Kaiping, Yizhou Chengnan Chengzi Village, ancestral home Huguang Shimen, since childhood martial arts, brave, thirteen-year-old hereditary Huaiyuan general, adult by the command of the martial arts, successively served as the general of the three towns of the East Ping and West Defense Widows, promoted to the command of Yizhou Weizheng, deeply valued by the imperial court, in charge of Yizhou politics, military and economy. After repeated promotions, he was appointed as the chief soldier of Datong. He was born in a famous family, and his ancestor Yang Xiu once followed Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, to destroy the Yuan Dynasty and lay down the Ming Dynasty. The third ancestor Yang Xuan was hereditary, and he transferred Yizhou Wei. After Yang Xuan moved to Linyi, he became the ancestor of the first migration, and the branches of the Yang family multiplied. The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth generations were all hereditary until the 10th Yang Zhaoji. Yang Guodong and Yang Zhaoji are both in the Yang family of Yizhou and are quite famous in Shandong.

Wei Zhongxian looked at the man who looked like an ape at the end, and asked Yang Guodong, "Who is this?"

The man didn't wait for Yang Guodong's introduction, hurriedly stepped forward, bowed to Wei Zhongxian and fell to the ground, kowtowed: "The villain's surname is Hou, the name is the king, and he was once a sinner!"

"Sinner?!" Wei Zhongxian was puzzled and looked at Yang Guodong with an inquiring gaze.

Yang Guodong hurriedly bowed and explained: "King Hou is from the Great Holy Gate of Zhili, and he previously served as the governor of the army of bandit Xu Hongru. Later, in the first battle of Zou County, he captured the Xu bandits, surrendered to the city, and made great contributions to the quelling of the rebellion, and is now named the general of Shandong Travel. ”

Wei Zhongxian suddenly said in a loud voice: "King Hou, I have seen this name in the battle report submitted by you in Shandong, and I have seen it, it turns out to be this one!

King Hou said in a loud voice: "Gonggong Wei is well-informed, and the villain admires him!"

At this moment, Gao Jie remembered that the day before yesterday in Jinyiwei's prison, Xu Hongru had mentioned this person. He was once a disciple of Wenxiang Sect, by chance, Xu Hongru saw him regardless of the many wounds he had, bravely repelled the notorious Huangling Sanxiong on the rivers and lakes, in order to save a pair of Xiucai couple in distress, appreciated, he was promoted to the hall master, transferred to the side to become the right and left hand, after this move, he was appointed as the governor, in charge of the military. Who knew that in the last battle of Zou County, this prince and Wei Qi, another of Xu Hongru's most trusted soldiers, suddenly became difficult, cut off Xu Hongru's left arm, tied him up, and then surrendered the city.

Thinking of Xu Hongru's broken arm, and thinking of the tens of millions of Smelling Fragrance Sect members who died in vain because of this person, Gao Jie's eyes when he looked at King Hou suddenly became fierce.

Wei Zhongxian continued: "However, the battle report said that there seemed to be two people who captured the bandits and surrendered the city. ”

Yang Zhaoji said: "Father-in-law Wei is meticulous, it is true, there is also a person named Wei Qi, who once served as the chief soldier under Xu Bandit, and did not come to Beijing this time. ”

Wei Zhongxian said: "Well, then, what are you here for?"

King Hou bowed to the ground and said, "Please save me from Gonggong Wei!"

Wei Zhongxian was puzzled: "You have atonement for your sins, your merits outweigh your faults, and you have been awarded the title of guerrilla general, why do you say this?"

Yang Guodong said: "Duke Wei Mingjian, Zhao Ji is the chief military officer of the battle against bandits, and he is also a general who participated in the war, and he is very clear about the situation in the first battle of Zou County. It can be heard recently that Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others wrote to impeach the ministers, etc., saying that the ministers and Zhaoji's nephews besieged Zou County, and the victory was in hand, but they vainly accepted the disloyal and unrighteous generals, and asked for merit officials for them, among which there must be illegal deeds. These people not only slandered our uncles and nephews, but even more bluntly said that Hou Wang and Wei Qi were anti-thieves in their bones, and when they were desperate, they pretended to surrender, and they would rebel again in the near future, which was simply nonsense and made something out of nothing. I waited for the three of us to travel under the stars and nights, and rushed to Jingshi, just to implore Gonggong Wei to find out and return our innocence!"

Wei Zhongxian smiled and said: "I have also heard about this matter, the battle report you submitted, and Lord Fu annotated it, and its meaning is similar to what Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian said. ”

Hearing that Lian Fuye Xianggao also participated in the impeachment, Yang Guodong became more and more frightened, and immediately gave a big salute and pleaded: "In this way, only Father-in-law Wei can save me and wait!"

Wei Zhongxian frowned and said: "I don't understand, the war in Shandong is over, and the bandits have been eradicated, why do Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian have to wait with you?!"

Yang Guodong and Yang Zhaoji glanced at each other, and then sighed and said: "Don't hide it from my father-in-law, a few years ago, several juniors of the Zuo family in Tongcheng, Anhui Province went out to practice, and when they passed through Yicheng, Shandong, they had a conflict with several children of my Yang family, suffered some losses, and went away with hatred. Later, the Zuo family and my Yang family had friction and fights from time to time, and I think about it, Zuo Guangdou Zuo was suddenly difficult because of this matter!"

Wei Zhongxian nodded, then took a sip of tea, and said as if nothing happened: "Didn't you go to Sun Shenxing?"

When Yang Guodong heard this, he didn't expect that he had gone to the Ministry of Rites early in the morning to go to Sun Shenxing's mansion, and Wei Zhongxian had already learned about it, and his body was suddenly shocked, and he forgot to reply for a while. Seeing this, Yang Zhaoji hurriedly said: "Father-in-law Wei is right, my uncle once had an old relationship with Sun Shangshu, and knew that he was the same person as Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian from Donglin, so he came to the door and begged him to help, mediate and resolve grievances. Who knew that after Sun Shangshu gained power, he had long forgotten his old feelings, and he didn't give his uncle much face at all, and it was said that Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian were stubborn and difficult to persuade and refused to help each other. The three of us were desperate, and remembered that we had heard that Father-in-law Wei was bold and righteous, had the spirit of heroism in the rivers and lakes, and was quite similar to our martial artists, so he rashly came to the door and came to ask for help from my father-in-law. ”

After hearing this, Wei Zhongxian laughed and said, "It turns out that there are still such people out there who evaluate me!" However, compared with Sun Shenxing and Zuo Guangdou, my sour scholars, I can also be called bold and righteous!"

Yang Guodong and the three of them said yes again and again.

Wei Zhongxian looked at the three of them for a moment, and then said: "Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian are already scholarly and despise martial artists, and besides, they Donglin people have always paid attention to what kind of temperament, and they hate disloyal and unrighteous people. In addition, the Yang family and the Zuo family have a deep grudge, so it is not surprising that they took the opportunity to jump out and target your uncle and nephew this time!"

Yang Guodong hugged his fists and said: "My father-in-law has analyzed thoroughly, and what he said is extremely true. It's just that the prince is not as they think, he turned his back on the lord, but has another hidden secret!"

"Oh, what's the secret?" Wei Zhongxian squinted his eyes and said with great interest: "Let's hear it!"

Gao Jie also pricked up his ears at this moment, but he wanted to hear what this Hou Wang could say.