When Li Jing came to the camp of the Sui army in Taiyuan, the rebuilt inner and outer camps were still under intense construction. Even Li Yuan's command tent for the Chinese army hadn't been built yet, and a small tent was hastily set up behind the command tent. To give Li Yuan a rest, Li Jing was also led into this small tent by Li Yuan's guards, and met with Li Yuan, Li Er and his son.
Li Yuan once again warmly received Li Jing, and Li Er personally moved a wooden stool for Li Jing and asked Li Jing to sit down. Knowing that there is nothing to do to show courtesy, Li Jing was not polite, and said directly: "Ambassador, sir It was in Chen Yingliang's tent that he received your summoning order, and Chen Yingliang also knew that the subordinate official came here to meet you, in order to avoid his suspicion, please give the ambassador an order as soon as possible if you have any explanations, and the subordinate official will listen attentively."
"No hurry, no hurry." Li Yuan waved his hands with a smile to express that there is no need to worry, and then asked with a smile: "Pharmacist, if I remember correctly, you are the magistrate of Mayi County who took office in the first year of Daye, right? , most of the people in the Central Plains are not used to living here, why have you stayed in Mayi as the county magistrate after eleven years have passed, and you haven't been promoted or transferred?"
"The lower officials are incompetent, and their political achievements are not good. It is a fluke not to be dismissed from office. How dare they expect to be promoted and transferred?" Li Jing replied modestly.
"Hehe, isn't it?" Li Yuan laughed, and said with a smile: "Li Juncheng, you have stayed in Mayi for eleven years, but you have not been able to be promoted? The key is because your uncle Han Qinhu, the old general Han, passed away too early, right? "
About Han Qinhu, Li Yuan said it very casually with a smile, but when Li Jing heard it, it sounded like a thunderbolt from the blue sky. He was so shocked that Li Jing jumped up from the stool when he checked the count, his face turned pale, and he almost fell asleep. He thought that Li Yuan had already seen through a certain secret. But fortunately, Li Yuan immediately added with a smile: "Also, it is also because Yang Su and Yang Pushe, who promoted you as a member of the driving department, Wailang, to Mayi County Prime Minister, suddenly lost power and died of illness, so you have not been promoted any more. chance?"
"Why did you pull Yang Su out?" Li Jing was puzzled, and his expression quickly returned to normal. He asked in confusion, "Ambassador Li, what are you talking about? Why don't you understand?"
"Li Juncheng, don't be humble, no one understands better than you." Li Yuan smiled and said: "If your uncle Han Qinhu, the old general, hadn't passed away too early, if Yang Suyang Pushe, who personally promoted you, didn't suddenly lose power and die of illness , you still need to live in Mayi for eleven years? With the power of the two of them and their status in the court, if you just stretch out a little finger to give you a hand, you are at least right now You have been conferred the title of title, and you have opened a mansion and a government office. But it is a pity that your luck is too bad. The two big backers in the court fell too quickly and suddenly, and there is no support, so you never have a chance to get promoted——Li Juncheng , Am I right in saying these words?"
Li Jing was silent. He couldn't guess the intention of Li Yuan's words for a while, so he could only reply vaguely: "Ambassador Li, of course your words are correct. You once said that as long as the subordinates do things for you sincerely and do things with heart, you will be the biggest support of the subordinates in the court."
"Know that I am your biggest support in the imperial court!" Li Yuan suddenly changed his face, and said fiercely: "The eight great clans in Guanlong, Longxi Li family is among them, and I am both the head of the Longxi Li family and a relative of the emperor. , Jue Bai Guogong, and the majestic Hedong Comforting Ambassador, dare not say that he is a promise in the court, but he can be regarded as a high-ranking and powerful person! A backer like this official is definitely rare for you, but you can't ask for it. If you don’t know how to cherish, then you are not making a mistake, you are being stupid!”
Li Jing still didn't quite understand Li Yuan's real intention, so he wisely chose to shut up. At this time, Li Er, who had been silent by the side, also spoke, and said with a smile: "Li Juncheng, have you ever seen a house built? Before building a house, you must dig the foundation, because if there is no foundation, there will be a little big wind and rain. The house will collapse. Only when the foundation is dug, the foundation is laid, and then the house is built on the foundation, can such a house be secure—the foundation of our Li family was dug deep, and the foundation was also very solid. It will not collapse even if the sky is shaken by any wind and rain."
Observing Li Jing's expression, Li Er smiled and added: "But Chen Yingliang is different. He is just a child of a poor family. He is helpless in the world. He managed to hug a few thighs, but he is not dying. He may kick his legs at any time. Die breath, just don't care about him very much, treat him as an offshoot of a foreign surname, and discard it after use, so Chen Yingliang is like a building with no foundation. You should understand now, right?"
Li Jing, who was guilty of being a thief, turned pale again, and it took him a long time to reply tremblingly: "Second Young Master, forgive me, but I still don't understand."
Li Er laughed, and Li Yuan also laughed happily. He smiled and said, "Pharmacist, you really know how to pretend. You really don't understand? Well, let me ask you, the second night when Chen Yingliang broke the Turks in Nao County." , You went to see His Royal Highness King Qi, what did you say? What did you do?"
Li Yuan's words were like a bolt from the blue again, and once again stunned the guilty Li Jing. After finally regaining his senses, Li Jing immediately jumped up, knelt down to Li Yuanji, lowered his head and screamed in a low voice, "Your Majesty!" Guilty, the lower official is guilty, the lower official deserves death! But Ambassador Li, the lower official made up for it afterwards!"
Screaming in a low voice and begging for mercy, Li Jing even wiped the dripping cold sweat from his forehead, and said in his heart, "I'm so scared to death, it turned out to be this matter. I thought that old man Li Yuan found out about that matter!"
In broad daylight, the light in the tent was good. Seeing that Li Jing was really sweating, and he couldn't pretend to be sweating, Li Yuan and Li Er and his son laughed happily again, and then Li Yuan sneered and said: "It's good to know that you are guilty, and you are counted as guilty." Smart, after you lied to the old man, you have made up for it, otherwise, relying on your private contact with His Royal Highness King Qi, the old man only needs to say a word, and I guarantee you will be killed!"
Li Jing continued to beg for mercy, pleading: "Ambassador forgive me, ambassador forgive me, I was confused for a while, and I was afraid that my crime of meeting His Highness King Qi in private would be exposed, so I lied to you. Ten thousand deaths! I don’t dare, I don’t dare anymore!”
"You'd better not dare!" Li Yuan smiled ferociously, and said viciously: "Remember, don't worry about this mountain or that mountain! You only have one backer, and that is my mountain! How dare you hit me?" The idea of stepping on two boats, to help that poor boy who was still picking vegetables and leaves to cook porridge two years ago, be careful of your head! Be careful of your family's heads too!"
Li Jing nodded like a chicken pecking rice, repeatedly expressing that he would remember Ambassador Li's teachings for life, and then Ambassador Li snorted again: "Okay, get up, I have a question for you, who is the Turkic traitor who secretly contacted Chen Yingliang?" Who? Do you know?"
"Turkic traitor?" Li Jing's face changed before he had time to get up, and he exclaimed in his heart: "Why is old Li Yuan asking about Turkic traitor? Is he really connected with Turkic side? But it's not right, if Li Yuan and Mrs. The Turks are really connected, so it is impossible for the Turks to step into our trap last night?"
Coincidentally, at this time, a guard suddenly came in from outside the tent, knelt down on one knee and said to Li Yuan: "Ambassador, our army scouts captured a man. He claimed to be Mayi prefect Wang Rengong. The emissary sent by Wang Taishou to meet you has an official document from Mayi to report to you, requesting you to receive it immediately."
"Wang Rengong?" Both Li Yuan and Li Jing were slightly taken aback, their first reaction was how did Wang Rengong's messenger get here? But thinking that the mountain path has not been cut off, and that Li Jing led the interpreter team to the Yanmen Battlefield Qinwang before, Li Yuan and Li Jing didn't think it was too strange, and then Li Yuan casually ordered: "Bring him here. Well, just disarm the weapon, there is no need to search."
The guards led away, and then Li Yuan turned his attention to Li Jing, and shouted: "Hurry up, who is the Turkic traitor who secretly communicated with Chen Yingliang's thief, do you know?"
Li Jing hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and replied: "Ambassador forgive me, Chen Yingliang is a cunning and cautious little thief, and did not reveal the name of the Turkic traitor to the subordinates, but the subordinates can guess who the Turkic traitor is."
"Who is it?" Li Yuan hurriedly asked, "How did you guess it?"
"Chen Yingliang, the little thief, once asked the lower officials about the situation of the Turkic general Ashina Simo." Li Jing replied truthfully: "At that time, the lower officials told him that although Ashina Simo's surname was Ashina, because of his body He has Hu blood, so he cannot be entrusted with the Turkic police for life, and he cannot independently control military power for life, and he is quite discriminated against in the Ashina family, and then the little thief Chen Yingliang said nothing."
"Ashina Simo?"
Li Yuan and his son suddenly realized, and immediately understood why Chen Yingliang believed that the Turkic traitor was reliable, and immediately understood why the Turkic traitor knew about Shibi Khan's tactical plan. However, while Li Yuan and his son were secretly delighted, a new accident happened suddenly—the stern voice of Li Yuan's guard suddenly sounded outside the tent, "Mao Fugui, what are you doing?! Sneaky, are you eavesdropping?!"
Immediately afterwards, the sound of footsteps and scuffling came from outside the tent. When Li Yuan and his son hurried out of the tent to check the situation in shock, they saw a few of their confidant guards pushing a guard named Mao Fugui to the ground. Then he put his hands back in front of Li Yuan, and the head guard also played to Li Yuan: "Ambassador, Mao Fugui put his ears on the tent just now, eavesdropping on your conversation, and tried to escape after being discovered, but we caught him !"
Li Yuan and his son, who were inquiring about the situation of the Turkic traitor just now, turned pale together, and hurriedly ordered Mao Fugui to be brought into the tent, and asked, "Who sent you to eavesdrop? Who is the mastermind behind you?"
Mao Fugui turned his face sideways and did not answer, and Li Yuan was even more furious, shouting: "Say it! Don't talk about torture!"
Mao Fugui still remained silent, Li Yuan became even more furious, and immediately ordered him to be taken out for torture. Li Er hurriedly stopped him, and then whispered in his ear: "Father, I can't interrogate. It will be more troublesome to interrogate. It will be more troublesome if you come out early." Killing is the most important thing.”
Li Yuan's heart trembled, and when he was about to order the killing to silence him, a vaguely familiar voice suddenly came from outside the tent, "Li Juncheng, I am Changsun Wuji, I have urgent matters to see you, and I have urgent matters to find you."
There was another voice of negotiation outside the tent. Li Yuan's guards did not allow Changsun Wuji to enter the tent, but Changsun Wuji insisted that he should see Li Jing immediately if there was an urgent military situation. Fugui was an eyeliner arranged by Chen Yingliang. In desperation, Li Yuan almost wanted to kill Mao Fugui himself immediately. At the same time, the guards outside the tent reported that Zhangsun Wuji insisted on taking the account immediately, and the tent suddenly became chaotic. No matter how resourceful and resourceful Li Yuan and his son were, they would inevitably be at a loss for a while, not knowing how to make a decision.
At the critical moment, Li Jing suddenly approached Li Yuan, and said in a low voice: "Ambassador, this Mao Fugui must not have been sent by Chen Yingliang, a thief, otherwise, he must have shouted for help."
After being reminded by Li Jing, Li Yuan came to his senses and took another look at the silent Mao Fugui. Then Li Yuan quickly ordered him to be taken aside, and then summoned Changsun Wuji to enter the tent. Soon, Changsun Wuji strode forward. After entering the army tent, he first took a very strange look at Mao Fugui who was being held aside, then saluted Li Yuan and Li Er symbolically, then turned to Li Jing and said, "Li Juncheng, our army found some Turkic official documents on the battlefield. Among the letters, there is one that is more important, and the commander-in-chief is eager to translate it into Chinese, and the younger generation is ignorant and incomplete, so I would like to ask for your advice."
Li Jing nodded quickly, while Li Yuan secretly scolded the guards for being incompetent, and even Changsun Wuji didn't report his sudden entry into the camp, and said with a smile: "Li Juncheng, it just so happens that we have finished discussing things, you can go."
Li Jing nodded again, and the eldest grandson Wuji, who was eager to ask Li Jing to help translate the Turkic letters, refused to leave immediately, and asked curiously: "Li Juncheng, Uncle Li, what important military situation did you discuss? Also, what happened to this general?" ? What military law did you violate? How did you get detained here?"
Seeing Changsun Wuji asking the bottom line, Li Yuan and his son complained in their hearts together. It was true that Mao Fugui, who was not sent by Chen Yingliang, did not say a word. Changsun Wuji, who had been seriously corrupted by Chen Sangliang, blinked and said deliberately: "Uncle Li, forgive me, junior!" Just a word of caution, the chief judge in the army is Yinshi Shishi Yin Taishou, if this general breaks any military law, you'd better deal with Yin Taishou together."
Changsun Wuji really didn't know the reason why Mao Fugui was arrested. He said this on purpose to disgust Ambassador Li. Who would have thought that Mao Fugui's eyes lit up immediately, and he hurriedly shouted: "My son, the villain violated the military law. Just now, the villain was accidentally mistaken for wiretapping a military plane, and was imprisoned here wrongfully, and I ask my eldest grandson to go and inform the prefect of Huiyin, and ask him to come and make decisions for me in person!"
"Master Yin Shi?!" Li Yuan and his son's heart trembled, only then did they realize that Mao Fugui was probably a spy sent by Master Yin! — After all, as the chief military judge of Qin Wang's coalition army, it is too easy for the powerful Yin Shishi to bribe Li Yuan's guards.
Changsun Wuji was indeed completely taken away by Chen Sangliang. Hearing this, he felt that it was wrong. He didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately turned to the outside of the tent, and shouted at his followers: "Quick, go and ask the prefect Yin to come here." Here, right now!"
Chen Sangliang arranged for Changsun Wuji's entourage to agree, and immediately rushed to contact Master Yin, but Li Yuan and Li Er's expressions changed a little. After a little calculation, Li Er quickly clung to Li Yuan's ear, whisper He said in a low voice: "Father, if this spy overhears you asking about the Turkic traitor, he must insist that he wants to take credit for it!"
Li Yuan nodded with a gloomy expression. At this time, another guard came into the tent, saying that the Mayi official who had asked to see him before had been taken outside the tent to wait for his order. See you later."
I don't know how long it took while waiting for each other with their own ghosts. After the report from Changsun Wuji's entourage, Yin Shishi came outside Li Yuan's tent. Chen Yingliang, who felt that the situation was not good, also came with a group of soldiers. Li Yuan The father and son had no choice but to hurry out of the tent to welcome Chen Yingliang and Yin Shishi into the tent, and then reported the situation to Chen Yingliang and Yin Shishi face to face. Mao Fugui asked, "Why did you bug the military plane?"
"Commander, the villain is not eavesdropping on military planes." With the support of the backstage, Mao Fugui became more courageous, and replied loudly: "The villain found that there was no sound in the military tent for a long time, and was worried about accidents, so he posted it on the tent casually." Listen, if you don't think about it, you will be mistaken for wiretapping a military plane."
"Then what did you hear?" Chen Yingliang hurriedly asked again.
"Small..., I didn't hear anything, the voice in the tent is too low." Mao Fugui's dejected answer made Li Yuan and his son feel a big stone in their hearts.
"Trash!" Yin Shishi cursed secretly in his heart, and hurriedly cupped his hands to Chen Yingliang and said, "Commander, this soldier is suspected of eavesdropping on a military plane, and we must investigate it thoroughly. The general is a military judge, and his duty is for him. He handed it over to me, let the lower officials investigate thoroughly, and will definitely give the commander-in-chief and Ambassador Li a satisfactory answer."
After taking a look at Yin Shishi, Chen Yingliang also gave face to his die-hard supporters, and immediately nodded in agreement, but Ambassador Li quit, and immediately said: "Commander, the guard of the general is trying to eavesdrop on the conversation between the general and Li Juncheng. , there must be something strange in it, and there must be a mastermind behind it, the final general begged the commander-in-chief to interrogate his mastermind on the spot, and find out the person behind him, so as to improve military discipline!"
Of course, Chen Yingliang also suspected that Mao Fugui was an insider planted by Yin Shishi, and he wanted to cover up but couldn't find a reason. Fortunately, Mao Fugui was also very smart, and immediately said: "Marshal, I am wronged, I am wronged, the villain is really good!" I was only worried about the safety of Ambassador Li, so I listened to the movement in the tent, there is no malice, and there is no mastermind behind the villain."
"No envoy?"
Li Yuan grinned grimly. He just wanted to summon the guards who were familiar with Mao Fugui to interrogate the people who had been in contact with Mao Fugui recently, and found out the culprit behind him. He yelled: "The villain really didn't hear anything. The villain didn't hear what Ambassador Li said. The villain just heard a guard report that the prefect of Mayi King sent someone to visit Ambassador Li. Except for this In other words, the villain didn't hear anything!"
"Mayi Wang Taishou sent someone to visit Ambassador Li?" Chen Yingliang's heart moved, and he asked in doubt: "Xixing Pass and Loufan Pass have been occupied by Turks, how did the officials of Mayi come here?"
"Marshal, there is still a mountain road to go." Yin Shishi rarely defended Ambassador Li, and explained: "We have not been in touch with Mayi Wang Taishou, and Wang Taishou didn't know that you were appointed by His Majesty the Emperor. Qin Wang’s situation, so the envoy sent first went to Ambassador Li.”
Chen Yingliang nodded, and asked again: "Ambassador Li, where is that messenger? What is the Mayi military situation?"
"Commander, the last general hasn't seen him yet." Li Yuan replied truthfully, and casually ordered the messenger from Mayi to be brought into the tent.
Ma Yi's courier was quickly brought into the tent, but when he took a closer look at the courier's appearance, Li Yuan and Li Er's complexions immediately turned pale, and Chen Yingliang's and Yin Shishi's complexions immediately became gloomy—because of this The whole body of the famous Mayi messenger was quite clean, there was no sweat and dust on his face, and there was not much dirt and dust on his shoes and trousers. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't look like he had walked tens of hundreds of miles of mountain roads over the remnants of the Taihang Mountains.
Suddenly, Li Yuan noticed that someone had touched him with an elbow. He looked down and saw that it was Li Jing. When he hurried to Li Jing again, Li Jing gave Li Yuan a wink, then strode forward, pointed at the messenger and shouted: "Marshal!" He is a fake messenger! I know this person. He is Bo Li Menglong, the owner of Sanggan Town in Mayi. Sanggan Town has long been occupied by the Turks. No one in the fort has escaped. This Li Menglong must have been captured by the Turks long ago. Already!"
"It's over!" Li Yuan and Li Er groaned together in their hearts, and secretly said: "This damned bastard must be the secret envoy sent by Shibi Khan to contact us!"