In fact, as early as when he made up his mind to design Li Yuan to redeem his crimes with money, Chen Yingliang was already mentally prepared to form a life-and-death enmity with the Li clan—anyway, it was already a life-and-death enmity, and it was already deep enough. never mind.
At the same time, Chen Yingliang was already mentally prepared to offend the entire Guanlongmen Clan, but it didn't matter either. The non-clan officials in the Sui and Tang dynasties had always fought to the death with the Guanlongmen Clan, and they were already in high positions at a young age. I am sure that I will continue to feud with the Guanlongmen faction, and my relationship with the Guanlongmen faction is not good. In this case, I can't please them anyway by sacrificing the interests of the army. Sit firmly in the military position. Small fights will only make the hatred deeper and deeper, and if the hatred is brought home all of a sudden, there may be a day when it will be eased in the future.
In addition, Chen Yingliang was of course also mentally prepared to be seen through by Emperor Sui Yang and thus anger Emperor Sui Yang. But what Chen Yingliang did not expect was that after jumping out to be the first bird to attack the Guanlongmen Clan, he would actually be rewarded and promoted by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and he publicly stated that he would train himself with chariots and horses, so that he had a close relationship with the Sui Dynasty. After Emperor Yang returned to the city with his chariot for a long time, the dizzy Chen Yingliang still hadn't figured out what the reason was.
In this way, Chen Sangliang, who had been beaten upright, was proud of his spring breeze, but the poor uncle Xiao Yu and Xiao Guo had a bad luck. He was ridiculed viciously by Emperor Sui Yang as a civil and military official, and had to rush back to the prison Visit my brother-in-law, Li Yuan, and ask for his advice—money? Or die? ! Next, it was the poor Tang Guogong's turn to be dumbfounded, and screamed: "One million coins? Three hundred thousand pieces of silk? Brother Shiwen, you'd better let His Majesty kill me, such a huge The number, how could I get it out?"
"Brother Shude, don't tell jokes at this time." Uncle Xiao Yuguo wiped his cold sweat and said, "Your Majesty was really angry today, so that I was also implicated, humiliated by His Majesty in public, and His Majesty even threatened in public that you If you don’t give an answer before the palace gates are closed today, His Majesty will have you executed in public tomorrow! All your property will also be confiscated and used for public use!”
As he said that, Xiao Yu hurriedly told Li Yuan the whole story. Naturally, he had to add fuel and vinegar during the period, and severely insulted Chen Sangliang, who came up with such a bad idea. As a result, Li Yuan also yelled, "Chen Yingliang! Chen Yingliang! Little thief! Did the old man kill your whole family or dig your ancestral grave? Why did you hurt me? One million strings! Three hundred thousand pieces of silk! My skin!"
Xiao Yu also scolded Chen Yingliang, and after finally scolding enough, the helpless Xiao Yu and Uncle Xiao Guo could only urge Li Yuan to make a decision as soon as possible, but Li Yuan made quick calculations and suddenly asked: "Where is Shimin? Did you tell him?" this matter?"
"Father, the child is here." Li Er's voice came from the dark corridor of the prison cell. Immediately afterwards, Li Er, who was nervous, and Xiao Huaijing, the little uncle Xiao Guo, who was crying, walked in side by side. There were rats and fleas everywhere. While bowing to Li Yuan, he explained: "Uncle Xiao went home and told me the situation, and the child came over right away. Father, are you okay?"
"Stop talking nonsense." Li Yuan waved his hand angrily, and asked quickly: "Your Majesty has listened to the slander of Chen Yingliang and forced us to hand over one million pennies and three hundred thousand pieces of silk for atonement. How about next?"
"Hand over! You must pay! You can only hand over this amount of money!" Li Er replied firmly.
"Pay?!" The two outsiders, Uncle Xiao and Uncle Xiao, yelled first, "Erlang, aren't you joking? Are you really willing to give such a huge sum of money?"
"Of course I'm not joking!" Li Er said in a deep voice: "Don't forget, His Majesty announced in public that if father doesn't hand over the money, then tomorrow father will not only be executed in public, but also lose all his property! Since the left and right are bankrupt, why don't you take the initiative to exchange money for your life, and keep the green hills, and worry about running out of firewood?"
Uncle Xiao Guo shut up, Li Yuan also showed a counting expression, and then Uncle Xiao Xiao tentatively said to Xiao Yu: "Brother, why don't you take advantage of the time now, and go to the palace to beg Empress Empress to ask her Go ahead and speak before His Majesty, begging His Majesty to lower the fine? One million pennies, three hundred thousand pieces of silk, this amount of money for crimes is really terrible!"
Xiao Yu agreed, and was about to get up, when Li Er who was next to him hurriedly stopped him: "Uncle, there is no need, it is useless, our Li family has violated a holy taboo this time, if you go to the palace to ask the empress to intercede, not only It won't help the matter, and it is likely to backfire, angering His Majesty even more, and making our Li family's death even worse!"
"What do you mean by this nephew?" Xiao Yu asked in surprise.
"It wasn't Chen Yingliang's little thief who harmed our Li family today, it was the civil and military forces of the Manchu dynasty who harmed our Li family." Li Er's face was terribly gloomy, and he explained, "Uncle Xiao told me on the road just now, Chen Yingliang came to slander your Majesty. Let our Li family redeem their sins with money, His Majesty asked all the officials about their attitude, but none of them dared to answer, until His Majesty got angry and persecuted them, all the officials were forced to agree."
"At that time, I understood that His Majesty was vigilant against our Li family." Li Er's eyes glowed with faint green light, like two will-o'-the-wisps, and said darkly: "Our Li family is one of the eight great clans in Guanlong, and has a huge influence in Guanzhong. , the tree is big and deep-rooted, which is a matter of holy taboo. Now that my father is in prison for a crime, and the evidence of the crime is convincing, it is not an exaggeration to behead and ransack the house, but except for Chen Yingliang, none of the civil and military officials dare to fight with him. Our Li family is doing right, we would rather not please His Majesty Shuncheng than offend our Li Clan, how can the emperor bear this tone? How can he rest assured of our Li family?"
"That's why His Majesty was so angry that he granted Chen Yingliang the title of Chen Yingliang again and gave him countless honors." Li Er's face became more and more ugly, and he said: "And I dare to bet that after our Li Clan is unlucky, other Guanlong Clan Clans will also be unlucky, Your Majesty the Emperor Claiming to be the number one person in the world, he will never allow anyone, any family or clan to challenge his authority!"
Hearing Li Er's explanation, Uncle Xiao Xiao was completely silent, and Li Yuan's face became more serious. After a while, Li Yuan said: "What Erlang said is very true. It wasn't the little thief Chen Yingliang who harmed us today. family, it was the civil and military officials who harmed our Li family. If a few of them had stood up to support Chen Yingliang and helped Chen Yingliang to clean up our Li family, things might have been easier. But they didn’t speak. Let Your Majesty be more vigilant and fearful of our Li family!"
"Father, the matter has come to an end, and it is useless to regret." Li Er took over the conversation and said: "My child is still the same sentence, keep the green hills, don't worry about no firewood, save your life first. Although the amount of money and food is huge, Our Li family may not be able to get it out, but we can sell the land and real estate, or we can go to other Guanlong clans to borrow money. The eight Guanlong clans are in the same spirit, and they will not help us at this critical moment. "
Li Yuan's face was gloomy. After a long time, Li Yuan nodded and said weakly: "Brother Shi Wen, go and tell Your Majesty that I am willing to ruin my family and pay for my sins."
Xiao Yu nodded silently, and agreed dejectedly, while Li Yuan continued to remain silent. After a long time, Li Yuan suddenly looked up to the sky and sighed, "The worst thing I have done in this life is to find the wrong son-in-law! If the old man did not find the wrong one Son-in-law, how could there be today if he hadn’t become enemies with a terrible opponent for him? How could there be today—?!”
…
The next thing was simple. After Xiao Yu and Xiao Guoshu returned to the palace to report dejectedly, Emperor Yang of Sui, who was still angry, ordered the Li family to hand over the money and food within a month to make amends. No one in the family can escape, and all property and land will continue to be confiscated! Xiao Yu obediently agreed, and hurried back to ask Li Er to raise money everywhere. Li Er didn't dare to neglect after hearing the news, so he could only raise money by selling his own properties in various places, and at the same time beg for food at the homes of other Guanlong clans. Rolling eyes and humiliation, it is natural that there is no need to explain some principles of cold lips and teeth and solidarity.
At the same time, the more or less normal-minded Emperor Sui Yang once again issued an order to let the Ministry of Civil Affairs give priority to the treasury money and food, and faithfully fulfill the promise of rewards he made during the Yanmen War. One day, the King Qin troops stationed outside the city cheered like thunder. Chen Yingliang, Yun Dingxing, and Wang Shichong and other leaders of the King Qin army raised their eyebrows in front of the army, and their voices increased a lot. Naturally, the gradual withdrawal from Dongdu was not mentioned. During this period, Chen Yingliang first bid farewell to his actual father-in-law Wang Shichun, and agreed to send Wang Xueji's mother and son to Dongdu to marry their son without mentioning it.
At the same time, Chen Sangliang, who was devoid of conscience, became more energetic under the hatred eyes of the Guanlong clan and the jealous eyes of countless colleagues, and received the heavy reward promised by Emperor Sui Yang in Yanmen City, and also received the reward from Beicheng. The first Shanghao house in Lushunfang still opened the door across the street, equipped with 300 armored soldiers as entourage, coming in and out was extremely majestic, and was called into the palace city twice in three days to enjoy banquets and wine, almost Daily rewards of court delicacies and objects for the imperial use, the favors he gained have caught up with Yu Wenshu and Pei Ju, and almost became the number one celebrity in front of Emperor Sui Yang.
The civil and military officials of the Sui Dynasty were not fools. The real reason why Chen Sangliang suddenly became favored was quickly guessed by many smart people. In order to please Emperor Sui Yang and obey Emperor Sui Yang’s wishes, many civil and military officials began to follow suit. Chen Yingliang was against the Guanlong clan, or he was doing it on purpose. The memorials to impeach the eight clans flew into the palace city like snowflakes and were sent to Emperor Sui Yang. In just half a month, more than 20 civil and military officials who were born in the Guanlongmen Clan were dismissed, and the already sharp conflict with the Guanlongmen Clan became more prominent.
Just as unlucky as the Guanlongmen Clan was Shibi Khan, because he led an army to surround Yanmen City and threatened to kill Emperor Sui Yang, so Emperor Sui Yang took his head without hesitation after worshiping heaven and earth At the same time, a lot of small khans were canonized in the East Turkic tribes, completely splitting the already severely damaged East Turkic. Princess Yicheng was also recalled by Emperor Sui Yang, making the greatest Sui Dynasty The woman returns to her hometown to reunite with her family.
During this period, Chen Yingliang naturally accelerated the action of incorporating Qiao Peng's direct lineage into Youwuwei. Generals such as Kan Leng, Ma Sanbao, Cheng Yaojin, and Niu Jinda were also successively transferred to Youwuwei as generals, and continued to serve as cattle for Chen Yingliang. Ma, Yuan Tiangang, Wei Zheng and Qian Xiangmin were also transferred to Youwuwei, Yuchi Jingde was appointed as Chen Yingliang's central army guard, Changsun Wuji and Wang Xuance entered Youwuwei as Chen Yingliang's aides. Wu Wei has no official position yet.
Time flies, and a month is about to pass in the blink of an eye. After reorganizing a large number of elites to stay in Dongdu, and receiving all the rewards they deserve, the remaining Qiao Peng team, led by Qin Qiong, finally left Luoyang and returned to Pengcheng In the station, Chen Yingliang personally went to see off outside the city, and bid farewell to these comrades-in-arms who had lived and died together for a long time. However, these comrades-in-arms had just been sent away, but there was another order from the inner court. Chen Yingliang didn't dare to neglect, and hurriedly wiped away his tears and went back to the city to see him.
After seeing Emperor Sui Yang, Emperor Sui Yang was not polite, and said to Chen Yingliang with a smile: "Ai Qing, I hand you over because there is an order for you. Li Yuan has already paid the fine. I want you to pay the fine. I have fulfilled the release to him, you go and pass on this decree for me, and let him out."
"I don't think the enmity between me and Lao Li's family is deep. You really use me to death."
After muttering something quietly, Chen Yingliang accepted the order with a smile on his face, and by the way, asked for leave and asked to return to Daxing to get married, but Emperor Yang of Sui waved his hand and said, "I'll give you three months' vacation, but don't get married in Daxing, go and get your eldest grandson Aiqing's daughter was brought back to Luoyang to get married, and I'm going to celebrate the New Year in Luoyang, and when you come back to Luoyang to get married, I can just go and congratulate you in person."
Chen Yingliang didn't even dare to say it, but Emperor Sui Yang insisted not to allow it. Chen Sangliang had no choice but to thank Shengen again, and then took the decree and went straight to the prison to release Li Yuan for Emperor Sui Yang. Enmity ends.
I haven't seen him for almost two months. Li Yuan seems to have aged ten years suddenly. His hair has become much grayer and his face has more wrinkles. Seeing Chen Yingliang standing in front of him holding the will With a bitter smile, he said, "Dashuai Chen... oh no, now he should be honored as Chen Xiongqu, Chen Xiongqu, are you okay?"
"Thanks to Tang Guogong's blessing, it's not a bad life." Chen Yingliang said the truth—and it was indeed the truth. If there was no such thing as Li Yuan's bankruptcy and atonement this time, Chen Yingliang really had no way to pay hundreds of thousands of people under his command. King Qin, who fought bloody battles, confessed.
"Xiong Qu won the award, how dare I?" Li Yuan smiled wryly, knelt down to Chen Yingliang again, and said weakly, "Is Xiong Qu here to deliver the decree? Criminal Li Yuan, welcome the decree."
After giving Li Yuan a sympathetic look, Chen Yingliang opened the imperial decree and read aloud: "By God, the emperor's decree said! Tang Guogong Li Yuan..."
It took some time for Chen Sangliang to finish reading the imperial decree. Only then did he find out that Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty did not fully forgive Li Yuan. He was sent back to Chengji's hometown, and he was not allowed to leave Chengji County without a will. On the contrary, Li Yuan already knew the content of the imperial decree through Xiao Yu, and he was not surprised at all. He just respectfully kowtowed after Chen Yingliang finished reading, and said weakly: "The guilty minister accepts the decree, thank you Lord Long En."
After prostrating, Li Yuan struggled to get up, but almost fell down when he stood halfway. Fortunately, Chen Yingliang had a sharp eye and a quick hand, and helped him to remind him to be careful. Li Yuan nodded weakly, and said with a wry smile: "Thank you Chen Xiongqu, I'm really sorry, Chen Xiongqu came The decree was issued to release the old man from prison, but now the old man can't even give a big brother's thank you money."
Chen Yingliang had also heard about Li Yuan's family situation. He knew that Li Yuan not only sold all his family property and land, but also borrowed a lot of money from other Guanlong clans in order to collect a huge amount of money for atonement. Hearing Li Yuan's sad words again, no matter how devastated Chen Sangliang was, he inevitably felt a little sympathetic and bitter, so he said softly: "Mr. Do your best to help."
"Thank you Chen Xiongqu for your kindness, I appreciate it." Li Yuan suddenly had the urge to cry—the little writer who his son-in-law was going to recommend to him back then, now he actually wants to give his money to live in turn. Recalling the past, Li Yuan couldn't help but said again: "Chen Xiongqu, for the matter of my son-in-law, I will apologize to you on his behalf. Back then, he looked down on others and offended you because of his ignorance of gold and jade. You have a lot of adults, don't care about him."
"It's all in the past, why mention him?" Chen Sangliang sighed, and told Li Yuan to take good care of himself after returning to Chengji. Li Yuan nodded feebly and thanked him again and again. The decree was handed over to Li Yuan, and the prison guards were arranged to release Li Yuan from prison, and bid farewell to Li Yuan.
Leading the entourage to stride to the gate of the prison, Chen Sangliang saw Xiao Guoshu and Li Er were already waiting outside the door at first glance, and seeing Chen Yingliang coming out, Xiao Guoshu, who had a lot of troubles with Chen Yingliang, of course He hurriedly turned around, while Li Er looked calm, and bowed his hands to Chen Yingliang, saying: "Li Shimin, a grassroots man, I have met General Chen."
Chen Yingliang nodded, and wanted to leave directly, but just as he moved, Chen Yingliang stopped again, and said to Li Er: "Mr. Shimin, I could have killed you this time, but I spared you. I hope you will die later." If you can live in peace, don't think about any adventures, if not, I will cure you, it's easy."
"Caomin will remember the teachings of the great general, and will never forget them." Li Er respectfully agreed, his expression still calm as before.
Seeing Li Er's calm expression, Chen Yingliang, who knew who he was, could only smile wryly, then strode away from the gate of the prison, and with the help of Yuchi Jingde, he rode on his horse, and when he was about to ride away, The cloudy sky that had been hazy for a long time suddenly dissipated, revealing the blue sky and bright sunshine. Chen Yingliang looked up at the sky and said in his heart: "The aftermath of the Yanmen War is finally over, and it is time to start a new one. History has already happened. Great changes have been made, and I was deliberately pushed to the forefront by Yang Guang, so what should I do next?"