Fan Zigai's unlucky son Fan Wenchao was put into a prison car and taken back to Daxing. It was Chen Sangliang who personally gave the order in the name of the Tang Dynasty King. He asked General Yun in a stern tone to put Fan Wenchao into a prison car and take him back to Daxing! Returning with Fan Wenchao were brothers Qian Xiangmin and He Er who escaped in the chaos during the Heyang Bridge battle, and Er Zhuhuan who also escaped back to Xin'an in the chaos and successfully impersonated the Li family's envoy, as well as those who took the initiative to Feng Deyi, Chen Sangliang's old enemy who surrendered, had better luck. They returned to Daxing in a warm car as heroes. Fortunately, all the civil and military officers of the Sui army knew Fan Wenchao's identity and his special relationship with Chen Sangliang. Therefore, in addition to having to squat in the prison car in prison clothes and suffer some hardships in the wind and snow along the way, Fan Wenchao did not have to worry about food and daily life. He did not suffer any grievances. Fan Wenchao, who actually participated in the Jiangdu mutiny, also knew very well that Chen Sangliang had to give an explanation to the world. He did not dare to complain that his father's prot¨¦g¨¦s did not take enough care of him. He was very cooperative and took care of himself wherever he went. He admitted his guilt and was willing to accept any punishment from the king of Sui and Tang Dynasty. Before the matter was over, when Fan Wenchao was actually taken to Daxing, Chen Sangliang, the filial son of the most loyal minister of the Sui Dynasty, summoned all civil and military officials in the Wude Palace to personally interrogate and investigate Fan Wenchao for the crime of regicide. And when Fan Wenchao was escorted to the Wude Hall, Chen Sangliang snatched a knife from the guard beside him, rushed up and was about to kill his mentor's precious son with his own hands, shouting with red eyes, "Regicide!" Rebel! "Li Jing, Fang Xuanling and other civil and military officials immediately rushed to grab Chen Sangliang and held Chen Sangliang's arm tightly to prevent him from swinging the knife. Chen Sangliang couldn't struggle. He kicked Fan Wenchao several times, and kept yelling, "Traitor! Regicide, traitor! You still have the nerve to see me! Are you worthy of the late emperor? Are you sorry for your father's spirit in heaven? You If my father knew what you had done, how could he rest in peace under Jiuquan? Come on, take this regicide and kill him!" Fan Wenchao endured the pain and did not dare to resist. He kowtowed to plead guilty and said repeatedly: "The guilty minister is guilty, and the guilty minister deserves to die! But the guilty minister was forced to do so. It was Yu Wenhuaji who forced the guilty minister to act. At that time, the guilty minister only thought that he wanted to fight and remonstrate, but he didn't expect that common man. If he had known that he would do this, he would not have dared to do it! " "Shut up! I don't want to hear your shameless sophistry!" Chen Sangliang roared. shouted: "Didn't you hear my king's order? Take this regicide traitor out and have his car broken into pieces and executed!" Then it was naturally the turn of Li Jing, Fang Xuanling and others to salute and plead, but let Chen Sangliang, Li Jing, and Fang Xuan Ling and others were quite surprised that Fan Wenchao had already prepared an excuse for his escape, and immediately kowtowed and said: "His Royal Highness, the guilty minister indeed deserves death. Don't say that he just smashed the guilty minister's car and executed him. Even if the guilty minister is crushed to ashes, the guilty minister will never complain. But before his death, the late emperor had already issued an edict to pardon the guilty minister's death penalty. Please investigate clearly! " Chen Sangliang was finally a little surprised and quickly asked for details. At that time, Fan Wenchao told the story about Emperor Sui Yang's deathbed order for Chen Sangliang to avenge him. He also explained that Emperor Sui Yang still had an explanation. No matter who brought the edict to Chen Sangliang, Immediately pardoned the death penalty, and at the same time said that Emperor Sui Yang gave Chen Sangliang the two honors of fake yellow yue and envoy Chi Jie before his death - but Fan Wenchao was smart and misremembered one thing. When Emperor Sui Yang asked Chen Sangliang In the matter of assisting Yang Tong to ascend the throne, Yang Tong's name was mistakenly changed to that of the dead Yang You. Chen Sangliang doubtfully questioned whether Fan Wenchao had fabricated the edict, but luckily, Feng Deyi, who was also present at the Wude Hall, was also a party involved and stood up to testify for Fan Wenchao, proving that there was indeed such a edict, but Feng Deyi also did the same. He cleverly confused the names of Yang Tong and Yang You, saying that Emperor Sui Yang asked Chen Sangliang to assist Yang You in ascending the throne. After Chen Sangliang asked repeatedly whether it was true, he dropped the knife angrily, pointed at Fan Wenchao's nose and shouted: "Since the late emperor left a decree to pardon you, I have no choice but to obey! But the death penalty can be avoided. You will be demoted to the sixth rank, and you will be demoted to the rank of Lieutenant of the Tang Kingdom (an official title in ancient times, the eighth rank)! If you make any mistakes in the future, you will be punished without mercy." Hearing Chen Sangliang's words, Fang Xuanling, Li Jing and others were unavoidable. They all rolled their eyes, secretly cursing that Chen Sangliang was indeed good at acting. He was obviously intending to protect Fan Wenchao, but he could still speak so viciously. Fan Wenchao, who directly joined the Tang Dynasty to serve, was happy when he heard this. Chen Sangliang scolded Feng Deyi again, severely condemned his party-affiliated regicide culture and crimes, and then thought that he should return from the lost way and contribute to his own army in the battle of Dongdu. , also pardoned his crimes and gave him a title of Nei Shishe. He also comforted and praised Qian Xiangmin, He Er and Er Zhuhuan, promoted them to some positions and gave them some rewards. After finishing the necessary cutscene, that night, Chen Sangliang summoned Fan Wenchao alone, held a banquet to calm his shock, and learned from him the details of the Jiangdu mutiny., and also understood the true situation of the remnants of the Xiaoguo Army from another angle. Fan Wenchao answered truthfully one by one, telling the real cause and detailed process of the Jiangdu mutiny, and also told the story of Pei Hongce who luckily escaped because he was supervising the construction of a palace in Danyang. , and finally said impatiently: "Your Highness, Yu Wenhua and the ordinary people are cowardly and incompetent, the Xiaoguo soldiers are alienated, the Guanzhong soldiers are homesick, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit and will have no fighting spirit. It will be easy for Your Highness to defeat him. If His Highness is determined to send troops, in the end If the general asks him to serve as the vanguard, as long as the last general speaks in front of the battle, Yuwen's army will definitely fall apart. " "Yu Wenhua is going against the grain, and the top and bottom are divided. If our army sends out the main force, it will not be difficult to defeat him," Chen Sangliang said. Holding the wine glass, he calculated and said: "But there is Wang Shichong in the middle. It is difficult to send troops from Hedong and it is difficult to transport food and grass. It is not suitable for a large army to send out. It really puts me in a bit of trouble." "Then why doesn't the Tang Dynasty king consider sending troops to capture the east capital?" He was anxious outside. Fan Wenchao, who was close to his nephew and had made contributions under his command, suggested: "Wang Shichong was seriously injured in the battle with the Xiaoguo Army. Although he later recruited and surrendered a group of Xiaoguo Army soldiers such as Chen Zhilue, his overall strength was still severely damaged. If His Highness It will be much easier to send troops to Dongdu at this time. ""What's the reason for starting the war?" Chen Sangliang asked, "Wang Shichong is my father-in-law, and he also regards the Sui Dynasty as Zhengshuo. How can you explain to the world if you don't conquer other rebels but attack him first?" Fan Wenchao just shut up, because Fan Wenchao has already seen that Chen Sangliang is not enthusiastic about sending troops eastward at present, not at all? Fan Wen, who inherited his father's upright character, will not annoy Chen Sangliang anymore. After Chen Sangliang thought about it for a while, he said: "Uncle, Wuwei is still occupied by Li Gui. You can't go back to your hometown for the time being. You will rest in Daxing for a while. I will send you after a while." How about going to work in Jiangxian County, Hedong Province, and make some achievements there first, and we can talk about the rest later? "Jiangxian County is close to the pass of Zhongtiao Mountain, and is the choke point for transportation between Hedong and Hanoi, although it is not suitable. A large-scale army was launched to fight, but if the Xiaoguo Army officers wanted to escape and return to the west, they had to pass through there. Chen Sangliang sent Fan Wenchao to Jiangxian to serve. Naturally, he used his connections in the Xiaoguo Army to kill people with soft knives. Gradually recruiting and dividing the remnants of the Xiaoguo Army currently entrenched in Hanoi is also the best opportunity to gild Fan Wenchao's meritorious service. Fan Wenchao understood this very well. Overjoyed, Fan Wenchao thanked Chen Sangliang repeatedly and parted happily with his nephew. Just as the good-natured Fan Wenchao guessed, Chen Sangliang really does not want to send troops to Dongdu at the moment. The reason is not only moral. There are also many concerns that make Chen Sangliang not want to rush into the battlefield of Dongdu. At the same time, Chen Sangliang had just proclaimed himself king. He needed to integrate personnel and eliminate dissidents. Spring plowing was about to begin again. There were too many internal problems that Chen Sangliang needed to handle in Daxing. Therefore, Chen Sangliang could only temporarily put the matter of sending troops eastward. On the other hand, we should concentrate on domestic affairs and prepare to consider sending troops after a period of time. Focusing on the inside does not mean that Chen Sangliang does not care about the outside world. At the same time, because Chen Sangliang's army has gradually become the most powerful force in the world, even if Chen Sangliang is sitting at home, warlords are constantly coming to visit him. To cause trouble for Chen Sangliang, some small forces among them took the initiative to surrender, asked for Chen Sangliang's official appointment, and voluntarily accepted Chen Sangliang's orders and paid taxes, but there were also some relatively powerful ones. The warlord sent people to test Chen Sangliang's attitude. He wanted to obtain the king's title, and even wanted to split the territory with Chen Sangliang and claim the title of emperor together. Xiao Mian, who had already proclaimed himself Emperor Liang, was a typical representative. Taking advantage of the danger of the Ba Gorge, and because the southern expedition army led by Liu Changgong and Pei Xingfang were busy integrating the counties in central Sichuan and lacked naval forces, they were temporarily unable to advance westward. Xiao Mian, who had a mob of 400,000 men, sent an envoy to discuss territorial issues with Chen Sangliang, demanding that the Baxia be used as the boundary to divide the territory and be called the second emperor together with Emperor Yining, who was supported by Chen Sangliang. Unfortunately, Chen Sangliang, whose conscience had not yet been eaten by dogs, insisted that China must be unified. Without even thinking about making perfunctory decisions, he directly expelled Xiao Xian's envoy from the country and ordered Liu Changgong and Pei Xingfang to stay in Ba County (Chongqing). He formed a naval army and prepared to launch the Eastern Expedition. At the same time, he ordered Chai Shao, who had already captured Nanyang, to attack at the right time to attack Xiao Xian's expansion momentum. Zhou Faming, the big landowner in Yong'an, and Yang Zhengdao, who controlled Dingxiang, had relatively small appetites. They were just trying to get a prince. The envoy's tone was very respectful in front of Chen Sangliang, but their power was weak and their territory was narrow. Their king, Chen Sangliang, could not come up with better bait to deceive other big warlords, so Chen Sangliang only gave them each a county prince and accepted their submission. Zhou Faming and Yang Zhengdao, who had small profits, He was also very self-aware, and he honestly accepted Chen Sangliang's canonization order and changed his banner to Yining, becoming a role model for all the small warlords to submit to. What surprised Chen Sangliang was that his old rival Du Fuwei also sent him thousands of miles away??Messenger, request surrender, but the condition is to be a king. Although Chen Sangliang knows very well that Du Fuwei is surrounded by enemies such as Li Zitong and Lin Shihong, and he is surrounded by enemies from both sides. He does not want to start another war with Pei Hongce, who has gradually risen in Danyang. , some people were forced to choose this, but considering that Du Fuwei had a good reputation and sufficient strength for killing corrupt officials and pacifying hundreds of people in Huainan, Chen Sangliang generously gave Du Fuwei a title of King of Chu, and also gave it to himself. His distant uncle Pei Hongce appointed a Southeast Road marching general as the official position and asked them to work together to deal with the warlords in the south of the Yangtze River for him. Some came to surrender on their own initiative, and some were shameless. Li Gui and Liang Shidu, two small warlords who were close to Chen Sangliang, didn't know how high the sky was and flatly rejected Chen Sangliang's kind offer to surrender. They were determined to wait. Chen Sangliang came to slap him in the face. Luo Yi, who already dominates Xujun, and Dou Jiande, who dominates Hebei, also rejected Chen Sangliang's official appointment and bribery. Among them, Luo Yi was better and at least sent Chen Sangliang's envoy out of the country as a gift, but Dou Jiande Not only did Chen Sangliang's envoys be beaten away with sticks, but he also wrote a letter scolding Chen Sangliang for being ungrateful and betraying the Lord. Not only did he not serve the country loyally during the national crisis, but he also imitated Wang Mang and Dong Zhuo in rebellious things, swearing to Cutting off Chen Sangliang, the traitor who stole the country, would bring justice to the Sui Dynasty. "A traitor to the country? You're talking so harshly. No wonder in history you surrendered to Lao Li's family, but he still had your head chopped off by Lao Li." This was what Chen Sangliang muttered after reading Dou Jiande's letter, and he secretly learned his lesson: "That's why. , You must not be as upright and honest as Dou Jiande. Since ancient times, good people and honest people have suffered losses. Even if you want to be a good person, you have to be like me. You don¡¯t feel ashamed to use public funds to buy mobile phones. " In the blink of an eye, spring is blooming, and spring plowing in Guanzhong is in full swing. At that time, another envoy who surprised Chen Sangliang came to Daxing - Li Jiancheng actually sent Wang Gui, who had once had a relationship with Chen Sangliang, as an envoy, bringing heavy gifts to congratulate Chen Sangliang on being crowned King of Tang Dynasty. ! After the meeting, Wang Gui not only did not mention a word about Chen Sangliang and the Li brothers' revenge for killing their father, as well as the conflict between Chen Sangliang's title and that of the old Li family, he also took the initiative to submit a report to Chen Sangliang. A handwritten letter written by Li Mi to Li Jiancheng. The letter written by Li Mi to Li Jiancheng was of course a request for an alliance. In addition to bragging about the heroic invincibility and military strength of the Li brothers, he also scolded Chen Sangliang in the letter and said that as long as Li Jiancheng agreed, By forming an alliance to fight against Chen, Li Mi could also bring warlords such as Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande into the battlefield. They would join forces to defeat Chen Sangliang, the contemporary Dong Zhuo and the reincarnation of Wang Mang, making it difficult for Chen Sangliang to resist even with his three heads and six arms. Looking secretly at Chen Sangliang's face, he saw that Chen Sangliang did not seem to be angered by Li Mi's letter. Wang Gui quickly said: "Your Highness, the King of Tang Dynasty, my Governor Zuo sent an envoy to Daxing to pay homage to me with this letter. The reason is all It's because, Your Highness, you once had a close relationship with Governor Zuo. Although Governor Zuo is currently forced to be your enemy, deep down in his heart, he still regards your Highness as a close friend. This Li Mi is communicating everywhere, jumping up and down, and the clown is determined to do it. Your Highness is your enemy, and Governor Zuo despised him in his heart, so he ordered the envoy to take the opportunity to congratulate His Highness on your being crowned a king and bring this letter to your Highness so that you know about this and take precautions in advance. "The muscles on Chen Sangliang's face began to twitch. After a while, Chen Sangliang snorted loudly and said: "You idiot! You will be destroyed sooner or later!" After snoring, Chen Sangliang said casually with a rather arrogant attitude. After thanking Wang Gui for a few words, he ordered a banquet to be arranged for Wang Gui to wash away the dust. At the banquet, Wang Gui not only continued to praise Chen Sangliang for his extraordinary achievements in sweeping Liuhe and purging all directions, but also revealed in his words that he wanted to help Wang Gui. Chen Sangliang understood Li Jian's request for surrender and said that as long as Li Jiancheng showed sincerity, he would definitely accept Li Jiancheng's surrender request. Wang Gui was overjoyed and quickly thanked Li Jiancheng again and again before the banquet was over. Wang Gui's two friends, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, were accompanying him during the banquet. They worked together to send Wang Gui out of the imperial city and let him rest in the pavilion. When they returned to Chen Sangliang, Fang Xuanling got straight to the point. He smiled and asked: "Your Highness, do you see it? What does Li Jiancheng want to do this time?" "To divert trouble eastward, and to delay the attack." Chen Sangliang smiled and said casually: "Xue Ju has been destroyed, Li Gui and Liang Shi are both The two little ants couldn't contain our main force, so our main force was freed up. Of course, Li Jiancheng was afraid that we would attack him first. Taking advantage of Li Mi's request for an alliance, he took the opportunity to stir up my hatred for Li Mi, and pretended to Testing whether he can join us makes me feel that he no longer poses much of a threat, so we can induce our main force to send troops to the east capital first. Then he will not only be as stable as Mount Tai in Taiyuan, but with better luck, he may have the opportunity to go south again and occupy Hedong. "Xiaguan and Keming also have this suspicion." Fang Xuanling nodded and added: "Xiaoguan also suspected that Li Mi's request to form an alliance with Li Jiancheng was also to divert trouble to the north, leaving Li Jiancheng alone. Queshu ValleyTo the north, we share the natural danger of Queshu Valley with our army. Not only is it difficult to go south, it is also difficult to get in touch with Li Mi. It would be useless for Li Mi to form an alliance with him. On the contrary, it would be most beneficial to Li Mi if the main force of our army marched towards Taiyuan first. " "Li Mi should have some backup plans. "Du Ruhui also added: "If Li Mi wants to lure our army to send troops to Taiyuan, it is not enough for him to conclude an alliance with Li Jiancheng. This alliance letter should be just a foreshadowing. He must have plans later. This thief You are treacherous and cruel, please be careful, Your Highness. " Chen Sangliang nodded to express his approval of these analyses. Over there, Fang Xuanling asked with some confusion: "Your Highness, you just deliberately insulted Li Mi in front of Wang Shujie. Could it be that you wanted to take advantage of it? Have you decided to send troops to Taiyuan first? " "Brother Qiao Song still knows my thoughts. "Chen Sangliang praised, nodded and smiled and said: "Yes, I have indeed decided to send troops to Taiyuan first to eradicate the Li brothers who have been hiding in Taiyuan and bide their time, and then send troops to Guandong to deal with Wang Shichong and Li Mi. " After looking at each other with Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling asked with some doubts: "Your Highness, it seems that we have greater confidence in sending troops to the east first? Wang Shichong and Li Mi have been seriously injured in the decisive battle with the Xiaoguo Army. They are now weak. Our main force has left the Eastern Capital. It should be easier to destroy them than the Li brothers? " "It is precisely because Wang Shichong and Li Mi have been seriously injured that we should send troops to Taiyuan first. Chen Sangliang replied: "They are now seriously injured. Although it is relatively easy to destroy them, they also do not have the power to seriously threaten our eastern front. We send troops to Taiyuan to ensure that we have no worries." " "On the contrary, if we send troops to Dongdu first, we will not only force Li Mi and Wang Shichong to join forces to fight against our army, but the Li brothers who have recovered their strength will also be able to seize the opportunity to gain power, and even surround Wei to save Zhao and take the opportunity to invade. Our Hedong grain-producing area and salt-producing area. It is much easier to fight from north to south than from east to west. If we do not understand this priority relationship, we may suffer big losses. Therefore, our main force must first destroy the Li brothers who are a greater threat to us, and then consider sending troops eastward. " After listening to Chen Sangliang's analysis, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui nodded together, and then Du Ruhui pointed out: "What your Highness said is absolutely true. The main force of our army should first send troops to Taiyuan. If our army marches eastward to Luoyang, it will not only be destined to kill Li Mi. Yu Wenji, who is forced to join forces with Wang Shichong and has become enemies with our army, and Dou Jiande, who is extremely hostile to our army, are also likely to choose to form an alliance with Wang Li to fight against our army, dragging the main force of our army into the quagmire of melee, which will both hurt Morale consumes more time and troops. When sending troops to Taiyuan, there is Taihang Mountain blocking the road to the east. Don't worry too much about Dou Jiande and Luo Yi massively reinforcing the Li brothers. Liu Wuzhou in the north has already formed a deep hatred with the Li brothers. The possibility of forming an alliance with them is very small. It is possible to accept our recruitment and join forces with us to attack the Li brothers. " "That's the truth. "Chen Sangliang nodded with a smile, and then said with a smile: "But, before or at the same time as sending troops to Taiyuan, we have to do one thing first, so that we can completely sit back and relax - Brother Qiao Song, Brother Keming, tell me. , we should do that first? " "Design to make Shi Chong and Li Mi turn against each other and start a war between them! "Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling replied in unison. "The two brothers really know my heart! " Chen Sangliang laughed loudly, but at this moment, someone suddenly came to report outside the door, saying that Li Mi sent an envoy eastward with a letter, requesting an audience with His Royal Highness the Sui and Tang Dynasty. Chen Sangliang, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui heard this and first He was stunned for a moment, then clapped and laughed together: "Speak of Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here! Li Mi's last resort has indeed come, and so has our opportunity! "