The restaurant Hu Yanlei bought is one of the three restaurants owned by the Xu family. It is located in the east of the city and is called Huangshui Restaurant. It is a relatively high-end restaurant in Huangzhou City.
In order to make friends with the Xu family, Hu Yanlei bought a coffin and returned it to the pearl, and returned half of the property rights to Xu Pei, the owner of the family. This move really won Xu Pei's favor. The two became more and more close and often drank and chatted together. Hu Yanlei also
This resulted in a large amount of information being obtained from Xu Pei.
Xu Peinian is about thirty-five or sixteen years old. His grandmother is a Tibetan, which makes him somewhat of Tubo blood. He has a rough appearance, dark skin, a broad face, and a very forthright personality.
Although he has some Tubo ancestry, his grandfather and great-grandfather are all Han Chinese, and his mother also comes from a well-known Han family in Lanzhou. Of course, he himself considers himself Han, and is planning to send his twelve-year-old son to
Chengdu Fuxue Reading.
In the afternoon, Xu Pei hurried back to his mansion and found his father, who was retiring in the backyard.
Xu Pei's father is called Xu Hongtu, a very grand name, but he is more like a Tubo man than his son. In fact, his mother took him to live in Tubo for fifteen years.
He returned to Huangzhou when he was twenty years old. When he first came back, he couldn't even speak Chinese. It took him another five years of learning again before he gradually regained his true character as a Han Chinese.
He only married and had children when he was twenty-eight years old. Now he is over sixty years old, but he is still strong. However, he despises Ren Dejing's despicable character and is unwilling to do things for him, so he considers himself a patient all day long.
There is no way out of the door.
But he didn't want to offend Ren Dejing, so he let his son Xu Pei serve as the general manager of the palace and join the army, reluctantly showing the Xu family's support for Ren Dejing.
In the backyard, Xu Hongtu was squinting as his grandson Xu Changwu recited "The Theory of Guo Qin" to him.
'However, the Qin Dynasty used a mere area to expand the power of ten thousand times, ordering eight states and dynasty in the same row, which lasted for more than a hundred years. Then it made Liuhe its home and Weihan its palace.
Why are the people laughing in the world? If benevolence and righteousness are not practiced, the offensive and defensive momentum will be different.'
After listening to the recitation, Xu Hongtu nodded and said: "The Qin Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty are the same. Although they are short-lived, they serve as a link between the past and the future and open up the world. Without them, there would be no glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties. In my opinion, the Han and Tang Dynasties just took away from the Qin and Sui Dynasties."
Just a peach."
"My grandson has learned a lesson!"
Xu Hongtu smiled slightly and said, "When will you go to Chengdu to study?"
"In just a few days, the Yellow River will completely thaw, and my grandson will set off!"
"Wait a moment, don't be in a hurry."
When Xu Hongtu turned around, he saw his son Xu Pei standing at the door. He hesitated to speak, so he smiled and said: "Don't disturb me, come here!"
Xu Changwu bowed and said, "Grandson, say goodbye!"
Xu Hongtu let his grandson go, and Xu Pei came over and saluted, "Father, he admitted at noon that he is the scout leader under Chen Qing. His real name is Hu Yanlei, not Li Lei."
Xu Hongtu nodded. He had already seen that this man named Li Lei was no ordinary businessman. He was indeed Chen Qing's spy.
"He must be asking for something when he confesses his identity to you. What does he want?"
"He hopes that we can cooperate with him inside and outside to help the Song army seize the city!"
"It's just as I expected!"
Xu Hongtu walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Have you promised him?"
"I said we should think about it."
"Answer him immediately and say that we have been looking forward to the stars and the moon, and we have been looking forward to the Song army's return, and we will do our best to assist him!"
Xu Pei hesitated and said: "Father, do we really want to help them with all our strength?"
Xu Hongtu sighed and said: "Do you think Ren Dejing can separate Xihe Road?"
Xu Pei shook his head, "The reason why Ren Dejing was not punished by Xixia was entirely because he had the support of Qi and Jin. Once he overstepped his power, Jin and Qi would immediately abandon him."
"In that case, why are you still hesitating?"
"My child is actually worried about Xixia!"
Xu Hongtu sneered and said: "If you don't help the Song army, the Xixia people will be kind to our Xu family? Have you never seen the Dangxiang people being like wolves and tigers? We, fat sheep of the Han people, can only rely on the Han government.
Relying on foreigners is the stupidest idea!"
"My child understands, go and answer him now."
"Wait a minute!"
Xu Hongtu stopped his son again, "Tell him that Changwu no longer wants to go to Chengdu to study, but wants to study and live in Chengji County."
Xu Pei didn't react for a moment, "Father, what does this mean?"
"idiot!"
Xu Hongtu couldn't help but cursed: "Do you want to be the governor of Huangzhou? If you want to, send your son to Qinzhou as a hostage!"
At dusk, Xu Pei met Hu Yanlei again in the private room of Huangshui Restaurant.
"My father expressed his willingness to fully assist the Song army in capturing Huangzhou City. Whatever the Xu family needs, General Huyan can just ask him!"
Hu Yanlei was overjoyed. With the support of the Xu family, the hope of success was greatly increased.
He pondered for a while and said: "There are eleven thousand defenders in the city. Ren Dejing's three nephews and two sons-in-law each control two thousand troops. There is also a thousand troops directly under Ren Dejing. We don't care about these senior officials.
, our key is to get in touch with the middle and low-level city-defending generals, the Xu family should be able to make a difference in this regard."
Xu Pei nodded, "My in-law, Sun Yunhu, and his second son, Sun Jian, are the commanders under Ren Li's tent, commanding a thousand soldiers to take charge of city defense. I can convince Sun Yunhu."
"Is this Sun Yunhu's character reliable?"
Xu Pei laughed, "Character is not important, interests are important. What can he gain by working hard for Song Jun? This is the key."
"My family will never treat him badly, including the Xu family. In the future, when I govern Huangzhou, my family will have to rely on local wealthy families like you, such as Gongzhou Governor Wang Huai. The Wang family is the number one in Qinzhou.
The big families, because Qinzhou is more important, made Wang Huai the governor of Gongzhou, as well as Deshun Prefecture and Lintao Prefecture, all relying on the local gentry and big families. This is the principle of my family's rule. In his opinion, the local big families
Support is the foundation for long-term peace and stability on Xihe Road."
"I understand, I will go find Sun Yunhai tonight!"
The Sun family is also a big family in Huangzhou, and they are the same family as the Xu family, so Xu Pei's eldest daughter married Sun Peng, the eldest son of Sun Yunhai. When these big families in Huangzhou marry each other, almost all of them will be prosperous and lose.
The big families in Huangzhou all own land, but they can't make much money from the land. They basically follow the commercial route. The Sun family mainly engages in the wine business. During the Xuanhe period, the Sun family's Hehuang Shaochun was a famous wine in the west.
Now it has monopolized the wine market in Huangzhou and several nearby states.
However, the Sun family also had troubles during this time. It was rumored that Ren Dejing would impose heavy taxes on wine. If the rumors were true, it would seriously affect the Sun family's vital interests.
As soon as night fell, Xu Pei arrived at Sun Yunhu's house. Sun Yunhu asked his eldest son Sun Peng to greet him at the door.
"Excuse me, father-in-law, how is my grandfather's health?"
Xu Pei is quite satisfied with this son-in-law. Although his personality is a bit weak, he has been fond of reading since he was a child and is gentle and elegant. The two of them treat each other with respect as guests. Especially when their daughter is pregnant, Xu Pei is even more concerned about their situation.
"He is in good health, so don't worry. But Ayun, she is six months old now! This is the most critical time of pregnancy, so you should be extra careful."
"My son-in-law has hired a special midwife, and the doctor will come to take a look every few days. Father-in-law, please rest assured!"
"Okay! I have something important to do with your father today. I'll go see Ayun another day."
"Father is waiting in the study, father-in-law, please come!"
Sun Peng took Xu Pei to his father's study. Sun Yunhu had been waiting in front of the courtyard for a long time.
Sun Yunhu smiled and said: "I don't know why I came so late. I guess the person who came here is not a good person!"
Xu Pei laughed and said: "That's right! Xu came here specifically to ransack your wine cellar. If you are wise enough to bring out the good wine, I will spare your life!"
The two laughed, and Sun Yunhu took Xu Pei into the study. Xu Pei whispered to Sun Peng, "Stay at the door and don't let anyone get close."
Sun Peng nodded knowingly and stood guard at the door.
Sun Yunhu glanced at Xu Pei meaningfully and said calmly: "You want to talk to me about Song Jun today?"
