Wang Shou is ten years older than Wang Yuanji and has a fairy-like appearance. He has loved plum blossoms since he was a child. He planted large plum trees in the Xishan Mountains of Taiyuan and called himself Meigong. People in Taiyuan call him Wang Meigong. However, three years ago, when he was enjoying plum blossoms, he had an accident and unfortunately broke his leg. He never stood up again and could only stay in the study most of his time every day.

However, Wang Shou had a good mentality and did not become depressed due to his legs. He turned his interest to painting plums and indulged in it.

Wang Shou smiled and said, "It is not convenient to stand up, just sit there!"

Wang Yuanji sat down and looked at the room. He saw that the room was full of plum blossoms painted by his elder brother. He smiled and said, "Brother has loved plum blossoms since he was a child. He has never changed for decades. I admire him very much."

"I'm not always so addicted. I didn't care about Mei as an official in the court back then. I just found something to do when I was bored."

Wang Shou asked with concern again: "What is the situation of providing relief to the victims now? Is there enough grain in the official warehouse?"

"There is still 38,000 stones of grain in the official warehouse, which should be enough, but the manpower is relatively tight, and the yamen runners need to maintain order. I originally wanted to ask Qu Tugong to borrow some troops, but I felt it was difficult to speak. I was afraid that he would have the idea of ​​fighting the official warehouse grain."

"You don't have to worry about this. Qu Tutong is not like Pei Ji, who cares about the lives and death of the people. He is very principled and does not need to abuse the food of the government. Moreover, there are still 200,000 stones of grain in Jinyang Cang, which is enough for the military to consume. However, it is best not to let the army participate in local affairs. If you are not in enough staff, I can ask the students of the Wang Family School to help you."

Wang Yuanji was overjoyed. There were more than a hundred students in the Wang family, most of whom were around 20 years old. It was the time when they were the most capable. With their help, his relief for the people would be much easier. He hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, brother, for your help!"

"It is the duty of the Wang family to help the poor people. There is no need to be deliberately grateful. However, it is not a solution to continue like this. If the two armies confront each other for a year or two, half of the people in Taiyuan City will die. As a county magistrate, you should think of a way to end the war as soon as possible."

Wang Yuanji was stunned. He suddenly realized that the elder brother had another intention to find him. I am afraid that the last sentence was the elder brother's purpose.

He asked in a low voice: "Brother means"

Wang Shou did not answer directly, but smiled and asked: "Who do you think will win the world in the end of the Zhou and Tang dynasties?"

"Of course, this is a bit more likely to win by the Zhou Dynasty."

"Just bigger?"

Wang Yuanji didn't know how to answer for a moment, and Wang Shou said again: "I received a pigeon letter from the manor outside the city this morning and got three news. One news was that Li Jing's army came out of Hexi, and the other news was that the Tang army had completely withdrawn from Bashu. The third news was that you may not even expect that the Guanlong nobles rebelled in Guanzhong, and 20,000 troops besieged Chang'an. Li Shimin's army had abandoned Hedong County, and the army was returning to Chang'an."

"ah!"

Wang Yuanji exclaimed, and these three news became more violent than the other, which made him stunned.

Seeing his cousin's stunned expression, Wang Shou said lightly: "Do you still think the Zhou Dynasty's winning odds are only a little bit higher?"

Wang Yuanji murmured to himself: "The situation is gone! The situation is gone!"

"It is indeed the situation is hopeless. In this era of changing dynasties, the positions of major families are different, and the gains are also very different. The Lu family, who has been suppressed by the Boling Cui family, has gained a huge harvest and has obtained the position of queen and a prime minister. Not only that, Lu Zhuo was granted the title of Duke of Yan, his son Lu Qingyuan was promoted to the prefect of Zhuo County, the Pei family was awarded a noble concubine, Pei Ju was promoted to the prefect of the Secretariat, and Pei Hong was promoted to the Secretariat of the Secretariat, and two prefects. The Su family was both civil and military, Su Wei's eldest son Su Kui was appointed as the Taichang Qing, and his grandson Su Gan was appointed as the prefect of Liang County. Needless to say, Su Lie is indispensable for the position of general. For example, the Zheng family in Xingyang was stationed in the wrong team, and the good prime minister was dismissed. In the end, he could not even be the prefect. He retired and returned home for three consecutive years, and could not even pass the imperial examination."

"Brother, our Wang family is actually not bad too! At least there is a general, and the second brother is also appointed as the Minister of the Shaofu Temple."

Wang Shou shook his head, "Although Wang Bian also said that he was the Wang clan of Taiyuan, we know in our hearts that he is actually the Wang clan of Fengyi County. He is five generations away from my Wang clan of Taiyuan. He doesn't even have a clan sacrifice with us. How can he be listed as the Wang clan of Taiyuan? Wang Shan's Shaofu Temple Minister has basically ended up being the Zuo Cheng of Shangshu. If the family could support him at that time, he should be the Zuo Pushe of Shangshu. Although our Wang family is a little better than the Zheng family, it is still far behind."

"But I heard that Zhang Xuan has been suppressing the aristocratic family, I'm afraid"

"You are very wrong. He suppressed the aristocratic family in the Wei and Jin dynasties. He was a noble family in the Wei and Jin dynasties. He was incompetent and was in high vocational school. He would not suppress the aristocratic family like us who rely on real talents and knowledge to compete in the imperial examinations. I have observed him for many years. He is a very practical person. When it comes to rewarding merits, the biggest problem of our Wang family is that he is incompetent. Do your seventh brother understand what I mean?"

Wang Yuanji understood what the eldest brother meant, and he whispered: "Does the eldest brother want to give him Taiyuan?"

Wang Shou nodded slowly, "This is our last chance."

He took a pigeon letter from the table, "This is Wang Shan's letter to me. Zhang Xuan specially received him and made this request to the Wang family. If we fulfill his request, then our Wang family can also add a sum to the credit book. At least the seventh brother can be promoted to prefect immediately. On the contrary, if there is a tragic war in the end, our Wang family will really have no hope. Other families will take us and replace it, such as the Wen family."

Wang Yuanji lowered his head and pondered for a moment: "But I am just a civil servant, and it is difficult for me to interfere in military affairs. What should I do?"

"I have considered this issue. You can spread the three news I just said into the army. This is not a rumor. It is easy to confirm that it will inevitably cause military chaos at that time, so that the top generals of the army will understand that the Tang Dynasty is in a desperate situation. At that time, we can start with Wang Junkuo."

"Did your brother agree to accept Wang Junkuo?"

Wang Shou nodded, "I have sent someone to invite him just now. I guess he will come to visit me today or tomorrow. At that time, I will have a good talk with him."

As soon as Wang Shou finished speaking, the butler's report came from outside the door, "Master, General Wang is here, waiting in the guest hall."

Wang Shou laughed, "It seems that he is much more anxious than I expected, okay! Seventh brother will do it as I arranged just now, pass three messages into the army, and then I will notify you what to do."

"I understand, brother, I'll take the lead."

"Go!"

Wang Yuanji bowed and hurried away. Then Wang Shou ordered the maid standing outside the door, "I want to go to the guest hall."

In the guest hall, Wang Junguo was walking back and forth with his hands behind his back, looking a little worried. Wang Junguo was from Shiai County. When he was a teenager, he fled into the Taihang Mountains for killing people and became a bandit. He was gifted, nearly seven feet tall, with a large waist and a round waist, and had infinite strength. He was taught by Yi Ren in Taihang Mountains and practiced a sharp sword technique.

When the Wagang Army rose, Wang Junguo led 2,000 troops to surrender. Unexpectedly, on the first day of going up the mountain, he defeated Zhai Hong in public. Although he was also appreciated by Shan Xiongxin, he could not withstand Zhai Hong's constant slander in front of Zhai Rang, which made him depressed and unsuccessful in Wagang Village. It was not until Li Jiancheng pretended to be Li Mi to go to Wagang that Wang Junguo found his belonging. He followed Li Jiancheng back to the Tang Dynasty, made many military achievements, and made many great contributions to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty.

However, although he made many contributions, he was never valued by the court. Especially when he participated in the war with the Turkic army, he paid a heavy price. However, in the end, he not only did not make any contributions, but was dismissed from all military positions by Li Shenfu and his title was also deprived of. The blame was that he performed improperly when he followed Zhang Xuan to fight, and did not build a military camp independently, but instead built a camp with the Northern Sui army, which was absent from the Tang Dynasty.

That resignation completely made Wang Junkuo feel completely disappointed. Although Li Shimin used him again and Qu Tutong treated him well, his current official position in the court is still the General of the Central Army, only one level higher than Xie Ying. Li Shimin promised to restore his title, but there is no news yet.

In fact, Wang Junkuo knew in his heart that he was a clerk of the prince. Li Shimin used him just to show his humility to the outside world. But in fact, Li Shimin still did not trust him in his bones. With Li Shimin's power, the Ministry of War could not deliberately make things difficult for him. This only means that Li Shimin did not really use his sincerity. Unless the prince ascended the throne, Wang Junkuo would not have a chance to make a breakthrough.

Another reason is that Li Shenfu once insulted him as a bandit in public. Qu Tutong also admitted that his experience of becoming a bandit would largely hinder his career, which made Wang Junkuo very distressed. He had been in the officialdom for many years and knew that he had no background and backstage, and even if he had only martial arts, he would not be truly valued.

After thinking about it, Wang Junkuo only thought of one way, that is, the Wang family in Taiyuan accepted himself. Before his father passed away, he told him that his great-grandfather was a pebbled branch of the Wang family in Taiyuan. He moved to Shiai County because he had no status in the family. From then on, the Wang family in Taiyuan forgot them. If he could return to the Wang family in Taiyuan, with this aristocratic family background, it would be enough to cover up his disgraceful experience of becoming a bandit.

It was the third time that Wang Junkuo came to find the head of the family, Wang Shou. Although he sincerely expressed his hope of returning to the family, the head of the family always had a vague attitude. After all, it was because of his low military position. If he had proposed it when he was a general, he would not believe that Wang Shou would not agree?

Thinking of this, Wang Junguo couldn't help but sighed melancholy. At this time, the maid outside the door reminded him: "The master is here!"

When Wang Junkuo turned around, he saw four healthy women walking in with a wooden carriage. The person sitting cross-legged on the carriage platform was Wang Shou, the head of the family.

Wang Junkuo hurriedly walked forward and bowed, "See the head of the family!"

"Let Jun Gu wait for a long time, please sit down and talk!"

Wang Junkuo heard the head of the family call him Junkuo instead of calling him General Wang like the last two times, a glimmer of hope suddenly arose in his heart...
Chapter completed!