Seeing Pei Renji kneeling down to plead guilty without saying a word, Yang Gao couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Just now, Changsun Wuji would rather die than surrender, but now Pei Renji has even skipped the step of persuading him to surrender. The gap was so big that Yang Gao couldn't help but sigh secretly.
However, Yang Gao knew that Pei Renji was cunning and cunning, and had no loyalty to either the Tang Dynasty or the Sui Dynasty. Surrendering at this time was just a life-saving move. If the Sui Dynasty's war went unfavorably in the future, he would not hesitate to betray the Sui Dynasty and surrender to the enemy.
If Pei Renji was just a single person, Yang Gao would not even see him today and directly ordered his head to be shown to the public. Pei Renji was a cunning man who had no loyalty to either the Sui Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty. But Pei Renji had a good life. He had an eldest son who was brave and good at fighting. His martial arts skills were hardly inferior to those of Xue Rengui and Gao Chong. What king wouldn't love such a brave general?
If you want to conquer the fierce general Pei Xingyan, the best way is to open a gap from Pei Renji. Therefore, Yang Gao did have plans to surrender Pei Renji, but considering Pei Renji's past, Yang Gao did not intend to let Pei Renji live so easily.
At that moment, Yang Gao snorted coldly and said slowly: "Sinner, Pei Renji, it seems that you still have some self-awareness, but the sins you have committed cannot be redeemed by just saying "sinner"!
Pei Renji quickly raised his hands and replied: "Your Majesty, the reason why the guilty minister defected to Wagang was entirely because the supervisor Xiao Huaijing avenged himself and slandered the guilty minister. The guilty minister had no choice but to take the risk. In this matter, the guilty minister's former subordinates such as Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin and others It can all be proven.”
"Then what happened when you led an army to attack Jingxiang in the past?"
Yang Gao stared sharply at Pei Renji who was kneeling below, and said coldly: "I remember that when I followed the late emperor's order to attack Xiao Mian, you led an army of 80,000 to attack. If Yang Yan, Zhaoshang, master and apprentice Xin Wenli hadn't turned the tide, To resist the Wagang bandit army in Anyang County, I don’t know where I will be at this moment?”
Pei Renji was shocked when he heard this, and his words became incoherent: "Your Majesty, guilty minister, guilty minister
"Also, when Li Mi's traitor killed his benefactor Zhai Rang, many old Sui generals such as Luo Shixin and Niu Jinda despised Li Mi's ungratefulness and left Wagang Village to return to the Sui Dynasty. Only you remained in Li Min's camp. Be your Shangzhu Kingdom."
Pei Renji broke out in a cold sweat and quickly defended himself: "Your Majesty, it's not that the criminal doesn't want to follow him back to the Sui Dynasty, but it's because Li Mi, the traitor, is looking at the criminal too closely, and the criminal really can't find a chance to escape!"
"Yeah?"
Yang Gao sneered and said: "Then when I led the army to pacify the Central Plains and annihilate Wagang, why didn't you come back and surrender instead of leading the army to flee and go to the traitor Li Yuan? Don't tell me that Li Mi was still watching you at that time. Bar?"
Pei Renji's face turned pale. He didn't dare to defend himself anymore. He banged his head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your Majesty, please forgive me. The offender was just confused for a moment. Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Yang Gao did not continue to speak, but secretly winked at Chen Ping who was standing beside him.
Chen Ping was very good at figuring out the Holy Will. When he saw Yang Gao winking at him, he couldn't understand that the emperor just wanted to beat Pei Renji, not really to take Pei Renji's life. He immediately stepped out and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, although Pei Renji followed Li Mi, Li Yuan and other rebels to resist the heavenly soldiers, he served in the Sui Dynasty for more than 20 years and served the two ancestors of Emperor Wen and Emperor Wu. Even if he has no merit, he has done some hard work. ah."
Hearing this, Pei Renji seemed to have met his savior, and quickly echoed loudly: "Your Majesty, although the guilty minister cannot be said to have outstanding political achievements during his tenure, he was also conscientious and made no mistakes. If Xiao Huaijing hadn't pushed people too hard, the guilty minister would not have rebelled. The wrong way. The guilty minister judged the gentleman with a villain's heart, and did not know how magnanimous Your Majesty was. He was afraid that Your Majesty would pursue the guilty minister for this matter, so he made the same mistake again and again. Your Majesty, the guilty minister was just confused for a moment, please spare your life!"
Liu Bowen secretly thought that Pei Xingyan, the son of Pei Renji, was the brave champion of the three armies. According to Yang Gao's character, he must want to take it for his own use. In this case, he would not kill Pei Renji, so he came out to plead for Pei Renji: "Your Majesty, after all, Pei Renji is the nephew of Mr. Pei Ju. Please spare his life for Mr. Pei Ju's sake."
Seeing this, other civil and military ministers also came out to plead for mercy. Yang Gao took advantage of the situation and pardoned Pei Renji: "Well, Pei Renji, seeing that all the beloved officials are interceding for you, and Pei Ju and Pei Lao beloved are so thin." , I will spare your life!"
Pei Renji kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty!"
"I haven't finished speaking yet."
Yang Gao gave up and continued: "You can't escape the death penalty. When you surrendered to Wagang, you not only handed over tens of thousands of elites trained by General Zhang Xutuo to Li Mi, but also worsened the situation in the Central Plains and almost killed Li Mi. That traitor has captured Luoyang. If he is not punished, the court will still have peace and justice to speak of in the future. From now on, you can rest at home and take care of yourself!"
Pei Renji also knew that with his own ability and past crimes, he was lucky to be able to save his life. However, he was still upset that he suddenly lost the superior rights he had in the past. He raised his hands with some dejection and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, the guilty minister." Holy grace!”
Upon seeing this, Yang Gao said calmly: "You don't have to be so discouraged. I think you are already over fifty now, and you won't be able to stay in the army for a few years even if you stay in the army. On the other hand, your son Pei Xingyan is very skilled in martial arts, and several of my fierce generals are... He once praised him in front of me. If you can persuade him to surrender to me, with his ability, his future achievements may even surpass yours."
Pei Renji suddenly understood and kowtowed immediately and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the guilty minister will definitely persuade the dog to return to his Majesty after he has strayed."
Yang Gao nodded lightly, and Pei Renji resigned under the guidance of several guards.
With Pei Renji coming forward, although Pei Xingyan was stubborn, he did not dare to be too presumptuous in front of his old father. However, he was persuaded by Pei Renji after a while, and he and Pei Renji went to the main hall to confess to Yang Gao and thank him.
Although Yang Gao found that Pei Xingyan was looking at him with dissatisfaction, Yang Gao didn't care. He knew that Pei Xingyan was an upright person, and as long as he treated him with sincerity, he would definitely defeat this fierce general in the future. Immediately, Pei Xingyan was rewarded with a position and asked to stay under Xue Rengui's account.
After dealing with Pei Renji and his son, Yang Gao met with Guo Zhiyun, the Tang general who had been captured a long time ago.
Guo Zhiyun is a smart man with a long-term vision. He knew that after the Luoyang War, there had been a huge gap in strength between the Sui and Tang Dynasties. As long as Yang Gao did not make strategic mistakes, the Sui Dynasty would definitely be able to destroy the Tang Dynasty in the future. So when Yang Gao personally persuaded him to surrender, he surrendered.
