On this day, a group of people came from afar on the official road of Xinfeng County, Chang'an, all of whom came on horseback, about dozens of people, everyone's face was dusty, full of tiredness, there was a carriage in the middle of the team, the curtain was pulled half, revealing a haggard and miserable white face, if Zhang Huan saw her, he would be surprised, she was none other than Mrs. Wang, the wife of Zhang Ruohao who went to Xiangyang.

When she was in Taiyuan, Mrs. Wang had an even figure and delicate skin, although she was nearly forty years old, she had a unique charm, just like a young woman, but at this time Mrs. Wang was just forty years old, and her skin was already full of wrinkles, dry and dull, just like a fifty-year-old woman.

After the decline of the Zhang family, Mrs. Wang took her son back to her parents' home, and some members of the Zhang family also attached themselves to them to Xiangyang.

She hoped to survive with the support of her mother's family, but the world was cold, the Wang family did not welcome the housewife of this broken family, especially Wang Ang's wife hated her deeply, so that Mrs. Wang's family became a host, plus Zhang Xuan was not angry, eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling in Xiangyang, and squandered a little money brought by Mrs. Wang in a few years, and the Zhang family saw that it was hopeless to cling to them, so they left one by one, and even the second son also used the excuse of going to Guangling to do business, and never returned.

In the end, the wife of the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites was so embarrassed that she secretly copied scriptures for the temple at night to make a living, and at this time, Zuo Xiang Pei Jun suddenly sent someone to find them and expressed his willingness to help them rebuild the Zhang family.

Although Mrs. Wang knew that Pei Jun just wanted to use them as puppets, she still resolutely agreed to go north after experiencing the vicissitudes of the world.

"Xuan'er, do you know why Xinfeng County is called this name?" Seeing that her son was depressed, Mrs. Wang asked him with a smile.

Zhang Xuan has not changed much from before, but his wife, Wang Ang's daughter, has remarried into the Shannan clan. However, the little concubine Hua Erniang had a deep affection for him, and did not abandon them when they were in the most difficult time, washed the lead, and at night, her mother-in-law copied the scriptures, and she washed the clothes, and together they supported this useless son and husband.

Zhang Xuan was tired all the way, and the only carriage was sat by his mother and daughter-in-law, he was angry in his heart, and when he heard his mother ask him, his face sank and he said angrily: "You know that I don't understand and still come to ask me, do you want to embarrass me ugly?" ”

Mrs. Wang sighed in her heart. Still said softly: "Han Gaozu Liu Bang is a native of Feng County, Peng County, and he sees that his father misses his hometown. According to the original appearance of the hometown, an identical Feng County was built, so it was called Xinfeng. I remember what your father told you before. ”

"My father has been dead for hundreds of years, how can I remember?" Zhang Xuan said in a vicious voice.

"You!" Mrs. Wang was so angry that she was trembling, she brushed the ground and pulled down the curtain of the car, and couldn't help crying in the car. He was tired.

So if you're in a bad mood, don't be angry. ”

Madame Wang shook her head slightly. "This is my retribution!"

At this moment, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and it seemed that a thousand people were galloping towards them.

Immediately afterwards, the envoy who picked up Mrs. Wang reported urgently: "Mrs. Wang, Pei Xiangguo has come to greet you in person. ”

Madame Wang was startled, and hurriedly wiped away her tears, and applied a thin layer of powder to her face, and tidied up her clothes, when the carriage had stopped, the door opened, and the messenger said outside: "Please come down, Madame!" ”

Mrs. Wang stepped out of the carriage, only to see the yellow dust billowing in the distance, more than a thousand cavalry escorting a carriage galloping, she looked at her son again, he also got off the horse, his face turned yellow with fright, his legs were trembling, and he quietly moved backwards.

"Something that doesn't make a living!" Mrs. Wang gritted her teeth with hatred, she tilted her head and strode forward to meet Pei Jundi's team.

Pei Jun discovered Cui Yuan's abnormality when he sent troops to Longyou, he did not stop there, on the contrary, he has been quietly investigating the truth of Cui Yuan's abnormal performance, and in the end, he got the truth from Cui Xiong, Cui Yuan has been unable to mobilize the Shandong Qinghe Army, this discovery made Pei Jun ecstatic, and a plan to draw salary from the bottom of the kettle immediately quietly jumped into his mind, and after a long inspection, his eyes were locked on Mrs. Wang in Xiangyang.

In the distance, Pei Jun had already seen Mrs. Wang get off the carriage, he turned over and dismounted, and greeted him with a smile, "Madam, we haven't seen each other for several years." ”

Mrs. Wang stepped forward and gave a light salute, "I've seen Pei Xiangguo." ”

At this time, Zhang Xuan hesitated for a long time, and finally stepped forward and gave Pei Jun a deep salute, "See Pei Xiangguo." ”

Pei Jun glanced at their mother and son, and said with a slight smile: "This is not the place to talk, there is Xinfengyi in front, you come with me." ”

Soon, the group came to Xinfengyi, found a quiet room, the three of them sat down, Pei Jun said with a deep groan: "I have always had a deep friendship with Zhang Shangshu, I can't bear to see the decline of the Zhang family, I wanted to express it for a long time, but it is riddled with mundane things, and it has been delayed until today. ”

"But Taiyuan's house has been occupied by Zhang Ruojin, and we can't go back." Pei Jun's gentle attitude gradually increased Zhang Xuan's courage, and he suddenly interjected.

"Zhang Ruojin is just Cui Yuan's dog, where is he worthy of being the head of the Zhang family." Pei Jun's expression looked very angry, he squinted at Zhang Xuan and said: "And you are different, you are the eldest son of Zhang Shangshu, with your noble bloodline, who is more suitable to be the head of the Zhang family than you?" I will buy you another mansion, give you money and rice every month, and let you replace Zhang Ruojin. ”

Pei Jun looked at Zhang Xuandi's expression as he spoke, and saw that he had a look of ecstasy on his face, and he couldn't help but be secretly proud in his heart, and at this moment, Mrs. Wang, who had been silent, suddenly said: "Pei Xiangguo is kind to us, but the Zhang family is dead, and it is meaningless to add a façade, so we can only live up to Pei Xiangguo's good intentions." ”

"Mother!" Zhang Xuan was in a hurry, how could his mother refuse, was she not poor enough? He was about to refute, but Mrs. Wang stopped him with a wave of her hand, and continued: "This time we came east to actually want to go to Longyou to join Zhang Huan, the first husband was kind to him, I think he will give Xuan'er a future." ”

Pei Jun secretly exclaimed, although this Mrs. Wang is a woman, her eyes are vicious, and she can see that he Pei Jun is eager. Taking advantage of the bargain, he laughed dryly and said: "Mrs. Pei doesn't know, I heard that Zhang Ruojun and Zhang Can's father and son are officials in Longyou, especially Zhang Can also established the Zhang family in Wenjun, where is your position?" Taiyuan is your Zhang family, wouldn't it be better to go to Taiyuan? In this way, in order to let the mother and son live in Taiyuan with peace of mind, I will give a thousand hectares of grange to be the capital of the wife's pension, which is better than sending people under the fence in Xiangyang, what does the lady think? ”

Let's talk about it. His gaze shifted to Zhang Xuan, and he suddenly became stern. Zhang Xuan was frightened by Pei Jun's stern gaze, and instinctively pulled his mother. asked her to agree, but Mrs. Wang was unmoved, she gently swept the ends of her hair, and said with a faint smile: "Isn't Pei Xiangguo's ancestral home also in Hedong?" But now the Pei family is alone in Hebei, so it can be seen that it doesn't matter where to develop, the key is to have a chance, although Xuan'er is stupid. Unable to inherit his father's will. But being a county magistrate and a long history still has this ability, I heard that Zhang Huan just captured Hehuang. If he didn't even give Xuan'er this opportunity, he would really be surnamed Zhang in vain. ”

Speaking of this, Mrs. Wang stood up and bowed to Pei Junshen again. Pulling Zhang Xuan and said, "Xuan'er, let's go!" ”

Zhang Xuan didn't understand his mother's mind until now, he didn't dare to intervene anymore, and followed his mother out, Pei Jun was silent, stared at Mrs. Wang coldly, and kept looking at Mrs. Wang who was about to stride out of the door, he sighed secretly and said helplessly: "Okay! I can recommend Zhang Gongzi as the county magistrate of Qingyuan County. ”

Mrs. Wang's footsteps stopped, she looked back at Pei Jun and smiled slightly: "Only now did I feel the friendship between Pei Xiangguo and her late husband. ”

Sent away the mother and son of the Zhang family, Pei Jun paced in the room with his head bowed with his hands behind his back, the mother and son of the Zhang family are just the first link in his chain plan, just an introduction, now the introduction has been laid, but the next step can not wait too long, once Cui Yuan knows, his plan will be broken, the key is to grasp the timing well, once the new Zhang family opens, it is necessary to act immediately, thinking of this, Pei Jun immediately ordered: "Order Yang Lie's department to be ready to enter Taiyuan at any time." ”

On June 18 of the third year of Xuanren, Mrs. Wang returned to Taiyuan with her son Zhang Xuan, and they reopened the Zhang Mansion with the support of Pei Jun, attracting many scattered Zhang clan people in Hedong to vote, but just three days after Mrs. Wang built the Zhang Mansion, Yang Lie, the original Hedong Taiyuan soldier and horse envoy, suddenly led 20,000 people into Taiyuan, and kept supporting the old lord to rebuild the Zhang family in Hedong, and the 3,000 Cui family troops stationed in Taiyuan saw the great momentum of the incoming army, they evacuated to the south on the one hand, and sent 800 li to Chang'an in an urgent hurry to report the drastic changes in Taiyuan to Cui Yuanyu.

The news of Zhang's high-profile rise shocked the calm government and the opposition, but many people knew it, they saw the murderous machine hidden in it, and their eyes all turned to Cui Yuan.

Cui Fu, retreating behind the scenes, Cui Yuan leaned on the soft chair, staring blankly at the white clouds in the sky, he had been sitting like this for half an hour, and his son Cui Xian was standing behind him, not daring to disturb his father's train of thought.

Obviously, Pei Jun has found the clue, so he used the rise of the Zhang family to occupy Taiyuan, this is he testing himself, if he ignores it, it proves that his speculation is correct, he will inevitably have to inch in, step by step to the south, Pingyao, Linfen, Shangdang finally occupy the whole territory of Hedong, not only that, but he will also completely control Guanzhong, then the core of the Tang Dynasty will be the Pei family's world!

The only countermeasure was to transfer the Shandong army to Hedong, but Cui Qinggong had already mastered the military power, and he would not leave Shandong, let alone take the initiative to hand over the military power, and could only rely on seizing its military power.

Cui Yuan couldn't make up his mind that it was too hasty to go back to Shandong to seize military power now, he planned to slowly win over Cui Qinggong's left and right, and then seize power after he was put in the air, but if something happened in Taiyuan, he had no time.

It seems that I have to go back to Qinghe, what excuse can I use? That's right, Zhongyuan worships the ancestors!

Just when Cui Yuan was thinking deeply, a soft little hand held his rough and old palm, Cui Yuan lowered his head, and saw that his sensible grandson Cui Yao was standing in front of him, he touched his head lovingly, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Why is class out now?" ”

"The master has returned in advance, and the grandson has finished leaving the land, so he came to visit his grandfather."

Cui Yuan spared no effort to cultivate this wise and courteous grandson, invited the current Confucian professor for him, and even sometimes taught him himself, and specially allowed him to study in his inner study, all in the hope that he could become a pillar of the Cui family's great cause in the future.

"Grandfather, grandson has something to ask for."

"Say it! What's the matter with you? Cui Yuan said with a smile.

"Sun Er has been reading Taishi Gong's "Historical Records" recently, and Gan Mao's biography says that Mao has Sun Ganluo. Running thousands of miles away, wandering between Qin and Zhao, establishing immortal miracles, grandchildren are yearning, thinking that they have never been out of Chang'an five miles, and want to be able to build a car behind closed doors, I specially asked my grandfather to go out to study for half a year, enjoy the magnificent mountains and rivers of my Tang Dynasty, if my grandfather is interested. You might as well go with me. ”

"Nonsense!" Without waiting for Cui Yuan to speak, Cui Xian shouted on the side: "Grandfather is in a bad mood. Don't add to the chaos again, don't go away quickly. ”

Cui Yuan turned his head and glared at his son fiercely.

He smiled and said to his grandson, "I just wanted to go out, I don't know where you want to take my grandfather?" ”

Cui Yao stared at Cui Yuan, with a sophisticated demeanor that was completely inconsistent with his age, and said slowly: "My grandson wants to go to Qinghe's house, is my grandfather interested in going with him?" ”

Cui Yuan's eyes widened suddenly, and on June 20, the third year of Xuanren, that is, the same day that the Empress Dowager's special envoy Li Chuanyun arrived in Longyou, Cui Yuan used the excuse of accompanying his grandson to travel through mountains and rivers. With his grandson Cui Yao, he left the capital and headed east.

There was a lot of discussion among the government and the opposition, and they didn't understand why Cui Yuan left Chang'an at the moment when Taiyuan was occupied.

However, the discussion of the government and the opposition has not yet subsided, and a piece of news suddenly came from Longyou's side that stunned everyone. Longyou Jiedu made Zhang Huan open the government without authorization and appointed himself as a Hehuang official.

The so-called opening of the palace refers to being free from the imperial court system and appointing a set of teams similar to the six ministries and nine secretaries, which is often the case with powerful ministers in history, such as Cao Cao, whose officials under the Wei palace actually control the power of the court.

In the Tang Dynasty, only princes and princesses can open mansions, such as the Qin Palace, Qi Wangfu and so on in the early Tang Dynasty have their own officials, but after the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the prince's mansion is often a mere formality, in fact, all kinds of officials in the palace, such as the prince's mansion chief Shi, Sima, the main book, the record room, the record of joining the army, and other officials are appointed by the imperial court, and have no power at all.

The prince can open the house, but the general courtiers are much more taboo, originally the Tang Dynasty can also appoint some officials on their own, but after the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, whether it is Tang Suzong, or the later ruling family, they all agreed to prohibit the Jiedu to open the mansion to prevent the recurrence of the Anshi Rebellion, so whether it is the Cui family, the Pei family or the Wei family, there are only staff and no officials, and it is precisely because of this that the families only control the army, and the local power is still in the hands of the assassin and the court that appointed the assassin history, Finally, they can prioritize recommending officials.

However, the Kaifu and the individual families appointed their own military officials were completely different, which meant that the Jiedu envoys were very likely to interfere in local government affairs.

However, Zhang Huan is not the first person to eat crabs, in fact, as early as last year, Zhu Zhu has appointed local officials in various counties and counties in Shuzhong on his own, just like an independent kingdom, but the imperial court has nothing to do with him, pretending not to know.

But to the court's relief, Zhang Huan's appointment of officials seems to be limited to Hehuang, which was originally the land he seized from Tibet, although this kind of overstepping the authority made the court uncomfortable, but after all, it did not infringe on the interests of the court, Jincheng, Longxi, Kaiyang and other counties are still in power.

But those who really know the details of Zhang Huan's mansion are not so optimistic, let us go back to Longyou and take a look at Zhang Huan's road to power.

Jincheng County, a mile away from the Longyou Jiedu Envoy Xingyuan is still in full swing under construction, its true use has been gradually revealed in the past two days, it is indeed the office of the new place of the Jiedu History, but its name is no longer called 'Longyou Jiedu Envoy', but called 'Longyou Jiedu Envoy'.

In the streets and alleys of Jincheng County, restaurants and teahouses, there is a map of the official position of the envoy of the Jie Du out of nowhere.

There is a long history in the house, served by Zhang Huan's staff Hu Yong, and there are a number of subordinates, and another Sima, Pei Mingyuan holds this position, and then there are several people from each of the six Cao military departments, and there are two people who record the affairs of the military and the military from the left and right, and there are a number of literature, medicine, master books, and record rooms.

Understandable people can see at a glance that this is completely in accordance with the official position of the Assassin's Office, if it is said that the place under its jurisdiction is a number of states, then it is completely a small court, the long history is equivalent to the Zhongshu Ling, Sima is equivalent to the subordinate servants, and the six Cao is naturally the six, the best thing is that the left and right records are involved in the military, that is, the corresponding Shangshu left and right, and the specific affairs of literature, medicine, etc., is Jiuqing.

In the counties under the jurisdiction of Longyou Jiedu Prefecture, regimental training envoys were also set up, and their main responsibilities were to manage military households and militia groups, as well as the affairs of tuntian and jiajiao. They were not in charge of the regular army, with the exception of a few counties in Hehuang, where the soldiers and horses in charge of the army were also in charge of local affairs.

The regimental training envoys have their own official offices and commissions, and of course, if necessary, they can also take care of other civilians other than the military household.

Finally, the Longyou Jiedu Mansion also set up a special supervision envoy, the object of supervision is not only the army, but all the officials under the jurisdiction of the Jiedu envoy are the objects of supervision, even including Changshi and Sima. The supervision envoy is not subject to the jurisdiction of the long history and is directly responsible to the festival envoy.

But the people didn't make a fuss. After all, Longyou, Anxi, Hexi and other Jiedu envoys have been arranged in this way before the Anshi Rebellion, and most of the prefectures and counties under the rule of Jiedu envoys are metropolitan governors. In fact, the governor of the province has mastered the military and political power, and Ge Shuhan, An Sishun, Gao Xianzhi, and An Lushan all hold the military and political power.

On this morning, Hu Yong came to Jincheng County's Thorn Mansion, which is located in the middle of Wuquan Street.

It is about three miles away from Zhang Huan's knots. The assassin is still Du Ya, and the news of Zhang Huan's opening is that he sent an eight-hundred-mile express to the imperial court.

However, his sources. is also the same as the ordinary people of Jincheng County, guessing from the layout map of the official position of the Jiedu Embassy, at this moment. The diagram of the structure of the ground, drawn on jute paper, was placed on Duya's table, and Duya was sitting on the sidelines looking at it blankly.

Although Du Ya had taken refuge in Wehr, he was also a stubborn royalist in his bones, because of this, when Zhang Huan's army attacked Jincheng County, he did not hesitate to sacrifice the city, although his other purpose was not to let the people suffer from the rebellion, but he also hoped that Zhang Huan could not belong to a certain family like him, and be loyal to the queen mother and the emperor.

But the final result made him a little disappointed, Zhang Huan was even more excessive than the Wei family, he directly wanted to control the military and political power of the entire Longyou region, and he didn't pay attention to the imperial court, and attacked Hehuang without the consent of the imperial court. It really makes him tolerable and unbearable.

At this time, a government official outside the door reported: "Assassin Shi, Zhang Zhijun's staff Hu Yong asks to see." ”

'Hu Yong? Duya's gaze couldn't help but fall on the table on the table, the governor of Jiedu Prefecture, he snorted heavily, "I don't see!" ”

As soon as the words fell, I heard a chuckle at the door, "Why is Du Tingshi so disgusted with Hu?" ”

But I don't know when Hu Yong arrived in front of his room, Du Ya glared at a few officials, all of them were helping to see the wind and steer, so he had no choice but to stand up and arch his hand and say: "I'm not in good health these days, so it's not suitable to see guests." ”

"Oh! Then I'll talk a little bit and leave. Hu Yong hurriedly apologized to him.

Seeing the other party's courtesy, Du Ya's disgust with him also weakened, and he waved his hand and said, "Mr. Hu, please take a seat!" ”

Hu Yong sat down, a child served tea to the two, Duya picked up the teacup, took a sip and asked, "I don't know what Mr. is looking for me?" ”

"It's not me looking for you, it's my family who has entrusted me to tell you a word." Hu Yong glanced at the picture on the desk, and couldn't help sneering in his heart, so he said lightly: "My governor has always admired Du Tingshi's honest and honest style of serving the people, seeking truth and pragmatism, and I also know that Du Tingshi is a talented person. ”

'Appoint the history of the Xiping County regiment? Du Ya suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed, "What does Zhang Huan think of himself?" ”

Hu Yong's face sank, and he said unhappily: "My family governor is sincere, does Du Tingshi think it's ridiculous?" ”

"I don't think there's any sincerity in this, but I think your family governor is extremely arrogant." Du Ya laughed and said coldly: "I also have a piece of advice, please pass it on to Zhang Yuanjun." ”

Hu Yong glanced at him, didn't say anything, and Du Ya didn't go around the corner, so he said bluntly: "Zhang Zhijun took Hehuang, this is a fortunate thing for the Tang Dynasty, if he dedicates the court, it will be famous through the ages, but he treats it as if it were private, not only does not let the court send people to govern, but also appoints officials without authorization, what is the difference between this and An Lushan and the like back then?" If he can wake up, please listen to my advice, give up the idea of opening the palace as soon as possible, and hand over Hehuang to the imperial court. ”

Hu Yong shook his head and said disdainfully: "The governor of the capital values you so much, it turns out that you are just a corrupt Confucian, let me ask you, what is the imperial court?" Whether to hand over the river to the Cui family, the Pei family or the Li family, the imperial court sent people to govern it, but it was just to divide it up between the Cui and Pei families, and more than 20,000 of my Xiliang soldiers were killed, is their blood in vain? ”

Speaking of this, Hu Yong stood up and arched his hand to him: "The Tao is different, don't conspire with it, Hu has taken his leave!" ”

Duya looked at his back and strode away, his eyes slowly revealing a look of pain, and the pen in his hand 'click!' 'Broken in two.

"Did he really say that I was the same as An Lushan?" Zhang Huan turned around and smiled.

"Yes!" Hu Yong nodded, "That's what he said, I hope that the governor will break off the idea of opening the mansion and hand over Hehuang to the imperial court." ”

Zhang Huan sighed slightly, and said with some regret: "If I win the world, I will reuse this person, but unfortunately the time is not right, and now I can only give up on him." ”

"The governor has already given in courtesy, since he doesn't appreciate it, then it's no wonder that the governor is over, but the opportunity must not be lost, the governor should make a decision."

Zhang Huan didn't speak, he calmly looked out the window at a group of small birds foraging on the grass, the news from Taiyuan Xizuo, he already knew that there must be a vicious fight between Cui and Pei, that is to say, Pei Jun will have no time to take care of him, let alone let Shuo Fang's 200,000 army go south, how can he not seize this rare opportunity? Since you want to do great things, how can you look ahead and look backwards, and you can't make a decision for a long time, Hu Yong is right, you can't miss the opportunity, you should make a decision.

Thinking of this, he immediately ordered: "Let Du Mei come to see me!" ”