In the heyday of the family's government, many major personnel changes and many major events related to the national economy and people's livelihood were discussed and decided by the cabinet, but for the sake of respect for the imperial power, it was still voted on in the form of three readings during the dynasty, such as Zhang Huan's post of secretary of the military department, although he has been in office for nearly half a year, he has not gone through the three times of the court, so he still has a temporary title.

Because each court meeting will expose the conflict of interests between the parties and the future trend of the situation, so it has been the world's attention, especially in the New Year's court meeting in the seventh year of Xuanren, which was postponed to April 1 because of the outbreak of the Xiangyang crisis, it can be said that in this court general decided the reorganization of power in the Tang Dynasty after the chaos, involving everyone's vital interests, and, in the case of the cabinet has existed in name only, many important matters will be proposed and decided at the court meeting, Therefore, this dynasty was actually a real power struggle.

On March 25, there were still five days before the Great Dynasty, and on this day, Chu Xingshui entered Beijing, Wei Deqing entered Beijing, and Cui Qinggong entered Beijing.

The mountain rain was coming, and everyone felt a sense of oppression on the eve of the storm.

Zichen Pavilion of Daming Palace, Pei Jun is confirming the content of the court meeting with Cui Xiaofu, in the past, the content and process of the court meeting every year were drawn up by Pei Jun or Cui Yuan himself, but this time Pei Jun discussed with Cui Xiaofu for the first time, not only because Cui Xiaofu represents the voice of more and more people, but also because Pei Jun originally maintained a balance between Zhang Huan and Cui Xiaofu. began to lean a little towards Cui Xiaofu.

At the same time, the content of the court meeting was confirmed by Li Mian, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Pei You, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, two of them, one of whom was Cui Xiaofu's confidant, and the other was Pei Jun's cronies.

"This court meeting must read the appointment of Zhang Huan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, the appointment of Zhang Potian, the servant of the door, and the appointment of Pei Jia, the waiter of the middle book. The appointment of Yuan Zaidi, the squire of the Ministry of War, and the appointment of Qin Yunxiao, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, removed all the positions of Shangshu's left servant Zhu Zhu

Important personnel appointments and dismissals are always put in the first place, Pei Jun read the booklet prepared by Pei You according to the script, these personnel changes have long been a fait accompli, Cui Xiaofu has also signed and sealed, and the officials have already issued appointments, the so-called third reading is just a formality, just a formality.

However, Cui Xiaofu listened very seriously, and Pei Jun saw that she didn't say anything, and seemed to be pondering something. smiled and said: "Does the Queen Mother have any objections to these personnel changes?" ”

"There is no objection, the mourning family is thinking about one thing."

Pei Jun slightly bowed and said, "Please speak up to the Queen Mother." ”

"The mourners are thinking that if four of the seven cabinet members are against it, the proposal will not be passed, for example. That year, Cui Yuanti and Cui Qinggong were promoted to the level of the middle book. But in the end, it was vetoed, so if there were people who opposed these personnel changes at the beginning of April, what regulations would be used to confirm that the third reading did not pass? ”

It should be said that Cui Xiaofu's opinion is very timely, which actually involves whether the cabinet exists in name only, or still has its effectiveness, for several months, the cabinet has not held a meeting, and the formation of the three major forces. This makes everyone think that the Cabinet has actually died out, and even many of the Cabinet members themselves think that the Cabinet has no meaning in existing, but since the old one is going to end, it must be started in a new place, otherwise it will be a mess and people will not be able to adapt.

So the essence of Cui Xiaofu's proposal. Just ask Pei Jun. What is the balance of power to replace the cabinet.

This matter Bae Jun has also been thinking about, according to the traditional way of balancing power. It is the balance between the monarchy and the relative power, that is, the balance between him Pei Jun and Cui Xiaofu, but the current situation is that Zhang Huan's existence cannot be avoided.

"Queen Mother, the minister has also thought about this matter many times, and the minister thinks that the cabinet system should be maintained, but it needs to be reorganized to a certain extent to adapt to the current situation."

"Then Xiangguo thinks that how to reorganize is reasonable?" Cui Xiaofu asked reluctantly.

This Pei Jun is a little difficult to speak, politics is realistic, any system must be aimed at reality, change from time to moment in order to adapt to reality, but the original spirit behind each system can not change, just like the previous cabinet system is to adapt to the seven major families, the spirit behind it is the balance of power, and now the family government is gradually declining, the cabinet system must also change, become the three major forces to participate in politics, and the spirit of power checks and balances has not changed.

After being silent for a long time, Pei Jun finally said: "The minister is just a preliminary consideration, the cabinet should still implement the standard of the nine-person system, three of them are the permanent system, and the remaining six are auxiliary systems, the permanent system remains unchanged, and the auxiliary system can be changed at any time, I don't know if the Queen Mother can understand what I mean?" ”

Cui Xiaofu lowered her head and pondered for a moment, her eyes were raised, her eyes were extremely grim, and she stared at Pei Jun with an extremely grim gaze, and asked word by word: "But do you mean the three of Mourning Family, Pei Xiangguo, and Zhang Huan?" ”

"Yes!" Pei Jun nodded slowly, "Each person can choose two people as cabinet assistants, a total of nine people." ”

With the coming of the New Year's court, Zhang Huan is also busy, every day there are officials to visit him, there are sneaking at night to visit the high-ranking officials of the local government and prison, there are also three or five middle and lower-level officials who come together, to all the officials who come to visit him, he treats him with courtesy, sincerity, and will never be despised because of the other party's humble position.

At dusk that day, Zhang Huan walked to the door to bid farewell to several Lang Zhong and Wai Lang of the Ministry of Works, Wang Ang was captured by Cui Qinggong in the battle of Xiangyang, although he was soon released back under the intervention of Cui Xiaofu, but Wang Angji has been lost, there is no strength to back up, his control over the Ministry of Industry has also been greatly weakened, Yan Tingyu, the waiter of the Ministry of Industry, turned to be loyal to Cui Xiaofu, but most of the real power officials such as Lang Zhong and Wai Lang under him are from Shannan, and most of their respective Yongye fields are also in Shannan, and many people are from the practical considerations, secretly loyal to Zhang Huan.

The three people who came here today are Lang Zhong and two foreign members of the Ministry of Water.

"Please stop Zhang Shangshu. I'm too ashamed to do it. Zhongyue Miao, the secretary of the Ministry of Water, bowed to Zhang Huan again and again and thanked him, asking him to stay, Zhang Huan also arched his hand and smiled: "Water conservancy is the foundation of agriculture, I will definitely promote the three good policies to the local area, and welcome the three often to guide, Zhang Huan's door is open to you at any time." ”

"Definitely! Certain! The three of them saluted together and boarded the carriage.

Zhang Huan turned around and returned to the house. I saw that his wife Pei Ying had already changed her clothes and was standing in the courtyard waiting for him accompanied by two maids.

"My Master Zhang, look at what time it is, are you still going?" Pei Ying said with some complaint.

Zhang Huan then remembered that he had made an appointment to go to Luqi Mansion for dinner tonight! He actually forgot, he quickly patted his head and smiled: "Look at my memory, madam, please wait a moment, I'll change my clothes and leave." ”

He hurriedly returned to the room, Yang Chunshui had already prepared clothes for him, and Zhang Huan instructed while changing clothes: "Finish eating tonight." I may have to go to my uncle's house again, and Cui Ning will bother you to take care of it. ”

"Yes! Sir, please rest assured, I will take care of her, Second Lady. Yang Chunshui said in a low voice.

Zhang Huan suddenly felt that her voice was a little abnormal, so he turned around and hugged her waist and smiled, "What's wrong?" ”

Yang Chunshui lowered his head, wiped his tears, and said aggrievedly: "The midwife came to see it today." said that the second lady is a boy out of ten. The eldest lady immediately rewarded the midwife with ten dollars, and the concubine also wanted to reward the midwife with a few dollars, but she didn't even have this opportunity. ”

"Oh! I see. Zhang Huan's heart of pity rose, raised her chin, kissed her on the lips, and smiled ambiguously: "From tonight onwards, I will come to you every day to plant seedlings, won't there be a chance?" ”

Yang Chunshui was happy and shy, she lowered her head and twisted her body gently. Zhang Huan was so angry by her, and he didn't care that Pei Ying was waiting outside, he hugged her and was ruthless before letting her go.

"Why does it take so long to change clothes?" Pei Ying complained to him as usual, "There is only a quarter of an hour left in the appointed hour, how can you explain it to others if you are late." ”

Zhang Huan's head hurt heavily, and he hurriedly begged: "Okay! My aunt and grandmother. Get in the car! ”

Pei Ying was dressed in a costume. With the support of the two maids, he boarded the carriage, and Zhang Huan also got in. The carriage then started and sped away towards Luqi Mansion.

In the carriage, Pei Ying had already smelled the strong smell of fat powder on Zhang Huan's body, and knew that he must have done something with Yang Chunshui while changing clothes, she was secretly a little dissatisfied, but she didn't dare to say anything, so she smiled slightly and said, "Master seems to be in a very good mood today." ”

"Of course." Zhang Huan smiled and said: "Today, the three cadres of the Ministry of Water will come to the door together, so that there are already three divisions of the Ministry of Industry who are loyal to me, and Liu Langzhong, the director of the Ministry of Yu, is still undecided, he is from Jiangling, and I will send his fellow villagers to hint at him tomorrow, so that the entire Ministry of Industry will belong to me." ”

Pei Ying pursed her lips and smiled: "What about the waiter?" Why don't you mention the waiter of the Ministry of Works? ”

Zhang Huan's face immediately became gloomy, and he said coldly: "What about Yan Tingyu's loyalty to Cui Xiaofu, hum!" A general without soldiers, he will one day regret his decision. ”

Pei Ying saw that her husband's rare good mood was driven away by her own words, and she also regretted it a little in her heart, so she changed the topic and said: "Go sick, yesterday Pingping sent her mother-in-law and Aunt Lin back to Longyou, let me tell you when my mother-in-law leaves, if you really don't want to marry Pingping, just give a letter, it's not a way to hang people like this, what do you say?" ”

Zhang Huan sighed slightly and said, "You also know that I am under a lot of pressure during this time, and I really don't have time to think about it, so be it!" After the Great Dynasty, I want to go to Changsha and Jiangling to comfort the soldiers, you go back to Longyou first, then I will go directly back to Longyou from Shuzhong, if she is still willing to marry me at that time, I must marry her. ”

Pei Ying glanced at him and smiled: "What are you talking about this time?" ”

Zhang Huan smiled bitterly, closed his eyes and never spoke again.

Lu Qidi's mansion is also in Yongle Fang, about two miles away from Zhang Huan's mansion, the carriage only walked for a while, and then came to the Lu mansion, at this time the sky has gradually darkened, and the carriage slowly stopped in front of the steps. Lu Qi and his wife Yang Feiyu had been waiting in front of the mansion for a long time.

"Lu Shilang, I'm late, I'm really sorry!" Zhang Huan got out of the carriage and smiled.

Lu Qi greeted him with a smile, "Where! Where! Zhang Shangshu is willing to come, the mansion is already full of splendor, where can there be any more complaints? ”

The two looked at each other. They all laughed, Yang Feiyu and Pei Ying over there were also extremely affectionate, the two had a good relationship as early as Wuwei, and when they met in Chang'an at this time, there was a joy of reunion after a long absence.

The two families talked and laughed and entered the mansion, the Lu family is a veteran family of the Tang Dynasty, one of the seven great families in the early Tang Dynasty, although it has declined in the Middle Tang Dynasty, but from the rich atmosphere of the mansion, you can see that the Lu family has a deep heritage, and the big trees are towering. Hundreds of years of place names and precious ancient trees can be seen everywhere, in the large area of thick green, occasionally a corner of the eaves exposed, but it is finely carved, the painting is extremely exquisite, walk through a small bridge carved with a whole piece of white jade. From the crack in the tree, you can see the magnificent main hall of the Lu Mansion. Eighteen large pillars that could not be hugged by two people were lined up, and the entire main hall was enough to accommodate 2,000 people to dine together.

"I have heard for a long time that Lu Mansion is the first beautiful house in Chang'an, and now it seems that it really deserves its reputation." Zhang Huan praised sincerely.

Lu Qi smiled slightly: "No matter how well the mansion is decorated, it is not as good as the terrain of Zhang Shangshu's mansion, it is the mansion of Zhang Shuo, the famous minister of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, because it is located in the right position of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, Zhang Shuo has also been ginseng, and I will regret giving this mansion to you now." ”

Zhang Huan also smiled and said: "Zhang Huan has come to this day, but he didn't come here because he lives somewhere. ”

"Well said!" Lu Qi applauded. "The eldest husband should be self-reliant, how can he get ahead without some hard work, although Zhang Shangshu is from a family, he is a little more difficult than the poor children."

Behind them, Yang Feiyu and Pei Ying walked along the river, pointing out a few clusters of precious flowers and trees from time to time. Whispering. Lu Qi glanced at his wife with great pity, and suddenly whispered to Zhang Huan: "I really don't hide it from you." My real intention in inviting you here this time is to take the opportunity to tell you that I will be on your side in the battle between you and Cui Xiaofu. ”

Zhang Huan was stunned, he didn't expect Lu Qi to say it so bluntly, Lu Qi is Pei Jundi's confidant, what does he mean by saying these words to himself? Zhang Huan couldn't understand for a while, so he didn't answer, just smiled and didn't say anything.

Lu Qi seemed to understand Zhang Huan's thoughts, he smiled faintly and said: "My wife only has one brother, she is very distressed by him, in order to find a future for him, I sent him to the palace as a guard, but I didn't expect to be killed by Cui Xiaofu, not even the corpse, just this alone, I have a deep enmity with her." ”

Zhang Huan realized that Yang Qingyi was actually Yang Feiyu's younger brother, no wonder Lu Qi said this, he nodded, and said: "Lu Shilang's heart, I received it!" ”

Walk through a long corridor, enter a moon gate, in front of the back garden of the Lu Mansion, although the night has fallen, but you can still see the beauty of the back garden, in the large area of flowers, hidden pavilions and pavilions, a zigzag water corridor connects the exquisite buildings together, and all this is built on a lake.

In front of them stood two groups of eighteen beautiful girls, all dressed in white gauze dresses and carrying orange lanterns in their hands, in the soft halo, they seemed to be a group of fairies flying from the sky.

Yang Feiyu saw that Pei Ying liked this back garden very much, so he stepped forward and said to Lu Qi: "Master, I want to take Sister Ying to play first, you drink two glasses of wine first, and we will come back soon." ”

Lu Qi was obedient to his wife, and he hurriedly laughed and said, "Okay!" Might as well! You can also take Mrs. Zhang to touch up your makeup, and we will arrange it ourselves. ”

The two women laughed a few words in a low voice, and then accompanied by a few maids, Lu Qi and Zhang Huan came to a flower pavilion where the banquet was held, and the entire pavilion was covered with flowers, and not a single brick or tile could be seen, as if it was all made of flowers.

The two sat down, a maid served them tea, Zhang Huan slowly took a sip of tea, and asked casually: "I heard that the financial situation of the imperial court is not optimistic, what is it?" ”

Lu Qi smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "The imperial court has money, but unfortunately it can only be seen and not used." ”

"What does that mean?" Zhang Huan asked pretending to be puzzled.

"The money is not in Chang'an, but in Guangling, and the more than 5 million salt taxes collected in various parts of Jianghuai the year before last and last year are still in Guangling, but unfortunately they can't be transported to Chang'an, and there are more than 8 million stone of grain, which are also piled up in Guangling and Danyang."

Lu Qi couldn't help but sigh, "Cao Yun was cut off by Cui Qinggong's thief, and the court can't help it if it's in a hurry!" ”

"Then how much money does Zuozang have in savings now?" Zhang Huan still asked reluctantly.

Lu Qi glanced at him and seemed to understand something, but he still said truthfully: "Let's tell you this!" Zuo Zang's savings are only enough to last until the end of this month, and Pei Jun can only last until mid-April if he tries to get some more money, if he can't solve the problem of Cao Yun by the end of April, I'm afraid the imperial court will really be unsustainable. ”

Zhang Huan didn't speak for a long time, he had already heard that Pei Jun was overwhelmed by the money and food problem, and even the hundreds of officials' materials last year had been delayed for several months, but these were just hearsay, and now it was said by the household servant himself, that is, the problem was really serious.

After pondering for a long time, Zhang Huancai said slowly: "In fact, to solve the problem of Cao Yun, you can use Yang Yandi's method, change the route, and take Danshui from Xiangyang, I went back to Beijing this time to investigate along the Danshui, although the big boat can't work, but the small boat is no problem, now is the rising water season, it is more feasible, can Lu Shilang mention this matter at the court meeting at the beginning of the month?" ”