Compared with Zhang Huan's difficult march of thousands of miles, the attack in Hexi was much smoother, because the Tubo troops in Hexi were transferred to Anxi to resist the attack of the Hui army, after the loss of Wuwei, the governor of Hexi gave up Zhangye on the cheek of the Zang, retreated to Jiuquan County, and transferred the troops of Dunhuang and Jinchang counties to gather in Jiuquan, so that the troops of the two counties of Dunhuang and Jinchang were assembled in Jiuquan, so that there were more than 30,000 troops in the hands of the Cheek Zang, on the one hand, he defended Jiuquan on the one hand, on the other hand, he sent people to ask for help from Luo, but unexpectedly, Wang Siyu's army detoured to Dunhuang County from the south of Qilian Mountain, In one fell swoop, he occupied the city with empty troops, and cut off the retreat of the Confession.

Just when He Lou Wuji's army pushed to Zhangye and was preparing to attack Jiuquan with Wang Siyu before and after, the battle of Zhu's army to invade Longyou broke out, in order to avoid an accident in Longyou, He Lou Wuji stopped the attack, and the two armies turned into a state of confrontation.

At the beginning of November, the first heavy snow in the Western Regions fell, and the Hexi Corridor became a sea of ice and snow.

Under the sky, the towering Qilian Mountains, the endless grasslands, the trees, rivers and sparsely populated villages and towns are all immersed in the quiet and clear cold of the windless, immersed in the dazzling light and light blue shadows.

Zhangye County is located in the middle of the Hexi Corridor, which is also the largest horse yard in the entire Hexi, stretching for hundreds of miles of prairie, with abundant water and abundant pastures, that is, it has provided a steady stream of war horses for the Tang Dynasty cavalry.

The official road from Wuwei to Zhangye crosses the grassland. To prevent disorientation when walking in heavy snow. During the Kaiyuan period, Wang Zhongsi specially ordered people to plant poplar trees on both sides of the official road, and now the poplar trees have become towering trees, looking down from a high place, stretching for hundreds of miles, two rows of poplar trees are like an ice ribbon in the corridor of Hexi.

On this day, a cavalry team of about 5,000 people slowly walked on the official road south of Zhanghuanye County, led by Zhang Huan, who had just arrived from Shu County, and he received an urgent report from He Lou Wuji that more than a dozen special guests had come to Zhangye County.

In the distance, I have seen the city of Zhangye County. A group of cavalry rushed out of the city gate, conspicuous in the vast snowy world, the team was getting closer and closer, the armor of the Tang army was shining in the sun, and the person at the head was Zhang Huan's number one general, He Lou Wuji. He galloped to Zhang Huan and turned over and dismounted. Kneeling down on one knee, he saluted and said, "Subordinates, see the governor!" ”

Zhang Huan hurriedly dismounted and helped him up. slapped him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I heard that you really married a Tubo woman as a concubine, don't be assassinated on the couch in the middle of the night." ”

He Lou Wuji's face flushed, and he said: "Actually, she is not a Tubo, her parents are Han slaves, this attack on Zhangye, her parents were killed by the Tubo, and her subordinates took her in when they saw that she was lonely." The Great War is current. Subordinates dare not take concubines. "That's right, the big war is now. The boss should be more cautious. Zhang Huan nodded, he turned his head and beckoned to Meng Jiao, who came with him, "Come here!" ”

Meng Jiao dismounted and walked over quickly, waiting for Zhang Huan's arrangement.

"Meng Jiao will be Zhangye Assassin and Hexi Pastoral Supervisor in the future, you will hand over government affairs to him today!"

"Subordinates obey!" He Lou Wuji smiled at Meng Jiao: "Dealing with those complainants every day makes my head bigger, and I finally look forward to my husband." ”

Meng Jiao also hurriedly bowed, "It's the first time I've stood alone, and if there is a shortage of manpower, I hope the general will support me." ”

Zhang Huan saw that the two got along very well, so he smiled and said, "Let's go!" Talk as you go. ”

Before the occupation of Tibet, Zhangye is the military town of Hexi Corridor, the city is tall and strong, the population of more than 20,000 people, mainly to the Han and Qiang people live, after the Tubo occupies the Hexi Corridor, Zhangye will become the bridgehead of the Tubo attack on the Tang Dynasty, for the Tubo to rule the center of the Hexi region, the population has increased, there are more than 100,000 residents in the whole city, seventy percent are Han slaves, raising horses for the Tubo lords.

Soon the army entered the city, the city was also covered with snow, the street was rare to see a pedestrian, it seemed very deserted, the houses were also very dilapidated, there was no commercial activity, occasionally you could see some people into a few dilapidated houses, this is some shrewd Longyou merchants in exchange for cheap daily necessities in exchange for furs and medicinal materials in the hands of the Qiang people. "Where did they come from Anthy? Who are they? Seeing that he was about to arrive at He Lou Wuji's handsome mansion, Zhang Huan finally asked the purpose of coming.

"Back to the governor, the person who came is Cao Hanchen, the son of Cao Lingzhong, the former protector of Anxi, a total of seventeen people, who came from Shule and walked for more than a month."

After He Lou Wuji finished speaking, both of them were silent, Cao Hanchen, this is an extremely tragic name in itself, after the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty was forced to give up the Western Regions, Tubo sent troops to occupy Hehuang and Hexi, and also occupied the four towns of Anxi, the northern land Hui occupied Beiting, and the west of the Great Food controlled the east of the Green Ridge, in the era when the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty were eaten by wolves, some of the Tang troops who stayed in the Western Regions never forgot their homeland, they fought unyieldingly, fought against all the foreigners who shared the Tang Dynasty, and defended the territory of the Tang Dynasty. They have even been forgotten by the Chinese people and disappeared in people's memory, but they really exist, Zhou Ding, the envoy of Hexi Jiedu, Cao Lingzhong of Anxi, Zhu Mou of Beiting, and the Tang soldiers who followed them, it is their existence that shows the rationality and legitimacy of the Tang Dynasty to recapture Anxi.

"General Cao!" He Lou Wuji beckoned from a distance to a person sitting on the steps, who saw hundreds of cavalry coming, and quickly stood up, only to see that he was about twenty-five or sixteen years old, with a slender body, dark skin, and a faint sadness in his eyes.

When the group came to the front of the steps, He Lou Wuji jumped off the horse and pulled him over to introduce Zhang Huan: "Dudu, this is General Cao Hanchen from Shule, and he introduced Zhang Huan to Cao Hanchen, "General Cao, this is the Longyou and Hexi Jiedu envoy General Zhang Da you are looking for." ”

Cao Hanchen looked at Zhang Huan blankly, suddenly. He threw himself to his knees. He kowtowed three times to Zhang Huan, and cried silently: "Please send troops to Anxi and take back the homeland of the Tang Dynasty, our 10,000 military households have been looking forward to it day and night, and we have been looking forward to it for 20 years." ”

Zhang Huan's eyes were also a little red, he hurriedly helped Cao Hanchen up, and said sincerely: "I, like you, have been determined to reclaim my homeland since I was a child. You can rest assured, I have been fighting hard for three years, just for this day, and since the army has marched westward, there will be no end. ”

Cao Hanchen wiped away his tears. A letter was taken out of his bosom. handed it to Zhang Huan and said, "This is a letter written by my father to the governor." Please take a look. ”

Zhang Huan took the letter and patted him on the shoulder, "Go!" Let's go in and talk. ”

A few people walked into the official office, which was originally the Ganzhou Governor's Mansion of the Tang Dynasty, and later became the Hexi Governor's Mansion of Tubo, covering a large area, and still maintaining the original appearance of the Ganzhou Governor's Mansion.

They went into the nave and sat down. Several of the soldiers served hot tea. Zhang Huan took a sip of hot tea to warm up his body and took out the letter given by Cao Hanchen. While demolishing it, he asked him: "Shule (today's Kashgar, Xinjiang) is thousands of miles away from here, how do you know that I sent troops to Hexi?" ”

Cao Hanchen hurriedly bowed and replied: "More than a month ago, several Hui merchants came to Shule to sell horses, and I heard them talk about the great general and the Hui fighting against Tibet together. ”

Zhang Huan nodded, unfolded the letter, the letter was written by Cao Lingzhong, the former protector of Anxi, briefly introduced their struggle against the Tubo people, from the second year of Zhide to fight with the Tubo people more than 20 times, the strength gradually exhausted, now there are only more than 30,000 men, women and children left, only 5,000 soldiers, alone in Shule Town, begging Zhang Huannian to be loyal to their homeland, to the Western Regions

Zhang Huan closed the letter, pondered for a while, and asked, "Hexi Jiedu envoy Zhou Ding Zhou envoy Jun is available now?" ”

Cao Hanchen shook his head, "General Zhou passed away three years ago, and it turned out that Zhu, the capital of the northern court, was killed while defending Khotanese Town five years ago, and only Shule Town was still in our hands in the entire Anxi, and all the others have been occupied by the Tubo people. ”

"I understand, don't worry, I'm still the same old saying, now the civil strife in Tibet is a good opportunity for us to recapture Anxi, I won't give up the opportunity, but now that it's winter, the march of the army is not good, so I can only wait until the beginning of spring to fight!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan smiled slightly and said: "Since General Cao has come from thousands of miles away, I will take you back to Beijing no matter what, and let the court know that my Tang Dynasty's Anxi has not really been lost." ”

Chang'an, the political hall of Daming Palace, the highest authority in the Tang Dynasty, the atmosphere is very tense and serious at the moment, except for the youngest Zhu Tao, who returned to Hanzhong yesterday, the remaining six cabinet members are gathered together, and the Empress Dowager Cui Xiaofu is also here.

This is the third time that the cabinet has met to negotiate and resolve the matter of Zhang Huan's seizure of Shuzhong, the first two times are because Zhu Tao strongly asked the imperial court to send troops to recruit Zhang Huan, and they broke up because of too big differences; The second time was Cui Yu, Wang Ang, Zhu Tao, and Wei Ge resolutely sent Zhang Huan to replace Wei Ge into the cabinet.

And this time it was temporarily proposed by the Queen Mother Cui Xiaofu.

The sudden change in the situation in Shuzhong made it impossible for them to remain silent about Zhang Huan's behavior, and after several rounds of consultations, everyone was in mixed moods, considering the national fortunes of Datang and the interests of the family.

If the decline of the Zhang family represents the beginning of the decline of the family, then the split of the Cui family led to the rise of local warlords and the monopoly of power by Pei Jun, which means that the already very weak family government is only a layer of shell.

And now, the drastic changes in Shuzhong have once again made the already shattered Tang Dynasty's power map once again rampant, and everyone suddenly realized that Zhang Huan, who had been unknown for three years, had become the second force of Datang, adding new variables to the confusing power struggle.

In the past two years, the local warlords have been strong, the chaos between the DPRK and China has been numerous, the family government is coming to an end, the Li royal family's increasingly high demand for power, the signs of local division have begun to appear, the power of the cabinet has gradually been marginalized, the wind of land annexation has risen again, the fiscal revenue has been gradually depleted, and various government decrees have contradicted each other and there is no way out of government.

All kinds of chaos, the old pattern has been broken and the new order has been delayed for a long time, so that all the officials are very confused and confused.

Cui Yu was confused, and at the same time when he finally got rid of Cui Yuan's connection and gained freedom. It also loses the support of the family and the power of the country. only retained the right to speak on the military department based on the old book left by Cui Yuan, so when Cui Qinggong split the Cui family and made Cui Yuan vomit blood and fall, did he feel a trace of regret in the most ecstasy?

Wei Ge is not only confused, but also full of loss, the head of the once third great family has lost all his roots and power at this moment, and only has the title of Shangshu's right servant. His power at this time is not even comparable to his son, he is despised by Cui Qinggong, despised by Zhu, and despised by Zhang Huan, he feels that he is despised by everyone, all because he is no longer qualified to sit in this place that represents power and strength.

Of course, the most confused and exhausted is the right minister Pei Jun, when he personally broke the pattern of the family's power balance and monopolized power. He realized that things were far from being as simple as he thought. All the deep contradictions hidden in the family government. As the forces that suppressed them gradually faded, these contradictions erupted, the most serious of which was the inability of the imperial court to prevent the local separatist forces from becoming stronger.

In the past three years, he has tasted the sweetness of power, but he has also felt tremendous pressure, he is like a person who extinguishes fires, running for his life everywhere by himself, but he can't do it. The fire grew bigger and bigger. And he was exhausted.

Of course, Zhu's fall made him feel overjoyed. The giant sword hanging above his head disappeared, but Zhang Huan's rise made him feel a hint of threat, especially the foresight and viciousness of his return to Hanzhong after he put Zhu You, who was in a desperate situation, which made Pei Jundi's back can't help but feel a chill.

At this time, Cui Xiaofu changed her previous silence, and she took the lead in speaking, "Ladies and gentlemen, not to mention whether the change in Shuzhong is a good thing or a bad thing for the imperial court, but we can no longer turn a blind eye, not only Zhang Huan, Cui Qinggong, Zhu These local warlords must also let the imperial court control it, otherwise if it is allowed to develop, my Tang Dynasty will be divided soon." ”

She has never been so sober as she is today, she has realized that maybe Zhang Huan's seizure of Shuzhong is an excellent opportunity to solve the dilemma of local warlord secession, for the survival of the Tang Dynasty, Cui Xiaofu decided to take a compromise to solve it, she and Li Mian exchanged glances, and then said slowly: "The mourning family proposed a plan for your family to consider, if you think it is feasible, everyone will vote, okay?" ”

As soon as her voice fell, Li Mian immediately said: "Now is the time to unite to solve the crisis that my Datang is facing, the Queen Mother, please speak up." ”

Cui Xiaofu nodded, she swept everyone around, and saw that no one was right, so she said aloud: "The mourning family thinks that the seven ministers of the cabinet are in line with the seven great families at that time, but the world has changed over time, which is obviously not in line with the actual situation, so the mourning family suggested that the cabinet be expanded to nine ministers, and Zhu has been represented by his brother Zhu Tao, not to mention, Cui Qinggong has actually led the military department to be a book, and can enter the cabinet to occupy a seat, and Longyou and Hexi Jiedu have made Zhang Huan have been ranked in the third grade, he has made meritorious contributions to the recovery of Hehuang and Hexi for the country, and should be reused, and the mourning family suggested that he can also occupy a seat, so Pei, Wei, Wang, Chu, Li, Zhu, Liang Cui, and Zhang, a total of nine people form a new cabinet, do you have any objections?"

This time, none of the five of them spoke, Li Mian needless to say, he fully supported Cui Xiaofu's decision, but Chu Xingshui and Wang Ang rarely had the same idea, that is, to put Cui Qinggong on the head, not to let him expand unlimitedly in Huaibei and threaten his own territory, especially Chu Xingshui hoped that Zhang Huan would join; The other Wercher, although very reluctant, also knew that if he did not expand the cabinet, he was afraid that he would be eliminated first, and for this reason, he also remained silent.

The only dissatisfaction seems to be Cui Yu, but in fact, he is not right, Pei Jun vacated the cabinet by giving a post in the matter, if the cabinet can be expanded, maybe it can restrain Pei Jun's power.

The five of them had their own thoughts, and they subtly agreed by acquiescence, but the most important thing was the attitude of Xiangguo Pei Jun, he was the final decision, the room was very quiet, and everyone was waiting for Pei Jun's decision.

Pei Jun suddenly smiled, it has always been his wish to summon Zhang Huan into the imperial court, although he hoped that Zhang Huan and Zhu Hemug's conspiracy to compete and his fishermen to profit did not succeed, but at the same time, he unexpectedly found that Zhang Huan was Zhu's nemesis, so can his son-in-law become Cui Qinggong's nemesis again? He will wait and see what happens.

Pei Jun immediately nodded and said: "Cui Qinggong has already led the military department to be the book, and it can be directly sealed as the Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhang Shi, and Zhang Huan I suggest that he be named the king of Zhangye County, and actually lead the subordinate servants and the Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi." ”

At the beginning of December of the sixth year of Xuanren, Zhang Huan entered Guanzhong from Fengxiang under the escort of 3,000 cavalry; One day earlier than Zhang Huan, Huaibei Cui Qinggong ordered his second son Cui Hao to lead the army, and he himself entered Guanzhong from Tongguan under the escort of 3,000 cavalry; And Hanzhong Zhu used the excuse of debriefing to lead a thousand cavalry from Dasan Pass into Guanzhong.

At this time, the sky over Chang'an was already a gathering of storms and clouds, and the turbulent waves had begun to grow under the calm water.