Wang Ang, Yang Qi, Cui Qinggong, and Zhu Jun, who had just arrived, sat in the corner of the wall, wearing a wide-brimmed soft hat, and the light in the corner of the wall was dim, and his face could not be seen clearly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is something important to discuss when you are urgently summoned here today."

Cui Yuan's face was solemn, and he slowly glanced at everyone and said: "Zhang Ruohao gave up the cabinet position to Zhang Potian, presumably everyone already knows it, and this matter has already been promised to the emperor." ”

This sentence made everyone look at each other, and Yang Qi asked unwillingly: "This matter is very important, why does Xiangguo have to agree, even if the succession of the family is customized, if it can be delayed for two months, I am afraid that things will take a turn for the better." ”

Wang Ang saw that he was old and confused, and couldn't help but glance at him with contempt, didn't Xiangguo know which was more important? If the Li family has no conditions, is it possible for Xiangguo to agree?

Yang Qi said something slowly, thinking that everyone would join in, and then Xiang Guo took his hand and said apologetically, "Old Yang, I didn't think it through.

Unexpectedly, the room was quiet, and there was not even a cough, Yang Qi twisted his neck and looked around, and saw that everyone was looking at the ceiling with squinting eyes, and no one was paying attention to him, he couldn't help but be more anxious: "Xiangguo.

Cui Yuanyi waved his hand to stop him, "I want to tell you another news, three days later, the emperor will go to Hedong to inspect the disaster, and Zhang Ruohao will also return to Hedong." ”

"I'm afraid this is the Ming Xiu plank road, let's secretly cross Chen Cang!"

Cui Yuan nodded, "From a small point of view, he wants to meddle in the dispute between the head of the Zhang family." From a big point of view, the real role of his land is to prevent me from taking the opportunity to send troops to Hedong, so that we can only take advantage of the contradictions within the Zhang family to seize power. ”

Speaking of this, Cui Yuan squinted at Zhang Ruojin, under his dazzling gaze, Zhang Ruojin lowered his head in a little panic, without saying a word, Cui Yuan smiled coldly and said: "This time the battle between the head of the Zhang family, we are bound to win." There must be no mistakes. ”

"Big brother, can you tell me a word." Cui Qinggong on the side finally opened his mouth.

"You say!"

Cui Qinggong stood up, gave Cui Yuan a salute first, and said slowly: "Big brother, forgive me." In the affairs of the Zhang family, the cabinet is light and the head of the family is heavy, and the eldest brother is a bit of putting the cart before the horse. ”

Since the failure of Cui Qinggong to enter the cabinet at the beginning of the year, he has always hated Zhang Potian. not only ruined his own future, but also abducted 30,000 elite Fengxiang troops, and now he has actually entered the cabinet, which really makes Cui Qinggong unbearable.

"Yes! Just now I said that Sangkook's promise was inappropriate. "The end: Qinggong frowned, Yang Qi was about to play the situation. saw Cui Yuan's eyes cold. The complaint that had just reached his mouth was swallowed back. "This, this is what General Cui meant. It has nothing to do with decay, nothing to do with decay! ”

Cui Yuansen's cold gaze swept over the two of them, and finally landed on Zhu Jun's body, "General Zhu, you come to explain to General Cui." ”

"This. Cui Qinggong was his boss, and he actually wanted to guide him himself, but after a while, Zhu Jun regained his composure, he first saluted Cui Yuan, and then said humbly to Cui Qinggong: "My subordinates will see you at the end, please give the general advice." ”

Cui Qinggong did not tolerate him because of his humble attitude, he snorted, his head was turned aside, Zhu Jun suppressed the anger in his chest, he knew that his official position was low, but Cui Yuan asked him to participate in the meeting, there must be an important task handed over to him, after a little groaning, Zhu Jun said: "The reason why the prime ministers of the seven cabinets are above is because they all have a strong family background, it is hard to imagine, if the Zhang family does not support Zhang Potian financially and manpower, how long can his army last?" How long will he sit in the cabinet? If he dares to risk the world's greatness and threaten the Zhang family by force, this just gives Xiangguo an excuse to send troops, which is one of the reasons. ”

"And what about reason two?" Cui Yuan continued to ask quietly, at this time, except for Cui Qinggong, all the people in the room were attracted by Zhu Zhu's opinion, and even the person in the corner of the room owed slightly.

At the moment when 'his' body moved slightly, Zhu Jun suddenly found that the person's waist was a little rounded, it seemed to be a woman, it should not be the queen, and the queen would return to the palace in the afternoon.

But Zhu Jun didn't have time to think about it anymore, he continued: "The second reason is that the army of the West Surrender City, they are currently supported by the Zhang family, if we can take the position of the head of the Zhang family this time, it will be equivalent to choking the emperor's neck, so I think that the reason why the emperor is going to Hedong now is also because he is afraid of the Zhang family's chaos." ”

"Very well said!" Cui Yuan patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, and then said coldly to Yang Qi and Cui Qinggong: "Do you two understand?"

"The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and the old decay really can't do it." glanced at Cui Qinggong, and moved his steps slightly, trying to get away from him.

Cui Qinggong couldn't save face, he snorted heavily, and arched his hand: "If there is nothing wrong with the eldest brother, I will leave first." ”

After that, he turned around and left, Cui Yuan didn't leave him, and waited for him to go away before he whispered to everyone: "General Zhu expressed his doubts, not bad!" Benxiang is indeed ready to meddle in the affairs of the Zhang family. ”

He pondered for a while, and then said to Wang Ang: "The people in the rivers and lakes you collected can come in handy this time, and you send a capable subordinate to lead them north to Hedong, and directly obey Zhang Tingshi's orders." ”

"Xiangguo, then I. To take full command himself, he couldn't help but be a little flustered.

"What are you afraid of?" Cui Yuan glared at him dissatisfied, "I'll naturally arrange it."

You. ”

"That Xiangguo, what can the old man do?" Yang Qi was not willing to lag behind and said.

"If you have money to pay, you have the power to contribute, Yang Shangshu will naturally pay for it." Cui Yuan narrowed his eyes and smiled, like an old fox who had found a chicken coop.

"Money.

Cui Yuan stretched out a fat and short finger and smiled slightly: "This number? ”

"Ten thousand?"

"Nope! 100,000 times. ”

'Wow! The ground next to Yang Qi suddenly overturned. Zhu Jun's hands were quick and he helped Yang Qi, who was about to faint.

"Phase. Come on! Yang Qi suddenly felt that his heart was dead.

"You can get it."

Cui Yuan smiled faintly, "The Yang family has been running Bashu for decades, what is 100,000 guan?" Didn't Luoyang Wang Baoji Cabinet Workshop have your 200,000 yuan of private money? ”

Yang Qi groaned in pain, he suddenly hated himself to the core, if he didn't think about the cunning rabbit three holes, he wouldn't have ended up today.

"How. Is Yang Shangshu unwilling? Said: "If Yang Shangshu refuses, forget it, the old man will find another way." ”

Yang Qi sighed and wiped a notched ring from his hand. Handed it to Cui Yuandao: "With this, you don't need any letters." ”

Cui Yuan took the ring, and he smiled gently: "I have already approved Yang Ming's Zhongjun Thorn History when the period expires, and the Ministry will follow tomorrow." He will be transferred to Shu County Thorn History. ”

Cui Yuan said, glanced at Zhu Jun, and said with a smile: "It's already late at night, let's go back!" Someone will come to you tomorrow to inform you of the specific matters. ”

The men dispersed. Zhu Jun walked around, but turned back through the side door, and the housekeeper took him back to the outer study. As soon as I entered the study. Zhu Jun suddenly found out. The man in the floppy hat was still sitting where he was, and he didn't move.

.

"Why did General Zhu let you stay if he knew about his true appearance?" In the study. Cui Yuan squinted at the ring by the light, and gently stroked a gap on it with his fingers.

Zhu Jun bowed and replied: "The task of his subordinates has not yet been assigned by Xiangguo. ”

"Yes, that's what happened."

Cui Yuan accepted the ring, and he nodded to the man in the corner, "Mr. Li, please come over." ”

As he walked up slowly, the light gradually became clear on his face, Zhu Zhu saw clearly, sure enough, it was a woman, about twenty years old, I saw her wearing a Taoist robe, holding a whisk in her hand, her hair was tied in a knot at will, draped over her shoulders, her facial features were extremely exquisite, as if a master craftsman carved out of a flawless piece of jade, perfect without a trace of flaws, but it was precisely because it was too perfect, but it was a little more cold, a little less vibrant, if the light was moderate just now, Zhu Jun would definitely think that she was a jade beauty statue.

"You call her Mr. Li."

Cui Yuan seemed to respect her very much, and he said to Zhu Jun again: "This time the Li family went north, Zhang Huan brought a thousand days to escort the cavalry, you are the Longwu Army, and it is natural to escort you, you also take a thousand people to the north, but all your actions must obey Mr. Li's command." ”

The Dao Gu shook off the dust and saluted with one hand, "Poor Dao Li Chuanyun, please ask General Zhu for more advice." ”

Her voice was cold, although it was a salute, but there was no expression on her face, and Zhu Jun also hurriedly saluted: "I will definitely obey the command of Mr. ”

Li Chuanyun ignored him anymore, and she saluted Cui Yuan. "Xiangguo, then the poor road will leave."

With that, she walked away.

Cui Yuan patted Zhu Jun on the shoulder and comforted him: "She has always been arrogant, she is like this to everyone, don't care." ”

After a pause, Cui Yuan took out another letter and said: "On this trip to Hedong, she will command Zhang Ruojin to act, you can keep this letter well, and finally you will act according to the instructions in the letter." ”

"My subordinates understand!"

Zhu Jun bowed and left, leaving Cui Yuan alone in the study, he carefully examined the ring again, a cold smile appeared in his eyes, and muttered to himself: "Li Department, you can't dream of it!" He also has a daughter alive on earth. ”

.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night, and at the same time that Cui Yuan's meeting had just dispersed, a carriage drove into Chongyefang under the protection of more than a dozen guards, and finally stopped in front of Pei Jun's mansion.

The car door opened, Chu Xingshui with a serious face walked out of the car, he quickly went up the steps, the porter seemed to know that he was coming, and immediately opened the side door, Chu Xingshui kept entering Pei's mansion, and the side door immediately closed with a bang.

"Is there any news from the emperor?"

Pei Jun put down the book in his hand and said with a slight smile: "Brother Runze's news is so fast, I just learned from the palace that the emperor is packing up." I'm afraid I'm going to go on patrol. ”

Chu Xingshui sat down and said, "Where does Brother Pei think the emperor will go on patrol?" ”

Pei Jun didn't speak, he dipped a little tea from the cup, and quickly wrote a word on the table, that word was clearly the word 'Zhang', he looked up at Chu Xingshui, and both of them smiled knowingly.

At this time, a maid brought fragrant tea, and Chu Xingshui picked up the teacup and sucked it carefully. Fang Dao: "I expect that Cui Yuan will inevitably intervene in it, this time the Zhang family is fighting, I don't know how we should play chess?" ”

"We can't stay out of it."

Pei Jun stood up and paced in the room with his head down with his hands behind his back. In the final analysis, this Zhangjia rebellion is a bet by Cui Yuan to compete for Hedong, and if the bet is won, Hedong, the rich land of the Tang Dynasty, will fall into the pocket of Cui's family, so that Hedong and Shandong will form a strategy for Hebei

Force. also blocked the Hebei army from going south into the pass, which will undoubtedly be extremely powerful, but then again, he Pei Jun has long coveted Hedong. The Pei family has been a big clan in Hedong for hundreds of years, and has a deep humanistic foundation in Hedong, if he can eat Hedong. That also means that the Pei family will surpass the Cui family. Become the first family of the Tang Dynasty.

Come to think of this. He glanced at Chu Xingshui slightly, and the Chu family controlled the south of Peng County. Cui Yuan wants to take Hedong and stand out from Shandong, so as to form a countermeasure to Hebei, but he Pei Jun wants to annex Hedong, and encircle the north, south and west, so as to trap Shandong to death.

The situation is extremely delicate, and Hedong is the most critical move on this big chessboard, and whoever gets it first and Cui Yuan will grasp the overall situation first.

"Runze, I know that you are angry with Zhang Ruohao for the matter of the two Huai Cao Yun envoys, but Zhang Ruohao was also forced by the situation at that time, and the Zhang family is also kind to the Chu family when he takes in Banglan, so you don't have to hold grudges about this matter."

Chu Xingshui was silent for a long time, his original intention was to stay out of the situation, let Cui Yuan and Zhang Jia fight and lose both, but listening to Pei Jun's tone, it seemed that he wanted to intervene.

Chu Xingshui smiled faintly and said, "Having Brother Pei as a friend, that is Zhang Ruohao's blessing." ”

Pei Jun listened to his sour tone, but he agreed, he sat down and smiled slightly: "Who is Zhang Huan's biological father, do you really think that he is from the Zhang family?" ”

Chu Xingshui shook his head and smiled a little bitterly: "Of course I know no, Bang Lan is a person with a very high vision, Zhang Ruojun I have seen, a mediocre person, he was a frivolous and profligate person when he was young, Zhang Ruohao is even more impossible, he has a deep relationship with his wife, and later married Wang Yanluo for the benefit of the family, and he will never have a bad relationship with the Chu family for a woman." ”

"What about Zhang Potian?" Think. ”

"It won't be him, he hasn't married a wife at the time, if he did, he wouldn't be sneaky."

Chu Xingshui pondered for a moment and said: "Bang Lan has been living in the capital back then and has never left, so this person must be from the capital, and his friendship with Zhang Ruohao is unusual, otherwise Zhang Ruohao would not hide their mother and son, this matter only needs to trace some of Zhang Ruohao's actions back then, maybe you can find a little clue." ”

Pei Jun also gradually fell into contemplation, for a long time, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he regained his calm in an instant, he smiled faintly and said: "At this time, you can put it down for the time being, the top priority is still the matter of the Zhang family in Hedong." ”

At this moment, there was a gentle knock on the door, and a clear voice sounded outside the door, "Father, the child is here." ”

"Come in!"

The door was pushed open, and two young men entered, one in front of him was handsome, with an elegant temperament, his eyes were full of wisdom, his face was dusty, obviously he had returned from a long journey, he was Pei Jun's fifth son, Pei Mingyuan, who had just returned to Beijing from a trip in Anxi.

He stepped forward and saluted Chu Xingshui first, "Uncle Chu is well!" ”

Chu Xingshui smiled, he waved his hand lightly, "The virtuous nephew is going to Anxi, can I get something?" ”

Pei Mingyuan raised his head and said angrily: "Why don't you take Wu Hook and collect Guanshan Fifty Prefectures, Mingyuan is eager to lead the Tang Dynasty soldiers to recover the four towns of Anxi one day." ”

"Good! If you have this will, let me and your father do our best to fulfill it. He smiled at Pei Jun and said, "Brother Pei has such a heroic son, which is enviable!" ”

Pei Jun also smiled slightly, his eyes were full of praise for his beloved son, his eyes flashed, and he looked at the person behind Pei Mingyuan, it was a thin young man, his waist was straight, he was about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, his face was grim, his eyes were sharp, he stood aside, but he didn't say a word, his name was Pei Danming, he was a concubine of the Pei family, although he was young, he had been in the army for ten years, from a small soldier to a scout lieutenant, he was deeply respected by Pei Jun, Pei Dan was a low-key person, and he was just appointed as the head of the Pei family's secret agents in the capital last year.

"Say it! What news do you have. ”

Pei Danming took a step forward, habitually gave a military salute, and said in a deep voice: "Report to the head of the family, Wang Ang, Yang Qi, and Cui Qinggong rushed to Cui's mansion at the same time an hour ago. ”

Pei Jun nodded, it seemed that what he expected was good, Cui Yuan did not attach great importance to this matter, he pondered for a moment and took out a silver medal and handed it to Pei Mingyuan, "You will go to Hedong tomorrow, you can mobilize all the personnel and materials of my Pei family in Hedong, and I will naturally have an order for you at that time." ”

After that, he turned around and ordered Pei Danming to say, "You select a hundred elites to go north to assist Pei Mingyuan." ”

.

On the first day of August in the sixteenth year of Qingzhi, the first day of the Great Dynasty in March was held in the Hanyuan Hall of Daming Palace, and the right minister Cui Yuan read out the major personnel appointments and dismissals.

He himself continued to serve as the right minister of the Tang Dynasty and passed the third reading; And Zhang Ruohao resigned from the post of secretary of the Ministry of Rites due to illness, and was renamed Taiwei, and the post of secretary of the Ministry of Rites was taken over by Zhang Potian, who was made by Hedong Jiedu, and with the Zhongshu Sect under the Ping Zhang, this appointment was also passed by the third reading, and after eleven years, Zhang Potian was once again squeezed into the cabinet.

But then the local incident shocked the government and the opposition, and the Tang Dynasty Emperor Li announced that Li Miao, the grandson of King Yuanqing, succeeded to the queen as his son and was named King Yong, which means that the overall situation of Li Miao as the crown prince has been decided.

The next day, news suddenly came out from Daming Palace that the Li Department, escorted by the 1,000-day cavalry camp and the 1,000-day dragon army, would go to the counties of Hedong to inspect the disaster.