The next day, Zhang Huan came to the Daming Palace early in the morning to inspect, the Daming Palace is not only the emperor's living residence, some important power institutions, such as Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, Yushitai are located in the Daming Palace, at this moment, the Daming Palace is very quiet, the officials handle official business in their respective courts, there is only a team of soldiers patrolling in the open space outside, there is a carriage to send documents to come and go, several local officials who entered Beijing to report on their work gathered in the Zhongshu Province Yamen under the steps to chat, waiting for Xiangguo's reception.

Zhang Huan rode past the steps, he suddenly heard someone mention the name of the head of the family, and couldn't help but look at a few magistrates, there were a total of five people, all dressed in robes of more than four grades, he recognized at a glance that one of them was the second brother of the head of the family, Pingyang County Thorn Shi Zhang Ruojin, he also saw Zhang Huan, but he didn't know Zhang Huan, after a glance, he continued to chat.

Zhang Huan was slightly surprised, Zhang Ruojin was the assassin of Pingyang County, how could he enter Beijing at this time? Now those who have come to Beijing to report on their work are all officials from Jiannan Province.

"Why did Brother Zhang enter Beijing at this time?" A loud official next to him seemed to know Zhang Huan's thoughts and asked for him.

Zhang Ruojin shook his head again and again and sighed: "Alas! Pingyang County suffered from drought and reported to the imperial court to ask for rent reduction, but there was no news for more than a month, so I had no choice but to make a trip myself. ”

"Last winter, the weather was abnormal, and I heard that many places were affected, especially in the area east of your river."

"No, this year's Hedong disaster."

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Zhang Huan didn't stop, he passed by them directly, although Zhang Ruojin said it with a fair face, but Zhang Huan still felt that there was a problem, the imperial court had ordered disaster relief five days ago, didn't he know? Moreover, there are many counties and counties in Hedong that have suffered a catastrophe, so why don't others come, but he comes?

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Huan's mind, could it be that he had come to visit the head of the family's illness? It is very likely that Zhang Ruoho is now seriously ill, maybe he is here to discuss the future path of the Zhang family with the head of the family.

But this was just thinking in a good direction, and another thought came out of his heart irrepressibly, Zhang Ruojin was specially summoned into Beijing by Cui Yuan.

Zhang Huan pondered for a while, then summoned a personal soldier, secretly pointed at Zhang Ruojin to him, and whispered to him in his ear: "You take two brothers, monitor him day and night, and report to me at any time no matter where he goes." ”

The soldiers nodded in agreement and quickly arranged to go.

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At night, it began to rain, and the early autumn rain was not destined to be as gentle as the spring rain, nor as cold as the winter rain, it was like a child in the sky playing with water, splashing the water on the earth one after another.

Around the Midyear Festival, there is a saying that ghosts hit the head, men, women and children must stay at home, no one dares to wander outside, and it is raining heavily tonight, and the streets are empty.

A carriage galloped into Xuanyangfang, ran over a puddle of water, splashed a white water, and gradually disappeared, at this time, two knights appeared in the rain and fog, they were fast and silent, following the carriage in front of them far away.

The carriage traveled another two miles, speeding past Cui Yuan's mansion, and after a while it turned around again, and slowly returned to the front of Cui's mansion, and then a tall fat man wearing a bamboo hat got out of the carriage, he ran up the steps, whispered something to the porter, and then flashed into the mansion gate.

The two horses that were following him stopped a hundred paces away and hid behind a large tree.

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Cui Yuan's health is not very good these days, it is raining today, the air is very humid, and his old problem of rheumatism and pain has been committed again, although it is the late summer season, but he still lit a brazier in his room to drive away the moisture.

At this moment, Cui Yuan was half-lying on the soft couch and reading intently, and the two maids gently pinched his shoulders and backs, at this time, the study door knocked lightly, and the old housekeeper reported outside the door: "Master, Zhang Tingshi has arrived, see you outside!" ”

"Let him in!" Cui Yuan gave the two maids a look, and the two retreated.

Zhang Tingshi, who came to see Cui Yuan in the rain, was naturally Zhang Ruohao's second brother, Zhang Ruojin, the assassin of Pingyang County, five days ago, he got a secret letter from Cui Yuan, so he asked for help under the pretext of the disaster in Pingyang County, and specially went to Beijing.

Zhang Ruojin is fat and looks like his brother, he was originally a Dali Siqing, five years ago he was impeached by the imperial history for handling a wrong case, and he was deposed to Pingyang County as the assassin of the history, this stay is five years, he is low-key, and he never interferes in family affairs.

But after Zhang Ruohao abolished the rules of inheriting the head of the family last year, he gradually began to become active, especially in May this year, Zhang Ruohao wrote to the imperial court, asking for Zhang Huan to be canonized as the viscount of Yuxiang, which is equivalent to making it clear that Zhang Huan is the heir to the head of the family.

Zhang Ruojin immediately united several brothers to oppose the eldest brother's decision, and his actions were supported by almost everyone in the Zhang family, which also made Zhang Ruohao unprecedentedly isolated, and finally had to give in.

Although the matter has calmed down, Cui Yuan refuses to give up this rare opportunity.

Zhang Ruojin walked into the study and saluted respectfully, "See the right minister!" ”

"Brother Zhang doesn't need to be polite, please take a seat!"

Cui Yuan smiled and sat Zhang Ruojin down, and personally poured him a cup of tea, Zhang Ruojin was flattered, and hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Xiangguo doesn't have to be like this, I can't afford to be humble." ”

"What can't you afford, when you were the secretary of Dali Temple, didn't we often drink together and get together? How did I go out for five years, but it became cold. ”

Cui Yuan lightly punched him in the shoulder, and said angrily: "If you are so polite, I will drive you out." ”

"Then I'll be ashamed of it."

Zhang Ruojin smiled bitterly, he didn't know Cui Yuan's purpose for encircling him, in May, he responded, and then held a family meeting, which received unprecedented support, and there was a faint momentum to replace the head of the family, if he was not tempted by this, it was definitely self-deception, but he also knew that if he forcibly replaced the eldest brother, the final result would be a family split, so he gave up his ambition and turned to fight for his son as the heir to the head of the family.

However, Cui Yuan's letter made it clear that he was willing to reconcile with the Zhang family, hoping that he, Zhang Ruojin, could become the head of the Zhang family and become the secretary of the cabinet etiquette department.

Is this a trap or a pie? Zhang Ruojin thought about it for a long time, he thought that Cui Yuan would not easily break the balance between the court and the central government, his purpose was to turn the Zhang family into a second royal family, and become a lackey of the Cui family, if so, then this matter is worth considering, and being the head of the Zhang family means controlling millions of family properties, controlling tens of thousands of hectares of land and tens of thousands of tenants and slaves in Hedong, in other words, he is the emperor of Hedong, the strong temptation finally moved his heart, with the mentality of giving it a try, he came to Chang'an.

Zhang Ruojin glanced at Cui Yuan cautiously, and said in a low voice: "Does Xiangguo know that my eldest brother is seriously ill?" ”

"Of course I do. That's why I'm writing to you. ”

Cui Yuan gently patted him on the shoulder and encouraged: "You used to be the secretary of Dali Temple, and you are the second son of the Zhang family, during Zhang Shangshu's serious illness, the Zhang family still needs you to preside over the overall situation." ”

"Hey! Don't talk about the past. Zhang Ruojin sighed and said: "My career is hopeless, I already plan to retire in Pingyang County, and I will rest my life, where will it be my turn to preside over the overall situation of the Zhang family?" ”

Cui Yuan smiled, since the words have been said to this point, then there is no need for each other to test each other, he stretched out his right palm, and said lightly: "After the matter is completed, I will promote you as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and the book of the same Zhongshu, if you violate this oath, heaven and man will be killed!" ”

Zhang Ruojin stared at Cui Yuan deeply, for a long time, he resolutely raised his right palm, struck a heavy blow with Cui Yuan, and said in a deep voice: "If you violate this oath, heaven and man will be killed!" ”

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The night rain was still in a hurry, the side door of the prime minister's house opened, Zhang Ruojin, who was wearing a hat, quickly walked out of the door, got into the carriage, the carriage immediately turned around, and drove towards the fangmen, and when its back disappeared, the two cavalry hiding behind the big tree immediately divided into two ways, one followed the carriage closely, and the other galloped in the opposite direction.

Half an hour later, Higashinachien.

"Can you be sure that Zhang Ruojin didn't wait outside and went straight to the house?" Zhang Huan confirmed to his soldiers again.

"Yes! The subordinates did see it clearly. ”

Zhang Huan pondered in the room with his hands behind his back, Zhang Ruojin only stayed in Cui Yuan's mansion for a quarter of an hour, a quarter of an hour, except for changing clothes, waiting, and saying goodbye, the rest could only drink a cup of tea, a few words of greeting, and really couldn't talk in depth, so Zhang Huan paid attention to the details, generally speaking, it was impossible for the local assassin to visit Xiangguo without waiting outside the mansion, especially when every household was busy worshipping their ancestors in the middle of the year, and Zhang Ruojin went in directly without waiting, which only shows one thing, he had already colluded with Cui Yuan.

It seems that Cui Yuan is finally going to attack the Zhang family! Zhang Huan quickly made a judgment on this matter, a few days ago the Li family suddenly issued an edict, officially recognized Cui Yuan's succession phase, this is a reconciliation signal sent by the Li family, once Cui Yuan accepts, it means that the phase dispute since last year has officially come to an end, Cui Yuan will also start his next strategy, suppressing various families, and the Zhang family, which is in civil strife, will inevitably bear the brunt.

At this time, the Zhang family is like a patient who is about to die, if he does not apply fierce medicine, it will be difficult to achieve results, Zhang Huan made up his mind fiercely, he slowly turned back to the henchman in front of him and said: "I have a big thing, leave it to you to do!" ”

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