The Chu family has always been a wealthy family in Chuzhou, Huainan, different from other prominent backgrounds, the rise of the Chu family in officialdom began in the early years of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, Li Longji first ascended to the great treasure, he reformed the old and the new, forged ahead, and boldly promoted willing and pragmatic officials, Chu Mingyuan, who was the Sima of Yangzhou at the time, wrote to the imperial court, suggesting that the Cao Yun should be dredged and the rich Jianghuai and Chang'an would be integrated.

Li Longji greatly appreciated his suggestion, and immediately ordered him to be the imperial historian and the Jianghuai Caoyun envoy, and was fully responsible for the rectification of the Caoyun.....

In the Anshi Rebellion, Chu Tan, the son of Chu Mingyuan, designed to kill Helan Jinming, and annexed his army, and then returned to the chaos of Hua, Huaixi Tian Shengong was killed by Chu Tan, he ordered the eldest son Chu Xingshui to lead 60,000 troops to rescue the military town of Chenliu, bloody battle for three days and three nights, more than half of the soldiers were defeated 20,000 Hui cavalry, and saved the emperor's brother Peng Wang Li only, who was trapped here at that time, Chu Tan was also named the Duke of Chu, the Governor of Yangzhou, and the left servant of Shangshu, and his son Chu Xingshui took over the post of Huainan Jiedu envoy, and his Chu family of 19 people are all prefectures and counties, The fifth family in the world was thus formed.

Chu Xingshui is currently the secretary of the Criminal Department and the envoy of Huainan Jiedu, and his younger brother Chu Xingyun is the deputy envoy of Huainan Jiedu and the magistrate of Guangling County, controlling 30,000 Huainan troops.

The world has been peaceful for a long time, Guangling County is full of fish and rice, and the abundance of Ayaluo makes the Chu family's pride gradually disappear, and there is a little more wind and elegance, from the thirteenth year of Qingzhi, Guangling Academy has continuously taken away the provincial test champion, so that the people of the world are impressed, and Chu Wei, the eldest son of the Chu family who participated in the imperial examination this year, is the person with the highest voice of the champion, coupled with his handsome and chic appearance, he is praised as the first son of the family by the good deeds.

But Chu Xingshui, who came out of the battlefield, was not happy, he had already faintly seen the crisis of the Chu family, there were many people who tasted flowers and chanted the moon, and there were few pragmatic and capable people.

The foundation of the Chu family is weak, since He Shaohua, the servant of the Criminal Department, was deposed the year before last, there is no place for the Chu family in the center of power in the imperial court, and only the two functional departments of the Salt and Iron Prison and Taifu Temple are retained, and Wang Ang's henchman Han Huang, with the support of Cui Yuan, was appointed as the assassin of Wu County and the observer of western Zhejiang a year ago, which is undoubtedly another knife in the back of the Chu family.

Like Pei Jun, Chu Xingshui also watched the development of Longyou, and as the New Year's Dynasty was approaching, he gradually felt the energy of the war bow when it was full.

"Father! I heard that Zhang Ruoho returned to Taiyuan yesterday! As soon as it was dark, his son Chu Wei rushed back from outside and reported the news excitedly.

Chu Xingshui was sitting in the study reading at this time, he didn't raise his head, he only said coldly: "When the name of the Ministry of Rites is the name of the book, can you call it directly?" ”

Chu Xingshui closed the book, raised his eyes and glanced at his son, only to see that his eyes were slightly red, and he was full of alcohol, presumably he was in a hurry to report the news of Zhang Ruohao's return to Taiyuan, and he didn't have time to hide it.

It's nothing to drink, but his son is so excited about Jang Ruoho's return to Taiyuan that he feels a little surprised.

"Sit down, for the Father has something to ask you!"

Father's coldness was like a basin of cold water poured on his head, Chu Wei trembled and knelt down opposite his father, and he said in a low voice: "Please lecture my father!" ”

Chu Xingshui also realized that his attitude was a little cold, and in order to ease the atmosphere, he smiled and said, "Have you ever gone out with Xiao Ning these days?" ”

Although his father's tone softened, the topic he brought up was a little colder than the wind of the three or nine days, Chu Wei lowered his head, and said helplessly for a long time: "I haven't seen her since the last time she came to dinner, and I heard that she stays in the palace most of the time. ”

Chu Xingshui saw that his son was depressed, he smiled slightly and said: "Even if she becomes a princess, she is still Cui Yuan's daughter, and the concubines of the family have always been used for political transactions, not to mention that Cui Yuan only has this one daughter." ”

Chu Wei's eyes gradually became brighter, his father had been not expressing his position on the matter of asking Cui Yuan for marriage, did he imply something to himself when he said this today?

"Father means to say....".

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Chu Xingshui smiled and waved his hand, interrupting him, "This matter is naturally known to my father, now you tell me, what do you think of Zhang Shangshu's return to Taiyuan?" ”

Chu Wei knew that his father was examining himself, he lowered his head and thought about it: "The child also heard that the Zhang family is the heir to the head of the family, and now the ancestral hall is burned, I think it is probably related to this matter, taking history as a mirror, the decline and fall of the Dafan family often starts from the inside, if Zhang Shangshu does not handle this matter well, I am afraid it will become the root of the Zhang family's defeat." ”

"Then what do you think has to do with my Chu family?"

"The child is thinking, if the Zhang family declines, the Shannan Wang family will definitely move back to Hedong, so the opportunity for the Chu family to expand westward is just around the corner."

Chu Xingshui nodded lightly, it seems that his son is not as intoxicated with poetry and songs all day long as he thought, his mind is quite sober, although his thoughts are still a little naïve, after all, he is still young, as long as he is well guided, he may not be able to bear the burden of the family in the future.

Just thinking about it, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door, and then the family hurriedly reported: "Master, Cui Xiangguo is here!" ”

"Ahh Chu Wei stood up suddenly, his heart was so nervous that he was 'pounding!' "Father, Cui Xiangguo is here, how is this—how is this?" ”

"What are you anxious about!" Chu Xingshui glanced at him dissatisfied, because a woman had made him nervous like this, he stood up and snorted heavily, and went out to greet the guest.

"Brother Xian is so idle, which makes Lao Cui envious!" Cui Yuan smiled and said from afar.

Chu Xingshui smiled in surprise: "Why did Brother Cui say this? Which point can see that I am idle again. ”

"But seeing that you are deserted outside the gate, and there is no carriage, it is enough to make Lao Cui envious, I can't drive away there, I can't persuade you to open it, and I queue up all night, so I have to run to you to take refuge."

Chu Xingshui raised his head and smiled, "Brother Cui is making fun of me, come!" Come! Come! We sat in the house. The two of them held each other's arms and went into the house affectionately.

Chu Xingshui let Cui Yuan go to the guest room and ordered someone to serve tea, Cui Yuan just smiled and said nothing, and when the heat of the tea was palatable, he took a sip and said: "There is no special purpose today, I have to steal a moment to relax and chat with old friends." ”

"Brother Cui works hard for national affairs day and night, it's time to take a break, if Brother Cui wants, you can come to the younger brother at any time."

"There is a virtuous brother, which makes the brother very happy." Cui Yuan took another sip of tea and said with a sigh: "In recent years, there have been many things, and I have no time to take care of my family, until yesterday Wang Ang came to propose marriage for his son, I was shocked to realize that Ning'er is already sixteen years old!" ”

Chu Xingshui already understood Cui Yuan's intention, and really wanted to come to marry, what Wang family proposed, that Wang Ang was already Cui Yuan's dog, it was enough to reward a bone, and he still needed to give him his only daughter? This is clearly Cui Yuan's use to oppress himself and want to achieve his goal at the lowest cost.

In the final analysis, marriage is just a means, its essence is still an alliance of interests, but whether it is a marriage or an alliance, these are not problems, the important thing is the dowry and dowry, although Chu Wei came to invite Cui Ning from time to time this year, and his admiration was even moved by Shi Pixiu, who was guarding the gate, but Cui Yuan and Chu Xingshui did not move, they were all waiting, waiting for the other party to speak first, so that he could take the initiative at the marriage negotiation table.

What Cui Yuan wants, what Chu Xingshui wants, no one will show their hole cards until the last moment, and the marriage between them is destined not to be like a small family flipping through the eight characters and looking at the yellow calendar, no! The marriage between them was the result of an exchange of interests and compromises, and if successful, it would change the pattern of the entire imperial court.

In this way, they all knew each other, but no one proposed it first, until there were still six hours before the New Year's Dynasty, Cui Yuan finally came, and he had to let Chu Xingshui turn to himself or remain neutral in the matter of Cui Qinggong's entry into the cabinet tomorrow, for this reason, marriage with the Chu family is the most effective card.

But Cui Yuan also understood that Chu Xingshui would inevitably take the opportunity to ask for a sky-high price, and in order to keep the dowry to the minimum, he had to find the best time.

So he didn't rush to bring up the marriage contract, he was drinking tea, but the corner of his eyes swept out of the door from time to time, at this time, a faint figure was reflected in the crack of the door, Cui Yuan couldn't help but smile slightly, the time has come.

"Although Wang Yan's kid is also a handsome man, I appreciate Chu Wei's beauty and perseverance more, so I would like to ask my nephew today by the way, is he interested in my family Ning'er? If you don't like it, then the old man will be a perfect king! ”

"I like it!" The figure on the ground suddenly became clear, the door was pushed open, and Chu Wei, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, broke in, people say that love is blind, this sentence is not bad at all for Chu Wei, although he has received a good education since he was a child, gentle and humble, and orderly movements, but in the word 'love', he is in a mess, and he has no usual demeanor and cultivation at all.

I saw that his face was flushed, and when he came in, he knelt down in front of his father and said, "Father! The child is willing to marry Cui Ning as his wife and ask his father to fulfill it! ”

Cui Yuan laughed and sighed continuously: "Yes! Brother Chu, with such a golden and jade fate, how can you bear to refuse? ”

Although Chu Xingshui's name is feminine, his appearance is also gentle, but he is a person who cuts off and kills, when he led 60,000 troops to rescue Chen Liu, in the face of the sharp cavalry of the Hui people, in the face of most of the casualties of his subordinates, but he still fought to the end, and finally made the confidence of the Hui people collapse first, so as to achieve Chen Liu's great victory, which greatly encouraged the morale of the Tang army and people, and it was also this battle that made the Hui people see the determination of the Tang Dynasty to fight to the death, and finally decided to leave the Tang Dynasty and return to the north.

Fifteen years have passed, but Chu Xingshui's stubbornness has never subsided, if his son did not break in rashly, after some bargaining, maybe he would agree to marry the Cui family, but Chu Wei's eagerness and gaffe made Chu Xingshui sober up all of a sudden, if the Cui and Chu families marry, the Chu family will sooner or later follow in the footsteps of the Wang family and become a dog of the Cui family.

No way!

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