"What people!" The sudden warning made Zhang Huan and his entourage immediately nervous, and the eighteen special guards had swept into the darkness like a gust of wind, and in a moment a man was pushed out of the dim place of the city gate, only to see that he was about fifty years old, his beard was half white, his clothes were old, and he looked a little depressed, but his eyes were unusually bright, with a kind of unruly sneer.

Several personal soldiers searched behind him and pushed him in front of Zhang Huan, Zhang Huan pointed at him with a whip and said, "Who are you?" Why the amazing words? ”

The man didn't answer, he looked at the sky with his hands, as if he didn't hear it, Lin Jiuhan behind Zhang Huan was furious, picked up the horsewhip and whipped it at him, but Zhang Huan didn't mean to stop it at all, he watched the horsewhip down coldly, and the man was indifferent, squinting at Zhang Huan and sneering.

When the whip reaches the top of the head only an inch, whew! The ground shrank back again, Lin Jiuhan grinned, he was the leader of Zhang Huan's personal guards, how could he be so reckless, it was just a temptation.

Zhang Huan nodded slightly, gave a look to the soldiers on both sides, and then escorted Cui Ning's carriage and walked forward directly, walking more than a dozen steps, only to hear Lin Jiuhan say behind him: "This gentleman, please come with me!" ”

The city of Yuxian is quite large, because the Tang Dynasty has not been affected by the war, it still retains the structure of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, a north-south central axis divides the county into two, the roads are neat, the houses are distributed in pieces, the administrative and educational institutions such as the county government and the library are in the north, and various commercial shops are in the south, at this time the sky is dark, there are not many pedestrians on the road in the cold night, Chen County Order has arranged the accommodation of Zhang Huan and his party, received by the largest Qiucheng inn in the county, and the people who originally lived were persuaded to go elsewhere. The entire inn was encircled by Zhang Huandi.

Zhang Huan saw that Chen County ordered everything to be asked. arranged it very carefully, so he thanked him with a smile: "Chen County Order, it's getting late, I won't bother you, you can go back!" Early tomorrow morning. We'll leave. ”

Chen County Ling repeatedly instructed the innkeeper, and when he saw that he was no longer needed, he returned the salute and said: "Then I will go back first, if Zhang Yuanjun has any requirements, you can directly send someone to the inner courtyard of the county government to find me." ”

After saying that, he saluted Zhang Huan again before slowly retreating. At this time, Cui Ning got out of the carriage. Looking at his back, he smiled at Zhang Huan and said, "Huan Lang, don't you often say that good officials are hard to find?" This Chen County Commander is not bad, why not seconded him to Longyou? ”

"Whether an official is good or not is not what he does to me, but what he does to the people, it is very simple to know what kind of official he is, just find some details and observe it."

Zhang Huan saw that Cui Ning was only single and didn't bring maids, so he smiled and said, "If you are interested, I will take you to buy two maids tomorrow." Let's go and touch the details of this Chen County Order by the way. ”

Cui Ning nodded, pursed his lips and smiled, and followed Zhang Huan into the inn, Yu County is located on the bank of the Wei River, and there are many exchanges of materials and merchants. It also makes the inns here very large. The Inn is very large and has hundreds of houses. It can accommodate thousands of people to live at the same time, and there are as many as 100 people in the store alone, but now it is a cold winter, the Wei River has frozen, the boat is not good, and it is the New Year, so the original business of the inn is also very deserted.

Zhang Huan and Cui Ning live in an elegant single courtyard, which seems to be the back garden of a large family, full of exotic flowers and trees, rockery and fish ponds, which seems deep and quiet.

There are four suites in the single courtyard, all of which are very gorgeously furnished, one of which is the VIP room of the entire inn, only for the use of guests with special status, rarely opened, and the arrival of today's Longyou Festival envoy made this VIP room open at the beginning of the new year.

This is a suite with four or five rooms, luxuriously furnished, spotlessly cleaned, the innermost one is the bedroom, the middle is the living room, there is a small study next to it, and the outermost one is the reception room, Cui Ning worked hard all the way, and was a little unwell, so he went into the inner room to clean up.

Zhang Huan sat in the guest hall and said to the soldiers: "Bring him in!" ”

After a while, several pro-soldiers led the talker up, and the pro-soldiers were polite to him, and did not embarrass him, the man walked into the room, and quickly stepped forward and saluted Zhang Huan slightly, "Hu Yong, a savage from Zhongnan Mountain, see Zhang Dudu." ”

"Sir, please be seated!" Zhang Huan smiled and gestured, and by the bright light, he looked at this amazing person again, although he was old, he was slender, his face was as white as jade, especially the long beard under his chin was a foot long, which looked dusty, quite a little fairy.

Hu Yong? Zhang Huan silently read the name twice, he had never heard of it, although he was unknown, but he could tell the purpose of Pei Jun's order to come to Fengxiang in one sentence, and his knowledge was unusual.

Zhang Huan didn't dare to despise him, so he asked, "May I ask if Mr. Hu has been to Chang'an recently?" ”

"I've been in Fengxiang all along, and I haven't been to Chang'an for a year?"

Zhang Huan smiled and asked directly: "Since Mr. didn't go to Chang'an, how do you know that Pei Xiang wants to replace Cui Xiangguo?" How do you know that I came to Fengxiang to force Cui Xiang to give way? Could it be that Mr. Fei has the magic of ghosts and gods? ”

He asked three questions in a row, asking them aggressively, of course he knew that this Hu Yong did not have any ghost and god skills, he was either a great wise man, or Pei Jun's secret agent, but even if he was Pei Jun's secret agent, Pei Jun would never tell him such a major secret, Zhang Huan understood this, so he was full of curiosity about him.

Hu Yong raised his head and smiled, "I don't have any ghosts and gods, just conclusions deduced from various signs that have happened recently." ”

He saw Zhang Huan smile and didn't say anything, so he continued: "The change in Helong made Cui Yuan just because of the alliance of Cui and Wei to gain a power advantage that no longer existed overnight, and the defeat in Shuzhong made Cui Yuan's authority swept away, and even fell ill, these two great changes in the Tang Dynasty, Pei Jun is the biggest beneficiary, he not only has the upper hand in the cabinet, but also the Guanzhong military force is seriously unbalanced, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to replace Cui Yuan as the right minister, he is not a good man and a woman, how can he let go of this opportunity?" So I was wondering if he would take advantage of Feng Xiang's weak defense. Take Fengxiang and force Cui Yuan to give way? It just so happened that two things happened today. First, the issue of pensions caused dissatisfaction among the army, and second, the governor led 2,000 people to return to Fengxiang, so I speculated that this was very likely that the governor was going to take Fengxiang. ”

"Sir, why did you see that I came to Fengxiang to use force? I just went back to Longyou and passed by Fengxiang, it happened to be dark, so I spent the night. What's so strange about that? Zhang Huan asked quietly.

"Of course, it is normal for the governor to return to Longyou and pass through Fengxiang, but the time is wrong." Hu Yong smiled confidently: "Five days ago, the governor went to Chang'an through Fengxiang and came back five days later, which means that the governor only stayed in Chang'an for one day, which should be the first day of the first month. The situation on the right side of Longyou is calm. If there is an urgent matter to rush back, it will not rest in Fengxiang, then the governor please tell me that he only stayed in Chang'an for one day, and he didn't even participate in the debriefing, so he rushed to Fengxiang, why is this? ”

Zhang Huan didn't speak for a long time, although he was just a guess and there was no evidence. But the breadth of his thinking and his accurate grasp of the situation made him have to look at this person with admiration, and he suddenly had a sense of love in his heart, since Li Mi refused to come to Hexi with him. There has always been a lack of clever strategists around him. Dume is good, but he has a narrow field of vision. The overall situation is poor, and they can't help him in many ways, as for Meng Jiao and others are just white-faced scholars, they can only sort out the documents for him, and they are far from the word military advisor, but today they happened to meet this Hu Yong, who has far-reaching vision, and is exactly the person he urgently needs, and he took the initiative to stop himself, which shows that he has the heart to vote.

However, although Zhang Huan was very tempted, he still wanted to test this Hu Yong again, and with a deep smile, Zhang Huan asked him frankly: "When Mr. Shicai talks about the general trend of the world, he can be described as a unique vision, can Mr. analyze it for me again, how should I play chess in the overall situation of the world in the future?" ”

Hu Yong has long been confident about this, he smiled faintly and said: "If the governor wants to make the next move, then he must first understand the situation in the chessboard, the pattern of the family government has been calm for seventeen years, and the seven families have their own forces, with the strong first as the right minister, first Pei and then Cui, in the downward rotation, it has always been like this, but since the southern invasion of the Hui people the year before last, after seriously weakening the strength of the Wei family, this phase rotation system has been broken, Cui Yuan used various means to be the right minister again, and then the emperor died, and the weak lord ascended the throne, It seems that the family government still exists, in fact, the family government has existed in name only, and has become a powerful government, who is strong, who has more power, Cui Yuan also saw that this problem is serious, he in order to maintain this kind of family government, he modified the door shade system, so that a large number of family children into the court as officials, deprived the children of the Han family as officials, but also inhibited the resurgence of the Li royal family, so that the government and the opposition have a serious confrontation, it can be said that this matter is the root of the current great changes in the court, that is, this reason, made Zhu's rebellion in Shu develop extremely rapidly, and Zhang Zhijun also had the opportunity to occupy Helong, so I dare to assert that it is marked by the birth of Zhang Zhijun and Zhu, and the Tang Dynasty will enter an era of drastic changes. ”

Hu Yong's profound insight shocked Zhang Huan, and he stood up without hesitation and gave Hu Yong a deep salute, "Mr. Dacai, Zhang Huan is disrespectful!" ”

Hu Yong hurriedly returned the salute, he said very frankly: "I really don't hide the governor, I was originally a staff member of the prince of Yu, seventeen years ago when the palace coup d'état, I was in Fengxiang to supervise the grain, the prince died I became a wanted criminal in the imperial court, helpless, I had to flee incognito into Zhongnan Mountain, until ten years ago, I left Zhongnan Mountain, began to travel the world, last summer I inadvertently met Li Yu in Pengjun, this only to know that the original governor is really the prince of Yu, I should return to Fengxiang, pay attention to your every move, until this time you take the opportunity to occupy LongyouThen I knew it was time for me to go out again. ”

"It turns out that Mr. Hu is actually my elder!" Zhang Huan was full of emotion, the predecessors planted trees and the descendants enjoyed the shade, who said that his father did not leave an inheritance for himself, Li Fei Yuanli, Xin Yunjing and other veterans of Guanlong, Li Mi, Hu Yong and other far-sighted strategists, as well as Li Mian and other ministers of the DPRK and China, these are the precious wealth left by his father.

He immediately knelt down and made a big salute to Hu Yong, "Please help me!" ”

"Childe can't help it!" Hu Yong hurriedly helped Zhang Huan up, he silently looked at the son of Prince Yu, his eyes flashed with tears, seventeen years! I thought that I would be old for the rest of my life, but I never imagined that I would be able to serve the lord again.

He respectfully helped Zhang Huan to sit down, but he knelt down solemnly and slowly kowtowed to him three times: "I, Hu Yong, am willing to serve the Lord and be loyal, if I violate this oath, heaven and man will be killed!" ”

"Sir, please sit down and talk." Zhang Huan happily accepted Hu Yong's allegiance, then invited him to sit down, and said to him frankly: "Mr. guessed right, I was indeed entrusted by Pei Xiang to take Fengxiang, but I have decided to give up this operation and go back to Longyou directly." ”

"Why?" Hu Yong was a little surprised, and he hurriedly asked, "Is the governor planning to give up the big tree of Pei Jun?" ”

Zhang Huan nodded silently, and after a while, he suddenly smiled coldly and said: "Although Pei Xiang is my father-in-law, he also said that he intends to help me to ascend to the throne, but these have a premise, that is, I can't threaten his power, in fact, I know very well that although he opposes the family government, his real purpose is just to turn the power of the seven families into a monopoly on the court, and his position as a prime minister can never be lost, so he will never really want to help me to ascend the throne, he is also the same as Cui Yuan, he wants to support a weak lord to ascend the throne, so as to control the court." ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan let out a long sigh and said: "The birds are all gone, and the good bow is hidden; If I really help him get the position of right minister, I'm afraid my own chance will be gone, so it may not be a bad thing for me to let the Cui family continue to be the right minister and maintain the balance of power in the court. According to Zhang Huan's character, he will never say these words to his subordinates, but since Hu Yong is a newcomer, if he doesn't show a little real ability, the other party is afraid that he will look down on him.

Hu Yong was secretly amazed by Zhang Huan's words, no wonder he was able to seize the Wei family's foundation in a short period of time, he really had a scheming, he also knew that Zhang Huan did not tell him everything, for example, he wanted to maintain the balance of power in the imperial court, it was not enough to just not accept Pei Jun's task, he must still move, he didn't tell himself.

However, Hu Yong didn't care about Zhang Huan's reservations, as a lord, if he told his subordinates everything, then he would lose the mystery of the leader; On the contrary, as a subordinate, if you hide it from the lord, it is taboo.

Hu Yong smiled slightly, and then continued: "I don't know how the imperial court appeases the governor, according to what I think, the imperial court may let the governor enter Beijing as an official, and include the governor in the power game of officialdom." ”

Zhang Huan suddenly thought of Pei Jun's words, he smiled and interjected: "Then according to Mr. Opinion, is it better for me to enter Beijing as an official, or not to enter Beijing?" ”

"Of course it's to enter Beijing!" Hu Yong said without hesitation: "I prefer to enter Beijing as an official, so that I can lay a good power foundation for myself, but not now." ”

"Why not now?" Zhang Huan asked.

"Now the governor has just occupied Longyou and entered Beijing as an official, which will leave a bad impression on the government and the opposition, and it will be very bad for the reputation of the governor, on the contrary, if the governor takes Hehuang or Hexi, and becomes a hero of the Tang Dynasty, at that time, not only will the bad influence of taking advantage of the chaos in Shu to seize Longyou be swept away, but the whole country will also think that the governor should be stationed in Longyou, and then re-enter the court as an official, wouldn't it be possible to take advantage of the east wind?"

Zhang Huan stroked his palms and laughed, the so-called heroes saw the same thing, Hu Yong's words made him finally make up his mind, at this moment, a personal soldier reported outside the door: "Qiyu Governor, news came from the military camp outside the city, there is a person from Fengxiang who asked to see the governor, he said you know what is going on!" ”