\"We invited three famous doctors, all of whom said that although Cui Xiong's broken leg could be continued, the egg pill had been destroyed, and he had no surgery to return to heaven, and he was afraid that he would be disabled for life, and Wang Ang had transported his daughter's body back to the house, and said that it was a pity that Cui Xiong could not be killed on the spot. ”

Xuanrenfang, in Pei Jun's study, Pei Danming was reporting to Pei Jun about the incident that happened an hour ago, in fact, he hid aside as early as when Wang Ang ordered someone to smash the building, but he never showed up, watching Liu Xia'er being beaten to death and Cui Xiong being disabled, for which he felt deeply guilty, and after telling the incident, Pei Dan knelt down on his legs and asked Pei Jun for his guilt: "The subordinates failed to prevent the situation from deteriorating, and the responsibility cannot be shirked, so I apologize to the head of the family!" ”

Pei Jun calmly listened to the report, for the loss of Li Du Restaurant and the death of Liu Xia'er, Pei Jun did not take it to heart, but because of this incident, it will cause the confrontation between Wang Ang and Cui Qinggong, he is mixed, the joy is that Wang Ang will inevitably worry about Cui Qinggong's attack on Xiangyang afterwards, so as to rely on himself more deeply, worry is that Cui Qinggong got an excuse to move troops, a little carelessness is very likely to cause another turmoil in the Jianghuai region, especially Caoyun is ready to change the line to Danshui, if Xiangyang is in turmoil, Caoyun will have to detour to Bashu, not to mention the cost of manpower and material resources, In the end, he still has to be controlled by Zhang Huan, which is something he doesn't want to see.

Perhaps realizing that he had been pondering for too long, Pei Jun immediately held his nerves, waved his hand lightly and said: "You hide it, this is very good, and the shopkeeper of the king, he is not chaotic in the face of danger, and he did not involve the Pei family in the incident, so he should be commended, get up!" I won't blame you. ”

"The head of the Xie family is not responsible!" Pei Danming stood up, he hesitated and said, "There is still something to report to the head of the family." ”

"Say it!"

"The subordinates are worried that after Cui Qinggong enters Beijing, he may retaliate against Li Du Restaurant and cause us losses. Therefore, the subordinates wanted to close the restaurant and find another place, asking the owner of the house to approve it. ”

Pei Jun nodded slightly, "Your concern is very right, this matter will be handled by you, write a report to me afterwards, and in addition, send someone to pay attention to this matter." Do you understand? ”

"Yes! Subordinates understand. Pei Danming saluted and hurried away.

Pei Jun sorted out his chaotic mood a little, the Cui Xiong incident was just a small episode at the end of the year for him, just like a light snow in winter, and it couldn't change his main layout line. At present, Pei Jun is concerned about the personnel changes before the arrival of the New Year Dynasty in the seventh year of Xuanren, as well as the direction of the new Cao Yun route, which is the top priority.

He sat down slowly, and casually took a copy of the whereabouts on the table, which was a report on the whereabouts of important people compiled by several of his secret agents, which was originally only for Zhang Huan alone, but soon developed into other cabinet members. There is a report every day, Pei Jun turned the first page, the first person is Zhang Huan, the record is very simple, I went to the military department in the morning and met some important officials in the military department. At noon, he dined with Chu Xingshui in the persuading farmhouse, and went to Li Miandi's mansion to visit his condition in the afternoon, there was nothing special about it, and he turned a few more pages. found Cui Yu's record, only four words, deep dwelling.

Pei Jun seemed to think of something, and took out a copy of yesterday's record from under a stack of documents, and in a page of Zhang Huan, it was clearly recorded: I went to Cui Yuan's mansion alone in the afternoon, and in Cui Yudi's record. Or only deep residence can not be said in four words.

Pei Jun closed the whereabouts record. His brows were furrowed, and it was reasonable for Zhang Huan to go to Cui Yuan's mansion. After all, he had already married Cui Ning as his wife, but he went alone yesterday afternoon, but it was unexpected by Pei Jun.

Especially at the most sensitive time of the reorganization of the Ministry of War, Zhang Huan went to Cui Yuan's mansion, he most likely wanted to persuade Cui Yu to let the Ministry of War through Cui Yuan, Pei Jun didn't care too much about how Zhang Huan got the Ministry of War, after all, the Fengxiang incident was in front, no matter how he followed up on chess, it couldn't be compared with his means of seizing Fengxiang, the key is Cui Yuan, this haunting old opponent, did the Cui family and Zhang Huan reach any agreement?

This is what worries Pei Jun the most, Cui Yuan's downfall, Cui Yu's loss of power, Cui's mutiny, Cui's split, almost everyone thinks that the Cui family has been completely defeated, but Pei Jun knows that what the Cui family has lost is only a gorgeous coat and bloated appearance, its inner strength has not been lost, on the contrary, after Cui Qinggong's tumor is stripped away, the Cui family is very likely to be full of vitality, in Shandong, the Cui family still has 40,000 elite soldiers, tens of thousands of acres of land, controls nearly 100,000 slaves and countless tenant farmers, and hundreds of children in the courtIn Shandong, as an official in various parts of the Tang Dynasty, Cui Yuan has been purging the family style for three years, sparing no effort to cultivate new family members, only last year's Jinshi The Cui family's children and protégés were as high as twelve, four times more than the only three people in his Pei family on the list, but what Lao Shu Nirvana got was a new life, in contrast, his Pei family really began to degenerate, and there was even a fraud in the imperial examination, which can be described as a great shame, is power really a breeding ground for rot?

For this reason, Pei Jun was puzzled, for which he saw that the family was in crisis, not only the family, but also the entire Tang Dynasty, when the family government was gradually declining, the poisonous weeds that were originally suppressed by it began to grow wildly, that is, the local warlords who were becoming more and more intense, Zhu who was not taboo about the ambition of the emperor, Cui Qinggong, who was more and more ambitious, and Li Huaixian and Li Xilie, who were split by him, these warlords who could cause turmoil and war at any time made Pei Jun take care of one thing and lose the other, but at this time, a more powerful and Zhang Huan is even more threatening.

On the other side, Zhang Huan and Cui Yuan may form an alliance, Pei Jun gave birth to a feeling of powerlessness for the first time, and the more and more serious chaos in the Tang Dynasty made him have to start facing the reality, power is too concentrated, maybe it is the root of disorder, Pei Jun stood up, slowly walked to the window, and gently pushed the window open, a cold and fresh wind made his mind clear all of a sudden.

Ten days later, the New Year's Dynasty will be a court meeting for the reintegration of power and order, and there are still ten days, how should he Pei Jun play this game of chess? Bae Jun stared at the dark night sky, his eyes full of doubt and confusion.

At this moment, Yang Yan's mansion was very lively, and Yang Yan set up a table of ordinary home-cooked wine and food banquets to invite the distinguished guests specially invited, Zhang Huan, the new secretary of the Ministry of War. There are also two escorts at the same table, one is the former waiter of the Ministry of Rites, Yuan Zai, and the other is the living room Zhang Yansheng, both of whom are acquaintances.

The four of them sat down, Yang Yan poured Zhang Huan a glass of wine, and said with an apologetic smile: "It's all some home-cooked side dishes, Zhang Shangshu must not think that I am not well entertained." ”

"Where? Where? Yang Yuanjun was too polite. Zhang Huan tapped the table lightly with his fingers and thanked him for pouring the wine himself. In fact, I was afraid to go to other people's houses for dinner, not to mention the cumbersome etiquette, eating a meal is more tiring than marching three hundred miles, Yang Yuanjun simply entertained, so that people feel comfortable. It's too late for me to rejoice! ”

"Zhang Shangshu, don't underestimate this table of wine and food." Next to him, Yuan Zai smiled and interjected: "It seems ordinary, but several dishes are cooked by Brother Gongnan himself, if I remember correctly, the last time I tasted the vinegar fish made by Brother Gongnan, it was eight years ago, Yang Gongnan made five dishes in one go, but it is rare to meet once in a century!" ”

Yang Yan smiled helplessly. He nodded at him with chopsticks, "You guy, do you hurt me or praise me?" What is a rare encounter in a hundred years, I fry once in a hundred years, what is it? ”

Zhang Huan was in awe, he couldn't imagine that Yang Yan would attach so much importance to him. He hurriedly stood up and bowed down, "Yang Yuanjun treats Zhang Huan with sincerity, I really don't dare to be!" ”

"Yuan Datou. It's your mouthy! Zhang Yansheng, who had not spoken, complained to Yuan Zai and said: "Zhang Shangshu has said that he will be comfortable eating, you are good, I am afraid that the world will not be chaotic, Brother Gongnan, how do you punish him?" ”

"Five glasses of wine!" Yang Yan laughed and took four more cups. Poured it full for him side by side. Lingdao: "I don't have to say it, those who talk too much should be punished!" ”

"Good! Good! Good! I drink. I'll just drink it. Yuan Zai drank three cups in one go, lowered his head and waved his hand and said with a smile: "Eat a few bites of food and then drink, otherwise you won't have this once-in-a-century opportunity if you drink it first." ”

"And said! Three more shots. ”

Zhang Huan saw that they had a harmonious relationship, and he couldn't help but laugh, he poured Zhang Yansheng a glass of wine and said with a smile: "I remember the last time I drank with Zhang Gong was in the West Surrender City, the first emperor invited you, me, and Duan Xiushi to drink celebration wine, this time is five or six years, time is like an arrow, come!" I would like to give you a toast. ”

Zhang Huan stood up. "Cheers to our fate to meet today!"

Needless to say, at the sensitive time when the imperial court forces were reorganized, several people got together to drink and catch up, in the eyes of ordinary people, isn't this the suspicion of the establishment of the Zhang Party? The three of them naturally knew better, stood up together with wine glasses, and drank it all with a smile.

Zhang Yansheng held the wine glass and was silent, as if he was still reminiscing about the past, and after a while, he sighed with some emotion: "Yes! At that time, Zhang Shangshu had just broken back to the capital city, high-spirited, young and heroic, the most important general for the first emperor, the first emperor also said to me, he is safe and I am the Tang Dynasty, must be Zhang Huan, now it seems that the first emperor really had foresight, General Zhang became the military department of the dynasty, into the cabinet for the minister, there are hundreds of thousands of male soldiers in his hands, for the Tang Dynasty to recover the Western Regions, for a while, it is like in a dream. ”

"Don't talk about these heavy topics, the dishes are going to be cold, how about Zhang Shangshu come to taste my craftsmanship?" Yang Yan interrupted his dream with a smile, and ordered the maid on the side to give Zhang Huan a few dishes, and several people drank two glasses of wine, Yuan Zai put down his chopsticks and said with a smile: "When I passed by Pingkangfang just now, I heard about a great thing, do you want to know?" ”

Zhang Yansheng slapped the chopsticks on the table, "You still owe five glasses of fine wine and haven't drunk it, sell it again, drink it now!" ”

"What are you anxious about! After hearing this, I'm afraid you won't let me drink the penalty wine. Yuan Zai stroked his long beard and smiled: "I heard that Wang Ang's daughter died strangely, he broke Cui Xiong's leg in a fit of rage, and also injured his life, so that Cui Sanevil can only do Cui Erevil in the future, you say, is this very happy?" ”

"Humph! That bully is innocent, and I'm happy to kill him! Zhang Yansheng was obviously not very happy with the results.

Zhang Huan naturally knew it, he only smiled and didn't say anything, but at a glance, he saw that Yang Yan's face was a little wrong, so he asked him: "Yang Yuanjun thinks there is something wrong?" ”

Several people's eyes were cast on Yang Yan, Yang Yan smiled bitterly and said: "I am worried that Cui and Wang will fight evil, and it will affect Danshui's transportation plan, I just wrote to the imperial court to dredge the Danshui River." changed the road of Cao Yun, but in this way, I am afraid that this matter will change again. ”

"Yang Yuanjun doesn't have to worry about this matter at all." Zhang Huan smiled and said, "Do you think Pei Xiangguo can't think of it?" Don't forget, he also has an army of 80,000 behind Cui Qinggong! If I guess correctly, these 80,000 troops will definitely stay in the Nanyang area in the name of guarding the Caoyun land. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan suddenly had a thought in his heart, and he hurriedly asked Yang Yandao: "Yang Yuanjun, I don't know that the person in charge of dredging the river this time is Yang Yuanjun?" ”

"Seems like so." Yang Yan hesitated for a moment and said, "Listening to Pei Xiang's tone, he wants me to be reappointed as the Shannan transfer envoy and the assassin of Shangluo County." Fully responsible for the dredging and renovation of the Danshui Cao Canal, what does Zhang Shangshu mean? ”

"Nothing!" Zhang Huan was slightly disappointed, he had no one in the court, and Yang Yan had always been a neutral, and he was belittled by Pei Jun three years ago. It is just right to be pulled into his own henchmen, but now he is going to be a local official, which really makes Zhang Huan feel regretful.

Yang Yan seemed to understand Zhang Huan's thoughts, he pointed at Zhang Yansheng and smiled: "Has Zhang Shangshu forgotten?" What the first emperor said when he feasted the three of you in the Western Surrender City. ”

At that time, the Li family had said that he wanted to establish the Conglong faction, Duan Xiushi, Zhang Huan, and Zhang Yansheng were the first batch, and this matter had long disappeared with the death of the Li family, Duan Xiushi still led 7,000 defenders to defend the country in the west of the city, and Zhang Huan became the most powerful local warlord in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Yansheng was very unsatisfactory, just because he was originally Pei Jun's person, and later switched to the Li family from the Dragon faction, after the death of the Li family, he has remained neutral, after Pei Jun took power, the first was to demote him from Honglu Siqing to the living room. Julang was responsible for recording the emperor's edicts, which was originally a very important position, but the emperor was young, and the person who recorded the empress dowager's will was Li Chuanyun. So this living room is actually just a fictitious position.

At this moment, Zhang Huan has been completely sure that Yang Yan's real intention of inviting him to dinner and pulling the other two to accompany him is actually to take refuge in himself, since Cui Yuan once had Cui Dang, and Pei Jun had Pei Dang, then his own Zhang Dang was about to come out.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan smiled at Zhang Yansheng and said: "I have the same friendship with Zhang Gong, how can I sit and watch the three-grade Honglu Temple Qing being demoted to a small six-rank living room." I have made an agreement with Pei Xiangguo. Liao Hui's later imperial history Zhongcheng will be recommended by me, if Zhang Gong does not dislike it. How about succumbing to this position? ”

Zhang Yanxiang is overjoyed, he has been depressed for three years, how can he be unwilling? He hurriedly stood up and gave Zhang Huanshen a salute, "Thank you Zhang Shangshu for your support!" ”

"You're welcome." Zhang Huan's eyes fell on Yuan Zai again, he is not an outsider, his wife is Zhang Ruohao's sister, and to be strict, he replaced Jiang Jian as the waiter of the Ministry of Rites or arranged it himself, and now he was removed from the post of waiter of the Ministry of Rites because of Pei Mingdian's fraud in the imperial examination, and was demoted to Sima of Jiujiang County, and he will go to work in the future, such a useful person, how can he let him leave?

Zhang Huan saw that Yuan Zai couldn't hide the look of longing in his eyes, so he smiled and said: "Brother Yuan, I don't have to be polite to you, the position of the squire of the military department, I don't know if you are willing to take the position?" ”

The night was like water, Zhang Huan's carriage was moving slowly on the Suzaku Street, hundreds of personal soldiers were vigilantly guarding the left and right, Zhang Huan's mood was very happy today, he successfully cut off the alliance between Wang Ang and Cui Qinggong, and made the two turn against each other, which will play a pivotal role in the division of the imperial court's forces, so that he will face a great pressure on the ground.

Secondly, tonight, his Zhang Dang has taken shape, Yang Yan and the three of them, plus Chu Xingshui, Zhang Potian, and the children of the Longyou Group in Beijing, such as Xin Gao, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, Li Feizhi, Young Supervisor of Ordnance Prison, etc., as well as his old friend, Song Lianyu, Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, if you count carefully, you are also a strong soldier.

Zhang Huan couldn't help but let out a long breath of white air into the air, as if all the years of depression had been spit out at this moment.

The carriage turned into Yongle Fang, and gradually arrived at the mansion, when suddenly, one of the soldiers shouted loudly: "Dudu! You see. ”

Zhang Huan looked ahead, only to see dozens of carriages parked in front of the mansion, and a team of soldiers were unloading the cages on the carriages