In the past two days, the streets and alleys of Chang'an, teahouses and restaurants are circulating the same news, Shuofang Li Zhengji will re-take the road of Zhu and divide one side, making the last few days of Xuanren's six years quite unquiet, just when the news of Li Zhengji's possible rebellion has not subsided, a real, many people have witnessed a major event broke out again on the streets of Chang'an, when the two powerful ministers of the dynasty Cui Qinggong and Wang Ang actually openly bloodied on the street, nearly 100 people were killed and injured, Cui Xiong's murder of his wife suddenly escalated, however, the matter did not end there, Just an hour after Qianniuwei controlled the situation, Cui Qinggong left Chang'an with his son in a fit of rage, and publicly said that he would cut off the Wang family's children and grandchildren, and an uneasy mood began to quietly wander over Chang'an, and it was about to reach the seventh year of Xuanren, which may be a turbulent and unquiet year.

In front of Pei Jun's mansion, Pei Jun's second son Pei Mingyao sent Wang Ang out of the house, Pei Mingyao was about thirty years old, and his eldest brother Pei Mingkai was not good looking, he was slender, talented, and very sleek, the current position is not high, but the power is great, he knows the world, he acts very low-key, and he is not arrogant because of his weight, nor because he is the heir of the Pei family.

He helped Wang Ang down the steps and sighed and said: "Uncle Wang, it's not that the head of the family doesn't want to intercept Cui Qinggong's father and son, but the rat trap, he has two thousand elite horsemen outside the city, not to mention, my father is more worried that his 200,000 army in Huaibei will get out of control, so as to give birth to more warlords, Uncle Shi, please understand my father's difficulties!" Wang Ang was obviously not very satisfied with Pei Mingyao's explanation, the plaque on the gate of his Wang family was shot by Cui Qinggong, this kind of shame and humiliation could not be counted by him, and Cui Qinggong would inevitably transfer troops to deal with their Wang family when he went back, but he Pei Jun did not mention anything about such a crisis, but he used illness as an excuse. Refusing to see him, Wang Ang only felt a chill, and he said coldly with a gloomy face: "Since Pei Xiangguo is only willing to think about Cui Qinggong, the crisis in Xiangyang can only be solved by my own ideas." Please tell Pei Sang-kook. I also have to rush back to Xiangyang to deploy. I can't attend the New Year's party. ”

Pei Mingyao was shocked, he grabbed Wang Ang's wrist and begged: "Uncle Shi, please think twice, how can my father not consider the interests of Uncle Shi, this matter must not be impulsive." ”

"Thinking about my interests? But how can I see it, Pei Xiangguo is doing things that are painful for relatives and happy for enemies, sorry! I have to go. After speaking, Wang Ang pushed Pei Mingyao's hand away. Striding down the steps, Pei Mingyao looked at Wang Ang's carriage in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the house leak was raining overnight!

He was just about to return home when he saw a young man standing next to him. Holding a letter in his hand, he seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it for a while, so the young man stepped forward and saluted, "In Xia Niu Monk and Child, it is Zhang Shangshu Clerk, Zhang Shangshu ordered me to send a letter to Pei Xiang." ”

Pei Mingyao thought about it. I've seen him. Once in Menxia Province, he sent Zhang Huandi documents to himself. He hurriedly arched his hand and smiled: "It turned out to be Brother Niu Xian, it's really hard for you, it's just that Pei Xiangzheng is sick and lying in bed, and it is not suitable to see guests, so I will hand over this letter on my behalf!" Luckily? ”

Seeing that he was polite, Niu Shengyu hurriedly handed over the letter to him, "Don't dare, the letter is here, Zhang Shangshu is afraid that there is something urgent, please transfer it to Xiangguo as soon as possible." ”

Pei Mingyao took the letter, and smiled to the cow monk and child, turned around and entered the gate, as soon as he entered the gate, the smile on his face disappeared in an instant, he snorted disdainfully, looked at Zhang Huandi's letter, the letter was not sealed, Pei Mingyao naturally pulled out the letter, opened, the content of the letter was very simple, only one sentence: "Li Zhengji has killed the deputy envoy Sang Ping, I hope to pay attention." ^

Pei Mingyao's brows furrowed, he also understood what Zhang Huan meant, that is, Li Zhengji was about to rebel, and this matter was already in a uproar in Chang'an, why did he need to explain it?

And Uncle Pei explained this matter to his father in the morning, this could only be that Zhang Huan released rumors and wanted to find an excuse to enter Shuofang, and now his father is on good standby, and unfortunately he is ill, how can he take this matter out again to make trouble, is he Zhang Huan still not enough to add oil and vinegar? Pei Mingyao sneered, tore Zhang Huan's letter in half, crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the corner, and walked back to his father's room quickly, but as soon as he walked on his front feet, a man in a gray robe quickly walked out of the back of the house, picked up the letter, and limped away.

About last night, Pei Jun fell ill, and he was not lightly ill, yesterday during the day, Cui Qinggong and Wang Ang's street fire and completely tore his fragile power curtain, and finally, he actually watched Cui Qinggong leave Chang'an with his son, these days, the coldness of the court is to ridicule his authority in another way, not only from the third grade, almost all the officials above the fifth grade have gone home a few days in advance for the New Year, but also many people in the Pei Party, they are not only slack on official business, It is more to express dissatisfaction with his Pei Jun's monopoly on power, the law does not blame the public, in the face of the pause in the operation of the imperial court, Pei Jun is helpless, and the abnormal movement of the Jianghuai army on the opposite side, Pei Jun is still a warning in addition to a warning, and under the torment of internal and external difficulties, Pei Jun finally fell ill.

The room was quiet, filled with a strong smell of medicine, Pei Jun was lying on the bed tiredly, his cheeks were sunken, his eyes were closed, these days he has been thinking about the root cause of the chaos in the DPRK and China, it seems that all the people are against him holding power alone, there is nothing wrong with the concentration of power itself, power has been concentrated in the hands of a few people for hundreds of years, thousands of years, so why has the political tradition of hundreds of years been precarious to him?

It should be said that he knows very well where the problem is, and in the end it is still a question of the distribution of power, the monarchy, various interest groups, local interests and the interests of the imperial court, when this kind of interest game is out of balance, all kinds of hidden contradictions and crises suddenly erupt.

"Father!" Pei Mingyao's voice came from beside him, interrupting Pei Jun's train of thought, he opened his eyes slightly and asked, "Is he gone?" ”

"Left, but he threatened that if his father did not detain Cui Qinggong, he would return to Xiangyang immediately."

"Fool who doesn't know the big picture!" Pei Jun opened his eyes and scolded in a low voice, Zhang Ruohao had said to him in the past that Wang Ang was a dog guarding the household, and all he thought about all day long was how to keep his two acres and three points of land, and never considered the overall situation, but now it seems that this is indeed the case, and he calmed Cui Qinggong's trouble for him. Instead of being grateful, he intensified his persecution.

"Did you tell him that once Cui Qinggong had an accident, the situation in Jianghuai would deteriorate immediately? And I garrisoned 80,000 troops in Nanyang. It was to prevent Cui Qinggong from attacking Xiangyang. Didn't he know? ”

The child told him. But he was so emotional that he couldn't listen to it at all. After hesitating, Pei Mingyao said cautiously: "Father, the child has an idea, I wonder if the father is willing to listen to it?" ”

Pei Jun glanced at him and said unhappily, "Haven't you always boasted that you can dictate big things?" Why is it swallowing and spitting again. ”

"Yes! The child was thinking, in fact, it was not necessary to detain or even kill Cui Qinggong. **Even if his subordinates rebel, their forces are scattered, we can break them one by one, and simply solve this Jianghuai tumor in one fell swoop, isn't it once and for all? ”

"What about Li Xilie and Li Huaixian? Is it also broken one by one? Cui Qinggong's subordinates rebelled. How sure are you that they will be annihilated, can you know the state of his troops, who of his generals has how many troops, and how much do you know? If Jianghuai is chaotic by the military disaster, what does it mean to me Datang The more Pei Jun spoke, the more excited he became, he sat up straight and stared at Pei Mingyao, and said in a fierce voice: "If killing them can solve the problem, then why don't I kill Zhang Huan?" Don't kill Zhu! Do you know how many troops can be mobilized in the central and central regions? Pei gave the matter. It's not as simple as you think! ”

His father's sternness frightened Pei Mingyao to his knees, and he kowtowed again and again. "The child knows his mistake, please calm his anger, please save his father!"

Pei Jun's chest rose and fell violently, he shook his head and looked at Pei Mingyao with disappointment, he didn't ask his son to consider the overall situation in the same way as himself, the key is that he didn't have a heart of compassion for the people, after the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty was extremely weak, and it was easy to recuperate after more than ten years, and the national strength began to gradually recover, especially the Jianghuai area is the money and grain base of the imperial court, maintaining the survival of the entire Tang Dynasty, although Cui Qinggong is barbaric, he is from a family after all, at most he wants to be the king of one side, and has no ambition to annex the Tang Dynasty, did not expel the magistrates, and cut off half of the country, but the generals under him were all unruly, Zhou Li of Qiaoxian, Tian Mingzhen of Xuchang, Yang Hao of Wuyang, and Ma Dawei of Fuli, who did not hold tens of thousands of troops, and were ambitious to emulate Li Huaixian and Li Xilie.

Once Cui Qinggong has an accident, there will be countless Zhu emerges, which will not only be a catastrophe for Jianghuai, but also a fatal blow to the entire Tang Dynasty.

"There you go! I want to rest. Pei Jun waved his hand tiredly and ordered his son to go out.

Pei Mingyao didn't dare to say anything, stood up and went quietly, Pei Jun closed his eyes, he didn't want to think about anything, and soon, the sky gradually darkened, and the room became very dim, and suddenly, Pei Jun was awakened by a slight sound of footsteps, not to light the lamp and serve the concubine.

"Didn't I tell you not to disturb my rest?"

"Father, it's me, I have an important matter to report to my father." This is the voice of the eldest son, Pei Mingkai.

The night gradually shrouded Chang'an City, and the New Year was close to one day, as if it was extraordinarily quiet before the storm, on the eve of the New Year, the night of Chang'an was quiet, without the hustle and bustle of the previous few days, especially in the west city of Chang'an, which was more deserted, most of the people's New Year's goods were ready, and the pedestrians who came to go shopping became very few, and many shops simply closed early to take stock and began to liquidate the harvest of the year.

There is a restaurant called Qinling Restaurant at the gate of the West Market, it is only a medium level in terms of scale, but the entrance of this restaurant is very good, there are a large number of people coming and going every day, many of them are businessmen of the West Market, it is because of the special attention of businessmen to various news, so that this Qinling Restaurant has become a famous news distribution place in Chang'an

There are fewer and fewer customers, and Qinling Restaurant is also about to close, and more than a dozen guys are tired of cleaning the store, muttering something?

"I have to work tirelessly every day to pay such a small salary, and I don't stop doing odd jobs for people!"

"That's it, I heard that restaurants in other places give out red envelopes at the end of the year, and we don't even see a shadow here, so it's really a shame."

"Rest early when you finish early, what's there to complain about!" The shopkeeper was disturbed by the guys several times and miscalculated, he simply stopped his pen and reprimanded everyone unhappily: "At least I can't be hungry when I work here, don't you see that the price of rice has risen by another twenty wen?" ”

The men saw the shopkeeper speak. I didn't dare to say anything, after cleaning the restaurant, they all dispersed, and the shopkeeper was just about to close the door but suddenly found a person hiding in the corner. Take a closer look. But it's a guy in the store. I didn't come in the morning, and I looked for him everywhere and didn't find him.

"Shan Erlang! What the hell are you doing? The shopkeeper rushed up, grabbed him by the ear, dragged him into the store, and was about to reprimand him viciously, but he saw that he was covered with withered grass and blood. The shopkeeper was suddenly startled, "What's wrong with you?" What happened! ”

This guy named Shan Erlang looked around nervously, and hurriedly whispered: "Don't ask, can you pay me my salary this month, someone wants to kill me." ”

"Kill!" The shopkeeper's face turned pale. At this moment, the guy in front of him immediately became a plague god, and he didn't dare to ask more, so he grabbed a few rounds of money and stuffed it into his hand, urging repeatedly, "It's just a little more, you can go quickly!" ”

Shan Erlang thanked him and slipped out like a mouse against the wall. Shan Erlang is a native of Chengdu. At the beginning of the year, he came to Chang'an to work, and was recruited into Qinling Restaurant because of his neat mouth. Life was peaceful, but at noon the day before yesterday, two people found him and asked him to spread some news, at the cost of three money, Shan Erlang was greedy for small profits, so he agreed, and spared no effort to spread the news that Li Zheng was going to rebel.

Unexpectedly, when settling the money at night, he suddenly recognized one of them as the original messenger of the Shu Palace, and when he met the old man in his hometown, he was dizzy for a while, and he wanted to recognize the fellow countryman with the other party, and as a result, he was killed.

He was stabbed, but he finally reacted quickly, jumped into the river and fled, he was afraid for a day, Chang'an couldn't stay anymore, he decided to go back to Chengdu, so he slipped back to the restaurant to ask for wages, and then, he had to go to the residence to get the money he had saved for half a year.

Shan Erlang lives near the restaurant, and he rents a bungalow, which is two miles away from the restaurant.

The courtyard door was closed, the owner seemed to have slept, the window was dark, Shan Erlang didn't dare to call the door, climbed over the wall into the yard, the yard was very quiet, the dog that barked in the past did not come forward to meet him, his scalp was numb, curled up in the corner of the wall and did not dare to move, his eyes stared directly at the door of his room, about a quarter of an hour, there was no movement.

Although he felt that something was wrong, he didn't want to give up twenty pieces of hard-earned money, and after a while, there was still no movement, and Shan Erlang finally mustered up the courage to slowly touch the door.

Squeak! The door opened slowly, the room was a miserable white moonlight, the curtains were gently swaying, as if a person was hanging in the air, he squatted down, he had already seen the box under the bed containing money, Shan Erlang swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and climbed in hand and foot.

Suddenly, his heart stopped beating, and he saw a pair of feet under the curtains, and his scalp exploded. He screamed, turned around and ran, but it was already late, and there were five or six people standing in the courtyard, each holding a knife in their hands, looking at him coldly, and there were still blood stains on the knife.

Two people also walked out of the room behind him, blocking all his retreats.

"I didn't say anything to anyone!" Shan Erlang trembled with fright and begged, "Please spare my life." ”

"It's because you didn't say anything to anyone that I can't keep you!"

One person slowly raised the knife, with a cruel smile on his face, Shan Erlang knew that he could not be spared, he closed his eyes and accepted his fate, just when several knives were slashing at him at the same time, suddenly, a black shadow flashed above Shan Erlang's head, and Shan Erlang who was standing in the courtyard disappeared like a soap bubble bursting.

The night is already very deep, the drum that closes the door has already struck three times, Zhang Huan is still not sleepy, he is sitting in the study is writing something, sometimes stop the pen to ponder for a moment, seeing that it is going to be the New Year, he wants to write a warm New Year's greeting to the soldiers of Longyou, give him a vision of the future, and inspire their morale

The world is not peaceful, Zhang Huan seems to have heard the scorn that Shuo Fang's powder keg is about to explode! There is still no news on whether the Tubo people will fight back, and the situation in Huifu is also unclear, and all kinds of signs indicate that the army in other places will still face the test of blood and fire.

"Governor, my subordinates are back." Fang's ruthless voice sounded at the door.

"Come in!"

As soon as the words fell, Fang Ruthless's majestic body floated in like a shadow, "The subordinates have identified the rumor-mongers. ”

"Oh! Let's talk about it. Zhang Huan was in good spirits, this was something he had been concerned about for a day, and he always had a feeling that there was a huge conspiracy hidden behind the rumors that Li Zheng was about to rebel.

"Hu shopkeeper they found out that the rumors first came out of the Qinling Restaurant, and determined that a shopkeeper was the first to spread the rumors, and his subordinates found that someone seemed to want to kill him, so they saved him, according to what he said, he recognized a person who gave him money, and it was actually the original Shu Wangfu Messenger."

"King Shu?" Zhang Huan was stunned, there was no king of Shu now, but he immediately reacted, it was Zhu who was the self-proclaimed king of Shu.

"I see!" Zhang Huan finally suddenly realized that Zhu was still in Hanzhong, which was naturally done by Zhu Tao, but what was his intention in spreading Li Zhengji's rebellion? Did he want to force Li Zhengji to rebel and let himself withdraw his troops back to Longyou? But Li Zheng has only 70,000 troops under his command, and he still has more than 100,000 troops in Longyou, which is more than enough to deal with him, how can he withdraw the army and let Zhu Bei go to Guanzhong, besides, Pei Jun still has 100,000 troops in Guanzhong!

Zhang Huan felt very puzzled, and it seemed that the only explanation was that Zhu Tao wanted to create chaos in Guanlong, and they looked at the situation to fish in troubled waters.

"Wait!" Zhang Huan suddenly remembered something, he immediately stood up and walked quickly to the wall, brushed the ground and opened the curtain, and a map of the Tang Dynasty appeared in front of him.

He stared at a certain part of the map, his eyes gradually narrowed, and he had already guessed Zhu Tao's strategic intention, "Not bad! Sure enough, it's a bit of a vision. Zhang Huan nodded slightly in appreciation.

"To the Governor! Pei Xiangguo sent someone to come and said that there were 100,000 urgent matters and asked the governor to go to Xiangguo's mansion to discuss. At the door, there was a hurried report from Li Dingfang, the captain of the pro-soldiers.

"Is it now?" Zhang Huan was a little surprised, at this time the doors were closed.

"Yes! Pei Xiangguo also sent Xiangguo an order, and all doors can be specially opened. ”