In the deep night, the closed door of Yongle Fang quietly opened, and an army flowed out of the gate silently like black mercury, and drove in the direction of Mingde Gate, and it was very quiet on Suzaku Street, there was not a single pedestrian, and the speed of the march was extremely fast, only the sound of horses' hooves was heard! The ground sounded, no one spoke, xt, com starts

In the middle of the team, Zhang Huan was dressed in black armor, his eyes were quietly looking ahead, at noon today, Li Ping gave all his land and property, and only begged Zhang Huan to spare the lives of his wife and children, although he did not mention his father Li Mian, but Zhang Huan keenly felt that Li Mian and Duan Xiushi were about to fight for the last time, from a certain point of view Zhang Huan still admired the persistence of the two, especially Duan Xiushi, he was not like Li Mian had a grandson who was the emperor, he didn't have any concerns, Just for the sake of his own beliefs, he did not hesitate to do something impossible, and even had to destroy his family as a price, but admiration is admiration, Zhang Huan will not let them go because of admiration, this is politics, politics is not there any mercy for the enemy.

But in his whole plan, Li Mian and Duan Xiushi are just two gravel in the torrent, they are insignificant, and they cannot change the rushing tide, and now he is about to embark on a journey again, but this journey is a very special journey, and it will be the most glorious part of his life.

Soon, the army came to the front of the Mingde Gate, the guards of the Mingde Gate had been notified, seeing the army coming, the gate of the Mingde Gate slowly opened, Zhang Huan's army began to go out of the city, at this time, Zhang Huan's personal bodyguard appeared behind Zhang Huan like a ghost, and he reported in a low voice: "Return to the governor." There was a man hidden in a big tree two hundred paces away. ”

"Keep tracking, don't alarm him." Zhang Huandi ordered, and Fang ruthlessly disappeared like a wisp of green smoke.

After waiting for Zhang Huan's army to leave the city and the Mingde Gate slowly closed again, on a big tree two hundred steps away, a black shadow quietly jumped into the Anyi Fang adjacent to the Mingde Gate, and quickly disappeared into the dark night.

When it's almost dawn. The gates of each workshop were opened to the beat of drums, and the gates of the main workshop were also opened. Many people who had been waiting in front of the gate flocked out, and the vendors selling vegetables and snacks occupied their own territory and began to shout loudly. The morning mist was full of life, and at this time, a man in a gray robe hurried into the fangmen, through an alley, until he came to the side gate of Li Mian's mansion. He took out a sign and shook it at the guard's housekeeper, who immediately led him into the house.

In the past two days, Li Mian has become unexpectedly active, he began to appear in the court room of the Ministry of Rites, and began to greet some of the old ministers, although he was not invited to Zhang Huan's meeting. But he didn't care, he smiled and groaned every day, and he was serious and diligent in every official business, as if he had changed a person, compared to his active daytime, he was very quiet at night, and he didn't go anywhere, Duan Xiushi no longer came to him, reading books every night, teasing his grandson, and discussing the meaning of life with his concubine. All in all. It's really like an old man who knows the destiny of heaven and wants nothing. Just waiting for the arrival of the retirement.

Early in the morning, Li Mian got up before dawn as usual to prepare to go to court, he drank a cup of hot tea, just got up to leave, suddenly a housekeeper hurriedly came and whispered a few words to him, Li Mian immediately changed his mind, and walked quickly to the quiet room, in the quiet room, the gray-robed man was sitting cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes to recuperate, as soon as the door rang, he immediately bounced up like a frightened frog, and bowed to Li Mian who walked in, "Subordinates see Shangshu!" ”

Li Mian closed the door of the quiet room, sat down and immediately asked, "Is that person really out of Beijing?" ”

"Out of Beijing!" The man in gray nodded and said, "Since yesterday, all day and night have sent people to wait in front of the major city gates in Chang'an, and late last night, the brothers who were waiting near the Mingde Gate finally found him quietly out of the city. ”

"The opportunity has finally come!" Li Mian couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart, he paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, since he heard the news that Chu Xingshui refused to abandon the army, he realized that the opportunity might appear, and then Zhang Huan cleaned the forces of the Chu family, arrested Chu Wei, and even rumored that he wanted to kill Chu Wei to show his determination, the Chu family also expressed a confrontational attitude, withheld eight million yuan in taxes, all kinds of signs show that the situation in Huainan has been in danger of getting out of control, after yesterday's victory in Hebei, Zhang Huan immediately said that he wanted to go to Huainan in person, Li Mian guessed that this must be Hebei's Longyou Army went south, Zhang Huan originally said that he would leave Beijing this morning, but he set off overnight, which shows that he is very anxious about the situation in Huainan, it will take at least a month and a half to come and go, Chang'an is empty, and his own opportunity has finally arrived, at this moment Li Mian has no intention of going to court, he said to the gray-clothed man without thinking: "You go and invite Duan Xiushi to me immediately, and then tell him by the way that the person has left the city." \\\\”

Zhang Huan's departure from Beijing did not cause any earth tremors in the court, and many people were still drowsy in the alcohol last night, and they didn't realize what Zhang Huan's departure from Chang'an would bring to Datang.

"It's good to go! Standing in front of the Suzaku Gate every day, is it still alive today? "This is the complaint of a lazy official.

"You know! There are only 500,000 guan money left in the left collection of the imperial court, and the Chu family withholds the tax money and does not ship it, can the prison not be in a hurry? April is coming soon, it's time to use the money, what if he doesn't go!"

"Alas! It's easy to clear the Central Plains, and Huainan has an accident again, when will my Datang have a peaceful day? ”

In the discussion, a carriage drove out of Danfeng Gate, in the carriage is Cui Yu who has just come to the court, he heard that Zhang Huan actually left Beijing overnight, and remembered yesterday's hint to himself, a heart became anxious, last night he went to visit Yuan Zai, want to uncover the secret of his hint to himself during the day, but no matter how he knocked on the side, Yuan Zai just smiled and did not answer, so that he was confused, and now Zhang Huan left Beijing overnight, he seemed to realize something, but he couldn't see it really, Cui Yu decided to find his eldest brother to learn more about the mystery.

The carriage galloped all the way. Soon drove into Xuanyangfang, slowly stopped in front of Cui's mansion, Cui Yu got out of the carriage, and walked quickly into the gate of Cui's mansion, since he reached an agreement with Zhang Huan on land for army, Cui Yuan once again became the de facto leader of Cui's house, although he no longer held any position. But every day when things happen in the imperial court, the Cui family will send him news, and at the same time. All the major affairs of the clan must be reported to him for decision-making.

He is naturally clear about what happened in the court in the past two days, the closure of the Daming Palace, the Chu family's confrontation with the imperial court, the Caoyun crisis, the Hebei victory and other events were reported to him in a timely manner at the first time. Now, he has just gotten the news that Zhang Huan left Beijing overnight last night.

"The second master is here." Suddenly, there was a report from the guards at the door.

As soon as the words fell, Cui Yu hurriedly strode in and said eagerly: "Big brother, do you know that Zhang Huan left Beijing overnight last night. ”

Cui Yuan smiled. He seemed to know that Cui Yu was coming, so he raised the express in his hand and smiled: "I also just knew." ”

"What does the big brother think is wrong with this?" Cui Yu hesitated and asked.

"Questions? When you had a meeting yesterday, didn't he say that Wang Siyudi's army had already gone south, and he was going to Huainan to solve the problem in person? Now that it's already been said, what's the problem? It's just that he set off overnight instead. Maybe it's because I feel that the situation is a little serious. ”

Cui Yuan's understatement answer made Cui Yu not satisfied, on the surface, there is indeed nothing abnormal, Huainan is in a hurry, Zhang Huan went out of Beijing overnight, everything is logical, but Cui Yu always feels that there seems to be something unspeakable, he suddenly remembered something, and said hurriedly: "Yesterday I said that I would send an envoy to Huainan and let Zhang Huan sit in Beijing." Based on my 20-year friendship with Chu Xingshui and his long-term official status in Beijing. I thought we could find a mutually acceptable solution, but Zhang Huan insisted on going his own way. Just when I persuaded again, Yuan Zai gave me a hint, signaling me not to dissuade Zhang Huan from going south, my brother's qualifications were dull, and I couldn't figure out the reason for this, and I hope that my eldest brother will give me guidance. ”

"You should be wondering why?" Cui Yuan still said lightly: "Since ancient times, have the high-ranking people stayed in the capital? No matter how eager he is, no matter how much he has the advantage of ascending the throne, the last step must show a posture: his ascension to the throne is a last resort, he is forced by his courtiers, and he has no choice but to ascend the throne after repeated invitations, how can he have such an opportunity to stay in Beijing? ”

Cui Yu suddenly realized, although he is not as scheming as Cui Yuan, but he has also been an official for many years and has enough political experience, as long as he breaks through that layer of paper, the situation behind him will be easily solved, Zhang Huan has returned to Beijing for nearly a month, and he has never liquidated the Queen Mother's party, so it seems that he wants to leave them as a ladder for him to reach the top.

After thinking about this, Cui Yu's heart immediately became hot, at this critical time, how could he easily let go of the unattainable support of the merit, he immediately couldn't wait to ask: "Then what should we do?" ”

"What are you anxious about?"

Cui Yuan glanced at him, a little dissatisfied with Cui Yu's impatience, since Zhang Huan dared to leave Beijing at this critical time, how could he not make arrangements? And if you want to ascend the throne, how can you do it without the support of his Cui family, politics is like a stage, it is not good to be buried in the background, but it is not okay to steal other people's plays, the key is to know what role you should play in it, thinking of this, Cui Yuan snorted lightly and said: "Now we don't have to do anything, just watch from the sidelines, waiting to clean up the mess for him." ”

Although he thinks so, Cui Yuan's heart is also a little confused about what role the Cui family will play, just looking at this time, you can know which is more important than the Cui family and the Pei family in Zhang Huan's heart.

Pei You didn't go to the court on time today, three o'clock, when the last bell of the court rang, he came out of the house unhurriedly, boarded the carriage, and went to Qinrenfang, compared with his brother Pei Jun, Pei You's use of power seems to be a little sluggish, he is not as good as Cui Yuan can accurately grasp Zhang Huan's psychology, although Cui Yuan also gave up the army, but for the Cui family to win the greatest benefits.

At the end of the battle of Hebei Province, Zhang Huan gained fame and fortune, and his Pei family not only lost the army, but also lost most of the estates, their Pei family once owned hundreds of thousands of hectares of land, and now only three granges near Ye County are only 10,000 hectares of land.

Not only the army and land, Pei You's internal control of the Pei family is not as good as Pei Jun's, the most typical thing is that he can't calm the dispute between the head of the Pei family, he is now only the acting head of the family, and has repeatedly stated in the clan that he will not forcibly occupy the position of the head of the family. Even so, there are still many people of the same generation who do not buy his account, such as Pei Jia, the current Zhongshu Lang, is his biggest opponent, and now the situation in the Pei family is calm only because Pei Ying mediated and temporarily shelved the dispute, once Pei Mingyuan returns to China, this matter will definitely make waves again.

In the carriage, Pei You sighed slightly. It has been almost half a year since Pei Mingyuan went to the Great Food, and it is time to return to China. I wonder what he will do to his brother when he hears about his father's death when he returns home.

The family's internal strife left Pei You deeply tired. Now the only hope is Pei Ying, the biggest mountain of the Pei family, I hope she can sort out the chaos of the Pei family, so that the Pei family can have a place in the future Datang.

"Master, it's here!" The coachman's announcement interrupted his musings, and he hurriedly lifted the curtain. Outside the car window, a grand mansion was presented in front of him, which was the Fenyang palace of Guo Ziyi, the chief patriarch of the Tang Dynasty.

The carriage slowly stopped, Pei You lowered his head and got out of the door, and walked up the steps quickly. He took out a famous thorn and handed it to the porter and said, "Please tell the captain that Pei You is visiting." ”

The porter did not dare to slack off, and ran to the inner mansion to report the crime, and after a while, a rush of footsteps came from the house, and the side door creaked open, only to see Guo Ziyi's son Guo Shu come out to greet him, Guo Ziyi has a total of six sons, the eldest son has died of illness the year before last. The rest of the sons were officials in various places. Only the sixth son, Guo Shu, who is nearly thirty years old this year, remained by his side. He didn't go out of office, and was responsible for taking care of the Guo family's land and shops at home, but he had a Zhengsi rank commander who was a lieutenant in the light car, and according to the words of later generations, he was also a princeling who abandoned politics and business.

Guo Shu saw Pei You waiting outside the question, so he hurriedly stepped forward and bowed and said, "The little nephew doesn't know that Uncle Shi is coming, welcome the late, and hope to forgive the sin!" ”

Pei You smiled and said, "Is your father in the mansion?" ”

"Father went out for a walk early in the morning and hasn't come back yet, if Uncle Pei Shi comes in and waits for a while, I'll send someone to find it."

This Pei You was a little hesitant, he was thinking about whether to go back to the court room first, and then come to find Guo Ziyi at noon, after all, Zhang Huan specified that he would preside over the operation of the court before leaving Beijing.

At this moment, a burst of hearty laughter came from behind Pei You, "Pei Xiangguo should preside over the political situation in Daming Palace, why did he come to the old man's dwelling?" ”

Pei You hurriedly turned around, sure enough, it was Guo Ziyi standing behind him, he was wearing an extremely ordinary cyan robe, wearing a gauze hat, and his beard and hair were gray, although he was more than eighty years old, but his eyes were sharp, and his mid-air was still full, he had to go out for a walk for an hour every morning, go to the teahouse to drink tea and chat, and return home after breakfast.

Pei You hurriedly smiled and said: "I was entrusted by the prison country to formulate a Khitan strategy, and there are some things that I can't decide, so I have come to consult the captain." ”

"With Pei Xiangguo's talent, what else will be uncertain?" Guo Ziyi smiled and waved his hand to the mansion and said, "Pei Xiangguo, please!" ”

"Captain, please!"

Pei You followed Guo Ziyi into his study and sat down, a concubine came in and offered them fragrant tea and pastries, Guo Ziyi picked up the tea bowl and sucked a sip of tea, and then slowly asked: "I have also heard of the great victory in Hebei, the main force of 50,000 Khitans was completely annihilated by our Tang army, and even the Khitan king was captured alive, and now the Khitan people are already a lamb to be slaughtered, I don't know how the prison is going to deal with the Khitans?" ”

"Follow the example of the Turks in the past, and scatter the Khitans to live with our Han people."

Guo Ziyi gently stroked his beard and pondered for a moment and said: "This is very good, I fought with the Khitans during the Anshi Rebellion, they are the most fickle, today they surrender and tomorrow they rebel, it is difficult to return to their hearts, simply exterminate them and leave no trouble, since the strategy has been decided, I don't know what Pei Xiangguo has to do with me?" ”

Pei You bowed slightly and smiled: "It is a foregone conclusion to disperse the Khitans and move south, but I can't make up my mind where to move them, so I came to ask Taiwei for advice, thinking that it is most appropriate to place them?" ”

Guo Ziyi quickly glanced at Pei You, he was neither a local prince who controlled the Tang Dynasty, nor a retired old minister who had been in power for many years, why did he ask himself about this kind of thing? Should go to the household department to ask for household registration information or ask the military department to ask for a map of all parts of the Tang Dynasty is the way to solve the puzzle, actually come to ask yourself, isn't it a bit of a joke, Pei You's problem of the wrong door suddenly aroused Guo Ziyi's suspicions, and he immediately realized that Pei You should have another plan for himself.

"The old man has been living in Chang'an, and his understanding of my Datang is still stuck in the scene of 20 years ago, I'm afraid I can't help Pei Xiangguo's questions." Guo Ziyi replied lukewarmly, and he picked up the tea and tasted it slowly, waiting for Pei You's later topic.

Sure enough, Pei You didn't care about Guo Ziyi's love and helplessness, he smiled faintly and said, "Since the Taiwei can't help, then I won't be able to help others." ”

As soon as the topic changed, Pei You asked sincerely: "Taiwei is a veteran of the Four Dynasties, who has experienced decades of ups and downs in my Datang, especially knows a lot about the disaster of An Lushan, and has a far-sighted view of the rise and fall of my Datang. ”

"Where do you go?" Guo Ziyi already understood Pei You's true intention, he wanted to invite himself out of the mountain and support Zhang Huan to ascend the throne.

Guo Ziyi and Duan Xiushi are the same defenders of imperial power, but unlike Duan Xiushi, Guo Ziyi does not care about the pure blood of the emperor, in his opinion, the most important thing is whether there can be a strong monarch, the outbreak of the An Lushan rebellion that year, he has always believed that it was caused by the absence of a strong king, Li Longji has been raising tigers for a long time, which directly led to An Lushan's sitting on the throne, similarly, whether it is Zhu's Shuzhong Rebellion or Cui Qinggong's Central Plains Rebellion, or the rebellions of other local warlords in these years, it is due to the lack of a strong monarch in the Tang Dynasty, And the scattered sand of the family's government cannot form the cohesion of the central court.

From this point of view, Guo Ziyi is extremely looking forward to the emergence of a Zhongxing lord in the Tang Dynasty, he originally pinned his hopes on the prince Li Yu, Li Yu won the unanimous support of the military generals in the long-term pacification of the Anshi Rebellion, he Guo Ziyi is also an active supporter, but it is a pity that Prince Yu died young, so that the Tang Dynasty embarked on a fork in the road, and now, his son is making a comeback again, how can Guo Ziyi not be moved, and there are Ma, Bai Guangyuan, Xin Yunjing, Lifei Yuanli and a group of old subordinates to fully support Zhang Huan, It is impossible for him to stay out of the matter, whether in public or private.

It's just that Guo Ziyi is very cautious, and he will never take a position easily until the matter is completely clear, so he is silent about Pei You's question.

Pei You had already seen hope in Guo Ziyi's eyes, and he immediately stood up and gave Guo Ziyi a deep salute and said: "What I said today, I think Taiwei should understand that Taiwei is my Datang minister, and his prestige is lofty, I only hope that on that day, Taiwei can stand up and do his best for my Datang to become strong again." ”

For me, Datang is re-energizing. Guo Ziyi read it in a low voice a few times, his eyes suddenly revealed a strange brilliance, a long-lost fire of innocence was rekindled in his chest, he couldn't restrain the excitement in his heart, and nodded solemnly, "Okay!" I promise you, I'll stand up for that day! ”

(There is strong competition on the list, so I implore you for your monthly passes!) ）