Zhang Huan came to Kaiyang County for the first time, and traveled for four days along the way, and at dusk on the fourth day, Zhang Huan finally arrived at this old nest that the Wei family had operated for more than ten years under the escort of three thousand iron horsemen.

At this time, Kaiyang County was already a gathering of wind and clouds, the second real power figure of the Tang Dynasty, Zuo Xiang Pei Jun arrived five days ago, and he came with the new prince Zhan Shi, the same Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhang Shi Li Mian, and the other household servant Pei You, the official servant Cui Yu, the military servant Li Han, the imperial history of Cheng Yan Jiudu, in addition, the Ministry of Rites Cui Xian came on behalf of his father Cui Yuan, the right minister of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, as the landlord, the third real power figure in the Tang Dynasty, Shangshu Wei of the Ministry of War, and secondly, Wei Xu, the right man of Shangshu, Wei Du, Shaofu Siqing, and other important ministers of the Wei family also rushed to Kaiyang County.

Since Zhang Huan and Duan Xiushi were both coming with heavy troops, in order to prevent accidents, five days ago, Wei Ge mobilized 80,000 heavy troops from all over Longyou and stationed them in various subordinate counties of Kaiyang County.

So far, Kaiyang County has never had so many important ministers of the imperial court gather together, it is really because this is an extremely important negotiation, the Cui family and the Pei family's army have arrived in Hanzhong, just wait for the arrival of the Wei army to send troops to Shu County, however, the key to the Wei family's troops is whether this negotiation can achieve the expected goal

When Zhang Huan was still five miles away, a flying cavalry reported to Wei Ge, and according to the pre-arrangement, Zhang Huan and Duan Xiushi's troops would be stationed in the barracks two miles away, and they themselves could lead 500 guards into the city.

Zhang Huan walked to the city gate, and saw a group of officials waiting there from afar, he turned over and dismounted, and quickly greeted him.

The person who greeted Zhang Huan at the city gate was Wei Ge, the secretary of the military department, who personally went out to the horse, since the beginning of the year, Wei Ge had not seen Zhang Huan for more than half a year, perhaps because Zhang Huan had a beard, but he felt that he was much more mature than at the beginning of the year, and the young man who Yixing Ruifei two years ago was completely like two people, and his eyes became calm and deep. Joy and anger are no longer visible, and there is already a faint bearing of a prince in him.

When Wei Ge saw Zhang Huan, he always couldn't help but think of his son Wei Qing, he also had a gloomy face all day long, from the official to the host and guest outsider, many people in Beijing said that he had a deep personality, and he was Chu Qiao among the young people of the family, and even Wei Ge himself thought that his son was very good. It's really that many young people can't compare, but I saw Zhang Huan today. Wercher knew what was wrong with his son.

Wei Ge couldn't help but sigh slightly, he is also a person from the past, he actually knows very well that only in a difficult environment can he hone his talents. His own son is too smooth, and he doesn't rely on his own efforts, so that he lacks a kind of awe-inspiring majesty.

Just thinking about it, Zhang Huan had already walked up, and he smiled and bowed to Wei Ge, "Wei Shangshu actually went out of the city to greet him in person, Zhang Huan can't afford it!" ”

Wei Ge smiled and hurriedly replied, "Where! Where! It's rare for Zhang Dudu to come to Kaiyang County for the first time, if I don't entertain him well. I'm afraid that the governor won't come next time. ”

The two glanced at each other, and they both laughed together, and at this time, Wei Ge saw Pei Mingyuan behind Zhang Huan at a glance, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

Slightly surprised: "Isn't this Pei Xiangguo's fifth son?" ”

Zhang Huan hurriedly smiled and pulled Pei Mingyuan up. introduced to Wei Ge: "Pei Mingyuan is now a judge in my Hexi Army, and this time he came with me. ”

After Pei Mingyuan returned from Huifu. Zhang Huan resolutely promoted him to the judge of the Xiliang Army, the position of judge is equivalent to the confidential secretary in the army, which is very important, but Zhang Huan trusts him very much, and does not wary of him because he is Pei Jun's eyes and ears by his side, Pei Mingyuan also felt Zhang Huan's sincerity, and gradually he also regarded himself as a member of Hexi.

Seeing that Wei Ge was surprised, Pei Mingyuan hurriedly gave a deep salute, "My nephew came to Hexi in the spring, and I couldn't come to visit Uncle Shi, please forgive Uncle Shi." ”

Seeing Pei Mingyuan's calm demeanor, Wei Ge couldn't help but sigh with emotion, turned around and sighed to Zhang Huan: "I knew that I also asked Wei Qing to go to the governor to hone his skills, so that he would not have to go to Beijing all day long to participate in those boring entertainments." ”

"Participating in entertainment is also to accumulate officialdom contacts, and Uncle Shi doesn't have to be too harsh on Brother Wei Xian."

The two of them just stood in front of the city gate to greet each other, but at this time, Wei Chen, who was standing behind Wei Ge, couldn't help it, he stood up and said with a smile: "Big brother let Zhang Dudu stand in the cold wind all the time, it's not a way of hospitality!" ”

Wei Ge suddenly realized, he saw that the sun had gradually set, so he pulled Zhang Huan and said with a smile: "Today, I bought a thin wine with Pei Xiangguo, which is specially designed for the governor to wash the dust. ”

"Thank you, I wonder if Old General Duan has arrived?"

"He's at noon, and the governor will see him then."

The two talked as they walked, and then entered Kaiyang City

Night is gradually falling, the middle of October is already early winter, the sky is gray, everywhere is a pile of hoarfrost fallen leaves, the night cold air makes the stagnant air add a bit of cold, occasionally blowing a cold wind, the frosted poplar leaves suddenly break away from the branches, like a flock of birds, flying in the air.

Although it is cold outside, but the VIP hall of Weifu is bright and warm like spring, this is a hall that can accommodate 100 people, the hall is carved and painted, countless famous porcelain paintings are filled with it, at this time dozens of seats have been placed, and the banquet is full of all kinds of delicacies.

Come to Longyou to participate in this meeting, the Tang Dynasty ministers gathered together.

There are more than a dozen musicians sitting in the corners on both sides of the lobby, a team of dancing girls are dancing lightly in the field, the sound of silk and bamboo is tactful and melodious, the long sleeves are good at dancing in the field, the posture is light and graceful, and more than a dozen maids are like butterflies in the banquet shuttle to serve the food, and there is a beautiful lady like a flower and jade sitting next to each guest, pouring wine and cloth dishes, and laughing.

Pei Jun and Wei Ge sat in the chairman, and there were two rows of seats on the left and right, the head of the seat on the right was the crown prince Zhan Shi Li Mian, and the head of the left seat was Cui Xian, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites who attended on behalf of Cui Yuan, and Zhang Huan sat on the second side of Li Mian, and directly opposite him was Duan Xiushi, the envoy of Shuofang Jiedu, and on the left of Zhang Huan was Cui Yu, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, Cui Yu, and on the left of Duan Xiushi was Cui Xiaofu's special envoy Li Chuanyun.

Generally speaking, there is always a banquet before a major negotiation, which is not only a way to connect feelings, but also a rehearsal of the negotiation, during which people will see many subtle arrangements, that is, some seemingly inconspicuous arrangements will often determine the success of the negotiation.

For example, this negotiation is obviously just a small consultation meeting of three families in the Helong area, which is like the owner of a family going out to take care of the neighbors who usually have a bad relationship, so that they do not take the opportunity to come to the house to destroy.

But today's appearance at the banquet was attended by three cabinet assistants, four servants of the six ministries, as well as the empress dowager's special envoy, Yushi Zhongcheng, Shangshu Youcheng, Shaofu Siqing, etc., almost half of the heavyweight officials of the Tang Dynasty will gather together, which is actually exerting strong political pressure on Zhang Huan and Duan Xiushi, warning them of the seriousness of the conclusion of the agreement and the serious consequences of violating the agreement.

And this is the biggest bet that Cui Yuan and Pei Jun made in order to reassure Wei Ge to send troops.

Although everyone has beautiful girls around them, it is obvious that there is no lubricant in front of these veterans of officialdom who have seen the world for a long time, and each of them either bows their heads and drinks alcohol, or whispers with each other, and the atmosphere in the lobby seems a little depressing. Zhang Huan toasted Duan Xiushi with a glass of wine, this was the first time they met in two years, the last time was in the West Surrender City, they cooperated to kill Zhu Xicai.

Duan Xiushi is still loyal to Cui Xiaofu, Cui Yuan doesn't care too much about him, this almost fanatical royalist becomes more stubborn as he gets older, and even a little paranoid, he doesn't pay attention to any court decrees at all, but if it is the Empress Dowager's decree, even if he asks him to disband the Lingwu Army, maybe he will follow it.

Therefore, Cui Yuan specially told Cui Xiaofu about the importance of this crusade against Zhu, and in the face of the stability of the Tang Dynasty, Cui Xiaofu also put aside his dissatisfaction with Cui Yuan, and ordered Duan Xiushi not to delay this southern expedition.

Duan Xiushi saw Zhang Huan toasting him, he raised his glass slightly in return, before he entered the table, Duan Xiushi got the secret decree of the Queen Mother Cui Xiaofu from Li Chuanyun, which pointed out that Zhu would endanger the society of the Tang Dynasty, and hoped that Duan Xiushi would not take the opportunity to seize Longyou after the Wei family sent troops.

Regarding the will of the Queen Mother, Duan Xiushi smiled bitterly in his heart, he knew his own family affairs, don't say that Zhu has a grudge against him to kill his father, even if he Duan Xiushi has this heart, what will he do to seize Longyou?

Duan Xiushi and Zhang Huan's situation is slightly different, Zhang Huan occupies Wuwei to recover the lost territory of the Tang Dynasty, and has Pei Jun's material support, so he can develop rapidly, and Duan Xiushi's Lingwu is purely to take advantage of Wei Ge's encirclement and suppression of Zhang Huan's loophole, Wei Ge has always hated him to the core, and laid heavy troops to besiege him in Yan'an County and Hui County, coupled with Duan Xiushi's personal personality problems, he has no backup in the court, so Duan Xiushi has been plagued by food problems for more than a year, and there is no room for development.

A year ago, Duan Xiushi occupied Lingwu County with 30,000 men, and now that the deserters and wounded soldiers have reduced the number of troops available to him to less than half, if it weren't for Wei Ge's concern about Zhang Huan's assistance, he would have sent troops to attack Lingwu a long time ago.

Therefore, whether it is Cui Yuan, Pei Jun, or Wei Ge, they all know that Duan Xiushi is just a supporting role in this Longyou negotiation, and it is Hexi Zhang Huan who really wants to guard against attacking Longyou.

"Zhang Dudu, I toast you!" The person who spoke was the person sitting on Zhang Huan's right, the crown prince Zhan Shi Li Mian, who had just entered the cabinet, and who was once a staunch supporter of Prince Yu.