Yang Yuanqing stood on the steps of Cui's Mansion with his hands in his hands, squinting and looking at the surrounding environment, which was less than two hundred steps away from Beishi, it was actually very quiet, and the environment was also very good, a few old trees were lush and leafy.

Yang Yuanqing admired the Cui family for their vision and bought such a quiet house, although the house is a little smaller, but if the population is not large, it is also a burden to live in a house that is too big.

The house is the private residence of the Boling Cui family in Taiyuan, although it was not bought by Cui Hongyuan, but it can also be seen that the consistent style of the Boling Cui family: close to power and low-key.

In the past two days, Yang Yuanqing has been observing the attitudes of Cui and Lu, and kept saying that he would resign, but he did not hand the resignation letter to his desk, which shows that Cui and Lu's resignation is not sincere, but just to put pressure on him.

But Yang Yuanqing did not take it lightly, and he would not directly dismiss Cui and Lu in a rough way, after all, Cui Lu and Lu were involved in more than a dozen counties in Hebei behind them, and they acted too roughly, which would stimulate riots in Hebei and cause instability in Hebei.

In fact, this is also where Cui and Lu rely on, they know that Yang Yuanqing will not really do the recall, so they dare to threaten with resignation.

In the final analysis, it is still interests, but a small Yicang grain problem affects the interests of the entire Hebei officialdom.

After Yang Yuanqing took Hebei at the beginning of the year, except for Hejian County, which was the largest in area, and Zhuo County, which had the largest population, were thoroughly purged, the rest of Hebei's counties and counties remained officialdom.

This is actually a compromise by Yang Yuanqing, maintaining the interests of all parties in Hebei, and at the same time inviting the representatives of the interests of all parties in Hebei, the heads of the Fan Yang Lu clan and the Boling Cui clan into Ziwei Pavilion.

The stability of Hebei's interests also brought about the stability of the situation in Hebei, so that he almost attacked the Central Plains on a large scale without garrisoning troops in Hebei and took the hinterland of the Central Plains.

The benefits of Hebei's stability are obvious, but the drawbacks are also increasing day by day, and Hebei's various interests are gradually solidifying. Once he unified the world. If I go back to clean up Hebei, I'm afraid it will be too big to lose.

A small house county magistrate dared to embezzle 6,000 stone of righteous grain, and he was accidentally bumped into by himself. A leaf can know autumn, so how deep will the water in the counties and counties of Hebei be?

Yang Yuanqing knew very well what he needed to do now, even if it was not a large-scale purge of Hebei officialdom. But it is also necessary to use cruel means to deter the officials of various counties and counties in Hebei, so that they do not dare to make a fuss about the land.

If the Hebei officialdom is not deterred in time and do not make them reined in, then the large-scale implementation of the equalization system in winter will bury great hidden dangers.

Only by forcefully solving the grain problem in Yicang and letting all counties in Hebei see the will and determination of the central court can the system of equalizing fields be smoothly implemented.

If you move, you will be chaotic now, and if you don't move, you will be chaotic in the future. As a superior, you must find a balance between the two, and Zhao Juntaishou Zhang Jibei is undoubtedly a good move. You have to make this move. Cui Hongyuan's cooperation must be obtained.

Then breaking the alliance between Cui and Lu is the most critical first step, and Lu Yu will go to court from today. And Cui Hongyuan did not come to the court, and Yang Yuanqing smelled a trace of disharmony between them.

At this time, there was a rush of footsteps from the inner courtyard, followed by Cui Hongyuan's voice, "Open the gate quickly!" ”

The gate 'squeak'! Pulling it away, Yang Yuanqing turned around, only to see Cui Hongyuan walking out quickly, although his spirit was not too good, there was a nervousness in his eyes that could not be concealed.

Cui Hongyuan was indeed very nervous, Yang Yuanqing's sudden arrival did not have any warning, nor did he have any prior notice, especially when Zhang Jibei had just been escorted to Jinyang Palace, and Yang Yuanqing came, is there any relationship between the two?

Cui Hongyuan didn't have time to think, and hurriedly came out of the gate, "Wechen has lost his welcome, let His Highness wait for a long time, and Wechen's fault is also!" ”

Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly, "It's okay to notify me in advance, I'm sorry, I just want to visit Cui Xiangguo's condition." ”

Yang Yuanqing looked at Cui Hongyuan, and said with a smile: "Cui Xiangguo's complexion is better than I imagined!" ”

Cui Hongyuan's face showed a trace of embarrassment, he actually didn't have any illness at all, and he didn't pretend to be like it, so he had to sigh and said: "Weichen was a little sick the day before yesterday, and he rested for two days, he has already gotten better, and he will be able to officially go to court tomorrow, just let His Highness worry, the old minister is ashamed!" ”

He hurriedly bowed down and asked, "Your Highness, please come in!" ”

Yang Yuanqing smiled and walked into the Cui Mansion quickly, the Guike Hall in the Cui Mansion had been cleaned up, Yang Yuanqing arrived as the King of Chu, and Cui Hongyuan had no personal relationship, of course, he couldn't go to the study, he could only accept the most solemn etiquette of the Cui Mansion.

However, Yang Yuanqing came in a hurry, Cui's Mansion did not prepare, there was neither a lantern nor a color, but a red carpet was laid out at the door of the Guike Hall, Cui Hongyuan invited Yang Yuanqing to the Guike Hall, and gave up the main seat, the two humbly for a moment, and sat down separately.

A maid brought two cups of tea, Yang Yuanqing picked up the teacup and looked at it, seeing that the wall of the cup was as thin as paper, crystal like jade, and the cyan of the tea could be faintly seen, and said with a smile: "Xingyao white porcelain can be so delicate, but it is rare, could it be that this is the legendary thin shadow cup?" ”

Cui Hongyuan smiled a little proudly: "It is the thin shadow cup, Xingyao has only burned a total of five pairs in the past hundred years, and now there are only two pairs in the world, one pair is in the palace, and the other pair is in the Boling Cui family's mansion, and the thin shadow cup in the hands of His Royal Highness is the pair collected by the Boling Cui family." ”

"It's really hard to use such an expensive thing for me, if I accidentally damage it, won't I become a sinner of the Cui family?"

"Your Highness is serious, apart from this thin shadow cup, I really can't think of anything else to show the respect of the Boling Cui clan to His Highness."

Cui Hongyuan is really a little weak-hearted, he is a cautious person, and he is the eldest son of the Cui family, when his father chose the heir to the head of the family, it was because he was more cowardly and timid and had no courage, so he did not choose him, but chose the second son Cui Hongsheng.

It was only because Cui Hongsheng died of illness in Liaodong and the troubled times of the Sui Dynasty came that the Boling Cui clan unanimously recommended Cui Hongyuan, who was noble and cautious, to take over the position of head of the family.

In the past few days, because Yang Yuanqing showed signs of cleaning Hebei officialdom, which touched the vital interests of Lu and Cui, it triggered a strong resistance from Lu Yu and Cui Hongyuan, but that's it, the views of the two of them are still a little different, Lu Yu advocates tough resistance and never gives in, and Yang Yuanqing must be made to understand the attitude of the Hebei Department that will never give in.

And Cui Hongyuan advocated negotiation and compromise, he did not want to be too strong, attracting Yang Yuanqing's revenge, although Lu Yu repeatedly persuaded him, but his cowardice in his bones still made him agree, but he did not think so, and it was precisely because of the disagreement between them that Lu Yu appeared in the court today, and Cui Hongyuan continued to call the pace of illness inconsistent.

It was Cui Hongyuan's inner timidity and weakness that made him try his best to please Yang Yuanqing, and did not hesitate to take out the famous porcelain treasured by the Cui family to entertain guests.

Yang Yuanqing was silent, slowly took a sip of tea, and then sighed and said: "My biggest regret is that I didn't be able to visit Boling Cui's family, when I was the governor of Youzhou, Zhuo County Cui Taishou and I had a good relationship, and even when I and Li Jing jointly opposed the army to Goryeo and were deposed, Cui Taishou stood up to defend me, I have always kept this kindness in my heart, and I will repay Cui Taishou for my affection at the right time." ”

Yang Yuanqing said very sincerely, which moved Cui Hongyuan's heart, and he also sighed, "Hongsheng also told me back then, saying that the head of Youzhou Yang is honest, has clear grievances, and can have deep friendships, but Hongsheng died early, and then the world was in turmoil, and the Boling Cui clan was too busy to take care of himself, so that he has not been in contact with His Royal Highness, in fact, the Boling Cui clan has supported His Royal Highness for a long time, and we hope that His Royal Highness can unify the world as soon as possible, and we are willing to do our best for it." ”

The two sides seem to be greeting, but in fact they are cautiously testing each other's bottom line, Cui Hongyuan understands that Yang Yuanqing will not touch the core interests of the Boling Cui family for the time being, and Yang Yuanqing also understands that Cui Hongyuan is willing to compromise, and at this point, Yang Yuanqing turned the topic to business.

"This time I passed through the house county on the way back, only to know that a small county order dared to embezzle 6,000 stone Yicang grain, shocking, although the county order was killed, but I found a lot of loopholes in the Yicang grain depot, so I decided to comprehensively investigate the Yicang grain depot in various places, including Hedong, Hebei and the Central Plains, but there are a lot of dissenting voices in the imperial court, some people advocate that the past is not to blame, and strict management can be done in the future, I don't know what Cui Xiangguo's attitude is to this?"

Yang Yuanqing stared at Cui Hongyuan with sharp eyes, his shot went straight to the point, which made Cui Hongyuan flustered for a while, he didn't expect Yang Yuanqing to ask so directly, so that he was not prepared at all, but he couldn't avoid it, after all, he was Xiangguo, and this matter was discussed in Ziwei Pavilion.

He pursed his lips a few times, and finally said in a low voice: "I think the key is to have sufficient evidence, if it really involves a crime, it should be investigated, but if it is not a personal gain, but only because of the chaos of the situation and the loss of Yicang grain, then it should also be forgiven." ”

"Of course, after all, there is a shortage of war, as long as it is not private and greedy, then I will not pursue it, but if it involves bribery, dereliction of duty, or corruption, then I will never spare it."

Cui Hongyuan's heart jumped suddenly, he heard that Yang Yuanqing was referring to Zhang Jibei, isn't Zhang Jibei just embezzlement?

Sure enough, Yang Yuanqing looked at him, and said slowly: "Regarding Zhang Jibei's case, there may be many people involved, I am here to give Cui Xiangguo a bottom, if the case involves the children of the Boling Cui family, I can let it go, the rest of the people, one will not be spared, Cui Xiangguo can agree?" ”

This is the bottom line of Yang Yuanqing's Yicang grain case this time, defeating the peripheral forces of the Cui and Lu families, and not touching the children of the sect, that is, the core interests of the Cui and Lu families, this is Yang Yuanqing's concession.

Of course, Cui Hongyuan also understood, he knew that Yang Yuanqing had already given in, so they needed to make concessions.

After pondering for a long time, Cui Hongyuan finally nodded, "I agree with His Highness's plan!" ”

His statement means that the Luchui alliance is officially split