Chapter 239: Three-way struggle

Chengdu, Shu King's Mansion, although the court did not recognize any titles from Zhu Li, this Shu warlord who never knew what it meant to be "being powerful in the world" still called himself the King of Shu, and forced the military and civilians of dozens of counties in Shu to call him the same name: Shu King Qiansui.

If anyone dares to make a mistake, he will be executed for the crime of rebellion. In the past three years, Zhu Li has only done two things in Shu, collecting money and grain without restraint, and then using the money and grain collected to expand his army.

Although Shu has been prosperous since ancient times, under Zhu Li's levy and levy, the lives of the people have become increasingly difficult. In addition, the military discipline is not serious, soldiers rob large households and rape women often happen.

Zhu Tao often wrote letters from Chang'an to persuade him to pay attention to long-term development, but Zhu Li never paid attention to these things. What he cared about was the number of troops and the hoarding of money and grain. Shuzhong was just a springboard for him to seize the Tang Dynasty. According to his theory, when joining the army became the only way for the people to survive, his soldiers would come continuously. In fact, this was the case. Joining the army became the only profession in Shuzhong that did not have to worry about food. In just three years, Zhu Li's army expanded to 400,000.

However, something that happened the year before yesterday caused Zhu Li to suffer heavy losses. He sent his general Li Na to lead an army of 200,000 to capture Hanzhong, but only 100,000 troops were returned in the end. Li Na was instigated by Pei Jun and became the governor of Hanzhong.

This incident not only seriously shook the morale of the Zhu family army, but also made Zhu Li feel distrust of his subordinates. He then carried out a large-scale purge in the army. All officers who were usually dissatisfied with the remarks were charged with infidelity, arrested or killed, and almost half of them were implicated. It was not until Liu Qian, the military commander of Yuzhou, was forced to raise his troops to rebel that Zhu Li gradually stopped.

Coincidentally, when Zhu Li was about to expand his army again, he discovered a more unfair situation. The wealth in Shu had dried up. Not only that, in the past three years, there were hundreds of thousands of households in Hanzhong, Longyou and Guanzhong, and there were only 200,000 households and more than one million people who fled to Longyou.

Internal and external troubles undoubtedly made Zhu Li's situation worse. In order to get rid of the unfavorable situation, Zhu Li decided to go to the road of expansion, and his eyes turned directly to Longyou. Since the beginning of the sixth year of Xuanren, he sent a large amount of Xizuo to Longyou to collect information, but the news he received surprised him. Longyou became a piece of fat that was rich and fat. At this moment, Xizuo heard news again, Zhang Huantui's army of 150,000 troops were encircled to fight against Tubo.

Zhu Li, who has always held grudges but not favors, suddenly thought of the Shuzhong where Zhang Huan had sneaked into him.

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Like all the scholars and officials, Zhu Li also has his own study room. The biggest feature of the study room is its size, so there is no need to mention the room. Five or six rooms are enough to accommodate hundreds of people. Each room is filled with a bunch of new books, which is quite like a modern reading room. In his main study room, a large desk is ten feet long, with pens, ink, paper and inkstones placed on it. Of course, Zhu Li never picks up a pen.

Zhu Li's body is as wide as the study room. If Zhang Huan is allowed to stand in front of Zhu Li, he may not be able to recognize this old friend. In just a few years, Zhu Li's body has blown up like a soap bubble, more than twice as wide as possible.

At this time, in addition to the "King of Shu", there was also a staff member named Qi Lu, a Guanzhong native, in the study. He had a horse face and was thin, as if he fell down when the wind blew. Although he was thin, he was scheming and called himself Xiao Kongming.

Qi Lu fully agreed with Zhu Li's desire to seize Longyou while Zhang Huan's expedition. He was in charge of the government affairs of Shuzhong. Shuzhong had been ruined by Zhu Li. This year, the southern area was flooded again. If it did not expand outward, his 300,000 army would probably be difficult to support. As for Zhang Huan's expedition to seize his foundation while Zhang Huan's expedition in the west, Qi Lu, like Zhu Li, did not take these false reputations at all. What mattered was the prosperity of Longyou to solve his urgent needs.

"Have you ever thought about it? If Longyou is taken down, the western dynasty of the Tang Dynasty will be completely owned by us. With the strategic depth of Shuzhong and the Longyou blocking the gate of Chang'an, then the prince will be able to establish a generation of imperial career."

Zhu Li, who was lying on a soft couch, smiled proudly, and the fat on his face trembled. He suddenly thought of something and waved his hand and said angrily: "It is inevitable to be emperor, but the first thing I want to destroy is that bastard Li Na. He dared to betray me. I even married the girl to him."

Qi Lu's eyes rolled and he smiled sinisterly: "I have a plan to kill two birds with one stone! We can get Longyou and get rid of Li Na."

Zhu Li was overjoyed and sat up quickly, "I knew that sir would definitely not disappoint me. Tell me quickly, what a plan to kill two birds with one stone?"

"It's very simple. I heard that Hanzhong has a severe drought this year, and Li Na's military rations have also had problems. I guess he is also in a state of great trouble now. If the prince reconciled with him at this time and ordered him to cooperate with us to attack Longyou, and then made an appointment afterwards that he would take the three counties of Jincheng and we would take Hehuang. In this way, wouldn't Hanzhong be empty?"

"Not bad! Not bad!" Zhu Li exclaimed repeatedly, "It's indeed a good plan to kill two birds with one stone. In this way, even if we can't take Longyou, we can still seize Hanzhong."

He pondered for a moment and asked again: "I'm afraid that Li Na will not be willing to send troops, and what if he attacks Chengdu in reverse?"

Qi Lu smiled and shook his head, "No, then Li Na is not a good man or a woman. I don't believe that he doesn't covet the fat piece of Longyou. As long as the prince lets him see our determination to take down Longyou, he will definitely wait for an opportunity to come out. As for counterattacking Chengdu, the prince doesn't have to worry. As long as we set up heavy defenses from Yangping Pass to Jiange, he will not be able to enter Shuzhong."

"Okay!" Zhu Li punched his hands with both hands and made up his mind, "It was unreasonable that Zhang Huan sneaked into my Shuzhong and came without going!"

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In mid-September, the troops in Shu had abnormal movements, and Zhu Li gradually increased troops to the Jiangyou area. Ten days later, Jiangyou's troops had reached 200,000. Zhu Li ordered his clan brother Zhu Fengge to lead 20,000 troops to defend Chengdu, and ordered another clan brother Zhu Ruoxi to quietly lead 60,000 troops to station Jianmen, preparing to attack Hanzhong.

He himself rushed to Jiangyou personally. At the same time, Zhu Li gave his beloved concubine to Li Na, Hanzhong, to express his sincerity to reconcile, and suggested that the two families take Longyou together and draw a river with the Yellow River as the boundary to govern. Li Na, the governor of Hanzhong, who was deeply troubled by money and grain, decided to send 80,000 troops to cooperate with Zhu Li's plan to send troops.

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The early autumn in Bashu is completely different from the clear and brightness of Longyou. What is connected with autumn is the gloomy and humid weather, and there is also an unnatural green-bore, and the product of constant rain-the fog, which envelops the fields and ridges like a thin silk screen.

In this rainy season, gatherings of relatives and friends is the most pleasant thing. Since September, major restaurants in Chengdu, which have been deserted, have also begun to improve their business. Most restaurants can maintain about 50% of the seats every day.

The business of Wangjiang Restaurant near Simaqiao in Chengdu has also improved significantly. From time to time, a group of diners enter and exit the restaurant. Wangjiang Restaurant has a history of a hundred years and is of medium and upper-level scale in Chengdu. Its owner is unknown. It is said to be a senior general in Zhu Li's army. Perhaps it is precisely because of its strong background that there are few harasses from bandits in Wangjiang Restaurant. The shopkeeper who is responsible for the operation of the restaurant is Qian. He is less than 40 years old and is very smart and capable.

At noon that day, the restaurant was crowded with people. A diner in black walked into the restaurant leisurely. He glanced at the shopkeeper Qian who was checking out on the first floor. The two of them had a touch of their eyes and exchanged glances knowingly. The man in black disappeared into the noisy crowd on the first floor.

About a quarter of an hour later, the man in black appeared in the aisle behind the restaurant. Seeing that there was no one on the left and right, he quickly flashed into a small house, passed through several doors, and finally walked into a secret room.

The shopkeeper Qian had been waiting for a long time in the secret room. The two of them did not greet each other. The man in black took out a roll of paper and handed it to the shopkeeper, "This is the defense map of the 20,000 left-behind troops."

After saying that, he took out a thick stack of information and pushed it to the shopkeeper, "This is all the information from Zhu Fengge."

The shopkeeper never said a word. He skillfully put the information into an orange pigeon tube. He took out a flying ticket from the sandalwood box on the table and handed it to the man in black and said: "This is 20,000 guan. The above orders to obtain the strength and strength of Zhu Li's 200,000 troops within five days and the structure of the troops. If the money is not enough, you can add it, but you must get this information anyway."

The black and foodie quickly estimated whether it was, and then nodded silently, collected the 20,000 yuan ticket, and left a small door. Soon, three pigeons flapped their wings and flew towards the distant Longyou.

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Zhang Huan sent troops to Hexi for nearly twenty days, and the court has always remained silent about this matter. No one made public comments on the matter, no one praised him for regaining lost territory for the country, nor did anyone impeach him for sending troops to Hexi without authorization. Silence is the best footnote to this ambivalence, but this silence was broken on September 18th.

Early in the morning, the gate of the Imperial College in Chongrenfang was opened four times, and three thousand Imperial College men rushed out of the door. They were excited, their faces filled with expectations for regaining their hometowns, and they pulled huge banners and drove towards Zhuque Street.

‘Support the Longyou Jiedushi Zhang Envoy to recover the hometown of Hexi!’; ‘The court should not be silent!’; ‘Recovering Hexi is definitely not the last goal of the Tang army!’ and other incitemental blood-red words filled with slogans and banners. The citizens of Chang'an were stunned at first, and then someone began to join. Inspired by the great enthusiasm of the scholars, more and more Chang'an people were infected by the patriotic enthusiasm of the scholars and flocked to the team. Especially the scholars from all over the country who were studying and exams in Chang'an came from all corners after hearing the news. When the team arrived on Zhuque Street, they had grown to 200,000 people, with great momentum and shouts resounded throughout the world.

The loss of the Western Regions has always been the deepest and most painful pain in the hearts of the Tang people. The joy of regaining Hehuang three years ago and the pain of losing Wuwei have been suppressed in people's hearts. Today, the news that the Tang army sent troops to Hexi ignited the three-year expectation together.

Along the way, a steady stream of people spontaneously poured into the team. When the team stopped in front of Zhuque Gate, the overwhelming crowd was like a river rushing, stretching ten miles away, exceeding 400,000 people. A passion that had not been seen in years made Chang'an City completely boil.

In the face of strong public opinion pressure, the court finally broke the silence. Right Prime Minister Pei Jun first expressed his support for the Hexi Jiedushi Zhang Huan's dispatch of troops to recover Hexi, and urgently transferred 300,000 stones of Taicang rice to military rations for the Western Expedition Army. Then the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Censorate and other imperial power agencies also expressed their support for the dispatch of troops to Hexi. But even this is the case, compared with the public opinion as enthusiastic as the fire, the court's attitude was still quite ambiguous. The other six cabinet ministers, even the Queen Mother Cui Xiaofu, seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

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Since Cui Yu gave up the position of Right Prime Minister, this place has become the place where Cui Xiaofu handles the court affairs. As a transaction to support Pei Jun as Right Prime Minister, Cui Xiaofu can not only attend cabinet meetings, but also have the right to visit major court and local government affairs. Although as the Empress Dowager, she does not have the right to directly refute, she can influence the introduction of major decisions through the cabinet.

In terms of power alone, she is indeed more than the late emperor Li Shi, but if she cannot attend the cabinet meeting, her status is actually no different from that of the Li Shi, so her actual gain of power was the result of Cui Yuan's concession back then.

At the same time when hundreds of thousands of people gathered to support Zhang Huan in front of Zhuque Gate, a carriage stopped on the high steps of Zichen Pavilion under the escort of hundreds of guards. Pei Jun, the right prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, immediately came out of the carriage. He tidied up his clothes and walked up the steps.

Now the soldiers on duty in the Daming Palace have been replaced by Qianniu Guards. The Jinwu Guard, which was very popular back then, has gradually declined. There are only 3,000 Jinwu soldiers in the entire Chang'an City, mainly stationed in Xingqing Palace, Dongshi, Pingkangfang and Xuanyangfang, which have close ties with the Cui family. The rest are all the Qianniu Guards, and even the counties under Chang'an are mostly stationed by Qianniu Guards.

This is inevitable after the power imbalance. Even the subordinate minister who served as the Minister of the Secretariat lost the original right to refute. According to the principle of balance of power, the edict issued by the Secretariat must be reviewed by the Secretariat. If the subordinate does not agree, it can be corrected and returned and reissue. For more than a hundred years, the checks and balances between the Secretariat and the Secretariat have not been broken. Even when Cui Yuan was the right prime minister, Pei Jun still held the power to refute.

However, three years ago, after Pei Jun was the right prime minister, he did not hand over the power of refutation to Cui Yu. Instead, he slightly changed the procedures and transferred the position of the rank of the rank under the jurisdiction of the Menxia Province to the directly managed by the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the

Not only that, the Cashier actually undermined the cabinet. Whether the matter is left to the Cashier to discuss is entirely decided by the Fifth-rank official, the fifth-rank official, and the person in charge of the Cashier is Pei Jun's second son Pei Mingyao.

A small fifth-rank official wonderfully interpreted the profound meaning of "a little effort to achieve a great deal", and this is how brilliant Pei Junquan's skills lie.

Menxiasheng lost the right to seal off, and Cui Yu's position as the left prime minister was a false position. The Cui family, who once had great power, thus lost control of the Ministry of War, Dali Temple and other temples.

According to the result of the redistribution of power, as far as the six ministries of the Secretariat were concerned, Pei Jun controlled the three ministries of Li, Hu and Li; Chu Xingshui controlled the Ministry of Justice, Cui Yu controlled the Ministry of War; there was also a Ministry of Works controlled by Wang Ang, and Li Mian controlled the supervisory power of the Censorate. As for the declining Wei Yan and the new Zhu Tao, they only participated in the discussion of major state affairs as members of the cabinet.

The biggest feature of this series of political changes is that Pei Jun monopolizes power, breaking the balance of power among the seven major families in the past.

Pei Jun walked into Zichen Pavilion and bowed to an eunuch on duty and said with a smile: "Please report to the Queen Mother, Pei Jun asked for a meeting."

The difference between it and the military rule is that Pei Jun did not directly break into Cui Xiaofu's court room, but respectfully waited for Cui Xiaofu's summoning in the waiting area. Although this was only a form, Pei Xiangguo, who was born in the literati, had a deep understanding of the word "ritual and wise" in his heart.

After a moment, the eunuch's loud voice came from the depths of the inner hall, "The Empress Dowager summoned Pei Xiangguo to meet him!"
To be continued...