Chapter 269: The wind and rain are coming (Part 2)

Lingwu County has always been the garrison of Shuofang Jiedu. The earliest motivation for establishing Shuofang Jiedu was to defend against the Turks, and later it was turned to defend against the Uighurs. The formal army was organized with 64,700 people, plus some logistics and chores, so there were about 70,000 people in total.

Since Pei Jun sent 200,000 troops to seize the northern part of Guanlong, he restored the Shuofang Jiedushi in the name of the court, but the territory he controlled far exceeded that of Shuofang Jiedushi itself. He went to the Yellow River in the east and the Shuohua County (i.e. Qingzhou), and governed eight counties including Ling, Yan, Yuan, Qing, Yan, Sui, Xia, Yin, etc. Li Zhengji, the current Jiedushi, was originally a general of An Lushan. Later, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and was named the governor of Tanzhou. This person was very good at flattering and was highly valued by Pei Yi. After Pei Yi was transferred back to Chang'an, he strongly recommended him to take over as the position of Shuofang Jiedushi.

Pei Jun initially took a try-out attitude. A year or two later, he found that this person was indeed good. Not only could he lead troops, not harass the people, but he was also loyal to the Pei family. Pei Jun formally appointed him as the governor of Shuofang and the governor of Lingzhou, commanding 70,000 troops. However, at the same time, he appointed Pei Yi's son-in-law Sang Ping as the deputy envoy of the governor, and actually performed the duties of supervising the army.

The road is a long way to know the horsepower, and people's hearts are seen over time. After serving as the governor of Shuofang for three years, Li Zhengji's heart finally began to become uneasy. Two months ago, he sent troops into the military restricted area Huijun County in a tentative manner, which attracted Pei Yi to reward the army. After using beauty, money, wine and other offensives against Pei Yi, the matter temporarily calmed down.

But Li Zhengji was not willing to accept it. On the one hand, he secretly sent people to the Uighurs to seek support, and on the other hand, he actively recruited ethnic minorities such as Uighurs and Dangxiang as private troops. He also cleared dissidents in the army and promoted his confidants. His series of blatant actions finally made Sang Ping, who was silent and silent, and secretly sent someone to report to Pei Yi. Unexpectedly, the news came out. Li Zhengji took the initiative and killed Sang Ping for the crime of stealing food, which meant that he had officially embarked on the road to breaking with the Pei family.

Li Zhengji is about fifty years old, with a square face and lion nose, a burly figure, and a typical military temperament. From his appearance, he is a straightforward and violent old military leader, but in fact, he is very scheming and is especially good at judging his boss's thoughts. In the Pei family army for nearly twenty years, he has received praise from countless people, but he has never exposed his true side.

Today is the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the barracks are very lively, killing pigs and sheep, and colorful flags are waving, and the atmosphere of the New Year is everywhere. Several invited gentlemen are writing letters to the soldiers.

In the tent of the handsome tent, Li Zhengji had a gloomy face, which was completely different from the lively and festive outside. He had just received a letter from Chang'an. The news that Li Zhengji was about to rebel was circulated in Chang'an, which made him very angry. Not to mention that he was actually just trying to imitate Li Huaixian, using allegiance to the court, and separatist the Shuofang as a real thing. He had no intention of rebelling. He could even say that he wanted to get rid of the Pei family and form his own line. But now the capital said that he rebelled, and even if he wrote a letter to express his innocence, Pei Jun would not let him serve as the governor again.

"What should I do?" Li Zhengji paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. The conditions are not yet ripe, and news from the Uighurs has not yet come. Once Pei Jun transfers the Hebei army to come, he may be unable to resist it. Besides, Zhang Huan from the south is eyeing him. Li Zhengji groaned muffled. It seems that it was too early to kill Sang Ping.

"General, I have a way to prevent Pei Jun's army from advancing westward." Liu Wenxi, the deputy general who had been silent, suddenly said.

Liu Wenxi was over thirty years old and was Li Zhengji's personal soldier since he was sixteen. He was his hard-core confidant and promoted by him. This person was clear-headed and could give some useful suggestions at critical moments.

Li Zhengji was excited and said anxiously: "Tell me, what are the best solutions?"

"I suggest that you can cross the river to the west while the Yellow River is frozen and occupy Hexi as the foundation. In this way, Pei Jun will be out of reach, and we will also have natural dangers in the Yellow River."

Before he finished speaking, Li Zhengji denied his thoughts, "I also know that although Hexi is good, Zhang Huan is not easy to mess with. He has an army of 300,000, and we are far from being a rival!"

He sighed heavily, as if regretting his late arrival, he actually allowed Zhang Huan to occupy the treasure land of Hexi first.

"But most of Zhang Huan's troops in Hexi gathered on the front lines of Jiuquan and Dunhuang, and Zhangye and Wuwei were not many people..." Liu Wenxi induced him step by step, "If the general thinks about the factors of Tubo, if we enter Hexi, how could the Tubo people give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? In this way, the troops in Jiuquan and Dunhuang may not be able to return to support."

Li Zhengji didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and was deducing what might happen in the future. Finally, he shook his head, "Not proper! Pei Jun has already put a lot of pressure on us to attract strong enemies anymore, but Li Na from Jingyuan can be used as a side dish for drinking."

As soon as he said this, a personal soldier immediately reported at the door, "General, a few people came to visit outside and said they had received your letter."

Li Zheng had already stood up, and he was overjoyed. This was the Uighurs coming.

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The five people came in, and the leader was a man in his thirties. He was pretty, slender, and noble and arrogant. However, his eyes were filled with time and made people feel chilling. Li Zhengji saw that he was completely different from the short and thick Uighurs, and he was a little surprised, but his face did not show it. He bowed and said, "In the Xia Shuofang Li Zhengji, may I ask you the honorable surname and any official position?"

"I am the General Zuoxia of Uighurs. I came to contact General Li on the order of Khan. As for my name." The young man glanced at him and saw that he was already in awe, he smiled faintly and said, "My name is Tuoba Qianli."

‘Tuoba Qianli?’ Li Zhengji read it twice. He suddenly thought of Tuoba Wanli, the King of Dangxiang, and asked hesitantly: “Are you a Dangxiang person?”

"The past is, but now it is not." Tuoba Qianli obviously did not want to mention the past too much. He winked at the entourage. The entourage immediately spread a map on the table. Tuoba Qianli pointed at Shengzhou County with his index finger and asked arrogantly: "The letter to Khan said that you are willing to present Yunzhong County and Shengzhou County to Khan, is that true?"

"That's true, but the premise is that the Uighurs will send troops to the front line of Dongshoujiang City." Li Zhengji supplemented his conditions without any concessions.

"You want us to restrain Pei Jun's Hebei army!" Tuoba Qianli exposes his intention in one sentence.

Li Zhengji sneered, as if mocking his self-righteousness, "If you want to use Yunzhong and Shengzhou counties, you must also break through the Yinshan defense line. This is what the two families benefit together. Why do you care about my purpose?"

"I see."

Tuoba Qianli nodded, and he pondered for a moment and said, "I might as well tell you the truth. Khan is not good for this matter. After all, he signed a peace agreement with the Tang Dynasty, so he ordered me to cooperate with your actions in the name of the people of the North Dangxiang to send troops to the East Suspension City. I hope that in the end you can keep your promise and hand over the two counties to me."

"Wait!" Li Zhengji waved his hand and stopped him. He had never heard of any Northern Dangxiang people and asked in disbelief: "You mean in the name of Northern Dangxiang people, how many troops can you have?"

Tuoba Qianli laughed loudly. After a while, he stopped laughing and shook his head and said, "I brought 40,000 troops, but there are only 2,000 people from the Northern Dangxiang."

He suddenly stared into Li Zhengji's eyes and said in a low voice, "Don't forget, I am the General of the Uighur Zuoxia!"

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Cui Xiaofu's imperial carriage slowly stopped on the steps of Pei Mansion. Hundreds of guards formed a man's alley, holding a giant shield in one hand and a silver knife in the other. The protection ground was not clear. "The Empress Dowager is here!" With the eunuch's shout, the silence of Pei Mansion was broken.

Cui Xiaofu walked out of the car with the help of more than a dozen palace maids and eunuchs. She looked at the Pei Mansion. Suddenly, many important officials of the Pei family did not have time to come, and only Pei Jun's two sons stood at the door to greet him.

"My minister Pei Mingkai meets the Queen Mother!"

"My minister Pei Mingyao meets the Queen Mother!"

The two of them were in their own formation and looked at each other without looking at each other. An incident that happened last night brought the relationship between the two brothers to freezing point and their faces were completely torn apart. Pei Mingyao was severely scolded by his father for half an hour, threatening to cancel his heir of the family head, and used the Prime Minister's Order that he had not used for two years to urgently open the door to pick up Zhang Huan from his mansion. All of this originated from a letter that Pei Mingyao accidentally threw away and from Pei Mingkai's rumor.

"Qi Bao, my father is sick and cannot go out to greet me. Please forgive me!" The eldest son Pei Mingkai was speaking, and a letter seemed to have subtly changed his fate. Pei Jun ordered him to welcome Cui Xiaofu's arrival for him, and his second brother Pei Mingyao followed behind, lowering his head deeply, and could not see the expression on his face.

Cui Xiaofu waved her hand and smiled, "The Ai family is here to visit the Prime Minister's disease. If the Prime Minister comes to greet her, wouldn't it be contrary to her wishes?"

Under the leadership of the two, Cui Xiaofu stepped into Pei Jun's quiet room. She was not affected by the strong smell of medicine at all. She looked at her first powerful minister with concern on her face with a smile.

The arrival of the empress dowager did not make Pei Jun feel the emperor's grace. On the contrary, he clearly saw a hint of pride in Cui Xiaofu's smile. Of course, he knew Cui Xiaofu's true intention to come today. He didn't learn about Shuofang Sangping's murder until last night. He was furious and immediately followed up. Finally, he learned that Pei Yi and Pei Mingyao had concealed the matter from him. Especially Pei Mingyao, who not only detained Shuofang's expedited express report to Pei Yi without authorization, but also was bold and tore up the warning letter Zhang Huan to himself. If Pei Mingkai had not found it by accident, he might have to get the real news until Li Zheng had rebelled.

Pei Mingyao has disappointed him now. He could not see the serious consequences of Li Zheng's rebellion against him. Just because Zhang Huan and Pei Mingkai have a good relationship, he has wary and prejudice against him. If Li Zheng has rebelled greatly, not only will his prestige be completely wiped out, but the situation in the entire Tang Dynasty will become critical. How could Zhu Li and Cui Qinggong not take the opportunity to attack and expand? Once the world is in chaos, he will only be forced to step down in Cui Yuan's footsteps.

On the contrary, the son-in-law's sentence last night, "If the skin is gone, will the hair be attached?" finally made him see Zhang Huan's sincerity in resolving the Li Zhengyi incident, and also gave him confidence in the Shuofang crisis. No matter what, the son-in-law will not stand idly by.

He calmed down and apologized to Cui Xiaofu and said, "I am Pei Jun, who is here to meet the Queen Mother, I am sorry that I cannot get out of bed to greet me."

The maid brought an embroidery dormitory, Cui Xiaofu sat down, smiled and said, "The Prime Minister is busy with all kinds of things, so he fell ill before the New Year. The Ai family is worried. Today, I will come to visit the Prime Minister. In addition, the Ai family has something to discuss with the Prime Minister."

Pei Jun sighed secretly, it came so fast.

"Please tell me, Queen Mother."

Cui Xiaofu looked at Pei Jun for a while before slowly saying: "It is rumored that Li Zhengji of Shuofang is about to be in chaos in the capital, but the Ai family thought that Li Zheng was already recommended by Pei Xiang, and his soldiers were all old subordinates of the Prime Minister Hebei. How could it be in chaos? The Ai family is preparing to severely punish the rumor-maker for disrupting the morale of the army. Let's discuss with the Prime Minister, can the Prime Minister agree with the Ai family's ideas?"

After saying that, a hint of mocking flashed through her eyes, waiting for Pei Jun's reply. Pei Jun didn't speak for a long time, but in fact he had nothing to say. Cui Xiaofu was forcing him to express his opinion. Whether he agreed or denied it, he would fall into a huge passiveness. On the contrary, for Cui Xiaofu, as the ministers in the court began to differentiate, the royalist party began to gradually rise, and more and more ministers hoped to return the power to the emperor, restore the structure of the court before Qingzhi, and use the emperor's prestige to maintain the stability of the Tang Dynasty. Under this trend, Cui Xiaofu became more and more tough. She needed corresponding power to consolidate her rising prestige. The Li Zhengyi incident that happened at this time became her best entry point.

After a long silence, Pei Jun finally said slowly: "Since the Empress Dowager trusts Pei so much, how can Pei not act cautiously? Rumors are everywhere in the market, and we should not think it is a rumor. The facts should be the first priority. I ordered Pei Yi to go out of the city overnight to investigate the situation. Please let the Empress Dowager go to Shuofang for a few days."

"Okay, the Ai family will wait for news about the prime minister." After that, Cui Xiaofu stood up and smiled: "I hope the prime minister will recover sooner, and the New Year's dynasty still needs the prime minister to work hard!"

"Let's wait."

Pei Jun suddenly called Cui Xiaofu. He took a memorial from beside him and handed it to Cui Xiaofu and said, "These are some revised drafts on the law of the people. Please read them in advance!"

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Cui Xiaofu's carriage was slowly driving on Zhuque Street. Both sides of the street were filled with people who gave way. There were cavalry in front of the carriage and guards at the end. On both sides, swords and halberds were like forests, like dark clouds covering the ground. Inside the car, Cui Xiaofu looked at the memorial given to her by Pei Jun, with full joy in his eyes. The memorial was drafted by the Ministry of Personnel. The content was very simple. It was to limit the number of officials from aristocratic families to enter the court and give quotas to those who passed the imperial examination. The reason why Cui Xiaofu was excited was not the memorial itself, but the memorial for Pei Jun to read the memorial in advance. This was by no means accidental. Under the current chaos and pressure in the court, Pei Jun's move has a significant directional significance, which means that he will return part of his power to himself, and he finally gave in.

Cui Xiaofu was so happy that she almost laughed loudly. Six years of his six-year career without power began to turn around. She was about to get the sweetest thing in the world. She looked up at the sky through the car window. The sky was so blue and the sun was so bright. She hurriedly picked up the bronze mirror and looked at her face carefully. Her eyebrows were as dark as the distance, and her face was rosy and delicate. Is the empress dowager in the mirror who was the mother of the world? At this moment, Cui Xiaofu suddenly felt that she was twenty years younger.

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To be continued...