In Chang'an, the land of Guanzhong in early autumn is still a bit stuffy and the heat has not completely subsided, but the streets and alleys of Chang'an are in full swing. The people of Chang'an who were still happy for the victory of Anxi a few days ago were also silent at this time, but this silence cannot cover up the undercurrents of the calm and turbulent under the situation. A feeling of sorrow and uneasiness spread in Chang'an. Emperor Li Miao of the Tang Dynasty was seriously ill and had no cure.

In the sleeping hall of the Emperor of Daming Palace, this thin young emperor was lying quietly on the dragon bed, as if he was asleep. He had not sensed for three days. No imperial doctor could find out what disease he had suffered, and no one could wake him up. The water and rice could not be fed. Li Miao was like a flower that had left the soil, gradually withering and withering. Aside him, several imperial doctors were busy tiredly, and acupuncture and massage him again and again, hoping that he could swallow the fluid, so that at least he could save his life, but everything was in vain. His throat was like a stone,

Any water and medicine would flow out from the corner of his mouth. Although everyone knew what the emperor's result would be, no one dared to say it. As early as the day when Li Miao suddenly fainted, an unlucky imperial physician had just proposed to prepare for the emperor's funeral, and was killed by the angry empress dowager. Cui Xiaofu seemed to be crazy. She investigated the cause of the emperor's illness. There were more than twenty eunuchs and palace maids around Li Miao who were executed for dereliction of duty. But in this way, the truth became farther and farther away. The most authoritative statement was that the emperor fell down while standing on the shelf and seriously injured his head.

But now no reason is important. What is important is who will inherit the emperor's throne? This is the topic that Chang'an people are most concerned about. The struggle began the day Li Miao fell.

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As night fell, a carriage rushed from a distance under the arch of more than 100 guards and stopped in front of the mansion of right prime minister Pei Jun. Lu Qi, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, one of the nine ministers in the cabinet, walked out of the carriage. With the improvement of finance in the past few months, Lu Qi's complexion has also improved a lot. The money and grain of Jianghuai have been transferred from Xiangyang smoothly, greatly alleviating the financial crisis of the court and the high rice prices in Chang'an. Especially this year, the large-scale harvest of rice in the south has become a foregone conclusion, which has also reduced the rice prices in Chang'an.

The further reduction has now been reduced from 500 cigarettes of rice in June to 80 cigarettes of rice in June, but the price of salt has risen to 200 cigarettes per cigarette. The rise in salt prices means a significant increase in salt tax. In just a few months, the court obtained 5 million cigarettes of money from the salt tax. His pocket was sufficient, which naturally made the Ministry of Revenue's back straighten. Lu Qi's status also rose. Among the six auxiliary ministers in the cabinet, he became the second person after Pei You, the Minister of Personnel, and even surpassed Li Mian, the Minister of Rites in real power.

Like other ministers, Lu Qi has been in a heavy mood these days. The emperor has had an accident. Although this incident itself does not affect the operation of the court, the subsequent battle for the throne will surely become the focus of this year's power struggle. The current situation is still unclear. Both the Empress Dowager and the Prime Minister Pei remain silent. At this time, Lu Qi has sensitively realized that the Prime Minister called him to come today, which is probably related to this matter.

He tidied up his clothes and walked up the steps quickly. Pei Jun's eldest son Pei Mingkai was waiting in the door. When Lu Qi came up, he hurriedly walked out and gave a gift, "Father, I ordered me to wait here. Uncle Lu, please follow me."

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In Pei Jun's study, the most powerful prime minister of the Tang Dynasty reviewed the memorials with a serious expression. These days, his mansion was very calm. As usual, he seemed to have not received any impact from the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Pei Jun was not as anxious as people talked about. On the contrary, he was still working hard for national affairs, big and small, as usual every day.

But this does not mean that he does not care about Li Miao's affairs. After all, a king of a country is about to perish. As a minister and the most powerful minister, he cannot not be sad about it.

Pei Jun was not surprised by Li Miao's accident, or as he expected, since he made a big splash at the beginning of the year, Pei Jun felt a little uneasy. The reason why Cui Xiaofu convinced Li Si to establish his crown prince was because of his neglect, but now he showed premature wisdom too early.

If it were just precocious, Cui Xiaofu might be able to tolerate him, but his biological father Li Qiu's ambitions have expanded, taught him too much rebellion and power, and directly threatened Cui Xiaofu's power. Not to mention that he is Cui Xiaofu's fake, even if he is his biological son, she will not tolerate it.

In the final analysis, it was caused by the short-sightedness and stupidity of King Luo Li Qiu.

When Li Miao was about to leave, Pei Jun could not ignore the issue of successors, but the inheritance of the throne was not decided by him. Pei Jun alone had to consider the idea of ​​the empress dowager, the internal disputes of the Li royal family, and the opinions of all officials and veterans. But more importantly, Zhang Huan's attitude, the structure of the cabinet was a three-power tyranny, which determined that the heirs of the Tang emperor would reach a compromise between these three factions.

"Father, Mr. Lu is here." The humble voice of his eldest son Pei Mingkai came from outside the door.

The family affairs also made Pei Jun quite upset. Over time, he made his second son Pei Mingyao the heir to the head of the family too early. The facts proved that his decision was a bit hasty. Pei Mingyao had more abilities but lacked virtue. Although Pei Mingkai was kind, he lacked the skill and vision to do big things. Moreover, because he was disabled, he was destined to be his heir.

Pei Jun sighed. Every family has a difficult sutra, and it turns out that's true!

He put his thoughts back, put down his pen and said, "Please come in!"

Soon, under the guidance of Pei Mingkai, Lu Qi walked into the study, and he stepped forward and bowed to Pei Junshen, "I am humble and meet the prime minister!"

"Mr. I'm so polite." Pei Jun waved his hand with a smile, "Please sit down!"

Then two maids came in and served incense tea for them. Pei Jun saw that Pei Mingkai was still standing aside without any worries. His face darkened and said unhappily: "You go too! Take the door with you by the way."

Pei Mingkai was shocked. He quickly gave a bow, walked out quickly, closed the door, and kept listening to his footsteps walking away. Pei Juncai sighed slightly and said, "None of my sons is a good match, and none of them satisfy me."

Lu Qi shook his head and smiled, "That's because Pei Xiang's requirements are too high. I think they are all pillars of my Tang Dynasty. Ming Kai is kind and kind, Mingyao is shrewd and capable, Mingqian works diligently, Mingcheng benefits the people. As for Mingyuan, he is now the Sima of the Longyou Jiedu Prefecture, and Zhang Huan's right-hand man is even more amazing. If they can't be called a weapon, then wouldn't my two sons become pigs and sheep?"

Pei Jun smiled bitterly, "Don't comfort me anymore, I know very well."

He changed the topic and took a memorial from the table and handed it to Lu Qi, saying, "This is the Ministry of War's pension plan for the fallen soldiers in this battle to recover Anxi. You can take a look first!"

Lu Qi took the memorial and opened it. He glanced at the last pension first, and couldn't help but be shocked. He actually cost 1.1 million guan. Pei Jun saw his expression and explained to him: "This is calculated based on the standard of 20,000 people. The court's customization is fifty guan per person, and the officer is slightly higher, so the budget is 1.1 million guan. However, it may not be so much. My latest information is 13,000 people, and it will be a little more later. It is estimated that it will be about 15,000 people in the end."

Lu Qi Caocao looked at it and frowned slightly, "We can still give out the millions of guan, but I heard that the standard set by Longyou is 200 guan per person, but the court only gives 50 guan, but the big head is owed to the local government. I am afraid that it will be laughed at by the people of the world. What I mean is that the court will either give 100 guan, or just ignore it and let Longyou solve it by itself."

"No!" Pei Jun immediately denied Lu Qi's opinion, and said solemnly: "The Longyou Army fought to regain our Tang Dynasty Anxi. If the court did not care about the pensions of the fallen soldiers, it would be ridiculed by the people of the world. Fifty stakes were customized by the court, not because they were Zhang Huan's army. As for Longyou, it would not be my problem."

He sneered slightly and said, "Besides, as far as I know, Longyou did not take out 200 guan at one time, but provided his family with money and rice for a long time, but we took out all of them all at once, and there was no room for comparison between the two."

Speaking of this, Pei Jun stood up, and his mood was a little uneasy. In this battle of Anxi, Zhang Huan became the biggest winner. Not only was his reputation unprecedentedly high inside and outside the court, but he also took over Anxi and Beiting. He actually controlled half of the Tang Dynasty. In terms of strength, Zhang Huan's total strength reached 450,000, and there were also a large number of reserve militias that could be transformed into regular troops at any time, which had surpassed him in terms of strength.

He looked at the candlelight and pondered for a while before saying, "I asked you to come tonight because I wanted to ask you to do something."

Lu Qi quickly stood up and bowed, "I dare not be humble, please give me the order."

Pei Jun nodded, pointed to the memorial on the table and said to Lu Qi: "You go to Longyou and have a good talk with them about the pension."

Lu Qi was stunned. Not to mention whether it was necessary to go to Longyou to discuss this matter, even if it was necessary to discuss it, it should be the Ministry of War. Why did Pei Jun ask him to go? But he was stunned for only a moment. Lu Qi understood Pei Jun’s true intention after a second thought. He immediately bowed and said, “Please rest assured, the Prime Minister, my subordinates will set off early tomorrow morning.”

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After Lu Qi left, Pei Jun stared at the night sky with his hands behind his back, and the country could not be without a king for a day. Zhang Huan is now far away in Anxi, and it will take more than twenty days to come back. It is impossible to wait for him to come back before discussing the establishment of a new king. Sending someone to Longyou is an explanation for him. Moreover, Cui Xiaofu takes action at this time, I am afraid that he will break the plan after he comes back.

Pei Jun knew Cui Xiaofu's thoughts completely, but he didn't want to suppress her too much. He still needed this woman to restrain Zhang Huan for him. Thinking of this, Pei Jun's eyes slowly looked towards the direction of the Ming Palace. I wonder if this woman has decided to choose the next monarch now?

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The night was already deep, a crescent moon hung in the sky, and the autumn wind blew over the treetops with a hint of coldness, making a whimpering sound. The lights in the Linde Hall of the Daming Palace were still brightly lit. Cui Xiaofu was looking at something at the desk, and she was very focused, so that the eunuch Lu Taiyi entered the room, but she didn't notice it.

Cui Xiaofu's mind was no longer the dying child emperor in the past two days. Although Li Miao was her son in name, and although she had raised him for seven years, she could not say that she had no feelings, in the face of power struggle, her heart was harder and colder than iron. At this moment, she was thinking of choosing another young emperor from the royal family. As Pei Jun guessed, she was going to make sure that this matter was done before the end of the Battle of Anxi and did not give Zhang Huan any chance.

In the afternoon, Wei Yan came to see her and recommended Li Mian's grandson Li Yan to succeed to the throne. Li Yan is only two years old this year and is smart and lively, but Cui Xiaofu was unsure of his mind. Although Li Mian is his confidant and his connections in the royal family are no less than Li Qi, he can completely calm Li Qi's revenge arises due to the death of his son. This is a favorable side, but Li Mian himself is too strong. Once his son succeeds to the throne, will he have a different intention like Li Qi and thus undermine himself? This is a problem Cui Xiaofu has to consider.

Cui Xiaofu has read the genealogy of Li's clan three times, but she still hasn't found a suitable candidate. She put down the genealogy with some frustration.

At this moment, she suddenly saw Lu Taiyi standing at the door, and then combined the family tree and said angrily: "If you are not by his side, why are you going to do here?"

"Report to the Empress Dowager, the imperial doctor has found a way to let him take medicine."

"What?" Cui Xiaofu stood up in surprise and said angrily: "Didn't you say you have no choice? Who came up with the solution?"

"It was done by the imperial doctor Qin who was on duty tonight. He is trying now. When the old slave saw that the situation was not good, he came to report to the Empress Dowager."

"The Ai family wants to go and see, how could he have such great ability?" Cui Xiaofu snorted coldly and walked out the door quickly. At this time, Lu Taiyi felt the irrepressible murderous intent on Cui Xiaofu. He didn't dare to say another word, and followed her tremblingly.

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Chapter completed!