Chapter 371: Step by step (Part 1)

In Yejun, Hebei Road, under the blue sky, a flying pigeon retracted its wings and landed in the Tang army camp. After a while, several messengers rushed out of the camp and galloped towards the northern war zone.

Over the past month, Wang Siyu has carried out many small-scale battles with the Uighurs and Khitan coalition forces in accordance with Zhang Huan's strategic deployment, and both sides suffered casualties. However, after a series of tentative battles, the strategic deployment of the Tang army was completed. Twenty days ago, Helou Wuji's 150,000 troops broke out from Jingxing. Within a few days, he seized several cities in Lingshou, Dingzhou, Boye, and Hejian, cutting off the retreat route of the Uighurs and Khitan coalition forces. At this time, Wang Siyu immediately confiscated his troops and stopped fighting with the enemy. Ten days have passed in a flash.

The southern camp of the Tang army was stationed near Handan County. That afternoon, the messenger from Ye County finally arrived at the camp. The messenger brought the governor's emergency military order. The guards of the camp did not dare to neglect them and quickly led them to Wang Siyu's command. At this moment, Wang Siyu was quietly thinking about the battle plan in front of the map. He had just received news from the scouts. From the night before yesterday, the tragic neighing sound of war horses being massacred in the enemy camp. Generally speaking, war horses are the second life of cavalry, and they will not be absolutely necessary.

Because they would not kill, but now the enemy began to kill horses, there was only one explanation. The enemy's military rations were already burned, which was different from the Central Plains Rebellion. This time, the Uighurs and Khitan coalition invaded south and were blocked in the Fanyang area for a long time. During this period, local officials in Hebei organized a large-scale escape and planned to burn the uncarried food. There were empty cities and villages on the land of Hebei, which made the Uighurs and Khitan cavalry harvest very little after going south, and it was reasonable to have a food crisis.

But Wang Siyu still dared not believe it easily. He fought with Tuoba Qianli many times, knowing that he was extremely cunning. Just a few horse calls could not determine that the enemy had run out of food. Even if there was no food, Wang Siyu would not fight easily. He knew the truth that the sad soldiers would win. He was still waiting, waiting to prove that the food was out of food.

"Report to the general, the governor's emergency military order has arrived." Suddenly, the soldiers' reports came from outside the door.

"Ah!" Wang Siyu immediately stood up straight and quickly ordered: "Come on."

A soldier walked in quickly and handed a black pigeon letter on it. The pigeon letter hit the thin bamboo tube, and it was still in a sealed state. Only the three small words "Wang Siyu" were engraved on the bamboo tube, indicating that this was an urgent item for Wang Siyu. He gently broke the bamboo tube, revealing a roll of white silk inside. Generally speaking, the pigeon letter could not contain much content. The secret letter written by Zhang Huan was very simple, with only eight words, "Prepare Hebei early and go to Huainan quickly."

'Huainan?' Wang Siyu was stunned, but he immediately understood that something must have happened to the Chu family. The governor was preparing to use force to recover Huainan. He put away the secret order and looked at the battle sand table to ponder. Although he was preparing to wait for the Uighurs and the Khitans to launch a large-scale attack after an internal strife, the governor sent this letter, obviously ordering him to attack immediately and end the war.

After pondering for a moment, Wang Siyu immediately wrote a text message and ordered the soldiers to say, "Send this letter to General Helou immediately!"

On March 28, 2010,000 elite soldiers of Xiliang suddenly killed the Huihe and Khitan coalition camp. At the same time, Helou Wuji's army on the northern front also cooperated with Wang Siyu's army, and more than 20 Tang troops launched a final offensive against Tuoba Qianli tribe.

In Chang'an, the strategy of dealing with the Chu family is still under discussion. Cui Yu suggested sending envoys to Huainan to negotiate with the Chu family, while Pei You advocated giving certain concessions to the Chu family. The court promised in writing to guarantee the current interests of the Chu family. However, whether it was Cui Yu, Pei You, or other senior officials, everyone's principles were consistent. The Jianghuai area could not be introduced into war, and the Chu family crisis should be resolved in a peaceful way.

At the end of the three-day meeting, Zhang Huan, who had been silent, finally made the final decision.

Early in the morning, Chu Wei left his mansion to go to the Daming Palace Courtyard. Chu Wei was Cui Ning's fanatical suitor at that time, but his father Chu Xingshui was unwilling to be a dog in the Cui family, so he flatly refused the marriage. After eight years, he had already married the daughter of Fang Zongyan, another minister of Taifu Temple in the Tang Dynasty, and had a son and a daughter. They all went to the Chu family's private school in Guangling. Like most officials, Chu Wei's wife stayed in her hometown to take care of her children, and in Chang'an, she was responsible for taking care of his daily life. The Chu family's mansion in Chang'an is located in Guangdefang near the West City, which is far from the Daming Palace, so the Chu family had to go out early. He got on the carriage and rushed towards the Daming Palace under the sanitation of more than a dozen guards.

After Chu Wei joined the top scorer, he was promoted step by step. He is currently the young supervisor of the Shaofu, and is in charge of the world's minting power. However, he was quite worried in the past few days. Although the Chu family did not openly confront the court, his father refused to return to the court, and he deducted the six million chunks of tax from the Salt and Iron Supervision on the grounds that the river was required to clear the river, which undoubtedly pushed the Chu family to the opposite side of the court.

My father was decisive and tough for the interests of the Chu family, but what should he do? He is still in Chang'an. Under the eyes of others, if he wants to escape, not to mention whether he can escape, even if he can run away, can he still be able to keep his life in the last eight years? For this reason, Chu Wei has no food and can't sleep. I don't know what the court will do with him.

The carriage was running fast in Fang Street. It was already dark. There were already many people who were waking up in a hurry on the street, as well as some vendors carrying camels to sell breakfast. The street was accompanied by their shouts: "Don't you want to use tofu brain?"

“Egg noodles, minced meat noodles, delicious and cheap!”

The street scene was no different from usual. It was a quiet and peaceful morning, but Chu Wei was already nervous at this time. Two horses were following them all the time. He was faster than the other party, and he was slower than the other party. Obviously, it was coming to him. This was something that had never happened before. Chu Wei looked at the two horses behind him nervously, constantly urging the carriage to go quickly. He had already arrived at the gate of the shop. In the early morning, the carriage was crowded with people buying and selling vegetables. Suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly.

"Why stop!" Chu Wei turned his head and scolded the driver angrily, but the moment he turned his head, Chu Wei's face turned pale. He saw from the gap in the car door that was full of troops standing in front of him, with swords tense and murderous intent, and hundreds of people were overwhelmed. The thing he feared the most finally came.

"Why do you stop my carriage?" Chu Wei asked with courage.

No one answered.

"I am the young minister of the young government, so you must not be rude!"

Still no one answered, hundreds of soldiers stared at him coldly, as if they were looking at a prisoner under the stairs.

At this time, a lieutenant walked out of the team and bowed to Chu Weigong and said, "According to the order of my governor, please ask the young supervisor Chu to come with us."

Chu Wei snorted and said coldly: "What if I don't go with you?"

The captain's face changed, and he waved his hand and hundreds of steel crossbows were flat. The cold crossbow arrows pointed at Chu Wei. As long as he dared to say the word "No!", he would pierce thousands of arrows into his heart.

Chu Wei was shocked by the murderous aura of the army. He saw determination and coldness in the eyes of the soldiers, and even smelled the breath of death. After a long time, he finally said helplessly: "Okay! I'll just go with you, I hope you treat each other with courtesy."

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately drove a black carriage from behind the army. The cabin was rough and even iron fences inside were visible. It was clearly a cage. Two soldiers came over and grabbed his arms and pushed him into the carriage. "Clang!" The carriage was locked outside, and the carriage turned around and left. Hundreds of soldiers guarded the carriage tightly and quickly disappeared from afar.

More than a dozen guards in Chu Wei stood far away, and no one dared to go forward from beginning to end. Both sides of the gate were crowded with people watching the fun. Everyone pointed and quietly discussed.

Soon, the news that the eldest son of Chu Shangshu and the heir of the Chu family head, the dignified fourth-rank Shaofu Superintendent, was arrested quickly spread throughout Chang'an City, becoming a hot topic in restaurants and teahouses. As for the reasons for his arrest, there are various versions. Some people say that he used his power to mint money privately and embezzled tens of thousands of coins; some people find out the old accounts, saying that he was Zhang Huan's rival, and now Zhang Huan is in power and has begun to settle the old accounts; but those who really know the whole story dare not say anything, and they carefully observe how Zhang Huan will deal with the problem of the Chu family's military possession.

But with another series of major events that shocked the court and the people that happened that afternoon: Fang Zongyan, the Minister of Taifu Temple, was arrested for forging accounts three years ago, Liu Zhihuan, the Minister of Justice, was dismissed from office without going to court on time for three days, Hongliang, the transfer of Jianghuai, was exhausted from the grain transport of Hongliang, was suspected of corruption, and was dismissed from office and investigated. Three important officials of the court were arrested and removed almost at the same time. They were all Chu Xingshui's confidants and had close ties with the Chu family. Since then, rumors of the court's quarrels with the Chu family have finally been confirmed, and Zhang Huan's series of actions fully demonstrated his tough attitude to solve the Chu family's problems. No matter who it is, he will never make any concessions on issues related to principles.

There was a major incident in the court. Whether it was the Imperial City or the Daming Palace, the officials in each official office had no atmosphere of handling official duties. Many officials sat there in a daze, thinking about their own thoughts, especially the Taifu Temple and the Ministry of Justice, and they were even more panicked. They didn't know when this "Killing Chu" knife would hit them.

It was finally time to go to court, and officials packed up their desks and returned home. Many people wrote notes and secretly sent them to colleagues with good relationships. They made an appointment to have dinner in the mansion in the evening. After all, many things can only be discussed in private.

Like everyone else, Li Ping, the Minister of Rites, silently packed up the documents and was about to return home. When he walked out of the gate of the Ministry of Rites, several senior officials called him from afar, "Mr. Li, we are going to Pingkangfang to have a few drinks, let's go together!"

Li Pinggong bowed and apologized: "My father is seriously ill. I have no intention of drinking. Next time!"

The other party said 'Oh!' and stopped forcing. Several carriages left quickly one after another. Li Ping sighed in a low voice, then got on his own carriage, and instructed the coachman to say, "Go back to home!" The carriage started, and rushed towards the Suzaku Gate under the escort of more than a dozen guards.

In the carriage, Li Ping was in a very heavy mood. He pulled down the curtain and closed his eyes and said nothing. Li Ping was the eldest son of Li Mian, the most powerful minister of the Empress Dowager Party. Although Li Mian claimed to be sick and had not attended court yet, Li Ping knew that his father had not given up. From Duan Xiushi often came to visit him quietly at night, he knew that his father was still waiting for an opportunity.

Of course, Li Ping also knew why his father didn't give up. The young emperor who lives in Tai Chi Palace is the youngest son of his second brother. If Zhang Huan came to power, he would definitely raise his butcher's knife to cut off the roots. From what happened today, it can be seen that Zhang Huan's skills were his mother's uncle and Chu Wei was his direct cousin. The Chu family supported him in power from beginning to end. Fang Zongyan also persuaded other officials to surrender to the Zhang Dang, but that's it. When the Chu family refused to abandon the army, Zhang Huan did not hesitate to attack the Chu family, and even gave no room for negotiation. This afternoon, he also heard a rumor that Zhang Huan was very likely to kill Chu Wei to show a serious warning to the Chu family. The news came from the Ministry of War, which should be true. This is why Li Ping was in a heavy mood.

Zhang Huan is so cruel and ruthless to his own people. What will happen if their Li family fails? Li Ping couldn't even think about it anymore. He hated his father for his stubbornness and stupidity, his ignorance of the current affairs, and also hated Cui Xiaofu to drag his family into the water and settle down as an emperor, and now he has become the root of the disaster that killed their family. What should I do? Should I persuade my father to surrender to Zhang Huan on his own initiative, or resign from his post and return to his hometown to be a rich man? No matter which of these two roads, they can save the lives of his family, his son and wife and daughter.

Li Ping was in a mess all the way. At this time, the carriage drove into Anrenfang. Li Mian's mansion was less than a mile away. From a distance, Li Ping opened the curtain. Sure enough, a carriage was parked opposite the door of the mansion. Li Ping couldn't help but feel very angry. This was Duan Xiushi's carriage, and it even came during the day. He was so blatant, did he think others were fools?

"Enter the mansion from the back door!" Li Ping ordered with a calm face. He didn't want to get involved in the meaningless conspiracy between his father and Duan Xiushi, thinking that if something happened to the Chu family, they would have a chance?

The carriage turned a corner and drove towards the back door.

As Li Ping thought, Duan Xiushi came to visit Li Mian in a hurry during the day because it was indeed related to the Chu family. Duan Xiushi's original plan was to write to the empress dowager, and to establish a new emperor on the grounds that the emperor was young and could not take charge of the matter, to block Zhang Huan's path to usurpation of the throne. Unexpectedly, Zhang Huan decided to move Cui Xiaofu to Taiji Palace and isolate him from the outside world, leaving him without a chance to join the book. He found Li Shen's brothers again, hoping that they could summon the royal family to discuss the establishment of the new emperor. However, Li Shen's brothers told him tactfully that except for them, the rest of the royal family in the Tang Dynasty hoped that King Yong would ascend the throne. Duan Xiushi also realized that his ideas were naive. He was really depressed for a while. Just when he was about to return to the extreme of the Xishoujiang City, news of the Chu family's evil affair with the court suddenly came.

Duan Xiushi immediately realized that maybe this was an opportunity. He rushed to find Li Mian until it was dark.

Unlike Duan Xiushi's impatience, Li Mian still has a cautious attitude towards the Chu family incident. He does not think that the Chu family will have any chance to get in the wrong with the court. On the contrary, Zhang Huan will gather the loyalty of the ministers through this incident. He even believes that this is an opportunity for Zhang Huan to ascend the throne, destroying the Chu family, that is, warning all the aristocratic families in the world that no force can stop him from ascending the throne, so Li Mian is really sick this time.

"Brother Cheng, you always doubt Zhang Huan's identity. In fact, judging from the relationship between his mother and Prince Yu back then, I think he is really a royal family of the Li family. Thank you for your support these days, but I have already planned to give up. Brother Cheng should go back as soon as possible! Staying in Chang'an for too long will arouse his suspicion."

Li Mian said it very hard, and the huge pressure made his illness quite heavy. Duan Xiushi was silent for a while. After a while, he slowly said: "If the reputation is not right and the words are not right, the final result will inevitably be killing. If he ascends the throne, he will be killed by him. As a minister, I should do my part. As for success or not, it is up to God. If Brother Li really wants to give up, I have nothing to say."

After saying that, he stood up and bowed, "Duan Xiushi said goodbye."

As soon as he walked to the door, Li Mian stopped him with a smile, "I am just testing my brother's determination, please come back!"

Duan Xiushi suddenly turned around, "Brother Li refused to give up?"

Li Mian sighed deeply, "At this point, can I still have a choice?"

He sat up slowly and said without any rush: "Maybe there is another way to save the situation."

Duan Xiushi was overjoyed and asked quickly: "Please tell me in detail with me, Brother Li!"

Li Mian waved his hand and asked him to sit down. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "How many people did Mr. Cheng bring back to Beijing this time?"

"Bring eight hundred guards."

Duan Xiushi said this, and he suddenly understood Li Mian's meaning and hesitated: "The consequences of doing this may cause chaos in the world."

"There is no consequence for us, and the consequences are all on Chu Xingshui." Li Mian glanced at him and said coldly: "This is our only opportunity. If Cheng Gong does not want to participate, I will never force you!"
Chapter completed!