Chapter 272: Inside and Outside the Court

In Chang'an, the New Year dynasty has been postponed indefinitely. Li Zhengji brazenly in rebellion. The Uighur army was approaching. Cui Qinggong revenges Xiangyang. Three major events broke out almost at the same time, shocking the Chang'an court and the people. They were both worried about the fate of the Tang Dynasty, including restaurants, teahouses, brothels, casinos, inns, and inns. Almost everyone was discussing the consequences of the three things and possible countermeasures of the court.

At this moment, a rumor was quietly circulating in Chang'an. Zhu Li, Hanzhong, had already successfully attacked Shangyong, which made the terrifying Demon King Zhu, who was in Chang'an, no longer willing to be lonely. This news seemed to add insult to injury, making the entire Chang'an shrouded in a miserable fog.

At night, Pei Jun was restless and paced back and forth in the study. On the table, the table was filled with information flying like snow. The Uighur army suddenly came to an end, completely beyond his expectations. Moreover, the route he was targeting was between Hebei and Hedong. In order to monitor Cui Qinggong and suppress Li Zhengji, most of his Hebei and Hedong troops had been transferred.

The sudden news completely disrupted his deployment. He immediately ordered the entire line to shrink his troops and change the offensive to a defensive. However, in this way, Cui Qinggong got the opportunity to attack Xiangyang on a large scale. Li Zhengji also got a chance to respite and recruit soldiers north of Guanlong. Even Zhu Li sent troops to Shangyong in an attempt to divide the Shannan Incident.

In just a few days, the situation suddenly changed, and the huge pressure from the government and public opinion made Pei Jun's hair whiter. It should be said that the situation in the north is still under his control. The Uighur army was in a dilemma but did not break into the Central Plains. Zhang Huan also agreed to send troops to calm Li Zhengji. The key is the situation in Shannan. How to deal with Cui Qinggong's greed and Zhu Li's ambitions put Pei Jun in a dilemma. Should he send troops to support the Wang family and stop the war, or wait for Zhu and Cui to both lose money and he will reap the benefits of the fisherman?

For this reason, he couldn't make up his mind.

At this time, his son Pei Mingkai's low voice came from outside the door, "Father, someone asked for a visit from the back door, and it was sent from the palace."

"Cui Xiaofu!" Pei Jun was slightly stunned. What did she want to do? She was sneaking in the back door asking for a meeting. Pei Jun suddenly realized sensitively that Cui Xiaofu sent someone at this time, which was probably related to the current situation.

"Take him here!"

After a moment, a tall and fat man in black was brought in. He took off his mask and saw that his skin was fair and beardless. He was obviously a eunuch. As soon as he entered the door, he gave a deep gift, "The old slave Feng Endao, he was ordered by the empress dowager to send a letter to the prime minister."

He took out a letter and raised it high above his head, "The Queen Mother said that everything she wanted to say was in the letter, please think twice."

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In the Zichen Pavilion of the Daming Palace, a court meeting that was related to the future and destiny of the Tang Dynasty was held urgently under the convening of Cui Xiaofu. Pei Jun, Cui Yu, Li Mian, Wei Yan, as well as the new Minister of War Yuan Zai, the Minister of the Sect Zhang Potian, the Minister of Personnel Pei You, the Minister of Revenue Lu Qi and other six ministers, as well as dozens of heads of the chiefs of the Taifu, Shaofu, Military Vessels, Taichang, Taipu, Dali, etc.

Before this, four cabinet ministers in Beijing had already discussed the situation many times, but they had been unable to reach an agreement on the issue of Cui Qinggong.

"My dear friends, Ai's family thinks that the freezing of three feet is not a day's cold, which has caused today's tragic situation, which is also closely related to the chaos and abnormal operation of the court situation in recent years. Ai's family's opinion is that to fight against foreign countries, we must first settle the government's principles, restore the order that our Tang Dynasty should have, and balance the power. In this way, all the edicts can go smoothly and create conditions for quelling this internal strife and external troubles. What do you think?"

The hall was silent, and only Cui Xiaofu's clear voice was echoing. The temporary court meeting, which was originally intended to resolve the chaos, became an opportunity for Cui Xiaofu to declare his power, which really made many people unexpected.

"The Empress Dowager, I think the ministers of the court are united at this time, and they are working hard to calm civil strife and defend against external troubles. No one will think of their own interests at this time. Please rest assured about this!"

What stood up and said was not Pei Jun, who was allused by Cui Xiaofu, but Zhang Potian, who had just taken office as the minister of the disciple. He was very qualified in the court. His words aroused a whisper, which obviously resonated with many officials. Even Cui Xiaofu's hard-core supporter Li Mian stroked his beard slightly and expressed his agreement.

Seeing that everyone did not support her view that "they must first settle the country when fighting foreign countries", Cui Xiaofu felt annoyed at Zhang Potian, but smiled on her face: "The Ai family also hopes to completely solve the root cause of our warlord separatist in the Tang Dynasty. Since Zhang Aiqing advocates first treating the symptoms and then treating the root cause, that's fine. Does Zhang Aiqing have a practical solution?"

Zhang Potian smiled and said, "Pei Xiang and several cabinet ministers have discussed this matter many times. I believe there has been a conclusion. Why doesn't the Empress Dowager ask the Prime Minister?"

Cui Xiaofu hit a soft nail, and she turned around and looked at Pei Jun again.

Seeing Cui Xiaofu's eyes complicated, Pei Jun knew that if he could not come up with a plan today, Cui Xiaofu would definitely make a big fuss and force him to make the greatest concessions, and many ministers might also take the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction.

"Empress Dowager, ministers, although the chaos is coming in full force, it is not without solutions. The key is what Mr. Zhang said, "Everyone should unite and share the worries of the country, and do not create more unexpected problems for their own selfishness."

Speaking of this, Pei Jun glanced at Cui Xiaofu slightly, and saw that she showed a disapproving expression in her eyes, she couldn't help but sneer and continued: "I discussed with several cabinet ministers and basically found a way to do so. First, to deal with the Uighurs' southern pressure, we can send envoys to meet them, and ask him why he was betrayed. I have ordered the Chief Censor Zhang Yanshang to go north to Han Erduobali. At the same time, I will concentrate on two things.

One of the first things is that a hundred thousand troops will take the initiative to go north and defend the Uighurs outside the Yinshan Mountains. Li Zhengji of Shuofang could ask Zhang Huan, the governor of Longyou, to send troops to quell his rebellion. I have ordered Zhang Huan to send troops and wait for the empress dowager to formally issue an order. Thirdly, I have sent someone to adjust the conflict between Cui Qinggong and Wang families when Cui Qinggong attacked Xiangyang. In addition, once the Uighur crisis is resolved, I will immediately order the Hedong army to go south to stop Cui Qinggong's boldness."

Judging from Pei Jun's strategy, solving the problem of Uighurs and Li Zhengji is feasible, but Cui Qinggong's plan seems a bit unrealistic.

Mediate conflicts, how can the conflicts between them be mediated? Besides, the drunken man's intention is not to drink, and he, Cui Qinggong, is just an excuse for his son to avenge his son. Everyone knows this. As for the Uighurs and then dealing with Cui Qinggong after the resolution of the Uighurs, it is even more nonsense. I am afraid that the rice has already been made into a cooked meal at that time. All the ministers were speculating about Pei Jun's thoughts. Perhaps it was because the Uighurs and Li Zhengji involved his Pei Jun's vital interests and the other involved his Pei Jun's responsibilities. Of course, he had to do his best to resolve the dispute between Cui Qinggong, which was caused by the civil strife of the Cui family and had little to do with him. When the bear paw and fish were not allowed to bother, he could only give up resolving the dispute between the Cui Wang family.

"I don't agree with Pei Xiangguo's plan."

Wei Ye, who had been dealing with things in a low-key manner, suddenly stood up. Unlike others' perspectives, he vaguely guessed that Pei Jun's real intention was to sacrifice Xiangyang, triggering Zhu Li and Cui Qinggong's fierce battle for Shannan, causing both of them to suffer losses. On the other hand, he also saved the wealthy Jianghuai. When Cui and Zhu both suffered losses, Pei Jun had already solved the Uighurs, and the army turned south and ate two warlords in one fell swoop. As for the Wang family, it became the fourth of the seven major families that Pei Jun used Cui Qinggong's hands to wipe out. It can also be said that this was Pei Jun's plan to "kill three soldiers with two peaches". However, at this time Wei Ye's legitimate daughter had already married the Wang family. He did not want the Wang family to become the victim of Pei Jun's solution to Cui Qinggong and Zhu Xi. It is precisely because of this that he had been strongly opposed to Pei Jun's plan at the emergency meeting of the cabinet two days ago.

Wei Yan saw everyone looking at him. He stood in the middle of the hall, bowed to Cui Xiaofu, and said with a high voice: "I thought it was unwise for Pei Xiangguo to mobilize troops north. Not only did he indulge Cui Qinggong, but Li Xilie and others ravaged the southern part of the mountain, but also encouraged the arrogance of warlords to separatist the land. Pei Xiang kept saying that in order to defend the Uighurs, but as far as I know, the army in the north was under the banner of "Northern Dangxiang people". This was naturally a move to sell dog meat under the title of sheep, but it also shows that Uighurs Vigake

Khan did not really get into evil with the Tang Dynasty, but just wanted to take advantage of the civil turmoil in the Tang Dynasty. In this way, we only need to strengthen the defense of the three surrendered cities. Moreover, Li Zhengji and Pei Xiangguo in Shuofang also said that they would leave it to Zhang Huan to deal with it. Since it is the most difficult and the most infuriating matter, Pei Xiangguo can leave it alone. Then, why does Pei Xiangguo have to gather 200,000 troops to deal with the unexplained attack on the Huihes, but gave up the control of Cui Qinggong? Is this a bit of a disregard for the primary and secondary?"

"I also agree with Wei Pushe's words!" The left prime minister Cui Yu also stood up and bowed to Cui Xiaofu and said, "The imperial court's control over local warlords is too weak. If Cui Qinggong was allowed to occupy Jingxiang, he would have enough food and abundant military resources at that time, how could he not expand his troops? Moreover, without military disasters south of the Yangtze River for a hundred years, he had almost no defense. I am worried that Cui Qinggong would really lose control at that time. You must not be careless about this matter. Please think twice!"

At this moment, there was a stolen voice in the hall. The opposition of Wei Yan and Cui Yu two important officials brought great uncertainty to Pei Jun's solution. The key below is Cui Xiaofu, and her attitude will directly affect Li Mian. If Li Mian also objected, it would be equivalent to the cabinet rejecting Pei Jun's plan. Pei Jun was also silent and waited for Cui Xiaofu's statement without showing any expression.

Just as everyone turned their eyes to the Queen Mother Cui Xiaofu, waiting for her final denial of Pei Jun's plan, but strangely Cui Xiaofu didn't seem to care much about Cui Qinggong's dispatch of troops to Xiangyang. She nodded slightly and said, "The Ai family believes that Cui Qinggong's affairs are not comparable to those of Uighurs and Li Zhengji. After all, it is an internal dispute between Cui and Wang family. You must understand it with reason and affect it with emotion. But from the long-term plan, I believe that Cui Qinggong will put the overall situation first and will not do anything out of the ordinary. On the contrary, the Uighurs and Li Zhengji should not be taken lightly. Even if the Uighurs do not really attack the Tang Dynasty, it must be prevented from being taken advantage of by Li Zhengji. Therefore, the Ai family agreed with Pei's plan and believed that Pei's prime minister would definitely resolve Cui Qinggong's affairs properly. Prime Minister, do you think the Ai family may trust you?"

Cui Xiaofu favored Cui Qinggong's intention, and Pei Jun knew it well. He stepped forward and gave a long tribute, "I will never let go of the Queen Mother's expectations. Please ask the Queen Mother to issue an order and urge Zhang Huan, the governor of Longyou, to send troops."
Chapter completed!