Longxi Li family, ancestral hall chamber.

Thirteen clan elders, each holding an ivory jade plate. On the jade plate, the name and surname of the holder are engraved.

Now, they put the ivory jade plate they held in their hands into the wooden blue marked with Cui Geng and Li Xiu respectively.

The effort is not great, but the result has already been revealed: five against eight. Eight people only looked at the immediate benefits and voted for Li Xiu, and five people voted for Cui Geng.

The first question, Li Xiusheng!

Li He comforted: "The seven-fold gap has been narrowed to less than two times. Erlang, you can do this, it's already commendable. This is not a crime of war, and it is better not to take it to heart. ”

Cui Geng bowed slightly and said, "Let Old Man Li worry, there is actually nothing unconvincing in the future." ”

These words are Cui Geng's heart. Originally, one is long-term interests, the other is short-term interests, and there are still many people in the world who only care about immediate interests. Being able to have five people to support you and make your loss not too ugly is already a good result.

Later, Li Yingxia read out the second question and said: "Needless to say, the power of my Li family in Longxi in the officialdom in recent years has not been as good as before, and even succumbed to the bottom of the five surnames and seven hopes. Now let's ask the two of you to talk about how to provide officialdom assistance to the Li clan in Longxi after becoming the master of the secret hall. ”

Bang me!

Hearing this, Cui Genghao scolded out loud.

Without it, this one is the same as the previous one, and it is also a seven-fold difference. In other words, now he is not fighting with Li Xiu, but with a force six times larger than the five surnames and seven hopes, and through normal means, it is absolutely impossible to catch up!

And when Cui Geng was depressed for a while, Li Xiu was already talking.

He said aloud: "As we all know, the power of the secret hall in the officialdom is not only not under the five surnames and seven hopes, but also inconspicuous and very secretive. As the master of the secret hall, I should use this power to help the children of the Li family in Longxi be promoted. Over time, the Li family in Longxi will be able to regain the head of the five surnames and seven hopes! ”

After a pause, he added: "Well deserved!" ”

At the beginning, when the Tang Dynasty was founded, the Li royal family forcibly climbed themselves as the people of the Li family in Longxi, and identified the Li family in Longxi as the head of the five surnames and seven hopes. In fact, at that time, the strength of the Boling Cui clan was by no means below the Li clan in Longxi, and it could only be said that it was half a catty and eight taels.

At that time, the Li family in Longxi admitted aggrievedly in the official face that it was a big benefit; On the one hand, he privately said very arrogantly that the royal family was unbearable to be a person with five surnames and seven hopes, and maintained a good reputation.

It's just the nominal head of the five surnames and seven hopes, so it's so beautiful, so what is the taste of this well-deserved head of the five surnames and seven hopes?

The minds of several clan elders were thinking about what was wrong, and their eyes seemed to be able to emit light!

There are even humanitarians: "If Li Gongzi can keep his promise, you will be the master of this secret hall, and I don't need to vote for the second question." ”

"How?" Li He said: "Cui Erlang hasn't spoken yet, it's not good to be too favoritistic, right?" ”

Li Xiu showed disdain on his face and said: "You only say that you can't favor one over the other, but don't say that Cui Erlang can win the battle against this son." It seems that he doesn't have much confidence in Cui Geng, right? ”

People said in their hearts, nonsense, you said that you will do your best to help the Li family in Longxi as the head of the five surnames and seven hopes, how else can Cui Geng make a wish? Besides, even if he wants to make a wish, the other five surnames and six hopes won't agree!

However, just when everyone thought that Cui Geng would undoubtedly lose, Cui Erlang suddenly coughed and spoke.

He said: "The Li family of Longxi has returned to the head of the five surnames and seven hopes? Are you Li Xiu sure you can do this? ”

"Why not? The strength of the secret hall in officialdom ......"

"Alright, alright, you've already said that once." Cui Geng waved his hand impatiently and said, "This official has three questions, please answer them to Gongzi Li: First, to make the Li family of Longxi the head of the five surnames and seven hopes, the resources required are very huge. The secret hall has its own system, and only the hall master is appointed by the five surnames and seven hopes. Can you rely on your authority to make the Secret Hall make such a big sacrifice? ”

This is to the point, the secret hall has its own independent ~ will, not that the hall master can do whatever he wants. If Li Xiu really commanded the secret hall like an arm, he would just break the tradition and stand on his own. Why bother to ask for the Li family in Longxi?

Hearing this, it turned out that the elders of the Li clan in Longxi, who were still immersed in wonderful fantasies, suddenly smiled and froze!

Li Xiu's face also changed slightly, and he said reluctantly: "This son has his own way to subdue the secret hall, so he won't bother with Cui Cui's visit." ”

"Okay, even if you have the means." Cui Geng smiled and said, "But the secret hall really has the ability you promised?" Let's not talk about the far, let's talk about the near. Meizhou and his party, there are really a lot of secret hall officials who have participated in this official, why don't you see the secret hall system exerting its power? I'm afraid that I can't do it, but I can't, the secret hall is not as powerful as you say. ”

"It's just your speculation."

"Speculation? Okay, take a step back, even if that's speculation. Cui Gengdao: "There is a third question: you Li Xiu has repeatedly wanted to put the official to death, and when the time comes, how much spare strength will you have to help the Li family in Longxi?" ”

That's the fatal blow!

Isn't the secret hall powerful? Even the crown prince Li Xian admits that of course he is powerful. But, having said that, Cui Geng and Cui Erlang are also not easy to mess with!

Don't talk about trivial things such as redressing grievances, just talk about two things, one is to defeat Lai Junchen, and the other is to pacify the Khitan Rebellion. Which of these two things can be accomplished by the Secret Hall?

Although these two things have the help of all parties, it is not said that the two sides cannot use strength to fight!

Cui Geng's own strength is of course inferior to the secret hall. However, the front is hard anal, and it is not yet known who will kill the deer!

At that time, Li Xiu patronized to deal with Cui Geng, how could he free up his hands to support the Li clan in Longxi?

Everyone understands the truth, this is not something that can be carried without admitting mistakes.

Li Xiu took a deep breath and said, "Okay, even if the secret hall doesn't have this strength, how much help can you Cui Geng give to the Li clan in Longxi?" ”

Cui Geng said confidently: "I am the master of the secret hall, I should give the support of the Li family in Longxi, or I still have to give it, but it is impossible to fully support it, and the five surnames and seven hopes must be treated equally." ”

"If you treat everyone equally, why should the Li family in Longxi support you?"

"Of course, it's because, even if this official treats everyone equally, he will have more help than you Li Xiu can provide."

Cui Geng looked around and continued: "Don't forget, everyone, I, Cui Geng, am not the master of this secret hall, and I can still affect the situation in the world. But what about Li Xiu...... Without the secret hall, it is a lost dog! I am the master of the secret hall, and I can do my best to seek benefits for the five surnames and seven hopes. And he, Li Xiu, is the master of the secret hall, but his main energy is to be used against me. Who can give Longxi Li more benefits, it goes without saying, right? ”

"This ......" The clan elders were a little shaken at that time.

Immediately after, Cui Geng struck while the iron was hot, and put forward his three unique advantages in helping the children of the Li family in Longxi.

First, Longxi Li has seen the power of "Liweng Poetry", right? You can also come up with some similar teaching materials. There is a saying that it is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish, and the Li family of Longxi relied on these teaching materials to make the children of the clan stand out in the imperial examination, which is not much better than relying on the help of the secret hall to be promoted?

Second, he has a strong influence in the Guozi Prison, and he can find a way out for the five surnamed Qiwang children who have no way to go up.

Third, and most importantly, who is your big backer? Today's crown prince Li Xian! A hundred years after Wu Zetian, there is a great possibility that this person will inherit the throne. If the five surnamed Qiwang children, through themselves, hooked up with Li Xian. Even if you don't have any talent, there is no limit to what you can achieve in the future.

Relatively speaking, what about Li Dan, who Li Xiu took refuge in? Although this has also been an emperor, he is orderly and has a blood feud with Zhuwu, no matter what aspect it is, it is unlikely that he will inherit the throne.

How should everyone choose, do you still need to ask?

These three articles are reasonable and responsible, and after hearing this, many elders who originally supported Li Xiu fell into deep thought. It wasn't until half an hour later that they looked at each other and began to discuss.

Li Xiu helped the Li family in Longxi alone, which is indeed good, but how much help he can provide is really suspicious.

What about Cui Geng? Although what he said is very reasonable, he treats the five surnames and seven hopes equally, and it is even very likely that he is slightly biased towards the Boling Cui family, thinking about it, it is really unwilling!

This time, everyone's argument was very fierce, until the red sun fell in the west and the jade rabbit rose in the east, and people still couldn't make up their minds after dinner.

Seeing that a day had passed, patriarch Li Xiu yawned and said, "The vote on this second question will not be delayed until tomorrow." According to the patriarch, it is useless to think too much, so it is better to start voting now. ”

"What the patriarch said is extremely true!"

Later, the elders of the clan threw their ivory jade plates into the wooden basket in turn.

Ten to three!

Ten people supported Cui Geng, and only three supported Li Xiu.

"Huh? How so? ”

Everyone originally thought that it would have to be six to seven, at most eight to five, like last time. It can be said that this result was completely unexpected by everyone present.

In the end, Li Yingxia smiled bitterly and said, "Seek stability!" The first question, Li Xiusheng, is this reason. The second question, Cui Erlangsheng, is also for this reason. It seems that my Longxi Li clan elder will really ...... It's very steady. ”

He originally wanted to say that he didn't want to make progress, but he didn't think it was appropriate for the time being, so he quickly changed his words.

Cui Geng noticed that Li Yingxia had been voting for Li Xiu, knowing that he was afraid that he would have some shady transactions or friendships with Li Xiu.

Cui Geng said: "It's not wrong to seek stability, a broken ship, tinkering, can always go on, if you are lucky, you can really stick to the day you get to the shore." If you are unlucky and unlucky, I am afraid that the ship will be destroyed and people will die. ”

As soon as these words came out, all the clan elders nodded one after another, and their gazes at Cui Geng began to soften.

Li Yingxia snorted lightly and said, "Oh? It seems that Cui Erlang, you are very satisfied with the voting results of the clan elders? Well, now for the third question! ”