Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty set off for Jiangdu again on the first day of the sixth month, with more than 1,000 ships stretching for hundreds of miles, and 100,000 Xiaoguo troops guarding both sides of the fleet.

But the fleet sailed very slowly, walked for nearly half a month to arrive at Xiapi County, compared with last year's southern tour of the Jiangdu, this year's mood of the hundred officials are quite heavy, everyone faintly felt that this time the Son of Heaven went to the Jiangdu not to the south, but to move the capital.

If in the past, the Son of Heaven would never allow officials to meet in private, and it was strictly forbidden to form gangs and make friends, but now the Son of Heaven has turned a blind eye and let the officials do what they do.

On a Xuanwu-level official ship above the fourth grade, more than a dozen officials are gathering in the cabin of the Guozi priest Lu Zhuo, these officials are all from the Hebei Shi clan, they originally took Cui Zhao as the leader, but since the beginning of the year, they have gradually gathered around Lu Zhuo, Lu Zhuo has actually replaced Cui Zhao as the leader of the Hebei Shi clan of the court.

"I've got the exact news!"

Cui Huan, the former Bohai Taishou and the current Taichang Shaoqing, smiled at everyone: "The real reason for the hasty withdrawal of the Bohai Society from Zhuojun is that General Zhang attacked the old nest of the Bohai Society, forcing Gao Lie to withdraw the army, it is said that General Zhang captured some people, but the specific details are unknown. ”

Recently, a series of major events have happened in Hebei, which has made everyone very worried and concerned, but this matter has been resolved with Zhang Xuan's troops, and the specific reasons for this have made everyone talk about it and seek the truth.

Everyone immediately turned their heads to each other, and Cui Huan asked Lu Zhuo again: "Is there any news from Brother Lu?" ”

Lu Zhuo sat on the main seat, when he first came to the imperial court as an official, he was not taken seriously, especially Cui Zhao was cold and arrogant to him, and some Hebei Shi clan gatherings did not even notify him to participate. But now he has become the leader of the Hebei Shi clan, and his position in the court is very important.

Not only did Pei Ju, Yu Shiji and other powerful ministers respect him, but even the Son of Heaven began to attach importance to the Lu family and appointed Lu Chu as one of the auxiliary ministers left behind in Luoyang.

This series of changes made Lu Zhuo have to sigh that the situation is hot and cold, and the human feelings are cold and warm.

Of course, he was well aware of the real reason for his turnaround. It is because he has a son-in-law who has real power in the army.

Zhang Xuan's return to Qingzhou and Hebei made the Hebei families realize that their fate was likely to be in Zhang Xuan's hands, and it was reasonable for their attitude towards Lu Zhuo to change.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Lu Zuo felt the need to say a few words to ease everyone's anxiety.

He smiled and said: "I only have two pieces of news, one is that Luo Yi's army has entered Jixian County and controlled Youzhou, Gao Lie has withdrawn from Youzhou and will not enter it again in a short time." Another piece of news is that Gao Hui negotiated with the Sui army in Qi County, and I also guess that there were figures from Bohai County who fell into the hands of General Zhang, otherwise Gao Lie would not have given up the opportunity to seize Youzhou. ”

"Is Lu Gong's news reliable?" Cui Lin, who had been silent next to him, asked.

Cui Lin is the younger brother of Cui Zhao, originally Shanggu Juncheng, and now he is the Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites, Cui Zhao excused himself to be unwell and no longer participated in the gathering of the Hebei Shi clan. Cui Lin attended for him.

As soon as Cui Lin's words fell, Shangshu Zuocheng Li Shoujie said unhappily: "How can Lu Gong's news be unreliable? Brother Cui, don't have this kind of questioning again. There are so many questions that we are all at a loss. ”

Everyone responded to Li Shoujie's words, Cui Lin had to be silent again, and at this time, Li Shoujie asked a little worriedly: "Duke Lu, it is rumored that this southern tour of the Son of Heaven is actually a move to the capital. If we are trapped in Jiangdu, will we not be able to return to Hebei in the future? ”

Li Shoujie's worries were also everyone's worries, everyone looked at Lu Zhuo, and Lu Zhuo groaned: "The situation in front of us is indeed quite delicate, but everyone has also seen it. The situation has been turbulent in the past few years, and none of us knows what tomorrow will bring? So I don't think I need to think about the assumption of whether I can go back to Hebei in the future, and it's the best choice to go with the flow, I think, the feet are on us, where do I want to go, and who can stop me? ”

"Lu Gong has a point!"

Everyone sighed, "It's really not interesting to worry too much, it's just asking for trouble!" ”

"Is that really what Lu Zhuo said?" In another cabin, Cui Zhao looked out the window with his hands and asked coldly.

Cui Lin hurriedly said: "He did say that Zhang Xuan captured the important person of the Bohai Society, and I also think that if it weren't for this reason, how could Gao Lie give up the opportunity to seize Youzhou?" ”

"I know this, I don't need you to explain!"

Cui Lin was so frightened that he didn't dare to speak, he stood with his hands down, Cui Zhao paced back and forth in the cabin with his hands, his eyes were very gloomy, since the failure of the marriage between the Cui and Lu families, the relationship between the Cui and Lu families gradually became cold, especially Lu Zhuo replaced him Cui Zhao as the leader of the Hebei Shi clan, and the limelight of the Lu family began to overpower the Cui family, making the relationship between the Cui and Lu families gradually break down.

Cui Zhao is especially jealous of Lu Zhuo's rise, in his opinion, Lu Zhuo is nothing more than a son-in-law who has military power, so Lu Zhuo is so arrogant, but Cui Zhao also admits that in today's troubled times, the importance of the army is self-evident, and the Lu family did take a good move and got Zhang Xuan as a son-in-law.

Cui Zhao knew very well in his heart that after Lu Zhuo became the leader of the Hebei Shi clan in the imperial court, the next step must be for the Fanyang Lu clan to surpass the Boling Cui clan and become the leader of the Hebei Shi clan, which is what Cui Zhao is most worried about, Cui Zhao's heart is like a mirror, if he wants to prevent the Lu family from ascending to the throne, he must take down Zhang Xuan.

Cui Zhao stopped and asked, "What evidence does Lu Zhuo have to prove that his news is accurate?" ”

Cui Lin sighed and said: "I asked the same question, but I didn't expect it to trigger the anger of the public, and everyone accused me of not questioning it, but I think Lu Zhuo must have some evidence, it is likely that he received his son's letter." ”

This kind of speculation didn't mean anything to Cui Zhao, he pondered for a moment and decided to talk to Pei Ju about it

Cui Zhao and Pei Ju's friendship began with the marriage between Zhang Xuan and the Lu family, Pei Ju wanted to use the Cui family to pressure the Lu family to cancel the marriage, although it was not successful in the end, but Pei Ju became Cui Zhao's backstage.

It was under Pei Ju's strong recommendation that Cui Zhao's son Cui Wenxiang was promoted to the rank of official quickly, and was promoted to the chief secretary of Jingzhao a month ago, becoming one of the youngest five-rank officials in the Great Sui.

In the cabin, Pei Ju is writing a letter to Zhang Xuan, these two months are the period of great changes in the Great Sui military, Zhang Jin, Zhang Xutuo, Yu Wenshu, Xue Shixiong, Yu Juluo, Guo Xuan six generals have died for various reasons, Yang Yichen turned into the Ministry of Rites, only Qu Tutong, Yun Dingxing and Chen Ling, Li Jing four generals, Qu Tutong guarded Guanzhong, Yun Dingxing stayed in Heluo, Chen Ling guarded Jianghuai, Li Jing guarded Guannei.

With the retreat of the older generation of generals, a group of new leading generals have risen rapidly, such as Li Yuan of Taiyuan, Zhang Xuan of Hebei, Wang Shichong of Luoyang, Song Laosheng of Tongguan, Luo Yi of Youzhou, Xiao Milling of Jiangling, Xiaoguo Weiyu Culture and so on.

Among them, Pei Ju deeply regretted that he lost control of Zhang Xuan, for a while Zhang Xuan used to be his person, but today, what Zhang Xuan did in Qingzhou and Hebei, he Pei Ju did nothing.

Pei Ju also knew that he had made some mistakes, especially the mistakes in marriage, he should not consider taking Pei's concubine as Zhang Xuan's wife, it was Zhang Xuan's refusal to make this marriage make them gradually part ways, of course, Pei Ju also gradually understood Zhang Xuan, he was never willing to be controlled by anyone, cooperation is okay, but vassals can't.

In the past two days, Pei Ju also got a little news that Zhang Xuan broke through the old nest of the Bohai Society, forcing the Bohai Society to withdraw its troops from Youzhou, saving the crisis in Youzhou, and it is rumored that Zhang Xuan captured dozens of important members of the Bohai Society, but he did not know the truth of this news.

Pei Ju finally couldn't help it, he wanted to write to ask Zhang Xuan in person.

Pei Ju put down the pen and dried the hemp paper, then slowly rolled it up and put the letter into a wooden tube.

At this moment, there was an entourage outside the door to report, "Master, Cui Shilang has an urgent matter to see!" ”

Pei Ju smiled and nodded, "Please let him in!" ”

Among the two major scholars in Bingzhou, the Taiyuan Wang clan has a close relationship with the Hebei clan, while the Wenxi Pei clan has a deeper relationship with the Guanlong clan, and the two major scholar clans have their own tendencies.

But Pei Ju has always wanted to find an opportunity to break this tradition and extend the Pei family's power to Hebei, and the Boling Cui clan is undoubtedly an excellent breakthrough point.

Pei Ju has reached a marriage consensus with Cui Zhao, and Cui Zhao's eldest son Cui Wenxiang will marry Pei Ju's granddaughter, so that the Boling Cui family will become a bridge for the Pei family to enter Hebei.

After a while, Cui Zhao walked into the cabin quickly, bowed down and saluted: "Little nephew, see Uncle Shi!" (To be continued.) )