The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 725 Two birds with one stone

Why don't men take Wu hook and charge Guanshan Fifth State.

Would you please go to Lingyan Pavilion temporarily, what a scholar?
——"Thirteen Poems of South Garden" Li He (Tang Dynasty)

……

Every attack against Bai Fu not only failed to achieve the desired effect, but turned Bai Fu's crisis into an opportunity and rose step by step.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen, the Minister of the Ministry of War, felt like a stick in his throat.

After returning home with a broken halberd several times, Lu Chen understood a truth: Although he is a nobleman of Tong Zhongshu, he has no chance of winning in challenging Bai Fu, the future son-in-law.

What's more, Bai Fu is a man who will take revenge, he has repeatedly plucked the tiger's beard, if he can't keep it clean, one day the tiger will show his power, and he will swallow himself including the belt and bone with a big mouth.

Lu Chen also wanted to stop at this point, but the forces behind him kept urging him to be provocative. A little hesitation would make the new master of the East Palace dissatisfied.

Lu Chen secretly sighed that he was not originally from the Eastern Palace, but in order to stand in line to show his loyalty and win the favor of the new master, he had to submit a certificate of honor.

The crown prince and Fu Miao Jinqing is really an old fox, and he tricked himself into challenging Bai Fu.

Every time when Bai Fu was impeached, Miao Jinqing hid far behind her back and let herself jump out to fight.Nowadays, stealing a chicken is not enough to break a handful of rice, and I am increasingly alienated by His Majesty, but Miao Jinqing is not affected at all, and instead serves as a servant in the capacity of Taifu.

Lu Chen couldn't get off the tiger, and regretted standing in line at the beginning.

Bai Fu was too difficult to deal with, if not done well, the certificate of honor turned into a certificate of death.Before he had time to gain the trust of the prince, he was already beheaded by Bai Fu...

When Lu Chen was thinking wildly, the mastiff guard came to ask to see Lu Chen.Lu Chen hurried out to greet him.

The person who came was General Mastiff Guard, the eunuch's confidant domestic slave, who was speaking for his master. (Ma Ma Yan's surname is "Ma Ma" and his name is "Yan")
When Lu Chen saw the greeting card, the eunuch immediately invited him to a night banquet at the mansion tomorrow.

Lu Chen secretly said: "Although I have met Ma Yan a few times, but I haven't reached the point of friendship yet. However, Ma Ma Yan's official worship is General Mastiff Guard, and he is the No. [-] figure of Mast Guard. If you don't give this face, I'm afraid it will cause trouble in the future. constantly.

He has already offended Bai Fu, so he can no longer make enemies. "

Thinking of this, Lu Chen smiled and readily agreed.

In the evening of the second day, when the lights were on, Lu Chen, the Minister of the Ministry of War, came to General Mastiff Wei's private residence outside the palace.

The eunuch immediately said sharp-mouthed monkey cheeks, his face was thin and fleshless, and his cheekbones were covered by a layer of wrinkled skin. He looked like a bitter and mean person.

The eunuch immediately smiled, held hands and welcomed Lu Chen into the hall.

Lu Chen only felt that what he was holding was a viper, which was cold and greasy.Enduring his nausea, Lu Chen finally got into the hall, and then took the opportunity of holding a cup of tea to shake off Ma Yan's palm.

Walking into the banquet hall, there is already a guest seated inside.This man is tall and tall, and his gestures are vigorous and agile. He should be a member of the military.

The eunuch immediately introduced: "Lord Lu, this man is Ma Zhong, a brother from a distant clan of the Za family, who was originally in the army in Qinzhou (TS City, GS Province).

After Wei Lun, governor of Longzhou (Longxian County, SX Province), was transferred to the defense envoy of Qinzhou, the brothers of the Za family were at odds with him, and left angrily and came to Chang'an to join me.

I just introduced it to you today.

Clan brother, hurry up and meet Mr. Lu. "

Ma Zhong clasped his fists and saluted: "I have admired your lord's reputation for a long time, and seeing you today, Sansheng is lucky!
The eunuch immediately gave such an introduction, and Lu Chen understood.Ma Zhong must have offended Wei Lun and couldn't stay in Qinzhou any longer, so he came to seek refuge with his clan brother Ma Zhongyan.

Lu Chen knew about Wei Lun.He is the cousin of former prime minister Wei Jiansu.Years ago, Emperor Suzong issued an edict to promote Wei Lun, the governor of Longzhou, as the Jiedu Envoy of the Shannan Dongdao War Zone.At that time, the eunuch Li Fuguo was in power, and all the war zone Jiedu envoys came from his sect, with the exception of Wei Lun.

Wei Lun insisted that his status was noble, and refused to meet Li Fuguo after he was appointed Jiedu envoy.Li Fuguo held a grudge, found a quarrel, and soon demoted Wei Lun to Qinzhou as a defense envoy.

Lu Chen secretly said: "As the saying goes, people must ask for something when they are courteous. Today, I will arrange wine and have a banquet, so I must ask for something. I won't say anything, let's see how I open my mouth immediately."

After three rounds of wine and five tastes of food, he immediately stopped the dancing girls and let Ma Zhong dance the knife to add to the fun.

Ma Zhong readily agreed, and came to the center of the banquet hall with a knife.The sword technique unfolded, the tiger and the tiger were vigorous, majestic and majestic.After dozens of rounds, no breath, no sweat, the kung fu is quite good.

Lu Chen saw that he really had real talents and learning, and he couldn't help applauding loudly.

Immediately said with a smile: "Master Lu, to be honest, the real ability of the brother of the Za family is to lead troops to fight, and it is too inferior to be buried in the mastiff guard. Now that the rebel army is not determined, the army is in urgent need of generals, this is the opportunity for a good man to make contributions.

Today's warm invitation is to ask Mr. Lu for an errand in the army, so that the brothers of the Miscellaneous family can fight on the battlefield and serve the emperor's favor. "

Lu Chen laughed loudly: "This is easy to handle. Tomorrow I will ask the Ministry of War to issue an order to transfer General Ma's military status to the Shuofang Army stationed in Heyang."

Immediately said with an embarrassing smile: "Master Lu, if Wei Lun is willing to let him go, the miscellaneous family would have transferred him to the capital a long time ago. However, this Lord Wei does not accept oil and salt, and does not give Li Fuguo any face."

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes and understood.He secretly said in his heart: "So that's the case. This Ma Zhong should not be able to bear Wei Lun's severe criticism, and secretly escaped from Qinzhou and became a deserter. That's why Wei Lun refused to release Ma Zhong's military status so that he could not be transferred to the Beiya Imperial Army or the Nanya Imperial Army. Sixteen guards.

This Ma Zhong is very skillful, if he joins the army, maybe he can really make some military achievements.

Now that he is on the way, only by letting him change his name, forge a new military registration, and transfer to the field army, can he have the opportunity to make contributions and make a name for himself.

In the turbulent years, there were missing and dead generals, and no one noticed at all.If something happens in the future, it will be said that Ma Zhong fell from his horse and broke his brain, and he can't remember the past, so he will also prevaricate it.

It's tricky, but not too difficult.The point is, why should I speak for Ma Ma? "

Eunuchs are best at observing words and expressions.

Immediately Yan rolled his eyes and immediately understood what Lu Chen meant.He dismissed his servants, and only he and Lu Chen were left in the room.

The eunuch immediately said that he took out a volume of documents from the secret compartment, handed it to Lu Chen, and said with a smile: "Master Lu, you know what our mastiff guards do. The Zajia's subordinates have secretly investigated the officials of the three provinces and six ministries for the past two years. It also has some records about you.

Whether the facts contained in this file are true or not, the miscellaneous family does not know.Today I happened to ask Mr. Lu for advice. "

Lu Chen opened the document nervously, sweating all over his face.The dossier records Lu Chen's reselling of military equipment, withholding of military pay, and contracting concubines out of the government.All the piles have their sources, and there are all witnesses and material evidences.

If the Dongchuang incident happens, not only will Lu Chen lose his face and his head will fall to the ground, but even the prince's lineage will pull out many important officials.

Lu Chen wanted to take a sip of wine to calm his shock, but his fingers trembled, and he spilled half of the wine on his sleeve robe.

Immediately Yan laughed, took the file back from Lu Chen's hand, and threw it into the fire.The dossier was instantly reduced to ashes.

Lu Chen watched the dossier being engulfed by flames, and the handwriting on the dossier dissipated little by little, turning into wisps of green smoke, as if he had walked a circle from death to life.

Immediately said to refill Lu Chen's wine, and said with a smile: "Master Lu, drink the wine while it is warm, we will not return tonight if we are not drunk."

……

After sending away the distraught Lu Chen, he immediately returned to the inner hall and looked through the gift list presented by Ma Zhong two days ago.There are as many as ten boxes of gold, silver, jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings.

Seeing these treasures, the drunk-eyed man immediately spoke, and immediately became refreshed.

Immediately said that he was proud of himself: "Power is really a good thing. As long as the upper and lower teeth touch each other, and the two sides touch each other, money will come gushing like a spring."

Immediately, he picked out a precious golden step out of the box and stuck it in the bun of Zhang Shi (the eunuch's wife).Then he took out a pair of jade bracelets and put them on Mrs. Zhang's wrists.

Zhang blinked her single eyelids and small eyes, her smile trembled wildly, and the thick foundation couldn't cover the tiny freckles on her face.

Zhang Shijiao smiled and said: "My lord, your elder brother is really generous. However, how come the concubine has never heard that you have this relative?"

Immediately laughed out loud, and said: "As long as there is money to accept, let alone an extra clan brother, even if a father falls out of thin air, I will recognize it!"

……

A few days later, Ma Zhong received a transfer order from the Ministry of War and was transferred to the Shence Army camp stationed in Shanzhou, serving as the captain of Zhechong under the fifth rank.

After Ma Zhong resigned and thanked Ma Yan and Lu Chen, he whipped his horse and took office immediately.

……

When the news reached Bai Fu's ears, Bai Fu sneered.

Once you swallow the bait, you can't help yourself.Whether to release the fish or catch them out of the water is entirely up to the fisherman.

Bai Fu said to the scout Tian Benglang: "The fish has already bit the hook. You go to the Shence Army camp overnight, meet General Wei Boyu, and tell him about Ma Zhong's background..."

　Notes:
　　Datang's central core system is "three provinces and six ministries", and the "three provinces" are Zhongshu Province (drafting government orders), Menxia Province (reviewing government orders), and Shangshu Province (promoting government orders).

　　Shangshu Province has the highest status among the three provinces.For example, the highest official of Shangshu Province, Shangshuling, is the second grade of Zhengshu, the left and right servants of Shangshusheng are the second grade, and Zhongshuling and the subordinate servants are the third grade of Zhengshu, which is equal to the six ministers.

　　In addition to the high rank, the Shangshu Province also has great power, and the six ministries, nine temples and five supervisors are all directly under the Shangshu Province.In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the highest official of the Shangshu Province was the veritable chief prime minister. For example, Fang Xuanling, a generation of famous ministers, had been the Shangshu Province Zuo Pushe for more than 20 years.

　　Since the Sui Dynasty, the three high-ranking officials have often held meetings in the Zhengshitang in order to improve efficiency. After Tang Taizong ascended the throne, he ordered officials with special titles (such as participating in the government, Tongzhongshumenxiapingzhangshi, Tongzhongshumenxia Sanpin, etc.) Also attend council meetings.The main decisions of the imperial court were basically discussed and approved at the Zhengshitang meeting, and the Zhengshitang gradually developed into a power organization above the three provinces.

　　In the mid-term of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, almost all major court affairs and daily government affairs were discussed and dealt with in the Zhengshitang meeting.The Zhengshitang evolved from a conference room to a prime ministers committee over the three provinces, and Zhongshu Ling and his servants who presided over the meetings of the Zhengshitang became the chief prime minister and the second prime minister.And Shang Shusheng, who is not qualified to participate in the meeting of the Political Affairs Hall, has become a virtual position without real power.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)