The next day, Zhang Huan came to Daming Palace early in the morning to inspect. Daming Palace was not only the emperor's residence, but also some important power institutions, such as the Secretariat, Menxia Province, and the Censorate were all located in the Daming Palace. At this moment, the Daming Palace was very quiet. The officials were handling official duties in their respective court rooms. There were only a team of soldiers patrolling in the open space outside, and there were also carriages for delivering documents coming and going. Several local officials who came to Beijing to report their duties gathered under the steps of the Secretariat's office and chatted, waiting for the prime minister to receive him.

Zhang Huan rode a horse past the steps. He suddenly heard someone mentioning the name of the head of the family. He couldn't help but look at several local officials. There were five people there, all wearing robes of fourth rank or above. He recognized one of them at a glance, Zhang Ruojin, the second brother of the head of the family. He also saw Zhang Huan, but he didn't know Zhang Huan. After a look, he continued to chat.

Zhang Huan was slightly surprised. Zhang Ruojin was the governor of Pingyang County. How could he come to Beijing at this time? Now those who come to Beijing to report their duties are all officials from Jiannan Road.

"How could Brother Zhang enter Beijing at this time?" A loud voice official next to him seemed to know what Zhang Huan was thinking and asked for him.

Zhang Ruojin shook his head and sighed: "Alas! Pingyang County suffered a drought and reported to the court for a reduction in rent, but the letter was written for more than a month without any news. There was no way, so I could only go there myself."

"The weather was abnormal in the winter. I heard that many places were hit by disasters, especially the most serious areas in your Hedong area."

"No, this year's Hedong disaster."

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Zhang Huan did not stop and passed by them directly. Although Zhang Ruojin spoke glamorously, Zhang Huan still felt that there was something wrong with it. The court had ordered disaster relief five days ago. Don’t he know? Besides, there are many counties and counties in Hedong that have suffered great disasters, so why don’t others come, but he just comes?

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Huan's mind. Could it be that he is here to visit the head of the family? It is very likely that Zhang Ruohao is in serious condition now, and perhaps he is here to discuss the future path of the Zhang family with the head of the family.

But this was just a good idea, and another thought emerged from his heart irresistible. Zhang Ruojin was specially summoned to Beijing by Cui Yuan.

Zhang Huan pondered for a moment, then recruited a personal soldier, pointed at him secretly, and whispered to him with his ears: "Take two brothers and monitor him day and night, and report to me wherever he goes."

The personal soldiers nodded and agreed and quickly arranged to go.

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At night, it started to rain. The rain in early autumn is destined not as gentle as spring rain, nor as cold as winter rain. It is like a child in the sky playing with water, splashing water into the world one after another.

There is a saying that ghosts are at the forefront around the Zhongyuan Festival. Men, women, young and old must stay at home, and no one dares to stroll outside. In addition, it rains heavily tonight, and the streets are empty.

A carriage rushed into Xuanyangfang, ran over a pool of water, splashing a piece of white water, gradually disappearing. At this time, two knights appeared in the rain and fog. They followed the carriage in front of them quickly and silently.

The carriage walked for two more miles and drove by Cui Yuan's mansion. After a moment, it turned its head again and slowly returned to Cui's mansion. Then a fat man wearing a bamboo hat got off the carriage. He ran up the steps, whispered something to the doorman, and then flashed into the mansion.

The two horses following him also stopped a hundred steps away and hid behind a big tree.

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Cui Yuan's health has not been very good these days. It rained today and the air was very wet. He had an old problem of rheumatism and pain. Although it was the end of summer, he still lit a brazier in his room to drive away the wetness.

At this moment, Cui Yuan was half lying on the soft couch and reading the book intently. Two maids gently pounded his shoulders and backs on the left and right. At this time, the study door gently knocked on the door, and the old butler reported outside: "Master, Governor Zhang has arrived, waiting to see him outside!"

"Let him come in!" Cui Yuan winked at the two maids, and they retreated.

The governor Zhang who came to see Cui Yuan in the rain was naturally Zhang Ruohao's second brother, Zhang Ruojin, the governor of Pingyang County. Five days ago, he received a secret letter from Cui Yuan and went to Beijing to take the pretext that Pingyang County was affected by the disaster and asked for help.

Zhang Ruojin is fat and looks like his brother. He was originally a minister of Dali Temple. Five years ago, he was impeached by the censor for handling a wrong case and demoted to Pingyang County as the governor. He stayed there for five years. He was low-key and never interfered in family affairs.

However, after Zhang Ruohao abolished the rule of inheriting the head of his legitimate son last year, he gradually became active. Especially in May this year, Zhang Ruohao wrote a letter to the court, asking him to be appointed as the viscount of Yuxiang, which was equivalent to clarifying that Zhang Huan was the heir of the head of his family.

Zhang Ruojin immediately joined forces with several brothers to oppose the elder brother's decision. His actions received support from almost everyone in the Zhang family, which also made Zhang Ruohao extremely isolated and finally had to give in.

Although the matter has calmed down, Cui Yuan refused to give up this rare opportunity.

Zhang Ruojin walked into the study and bowed respectfully, "I am not good at ease, please see the right prime minister!"

"Brother Zhang doesn't need to be polite, please sit down quickly!"

Cui Yuan smiled and asked Zhang Ruojin to sit down, and poured him a cup of tea himself. Zhang Ruojin was flattered and waved his hand and said, "The prime minister doesn't have to do this. I really can't afford to take on a humble position."

"What can't you afford? When you became the Minister of Dali Temple, didn't we often drink together? Why did we become cold after five years of going out?"

Cui Yuan gently punched his shoulder and pretended to be angry: "You are so polite, I will drive you out."

"Then I feel guilty."

Zhang Ruojin smiled bitterly. He didn't know the purpose of Cui Yuan's enlistment. In May, he responded and then held a family meeting. He received unprecedented support and had a faint momentum to replace the head of the family. If he was not moved by it, it would definitely be self-deception. But he also knew that if he forced his elder brother and replaced him, the end result would be a family division, so he gave up his ambition and instead fought for the position of the head of the family for his son.

However, Cui Yuan made a clear statement in his letter that he was willing to reconcile with the Zhang family, hoping that Zhang Ruojin could become the head of the Zhang family and become the Minister of Rites in the Cabinet.

This trap or pie? Zhang Ruojin thought about it for a long time. He believed that Cui Yuan would not easily break the balance between the court. His purpose was to turn the Zhang family into the second Wang family and become a lackey of the Cui family. If so, then this matter is worth considering. Being the head of the Zhang family means controlling millions of chunks of property, controlling tens of thousands of hectares of land in Hedong and tens of thousands of tenants and slaves. In other words, he was the local emperor in Hedong. His strong temptation finally made him moved. With a try-and-see attitude, he came to Chang'an.

Zhang Ruojin looked at Cui Yuan carefully and whispered: "Does the Prime Minister know that my elder brother is seriously ill?"

"Of course I know. That's why I wrote to you."

Cui Yuan patted his shoulder and encouraged him: "You were once the Minister of Dali Temple and the second son of Zhang. During Zhang Shangshu's serious illness, the Zhang family still needs you to take charge of the overall situation."

"Hey! Don't mention the past." Zhang Ruojin sighed and said, "I have no hope of career and plan to retire in Pingyang County. If I have been in this life, how can I take my turn to preside over the overall situation of the Zhang family?"

Cui Yuan smiled. Since the words had already reached this point, they would not need to test each other. He stretched out his right palm and said lightly: "After the matter is completed, I recommend you to be the Minister of Rites and to work with the Minister of the Central Secretariat. If you violate this oath, the gods and men will kill each other!"

Zhang Ruojin stared at Cui Yuan deeply. After a long time, he resolutely raised his right palm and hit Cui Yuan hard, saying in a deep voice: "If you violate this oath, the gods and gods will kill each other!"

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Ye Yu was still resting quickly. The side door of the prime minister's mansion opened. Zhang Ruojin, wearing a straw hat, quickly walked out of the door and got on the carriage. The carriage turned around and rushed towards the gate. When its back disappeared, the two cavalrymen hid behind the big tree immediately divided into two groups, one followed the carriage closely, while the other galloped in the opposite direction.

Half an hour later, Dong Neiyuan.

"Can you be sure that Zhang Ruojin came into the mansion directly without waiting outside?" Zhang Huan confirmed to his personal soldiers again.

"Yes! I really can see clearly."

Zhang Huan pondered in the room with his hands behind his back. Zhang Ruojin only stayed in Cui Yuan's mansion for a quarter of an hour. For a quarter of an hour, except for changing clothes, waiting, and saying goodbye, the rest could only drink a cup of tea, exchanged a few greetings, and really couldn't talk in depth, so Zhang Huan paid attention to the details. Generally speaking, it was impossible for local governors to visit prime ministers without having to wait outside the mansion, especially during the Zhongyuan Festival when every household was busy worshiping ancestors in the middle of the year, and Zhang Ruojin went in without waiting. This only shows one thing, he had already colluded with Cui Yuan.

'It seems that Cui Yuan is finally going to attack the Zhang family!' Zhang Huan quickly made a judgment on this matter. A few days ago, the Li family suddenly issued an edict to officially recognize Cui Yuan as the prime minister. This is a signal of reconciliation sent by the Li family. Once Cui Yuan accepts it, it means that the dispute over the prime minister since last year has officially come to an end. Cui Yuan will also start his next strategy to suppress various aristocratic families. The Zhang family, which is in civil strife, will inevitably bear the brunt of it.

At this time, the Zhang family was like a patient about to die. If they did not apply strong medicine, it would be impossible to achieve results. Zhang Huan suddenly made up his mind. He slowly turned to his confidant in front of him and said, "I have a big thing to you!"

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Chapter completed!