The next morning, the Emperor Li of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict denied two rumors circulating in Chang'an. Cui Yuan colluded with Uighurs and Zhang Huan as the prince of Yu, and ordered Dali Temple to investigate the source of the rumors and punish the rumor-mongers.

The two rumors quickly disappeared under the emperor's edict, and no one talked about this matter again. Less than half a month after the Polo Competition, the attention of the people of Chang'an and the Tang Dynasty was once again attracted to the annual Polo Competition. In the taverns and teahouses, all kinds of news about this competition were filled with all kinds of news. Every team that might win the championship was talked about with relish. As the teams coming to Chang'an from various troops and counties arrived one after another, Chang'an gradually became excited and excited.

On that afternoon, the bronze bell of Daming Palace rang heavily as usual. It was still early in dusk, but it was already dark. It was the sound of the bells of the scattered court. At first, officials from three or three left Daming Palace, either went home or made an appointment to go to a restaurant for a drink. However, the gate of the Political Affairs Hall of the Secretariat of the Secretariat was still closed and the guard was tight. The emergency cabinet meeting was opened at noon and still not over yet.

Zhang Yanshang, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, proposed to restore the Huihe border city twenty days ago and asked the court to pay attention to it. However, at this time, the Minister of Justice Chu Xingshui, Minister of War Wei Yan and Minister of Rites Zhang Potian were all not in the capital. The court issued an emergency for 800 yuan and urged the three of them to return to Beijing. By this morning, the farthest Chu Xingshui had just arrived in Chang'an, and the cabinet immediately held a meeting to discuss the Uighur border city.

In addition to the seven cabinet members, the meeting was attended by Du Hongjian, the Minister of Revenue, Zhang Yanshang, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, Yang Yan, the Minister of the Taifu Temple, Yuan Zhen, the Minister of the Secretariat Yuan Zhen, the Minister of the Secretariat Di Wuqi, the Minister of the Secretariat Cui Min, etc. The meeting lasted from noon to evening. The focus of the contradiction was whether strategic materials such as pig iron could be sold to the Uighurs. The condition was proposed by the Uighurs. The silk, porcelain, tea and other luxury goods from the Tang Dynasty could only be exchanged for the cattle, sheep and fur of the Uighurs, and for the war horses of the Uighurs, they could only be exchanged for pig iron or grain.

After the Anshi Rebellion, Hexi, a place where the Tang Dynasty raised good horses, was occupied by Tubo, and most of the horses in the mainland of the Tang Dynasty were tolerated and not suitable for field battles, resulting in the shortage of war horses in the Tang Dynasty. The cavalry teams of the army in Longyou, Hedong and Hebei could only use one cavalry together. The regiments in the Central Plains, Jianghuai and other places trained troops, and even twenty people could match a war horse. Many places canceled the cavalry service. A few months ago, Zhang Huan brought back a large number of war horses from the Uighurs, and the Hedong army became the army with the largest number of cavalry, which made other armies very jealous.

On the one hand, it was the desire for war horses, but on the other hand, it was to curb the growth of the Uighurs. Since the early Tang Dynasty, the national policy of strategic material embargo was pursued. Pig iron, grain, weapons, copper, and tincture oil were not allowed to be sold to Tubo, Turks, Uighurs and other countries. However, during the southern invasion of the Uighurs 16 years ago, a large number of Central Plains craftsmen were captured and plundered to the Uighurs. When the Uighurs expanded westward, they also received many Hu craftsmen. In fact, the Uighurs had mastered quite high casting technology, and they could also get pig iron from the Tang Dynasty from Silla, Bohai and other places. Therefore, the control and relaxation of pig iron at this cabinet meeting became the focus of debate.

The left prime minister Pei Jun advocated the relaxation of trade in pig iron and grain, because the Uighurs had mastered smelting technology, but it was just too expensive. The output of pig iron could be detrimental to the improvement of Uighur smelting technology, thus forming a monopoly of the Tang Dynasty in smelting technology. However, the right prime minister Cui Yuan believed that the Uighurs had a thin population and even exported a small amount of pig iron could significantly improve the combat effectiveness of the Uighur army. He advocated strictly prohibiting the export of pig iron and grain, and even expanded the scope of the embargo to Silla, Japan, Bohai and other countries, and formulated the most severe laws to punish smuggling merchants.

The lights in the political hall were brightly lit. Due to the tight closed doors and windows, the air was very turbid and hot. Everyone's face was sweating and red. Chu Xingshui had already made two remarks. He supported Pei Jun's move to cancel the embargo, but Cui Yuan's tough attitude and Wang Ang, Yang Qi and even Zhang Potian's support were unlikely to cancel the embargo. However, Cui Yuan's joint embargo on Silla, Japan, Bohai and other countries was targeted at him. Everyone knows that the Chu family controls Guangling, the most developed trade, and has earned a lot of wealth through overseas trade. Among them, the pig iron and military equipment exports to Japan, Silla are in a monopoly position. Once the embargo is implemented, the Chu family will suffer huge losses.

Since the embargo on the Uighurs cannot be cancelled, it cannot harm the fish. The scope of the embargo was expanded. Chu Xingshui coughed and stood up for the third time and said, "Everyone, since Prime Minister Cui firmly opposes the embargo on the Uighurs, I can only obey the decision of the right prime minister. However, the embargo on Japan and Silla is a bit of a big deal. Since Emperor Taizong, our Tang Dynasty has always banned land and relaxed the sea and has never restricted maritime trade. In fact, neither Japan nor Silla has posed a threat to the Tang Dynasty. It is precisely because our Tang Dynasty is broad-minded and embraces all rivers that the Kaiyuan era has been in the prosperous era. The implementation of the regressive measures of sea ban are really not in line with the consistent national policy of our Tang Dynasty."

"This is a false statement from Shangshu Chu!"

Wang Angchang, the Minister of Works, laughed and stood up and retorted: "Japan, how big is Silla State? How big is the population? But every year, there are millions of kilograms of pig iron to both places. Is it really all used by them? Walking through the Bohai State through the Khitan into the Uighur territory, it has always been a smuggling route for pig iron. Does the Secretary of Chu really know? Sea transportation is not like land transportation, and there are traces to be found. The big ship goes north to the sea. Who can know where it really goes? The Tang Dynasty embargo is annually, but the source of pig iron of the Uighur has never been blocked. This is the problem. Therefore, the Prime Minister of Cui proposed a comprehensive embargo, which is the root cause of the root cause."

Chu Xingshui was speechless. In fact, he also knew that many of the iron ships that had originally gone to Silla and Japan had finally gone to Bohai Kingdom, but this was not what Chu Xingshui family did. Isn’t Cui Yuan the same? It’s just that the amount is much smaller than himself. Today, Cui Yuan threw bricks and jade, which really made him suffer a loss.

Seeing that Chu Xingshui stopped talking, Cui Yuan smiled and stood up, "Since there is indeed a possibility of indirect smuggling from the sea, the embargo of pig iron has been decided like this. However, the Uighurs proposed another condition to exchange food for horses. What do you think?"

"I don't think there is any need for food." Pei Jun stood up slowly and said, "The reason why pig iron can be controlled is because there is a salt and iron prison for sale, but grain is not the case. Every household has it. The caravans entering the Uighurs will carry a lot of food, which is impossible to resist. So I thought it would be better to let go so that the Uighurs would come to the border to rob them if they lack food."

"I also agree with the words of Prime Minister Pei, and the food should be liberalized."

Zhang Potian, who had been silent, glanced at Wang Ang and said coldly: "However, what Wang Shangshu said just now, a comprehensive embargo is the foundation of the root cause. I do not agree with it. My Tang Dynasty lacks horses, and the root cause is not that the Uighurs want pig iron. Instead, the Hexi, where the horses of my Tang Dynasty are in the source, was occupied by Tubo, so that the cavalry had no horse to take over, so that it could not form a strategic threat to the Uighurs. If you want to reverse this unfavorable situation, you must regain Hedong. Now the prosperous era of Tubo has passed, and they have only 20,000 troops stationed in Hexi. With the national strength of our Tang Dynasty, we can completely regain Hexi, and even Anxi and Beiting. Now the Uighurs are suffering from serious disasters and the turmoil in the domestic political situation, and they have no time to look south. This is a good opportunity to use troops against Tubo. I suggest that we should formulate a combat strategy immediately and declare war on Tubo as soon as possible!"

For those with low qualifications, he would despise people with low qualifications than himself. This is how Wang Ang. He entered the cabinet three years ago. He was originally the person with the least qualifications, but now it is not. Zhang Potian's entry was less than two months. Although he had been a brief right prime minister, no one would take his experience to heart. On the contrary, it was his shame. For such a person who had entered the cabinet for less than two months, Wang Ang retorted bluntly: "I fully agree with Zhang Shangshu's suggestion. I suggest that the Hedong Army take the lead and recapture Hexi for my Tang Dynasty. What do you think? "

This is the key to the problem. Everyone knows that Tubo is weak now, but who is willing to send troops? It should be Wei Yan from Longyou, but he refused. His reason was that he wanted to protect Longyou and to defend the Uighurs in the north, and he could not fight on both sides, and others were even more unwilling to move. Now all sides are in a delicate balance, and one move will move the overall situation.

The entire venue was silent for a moment, and Zhang Potian asked an embarrassing question. After a long time, Cui Yuan stood up and smiled and said, "We can all understand Zhang Shangshu's eagerness, but the true appearance is not the case. If I was ten years younger, I would definitely wear armor and hold my own to Hexi. Now my Tang Dynasty was invaded by the Anshi Rebellion and the Uighurs, just like a person who almost died of illness. Now I need to be recuperated slowly and nourish the sick body. Once I become stronger, I will expel the strong and restore the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains of my Tang Dynasty. Zhang Shangshu will wait patiently, and I believe we will all see that day."

Speaking of this, he looked around the venue and said solemnly: "We discussed for an afternoon and it was time to make a conclusion. Pig iron is fully banned. Whether it is Tubo, Uighur, Silla or Japan, foreign trade is not allowed. Anyone who dares to smuggle will be punished for treason. The flow of pig iron will be monitored by salt and iron monitoring. Food trade can be relaxed and merchants are encouraged to exchange horses for Uighurs."

"That's the decision!"

Pei Jun stood up and smiled and said, "Everyone is tired, let's get here today!" He turned around and nodded to Cui Min, the Secretariat who made the cabinet resolution, and signaled him to draw up the resolution as soon as possible."

When everyone walked out of the venue, it was already dark. Cui Yuan walked to Zhang Potian with a smile and said, "Potian, do you have time to go to my mansion to have a drink?"

Zhang Potian smiled and shook his head, "The Prime Minister has received his kindness. Today, my Qilang is back to visit his relatives, and the family is going to get together!"

"Then let's go another day!" Cui Yuan smiled and stopped insisting. He turned around and waved to everyone and boarded the carriage. The carriage quickly started and gradually disappeared into the night.

It takes less than half an hour to get there from Daming Palace to Xuanyangfang, Cuiyuan's mansion. Along the way, you have to pass Guangzhaifang, Chongrenfang and Pingkangfang. It is already dark and the night is cold. The people of Chang'an closed their doors early. Most of the people who like nightlife also go to Pingkangfang. The streets are quiet and there is no pedestrian. Only the sound of horse hooves and wheels of the guards. Occasionally, a convoy of carriages in Cuiyuan was galloping by.

Soon, the carriage walked outside the gate of Pingkangfang, but there were crowds of people, and the lights were as bright as day. There were big trees planted on both sides. Although the leaves had fallen halfway, the shade was still thick, making the road extremely crowded. The carriage slowly approached the gate of Pingkangfang. A carriage was parked next to the gate. This was an extremely ordinary carriage, usually used for renting, and it was everywhere on the street. The carriage parked there, as if waiting for people. At this time, the crowd discovered the arrival of the prime minister and walked to both sides to make way. Just as the guards were passing by the carriage carefully, the window of the carriage opened, and a black crossbow arrow stretched out from it, aimed at Cui Yuan's carriage window. Before the guards could react, the sound of breaking through the air sounded, and a crossbow arrow shot out like lightning, penetrated the window of Cui Yuan's carriage.

The crowd around him was in chaos. A man in black rushed out on the carriage and rushed into Pingkangfang. When the guards caught up, he had disappeared without a trace.

Cui Yuan's car door suddenly opened, and Cui Yuan got out of the car. His face was pale, and an arrow was deeply inserted on his shoulder, blood flowing, and suddenly his body softened and he fell to the ground.

Right Prime Minister Cui Yuan was assassinated.

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Chapter completed!