The Chu family has always been a wealthy family in Chuzhou, Huainan. Unlike other prominent families, the rise of the Chu family in the officialdom began in the early years of Kaiyuan. Li Longji first ascended the great treasure. He broke the old and sought new, was enterprising, and boldly promoted pragmatic officials. Chu Mingyuan, who was the Sima of Yangzhou at that time, wrote a letter to the court, suggesting that the water transportation be cleared and the wealthy Jianghuai and Chang'an were connected.

Li Longji admired his suggestion very much and immediately ordered him to be the Censor and the Jianghuai Grain Transportation Commissioner, who was responsible for the rectification of grain transportation. In the fifth year of Kaiyuan, Chu Mingyuan was promoted to the Huainan Road Inspection Envoy and the Governor of Yangzhou.

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During the Anshi Rebellion, Chu Tan, the son of Chu Mingyuan, designed to kill Helan and Jinming and annex his army. The subsequent Uighurs invaded China, and the Tian Shengong in Huaixi was killed by Chu Tan. He ordered his eldest son Chu Xingshui to lead 60,000 troops to rescue Chenliu, a military city. He fought for three days and three nights. After more than half of the troops were damaged, he defeated 20,000 Uighur cavalry and rescued the crown prince Peng, Li Geng, who was trapped here at the time. Chu Tan was also named Duke of Chu, Grand Governor of Yangzhou, and Zuo Pushe, and his son Chu Xingshui took over as the governor of Huainan. The 19th Chu family was all prefectures and counties, and the fifth family in the world was formed.

Chu Xingshui is currently the Minister of Justice and the governor of Huainan. His younger brother Chu Xingyun is the deputy governor of Huainan and the chief of Guangling County, and controls 30,000 Huainan troops.

The world has been peaceful for a long time. Guangling County has a full warehouse of fish and rice, and the rich silks have gradually faded the Chu family's heroism, and it has become a bit more elegant. Since the 13th year of Qingzhi, Guangling Academy has successively seized the top scorer of the provincial examination, which has made the world admire people. Chu Wei, the eldest son of the Chu family who participated in the imperial examination this year, is the most popular person. In addition, his handsome and elegant appearance has been praised by the benevolent people as the first son of the aristocratic family.

But Chu Xingshui, who came out of the battlefield, was not happy. He had already vaguely seen the crisis of the Chu family. There were many people who tasted the flowers and sang the moon, and few who were pragmatic and capable.

The foundation of the Chu family was weak. Since He Shaohua, the Minister of Justice of the Ministry of Justice, was demoted in the stolen position, the Chu family had no position in the center of power in the court, and only saved the two functional departments of the Salt and Iron Supervision and Taifu Temple. With the support of Cui Yuan, Wang Ang's confidant Han Huang became the governor of Wu County and the Zhejiang West Observer a year ago. This was undoubtedly another stab in the back of the Chu family.

Like Pei Jun, Chu Xingshui also watched the development of things in Longyou. As the New Year's Day approached, he gradually felt the energy he had when the battle bow was full.

"Father! I heard that Zhang Ruohao returned to Taiyuan yesterday!" As soon as the sky got dark, his son Chu Wei rushed back from outside and reported the news excitedly.

Chu Xingshui was sitting in the study room reading a book at this time. He didn't raise his head and said coldly: "Can you call the name of the Minister of Rites in the current dynasty?"

Chu Xingshui folded the book and looked up at his son. He saw that his eyes were slightly red and his body was filled with alcohol. He must have been in a hurry to report the news that Zhang Ruohao returned to Taiyuan, so he had no time to hide it.

It was nothing to drink some wine, but the son was so excited about Zhang Ruohao's return to Taiyuan, which surprised him a little.

"Sit down and have something to ask you for your father!"

My father's coldness was like a basin of cold water pouring on his head. Chu Weihan knelt down opposite his father tremblingly, and he whispered: "Please give me a lecture!"

Chu Xingshui also realized that his attitude was a little cold. In order to ease the atmosphere, he smiled and said, "Have you gone out for fun with Xiaoning these days?"

Although his father's tone eased, the topic he raised was a little colder than the wind in Sanjiutian. Chu Wei lowered his head and said helplessly for a long time: "I have never seen her again since she came to have dinner last time. I heard that she spent most of her time in the palace."

Seeing that her son was depressed, Chu Xingshui smiled slightly and said, "Even if she became a princess, she is still Cui Yuan's daughter. The legitimate daughter of the aristocratic family has always been used for political transactions, not to mention that Cui Yuan only has this daughter."

Chu Wei's eyes gradually became brighter, and his father kept not expressing his opinion on the matter of asking Cui Yuan for a marriage. Is he hinting at what he said today?

"What my father means..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Xingshui waved his hand with a smile and interrupted him, "I know this matter naturally in my father's mind. Now tell me what do you think about Zhang Shangshu returning to Taiyuan?"

Chu Wei knew that his father was examining him. He lowered his head and thought, "The child also heard that the Zhang family was in trouble because of the heir of the head of the family. Now that the ancestral hall is burned, I think it is probably related to this matter. Taking history as a guide, the decline of the family often starts from the inside. If Zhang Shangshu doesn't handle this matter well, it may become the root of the Zhang family's defeat."

"Then what do you think has something to do with my Chu family?"

"The child is thinking that if the Zhang family declined, the Shannan Wang family would definitely move back to Hedong. In this way, the opportunity for the Chu family to expand westward will come to his sight."

Chu Xingshui nodded gently. It seemed that his son was not as immersed in poetry and songs as he thought. He was still clear-headed. Although his ideas were still a little naive, he was still young after all. As long as he was good at guiding, he might not be able to bear the burden of his family in the future.

Just as he was thinking, there was a sound of running footsteps outside the door, and then his family immediately reported: "Master, Cui Xiangguo is here!"

"Ah!" Chu Wei stood up suddenly, his heart pounding with nervousness, "Father, Cui Xiangguo is here, what should I do?"

"What are you anxious about?" Chu Xingshui glanced at him dissatisfiedly, and nervous about a woman. He stood up and snorted heavily, and went out to welcome the guests.

"My brother is so idle, which makes Lao Cui envious!" Cui Yuan smiled and bowed.

Chu Xingshui smiled in surprise and said, "Why did Brother Cui say this? What point does it mean to see my leisure again."

"But looking at the deserted outside your gate and there was no carriage, it was enough for Lao Cui to envy me. I couldn't drive away, and I couldn't persuade him to go, and I lined up all night, so I had to run to you to take refuge."

Chu Xingshui raised his head and smiled, "Brother Cui is sarcasticating me, come! Come! Come! Let's sit in our house." The two of them walked into the mansion with their arms intimately.

Chu Xingshui gave Cui Yuan to the guest room and ordered his servants to serve tea. Cui Yuan just smiled but said nothing. When the tea was hot, he took a sip and said, "There is no special purpose today. I have a moment of leisure and come and talk about family matters with my old friends."

"Brother Cui worked hard on national affairs day and night, so it's time to take a break. If Brother Cui is willing, he can come to see me at any time."

"The words of a virtuous brother have made me feel very relieved." Cui Yuan took another sip of tea and sighed: "In recent years, there have been many things and I have no time to care about my family. It was not until yesterday that Wang Ang came to propose to his son that I realized that Ning'er was already sixteen years old!"

Chu Xingshui already understood Cui Yuan's purpose, and indeed wanted to marry. Wang's family proposed to him. Wang Ang was already Cui Yuan's dog. It was enough to give his only daughter. Is it necessary to give him his only daughter? This is clearly Cui Yuan used to oppress himself and wanted to achieve his goal at the lowest cost.

Marriage is just a means after all, and its essence is an alliance of interests. However, whether it is a marriage or an alliance, these are not a problem. What is important is the dowry and betrothal gift. Although Chu Wei has been coming to invite Cui Ning all the time this year, his admiration even touched the stone Pixiu guarding the gate, but Cui Yuan and Chu Xingshui remained unmoved. They were waiting for each other to speak first, so that they could take the initiative at the marriage negotiation table.

What Cui Yuan wants and what Chu Xingshui wants, no one will reveal his trump card until the last moment. Their marriage is destined not to flip through the eight characters like a small family, just look at the almanac. No! The marriage between them is the result of exchange of interests and compromise. Once successful, it will change the pattern of the entire court.

In this way, they all knew it well, but no one asked it first. Until six hours before the New Year's dynasty, Cui Yuan finally came. He had to make Chu Xingshui turn to himself or remain neutral in the matter of Cui Qinggong entering the pavilion tomorrow. For this reason, marrying the Chu family is the most effective card.

But Cui Yuan also understood that Chu Xingshui would definitely take the opportunity to ask for a price everywhere. In order to minimize the dowry, he had to find the best opportunity.

So he was not in a hurry to raise the engagement. While drinking tea, he swept out the door from time to time from time to time. At this time, a faint figure appeared in the crack of the door. Cui Yuan couldn't help but smile slightly, and the time was coming.

"Although that boy Wang Yan is also a handsome man, I admire Chu Wei's spirit and persistence even more, so today I would like to ask my nephew, is he interested in my Ning'er? If I don't like it, then I will fulfill Wang Yan's success!"

"I like it!" The figure on the ground suddenly became clear. The door was pushed open. Chu Wei, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, broke in. People said that love was blind. This sentence was not bad at all when he was a child. Although he was well educated since childhood, gentle and respectful, and had orderly movements, he was in a mess in the word "love" and had no usual demeanor and cultivation at all.

He was blushed and came in and knelt in front of his father and said, "Father! The child is willing to marry Cui Ning as his wife, beg his father to fulfill his wish!"

Cui Yuan laughed loudly and sighed repeatedly: "Yes! Brother Chu, how can you resist such a golden marriage?"

Although Chu Xingshui's name was feminine and elegant, he was a man who cut off the murder and attack. At that time, he led 60,000 troops to rescue Chenliu. Facing the sharp cavalry of the Uighurs, most of the casualties were killed and killed by his subordinates. However, he still fought to the end, which eventually made the Uighurs' confidence collapse first, thus achieving a great victory in Chenliu, which greatly encouraged the morale of the Tang Dynasty's military and civilians. It was also this battle that made the Uighurs see the determination to fight to the death of the Tang Dynasty and finally decided to leave the Tang Dynasty and return north.

Fifteen years have passed, but Chu Xingshui's stubbornness has never faded. If his son did not rashly enter, he might have agreed to marry the Cui family after a bargaining, but Chu Wei's eagerness and incompetence have made Chu Xingshui wake up suddenly. If Cui and Chu families marry, the Chu family will sooner or later follow the Wang family and become a dog of the Cui family.

no!

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Chapter completed!