The heavy snow had been falling for two days and two nights, and the entire northern land was shrouded in white snow. The streets of Pengcheng, covered in silver, did not become depressed by the flying snow, but instead seemed extremely lively.

Today is the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, and one day it will be New Year's Eve, which indicates that the new year is coming soon. The people of Pengcheng are busy purchasing New Year's goods in the market, and the streets are crowded with people, and they are full of enthusiasm.

Since Zhang Yan discovered that the civil and military ministers led by Chen Qun, Zhang Zhao and others were secretly gathered together to conspire to support him in the throne, Zhang Yan has been very low-key, as if nothing had happened on the surface, but in fact, Zhang Yan sent Mi Zhu, Mi Wei and his son to investigate the matter thoroughly and gave Zhuge Liang a secret order to assist Mi Zhu and Mi Wei and his son in the investigation. After more than half a month of secret investigation, a court official was involved, and Mi Zhu reported all the results he obtained to Zhang Yan in writing.

When Zhang Yan saw such a memorial, his brows were slightly frowning, and he no longer had the shock he had at the beginning. For half a month, he had been paying attention to this matter secretly and could learn some news from Mi Zhu almost every day.

The memorials he saw now were just a summary of Mi Zhu's past half a month, but when the names he had followed him through life and death appeared on the paper one by one, his heart was still as if he was hit by a huge rock, so heavy.

The number and range of people involved in this matter have exceeded the scope he expected. Almost all the officials of Yang Biao, Sima Zhi, Guoyuan, Bing Yuan, Hua Xin, Wang Lang, Gu Yong, Dong Zhao, Kong Rong, Zhuge Jin, and Jiang Ji, the six ministries of the three provinces and six ministries participated. In addition, General Xu Chu of the Guard, Xu Sheng, commander of the Jinyiwei, Zang Ba, general of Zhenbei and governor of Jizhou, Lu Su, general of Zhennan and governor of Yangzhou, Gao Shun of Bingzhou, General of the East of the Conquest, Zhou Tai of the Annan General, Jiang Qin of the Pingnan General, Li Dian of the Pingnan General, etc., also participated.

It can be seen from this that whether it is a senior official in the court, a commander in the army, or a local official, almost all have great expectations for Zhang Yan to be the emperor.

Zhang Yan slowly put down the memorial in his hand, sighed heavily, and couldn't help but recall his reform policies after he became in power in the past few years. Although the thunder of reform was loud, the power of actual implementation was very small, which could be said to be loud and the raindrops were small. Moreover, the reform had only been three years, and he had already encountered serious setbacks.

Originally, Zhang Yan's reform meant to separate the three powers, but now it seems that the purpose has not been achieved. When all officials encounter common interests, they will all be united and united to compete with them.

Although the purpose of these people was to change the dynasty and turn themselves into founding fathers, they may not have encountered similar things one day in the future. As soon as everyone planned, they would depose him, the emperor.

It seems that Zhang Yan underestimated his subordinates. Now Zhang Yan is more considering how to hold all his power in his hands if he really ascended the throne as emperor.

The selfishness of human nature and the defense of one's own interests gave birth to Zhang Yan's strange thoughts. Now he gradually understood why the feudal society in China lasted for so long was the fundamental reason for the deep-rooted and unshakable stubbornness and conservative thoughts.

It is easy to kill someone, and it is also easy to establish a regime, but it is not so easy to change people's minds.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?" Mi Zhu asked.

Zhang Yan said: "Since everyone who wants me to be the emperor, I will be the emperor. If I don't want to be, they will probably hold a knife on my neck and force me to submit. Instead of that, it is better to accept it naturally. However, I want these people to understand that I am not a puppet in their hands. I want them to know that I am me, no one can control me, and no one can threaten me."

Mi Zhu kept listening carefully to every sentence Zhang Yan said. He found that Zhang Yan's tone became heavier and heavier. When he raised his head and looked at Zhang Yan, he found that Zhang Yan's face turned pale and two terrifying rays shot out from his deep eyes. This kind of gaze was something he had never seen before, but he knew that Zhang Yan wanted to kill someone.

"Brother!"

When Mi Zhu heard Zhang Yan's shouting, he hurriedly responded: "The emperor is here, what are your instructions?"

"Brother!" Zhang Yan walked to Mi Zhu's side, took out several secret letters from his arms, handed them to Mi Zhu's hands, and instructed: "Now there is no one around me, so I can only rely on my brother. Please ask your brother to appoint a confidant to send these letters out, remember!"

Mi Zhu took these neatly stacked secret letters, and with a quick glance, he saw the name written on the envelope. The word "Jia Xu" was particularly dazzling and shot into his eyes. However, he did not see the other letters, but he just held them in his hands, but did not dare to see who it was for.

"Your Highness is thinking..." Mi Zhu could roughly guess what Zhang Yan was thinking. He has known this brother-in-law for more than a year or two. Although Zhang Yan didn't dare to say that he was 100% correct in his mentality, he could still guess it, so he asked carefully.

Zhang Yan just smiled, raised his hand and patted Mi Zhu on the shoulder, and said, "From today on, don't come to me again, so as not to arouse suspicion. When the time is right, I will send someone to notify you separately. You will still be Tan Hou!"

Mi Zhu didn't understand what Zhang Yan meant, but he didn't dare to ask too much, so he said goodbye.

It was not until he returned home that Mi Zhu looked at the names on the envelopes. In addition to Jia Xu, there were also the names of Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci and Zhang Hong, and a total of four letters.

Instead of opening the letter, Mi Zhu called his confidant and asked him to go to different places and send the four letters out.

Two days later, the Spring Festival of the fifth year of Wude arrived as scheduled, with lights and colorful decorations in Pengcheng, showing the New Year atmosphere. However, in the far southwest, two large armies were preparing for war. The Han army led by General Zhang Liao, the chariot and cavalry, were confronting the southwest Yi army headed by Meng Huo in the Dianchi Lake area.

The north is snowing thousands of miles away, and it is frozen thousands of miles away, completely immersed in the new year and new atmosphere. However, these two armies in the south of the colorful clouds are at a strife, and a war is about to begin... (To be continued, please search for astronomy, novels are better, updated and faster!

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Chapter completed!