Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong were both very surprised and exclaimed: "Make him king?"
Liu Hong said with great certainty: "Yes, I will make him king."
Zhao Zhong still refused to give up and said: "Your Majesty, this matter is very inappropriate. Although Liu Xin is also a clan relative, his ancestor was only a small Chaohou, and now he has been rashly crowned king. There is no precedent."
Although Zhang Rang often spoke for Liu Xin, he did not want Liu Xin to be named king. After all, the status of the prince was too high. No matter how favored he was in front of the emperor, he had to restrain himself when he saw the prince, let alone the future.
Liu Xin stretched out his hand to ask for the favor. But Zhang Rang didn't say anything. He didn't need to be this evil person at all. Even in front of the messenger sent by Liu Xin, Zhao Zhong's attitude was clear. If Liu Xin failed to become the prince in the end,
This hatred will definitely be recorded on Zhao Zhong. If Liu Xin becomes the prince, the first person to thank him will probably be Zhang Rang.
In Liu Hong's eyes, no matter how many contributions Liu Xin had made in the past, they could not compare to helping him find his long-lost "sexual happiness" this time. For such a contribution, no matter how much he could be rewarded to Liu Xin, it would not be an exaggeration.
What's more, Liu Xin is also a clan member of the Han Dynasty, and does not violate the ancestral rule of "neither one is meritorious, but no marquis, and no one is Liu, no king." Besides, what can he do if he is given the position of a prince? So he said without any doubt: "My will
It's been decided, don't say anything else! Draw up an edict! Make Liu Xin the King of Xiangyang and lead the shepherd of Jingzhou!"
Just as Jushou returned to Xiangyang, Liu Hong's edict came. Hearing that the emperor was going to make Liu Xin the King of Xiangyang, Jushou and Tian Feng, who had just returned from Changsha, were so excited that it was hard to express in words, and they congratulated Liu Xin repeatedly.
However, Liu Xin looked calm. He had already decided on the strategy of "building walls high, hoarding grain widely, and becoming king slowly". This was actually a strategy Liu Bowen proposed to Zhu Yuanzhang at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and Liu Xin copied it in full.
Of course, he did not make this strategy public, but just worked hard in this direction silently. Now "building walls high and accumulating grain widely" is going very smoothly. In Liu Xin's view, "slowly becoming king" can almost not be considered at the moment.
, who knew that the emperor suddenly issued an edict naming him king at this time.
Facing Ju Shou and Tian Feng's congratulations, Liu Xin did not feel the slightest excitement. Because he knew that being a prince was just a false title. In less than three years, Liu Hong should have passed away.
Who cares whether you are a king or a marquis, maybe the prince will die faster. Liu Xin made a decision very quickly and said to Ju Shou: "My lord, please help me draft a memorial to ask the emperor to withdraw his order no matter what.
"
After being awarded the title, Tian Feng looked at Liu Xin in surprise and said, "Being able to be named the King of Xiangyang is really a great pleasure in life. Please think again, my lord!"
Liu Xin said disdainfully, it would be a great pleasure in life just to be crowned King of Xiangyang. Do you know what my ultimate goal is? If I tell you, I will scare you to death. Of course, Liu Xin cannot tell them what he is thinking.
The date of Liu Hong's death needed to be kept absolutely secret, so he said with a serious face: "Two gentlemen, who doesn't yearn for a high official and a generous salary? However, it is important for people to know themselves! How can Liu be a commoner? How can he be so virtuous?
I managed to become a herdsman in Jingzhou within a year. I was already looking beyond expectations. How could I get to Long and look at Shu? I was greedy. Besides, nowadays, the country is suffering from constant disasters and the people are suffering and displaced. We should worry about the world's worries first, and rejoice after the world's happiness.
How can you covet false fame!"
After hearing the famous saying that Liu Xin stole from Mr. Fan, he was in awe and praised in unison: "What a man who worries about the world's worries first, and rejoices after the world's happiness. I will keep in mind my lord's teachings."
!”
The emperor's edict to confer Liu Xin the title of King of Xiangyang spread, and the court seemed to explode. The memorial asking Liu Hong to take back his life flew into the palace like snowflakes. Liu Hong looked at the pile of people in front of him like a hill.
Memorial, I felt annoyed. Even during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, these ministers were not as diligent as they are now. Didn't they just confer a king? As for this? The good mood Liu Hong had just brought about by regaining his glory was also gone.
No existence.
Faced with almost unanimous opposition from the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, Liu Hong could not insist on his own way. However, after Wang Meiren's death, he once wanted to depose Queen He, but was strongly opposed by the ministers and lost. Is it possible that he will do it again now?
He was very unwilling to bow his head to these courtiers. Moreover, the edict had already been issued. If it were withdrawn now, Liu Hong would have to consider what Liu Xin would think.
Liu Hong was furious in the main hall. Zhang Rang hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. Liu Xin has already taken the initiative to ask the Emperor to take back his orders."
Liu Xin didn't want to be the King of Xiangyang, which surprised Liu Hong, and asked: "I don't want to make him the king, what does he want? He took the initiative to express his love. Isn't it hypocritical?"
Zhang Rang smiled and said: "Your Majesty, now that Liu Xin has taken the initiative to come forward, it can be regarded as solving the Emperor's problem. The Emperor has withdrawn his order and no longer calls Liu Xin the King of Xiangyang. This is not because of the pressure of the courtiers, but because of sympathy for Liu Xin.
Xin is very loyal, no matter whether he is true or false."
An idea flashed in Liu Hong's mind and he said decisively: "No, let's wait a few days and take a look before talking."
Within half a month, Liu Xin submitted five memorials in a row, begging the emperor to withdraw his order. The frequency of his memorials was only higher than that of those ministers.
Liu Hong finally smiled and said: "The imperial edict must be prepared by Liu Xin."
Zhang Rang asked in confusion: "Why didn't the emperor agree with what he said from the beginning, so as to calm the ministers' discussions earlier?"
Liu Hong said proudly: "If I didn't do this, how could I know whether Liu Xin was sincere? Now it seems that Liu Xin's loyalty to me is unquestionable. Jingzhou is the south gate of Luoyang. From now on, I can
Leave it to him with confidence."
The uproarious incident of Liu Xin being crowned king finally came to an end, and then there was an endless debate in the court surrounding Liu Xin's initiative to refuse. This time, the ministers were no longer unanimous in their thinking.
It was obviously divided into several factions. A group of people headed by Situ Cuiyan believed that Liu Xin did this just to gain fame and relics for fame. A group of people headed by Taiwei Yang Ci believed that Liu Xin did this because he was forced to do so.
The pressure from the government and the public was not motivated by his true intentions, and is not worth mentioning. There are also middle- and lower-level officials headed by Xun Yu who believe that it is not easy for Liu Xin to do this, and his high moral integrity is really something for young people to learn from.
Role model.
Although there was a quarrel outside about Liu Xin's affairs, Cao Cao did not participate in these discussions. He just went between the military camp and his home on time every day. It seemed that he had never heard about Liu Xin's appointment as king.
The most talked about thing in the capital recently is the fact that Liu Xin was crowned king. Cao Cao’s first wife Ding Lin had also heard about it for a long time. On this day, when she saw Cao Cao coming back from the military camp, she asked casually: "Master, you and Mr. Liu, the shepherd of Jingzhou,
Didn't we have a chance encounter? Why do you think he declined the title of King of Xiangyang?"
Cao Cao laughed loudly and said: "The world is stupid, how can it understand Liu Xin's painstaking efforts. Xu Shao said that people are capable officials in governing the world and traitors in troubled times. I think this sentence is more appropriate to apply to Liu Xin!"
After Ding Lin turned around and left, Cao Cao said to himself: "Liu Xin is not simple! He will definitely be my strong enemy in the future. This person must be guarded against!"
Liu Xin stipulated that Ju Shou should submit a memorial every three days until the emperor revoked the order. Then he put the matter behind him and went to develop his Jingzhou step by step, as if the discussions between the government and the public had nothing to do with him.
A trace of relationship.
Although his education was not high, he still understood the principle that food is the most important thing for the people. Liu Xin's first development was naturally agriculture. The population at that time had not exceeded the carrying capacity of the land. The main problem was that the output was relatively low. The reason was
There are many aspects, and the main reason is that agricultural production at this time mainly depends on the weather. In recent years, Jingzhou has had good weather and agricultural production has achieved a bumper harvest. But to prepare for a rainy day, Liu Xin has set his sights on building water conservancy projects.
.
At that time, the minds of ordinary people were still locked in their own one-third of an acre of land, and few people were willing to come out to work. In addition to more than 10,000 former Yellow Turban prisoners who had obtained free status, Jingzhou's engineering team also had thousands of Jiangxia Army prisoners.
, the number is less than 20,000, which is more than half smaller than the original size of more than 40,000. Now is the busy farming season, and it is not possible to recruit a large number of civilians. In order to build water conservancy projects, we have to put most of the road repair work first.
There was a pause. Liu Xin sometimes even wondered if it was time to form a professional engineering force.
To ensure the steady development of the local economy, a stable environment is also very important. Especially in the newly recovered Jingnan area, there are still many bandits and bandits. In addition to the fourth and fifth legions staying there, Liu Xin also ordered
Zhang He's Third Army was also transferred to the south of the Yangtze River and spared no effort to crack down on bandits everywhere.
After Liu Xin's repeated adjustments to local power, the position of the governor no longer seemed so important. Therefore, he decisively transferred Tian Feng back from Changsha and put him in charge of water conservancy construction in various places. The attack on Jiangxia City brought huge consequences.
The casualties made Liu Xin learn from the pain, and the work of developing large siege equipment such as trebuchets was urgent. During Kong Wen's tenure as the head of the institute, many research and development projects were not progressing quickly. Liu Xin did not hesitate to transfer Xiang Lang back to take charge of the research.
hospital.
Xiangyang City is still as prosperous as ever. The gates on all sides have never been closed even when Liu Xin sent troops to Jiangxia and Wuling. Its status as a commercial center in the central and southern areas cannot be shaken. Every day, merchants from the south and the north come to the city all night long.
As time went on, the business of the inns in the city was also extremely booming.
It was already past dusk. If it were in other cities, the city gates would have been closed long ago, but there were still people coming in and out in twos and threes at each gate in Xiangyang, and various vehicles also passed through the city from time to time.
A small carriage drove straight towards the east gate of Xiangyang. The driver said without looking back: "Sir, we are going to Xiangyang just ahead."