The imperial edict sent by Liu Hong to Liu Xin on New Year's Eve surprised him. This edict appointed him as the shepherd of Jingzhou. Zhang Gouer finished issuing the imperial edict this time and refused to stay despite Liu Xin's repeated attempts to persuade him to stay.
After having a New Year's Eve dinner in Hejian, he hurried back to Luoyang. Apparently something big happened in the capital. Before leaving, he repeatedly told Liu Xin to pack up and rush to Luoyang as soon as possible to meet the emperor. Liu Xin did not dare to force him to stay.
He asked someone to stuff him a bag of gold and silver, and returned to the house gloomily, only to see Tian Feng and others gathered in the hall after receiving the news. Everyone's face was beaming with joy, and they were discussing something happily.
Seeing Liu Xin walking in, everyone fell to the ground and said, "I see you, my lord!"
Liu Xin was a little confused and said quickly: "What are you doing? Get up quickly."
Tian Feng looked at the stunned Liu Xin and said, "Don't you want us to follow you to Jingzhou, my lord?"
Liu Xin asked strangely: "Where do you start talking about this? I don't know where I offended the emperor. He suddenly asked me to be a state official with duties but no power. Are you worried that you don't want to go to Jingzhou with me?"
.Also, why did you suddenly call my lord?"
Jushu explained: "Haha, my lord, you have misunderstood. You went to Jingzhou to serve as a state pastor, not as a governor. The governor is only responsible for supervising local officials, but the state pastor is different. He is in charge of the military and administration of a state, and the governors of each county.
It all depends on the appointment and dismissal of the state pastor. From now on, when we follow you to Jingzhou, we will help you, so naturally we will call you my lord."
After hearing Jushu's explanation, Liu Xin turned from worry to joy, and said to Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others: "You and I are sworn brothers. You can still call me eldest brother from now on. You don't need to call me lord."
This was really a big pie falling from the sky, and it knocked Liu Xin out in one fell swoop. As the governor of Hejian, he actually did a very useless job. Although he was said to be in charge of the army and the people, in fact, his personnel power was limited.
Lingdu has no power to appoint or remove people. Tian Feng, Jushu, Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others are actually non-staff cadres, equivalent to what later generations would call "temporary workers." This is great. When they arrive in Jingzhou, they have the final say.
Just arrange suitable positions for them. But where did this imperial edict come from? Liu Xin was puzzled.
It turns out that during the Han Dynasty, the country was divided into thirteen prefectures: Sili, Yu, Yan, Qing, Xu, Liang, Yong, Hebei, You, Bing, Jing, Yang, and Yi. At the beginning, the post of prefecture pastor was set up to manage the prefectures.
The counties and counties later found that the power of the state pastor was too great, so they changed the state pastor to the state governor. The state governor only exercised supervision power over the counties and counties on behalf of the central government and had no real power. At that time, Liu Yan was the governor of Nanyang, and his good friend Shi Zhong
Dong Fu once said to Liu Yan, "There will be chaos in the capital, and the division of Yizhou has the spirit of the emperor." So Liu Yan wanted to be the master of Yizhou, and wrote to the emperor many times to ask the emperor to re-establish the position of prefectural shepherd.
Coincidentally, Zhang Rang got Liu Xin's reminder and actually sent someone to follow Feng Xu secretly. As expected, he discovered that he had close contacts with a man named Ma Yuanyi, so he believed Liu Xin's story. During this period
, a nursery rhyme gradually circulated in the capital: "Heaven will die, Huang Tian will stand, age will be six years old, and the world will be prosperous." Zhang Rang was secretly frightened after hearing this. He understood that his current power was all dependent on Emperor Liu.
Hong's trust, if Liu Hong fell, he would be doomed.
After understanding this, Zhang Rang did not dare to delay any longer, and hurriedly entered the palace to report to Liu Hong. Liu Hong was reading the memorial handed over by Liu Yan at this time. Liu Yan handed over the memorial over and over again, but it always disappeared like a cow in the sea.
No news. This time he sent a generous gift to Zhao Zhong and asked Zhao Zhong to forward it to Liu Hong.
Zhao Zhong naturally said a lot of good things to Liu Yan. Liu Hongzheng was hesitant and undecided. When Zhang Rang came in, he handed Liu Yan's memorial to him.
Zhang Rang had already seen Zhao Zhong winking at him from the side. He and Zhao Zhong were wearing the same pair of trousers. How could he not understand what he meant? So he first told what he knew about Zhang Jiao, and then
Taking advantage of the opportunity, he said: "Your Majesty, a few days ago, Yang Ci and Liu Tao both sent letters requesting Zhang Jiao's capture, but the Emperor did not approve it. If we arrest him again now, we may be criticized. The old slave thought that this memorial from Master Liu Yan was
We arrived in time and solved the emperor's big problem."
Liu Hong asked strangely: "What is the connection between these two things?"
Zhang Rang continued: "Nowadays, the governors in various places are corrupt, extorting bribes, and exploiting the people. Many of them disobey the imperial orders, which has led to the betrayal of the world. Liu Yan's memorial requested the emperor to select a prominent minister from the Qing Dynasty to serve as the governor of the state to control one side.
The old slave thinks it is feasible. This way, it will be easier to gather troops from various states. If Zhang Jiao really rebels, it will be easy to capture him."
Liu Hong nodded and said, "My father's words are reasonable. So which states do you think are more appropriate to set up state shepherds?" Liu Hong favored Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong and often called Zhang Rang his father and Zhao Zhong his father.
mother.
Zhao Zhong heard that Liu Hong had relaxed his mind, and remembered what Liu Yan had asked him to do, so he quickly said: "Your Majesty, all the elite soldiers of the Han Dynasty have gathered in Luoyang, You, Bing, and Liang. The three states are also strong with strong troops and horses. Even if Zhang Jiao rebels, it is not a big concern.
On the other hand, the southern states were beyond the reach of the imperial court, especially Yizhou, where the roads were blocked, so it would be better to set up a state pastor as soon as possible. Since this idea was proposed by Liu Yan, and he was a member of the Han clan, the old slave thought that he could be appointed as the pastor of Yizhou.
.”
Liu Hong thought for a while and said: "What my mother said makes sense. I appointed Liu Yan as the pastor of Yizhou. Among the southern states, Jingzhou is connected to the north and south. It is very important. I originally wanted to appoint Wang Rui as the governor of Jingzhou. Now it is better to appoint him directly.
Jingzhou Mu, what do you think?"
Wang Rui had a close relationship with General He Jin. He often bumped into Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others. Liu Hong asked them how they could speak for him. Zhao Zhong first said: "Go back to the emperor, Zhou Mu
The power of a position is so great, how can it be handed over to outsiders casually? You should choose a person from the clan who is both capable and virtuous before you can hold it." Zhao Zhongxin said, my goal has been achieved, I don't care whether Jingzhou has a state pastoral office or not.
It is a matter of fact, but it is better not to establish a state pastoralist than to take advantage of Wang Rui.
Zhang Rang rolled his eyes and remembered Liu Xin. The investigation of Feng Xu relied on Liu Xin's reminder. He had also made a contribution in front of the emperor, so he thought of reciprocating the favor and said: "Your Majesty, this old slave recommends Liu Xin, the governor of Hejian."
Xin is also a clan member of the Han Dynasty. He is loyal and considerate of the people, so he can be appointed as the shepherd of Jingzhou."
Liu Hong thought about it, Liu Xin had indeed done a lot during this year's drought. Last time, Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, wrote a letter asking for praise, but he didn't agree. It didn't matter, he would be compensated this time. So, two imperial edicts were sent out respectively.
, Liu Xin received this huge piece of pie, but it was actually Liu Yan's favor.
Liu Xin accepted the imperial edict and happily packed up his things and prepared to go on the road. In the past year or so, he had been a prefect and basically spent public funds. He did not spend much money himself and received many gifts. In addition to the original
After careful calculation, Liu Xin's savings turned out to be more than 10 million. In this way, Liu Xin was still regarded by the local people as a rare good and honest official. This shows how simple and kind the people of the Han Dynasty were. These belongings have long been
He quietly exchanged it for gold and silver, which made it easier to carry.
But Ma Yun's luggage was full of two large boxes. Liu Xin asked quite strangely: "Are these yours? What are they?"
Ma Yun said proudly: "It's all books."
Liu Xin was even more surprised: "Books? Why did you buy so many books? Why don't I know? Let me take a look."
Ma Yun knocked off Liu Xin's hand that was about to open the lid of the box: "These books are my secrets, you are not allowed to read them."
Liu Xin said disdainfully: "Huh, I don't even care to read it. It must be some pornographic novels."
Ma Yun pretended to be angry and said: "Go! You are just reading ** novels."
Before Zhang Gou'er left, he told him to get on the road as soon as possible, which meant that he wished he could set off immediately. But Liu Xin couldn't just leave. This time he went to Jingzhou to take office. Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Xu Huang, Zhang Fei, Zhang He, Dian
Naturally, the six brothers Wei, Xu Chu, and Zhao Yun will accompany them, as will Fan Jing, his daughter, and Father Xu. Everyone has a lot to pack, so the speed cannot be increased.
Fortunately, when traveling in the spring, Ma Yun thought the carriage was too bumpy. After Liu Xin came back, she found a skilled craftsman and based on his knowledge of shock absorption, he built three large, five small and eight comfortable carriages, plus two
Ten ordinary carriages are enough to transport family members and belongings. He has expanded the Flying Tiger Guard to a thousand people, and all of them are cavalry. This way, the speed on the road is expected to be much faster.
In this way, it was not until the third day of the first lunar month that Liu Xin got everything ready. Unexpectedly, the people in Hejian heard the news and spontaneously came to the prefect's mansion to see him off. The roads in the city were blocked. There was no one there that day.
Go.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, it was still dark. Liu Xin, Dian and Wei, took one hundred Flying Tiger Guard soldiers and quietly left the city towards Luoyang. Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others took the other nine hundred soldiers respectively.
The famous Flying Tiger Guard guard protected Ma Yun and her son, as well as Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Fan Jing and Xu Lao. They waited until dawn before setting off. After hearing the news, many people came to see him off, only to find that Liu Xin had left quietly.
Had to give up.
Liu Xin and Dian Wei led a hundred flying tiger cavalry and rushed to Luoyang non-stop. It was already dusk on the fifth day of the first lunar month. Although the gates of Luoyang City were not closed at night, the palace gates had already been closed. Liu Xin naturally
Since I couldn't see the emperor, I had to go to the post house to settle down first.
Although Liu Xin is now the shepherd of a state waiting to take office, in the eyes of the postmen in the capital who are used to seeing high officials, he is nothing. Liu Xin and Dian Wei are not enthusiastic towards Liu Xin, and the postmen are also not enthusiastic about it.
Only some simple meals were arranged.
Dian Wei was so angry that he tried to argue with them several times. Liu Xin quickly stopped him and said: "This is the emperor's feet. There is no way for you to act wildly. Forget it, we are not short of money. Let's find a room in the capital tonight."
The hotel will let you have a good drink."
When Dian Wei heard that there was wine, most of his anger was gone, and he raised his hands in approval. The two of them changed into casual clothes and walked onto the streets of Luoyang. Unexpectedly, the doors of every store were closed. After walking around several streets, they saw someone.
A hotel has a large shop, with a row of red lanterns hanging at the door and three golden characters "Drunken Red Dust" written on the signboard.