Sighing, Wang Ling suddenly smiled, and said with a joke: "Jiang Hou said back then that after the whole society and the Liu family, the old man was not as good as Jiang Hou and the prime minister. ”

As he spoke, Wang Ling glanced at Chen Ping on the side: "I don't know if today, the two of you still have the face to dare to say that 'after An Liu'?" ”

Listening to Wang Ling's such straightforward ridicule, Chen Ping had already lowered his head in shame; And Zhou Bo's gaze at Wang Ling gradually drifted.

Eight years ago, Emperor Hui died; The minister of Tuo Gu and the prime minister of Zuo obeyed the edict, and the crown prince Liu Gong succeeded to the emperor's throne and took the temple as the heir.

Liu Gong was only seven years old when he ascended the throne, and Empress Lu was able to hang the curtain as a woman, and the policies and laws were all out of Changle.

After his grandson sat on the throne, Empress Lu's heart poured out according to the long-standing calculations, and he tried to Wang Ling, the prime minister of Zuo, who was in control of the government at that time: If the children of the Lu family are crowned kings, will the ancestral system be broken?

The honest Wang Ling said bluntly: Emperor Gaozu swore an alliance with the white horse, not the Liu family, not the king!

Lu Pheasant, who did not get the ideal answer, was furious, and sent Wang Ling to teach the emperor Liu Gong in the name of 'the emperor's youth', and called the right prime minister Chen Ping and Zhou Bo to ask the same question;

'Emperor Gaozu won the world and named the Liu clan, and now the Queen Mother is in charge of the world, and it is natural for Zhulu to be sealed. This is Chen Ping and Zhou Bo's answer.

When Empress Lu heard this, she immediately appointed Zhou Bo as a lieutenant, and began to make a bold move to give the Lu clan relatives the throne of the princes - in order to give up the throne to Lu Pheasant's brothers and nephews, the princes and kings of the Liu family were almost killed and injured (in history, when Liu Heng succeeded to the throne, Liu Bang's sons except Liu Heng, there was only one Huainan King Liu Chang left)···

Seeing this change, Wang Ling angrily found Zhou Bo and Chen Ping and asked: If you do this, will you still have the face to see Emperor Gaozu after death?

Zhou Bo replied: When it comes to loyalty and straightforwardness, we are not as good as my brother; But when it comes to the ability to stabilize the world and protect the descendants of the Liu family, the elder brother is inferior to ours (the face is folded and the court is disputed, and the minister is not as good as the king; After the whole Sheji and An Liu's, Jun is not as good as the minister).

Since then, Wang Ling's senses for Zhou Bo have taken a sharp turn for the worse, and there is almost no contact between the two; After that, the former young emperor was killed by Lu Houjiu, Wang Ling returned to hiding, and the two never saw each other again...

Before the tenth month, when he learned that the courtiers planned to welcome Liu Heng, the acting king, as the emperor, Wang Ling could only lament that time had changed, and he might be old...

It wasn't until Liu Hong 'came back from the dead' that Wang Ling, who had been up and down for decades, realized that the court pattern would usher in a drastic change - judging from the events in Beique that day, Liu Hong had at least eighty percent of his ancestor Liu Bang's violent temper!

At this time, the Han family could no longer withstand a large-scale political turmoil...

Looking at the north from afar, Wang Ling let the old man behind him help him up, and slowly came to Chen Ping.

"Emperor Gaozu said when he was on a great trip: 'Qu is talented and uninterrupted, and when you have more experience to become a great material', does the prime minister think so?"

When Chen Ping heard this, he nodded as if he had been amnestied, and bowed: "Hearing the words of the old man, the younger generation wakes up like a dream, but I don't know..."

Ignoring Chen Ping's unfinished words, Wang Ling continued to come to Zhou Bo and asked: "Shang Shu said: Only to be a blessing, only to be a prestige, but to be a jade food; There is no minister to be blessed and to be a powerful food. Does the captain think so? ”

When Zhou Bo heard this, he fell into deep thought.

After a long time, he squeezed out a sentence: "Teachable..."

·

Sitting in the carriage home, Wang Ling rubbed his forehead tiredly, his face full of sorrow.

After the old man beside him was concerned, he took the opportunity to open the conversation: "What the prince just said, is it overkill?" ”

Hearing this, Wang Ling removed his slightly trembling hand from his forehead, his eyes moved to the window, and his tone was full of gloom.

"Why doesn't the old man know that the Empress Dowager wants the old man to die?"

"How could the old man not know that if it weren't for the Taiwei and the prime minister, the Liu family would be on the verge of extinction?"

Seeing that the old man in front of him wanted to ask again, Wang Ling raised his hand to interrupt, leaned forward slightly, and said in a low voice: "The ministers of the court want to welcome the king, but they are afraid of the county official Xiao Empress Dowager, and the revenge of 'killing Zhu Lu' when he reported it." ”

"Your Majesty is still young, and if you want to take power now, you must also make a fuss about the past!"

The old man's eyes widened suddenly when he heard this, and his hand turned downward in the shape of a knife: "What does the prince mean?" ”

Wang Ling nodded heavily, and sighed again.

"Hanxing has only been more than 20 years, the world is still in trouble, and the people are hungry and poor; The northern Xiongnu led the beasts to eat people, and they also eyed Shenzhou. ”

"At this time of internal and external troubles, the court can't afford the county officials to kill people..."

Listening to Wang Ling's sighing words, the old man couldn't help but nodded, and his face gradually became heavy.

"Then according to the prince's opinion, how should this situation be resolved?"

Sighing slightly, Wang Ling laughed self-deprecatingly: "For today's plan, only the old man relies on the old man and sells the old man, and advises His Majesty to calm the anger of the thunder." ”

Hearing this, the old man was suspicious: "If you interfere with the affairs of the heavenly family, I am afraid that the prince will be harmed?" ”

Wang Ling looked at the dark night outside the window, looked at the bright light in Shang Guanli, and whispered: "Hey... The old man has already died once, so why be afraid? ”

"I'm afraid I'm only afraid of the county officials, it's not so easy to persuade..."

Between the words, the figure standing with a sword in his head poured into Wang Ling's mind again, and it lingered.

"It's worthy of the blood of the ancestors..."

·

At the main gate of the Jianghou Mansion, Zhou Bo and Chen Ping looked at the direction of Wang Ling's departure, unable to withdraw their gaze for a long time.

The guests had long since dispersed, and the crowded carriages in front of the door had all left, as if they had never stopped here.

"What does the prime minister think, what does An Guo mean by this?"

Hearing Zhou Bo's inquiry, Chen Ping looked at the empty wide street and sighed: "An Guohou wants us to stop, focus on the overall situation, and focus on the world..."

"But the acting king has arrived in Weiyang, how should I explain this matter to Your Majesty?"

Hearing Zhou Bo's anxious inquiry, Chen Ping slowly turned around and said jokingly: "Don't you think that the acting king is still in Shaofu at the moment?" ”

Zhou Bo's face changed for a while, as if he wanted to understand something, his face sank, and he became even more confused about the future.

The two of them stood quietly in front of the gate with their hands on their stomachs, completely ignoring the fact that the servants behind them were so cold that their legs trembled.

"What is the Prime Minister looking at?"

The silence that lasted for a long time was broken by Zhou Bo again, causing Chen Ping to chuckle.

"What are you looking at?"

Hearing this, Zhou Bo added a little sadness to his face: "The old man? ”

Chen Ping didn't say anything, only smiled lightly and said goodbye to Zhou Bo, then walked down the steps with his hands in his hands and walked towards Shang Guanli.

Not noticing that the direction Chen Ping was walking was not Qu Wei Houfu, Zhou Bo looked at the direction of Wang Ling again, and his brows were furrowed.

"Zhang Cang..."

·

·

·

PS: I need to say here: Why did Zhou Bo perform a junior salute to Wang Ling?

First of all, the specific time of Zhou Bo's birth is inconclusive, assuming that he was about 30 years old when he fought with Liu Bang, he should be in his early 60s by now; As for Wang Ling, it is also impossible to study the specific time of birth, but there is an important clue to refer to: after Wang Ling's death, Zhang Cang's wife served Wang Ling like his own mother. From this point of view, Wang Ling's age is older than Zhang Cang, otherwise Zhang Cang would not be so shameless as to serve the wife of a person younger than himself as a mother; This incident will not become a good story in public opinion, but will become a joke.

Zhang Cang's age can be examined, at this time it is about 76 years old, then Wang Ling should be about 80 years old; The 60-year-old Zhou Bo performed the junior ceremony to the 80-year-old Wang Ling, and there was nothing wrong with it; Moreover, in the Han Dynasty, the status of 80 years old and 60 years old is very different - even ordinary people, if they live to eighty, they will be respected by the county officials and wealthy families, and they will have the opportunity to obtain the political status of the 'three elders';

If you have to bar: Maybe Zhou Bo is also 80 years old? I can only hehe, I started fighting the world at the age of 50, and I really think everyone is Liu Bang's old hooligan? In ancient times, professional soldiers were very bitter ~ unscientific training methods, poor rations, medical conditions that were about equal to nothing, and difficult combat environments, most of the soldiers were not allowed to live long, but those who broke their muscles and bones were worse than death in their old age, not to mention the ordinary people who were full of hunger. This is also the reason why Han people can be included in the system and become the 'three elders' as long as they live to 80 - there are enough people who can live to 80.

Wang Ling can live to eighty, which can be understood as a powerful landlord in his family, who has been clothed and fed since childhood; Zhou Bo suffered for the first half of his life, and fought for the second half of his life, so he could live to 80, which is unreasonable.

There is another point that needs to be explained, this time is 180 BC, but in fact, Wang Ling died of illness in 181 BC, here for the needs of the plot, forcibly gave Wang Ling a year of life, but Wang Ling was hated by Lu Hou is true, I hope that the explanation of "Wang Ling's fake death" will not make everyone feel too far-fetched...

The events between Wang Ling, Chen Ping, and Zhou Bo quoted in the book are quoted from Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Empress Dowager Lü's Benji".