Slightly different from what the government and the opposition guessed, Liu Hong in the Weiyang Palace did not have the panic that he should have at this age, but stood in front of Kanyu with deep eyes, his fingers from time to time left and right, and sometimes frowning and contemplating.

"Your Majesty, Wei Wei Insect Gong, Court Captain Wu Gong, Imperial Historian Zhang Gong, please see you."

A low voice came from the door of the hall, but it failed to pull Liu Hong's gaze away from Kanyu.

"Hustle."

In the past few days, there has been an endless stream of military generals coming in and out of Weiyang Palace, and most of them are trying to intercede for Zhou Bo.

After a full fight, Zhou Bo had already spent three days and nights in Tingwei Prison.

"Heh, I don't know if this Captain Zhou doesn't realize the value of a jailer?"

Shaking his head in disinterest, Liu Hong walked back to the top of the imperial stairs from the front of the palace and waited for the three giants of the court to meet him.

In Liu Hong's original vision, everyone who interceded for Zhou Bo should be Chen Zhou's minions in the army, at least potential supporters.

But judging from the situation in the past few days, things are far from being as simple as Liu Hong imagined.

The captains of the seven departments of the Northern Army, three of whom were born as Zhou Bo's intercession, Liu Hong can be understood as a political leaning, and classified these three captains as 'untrustworthy' - the two departments that Liu Hong finally decided to go to the Kwantung to quell the rebellion led by Guan Ying were two of the three captains.

As for the remaining one, it is Liu Hong's reservation, the original establishment of the current guard captain Cheng Qin Mu: the Northern Army's Shooting Sound Captain Department.

For only half of the high-ranking officers of the Northern Army standing in line with Zhou Bo, Liu Hong is still reluctant to accept it - in this era of attaching great importance to personal reputation, Zhou Bo's support and favor alone is enough to make every officer who has received favors like Uncle Tian in the past, advance and retreat together with the benefactor.

In short: the values pursued in this era are to help relatives and not to help.

If no one in the Northern Army stood up to speak for Zhou Bo, then Liu Hong would have to think carefully about whether to directly break up and reorganize the Northern Army.

Because this situation occurs, there are only two reasons,

Either that, it is the high-ranking officers of the Northern Army, all of whom are selfish and self-interested, and have an attitude of 'quickly clearing themselves' when Zhou Bo has an accident.

Liu Hong did not dare to use such a person - at least in the army, such a person could not be trusted by the ruler.

In the second case, it is even more terrifying.

——Under the influence of Zhou Bo, the entire Northern Army has become the private soldier of the old Zhou family!

The reason why no one pleaded was that the Northern Army gave up the mouth cannon and planned to use practical actions to save Zhou Bo!

Either way, it wasn't what Liu Hong wanted.

For the Northern Army, Liu Hong's feelings can be said to be more and more complicated, and for the final fate of the Northern Army, Liu Hong is also looking forward and backward, and is in a dilemma.

As one of the two central forces in Chang'an, the Northern Army naturally had supreme loyalty to the ruler, and its military composition led to the fact that this force represented the basic plate of the regime in a sense: Guanzhong.

Not strictly speaking, even if the Northern Army is tens of thousands of showmen who have no merit and only know how to put on a score, Liu Hong must also take care of the emotions of the people in Guanzhong and hold the Northern Army up.

What's more, this is not the case: Aside from the system loopholes, the Flying Fox Army, in the entire Han world, the most capable of fighting is the Southern Army with abundant children as the team, and the Northern Army with the children of Guanzhong as the framework.

Compared to the southern army, which guarded the palace and did not have many opportunities to go out, the northern army was even slightly better!

From this point of view, the Northern Army is something that Liu Hong can't give up no matter what—not only can't he give up, but he also has to hold it in his hands at every cost.

However, the position of the Northern Army in the Zhulu Rebellion made Liu Hong subconsciously unable to fully trust this glorious army.

However, the problem of the Northern Army, because of its own intertwined emotional ties with the people of Guanzhong, does not need to be solved simply with the sentence 'one day of disloyalty and no use for life'.

For this matter, Liu Hong can be said to be very troubled.

In the end, Liu Hong could only try to come up with a compromise and very laborious method: retain the establishment, screen high-level officers at designated points, and disrupt the reorganization to a certain extent.

As for Zhou Bo's imprisonment, he looked at it coldly, because of Liu Hong's consideration - Liu Hong wanted to see how high Zhou Bo's prestige in the army was.

This matter is not only related to the future development of the Northern Army, but also related to Liu Hong's cognition of the Han army and his control of the gun.

But the end result was not satisfactory.

Except for the three Northern Military Academy captains who came to intercede, Liu Hong couldn't tell the other people at all, and decided to intercede for Zhou Bo.

For example, the second goods that jumped out of the original Southern Army may have jumped out of friendship with their fellow countrymen to excuse Zhou Bo; Most of the bureaucrats in the court also persuaded Liu Hong to temporarily release Zhou Bo from the perspective of the overall situation of 'when the time of great chaos, the three princes of the dynasty should be punished for crimes, and the relatives and enemies are happy'.

Even the officials of the imperial party, such as Worm Da, Zhang Cang and others, have vaguely reminded Liu Hong: Your Majesty, it is easy to break...

The three lieutenants of the Northern Army were naturally Zhou Bo's minions, and Zhang Cang and other henchmen really put forward such opinions from the perspective of the overall situation.

But what about the others?

How can I find out?

The result is: as long as they say 'plan for the overall situation', they can only be dealt with according to loyal ministers.

This made Liu Hong's wishful thinking completely fail and fell into a very embarrassing situation.

- Zhou Bo, it will definitely be released.

Not to mention the sentence 'Taiwei once said' in the rebel army's text, even if he really said this sentence in private, at the height of Zhou Bo, it is not that the emperor can punish the crime if he says that he can punish the crime.

In this era, the court will never pursue any 'princes who commit the same crime as the common people', nor will they think that the crimes of the nobles should be dealt with in the same way as the crimes of the mud legs.

- What are you trying to do?

Isn't it just that when you encounter something, you can get some privileges because of your past military exploits?

If there is no privilege, then there is no need to make meritorious contributions, how good it is for the big guy to be a rich man at home - anyway, the emperor said that the crime will be punished, no difference.

In the final analysis, the vast majority of officials who interceded for Zhou Bo this time were not for Zhou Bo; Instead, he looked at Zhou Bo, who was in the position of the third prince and had nearly 10,000 households in the city, 'accidentally' made a mistake, and was arrested and imprisoned.

Regardless of his views on the privileged class, from a practical point of view, Liu Hong did not dare to go against the whole world and the entire era alone.

Therefore, Zhou Bo will be released sooner or later.

Especially now, without other conclusive evidence, Zhou Bo's release from prison is just around the corner.

But this made Liu Hong not know what to do.

- Say it's you who was arrested, and you are the one who was released, what is the trouble?

In the words of this time, it is, 'Your Majesty put the minister with 2,000 stones?' ’

Zhou Bo was imprisoned, since he was the Empress Dowager's decree, no one in the court dared to make noise, but getting out of prison and 'why' he was released from prison were all headaches that Liu Hong needed.

For example, if Liu Hong personally went to the court to pick him up, it would mean that 'the empress dowager was furious, punished the princess, and His Majesty painstakingly persuaded the empress dowager to change her mind'; this incident would become the embodiment of Zhou Bo and Liu Hong's 'gentleman and minister'.

But this is completely contrary to Liu Hong's interests and is the first option to be ruled out.

For another example, if Liu Hong sent Ting Weiqing to release Zhou Bo, and in front of the public outside Tingwei Prison, he warned Zhou Bo to 'be cautious in his words and deeds in the future', which means that Liu Hong endured his nausea and reluctantly released Zhou Bo.

This is a naked rebuke of the old minister, and it will convey an extremely negative message to the government and the opposition officials who are sad about the death of the rabbit and the fox.

In general, Liu Hong not only wanted to release Zhou Bo, but also gave a reasonable explanation for Zhou Bo's imprisonment, so as to ensure that Zhou Bo could not gain political prestige from this incident, and at the same time, ensure that Liu Hong's prestige would not be damaged, and that there would be no rift between Liu Hong and the courtiers.

In short - Liu Hong, in urgent need of a step.

As for Zhang Cang, Wu Gong, and Worm Da entering the palace today, it was also Liu Hong who summoned them for the real purpose of 'discussing the rebellion of the princes of King Hui' on the grounds of 'discussing the rebellion of the princes of King Hui'.

This is enough to see from the identities of the three people alone.

Zhang Cang, as a doctor of imperial history, was replaced as a sub-prime minister in the current situation where Chen Ping was sick, and was in charge of the affairs of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and belonged to the spokesperson of the foreign dynasty.

Wu Gong, the court commander, was the direct operator of Zhou Bo's imprisonment and an authoritative person with the right to interpret the Han law, so he could propose more actionable plans for Liu Hong from a legal perspective.

As for Worm Da, he is the one with the highest political status among the founding ministers and close to Liu Hong.

Not to mention all the courtiers, at least most of them are giants who have been officials for more than 20 years, seeing the lineup of courtiers summoned by Liu Hong today, they can roughly deduce Liu Hong's purpose - to release Zhou Bo from the Tingwei prison on the premise of ensuring that it is absolutely beneficial to himself.

This matter involves more aspects.

First of all, the most difficult and embarrassing question: will the queen mother's arrest and the emperor's release make Liu Hong suspected of 'unfilial piety'?

Although this problem does not exist between Liu Hong and Zhang Yan, this does not affect the courtiers and officials, and even the common people to speculate, so as to come to the subjective evaluation of 'Your Majesty cares about filial piety and rebels against the Queen Mother'.

Although this point will not intuitively show disadvantages in the short term, when the policy is implemented in the future and the pie is drawn for the people of the world, it will make the people have a layer of subconscious distrust of Liu Hong.

This makes the release of Zhou Bo not only not be quietly released, but also have to be put through the form of 'Queen Mother's decree pardon' as a full stop.

The new question is here again: first close and then release, the order is changed every day, where is the majesty of the Queen Mother?

This can be regarded as Liu Hong's only dissatisfaction with Zhang Yan on Zhou Bo's imprisonment - the Queen Mother Zhang Yan, the political methods are still too immature.

How could Liu Hong not see that Zhang Yan's move was to use his transcendent political status to directly attack political opponents for Liu Hong, so as to consolidate the connection between the two palaces more solidly?

But the imprisonment of the three princes without a word is ultimately inconsistent with the background of the times and the political atmosphere at this time.

If it weren't for this, Liu Hongda would have directly ordered Chen Ping and Zhou Bo to be arrested at the beginning of the crossing without a single soldier.

- Politics is far from being as simple as you dying or dying, becoming a king or losing a villain.

At least from the perspective of the opposition between monarchs and ministers, it is not so simple.

That is, Liu Hong can barely suppress the court now, so that Zhang Yan can not worry about the theory of the government and the wild after he happily puts Zhou Bo in prison.

But in the end, Liu Hong still had to give an explanation to the government and the opposition because of the willfulness of the old lady.

Whether it is from the perspective of convention or reality, in fact, Liu Hong prefers that the East Palace will assume the role of a lubricant to alleviate the inevitable contradictions between Liu Hong and the courtiers - red face and white face, singing and harmonizing, just like the Empress Dowager Dou and Emperor Jing in history.

But Zhang Yan is now running fast in the direction of Wu Meiniang, which makes Liu Hong very embarrassed - the emperor is a peacemaker, so how can he grin and snatch power from the courtiers?

"When I'm busy with this, I have to talk to this cheap old lady..."

After thinking about it, Zhang Cang, Wu Gong, and Worm Da walked into the hall together and bowed down: "The ministers respectfully worship Your Majesty." ”

Pulling back the scattered mood, Liu Hong naturally brought his trademark smile and waved his hand casually: "Sit." ”

There was no tone of expression at all, and Rao was a little surprised that he thought that he had been with His Majesty for a long time, and immediately thanked him with a glance, and walked to the banquet next to the royal couch and knelt down.

The monarchs and ministers sat down separately, and Wang Zhong quietly removed the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace, leaving only a few waiters to guard five steps behind Liu Hong.

Looking at this posture, the three of them did not have much surprise on their faces.

-- Today's main issue is indeed worth Liu Hong's great trouble: how should the Chang'an Central Committee respond to the rebels' letter?

It is not the same as the era when the rites and music collapsed in later generations, and the legacy of the Warring States period in the early Han Dynasty was still quite strong.

Although the gentleman's style of salute before the soldier and declare the war first is no longer there, it still retains the tradition of 'the division is famous' during the Warring States period - before starting a war, the initiator must explain to the people of the world through the way of writing: Why do you want to start a war?

Perhaps, in the eyes of later generations, this is nothing more than a distortion of the facts; However, in this era of attaching great importance to the 'justice' of war, whether a war is just or not will directly affect the victory or defeat of the battle.

Only a just war can be supported by public opinion, recognized and even followed by the people of the world; On the contrary, he will face the tragic end of being killed by a farmer like Xiang Yu.

Half a year ago, the princes and ministers colluded inside and outside to brazenly launch an armed rebellion against the central part of Chang'an, and its righteous banner was extremely just: for Liu Hanzong's temple and society, and to discuss Zhulu!

With such a righteous banner, Liu Xiang's army was able to travel 2,000 miles from Linzi, the capital of Qi, to Xingyang outside Hangu Pass within two months, looking at Aocang from across the river.

Now, Liu Xiang's younger brother Liu Zhang has once again repeated his old tricks and waged war under almost the same banner of righteousness, which has put the central government of Chang'an into a very passive situation.

If he does not make a resounding response, even if Liu Hong can guarantee that there will be no chaos in Guanzhong half a year ago, the legitimacy of his throne will be seriously shaken.

Therefore, Liu Hong can't sit back and wait for death like Lu Lu and Lu Chan brothers half a year ago, naively thinking that winning the war will win everything.

- Chang'an Central Committee, we must give a direct response like Emperor Jing's waist and slashing Chao Wrong, to tear apart the hypocrisy of the rebels!

This puts forward extremely high requirements for Liu Hongdi's speech level and flickering level.

In this era where there is no genetic comparison, Liu Hong wants to prove that he is the bloodline of Emperor Hui Liu Ying, and the difficulty is no less than rubbing a Gatling with his bare hands!

Without technical means, Liu Hong can only explain clearly through logical thinking and dialectic: why is he the bloodline of Emperor Hui Liu Ying? How to prove it?

To put it bluntly, Liu Hong needs to prove that his father is his father...

In this regard, Liu Hong already has a general idea; However, the specific operation also requires the old ministers of the DPRK and China, especially Zhang Cang, who has political experience across the Qin and Han dynasties and has rich political experience, to improve the plan for Liu Hong.

Thinking of this, Liu Hong's gaze at Zhang Cang became unusually soft.

Seeing this, Zhang Cang hurriedly gave up his hand, but unexpectedly Liu Hong mentioned another completely irrelevant matter.

"Your Majesty, the ministers will die a hundred worships, so as to raise a virtuous person for Your Majesty's advice."

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