During the period when Zhang Cang was writing a prescription with a strange face, a newspaper came from outside the palace: Please see the prime minister.

In this regard, Liu Hong was not surprised - Chen Ping's entry into the palace was almost inevitable.

The capital was suddenly under martial law, the palace was surrounded by forbidden troops, and there was even news in the palace that 'the Son of Heaven coughed up blood'!

At this point, if Chen Ping, as the prime minister, can still sit in peace, then it is vain that in history, Liu Bang was evaluated as 'genius and quick wisdom; In time, it will be the pillar of my Han family's rebellion.

It stands to reason that the little emperor suddenly had a physical problem, and Chen Ping should have been happy - in case the little emperor 'died', the situation in the government and the opposition would usher in a big change!

The emperor collapsed, there is no heir, according to the law, the choice of the new emperor needs the queen mother to be the master; But it just so happened that at this time, there was no owner in the East Palace...

It really came to that point, and it was the 'pillar of the country' headed by the prime minister who could decide the ownership of the new emperor!

However, Chen Ping was not happy at all at this time - Chen Ping was even more worried than the imperial party, what was wrong with Liu Hong!

As for the reason, it is nothing more than one sentence: the brother is on the wall, and the outside is insulted!

——The Xiongnu mission has entered Xiaoguan three days ago!

In the past two days, it was the time when the Xiongnu delegation entered Beijing to test the new head of the Han Dynasty!

At this delicate point in time, if Liu Hong fell ill and even died, then the Huns would be light in their large-scale attack on the Han land - the worst result was that the Huns would fall from the little emperor and smell the undercurrent of the Han court!

- You must know that the embassy, between Han and Hungary, is written as an envoy, read as a spy!

It's just that compared with undercover agents, the spy of the 'mission' can wear the skin of diplomacy and openly inquire about all the news he can find.

Even the Han family, which prides itself on being a 'state of etiquette', actually can't maintain its 'politeness' in the face of this opportunity to listen to local intelligence - historically, the reason why Su Wu was reduced to the point of being exiled by the Huns to the Beihai and shepherding sheep in the ice and snow was precisely because of the fact that in the mission with Su Wu as the main envoy, several deputy envoys colluded with the Xiongnu high-level to launch a coup d'état against the Xiongnu Shan Yuting!

It is not difficult to see the nature of the diplomatic envoys who have 'participated in the internal coup d'état of the enemy' -- compared with the 'right business' such as collecting intelligence and establishing an intelligence network, diplomatic contacts can only be regarded as a secondary task that can be regarded as a convenient task.

It's no wonder that outside Weiyang Palace, Chen Ping, who was anxiously waiting, waited for the news of Liu Hongxuan's meeting, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately walked quickly to the greenhouse - if he can see it, he is willing to see it, which means that there is no big problem with the little emperor!

After issuing the order of 'Xuancheng Prime Minister's Visit', Liu Hong sent Wang Zhong to the palace wall with the seal, and asked Worm Da to withdraw the janissary guard, that is, the strong crossbow commandery, to the southern camp.

- Speaking of which, this inexplicable palace ban is simply three hundred taels of silver here!

Assuming that something happened to Liu Hongzhen, maybe he could have concealed it for a while; But as long as the palace ban is tightened, it is almost equivalent to conveying information such as 'Your Majesty is sick', which will only make the Quartet suspicious.

Especially now that Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and others are still active in the court and are clearly separated from Liu Hong's camp, it is better to have fewer abrupt military transfers.

However, by this chance, Liu Hong also inadvertently saw how far his security work as an emperor has reached.

——Less than thirty seconds after Liu Hong's blood-stained porridge bowl, hundreds of palace maids and eunuchs who had entered and exited Shang Kitchen that day had already knelt down neatly outside the greenhouse hall, waiting for the trial of the eunuch Ling Wang Zhong!

From the sporadic voices of justification outside the hall, it is not difficult for Liu Hong to know: Unless Wang Zhong, Tian Shu, and Liu Budo want to kill the monarch at the same time, otherwise, the cup of poisoned wine that the original owner drank should be the last bit of toxin ingested by Liu Hong's body.

Every bowl of food that Liu Hong eats comes from the northeast corner of Weiyang Palace, adjacent to the 'Shang Kitchen' in the Bell Room, and the 'Shang Kitchen' belongs to the Yazhong, where there are two parties, the Shaofu Shang Shi and the eunuch Shang Shi, who cooperate to cook the imperial food and supervise each other at the same time; In addition, there are several celebrants sent by the Fengchang Office, whose full name is to supervise the preparation process of the meal.

In addition, all the rice, meat, and vegetables that flow into the palace come from the Shaofu treasury - produced by the Shaofu itself or purchased from the market, and the source is confirmed by the Shaofu superintendent's seal, and finally entered into the palace from the Shaofu treasury.

After the ingredients arrived at the 'Shang Kitchen', the eunuch Ling would send someone to the border with Shaofu to test whether the ingredients were safe and non-toxic with silver needles and feeding on the spot.

Even ingredients that are finally recognized as 'safe' by both the Shaofu and the Eunuch Decree are tested again before they are used to cook the Imperial Meal, and once the meal is ready, it is tested again.

In the case of exaggeration, even after the food has been served to the emperor, someone must come out to test the poison.

And this complicated process of testing the poison is carried out under the supervision of the permanent celebrant who supervises whether everything in the process is in accordance with the law.

The most critical and important point is that the positions of Shaofu Shangshi, Eunuch Shangshi, and Fengchang Supervisor are all irregular rotation systems!

In other words, no imperial chef can guarantee that he will be able to enter the Shang Chef's office tomorrow and take charge of the emperor.

Under this kind of scalp-numbing prevention method, there is only one possibility for Liu Hong to be poisoned - the eunuch order, the Shaofu order, and Feng Changqing partnered to send absolute henchmen to take turns and poison Liu Hongdi's food!

Not to mention whether these three people will do this, these three positions alone make it almost impossible for these three people to reach an agreement!

The eunuch order, with a crippled body in charge of the forbidden province in the palace, almost without exception, the foreign dynasties all have an attitude of 'no offense and no contact'.

Shaofu, a typical position tainted by the 'copper stench', coupled with the efforts of the Han family's successive Shaofu, made Shaofu related to several not-so-beautiful words - the emperor's henchmen (dog legs), all lost important ministers (old wealth fans), and the lifeblood of the country (officials and businessmen!). ）···

And whether it is the eunuch order with a mutilated body, or the Shaofu order with a loss of personal virtue (full of copper smell), it is not allowed to enter the eyes of Feng Changqing, who regards etiquette as the criterion - if you say where the old stubborn of the Han family are gathered, then except for Zongzheng's ya, they are all in Fengchang.

In other words, Weiyang Palace collapsed from the inside, and the possibility of Liu Hong being poisoned was infinitely close to zero.

Liu Hong's focus is not on this - if he is busy for half a year and cannot ensure the safety of eating and drinking, then Liu Hong will no longer have to be the emperor.

Again, the most important thing is external security, that is, armed defense forces.

As far as the results are concerned, Liu Hong is quite satisfied - if this accident is regarded as a drill of 'assuming that something happens to the Son of Heaven', then the performance of Wei Wei's subordinate Ya and Lang Zhongling can be called excellent!

At the critical moment, although Worm Da did not think of controlling the arsenal, he was already qualified to achieve comprehensive protection of Weiyang Palace in such a short period of time.

Ling Mian's performance made Liu Hong's eyes shine even more - if he were a different person, he might not be able to think of controlling the maids and eunuchs in the palace and closing the palaces!

And today's new forbidden army, that is, the former Flying Fox Army's strong crossbow captain's department, and now the strong crossbow captain, in this 'unexpected exercise', the performance is undoubtedly excellent - Qin Mu personally led the troops as Wei Weicheng, stationed his sword on top of the Sima Gate of Weiyang Palace, and personally participated in the defense of the 'main gate' of Weiyang Palace!

Speaking of which, listing the Flying Fox Army's strong crossbow captain department and upgrading it to the strong crossbow captain department was originally Liu Hong's advance layout - Liu Hong's original plan was to accept a certain sister of Qin Mu into the harem, and give Qin Mu a relative and the identity of the horse captain, so as to use this as an identity blessing, so that Qin Mu would naturally serve as the captain of the strong crossbow.

In this way, when Qin Mu is making a military merit and becoming a guard lieutenant, Liu Hong can quietly restore the state of 'Wei Wei is in charge of the forbidden army', just like in the past, when Wei Wei was in charge of the Southern Army and his relatives were the main generals of the Southern Army.

It's a pity that that thing was actually stopped by Wang Zhong...

"Your Majesty is still young, so you shouldn't drown in women!"

- Until now, Liu Hong can imagine Wang Zhong's firm gaze that looks at death as if he were at home!

Of course, the eunuch ordered a house slave, and it was impossible for Liu Hong to give up his original plan because of this.

But in the end, the old lady Fu Wang Ling came forward and persuaded Liu Hong bitterly: postpone the matter.

The reason why Wang Ling came up with it was that Liu Hong agreed to postpone the matter, and he didn't even give a new name, only using the perfunctory name of 'Strong Crossbow Captain', which is similar to the 'Machine Gunner Regiment', as the name of the forbidden army - all those who enter the harem need the Empress Dowager's decree before they can make the trip!

In layman's terms, whether Liu Hong marries a wife or takes a concubine, that is, a queen or a concubine, he needs the will of the Queen Mother in order to have legal benefits.

Even in the era when the emperor was in power and said everything with the constitution of heaven, the edicts of the queen and concubines were all made through the decree of the queen mother - the concubine was a food!

Of course, if there is no queen mother, then the emperor can naturally come casually; But the problem is that Liu Hong is not without a mother...

- Liu Hong's theoretical mother, Empress Xiaohui: Zhang Yan, at this time, she is in the deep palace in Weiyang Palace!

If Liu Hong ordained a concubine in this situation, the courtiers would inevitably set their sights on the 'ownerless' Changle Palace, as well as Zhang Yan who lived in the deep palace.

This incident made Liu Hong in a dilemma, and he really didn't know what to do.

It stands to reason that the emperor ascended the throne and honored his mother as the queen mother, which was the eternal truth of the feudal era; On the day Liu Hong sat on the throne, Zhang Yan should be honored as the queen mother.

But this matter, the embarrassment is embarrassing: in the eight years after the death of her husband Liu Ying, Zhang Yan has always been known as the 'Queen of Filial Piety', and she has lived in Weiyang Palace...

Liu Hong can't blame Chen Ping and Zhou Bo for this matter; All of this is attributed to the grandmother who made Liu Hong love and hate, and wanted to scold, but could only be respectful - Queen Henkel: Lu Pheasant.

In 188 B.C., that is, the seventh year of Han Xiaohui, Emperor Hui Liu Ying died in Weiyang Palace, and the crown prince Liu Gong was the emperor, known as the young emperor of the Han Dynasty.

But when the former young emperor Liu Gong ascended the throne, he was only seven years old...

Not to mention respecting the Queen Mother, Liu Gong can't even guarantee his personal freedom!

And the Empress Lü, who was really in power, that is, Empress Gao and Empress Hui Di, and Lü Pheasant, who was supposed to become the Empress Dowager in the former Shaodi Dynasty, made a very confusing decision: he did not respect himself as the Empress Dowager, but still called the Empress Dowager; also does not respect the queen Zhang Yan as the queen mother, but is called the 'queen of filial piety'.

For this kind of psychedelic operation of reversing the rules of etiquette, the noble ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were indifferent, just as if this matter did not exist!

A few years later, the former young emperor shouted out the sentence 'I am not strong, strong is change', and was therefore quietly abolished, and the only Changshan King Liu Yi changed his name to Liu Hong, that is, the emperor's throne, known as the young emperor of the Han Dynasty.

But as Liu Ying's sister-in-law (Liu Gong was born to Empress Zhang Yan on the Liu family genealogy), after the eldest brother was killed by Empress Lu, what can the original owner, who is two years younger than Liu Gong, do?

In this way, this ethical problem was born eight years ago and has existed until now.

- Even in today's official archives, Empress Lu is still not the 'Empress Dowager', but the 'Empress Dowager Lu'!

This puts Liu Hong in a dilemma.

At the beginning, Liu Hong also thought about honoring Zhang Yan as the queen mother, but for complicated reasons such as 'stabilizing the Chen Zhou Group', it was put on hold for the time being.

After that, Liu Hong also thought about honoring the Empress Dowager Bo as a concubine, but in the end, a Gaomiao incident made Liu Hongdi's situation instantly better; There is no need to respect Empress Bo as a concubine - after the situation improves, Liu Hong wants to move Liu Heng to the Liang Kingdom, and he no longer needs to use Empress Bo as a bargaining chip.

The acting crown prince, the historical Emperor Jing Liu Qi, and the historical Liang Xiao King Liu Wu were left in Chang'an by Liu Heng, thinking that Liu Hong had no need to move the mind of the thin queen - it was a bit disgraceful to threaten other people's mothers.

Now, when he is really faced with a certain matter being delayed due to the 'East Palace has no owner', Liu Hong has to face this problem sooner or later - what to do?

If Liu Hong directly issued an edict and honored Zhang Yan as the queen mother, then Liu Hong would definitely face a question: His Majesty has been on the throne for more than four years, why has he not honored the queen mother until now?

O~ yes.

It's the Empress Dowager Lu who didn't respect it...

In this way, Liu Hong is equivalent to Ming Huanghuang slapping Empress Lu in the face!

As a result of this, Liu Hong doesn't need to think about it anymore - Empress Lu, no matter what, it must be bright and majestic!

But if you don't respect Zhang Yan, you can't say it legally: what is the reason why her mother is obviously alive, but she doesn't respect her?

Although it is unlikely that someone will speak out, Liu Hong will have to face it sooner or later - in the future, he will be canonized as the queen, the crown prince, and even Liu Hong will face this problem when he goes to the harem to compete with his sisters: the concubine is canonized, and the queen mother must be willed!

At that time, Liu Hong absolutely had no confidence to refute the sentence 'There is no master in the East Palace' and 'There is no queen mother today'...

"Prime Minister and Prime Minister, I would like to worship Your Majesty, my emperor has a long life~"

An old chant interrupted Liu Hong's complicated thoughts, and when he raised his head, Chen Ping's eyes with a little worry came into Liu Hong's eyes.

"The prime minister is here."

Naturally, with his trademark light smile, Liu Hong shook his hand to Wang Zhong on the side: "Give me a seat." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Wang Zhong brought a feast, Chen Ping knelt down and sat down, with a slight inquiry in his eyes: "Beiping Hou is well." ”

"The prime minister is well."

After Zhang Cang returned the salute and sat down, Liu Hong also sat up from the couch, smiled and waved his hand: "I have been busy with the affairs of the Xiongnu season these days, and I have no sleep; When it was winter and spring, I occasionally felt a chill..."

"It's nothing but worrying the prime minister."

As he spoke, Liu Hong explained to Wang Zhong on the side without a trace: "Go, tell the insect prince and Ling Langzhong, and lift the palace ban." ”

Looking at the indifference in Liu Hong's eyes, Chen Ping looked at it for a moment, and finally let go of the worries in his heart.

But even from a distance, Chen Ping could see that Liu Hong's face was implicitly sickly.

After a moment of silence, the battle between heaven and man in Chen Ping's heart finally turned into an official concern: "Your Majesty is still young, you should take care..."

Chen Ping himself didn't know how this sentence came out of his mouth.

But after saying it, Chen Ping was surprised to find that he seemed to be much more relaxed?

If you really want the little emperor to be strong, it's a joke - Chen Ping wishes that the little emperor died early and let everything go back to the way it was in November.

But in front of the Huns, Chen Ping instinctively didn't want to be seen the contradictions within the Han family, and even deep down, Chen Ping didn't want Liu Hong to be seen by the Huns!

This kind of complex clarity makes Chen Ping's heart can be described as mixed, indescribable, unclear...

"The Prime Minister's words, I take them to heart."

With a light smile in response to Chen Ping's 'concern', Liu Hong naturally turned his head around: "I don't know if the prime minister has entered the palace this time, can there be something important?" ”

When Chen Ping entered the palace with doubts, Liu Hong subconsciously made the decision to 'whitewash the peace': in front of Chen Ping, he ordered the palace ban of Weiyang Palace to be lifted, so as to convey the news that he was fine.

But after thinking about it, Liu Hong felt that there was no need to be so nervous - it wasn't really something, so why be in such a hurry to prove that he was okay?

Anyway, it's not a big deal, it's better to blur this matter, so that Chen Ping can't figure out whether he has anything to do, so as to make some radical judgments.

It has been half a year since he sat on the throne, and Liu Hong also has a preliminary understanding of the emperor's mental tricks: no matter what the real situation is, never let the courtiers guess!

If it was before, Liu Hong would definitely think that being an emperor is to make the courtiers think 'no' when he is 'yes', and occasionally let the courtiers think 'yes' when he is 'not'.

But now, Liu Hong's choice has gradually matured - no matter what he thinks, he can't let the courtiers guess; Remaining mysterious is the first thing a good emperor must do.

Just like now, Liu Hong first lifted the palace ban in his chest, and then there seemed to be some 'weak heart' to change the topic, and even faintly revealed the subtext of 'the prime minister will step down if he has nothing to do', Chen Pingben's faded face suddenly became complicated again.

I saw Chen Ping subconsciously glance at Zhang Cang, and then bowed down: "Your Majesty is fine, the minister will leave." ”

Liu Hong also put on a faintly uneasy expression at the right time, and 'pretended to be calm' and said: "In this way, I will not leave the prime minister to eat." ”

Seeing Chen Ping walking slowly to the back of the greenhouse hall with a steady pace, Liu Hong secretly sneered and fell into thought.

"If you want to cover it, it seems to be wrong, is this the emperor's mental technique..."

And at an angle that Liu Hong couldn't see, Chen Ping, who was walking towards the palace gate with his back to Liu Hong, was full of solemnity in his deep black eyes.

"The Marquis..."

"Is the choice between the two of us right or wrong······?"

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PS: Regarding what is said in this chapter: After the death of Emperor Xiaohui, Empress Lu did not change her name to the Empress Dowager, but remained the Empress Dowager, and did not respect Zhang Yan as the Empress Dowager, but called her 'Empress Xiaohui', which is a unified record in almost all the historical books about the Han Dynasty.

Maybe everyone will think it's incredible, don't be surprised, Zuo Yan also felt unbelievable at first: Can Empress Lu really do this kind of exaggerated operation?

Could this be the history books, in order to cover up Liu Heng's side support and seizure of the heir, out of political correctness in the Spring and Autumn Period, deliberately went to Hei Lu Hou?

With such doubts, the officials were immersed in the literature on a daily basis; But in the end, the result was beyond my expectations: in the existing research on the Han Dynasty, there are no articles and documents that completely deny the authenticity of this historical record, and only a few undergraduate theses in history have put forward the same speculation as mine.

Nor did those articles provide a solid and convincing basis to prove that this history was false; Although it was concluded that 'this is a history book for the venerable, covering up the Chinese language and seizing the heirs', the final score of the paper was not very high.

The level of the assistant official himself is also very limited, and he does not dare to use his speculation in the book; I didn't find an authoritative research result that could give a basis for this speculation, so in the book, I will take the record of "Historical Records of the Empress Dowager Lu" as the standard, I hope you can understand.

As to the truth of this matter, based on the knowledge involved in the current situation, the conclusion that can be drawn is that "what is recorded in the history books is the truth"; if there are book friends who have doubts about this, and can come up with credible and verifiable historical evidence, the assistant officials fully accept friendly academic discussions, but I hope that everyone will not raise too much objection or doubt to this description in the book on the basis of logic.

After all, there are times when history really doesn't quite make sense, and things that are even more fucking up than this have happened too many times in history.

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