Zhang Ben, Zhang Zheng and others took the arrested Shu merchants and their entourage to the county government and interrogated them severely.

Sure enough, as Zhang Ben inferred, after a heavy punishment, Shu Shang confessed the truth.

He was indeed a fine work sent by Gongsun Shu to Luoyang, and his purpose was to disseminate proverbial books such as "Luyun Law", "Deed of Aiding God", and "Elephant of the Ground".

He was not the first batch of people to come to Luoyang, and before he came, several groups of people had already arrived in Luoyang to spread such proverbial books.

In addition, he also explained several strongholds set up by Gongsun Shu in Luoyang.

According to his confession, Zhang Ben followed the vine and took the officials to seal up all these strongholds, and in several strongholds, they also found a large number of such books.

In Zhang Ben's opinion, this should just be a dark line planted by Gongsun Shu in Luoyang, and there must be other dark lines in Luoyang.

However, through these arrested people, no other clues of hidden lines have been found.

When Zhang Ben was tortured in the torture room to extract a confession, a servant walked quickly, came to Zhang Ben's side, and whispered: "County Lieutenant Zhang, Dong County Order will let you go over!" ”

"Okay, I got it."

Zhang Ben nodded, raised his hand and pointed at the prisoner who was being interrogated, and said to his subordinates on the left and right: "Continue to punish until he speaks, as long as you don't kill people and leave them alive!" ”

After explaining to his subordinates, Zhang Ben left the cell, first washed his face and hands, and then went to the lobby to meet Dong Xuan.

After seeing Dong Xuan, Zhang Ben sat down, and when he saw that there was still tea on the table, he picked it up, drank it in one gulp, and said: "Dong County Order, the lower officials are interrogating the criminals, and now is the most critical time!" ”

Dong Xuan waved his hand at him and said, "Don't interrogate it yet, you clean up immediately and follow me into the palace." ”

Zhang Ben was stunned for a while, and then came back to his senses, subconsciously stood up, looked at Dong Xuan in surprise, and stammered: "Enter ...... Entering the palace?

Be...... Is it to meet the present? ”

Dong Xuanzheng said: "Yes! Summoning you and me into the palace today! ”

Zhang Ben blinked, hurriedly looked down at the line on his body, and muttered, "I...... I've got to get a clean uniform, but ...... But I don't have a clean ......" When he spoke, he would scratch his head and spread his hands, and the whole person became at a loss.

He is just a county lieutenant, and he has never seen the Son of Heaven, and today the Son of Heaven personally summoned him, this is simply the smoke of the ancestral tomb, can he not be nervous?

Dong Xuan looked him up and down, got up and said, "County Lieutenant Zhang is very good, you don't need to change it, you go to bathe first, and then follow me into the palace." ”

"Uh...... Good! Ok, good, good! ”

Zhang Ben nodded repeatedly, turned around and walked out quickly.

Luoyang Imperial Palace.

Lantai.

Liu Xiu was Dong Xuan and Zhang Ben who met in Lantai.

Also with Liu Xiu are Shangshu Ling Hou Ba, Yu Shi Zhongcheng Li You, and Sili Lieutenant Bao Yong.

Lantai is the library of the imperial palace and the office of the imperial envoys, so the Goshidai is also called Lantai.

After Dong Xuan and Zhang Ben entered Lantai, Liu Xiu bowed his hand in both directions, and said respectfully: "Weichen greets Your Majesty!" ”

Liu Xiu waved his hand and said, "Sit down." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

An attendant moved the seat over, Dong Xuan and Zhang Ben thanked each other, and knelt down on the mat in a proper manner.

Liu Xiu looked at Zhang Ben and asked, "Are you Zhang Ben, the lieutenant of Luoyang County?" ”

Zhang Ben didn't dare to look at Liu Xiu, lowered his head, owed to Liu Xiu, and said, "It's Weichen!" ”

"You found all these books?"

As he spoke, Liu Xiu waved his hand to the side.

Zhang Ben turned his head to see that there were several large boxes next to him, which were full of bamboo slips, which he had captured from the Shu merchants of the inn.

He said, "Your Majesty, these books were all seized by Wei Chen from the hands of Xi Zuo. ”

Li You bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Gongsun Shu is cunning and wants to use rumors to shake the foundation of my Han family!" ”

Bao Yong said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that this case needs to be strictly investigated!" Such books should be banned and destroyed! ”

Liu Xiu was silent for a while, looked at Dong Xian and Zhang Ben, and asked, "Dong County Commander and Zhang County Lieutenant, what do you two think?" ”

Dong Xuanzheng said: "Weichen obeys His Majesty's holy judgment!" ”

This matter has already involved state affairs, and he is not eligible to participate in a county order.

Dong Xuan, yes, is a cool official, but he is also a dead brain.

He only does what is within his purview, and beyond his purview, he will not ask too much questions, in his opinion, it is an act of transgression.

Zhang Ben's mind turned around, and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that Li Zhongcheng and Bao Xiaowei are all reasonable, these meticulous works from Shudi, with these books, gossip to confuse the public, spread rumors everywhere, if not severely punished, to stop, the rumors will become more and more intense, and it is extremely unfavorable to Your Majesty and the Han family." ”

Liu Xiu smiled indifferently, picked up a volume of "Recording and Transporting Law" casually, unfolded it and looked at it, the corners of his mouth hooked, and said: "Abolish Emperor Chang and establish Gongsun." ”

Even if these words came from Liu Xiu's mouth, everyone present heard them awkwardly, and lowered their heads one by one, not daring to say more.

Syllable! Liu Xiu threw the book on the table and said, "These books can't be banned."

"Chinese" has clouds, the mouth of the people, more than the Sichuan.

If these books were to be banned, it would only lead the people to believe that the proverbs recorded in the books were true.

I think this should be the situation that Gongsun Shu is most willing to see. ”

Hou Ba nodded again and again, and arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty Shengming!" ”

Liu Xiu narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Gongsun! Gong, grandson! ”

As he spoke, he stood up and paced back and forth in the hall.

Dong Xuan and Zhang Ben were sitting in danger, and they didn't dare to take a breath.

Hou Ba, Li You, and Bao Yong frowned, pondering carefully, if these books cannot be banned, how can they break the unethical words recorded in the books?

After walking for a while, Liu Xiu suddenly stopped and asked, "When did these books come from?" ”

Hou Bazheng said: "Back to Your Majesty, in order to win the trust of others, Gongsun Shu wrote a book very far away. ”

This is also understandable, if these proverbial books were written in the past two years, even a fool can guess that the proverbs in the books are all made up by Gongsun Shu.

Therefore, according to the records in the book, most of these books were written during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

After hearing this, Liu Xiu's eyes flashed, and then he smiled leisurely and said: "Tomorrow, an announcement will be put out in the capital, saying: "The grandson mentioned in the proverbs in the books such as "Luyun Law", "Aid God Deed", "Bracket Elephant" and other books is Emperor Xuan! ”

Hearing this, everyone present was stunned, and pondered carefully, and the eyes of Hou Ba, Li You, and Bao Yong were all bright, and they all showed excitement.

Even Dong Xuan nodded secretly, gave a thumbs up in his heart, and praised His Majesty's intelligence and cleverness.

The Emperor Xuan mentioned by Liu Xiu naturally refers to Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun, Liu Xun's original name is Liu Aiji, the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the grandson of the crown prince Liu Ju.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the famous witchcraft broke out, and the crown prince Liu was affected, and later committed suicide while being arrested.

Liu Ju's wives, concubines, and children were almost all killed, and in the end, only one Liu Ai survived, and Liu Ai was only a few months old at that time.

When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to his senses, the tragedy had already been caused, and Emperor Wu regretted it and posthumously named Liu Ju as the crown prince.

The word 戾 here is not a derogatory meaning, but a meaning to express grievances.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty posthumously crowned Liu Ju as the crown prince, which is equivalent to saying that his son died unjustly! Therefore, Liu Ju's position as the crown prince has never been deprived, even if he dies, he is still posthumously named the prince, and as Liu Ju's grandson, Liu is already ill, so he is naturally a grandson.

After the death of Emperor Wu, Emperor Zhao succeeded to the throne, that is, Liu Ju's younger brother.

Emperor Zhao is the youngest son of Emperor Wu, and he was only eight years old when he succeeded to the throne, but don't look at his young age, but he is a Ming monarch, but unfortunately, he died young, and when Emperor Zhao died, he was only twenty-one years old, and he didn't even leave an heir.

Because Emperor Zhao had no queen, Liu Ai, as the grandson of the crown prince, had only then been given the opportunity to inherit the throne, that is, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Xiu now presses the word Gongsun on the head of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, which can also be explained, and in this way, the rumors are self-defeating, and the Gongsun mentioned in the proverb refers to Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, so the Han family is still orthodox, and your Gongsun Shu is still a thief living in a corner.

Everyone present was full of reading the scriptures, and they were thorough at one point, only Zhang Ben's knowledge was a bottle of dissatisfaction, half a bottle of wandering, and he couldn't understand the meaning of Liu Xiu's words at all, and his mind was full of doubts, how did Emperor Xuan become a grandson?

Isn't Emperor Xuan's surname Liu?

He doesn't have the surname Gongsun either! Li Youxi said with a smile: "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

Bao Yong also said with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen will have an announcement put out tomorrow and read it out all over the city!" ”

Liu Xiu nodded, he turned his gaze, looked at Zhang Ben, and said with a smile: "County Lieutenant Zhang!" ”

"Wechen is here!"

Zhang Ben's body was shocked, and he hurriedly bowed forward to salute.

"I heard that it only took you two days to find out the Shu merchants who spread rumors, and you also seized these books."

"Wechen is lucky! It's just a fluke from Wechen! ”

Liu Xiu smiled and said, "Luck is also an ability. ”

As he spoke, he turned his head sideways and said, "Zhang Kun." ”

Zhang Ben bowed, walked up to Zhang Ben, and put a tray in front of Zhang Ben.

Zhang Ben glanced at it and saw five horseshoe gold on the tray.

Horseshoe gold was the currency of the time, and gold was made because it was shaped like a horse's hoof, so it was named horseshoe gold.

A horseshoe gold weighed 250 grams, and at that time, 250 grams was a catty.

Seeing Zhang Ben looking at the tray blankly and not responding for a long time, Dong Xuan coughed low and reminded in a low voice: "Don't you want to thank you soon?"

What are you waiting for? ”

Zhang Ben came back to his senses, hurriedly kowtowed forward, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" ”

Liu Xiu smiled, waved his hand, and motioned for Zhang Ben to be flat.

He asked, "How is the fine work from Shudi?" ”

Zhang Benzheng said: "Weichen smashed the three hidden piles set up by Gongsun Shu in Luoyang through meticulous work, and arrested more than ten people. ”

After a pause, he said solemnly: "Gongsun Shu can spread rumors in Luoyang so quickly, Weichen thinks that the hidden piles set up by Gongsun Shu in Luoyang are definitely not only these three, there should be more, but other hidden piles, Weichen has not been able to find out for the time being." ”

Liu Xiu nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile to Dong Xuan: "Strong Order, the county lieutenant you promoted this time is very good and very capable. ”

Dong Xuan was completely unshocked, he owed a debt and said, "Your Majesty praises it." ”

Liu Xiu said with a smile: "County Lieutenant Zhang, do your job well, in the future, you will have the opportunity to enter Lantai." ”

Entering Lantai, that is, being an envoy.

Who is the Envoy?

That is the person who directly serves the Son of Heaven and can supervise the hundred officials.

After hearing this, Zhang Ben immediately knelt down again, kowtowed to Liu Xiu, and said in a trembling voice: "If you can be loyal to Your Majesty, you will not hesitate!" ”

Liu Xiu waved his hand and said, "Okay, Dong County Order, Zhang County Lieutenant, you two can go back!" We still need to do our best to investigate and deal with the things that are done carefully. ”

"Wechen understands, Wechen must live up to His Majesty's trust!"

Zhang Ben followed Dong Xuan and walked out of Lantai, so happy that he couldn't close his mouth.

After only completing one errand, he was completely turned over in his life, not only got the hardware rewarded by His Majesty, but also got the promise of His Majesty that he would have the opportunity to enter Lantai in the future.

He looked at Dong Xuan, who was walking aside, with an expressionless face, and asked with a happy smile: "Dong Xianling's eyes won't be red, right?" ”