Back in the dormitory, Emperor Liu Hong said, "Zhang Changshi, tell me about your objections." Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Your Majesty, Yuan Situ fiercely opposed Zhao Xiong's appointment at the court meeting, and I estimate that he must have nothing to do with Gao Shun and his gang, and even have contradictions."

Liu Hong said: "You don't need to say this, I can see it, and continue to say your objections." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. If Gao Shun or Zhao Xiong were appointed as the guards of Yanmen according to the wishes of Yang Taiwei, then they would have become a relationship of recommendation and recommendation, and His Majesty would have lost a good general, so the minister opposed the appointment, but hoped that the appointment would come from His Majesty, so that he would be loyal to His Majesty. And when His Majesty appointed him as the county magistrate, he said that if he was given a one-year inspection period, if he was promoted to the position of Taishou now, it would damage His Majesty's prestige; The minister suggested that he be given some monetary reward or other reward. ”

"Haha, yes, Zhang Changzhi is thoughtful, otherwise I will almost lose a general, and I will lose my trust in the people."

Zhang Rang said again: "Your Majesty, I think that Gao Shun is an immortal talent, and Your Majesty must take it for his own use." The minister has something to offer to His Majesty. As he spoke, Zhang Rang took out the framed silk shaft from his arms and opened it, "Your Majesty, please take a look." ”

Liu Hongnian said: "Out of the stopper, the Qin period, the bright moon and the Han time, the Long March has not yet returned." But to make the dragon city fly will not teach Humadu Yin Mountain. ”

"Good poetry, impassioned, strong self-confidence. Who wrote this poem? ”

"Your Majesty, it was written by Gao Shun, and he improvised it after receiving the holy decree."

Liu Hong read it many times in a row, savoring it carefully, and suddenly, he asked, "Zhang Changshi, do you see something from this poem?" ”

Seeing Liu Hong's expression, Zhang Rang felt puzzled, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the minister is dull, but I feel that this poem is majestic and smooth, and I can't see anything else." ”

Liu Hong ignored Zhang Rang, but continued to stare at the silk scroll, and said to himself: "Great talent, it is indeed an immortal talent!" But what is he trying to say? Does he want to build a defense of Huo's work? Or complain about the lack of good generals in the Han court? Or do you think the position of the county commander is too low?"

Zhang Rang listened to Liu Hong's words, and was shocked, but he thought about it and suggested: "Your Majesty, the minister is stupid and can't see his intentions, but Your Majesty can contact the three characters presented by Wang Yushi last time, and you may be able to understand his thoughts." ”

Liu Hong's face suddenly improved, and he said excitedly: "Yes, quickly, take the last 3 characters for me." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhang Rang quickly took out 3 silk scrolls, and called 4 palace maids to open all the silk scrolls for Liu Hong to enjoy them one by one.

Suddenly, Liu Hong laughed heartily, "Hahaha, fortunately, I am smart, otherwise I really can't see through his thoughts." ”

Zhang Rang hurriedly patted his ass and said: "No matter how cunning he is, he can't escape His Majesty's Heavenly Eye." Your Majesty is stupid, what does he mean when he arrives? ”

Liu Hong suddenly turned around, looked at Zhang Rang and asked, "I want to know how he looks?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, he is more than eight feet tall, very burly, handsome in appearance, and white and tender in skin." Zhang Rang had not seen Gao Shun either, so he could only repeat Zuo Feng's description; However, he didn't understand why His Majesty would ask Gao Shun's appearance.

"Hey, I really want to meet this young talent." In the Eastern Han Dynasty, people attached great importance to a person's appearance, and the emperor was no exception.

"Your Majesty, what's so hard about this? Recruit them to Beijing. ”

Liu Hong pondered for a while, then suddenly looked at Zhang Rang and asked, "Since he is such a talent, how should I appoint him?" ”

Zhang Rang had already planned and said with a smile: "Congratulations to Your Majesty, this Gao Shun is not only young and handsome and talented, but also wealthy, and he will buy the position of the 3rd County Taishou as soon as he makes a move." ”

Liu Hong was very surprised and asked, "Is there anything else going on?" How come I don't know? Tell me more about it. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, a few days ago, someone went to Xiyuan to sign up to buy an official, and bought the position of 3 county guards at a time, and the minister paid attention to the information left by his people, and the 3 people were all from Taipingli, Xixiang, Loufu County, and the minister guessed, in addition to Gao Shun, who else could there be? There must be no doubt that he is. At that time, it was rumored in the capital that Ma Yi had won a great victory, and the minister speculated that it must be the Shi clan who was secretly building momentum and wanted to pull Gao Shun into the Shi clan camp and become their lackey. For the sake of His Majesty, the minister suppressed the matter and wanted to observe the dynamics of the matter, and sure enough, Taiwei and others jumped out impatiently to support Gao Shun, they were digging into the corners of His Majesty's wall for their own use, selfish, and really hateful. ”

"Which counties do they want to buy?"

"Back to Your Majesty, they want to buy the position of Taishou or Prime Minister of Daijun, Shanggu County and Changshan Kingdom."

Liu Hong asked with a gloomy face, "What does Zhang Changshou think about this?" ”

Zhang Rang looked at Liu Hong's gloomy face, and guessed that the emperor was suspicious, so he said: "Maidai County and Shanggu County are guarding the border counties for Your Majesty and fighting the barbarians, judging from their hostile attitude towards the Hu people, it is not difficult to understand, if it is for money, no one will have such a choice; Buying Changshan Country, I guess I am afraid that buying all of them will attract criticism in Youzhou, and I am also worried about not buying and merging with the county guard. ”

"You think they're looking out for me?"

Zhang Rang thought about it for a while and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, it is difficult to return to the capital if you buy these 3 counties, if it is a scholar clan, you will definitely choose to buy a moderately wealthy county; Like Dai County and Shanggu County, how many people can there be in the remaining counties? How much money can be looted? and there are many dangers, and if you don't pay attention to it, you will lose your dust; I estimate that there is another purpose for the purchase of Changshan Country, which is to facilitate the recruitment of troops and the purchase of military rations, otherwise there will not be many people who will convert all the population of Daijun and Shanggu County into soldiers; Changshan has many people and is poor, and it is an ideal place for conscription. ”

Liu Hong said dissatisfiedly: "This son is very human, if he has a different heart, then he will be quiet, Ji, and, and he will go down in one drum, what can I do?" ”

Zhang Rang was taken aback by Liu Hong's words, and cold sweat immediately soaked his clothes; After a while, Zhang Rang came back to his senses and said: "Your Majesty, if he has two hearts, he will hide the origins of the three people at this moment, and settle down in other counties and counties. It is undisguised, either simple-minded or undouble-minded, no matter what the situation, His Majesty can use it with confidence. ”

Seeing that Liu Hong was still gloomy, Zhang Rang said again: "Your Majesty, that Gao Shun is a good family, and now there is a conflict with Yuan Situ, if Your Majesty personally appoints him, and loses the support of Yang Ci, Wang Yun and other scholars, he is equivalent to offending all the scholars, and he can only be attached to His Majesty, and can only be loyal to His Majesty, otherwise let alone have two hearts, but fall out of favor with Your Majesty, then the scholars will take advantage of the situation and let them die without a place to be buried." Besides, without the support of the scholars, would he dare to have two hearts? As long as he does not mingle with the scholars, His Majesty will be free to worry. ”

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the scholars held the power of the court to employ people, recommended each other, the relationship was intertwined, and a huge community of interests was formed, the court was almost hollowed out, although the emperor was worried, regarded it as a tumor, but its momentum had become a success, the imperial power could not compete, and could only slowly try to do so, selling officials was one of the measures, the purpose was to weaken the power of the scholars to recommend officials.

After listening to Zhang Rang's words, Liu Hong's heart suddenly brightened, and said: "Haha, what Zhang Changshi said is good, the current great enemy of the imperial court is the Shi clan, as long as it does not collude with the Shi clan, he will be my loyal minister, and I will use it boldly and with confidence; If it weren't for Zhang Changshi, I would have almost lost a lot of help. ”

Zhang Rang saw that Liu Hong's mood had improved, and suggested: "Your Majesty, there is another point, that is, Gao Shun is not weak now, and he has not bought an official position for himself, but only for his partner. ”

"Haha, Zhang Changzhi was wrong, why did he want to disintegrate? I want him to be a sword in my hands, and I have to rely on them to fight against the nobles. ”

"Your Majesty, this is difficult, his background is too low; As long as he can keep the border peaceful, His Majesty will have the heart to deal with the affairs of the nobles carefully. ”

Liu Hong was in a good mood and praised, "Zhang Chang's words are reasonable!" So how should I make good use of this chess piece? ”