Liu Wei sat in the small hall of Zhutao Yashe, his face gloomy as if he was about to drip water.

Of all the ministers sitting in the small hall, Lu Zhi was the last to walk in. Before him, Wei Yi, Jia Xu and other confidants had already sat down at the long table, and they all looked solemn.

Liu Wei was silent, his fingers kept tapping on the table, his eyes wandered, and he looked absent-minded.

Those who are familiar with him know that Liu Wei is already on the verge of breaking out at this time, the surrounding palace people and Huangmen are all hiding far away, only Empress Tang is sitting sideways behind him, doing work similar to Secretary Wen, and only she can temporarily suppress the monstrous anger in Liu Bian's heart by Liu Bian's side.

After Lu Zhi came in, the atmosphere in the small hall was relaxed.

After Liu Wei succeeded to the throne, his majesty became more and more prosperous. The decisiveness of the killing and the variety of methods have made it impossible for many ministers of the court to despise him because of his age in the year of dancing elephants.

Although on the surface, Liu Wei respected the ministers of the court, and even restored the etiquette of the Son of Heaven before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to bow to the three princes and bow back, and promoted it to all the ministers, which made the ministers of the court feel deeply honored. However, on the other hand, Liu Bian's ruthless treatment of political opponents has left many people apprehensive.

Especially in dealing with the Yuan Kui incident, Liu Bian's political methods made all the ministers feel chills in their backs. After the mass killings of the Great Purge, Liu Wei was not branded as a brutal notoriety, on the contrary, there were people who praised Liu Wei, and Liu Wei also trumpeted the justice of his purge through the propaganda machine he controlled, the Luoyang Times, and this shameless character made the ministers look sideways. However, none of the ministers came forward to accuse Liu Wei of his mistakes, because Liu Wei did not personally participate in the whole incident on the surface, and everything was led by the Unified Investigation Society, and most importantly, by the people. Liu Wei's purge was based on public opinion, which left everyone speechless.

But it was not the praise of the common people that really scared the ministers, who were the beneficiaries of the purge – the confiscated landlords' land was rented to them at low interest rates or distributed to those who voluntarily denounced the landlords' crimes. The most frightening and incomprehensible thing for the ministers was that those who had been imprisoned in the name of the Yuan rebellion in the Great Purge had also praised Liu Wei.

Those who were convicted were placed in a number of camps to do hard labor, called re-education through labor. They are managed by the members of the Coordination Agency, and the members of the Propaganda Agency also hold daily meetings with them in the camp, so that they can expose each other, admit their mistakes, and reflect in the depths of their souls. Everyone has written tens of thousands of words in their hands called a review, and each of them says that they are deeply guilty and that the Son of Heaven is right to kill their relatives and confiscate their land.

Liu Bian's methods of destroying people's hearts made everyone frightened, and people like Wei Yi and Xun Yu, close ministers and the executors of his various methods, naturally had a deeper understanding of this, and no one dared to touch his reverse scales at this time for Liu Bian, who was about to break out, and only Lu Zhi, who Liu Bian had always looked at him differently and respected like his father, could calm Liu Bian's anger at this time.

Lu Zhi got the news of Liu Yu's murder later than Liu Wei. The information of the Unified Investigation Agency was all passed through Liu Wei in advance, and then reported to the cabinet.

As soon as Lu Zhi entered the small hall, he bowed to the ground and said: "The minister Lu Zhi is guilty, the villain Gongsun Zan is rebellious, and he killed the important ministers of the court without permission. ”

Liu Wei's small hall is not like a large hall, everyone sits separately, there are the main seats on the hall and the side seats on the left and right. Basically, the ministers who come here sit around the long table to discuss matters, and the relationship between them seems cordial, and it is not suitable for kneeling.

Lu Zhi came in to worship, and the others naturally couldn't sit anymore, but the tables and chairs were chaotic, and everyone got up to avoid them.

Liu Wei, who was sitting on the chair with an angry face, looked at Lu Zhi kneeling on the ground, sighed slightly, and got up to help Lu Zhi up.

"Why should Lu Gong be like this. At the beginning, I also trusted Gongsun Chan too much, which is why I caused today's disaster. ”

As Gongsun Zhan's teacher, Lu Zhi was not blamed in the court after Gongsun Chan openly killed Liu Yu, because the most fierce person who opposed the imperial court to trust Gongsun Chan again after the Battle of Jieqiao was Lu Zhi. It was Liu Wei himself who really advocated believing in Gongsun Chan again and again.

Liu Wei has been trying in vain to maintain a balanced situation in which the three forces of Youzhou and Jizhou, Liu Yu, Gongsun Zhan, and Yuan Shao contain each other, but he underestimated the degree of contradiction between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zhan and Gongsun Zhan's own ambitions.

But in the court, Lu Zhi has always said that the erosion of the situation in Youzhou is his own mistake, and in fact, he is also covering up Liu Bian's mistakes.

With Lu Zhi taking the lead, Jia Xu also pleaded guilty to Liu Bian: "Your subordinates are derelict in their duties, and the information from Jizhou has come that Gongsun Zhan's attack on Liu Yu this time is Yuan Shao's provocative plan. The ministers did not stop it in time, which eventually worsened the situation in Youzhou, and the ministers were to blame for their deaths! ”

The Jizhou Coordination Agency has just spread out the intelligence network in Jizhou, and it is barely possible to transmit information, and it is impossible to say that any action can be taken about intelligence.

Liu Wei also understood this matter in his heart, and he didn't want to criticize Lu Zhi and Jia Xu, but said: "It's not too late to make amends." There is no point in saying anything now, let's talk about how to deal with the situation in Youzhou today. ”

As for how to deal with the current situation in Youzhou, everyone has different ideas. Lu Zhi had earlier objected to the imperial court's trust in Gongsun Chan, but at this time, he was unusual, believing that the handling of Gongsun Chan should be low-key at this time.

He admonished Liu; "Liu Bo'an (Liu Yuzi) was killed, and the world was shaken. Yanzhou Mu Liu Dai said that Gongsun Zhan's move was treason, and asked the court to declare him a thief, but the old minister thought that once Liu Bo'an died, only Gongsun Zhan could balance Yuan Shao in Youzhou. If we press him too hard, we will make him unite with Yuan Shao, which will be very detrimental to the imperial court. Therefore, Lao Chen suggested that the imperial court's handling of Gongsun Zhan should be low-key. Without external threats, with the incompatible relationship between Gongsun Chan and Yuan Shao, it will inevitably be swords and soldiers facing each other, and when the snipe and mussels are falling, the court fishermen will benefit. ”

Hearing this, Liu Wei said angrily: "Gongsun Chan said that Liu Boan conspired to rebel against the country, do you want me to admit that Liu Boan is a traitor and reward Gongsun Zhan?" ”

Lu Zhi persuaded: "Your Majesty, now that the situation in the north is about to erupt, Yuan Shao sits in Jizhou and peeks into the three prefectures of You, He, and Qing. If the imperial court's behavior against Gongsun Chan is set as a rebellion, Yuan Shao will definitely be able to attack Gongsun Chan in the name of righteousness, and then Gongsun Chan will be defeated and there will be no one to check and balance Yuan Shao, which will be very unfavorable to the imperial court. If you can't bear it, you will make a big plan, please think twice! ”

Liu Wei took a heavy breath with his nose, thought for a long time, and finally clenched his fist suddenly slammed on the table.

"Liu Bo'an is loyal to the country, and after his death, he still has to contain this injustice, I ......"

Liu Wei closed his eyes with a bitter face.

Jia Xu admonished on the side: "If Your Majesty doesn't want to see Liu Youzhou's reputation humiliated, you can drag this matter down." Gongsun Zan showed Liu Youzhou's treason, and the court could press the seal. Gongsun Zhan killed Liu Youzhou without permission, and the court could not express its position. There is no punishment on both sides, and in private, you can send people to comfort Gongsun Zan with kind words, induce him to fight with Yuan Shao, and then announce the truth when he loses both, and return Liu Youzhou to an innocence! ”

Liu Wei gritted his teeth, in fact, he knew in his heart that the current situation could only be dealt with like this. In the face of the growing power of Yuan Shao, now is indeed not the time to turn his face with Gongsun Zhan.

Liu Wei hated and agreed to Lu Zhi and Jia Xu's methods. On the surface, the imperial court did not make any statement on the murder of Liu Yu, but in private, it was warm and welcoming to the envoys sent by Gongsun Zan to invite merit. Liu Wei also personally met with the envoy, said kind words to him, and secretly gave him a large amount of treasures.

After the bribed envoy returned, he naturally said all the good things about the court in front of Gongsun Zhan. However, Gongsun Chan is not a person who is easy to fool, he also understands Liu Yu's virtuous name and the court's reliance on Liu Yu, and he killed Liu Yu himself, and the court's lack of reaction made him not believe it at all.

He repeatedly asked the envoy about the court's attitude towards him, and the envoy replied: "I went to the court and was summoned by the Son of Heaven. The Son of Heaven said that the general was the pillar of the Han Dynasty and relied on the general's loyalty very much. ”

Gongsun Zhan asked in disbelief, "Then why doesn't the imperial court reward me?" ”

The envoy choked, and then remembered what the Son of Heaven Liu Biao had taught him. I admired in my heart that although today's son is not very old, he is like a god, and he even guessed that his family lord's guild would ask this question.

He explained: "The Son of Heaven said that the general is a tiger, and now that the fox and rabbit have not been eliminated, how can the tiger be fed." ”

Gongsun Chan asked curiously, "Who is the fox rabbit?" ”

The messenger replied: "The Son of Heaven said that Yuan Shao of Jizhou, Yuan Shu of Runan, Tao Qian of Xuzhou, Liu Dai of Yanzhou, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, and Liu Zhang of Yizhou are all foxes and rabbits under the claws of the generals. ”

Gongsun Chan laughed when he heard this, and said, "The Son of Heaven really knows my heart!" ”

In December of the fourth year of Guangxi, the world shock caused by Gongsun Zhan's attack on Liu Yu finally subsided under the silent attitude of the imperial court.

In fact, Liu Yu himself is not only famous in Youzhou, but also admired by people in the whole world, especially the Shiren group. Gongsun Chan killed him, and it was easy for him to be criticized by the people of the world. The other princes, most likely, Yuan Shao would use this as an excuse to crusade against him.

The most important thing is the interior of Youzhou. Liu Yu's prestige was extremely high, and his murder made Gongsun Zan extremely dissatisfied within Youzhou. Gongsun Zhan had to secretly put the Chinese clothes and jewelry on Liu Yu's house to frame Liu Yu's morality. The purpose of sending an envoy to Beijing was to obtain the support of the imperial court in this matter, and to have the righteous name of destroying the rebellion, and also to help quell the dissatisfaction with him within Youzhou and the excuse for the attacks of the princes of other states.

Although the imperial court did not give him as much as he expected, the silence on Liu Yu's death had given him enough room to make a fuss. Externally, he claimed that he killed Liu Yu in accordance with the edict of the imperial court to punish the rebels. Internally, he strengthened his rule and defeated Qi Zhou, Xian Yuyin and others who avenged Liu Yu, gradually consolidating his rule in Youzhou, and began to accumulate strength to deal with his old enemy Yuan Shao.

For Yuan Shao in Jizhou, the benefits of Gongsun Zhan killing Liu Yu are obvious. Liu Yu and Gongsun Zhan are both literate and martial, and if they cooperate with each other, the threat to Jizhou is quite large. After killing Liu Yu, although Gongsun Zhan was in charge of Youzhou, his strength was the same for a while, but Yuan Shao did not take him seriously, thinking that he was just a puppet, and he could capture and kill him sooner or later.

However, Yuan Shao also understood that now was not the time for a decisive battle with Gongsun Zhan. Gongsun Chan himself also needed some time to stabilize his rule in Youzhou, which gave Yuan Shaoteng time to move around and focus on other places.

For example, Bingzhou, where Yuan Shao had sown an evil seed a long time ago, and now it has ripened a vicious fruit, which is enough to turn Bingzhou upside down.

(To be continued, stay tuned for the next chapter.) ）