He was surprised by the holy decree that Liu Hong sent to Liu Xin in the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, which appointed him as the pastor of Jingzhou. Zhang Gou'er finished issuing the holy decree this time, regardless of Liu Xin's repeated reservations, that is, he refused to stay in the river for a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and hurried back to Luoyang, obviously something big happened in the capital, and when he left, he repeatedly told Liu Xin to pack up his bags and rush to Luoyang as soon as possible to meet the emperor. Liu Xin didn't dare to force him to stay, so he asked someone to stuff a bag of gold and silver for him, and returned to the mansion sullenly, but saw that Tian Feng and the others had gathered in the hall when they got the news, and their faces were beaming, and they were happily discussing something.

Seeing Liu Xin walk in, everyone fell to the ground together: "Subordinates see the lord!" ”

Liu Xin was a little puzzled, and hurriedly said, "What are you doing, hurry up." ”

Tian Feng looked at Liu Xin, who was stunned, and said, "Don't the lord want us to follow you to Jingzhou?" ”

Liu Xin asked strangely: "Where did you start with this, I don't know what offended the emperor, and suddenly asked me to be the state official with no power, and I was worried that you would not want to go to Jingzhou with me." Also, why did you suddenly call my lord here? ”

Fu Zhu explained: "Haha, your lord, you have misunderstood. You went to Jingzhou to serve as a state pastor, not a thorn in history. Unlike the Assassin, who was only responsible for supervising local officials, he was in charge of the military administration of a state, and the county magistrates were all appointed and dismissed by the governors. In the future, we will follow you to Jingzhou, that is, to help you do things, and naturally we will call you the lord. ”

Liu Xin listened to the explanation of frustration, and then turned her worries into joy, and said to Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others: "You and I are righteous brothers, you can still call me the eldest brother in the future, you don't have to call me the lord." ”

This is really a big pie falling from the sky, and Liu Xin was smashed into a daze, he is actually a very poor man in the river, although it is said that he is in charge of the army and the people in charge of the horse, in fact, the personnel power is limited, and even the county order has no right to appoint and dismiss, Tian Feng, Fu Zhu, Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others are actually supernumerary cadres, which is equivalent to the "temporary workers" that later generations said. It's good now, when you get to Jingzhou, you have the final say, and you have to arrange a suitable position for them. But where did this decree come from? Liu Xin was puzzled.

Originally, the Han Dynasty divided the world into thirteen states, including Sili, Henan, Yan, Qing, Xu, Liang, Yong, Hebei, You, And, Jing, Yang, and Yi. At the beginning, the post of state pastor was set up to manage the counties and counties under the state, but later it was found that the state pastor had too much power, so he changed the state pastor to the state assassin history, and the state assassin history only exercised supervision power on behalf of the central government to the counties and counties, and had no real power. At that time, Liu Yan was the Taishou of Nanyang, and his friend Dong Fu once said to Liu Yan, "The capital will be chaotic, and Yizhou has the spirit of the Son of Heaven." So Liu Yan paid attention to wanting to be the lord of Yizhou, and repeatedly wrote to ask the emperor to re-establish the position of state pastor.

Coincidentally, Zhang Rang was reminded by Liu Xin, and really sent someone to secretly follow Feng Yu, and sure enough, he found that he had a close relationship with a person named Ma Yuanyi, so he believed what Liu Xin said. During this time, a nursery rhyme gradually spread in the capital: "The sky should die, the yellow sky should stand, the age is in Jiazi, and the world is auspicious." Zhang Rang was secretly shocked when he heard this, he understood that he could have today's power because he relied on the trust of Emperor Liu Hong, and if Liu Hong fell, he would be finished.

Thinking about this, Zhang Rang didn't dare to delay any longer, and hurriedly entered the palace to report to Liu Hong, who was watching the recital handed over by Liu Yan at this time. Liu Yan handed over the chapter five times, but he always went into the sea like a mud cow, and there was no news. This time, he gave Zhao Zhong a generous gift and asked Zhao Zhong to forward it to Liu Hong.

Zhao Zhong naturally said a lot of good things for Liu Yan, Liu Hongzheng hesitated, couldn't make up his mind, but when he saw Zhang Rang coming in, he handed him Liu Yan's recital.

Zhang Rangzao saw that Zhao Zhong was constantly glancing at him, he and Zhao Zhong were wearing a pair of pants, how could he not understand what he meant, so he first told what he knew about Zhang Jiao, and then took the opportunity to speak: "Your Majesty, some time ago, Yang Ci and Liu Tao both wrote to ask for Zhang Jiao to be arrested, but the emperor did not approve it, if he is arrested now, I am afraid of criticism." The old slave thought that Lord Liu Yan's recital was timely and solved the emperor's big problem. ”

Liu Hong asked curiously, "What is the connection between these two things?" ”

Zhang Rang continued: "Nowadays, there are too many people in various places who are corrupt and bribery, exploit the people, and there are many people who do not obey the orders of the imperial court, which leads to the centrifugal betrayal of the world. Liu Yan asked the emperor to choose a Qing name and important minister to serve as the state pastor, and the old slave thought it was feasible to take the town side. In this way, it is convenient to concentrate the soldiers and horses of various states, and if Zhang Jiao really rebels, it will be easy to capture. ”

Liu Hong nodded and said, "Father's words are reasonable, so in which states do you think it is more appropriate to set up a state pastor?" Liu Hong favored Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, and often called Zhang Rang his father and Zhao Zhong his mother.

Zhao Zhong heard that Liu Hong's mind was relaxed, and remembered what Liu Yan had entrusted him, so he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the elite soldiers of the Han Dynasty are all gathered in Luoyang, and the three prefectures of You, He, and Liang are also strong and strong, even if Zhang Jiao rebels, there is no need to worry. However, in the southern states, the imperial court whip is beyond the reach, especially in Yizhou, where the roads are blocked, so it is better to set up a state pastor as soon as possible. Since this idea was proposed by Liu Yan, and he is a relative of the Han family, the old slave thought that he could serve as the pastor of Yizhou. ”

Liu Hong thought for a while and said: "What my mother said has some truth, so let Liu Yan be the pastor of Yizhou." Jingzhou is connected to the north and south in the southern states, which is very important, I originally wanted to appoint Wang Rui as the assassin of Jingzhou, but now it is better to directly appoint him as the pastor of Jingzhou, what do you think? ”

Wang Rui had a close relationship with the general He Jin, and he often had some bumps and bumps with Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others, and Liu Hong asked the two of them at this time, how could they help him speak. Zhao Zhongxian said: "Back to the emperor, the position of state pastor is very powerful, how can it be handed over to outsiders casually, you should choose a person with both virtue and ability among the clan relatives before you can take it." "Zhao Zhongxin said, my goal has been achieved, whether Jingzhou has a state pastor or not, it is my, but I would rather not set up a state pastor, and I can't be cheap Wang Rui.

Zhang Rang's eyes rolled, remembering Liu Xinlai, the investigation of Feng Zhen still relied on Liu Xin's reminder, and he was also regarded as a meritorious person in front of the emperor, so he had the idea of repaying the favor, and said: "Your Majesty, the old slave Baoju Hejian guards Liu Xin, who is also a relative of the Han family, is loyal and sympathetic to the people, and can be appointed as the pastor of Jingzhou." ”

Liu Hong thinks about it, Liu Xin has indeed done a lot of things in this year's drought, and last time Han Fu, the assassin of Jizhou, wrote a letter to ask for praise for him, but he didn't agree, so this time he will compensate him. So, the two holy decrees were sent out separately, and Liu Xin received this big pie, but it was actually stained with Liu Yan's light.

Liu Xin received the holy decree, happily packed his things, and prepared to go on the road. For more than a year, he has been a taishou, basically spending public funds, he didn't spend any money, and he received a lot of gifts, plus the original savings, after careful calculation, there was more than 10 million yuan. In this way, Liu Xin is still regarded by the local people as a rare good official and a clean official, which shows how simple and kind the people of the Han Dynasty were. These belongings had long been quietly exchanged for gold and silver, and it was easy to carry.

It's just that Ma Yun's luggage is full of two large boxes. Liu Xin asked rather strangely, "These are all yours?" What is it? ”

Ma Yun said proudly: "It's all books. ”

Liu Xin was even more strange: "Books? Why did you buy so many books? How I don't know, take the book and I'll see. ”

Ma Yun knocked off Liu Xin's hand that was about to open the lid: "These books are my secrets, don't read them." ”

Liu Xin said disdainfully: "Hmph, I'm not uncommon to read, it must be some ** novels." ”

Ma Yun pretended to be angry: "Go!" You're just reading ** novels. ”

When Zhang Gou'er was leaving, he told him to get on the road as soon as possible, which meant that he couldn't wait to leave immediately. But Liu Xin can't just leave, he went to Jingzhou this time to take office, Tian Feng, Fu Zhu and Xu Huang, Zhang Fei, Zhang He, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, Zhao Yun The six brothers naturally have to accompany him, Fan Jing's father and daughter and Xu Lao Dad naturally have to follow, everyone has a lot of things to pack, and this speed is not fast.

Fortunately, when he traveled in the spring, Ma Yun thought that the carriage was too bumpy, and Liu Xin came back to find skilled craftsmen, and according to his knowledge of shock absorption in later generations, he built three large five small and eight comfortable carriages, plus twenty ordinary carriages, which were enough to transport family members and property. The Flying Tiger Guard has been expanded by him to a thousand people, and all of them are cavalry, so the speed on the road is estimated to be much faster.

In this way, it was not until the third day of the first month that Liu Xin prepared everything, but unexpectedly, the people of Hejian heard the news and spontaneously rushed to Taishou Mansion to see him off, and the roads in the city were blocked, and it was not completed that day.

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, it was still dawn. Liu Xin, together with Dian Wei and the others, took a hundred Flying Tiger Guards, and quietly went out of the city to Luoyang. Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others respectively took the remaining 900 Flying Tiger Guards to protect Ma Yun's mother and son, as well as Tian Feng, Fu Zhu, Fan Jing and Father Xu.

Liu Xin and Dian Wei brought a hundred flying soldiers to Luoyang non-stop, and it was the dusk of the fifth day of the first lunar month. Although the city gate of Luoyang City is not closed at night, the palace gate has long been closed, and Liu Xin naturally can't see the emperor, so he has to go to the post house to settle down first.

Although Liu Xin is now the pastor of a state waiting to take office, in the eyes of the Beijing post guards who are accustomed to seeing big officials, they are nothing, and they are not enthusiastic about Liu Xin and Dian Wei, and only some coarse tea and light rice are arranged in the post house.

Dian Wei was annoyed, and wanted to go to them several times to reason. Liu Xin hurriedly stopped and said, "This is the foot of the Son of Heaven, where can you be wild." Forget it, we're not short of money, let's find a hotel in the capital tonight to let you have a good drink. ”

When Dian Wei heard that there was wine to drink, most of his anger disappeared, and he raised his hands in approval. The two changed into casual clothes and walked on the streets of Luoyang, but unexpectedly, the doors of their shops were closed, and they turned several streets before they saw a hotel with a large shop front, a row of red lanterns hanging at the door, and three golden characters written on the signboard "Drunk Red Dust".