Seeing Liu Zhang's compromise, Empress Dowager Dong said with satisfaction: "The champion Hou is really a young hero, and he knows the current affairs very well!" I just want to ask, what do you think of Your Majesty? ”

"This..."Liu Zhang paused and smiled: "Your Majesty is a rare benevolent monarch in the world, why should the Queen Mother ask more?" ”

Empress Dowager Dong shook her head and said with a smile: "Champion Hou's words are deceitful, how can this palace not understand his son?" Although Hong'er is not a faint king, she is not as good as you say! ”

"Since the Queen Mother understands Your Majesty, and the courtiers can't say anything about the king's faults, why does the Queen Mother have to ask such an unanswerable question?" Liu Zhang looked at the Empress Dowager Dong and said secretly in his heart: Does this old man think that I will be stupid enough to give the handle to her?

"Sure enough!" Empress Dowager Dong said with a smile: "This palace has never seen such a shrewd kid, even Your Majesty was not as good as you back then." If you had been born fifteen years earlier, it is estimated that the throne would not have belonged to Your Majesty! ”

"The Queen Mother's words are fallacious!" Liu Zhang said with a smile: "Even if the minister was born fifteen years early, it may not be useful. This throne is not only obtained by intelligence, but also by fate and luck. His Majesty is blessed with the sky, and has the breath of a true dragon, so he got a big position. And the minister is just a little clever, if he barely ascends to the throne, he will die! ”

Empress Dowager Dong smiled: "Don't be nervous, the champion Hou doesn't have to be nervous, this palace is not testing you!" This palace also wants to ask what you think of the two princes. ”

Liu Zhang was a little embarrassed and said: "The prince is pure and filial, surnamed Ge Renhou, similar to His Majesty, and the prince is young, and the ministers can't see it!" ”

Empress Dowager Dong sighed and said, "Originally, it was very good to be the emperor by distinguishing the surname of the prince. It's a pity that now is a troubled time, and the surname is too benevolent, which is really not conducive to the country! ”

"Uh..." Liu Zhang saw that this old woman had been with Liu Xie for a long time, so she wanted to support Liu Xie's ascension. But Liu Zhang didn't understand, his relationship with Liu Ban and Queen He was known to the world, how could he change his court? Liu Zhang smiled: "The Queen Mother's words are wrong! It is precisely because of the instability of the world that a benevolent emperor is needed. It is the duty of the generals to end the troubled times, and the duty of the emperor is to govern the world, and it is necessary to be benevolent to govern the world! ”

Empress Dowager Dong said with a cold look in her eyes: "If this palace wants you to support Xie'er as the crown prince, do you dare not agree?" ”

"The Queen Mother can behead a certain head and seize a certain power, but she can't change a certain will!" Liu Zhang's eyes widened, and the murderous aura accumulated on the battlefield burst out, and the angry eyes shocked the Empress Dowager Dong and Dong Da.

"Bold! How dare you be rude to the Queen Mother? Dong Chong saw that the murderous aura on Liu Zhang's body was spreading, and immediately blocked in front of the Empress Dowager Dong. It's just that his trembling legs betrayed him.

"It's not that the minister is rude, but the queen mother is unreasonable!" Liu Zhang shouted: "The position of the crown prince is the important weapon of the country, how can it be decided by the queen mother?" Since ancient times, the selection of successors is nothing more than the establishment of the long and the virtuous, and the abolition of the long and the young, which is the source of the disaster! The minister may ask the Queen Mother, that Liu Xie is the eldest son of His Majesty's concubine, and he has the appearance of benevolence and virtue, and that Liu Xie is just the youngest son of the concubine, only six years old, why didn't the minister support Liu Bian but chose Liu Xie? ”

Dong Zhong shouted: "The words of the Queen Mother are the evidence!" ”

"Joke!" Liu Zhang sneered: "The ancestral system of the Han Dynasty, ** is not allowed to interfere in politics, does the Queen Mother want to follow Lu Pheasant?" ”

Empress Dowager Dong stared at Liu Zhang for a long time, and suddenly smiled: "The champion Hou is really loyal, this palace is just a joke!" ”

"The minister is too excited, and I ask the Queen Mother to forgive me!" Liu Zhang bowed down and said: "If the Queen Mother has no other instructions, please retire!" ”

"Champion, please!" Empress Dowager Dong was very generous on the surface, but she was very angry in her heart, Liu Zhang left, and she didn't even send anyone to send one.

"Queen Mother, this person is too ignorant, why don't you take him down!" After Liu Zhang left, Dong Zhong asked the Empress Dowager Dong very puzzled.

Empress Dowager Dong sneered: "It's not that the palace doesn't want to take him, but it can't take it!" Not to mention that he is a close confidant of the emperor, just to say that his status as a relative of the Han family is a big obstacle, even if he is taken, he cannot be killed. As for the demotion to the people, his influence is still there, and for us, it is a thankless task to take him down. What's more, if there is no him, what will this palace do against the army in He Jin's hands? ”

"What the Queen Mother said is very true, I owe it to consideration!" Dong Chong retreated with a look of shame, leaving only the Empress Dowager Dong sitting there quietly motionless, as if thinking about something.

Coming out of the palace, Liu Zhang found that his back was already wet with sweat, and he couldn't help but look up to the sky and sighed: "It seems that Luoyang is a place of right and wrong, and I should also find a place to take refuge!" Liu Zhang seemed to remember something, he did not go home, but went straight to the camp in Bishan. Of course, on the way, he had already ordered someone to invite Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia to the camp in Bishan.

In the camp of Bishan, Liu Zhang gathered all the generals in the big tent of the Chinese army, Zhang Fei couldn't help but ask: "Big brother, is there going to be a war again?" ”

Liu Zhang shook his head and said: "Now that the dark tide in Luoyang is surging, I am going to pick a state to be the state pastor, and I want to ask you brothers to consult and see which state we go to!" ”

As soon as Liu Zhang's words came out, Zhang Fei and other generals were dumbfounded, and it was not their specialty to give advice. Of course, not absolutely. No, the first one to jump out was Zhang Fei.

"Big brother! Youzhou is the place where we started, so it's better to go to Youzhou! "The ancients were fond of the countryside, and Zhang Fei was no exception.

"Yide, the assassin of Youzhou is Liu Yu, he is the same generation as my father, how can I grab his position?" Liu Zhang shook his head, Youzhou is narrow and sparsely populated, and it is really not suitable to be the foundation of the king.

Guan Yu squinted his eyes and said, "The lord might as well choose Guanzhong!" Guanzhong is fertile for thousands of miles, which is the foundation of the king's tyrant, and is connected to Xichuan, which is the hometown of Lao Qin, and the father of the lord is in Xichuan. When the time comes, with Xichuan as the granary, Guanzhong as the foundation, and Tongguan in the east, you can occupy the world! ”

"Ahem... Cough... Yun Chang's meaning, I understand it! Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Guanzhong is rich, the world knows it, if I occupy Guanzhong, and my father occupies Xichuan, how can Your Majesty not be afraid?" Therefore, Your Majesty will not allow me to occupy the land in the middle of the pass! ”

"This..."Zhao Yun smiled: "Why don't you go to Jingzhou?" ”

"Jingzhou has not yet been pacified, Your Majesty will not let me go! In the same way, the same is true of Liangzhou! Liu Zhang is quite helpless, sometimes there is too much credit, and it is not a good thing to have too much fame. Isn't there a saying that says: people are afraid of being famous, pigs are afraid of being strong!

"According to the lord's words, how can there be a place in the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty to let the lord cone?" Xi Zhicai frowned and said, "There you have it!" Qingzhou! ”

Guo Jia shook his head and said: "Qingzhou Yellow Turban is more than Jingzhou, if Your Majesty lets the lord go to Qingzhou, it is better to let the lord go to Jingzhou!" ”

Zhang Fei saw that everyone would not be able to do this for a while, and that would not be good for a while, so he couldn't help scratching his head, and he said depressedly: "I heard that Jiaozhi was pacified, you won't let the eldest brother go there!" ”

"Of course not!" Guo Jia smiled: "Even Jiangdong, we don't want the lord to go, how can we go to Jiaozhi?" Why don't you take the map and let's take a closer look! ”

As soon as Guo Jia finished speaking, Zhang Fei immediately brought a large volume of maps and hung them, everyone stood next to the map and looked at it for a long time, Liu Zhang suddenly noticed a place, he pointed to Bingzhou and said: "The original Bingzhou assassin is Ding Yuan, and now Ding Yuan seems to have entered Beijing to be the ruling Jinwu, why don't you choose to merge with the state?" ”

"This..."Xi Zhicai hesitated for a while and said: "My lord, although Bingzhou is a terra nullius, the people are fierce, and horses are produced, but there is no grain there, there is no food, everything is empty talk!" ”

"Jia thinks the lord's choice is good!" Guo Jia said with a smile: "Zhicai, grain production is not a problem!" If nothing else, we can exchange horses for food. As far as I know, the imperial court allocates grain from Taicang to the state every year. If the court does not allocate grain and grass, something must have happened. At that time, we will go straight to Chang'an and open up the grain road from Bingzhou to Yizhou, do you think the father of the lord will cut off our grain and grass? With the grain and grass of Yizhou, and the soldiers of the state, what do you think? ”

"Seconds!" Xi Zhicai said with a smile: "Feng Xiao is far-sighted, I might as well too!" ”

"Is it my credit, obviously it is the lord's own choice!" Guo Jia chuckled and said, "It's still the lord's wisdom and martial arts!" ”

"Less sycophants!" Liu Zhang rolled his eyes at Guo Jia and said, "In this case, we are ready to go to Bingzhou!" ”

"We should obey the orders of the Lord!" When Zhang Fei and the others saw Liu Zhang's decision, they immediately saluted and expressed their attitude.

"Wait!" Just as Liu Zhang was about to leave the barracks and go to the palace to ask Liu Hong to go to Bingzhou, Guo Jia suddenly stood up and said, "Has the lord forgotten something?" ”

Liu Zhang asked suspiciously, "What did Zhang forget?" ”

Guo Jia smiled mysteriously and said, "How can the lord forget!" In the first month, His Majesty gave marriage for eight months according to the courtesy of the princes. Now that six or seven months have passed, and there are still more than a month left, the lord is about to get married, is it possible that the lord is ready to go to the state to get married? ”

"Uhh Liu Zhang couldn't help laughing and said: "If it weren't for Feng Xiao's reminder, I would have almost forgotten." Zhang went to His Majesty first to make a reservation, so as not to sell the state pastor to his old man. When we get married, I'll take you to office! ”

After discussing with Guo Jia and others, Liu Zhang left the barracks.

At the end of the morning of the next day, Liu Zhang found Liu Hong and proposed to take up the post of governor of the state, Liu Hong looked at Liu Zhang very puzzled and asked: "The emperor's brother is staying well in Luoyang, why go to the land of tigers and wolves in Bingzhou?" ”

Liu Zhang said with a smile: "The minister learned martial arts to protect his family and defend the country, but in Luoyang, the capital division, what fighters can he have?" The younger brother heard that Beigong Boyu was beaten by Dong Zhuo and others and fled in all directions, and invaded the state several times. As a member of the Han family, how can the younger brother only care about his own comfort and ignore the Han community! ”

"Not really!" Liu Hong looked at Liu Zhang with a strange expression and said, "I heard that the Queen Mother ordered Dong Zhong to call you, and it seems that it is quite unpleasant!" ”

Liu Zhang smiled bitterly: "You can't hide anything from Your Majesty!" The queen mother ordered her brother to support Xie'er as the prince, but the brother did not agree, for fear that the queen mother would force her, so she had to stay away from the capital to avoid trouble, and wait for the royal brother to choose the prince, and the brother will come back! ”