When Empress Dowager Dong heard this, she felt that it was reasonable, and suddenly remembered Zhang Rang's words yesterday, and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, and she was afraid, and said in a low voice: "If it weren't for the horse's reminder, the palace would have almost summoned disaster!" This palace said yesterday that it was unreasonable, and I asked the horse not to blame for the sake of the first emperor! After that, he gave Ma Chao a deep salute.

Ma Chao hurriedly got out of the way and said hurriedly: "Why is the Empress Dowager like this? The first emperor treats the ministers like a parent, the queen mother is the mother of the first emperor, and the grandmother of the princess of Wannian, and the grandmother of Chao, don't say two words of blame, that is, cut off the head of Chao, and Chao does not dare to have the slightest complaint! ”

These words only coaxed the old lady into gratitude, her eyes were red, and she sighed: "The first emperor has such a good son-in-law, why worry about the sluggishness of the dynasty?" Why worry about the Han family? If the horse can help the prince to the throne, and then pacify the thieves in the world, the palace and Xie'er are willing to break the convention that Gaozu is not surnamed Liu can not be crowned king, and the master will change the loyal and brave prince to the loyal and brave king, hereditary alternation, Yongzhen Xiliang! ”

Ma Chao was overjoyed, and hurriedly bowed down, so he said gratefully: "The minister is trusted by the first emperor, and he should be the minister of the orphan, and he will not hesitate to break his bones, and dare not follow the work of dogs and horses!" ”

Empress Dowager Dong was overjoyed, with Ma Chao, a local warlord, to help, her confidence was undoubtedly a little harder, at this moment seeing Ma Chao's clear attitude, her heart was even more moved, and she said in a deep voice: "Xie'er is not ready to salute the horse, although there are kings and ministers, but the horse is your father's important minister, not only your brother-in-law, but also your brother, if you want to prosper the Han family, you two are indispensable to cooperate sincerely!" ”

Liu Xie didn't say a word when he heard this, and immediately knelt down, and said with gratitude on his face: "Grace of the horse, Liu Xie is unforgettable, please accept my worship!" He didn't wait for Ma Chao to answer, "Knock knock!" "Three knocks in a row.

Ma Chao was slightly proud in his heart, he kowtowed to Liu Wei three times yesterday, and today he actually let the genuine emperor kowtow back, but he was about to return the salute but was pulled by the Empress Dowager Dong, and said with an extremely solemn face: "Xie'er is not the Son of Heaven yet, and it is also appropriate to salute you, and in the future, our ancestors and grandchildren can only rely on you, so why not receive a big gift from him?" ”

Ma Chao understood that Mrs. Dong's move was nothing more than to win over herself, so that she would die for them, and after thinking about it, she suddenly raised her right hand, and said: "The first emperor has a spirit in the sky, and I, Ma Chao, swear here: I will be loyal to the Han all my life, and I am willing to spend my life to restore the Han. ”

Empress Dowager Dong was very satisfied with Ma Chao's move, and hurriedly said: "Why do you have to make such a vow? You are the minister of the first emperor to entrust Gu, how can this palace be suspicious? He picked up Liu Xie and asked, "Now that the brothers and sisters of the He family are powerful, how should we deal with it?" ”

Ma Chao said: "If you want the second prince to ascend the throne, it is absolutely impossible to wait for death in Luoyang." Now there are more than 100,000 elite soldiers in the two states of Hebei and Hebei, and it is not difficult to deal with He Jin, but the difficulty is that the empress dowager and the second prince are in the palace. Imagine if the general had taken the liberty of sending troops to Luoyang, how would the He Jin brothers and sisters treat the second prince? There are two princes in Liu Bian, the throne is precarious, and he may be abolished at any time, but if something happens to the second prince, there is only one Liu Bian in the world who can inherit the throne! Can the Empress Dowager and the Second Prince understand what Ben Jiang means? ”

Empress Dowager Dong said: "Could it be that my grandfather and grandson want to leave the palace and leave Luoyang temporarily!" ”

"Not bad!" Ma Chao said: "Only when the Empress Dowager and the second prince leave the land of Luoyang, can the general announce the edict of the Son of Heaven to the world, and then lead the army to attack He Jin without any scruples!" He Jin is destroyed, and his henchmen are not worried, at that time, tens of thousands of troops will be stationed in Luoyang, and then the Queen Mother will come forward to abolish the establishment, so justifiable, who dares to oppose it? Who has the guts to oppose it? ”

Empress Dowager Dong was very moved when she heard this, Ma Chao's plan was seamless, and there was no reason to oppose it at all. Liu Xie also understood the general situation, and said urgently: "Grandmother, what the concubine said is very reasonable, the emperor's surname is benevolent, and he will never harm his grandson's surname, but the Empress Dowager He and the general will never let go of their grandson in order to keep the position of the emperor's brother and the son of heaven." ”

Ma Chao nodded and said, "That's right!" And before acting, we must not let the He Jin brothers and sisters see through the relationship between us, on the contrary, we must make people think that we have made enemies! ”

Empress Dowager Dong nodded and said, "This plan is very good, what should I do next?" ”

Ma Chao saw that Mrs. Dong agreed, and couldn't help but be overjoyed, as long as the two ancestors and grandchildren were deceived to Jizhou, it was not up to him to decide whether to beat He Jin or not, and he said at the moment: "Yesterday, the brothers and sisters of the He family must have heard about the incident of the Queen Mother, and the next step is just like this, so as to ensure that nothing goes wrong!" ”

After deciding on a plan to get out, Ma Chao was secretly taken out of the palace by Wei Zhongdao, and the Empress Dowager Dong immediately sent someone to summon Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong to Changle Palace, and asked them to go to Ma Teng's mansion to persuade Ma Chao to support Liu Xie. The two of them still had some friendship with Ma Chao, and they agreed. Now that Liu Hong is dead, their only backers are Empress Dowager Dong and Empress He. The first choice should be the Empress Dowager Dong, because the Empress Dowager Dong may move to He Jin, and Empress He is the sister of their sworn enemy He Jin after all, and she can only save their surnames, and it is impossible to help them bring down He Jin.

Ma Chao has been waiting for a long time, and when he heard that Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong asked to see him, he immediately ordered someone to call him in, and after the greetings, Zhang Rang said: "The bones of the first emperor are not cold, then He Jin actually set up the prince as the emperor, and he is really not a son of man, not only that, but also sent Yuan Shao and other minions to try to kill our surname, the champion Hou and I are equal to the first emperor's important ministers, and we should try our best to fulfill the last wish of the first emperor." ”

Zhao Zhongdao: "Exactly, exactly, the champion Governor Hou and the military of the two states of Hebei, with more than 100,000 armor soldiers in hand, why are you afraid of a butcher?" If there is the support of the Empress Dowager, coupled with the support of the champion Hou outside, He Jin will not dare to rebel, as long as the new monarch ascends the throne, we can abolish He Jin in one fell swoop, and the position of the general can still run out of the palm of the Hou Ye? At that time, the Son of Heaven will be young, and we will be the ministers of the auxiliary government, so we will not do whatever we want? ”

Ma Chao's face sank, and he shook his head and said: "I have to say this again, the prince is the eldest son of the first emperor, and the inheritance of the great unification is justified, and I don't want to get involved in this matter!" If you have nothing else to do, please go back! ”

Zhang Rang did not give up, and continued to persuade: "Champion Hou's words are wrong"

"Someone's coming!" Ma Chao immediately turned his face and shouted: "Give these two eunuchs to the general and beat them out!" ”

"Obey!" Five or six strong men swarmed in and beat them with sticks!

The two of them were shocked and angry, only to be beaten and screamed, Zhang Rang scolded: "Okay, you Ma Mengqi, if we hadn't offered advice to the first emperor, how could you have today?" Today, we are acting on behalf of the Empress Dowager, and you dare to be so rude! ”

Ma Chao sneered: "If the general hadn't been thinking about the original thing, he would have told the general what you were planning at this moment, I am a big man and a horse, and a hussar general of the imperial court, how can I be with you eunuchs!" Don't get out of here! ”

"Okay, you little thief, you actually crossed the river and demolished the bridge, you wait for the miscellaneous family, the Queen Mother will definitely not let you go!"

Ma Chao scolded: "Orphans and widows, what can they do? After saying that, he shouted: "Call me, hit the door a hundred steps and come back, others are afraid of the eunuchs, but they will not be afraid!" ”

Five or six big men had already been ordered, and they were ruthless and measured, and the two of them who were only in pain screamed, but they didn't hurt their muscles and bones, and they rushed out of the gate and chased more than 100 steps before they stopped.

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong were beaten out of Mafu by sticks, this is big news, in the land of Luoyang, and even the entire Han Dynasty, who doesn't know Zhang Rang's name? Zhang Rang began to bring disaster to the world from the time of Emperor Heng of the Han Dynasty, and the common people were eager to sleep on its skin, drink its blood, and eat its flesh. It's just that Zhang Rang's ability is by no means comparable to ordinary people, and I don't know how many loyal and good people have been planted under Zhang Rang over the past few decades, such as Wang Yun, Cai Yong, Lu Zhi, Cao Ying, and even the former Taifu Chen Fan, the general Dou Wu and so on. During the period of Emperor Heng, because Liu Zhi had the good of Longyang, the young Zhang Rang dedicated himself to serving as a male pet, and during the period of Emperor Ling, Liu Hong said: Zhang Rang is my father, and Zhao Zhong is my mother.

And now, these two powerful and infamous figures were beaten by Ma Chao on the street, and they were driven out more than 100 steps. This news is not small, and it is difficult for Ma Chao to become famous, although he is already famous. The people of Luoyang, who were the first to know about this, all applauded, one spread ten, ten spread hundreds, and in less than a day, they became household names.

The general He Jin has been paying attention to Ma Chao's every move for a long time, and he has reported the incident to him in detail not long after the incident. He Jin was overjoyed when he heard this, the first two said that he wanted to kill all the ten permanent servants in one fell swoop, but Zhang Rang and others found Queen He as a shield in advance, and presented Jian Shuo's head, and pushed everything on Jian Shuo's head, and there was no proof of death! In addition, Queen He tried to protect it, and He Jin didn't dare to tear his face with Queen He, so he could only give up!

The next day in the early dynasty, Ma Chao followed Ma Teng to Deyang Hall to meet the Son of Heaven, the ministers finished the ceremony, and a small yellow door shouted: "The early dynasty is on the table, and there is nothing to retreat!" ”

Ma Chao was the first to stand up, bowed down and saluted: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to do!" ”

Liu argued: "The hussar general has worked hard and made great achievements, if you have something to say, please speak up!" ”

Ma Chao said: "The first emperor ascended to heaven, and the minister failed to see his last face, which is really unfilial piety!" Fortunately, there are generals, Yuan Taifu and other important ministers to assist in the government, and now the new monarch has succeeded to the throne, the world has returned to the heart, and the affairs of the court are enough for many ministers, the general is busy, and the internal affairs of the state can not be governed, the minister wants to get up and return to Jinyang after three days, and please ask Your Majesty for permission! ”

When Liu Wei heard this, he nodded slightly, and said: "The champion Hou is loyal and brave, how can I not know?" That's it! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ma Chao gave another salute and was about to retreat, when he suddenly heard a loud shout: "Slow! ”

Everyone looked up and saw that Empress Dowager Dong stepped into the Deyang Hall angrily, followed closely by Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, who had a blue nose and swollen face, staring at Ma Chao with their eyes tightly and hatred.

As soon as they saw that it was the Empress Dowager, all the ministers, including Liu Wei, bowed their knees and said in unison: "I've seen the Empress Dowager!" ”

Empress Dowager Dong waved her hand and said: "The ministers don't have to be polite, the women of this palace should not have stepped into the Deyang Palace, but the first emperor has just gone, and the new monarch is still young, it is inevitable that the ministers have no young lords and are good at dictating the government, and the palace wants to follow the example of Empress Lu to listen to the government, until the new monarch can read and govern without being swayed by the ministers!" ”

"This"

The ministers of the DPRK and China looked at each other and had the intention to oppose it, but the Han Dynasty did have the precedent of the Empress Dowager listening to the government, and he couldn't think of a suitable statement for a while. He Jin on the side was even more pale and extremely ugly. (To be continued.) )