Although Cao Cao's ideas were very full, hoping to form an alliance with Liu Bei, and the two families echoed north and south to deal with the increasingly powerful Liu Jing together, the reality was very skinny, and a severance of transportation made the connection between the two families depend on the face of the Han State, not to mention Cao Cao's actual support for Liu Bei.

He couldn't give Liu Bei the financial, material and human resources he wanted, at most to meet Liu Bei's spiritual requirements for being king, but this spiritual satisfaction was not enough to make the two families form a substantial alliance.

This is destined to Zhong Xuan's envoy to Jiaozhou, the symbolic meaning is greater than the actual effect, although there are a series of meeting activities afterwards, but the basic style has been set, and even Liu Bei has no interest.

On the contrary, Liu Bei was very concerned about Sima Yi's envoy, he wanted to capture Liu Jing's true intentions from Sima Yi's envoy attitude, Liu Bei never wanted to go to war with the Han army, he only hoped to realize his strategy, without fighting with the Han army to obtain Jian'an County and Linhai County, he had given up Jingnan and Yuzhang County and other central regions, only hoping to develop on the edge of the coast.

This was Liu Bei's attitude, and he hoped to reach an agreement with the Han army to support the Han army's march into the Central Plains in exchange for the Han army's recognition of Jiaozhou's annexation of Jian'an County.

In the meeting with Sima Yi, Liu Bei proposed this plan, of course, Sima Yi did not refuse, but said that he would go back to ask His Royal Highness the King of Han.

In short, the talks were pleasant and full of hope, whether this hope was the moon in the well or the flower in the mirror, at least Liu Bei knew that the Han army would not make any moves before the end of the year.

On the other hand, Liu Bei also adopted Zhuge Liang's plan, trying to avoid war, but also actively preparing for war, he ordered Guan Yu to lead 10,000 troops into Cangwu County to deal with the Han army that might go south from the Jingnan route, and Zhang Fei led 10,000 troops to enter Luling County to deal with the Han army that might go south from the Yuzhang route, and at the same time to Guangxin County in Cangwu County and Gan County in Luling County each to transport 100,000 stone grain.

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At the beginning of December, Zhong Xuan was intercepted by the Han army in Xiangyang on the way back to Yedu, and could no longer go north from Nanyang, but under the escort or escort of the Han army, he went north to Chang'an by bypassing the Nanxiang Pass Road, and ten days later, Zhong Miao finally arrived in Chang'an City.

The first heavy snowfall fell in Chang'an in mid-November, followed by a second heavy snowfall in early December, and by the time Zhong arrived in Chang'an, the whole of Chang'an and Guanzhong had become a snow-capped world.

"Master Zhong, is the snow falling heavily in Yedu?" The military marquis who escorted Zhong Miao to the north was named Qian Ning, a native of Chang'an, and he got along with Zhong Miao day and night, and the two had already been very familiar.

Zhong Xuan smiled slightly: "Yedu should be a little colder than Chang'an, I have been in Chang'an for more than ten years, I know that Chang'an is surrounded by the North Mountain, and the cold north wind has weakened when it enters the Guanzhong Plain, while the north of Yedu is not blocked, when it comes to winter, it is a world of ice and snow, in contrast, I actually still hope for Chang'an." ”

"Then Junshi Zhong will stay in Chang'an! The people of Chang'an miss you very much, and my parents always say that if it weren't for Zhong Junshi, I wouldn't have been born. ”

Qian Ning is less than twenty years old, and he speaks quickly, but what he said Zhong Xuan listened to very comfortably, and he smiled: "Your parents are too awarded, and now Chang'an has changed a lot!" ”

"It's changed too much, I guarantee that Zhong Junshi won't recognize it, and I almost got lost when I went home last year."

"Hmmm! I can imagine that after entering Guanzhong, there were a lot of changes, there were many farmhouses everywhere, and the population increased a lot, which was completely different from when I was in Guanzhong. ”

As he was talking, a group of cavalry came from the opposite side, led by a civil official, it was Zhongshu Cheng Fei Yi, he came to meet Zhong Yi on the order of Liu Jing, Qian Ning knew him, and shouted: "Fei Yuanjun, Zhong Junshi is here." ”

Fei Yi hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Zhongshu Cheng Fei Yi came to greet Zhong Junshi on the order of His Royal Highness the King of Han!" ”

Zhong Jing also knew that Liu Jing arranged Fei Yi to greet him, Liu Jing promised himself in the letter, Zhongshuling was waiting for the vacancy, and Fei Yi was appointed Zhongshucheng, who was Zhongshuling's deputy, it was obvious that Liu Jing hoped that he could serve the Han Kingdom.

Zhong Miao returned the salute and smiled: "I also asked Fei Yuanjun to go out of the city to greet him in person, Zhong Miao didn't dare to be ashamed!" ”

At this time, Zhong Xuan suddenly saw that there was a Wenchen behind Fei Yi, who was very familiar, and when he looked closely, it turned out to be Zhang Ji, Zhang Ji was Zhong Ji's most powerful staff, followed him for many years, and could be called his right-hand man.

Zhong Xuan was stunned for a moment, "De Jong, is it you?" ”

Zhang Ji urged him to step forward, bowed down and said, "Zhong Gong, has it always been good?" ”

Zhong Xuan didn't expect to meet the old man here, his nose was a little sour, and he nodded: "I'm fine!" ”

Fei Yi introduced with a smile on the side: "This time Zhong Gong visited Chang'an's hometown, His Royal Highness the King of Han specially arranged for Zhang Taishou to accompany him throughout the whole process, hoping that Zhong Gong could have a happy trip to Chang'an." ”

Zhong Miao was happy and moved, and nodded again and again: "Okay!" Good! ”

"Zhong Gong, please enter the city!"

Fei Yi turned the horse's head and asked Zhong Miao to enter the city, and the group urged the horse to start and slowly walked towards the city.

Although the outside of Chang'an City is covered with heavy snow, but the city is a different scene, as soon as you enter the city gate, a lively and noisy atmosphere will come to your face, only to see the snow on the street swept clean, piled up on the corner wall of the house, people come and go on the street, each shop is full of all kinds of goods in front of the pù, the guys tear up their voices and sell, most of them are used for the New Year.

At this time, there is only half a month left before the New Year's Day, and the festive atmosphere in Chang'an City is getting stronger and stronger, with red lanterns hanging in front of every house, and long poles are raised in the yard, and various colorful flags are hung.

Many people wore shiny leather jackets and pushed fawn carts, which were piled up with freshly purchased New Year's goods, fine incense wax, vermilion lacquer offerings, as well as roosters, fruits and vegetables, leather goods, game, and bundled fat sheep.

Zhong Miao was a little stunned, the city had changed so much that he couldn't recognize it, and the liveliness and prosperity in the city were very different from the cold and depressed Chang'an in the past.

At this moment, a man who was engaged in horseback came and whispered a few words to Fei Yi, who hurriedly bowed his hand to Zhong Yi and said, "There are important matters in the political hall, so I won't accompany Zhong Gong." ”

"Fei Envoy Jun, please!"

Fei Yi turned the horse's head and ran in the direction of Weiyang Palace, Fei Yi left, Zhong Miao was a lot more comfortable, he pointed to a few newly repaired mansions not far away and said to Zhang Ji with a smile: "Derong, I remember that it was originally a temple market over there, how did it become a mansion now?" ”

Zhang Ji said with a smile: "Chang'an City is an inch of land, it is no longer possible to arrange the temple market, the temple moved to the south of the city, the market has the east market and the west market, the city does not need the original spontaneous market, of course, there are spontaneous markets, or outside the south of the city next to the temple, every year on the temple, cold dew and temple sacrifice will have a market, crowds of people, lively and abnormal. ”

Zhong Xuan nodded, this is when he saw a carriage driving out of the mansion, there was an old man sitting in the car, the curtain was not drawn, he recognized this person at a glance, Zhong Xuan couldn't believe his eyes, and said to Zhang Ji anxiously: "That person just now seems to be Mrs. Yang!" ”

Yang Taiwei is Yang Biao, after Yang Xiu was killed, he said that he was sick and returned to his hometown, not asking about the government, he should be in Hongnong now, how could he appear in Chang'an, Zhong Xuan was shocked, maybe he was looking at the wrong person.

Zhang Ji looked at the mansion, nodded and said: "This mansion is the mansion of Hongnong Yang in Chang'an, it should be Yang Biao, he sometimes comes to Chang'an to see, I heard that he came to Chang'an a few months ago." ”

"Does he hold an official position in the Han Kingdom?" Zhong Xuan asked again.

"He should not have held an official position, but his grandson Yang Huan was admitted to the imperial examination this year, and he was only eighteen years old, and he was appointed as the Cheng of Nanzheng County, and his future is immeasurable."

Zhong Miao looked at Yang Biao's carriage again, he wanted to say hello, but Yang Biao's carriage was already far away, which made him feel a little regretful.

At this time, Zhang Ji pointed to the other two mansions next to him and whispered: "Zhong Gong has not seen it, the owners of these two mansions are also extraordinary, one belongs to the Taiyuan Wang family, and the other belongs to the Boling Cui family, but they are very low-key, and only a few people know the owners of these mansions." ”

Zhong Jian looked at it for a long time, he felt a little unbelievable, Zhang Ji understood the shock in his heart, and said with a wry smile: "Chang'an built the capital, and the world's wealthy families flocked to buy land and build houses in Chang'an, all of them wanted to have a place in Handu, so the land of Chang'an has become inch-in-law, Zhong Gong, the people's desire!" ”

Zhong Xuan was silent, for a long time, he sighed lowly, Cao Pi eliminated dissidents in Yedu and suppressed the scholars, but Chang'an accepted all rivers and tolerated old enemies, Liu Jing's broad mind, no wonder it can make the world's scholars identify as orthodox.

Zhong Xuan felt a lot of loss in his heart, and he didn't want to sigh at the bustle and prosperity of Chang'an, and walked silently, Zhang Ji also knew that Zhong Miao had something in his heart, so he didn't bother him anymore, and followed quietly and walked along, Zhong Miao suddenly asked: "Just now Fei Yi said to participate in the deliberations of the political hall, isn't Xiangguo also able to participate?" ”

Zhang both explained: "There are two kinds of deliberations in the political hall, one is the discussion under the Zhongshu Gate, also called the small discussion, the number of participants is small, in addition to the current six phases, there are also the left and right Zhongshu Cheng and the left and right Huangmen Shilang, Fei Yi served as the Zhongshu Cheng, he can participate in this kind of small discussion, the other is called Guangyi, plus the six departments and the chief officials of the temple, generally held once every half month, this is the system set by the Han Dynasty, and the heavy dà military affairs and the appointment and dismissal of officials must be widely discussed before they can be reported to him. ”

Zhong Xuan nodded, "This is a good way to prevent the dictatorship of the Prime Minister and the manipulation of the secret box." ”

"Zhong Gong is right, after the division of power, to prevent excessive power, so use broad discussion to check and balance."

The two of them talked and walked, and after a while, the group came to the VIP inn, at this time, the post man rushed to Zhang in a panic, and said to Zhang Ji: "Zhang Taishou, His Royal Highness the King of Han has come down and is waiting in the hall." ”

Zhang Ji was taken aback, and hurriedly said to Zhong Xuan: "This must be His Royal Highness the King of Han who has come to visit Zhong Gong, please come with me!" ”

Zhong Xuan nodded silently, Liu Jing actually came to visit him in person, he was moved, he also turned over and dismounted, followed Zhang Ji to the museum, and walked to the middle hall, Zhong Xuan saw Liu Jing, the king of Han in a royal suit, standing in front of the steps with his hands and looking at himself with a smile.

Zhong Xuan hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "See His Royal Highness the King of Han!" ”

Liu Jing said with a smile: "It's really a bit rude to intercept Zhong Gong halfway and invite him to Chang'an, I hope Zhong Gong can understand Liu Jing's heart." ”

"Wechen is ashamed to let His Highness bother."

Liu Jing nodded, "Gong Zhong, please sit in the hall, and Zhang Taishou also please take a seat." ”