Liu Bowen skillfully used Li Ningluo's case to pull the invincible Zuo Prime Minister Li Shanchang off the horse, so that the position of Zuo Prime Minister has been vacant, on this basis, Liu Bowen and some loyal courtiers, without this Li Shanchang who has been suppressing them, their enthusiasm to participate in politics has increased a lot; A group of honest officials led by Liu Bowen won the support of the people and many local officials.

Somehow, these things reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears; For the growth of Liu Bowen and his gang, he gradually felt a little worried, but he didn't want to show his dissatisfaction too much.

Just when he was thinking about how to check the loyalty of Liu Bowen and others, an official wrote to the emperor asking the emperor to appoint a prime minister as soon as possible to adjust the affairs of the court. Zhu Yuanzhang had an idea and thought of a good idea to test Liu Bowen's loyalty.

"Your Majesty, the emperor is waiting for the decree outside the palace gate." The Huangmen official walked into the imperial study and said to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was reviewing the chapter.

"Announce him in." Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and said softly.

"The emperor announced that Liu Bowen entered the palace." The Yellow Gate Officer shouted to the outside world.

"Minister Liu Bowen knocked to see the emperor, may my emperor live long, long live, long live!" Liu Bowen walked in quickly, walked to the bookcase, put his hands together, and bent down to shout.

"Liu Aiqing, no courtesy; Someone's coming! Lookouts. Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand and shouted. A eunuch lightly brought a chair with a backrest.

"Thank you for your grace." Liu Bowen hurriedly said, but he still stood aside and did not sit on the chair.

"Liu Aiqing, I have something to do, I want to hear your opinion." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Bowen with a smile and asked in an affectionate tone.

"The emperor is the pride of the sky, and the ministers can only listen to the emperor's orders, how can they give the emperor ideas." Liu Bowen said modestly.

"It's okay, we're just chatting with each other, and there aren't too many taboos." Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude today was unusually mild, which made it difficult for Liu Bowen to adapt for a while, so he was at a loss. Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang in front of him, Liu Bowen couldn't help but feel uneasy. Although the emperor is very easy-going now, he is also a very confident and vicious person. Li Shanchang was punished and thus demoted; Many ministers have been raided, and these things have long caused discussion in the court. As the current emperor in the imperial history, how will he face the ministers and the emperor who is in a ruthless mood?

However, the emperor's question has already reached this point, and it is impossible not to answer it himself; "I don't know what Your Majesty asked Weichen about?" Liu Bowen asked after bowing again.

"Look! The post of Zuo Xiangguo has been vacant for a long time, and I want you to propose a few candidates to be the post-candidates for the post of Zuo Xiangguo, I don't know who you are more suitable for. Zhu Yuanzhang said casually.

But Liu Bowen, who has been by Zhu Yuanzhang's side all the year round, can see that what this ruthless emperor hates most is to form a party for personal gain. What "classmates", "same year", "same department", "same township", "same Geng" and so on, Zhu Yuanzhang is even more taboo. Therefore, in the selection of many personnel, Liu Bowen, as the middle of the imperial history, attaches great importance to these things; Also try to avoid direct referrals to these people. However, he and some outspoken ministers often move around each other; Therefore, it is also nicknamed Zhedong Group, and he is often worried about this matter; But now that the emperor has asked himself to put forward the candidate for Zuo Xiangguo, this is indeed a bit very difficult.

"Your Majesty, although the minister belongs to the Imperial History Yamen, he has never considered who to promote to the post of Zuo Xiangguo; In this matter, it is better to ask the emperor to choose the candidate himself. Liu Bowen, who didn't want to be regarded as a friend by the emperor, shrewdly transferred the problem to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Haha! Liu Aiqing, you are the imperial history yamen in charge of the political achievements of the civil and military officials, how can you not know who can be the candidate for the post of Zuo Xiangguo; Don't be afraid, I said, this is a small talk between kings and ministers. Zhu Yuanzhang said more gently.

"The minister thinks that it is easy to govern a city or a place; But it is a bit more difficult to govern the country. Many officials with good political performance, when they govern a place, they may do a good job, but let them sit on the position of the left minister and govern the world for the emperor, their ability may be difficult to adapt. Liu Bowen's outspoken personality gradually gained the upper hand, and he said bluntly again.

"Well, there's some truth to what you're saying; So let me propose a few candidates, how about you take a look? Zhu Yuanzhang no longer fights guerrilla warfare with Liu Bowen, and is ready to use these people to test his loyalty.

Looking at Liu Bowen, who was bent over and standing in front of the bookcase, Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth and said: "You fancy Zuo Cheng Yang Xian of Zhongshu Province, can this person be promoted to Zuo Cheng Prime Minister?" ”

After thinking about it for a while, Liu Bowen said: "Yang Xian, according to his talent, it is still completely okay to be promoted to Prime Minister Zuo; However, the biggest problem of this person is that he does not have the capacity to accommodate people, and I am afraid that it is difficult to communicate well with officials at all levels, so that it is difficult for government decrees to reach government offices at all levels. ”

"Oh! So, do you think it will be difficult for him to take up the post of Zuo Xiangguo? Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said.

"If the emperor really asks Weichen's opinion, Weichen thinks that Yang Xian is inappropriate." Liu Bowen said affirmatively.

"But if Wang Guangyang, the right minister of Zhongshu Province, comes to the post of left minister, what is your opinion?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Bowen with a smile and mentioned a name again.

This time, Liu Bowen didn't think much time, so he saluted and said: "The minister thinks that if Yang Xian is a person who is just a little narrow, it is difficult to tolerate people; Then Wang Guangyang is a person who has no energy at all and is completely unable to tolerate people; If this person is allowed to take up the post of Zuo Xiangguo, I am afraid that those who dare to speak out will be completely silent; In this case, it will be difficult for anyone to speak out about the various corrupt and bad habits of the DPRK and China in the future. ”

"Good, good; Liu Aiqing is indeed dedicated to the country, Yang Xian and Wang Guangyang are all your friends; However, you speak out about their inappropriateness, and you are really a good and loyal servant of mine. This time, Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed very happy and praised Liu Bowen loudly.

"Thank you for the emperor's compliment, the minister is just talking about the facts, and he didn't think about who is a friend and who is not a friend at all." Liu Bowen still looked respectful, and said with a natural expression.

"Since these two can't do it, I'll mention one more person, how about you see? He is Hu Weiyong, the current governor of Zhongshu Province, can he succeed to the post of Zuo Xiangguo? Zhu Yuanzhang asked with some expectation.

However, he didn't expect Liu Bowen's words to make him very disappointed; Liu Bowen pondered for a long time and said: "I think Hu Weiyong belongs to the kind of person who is exquisite; But they are ambitious and cannot be reused; Otherwise, he would be like a calf who has just learned to pull the plow, but when he grows into a sturdy ploughing ox, he will probably soon break the plow. Such a ploughing ox will not even be used by ordinary people, how can he make it bigger. ”

Hearing that Liu Bowen rejected all the candidates he proposed, he was very unhappy, but he couldn't criticize him directly; After thinking about it, Zhu Yuanzhang showed a strange smile on his face, and said meaningfully: "In this way, it seems that this position of Zuo Xiangguo is not only able to be taken on by Mr. ”

At this time, Liu Bowen seemed to have returned to the time when he had just participated in the army led by Zhu Yuanzhang, when he was open-minded and outspoken; Therefore, without thinking about it, he said: "It's not that I can't, it's just that I'm jealous and hateful, and it's difficult for me to adapt to the complicated personnel in the officialdom; Because replacing the prime minister is like replacing the pillars of a house, you must replace them with large logs, and you cannot use small logs to tie them up as a substitute; So I don't agree with these people coming to the post of Zuo Xiangguo. ”

"Really? Since these people are not suitable for Zuo Xiangguo, who do you say will hold this position above the court? At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was already very unhappy, and asked with a gloomy face.

"So far, the minister has not found anyone who can hold this position." Liu Bowen didn't cater to Zhu Yuanzhang at all, and said bluntly.

"Good, good; What Liu Aiqing said is very true, I have truly understood the truth of employing people today; I'm tired, you can quit. Zhu Yuanzhang said with a gloomy sneer; Then he waved his hand outward.

"The minister retired." Liu Bowen, who was a little awake, had no choice but to bow again and withdraw from the imperial study; Then, with a heavy heart, he walked outside the palace gate. At this time, he left the palace, but he completely lost the peace of mind when he first entered the palace in the morning; The slightly bulging back made his whole person look lonely and desolate from behind.

Liu Bowen, who came back from the palace this time, suddenly had a serious illness a few days later, and after he recovered, his body fell into a problem; That is, this disease is sometimes good and sometimes bad, which deeply torments Liu Bowen; Let a person who was originally strong and decisive become a patient who often struggles with illness.

After Liu Bowen fell ill, Chu Liuyan and Xu Da often came to the Li Mansion to visit him; The two were very worried about Liu Bowen's condition, but they couldn't do it; Just when they were in a hurry, Xu Da got a home remedy from an old man.

However, after they had prepared all the main medicines, they found that the ice carp of Changbai Mountain as a medicine guide could not be found; In a hurry, Chu Liuyan decided to go to the icy and snowy rivers of Changbai Mountain with Xiaoxiao to find ice carp for Liu Bowen.

"Flowing smoke, don't be so impulsive; In a place as big as Changbai Mountain, do you know where there are ice carp? After coughing lightly, Liu Bowen came to Chu Liuyan, who was preparing the equipment, and stopped her.

"Yes, Lord Chu, my lord is right, you don't want to go, I'll just bring someone myself." The sword boy with the bag on his back smiled and persuaded her.

"That's not going to work, do you know the place of Changbai Mountain? But for me, I have a map of the whole picture of Changbai Mountain, so I must go to Changbai Mountain this trip; None of you can stop me. Chu Liuyan said in a firm tone.

*************

A bitter cold wind whistled from the northwest; The heavy snow that will fall from the sky will spread everywhere with the ground, so that the sky will become swirling and fluttering; As far as the eye can see, the earth is a silver world, and the heavy wind and snow from the northwest have covered the mountains and rivers of the north with silver makeup. Turning back occasionally to look at the road, it made the hearts of those who walked through the ice, and the whole white expanse was white, frozen, and reflected a dazzling light like white paint. This is the environment that Chu Liuyan and Xiaoxiao are in now.

The two braved the bitter wind and snow and finally came to the foot of the mountain; Looking up at the snow-covered mountain in front of them, the eyes of the two of them were full of determination.

The two looked at each other, and then walked silently but firmly towards the mountain; As he walked, he put his cotton gloved hand near his ear from time to time, as if he was listening to something.

In this way, they stopped and stopped looking for something; But until they climbed the hill with great difficulty, they did not find what they were looking for.

"Laugh, let's find it separately; But remember that we don't want to be too far apart, we must keep a distance from each other. Standing under the big tree on the top of the mountain, Chu Liuyan, who hurriedly took a few breaths, said with a panting smile to the sword boy.

"Okay, I'll go east, you go west, we'll look for it separately; As long as anyone finds a water source, they will quickly say hello. After smiling, he turned and walked east; Glancing at him silently, Chu Liuyan tightened his backpack and walked towards the west of the mountain. As far as the eye can see, there are either tall trees or white ones, which makes it difficult to find a suitable water source for the ice carp to survive; Chu Liuyan had no choice but to keep the wooden pole in his hand into the snow in front of him, in case of ravines and unstable gravel piles that appeared at any time.

After walking for a while, he found a bare stone, Chu Liuyan sat on it heavily, raised his right leg, and used the cotton gloves on his empty left hand to pat the residual snow left on the trouser leg that was tied tightly by the strips of cloth.

Then he swept away the snow on his left leg in order, and then he gasped and sat quietly on the stone; But after a while, she quickly stood up again, and moved her body a few times; Get on the road again.

One foot deep, one foot shallow stepping on the thick snow, Chu Liuyan continued to walk forward, and at this moment, there was a shout of "ah-ah-ah-ah" in the distance behind him.

Soon he heard that it was a small voice, Chu Liuyan was surprised, and hurriedly turned around and followed the previous footprints, and walked briskly towards the place where the sound came from.

Chu Liuyan, who had finally returned to the same place, found that Xiaoxiao kept shouting in the distance and waving the things in his hand.

"What do you see?" Chu Liuyan also responded loudly.

"There's a big lake here—" The sound of laughter came faintly; Hearing that he saw a lake, Chu Liuyan followed the vague footprints left by Xiaoxiao and moved closer to the place where he was.

After a lot of effort, and in the last part of the journey, with the help of Xiaoxiao, Chu Liuyan finally came to the lake on the top of the mountain.

The clear water of the lake did not freeze because of the cold wind, but constantly stirred up the flying waves; There are also a few birds that are not afraid of the cold, foraging for food by the lake in the distance.

"Great, we actually came to Tianchi; We might actually be able to find the ice carp. Looking at the rippling lake in front of him, Chu Liuyan shouted excitedly and inexplicably; Infected by her, Jian Tong Xiaoxiao also jumped around in place excitedly.

However, after cheering for a while, Chu Liuyan and Xiaoxiao fell into worry again. "The water source has been found, how do we find the ice carp from here?" Chu Liuyan said in embarrassment.

"Is it a fish hook to mix ice carp?" Xiaoxiao said at a loss.

"Let's put this matter aside for a moment, we need to find a sheltered place and set up the tent we are carrying." Chu Liuyan, who had settled his mind, said anxiously.

"Yes! It's getting dark; If we don't find a good place, it's a question of whether we'll be able to spend the night on our own. Xiaoxiao also said anxiously.

The two began to look for a suitable place along the lake, and gradually came to the place where they saw the foraging birds stopping.

"Lord Chu, you see there's a cave there." Xiaoxiao pointed to a place near the lake and said loudly.

"Let's go, let's take a look." I heard that there is a cave, and this is a good place; Chu Liuyan hurriedly and Xiaoxiao carefully climbed down the shore of the lake and came to the edge of the lake.

There was no time to look at the rippling blue water, so the two of them hurried to the place where the cave was; After climbing up and down to avoid the dangerous area, the two of them finally came to the location of the cave.

I saw that the cave was just above the lake, and the lower part of the cave was just covered by the shallow water; The crack that appeared between the rocks may have been corroded by the perennial lapping of the lake.

The two of them went to the cave and listened carefully, only to find that there was a sound of 'ding dong' running water inside. The two glanced at each other, then walked in on guard; However, because the entrance to the cave was a little short, the two of them had to hunch over, step on the stones exposed in the water with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and walk slowly in.

What the two didn't expect was that the further they went into the cave, the wider the cave became; Walking and walking, the cave is impressively cheerful; The lake at your feet also stopped behind.

"Let's stop here now, and we'll look for the ice carp tomorrow." Finding a dry place, Chu Liuyan put down his backpack tiredly and said with a pant.

"Well, I think that's fine; Anyway, it's getting dark, and it's just a place to camp; Maybe we'll have to stay here for a few more days. Xiaoxiao was not as tired as Chu Liuyan, he was still in good spirits, and said with a smile.

"Yes! Since we are looking for ice carp here, there is such a place to live, God is still good to us. Chu Liuyan, who had eased up a little, also said with a relaxed face.

As they spoke, the two began to look for something to start a fire; But I searched the area outside the cave, but I couldn't find anything.

"I'll look outside the cave." As he spoke, he turned around and walked out.

Let's go as fast as we can. Chu Liuyan slapped his tired waist and legs a few times with his hand, and then stood up and walked out.

"Master Chu, don't go, I'll do it alone." He said with a smile as he walked out.