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Luoyang, Zuo Zhonglang Mansion.

Huangfu Song, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Li Feng, Tai Shici, and Zhao Yun each held a case, and the guests and hosts were seated, and the case in front of each person was full of wine, vegetables, melons and fruits.

Today, Huangfu Song held a banquet to entertain the six Liu Bei brothers to fulfill the friendship of the landlord.

When I was young, I had three rounds of wine and five flavors of food.

Huangfu Song paused in the wine bottle and looked at Liu Bei with a smile, "Xuande is really the pillar of the country, and the hard work of exterminating the Yellow Turban this time is high, and I think Your Majesty will reward you will." Soaring, just around the corner, I don't know where Xuande wants to be an official? ”

Your Majesty Liu Hong will not hesitate to reward?

Li Feng pursed his lips and quietly glanced at Liu Bei.

Liu Bei arched his hand with a solemn face: "After preparing for the King Jing of Zhongshan, he lives in the boundary of Zhuo County, and is willing to go to the border county as an official to refuse the border troubles of Sanhu, so that the fathers and elders in his hometown can live and work in peace and contentment." ”

"It's with... I want to ask for the post of Liaodong Taishou, and I hope that Lord Zhonglang will help you one or two. ”

"This ......!"

Hearing this, Huangfu Song put down the wine bottle, stroked the three strands of long beard under his chin, and groaned.

Huangfu Song is a native of Chaona County, Anding County, the son of Yanmen Taishou Huangfu Festival, and the nephew of Huangfu Gui, the general of Duliao, born in a family of Jiangmen, decent, jealous and hateful, and has never had a good impression of the border Zhuhu. Today, when I heard Liu Bei's ambitions, I suddenly felt that the three views were the same, the like-minded was like-minded, and my heart was happy.

But before today, he had a general relationship with Liu Bei and did not have much contact.

After all, earlier, Liu Bei was a general under Zhu Jun. Although he and Zhu Jun are allied forces, and they can be regarded as Liu Bei's boss, they really don't deal with each other much.

Now, Zhu Jun led the army to the south to exterminate the remnants of the Yellow Turban, and before leaving, he asked him to take care of Liu Bei and the two, this favor is still to be helped.

But how to help? This is a tricky question.

Huangfu Song secretly paid in his heart: "The ten permanent servants control the Xiyuan Selling Office, and appoint the official positions in various places to stay. And I am at odds with these eunuchs, so I will pinch them when they meet, and let them assign Liu Bei to be the Taishou of Liaodong according to their merits... It's almost impossible..."

"Liu Bei Yongwu, the first horn of the thief this time, has a far-reaching reputation, and he is also the head of the imperial family, the Liu clan, if he directly shows his merits to His Majesty, I am afraid that it is more likely that he will eventually be sealed elsewhere as an official, and it is not easy to do..."

"For today's sake, only by expecting Your Majesty to meet Liu Bei, who will state his ambitions to His Majesty in person, can he get the post of Liaodong Taishou!"

"Otherwise, I will have to go through the path of the Ten Permanent Servants."

"But no matter which way you go, in the end, you still have to give the money for selling the official money."

After thinking for a moment, Huangfu Song quickly made a decision in his heart.

"If Xuande is willing to go to Liaodong as an official and guard the frontier for the imperial court, he will definitely be able to protect the peace of one side and become the guardian of the Han frontier! Merely... This matter still requires Xuande to face His Majesty to ask for merit, and the old man will submit another seal tomorrow to detail the origin of Xuande's fame, as for whether His Majesty sees it or not, it can only depend on the will of God. ”

Hearing this, Liu Bei was overjoyed, and hurriedly got up and thanked him: "Thank you, Zhonglang!" ”

Huangfu Song waved his hand, "If Your Majesty is unwilling to summon him, he will have to think of another way." It's just that the border situation is dangerous, but Xuande has made up his mind? ”

That's to the point.

Liaodong is located at the junction of the Dahan and Samhan Peninsulas, and is bordered by Goguryeo and Samhan in the east; In the north, there are Wofu, Fuyu, and Wuhuan and East Xianbei in the territory.

The Hu people have always been fierce and difficult to educate. The Han people are also a violent temper, they can do their hands and never quarrel, and the border areas are constantly fighting all year round, which is particularly chaotic.

Therefore, what the people of Liaodong have been thinking about for a long time is to have a Taishou who can fight like Gongsun Zhan, bless them, and lead them to live a peaceful and peaceful life.

But for officials, going to Liaodong means endless toil, frequent wars, and no oil and water to fish.

Because compared with the Central Plains, Liaodong is a barren and bitter cold land, there are almost no big families, there are few wealthy merchants, and the declining imperial court is beyond the reach of the whip.

It's a place like this that no one wants to go.

Liu Bei has the merit of killing Zhang Jiao, and he can find a good place to be a Taishou in the Central Plains. Even if you still have to go to the border, there are many places with better conditions than Liaodong, such as Bingzhou, Guanzhong, and Liangzhou.

Liu Bei said with a serious face: "Bei has made up his mind, where the conditions are the worst, go there!" ”

Hearing this, Huangfu Song was solemn: "Xuande doesn't have to be polite, and sit down and talk in detail."

When Liu Bei sat down again, Huangfu Song pondered and said:

"This Liaodong is too guarded, in fact, it is not difficult to say, what is difficult is the money for repairing officials."

No matter what official His Majesty Liu Hongfeng is, he will still have to pay for it in the end.

Want to take office without paying for it? Don't even think about it!

Therefore, Huangfu Song nodded, then kept silent, and turned to drink wine by himself.

"Repair money?"

Liu Bei arched his hand and said: "I don't know if it's prepared, and I will give advice to Zhonglang." ”

In fact, after Liu Bei's resignation, he had already heard more or less about the operation of the imperial court, but he didn't know the details.

Huangfu Song put down the wine bottle, spread it out and said: "Xuande's military exploits are enough, and there are also recommenders, now there is only the money for the cultivator, and the amount of money for this cultivator is not expensive, at least 20 million starts, and it is not ordinary people who can take it,......"

Hiss......

Million!

Liu Bei gasped, turned his head to look at his younger brothers, and found that they all had solemn faces, so he stopped his eyes on Li Feng.

If he remembered correctly, there was a bag of gold and silver stored in him before, and the specific value is difficult to estimate, it should be more than 100,000 yuan, within a million yuan.

This is all the belongings of the six brothers.

But this amount of money is not enough compared to 20 million, far from enough.

"Zhonglang, be prepared to take the liberty of asking, if you don't have money, what should you do?"

"No money? Then there will only be credit officers. ”

"Credit??"

"That's right! Be an official on credit! ”

Hearing this, Brother Liu Bei was stunned, this selling official beard and being an official on credit, they had never heard of it.

Only Li Feng smiled and said nothing.

In fact, in the Han Dynasty, it was an old tradition to sell official beards, and Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and others also did this. Liu Hong is just imitating his ancestors while carrying forward the official mantle.

Liu Hong first imitated the market in the harem, and the goods bought and sold on the street were all looted treasures. The palace maids and concubines were dressed as traders and tourists, and there were even acrobats and singers, which was a miniature market society.

Liu Hong traveled every day, sometimes going to the wine shop to drink and listen to music, and sometimes going to the market to grind his teeth and quarrel with the shopkeeper, and he never got tired of it. He also drove on a donkey and personally whipped around the bazaar. As a result, this absurd behavior was introduced to the people, and it also triggered a wave of imitation, which led to the price of donkeys in the capital instantly doubled several times, and Luoyang donkeys were expensive for a while.

Although this kind of playhouse-style trading game is interesting, it will get tired of playing for a long time, and it cannot bring actual benefits and cannot meet Liu Hong's daily expenses. So he flipped through the history of the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, and soon found a way to make a fortune, and then opened an exchange in Xiyuan that openly sold official titles, clearly marked the price, and openly sold officials. Regardless of talent, character, or ethics, as long as you have money, you can buy an official. And the money from the sale of officials flowed into Liu Hong's own pocket.

The prices of various official positions varied, and the marked price was not a fixed price, but like an auction, if there was no competition for the official position sought by the person seeking the official position, it would be sold at 10,000 times the price; If there is competition, the highest bidder wins the job.

In addition, before an official takes office, he or she needs to pay at least 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of the official position, which means that the official must pay about 2,500 years of income in advance before receiving the salary. Such a high fee for buying an official is something that ordinary wealthy gentry cannot afford.

Therefore, once they buy officials and take office, the officials will inevitably loot the people's fat and ointment, and the poor people will suffer in the end.

But Liu Hong doesn't care about this, as long as the official position can be sold, he will do everything, following the auction competition and installment payment, he found that the official position is still not sold smoothly, so he came up with a new method, credit official!

As long as they are talented and virtuous children; Or ordinary people, but with the guarantee of ministers and respected celebrities, they can take office without money.

Sima Zhi was forced to death by the official on credit, and he was appointed by the imperial court as the Taishou of Julu County, but because he didn't want the people to pay for the repair, he committed suicide on the way and admonished Liu Hong.

The three emperors of Wenjingwu also sold officials, and the three emperors of Wenjingwu stimulated agricultural production and accumulated wealth for the country. Liu Hong, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, was full of money from stealing the country's wealth, resulting in corruption in the administration of officials, chaos in discipline, poor livelihood among the people, and endless uprisings in various places.

It can be said that the Han Empire is currently terminally ill, and the gods are difficult to save.

"Credit official, credit official..."Liu Bei muttered to himself, thinking about the four hundred years of the country passed down by his ancestors, and being made like this by Liu Honghuo, he was heartbroken.

After a long time, he slapped the case and said in horror: "Credit, this official, I'm Liu Bei on credit!" ”