Liu Biao is actually very happy today.

There are two things.

First, Shen Chen sent troops to help him balance the situation in the north and weaken Cao Yuan's forces.

The second is that he pacified Jingnan and obtained tens of thousands of Zhang Xian's works, with 1780,000 people, and his strength jumped to the head of all the princes.

These two events caused his ambition to swell again, and also made his dream of becoming emperor rekindled again.

In the final analysis, he had the move to become emperor in history, but as Cao Cao's strength became stronger and stronger, and the north gradually became unified, he could only extinguish this idea.

But now the situation is very different, Shen Chen attacked Xu Du, and Yuan Cao was defeated, so that after he pacified Jingnan, he was very arrogant.

Now that the dragon robe of the Son of Heaven and the emperor are ready, this is the time for him to test many officials.

It's just that what he didn't expect was that as soon as the words fell, the audience was silent, everyone sat cross-legged on the seat, looking at their noses and noses, and even their cronies Cheng Qi didn't dare to be the first to speak.

It's too much involved.

At that time, there were strict rules and regulations for sacrifices, and it was not possible for ordinary people to sacrifice heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, the four desecrations, and the five mountains.

Only the Son of Heaven can lead the ministers and hundreds of officials to worship.

You are a local prince, you want to sacrifice heaven and earth, accuse the public opinion, and compare it to Sheji, what is this for?

Rebellion.

Although the Son of Heaven is controlled in Xudu, but he is not dead, so he wants to seek power and usurp the throne?

So this is a proposition, these officials and guests under Liu Biao, as long as they are still sensible, they can't answer this question at all.

"Talking, why are you dumb?"

Seeing that everyone was silent, Liu Biao, who was originally quite excited, instantly became gloomy, he was fifty-eight years old, and he didn't know how many years he still had to live, how could he not be anxious?

Deng Hong glanced at Shen Chen on the side, Shen Chen shook his head slightly at him, and Deng Hong buried his head.

Everyone still didn't speak, and no one wanted to be a bird.

Only Kuai Liang thought about it slightly, then stood up and arched his hand and said: "Ming Gong is a clan member of the Han family, and now that the country is in danger, it is a matter of course to pray for the blessing of the country and the mountains on behalf of the Son of Heaven, but I am afraid that the world will misunderstand, and we need to be cautious." ”

"Yes, Ming Gong, please think twice."

"This matter is very involved, and I am afraid that it will be criticized by the world, so I should not act impulsively."

"Ming Gong, I think so."

"The sacrificial thing is to pray for the blessing of the community, I think it is also possible not to sacrifice heaven and earth, the ancestor of the Ming Gong is King Lu Gong, why not sacrifice to the family temple, in order to ask for the blessing of the king?"

"Not only King Lu Gong, but also Gaozu can be worshipped. This is the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, worship the ancestors, what's wrong? ”

"I think that Zishang and Yuanji are right, but they can sacrifice to their ancestors."

Everyone expressed their opinions.

Everyone is not a fool, obviously Liu Biao wants to test everyone's meaning, if he can't press Miao Zi to death, then it is not good to say that in the future, he will suddenly learn Yuan Shu and become the emperor at once, isn't this looking for bad luck?

Therefore, they all asked Liu Biao to think twice before acting, hoping that he could consider it again.

However, there are also a few more sleek ones who support Liu Biao's sacrifice, but not to sacrifice heaven and earth, but to sacrifice ancestors.

These people like Liu Biao, Han Xuan, Zhao Fan, Liu Du and other Liu cousin's cronies are like this, neither offending Liu Biao nor committing taboos.

After all, the gods that the Han people believe in the most, in addition to the sky above their heads, are their ancestors and ancestors.

After Liu Biao is King Lu Gong, Liu Bang is also his ancestor, everyone is the same as the old Liu family's bloodline, why can't you sacrifice my ancestors?

Not to mention the world, even the Son of Heaven can't find fault.

Only Liu Biao's face was very ugly.

What he wants is not to worship the ancestors, but to obtain a position of power like the Son of Heaven, if he really becomes a sacrifice to the ancestors, then what is the point of his temptation?

However, Liu Biaocheng's government is very deep, and he knows that everyone's opposition attitude is more clear now, so he changed his smile and said: "You don't have to be surprised, I just want to pray for the blessings of Jiangshan Sheji and the Son of Heaven, and I have no other meaning. ”

With a wave of his hand, the meal that had been prepared for a long time began to be served. Groups of dancers and musicians came out from the left and right sides of the screen, lined up in the open space in the center of the hall, and began to play music and dance.

This was the favorite thing for the magnates to do at that time, especially their old Liu family, starting from Liu Bang to Emperor Liu Hong of the Han Dynasty, and then to Liu Biao Liu Zhang, all of them did not like to play music and dance.

It's just that with the little episode just now, many officials are so worried that they smell like chewing wax, and they don't dare to say more and ask more, so they bow their heads and bury their heads in cooking.

In the whole hall, except for the sound of dry rice and singing and dancing, there was no other sound.

After noon, the singing and dancing stopped, the food was also eaten, and when the banquet was over, Liu Biao got up and said: "That's all for today's banquet, Ah Chen, you wait in the house first, Zirou, you come with me, and the rest of the people will disperse." ”

"Yui."

And they dispersed.

Kuai Liang followed Liu Biao to the backyard study to discuss things, and Shen Chen sent Song Zhong Wang Cang to the door of the hussar general.

"Master, Brother Zhongxuan."

Shen Chen stood at the door and bowed his hand to the two of them and said, "I didn't mean to be offensive today, and I didn't expect you to come. ”

Song Zhong waved his hand and said: "It's okay, you have grown up Ah Chen, Jingyi, you have embarked on a new path, and you have also attacked Cao Cao in the Northern Expedition, proving yourself, I, the division commander, are indeed inferior to you." ”

"Please don't say these things."

Shen Chen said respectfully: "Shijun is my teacher one day, and I am my teacher for the rest of my life, and I will also keep in mind the principles of life that Shijun taught me." ”

"Ugh."

Song Zhong sighed: "The road ahead is still very long, let's do it." ”

With that, he turned and got into the carriage.

Wang Cang said: "Ah Chen, you have the style of a countryman, but"

He glanced at the officials and guests of Liu Biao who came out left and right, hesitated for a moment, but still didn't dare to say anything, but said, "Please be cautious." ”

"Thank you, brother."

Shen Chen actually knew what he was going to say, and no one was a fool.

Today, Liu Biao is actually putting a signal.

If Liu Biao is a general of the Han Hussars and a pastor of Jingzhou, everyone will definitely be willing to follow him.

But if he wants to do something else, forget it.

Therefore, Wang Cang can also be regarded as persuading Shen Chen, sometimes don't go astray for revenge.

The two left.

Shen Chen walked back into the hall again.

Deng Hong and Liu Xian were originally engaged in the state government, and they had public housing in the government office, so they went to their respective duties.

At this moment, in Liu Biao's backyard study, Liu Biao and Kuai Liang sat separately.

Incense is burned indoors, and the smell is fragrant.

Liu Biao gently tapped twice on the fine rosewood table that was transported from the interweaving, and asked, "Zirou, what do you think?" ”

"There's a lot of resistance."

Kuai Liang shook his head and said: "Many officials are unwilling to sacrifice to the Ming Duke, and this matter still has to be considered in the long run." ”

"Hmm."

Liu Biao nodded slightly, was silent for a moment, and sighed: "I am already very old, if it collapses today, the country is in turmoil, and the Quartet is disturbed, I am a clan surnamed Liu, and I also want to inherit the ambition of Guangwu, but the years have passed." ”

Kuai Liang said: "Taigong Wangwang is eighty, the Auxiliary King is defeated, Lian Po is seventy, and there is still Yu Yong." Ming Gong is now in good health and life, how can he sigh that he is old? ”

"Hahaha, Zirou's words have won my heart, fortunately I have Zirou by my side, otherwise I would have been depressed."

Liu Biao was persuaded by Kuai Liang to laugh, Jingzhou Cai Mao and Kuai Yue are all pro-Cao factions, only Kuai Liang and Huang Zu support him to achieve his hegemony.

Recently, he has suppressed Cai Mao and Kuaiyue, withdrawn their military power, and handed over Kuaiyue's Zhangling Taishou to Huang Zu's son Huang Zhu, just to slowly exclude the pro-Cao faction from the core layer.

Today's temptation is actually a signal, but judging from the results, this temptation may not be satisfactory.

But no matter how difficult it is, it has to be difficult to move forward.

At the age of fifty-eight, who knows how many days he will live?

After the two encouraged each other, Liu Biao said again: "Zirou, what do you think of Shen Chen?" ”

"Shen Chen went north, he almost missed a major business, and he was too reckless."

Kuai Liang groaned: "Although the result this time is extremely beneficial to us, but he really almost welcomed the Son of Heaven to Nanyang, if this is the case, the great cause of the Ming Duke will be completely eliminated." ”

"Hmm."

Liu Biao nodded and said: "Ah Chen is good at everything, a genius in civil and military affairs, but he has too much hatred with Cao Cao, and he really almost hurt me, and I am afraid that he will cause some trouble, so let him study at home first, give him a Maocai in two years, and then work for me." ”

Kuai Liang then said: "If the Ming Duke wants to develop his ambitions and hegemony, he can't be in a hurry, today's public statement that it will be a good thing to cut Cao next year, if it can be done, you can use the prestige of Cao to continue to test." ”

"What do you mean?"

"You can first assemble the army, sacrifice to heaven and earth, in order to determine authority, and then send a large army to the north, you don't need to defeat Cao Cao, you can go to Yingchuan, and you can spread your prestige."

"Hmm."

Liu Biao stroked his beard and said, "This is reasonable. ”

Kuai Liang continued: "However, now that the end of the year is approaching, the public still has to reorganize the army first to ensure the supply of grain, grass and equipment. ”

"I know about it."

Liu Biao said: "Liu Bei sent a letter, saying that he came to visit me a few days ago, I expect that he will not be able to return north, I am afraid that he is looking for me to ask for a place to live, what does Zirou think?" ”

Kuai Liang said: "Liu Bei has repeatedly fought with Cao Cao, he is familiar with Cao Cao's details, and he has an edict with clothes, if it is used, it is a good thing for the public." Now Zhang Xiu is west of Nanyang, our Tuntian is south of Nanyang, and there is no one stationed in the north, so Liu Bei can be placed in Wancheng, and next year he will go north to attack Cao, and Liu Bei may be able to help him. ”

In history, half of Liu Biao's Nanyang was actually occupied by Cao Cao, and when Liu Bei came over, he used the method of placing Zhang Xiu to put Liu Bei in Xinye, as a buffer zone between him and Cao Cao, and he didn't have any good intentions for Liu Bei, but he was just using Liu Bei.

But now his strength has increased suddenly, Shen Chen's battle in Nanyang dealt a heavy blow to Cao Cao, and prevented Zhang Xiu from attaching to the north, so that Cao Cao could not dye Daoyang, get a million people in Nanyang, and greatly expand Jingzhou's strength.

Immediately after Zhang Xian's rebellion, after Jingnan was pacified, his strength skyrocketed, and now Cao Cao can only garrison troops in Nanyangkou and cannot be saved, so Liu Bei is not needed to buffer.

However, Liu Bei still has political significance, he is one of the inheritors of the edict of the cloth, Dong Chengfeng and the edict of the cloth, and Chongji, Wu Shuo, Wang Zifu, Liu Bei, Wu Zilan conspired to get rid of Cao Cao, but the rest of the people were killed by Cao Cao, and there is only one Liu Bei left.

Therefore, even if Liu Bei is the only survivor of the edict incident, if Liu Biao wants to establish his prestige by cutting Cao, he must use a reasonable excuse to serve the edict with Liu Bei, the general of the left, which is the best choice.

"Zirou's words are very reasonable."

Liu Biao nodded and said: "Okay, I will personally negotiate with Liu Bei at that time, if he is willing to belong to me, I will let him be stationed in Wancheng and give him the north of Nanyang." ”

"And in the hall today, I see that there are some people with different faces, I'm afraid these people will be the resistance of Ming Gong."

Kuai Liang suggested: "Some people should be removed or replaced. ”

"Hmm."

Liu Biao thought so, and he also noticed.

For example, Liu Guan and others are opponents of his sacrifice to heaven and earth, and I am afraid they can't stay.

The two discussed some details, such as some matters for next year's sacrifice, the list of some people to be replaced, and even the possibility of killing some people in order to establish power.

After chatting for about half an hour, Kuai Liang said goodbye and left.

Liu Biao summoned Shen Chen again.

Shen Chen entered the house, this is a small hall, after entering the hall, there is only a mat and a table on the left and right, the mat has been changed just now, obviously Kuai Liang has not been away for long.

Facing the direction of the door is the main seat, Liu Biao is sitting behind the table, and after he came in, he stepped forward and said, "General." ”

"Ah Chen, sit down."

Liu gestured that he was seated on his right-hand side.

Shen Chen sat down and said again: "General, I don't know what happened when Zhao Chen came?" ”

Liu Biao groaned: "Ah Chen, what do you think of Jingzhou now?" ”

"I don't know what the general means?"

"The human heart."

"People's hearts?"

Shen Chen thought for a while and said, "There are many people in Jingzhou who are pro-Cao, and I am afraid that people's hearts are not stable. ”

Liu Biao smiled approvingly and said: "Speaking of which, I have to thank you, if it weren't for you, I'm afraid there would be more pro-Cao people in Jingzhou." ”

"It's all because of the strong support of the general."

Shen Chen smiled embarrassedly.

He and Liu Biao have common interests in this matter, so they can be regarded as supporting each other.

Liu Biao used him to suppress those pro-Cao factions, and he used the power given by Liu Biao to do this, which can be regarded as a clear division of labor.

How rampant was the pro-Cao faction back then?

Just because Liu Biao secretly agreed with Yuan Shao, officials of all sizes seemed to have fried the pot, and the official documents written to his desk were like snowflakes, and countless people resigned from office.

Even Kuai Yue, who helped him gain a foothold in Jingzhou, persuaded him how bad Liu Biao's mood was during that time, you can imagine it.

And Shen Chen's appearance was like giving Liu Biao a beam of fire in the dark, allowing him to sit in the rear and hide behind the scenes to observe his opponents, and the firepower in front was borne by Shen Chen, which greatly relieved his pressure.

So in this matter, Liu Biao is still very grateful to Shen Chen.

Now those famous and Confucian families who oppose him have either gone north to take refuge in Cao Cao since the edict incident, or they have gone south to live in seclusion in the land of Lingling Guiyang, and their power has declined a lot.

Liu Biao is now considering suppressing Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, so that he can rely on the two supporters of Huang Zu and Kuai Liang to complete his hegemony.

As for Shen Chen's words.

I did consider letting him join in before.

There is Kuai Liang under his hands, Wu has Huang Zu, and Shen Chen is both civil and military, so why worry about big things?

It's just that Shen Chen is young and has a strong personality, and he is prone to illness when he fights Cao Cao.

Now Cao Cao's vitality is greatly injured, his troops are poor, and the entire Henan region has been disabled, which can be described as a ruined wall.

On the other hand, I sit in Jingzhou, which is strong and rich in the people, with more than 100,000 troops under my command, sufficient grain and grass, and the advantage is mine.

At this time, if Shen Chen is sent up, in case he doesn't do a good job and really kills Cao Cao and rescues Liu Xie, then he will still play a chicken feather?

So Liu Biao plans to slow down for a while.

After Cao Cao will be on the Northern Expedition next year and establish his prestige, he will step by step in the direction of becoming the emperor.

Seeing that Shen Chen was quite modest, Liu Biao stroked his beard and said: "Ah Chen, you have always been precocious, I want to know, what should the future be like in the current general trend of the world?" ”

Shen Chen said with a straight face: "Cao Yuan is both defeated, and he has no time to look south in a short period of time, this is a good opportunity for the general to strengthen himself." ”

"Oh?"

Liu Biao smiled: "What do you mean by this? ”

Shen Chen said: "The north is now in a stalemate between Yuan and Cao, and it will be impossible to distinguish the winner in a short period of time. Then he fought hard and went east to the general and took Yangzhou. ”

Take Yangzhou?

Liu Biao frowned slightly, which was contrary to the strategy he had discussed with Kuai Liang.

In fact, he planned to take advantage of Cao Cao's illness to kill Cao Cao.

Now that Cao Cao is weakened and just seized Henan in Yuzhou, the best case scenario is that Cao Cao jumped over the wall in a hurry and killed the Son of Heaven, and he had an excuse to ascend the throne.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't matter, after breaking through Xudu, there is a way to make the emperor disappear mysteriously.

For example, Cao manipulated the fire to burn the palace, and the Son of Heaven died.

And this matter can't bring Liu Bei and Shen Chen, one is also a member of the Han family, and he doesn't necessarily have the same heart as him.

The other one is too strong, and he has not yet tried to become the emperor, in case Shen Chen is a diehard loyalist of the Son of Heaven, wouldn't he lift a stone to shoot himself in the foot?

So for Shen Chen's suggestion, Liu Biao also nodded noncommittally: "Cao Cao is in the north, shouldn't Cao Cao be broken first?" ”

Shen Chen said: "However, once Cao Cao is destroyed, the Duke of Ming will have to face Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao is based on the land of the four states, the soldiers and horses are strong, and he can recover his strength after several years of cultivation, so he still has to be cautious." Chen thought that he would first break Yangzhou and Yizhou, get the entire south, and then sit and watch the battle between Yuan and Cao, and when they were exhausted, the general would be able to make a great northern expedition, sweep the entire north, and dominate the world! ”

"Well, you're right."

Liu changed the topic and said, "How are you studying lately?" In the ranks, have you fallen behind to study? ”

"It's a bit lax, indeed."

Shen Chen replied.

Liu Biao smiled and said: "Then you should go back and study hard, and it is not bad to recruit a few disciples to teach and educate people. ”

"Thank you, General!"

Shen Chen thanked him.

"Well, go ahead."

Liu Biao closed his eyes and waved his hand, as if he was a little tired.

Shen Chen got up and saluted again, exited the door, and turned to leave.

Looking at the back of him leaving, Liu Biao frowned slightly.

In fact, when Shen Chen was summoned today, he still wanted to test his thoughts, and he did not support himself as emperor.

In fact, he called the emperor's thoughts only known to Kuai Liang, not even Huang Zu.

The pro-Cao faction in Jingzhou is strong, but it does not mean that the anti-Cao faction supports him.

is like Shen Chen, who often shouts slogans outside and says things like anti-Cao Cao and welcoming the Son of Heaven.

They are anti-Cao is not anti-emperor, if they really bring Shen Chen and Liu Bei to crusade against Cao Cao, break through Xu Du, and they take Liu Xie back to Jingzhou, Liu Biao is afraid that he wants to die.

So he had to test Shen Chen.

I just wanted to ask Shen Chen about his opinion on the situation, but I didn't expect that Shen Chen, who was originally radical, suddenly began to become steady.

It is necessary to take Jingzhou as the foundation, first unify the south, sit and watch the internal fighting of Yuan Cao in the north, and then make a profit.

Sounds good, but it's a very good strategy.

The question is.

How many years do I have left?

Can Yuan Cao's internal fighting be able to divide the winner in a short period of time?

Are Yizhou and Yangzhou also obtained in a short period of time?

In case I die of old age and have not yet conquered Yizhou and Yangzhou, then what's the point?

So when he heard Shen Chen's suggestion, Liu Biao didn't want to listen to it anymore.

He's too old.

After the New Year, he will be fifty-nine years old, and he will be sixty years old.

Don't say dominate the world.

Even if he only broke Cao Cao and occupied Yuzhou, he couldn't wait to become emperor.

Therefore, Shen Chen's suggestion, he really could only listen to it.

I would never choose to do that.

Again, that's the same sentence.

Time is not waiting for me.

Looking at the sky in the distance outside the door, which seemed to be like a dark cloud, Liu Biao's heart also seemed to be stained with a layer of haze.

10,000 in the morning, and more in the evening

(End of chapter)