"Zhou Yafu ······"

"Alas~"

"Meritorious Earthquake Lord······"

···

"It's poor King Linjiang."

"First because of his mother, he lost the position of the crown prince;"

"Now, I have inexplicably 'destroyed the ancestral ancestral hall' and been recalled to Chang'an to deal with crimes······"

···

"Prince, you shouldn't sit idly by, right?"

"After all, no matter what, that's also the prince's brother?"

"-Even if it's a cousin, it's still a 'brother'······"

···

······

After the news came out that Zhou Yafu 'asked to resign himself' and asked to return to his hometown, there was a lot of discussion inside and outside the government and the opposition.

Some people say that Zhou Yafu is self-inflicted and self-inflicted;

Some people also say that this is Zhou Yafu's high merit and shocking the master, and the Son of Heaven has no room for people.

Not many people dare to conclude what the truth is.

But what is obvious is that Liu Sheng, who witnessed everything in Shanglin Yuan that day, and from beginning to end, failed to get out of the whirlpool called 'storage position belonging' and was hated by Zhou Yafu to this day, is not among them······

·

"In this way, Zhou Yafu's 'self-resignation' doesn't he really want to resign?"

In the fourth year of the Son of Heaven, in the early part of autumn and July.

North of Artemisia Street in Chang'an City, Taigong, Jiaguan.

Lying lazily on the back of the chair, listening to his younger brother Liu Sheng roughly explain what happened in Shanglin Yuan in the past few days, Liu Pengzu only raised his hand thoughtfully;

subconsciously put his hand to his mouth, carefully gnawed his nails, and then asked a question with a slight suspicion, but Liu Sheng slowly shook his head.

"Not really."

"——Since the rebellion of Wu Chu was pacified, and Zhou Yafu was transferred from Taiwei to Prime Minister, the well-organized Prime Minister's Mansion that was once taken care of by the teacher has not been safe for even a day."

"Coupled with the court meeting a few days ago, Jiuqing Yousi stood up for their own backgrounds, although they were not directly impeached, but they also vaguely expressed their dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister's Mansion - the Prime Minister's Mansion under the control of Zhou Yafu."

"When it comes to making trouble, no matter how thick-skinned Zhou Yafu is, he won't be able to sit down in the position of prime minister no matter what;"

"Whether Zhou Yafu takes the initiative to resign or not, the final result may not be changed."

"Zhou Yafu took the initiative to resign, which can be regarded as leaving the last trace of decency for himself;"

"If it weren't for this, my father would probably not have 'allowed him to return', but would have asked Zhou Yafu to go to the tomb and 'guard the spirit' for the first emperor······"

The sudden tone of voice caused Liu Pengzu, who was on the opposite side of Gao Yu, to nod again and again;

I saw Liu Sheng lean back a little, stretched his waist slightly, and then continued: "Zhou Yafu~"

"Hmm! Uh~"

"-When I came, I didn't forget to leave a sentence to my father: I can not be the prime minister, but the ninth son of the emperor can't be the prince either······"

"Hey;"

"He is worthy of being the son of Zhou Bo, the Marquis of Jiangwu······"

Hearing that Liu Sheng's relaxed tone was full of banter and inexplicably relieved, Liu Pengzu, who had just turned around from his thoughts, couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

After a while, Liu Pengzu, who remembered another thing, cast the same playful gaze to his younger brother Liu Sheng, who was sitting opposite him.

"Zhou Yafu resigns, Prime Minister, but he will become Kaifeng Hou Taoqing······"

"——Since the death of the emperor's grandfather and the succession of his father, Tao Qing, the imperial historian, has always been looking forward to the wrong horse."

"Now, Tao Qing has become the prime minister, which is equivalent to Chao Cuo becoming the prime minister?"

"In this way, Zhou Yafu is no longer the prime minister, and it is not a good thing for Ah Sheng, right?"

Hearing the slight ridicule in his brother's tone, as well as more concern and worry, Liu Sheng still smiled easily;

With a slight sigh, he smiled and shook his head.

"No, it won't."

"——After becoming the prime minister, Tao Qing will definitely not be willing to be a wrong dog again."

"Brother knows, then, but the prime minister?"

"It's reasonable and reasonable, it's impossible for Chao Cuo to stand behind Tao Qing and command Tao Qing to charge."

"Even if it is the father, he will never allow Chao to make mistakes, and then remotely control Tao Qing, who has become the prime minister······"

The meaningful words caused Liu Pengzu to nod his head in agreement, the ridicule on his face was still there, but the worry was mostly gone.

In the past, Hou Taoqing, the imperial historian of Kaifeng, was indeed a misguided marionette.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the reason why Tao Qing was appointed as the imperial historian is that in the last few years of the first emperor, Tianzi Qi made a mistake for his henchmen and specially found a customized version of the marionette.

As for the reason, it is actually very easy to understand: today's Han dynasty is still in the stage of paying attention to qualifications, origin, background, and even age.

At that time, the 'Late Prince's Family Order' was wrong, except for an illusory 'talent', in all other aspects, it was obviously not enough to bear the heavy responsibility.

——In terms of origin, Chao Cuo entered the office as a scribe, which is now the Han family's 'worthlessness' second only to Shangjia, and ordinary can no longer be an ordinary background;

In terms of background, Chao Cuo is not a descendant of the founding fathers like Marquis Zhou Yafu and Quzhou Hou Liji, and second, he is not a descendant of the old war royal family like Marquis Zhang Liang and Han Wangxin;

Even in the qualifications and personal resumes of Chao Cuo, there are only a few "suggestions" such as "Words and Soldiers", "Guarding the Border and Persuading Farmers", "Recruiting the People and Doing Things", and "On Guisu Shu".

What's even worse is that even these few 'suggestions' were basically not adopted by the first emperor······

"If it weren't for the identity of the emperor, I'm afraid that Chao Cuo wouldn't even be able to sit on the throne of the current internal history, right?"

In the silence of the two brothers, Liu Pengzu asked coldly, only causing Liu Sheng to nod slowly.

"That's true."

"My Han family established the country with martial arts, and the style of martial arts prevailed, whether it was the government or the people, the folk customs and folk customs were mostly strong and fierce."

"Chao Cuo is based on the temple only by virtue of his literary talents, without the slightest martial arts, and he can be ranked among the nine kings, and this official has already achieved the head."

"——If it weren't for the shortcomings of 'Wuxun', I'm afraid that this time, my father would already want Chao Cuo to succeed Zhou Yafu and become the new prime minister."

"It's a pity that Chao has been an official for more than 20 years, not to mention his experience in the army, and he doesn't even have the experience of being sent to counties and counties."

"That is, with the protection of my father, no one said that it was wrong;"

"Otherwise, just the internal history of the head of the Nine Qings, Chao will be like sitting on pins and needles······"

Liu Sheng answered again, causing Liu Pengzu to bow his head again, and then fell into a short thought.

The day before yesterday, when news came out from Changle Palace, saying that Zhou Yafu had resigned as prime minister and had received the 'favor' of the Son of Heaven, there were indeed various theories inside and outside the government.

However, after the follow-up edict of the Son of Heaven came out, the government and the opposition, and even the entire Chang'an public opinion, quickly reached an agreement on several things.

One of the most important points is that after Zhou Yafu, Kaifeng Hou Taoqing, who succeeded to the post of prime minister, was not the best choice.

According to the unanimous statement of public opinion in Chang'an, the most preferred candidate for prime minister by Tianziqi should have been a mistake in internal history.

It's just that he was born as a civil official, and he almost soared from the prince's family order, and directly made the internal history of the head of Jiuqing;

Since he was in his twenties, Chao Cuo has never found an opportunity to go to the army to experience and accumulate some decent martial arts.

Under the political background, social atmosphere, and tacit political unspoken rules of the Han family, it is almost impossible for a courtier like Chao Cuo, who was born as a purely civil official, to become a prime minister.

- Taizu Gao Emperor System: If you are not Liu, you cannot be a king, and you cannot be a marquis unless you are meritorious;

For later generations, this oath by Emperor Taizu Gao Liu Bang when he swore an alliance with the prince of the Yuan Lord, is naturally famous.

But what few people know is that after the non-Liu Bewang and the non-merit behou, there is actually an oath that has not fallen on paper.

- Unless it is a thoroughfare, it must not be a ······

"Since Emperor Taizu Gao established the Han Dynasty, my Han family has gone from Xiao He, the founding prime minister, to Cao Shen, who succeeded Xiao Cheng, to the later Wang Ling, Chen Ping, and the trial of it;"

"And then to Zhou Bo, Guan Ying, and Zhang Cang when he was the first emperor."

"——Anyone who has served as the prime minister of the Han Dynasty is all worshiped as a marquis."

"Especially in the time of the first emperor, after the prime minister Zhang Cang, the Marquis of Beiping, was dismissed by the first emperor because of the Huanglong change of the yuan, the sentence 'not the marquis, no minister' became more and more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people inside and outside the government and the opposition."

···

"When it was, Prime Minister Zhang Cang was deposed, and both inside and outside the government and the opposition agreed that Zhang Wuhou, Dou Guangguo, Dou Lao, should be the prime minister."

"Since the beginning of the emperor's succession to the throne, after recognizing the emperor's grandmother, the two brothers Dou Guangguo, Marquis of Zhangwu, and Dou Changjun, Marquis of Nanpi, have been in the palace and accepted the teachings of the old students;"

"By the time Prime Minister Zhang Cheng was deposed, Zhang Wuhou, who had escaped from the coal mine with great difficulty, and was lucky enough to come to Chang'an to reunite with the emperor's grandmother, had grown into a world-renowned sage and elder."

"But in the end, the theory that 'the Dou clan will become the second Lu clan' suddenly arose inside and outside the government and the opposition, which made the first emperor helpless to dispel this idea."

"The imperial grandmother and Zhang Wuhou also gave up this opportunity in fear."

"-Gave up this opportunity to let Dou's relatives hold the position of prime minister······"

Hearing Liu Sheng talk about these old events, he saw Liu Pengzu sitting up straight with great interest, and put on a posture of listening to his ears.

- Of course, Liu Pengzu has heard of these things;

But in the past, the brothers Liu Pengzu and Liu Sheng were only princes after all, and the upper limit in the future was only the princes of the clan.

So in the past, the brothers' knowledge of these things was limited to the extent that they had 'heard of it'.

And now, Liu Sheng has become the crown prince, and the information he can access is obviously more than a little bit wider than in the past;

It is rare to hear these old things from Liu Sheng's mouth, although he has heard of them, but he also knows them, Liu Pengzu is naturally unwilling to let go of this opportunity.

But it's a pity, and what also makes Liu Pengzu feel a little disappointed is that Liu Sheng's words didn't stay on Dou Guangguo, Marquis of Zhangwu, for too long;

only tried to stop mentioning 'Zhang Wuhou was supposed to be the prime minister, but then it didn't work', Liu Sheng quietly changed the topic.

"Marquis Zhang missed the opportunity to become prime minister because of a rumor that 'I am afraid of reverting to the Lu family', which made the emperor's grandfather feel very distressed;"

"Because at that time, except for Dou Guangguo, Marquis of Zhangwu, there was no second person inside and outside the government and the opposition - there was no second person who could meet the needs of the 'Marquis of Che' and take on the duties of prime minister."

"In desperation, the emperor's grandfather could only retreat and choose a teacher from among the marquis of Guannei."

"Subsequently, the emperor's grandfather was named the Marquis of Che in the name of 'Enfeng Meritorious Hero', and the title was still called 'Gu'an'."

"On the day he was named the Marquis of Che, the teacher was worshiped as the prime minister by the emperor's grandfather, until last year, when the teacher died in office······

said this last word in a calm tone, and Liu Sheng couldn't help but let out a long sigh leisurely;

The face of the late old prime minister Shen Tujia also came to Liu Sheng's mind at this moment, and it lasted for a long time.

On the opposite side of Liu Sheng, hearing about this past incident, Liu Pengzu finally nodded thoughtfully, and also let out a long sigh.

"yes~"

"The teacher was originally the title of the Marquis of Guannei, and the first emperor wanted to worship the teacher as the prime minister, and he still had to first enshrine the teacher as the marquis, and then worship the teacher as the prime minister."

"Chao Cuo is not even the Marquis of Guannei, if you want to experience the prestige of the prime minister's 'courtesy of a hundred bureaucrats' in your lifetime, I am afraid you must go to the army and go between the ranks."

Hearing this, Liu Sheng shook his head again, and the thoughts of the deceased teacher in his mind were a little dissipated, and then he said suddenly: "Chao is wrong, I can't be the prime minister." ”

"——Since the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, my Han family has always had a precedent of first being the internal history, and then being transferred to the prime minister by the imperial historian."

"Because after the experience of internal history, it can be proved that someone has the ability to be a prime minister; After the transition of the 'Yaxiang' Imperial Doctor, he can rightfully become the prime minister. ”

"And Chao mistakenly made the internal history, he was directly promoted by his father from the position of the prince's family order, and now he is directly promoted from the internal history to the imperial history doctor."

"If it is not released, Chao Cuo will never be able to make up for the shortcomings of Wuxun and Marquis Che;

"But if he is released from the position of the imperial doctor, if Chao Cuo wants to return to the center of the court again, I am afraid that it will be difficult to climb to the sky······"

Saying this, Liu Sheng finally got up from his seat, raised his hands above his head, and moved his back without hesitating his image.

While twisting his upper body, he didn't forget to continue: "Moreover, even if Chao is released to serve as a martial artist, he may not be able to really establish a martial artist. ”

"—After all, there is a specialization in the art industry."

"Chao is good at planning and making suggestions, and he is afraid that he may not be familiar with the things between the ranks, but he may not be familiar with ······"

···

"Tao Qing is the prime minister, the only thing that makes people can't make a mistake is the title of Marquis of Kaifeng;"

"And Chao Cuo can't be the prime minister, and the only shortcoming is that he doesn't have the title of Marquis."

"Now that Tao Qing has become the prime minister, he will definitely establish his own prestige - at least try to do so."

"And Chao mistakenly became the imperial doctor, that is, he became a sub-prime minister who checked and balanced each other with the prime minister."

"- Father, he will never allow his prime minister to be restrained by his own 'sub-phase', and even remotely controlled······"

···

"Whew~"

"So~"

"——Tao Qing is the prime minister, for me, the crown prince who has just been enthroned and has not yet established a stable foundation, it is good news;"

"After all, no matter how Tao Qing is, he won't be like Zhou Yafu, who is thinking about pulling me down from the storage position all day long?"

"Coupled with the 'loyal old man' Wei Juan, he became my prince and concubine, not my cousin Dou Ying······"

In the end, Liu Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, and even stretched lazily.

"Ugh! Uhh

"I can finally sleep soundly~~~"

"Hey;"

"This prince did it, and he was terrified all day long······"

Seeing Liu Sheng's relieved appearance, Liu Pengzu also grinned slightly, and a bright smile instantly bloomed on his face.

But soon, as if remembering something, the two brothers went from looking at each other and laughing to quietly looking at each other and sighing.

"Ah Sheng······"

"-Big brother, I'm going back to Chang'an······"

···

"What is Ah Sheng going to do?"

"-I don't know······"

"-I don't even know what kind of face I should appear in front of my eldest brother······"

"-Especially this time, the eldest brother is still 'wearing a crime to enter the court'······"

···

Liu Sheng's strange face full of sorrow, melancholy, and from time to time with some self-deprecation and laughter only caused Liu Pengzu to frown;

After all his efforts, he never came up with a way, so Liu Pengzu had to purse his lips and let out a long sigh leisurely.

Liu Rong, the eldest son of the emperor, is going back to Chang'an;

Liu Sheng and Liu Pengzu, the eldest of the princes of the Son of Heaven, are going back to Chang'an.

It's just that the two brothers know in their hearts: Liu Rong will face unprecedented danger when he returns to Chang'an this time.

Just a few days later, Liu Rong set off from his royal capital of Linjiang, the palace in Jiangling City;

The moment Liu Rong walked out of the palace and appeared on the streets of Jiangling, a low, mournful cry sounded in the entire Jiangling City.

——For His Royal Highness the King of Linjiang, who has just been enthroned for more than a year, most of the people of Linjiang Kingdom, that is, Nanjun, feel very sympathetic.

Especially this year, when Liu Rong's biological mother Li Ji was 'seriously ill and died violently' in Chang'an, the Chang'an court explicitly forbade Liu Rong to return to Beijing for funeral, and could only mourn and mourn in the palace.

On this day, thousands of people took to the streets to pay homage to their king;

Naturally, there were thousands of pairs of eyes, outside the main palace gate of the Linjiang Palace, and witnessed the royal car.

——The car that was broken in half at the moment when Liu Rong boarded the car, symbolizing the extremely dangerous and ominous Wang ······

"Let's all go back;"

"Let's go back······"

"If the widow can return safely, thank you again for your kindness today, more than ten miles out of the city······

"-King~"

"—The King······

···

Liu Rong, let's go.

Starting from the royal capital Jiangling, trekking all the way through mountains and rivers, passing through Chu and Liang, and finally came to Hangu Pass.

Along the way, whether it was Liu Rong's cousin, Liu Li, the king of Chu, or his uncle Liu Wu, the king of Liang, they all avoided Liu Rong and did not even let Liu Rong enter their own capital.

After arriving at Hangu Pass, Liu Rong's Wang Jia was picked up by Lieutenant Zhidu, who had been waiting here for a long time.

——From the moment he stepped into Hangu Pass, Liu Rong lost his freedom;

As soon as he arrived in Chang'an, Liu Rong was taken back to the Lieutenant's Mansion in Zhidu.

No one knows what Liu Rong will face and experience in the Lieutenant's Mansion.

But the whole of Chang'an knows that the lieutenant's mansion of the Han family has never let anyone walk out of the ······ with all beards and tails intact

Oh;

That's right.

The last prince of the Han family who was connected to the Lieutenant's Mansion and spent the night in the Lieutenant's Mansion was called Liu Chang.

Nowadays, people are more accustomed to calling this person the King of Huainan who attempted rebellion while drunk, and died of hunger strike······