Hearing Dong Zhong say this, the Empress Dowager Dong was really a little tempted by this.

"This is also true, Xuande is also a relative of the Han family, after King Jing of Zhongshan, strictly speaking, after Emperor Xiaojing, he also inherited the blood of Gaozu, why can't he be the king?"

At this time, Zhang Rang reacted, thought about some of the unspoken rules of the Han Empire that he had learned, and suddenly realized that Dong Chong had bad intentions.

You want to roast Liu Bei on the fire.

Before, the modern literary school had just set off a rumor offensive about whether Liu Bei was loyal or not, and it was finally suppressed by the peak of the dispute between modern and ancient literature, and now you kid wants Liu Bei to be crowned the king again, obviously to make headlines and help the modern literary school share the firepower!

You kid, there's a bone in the back of your head!

Want to die?

Zhang Rang suddenly looked at Dong Zhong with an unkind expression.

"Dong Hussar, since the rise of the Han Dynasty, the prince is only for the prince, and the duke is only for the guests, do you want the general to be the prince or the guest of the Han?"

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere immediately changed.

Empress Dowager Dong seemed to react, thought about it, and felt that something was wrong.

"Yes, since the rise of this dynasty, generally only the prince will be crowned king, and the second king and three kes will be crowned duke, Xuande is neither a prince nor a guest of this dynasty, how can he be crowned a king?"

Dong Chong suddenly stared at Zhang Rang with an unkind expression.

"In that case, Zhang Changshi, what reward do you think you should give to the general? The general is already at the top of the ranks, and now he has made such great military achievements, how do you say that the reward can appease people's hearts? If you don't reward them heavily, won't the people of the world think that the imperial court treats the heroes harshly?

In this way, will anyone still make contributions to the court? Will anyone still honor the king and be loyal to the Son of Heaven? If you don't reward your merits, what do you make the people of the world think of the Son of Heaven? Not long after the Son of Heaven ascended the throne, it was a time when he needed a generous reward to demonstrate orthodoxy, how dare you say such a thing? ”

Zhang Rang was very angry and felt that Dong Zhong was deliberately killing Liu Bei.

"There were rumors that the general was going to rebel and usurp the throne before, and the people in the capital were panicked, and now that the situation has just subsided, you want to crown the general as the prince and the king, isn't this putting the general on the fire to roast? I resolutely can't agree with such a thing, and I ask the Queen Mother to find out! ”

Dong Chong knew that his mind was seen through, and he was very embarrassed, but he was still unwilling to let go.

"The Empress Dowager, the minister is considering the reputation of the Son of Heaven, and the general has made great contributions, if you don't reward them generously, let outsiders think that the Son of Heaven treats the heroes harshly, and the reputation of the Son of Heaven is damaged, how can this be good?"

In the face of two arguments and two opinions, the Empress Dowager Dong felt a little difficult to do.

Come on, Liu Bei's position is indeed the highest, there is no higher position, the general is above the three dukes, and there is no promotion to the title, but there is no precedent in practice.

Second, if you don't give Liu Bei some direct seals, it really doesn't sound very good.

Empress Dowager Dong was in a dilemma, and suddenly felt that the ancestors had really failed to consider the issue of rewarding the operation, why couldn't they put another first-class title for future generations to use?

But this is really not the problem of the ancestors, the ancestors left enough titles, full of twenty ranks, but some ancestors are too willful, wanton rewards, one is nationwide, one is hundreds of thousands of millions of people, they themselves are happy, the twentieth rank is casually sealed, and in the end, it is only about the value and significance of the inner marquis and the liehous.

There is no suitable precedent for continuing to go up to the realm of non-human ministers, and they dare not break the tradition and cause criticism from all over the world and turmoil in the court.

Sorry for future generations!

In the face of such a situation, several people's opinions could not be unified, they could not compete with each other, and no one could convince anyone.

"Why don't you ask the general himself for his opinion? Although this matter is related to the general, and the general deliberately avoids suspicion, but it is really difficult to continue the matter so far, so it is better to ask the general himself for his opinion that it is no longer good to do, right? ”

Jian Shuo's suggestion was very appealing to the Empress Dowager Dong, and Zhang Rang had no opinion, Dong Chong wanted to say something, but was glared at by the Empress Dowager Dong.

So he stopped talking.

After that, Zhang Rang sent someone to call Liu Bei over.

At that time, Liu Bei had already finished washing up at home, talked to his mother for a while, and was ready to go to bed, who Cheng thought that he was suddenly called to the palace again, because he didn't know how to reward him for his merits.

Liu Bei inquired about the news from the people sent by Zhang Rang, and learned that Dong Zhong wanted to make the Empress Dowager Dong the prince and king, Zhang Rang objected, and the Empress Dowager Dong was in a dilemma, so he could only call Liu Bei to consult in person.

Well, that's an interesting question.

He wanted to avoid suspicion and not get involved in this matter, but when it came to the end, he couldn't do nothing.

So when Liu Bei arrived at the palace and met the Empress Dowager Dong, he said his thoughts.

"Although the minister has made great contributions, but strictly speaking, this matter is also because of the minister, the minister knows the person unknown, and misuses Gongsun Zhan, so that Youzhou is in chaos, the minister is a sinner, this Northern Expedition, is to redeem the merit for sin, where is it worthy of such a big gift? Please also ask the Empress Dowager not to bother with this. ”

The Empress Dowager Dong sighed, but Dong Chong felt depressed.

Okay, one reason to block the reward, is this Liu Bei really not ambitious at all?

The Empress Dowager Dong felt a little uncomfortable.

"Having said that, but the main fault is Gongsun Zhan, Gongsun Chan has also been executed, Xuande still made a great contribution, and the merit is reversed, where is this crime worthy of such a great merit? If you don't reward it, how should the people of the world view the Son of Heaven? ”

Liu Bei shook his head.

"If this is the case, please also reward the minister with some food, gold, silver, pearls and jade, and give some rewards to the minister's mother and wife, and it will be fine."

Empress Dowager Dong still shook her head.

"Such a simple reward, the world will not agree, Xuande's credit, is not such a simple thing."

"That ......"

Liu Bei's eyes rolled, and he said with a smile: "This time, Jizhou and Youzhou have lost a lot of officials and officials because of the war, and there are also many officials and officials who have not fulfilled their duties, but abandoned their officials and fled.

Some counties lack two or three percent of officials, some counties even lack five or six percent of officials, and even the most serious shortage of personnel in Youbeiping County, directly lacking ninety percent of officials, these days, many things are arranged by the ministers to help the people of the General's Mansion to deal with, but this is not a long-term way.

Therefore, the minister hopes to select some capable young people and newcomers to serve as local officials, and then select some old and serious people to serve as the main governors. ”

Oh, I see.

I don't want anything, but I hope to arrange some positions for my subordinates and protégés to go to the local level, and in other words, it is still not a loss, and Liu Bei's political power will still rise sharply because of this.

But at least Liu Bei himself is not so conspicuous and prominent.

Empress Dowager Dong didn't think too much about it, and felt that Liu Bei's consideration was more appropriate, so she nodded.

"In this way, as long as it is a candidate recommended by the general, the imperial court will not allow it, Zhang Changshi, you are responsible for implementing it."

Zhang Rang nodded.

"Your Ministers obey."

Liu Bei was overjoyed.

"Thank you, Queen Mother."

When Dong Chong heard this, he was a little anxious, and he wanted to say something, but he couldn't open his mouth and couldn't say what he wanted to say.

After the matter was discussed, Liu Bei and the others said goodbye, went home to sleep, and on the way out of the Queen Mother's bedroom, Liu Bei still walked with Zhang Rang.

"What happened just now, thank you for helping me speak, Lao Zhang, I owe you a favor again."

"Hey, the more you owe me, the happier I am."

Zhang Rang said with a smile: "But this Dong Chong is not pure-minded, and he has some opinions about you, you have to be careful, not every time I can stop him, but the Empress Dowager seems to trust you a lot, and Dong Chong's instigation is not very successful." ”

"You don't want to think about how much money I spent on the happiness of the Empress Dowager, those gold, silver, pearls and jade are enough for all the people in Youzhou to eat food together for three months."

Liu Bei shook his head and said: "Dong Zhong can take out so much money to buy the old lady's happiness, and the old lady can also obey him, but it's a pity that Dong Chong is reluctant, and I am willing, so I'm not worried about what Dong Chong can do to me." ”

"This is your advantage, but no matter how much the Empress Dowager trusts you, she will not let you attack Dong Chong."

Zhang Rang said in a low voice: "This time against the Jinwen School, do you want to kill Dong Chong by the way?" I hate this thief when I look at it, and I always feel unhappy if I don't kill him. ”

"I didn't think about it."

Liu Bei said in a low voice: "Killing Dong Chong is equivalent to standing on the opposite side of the Empress Dowager, as far as the current situation is concerned, there is a lack of opportunities, and Dong Chong does not dare to stand up against me publicly, so the time has not come, let him go for the time being, and then find a chance to clean him up." ”

"What do you want to do?"

Zhang Rang looked at Liu Bei and said in a low voice: "You also said that it is not a simple matter to go against the Empress Dowager, then again, you should also know those rumors in Luoyang before, what do you think?" ”

(End of chapter)