On the corridor before the North Palace, there are old people walking on the old road.

The Great Changqiu Cao Festival, which had been closed for many days due to Cao Poshi's death, was summoned to the palace today.

A small eunuch led the way, and behind him, the old man, who was already gray, staggered away.

The palace wall is high, the corridor is long, and the Qin bricks and Han tiles stretch for hundreds of years.

Cao Jie naturally didn't need this little eunuch to guide him in front.

This road to the palace is already familiar to him.

This was the road he took when he entered the palace, this was the road he took when he sent Emperor Huan away, and this was the same road when he entered the palace to welcome His Majesty, and the killing of Chen Fan came out from here.

Extreme prosperity and decline, suddenly.

Cao Jie suddenly sighed and raised his eyes to look at the palaces around him.

There are many armor soldiers, and the palace is still the same.

It's just this road, he doesn't know how many times he can walk in his life.

"Cao Changqiu, we're just afraid that we're going to hurry. If you make your majesty wait for a long time, your majesty will be annoyed." When the little eunuch in front of him saw him stop, he had to urge with a trembling voice.

Cao Changqiu is in a high position, if he is annoyed by his urging, it is easy to want his life.

It's just that in between, he always has to pick one to offend.

And this is also the helplessness of the little people.

Sometimes they don't have a choice.

Cao Jie smiled and quickened his pace, but he didn't embarrass the little eunuch.

When he entered the palace at the beginning of his youth, he was as cautious as this little eunuch.

The palace is heavy, and those who are new to the palace should not only beware of the Majesty who can kill people when they open their mouths, but also always beware of those seniors who have smiling faces in front of them.

After all, at some point, they will hand a soft knife in the back.

The palace is full of people, and no one knows whether the person in front of him is a human or a ghost.

But even though the road ahead is full of dangers, he Cao Jie still stepped on blood, climbed high step by step, and came to this day.

Cao Jie looked at the steps in front of him, and suddenly asked the young eunuch in front of him, "Do you think I have the ability?"

"Cao Changqiu naturally has great skills. The slaves and maids are thinking day and night about being able to become people like Changqiu." This man did not hide it, and with envy in his eyes, he replied.

Cao Jie knew that what he said was from his heart, after all, he stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked at the stairs like this back then.

Until in the end, he became the one who could stand on the stairs and be next to His Majesty.

"What's so good about my position?" Cao Jie didn't stop, but he sighed a little while climbing the steps, "I have spent my life for power, and there is no one around me when I get old. You envy because you are standing on a low place, but the wind is strong in this high place."

"No one knows where Oita has been scraped and it will kill you."

The little eunuch followed him, not daring to speak.

…………

In the Dragon Garden, the Spirit Emperor was drinking alone.

The Northland wine is a little spicy at first, and it seems to have a fire dragon in the throat when you enter the mouth.

But after the first few sips, it makes people want to drink more and more.

At this time, the little eunuch walked into the garden with Cao Jie.

"Why did Cao Changqiu come late?" The Spirit Emperor asked with a smile, but there was no look of anger on his face that had been waiting for a long time.

"I hope Your Majesty will forgive your sins, the slave and maid did not intend to treat Your Majesty slowly. It's just that the slave maid walked halfway, and saw that the old hall in the palace was the same as before, and the slave and maid were already dying, and they were quite emotional. I stopped for a long time, so I came late."

….

Liu Hong nodded, "Beauty with white hair and heroic twilight have always been things that can't be avoided. Cao Changqiu doesn't have to be so worried. Cao Yue's ride, Changqiu still has to mourn."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Cao Jie said with a smile, "The matter of giving up my brother has also made the slave and maid reflect for many days, and now the slave and maid are already old and faint, so even if Your Majesty has not been summoned, the slave and maid will enter the palace to ask for resignation."

Hearing Cao Jie's words, Liu Hong put down the wine jar in his hand, raised his eyes and looked at Cao Jie, and after a long time, he said: "Now is an eventful autumn, back then

I remember Cao Changqiu's auxiliary achievements. Now Changqiu wants to give up and go? But what was wrong with what I did that made Changqiu's heart cold?"

"It's not Your Majesty's sake." Cao Jie knelt on the ground, "It's just that the slave maid has been too sad these days, and then I realized that I had already grown gray hair and lost my teeth before I knew it. If the slave and maid can't get involved, I'm afraid that it will delay Your Majesty's major affairs in the future."

Liu Hong laughed, "Changqiu doesn't need to be like this, I think Changqiu is just being too sad these days, and it will naturally turn around in a few days. What's more, Changqiu is inseparable from this palace, otherwise as soon as Changqiu goes, Zhang will let these people do things without measure, if they do something wrong, I may not be able to stop it."

Cao Jie has been in the palace for many years, and he is used to seeing the tricks in it, he has never been on good terms with Zhang Rang and others, if he is not in the palace, Zhang Rang and others may not be willing to let him live.

Cao Jie kowtowed again and again, "Slave and maid, thank you for not giving up on Your Majesty, and you will definitely do your best to die for Your Majesty."

"One more thing." Liu Hong picked up the wine jar on the table, "It's about the spirits in my hands."

___________

On the corridor outside the North Palace, Cao Jie walked slowly.

At this time, he remembered what Emperor Fang Cai Ling said, although he had a grudge against killing his brother, he had to admit that he underestimated today's young people.

Whether it is the second son of the Yuan family or Liu Bei, he dared to hit His Majesty with the idea, and his courage was really not small.

Cao Poshi died at the hands of such a person, but he was not wronged at all.

Just now, he asked the Spirit Emperor to resign, naturally he didn't really resign.

Emperor Ling also knew about this, so a scene where the little eunuch on the side was moved and the monarch and the minister were in tears, but it was just a tacit understanding of the monarch and the minister.

Even if he is really old and faint, even if Emperor Ling has already looked at him unpleasantly, but now Zhang Rang and others are still a little immature, and the only one who can suppress the outer court with prestige is him Cao Jie.

And Emperor Ling's last words naturally asked him not to move Liu Bei and the others.

Cao Jie sighed in his heart, "The future is terrifying."

He suddenly stopped, just because there was a real "junior" in front of him.

"Let me hear that Cao Changqiu has been closed for many days because of Cao Yue's riding, I don't want to meet here, I don't see you for a few days, I don't want Cao Changqiu to be full of gray hair. It's really embarrassing."

"Changqiu still has to take care of his body more, don't overwork. It's better to do less or less, after all, no matter how important things are, they are not as important as their lives, right?"

Zhang Rang also stopped when he saw Cao Jie, with a mocking smile on his face.

Now is the time for him to achieve his ambition, although Cao Jie's position is above him, but in his eyes he is just a sick tiger, although he has residual power, he is no longer afraid.

….

"It seems that Zhang Changshou has been in the palace for many years, but he has never learned to respect his predecessors. If you are so arrogant, you won't be able to go far in the future." Cao Jie said with a smile.

"Hey, let's not go far, I'm afraid that Cao Changqiu won't be able to see him."

Zhang Rang smiled: "It's just that most of you can see Cao Changqiu's ending. Even when I think about it, I feel embarrassed. Cao Changqiu, the remaining days must be cherished."

Cao Jie laughed, "Then I'll thank Zhang Changzhi for his concern." As for you and me, who will take the first step, the overall situation is undecided, who can say for sure?"

Although the two have never been harmonious, they at least maintain a superficial harmony on weekdays, but today's verbal confrontation completely tore their faces.

Zhang Rang the little eunuch in front of him trembled, holding his breath and concentrating, already sweating.

The city gate caught fire, affecting the fish in the pond.

The big guys fight the method, and it's often the little ones who die.

Zhang Rang just sneered when he heard this, and walked forward, "Cao Changqiu, then let's see."

He glanced at the little eunuch in front of Cao Jie. "Come with me."

The little eunuch confessed and went with Zhang Rang.

Cao Jie smiled, but he was not angry at this little eunuch's choice.

If it had been him, he would have chosen it this way.

The world is like this, in fact, everyone has no choice.

…………

Zhang Rang walked into the garden and saw that Emperor Ling was staring at a group of wild deer running in all directions.

He didn't dare to step forward to disturb, so he immediately lowered his head and took a few steps forward, bowing his head to greet him.

"Zhang Rang, look at the wild deer in this courtyard, they have been kept in captivity for a long time, and they only know how to run and frolic all day long, and they have no desire to win and fight, isn't it boring." Liu Hong said suddenly.

"What Your Majesty said is that this is why some other beasts should be put in the garden, so that these deer herds will not be too comfortable between life and death."

Although Zhang Rang didn't know what Liu Hong meant by mentioning this matter, he had served Liu Hong for many years and knew that it would never be wrong to follow him.

"You're right." Liu Hong smiled and turned his head, "Just now Cao Jie and I resigned, I didn't agree, you won't resent me, right?"

Zhang Rang immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily, "How dare the slave resentful of Your Majesty."

"It's good not to hold a grudge against me." Liu Hong beckoned him to get up, "In my eyes, you are the deer in this garden. If one day, the beast that threatens them dies, and no new beast appears, then the herd of deer will be boring. You have followed me for many years, and I think you should understand what I mean."

Zhang Rang was already sweating, and his forehead was covered with cold sweat, but he didn't dare to raise his hand to wipe it at will, "The slave understands."

"It's good to understand."

Liu Hong smiled, and picked up the wine jar on the table, "But you have been with me for many years, and I will not treat you badly. Now that I have a big business in my hands, I immediately think of you."

"You don't want to let me down."

…………

In the wine house in the east of Luoyang City, Liu Bei and Chen Xu were studying the wine recipe left by Li Ping.

Now that most of the things have been finalized, the next thing is to do some serious things.

The sentence that Liu Hong asked Yuan Yu to bring back seemed to be a joke, but if they really couldn't let Liu Hong see the real money, the joke would become the truth at that time.

….

"Uncle Chen, how is the research?" Liu Bei looked at Chen Xu, who was looking at the wine recipe in his hand.

When it comes to drinking, Chen Xu is one of the experts, and he can only drink.

"No wonder I can't make the taste of this wine for so many years, it turns out that Lao Li still kept a hand back then." Seeing the rise, Chen continued to shoot and rise.

When the two were in the army, Li Ping once passed on some wine-making skills to Chen Xu. Therefore, when Liu Bei first came here, he could taste some of the taste of Li Ping's brewing water.

It's just that Li Ping still hides many details on the wine recipe, so although the wine is not bad, it is still much worse than the wine made by Li Ping.

"Can Uncle Chen be sure that he will make a drink like Uncle Lee?" Liu Bei said nervously.

Although he has now opened up the joints of Luoyang, it is just that if he wants the wine to sell well, the quality of the wine must naturally be hard enough.

In his opinion, the quality of the wine brewed by Li Ping was good enough, but Li Ping's sales power was too poor, so although the quality of the wine was not bad, it could only be marketed in the border area, and it was just a matter of food and clothing all year round.

He came through and naturally understood the truth that the aroma of wine was also afraid of the deep alleys.

Although he passed the passing grade in marketing back then, it is enough now.

"Hey, give me some days, don't say it's making drinks like Lao Li, it's not difficult to surpass him. He's all the old ways, and I don't know how many wine recipes I've seen in Luoyang City over the years, but I can improve his recipe by one or two." Chen Xu is quite confident.

Over the years, in order to be able to drink the taste of the year, Duan Cheng has collected many wine recipes from Luoyang City.

It's just that these people are not Li Ping after all, no matter how Chen Xu tries, he will never be able to make Li Ping's unique taste of border spirits.

Liu Bei glanced at Duan Cheng who was drinking sullenly on the side in surprise.

There was no need to ask, these recipes must have been "found" by Duan Cheng from the wine houses all over the city, and he had the temper of Duan Sili

, which dares not to give.

Duan Cheng raised his head and pulled the corners of his mouth, "If I can ask for their recipe, they will all be grateful."

Liu Bei knew that Duan Cheng was telling the truth, and in Luoyang City, how many people broke their heads and wanted to have some relationship with Duan Cheng.

At this time, someone pushed the door in, thin and white, and his words were quite high-pitched.

"It turns out that Duan Sili is also here, and we haven't seen each other for a long time. I thought it was because Duan Sili was a noble person, but I didn't want to hide here and drink." The man smiled, as if he was an old acquaintance with Duan Cheng.

Duan Cheng didn't look up, but just said, "I don't know which gust of wind is blowing the wrong wind today, so that Zhang Changshi can come to this humble place."

Liu Bei looked at this person, and Zhang Changshi, who was in Duan Cheng's mouth, naturally would not be a bystander.

The person who came was Zhang Rang.

Zhang Rang smiled, unimpressed by Duan Cheng's words, now this sick tiger is no longer in his eyes, but there is no need to deliberately provoke this person.

"I'm not here to look for you today, but for Liu Bei."

Liu Bei squinted, being approached by someone like Zhang Rang was not a good thing anyway.

"Under Liu Xuande, I don't know what Zhang Changzhi is looking for me?" Liu Bei said with a smile.

….

Zhang Rang glanced him up and down, "Liu Langjun is really a talent, I heard that he is not only a disciple of Duke Lu, but also a member of the Han family. The future is limitless."

[In view of the general environment,

"The waiter praised it."

Liu Bei replied with a thorough courtesy, and now that he has offended Cao Jie, it is not good to make enemies in the palace again.

Zhang Rang glanced around the room, his eyes showed some vague disdain, maybe he thought this place was too shabby, he would not come to such a place in the past, even if he begged him.

If it weren't for the words of the Spirit Emperor this time, he wouldn't have come here.

"It's actually nothing big for me to come this time, I heard from Your Majesty that Liu Langjun wants to open a wine house. I think Liu Langjun will definitely be a thousand miles in the future, so I also want to get involved, I wonder if Langjun will agree?" Zhang Rang said with a smile.

At this time, he wished that Liu Bei couldn't hear the meaning of his words, so he refused.

When the time came, he annoyed His Majesty, and naturally asked him to walk around without eating.

"If you can get Zhang Chang's help, you can't ask for it." I don't want Liu Bei to just be silent for a moment, and said, "It's just that now Your Majesty accounts for sixty percent, the Yuan brothers account for one percent, Duan Si subordinates account for one percent, Bei accounts for one percent, and there are still arrangements for Beibei. There's really nothing extra to give to Zhang Changshi."

"Liu Jun's words are interesting." Zhang Rang laughed, with a bit of a terrible coldness.

"Half of my share can be given to Chang Chang Chang from my share." Duan Cheng drank the wine and said casually.

Liu Bei turned his head to look at him, and saw that he had his head down, and he couldn't see the expression on his face clearly.

"Then I want to thank Duan Sili." Zhang Rang smiled, "I have nothing to do this time here, just for this matter, so I will go back and explain." Liu Langjun, do it yourself."

Zhang Rang didn't say anything more and walked away.

"Thank you Duan Gong this time." Liu Beiquan sat down to drink with Duan Cheng when nothing happened.

"You are a smart person, you should be able to guess the reason for Zhang Rang's trip, and you are not afraid at all?" Duan Cheng said with a smile.

"Zhang Rang is here to be sent by His Majesty. Today, I am uneasy, and I have always felt that I have undercounted something, but now I realize that I have undercounted the eunuchs."

Liu Bei took a sip of wine and sighed, "Now the eunuchs in the palace are in power. The first is Jian Shuo, judging from Jian Shuo's previous actions, this person is most likely a lackey of His Majesty's disciples, and he is only loyal to His Majesty."

"The second is Cao Jie, Cao Jie is an old minister of the former dynasty, and the reason why he can still occupy a high position now is because there is no one who can replace this person. Your Majesty is forbearance with this person, but fortunately, this person knows the current affairs and knows how to advance and retreat, otherwise the grass on the grave would be three feet high by now."

"The third is Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others, these people are now the most trusted by His Majesty, and they have a faint tendency to replace Cao Jie and these old men, and they will definitely control the court in the future."

"The fourth is

Yuan Yu is such a eunuch force that is free from the three. The other three can cooperate but also wander away. The eunuch has become such a trend, it may not be that His Majesty did it deliberately."

Duan Cheng smiled, "I have been working in Luoyang for many years to understand the things, but you have figured it out. His Majesty may not be a good emperor today, but his heart and means are not bad."

Liu Bei nodded, "So Your Majesty wants Zhang Rang to enter the game for the sake of checks and balances. As for whether it is a eunuch like Yuan Yu or a family like Er Yuan who wants to check and balance, I am afraid that His Majesty himself has not thought about it now."

"You're right." Duan Cheng poured a bowl of wine, "The art of checks and balances is a common way for kings. Now that I think about the dispute between me and Zhang Huan back then, there may not have been some shadows of the art of checks and balances. It's just that we were vigorous back then, but if we weren't vigorous, the two of us might not be alive today."

"Duan Gong is reasonable." Liu Bei smiled, "So only by muddying the water can the people in the depths be safer."

Duan Cheng was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean by this?"

"Duan Gong, don't forget, there is still a hundred percent in the spare hand." Liu Bei poured a bowl of wine to himself, "This is Cheng, I have already thought of who to give it to."

Fall to the first