The captain of the city gate, with only 1,000 city gate soldiers; High-ranking generals such as generals, hussar generals, chariot generals, and guard generals usually also have guards, ranging in number from tens to hundreds or thousands; The Shaofu, one of the Nine Qings, and the eunuchs under it, can also be regarded as a ministry; The prince of the East Palace, who usually has six rates, also has hundreds to one or two thousand troops in his hands. In addition, the imperial court will also recruit or recruit some additional troops for various purposes, but usually only one or two thousand people.

Therefore, in peacetime, the garrison of the entire Luoyang City will not exceed 30,000 people. In the current city of Luoyang, all the garrisons have a total of more than 40,000 people, slightly more than the usual troops, all because the Yellow Turban Uprising endangered Sheji.

The guard captain and the captain of the city gate are in the hands of the general He Jin, and at the same time, He Jin himself has thousands of guards, and he ordered Ding Yuan, the commander of Wumeng, to recruit and transfer 2,000 soldiers from the state, and his brother He Miao also has a department, so He Jin directly controls more than 20,000 troops, and has the right to mobilize the remaining more than 20,000 troops. The strength of Luoyang City is only so full, so it seems that Ma Chao's 30,000 elite soldiers are of great importance, and it is worthy of competition and vigilance among various political forces.

Therefore, Wu Fu had no choice but to turn back, they knew that there were no 30,000 Xiliang soldiers of Ma Chao, and only relying on the two or three thousand soldiers of Wu Fu and Ma Rixuan, if they really wanted to do something, I was afraid that they would not even be able to touch the edge of the palace wall of the north and south palaces, and they would die first without a place to be buried.

Lu Zhi couldn't help but ask again: "Could it be that the price we offer is not generous enough to be worth the risk?" ”

Liu Yu said: "Have you thought about it?" Even if he made up his mind to assist the son of today to fight against the general He Jin and regain the military power, although the credit is great, the most that the son can give to the foot today is only to pay homage to the general. And what we can give is one of the county marquis and the three dukes. It is clear which is more important, and I hope to think twice about it. ”

Ma Chao smiled and said, "Your conditions are not ungenerous, if it were someone else, you might immediately agree." But here, it doesn't work. Why? It is because I think that your political ideals are ridiculous. ”

Ma Rihui asked, "Why do you think so?" ”

Ma Chao smiled and asked: "May I ask Lu Lingjun, if you join you and others in Xia, lead the Xiliang soldiers under your command to successfully control the North and South Second Palaces and the West Garden, and successfully control Shangshutai and the current Majesty, you can logically kill all the eunuchs in the Second Palace, and force the current Majesty to abdicate the throne in Shangshutai." At that time, there will be no owner in the throne, and there will be no king in the world, who should you welcome to inherit the position of the Son of Heaven and worship the Han family temple? ”

As soon as this question was said, more than a dozen people including Lu Zhi, Liu Yu, and Ma Rixuan were immediately speechless. Because so far, they have only planned to enlist Ma Chao to join their party, and they have not thought about the next step after deposing the current emperor, nor have they thought about who should be chosen to succeed them.

Ma Chao said: "Your Majesty has an heir today, the eldest prince argues, Queen He is the nephew of the great general He Jin, presumably he will not become what you think." The Second Prince's Association, born by Wang Meiren, is still young, and Wang Meiren is dead, so if he succeeds to the throne, there is naturally no disadvantage of foreign relatives interfering in politics.

In addition to the two princes, there are many Han clan relatives in the world, but they are far apart in blood, and it is too cumbersome to choose one person from many clansmen, and it is easy to attract the opposition of the clansmen. Therefore, the assumption for you below is that it is best to choose the two princes to cooperate as the heir and inherit the throne. ”

After listening to Ma Chao's analysis, Lu Zhi, Liu Yu and others also felt that Ma Chao's design was the most feasible, and the Second Prince's Association was their most suitable candidate for the heir.

Ma Chao said again: "Then I might as well assume that after we successfully abolish the emperor, we will elect the second prince to succeed to the throne." You must be thinking that the second prince is in Youchong, and he has no relatives to support him behind him, so he will definitely choose us as auxiliary ministers after succeeding to the throne. At that time, we will be able to exercise the imperial power, cut off the monstrous power of the great general He Jin, implement benevolent government, and rectify the world. ”

Ma Chao's words were completely in line with the assumption, and more than a dozen people including Lu Zhi and Liu Yu couldn't help but nod in agreement after hearing it.

Ma Chao said: "But you haven't thought about it, once we abolish it rashly and set up a young master, what should the people of the world think?" In the four hundred years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the accumulated popularity is not something we can speculate. In the eyes of the world, no matter how bright and upright Yi Yin Huoguang is, he is also guilty of the following. We deposed our father as courtiers, and upheld imperial power. How can the people of the world not regard us as rebellious ministers and thieves, and Wang Mang second?

Looking down, the heroes of the world will definitely rise up one after another to crusade against us. There will be many ambitious people who secretly harbor ghosts, and they will rise up in the name of the Qing monarch. Therefore, once you agree to your request to rectify the world together, the only end will be to cause greater turmoil, affecting the whole world and causing disturbance and unrest among the people.

What's more, ambitious people mixed with the turmoil will take advantage of the situation to usurp power and change the dynasty. The Yellow Turban Rebellion has plunged most of the world into chaos, and many people have suffered. If there is another turmoil, how can the Han family not fall? Is this what you want? ”

Ma Chao finished speaking word by word, and after Lu Zhi, Liu Yu and others listened to it, their faces were already like ashes. Only then did they realize that their carefully planned plan was full of flaws, and it was not right at all. In the end, instead of having the effect of correcting the world, it will become a dangerous attempt to endanger the world.

Wu Fu said unconvinced: "Then we can also choose not to establish a prince, but to choose the clan to succeed to the throne!" ”

Ma Chao asked, "Sect succession?" Didn't Captain Wu think that the succession of the clan was also a major disaster of the decadence of the Han dynasty nowadays? The succession of the clan is certainly above etiquette and reason, and it is impeccable. However, the clan is distributed all over the world, and there is no power to rely on in the capital. Once the clan enters the capital, it will naturally attract the easiest eunuchs to consolidate their imperial power. Emperor Xiaohuan, who reuses the five marquis, and His Majesty, who reuses the ten permanent servants, are both clan relatives. Isn't that the best example of that? ”

Wu Fu was still unconvinced and said: "That's just because Emperor Xiaohuan and today's son is stupid." Among the clansmen, there may not be no virtuous people. The most virtuous person is none other than Liu Bo'an! ”

Bo'an is Liu Yu's word.

As soon as Wu Fu's words came out, Liu Yu, who was named, immediately widened his eyes in fright.

Wu Fu said: "We can nominate Liu Bo'an to inherit the throne, he is one of us, if he becomes the Son of Heaven, how can we not succeed in what we are planning?" ”

Ma Chao couldn't help laughing, because Ma Chao knew that in history, Yuan Shao once elected Liu Yu as the emperor, and let Liu Yu scold him and scold him back. Liu Yu is extremely loyal and upright, how could he agree to Wu Fu's request?