In the nearly 20 years under Liu Biao's rule, the country was generally peaceful, but there were always some signs that the anthill had burst its embankment. book./

The collapse of the Min mountain in Shu land, blocking the river for three days, Liu Xiang was very emotional, thinking that this was a sign of the loss of the country.

His harem is the most smoky harem since the founding of the Han Dynasty, although there is a queen mother in charge, but unfortunately this old queen mother has never liked disputes, and it is her greatest wish to live a clean life.

The Zhao sisters are not bad in nature, but because they can't have children for a long time, they are full of fear of the future, they have no prince and no background, once they are old and decrepit, I am afraid that the cold palace is their destination.

This fear eventually turned into a twisted personality, and they were misbehaving in the harem, so the sisters' strategy was that they had no children themselves, and no other woman could have them, and even if they did, they would kill him. In order to get pregnant, they spent a lot of money, hired famous doctors, got all kinds of panaceas, and privately summoned strong and son-rich people to solve problems for them.

These things have become well-known in the entire palace, and they have even spread beyond the palace walls.

However, Liu Biao didn't know about it, and no one dared to stab Liu Biao about this matter, after all, it is difficult to have evidence of how many green hats Liu Biao wore.

Liu Biao's psychology at this time is also extremely contradictory, on the one hand, he very much hopes to have an imperial heir, on the other hand, he does not dare to disobey the will of the Zhao sisters, he even became their accomplice, helping them kill their own descendants, which can be regarded as a strange story through the ages.

But the Zhao sisters have always been infertile, and the country cannot do without a prince, and the problem of incense is a big problem at any time.

In the fourth year of Yuan Yan (9 BC), Liu Biao and his ministers saw another solution.

This year, Liu Xin, the king of Dingtao, and Liu Xing, the king of Zhongshan, came to the court at the same time.

Liu Xin, the king of Dingtao, was accompanied by officials of more than 2,000 stone in Dingtao, as well as his grandmother, Empress Dowager Fu. Empress Dowager Fu was Emperor Yuan's Jieyu and gave birth to a son Liu Kang, Liu Kang was originally very promising to become the emperor, but he was still a bad move, and after Liu Kang's death, his son Liu Xin inherited the throne.

Empress Dowager Fu has been reluctant since she followed her son to the feudal country.

Now that she is following her grandson back to Chang'an, she is definitely not here for sightseeing.

She brought countless treasures with her in order to fight for her grandson for the crown prince that had been vacant for more than 20 years.

On the other hand, Liu Xing, the king of Zhongshan, who came at the same time, really came for sightseeing, and he only brought a Taifu over. Liu Xing is Liu Biao's younger brother, and Liu Xing's mother is Feng Jieyu, who blocked the giant bear for Emperor Yuan.

Liu Xin is 16 years old this year, and Liu Xing has passed the age of establishment.

When the two of them stood in front of Liu Biao at the same time, Liu Biao found that his nephew Liu Xin was young, but he was much more sophisticated than Liu Xing.

Liu Biao smiled and asked Liu Xin: "Why did you bring so many officials to Chang'an?" ”

Liu Xin calmly replied: "According to the law, when the princes and kings enter the court, they have to accompany them with 2,000 stones, and the ministers and lieutenants are all 2,000 stones, so they are ordered to come together." ”

Liu Biao nodded, thinking that although this kid was young, he still understood the etiquette of the imperial court. "Not bad, not bad", I thought a little more highly of Liu Xin in my heart.

"What scriptures do you usually study?"

"Go back to Your Majesty, and learn the Book of Poetry."

"Alright, I'll test you."

Liu Xin nodded confidently.

Although Liu Biao is a lazy monarch, he is still quite familiar with the subset of classics and history, so he easily tested Liu Xin, but he didn't expect Liu Xin to be able to answer fluently.

Seeing Liu Biao and Liu Xin talking happily, Liu Xing, the king of Zhongshan on the side, felt bored in his heart, and could only drink alone, and Liu Biao didn't look at him very much from beginning to end.

"I think back then, his mother Feng Zhaoyi was a famous talented girl, but I didn't expect to give birth to such a son." Liu Biao said when he saw the figures of the two retreat.

As soon as the two kings left, Liu Xin's grandmother, the Empress Dowager Dingtao Fu, entered the palace and asked to see her.

Liu Biao was already in a good mood, so he summoned the Empress Dowager Dingtao Fu immediately, and as soon as they met, Liu Biao praised Liu Xin in front of the Empress Dowager Dingtao.

The Empress Dowager Dingtao Fu was overjoyed, and a burst of sycophants went up, and Liu Biao was even more flowered.

After seeing Liu Biao, the Empress Dowager Dingtao Fu went to the harem to meet the Zhao sisters and gave a big gift.

Smart people, you don't need to say it too clearly to know what it means, their sisters are worried about the future, and now the Empress Dowager Dingtao Fu has nothing to do, and the discerning person knows what she is for.

After the two sisters summed it up, they felt that it was not a way to help Liu Xin. Once Liu Xin's heir is successful, he will remember this kindness.

The Empress Dowager Dingtao Fu counted all the ministers who could speak in the court, and laid a good foundation for Liu Xin.

In fact, this matter is also a matter of your love and my wishes, the emperor has no children, and the officials always have to plan for the future, if they wait until the emperor dies to consider the question of which new emperor to attach to, then the daylily is cold.

Now, as soon as the people of Dingtao are so active, the officials immediately understand that this is an opportunity. The key is that there is news that even Empress Zhaoyi and Da Sima Wanggen are interested in helping Liu Xin, not to mention others.

After pondering for a while, the Empress Dowager Dingtao, Liu Xin and the entourage of officials all left with high expectations.

"Chang'an, we will come back eventually." Empress Dowager Fu looked at the Chang'an city wall and said.

In the first year of Suihe (8 years ago), after a year-long consideration, Liu Biao officially summoned important ministers to the palace to discuss the matter of the prince.

Prime Minister Zhai Fangjin, Imperial Historian Kong Guang, Right General Lian Bao, Later General Su Bo, Great Sima Wang Gen and other important ministers seem to have two opinions, one is Liu Xing, the king of Zhongshan, and the other is Liu Xin, who has a very good reputation.

In addition to Kong Guang, everyone else thinks that Liu Xin, the king of Dingtao, is more suitable, Kong Guang is the fourteenth grandson of Confucius, he is 20 years old as a lang, and he has become a doctor of imperial history for nearly 40 years, he adheres to principles for officials, strictly keeps secrets, and has a strong personality, but is a little pedantic.

In the matter of Lichu, the reason why he thought that the King of Zhongshan was more suitable was because he believed that the King of Zhongshan and Liu Biao were closer in blood, and in order to persuade everyone, he also specially quoted the story of the elder brother and the last brother in the "Book of Shang".

Kong Guang said this, but in his heart he actually admired Liu Xin more, he did this just to let the court have different voices, the so-called listening is clear, this is Kong Guang's purpose, not really to recommend King Zhongshan.

Everyone knows that Liu Biao himself is also more inclined to King Dingtao, King Dingtao is his next generation, and he is the same as his son.

A month later, the matter was officially decided, and Liu Biao decreed that Liu Xin would be crowned the crown prince and that he could go to Chang'an.

Kong Guang was demoted to court lieutenant because of this incident, as a warning, and his successor was the former court lieutenant He Wu.