"Your Majesty has long said that Xiao Xiangguo has the talent of 'town and country, caring for the people, giving salaries, and endless grain roads', and how long the war has been fought, the grain, grass, soldiers, and supplies in charge of him have been transported out of Guanzhong in an endless stream, ensuring His Majesty's confidence in chasing the Central Plains.

His Majesty has a good understanding of this point, so when he is rewarded for meritorious deeds, he is named the first meritorious hero. ”

Xiao He and Liu Ji and Lu Pheasant are all fellow villagers, he served as a gong cao when he was in Pei County, and wholeheartedly supported Liu Ji, the chief of the pavilion, when Liu Ji went to Xianyang to serve, his colleagues pooled money to practice for him, each of them contributed 300 yuan, and Xiao He, who was only plain and thrifty, proudly contributed 500 yuan, lest Liu Ji be wronged in the capital's food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Later, when Chu and Han were fighting, Xiao He held Guanzhong steadily from beginning to end, and gave Liu Ji a solid bottom -

It's a big deal, you can go back and learn to stand in the west like the Qin State did at the beginning, and confront the six countries in the east.

"I think that Your Majesty is probably also thinking of the love of more than a dozen people from Xiao Xiangguo's clan to follow him, and only then did he learn that there are more than ten Kundi in the Xiangxiang country, and each of them will be given food."

After hearing this, Bo Ji slowly added.

Yes, Xiao He also sent all the descendants of the clan who could fight well to the front-line army, to put it mildly, it was to accompany the clan, but in fact, all the men of the old Xiao family were used as protons to eliminate Liu Ji's own suspicions about the independent management of the rear base camp.

"Well, Your Majesty said in front of everyone yesterday that he would give Xiao Xiangguo another 2,000 food estates to repay his friendship for giving him an extra 200 yuan for the travel expenses."

Hearing such anecdotes, Bo Ji couldn't help but smile, covering her mouth and chuckling,

"Xiao Xiangguo's deal is really a good deal.

He is now a marquis, the most food in the world, plus these two thousand households, and other heroes are really incomparable. ”

Lu Pheasant nodded with a smile, but in his heart, he thought of what was said in "Zhou Li", the king controls the ministers with "eight handles", that is, the monarch can control and balance his subordinates from eight different aspects.

These eight handles are in order, Jue, Lu, Yu, Place, Sheng, Take, Abolish and Punish -

Jue to control its wealth, Lu to control its wealth, to control its luck, to control its line, to control its life, to control its poverty, to abolish its crime, and finally, to control its fault.

In the face of Xiao He, who is the prime minister and ranks first in the country, the glory that can be given to him has reached the extreme, and it has long been impossible to add more, so there are obviously not many tools left for Liu Ji in the eight handles, and there are almost only three choices left: seizure, abolition and punishment.

"This is not a good thing, after a while, Xiao He, who has always been kind to the people, will soon be forced to start greedy for ink, usury, and then fish and meat in the country." Lu Pheasant pursed his lips, slandering in his heart, but it was difficult to say it.

This group of old brothers knows the emperor's suspicions too well, in order to protect themselves, everyone crossed the sea with eight immortals, each showing their magical powers, and this trick that Xiao He once used in history is called self-defilement.

It's just that, judging from the results known to Lu Pheasant, this trick only barely passed, and the process was still thrilling.

***

Xiao He was extremely favored in this room, and Handan, the capital of Zhao Guoguo in the distance, came with a moving mourning.

Zhang Ao, the dusty prince of Zhao, traveled day and night, rushed from Handan to Luoyang, knelt in front of Liu Ji, and cried to report the death of Zhang Er, the old king of Zhao.

In the last few days, my father couldn't speak, but ordered someone to turn his couch in the direction where Luoyang City was located, and his eyes couldn't stop crying.

The minister knows that his father has regrets in his heart, and he still wants to see His Majesty again! ”

Liu Ji sat in the nine-foot-high palace of the Son of Heaven in Nangong, with layers of drapery woven with warrior statues hanging beside him, and the majesty of the Son of Heaven was overwhelming.

Zhang Ao, who was dressed in plain clothes, lay on the ground with tears in his eyes, and didn't dare to look up carefully, only relying on his afterglow to catch a glimpse of the figure that seemed to be in the ninefold heaven, and suddenly shook suddenly, startling the little yellow door on the left and right to step forward to help.

"Zhang Er, what else did he say?" Liu Ji asked, his voice trembling.

"Before my father died, he also told me to be His Majesty's most loyal courtier, and to always serve the Han and the emperor."

Zhang Ao kowtowed desperately, and couldn't help crying again.

Liu Ji said "um" softly, only to feel that his eyes were blank, his ears were buzzing, and a series of pictures flashed in his mind, which turned out to be his high-spirited face when he went to Waihuang County for the first time to see Zhang Er more than ten years ago.

In my memory, the two of them were still young, at that time Liu Ji had not yet become the pavilion chief, just a full cloth cloth, and Zhang Er was Liu Ji's idol and the most famous guest under Wei Wuji, the king of Wei Guoxinling.

In the village of Waihuang County, he looked at the ring-headed big knife in Zhang Er's hand with great envy, and listened to him boast proudly, this is a token given by Xinling Jun himself, from the hands of the best craftsmen, and it is the fastest knife in the entire Wei region.

At this moment, Liu Ji was stunned and shed tears, it turned out that Brother Zhang Er would also say wrong, the fastest knife in the world is time.

He sighed heavily and said, "I know, Brother Zhang Er is my good brother, but it's a pity that he left too early. ”

Xiao He in the hall also wiped away his tears and said,

"King Zhao is a generation of celebrities, famous in the world, and the minister thinks that the nickname can be a 'Jing' word."

"Oh? Is there anything special about Jingzi? ”

"There are clouds in the law, and the scenery is said to be from righteousness, and the righteousness is just said to be the scene, and the ambition is to be said to be the scene, and the virtue can be looked up to the scene. King Zhao is righteous and deserves this word. ”

"It's fine. The First Emperor abolished the law and felt that others were not qualified to judge him. I think that in life, to dare to act is to ask for a public opinion in the world.

The word Jing is good, so you want this word, and Zhang Er is the king of Jing. ”

Liu Ji gradually calmed down, and said softly to Zhang Ao,

"You kid, you came to Luoyang to see me in a hurry, and you didn't bring more guards, why did you only come with a total of ten people? If there is a little bit of a difference on the way, how can I explain it to your father?

In this way, don't rush back to Handan, just stay in the palace for a few more days, come every day to learn about military affairs, and also go to meet the queen and princess, and talk more with them.

After a few days, the canonization edict and ritual notes are ready, and you will go back to bury your father with the capital of the new king of Zhao. ”

"Minister, obey the holy decree."

***

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the imperial power was not lower than that of the kingdom, and Liu Ji and the central government knew nothing about the situation in the vassal states, so he naturally did not know that the seriously ill old Zhao King Zhang Er was on the sickbed, and his son Zhang Ao and the old ministers of Zhao had a thrilling dialogue with him.

After half a year of lingering illness, Zhang Er's body was like a candle in the wind, quickly weakening, and the gray and dry straw-like hair and sunken cheeks all told that the owner of this body was close to running out of oil.

He laboriously reached out his crumpled hand from his bedclothes, and stretched out his son who was kneeling in front of the couch and crying, Zhang Ao hurriedly stepped forward with two steps, wiped his tears with one hand, and held his father's hand tightly with the other.

"After I died, Ao Er immediately set off to Luoyang to face the saint, first, to report the funeral, and second, to ask Princess Shanglu Yuan.

The queen cherishes her daughter, and only if you marry her can you be truly safe.

Also, when you go to Luoyang, you must be light and simple, and you are not allowed to bring too many guards, so that Your Majesty can feel at ease. ”

Zhang Ao lowered his head and cried, nodded fiercely, and Zhao Guocheng and Zhao Wu, who were kneeling on the side, both showed indignation, but they were covered by sadness and were not easy to detect.

Zhang Er saw it in his eyes, and he was anxious for a while, so he forcibly propped up his upper body, gasped and said,

"Guan Gao, Zhao Wu, you have followed me for 30 years, it is a lifelong friendship, I will entrust my son to you two today......

This son of mine is too clever and quick-witted, and he is easy to slander and jealous. If you still recognize me as a master, you must help the young master to cultivate his obscurity and protect his life.

If you dare to instigate him from the side and cause great trouble, you will be the eternal sinners of my Zhao family...... I will not be blind under the Nine Springs. ”

Guan Gao and Zhao Wu responded in a muffled voice, without saying a word, only kowtowing continuously.

"In this world, after all, the surname is Liu, and our kingdoms with different surnames will not last long.

You are so good to do it yourself, don't try to fight with Liu Ji and Lu Pheasant, you ...... can't fight the two of them. ”