The news of the death of the Han Emperor Liu Bei spread all over Guanzhong along with the messengers of the documents, and there were also many messengers who went to Yizhou and Jingzhou along the Baochuan Road.

Subsequently, there was also Liu Chan's decree to ascend the throne as emperor and become emperor:

I Liu Chan, inheriting the legacy of the previous emperor, and the re-sending of the Hesheji, is now the emperor's throne, and the order is in the world:

In the past, my father was the emperor, and it was difficult to start a business, and the road was blue, so as to enlighten the mountains and forests. Diligence and slackness in the night are the great Han Yu Longping. However, the day is not a holiday, and the father and emperor died, and the death of the emperor is inherited from the throne. I am only cold and thin, and I am shallow in my studies, and I am afraid of the burden of Fuke. However, thinking of the importance of the society and the hope of the people, he did not dare to resign.

From now on, I should inherit the past and forge ahead into the future. Based on filial piety in the world, respect for the virtuous and meritorious. It is necessary to be lenient and fierce, and to give both grace and might, so as to reassure the people and determine the Quartet.

Although I am not talented, I am willing to encourage the ministers to live up to the trust of my father. It is still dependent on the cooperation of the ministers, and the people are united in the grand event to achieve the cause of peace.

Announce to the world, and make the salty envoy known.

This order was naturally learned by Cao Zhen in Yongxian.

Liu Bei died!

That's the good news.

For example, before Ma Chaoxue died, he occupied Yongxian County and severely damaged the Han army, and now that Liu Bei has died, can he go further?

Take Chang'an and recover Chang'an?

However, the expression on Cao Zhen's face was very ugly.

His brow furrowed, like two small black snakes about to entangle, releasing a thick sense of displeasure and anger. Between the eyebrows, a deep wrinkle runs through it, like a trace of being carved by the years, adding a bit of vicissitudes and majesty.

Liu Bei's death is good news, but the Wei army on the Eastern Front was defeated, and now even if Liu Bei is dead, it is useless.

The tide is over!

"Damn!"

Cao Zhen broke the bamboo letter in his hand and slammed it with a punch on the case in front of him.

Under the loud noise, the generals on both sides of the hall were startled.

"The Han army is preparing to send troops to attack me, what do you think our army should do?"

He = Cao Zhen's face was pale, and the muscles on his cheeks twitched slightly, as if he was trying his best to restrain his inner emotions, but he couldn't completely hide the anger that was about to erupt.

Hao Zhao and Guo Huai glanced at each other, stepped forward one after another, and said: "General, the matter has come to this point, what can be done, but withdraw from Yongxian County and make another calculation." ”

Yongxian is in the plain, it is not very easy to defend, and now that the Han army has won a battle, if there are no reinforcements, they will stick to Yongxian, and it has nothing to do with waiting for death.

Without the supply of food and grass, how can we support it?

"Those scholars, those heroes, they really damn it, my Great Wei is not thin on them, but in such a dangerous time, but I don't see their help, I will only fall into the well!"

Cao Zhen wrote to the scholars of Longxi and Liangzhou, asking them to transfer grain and grass, and even wrote threatening words.

However.

A small number of scholars responded, but they only symbolically sent some money, silk, grain and grass, and most of the scholars didn't see it, and even the messenger who replied to the letter was gone.

Needless to say, he must have been intercepted and killed by these families.

How can Cao Zhen not know the thoughts of these people?

Even at the critical moment, the Wei army won, and they can also use the excuse that they did not see the messenger and did not know the military order, so as to escape punishment.

These damn warriors are really like loaches, slippery, and really annoying.

As for his desire to capture the nearby Warrior Dock Fort and the Alien Dock Fort, plunder its grain and grass to supply the army.

outcome

The results were scarce.

Although the dock fort of the Huyan Department is not strong, Zhang Bao sent troops to help, and the Wei army lost troops and still couldn't take this place.

By now, Cao Zhen has also had some emo.

After thinking for a long time, Cao Zhen said: "Defend is not able to defend, take advantage of the Han army has not yet come, take the people in the city and the prisoners, and bring them to Huangshui City, and then transfer them to Liangzhou or Longxi, stick to Huangshui City, return to the city, Longguan, and stop the westward advance of the Han Kingdom!" ”

There's no way, it's easy to attack and defend.

Now he can only come on guard.

"The Admiral is wise!"

Guo Huai had long wanted to slip away.

Now that I am staying in Yongxian for one more day, there is a little more risk.

Now retreat, there is still a glimmer of life.

In fact, in Guo Huai's heart, he didn't have much hope for holding Longxi and Liangzhou.

The momentum of the Han Kingdom is fierce, how can those warriors and heroes obey the Great Wei again?

It's likely to turn the other cheek.

In his opinion, it should be a circle, through Hanyang, Anding, and Beidi, to enter the state, which is the way to preserve.

But Guo Huai also understood that he couldn't say this, because he couldn't afford to lose Longyou and Liangzhou.

In the same way, even Cao Zhengui, as a general of the army, cannot afford such a responsibility.

That's why

Staying at the pass seemed to be their only option.

It's just that

Is there really a way out of this choice?

Guo Huai's heart beat a drum.

"Nothing that can't be transported away in the city, don't leave it to the Han Kingdom, and burn Yongxian!"

There's so much you can't take with you.

A fire burned, it's a pity.

But Cao Zhen was furious, and no one was willing to touch his brow, so the generals in the middle of the field agreed one after another.

Before Zhang Bao, Ma Dai, and Liu Feng's army was assembled, Cao Zhen thought about running away.

The noses of all ethnic groups in Guanzhong are all dogs, and they are very sensitive, and when they learned about the situation in Guanzhong, they stepped forward one after another to express their attitude.

I hope to be able to have a good position in the new dynasty.

Dr. Jing Feast is the hot spot for them to compete.

But there is another key, which is to stuff women around Liu Chan.

That is, to choose a concubine!

At this moment, in Chang'an City, Du You's mansion was about to be flattened.

But there was no joy on his face, but it was as if he had eaten a few catties of Ollie, which was extremely ugly.

How can it be so easy to choose a concubine for the emperor?

Especially for the selection of concubines today, if you are not careful, you may not be able to protect your head.

"We come according to the system, and we must not engage in favoritism!"

Du You looked at the middle doctor who came out of the palace, Ye Tingcheng, and Xiangfu, and said solemnly.

As long as he follows the procedure, even if he is not satisfied, what can he do?

He did his best.

There's no reason why you're going to me!

Du You opened the book and quietly watched the process of selecting concubines in the Han Dynasty.

The concubine selection system has a long history.

In the pre-Qin period, although there were activities to select women to enter the palace, they were not formalized.

At that time, tyrannical kings such as Xia Wei and Shang Xuan preferred to obtain the women they liked by snatching.

It seems that the methods of violence were to the tastes of these emperors, and thus often led to bloody conquests and persecution of other surrounding tribes.

By the time of the powerful Han Dynasty, things had become much more civilized.

Most of the concubines in the Western Han Dynasty came from the families of ministers and relatives, but there was already a move to select women from good folk families to enter the palace as "picking women". These "picking girls" are female officials in the harem, although they also have the opportunity to be favored, but they are not yet officially selected concubines.

When Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty Liu Xiu, he began a formal concubine selection activity when the imperial court collected taxes from the world in August every year.

According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Queen's Chronicle", in August, the ministers of the court and the central government began to look for a harem for Liu Xiu in the countryside around Luoyang.

"(Liu Xiu) sent the doctor and the court and the minister, in Luoyang Township to see the good family virgins, over thirteen years old, under twenty, beautiful appearance, legal appearance, carry back the harem, depending on whether it is possible, but use the emperor."

In other words, there were clear criteria for choosing concubines at that time. A girl must be born into a well-documented white family as a virgin, i.e., a virgin.

Aged over 13 years old and under 20 years old, with a good and beautiful appearance, and the appearance of the bone law meets the standards stipulated by the royal family.

If they are chosen by the officials, they will be carried into the harem for further selection.

Since this is the emperor's will, resistance is definitely impossible, and some people are willing to have their children enter the palace to enjoy a rich life, and even mothers and children are more expensive; Some families don't want their children to lose their free life, so they go to the deep palace to keep their white heads.

In any case, the selection of concubines is so mandatory that the people have to follow the rules and regulations like paying taxes.

Once in the palace, further screening begins.

Eunuchs and female officials would do a full body examination of the girls. Whether there are defects in the body, whether the skin is shiny, how much hair, the shape of the genitals, and even whether there are hemorrhoids will be examined one by one.

In addition, the softness and shape of the hair, whether the color of the hair will be a nuisance to the emperor, whether the secondary sexual characteristics are moderate, and whether the voice is delicate will also be strictly considered.

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the number of concubines selected was not much.

After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the country was relatively stable, and the emperors became more and more enthusiastic about choosing concubines, and the number of harems soon exceeded 3,000.

Liu Chan naturally couldn't choose so many people.

He first chose fifty people, and the rest of the unqualified ones were sent back to each family.

After reading these processes, Du You already had an idea in his heart.

Jingzhao Du's family, Jingzhao Wei's family, and Wugong Su family, these three must choose a show girl.

These three families can lower the standard a little, and as for the other clans, I'm sorry, you have to be selected based on your strength.

It is conceivable that in the next few months, there will be many family girls in Chang'an City.

As for why it was a few months later that the selection of concubines began.

That's because Liu Bei's bones are still in Weiyang Palace!

In ancient times, the emperor counted the months by days, and at least after the thirty-sixth day of the emperor's great trip, he was able to choose a concubine.

If the new monarch is to show filial piety, it may be postponed for a few months, or even a year or two.

As for whether it will be criticized.

That's not going to happen.

When the new monarch ascends the throne, many of them cannot sit on the throne, and the new monarch needs to exchange interests with external forces to consolidate the throne.

At the same time, the imperial power needs to be maintained by the family of the queen whom the emperor married and found

And this leads to a problem

Often there are emperors who die.

His son was married as soon as he ascended the throne, and then he granted amnesty to the whole world

So, the system is three years. In fact, there are often people who get married just after death.

It's over, and there's no problem

This is generally an unspoken rule.

Great virtues and Confucians generally do not scold the emperor because of this: virtue is a loss

Therefore, in Du You's opinion, the selection of concubines is about to start now, fifty places, one radish and one pit, no matter what, the people of his Du family will occupy the position first!

"The ugly words are said in the front, if you let an unqualified woman enter the palace and her head falls to the ground, it is the lightest, can you know?"

Doctor Zhong and Ye Tingcheng, Xiangfu and others were sitting in danger, and immediately agreed.

"This is a matter related to the survival of the community, we dare not do illegal things, please rest assured!"

(End of chapter)