In the past, no matter what happened, Liu Hong would discuss it with Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, and try to make things beautiful.
But since establishing the Xiyuan Army, Liu Hong has deliberately avoided them and not gotten close to them.
There was no way, the Taiping Road incident had always been a thorn in Liu Hong's heart.
Because of that incident, Liu Hong could never believe that Zhang Rang and others were absolutely loyal to him, and was always worried that they would stab him in the back at critical moments.
Moreover, the reason why He was favored in the palace, the reason why he became the queen, and the reason why he could still maintain his position after poisoning the queen was all due to the help of the eunuchs.
He family and the eunuchs had such a connection, Liu Hong certainly believed that in this power struggle, the Shi Changshi would not stand firmly on his side, and they might collude with He Jin to deal with him.
The so-called loyalty is not absolute, which means absolutely disloyalty. With doubts about Shi Changshi's loyalty, Liu Hong will naturally not entrust the military power of the Xiyuan Army to Shi Changshi, even if he calls Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong affectionately father and mother. , should doubt, still doubt.
But when things came to pass, Liu Hong found that the result of so many years of favoring the eunuchs, distrusting his relatives, and suppressing the scholars and bureaucrats was that he had no one to use except the eunuchs.
Politically, he, the emperor, is facing unprecedented and terrifying isolation. If he doesn't find help quickly and expand his power, the situation will be really bad.
In addition, during this period of time, he had never heard of any collusion between the Shi Changshi and the He and Yuan families. It seemed that the Yuan and He families had not taken the initiative to do anything with the Shi Changshi. After thinking about it, Liu Hong In the end, there was no choice but to summon Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong.
Liu Hong felt that this meeting should be a very touching meeting. He planned to ease the relationship with Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong a little, even if it was just to pretend to express their feelings to each other.
The fact is almost the same. Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong immediately turned red after seeing Liu Hong.
"Your Majesty, you have lost weight."
The five words that Zhang Rang blurted out hit Liu Hong's heart at once, making Liu Hong's nose sore and he almost shed tears.
"Grandpa, Grandma, you have lost weight too."
Then the three of them looked at each other without saying anything, and started crying together in a tacit understanding. After crying for a long time, the three of them stopped crying one after another.
"I haven't seen my grandparents for a few days. I didn't expect you all to have lost so much weight. I think it's been hard for you these days. It's all my fault."
Faced with Liu Hong's initiative to surrender, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong took the initiative.
"Even if we can't meet His Majesty, we are still working for His Majesty."
"As long as I can do things for His Majesty, no matter what happens, I won't feel embarrassed!"
The two immediately expressed their loyalty to Liu Hong.
This attitude reminded Liu Hong of the good old days when they trusted each other and fought against the scholars together. At that time, everyone still trusted each other very much and collaborated with each other to make money and get rich together.
Why has it come to this point?
So Liu Hong softened a little and felt that it was inappropriate for him to reject them so much before. Should he face them in a gentler way?
But just as he was thinking this, things about Taiping Road came to mind again, and the thorn started to hurt a little again.
Liu Hong calmed down quickly and felt that he still had to control things a little bit and couldn't control everything anymore.
"I see your loyalty in my eyes. There are fewer and fewer people as loyal as you. More and more officials have taken refuge in the Yuan family and the He family. Where do they put me?" Where is the land? There are not many people I can trust, only you and Xuande."
Liu Hong quickly stated his purpose.
"I want to recruit Xuande back to Luoyang to be my wing to fight against the He family and the Yuan family, but after thinking about it, I feel that just calling Xuande back is not enough. Xuande's return to Luoyang will not be enough." If not the He family and the Yuan family, how should we fight against the He family and the Yuan family?
I really intend to promote Xuande to the position of Sangong, so that Xuande can open a mansion and fight against the He family and the Yuan family. However, if this happens, there will be many people who oppose it. The gain outweighs the loss for Xuande. I don’t want to make him Xuande is in such a situation, do you have any good ideas? "
Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong looked at each other, and they were silent for a while.
Shao Qing, Liu Hong couldn't help it.
"Grandpa, Grandma, there's nothing you can do?"
Zhang Rang shook his head when he heard this.
"It's not that there is no way, but your Majesty, this old servant thinks that there is no need for your Majesty to promote Liu Xuande to the position of Third Duke. Letting him be promoted to the position of Third Duke now will definitely do more harm than good.
Although his merits are great, his age, qualifications, and background are not enough for him to be promoted to the rank of Third Duke. Everyone can see that in this case, why do he still do it? "
"But if he is not promoted to the rank of Third Duke, how can he fight against the He family and the Yuan family? Without the power of Kaifu, relying solely on the army is insufficient."
Liu Hong frowned and said: "Xuande is a clan member of the Han Dynasty. The He family and the Yuan family are strong. How can I, the Liu family, be weak? If there are no clan officials to support the emperor, wouldn't the emperor be bullied by everyone? Grandpa, grandma, What do you think?"
"In that case, why doesn't Your Majesty allow Liu Xuande to open the palace as a hussar general?"
Zhang Rang said slowly: "The Cavalry General is second only to the General in terms of status. He is the same as the Three Dukes and has a very noble status. If he is just a Cavalry General, then his rank is high and it is not appropriate to open a mansion. But the Cavalry General With such a high status, why can’t he open a mansion?”
Liu Hong lay on the bed and thought deeply about what Zhang Rang said, and felt that it really meant that.
The general's position is above the Three Dukes, and the hussar general's position is the same as the Three Dukes. The status of the cavalry general mainly depends on the person. Some people's status is lower than the Three Dukes, while some people's status can be compared with the Three Dukes. This is the rule of the game in the Eastern Han Dynasty. .
And there is a tradition in the Eastern Han Dynasty that only generals and three princes can open a government and recruit scholars from all over the world to serve as subordinate officials, but others cannot, which makes the situation of the hussar generals a bit embarrassing.
Originally, the position of hussar general did not exist. It was designed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty specifically for Huo Qubing. According to tradition, only the general has the power to command troops. Generals such as hussar general and chariot general were all set up during wartime. Executor.
Just because the first hussar general was Huo Qubing, the name hussar general became very famous because of Huo Qubing, and he was even traditionally qualified to compete with the general.
For this reason, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were times when "big" was added to the hussar general and he was renamed the hussar general.
Why can't a general position, whose status is second only to the general and the same level as the three Dukes in traditional concepts, be opened?
And in terms of merit, ability, and reputation, who in the entire Luoyang court would dare to say that He Jin is better than Liu Bei?
Liu Bei's contribution was truly earned.
After defeating the Yellow Turbans, he defeated the Liangzhou rebels. After defeating the Liangzhou rebels, he defeated the Xianbei. After defeating the Xianbei and the Diqiang, he defeated all the invincible enemies in the southeast and northwest. He can be called the number one general of the Han Dynasty. Could it be that he is still inferior to a housekeeper? dog?
Let alone Zhang Rang, how could Liu Hong agree?
He Jin became a general purely because of his background, the recommendation of the eunuchs, and the tradition of relatives becoming generals at that time. There was not much merit in it. Just relying on merit alone, He Jin would not be able to become a general in another hundred years. General.
Nowadays, a general like him can open a mansion, but Liu Bei, as the outstanding first general of the Han Dynasty, cannot open a mansion. This is somewhat insulting.
When Zhang Rang said this, Liu Hongshen agreed.
However, before, there was no tradition of a hussar general opening a government. At most, a shogunate military palace was opened. The formal opening of the government would mean incorporating the hussar general into the central power system of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The general system caused a huge impact.
Originally, four positions were used to recruit scholars from all over the world to help the imperial court govern, and each had its own assigned tasks. This was how the infrastructure of the Eastern Han Dynasty was divided.
But now one more person is added, and the four become five. Even if the Third Duke and the General only have nominal responsibilities, how should the nominal responsibilities be calculated? What kind of responsibilities should be divided from these four people and given to the Cavalry General?
Won't it cause political turmoil in the court?
Liu Hong was somewhat hesitant.
"Allowing General Hussar to open a palace is something that has never happened before. If it is proposed now, He Jin and Yuan Wei will definitely object. Lu Zhi may not object for the sake of his disciples, but the court officials I’m afraid a large part of them will oppose it. If the opposition is too loud and even I have to worry about it, how should I handle this matter?”
Zhang Rang shook his head.
"Liu Xuande's contribution is not comparable to that of ordinary people, and as he is the descendant of the Zuo family in the Spring and Autumn Period, there will be many people who want to please him. There may not be many people who strongly oppose it. Yuan Wei and He Jin will definitely If you object, you don’t need to care about their opinions.
Moreover, when they used despicable means to recruit soldiers and horses into Luoyang, you were too generous and did not let them care about it. If you really want to calculate it, it is a crime of bullying the emperor! Do they still have the nerve to oppose your decision now that this is such a serious crime? "
(End of chapter)
