In early April of the fifth year of Jian'an, the rumor campaign officially launched.
The disciples and disciples arranged by Zheng Tai soon spread some rumors in the streets and alleys of Luoyang City that were not good for anyone.
For example, Liu Bei's continuous expansion of power and nepotism may not be as upright as he said, but to usurp power and seize the throne.
He is no longer satisfied with continuing to be a general and the second-largest figure in the empire. His thoughts and thoughts have completely moved closer to the emperor. He has even begun to seek the throne of the emperor!
Do not believe?
The Han Dynasty had thirteen state-level organizations. How many state-level officials were from Liu Bei?
Jian Yong was the governor of Liangzhou, Mao Jie was the governor of Bingzhou, Xiahou Dun was the governor of Youzhou, Xun You was the governor of Yizhou, Xun Yu was the governor of Qingzhou, Jia Xu was the governor of Xuzhou, and Cheng Yu was the governor of Yangzhou.
These seven state-level governors were all promoted from Liu Bei's subordinates!
Either his disciples or his old officials, as well as his old friends, one by one, they are all Liu Bei's confidants and will never betray him!
What's left?
Lu Kang, the governor of Yanzhou, was recommended and appointed by Liu Bei.
Qiao Mao, the governor of Jizhou, was recommended and appointed by Liu Bei.
Zhang Miao, the governor of Yuzhou, was recommended and appointed by Liu Bei.
Guo Hong, the captain of the Sili School, is well known as a hardcore member of Liu Bei's faction. His clansman Guo Jia is Liu Bei's favorite, and he can sleep with Liu Bei in the same bed.
Eleven of the thirteen state officials are Liu Bei's people. At present, only Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, and Zhu Fu, the governor of Jiaozhi, were not recommended by Liu Bei for appointment.
But so what?
Jingzhou still has some influence, but Jiaozhi, what kind of backwater is that? What difference does it make whether to appoint or not?
In addition to these state governor-level figures, there are also a larger number of county governors, state ministers and county magistrates whose relationship with Liu Bei is unclear, or they are simply Liu Bei's disciples and former officials. These people are officials and treat Liu Bei's decrees differently. What an attitude.
What does it mean to have disciples and former officials all over the world?
Don’t you know just by looking at Liu Bei?
The local area is like this, and the central government is even worse.
He was extremely arrogant and set up six departments in the General's Mansion. He arrogantly replaced the original institutional system of the imperial court and included everything into his General's Mansion. He decided the affairs of the world with just one word. How could he be a master of power?
Tampering with ancestral rules, wantonly seizing power, gathering power everywhere, arbitrarily appointing people close to him, and deposing all those who are not of the same mind as him. With such a nepotistic attitude, does anyone still think he is upright?
Not to mention the army, only the general followed suit.
Now he covers the sky with one hand in the center, and almost covers the sky with one hand in the local area. Everyone is surrounding him, but where is the emperor?
What about the serious emperor?
No decision has ever been made. All decisions were made by Liu Bei, and then the emperor gave a symbolic nod and said it was correct. It was just a human-shaped jade seal.
If this situation continues, how many terrible things will it bring to the world?
If Liu Bei's power continues to expand, Jingzhou and Jiaozhi will sooner or later become places under his control, and his power will truly dominate the world!
Who else can compete with him?
Even if he doesn’t have any rebellious intentions now, will he not have them in the future?
Even if he didn't have any rebellious intentions, wouldn't his subordinates push him to have it?
Everyone should be a little wary and suspicious of Liu Bei. Otherwise, if he really has any disobedience, won't the Han Dynasty change its color?
To take a step back, even if he has nothing, shouldn't he be suspicious?
Do you really have no doubts at all?
In fact, it's better not to talk about this kind of thing. Once you talk about it, it will cause problems no matter what.
In fact, from the first year of Jian'an to the fifth year of Jian'an, during Liu Bei's reign, in addition to internal disputes, the main theme of the entire Han Empire was construction and development, as well as external operations. In addition to extremely brilliant military victories, there were also There are brilliant internal building victories.
A series of results have covered up most of the contradictions and doubts.
In fact, many people do not have doubts, but they simply do not have the time and energy to doubt.
Liu Bei wanted to do too many things, which put too much pressure on them. They had to move forward quickly to keep up with Liu Bei's pace.
Not only the court officials and clerks, but also the imperial students were assigned extremely arduous and demanding academic content. They were worried about exams all day long, and the idea of participating in political affairs was much weaker.
It can even be said that a considerable number of people have become accustomed to the glory, victory and rapid development that Liu Bei has brought to them. They are addicted to this state of rapid progress and do not want to bother with other things.
As long as you can work with Liu Bei to build the Han Empire and watch the country get better little by little, isn't that more joyful than anything else?
Therefore, everything is covered up by development.
However, when a person suddenly stands up and talks about something that is unavoidable, what should have happened will inevitably happen.
Liu Bei's power is indeed very great.
Liu Bei's contribution is indeed great.
Similar claims came out a few years ago, but at that time Liu Bei's power and influence were not as great as they are now, so they were quickly covered up by other things, and no one paid attention to them.
But this time is different.
Officials, scholars, students and other people with the right to speak in Luoyang City heard this rumor in a short period of time, and then collectively fell silent.
It's very strange that after this rumor spread, only the common people on the streets continued to spread the rumor with great interest, and made comments similar to "Xuande Xuande, when will you be the emperor?" Such processing.
The collective silence of those who had the right to speak was honestly beyond Zheng Tai's expectation.
In his vision, after people learned of the rumors, they should quickly launch a public opinion offensive against Liu Bei, leaving Liu Bei disgraced and embarrassed, and then become angry and ready to kill.
Then he would have to run away, live in exile, avoid the ensuing chaos, and prepare to become the final winner in a safe place.
But this is not the case.
The people with the right to speak in Luoyang City were unexpectedly calm.
After learning about this incident, no one took the initiative to publicly express their views on the matter. Everyone acted in a tacit understanding and continued to do what they should do as if they had not heard of the rumor.
On the contrary, the common people who were ignored and cared about were talking enthusiastically about when it would be Liu Bei's turn to be emperor. Some ignorant people even asked if Liu Bei was the crown prince...
What is this all about?
Why hasn't anyone spoken out publicly about this?
Zheng Tai was so puzzled by this that he did not take any escape action for a while.
However, the answer to this question is actually very simple.
late.
Zheng Tai acted late. The last time someone launched this attack, the timing was actually good, but it was an attack launched by the modern literature school and was not recognized by the ancient literature school. At that time, Zheng Tai still firmly supported Liu Bei in refuting the rumors. elements.
Times have changed and things have changed.
The main opponents have been wiped out, and the new opponents have not yet expanded their power. On the basis of the annihilation of the old opponents, Liu Bei embezzled a large amount of the opponents' inheritance and developed faster than anyone else. In just a few years, party members spread all over the country. The world.
If back then Liu Bei was only suspected of usurping power and people were still talking about it, then now Liu Bei is no longer suspected.
But it really can.
(End of chapter)
