Liu Xie has not gone to court for more than 20 days.
The city of Xuchang is filled with all kinds of rumors. Some people say that because Liu Xie has been a puppet for a long time, he suddenly cannot adapt to politics. After three days of freshness, he started to enjoy and indulge.
Some people say that he met two alchemists and accidentally obtained the method of immortality, but now he is refining elixirs behind closed doors.
Some people also say that due to the implementation of the imperial examination system, the position of the dean of Taiyuan College was out of control, which caused his mood to be damaged and he became a bit self-indulgent.
The specific reason is not clear, but it is true that he has not been in court for more than 20 days. If ministers have any important matters, they can only go to the palace to see Liu Xie.
Lu Bu went there three times and Lin Mo also went there twice.
They found out that this rumor was really not groundless. When they saw Liu Xie, he was either very drunk and enjoying the singing girl dancing. Even the current Taiwei and Sikong came to see him and waved their hands drunkenly and said: "Go on and play the music." Then dance.”
When I saw him for the second time, I found him sitting cross-legged. He said that he had just taken some elixir and needed to absorb it, so he had to wait for more than an hour.
This incident confused many ministers, and gradually they began to believe that Liu Xie was showing the appearance of a foolish king.
Of course, I can’t blame him for this. The skills of an emperor and the pro-government of the country all take time to penetrate. Liu Xie has been a puppet since he ascended the throne. He has been there for more than ten years. Suddenly he is in charge of the government. How can he play anymore? The emperor also Not just anyone can be the one.
It was not until a month passed that he finally started the court meeting under the supervision of Xun Yu, Yang Biao and others.
As a result, the ministers arrived early in the morning and waited for more than an hour before they heard the servants shouting to go to court.
After entering the Golden Palace, Lu Bu and Lin Mo could even smell the smell of alcohol blowing towards their faces. Liu Xie yawned and said listlessly: "I'll tell you what you know."
Thus, the ministers began to report one after another.
This month, you can imagine how many major events have been accumulated. The court meeting on this day was particularly long. It lasted for three hours before the ministers went through all the things they had to report.
Liu Xie seemed in a daze during the whole process, either waving his hands and nodding in agreement, or looking at Lu Bu, Lin Mo and Yang Biao according to the classification of the reported matters, as if he was a fool.
"My dear friends, I am planning to increase the head tax by ten yuan after the summer to be used for the construction of the imperial mausoleum."
After Liu Xie finished speaking, the civil and military officials in the hall were stunned, and everyone looked at him blankly.
Well, if you don't speak for a few hours, you'll get money every time you speak.
Xun Yu was the first to stand up, bowed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, these years of continuous wars have made the people miserable. Cao Si. Cao Cao took a large number of people with him when he escaped. The Central Plains has become empty out of ten houses. It doesn't come much, but it is a huge sum of money if it is spread evenly among the people. Isn't the current truce just to support the people? I beg your Majesty to think again."
"My dear, what you said is inappropriate."
Liu Xie waved his hand and said, "The Central Plains may have ten houses and nine empty houses, but Xuzhou, Huainan, and the four northern states have been supported by Lin Sikong's Quyuan plow, dragon turtle water tanker, and chemical fertilizers over the years, and the people's lives have been improved. Has been greatly improved.
However, what Aiqing just said makes some sense. I can exempt the two Central Plains states from the tax increase. You must be satisfied with this. "
Xun Yu was upright after all, and was not perfunctory. He said seriously: "Your Majesty, Taiwei Lu and Lin Sikong are currently preparing for the war in Jingzhou this autumn. A huge amount of money has been lost here, and the people are already exhausted. The construction of the imperial mausoleum , can we consider it after recovering Jing and Yizhou?"
"no!"
Liu Xie, who had always looked tired, suddenly widened his eyes and hissed: "When the Dong thieves moved the capital, they excavated the imperial tombs. Emperor Ming, Emperor Zhang, Emperor Shang, Emperor Zhi and Emperor Huan were all spared. This big man's crape myrtle... The energy is almost gone, shouldn’t it be repaired?
Lieutenant Lu, what do you think? "
Lu Bu looked a little ugly. After all, he personally led the team to dig out these five imperial tombs. God knows what Liu Xie meant by asking this.
In fact, most of the emperors with real power in ancient times would start building their own imperial mausoleums as soon as they ascended the throne, so Liu Xie's request was not excessive.
Lu Bu cupped his hands and said, "I respectfully obey your Majesty's holy orders."
You've already asked me this, how can I have any opinion? Lu Bu cursed in his heart.
Even though Lu Bu said this, Xun Yu was still unyielding and continued: "Your Majesty has just taken over the throne, and it is the time to show kindness to the world, so that the people of the world can share His grace and stabilize the country. If you rashly increase taxes, I'm afraid that the ignorant people will think that His Majesty has just taken over the throne and wants to raise taxes just to build construction projects, which is really an insult to His Majesty's holy name."
"I have made up my mind about this matter. Please don't say too much if I love you. Just now, Lieutenant Lu also supported my decision. It shows that Lieutenant Lu understands my heart. I wonder what Lin Sikong thinks?" Liu Xie originally thought that as long as Lu Bu nodded, everything else would be done. People should have expressed their opinions, but in the end they didn't, and they still couldn't get rid of Xun Yu, so they had no choice but to look at Lin Mo.
"I will obey the Holy Orders."
"good!"
Even Lin Mo supported it, so there was no need to worry anymore. Liu Xie nodded with satisfaction, "Liu Taiwei and Lin Sikong are indeed loyal and patriotic. By the way, this increased tax will be transferred to the Young Master, Geng Aiqing will have full authority to follow up on this matter."
Geng Ji holds the position of Shaofu of the Nine Ministers. According to the distribution of powers, the Shaofu is in charge of the national treasury.
But the actual situation is that the national treasury is just an empty shell. Lu Lin not only failed to hand over military power, but also failed to hand over financial power. Now the taxes of various states and counties are actually controlled by Lin Mo. As for Liu Xieyi's utilization, Lin Mo has to support Geng Ji every quarter.
Liu Xie said this just to tell Lu Lin, don't touch this money, it is for the construction of the imperial mausoleum.
"I obey the decree." Geng Ji came out and bowed.
Liu Xie looked around the crowd and saw that no one had any objections, so he waved his hand with satisfaction and left the court.
It was already noon when we left the court today, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, finally getting over it.
Just like before, the ministers started whispering in small groups as soon as the court was over.
However, the issue discussed was not the tax increase to build the imperial mausoleum, but the worrying state of Liu Xie.
In any case, building the imperial mausoleum is something that the imperial court must do. It makes sense, but judging from Liu Xie's performance these days and his current state, the ministers loyal to the Han Dynasty are doubly disappointed.
"Tell me, what's going on with His Majesty recently? Is it true that it's like what they said is that you only need to be hot for three days and then start having fun?"
As soon as Lu Bu returned to his house, he knelt down and murmured with a puzzled look on his face.
Opposite Lin Mo didn't care who he was as Sikong or son-in-law. He was already exhausted after standing for several hours and lay down directly on the kneeling mat. If his father-in-law was not around, he would ask Guo Zhao or Xiao Qiao to come over and give him a massage.
"Oh, our Majesty, you are mistaking our son-in-law for Obei." Lin Mo lay on the mink velvet pillow that Xiao Qiao had sewn for him, bored.
"Obai?"
His son-in-law has always come up with some completely unheard names, but his instinctive reaction is that his speculation has been denied. After thinking for a while, he suddenly asked: "Hey, do you think he is real?" I'm obsessed with alchemy, which costs a lot of money.
Well, I think it should be that even if you add ten yuan to the summer poll tax, it won't be enough to build the imperial mausoleum. Most of the money was transferred to the palace support through Geng Ji. "
Lu Bu felt that this conjecture was very reasonable. Whoever ascended to the highest position was not obsessed with immortality. Qin Shihuang was the most typical figure.
But he, Liu Xie, was not the First Emperor of Qin, and he had no money in the treasury, so what he could do was to make a clever name.
"What about refining elixirs, pursuing pleasure, playing music and dancing? He is doing it to show us."
Lin Mo stretched and said with a smile: "It seems that the imperial examination incident has made him a little alert. He may have realized that he was tricked by us."
"Do it for us? Do you mean that he deliberately confused us and wanted us to relax our vigilance so that he could suddenly strike?"
Lu Bu frowned and said in confusion: "So the taxes he raised will not be used to build imperial mausoleums, but will be used for enjoyment, refining elixirs, etc., just to make us undefense against him? Alas, just for this, let him Will the people suffer the consequences?"
Lu Bu, who was born as a refugee, knew best that if a powerful man from aristocratic families threw ten coins on the ground, he might not even want to bend down to pick it up, let alone the emperor. However, for the common people who were struggling to make ends meet, it might make them scratch their heads thinking about it. Methods may even lead to the desperate situation of selling land.
Isn't that what the Lu family was like back then?
"He won't use it to make elixirs for pleasure."
Lin Mo then sat up, took a sip of tea, and said in a deep voice: "He should have been arranging for people to enter Xuchang, waiting for us to go to Jingzhou to start the war, and then start to replace the people of the Imperial Forest Army and the Nine Gate Defense.
Whether it is to recruit these dead soldiers or to feed them, money is needed. The food and clothing His Majesty has now are all given by us, and he basically lives within his means. How can he have the money to recruit these people? This is not a coincidence? "
After listening to what Lin Mo said, Lu Bu laughed subconsciously, "Isn't that an exaggeration? How can he think so far-reaching?"
Lu Bu would rarely question what Lin Mo said, but this time the analysis made Lu Bu feel that he was about to be crushed by Liu Xie in terms of scheming, which was a bit hard to believe.
"Master Yue-Zhang, if you think about it carefully, if it is really to supervise the construction of the imperial mausoleum, then according to the position of Jiuqing, Xun Yu's Zhisu Inner Mansion is responsible for following up, but the money did not go into the Inner Mansion but into the Shaofu. This Is it enough to show that he is under the name Qiaoling?"
Lin Mo analyzed it calmly and calmly, "Master Yue Zhang, think about who Geng Ji is? He is from the Imperial Party and is loyal to Your Majesty. If the inflow of this money is really for his enjoyment and alchemy, Geng Not only did he say a few words of earnest advice like Xun Yu's, he not only remained silent, but he also accepted the order very happily, which shows that he also knew in his heart what the money was used for."
As Lin Mo's analysis deepened, Lu Bu's brows became more and more frowned. This was indeed the case when he thought about it carefully.
Your Majesty's performance in this drama was so smooth that he almost got fooled.
"You can't tell that his city is so deep."
Lu Bu put his hands on his crossed knees and frowned: "I will send people to the city later to thoroughly investigate the new suspicious person who has entered the city. He wants to rebel."
Lu Bu paused, feeling that the wording seemed inappropriate, so he changed his words: "If he wants to replace people, he must have more than a thousand dead soldiers. It is impossible for such a large number to have no trace."
"I'm looking at Xuan."
Lin Mo curled his lips and shook his head, "Before we left Xuchang, these people probably wouldn't have entered the city. Not many people knew about important matters related to life. Otherwise, Xun Yu and Yang Biao would not be in the court today." Everyone in the meeting started admonishing."
"Then what should we do? This matter is quite troublesome. The next battle of Jingzhou may be the last battle to regain the world. There is no need to be careless. Our people should indeed be present by then. They are tied together in the city. It is really Can make some noise."
Lu Bu's eyes suddenly lit up and he chuckled, "How about taking him with you when the time comes and letting him drive and conquer in person?"
My old father-in-law is enlightened.
In fact, it was a good choice for Yu Jia to fight in person, but Lin Mo still shook his head, "No, let him do the trouble. If he makes trouble like this, it will be more convenient for me to do things.
But there are still people who should be kept in the city. Let’s see who is better left. "
Lu Bu clenched his chin and thought for a moment, "Let Chu Nan and Bo Ping do it. The people in the patrol camp are now under Bo Ping's control. There are not many people, but if they are all replaced by people from the trapped camp, he cobbled them together. The Royal Forest Army is not enough to watch."
Lin Mo nodded in agreement.
Anyway, when Qiu Hou enters Jingzhou, he will definitely focus on water warfare, and those who are trapped in the camp will not be able to help for a while.
After Weng and son-in-law briefly discussed the details, Lin Mo turned around and left back to Sikong Mansion.
"Sir, are you calling me?" Guo Zhaofian, dressed in a blue dress, stepped inside.
I don't know if Lin Mo has been more nourished by him recently. Guo Zhao's figure is getting better and better, and his small buttocks bounce when he walks, which makes people want to slap him.
"How is the situation at Mi'er now?" Lin Mo hugged Guo Zhao into his arms and asked, mouth to mouth.
"The family business is basically under control, but since we are in Wuji, the Zhen family's property is too big after all, and she can't get away from it." Guo Zhao muttered vaguely.
"Hurry up and send the message, asking her to put down what she is doing and come to Xuchang immediately. If she has something to do, let her do something." The two people behind each other were talking about business, but their hands were already dishonest.
Guo Zhao hummed and immediately grabbed Lin Mo's hand that was about to climb the mountain, pouting and shaking his head.
"What's wrong?"
"The medical officer said that we can't have sex in the past two months." Guo Zhao lowered his head shyly, his face flushed.
After being in a daze for a while, Lin Mo raised his eyebrows and said, "Yes?"
Seeing Guo Zhao biting her lower lip and nodding, Lin Mo immediately straightened her up carefully, "Xiao Nizi, I spent more time on you than on Ling'er, and finally you have some reaction."
Guo Zhao pursed his lips and was too shy to speak, but the happiness on his face could not be concealed.
"Okay, then you have to take good care of yourself during this period and give birth to a big fat boy for me as soon as possible." In this era, clan strength is important. Now that the family business is getting bigger, it is also very important to spread the branches. of.
"The slave will go down first."
Lin Mo patted Guo Zhao's small buttocks, then stood up and stretched. Ying'er and Wan'er had been quiet, so let's turn over their cards today.
On the Yangtze River, there are more than a dozen Red Horse Clippers sailing down the river, with the banner with the word "Sun" written on it.
On the deck of the leading red horse ship, Huang Zu straightened his back and held the sword on his waist with his right hand, looking extremely excited.
Although the Clippers were under the banner of "Sun", Huang Zu himself was wearing ordinary civilian clothes.
As the red horse boat entered Moling Ferry in Danyang, there were already people waiting on the ferry.
Moling was later known as Jianye during the Sun family regime and Nanjing in later generations.
Jingzhou's navy also began to disembark one after another and assemble at the ferry.
The elegant man, also dressed in civilian clothes, looked around the crowd for a while. When he saw Huang Zu at the head, he quickly stepped forward and asked, "But Huang Taishou?"
Huang Zu cupped his hands and said, "General Lu?"
"I'm Lu Xun, named Boyan."
Lu Xun returned the favor and said, "Prefect Huang, nothing went wrong along the way, right?"
"It was a peaceful journey. The navy soldiers along the way didn't give us any trouble. Thank you so much, General Lu." Huang Zu's face was expressionless, but the excitement in his eyes was unbridled.
"I'm just following Sikong's instructions."
Lu Xun made an invitation gesture and took Huang Zu to a teahouse nearby. After sitting down, he continued: "However, Huang Taishou cannot enter the city yet. Please bring people into the city after the curfew. Then enter through the east gate. Someone will take you there.
After you are done, go back the way you came. Don't stop and go straight back to the ferry. Rush back to Jiangxia overnight. We will handle the rest. "
"I will certainly remember Sikong's great kindness, and I will also never forget General Lu's kindness." Huang Zu handed over his hand again.
"From now on, we will be brothers Paoze, no need to be polite."
After a brief exchange of greetings, Lu Xun left. After all, there were many people here and it was not advisable to stay too long.
Huang Zu just sat there in the tea room, waiting quietly.
At dusk, he led these hundreds of people and began to move towards Moling City.
The curfew in the Han Dynasty started at Haishi, and the ferry was dozens of miles away from Moling. When they arrived at the east gate, it was already Haishi.
After lighting the torch and giving the signal, the city gate opened.
"Prefect Huang, please follow me." A captain wearing Jiangdong armor greeted Huang Zu and more than 300 people to enter the city.
Along the way, we encountered several groups of soldiers patrolling the night, but it was no use. They were all members of the four major families.
After twisting and turning, we came to a mansion with the three characters "Wuhou Mansion" hanging on it.
Standing at the door of the mansion, Huang Zu's breathing became rapid.
He slowly pulled out the sword from his waist and murmured: "Father, mother, child, today I will make the Sun family pay with their blood!"
With a bang, the door was kicked open by Huang Zu, and then he rushed in dragging his sword.
The Jingzhou army behind them had blocked the front and rear doors. The remaining dozens of people followed Huang Zu in and started killing.
(End of chapter)
