Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong were both very surprised, and they all exclaimed: "Make him king?"
Liu Hong said with certainty: "Yes, I want to make him king."
Zhao Zhong still didn't give up and said: "The emperor, this matter is very wrong. Although Liu Xin is also a clan, his ancestor is no more than a small resident of the nest. Now he hastily named him king. There is no precedent to follow."
Although Zhang Rang often helped Liu Xin speak, he did not want Liu Xin to be crowned king. After all, the status of the prince was too high. No matter how he was favored in front of the emperor, he had to constrain when he saw the prince, let alone the future. Liu Xin reached out for benefits. But Zhang Rang didn't speak either. He didn't need to be this villain at all. Even in front of the messenger sent by Liu Xin, Zhao Zhong's attitude was clear. If Liu Xin fails to become a prince in the end, this hatred will definitely be remembered by Zhao Zhong. If Liu Xin becomes a prince, Zhang Rang should be the first person to thank him.
In Liu Hong's eyes, no matter how much credit Liu Xin has made in the past, it is not as good as helping him retrieve the long-lost "sex blessing" this time. No matter what he rewards Liu Xin, such credit can't be overstated. Moreover, Liu Xin is also a Han family clan, and does not violate the ancestor's rule of "not meritorious, not Liu is not king", besides, how can you give him the position of a prince, so he said without any doubt: "My intention It has been decided, you have to stop talking! Draft edict! Make Liu Xin the King of Xiangyang and lead Jingzhou as herdsmen!"
As soon as Jushou's front foot returned to Xiangyang, Liu Hong's edict came on the back foot. Hearing that the emperor was going to make Liu Xin the king of Xiangyang, Jushou and Tian Feng, who had just returned from Changsha, had unspeakable excitement on their faces, and they said to Liu Xin.
However, Liu Xin had a calm face. He had already set a strategy of "building walls high, accumulating grain, and slowly becoming king". This was actually a strategy offered by Liu Bowen to Zhu Yuanzhang at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, which was copied by Liu Xin in its entirety. Of course, he didn't make this strategy public, he just worked silently in this direction. "Building walls high and accumulating grains" is proceeding very smoothly. In Liu Xin's view, "slowly proclaiming the king" can hardly be considered at present. Who knows that the emperor suddenly issued an edict to make him king at this time.
Facing the congratulations from Jushou and Tian Feng, Liu Xin did not feel the slightest excitement. Because he knew that the prince was not the prince, it was just a fake name. In less than three years, Liu Hong should return to heaven. Then whoever cares whether you are a prince or a prince, maybe the prince will die faster. Liu Xin made a decision very quickly and said to Jushou: "Gongyou, you can help me draw up a memorial, and please take it back to the emperor anyway."
Jushou and Tian Feng looked at Liu Xin in surprise, and said, "It is a great pleasure in life to be named the King of Xiangyang, so please think twice!"
Liu Xin said in disdain, that it was a great pleasure in life to be named King Xiangyang. Do you know what my ultimate goal is? I'm afraid to scare you to death. Of course, Liu Xin’s thoughts cannot be told to them. Liu Hong’s death date needs to be kept strictly confidential, so he said with a serious face: “Two gentlemen, high-ranking officials and generous, who doesn’t yearn for? However, people have self-knowledge. I want to see Liu's book of common clothes, how can He De, have achieved Jingzhou Mu in a few years, already out of sight, how can he get to see Shu, and be greedy. Besides, nowadays, the country is suffering from constant disasters, and the people are suffering and displaced, my generation When the world’s worries and worries are first, and the world is happy and happy, how can you be greedy for vain names!"
Jushou and Tian Feng listened to Liu Xin’s famous sayings stolen from Mr. Fan Lao, and admired them in awe. !"
The edict that the emperor wanted to make Liu Xin the King of Xiangyang spread. The imperial court seemed to have fried a pot. The memorial that asked Liu Hong to take back his fate flew into the palace like snow flakes. Liu Hong looked at the memorials piled up in front of him, annoyed. These ministers, even when the Yellow Turban rebellion, were not as diligent as they are now, didn't they just seal a king? As for this? The good mood that Liu Hong had just brought back because of his revival was also gone.
Facing the almost unanimous opposition from Manchu civil and military forces, Liu Hong couldn't just go his own way. However, after Wang Meiren's death, he once wanted to abolish Empress He, but he was strongly opposed by the ministers and lost a match. Is it because he is now asked to bow his head to these courtiers, he is very unwilling. Moreover, the edict has already been issued. If it is retracted now, Liu Hong cannot but consider what Liu Xin would think.
Liu Hong was furious in the hall. Zhang Rang rushed in and said: "The emperor does not need to worry, Liu Xin has already taken the initiative to watch, please take the emperor back to his death."
Liu Xin didn't want to be the king of Xiangyang, which surprised Liu Hong, and asked, "I don't want to make him king. What does he want? He took the initiative to show up. Isn't it a lie?"
Zhang Rang smiled and said: "The emperor, now that Liu Xin takes the initiative to come to the table, it can be regarded as solving the emperor's problem. The emperor took back his fate and no longer made Liu Xin the king of Xiangyang. It was not due to the pressure of the courtiers, but sympathy for Liu Xin's loyalty, regardless of whether he is true or not."
There was a flash of inspiration in Liu Hong's mind, and he said decisively: "No, wait a few days, take a look and talk."
Within half a month, Liu Xin joined the five memorials and asked the emperor to take back his fate. The frequency of his memorials was no less than that of those ministers.
Liu Hong finally laughed and said, "I'm going to make an edict, and I will play it by Liu Xin."
Zhang Rang asked incomprehensibly: "Why didn't the emperor allow him to play from the beginning, so that he would calm down the ministers' discussions sooner?"
Liu Hong said triumphantly: "If I didn't do this, how could I tell if Liu Xin was sincere. From now on, Liu Xin's loyalty to me is beyond doubt. Jingzhou is the southern gate of Luoyang. From then on, I can Give it to him with confidence."
The turbulent Liu Xin's appointment of the king finally came to an end, and then there was endless debate in the court around Liu Xin's voluntary refusal. This time, the ministers no longer had the same thoughts, and clearly divided into several factions. A group of people headed by Situ Cui Yan believed that Liu Xin did this entirely for the sake of fame and sacrifice. A group of people headed by Taiwei Yang Ci believed that Liu Xin did so because of pressure from the ruling and the opposition, not out of his heart, and worthless of mention. There are also middle- and lower-level officials headed by Xun Yu who believe that it is very difficult for Liu Xin to do this, and his high morale is indeed a model for young people to learn from.
Although there was a quarrel about Liu Xin, Cao Cao didn't participate in these discussions. He just went between the barracks and home on time every day. It seemed that he had never heard of Liu Xin's appointment of the king.
Recently, the most talked about in Beijing is Liu Xin's appointment as king. Cao Cao's wife, Ding Lin, has also heard about it. On this day, when she saw Cao Cao coming back from the barracks, she asked casually: "Master, didn't you and Master Muliu of Jingzhou also have a relationship? Why did you say that he rejected the title of King Xiangyang?"
Cao Cao laughed loudly and said: "The world is dull, so how do you understand Liu Xin's painstaking efforts. Xu Shao said that people are capable ministers in the world, and treacherous heroes in troubled times. I think this sentence is more appropriate for Liu Xin!"
When Ding Lin turned and left, Cao Cao said to herself: "Liu Xin is not easy! I will definitely be my strong enemy in the future, this person must be guarded!"
Liu Xin ordered Jushou to put up a memorial every three days until the emperor took it back. Then, he left the matter behind and proceeded to develop his Jingzhou step by step, as if the discussions between the ruling and the opposition had nothing to do with him.
Although his culture is not high, he still understands the principle that people regard food as the sky. Liu Xin's first development is naturally agriculture. At that time, the population had not exceeded the carrying capacity of the land. The main problem was that the yield was relatively low. There were many reasons, and the main reason was that the agricultural production at this time was mainly dependent on the sky. In recent years, the weather in Jingzhou has been smooth and the agricultural production has achieved a bumper harvest. But to take precautions, Liu Xin has already set his sights on building water conservancy projects.
At that time, the minds of ordinary people were still confined to their own one-third acre of land, and few people were willing to come out to work. In addition to the more than 10,000 original Yellow Turban prisoners who have obtained free status, Jingzhou's engineering team also has thousands of Jiangxia Army prisoners, the number of which is less than 20,000, which is more than half the size of the original more than 40,000. Now is the busy season of farming, and it is impossible to recruit a large number of civilian husbands. In order to build water conservancy projects, the repair work of most roads has to be suspended first. Liu Xin sometimes even wondered if it was time to form a professional engineering unit.
To ensure the stable development of the local economy, a stable environment is also very important, especially in the newly recovered area of Jingnan, where there are many bandits and bandits. In addition to the Fourth and Fifth Army Corps remaining there, Liu Xin ordered Zhang Yun's Third Army to also be transferred to the south of the Yangtze River to fight against bandits everywhere.
After Liu Xin's repeated adjustments to local powers, the post of the prefect has become less important. Therefore, he decisively transferred Tian Feng back from Changsha and let him take charge of the water conservancy construction in various places. The huge casualties caused by the attack on Jiangxia City gave Liu Xin a painful experience. The research and development of large-scale siege equipment such as trebuchets has become an urgent task. During Kong Wen's tenure as the head of the research institute, many research and development work was not progressing fast. Liu Xin did not hesitate to transfer Xiang Lang back to head the research institute.
Xiangyang City is still prosperous as always. The city gates on all sides have not been closed once even during Liu Xin's military service against Jiangxia and Wuling. Its status as a commercial center in Central and South China can no longer be shaken. Businessmen from the south come to the north all night long. The business of the inn in the city is endless.
Evening has passed. If it were in other cities, the city gates would have been closed, but there were still twos and threes of people coming in and out of each gate in Xiangyang, and various vehicles passed through the city from time to time.
A small carriage galloped straight to the east gate of Xiangyang, and the driver said without looking back, "Master, we are in Xiangyang ahead."