The imperial decree sent by Liu Hong to Liu Xin on New Year's Day surprised him. This imperial decree appointed him as Jingzhou pastor. After Zhang Gou'er issued the imperial decree this time, despite Liu Xin's repeated attempts to stay, he refused to stay in the river for a New Year's Eve dinner, and hurried back to Luoyang. Obviously something happened in the capital, and he repeatedly told him before he left. Liu Xin packed up his clothes as soon as possible and rushed to Luoyang as soon as possible to meet the emperor. Liu Xin didn't dare to stay, and asked someone to stuff him a bag of gold and silver. He returned to the mansion sullenly, only to see that Tian Feng and others gathered in the hall when they got the news. All of them were beaming with joy and were discussing happily. What's going on.
Seeing Liu Xin walking in, everyone bowed to the ground: "Subordinates, see the lord!"
Liu Xin was a little inexplicable, and quickly said, "What are you doing, get up quickly."
Tian Feng looked at Liu Xin with a stunned look and said, "Don't the lord want us to follow you to Jingzhou?"
Liu Xin asked strangely: "Where did I start with this? I don't know where to offend the emperor, so I suddenly asked me to become a state official with office and power, and I was worried that you would not go to Jingzhou with me. . Also, why did you suddenly call my lord here?"
Jushou explained: "Haha, Lord, you have misunderstood. You went to Jingzhou to serve as a state shepherd, not a governor. The governor only has the responsibility of supervising local officials, but the state shepherd is different. He is in charge of the military and administration of a state and the chiefs of each county The appointment and dismissal are all dependent on the prefecture. In the future, we will follow you to Jingzhou, and that will help you do things. Naturally, we will call you the lord.
After hearing Jushou's explanation, Liu Xin turned his worries into joy, and said to Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others: "You and I are married brothers. From now on, you can still call me the eldest brother, you don't need to call me the lord."
This is really a big pie that fell from the sky, and it smashed Liu Xin into a daze. His prefect of the Hejian was actually very useless. Although he said that he was in charge of the army, he was dismissed to manage the people. In fact, the personnel rights are limited, even the county. Ling Du has no right to appoint or dismiss. Tian Feng, Jushou, Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others are actually non-staff cadres, equivalent to what later generations call "temporary workers." It's good now. When you arrive in Jingzhou, you have the final say, and you have to arrange suitable positions for them. But where did this imperial edict come from? Liu Xin was puzzled.
It turned out that the Han Dynasty divided the world into 13 states including Sili, Yu, Yan, Qing, Xu, Liang, Yong, Ji, You, Bin, Jing, Yang, and Yi. At first, the post of state shepherd was set up to manage the counties and counties under the state. Later, when it was discovered that the power of the state shepherd was too great, the state shepherd was changed to the state governor. The state governor only represented the central government in exercising supervision over the counties and counties, and had no real power. At that time, Liu Yan was the prefect of Nanyang. His good friend Dong Fu once said to Liu Yan that "the capital will be chaotic, and the division of Yizhou will have the spirit of the emperor." So Liu Yan carefully wanted to be the lord of Yizhou, and repeatedly wrote and asked the emperor to re-establish the post of state shepherd.
Coincidentally, Zhang Rang got Liu Xin's reminder, and he really sent someone to follow Feng Wei secretly. Sure enough, he found out that he had a close relationship with a person named Ma Yuanyi, and he believed Liu Xin's things three points. During this period of time, a nursery rhyme gradually circulated in the capital: "The sky is dead, the yellow sky is standing, and the age is in Jiazi, and the world is prosperous." Zhang Rang was secretly surprised when he heard that he knew that he could have today's power. It is relying on the trust of Emperor Liu Hong. If Liu Hong falls, he will be over.
Wanting to understand this, Zhang Rang didn't dare to delay any longer, and hurriedly went to the palace to report to Liu Hong. Liu Hong was watching the memorial presented by Liu Yan at this time. Liu Yan handed the memorials repeatedly, but he always went into the sea like a mud cow, and there was no news. This time he gave Zhao Zhong a generous gift and asked Zhao Zhong to forward it to Liu Hong.
Zhao Zhong naturally helped Liu Yan to say a lot of good things. Liu Hongzheng hesitated and couldn't make up his mind, but when Zhang Rang came in, he handed Liu Yan's memorial to him.
Zhang Rang saw that Zhao Zhong was constantly winking at him. He and Zhao Zhong were wearing a pair of trousers. How could he not understand what he meant, so he first explained what he knew about Zhang Jiao, and then He took the opportunity to say: "The emperor, Yang Ci and Liu Tao both petitioned for the arrest of Zhang Jiao a few days ago. The emperor did not approve the arrest. If the arrest is carried out now, it may be controversial. The old slave thought Master Liu Yan was a memorial. It was timely and solved the emperor’s big problem."
Liu Hong asked strangely: "What is the connection between these two things?"
Zhang Rang continued: "Nowadays, the prefects everywhere are corrupting and demanding bribes and exploiting the people. Most of them don’t follow the imperial orders, leading to the world’s centrifugal betrayal. Liu Yan asked the emperor to select the important ministers of the Qing Dynasty to serve as the prefecture shepherd. The old slave thought it was feasible. In this way, it would be easy to concentrate the soldiers and horses of the states. If the angle is really rebellious, it will be easy to capture it."
Liu Hong nodded and said, "Father's words are reasonable, so in which states do you think it is more appropriate to set up state and animal husbandry?" Liu Hong favors Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, often calling Zhang Rang his father and Zhao Zhong. mother.
Hearing Liu Hong's mind loosened, Zhao Zhong remembered what Liu Yan had entrusted him to, and quickly said: "The emperor, the elite soldiers of the Han Dynasty are all gathered in Luoyang, and the three states of You, Bin, and Liang are also strong soldiers. Even if they rebel, it is not a concern. However, in the southern states, the imperial court is beyond reach, especially in Yizhou, where roads are blocked, it is better to set up a state shepherd earlier. Since this idea was proposed by Liu Yan, he is also a Han family clan, and the old slave thought he could serve as a shepherd in Yizhou. ."
Liu Hong thought for a while and said: "A mother said something reasonable, let Liu Yan be the herd of Yizhou. It is very important that the southern states of Jingzhou are connected to the north and the south. I wanted to appoint Wang Rui as the governor of Jingzhou. Now it is better to appoint him directly. What do you think of pasturing Jingzhou?"
Wang Rui had close contacts with General He Jin, and he often bumped into Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others. Liu Hong asked them how they could help him. Zhao Zhongxian said: "When you return to the emperor, the post of state shepherd is very powerful. How can you give it to outsiders casually, you should choose a person with all virtues and talents from your clan before you can assume it." Whether or not there is a state animal husbandry in Jingzhou, I don't care, but I would rather not set up a state animal husbandry than Wang Rui.
Zhang Rang rolled his eyes and thought of Liu Xin. The investigation of Fengzhe still relied on Liu Xin’s reminder. He was considered to have done a good job in front of the emperor, so he had the heart to return to the emperor. He said: "The emperor, the old slave recommends the prefect Liu Xin, also a relative of the Han clan, is loyal and compassionate to the people, and can serve as a shepherd in Jingzhou."
Liu Hong thought about it. Liu Xin did a lot in this year's drought. Last time, Jizhou Governor Han Fu asked to praise him in a letter, but he didn't agree to it, so let's make up for him this time. As a result, the two imperial edicts were sent out separately, and Liu Xin received this huge piece of pie, but it was actually stained by Liu Yan's light.
Liu Xin took the imperial decree, happily packed his things, and got ready to go. Over the past year or so, he has been a prefect, basically spending on public funds, he didn’t spend much, and he also received a lot of gifts, plus the original savings, after careful calculation, it turned out to be more than 10 million. . In this way, Liu Xin was regarded as a rare good official and upright official by the local people, which shows how simple and kind the people of the Han Dynasty are. He had quietly exchanged these properties for gold and silver, and it was convenient to carry them.
It's just that Ma Yun's luggage is full of two large suitcases. Liu Xin asked strangely: "These are all yours? What are they?"
Ma Yun said triumphantly: "There are all books in this."
Liu Xin is even more weird: "Books? Why did you buy so many books? Why don't I know, let me take a look."
Ma Yun knocked out Liu Xin's hand that was about to open the lid: "These books are my secrets, so I'm not allowed to read them."
Liu Xin said disdainfully: "Hmph, I'm not rare to read it, it must be some pornographic novels."
Ma Yun pretended to say: "Go! You just read the ** novel."
Before Zhang Gou'er left, he told him to get on the road as soon as possible. But Liu Xin can’t just leave. He goes to Jingzhou this time. The six brothers Tian Feng, Jushou, Xu Huang, Zhang Fei, Zhang Yun, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Zhao Yun will naturally accompany him. Fan Jing, father and daughter, and Xu Lao. Dad will naturally follow, everyone has a lot of things to clean up, and this speed won't get up fast.
Fortunately, when traveling in the spring, Ma Yun felt that the carriage was too bumpy. After Liu Xin came back, he found a craftsman. Based on his knowledge of shock absorption in later generations, he built three, five, and eight comfortable carriages, plus two. Ten ordinary carriages are enough to transport family members and belongings. Feihuwei has been expanded to a thousand men by him, and all of them are cavalry. In this way, the speed on the road is estimated to be much faster.
In this way, Liu Xin got everything ready until the third day of the first lunar month. Unexpectedly, the people in Hejian heard the news and spontaneously rushed to the Taishou Mansion to see him off. The roads in the city were all blocked, and there was none on that day. Walk into.
On the fourth day of the first lunar month, it was still dark. Liu Xin, together with Dianwei and Wei, brought a hundred Feihuwei soldiers, quietly out of the city and marched towards Luoyang. Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others took the other 900 Feihu guards to protect Ma Yun’s mother and son, as well as Tian Feng, Jushou, Fan Jing, and Father Xu. They did not set off until dawn, and many people heard about it. The news came to see off, only to find that Liu Xin had left quietly and had to give up.
Liu Xin and Dianwei, with a hundred flying soldiers, rushed to Luoyang non-stop, it was the evening of the fifth day of the first lunar month. Although the gate of Luoyang City was not closed at night, the gate of the palace was already closed. Naturally, Liu Xin could not see the emperor, so he had to settle down in the post house.
Although Liu Xin is now the shepherd of a prefecture waiting to take up his post, in the eyes of the postmen in the capital who are used to seeing high officials, it is nothing. He is not enthusiastic about Liu Xin and Dianwei. Only some coarse tea and light rice were arranged.
Dian Wei was annoyed, and wanted to go to them for theories several times. Liu Xin hurriedly stopped and said, "This is at the feet of the emperor, so you can't let it go. Forget it, we are not bad for money. Tonight, we will find a hotel in this capital and let you have a drink."
Dian Wei heard that he was drinking, and his anger was mostly relieved, and he raised his hands in agreement. The two changed their casual clothes and walked onto the streets of Luoyang, but they did not expect that the doors of their shops were closed. After walking several streets, they saw a hotel with a large storefront, with a row of red lanterns hanging at the door and the sign saying three. A golden big character "Drunk Hongchen".