The emperor looked at the map on the table and was speechless for a long time.

He was very annoyed, rebelling one after another, and there was always more bad news than good news, which made him feel both tired and helpless. Why did the Han Dynasty become like this in recent years? It takes money but no money, no soldiers but no soldiers. Natural disasters and man-made disasters are emerging one after another. If this continues, when can we survive?

Thinking of the face of the ministers in the court, he was even more angry. These people were not good at fighting, but they were more active than anyone else in fighting for power and profit. He had just locked up the Grand Secretary Wang Han, and the memorials of impeachment of Wang Han were filled with cases. He was surprised. Since Wang Han had done all his corruption and abused the law, why did no one report the memorial before this?

He knew how Wang Han was. Apart from pestering him to ask for money every day, this old man was impeccable and was a good person. But in recent years, Wang Han worked hard to raise military funds and maintain the expenses of the court and offended many people. He proposed to reduce the salaries of the bureaucrats, but offended the bureaucrats; he proposed to borrow land rent from the kings and nobles, but offended the kings and nobles; he borrowed money from the Shaofu and asked for money from Wanjintang, but offended himself. To put it bluntly, he offended him even if he should offend him. Even the eunuchs guarding the Beisi Prison hated him, and as soon as Wang Han entered the Beisi Prison, they beat him half to death.

Take a look at the memorials of the Third Duke's Mansion and the General's Mansion. There are too many people who are targeting the position of Grand Secretary He Jin. This is a fat neglect. You can embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars by just taking action. The powers of the various parties in the court have already started to fight openly and secretly for this Grand Secretary, and everyone wants to get it. Now Sikong Ding Gong is temporarily responsible for the Grand Secretary. In the eyes of the emperor, Sikong Ding Gong has a close relationship with General He Jin. He is not at ease, but it is not easy to replace people immediately, because the Queen Mother has already told him that Ding Gong will be responsible for a while no matter what. When the Grand Secretary repays all the money borrowed from the Queen Mother, no one will care about the Grand Secretary.

He had already decided who would be the Grand Chief Farmer, and he was not in a hurry. He just wanted to find an excuse to release Wang Han earlier and let him go home to enjoy his old age.

What he had a headache about was that Zong Zheng Liu Yu asked to go to Youzhou. He was unwilling to let Liu Yu go. As soon as Liu Yu left, there was a person he could trust in the court. If Xiao Donghou Liu Xie was to be the crown prince, he had to control the inner court and the outer court as much as possible so as to solve the problem of General He Jin at the appropriate time. Because of the support of the central officials and the power of military affairs by the Shangshutai, the inner court was gradually strengthening, and the outer court could only rely on Taichang Liu Yan and Zong Zheng Liu Yu, members of the royal family. As soon as Liu Yu left, the emperor felt that his long-term efforts were in vain.

It is not easy to choose a member of the royal family who is recognized by the court to serve as the important position of the Nine Ministers. Without real skills, you cannot be the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers. Don’t say that you are worried, the opposition and secret elbows of the aristocratic bureaucrats are enough to deal with it. Look at people like Zhao Zhong, Zhongchang Sushi Zhang Rang, and General He Jin, who are powerful, who have become the Nine Ministers? Only He Miao has been the Yin of Henan before making military achievements, but that is only equivalent to the various ministers. Today's court is still the world of aristocratic families. Among the royal family, only a few people including Liu Yan and Liu Yu are recognized by the aristocratic families because of their outstanding knowledge.

Liu Yu insisted on leaving Luoyang with selfish intentions. He did not do anything else, but he just did not want to get into the battle for the imperial throne. His Majesty liked him to be the Grand Marshal, but the Empress and the General and other forces were afraid that the Emperor would control the military affairs through Liu Yu, so he obstructed him in every way. For this reason, the Emperor hangs the Grand Marshal's position for more than a month, but in the end the Emperor compromised. What does this mean? It means that the General's power has become increasingly powerful, and the struggle with the Emperor is becoming more and more fierce. Everyone's secretive battle for the Emperor's Emperor is becoming more and more clear. If you continue to stay in Luoyang at this time, there are only two choices, either support the eldest prince to inherit the Grand Marshal and the General standing aside; or support the young prince to inherit the Grand Marshal and the Queen Mother standing aside. Liu Yu had no choice but to choose to escape. The chaos in Youzhou is the best opportunity for him to escape from Luoyang.

The emperor didn't know Liu Yu's thoughts. If he knew, he would be furious and imprisoned him in Beisi Prison. The emperor thought that Liu Yu was troubled by rumors in Luoyang, so he talked to him for a special time, hoping that Liu Yu would stay by his side, but Liu Yu cried bitterly and used the excuse of thinking about the people of Youzhou as an excuse to leave. He even said that he would rather resign than go to Youzhou to fight the rebels and be loyal to the Han Dynasty.

The emperor was very distressed and helpless.

Liu Yu felt uncomfortable when he saw the emperor's disbelief. He knelt on the ground, burst into tears, and almost changed his words, but when he thought of the coming bloody storm, he gritted his teeth and held back. Liu Yu thought for a long time and decided to test the emperor's intentions in the end.

"Your Majesty, if General Li ends his rebellion, what will His Majesty plan to arrange for him?"

The emperor seemed to have an idea and said without thinking: "Bingzhou has always been a major area for border control, which is directly related to the safety of Luoyang, so I plan to let him guard Bingzhou, recover lost territory, and protect the capital."

Liu Yu felt a chill. Knowing that the emperor arranged this way Li Hong, he was determined to support the little prince in inheriting the throne. He had no intention of staying in Luoyang anymore and said loudly: "Your Majesty, after I arrived in Youzhou, I should try my best to quell the rebellion and guard the border for Your Majesty. If General Li is ordered to go south in the future, I should supply food and grass for General Li and defend the barbarians to ensure that General Li has no worries about going south."

The emperor was not happy when he heard this. He looked at Liu Yu and shook his head and said, "Don't you know that I need you to stay in Luoyang more?"

＝＝＝

The emperor's thoughts were interrupted by Huangfu Song's shouts.

Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi were explaining the war in Youzhou in detail to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the thief is so powerful that the loss of Youzhou is a foregone conclusion." Huangfu Song raised his head and said calmly, "After the fall of Jicheng, several counties in the eastern and central areas of Youzhou have been occupied by ants thieves. At present, we have no way to rescue them."

The emperor nodded and asked casually: "When will reinforcements arrive in Zhuo County?"

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is not to urge the reinforcements to go north, but to order General Li to arrive in Jinyang immediately to prevent Zhang Yan from suddenly turning back to Changshan." Huangfu Song said, "Our reinforcements are small and weak. Even if we arrive in Zhuo County, we cannot defeat the rebels, and we cannot regain Jicheng. At most, we will delay the rebels' speed of going south, which will be useless."

The emperor was stunned, looked at Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi, and asked strangely: "What do you mean by the two beloved ministers? Zhang Yan turned around and ran away when he saw the leopard coming to Taiyuan. He stopped beating. He could chase after him."

"General Li was unable to pursue him because Yang Feng, the ant thief who attacked Shangdang, would immediately go north to Taiyuan to entangle him." Huangfu Song said, "Only when Zhang Yan ran away, General Li could do nothing."

"Your Majesty, Zhang Yan is not not fighting, but cannot fight. He must rush back to Changshan as soon as possible to help the rebels in Youzhou move south and occupy Jizhou." Lu Zhi stroked his beard and said, "I and Lord Huangfu thought for a long time. What is the meaning of Zhang Yan occupying Taiyuan County? What is the problem of ant thieves? Later we suddenly realized that Zhang Yan's attack on Jinyang was a trick to lure the enemy. He just wanted to drag General Li's army into Bingzhou. The real purpose of the Yellow Turban thieves was to quickly occupy Jizhou."

The emperor looked confused and puzzled.

"Your Majesty, the ant thief is ambitious, and he is both an emperor and a country. He is so powerful that he will not just want to stay in the barren land of the northern border, right?" Huangfu Song explained, "What will they do next after they occupy Jicheng?"

"What? Can the thief still fight Luoyang?" the emperor asked with his eyes wide open.

"Of course they dare not think about Luoyang, but Jizhou still has to be fought. Otherwise, where will their food, grass and property come from? How can they support it without food, grass and property?" Lu Zhi said, "But the rebels of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun cannot defeat Jizhou alone."

"Only tens of thousands of ant thieves are enough?" the emperor asked, "Don't they still have the Wuwan cavalry?"

"We can be sure of this," Lu Zhi said, "First, my great Han has accumulated power for a long time, and the Hu people are afraid of our great Han. For many years, we have killed them, and at most they are just plundering near the border. There is no precedent for attacking the hinterland of our great Han. Especially now, we have just defeated the 120,000 Xianbei troops in Western Xinjiang. This can be imagined. Secondly, the Hu people went south with cavalry and had to carry a large number of cattle, sheep and livestock as food. Unlike Xiliang, Jizhou has no grassland with lush water and grass, only arable land, so the food for livestock becomes a problem. If the Hu people cannot solve this problem, their food will naturally become a problem."

"At present, the Wuwan people cannot expel the fear in their hearts, nor can they solve the forage of livestock, so the possibility of them going south with the rebels to Jizhou is very small. If Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun tempt them with great profit, I think at most, only a few Wuwan people are willing to follow them south, and it is impossible for them to be all."

"In this way, the rebels' strength to attack Jizhou is not enough. Even if they could win several cities in the early days, when our reinforcements arrived, they would be unable to move forward. In the absence of support, the rebels would still withdraw to Youzhou." Huangfu Song continued, "So, we concluded that Zhang Yan would fight back to Changshan and seize Zhending to restrain our troops and cover the rebels in Youzhou to attack Jizhou. After the three rebels of Zhang Ju, Zhang Yan and Bairao met, they would have enough troops to attack the city and capture the village."

"Where are our reinforcements?" the emperor asked in disbelief, "Where were our reinforcements at that time?"

"Your Majesty, I have said that our reinforcements will be assembled one after another in at least a month. When they arrive in Jizhou, the rebels may have already attacked Julu County and Anping Country." Huangfu Song frowned and said, "So the most urgent task is to keep Zhang Yan in Bingzhou, trap Bailuo in Wei County, and block Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun in the Hejian Country of Zhongshan Country to prevent them from joining each other. In this way, their plan to occupy Jizhou will fail."

＝＝＝

The emperor looked at the map, and became more angry as he looked. He suddenly punched the table and shouted: "Kill, kill all these rebels for me. I don't believe that I can't kill them all."

He pointed to Jian Shuo who was standing aside and shouted, "Immediately issue an order to Li Hong, asking him to surround the ant thief in Jinyang, and no one is allowed to run away."

Jian Shuo quickly agreed and walked aside to draft an order.

"How to trap the ant thieves in Wei County and stop them from heading north?"

Huangfu Song bowed and replied: "Your Majesty can issue an order for the Jizhou governor Yang Qi to lead his army to block the enemy from the Zhangshui line. Although Lord Yang did not have many soldiers, it was still possible to delay the speed of the ant thieves' northward travel. After the troops of Yanzhou East County, Chenliu County, and Jiyin County, which are closer to Wei County, went north to support the troops, the ant thieves would have no choice but to escape back to Heishan."

"In addition, if the ant thief leader Bai Zao has not received any news that Zhang Yan led his army to attack Changshan for a long time, he may voluntarily give up going north and withdraw back to Heishan."

"Can you be sure?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, the rebel Zhang Ju calls himself the emperor, and Zhang Chun also calls himself the prime minister. Why did the leaders of the ant thieves such as Zhang Yan, Yang Feng, Bai Luo call themselves the general? Is it Zhang Ju not a title or Zhang Yan and others unwilling to accept it? You know, in name, Zhang Yan is the leader of the Yellow Turban Ant thief. He is like Zhang Jiao back then, and he has a high position in the minds of the ant thief, but now the leader of the ant thief has become Zhang Ju. What is Zhang Ju's status among the ant thief?" Huangfu Song pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe, there are some internal problems."

"So, I believe that in this case, Bai Luo, who has been a thief for many years, will certainly preserve his strength to maintain his own survival, so..."

"Hmph..." The emperor sneered, "Everyone can kill him, and there is no good thing. So how can you stop the Youzhou rebels outside Jizhou?"

"I can only count on the troops of Qingzhou." Lu Zhi pointed to Pingyuan County on the map and said, "Pingyuan County in Qingzhou is adjacent to Bohai County. The soldiers and horses of the two counties can immediately gather north to meet the enemy and Hejian Country. As long as Zhang Yan's rebels are not Changshan, I guess the Youzhou rebels will not dare to go south easily. If General Li can quickly surround Zhang Yan's rebels in Jinyang, we will have enough time to gather more troops and defend the enemy outside Jizhou."

"Then in this way, you personally write a letter to Li Hong in the name of Shangshutai, explaining the strategy of Shangshutai's counter-rebellion, and let Li Hong obey your arrangements and warn him not to attack at will. If Zhang Yan escapes to Changshan and causes Jizhou to fall, you ask him to send his head to Luoyang." The emperor smiled and said, "This leopard is rebellious and disobedient. If he doesn't threaten him, he may fight again in Bingzhou."

Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi laughed out loud.

＝＝＝

Lu Zhi smiled and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, after rushing to the northern border to suppress the rebellion, the troops gathered in Jizhou, you need a commander. I don't know what your Majesty..."

The emperor immediately thought of Liu Yu. He glanced at Lu Zhi with a small eye, wondering whether Liu Yu had found him privately. Was Liu Yu so anxious to leave Luoyang? Immediately, he remembered that forty or fifty people from the Shangshutai had not left Beigong for more than half a month, and Liu Yu could not see Lu Zhi. The emperor was touched and couldn't help but sigh. Lu Zhi proposed who would lead the troops north to Youzhou to quell the rebellion. He didn't ask about his intention.

The bureaucrats in the court were still careful to value Liu Yu, and to be careful to abolish the legitimate and establish illegitimate illegitimate and civil strife in the palace. After all, these aristocratic families were still on the side of the general. If the foreign court did not support their confidant ministers, they would not be able to influence the aristocratic families. Without the support of the aristocratic families, could they let Xiao Donghou succeed to the throne? The emperor was in a mess for a moment.

The emperor looked at Huangfu Song. Huangfu Song lowered his eyebrows and bowed his head, his face as if he was still water, but the perseverance in his eyes seemed to tell the emperor that he agreed with everything Lu Zhi said. Lu Zhi stared at the emperor with bright eyes, and his friendly smile clearly contained a sense of persecution.

"Who is my dear, who is the right minister?" Although the emperor had already understood what Lu Zhi meant, he still wanted to ask.

"I believe that Zongzheng Liu Yu and Liu once served as the governor of Youzhou, and were very familiar with the situation in Youzhou. Moreover, when he was in Youzhou, he was honest and kind, and was benevolent in government and was interested in benefiting the people. He did many good things for the people of Youzhou and was deeply loved by the people of Youzhou. Liu Yu always adopted a gentle approach to the Hu people and opposed killing. He moved in a large number of internal movements and persuaded the Hu people to be kind to all ethnic groups. The Hu people were grateful for their virtue and transformation, and they paid tribute to all seasons." Lu Zhi sincerely praised, "If Lord Liu led his army to Youzhou, he could not only reorganize the hearts of the people, but also get help from the Hu people, which would be of great help to pacify the rebels as soon as possible."

"I believe that it is most appropriate for Lord Liu to suppress the rebellion."

The emperor smiled helplessly, "But he is ranked as the Ninth Minister, how can he be demoted?"

"Your Majesty, you can make temporary adjustments in this time of crisis." Lu Zhi said, "Your Majesty can ask Lord Liu to lead the governor of Youzhou with two thousand stones, hold the ranks of quarrels, control the troops of each county, and command the army to the north."

The emperor remained silent.

"I know that Your Majesty favors Lord Liu and is unwilling to let him go, but this is an extraordinary time. Lord Liu cannot take on this important task." Lu Zhi said earnestly, "Your Majesty wants to reuse Lord Liu, and everyone in the court knows it. This time Your Majesty originally wanted to promote Lord Liu to Taiwei, but because of rumors in the capital, Lord Liu was impeached, and Your Majesty failed to do so."

"Your Majesty, what would happen if Lord Liu arrived in Youzhou, pacified the rebels and made great achievements, and then His Majesty recalled him to Luoyang for important tasks? I'm afraid that even if there are any rumors, it will not be hindered?"

The emperor's will was moved. If Liu Yu successfully suppressed the rebellion and made achievements, wouldn't it be the endorsement of the Taiwei? Moreover, at that time, Liu Yu had disciples in the northern border and subordinates in the army, and he spoke in the court...

Seeing that the emperor was hesitant, Lu Zhi spoke again: "Your Majesty, although the rebels in Youzhou are powerful, they are located in a barren area in the northern border, and they are difficult to last for a year or two. Moreover, Your Majesty should not forget that there is Li Hong in Bingzhou. As long as Taiyuan is pacified, Li Hong can lead his troops north. At that time, it will be difficult for Lord Liu to make such achievements."

The emperor suddenly felt enlightened and raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Then follow what you said to me."

＝＝＝

Late at night, the candles were still bright in Shangshu's room.

Huangfu Song slowly put down the pen in his hand and said to Lu Zhi sitting beside him: "Zigan, Lord Liu will return to the court with great achievements, and the situation in Luoyang will change, if..."

"Yizhen, it is a good thing for Lord Liu to leave Luoyang." Lu Zhi put down the bamboo slips in his hand, looked around, then sat opposite Huangfu Song, and whispered, "No matter whether he is in the court or in the wild, as long as he is not a person with power, he will not like a foreign relative to be a general. Whether you, me, Liu Yu, or the third duke, we don't like He Jin to be a general. Look at how many merits he has had in the previous dynasty's previous dynasty's senior relatives and generals who have different backgrounds from generals from aristocratic families. The former is power and the latter is a country, which is a world of difference."

"We all think there is nothing wrong with the general in the middle-aged servant Cao Jie and Wang Fu killed Dou Wu. If there was no such general in public or private matters, we would think that there would be nothing wrong with it. If there was not an ant thief rebellion, how could this general of the foreign relatives? If there was not this general of the foreign relatives, how could this dispute over the imperial rule today?"

"My Han Dynasty has always been the chief of the chief and the wise. If the elders are incompetent, they can naturally be the wise. Shi Hou and Dong Hou are young and do not understand the world. We cannot think that Shi Hou has no king's dignity because of his bad habits. From the moment, both of them can inherit the throne. But this matter of establishing a crown is a major matter of the country, and you must discuss peace with your ministers. But what about today? Why doesn't Your Majesty discuss peace with your ministers? Why doesn't Your Majesty establish a crown prince? It's all because of a general."

"If the Marquis of the Secretariat is appointed, the Marquis of Dong is appointed, and if the Marquis of Dong is appointed, the Marquis of the Great General is appointed, this is the reason why Your Majesty is determined to make Hou Dong the crown prince." Lu Zhi sighed in a low voice, "Your Majesty would rather kill the General than give the lives of the Queen Mother, Dong and his royal family to the General. There are many lessons to learn from. How could Your Majesty repeat the same mistake?"

Huangfu Song frowned and whispered: "Equipping Hou Dong as the crown prince is not a disaster for the general, but it is a harm to the traitor. The two of them have to weigh the pros and cons, of course they have to take the former, but His Majesty takes the latter, which is a bad idea." He glanced at Lu Zhi and asked, "Is this related to Lord Liu's departure from Beijing?"

"Yes, Liu Yu is not in the court, and the power of the royal family has been reduced immediately. Your Majesty will rely on the official. Now the old official is weak, and the small official is gradually rising. It is a good opportunity to eradicate it." Lu Zhi sneered, "The two tigers will fight each other, either die or be injured, then..."

Huangfu Song had a little understanding, "Slay two birds with one stone?"

Lu Zhi nodded and lowered his voice and said, "Yizhen, just understand this matter. If you want two tigers to fight, you must have a heavy bait, this heavy bait..."

Huangfu Song suddenly woke up and exclaimed in horror: "Zigan, this is playing with fire*."
Chapter completed!