I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 679 Zhang Zhao arrives

Dong Zhuo's words made Dong Min and Dong Huang realize something.

They didn't expect that after Liu Jian took office, the current situation of the Chang'an court would still be so complicated. Just sending Hu Zhen here would have so many twists and turns, which really made people confused. .

Dong Huang rubbed his head with his hands and said: "This Prime Minister Liu is too blunt. Why don't you just tell your second uncle about this kind of thing? Why do you have to let your uncle guess by himself?"

When Dong Zhuo heard this, he laughed on the spot.

"My nephew, things in the court are like this. There are many things that I can't tell you directly in words. It's different here from the army."

"Just like this time when he sent Hu Zhen to me, Liu Jian knew in his heart that I would definitely understand his intentions."

"Given my status and Liu Deran's status, this kind of thing doesn't need to be explained so clearly. We all know each other and what to do is just a matter of a word or a look."

Dong Min has been following Dong Zhuo for a longer time and has more experience in this process than Dong Huang, so he said: "Nephew, you and your uncle still have a lot to learn."

Dong Huang sighed helplessly:

"My nephew really has a lot to learn from his uncle, but he is afraid that he will not be able to learn it because he is too stupid."

Dong Zhuo turned his head and reached out to pat Dong Huang on the shoulder.

"Nephew, in fact, these things are not to be learned by rote, but to be understood slowly while relying on the court."

"You are still young and have a long way to go."

"Slowly, you will know."

"But to be honest, you don't know much about these machinations now. It has only advantages and no disadvantages for our Dong family. You don't have to blame yourself too much."

After saying this, Dong Huang was a little confused.

"Uncle, why do you say that? If I don't grow up, why am I doing good to the Dong family?"

Dong Zhuo's smile was a bit inscrutable.

"If you can always maintain a loyal and reckless look, Prime Minister Liu will feel relieved about our Dong family. After all, my uncle is old... Some time ago, Prime Minister Liu asked Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Tuo to see a doctor for me. Although I was cured, It’s a stubborn disease, but the two miracle doctors said that the root cause of the disease in my body cannot be eradicated, and I will need to take good care of myself in the future.”

“But it’s not certain how long the lifespan can last.”

"Your third uncle is not much younger than me. I'm afraid he can't hold up the banner of the Dong family. In the future, you are the only one who can guide the Dong family and make the Dong family prosperous."

Dong Huang didn't quite understand. Even though he had become the head of the Dong family...but what did this have to do with how much he knew about the ways of the court?

Dong Zhuo didn't seem to want to explain to Dong Huang anymore. He said to Dong Huang: "Go to the Prime Minister's Mansion in the future and pay homage to Prime Minister Liu! Please convey to the Prime Minister my decision to intercede with Hu Zhen today."

Dong Huang asked Dong Zhuo, "Uncle, if I take this news to Prime Minister Liu, what will Prime Minister Liu say to me? How should I answer?"

Dong Zhuo said slowly: "He will naturally say what needs to be said. Just answer what he says. There is no need to cover up. You can answer him however you want..."

Dong Huang didn't think much and immediately received Dong Zhuo's order.

The next day, he went to the Prime Minister's Mansion to meet Liu Jian and conveyed Dong Zhuo's decision to intercede on behalf of Hu Zhen to Liu Jian.

When Liu Jian heard that Dong Zhuo actually wanted to plead for Hu Zhen and save his life, he seemed a little hesitant at the time.

"Is there something wrong with this? Hu Zhen committed the crime of rebellion. Even if he was killed a thousand times, it would not be enough to appease the hatred of all the people! Now that the Taifu wants to save his life, if this matter spreads If I go out, I'm afraid everyone in the world will think that I didn't enforce the law impartially and left the traitor's life for personal gain. This matter will be harmful to both the court and me."

Dong Huang said: "My uncle said that he also knew the difficulty of the prime minister. It's just that Hu Zhen has followed his uncle for many years and has no merit but hard work. Yesterday, in front of my third uncle and me, he kept giving me two Uncle kowtowed and cried so hard!"

"My second uncle is getting older. Thinking about the past between him and Hu Zhen, I couldn't bear it, so I shamelessly asked me to tell the prime minister if I could save Hu Zhen's life?"

"As long as the Prime Minister can save Hu Zhen's life, any other punishment can be used on him, such as imprisoning him in the sky prison forever, or cutting off his hands and feet...or separating him from his body. The entire clan is exiled as punishment?"

Liu Jian said: "The torture of amputating hands and feet was abolished as early as the founding of the Han Dynasty. But what you just said is right. You should spare Hu Zhen's life and imprison him in this way." It won’t make things difficult for Tai Tu, and it can be regarded as an explanation to him.”

"It's just that this matter still needs to be discussed in court. What should we do about it later? I'll think about it again."

Dong Huang hurriedly said: "Thank you, Prime Minister, for taking such good care of my uncle! If the Prime Minister needs me to do anything, just tell Dong Huang, and I will definitely die without mercy!"

Liu Jian said kindly: "What do you think of your uncle interceding for Hu Zhen?"

Dong Huang was stunned when he heard this, then stretched out his hand to scratch his head and said: "I, I think, I think I should kill him!"

Liu Jian said: "Since you think Huang should be killed, but the Taifu feels that this person's life should be kept, do you think it is you who are wrong or the Taifu who is wrong?"

Dong Huang said: "The official thinks that Uncle Cong and I are both right."

"What I want to do is to kill Hu Zhen and avenge Uncle Cong!"

"What Uncle Cong wants to do is to save Hu Zhen's life, because the lives of such rebellious people have been spared by the Prime Minister! When the Prime Minister sends troops to Liangzhou, those rebellious thieves will definitely have expectations in their hearts."

"If they really can't defeat the Prime Minister and want to surrender to him, they won't hold back, because Hu Zhen is a precedent! Then they will know that they will have a good destination if they take refuge under the Prime Minister. After all, even Hu Zhen The Prime Minister didn't even kill such a vicious person like Zhen..."

Liu Jian raised his eyebrows and said: "Taifu actually thought of such a thing? It seems that the reason why Taifu Dong wanted to save Hu Zhen's life was not entirely for the sake of his friendship with Hu Zhen. There seemed to be more to it. Think about me and the court."

Dong Huang said: "Uh... yes... my second uncle did it for the sake of the prime minister and the court, and he also had many considerations..."

Seeing Dong Huang's honest and honest look, Liu Jian couldn't help but feel happy.

"Did the Master say that Hu Zhen was sent to your uncle on purpose because of someone Liu?"

Dong Huang heard this. Suddenly he was stunned.

Then I saw that his expression was a little awkward, and he shook his head subconsciously: "No, no, I didn't say it!"

Dong Huang's lying skills were a bit bad. Although he didn't tell the truth in front of Liu Jian, his expression betrayed everything.

Liu Jian saw this and felt quite happy.

As far as the court is concerned, such a person can be regarded as a rare honest person in Chang'an.

"General Dong, the next day, I will send troops west to Liangzhou and the Western Regions. If I use you as my guide, will you be willing to accompany the army in the battle?"

After hearing Liu Jian's words, Dong Huang hurriedly raised his hand and said, "Of course I am willing, but it's okay for me to fight in front of the battle, but if you use me as a guide, I'm afraid it will be unsatisfactory. Please consider it carefully, Prime Minister."

Liu Jian nodded with great satisfaction and said: "The fact that you can look at yourself so squarely and see your own strengths and weaknesses shows that you are a person of great use... Since you already know your shortcomings, then look back Just hone yourself in this aspect." Dong Huang immediately raised his hand and said: "No! When I go back, I will start to review the geography, mountains and rivers of Liangzhou, as well as the people's livelihood, customs and customs, in preparation for the Prime Minister's military expedition to the Western Regions in the future. When the time comes, I can become the Prime Minister’s guide!”

"good."

……

In the sweltering heat of August of the first year of Jian'an, when the heat in Guanzhong was unbearable, two heavyweights finally arrived in Chang'an.

First, Zhao Yun, who was appointed as the right general, came to Chang'an.

Later, General Zhang Fei of the Left protected Liu Jian's family and arrived in Chang'an City together.

This time when he came to Chang'an, Zhang Fei also picked up Liu Jian's family members so that they could be reunited.

Liu Jian hadn't seen his wife, concubines, and children for a long time. Now that the whole family was finally reunited, Liu Jian was really overjoyed and couldn't be happier.

Even though he lives in a temple, he is still a man with seven emotions and six desires. Being able to reunite with his family is really his greatest happiness.

Not only his wife and children, but also his father, mother, and younger brother also came to Chang'an.

Now, Liu Jian's children have grown up.

The eldest son Liu Ji is now thirteen years old.

The second son Liu Yu is also eleven years old.

The eldest daughter Liu Li is eight years old.

The second daughter Liu Xi is also eight years old.

In addition, there were his four new children, but Liu Jian was not with them when these four children were born.

Before leaving Hebei, Liu Jian worked hard to sow seeds according to his mother Hu's words. Now when he met several ladies, he had already achieved results.

Zheng Ci gave Liu Jian another son, who is now one year old and named Liu Zhi.

Bian Yu'er gave birth to a son for Liu Jian, named Liu Ji.

Cai Mi gave birth to a daughter named Liu Dan.

Du Yan gave birth to a son named Liu Sheng to Liu Jian.

Liu Jian was so happy that he suddenly had so many children.

Happiness came too suddenly.

The arrival of the two generals Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun also made Liu Jian feel confident.

Although Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun are now nominally left and right generals, in fact, their two left and right generals were conferred by Liu Jian in the name of General Fuyuan when he was General Fuyuan, but they are only subordinate to the system of General Fuyuan.

The imperial court did not officially recognize the positions of their left generals and right generals.

But now, Liu Jian decided to formally appoint them as left and right generals from the perspective of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Jian had wanted to do this for a long time, but because Zhang Fei and others had not arrived in Chang'an yet, Liu Jian could not implement it for the time being.

Now that they are here, Liu Jian has to determine the titles of these direct descendants. Of course, not only them, but also many people he originally appointed in Hebei will take over one after another. However, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun are the ones who are thrown away. Come out and test the water first.

When Liu Jian proposed in the court that Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun should be appointed as left and right generals, he was immediately opposed by many courtiers.

These courtiers did not really want to target Liu Jian, but they did have their reasons.

Previously, Lu Bu became the general of the Western Conquest. In a sense, it touched the bottom line of the court a little too much.

But after all, Lu Bu defected from the Bingzhou Army. The court officials also knew that Liu Jian and the court needed Lu Bu as the main figure to appease the Bingzhou Army, so it was normal to give him a high rank and title.

But the status of the generals on the left and right is higher than that of Lu Bu's general who conquered the west.

In the eyes of the courtiers, they did not achieve great feats from the official perspective of the Han Dynasty. What they did was always done by Liu Jian's subordinates.

Isn't it a bit childish to suddenly promote them to generals on the left and right now?

Huang Wan has now joined Liu Jian's camp, but he is an old minister after all, and he has his own rules of conduct.

He immediately told Liu Jian that it was a bit too fast for Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun to be promoted to the real left and right generals at once. It was better to let them temporarily occupy the positions of middle generals, and then promote them according to Liu Jian's wishes in the future after they have made contributions.

Most of the ministers in the court had this opinion. They felt that Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun's achievements were not enough to serve as generals.

They should at least practice for a while longer, allowing them to accumulate more merits before they can be given the title of General.

But Liu Jian directly refuted their opinions.

In Liu Jian's view, making Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun the real left and right generals is not a matter of merit. He wants to use this matter to establish one thing in the court, that is, Liu Jian must have the ability to keep his word. power.

Even if some things are against the rules, as long as Liu Jian speaks, the matter must be done according to his wishes.

To put it bluntly, this is indeed a bit arbitrary and not suitable for a long-term political stance.

But Liu Jian has to do this now, because these are troubled times. If he cannot be arbitrary and consistent in the troubled times, he will be constrained in many things in the future.

At that moment, Liu Jian said to everyone: "You say that Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun cannot serve as left and right generals because their achievements are not enough, but I think they have many achievements. Although they have not been directly rewarded by the imperial court for their previous achievements, They gave military orders and transfer orders. However, the achievements they made at the frontier fortresses benefited the people of the entire Han Dynasty."

"The Xiongnu and Wuhuan tribes were recruited before them. The gathering of these foreign tribes relied on these generals to command the army through life and death, so that such a situation in the north could be achieved."

"Nowadays, countless foreign populations have been incorporated into our Han Dynasty, and their descendants will learn our culture, learn our writing, and speak our language in the future. They will become the labor force of our Han Dynasty and farm for us. , pay taxes for us and increase our population.”

"And the reason for all of this depends on the merits of the border battles in the past ten years! Let me ask you, in the more than four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, who else has been able to achieve such achievements as a general?"

"Even the champion prince may not have such achievements, right? So what if he sealed the wolf as his lord? Today, the border of Hebei has become unique to me, the Han Dynasty. The grassland people who have caused trouble for hundreds of years have become our subjects! They have become our subjects. Our people, just based on their achievements in battle, can only be awarded the title of general, is there any problem?"

These words made all the courtiers present speechless. They had already seen that Liu Jian regarded Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun as the left and right generals from the perspective of the imperial court. This matter was finalized and could not be changed.

(End of this chapter)