People in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Hu and Han respected together

Chapter 120
Luoyang, the palace!
When Zhang Rang came to Liu Hong, he first saluted respectfully, and then began to show his acting skills:

"Your Majesty, the people below have heard some rumors, and now I report it to this old slave. I really dare not hide it, but I am afraid that I will be accused of slander, slander, and loyalty to the court!"

Liu Hong waved his hands casually while admiring the singing and dancing, and then he said calmly:
"Just tell me, I forgive you for your innocence!"

Zhang Rang lowered his head when he heard the words. He also knew that Liu Hong in front of him would be furious after he finished speaking, but he still wanted to say it:

"Your Majesty, there are rumors everywhere in Guanzhong. Huangfu Zhonglang is raising his own self-esteem. He wants to take the imperial army as his own. He even wants to separate Guanzhong, occupy Chang'an, and become the king of Guanzhong..."

Liu Hong's face had already froze, but he could still remain calm at this moment. Although he was afraid, he was not yet too credulous to believe rumors.

Then Zhang Rang continued:

"There are even rumors that those rebels admire Huangfu Zhonglang very much. As long as Huangfu Zhonglang raises the flag with his subordinates, he is willing to lead the crowd to surrender immediately and counterattack Luoyang as a vanguard..."

"Stop talking, just shut up!"

Liu Hong yelled, and now his brows were tightly wrinkled, his face turned green and pale for a while, and he kicked over the table and began to vent his anger wantonly:

"Get out of here, and Zhang Rang, get out of here too!"

Not long after, Liu Hong was the only one left in the empty hall, and even Zhang Rang had already gotten out.

At this time, Liu Hong also curled up his body, hugging his knees and shivering.

Liu Hong felt the malice of the world. He is the emperor of the world, but the world is always against him.

The emperor is a loner, he can't show his grievances, fears, worries... in front of outsiders, otherwise he will only be considered incompetent and weak.

He was a little fierce, and cursed bitterly:
"These Liangzhou barbarians, what do they want to do? They lead the crowd to surrender to Huangfusong, and act as the vanguard to counterattack Luoyang. Damn it! Damn it!!"

Liu Hong talked a lot, and the more he talked, the colder his face became, and finally he said indifferently:
"This battle can no longer be fought, and this Huangfusong can no longer lead the army..."

The next day, at the court meeting, Liu Hong tried his best to dispel the opinions of all the people. He was speechless from the difficulties faced by the court, the difficulties faced by the local government, and the officials from many aspects, and finally decided to appease the rebels in Liangzhou.

And this important task fell on Cui Lie, who had rich experience in missions, and Liu Hong asked him to go to recruit Liangzhou rebels.

As long as they retreat, everything is negotiable. Of course, there is a limit, and only Cui Lie can decide.

Cui Lie knew that it must be the rumors in Guanzhong that made Liu Hong make this decision, but he couldn't persuade him, because he couldn't be sure whether Huangfusong was raising the bandits' self-respect, and whether as long as Huangfusong raised the flag, the rebels would surrender and serve as the vanguard to counterattack Luoyang.

He didn't dare to put his life and reputation as guarantees for Huangfusong. If Huangfusong really raised the flag, then not only would he die, but even his reputation would be ruined.

The ancients still valued reputation very much. At least before Sima Yi took Luoshui as his oath, the moral level of the whole society was indeed very high.

But whoever let Sima Yi take the oath as a fart, the later people will follow suit, and the moral level will drop sharply.

Therefore, Cui Lie could only set off with his team. It was still winter, the wind was blowing, and the snow was also falling. The journey was very difficult. After five days of walking, they arrived at Huangfusong's military camp.

Huangfusong greeted him personally, he seemed very humble, just worried that the rumors in Guanzhong would affect the court's attitude towards him.

He is really wronged, he has never raised his own self-respect, the rebel army is really hard to fight, and he is loyal to the court, from Yingchuan to Hebei, from Hebei to Guanzhong, he has always tried his best.

Now it is rumored that he wants to separatize Guanzhong, and he wants to raise the flag to rebel. Isn't this bullying honest people!

Those rumors were probably released by those rebels. Even though Huangfusong had every precaution, he couldn't prevent these rumors...

Three people become a tiger, and a tiger can hurt people!
Cui Lie wore brocade clothes inside and furs outside, still feeling cold all over, he looked at Huangfusong, shook his head helplessly, and then said:
"Yizhen, we are willing to believe in your character, but the rumors in Guanzhong have caused His Majesty to have doubts. I hope you will not resent the court. There is no way to do this."

Huangfusong's heart trembled. How hard-hearted he was. Even though he slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers, he never frowned. Now facing the imperial court's distrust, he began to feel uneasy in his heart, so he could only excuse aggrievedly:
"Wei Kao, I, Huangfu Yizhen, swear to the sky that I will be loyal to the court and His Majesty. I have never had any wrongdoing. Those rumors are all slanderous words. I hope the court can see clearly, and I hope Your Majesty can learn from it."

Seeing that Huangfusong was willing to swear, Cui Lie trusted him even more, but now that Liu Hong had made a decision, he could only shake his head again, and then said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty asked me to appease the rebels, send me there tomorrow, this matter is a foregone conclusion!"

Huangfusong couldn't object, if he objected, it would be a confirmation of his self-respect, and in the end he could only sigh:

"I understand!"

One night passed, and the next day came.

Huangfusong sent his cronies to send Cui Lie to Chencang, because Huangfusong set up a tight defense line, without his warrant, no one person or horse could pass through the defense line.

For the rebels, Cui Lie could be regarded as an old acquaintance, so he was put into the city directly. Li Wenhou, Beigong Boyu, the chiefs and leaders of all ministries were willing to meet him.

In the original government house, Cui Lie saw these rebel leaders again, and these rebel leaders were also very curious about Cui Lie's coming.

Beigong Boyu grinned, looked Cui Lie up and down, and asked curiously:

"Emissary of the Han Dynasty, you are here again. What do you want to do this time? We are quite dissatisfied with the ransom money Yuan Pang gave you to redeem Zhang Wen!"

Cui Lie held his head high, looking firm and unyielding on the surface, but his heart was actually quite sad.

The great man of Huanghuang has reached such a point that he needs money to redeem the domestic ministers, and needs money to ask the enemy to retreat.

But he still insisted:
"In the past year, wars broke out frequently in the world, and the people were displaced. They had no clothes, no food... and could only wait for death. Your Majesty has the virtue of heaven to live, and he is sympathetic to the suffering of the common people, and he is unwilling to fight again. As long as you hand over Chen Yi and Ling Zheng, the two chief culprits, you can be pardoned and rewarded. Think about it, don't be obsessed!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present looked at each other in blank dismay. Did the court want to demand peace? !
(End of this chapter)