Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 390 Queen Guo's Envy
Due to excessive grief and catching a cold, Zhen Mi fell ill that night.

When Liu Xie learned about this, he put aside his official duties, came to visit her in person, and stayed by her bedside.

After all, the two have been together for almost five years.

Liu Xie still had deep feelings for Zhen Mi.
The death of his mother was a huge blow, and Liu Xie did not want to see Zhen Mi become ill due to grief and end up dying.

In the Qingli Palace.

Zhen Mi was lying on the bed, sleeping soundly, her eyes closed, her face red, and her breathing slightly rapid.

Liu Xie sat on the edge of the bed without saying a word, looking at Zhen Mi's sleeping face in a trance, wondering what he was thinking.

Queen Guo at the side whispered, "Your Majesty, you have been on guard for a whole night, you should go back and rest first."

"My dear, I will be here to guard you. You should still take care of the dragon's health and don't overwork yourself."

Liu Xie shook his head slightly and said, "It's okay."

Queen Guo had no choice but to say no more.

Liu Xie held Zhen Mi's slightly hot hand, his eyes were somewhat complicated, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Among all the concubines in the harem, Zhen Mi had the deepest affection and the most profound feelings for him, but he really owed her too much in this regard.

This is also the reason why he tolerated Zhen again and again.

However, he also knew that what Zhen Mi wanted was not for her family to become prominent, but her real desire was his favor.

But this is exactly what he finds most difficult to satisfy.

The harem is a microcosm of court politics, and whether the concubines in the harem are favored or not can directly affect the court structure.

The emperor's every move was watched by others. If he showed extraordinary favor to Zhen Mi, many people would speculate what he was thinking.

For example, whether he wanted to depose the queen, whether he wanted to make Zhen Mi the queen, or whether he planned to further reuse Zhen... and so on.

Then some balance will be broken.

So sometimes he often knew Zhen Mi's feelings but could not satisfy them. For example, when she asked him to stay overnight or cooked a meal for him to eat, he would sometimes refuse.

This is to maintain a certain distance.

Thinking of this, Liu Xie secretly made up his mind that after Zhen Mi woke up, he would take time to accompany her and make up for what he had done.

"His Majesty--"

Just as Liu Xie was lost in thought, an eunuch walked into the palace and reported: "Military intelligence has been reported back from Bingzhou. The Minister of the Central Secretariat invites Your Majesty to go to the Xuanshi Hall for a discussion."

After hearing the news about the front line, Liu Xie hesitated for a moment, but still felt that he could not ignore it, so he instructed Queen Guo: "Take good care of Concubine Zhen on my behalf."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Queen Guo bowed her head and accepted the order.

Then Liu Xie took a cold handkerchief from the palace maid next to him and put it on Zhen Mi's forehead, then tucked the quilt in for her before leaving Qingli Palace.

Watching the emperor leave, Queen Guo breathed a sigh of relief and her eyes fell on Zhen Mi who was still unconscious on the bed.

"To be able to receive such concern from His Majesty, Concubine Zhen is indeed the most favored concubine in the harem."

Queen Guo thought to herself.

When Zhen Mi fell ill, the emperor stayed by her bedside all night and took good care of her. She had never seen any concubine being treated like this by the emperor.

Even when Concubine Lu was pregnant and unconscious, she did not receive such treatment, which shows how much the emperor valued Zhen Mi.

Putting away the envy in her heart, Queen Guo went downstairs to start boiling medicine for Zhen Mi, and at the same time asked people to burn the earthworms more vigorously.

Not long after, when she returned to the palace with the bowl of medicine, Zhen Mi had woken up from her coma.

"Cough cough..."

Zhen Mi's face was weak and she covered her dizzy forehead with her hands. She asked in a hoarse voice, "What's wrong with me?"

"My Lord, are you awake?"

Seeing this, Queen Guo couldn't help showing a hint of joy on her face. She put the tray aside and said to her, "You caught a cold outside yesterday and fell ill."

"Your Majesty has been guarding you all night and has just left."

After hearing what Queen Guo said, Zhen Mi recalled that she had indeed stayed in the snow for a long time yesterday, and fell asleep in a daze after returning to the palace at night.

I never thought that I caught a cold and fell ill.

But what concerned her most was Queen Guo's next sentence. She asked tentatively, "You mean... Your Majesty has been guarding me here all night?"

"Yes, my lord."

Queen Guo smiled and said to her, "Your Majesty took care of you personally last night and did not allow the servants to interfere."

"I just heard that there was military intelligence coming back from the front, so I left temporarily. Before leaving, I asked this servant to take good care of you."

"Your Excellency is truly favored by His Majesty."

Hearing this, Zhen Mi felt a deep warmth and happiness in her heart; but when she thought of her mother's death, she couldn't help but feel sad.

Queen Guo naturally understood why Zhen Mi looked so angry, so she comforted her: "My dear, you should take good care of yourself and don't let His Majesty worry too much. You should drink this bowl of medicine first."

Zhen Mi sighed and said nothing more. She took the jade bowl from Queen Guo and drank it all in one gulp.

She didn't want to drag Liu Xie down because of herself.

At least, don't let him worry too much.

……

On the other side, in the Xuanshi room.

Jia Xu bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, Cao Cao has sent people to contact Ma Chao, and wants to form an alliance with him to fight against the court."

"I think we should send more troops to defend Yanzhou, and we must not let Cao Cao find an opportunity to lead his troops north while the army is on the westward expedition."

Ma Chao's letter had been sent back to Yecheng.

No one would take his threats in the letter seriously, and no one would compromise with him, but the information revealed in the letter was still worthy of attention.

Cao Cao wants to form an alliance with Ma Chao, which means that Cao Cao may also intervene in this war and take advantage of the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

Upon hearing this, Liu Xie put down the letter from Ma Chao in his hand and threw it into the stove. Then he ordered: "Send an order to General Huang Lao, order him to lead the troops to guard Yanzhou and keep an eye on Cao Cao's movements at all times."

It was completely within his expectations that Cao Cao would intervene in this war.

After all, this guy's vision is not comparable to Ma Chao's. If they want to fight against the imperial court, both sides have to join forces, otherwise they can only wait to be defeated one by one.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Jia Xu accepted the order respectfully.

Then Liu Xie asked Zhuge Liang and others: "How is the disaster situation in various places this winter? How are the Wuhuan people who moved to Youzhou?"

Winter is often difficult to endure, and many people freeze to death or starve to death every winter. Although he had ordered all places to prepare for relief to the victims in advance, the difficulty was extremely great.

Especially after the Wuhuan were defeated and Goguryeo was conquered, hundreds of thousands of Wuhuan people were moved to Youzhou and other places to live. These people should not be neglected either.

Whether for the sake of the reputation of the Han court or to facilitate the annexation and conquest of various ethnic groups in the future, it is of great significance to properly settle these people.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has made full coordinated efforts to deal with the disaster and minimize the impact of the heavy snow on the people in various places."

"In addition, the captives have been properly settled, Your Majesty, please rest assured."

Zhuge Liang replied that he had spent a lot of time and effort on this and had made preparations in all aspects in advance.

Liu Xie trusted Zhuge Liang's ability to get things done. He nodded in approval and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Kongming. If you need any supplies, just dispatch them directly. You don't need to report to me."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhuge Liang bowed deeply and was able to mobilize supplies without reporting to the emperor. This was the great power and deep trust given to him by the emperor!

After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, Fa Zheng hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, these Wuhuan people are a foreign race after all. If they rebel again, wouldn't it be..."

Fa Zheng's words were very obscure, but Liu Xie understood what he meant - this was the Han Dynasty's long-standing resistance and vigilance towards foreign races.

The relationship between Wuhuan and the Han Dynasty has always been bad. After the Wuhuan were defeated, the Wuhuan captives were settled in the territory of the Han Dynasty. To be honest, many ministers in the court had opinions about this.

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Aliens are aliens after all. As the saying goes, those who are not of our race must have different hearts. We should kill all aliens.

However, Liu Xie gave them a way out.

If one day these Wuhuan people become disloyal again and take the opportunity to cause chaos, it will be a huge hidden danger for the Han Dynasty.

"What do you think, Hyo-nao?"

Liu Xie did not express his thoughts immediately, but looked at Fa Zheng and asked for his opinion.

A wise monarch should be good at listening to advice.

Fa Zheng had already expected the emperor to ask him this question before he asked it. Hearing this, he became alert and took out a memorial from his arms.

"Your Majesty, this is the 'Three Strategies and Twelve Essays on Governing the Wuhuan' that I wrote. It contains some of my humble opinions on governing the Wuhuan people. Please have a look at it, Your Majesty."

Fa Zheng held the memorial in both hands and presented it to Liu Xie.

Liu Xie took the memorial and said to Fa Zheng with a half-smile, "It seems that Xiaozhi was well prepared."

Fa Zheng bent his waist even deeper.

I felt a little uneasy.

Liu Xie didn't care. He understood Fa Zheng's little thoughts. He just wanted to show off in front of him and win more of his trust and a higher status.

There are many talented people in the court. Although Fa Zheng is talented, Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Lu Su and others are more talented than him, so he naturally wants to show more.

Liu Xie was not opposed to this kind of healthy competition. The more intense the competition, the more beneficial it would be to the country.

Just don't attack each other.

After opening Fa Zheng's memorial, Liu Xie carefully read through its contents, frowning and relaxing his brows. Finally, he closed the memorial and nodded, saying, "Xiao Zhi's words on how to govern foreign captives are very insightful."

"But there are a few places that I think are not appropriate."

Fa Zheng was very happy when he heard the first part of the sentence, but the second part made him nervous and he said quickly, "Your Majesty, please correct me."

Liu Xie was not polite and said directly: "The three strategies written by the left prime minister are to calm the people's anger, calm the people's hearts, and gain the people's support."

"There are no problems with the first and third strategies, but there are big problems with the second strategy."

The three strategies written by Fa Zheng actually represent three steps.

The first thing is to calm the public anger.

That is to deliberately provoke the Wuhuan people, such as making the Han soldiers or people actively discriminate against them or show hostility.

Although this kind of thing has existed before, it has always been a minor incident. Fa Zheng's intention is to actively turn this minor incident into a major conflict.

When the conflict escalated and the situation became a big deal, the court would step in to appease the situation, such as punishing the soldiers or Han people who caused the trouble, or using kind words to comfort the Wuhuan people, thus demonstrating the court's attitude.

Then the second strategy was to distribute land to these foreign people. This was the fastest and best way to win their hearts.

The third step was to recruit young and strong men from the Wuhuan people to join the army and use them to fill the shortage of military forces.

Fa Zheng’s three strategies are not complicated.

As for the remaining twelve suggestions, they are some other suggestions and specific implementation methods, which are supplementary suggestions.

In Liu Xie's opinion, there was no problem in other aspects, the problem lay in the second step.

"This Han Dynasty belongs to the Han people. These Wuhuan people are just outsiders. If I give them land directly, what will the Han people think?"

"I have already treated these Wuhuan people well enough. When it comes to favors, too much is as bad as too little. It is difficult to satisfy people's hearts."

"If I treat them too well, they will want more."

"If the imperial court does something that is unfavorable to them or makes them unhappy in the future, they will seize this opportunity to cause trouble. Do you believe it?"

Liu Xie said slowly.

Fa Zheng's idea was to win over the people's hearts and minds by showing the Han Dynasty's tolerance and preferential treatment of other ethnic groups, thereby reducing the Wuhuan's hostility towards the Han Dynasty and facilitating assimilation.

This strategy is not bad, but it does not understand human nature well enough, so there are mistakes and omissions.

"minister……"

Fa Zheng opened his mouth slightly, not knowing how to answer.

Liu Xie placed the memorial on the dragon table and said, "It is true that I want to bring these foreign people under the rule of the Han Dynasty, but the Han Dynasty conquered the Wuhuan by force. We cannot reduce the prestige of the court in their hearts. It is necessary to make them fearful."

"I will not treat these Wuhuan people harshly, but it is also impossible to treat them too well, because that would be unfair to the people of our Han Dynasty."

"I am the emperor of the Han Dynasty. I have enough heart to tolerate them. But if they don't obey, I don't mind killing them all."

Liu Xie said in a calm voice.

There was a bloody smell in the words.

Fazhen was even more awed, and Liu Xie slowed down his tone when he saw this. He smiled and said, "As for the matter you mentioned about recruiting young and strong men from the Wuhuan army, Kong Ming has already done it. There are Wuhuan cavalry in the army for this western expedition."

"Go back and study this memorial carefully, and then bring it to me for review."

Fa Zheng responded respectfully.

After discussing these matters, Liu Xie asked his ministers to continue handling government affairs, and then went to Qingli Palace to visit Zhen Mi.

When he arrived at the palace, Zhen Mi was standing by the window with her clothes on, staring at the snow scene in the yard in a daze.

"When did my beloved wake up?"

Seeing that Zhen Mi woke up and was fine, Liu Xie felt relieved and asked softly.

"His Majesty."

Zhen Mi leaned in Liu Xie's arms and did not answer what he had just said. Instead, she bit her red lips and said, "I... want to go home."

(End of this chapter)