Chapter 1 The Crown Prince
The Emperor issued an edict.
"For years, the world has been plagued by war, and the national treasury is empty. I wish to revive the Han dynasty and hope that the people will contribute generously. If anyone donates 500 taels of gold or 3 million coins, they can be granted the title of Marquis within the Pass, as a reward for their meritorious service."
Edict, there are many edicts issued by the Son of Heaven.
But this kind of imperial edict is the first time I've heard of it. The words are nice, very grandiose. But this is selling official positions and titles! Although Liu Feng disguised his actions, he still can't block the bright eyes of the masses.
As a result, this edict was issued. Instantly, countless people began to despise Liu Xie, thinking that the current emperor and the deceased predecessor, Han Lingdi, were quite similar.
A solitary wild boar on a hill.
However, although this matter has caused a sensation and countless people have discussed it, for some people, it is also possible to look at the matter calmly.
For example, Cao Cao did not comment on it, nor was he furious. Instead, he gathered his officials to discuss the matter at the residence of the Minister of Works.
Because of his slightly closer relationship with Liu Bei, Cao Cao even had someone send a letter to Liu Bei, inviting him to attend.
Left General's Mansion.
Liu Bei sat in the room checking accounts, originally this kind of thing should be done by Zhu Ge, but now he can only do it himself. Because Sun Qian doesn't understand, and Jian Yong basically can't manage the household either.
Liu Bei was at least a shoemaker and could barely support his family.
The guards' food, treatment, and various things are quite numerous. Liu Bei's head is big.
"Alas." Liu Bei let out a long sigh and put down the bamboo slips in his hand. He thought of the good times with Zhuo Gongliu, and his heart seethed with resentment.
"Your Excellency, there is a guard from the Imperial Censor's residence who requests an audience." Just then, Chen Dao walked in from outside and reported.
"Please." Liu Bei was slightly startled, but thinking of his current relationship with Cao Cao, he calmed down and raised his hand.
"Alright." Chen Daoren responded with a single word and immediately turned around and went down. A moment later, an armored soldier walked in from outside.
"I pay respects to General Liu Bei." The soldier entered the study and immediately bowed to Liu Bei with great respect.
"Please rise." Liu Bei stretched out his hand and gave a slight assist, then said: "I don't know what errand the Minister has for me?"
"The Emperor issued a decree, the whole country has been at war for years, the national treasury is empty, I want to revive the Han dynasty, and hope that the people will be rewarded. If the people donate 500 gold or 30 million coins, they can be granted the title of Marquis within the Pass, as a reward. This matter, the Minister of Works attaches great importance to it, so please ask the Left General to discuss it." The armored soldier replied respectfully.
"What?" Liu Bei exclaimed, isn't this just a disguised form of selling official positions and titles?
But soon, Liu Bei calmed down. Because after careful consideration, he felt that this matter was very likely to happen, but from the fact that Liu Feng had gone crazy to the point of discarding all propriety and shame in order to get rich today, it could be seen that he had already reached a state of madness.
It's not too surprising that he would resort to selling official positions and titles.
"Has the Han dynasty fallen to such a state? It seems that I will have to revive it myself." Liu Bei thought to himself with a cold smile.
Liu Bei didn't know if he was a descendant of the Han imperial family or not, but he clung to this identity anyway. The benefits brought by this identity were truly enormous and unimaginable.
Watching Liu Xie's decline, Liu Bei's ambition rose bit by bit.
"Go back and tell Prime Minister Cao, I'll be there soon." Of course, Liu Bei still looked quite amiable on the surface. He smiled and said to the armored soldier who had come to report:
"Yes." Officer A saw that the task was already completed and immediately responded with a "yes", turned around and walked out.
"Someone's here, go get Second Brother."
After Xia Shi left, Liu Bei immediately ordered.
"Yes." Chen Dao responded from outside the door and immediately went to find Guan Yu. A moment later, Guan Yu walked in.
"Big brother." Guan Yu said as soon as he came in, making a fist at Liu Bei.
"Never mind, something interesting happened today, let's go take a look at the Prime Minister's mansion." Liu Bei said with a smile, standing up.
"Hmm." Guan Yu nodded slightly.
Immediately, Liu Bei and Guan Yu led over a dozen guards, mounted their horses and left the Left General's mansion, heading towards the Minister of Works' mansion. When Liu Bei arrived at the Minister of Works' mansion, he was invited into the main hall.
Cheng Yu and Xun Yu have arrived. Cao Cao is already kneeling in the upper position. Liu Bei took a look and knew that this was a small meeting between several people.
It's probably just them.
"Liu Bei had met Prime Minister Cao before. He merely glanced at him, and everything became clear in his mind. Immediately, he led Guan Yu to bow to Cao Cao."
"Xuande has arrived? Please sit." Cao Cao's face revealed a warm and gentle smile as he invited.
Cheng Yu and Xun Yu were both somewhat astonished when they saw Liu Bei arrive. They were surprised that Cao Cao's relationship with Liu Bei had progressed to this point.
Even such small meetings were attended by Liu Bei together.
However, both of them were seasoned veterans and after a brief moment of astonishment, they quickly masked their facial expressions.
"Alright." Liu Bei responded with a nod and led Guan Yu to sit down together.
After Liu Bei took his seat, Cao Cao let out a sigh and said: "As for the imperial edict issued by the Emperor today, I wonder what opinions do you gentlemen have?"
"It's called filling the national treasury, but in fact, the Son of Heaven is hoarding wealth. I'm afraid it's because he was deceived by the Crown Prince." Cheng Yu was more straightforward and dared to speak his mind, even in front of Liu Bei, directly rebuking the Emperor.
Moreover, Cheng Yu also pointed the spearhead at Liu Feng. Not because he was targeting Liu Feng, but in these days, Liu Feng was really too eye-catching.
Liu Xie was originally a relatively peaceful and wise monarch. However, after Liu Feng suddenly erupted, he became like a different person.
In the eyes of ordinary people, it was because they were deceived by Liu Feng that they became like this. In fact, in a certain sense, Liu Xie was indeed also deceived by Liu Feng.
Because it was Liu Feng who misled Liu Xie on how to step by step attack Cao Cao, deploy troops and capture Xu Du.
"Hmm." Cao Cao nodded in agreement with Cheng Yu's analysis. He too had been dazzled by Liu and Feng's brilliance, and was somewhat irritated.
"But there's another possibility." Cheng Yu continued.
"Speak." Cao Cao's spirit was immediately shaken, and he said.
"The Son of Heaven wants to use the Crown Prince as a shield to accumulate wealth." Cheng Yu said, almost word for word, his expression extremely solemn.
Cao Cao's whole body shook, and then his eyes burst out with extremely strong essence, very dazzling. Also very sharp, almost can be said to be piercing.
Xun Yu also shuddered all over, glanced at Cheng Yu, and had a few points of discontent in his eyes. However, it quickly disappeared and did not show up.
Liu Bei was also shocked, previously they all thought that Liu Xie had been deceived by Liu Feng, but never thought that maybe Liu Xie had deceived Liu Feng.
Now that the question is turned around, it's really like that. If Emperor Liu Xie uses his son to accumulate wealth and secretly recruit soldiers and buy horses.
This is no longer a simple nonsense, but a matter with very far-reaching impact.
