Chapter 217 The ministers persuaded us to come in. You and I, the king and my ministers
When bursts of crying rang out in the hall, the entire hall was instantly enveloped in a sad atmosphere.
Men of the Han Dynasty are inherently emotional, and the saying "Don't shed tears lightly" is not suitable for men of the Han Dynasty.
Especially the ministers in the Guangde Palace today have heard of such a huge change.
Although Liu Bei also called himself King Zili, Liu Bei made it very clear in "The King of Hanzhong Encouraging Jin Biao" that he called himself king for the better future of Cao Cao's Northern Expedition, and also to take the initiative to shoulder the important task of supporting the Han Dynasty when the country was in crisis.
Unlike Wei, which was already an independent dynasty in name only.
So when they heard that the Han Dynasty had died, a feeling of sadness for the people whose country had perished instantly filled the hearts of all the ministers.
How could the ministers not shed tears of sadness?
Of course, there are also some people with double-minded intentions among the ministers in the hall.
But they saw that most of the courtiers began to cry. In order not to be criticized, they had no choice but to join in the crying process.
Seeing the ministers in the palace weeping and crying, Liu Bei, who was infected by this sad atmosphere, had his eyes red.
It has been about thirty years since he joined the army during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
The ideal he has embraced for the past thirty years has been to help the Han Dynasty, but the ideal he has adhered to for the past thirty years has now suffered heavy losses.
Liu Bei stroked the belt around his waist.
Back then, after Cao Cao welcomed Liu Xie to Xudu, he became arrogant and domineering, holding the emperor hostage to make the princes and ministers dissatisfied, and the world was full of resentment.
Liu Xie wanted to get rid of Cao Cao, but since he had no real power and Cao Cao had many eyes and ears in the palace, he had to hand over secret edicts to Dong Cheng to plot the incident.
Liu Xie wrote the edict in his own blood and handed it to his uncle Dong Cheng. Dong Cheng hid the edict in his belt and successfully took it out of the palace.
After Dong Cheng returned home, he actively contacted people loyal to the Han Dynasty to plot an uprising.
Liu Bei, who was in Xudu at that time, was one of them.
Although Liu Bei later left Xudu for Xuzhou, he never forgot Liu Xie's blood-stained edict.
Liu Xie placed the belt edict of the blood oath in the hands of Dong Cheng, which was destroyed by Cao Cao after Dong Cheng was killed by Cao Cao.
Later, in order to remind himself at all times not to forget Liu Xie's bloody edict on clothes and belts, Liu Bei also copied the original text of the edict on clothes and belts with his own blood, and then hid it between the belts around his waist.
Over the years, Liu Bei had suffered many defeats and was almost in danger.
But the book of blood alliance on his waist has always been well protected by him.
It's just that many years have passed, and the blood-stained edict is still there, but the companions who swore an alliance back then have long since died.
However, the emperor who dared to issue an edict to kill powerful ministers abdicated the throne under the coercion of the powerful minister's son, and he did not know whether he was alive or dead.
This sense of sadness made Liu Bei burst into tears for a while.
But Liu Bei is the hero after all. Although he is sad, he knows that now is not the time to vent his personal emotions wantonly.
Liu Bei wiped the tears from his face with his sleeves, and then his majestic voice began to echo in the hall:
"Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty and established itself. In the letter written by the governor of the Han Dynasty, he even mentioned that the emperor had been killed by Cao Pi.
At this time when the world is changing, I want to launch an expedition to the north to defeat the rebels. What do you think?"
When he said these words, the sadness on Liu Bei's face turned into anger.
When Liu Bei's words reached the ears of the ministers, the cries in their mouths gradually stopped, and then angry looks appeared on their faces.
Faced with Liu Bei's intention of the Northern Expedition, many ministers responded one after another. However, when all the ministers agreed with Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, who was sitting at the head of the ministers, came out and said to Liu Bei:
"Your Majesty, at this time, the grain and grass are not accumulated, the roads are not open, and the autumn harvest is around the corner, so we cannot rush to launch a large army for the Northern Expedition."
Zhuge Liang is the de facto "prime minister" under Liu Bei. When he left the office to speak, the entire hall fell silent instantly.
In the spacious hall, Zhuge Liang stood alone among the ministers.
His face was also full of grief and indignation, but he had profound knowledge, no matter how sad and angry he was, he would not let this emotion of grief and indignation cover up his knowledge.
When Zhuge Liang dissuaded Liu Bei from rushing to the north now, he immediately said something in the hall.
"Cao Pi was cruel and unruly, and dared to usurp the Han Dynasty, which made the people of the world depressed. Your Majesty, please obey the people and quickly achieve great success and bring peace to the world."
After Zhuge Liang said these words, all the officials in the hall looked at Zhuge Liang sideways, and even Liu Bei had surprise on his face.
Zhuge Liang's words were obviously urging Liu Bei to proclaim himself emperor.
But when the officials looked at him sideways, they also had admiration for Zhuge Liang in their hearts.
All the ministers in the hall were intelligent people. They knew that once Cao Pi usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Liu Bei's move to proclaim himself emperor would also be inevitable.
Otherwise, even if we are able to carry out the Northern Expedition now, the Northern Expedition will still be unknown.
There is no longer a Han Dynasty in the world, so how can we still use the slogan of helping the Han Dynasty?
However, I know that at this sensitive time, Zhuge Liang took the lead in urging people to join, regardless of possible criticism in the future. This is enough to prove his single-minded style of public service.
Otherwise, given Zhuge Liang's current position of power, wouldn't it be easy for him to arrange for several mouthpieces to explore the way for him?
Zhuge Liang stood in the main hall. He felt that many ministers were looking at him with scrutinizing eyes, but he didn't care at all.
Zhuge Liang knew what Cao Pi's purpose was for suddenly usurping the Han Dynasty, and he also knew what would happen if the Han Dynasty's name disappeared from the world for too long.
Because he knew it, he couldn't just sit back and ignore it.
Moreover, according to Mi Yang's letter, there is news circulating in the north that the emperor Liu Xie has been killed. Under such circumstances, it is urgent for Liu Bei to proclaim himself emperor.
Liu Bei saw that Zhuge Liang was the first to persuade him to join, and his attitude fell into silence.
When the ministers saw that Liu Bei was silent in response to Zhuge Liang's persuasion, many ministers began to feel excited.
After Zhuge Liang's speech, Taifu Xu Jing also went out to advise Liu Bei: "Cao Pi usurped the throne, annihilated the Han Dynasty, stole artifacts, robbed loyal people, and was ruthless and cruel. People and ghosts are angry and poisonous, and they miss the Liu family.
There is no Son of Heaven in the world today, and the sea is filled with panic and confusion.
At this time of crisis, your Majesty should step forward to restore the foundation of the Han Dynasty."
When Xu Jing came out to recommend that Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, the minds of the courtiers in the entire hall became more and more active.
Zhuge Liang is the one with the highest actual power among the officials in the palace. Compared with Zhuge Liang, Xu Jing's actual power is not as good as Zhuge Liang's, but his reputation can be said to be world-famous.
Not to mention Xu Jing's own outstanding achievements in Confucian classics, let's talk about his ability to evaluate characters when he was young.
Under his recommendation, many celebrities began to occupy important positions. For example, Xun Shuang, Han Rong, Chen Ji, Han Fu, Liu Dai, etc., who are all famous celebrities in the world.
Xu Jing was able to recommend them, and these famous scholars did not refuse Xu Jing's recommendation, which is enough to illustrate Xu Jing's prestige in the hearts of scholars all over the world.
In terms of reputation, Xu Jing is on par with Hua Xin and Wang Lang, two of the three princes of Wei.
By appointing these two famous men as the Three Dukes of the Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi was using their reputations to endorse his usurpation of the Han Dynasty and prove that he had the support of scholars all over the world.
So when Xu Jing came out to make suggestions, more and more ministers began to come out to persuade him to join.
Among these ministers who persuaded people to advance, there were many who were sensible like Zhuge Liang and Xu Jing, but there were also many who were good at speculating.
They saw that the two ministers Zhuge Liang and Xu Jing were beginning to persuade them to come forward, so how could they remain indifferent?
But when the ministers in the main hall, led by Zhuge Liang and Xu Jing, persuaded them to come in, the person they were being persuaded to come in, Liu Bei, never said a word.
Liu Bei's brilliant eyes swept over all the courtiers present, and then his majestic voice spoke again:
"Send the king's order to the prefect of Hanxing and ask him to investigate the emperor's safety."
"Until the Governor of Hanxing has not reported back the news, the matter of persuading people to move in will not be mentioned again!"
When Liu Bei finished speaking, he ordered all the ministers to retreat, leaving Zhuge Liang alone.
Under Liu Bei's order, the ministers who were citing scriptures in the main hall to persuade Liu Bei to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor all showed disappointment on their faces, and then they gradually withdrew from the main hall.
Liu Bei saw the disappointment on the faces of the officials, but he did not change his mind because of the disappointment.
When the ministers in the hall gradually left, only Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and Liu Chan, who had always been a little transparent, were left in the hall.
After seeing no one else around, Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang and said to him: "Kong Ming, stay closer to me."
Zhuge Liang was already standing at the head of the ministers, not far from Liu Bei. If he stepped forward again, he would step onto the king's level.
The ladder between monarch and ministers is generally an insurmountable barrier.
After hearing Liu Bei's words, Zhuge Liang had a look of hesitation on his face.
He bowed slightly to Liu Bei and said, "Your Majesty, the etiquette between a monarch and his ministers cannot be abolished."
Seeing Zhuge Liang talking to him about the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers, Liu Bei had an unhappy look on his face.
Liu Bei said to Zhuge Liang: "Back then in Xinye, you and I, the emperor and my ministers, all slept together.
Because of this matter, Yun Chang and Yide still blamed you for confusing me. Why didn't Kong Ming care about the etiquette between the king and his ministers at that time?"
Hearing Liu Bei talk about this interesting past event, Zhuge Liang had a smile on his face.
The angry faces of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei at that time are still fresh in Zhuge Liang's memory now.
Although Liu Bei's base area at that time was only Xinye, it was incomparable to the now powerful King of Hanzhong.
At that time, he was just a small counselor, incomparable to the powerful person he is now.
But that period was perhaps the most unforgettable time between Liu Bei and his ministers.
When Liu Bei finished speaking, he once again said to Zhuge Liang: "Come to Bei, just like you did before."
Zhuge Liang no longer hesitated when he saw that Liu Bei no longer called himself Gu, but called himself Bei as he had done when he visited the thatched cottage three times.
He lightly lifted the hem of his clothes, stepped onto the royal steps step by step, and came to Liu Bei.
When Zhuge Liang came to Liu Bei's side, Liu Bei could clearly see some white hair between Zhuge Liang's temples.
He said to Zhuge Liang with some reproach: "I have told you many times in the past that you don't have to do everything yourself, but you must be good at using people.
Although Zichu is the minister, you can entrust him with some matters. He has good political strategies and will not make any mistakes."
Liu Bei's reproachful tone seemed to Zhuge Liang to be caring.
Zhuge Liang replied to Liu Bei: "On the day I came out of Longzhong, my lord asked me why I was in charge of the affairs, and I replied that I was just doing my best."
"The sound of the past promises is still in my ears. I dare not forget it for a day, nor do I dare to slack off for a day."
Listening to Zhuge Liang's answer, Liu Bei sighed.
Liu Bei was worried about Zhuge Liang's physical condition.
Zhuge Liang knew very well why Liu Bei sighed, but he didn't have time to care about his body now. He bowed to Liu Bei and said:
"In the old days of the Wu and Han Dynasties, Geng Yan and others first persuaded Shizu to ascend the throne, but Shizu resigned, counting four times before and after.
Geng Chun said: "The heroes of the world are whispering, hoping for something. If they don't follow the discussion, the scholar-bureaucrats will go back to seek help from the Lord, and they will do nothing to obey the public."
Shizu felt so deeply about Chunyan that he promised it. Now that the Cao family has usurped the Han Dynasty, there is no master in the world. The great king of the Liu family and the Miao people came to power during the Shao Dynasty. He is now the emperor, so it is appropriate.
The scholar-bureaucrats who have followed the great king and worked hard for a long time also hope that their merits will be as great as those of pure speech."
Zhuge Liang once again advised Liu Bei to succeed and proclaim himself emperor.
Listening to Zhuge Liang's words of encouragement, Liu Bei still shook his head.
When it comes to knowing people's hearts, Liu Bei is the best in the world. How could he not know what Zhuge Liang said?
He could clearly see the disappointed look on the ministers' faces just now.
Liu Bei is not a pedantic person, but he has his own considerations.
Liu Bei said to Zhuge Liang: "We are waiting for Zi Sheng's reply. If the situation is critical, I will not postpone it any longer."
After Liu Bei said these words, Zhuge Liang felt relieved.
Then Liu Bei got up and took Zhuge Liang down the royal steps and walked all the way to the entrance of the main hall.
Liu Chan, who was as transparent as a small one, followed the two of them step by step.
When he arrived at the entrance of the main hall, Liu Bei looked to the north and said to Zhuge Liang: "When I was in Xudu, the emperor summoned me."
"Although Cao Cao's eyes were everywhere at that time, the emperor's heart was at a loss for words. But I could see that the emperor's eyes were filled with pleading."
"The Emperor hopes that I, a famous member of the Han clan, can rescue him from prison."
"Later I defected to Jingsheng. Although I had a small army and few lands at that time, I never thought about the northern expedition to Xudu and rescued the emperor.
Although Jing Sheng refused several times, I went on the northern expedition alone in order to live up to the entreaties of the emperor at that time."
"Now that I have occupied Jingyi, I have a hundred thousand armored soldiers and a thousand generals under my command, and a large-scale Northern Expedition is in sight, but why doesn't God give me more time?"
At the end of Liu Bei's words, there was a strong sense of sadness in his tone.
The sky was so unfair to him. Whenever he was close to his ideal, there would always be unexpected incidents that disrupted his plans.
Liu Bei's words caused Zhuge Liang to fall into silence.
Even the extremely intelligent Zhuge Liang could not answer this question.
Perhaps as Sima Gong lamented back then: "The winner comes at the wrong time."
At this time, Liu Bei turned to look at Zhuge Liang beside him. He asked Zhuge Liang: "Kong Ming, have you ever seen Chang'an?"
Facing Liu Bei's question, Zhuge Liang shook his head.
He had been active in the southeast for the first half of his life, and he had never been lucky enough to see the ancient capital that carried so much glory for the Han Dynasty.
Seeing Zhuge Liang shaking his head, Liu Bei said lightly: "I have never seen it before."
After Liu Bei said this, his tone suddenly changed and became passionate.
"It doesn't matter, next year you and I will go together to meet you."
Liu Chan looked at Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang from behind as they looked so intimate, his eyes shining brightly.
He will be like this with his cousin in the future.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!