Li Zhang didn't expect that before he entered the house, he was stopped by someone sent by Liu E, and he also sent an order to let him enter the palace. Although he wanted to refuse, he thought of Liu E's care for him and the letter he had written to him before, so he had no choice but to let the wild dog go home first, and he got on the carriage entering the palace.

When the carriage was moving forward, Li Zhang also opened the window and looked out the scene of Tokyo City. Although the city did not seem to have changed much on the surface, the streets were still as lively as usual, but Li Zhang still felt that Tokyo City seemed to be more prosperous than before, and there were more shops on the streets, and there seemed to be many fewer beggars everywhere before.

Li Zhang was surprised and took it for granted. After Liu E was in power, no matter how much controversial the outside world had about her, Liu E's political achievements were real. Since Zhao Heng's death, Liu E sent the Book of Heaven to the imperial tomb to bury him, and then began to implement a policy of rest and recuperation in the Song Dynasty to make up for the damage caused to the Song Dynasty by the "Chang's Book Movement" for more than ten years. It has now given the Song Dynasty a momentum of revival in just two years.

In addition to the policy of rest and recuperation, Liu E's most significant political achievement is the current promotion and cultivation of potatoes. After several years of development, potatoes have begun to be widely planted near Tokyo. Last year, the potatoes have a bumper harvest, and many more potato foods have suddenly appeared on the streets of Tokyo City. Compared with the high prices in the first year, potatoes last year have become very cheap, and the taste is also quite good, so potatoes are immediately popular. It is estimated that the potato planting area this year will be expanded.

"The planting area of ​​potatoes is still too small, otherwise I should have seen potatoes as military rations when I was fighting before." Li Zhang thought of potatoes, and couldn't help but say to himself. Although the nutritional value of potatoes is lower than that of wheat and rice, this thing is large and full, and it is also a very urgent thing for the Northwest, which is often short of food.

However, according to the decision of Li Zhang and Liu E, after the potatoes are promoted in the capital, they should be promoted to the south, rather than to the northwest or Hebei planted. Because it is a border, Liu E is worried that the potatoes will be transmitted abroad, especially the Liao Kingdom, which will greatly increase their strength, so in recent miles, potatoes will only be planted in areas south of Tokyo.

Li Zhang was thinking about something in his mind, and the carriage also came to the palace at a very fast speed. Then Li Zhang was taken to the Chuigong Hall. When he stepped into the hall, he saw Liu E sitting in the middle at a glance. However, after not seeing her for half a year, Liu E seemed to have grown older. Not only did she have more fine lines on her face, but her hair on her temples was almost white.

Liu E seemed to be waiting for Li Zhang specifically, but she did not review the memorial at this time. When she saw him coming in, she immediately smiled and said, "I should have let you rest at home, but there is something you have to do, so I can only ask someone to summon you into the palace."

"You are polite, but I just don't know what's going on. Why is the Empress so anxious to see me?" Li Zhang hurried forward and said, "When Liu E saw that she did not ask about the war in the northwest, she directly explained the reason for finding him. Obviously, this matter was very urgent, and Li Zhang also saw a bit of worry in Liu E's eyes.

"Oh, what else can it be? It's naturally something related to Your Majesty!" Liu E suddenly sighed and said, while the worried look on her face became even more serious.

Li Zhang was also shocked when he heard this. In fact, as early as in Qingzhou, he guessed that Liu E's urging him to come back should be related to Zhao Zhen. Now that he heard her say it with his own ears, he also confirmed his guess.

"What's wrong with him?" Li Zhang hesitated for a moment before asking. As the king of a country, Zhao Zhen had a good relationship with the other party, but he was also very cautious about Zhao Zhen's issues.

"This..." Liu E hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "It's my fault for this matter. She is usually busy with government affairs, so she cares much less about him. If you are not in the capital, you usually have fewer people to accompany him. As a result, he is becoming less and less arrogant now..."

Liu E said that and told him about Zhao Zhen. It was really old-fashioned. Because Zhao Zhen was not young, Liu E also began to select a queen for Zhao Zhen. In the end, three women from the family were selected, namely Wang, the daughter of Wang Mengzheng, an official from Shu; Zhang, the great-granddaughter of Zhang Mei, the deceased general of the cavalry guard; Guo Chong, the granddaughter of Guo Chong, the governor of Pinglu Army.

These three women were selected after thousands of choices. Even if they could not become queens, they would definitely be the position of imperial concubines. Now, the most suitable woman is needed from these three women to serve as queen. There are two people who have determined the candidate for the queen, one is Liu E and the other is Zhao Zhen, the person involved.

However, when it comes to the selection of the queen, the opinions of Liu E and Zhao Zhen clashed. Liu E likes Guo Chong's granddaughter Guo, but Zhao Zhen likes Wang Mengzheng's daughter Wang. Originally, Zhao Zhen has always listened to Liu E the most, and he dared not conflict with Liu E in general. But this time he didn't know what happened. Zhao Zhen actually wanted to choose Wang as the queen, and even contradicted Liu E for this reason. Now both inside and outside the court know that the two palaces were incompatible because of the election.

"Cough, so that's how it is." Li Zhang coughed dryly after hearing this, then thought for a moment and suddenly asked Liu E, "Empress, I want to ask, why did you choose Guo as the queen?"

"The selection of the queen is of great importance, character, appearance, speech and behavior, etc., and also has family background. Among the three women selected, Wang's father was just a small official in Shu with a very shallow foundation. Although the Zhang family was prominent for a while, it had already declined. Only Guo's family has not fallen through three dynasties and is deeply trusted by Taizu, Taizong and the late emperor, so Guo is the most suitable candidate for the queen!" Liu E replied without hesitation.

When Li Zhang heard Liu E's words, he couldn't help but secretly complain that if Liu E's conditions were followed, then Liu E should not be the queen. You must know that her background is much lower, let alone family background, she doesn't even know who her parents are, but she also became the queen of the Song Dynasty?

Of course, Li Zhang could only think about the above words in his heart, and he would not dare to say them even if he beat him to death. In addition, he had heard of Guo Chong. It is said that when Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, he was worried that other generals would follow his old path, so he "release the military power with a cup of wine" and seized the military power of his military generals. However, he had great trust in Guo Chong and still allowed him to lead troops outside to guard one side.

When Zhao Guangyi became emperor, the Guo family was still very trusted because the daughter-in-law of the Guo family was the daughter of the Privy Councilor Li Chugeng, and Li Chugeng's other daughter was Zhao Guangyi's empress. So if we really talk about it, the Guo family was Zhao Zhen's distant cousin. Moreover, the Guo family is still prosperous and has a considerable influence in both the military and political circles. Now Liu E is in need of help, so she naturally hopes to win over the Guo family through marriage.

Understanding Liu E’s thoughts, Li Zhang looked up and smiled again, “Why does Your Majesty like Wang? Is there anything extraordinary about this Wang family?”

"Hmph, how did I know what the Wang family used to make Zhen'er so fascinated by her? He just didn't listen. But when I saw this Wang family, I didn't like it. It was too charming and unpretentious, and it was definitely not the queen's choice!" When she mentioned that Wang family, Liu E immediately snorted coldly. It seemed that all her anger towards Zhao Zhen was transferred to Wang family. This little woman was really pitiful. Not only could the queen be unable to do it, she probably wouldn't be able to stay in the palace for a long time in the future.

However, when Li Zhang heard Liu E's description of Wang, he almost laughed out loud, because he remembered that when Liu E was just getting along with Zhao Heng, he was ordered to break up by Zhao Guangyi. The reason seemed to be that Liu E was too beautiful, which led to Zhao Heng's addiction to women. As a result, Liu E is now used in her son intact. It's really ironic to think about it.

"Well~, Grandmaster, I just returned to the palace and don't know much about this matter. If you are really anxious, why don't I go to see Your Majesty first and see what he really thinks in his heart? Then let's discuss the following matter?" Li Zhang coughed again at this time. Liu E was obviously emotional in this matter after the election, of course Zhao Zhen was the same, so Li Zhang was not in a hurry to express his opinion, and then let's clarify Zhao Zhen's situation first.

"Okay, because of the election after the election, Your Majesty and I have had a very unhappy relationship. In order to anger me, he actually did a lot of ridiculous things. He is really a childish temper. You are his cousin. He is willing to tell you if you have anything to say. Just go and meet him. He probably doesn't know what you are back yet!" Liu E seemed to find herself a little excited, and waved her hand to Li Zhang.

Li Zhang immediately stood up and said goodbye, and then slowly withdrew from the Chuigong Hall. If this matter was placed in an ordinary family, it would be just a family matter, but if it was placed in the royal family, especially when the mother was strong and the son was small, it would likely cause discord between the two palaces, resulting in very serious consequences. This is also the reason why Liu E has been urging him to return to Beijing.

At that moment, Li Zhang immediately rushed to Jingfu Palace. Along the way, he was also considering what Liu E said just now. From Liu E's tone, she could tell that she might not really have any good feelings for Guo, but she was very disgusted with that Wang family, which made Li Zhang very curious. What kind of ability does this Wang family have that actually made Liu E such a scheming person hate her so much?
Chapter completed!