"At that time, I saw the king riding a horse with someone in his arms. I was really excited! You are indeed a king. This family is unique!"
Lu Lu said happily, dancing and describing that scene.
"Yes, we all followed the king and rode horses and chariots in the city together. Unfortunately, Xiahou Zao's chariot overturned and blocked the road. Otherwise, we would have followed the king to the outside of the city!"
Xiahou Zao was furious and shouted: "I'm not the only one who overturned the car! Why are you just talking about me?!"
Zhou Yafu was also very angry and cursed: "Nonsense! You suddenly overturned the car and we hit you, so of course it had to overturn as well. Who are you talking about if I don't tell you?"
"Wasn't he just before me? He didn't hit me either!"
"He didn't hit you, the problem is that you hit him!"
Being jointly denounced by several people, Xiahou Zao could not refute, and his face turned red with anxiety, "Why? I was very careful when driving, why did it overturn?"
"How about you try driving with your eyes open next time?"
"You guy!"
Xiahou Zao was furious and immediately started making trouble with Chen Mai. Liu Chang laughed and said, "Okay, okay, how old are you and are you still making trouble here?"
Looking at the wise men around him, Liu Chang said: "Now that we are all old, we can no longer do naughty things!"
Lu Lu glanced at the mutton in his hand and hesitated to speak.
"We gotta do something big! Got it?"
"Your Majesty, please give your orders!"
Liu Chang then said: "In the near future, the Yuezhi King will come to Chang'an. I have been ordered to greet him. When the time comes, a few of you will come with me. Talk and communicate with them more. It is best to be friends for a few months.
’s friend…”
Liu Chang gave instructions and everyone nodded.
"Also, you must always pay attention to the situation in Chang'an. If you find anything, come to me as soon as possible!"
While everyone was chatting, the topic shifted to marriage again. Lu Lu asked curiously: "Is your Majesty really going to get married?"
"This... shouldn't be so soon... I still have a lot of important things to do."
Liu Chang touched the tip of his nose and said hesitantly.
"Zhou Shengzhi got married... Not long after, I got married too... Now the king also wants to get married..." Lu Lu shook his head and said with emotion: "The sun and the moon are passing away, and I am not with you."
Chen Mai glanced at him and said, "You are talking as if you are over sixty years old. You have not yet been crowned, so don't say such things! We all know that you have read the Analects of Confucius, and we also know that you are going to start a family. You don't have to always mention it."
do you know?"
Lu Lu was hesitant and speechless, and hurriedly defended: "I just think it's too fast!"
Chen Mai stroked his chin and said seriously: "Our father fought in the early years, so he got married very late. We are different. If we were in the countryside, at your age, you would have been the father of three children!"
Lu Lu glared at him and said, "Stop touching it. You don't even have a beard. Why are you stroking it? Are you pretending to be Marquis Chen here again?"
Liu Chang happily ate the meat, but Mr. Fan suddenly sat next to him. Liu Chang handed him a piece of meat. Mr. Fan shook his head, which surprised Liu Chang. When did this guy start to have a face?
Really? Mr. Fan hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty... you have been crying."
"Ah? Crying? Who bullied her?"
Mr. Fan glanced at Liu Chang and said in a low voice: "She seems to love the king very much."
"Cough, cough, cough~~"
Liu Chang almost choked to death on the meat. He finally swallowed the meat and looked at Mr. Fan with his eyes wide open. "What did you say?"
"What are you talking about? Qing grew up with us..." Replacing Cao Shu with Fan Qing, Liu Chang imagined it for a moment, but he felt creepy. He couldn't help but shook his head and said, "Don't make such a joke.
ah!"
"My father is very angry... Your Majesty, you should be more careful."
Mr. Fan said.
"Um...How old do you think Father Zhong is now?"
Liu Chang asked cautiously.
"Um...over fifty, right? I'm not sure."
Mr. Fan replied thoughtfully.
Liu Chang immediately raised his head and said proudly: "Humph! How can I be afraid of Wu Yanghou? If he comes to look for me for no reason, I will have something to say!"
After seeing off all the sages, Liu Chang still felt a little incredible. Qing had been playing with him since he was a child, always fighting. How could this happen?
Sit down separately.
"King!"
Zhang Buyu's face was full of smiles, and he shook his head, "Your Majesty always does things unexpectedly and unpredictable. It's your Majesty's fault. Hahaha, this plan not only scares Cao Cao away.
At home, even the other ministers are scared now and no longer dare to point fingers! They are talking nonsense!"
Liu Chang raised his head and said humbly: "I am just resourceful and have reached the pinnacle of strategy. It is not worth mentioning!"
Zhang Buyi added: "Your Majesty, why don't you take this opportunity to remove those ministers who don't like your Majesty and put our people in important positions such as Lang Zhongling?!"
"Zhang Buyi!! You rebel!!"
Duke Zhao immediately shouted.
Zhang Buyi said seriously with a straight face: "I don't have any other intention. It's just that the ministers are fighting endlessly. Why not replace them with our people? We can also avoid a lot of trouble and concentrate on conquering the Xiongnu!"
Seeing that they were about to quarrel, Luan Bu said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, all the princes and kings are preparing to leave. You'd better prepare to see each other off."
"No rush... wait until they actually leave."
"I still have important things to do!"
Liu Chang spoke seriously, and Jia Yi asked curiously: "Is the king preparing to receive the ministers?"
"Why should I go to meet the ministers?"
"Your Majesty, now I can properly appease the hearts of the ministers... I heard that many senior ministers have resigned in the past few days and want to go home."
"It's right to go home and enjoy happiness... they are not young anymore."
Liu Chang said and stood up, "I will go and do the big things first, and then we will discuss these things after we are done!"
"only!!!"
.......
"Hey hey hey..."
Liu Chang stood beside Cao Shu with a silly smile on his face, holding her hand. Cao Shu looked at him and shook her head helplessly.
"I'm not angry...you don't have to be."
"By doing this, I am also protecting the Cao family. Shu, I have to go to greet King Yuezhi and bid farewell to the brothers... Anyway, there are still a lot of things to do. When I finish my work, I will marry you!
"
"Um..."
"Are your parents angry?"
"Mom is fine...my father doesn't even want to talk to me now."
"It's okay. When you give him a grandson, he will definitely be able to talk!"
Liu Chang grinned, and Cao Shu blushed again, "Keep your voice down!"
"What's this?! What are you afraid of?! Hey~~~I want a son~~~" Liu Chang raised his head and shouted. Cao Shu was even more shy, lowering her head and not daring to raise her head at all.
"Ahem."
With a cough, Cao Shen walked into the inner room with a cane and a dark face.
"Why doesn't your Majesty go to Jiaofang Hall and roar?"
"Ah? Father Zhong? Why are you here!"
Liu Chang grinned and hurriedly walked to Cao Shen and helped him. Cao Shen looked at the guy in front of him and couldn't say anything. Liu Chang helped him sit down, and Cao Shu lowered her head tightly.
Not daring to speak, Cao Shen glanced at her and said, "Go to your mother-in-law. My son-in-law and I have something to say."
Cao Shu then left the inner room. Liu Chang smiled silly and sat in front of Cao Shen.
"My lord...you are so majestic and majestic in the temple, arrogant and scolding the ministers."
"What's so impressive? It's just burning some rotten wood..."
Cao Shen said slowly: "Sir... you underestimate the ministers too much... How can the founding ministers be of the same generation?"
"I dare not look down upon you. If it had been twenty years ago, I would not have dared to shout in front of you... But now, the founding ministers are old and mediocre. Except for a few, they are all immersed in their past achievements.
I was very contemptuous and did not know that the world had changed. I thought I was an important minister of the former emperor, so I interfered in the affairs of the clan. I said it was for the emperor, but I said it was for the world. What I said was sanctimonious..."
"When the Queen Mother was in power, they didn't say anything. When the Queen Mother ordered the release of ministers and distributed farmland, and the strict ministers secretly retained ministers and took back the land beyond the rewards, they suddenly became loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty and threatened to
Return political affairs to the emperor!"
"For example, some ministers turn a blind eye to everything. When their daughters and grandsons are in danger, they immediately become ministers who care about the country and want to go against the Queen Mother."
"I finally understand why the Queen Mother refused to kill Wang Ling."
"Perhaps among all the ministers who want to deal with the Queen Mother, Wang Ling is the only one who sincerely wants to protect the emperor and truly takes action for the sake of the Han Dynasty."
"What a pity...the warriors who drove the charge and followed the Gao Emperor to conquer all directions...now annexed the land of the common people, accepted the common people as vassals, built luxurious mansions, privately took the armor from the temples, and took the war horses for themselves
They drove each other, protected each other, recommended each other's relatives to be officials... Mr. Cao, tell me, where did those warriors go?"
"They weren't like this when I was young."
"I remember very clearly that my father hosted a banquet, and they were all very heroic... holding wine, wearing armor and swords, and going out to fight against Chen Xi, all rushing to make the first contribution."
"How come now, they have turned into stupid and shameless villains who are greedy for money and profit?"
Cao Shen's lips trembled, and he couldn't speak for a long time.
"If I had threatened the ministers like this ten years earlier, I would have had to see my father tomorrow, right? Even my mother probably couldn't protect me... But what about now? From last night to now, the ministers have given me
The Tang Palace was almost filled with gifts. They sent people over to say flattering words to me, and some even vaguely said they were willing to follow me..."
"This is the Duke of Manchao... If my father were still here, he would never recognize these old brothers."
"Only five people, Chen Ping, Guan Ying, Fan Kuai, Zhou Bo, and Xuanyi, have not sent anyone to see me or sent gifts... On the contrary, I think highly of them. Finally, my father's subordinates are still here.
There are some hard-core people left, of course, because these people are the youngest... I don’t know if they will become like that in a few years.”
"This time, I originally wanted to kill people... But looking at these people and seeing the fear in their eyes, I knew that they were not worthy of letting me do it... They were addicted to wine and sex, and the whole time
I enjoy the blessings every day, and I no longer have the vigor of the past, and I don’t dare to go against me... Therefore, I just need to keep an eye on those five strong bones!"
"What do you think, Father Zhong?"
Liu Chang asked.
Cao Shen was stunned for a long time and did not reply.
"Father Zhong, oh, no, father-in-law... Since you are old, you can enjoy your old age in the mansion and leave the rest to us... You have been fighting for most of your life, so why make trouble in your old age?"
"I really don't want to do anything to you... I respect you very much... However, I don't respect those people today. What I respect is those who followed Emperor Gao in the past and were not indulged in wealth.
Those people who have forgotten me... I still have things to do, so my father-in-law doesn’t need to see me off!"
Liu Chang turned around and left the inner room.
Cao Shen sat blankly in the inner room, slowly looking at his wrinkled hands, and tears suddenly fell from his eyes. Where did those warriors go?
.........
Liu Chang held a banquet in the mansion and summoned Chen Ping, Fan Kuai, Zhou Bo, and Guan Ying. Xuanyi did not bark. After all, this donkey Tingwei, oh, no, donkey censor, was not able to speak at all.
Impressed.
When they arrived, they were surprised to find that the princes were also here, sitting on the left side of Liu Chang. As soon as they came in, the princes stared at them closely, but none of them felt anything.
After meeting Liu Chang, he sat on Liu Chang's right side.
"Hahaha, dear father-in-law, since I had this mansion, there have never been so many talented people gathered together. This is my honor, please drink!"
Liu Chang said with a smile. Chen Ping and Zhou Bo didn't say anything. Fan Kuai stared at him displeased. Guan Ying couldn't help but ask, "What's the matter with your Majesty?"
"I don't have anything else to do. I just want to entertain my father-in-law. Come, we will only talk about personal affairs today, not state affairs!"
Liu Chang said with a smile. Soon, someone brought food and drinks, and Liu Chang started the banquet.
The princes and ministers looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what Liu Chang wanted to do.
However, Liu Chang just talked and laughed, and asked everyone to relax and eat and drink as they pleased. Someone played music. Zhang Busuo smiled and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want me to dance with my sword to add to the fun?"
Fan Kuai snorted coldly.
You want to play Hongmen Banquet in front of me, right? You deserve it too??
Liu Chang waved his hand and said, "If you hurt someone, it's not good. There's no need to dance with the sword!"
Everyone started eating. Halfway through the banquet, Liu Chang had eaten and drank enough. He wiped his mouth and Guan Ying asked again: "What is the matter with your Majesty?"
"Hahaha, it's like this... The Queen Mother has previously rewarded many ministers and allowed them to enter the temple as officials, but all countries are missing a lot of ministers... You are all important ministers in the temple, and you are the youngest
, how about taking the place of these people and going to various countries to serve as prime ministers?"
"I have thought about it all! Marquis Guan can go to the State of Yan to be the prime minister, Marquis Chen can go to the State of Tang, Marquis of Zhou can go to the State of Qi, uncle... if you are willing, you can go to the State of Wu."
Liu Chang said with a smile, but the expressions of several ministers changed drastically.
This is to kick them out of the temple and keep them away from the center of power!
Chen Ping asked curiously: "Is this the Queen Mother's intention or the King's idea?"
“Every family talks!”
Chen Ping was unmoved and said calmly: "If the Queen Mother gives an order, I dare not disobey it."
Chen Ping is confident. Currently, he and Guan Ying serve as the left and right ministers. They are handling all national affairs. Although Zhou Bo is no longer a Taiwei, he is once again in charge of the Northern Army. How could they be thrown out of Chang'an?
?Among the ministers of the temple, their role is the most important. If they leave, the temple will not be able to operate in a short time.
"Okay! Since Marquis Chen has agreed, I will go find the Queen Mother later!"
Chen Ping looked at Liu Chang who was smiling and felt something was wrong. He frowned but said nothing.
The princes were all a little surprised, asking these ministers to become their prime minister? It was unthinkable.
They are also the founding heroes, but there are differences. People like Chen Ping and Zhou Bo are among the best among the founding heroes. The only one who can let such people assist him is the King of Qi Liu Fei.
Let Cao Shen assist you, no one else has this qualification.
Liu Chang didn't say anything more and quickly ended the banquet.
This made everyone a little confused.
Chen Ping and others said goodbye and left, but Fan Kuai stayed.
"uncle!!"
Liu Chang walked up to Fan Kuai with a smile and looked at Liu Chang. Fan Kuai hesitated for a long time, then snorted coldly and turned around to leave.
After these people left, Liu Fei hurriedly walked to Liu Chang's side and asked, "Brother, what do you mean?"
"It's not interesting... I just want to find you a good Prime Minister."
"But they are all important ministers in the temple. How can they serve as prime ministers in the princes' kingdoms?"
"Can we put it aside for now...brothers, don't be anxious...there will be a result."
Liu Chang squinted his eyes, Liu Heng looked at him thoughtfully, and said, "Eldest brother...be careful."
"Do not worry!"
........
At this time, King Yuezhi also gradually approached Chang'an.
The Yuezhi King was not the first foreign tribe to be granted the title of king by the king. The covenant between the non-Liu family and the king would not restrict these foreign tribes who surrendered. The Han Dynasty still valued the Yuezhi very much. After all, they were the only ones on the grassland who had the ability to fight against the Huns.
They have been a tribe for so long, and their joining can bring huge benefits to the Han Dynasty, such as war horses.
When Yuezhi comes, there are war horses!
With the help of the Han Dynasty, the Yuezhi were able to ensure that they would not be exterminated. In these years, the Xiongnu continued to force them to flee. If the Han Dynasty had not taken them in, they would have fled to the Western Regions. In history, they fled all the way to the Western Regions.
From the Western Regions, he ran to the South Asian subcontinent, wiped out all the countries here, and established a country that would be somewhat famous in later generations. This country was called Kushan.
Liu Chang boasted to his good brother who came to sell horses, and then he destroyed a huge empire.
Liu Ying was actually not willing to let Liu Chang go to greet him, because she was worried that he would act up again and affect the Yuezhi's attachment. However, the Queen Mother made the decision and let him go, and Liu Ying could not stop him. She just told Liu Chang many times to be polite.
, never do anything to humiliate them!
Liu Chang took his family and several great sages, escorted by his own soldiers, to greet the Yuezhi King.
They met halfway. King Yuezhi stopped the carriage and took the people out in person. He recognized Prince Tang among the many people who came. King Yuezhi awkwardly prepared to salute according to the etiquette of a big man, but Liu Chang
A few quick steps, holding his hands, smiling and shouting in Yuezhi language: "You and I, brothers, why do we need to salute?!"
The Yuezhi King was shocked and asked in Chinese: "Your Majesty, you actually understand the language of the Yuezhi?"
"It was taught by a good brother of mine! Why, is the lecture good?!"
"Okay! Great! May I ask your Majesty, what is the name of that brother?"
"Well... I have so many Yuezhi brothers that I can't finish them. Come on, don't be polite, I brought wine!" Liu Chang looked at the Yuezhi people around him proudly, waved his hand, "Stand here, don't be polite, I brought wine!"
What are you doing! Come drink with me!! Do you have any meat?!"
"have!!"
When they saw Liu Chang and King Yuezhi sitting shoulder to shoulder, they were chatting loudly about women. People sat around them carelessly, chatting and laughing, eating meat with their hands, and drinking heavily. Not far away.
Shusun Tong, who came with him and was about to read out the edict, looked confused.