On the hospital bed, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty looked pale and expressionless.
Empress Dowager Dong has fainted from crying three times and is recuperating in the harem.
Queen He and many regular attendants served around her.
"Your Majesty, take the medicine."
Zhang Rang served the decoction and gave it to Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
As soon as I took a sip, I spit it out and kept coughing.
His health was not good, and he had indulged in pleasure all the time, and he had reached his limit.
"I am ashamed of my ancestors."
At this time, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty thought of Chen Mu's unfaithful advice, and before his death, he actually felt a sense of awakening.
If he had listened to Chen Mu's advice, not to be so greedy and to be content, he would not have ended up in this situation.
However, it was already too late. His health was not good, the world was in chaos, and nothing could be saved.
"Your Majesty, everything will be fine. Your Majesty, just drink the medicine."
Zhang Ranglao burst into tears, knelt on the ground, and served carefully.
"well."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty sighed and was about to say something.
At this moment, Jian Shuo unexpectedly came in from outside the door, beaming with joy and saying, "Your Majesty, what a great victory, what a great victory."
"What great victory?"
Zhang Rang was stunned.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty also looked over.
Jian Shuo crawled up to the dragon bed, knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, Liu Xuande defeated the Jizhou rebels outside Yewang City, and the crisis in Luoyang is half solved."
"Xuande!"
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty stared, his face suddenly filled with blood, and he seemed to have recovered from his illness. He said happily: "You are worthy of being a descendant of my Liu family. My brother from the Xuande clan has lived up to my expectations. He passed the imperial edict and moved Liu Bei to the Sili School.
Lieutenant, promoted to County Marquis."
As mentioned before, there were several stages in the title of marquis in the Han Dynasty. First, there were fictitious positions such as Dutinghou and Duxiang Marquis. Then there were real positions such as Tinghou, Xianghou and County Marquis.
Among them, the county marquis is the pinnacle of a minister who can be ennobled, and the land and towns alone can contain tens of thousands of acres. For example, the Puyin Marquis of Chen Mu's ancestor Chen Ping belongs to a marquis state, and usually has a thousand-stone prime minister, and the next step is to be crowned a king.
What's interesting is that Liu Bei is a disciple of the clan and can be crowned king.
Many people in later generations said that Liu Bei was hypocritical because he claimed the title of King of Hanzhong in 219, so they all said that he had arrogance.
Anyone who can only say this is either a fool or an idiot.
Because Liu Bei is from a serious clan, there is no problem in becoming king.
Liu Bang once formed an alliance with the White Horse, and "no one without the Liu family can claim the title of king." Liu Bei is a descendant of Liu Bang, and his surname is Liu. It is reasonable for him to claim the title of king.
So the real problem is Cao Cao, who gave himself the title of King of Wei, not Liu Bei.
Of course, if you insist on saying that Liu Bei is just a remote clan and not of the royal family, it is understandable.
But the problem is that Liu Xiu is also a remote clan, and his starting point is similar to that of Liu Bei.
Unless you deny the throne of Emperor Liu Xiuguang and say that he violated the agreement of the White Horse Alliance, then you can accuse Liu Bei, who like Liu Xiu is king in a remote status.
Otherwise, in terms of procedures, Liu Bei would not be able to find any faults when he became king.
"Captain Sili?"
Zhang Rang hesitated: "Liu Xuande is only 28 years old this year. Will he be able to take on such an important position..."
Sili Xiaowei is actually Sizhou Mu.
The eleven states of the Han Dynasty often did not include Sizhou in the Gyeonggi region.
But it is undeniable that Sizhou also has seven counties, which are very important in terms of population, economy and political status.
There is no problem for Liu Bei to serve as the governor of a place at the age of 28, because in the history of the Han Dynasty, there were many people who served as high officials in their 20s. The most typical example is Huo Qubing, who became the Grand Sima at the age of 23 and ranked among the three princes.
In addition, there is Jia Yi, who was ranked Taizhong Dafu at the age of 21. He had a chance to be ranked Jiuqing at the age of 23. He was jealous of the officials and was sent to serve as the Taifu Wang of Changsha, which is equivalent to the current Prime Minister.
From this point of view, before the Tang and Song Dynasties, as long as you were talented and appreciated by the emperor, it was not a problem to become a high-ranking official at a young age, and there was no need to go through seniority.
The problem is that the current Sili Colonel Fan Ling was elected with the help of the eunuchs some time ago and belongs to the eunuch faction.
Liu Bei had been in Luoyang for so long and refused to contact the eunuchs or participate in government affairs. The eunuchs could not understand his attitude or where he was from.
Therefore, when it comes to candidates for this important position, Zhang Rang does not want people who are not from his own faction to take it.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty coughed twice more and said: "Let Xuande be in charge first. After he leads the troops to defeat the rebellion, he can then be appointed as the Nine Ministers."
Zhang Rang was overjoyed and realized that the emperor was still looking to the eunuchs and was just treating Liu Bei as a tool for the time being, so he kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will go and announce the edict right now."
.......
.......
The emperor here planned to use Liu Bei as a tool to suppress the rebellion, but Xun He almost died of anger.
Now the world is in chaos, and only the rebels in Jizhou and Yuzhou were planned by him. However, Liu Bei appeared out of nowhere and defeated his east-route army.
The two armies originally planned to surround Luoyang, and when the emperor kicked off his legs, he immediately led the army into the palace, killed the eunuchs, and then supported Liu Bian as emperor. Half of the army was eliminated at once, which made Xun He
How could I bear it?
In the backyard of the general's residence, Xun He suppressed his angry expression and sat with Liu Biao, Wang Kuang Hu's mother class, Li Du, Xun Yu and others.
"What's the noise going on in the front yard?"
Liu Biao asked in confusion.
Li Du chuckled and said, "We are arguing about whether to put down the rebellion first or kill the eunuchs first."
"Just a bunch of incompetent people."
Xun He snorted coldly.
As the emperor fell ill, He Jin's men instantly became filled with talented people.
Wen had more than 20 people as his staff, including Zheng Tai, Chen Lin, Lu Zhi, Kuai Yue, Zhang Jin, He Yong, Feng Ji, Bao Xin, and Wang Yun. Among the generals, there were also Sun Jian, Wu Kuang, Dong Min, and Zhang Zhang.
Xu Liang, Wu Dan and others.
A group of people were arguing fiercely in the front hall, discussing whether to put down the rebellion first or kill the eunuchs first.
Everyone, led by Zhang Jin, the former governor of Jiaozhou, hoped that He Jin would first pacify the foreign enemies and then consider killing the eunuchs.
Some people, led by Jingzhou's powerful representative Kuai Yue, hoped that He Jin could make a decisive decision and take advantage of the emperor's serious illness, the southern army's scattered guards and Luoyang to be empty, to send troops into the palace and get rid of many of the regular attendants first.
Some people may ask, since the imperial court has no soldiers and horses, the Northern Army is fighting the Liangzhou rebels in Chang'an, the Southern Army is defending the Yuzhou and Jizhou rebels, and even Liu Bei is in Yewang County, Luoyang is extremely empty now, why Jin has it in his hands?
Where did the soldiers and horses come from?
You know, there are still thousands of people in the imperial palace's forbidden army in the hands of the eunuchs. Without soldiers and horses, wouldn't it be possible to rely on just a few of them to rush into the palace?
It is true that He Jin did not have soldiers in his hands, but don't forget that many powerful people had private soldiers in their hands. Dong Zhuo stationed troops in Hedong, Qiao Mao, the governor of Yanzhou, and Ding Yuan, the governor of Bingzhou, also led King Qin's army to move towards Luoyang.
So if He Jin is really determined, he will have at least tens of thousands of troops at his disposal.
But Xun He knew that He Jin would definitely not be able to make up his mind.
He Jin was indecisive at first. He had no connection with the eunuch group, so he definitely didn't decide to take action so quickly.
Secondly, the emperor is still alive. If he enters the palace now, he will be charged with treason.
So He Jin definitely doesn't have the courage.
If you really want to take action, you have to watch me.
Xun He thought to himself.
"Then Chen Zigui is really not a son of man!"
Xun He couldn't help but said: "He actually ran away without a trace, leaving behind a scourge of Liu Xuande."
As the inner circle of party members, these people naturally knew about Xun He's plan.
Li Du smiled bitterly and said: "Liu Xuande probably doesn't know what's going on. I heard that Liu Xuande is very loyal and loyal. I'm afraid Chen Zigui doesn't dare to tell him the truth."
"If Chen Zigui was smart, he should have stopped Liu Xuande. How could he lead his troops in Yewang County to prevent our army from entering Luoyang to kill the eunuchs?"
Xun He was still a little angry.
Liu Biao hesitated and said: "I heard that after Chen Zigui resigned, Liu Xuande handed in his resignation. Maybe Chen Zigui persuaded him, but His Majesty refused."
Xun He: "......"
If you think about it carefully, Liu Bei is now well-known, and his reputation of loyalty and benevolence is spread all over the world. What they want to do, at best, is to kill the eunuchs, at worst, they are committing rebellion and treason.
If Liu Bei knew about it, he might write a letter to the emperor to expose the matter. It was reasonable for Chen Mu not to tell his sworn brother Liu Bei.
So you really can't blame Chen Mu for this matter.
But it doesn't matter.
There is a saying that plans cannot keep up with changes, and there is also a saying that people make plans and God makes things happen. It is normal for life to be unsatisfactory nine times out of ten.
Fortunately, the Jizhou Army is not the main force, but the Yuzhou Army is.
Yuan Benchu was still at Daguguan. When the time came, he would merge with the Yuzhou army into one, and the army would march into Luoyang. No matter how hesitant He Jin was, he would have to bite the bullet.
Thinking of this, Xun He looked at Wang Kuang and said, "Is there any news from Mr. Lu?"
Wang Kuang said: "Yesterday the emperor coughed up blood."
Xun He was overjoyed: "Okay, just wait until the day of His Majesty's funeral, which is when the army enters Luoyang. Then we will tell the general about this. That means the arrow is on the string and has to be fired. The general can only lead the troops into the palace."
.”
In the Song Dynasty, this was called yellow robe and body.
Although it is not that He Jin usurped the throne and committed rebellion, it actually means the same thing. It means that at this point, there is no way out.
...
...
A few days later, perhaps because of the news of Liu Bei's victory, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty felt much better. By mid-April, he could actually take a few steps down to the ground.
Many of the attendants were extremely excited, thinking that the emperor's condition had improved, so they immediately urged him to go to the West Garden.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty arrived at the West Garden. It was already evening, the summer breeze was blowing, and the scenery of the West Garden was as beautiful as a picture scroll. He looked around and asked, "When will Zigui come back?"
Zhang Rang said hurriedly: "The messenger has come back. After arriving in Puyin, I heard that Chen Zigui had already been rushing to Luoyang as early as late March when he heard that His Majesty was seriously ill. However, after all, Luoyang and Puyin are two thousand miles apart, and there was another military disaster in Jizhou.
, maybe something delayed me on the way."
"oh."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty nodded and said worriedly: "I hope Zigui won't run into soldiers and bandits, and nothing will happen."
Zhang Rang smiled and said: "Chen Zigui is cunning and smart, so he should be careful to avoid it."
"It's better to get him back as soon as possible."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty sighed and said, "I regret that I didn't listen to him in the first place."
Zhang asked Zhao Zhong to advise: "These are powerful families who are causing trouble. How can it be your Majesty's fault?"
"Zi Gui had warned me a long time ago that I should not be so radical and should take measures slowly. Unfortunately, I ignored his words."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty smiled bitterly and said: "Now my body is not as good as before. If I really die, I want you and Zigui to assist Donghou in ascending the throne, just as Emperor Wen does not need the talented Jia Taifu.
We cannot abandon such a national figure and leave him in the wild, we must leave the ministers of Zhongxing to our descendants."
Zhang asked Zhao Zhong to kowtow hurriedly: "Your Majesty is blessed with great blessings, and his condition will definitely improve. The prosperity of the Han Dynasty for all generations will have to wait for your Majesty to cultivate and then bring peace to the world. You have done more than our ancestors."
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had long turned a deaf ear to the compliments of several regular attendants. He raised his head and looked into the distance. The heavy dusk was covering the sky and the earth. The setting sun was shining slantingly in the evening, and the sunset was shining brightly.
Crows of dusk crows circled in the sky, and wild geese flew north, sometimes forming a human figure, and sometimes forming a single line.
For the first time, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty found that the long sky and the scenery in the world were so beautiful when he calmed down and observed the world.
The emperor, who was only in his thirties, looked at it dreamily, just looking at it.
What a pity for this beautiful scenery.
Maybe I won’t be able to see it for much longer.
The emperor thought to himself.
At some point, it was already dark.
The emperor refused to return to the palace.
He sat on a bench in the pavilion of the West Garden, staring blankly at the sunset as it passed and the moon and stars climbed up into the night sky.
The stars were dazzling, as bright as silver.
The largest one among them seemed to compete with the bright moon, shining with blazing starlight.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty looked at the star in trance.
After a while, the emperor suddenly tilted his head and fell into a deep sleep.
For some reason, after he fell asleep, the largest star seemed to have released all its starlight, becoming extremely dim and unable to shine any more.
When they found that the emperor was asleep, the attendants went to shout, but they could not wake him up no matter how loud they shouted.