In mid-April of the fourth year of Zhang Wu, Chen Mu arrived in Luoyang.

When Liu Bei learned that his fourth brother had returned, he was overjoyed and went to Yangting in the east of Luoyang City to greet him.

Outside the Yangting Pavilion, beside the ancient road, the green grass reaches the sky. The fields are fertile, and the shepherd boys sleep under the bamboos. Deer are seen in the deep forest, which is a good time in late spring.

On both sides of the official road, there are roads and fields. The sweet potatoes, potatoes and corns that have been planted since this spring have sprouted.

Chen Mu's motorcade had already stopped at the intersection outside Yangting. When he heard that the emperor was coming to greet him, he quickly got out of the car.

After getting out of the car, I saw from a distance that the area around Yangting, a mile away, was densely packed with people. It was surrounded by a dense crowd, including officials of all sizes from the imperial court, as well as guards from the Yulin Army.

Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, no emperor has ever welcomed a prime minister. Even if it is a courtesy, it is usually just for the prime minister to stand up and show respect when he goes to the palace to see him.

So from this point of view, we can know how much Liu Bei misses his brother. He is closer than a real brother, making him miss him day and night.

In fact, after Guan Yu pacified Guanzhong last year, due to frequent threats to Zhang Lu, he did not have time to come to Luoyang. He waited until the situation was a little better at the end of the year and came back.

Although Zhang Fei did not come back at the end of the new year, he secretly made a trip back from Jiguan Road in Wangwushan on the pretext of going back to Hedong to supervise the transportation of grain and grass at the beginning of the year. Because the distance was relatively close, it only took a few days to go back and forth, and he drank with his elder brother.

We had a drink and went back quickly.

Only Chen Mu, although he has often exchanged letters in the past few months, is in the land of Jiangdong and Shandong and is too far away to go back. Now that Chen Mu is finally back, Liu Bei is overjoyed and hurriedly leads all the civil and military officials to greet him.

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However, although they are as close as brothers, the etiquette in front of officials cannot be broken. Chen Mu got off the carriage a mile away and prepared to walk over. In addition to the protected Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry, he was accompanied by his own student Lu Yi.

From a distance, he saw Chen Mu getting off the carriage and walking slowly. Liu Bei was so anxious that he put up a pergola and looked out: "What's the matter with my fourth brother? When he got here, he got off the carriage and started walking."

Wang Zhi, the Zhongchang attendant next to him, said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, the emperor is here to greet you. Naturally, the prime minister does not dare to get out of the car in front of you. He comes on foot to show respect to your majesty."

Liu Bei was about to conquer the world, and he immediately smiled and said: "Fourth brother, you really don't care about these red tapes. Go and let him come in a carriage."

"only."

Wang Zhi didn't dare to say anything else, so he quickly sent someone on horseback to report.

After staying with Liu Bei for a long time, the eunuchs and maids in the palace also knew that they must not speak ill of his three brothers in front of Liu Bei.

Some time ago, when Zhang Fei came back without authorization, the ministers of the DPRK and Central Government impeached him, saying that General Hussar's absence from duty without authorization was a capital crime.

As a result, Liu Bei immediately scolded him and went back, saying that the Hussar General came back to see him after obeying his imperial edict. What is your intention in driving a wedge between the Emperor and the Hussar General?

Then the high ranking official of the third rank of the DPRK was quickly beaten to the bottom. Although he was not killed, his background was thoroughly investigated by the Military Intelligence Department.

The emperor was furious, and the Military Intelligence Department quickly found out that his family had used his power to occupy local fields and oppress the people in the fish and meat village. As a result, not only did his family suffer, but he himself is now in prison, waiting for trial by the Supreme Court.

From then on, the ministers in the DPRK and the Central Government kept silent about the three generals Guan, Zhang and Chen. As long as the three of them did not do something evil and want to wipe out all the famous families, no one would care about their affairs anymore.

After receiving the order, Chen Mu had no choice but to get on the carriage again. The wheels turned gurglingly, and he soon arrived in front of the emperor's carriage.

After he got off the carriage, Liu Bei immediately jumped off the carriage, went up and hugged Chen Mu, and laughed loudly: "Fourth brother!"

"His Majesty."

In public, the emperor could call Chen Mu his fourth brother, but Chen Mu could not call him his eldest brother.

"Prime Minister!"

The ministers came up and bowed their hands.

Chen Mu cupped his hands and returned the greeting: "My colleagues, please be polite."

Liu Bei hugged Chen Mu and said with a smile: "Let's go back to the palace and prepare a banquet for you."

Under his embrace, Chen Mu was forced to get into Liu Bei's emperor's carriage and drive back to the palace.

In the car, we reminisced about old times and soon arrived at the palace.

First, they went to the West Palace, where Queen Li brought her eldest son Liu Feng, second son Liu Hou, and several other children of concubines to meet.

After the family members saw him, they held a banquet in the Quefei Hall, and all the officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital came to attend.

For a time, the palace was very lively. Hundreds of senior officials gathered in the spacious hall, including the three ministers and nine ministers, the cabinet bachelor of Yuntai Palace, the deputies of the ministers, and the heads of various departments.

Chen Mu was tired from the journey and was not in the mood for the banquet, but he still said something. He encouraged the ministers and Manchu officials to do their jobs well, and reiterated that the responsibility of officials is to "serve the people" and "work for the welfare of the people."

Waiting for quotations.

In fact, among all the princes in the Three Kingdoms in the late Han Dynasty, Liu Bei was the one who cared most about the people.

Therefore, Chen Mu advocated Mencius's view that the people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important concept, which he very much agreed with.

That's why I strongly support Chen Mu's establishment of a people's court so that officials can listen to the voices of the people, thereby achieving the purpose of using the people to supervise officials.

After a speech, Liu Bei took the lead in applauding, and the applause was thunderous.

After the banquet is over.

It was already evening, dark clouds were gathering, and a late spring heavy rain was about to hit.

The officials dispersed. The Prime Minister's residence was actually not that far away. After exiting the palace gate, turn right on Zhuque Street and head toward Nanyuan, about three or four miles away. It was right outside the bus door.

But when Liu Bei sent Chen Mu out of Quefei Palace, he saw lightning and thunder in the sky, and he immediately said with joy: "Fourth brother, if the sky is not beautiful, you will stay in the palace. We brothers have not held candlelight talks for a long time, and tonight is the right time."

Let’s chat.”

Chen Mu is actually quite tired now and doesn't really want to talk to Liu Bei, but after thinking about it he still said: "Then just listen to big brother."

The two of them took a car to Chengfu Hall.

The Chengfu Hall is located inside the Bus Gate, which is one of the three south gates of Luoyang Nangong. Among them, the Zhuque Gate is the main entrance, connecting the Shiqufei Hall, Chongde Hall and other court halls.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! To the west is the bus door, which is connected to the Yuntai Hall, Mingguang Hall, Chengfu Hall and other ministerial desks, cabinets, and Jiuqing's offices.

To the east is Nantunmen, which is connected to Shizhonglu, Golden Horse Hall, Bronze Horse Hall and other places where the emperor worshiped, rested, and met with middle and low-level officials.

As for the emperor himself, he lived in the West Palace. The Luoyang Palace was originally huge. The overall area was seven times that of the Forbidden City. The internal area of ​​the palace was five times that of the Forbidden City. The three ministers, nine ministers and cabinet ministers had to take turns in the palace, so they lived in the front palace.

It's also a common thing.

Just like the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty also worked in the Wenyuan Pavilion in the palace, the only difference was that the Luoyang Palace of the Han Dynasty was so big that one had to take a carriage to walk inside the palace, and it took half an hour to walk to the destination.

The sky was getting darker and darker. When they arrived at the Chengfu Hall, there was a roar in the sky and heavy rain began to fall in an instant. The two people hurriedly entered the house surrounded by the chamberlains.

The patter of rain hit the eaves, and soon covered the eyes like a bead curtain. The two brothers entered the room and looked at each other, like drowned rats, and smiled at each other.

The reason why I chose Chengfu Hall is because there is no one on duty at Chengfu Hall.

For example, Yuntai Hall is the duty office of the cabinet. Today, Xun Yu, the second assistant to the cabinet, is on duty in Yuntai Hall. He handles government affairs during the day and sleeps here at night. If an emergency suddenly occurs, he will handle it.

The Xuanshi Palace is the duty office of the three gongs and nine ministers. They do not deal with government affairs, but they have their own duties and will leave people on duty.

Mingguang Hall is the office of Shangshutai, and Jia Xu often sleeps there.

Liu Bei just wanted to chat quietly with his fourth brother and did not want others to disturb him, so he did not summon other ministers, and naturally he would not go to other palaces to disturb them.

After entering the Chengfu Hall, the palace staff quickly heated up hot water in the back room of the hall. The two brothers each took a bath, changed their clothes and came out to meet in the inner hall.

A palace in the Han Dynasty was so huge that the outer hall was nearly twice the size of the Hall of Supreme Harmony where the emperor of the Ming Dynasty held court meetings.

The inner hall is also very large, and the two brothers sit together, facing each other.

The raindrops pattering outside were hitting the roof, the corridor in the outer hall, and even the screen windows, making a gentle tapping sound.

Liu Bei looked at his thirty-seven-year-old fourth brother, who was slightly in a trance. He suddenly remembered that it was that spring twenty years ago. At that time, his seventeen-year-old fourth brother was full of high spirits, and although his face was a little immature,

But he put his confidence on his face.

Unconsciously, so much time has passed, and I couldn't help but sigh: "Fourth brother."

"Um?"

"I just took a closer look at you today, and I discovered that you have changed so much."

"oh?"

Chen Mu asked curiously: "Have I changed a lot?"

"It's big."

"What has changed?"

"Everything has changed."

Liu Bei glanced at his face and said slightly sadly: "There are a few wrinkles between the eyebrows, and there are a few strands of white hair on the temples."

Chen Mu subconsciously touched the goat's beard on his chin, and then said with a wry smile: "He also has a very long beard."

Liu Bei sighed: "We are all old, and one day we will die."

"Birth, old age, illness and death are the normal conditions of human beings."

Chen Mu sighed: "So making unlimited possibilities in a limited life is what people should pursue and yearn for."

After hearing his words, Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, then he cheered up and laughed: "Yes, what the fourth brother said is true, but I am a little unfounded for my brother's worries."

Chen Mu said with a smile: "My eldest brother has the universe in mind. Now that he has restored most of the Han Dynasty, the universe is in order, it is time for him to make great achievements."

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Yes, fourth brother, what are your plans for the future?"

Chen Mu pondered: "Liu Biao, Zhang Lu, Han Sui, Lu Bu and others are no longer enough evidence. I plan to officially implement my first five-year plan."

"The First Five-Year Plan?"
To be continued...