Liu Bei returned to his camp without any danger. As soon as he entered the tent, he couldn't help but ask.
Chen Mu said with a smile: "The emperor is aware of everything and knows that the eldest brother has merits and demerits, so naturally he has no intention of blaming me. This is Dong Zhuo shirking the responsibility and framing the eldest brother."
Dong Zhuo put the blame on Lu Zhi's subordinates. Whether this matter was written down in the history books or not, Chen Mu was not really good at it, so he naturally didn't know.
But fortunately, he was forced to board the eunuch's pirate ship, and Wang Jun helped as an internal agent and let him know the situation.
Moreover, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong regained the emperor's favor. With their help, it was reasonable for Chen Mu to want Liu Bei to escape his guilt and even help Liu Bei get promoted as he had agreed with Zhang Rang.
Hearing that Dong Zhuo had framed everyone, Zhang Fei said indignantly: "That damn Fatty Dong passed the responsibility to us just to escape the blame. It's really abominable."
Guan Yu snorted coldly: "If I had known it was him, I should have chopped off his head on the battlefield."
Liu Bei smiled and said: "Okay, okay, second and third brothers, don't be angry. Then Dong Zhuo has been taken to Luoyang for trial. He suffered such a huge defeat and lost 20,000 troops. I'm afraid it's not as simple as losing his official position, and it probably won't be the same in the future."
Saw him."
Chen Mu thought that he would have to deal with Dong Pangpang for many days in the future. This guy was a cockroach that couldn't be killed. It would be no big deal if he went to jail this time. No one could kill him except Lu Bu.
Wang Jun smiled and said: "Congratulations to my brother Xuande for moving to Jinan. This is the prime minister of the country, equivalent to the governor of a place. From now on, he will be called the envoy."
Liu Bei felt dizzy. He suddenly became a governor and suddenly became rich, as if he was in a dream.
But he also knew that Wang Jun must have helped, so he raised his hand and expressed sincere thanks: "Thank you, Brother Wang. Brother Wang's kindness will be unforgettable. If you need it in the future, just ask me."
Zhang Fei opened his eyes wide: "Eldest brother has become a prefect?"
Guan Yu also felt like he was dreaming, and said in a daze: "Is this true?"
Chen Mu smiled and said, "Of course it's true."
The prefectures of the Han Dynasty were divided into vassal states and kingdoms. The vassal states were lords. For example, Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others were named lords and had their own lords. There was also Chen Mu's ancestor Chen Ping's Qu Nihou who was also a lord.
First, the original Quni County of present-day Puyin County belonged to Chen Ping's fiefdom.
But a vassal state is the same as a kingdom. Neither the princes nor the king have the power to govern. The local political and economic power is all in the hands of the prime minister. The fiefdom of a vassal state is a county, so the prime minister is Qian Shi, which is equivalent to a county like Luoyang Order.
County magistrate. The kingdom is a county, and the prime minister's rank is two thousand stones, which is equivalent to the local governor.
The official ranks of the Han Dynasty were divided from top to bottom, including 10,000 shi, 2,000 shi, 2,000 shi, 1,000 shi, 600 shi, and 43,210. Of course, there were several ranks in between.
It's a job like Two Thousand Stones, but it's at the deputy level, and it's easy to skip it when you get to that level.
Liu Bei's official position is now Sima of the Northern Army, a mid-level military attache with a thousand stones belonging to the Central Northern Army series. In the Han Dynasty, civil and military officials were not separated, and military attachés could also be local governors. Therefore, according to normal logic, a promotion from one thousand stones to two thousand stones is a normal promotion.
It's not a jump.
The problem is that in terms of rank, it is a normal promotion. But in terms of seniority, from a military general to a local governor, a transition period is required. This transition period is the governorship or other important six hundred stone official positions in the central government.
For example, when Dong Zhuo followed Zhang Huan to fight against the Qiang and Hu more than ten years ago, he was the Sima of Zhang Huan's thousand-stone army. He was promoted to the governor of Hedong with two thousand stones, first served as the doctor of six hundred stones, and then became the doctor of six hundred stones. He served as governor of Bingzhou and finally became governor of Hedong.
In addition, Sun Jian followed Zhu Jun in the southern and northern wars this year, and was granted the title of Sima of the Department of Thousand Stones. Two years later, he was promoted to Yilang of Six Hundred Stones, and then he could become the Governor of Changsha.
From this it can be seen that it is not that easy to be promoted from one thousand shi to two thousand shi. You must first be the governor, or hold the central government positions of 600 shi, such as Zhongsan official, admonishment official, and Yilang. Only after you have gained seniority can you be promoted.
If Liu Bei had followed the normal procedure, after finishing the Yellow Turban, the imperial court would have granted him an official position such as Governor Yilang, Langzhong Zhongsan, etc., and in two years he would have been able to become a prefect.
But now, with Zhang Rang's help, I skipped this procedure directly, which was considered a shortcut.
This is the benefit of having a backend.
What Chen Mu didn't expect was that Zhang Rang actually helped Liu Bei get the Prime Minister of Jinan.
Because according to the agreement at that time, Chen Mu asked Zhang Rang, hoping to help his eldest brother find a relatively wealthy place to be the prefect of the same place. He did not insist on a certain place.
After all, the prefect is the chief of a county and belongs to a carrot and a pit. It does not mean that wherever you want, you can get it.
First of all, many county governors paid money to Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. You must be honest in doing business. Since I sold it to you, you have not made any mistakes. Of course, you cannot deal with it casually.
Secondly, many of the prefects of the counties were members of their eunuch faction, so it was certainly impossible for Zhang Rang to give up his position to Liu Bei.
So this kind of thing can only depend on luck.
If you are lucky, you can find a good place. If you are not lucky, you can only go to the wild land of Jiaozhou and become the governor.
But Liu Bei is the type of boy who loves to laugh and is not too unlucky.
It happened that the former Prime Minister of Jinan was killed by the Yellow Turbans, and no one had been sent yet. Zhang Rang made a convenient favor and gave him the position.
Prime Minister of Jinan was originally the position that Cao Cao should have occupied.
This place belongs to Qingzhou, which is the Shandong region in later generations. It was the Qi State in the Warring States Period. It is rich in products and close to the sea. It is also one of the birthplaces of Qingzhou Yellow Turban.
At that time, Cao Cao was able to win over the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, and the position he held as Prime Minister of Jinan was indispensable.
Therefore, this place is quite good, and it is not far from Liu Bei's hometown, Youzhou.
In principle, with Liu Bei's age of 24, it is almost impossible to achieve this step. He must be at least 30 years old.
But once Liu Bei's credit was enough, he followed Lu Zhi in Jizhou to fight in the south and north, killed several yellow scarf generals, destroyed countless cities, and almost captured Zhang Jiao alive.
Secondly, Zhang Rang owed Chen Mu a favor, and he had to repay the favor no matter what.
So I originally planned to wait until the Yellow Turbans in Jizhou were pacified before issuing the promotion order, as a way of repaying Chen Mu's friendship for helping him. Unexpectedly, he happened to be rescuing Liu Bei this time, so Zhang Rang promoted him by the way.
It's just that Zhang Rang does things one way and another. If you help me solve the problem, then I will help you get promoted. The two offset each other, and no one owes anyone.
As for rescuing people, of course it has to be calculated based on money.
Remembering that he had to give Zhang Rang one million yuan, Chen Mu patted his head and said to Liu Bei: "By the way, brother, where's the money?"
Liu Bei wondered: "Money? What money?"
Chen Mu frowned and said, "Didn't I give all my money to you for safekeeping before I left?"
"Ah...this..."
Liu Bei was squeaking and hesitating. He looked around and said, "Ah, fourth brother, you came back in a hurry. Are you going to stop studying?"
"You still have to study, maybe next year you will graduate, you will be elected as a filial and honest person, and then you will become a governor..."
Seeing his strange expression, Chen Mu had a premonition that something was not going to happen, so his expression changed slightly and he said, "Brother, you won't spend all the money, will you?"
"No!"
Liu Bei shouted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "How is this possible?"