Three Kingdoms: I rely on system loopholes to survive

Chapter 196 Jin Yi Jade Belt
At the beginning of the year, there is a large court meeting, where the princes, ministers, generals, officials, and hundreds of officials pay their respects. Local prefectures, governors, envoys, and envoys all pay tribute and express their congratulations.

The Shaofu Section levied taxes on mountains, seas, and ponds, collected local contributions, and integrated tribute items and "donation fees" from local states and counties.

Yuan Shao of Jizhou, Yuan Shu of Yangzhou... and even Gongsun Zan and other princes who were fighting fiercely with Liu Yu in Youzhou came to congratulate him and sent envoys to Yanzhou to pay tribute to the emperor.

Although the emperor was weak, the remaining power of the Han Dynasty still existed. In the past, Liu Xie was held hostage by Guo Si and others. He even had to worry about food every day, let alone what kind of court meeting he would hold?

He has been in Yanzhou for nearly half a year now. Not to mention anything else, this can be regarded as a rare and stable time that Liu Xie has spent as the emperor.

Of course, this year's imperial meeting cannot be compared with the grand occasion of "thousands of people gathered in Chang'an" in history, but recalling the experience of control and training in Chang'an, Luoyang, now I can see hundreds of officials kneeling down and saluting, and the envoys respectfully Presenting the watch made Liu Xie's heart surge.

Zhong Ping rarely wears official uniforms, and it is the first time to participate in such a large court meeting, so it is inevitable that it will be strange.

He silently cursed that he had been the young master for so long, but he was just doing some calculations every day under a false name. When had he ever used his power to collect taxes from mountains, seas and ponds and collect local contributions?
Today was a day for him to see the world. Standing in the ranks of officials, he could only vaguely see the corners of the gifts presented by the envoys. They were all rare and precious. He had never seen many items before. Never heard of it.

Zhong Ping felt regretful for a moment in his heart: If I had known, I would have stayed in the position of Shaofu for a little longer... I am afraid that I will never have the chance to see this kind of tribute thing again in the future.

He felt that he was an idle official, and he should not have his turn in anything at court. Those long lists of gifts surprised him at first, but later they became boring. After all, among the hundreds of officials, he had neither stature nor position. Advantage, I really can’t see what those gifts look like.

From Liu Xie's expression, Zhong Ping probably understood that these people might be Cao Cao... or other people's spies. In short, they were not someone Liu Xie could control at will.

Zhong Ping organized his words in his heart. He wanted to persuade Liu Xie not to confront Cao Cao in a hurry. With Cao Cao's current mentality, if Liu Xie could show enough trust and reliance on Cao Cao and "rule from the top", everything would turn around. The leeway may be greatly increased.

The sun was already rising by the time the court meeting ended. The weather in the past few days had been extremely clear, and the sunlight was white. Even if it shone directly on people, it would not make them feel very warm.

Zhong Ping was slightly surprised and hurriedly knelt down and bowed: "I am loyal to you. I have been promoted by your majesty. I have been favored and given many favors. How can I have any hope if I cannot report my death to you? I dare not accept the tribute from this state and county." "

"His Majesty……"

Naturally, Cao Cao stood at the head of the hundred officials. Liu Bei and Dong Cheng were one of the imperial uncles and the other was the uncle of the state. Both of them had the title of general and stood at the forefront of the ministers.

Liu Xie sighed, stepped forward and held Zhong Ping's hands, and glanced at the attendant beside him calmly with his peripheral vision, with deep regret in his tone: "Is Bo Heng going to be so estranged from me?"

Zhong Ping was moved in his heart and remained silent. Although he was angry at Liu Xie's partial trust in Dong Cheng and his cold treatment of him, he had finally agreed to Wang Yun's promise and shared the hardships with the young emperor several times.

Zhong Ping secretly thought that Liu Xie should summon Dong Cheng to the palace in the next few days to discuss the clothing and belt edict. Originally, Liu Bei left Xu because Cao Cao sent troops to attack Yuan Shu, but now...

Zhongpei stood aside, looking for his father among the piles of red crown robes.

"Your Majesty has summoned me, and Taishi ordered me to invite my servants to come."

Zhongpei thought about it for a while and suppressed this idea for the time being.

The little emperor is looking for me?
Zhong Ping felt something was wrong. He had been trapped by Liu Xie and Dong Cheng for too long. He subconsciously felt that Liu Xie was looking for him for no good reason.

Now Xuzhou is in a lively mood. Yuan Shu has long wanted to occupy Xuzhou. Lu Bu and Le Jin are fighting back and forth. If the reason is to attack Lu Bu, I wonder if there is a way to let the emperor's uncle take this opportunity to leave?

But it is obvious that Liu Xie will not accept Zhongping's suggestion. He has done enough as a puppet emperor. If he wants him to rule from the side, he will only wonder whether Zhongping is also biased towards Cao Cao.

Liu Xie looked very happy, and his expression was extremely sincere. Zhong Ping even had some self-doubt in his heart. Didn't he go to court every day?
"Bo Heng has often traveled for me, but I have never given him any generous gifts... In the past, I was confined to wandering, and there was no treasure worthy of Bo Heng. I often felt guilty and sighed in no one's place. I feel ashamed to this day... Now the envoy is coming to court, The treasury is full, so I should use up everything I have and select the treasures, pearls and jade to give them to you."

There were many servants in Deyang Hall. Even if Liu Xie chose to meet Zhong Ping in the side hall, there were still several young eunuchs accompanying him.

Call him weak in character and too kind to a woman, but when Liu Xie looked at him in fear and helplessness, he still inevitably softened his heart.

"I haven't seen Taishi Ling for a long time."

He guessed that Liu Xie was looking for him mostly to deal with Cao Cao, but he didn't understand why Liu Xie summoned him so openly. It couldn't be that Liu Xie thought that he could keep his life by jumping repeatedly on Cao Cao's minefield. Do it again. Is the magic weapon descending from heaven?

The court meeting had just ended, Liu Xie should still be in Deyang Hall, Zhongping walked all the way thinking about why Liu Xie came to him.

Liu Xie saw the change and wavering in Zhong Ping's expression. He knew that his affectionate offensive had worked, and his smile became more sincere.

"Go and get the Hepu Liu, the white jade Gangmao, the engraved silver rhinoceros horn cup, Si Nanpei..."

Liu Xie looked at the items on the gift list one by one, and none of them were valuable. He carefully selected many items with good meanings and added them to the list. He paused and continued: "There are also brocade clothes and jade belts, which are suitable for New Year's gifts." .”

Zhong Ping's heart skipped a beat, and the emotion he had just felt suddenly disappeared.

Good guy, you are waiting for me here.

I asked why Hao Duanduan suddenly became so generous and rewarded me with such things...

Takahira's mood was extremely complicated, and he couldn't tell whether it was disappointment or sadness that "it's true."

He slowly fell to the ground and thanked him, but in his heart he became more and more determined to leave Xu Du.

In the past, what he was most worried about was that Zhongji would be involved in the Yidai Edict. Now that Liu Xie had chosen him to be the person to deliver the secret edict, Zhongping could naturally hide Zhongji and completely eliminate the possibility of him being implicated in this matter. This actually gave Zhong Ping some relief. He doesn't know how to imitate Dong Cheng and sign the edict... Isn't that a ready-made Death Note, which can be used to kill every one.

We are not planning to organize an assassination - to assassinate Cao Cao on Cao Cao's territory, isn't that like lighting a lamp in the toilet and seeking death?
Zhong Ping probably made a decision in his heart and put on the brocade robe.

Liu Xie wanted to remind Zhongping in a low voice, but when he saw that Zhongping looked calm and seemed to already know the extraordinary features of this brocade robe and jade belt, he couldn't help being secretly surprised and hesitated in his heart: Could it be that the queen and I made a wrong bet? Shouldn't the secret edict be hidden in the jade belt?
But at this moment, the arrow was on the string and he had to shoot it. He could not allow him to regret or hesitate any longer, so he could only place all his hopes on Zhongpei.

Naturally, a dedicated person would help deliver the items given by the emperor to his home. After Zhong said farewell, his face remained as calm as before, and he walked out along the road he was used to on weekdays.

He was actually a little uneasy. Zhong Ping knew that he had some acting skills, but not much. It was basically impossible to fool Cao Cao...

However, since historically Cao Cao found no clues from Dong Cheng, there is no reason for him to reveal his secrets when it was his turn.

Zhong Ping's thoughts were all over the place, but nothing could be seen on the surface.

When he was about to pass through the palace gate, he didn't bump into the Cao Cao he had imagined. Instead, he saw Xi Zhicai with a wine bottle hanging from his waist and holding a young man's shoulder. The two of them were talking about something.

"Yo! Bo Heng!"

Xi Zhicai saw Zhongping, his eyes lit up, and he walked over a few steps and saw Zhongping wearing a brocade robe over his official uniform. He couldn't help but ridicule: "Since you have money to make new clothes, when will you pay back the money you owe me?" Come?"

"This is a gift from His Majesty."

Zhong Ping dug into his sleeves and took out a few five-baht coins. He thought about it and took it back again: "I might as well give it back to Uncle Xun, so that you don't have enough money to go to the wine house to have fun again."

He looked at the thin young man next to Xi Zhicai with confusion in his eyes: "Who is this?"

Although the young man was thin, he was tall and had a handsome face. His eyes were a bit green, and he seemed to be someone who often stayed up late.

"My fellow Yingchuan people, Guo Jia and Guo Fengxiao, have met Tai Shiling."

As soon as Guo Jia opened his mouth, Zhongping could smell the smell of Qingyu wine. It seemed that the two people drank a lot before coming to him.

Zhong Ping first returned the gift with Guo Jia, then glanced at the wine bottle on Xi Zhicai's waist: "How do I remember that you said you had started to quit drinking and only drink one cup a day?"

Xi Zhicai laughed: "My lord has already installed five or six doctors in my house... It won't hurt if I drink less wine."

As he spoke, he subconsciously wanted to pull Zhong Ping's sleeves. He stretched out his hand halfway, but he was a little concerned: "I also want to tell you that Mr. Zijiang has returned to Xudu and is currently staying at your house with Mr. Sun Gongyou. .”

"Is Mr. Zijiang here?"

Zhongping had already left the palace gate and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"So has Yuan Rang recovered? When will he come back?"

Xi Zhicai shook his head: "I haven't fully recovered yet, but I can already walk on the ground. I think I will come back after a while."

As the three of them walked, Guo Jia's eyes briefly stayed on Zhongping for a while, as if he was deep in thought. He was not a talkative person, and was more of an observer at this time.

"If Yuan Rang comes back, I'm afraid he will be eager to ask for orders to attack Lu Bu, right?"

With Xiahou Dun's character, he must have been extremely unconvinced and wanted to avenge his previous humiliation after suffering such a huge loss from Lu Bu.

Xi Zhicai thought about the situation in Xuzhou. Winter was really not a good time to start a war. If he wanted to attack Lu Bu, he had to wait until spring.

In his opinion, it is not necessary to occupy the entire Xuzhou. This place is now just a useless piece of land. All that is needed is to garrison troops in the captured counties as a barrier. Instead of entangled with Lu Bu, it is better to take advantage of Yuan Shu's attention on Xuzhou. , attack Yuzhou in the south.

But it's not yet the time for him to offer advice. Farming is still being tried out, and the results are unknown. Although Lu Bu is a reckless man, but with Chen Gong by his side, it would be troublesome for him to become an ally with Yuan Shu.

and also……

He glanced at the brocade robe on Zhongping.

The little emperor in the palace was not stable either, and he didn't know what he was thinking about in private.

"Cough cough cough."

Xi Zhicai shivered because of the cold wind. He touched the wine bottle at his waist and realized that the clothes he wore were thick enough and shouldn't be so cold.

Am I really weak?

It seems that it is better to drink less in the future.

He silently wrapped his clothes tighter.

Starting today, quit drinking!
(End of this chapter)