I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 14 Interesting Stories from Luoyang

Luoyang received an urgent military report from Liu Bei and others. It was already the end of March.

During this period, Luoyang was not peaceful.

The most noteworthy thing is that since Xiyuan sold his official position, the largest single purchase has been made.

Its creator was Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, who spent a full 100 million yuan to buy Sikong, one of the three princes.

One hundred million dollars may seem like a small goal, but no matter in which era it is placed, it is actually an astronomical amount of money. The 100 million coins sent by Cao Song included copper coins and gold used to convert money. The total amount was tens of thousands of kilograms. It was a troublesome matter to collect and transport.

Considering that Cao Song couldn't wait to go to Xiyuan as soon as the news about the recovery of Liangzhou money was released in Xiyuan, it is difficult not to make people suspect that he had already planned this.

Liu Bian didn't know what Cao Cao would think when he heard this. According to what he learned, after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the imperial court appointed Cao Cao as the governor of Dongjun. However, he resigned due to illness and is currently living in seclusion in his hometown.

Presumably, the expression of this generational hero will be very beautiful by then, but it is a pity that Liu Bian will not be able to appreciate it.

But Cao Song is interesting. Guo Sheng told Liu Bian that after our Cao Sikong spent 100 million, someone laughed at Cao Song because Cui Lie only spent 5 million to buy Situ. But Cao Song didn't take it seriously and declared to the outside world that his 100 million yuan was not to buy an official position, but simply to support the imperial court in the war against Liangzhou, which was a move that benefited the country and the people.

Cao Song is the adopted son of the eunuch Cao Teng. Although he served as a nine ministers, his label as a eunuch has always made him unpopular with the scholars. Now that he has spent 100 million yuan, his originally poor reputation has improved a lot.

Apart from other things, at least when he participated in the small-scale court meeting arranged by the emperor as Sikong, General He Jin, Chariot and Cavalry General He Miao, Taiwei Zhang Wen, Situ Cui Lie, Guardsman Yang Biao, and Shesheng Colonel Ma Rixi Others were generally kind to him.

Yang Biao, Ma Rixi, together with Lu Zhi, Cai Yong and others, collected biographies of the Five Classics in the Dongguan Dian School and participated in the continuation of the Dongguan Hanji. They were genuine classics scholars and enjoyed a high reputation among scholars. reputation.

Cao Sikong was very satisfied with this.

Among the other ten regular attendants, except Zhang Rang, the other eleven regular attendants, like Zhang Rang, also donated 10 million yuan each.

The Shi Changshi understood the yin and yang, and they deliberately provoked Emperor Ling to summon the ministers to discuss how to eliminate the Liangzhou rebels. Emperor Ling also wanted to prove to the ministers that his eunuchs still knew how to share the country's worries.

They said the same thing as Zhang Rang, sharing His Majesty's worries. They also said that it was a family property accumulated over many years. They did not dare to be too serious about what they said. After all, this ten million yuan was only a part of their family wealth.

This was enough to move Emperor Ling so much that he was so happy that he proposed that since the ten permanent servants did not want an official position, he would add titles to the ten permanent servants, and those who had already been granted titles would be given additional fiefdoms.

At this time, Shi Changshi regretted the time they chose.

Sure enough, under the persuasion of his ministers, Emperor Ling probably realized that 10 million yuan to buy a house for a feudal lord was too cheap, even if he was just the lowest among the lords, Ting Hou. Later, Emperor Ling accepted the advice and did not mention the matter again.

So in the following period, Liu Bian could always see regretful looks on the faces of Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Guo Sheng and others.

The Shi Chang Shi most envied Cao Jie, the eunuch who once led them, not because Cao Jie took the lead in killing Dou Wu and Chen Fan, but because Cao Jie was first a Marquis of Chang'an Township, with a settlement of 600 households, and later he was granted the title of Yuyang (county). Hou, increased the number of food households by 3,000.

Shi Chang started serving as the Marquis of Guan Nei. Even Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, who were already Lieutenant Marquises, were only Duxiang Marquises and were still inferior to Cao Jie's County Marquises. As for the Marquis of Guannei, it was even worse than other marquises. They only had a salary and could not be hereditary. The Marquis of Guannei in Xiyuan could buy one for five million, while the Marquises of Guan Nei were not sold at all.

Under the leadership of Cao Song, the money gathered to regain Liangzhou was faster than when selling officials.

Fortunately, Emperor Ling still has some bottom line when selling an official position. He will consider the family background, reputation and past resume of the person who buys the official position, and will not say that just anyone can buy the official position with money. This will reduce the destructiveness of selling officials to the bureaucracy. Of course, as long as Xiyuan is still selling officials, no matter what measures are taken, it will only fix the problem. Emperor Ling was also very satisfied with the performance of recovering Liangzhou's money. Although Lu Zhi and others felt that the military funds were not very glorious, after all, they made something from scratch, which was better than the emperor holding on to his private money.

Some people are satisfied, while others are dissatisfied.

Liu Bian finished his studies in Dongguan and was about to go to Yutang Palace to have a look. However, he was stopped by Empress Dowager Dong on the way.

Empress Dowager Dong's love for money is no less than that of Emperor Ling. It can even be said that Emperor Ling's love for money is definitely due to the influence of Empress Dowager Dong.

Unlike Emperor Ling who liked to spend money on enjoyment, Empress Dowager Dong probably was afraid of poverty when she was young, so she liked the feeling of more and more money.

As the first person to propose that Emperor Ling sell his official position, Empress Dowager Dong always felt that Xiyuan money was both Emperor Ling's money and hers. There is no problem if Emperor Ling uses it to build gardens and other things, but there is a problem if it is loaned out for military expenses.

For Empress Dowager Dong, lending money to court envoys is not a loan without repayment! Besides, isn't the so-called money for regaining Liangzhou essentially the money that originally belonged to her for selling her official position, but it has nothing to do with her under a different name?

When Empress Dowager Dong learned from Dong Chong that the idea was Liu Bian's, she immediately left Yongle Palace (West Palace) to find trouble for Liu Bian.

In the face of Empress Dowager Dong's loud rebuke, Liu Bian only maintained the most basic etiquette and did not comment on what Empress Dowager Dong said. Anyway, he would not lose a piece of flesh after listening to Empress Dowager Dong's words. Is it possible that Empress Dowager Dong could still beat him.

"Go and tell your father right away, don't do anything to recover the money from Liangzhou. It is originally private money, why should it be used for public use?"

Liu Bian remained silent.

Empress Dowager Dong was anxious and said to Sun Zhang, the servant of Zhongchang, "Go and get my bamboo stick. Today I will teach this unscrupulous descendant a lesson with my own hands!"

How dare you fight!

Sun Zhang hurriedly persuaded: "The Queen Mother has a noble body, so why should she be angry with Marquis Shi? After being reprimanded by the Queen Mother for so long, Marquis Shi must also know that she was wrong. Your Majesty must also be waiting for Marquis Shi in the East Palace!"

Liu Bian heard Sun Zhang's hint, but it was impossible to admit his mistake. If he really wanted to beat him, Liu Bian was ready to run away.

He was currently in the harem, and neither Dong Zhong nor the guards could come in. He didn't believe that any of the chamberlains and maids except Empress Dowager Dong would dare to stop him.

"Look, how did he know he was wrong?" Empress Dowager Dong said angrily, "Go quickly and get my bamboo stick!"

An equally angry voice came from not far away - "What is the Queen Mother doing with the bamboo stick?"

It was Queen He who came in a hurry.

Even though Empress Dowager Dong is also the Empress Dowager now, from a legal perspective, the one who can really check and balance Empress He is the dead Empress Dowager Dou.

Empress Dowager Dong did not have much advantage over Empress He.

(End of this chapter)