Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 343 Zhen Mi and Lu Lingqi, who will be made queen?
After retiring from court, Liu Xie returned to his bedroom to rest.

Although he was physically exhausted, he tossed and turned in bed and couldn't fall asleep. All he could think about was choosing a queen.

At the beginning, he had nothing, and in order to accumulate strength, he dared to make any promises, including promising the position of queen to Zhen and Lu Bu respectively.

This move certainly made Zhen and Lu Bu work hard for him.

But at the same time, it also laid a huge hidden danger.

Previously, because of the existence of foreign enemies, this matter could be temporarily ignored; but now that more than half of the country has been unified, it is difficult to delay the matter of establishing a queen.

The joint petition of all the ministers at the court meeting today is the signal for the start of the harem dispute, and Zhen and Lu Bu will certainly not remain silent any longer.

Although Empress Fu can be used as an excuse for the time being, both parties will definitely have complaints in the long run.

"Ugh……"

Thinking of this, Liu Xie became more and more unable to sleep.

He stood up and instructed the maidservant beside him: "Send someone to summon the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Chief Censor to the palace. I have something important to discuss with them."

Guo Jia and Jia Xu both knew that he was trying to do two things in one, so this matter could only be discussed with them two, and no one else, not even Zhuge Liang, would do it.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The palace maids attending her respectfully accepted the order.

Then Liu Xie was about to get up and change his clothes, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a black screen in front of his eyes and fell straight down.

"His Majesty!"

The palace maid was shocked when she saw this, and hurried forward to catch the fallen Liu Xie, and was about to call for help.

"I'm fine!"

Liu Xie stopped her and said in a weak voice, "I'm just too tired these days. I just need to rest for a while."

There was nothing wrong with his body.

However, because he often stayed up late to handle government affairs recently, and he was too tired tonight and did not have a meal, he suddenly felt dizzy.

Simply put, it is low blood sugar.

Although the palace maid was extremely worried, she did not dare to disobey the emperor's order and had to give up the idea.

Liu Xie then asked the palace maid to bring him some cakes on a table not far away, and the feeling of weakness in his body soon disappeared.

After he recovered, he said to the maidservant beside him in a somewhat stern tone: "This matter must not be made public, do you hear me?"

As the Son of Heaven, his every word and action affects everyone's heart, especially since he has no children, and his physical safety is a concern for countless people.

If the ministers knew that he had suddenly fainted, they would be furious and something might go wrong.

He really doesn't have the energy to deal with it anymore.

"The slaves obey the order."

The maidservant immediately knelt down and agreed, and said hesitantly: "Although state affairs are important, Your Majesty should still focus on the emperor's health and not overwork yourself."

As a palace maid, she served the emperor every day and witnessed his diligence and hard work.

Before, I only worked on government affairs during the day, but recently I have been busy until late at night almost every day and got up early the next day.

It is really hard work.

Liu Xie ignored her words, waved his hand and said, "I'm fine now, go and pass on the order."

The palace maids attending received the order and left.

……

Half an hour later, Xuanshi.

Guo Jia and Jia Xu walked in together. When they saw Liu Xie, who looked tired and a little pale, they were shocked.

"Your Majesty...what's wrong with you?"

Jia Xu asked in surprise.

Liu Xie said calmly: "It's just that I didn't sleep well these few days. Don't worry, just sit down."

The two looked at each other, suppressed their worries, and sat down.

Liu Xie did not talk nonsense with them, and went straight to the point and said: "I summoned you here so late because I am really troubled and can't sleep."

"At the court meeting today, the ministers forced me to expand my harem on the grounds that I have no heir. I had no choice but to comply, but this move will inevitably trigger a dispute over the position of empress ahead of time."

"Back then, I was coerced by Yuan Shao and had no foundation at all. I was walking on thin ice and had no choice but to promise both Zhen and Duke Wen the position of Queen to fight against Yuan Shao."

"Now that the Han Dynasty has recovered more than half of its territory and the empire is about to be stabilized, we have to face the issue of establishing a queen."

"Fengxiao, Wenhe, who do you think should be made queen?"

In front of Jia Xu and Guo Jia, Liu Xie could express his worries without reservation and seek solutions from them.

Upon hearing this, Guo Jia and Jia Xu remained silent.

Although they had guessed before they came that the emperor summoned them into the palace for this matter, they were unable to come up with a solution.

Because this problem is too difficult to solve.

Whether the throne was given to Lu Bu or Zhen, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction from the other party, but it happened that both parties had made great contributions to the emperor.

There is no need to say much about Lu Bu. He captured Yuan Shu, defeated Yuan Shao, and killed Gao Gan. His military achievements can be said to be the best among all military generals.

Although the Zhen family did not have these merits in defeating the bandits, they provided money and food, weapons and armor to Lu Bu's army, and their hard work was no less than Lu Bu's.

In a sense, he is even greater than Lu Bu.

After all, war is all about equipment and logistics.

More than half of the reason why Lu Bu was invincible was due to Zhen's armed army at all costs.

Seeing that Jia Xu and Guo Jia were silent, Liu Xie could not help but smile bitterly and said, "I know this matter is difficult, but if it is not handled properly, it will inevitably cause unrest in the court."

"You can't let me have two queens at the same time, right?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu and the other man's faces suddenly changed.

Guo Jia quickly shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely not allowed! As the saying goes, there is no two suns in the sky, and there is no two rulers in a country. The same goes for the queen!"

"Establishing two queens is not only against the ancestral system, but will also cause unrest in the court and the country. By then, not to mention the civil and military officials in the court, I'm afraid everyone in the world will oppose it!"

"And if both queens give birth to heirs, who should Your Majesty appoint as the crown prince? This is the way to cause chaos!"

Even if it means breaking a promise to one party, you cannot have two queens at the same time, because doing so would sow disaster for the country!

"I'm just saying."

Liu Xie certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to do such a thing, he just said it casually, and then continued to ask: "So have you figured out a solution?"

Guo Jia and Jia Xu looked at each other.

Falling into silence again.

Liu Xie was already in an irritable mood, and he couldn't help but complain when he saw this: "You two usually claim to be resourceful, but now you are silent when faced with a big problem." "You really let me down in vain!"

Guo Jia and Jia Xu both looked bitter when they heard this. They could still offer advice on other matters, but this matter was indeed too difficult to decide.

"Your Majesty..."

After hesitating for a moment, Guo Jia seemed to want to say something.

But Jia Xu on the side quietly held his hand and shook his head slightly at him, so Guo Jia had to swallow the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

Liu Xie did not notice the two people's little movements. He looked worried and sighed continuously.

The atmosphere in the entire Xuanshi Hall was somewhat depressing.

After Jia Xu held Guo Jia down, he also showed a worried look on his face, and pretended to sigh: "If Your Majesty had not promised Duke Wen and Zhen the position of empress, you wouldn't have to worry so much now."

"In that case, Your Majesty can choose any woman as the queen, and does not have to choose Concubine Zhen or Concubine Lu."

"They are all confused by the immediate benefits."

Liu Xie rolled his eyes at him and said unhappily, "You are just saying useless things. If I had not promised them the position of empress, how could Zhen and Lord Wen have worked so hard for me?"

"You're really saying that... huh?"

Liu Xie was shocked and suddenly realized something. He looked at Jia Xu with sharp eyes and asked, "You mean, you want me to make another woman my queen?"

The fat on Jia Xu's face trembled, and he quickly shook his head and said, "No, I am not! How could I let Your Majesty go against your promise?"

"Your Majesty, please don't misunderstand me. I have never said such a thing!"

Jia Xu repeatedly denied and distanced himself from the matter.

But Liu Xie has been with him for such a long time, how could he not know this guy's character?

Jia Xu obviously did not want to make this suggestion and bear the responsibility of making the emperor break his promise, so he tried to get him to say it himself by hinting at it!

After taking a deep look at Jia Xu, who seemed to be feeling somewhat guilty, Liu Xie did not choose to expose him, but followed his words and asked: "If I do not make Concubine Zhen and Concubine Lu queens, and make another woman queen, what do you think?"

Jia Xu and Guo Jia straightened their backs instantly.

This is exactly what they were waiting for!
Guo Jia coughed lightly and said, "If, I mean if... If Your Majesty intends to break his promise and make another woman the queen, I think it would be a wise move."

"Because both Noble Lu and Noble Zhen are not suitable to be the queen."

"The Zhen family is a noble family. If Concubine Zhen takes the throne, the Zhen family will surely rise to become the top family in the Han Dynasty."

"Your Majesty can still restrain us now, but after Your Majesty passes away and the Crown Prince takes the throne, will the Zhen family still have any concerns?"

"Although Duke Wen was born in a humble family and has no children, he has a very high prestige in the army. Most of the generals are attached to Duke Wen, and a large interest faction has been formed."

"It is true that Lord Wen is loyal to Your Majesty, but Your Majesty must know that Lord Wen is already over fifty years old, and he has suffered many injuries from his military career. To be unlucky, Lord Wen may not live past sixty."

"So if Lady Lu takes the throne, once Lord Wen dies, the nobles and generals will become too powerful to be eliminated."

"So neither of you two nobles is suitable."

He and Jia Xu had discussed this matter a long time ago. Considering the overall situation, they agreed that neither Lu Lingqi nor Zhen Mi could be the queen.

The problem of power monopolized by foreign relatives in the Han Dynasty was too serious. Both the Zhen family and Lu Bu represented one side of the power.

Liu Xie frowned deeply and remained silent.

He originally wanted to make Zhen Mi the queen, but after listening to Guo Jia's analysis, he had to admit that it made sense.

The Zhen family is essentially a noble family, and they have previously participated in occupying land by exploiting loopholes in the land reclamation policy.

From this point we can also see that if the world is unified in the future and Zhen Mi becomes the queen, Zhen will definitely do whatever it takes to earn back her past efforts.

However, he could only turn a blind eye to this matter. After all, Zhen's contribution was there. Could he really punish her severely?

Since even he couldn't do it, what about Zhen Mi and his son? Could his son still do it to someone from his mother's family?

The same goes for Lu Bu. He is not worried about Lu Bu, but about the noble groups.

Therefore, no matter whether Lu Lingqi or Zhen Mi becomes the queen or whose offspring becomes the next crown prince, it will inevitably lead to the dominance of one faction.

"Relatives, nobles..."

Liu Xie was deeply troubled. This was a problem that had been difficult to resolve in all dynasties, unless he followed the example of the Ming Taizu and killed all the meritorious officials until rivers of blood flowed.

However, "We will drink from the golden cup, but we will not spare each other with the sword" is easier said than done. He may not be so cruel, nor may he be able to do it.

Being cruel to your enemies and being cruel to your own people are two completely different feelings.

However, thinking of this, Liu Xie had an idea and asked, "Since Concubine Zhen and Concubine Lu are not suitable to be the queen, how about choosing a woman from the people?"

He also suddenly thought of this.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, set a rule at the beginning of the country that the empress must be selected from the common people and must not come from a prominent family.

Because the queen came from the common people, she naturally had no background support. Even her parents could only get some honorific titles and ranks to show their status when she was crowned queen, but they had no real power.

In addition, the women selected are virtuous and good, and they are more likely to be frugal and manage the household and have no intention of interfering in state affairs, thus avoiding the phenomenon of external relatives interfering in government affairs.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's regulation was indeed effective. Throughout the 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty, there was no case of external relatives interfering in politics.

Moreover, although the queen was selected from the people, the selection process was not sloppy at all.

Because if the queen is chosen from aristocratic families, although there are many ladies and daughters of wealthy families, there will still be competition in background.

But it is different among the people. Not only has the scope expanded from part to the whole country, the number of people has greatly increased, and everyone is truly equal.

Ultimately, one has to be outstanding in appearance, moral character, and personality to be made queen and become the mother of a country. She can be said to be the true chosen one.

"Choosing a woman from the people as the queen?"

Jia Xu was stunned for a moment, and after a brief thought, he nodded and approved Liu Xie's proposal: "If you choose a woman from the people as the queen, you can avoid the interference of foreign relatives in politics. Your Majesty, this is a great move!"

This is not without precedent in the Han Dynasty.

Empress He was the daughter of a butcher. Although she was jealous and not a virtuous queen, it can only be said that she was not chosen well.

"Although this method is good, there is still a problem..."

Guo Jia hesitated and said, "If we don't make Concubine Zhen and Concubine Lu queens, how can we appease the Zhen family and Lord Wen?"

“That’s the priority.”

After he finished speaking, Jia Xu's expression froze.

Liu Xie also shut his mouth.

They had been discussing the disadvantages of making Lu Lingqi and Zhen Mi queens, but ignored the huge trouble that would be caused by not making them queens.

One is Zhen, the other is Lu Bu.

How to solve it?

Would they willingly give up their daughter's position as queen to a commoner's daughter who suddenly appeared out of nowhere?

(End of this chapter)