Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 483 Return to Luoyang
In the early eleventh month of the fifth year of Jianxing (202 AD), at dawn in the middle of winter, the ground was covered with white frost and the cold was biting.

In such weather, it is best to stay by the fire or sit on a brick and stone bed and enjoy the warmth.

However, more than 600 officials in Luoyang City were standing in the suburbs, wearing cloaks or fur coats bought from the Xiongnu tribe, shaking their bodies from time to time to resist the cold wind blowing from the north.

In the biting cold, the common people living near the capital were ordered to stay at home and not to join the carriage to welcome the Han emperor.

Originally, Liu Bei planned to ask the Luoyang officials to meet him at the edge of the city instead of in the suburbs. However, Xun You, Guo Jia, Lu Zhi and other ministers insisted that the Han etiquette could not be abolished, and they would rather lead the officials to walk ten more miles in the freezing cold wind to meet him.

"Lord Lu, it's freezing cold right now. Why don't you go to the tent and rest for a while? You are the imperial tutor. If you fall ill while welcoming the emperor, the world will definitely talk about you!"

Xun You, wearing a tall crown, looked at the wind whistling in the distant mountains and forests, and was somewhat worried about Lu Zhi's health.

He then walked up to his side, bowed respectfully and tried to persuade him.

"Lord Lu, Gongda's words are very good!" Guo Jia also looked over and hurriedly approached him, bowing and saying, "Lord Lu, you need to take care of your health. When Lord Kang Cheng was alive, he was most concerned about the smooth compilation of the Han Ji. Lord Lu is carrying on the aspirations of his close friend, how can I easily let him down?"

"I hope you can go into the tent and rest for a while."

Dozens of tents had been set up on the roads outside the city to store meat and various utensils, and the rest could naturally be used for people to rest.

"You guys..." Lu Zhi, whose temples were already gray and whose back was slightly hunched, raised his hand and pointed at the two of them, and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing.

But he no longer refused, because he knew that his body was not as good as it used to be.

My back cannot be straightened now, and I cannot see a single word unless the book is in front of me.

"People live to be a hundred, and seventy is rare. I am already old, so I will live one more year if I can. I cannot compare to you guys."

Lu Zhi shook his head and sighed, then walked away unsteadily with the help of his followers.

Guo Jia and Xun You were left looking at each other with bitter smiles. They were not young at the moment. The truly young ones were the clerks in the Secretariat who were personally trained by the emperor.

Those are the talented people who will be able to replace them and stand on their own in the future, but they are still in their early twenties and are luckier than them.

How can one not be envied for having such extraordinary talent to save the world and living in such a prosperous era?

"Gongda, who do you think the emperor will value most among the officials in the Secretariat?" Guo Jia asked.

"Fengxiao, You is not in charge of the affairs of the Secretariat, so how do you know what's going on?" Xun You said unhappily.

Guo Jia was about to continue joking.

"Xilulu..." A sound of horses neighing came from the distance, and everyone immediately knew that this was the time when the emperor was about to arrive and the messenger came to deliver the message.

"Let's go, Gongda. I'll talk to you again when I have the chance." Guo Jia smiled and kept the words in his heart, making Xun You itchy.

"Guo Fengxiao, you are such a frivolous minister. You know that You is the left servant of the imperial censor, and you are good at reporting such dissolute behavior. Now that you have been caught red-handed, what else do you have to say?"

Xun You pointed at Guo Jia and couldn't help laughing.

……

Zhao Yun arrived first with the Ruichong Camp and took over the defense of Luoyang. He then led his troops into the South Palace and North Palace in the inner city, personally inspected each place, and then guarded the palace gates and other important roads.

Xu Chu was ordered to inspect the armory, Gaomiao, Taicang and other places in Luoyang, while Dian Wei led his soldiers to the northwest of Luoyang City to take over the recently built Jinyong City. In this city, there was a fortress every fifty steps, a tower every hundred steps, and bells on the roofs to tell the time in coordination with the sound of drums. It could be said that it was in a pincer attack with Luoyang, and could defend as well as advance.

When Liu Bei arrived, Zhao Yun took over and explored the palace and forbidden areas of the entire Luoyang City. The Tiger Cavalry was stationed in the surrounding areas. The auxiliary soldiers were first registered at the Luoyang Military Office, and then distributed money and silk, and then sent back to their hometowns in batches. Liu Bei asked the important officials to take the remaining carriages and go with him to the Nangong Palace for a meeting.

As the carriage passed by various streets and palace gates, Liu Bei caught a glimpse of the words written on the gates of various palaces. He smiled and asked Cai Yan, who had also been waiting outside for a long time, "I saw many words written in large seal script. The strokes are so familiar, and they have the style of Lord Cai. It seems that they must have been written by Lord Cai's daughter."

Upon hearing this, Cai Yan saluted with her hand, smiled gently, and replied softly, "Your Majesty, the writing on the palace gate was not done by me. It was also written by Mr. Zhong..."

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment. He really couldn't tell any difference between the characters written in large seal script.

There were many words written by Cai Yong on the gate of Luoyang Palace in those days. In addition to studying music and poetry, Cai Yan spent most of her energy on calligraphy in recent years. With the help of the manuscripts left by her father, she received praise from many celebrities.

Speaking of his talent, he is no less than any other in the class.

However, such a talented woman who was famous all over the world became his Concubine Cai and gave birth to two daughters for him... Unfortunately, she was unable to have children, which made her regretful.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei coughed dryly, and while the prince went to another carriage, he immediately waved his hand and said, "Zhao Ji, it's cold outside, come closer and sit down to keep warm."

Since he led his army from Guanzhong to fight against the Xiongnu in Bingzhou in September of the third year of Jianxing, in order to maintain the military discipline of the central army as always, he, as the emperor, still set an example and took the lead in not placing beautiful maids in the army.

In the past, Confucius was so absorbed in listening to Shao music in the State of Qi that he did not taste meat for three months.

Liu Xuande has been touring the country, subduing the Huns, rectifying the administration of officials, teaching the crown prince, handling state affairs, and issuing an order to move the mausoleum to Huiling. He has been so busy that he has not tasted meat for two years.

At this moment, he saw Zhao Ji, with her luxuriant hair, beautiful eyebrows, white teeth, and graceful figure, kneeling in front of him with her makeup on.

If there is still no reaction, then Liu Bei must start to be wary of his sexual orientation deep in his heart.

"Your Majesty, all the ministers in the court are waiting in the Nangong Palace to discuss matters. You cannot abandon the affairs of the world because of a personal matter. This is not what a wise monarch does!"

Cai Yan felt the emperor's gaze gradually becoming hotter and immediately gave his advice.

Liu Bei also came to his senses and realized that now was not the right time, so he decided to wait until tonight.

I have been holding it in for so long, why can't I control myself suddenly? What is the reason?

No wonder many emperors, once they lose their inner pursuits, quickly change their appearance and no longer have the same enterprising spirit as before.

"I should take this as a warning..." Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat and he thought secretly.

I'm not afraid of problems, I'm afraid of not being able to find them.

In recent years, many officials have submitted petitions to recommend talented, virtuous, intelligent, graceful and elegant girls from all over the country to serve as palace maids.

After all, apart from the empress, the emperor's harem had only thirteen people, much less than that of Gaozu and Guangwu, which was not conducive to the prosperity of the Han family's descendants.

You have to know that Gaozu and Guangwu had many children who did not die young, and all the ministers in the court were a little worried. At this time, almost everyone in the emperor's harem had children, but there were still more girls than boys. Coupled with unpredictable factors, it was very normal to recommend at least 30 people into the harem every year.

But at this time Liu Bei felt that in order to prevent him from gradually becoming greedy for pleasure, he still had to strictly control the number of recommendations from various places.

"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality."

Liu Bei glanced at Zhao Ji in front of him and reflected in his heart.

What he pursued in his heart was not only to consolidate the Liu family's rule, and he must not change his mind halfway.

(End of this chapter)