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In addition to Liu Qi, the only one who can inherit the throne is adopted by Liu Cong, the second son of Cai. ⊙

However, Liu Cong was young and was less than ten years old now. Once Liu Biao returned to heaven and Liu Cong ascended the throne, it would inevitably lead to a situation where imperial power was lost and foreign relatives were dictatorial. By then, the Southern Han Dynasty would completely fall into the hands of Cai Mao and others.

This is the situation. Pang Tong devoted his efforts to think about the future of the Southern Han Dynasty. The only way out he could think of was to further consolidate the regime while Liu Biao was alive and use it to capture part of the military power in his own hands. Only in this way can he maintain the orthodox inheritance of the Han Dynasty, otherwise one day he would be replaced by the Cai clan and seize power and usurp the throne.

The morning court lasted nearly two hours. At the end, for some reason, the officials had never mentioned the imperial edict issued by the Western Jin emperor for unprecedented agreement. Perhaps they guessed that Liu Biao had known it a long time ago, after all, the imperial list was posted on the wall outside the palace gate. How could no one noticed so many eunuchs and eunuchs in the palace? So the officials tacitly reached an agreement. Since Liu Biao himself was unwilling to mention it, they were not afraid of it, so they pretended not to know it.

The Regal is unpredictable. No one will take risks with their own wealth and life. It is better to let things go.

This is the atmosphere in the Southern Han Dynasty.

At first glance, there is a harmonious atmosphere. The king is a wise ruler, the minister is a subordinate minister, and all civil and military officials perform their duties in an orderly manner. However, this kind of harmonious atmosphere is obviously not suitable for use in the court, which is like a harmonious atmosphere that can only be found when living at home. The most important thing is that the world is not peaceful at present, and the Southern Han Dynasty has not reached the level of clear seas and peaceful rivers and peaceful gates; on the contrary, now the Three Kingdoms are in a stalemate, and the other two vassal states are always thinking about purge other vassal states and unify the world.

However, in the Southern Han Dynasty, there was no trace of anger or a breath of unswept war. It was like living a life with a closed door. From top to bottom, almost everyone was eager to enjoy this hard-earned wealth and glory. No one was worried about the country and planned and planned for the long-term goals. Perhaps this was just Pang Tong's own thoughts, and the conclusion was drawn entirely based on subjective speculation. In fact, the officials may not have thought about the future and destiny of the Southern Han Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Pang Tong did not see anyone among the officials who were really worried about the safety of the country. All he could see was a harmonious and repeated routine. No one could propose effective specific strategies to consolidate the foundation of the dynasty, and no one dared to stand up and propose to actively send troops to conquer cities and territory and further expand the territory.

Thinking of the voluntary dispatch of troops, Pang Tong couldn't help but look up at Liu Biao, who was squinting his eyes and pretending to sleep in the upper hall, then shook his head and sighed inwardly, feeling very bitter in his heart.

When Li Li ascended the throne last year, Pang Tong was ordered to follow the delegation to sneak into Chang'an, contact the Wei prince Cao Pi, and work hard to reach an alliance with him. On that alliance, the Southern Han Dynasty undoubtedly had the upper hand, made many requests to Wei, and finally got what he wanted. Pang Tong successfully completed the mission. However, what Pang Tong did not expect was that when he returned to Jingzhou with the alliance reached with Wei, the emperor and the officials' reaction after seeing the alliance was completely beyond Pang Tong's expectations, and was very different from the joyful situation he imagined.

At that time, Liu Biao did not look happy after seeing the covenant, but his expression was solemn. He looked at Pang Tong with a look of blame. If he had not been thinking about his fearlessness and hard work, he would have sneaked into Chang'an. I was afraid that Liu Biao would get angry at him on the spot and even blame him. The reactions of the officials were exactly the same as Liu Biao, and he did not think that this covenant would be of great benefit to the Southern Han Dynasty. There were 20,000 war horses and equipment. Chuchu wrote it on it, but they turned a blind eye to it. Instead, they spoke in unison and openly accused Pang Tong of not being able to make decisions without authorization. What's more, General Cai Mao pointed his hand at Pang Tong's nose in anger and scolded him sternly: "It's not a trivial matter for the use of military forces in Xiliang. How could you make such a big deal with a scholar? This move is so hasty, it's like treating the military and national affairs as a joke, and it's not enough to make plans!"

It was precisely because Cai Mao cursed him that he openly broke up with him and put the conflicts between him on the table so that even the civil and military officials in Jingzhou could see them, so that they quickly took the lead and made clear their positions. It has to be said that Cai Mao took advantage of the situation and took action, giving Pang Tong an extremely heavy blow, which made the little force he had finally established in the army destroyed by Cai Mao in an instant. More than ten generals who depended on him turned against each other and surrendered to Cai Mao again. Almost in the time of turning around, Pang Tong became a lonely and real bare military advisor. If Liu Biao had not still trusted him and protected him, it would have been difficult for Pang Tong to gain a foothold in Jingzhou.

Because Liu Biao and all the officials were not enthusiastic about that alliance, the alliance between the Southern Han and the Northern Wei was put on the shelves, and it was still left unattended to this day, and it was forgotten by everyone. Or, all the civil and military officials in the court, including Liu Biao, were deliberately avoiding this alliance, and no one wanted to mention this matter. He assumed that nothing had happened and never had such a thing. In this regard, Pang Tong was alone and weak, and except for sighing sadly, he was really helpless.

Five months have passed, and all the civil and military officials in the court still refused to mention the fulfillment of the alliance, and even refused to mention the names of the Northern Wei and Western Jin, for fear of touching everyone's sensitive nerves, causing Liu Biao to be unhappy, which will cause fire and offend public anger. The reason why all the civil and military officials in the court are so sensitive is to put it bluntly: the civil and military officials in the court, including the emperor Liu Biao, do not want to fight, especially the official war or full-scale confrontation with the Western Liang army.

On this issue, Liu Biao remained silent. Conservative generals such as Cai Mao and Zhang Yun firmly opposed the war. The Kuai brothers were also worried about gains and losses and were unstable. The remaining royalists such as Huang Zu and Liu Pan followed Liu Biao's leader in everything. Only some middle-level generals in the army, such as Wei Yan, the general of Changsha Central Army, and Wen Pin, the general of Fancheng, responded positively and advocated a war against the Western Liang army. However, they were slight and could not control Liu Biao's decision at all. The different opinions raised were completely negligible.

Five months passed in a blink of an eye, and the matter of the alliance has been put on hold until now. Pang Tong made unremitting efforts to this end, and tried his best to screen out 20,000 cavalry and actively prepared. After receiving 20,000 war horses and equipment from Wei, he could immediately form a war cavalry and expand Jingzhou cavalry to 70,000 war cavalry, which was enough to confront the Western Liang Iron Cavalry. Now everything is ready. As long as the troops are sent to capture Nanyang County and open up the handover channel with Yanzhou, he can obtain 20,000 war horses and cavalry equipment from Wei, and then join forces with Wei to fight against the Western Jin army.

Everything is ready but the east wind is not available. Pang Tong's current situation is very similar to Zhou Yu in history. Even if he has ambitions but cannot perform it, what if he can do?

To this day, Cai Mao's cursing words, "The lack of a man is not enough and the plan" have been lingering in Pang Tong's ears, making him feel like a thorn in his throat and a light on his back, and he can't let go. However, Cai Mao is in power at the time, and almost covers the sky with one hand. Hundreds of thousands of troops of the Southern Han Dynasty are in his hands. If he does not have his support, Pang Tong wants to use troops to the Western Jin Dynasty as a dream. However, Pang Tong and Cai Mao have already broken up. If they want to shake hands and make peace, it is not easy to reconcile, and it is almost impossible to achieve it. Therefore, Pang Tong can only place all his hopes on Liu Biao now. As long as Liu Biao is willing to send troops to the north, everything can be solved. Even Cai Mao cannot stop it.

After all, Liu Biao was the lord of Jingzhou and the orthodox emperor with a strong root. Even though Cai Mao held military power and was in power in the court, he did not dare to disobey Liu Biao's decision, nor did he dare to disobey the orders openly. Liu Biao had been in charge of Jingzhou for more than ten years, and had a large number of civil and military officials and generals under his command. He had a high prestige and deep foundation, which was definitely not comparable to Cai Mao. Therefore, as long as Liu Biao did not die, the Southern Han regime would not be turbulent. He was the only master of Jingzhou. With an order, hundreds of thousands of troops could follow him. If the situation required, the Jiangdong army could also be mobilized to participate in the war, and his strength was not inferior to that of Cao Cao of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In the morning court, Pang Tong said nothing, his mind quickly turned, and the complex situation and the trends of the court and the world came to his mind. What he did was to sort out the context in a detached manner, to grasp the main line, and to actively think about countermeasures and solve the most difficult problems at the moment. At present, there are two things that worried him the most, one was the imperial examination notice in his hand, and the other was how to fulfill the alliance signed with the Wei State.

After the scattered dynasty, Pang Tong did not follow the officials to leave the palace, but followed Liu Biao into the side hall. Coincidentally, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Liu Pan, Huang Zu and Kuai brothers also followed. Obviously, they had realized what the imperial examination edict issued by the Western Jin emperor Li Li, so they did not mention it in the court, but they could not calm down. They urgently needed to discuss countermeasures with Liu Biao as soon as possible to deal with the upcoming imperial examination storm.

The king and his ministers in the side palace sat down. As Pang Tong expected, Liu Biao had already learned about the imperial list at the palace gate, and knew that this edict was not only at the palace gate, but also in every street and alley in the city.

In addition, Liu Biao also revealed that he had received a secret report that the imperial examination edict was not limited to Xiangyang City. The same imperial list appeared in other cities and even the entire Jingzhou. Some fishermen even salvaged sealed bamboo tubes containing the imperial list in the Yangtze River. It can be seen that the same imperial list can also be seen in Jiangdong.

Speaking of this, Liu Biao sincerely sighed: "It's such a big deal! To be fair, this move is a move that can open up the world. It is awesome and courageous, and it is awesome for the younger generation!"

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Chapter completed!