A.D. 20, the first year of the rule of Wang Mang

Chang'an, in the residence of Dr. Fengche Guanglu Liu Xin.

Secret room.

In the narrow and dark space, there were two people, one sitting and one standing. This was an old man with grey hair and wrinkles on his face who seated. He was the closest friend of the current emperor Wang Mang, the Dr. Fengche Guanglu and Commandant of Cavalry Liu Xin who was pulled up by Wang Mang.

In the new dynasty of Wang Mang, Liu Xin was a big man. He was not only with high state, but also the most famous big writer at the time.

At this time Liu Xin sat on the chair, blinking at the man in black standing in front of him, and asked in a dark tone: "Did you figure those things out?"

"I have figured them out clearly." The man in black lowered his head and bowed.

"Tell me."

"A total of five people named Liu Xiu are registered in the country." When speaking, the man in black also lowered his head, and the whole person seemed to blend into the darkness.

"There are five Liu Xiu." Liu Xin's eyes flashed a terrifying light. After a while, he asked in a deep voice, "Have their identities been investigated?"

"Yes, my lord." When saying, the man in black pulled out a silk scarf from his clothes, bowed his body, and handed it to Liu Xin.

Liu Xin took it over and unfolded the silk with dense writing on it. He put it close to the candlestick and looked closely.

Huang County, Donglai Prefecture, Qingzhou Province, Liu Xiu, 37 years old, the pub manager of Guixiangju Restaurant. He had one wife, two concubines, and five children.

Lin County, Henei Prefecture, Yongzhou Province, Liu Xiu, 49 years old, a widower. He was lying sick.

Caiyang County, Nanyang Prefecture, Jingzhou Province, Liu Xiu, 20 years old, a farmer.

Bingzhou Province ...

Liu Xin squinted his eyes and read them from beginning to end. Then he folded the silk a little bit and put it into his clothes, and said blankly: "Remember, none of the people recorded here can live. "

The man in black bowed and said, "I know what to do."

Liu Xin glanced at him, sneered, and asked, "Your way is to kill them directly?"

The man in black was silent for a moment, and said, "Lord please tell me how to do."

"So many Liu Xiu died suddenly all over the country. Don't you think it's doubtful?"

The man in black was silent.

Liu Xin continued: "Wang Mang's subordinates are everywhere in the world, and a little change will make him aware. You must use your brains to do things. These Liu Xiu can be killed by bandits or killed by mobsters. It can also be an accident, drowning in water or burning to death. Do you understand what I mean? "

The man in black froze for a moment, then nodded and said, "I understand."

"Go."

"Yes, my lord!" The man in black bowed and took a few steps backwards, and then his figure shook, and the person had disappeared.

After the man in black left, there was only Liu Xin in the secret room. He slowly stood up and walked to the inside of the secret room.

He stood still near the wall, lifted his legs and stomped three times on a square brick. Then, he heard a soft sound, and the square brick next to him lifted.

Liu Xin crouched down, lifted the tilted bricks, took out a wooden box from inside, opened the wooden box with a piece of brocade inside, and opened the brocade again. It wrapped a roll of bamboo slip.

Because of its age, the bamboo had become dark brown, but the handwriting on the slip was still clearly visible. There were two words on it—Chifu Fu.

Chifu Fu was a Tu Chen—a book of prophecy. As to who wrote it and what time it was created, it was impossible to verify.

Liu Xin obtained this book from a college student named Jiang Hua.

He carefully took the Chifu Fu out of the wooden box, tremblingly walked to the candlestick, and gently placed the book on the table case.

Then he slowly scrolled the bamboo slip. Soon, he stopped, and his eyes landed on the book. He said with a trembling voice: "Liu Xiu send armies and can't be caught the soldiers. Barbarians gather to fight him, but he will win. "

The meaning of this sentence was that in the future, there would be a man named Liu Xiu who would overturn the rule of Wang Mang and become the new emperor.

After reading this sentence, Liu Xin's hands shook even more fiercely.

When Wang Mang hadn't usurped the throne, Liu Xin and Wang Mang were already the best friends. At that time, Wang Mang repeatedly recommended Liu Xin in court.

After Wang Mang became the emperor, he greatly promoted Liu Xin, making Liu Xin a great man in court.

At this time, Liu Xin was killing all man named Liu Xiu in the world, but he was not helping Wang Mang to eliminate the hidden dangers. If he really had this kindness, he would have dedicated Chifu Fu to Wang Mang, and how could he secretly hide it himself?

On the contrary, he had now changed his name to Liu Xiu.

Chifu Fu recorded clearly that in the future Liu Xiu would become the emperor. Liu Xin wanted to become this Liu Xiu himself. He did not not allow other Liu Xiu to exist in the world, who would become a stumbling block for him to seek the throne.

And Liu Xin's name change was quite justified. Liu Xin proposed to Wang Mang that his name sounded the same with that of Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty Liu Xin. He was renamed Liu Xiu out of taboo.

In this regard, Wang Mang also felt that Liu Xin was doing a decent job. How did he know that Liu Xin changed his name to Liu Xiu, just to match the allegory in the Tu Chen, to grab the dragon chair under Wang Mang 's butt, and to sit on the supreme throne .

Wang Mang's regime was unpopular. The court was in chaos, coupled with the natural disasters in recent years, the people were living in misery. There were rebellions, the Red Eyebrow Army was causing in trouble in the north, and the Green Forest Army was making trouble in the south. In Liu Xin's opinion, Wang Mang's rule was coming to an end, and his chance to seek the throne was close at hand. At this juncture, there could only be one Liu Xiu in the world.

Caiyang County, Nanyang Prefecture, Jingzhou Province. On the county fairs.

"Keep off, keep off!" The two yamen runners shouted loudly while walking forward violently.

People could not fight against officials, so the people in the bazaar could not provoke them and were frightened to retreat to both sides.

The two yamen runners walked through the market and came to the city gate, hung a white cloth notice on the city wall, and the two yamen runners stood on either side of the notice.

The nearby people gathered around, one by one with their toes, their necks stretched out, and they curiously looked at the content of the notice.

Among the onlookers, there was a young man in coarse cloth and trousers. He looked like he was in his twenties. He was slender, more than seven feet in height, and his appearance was excellent. His thick eyebrows flew diagonally into the temples. The pair of tiger eyes were bright and energetic. He was handsome, without losing the masculine spirit of the man.

Although the young man was dressed in ordinary clothes and dressed as a farmer, his body showed an elegant atmosphere that was inconsistent with his clothes.

Like the people around, he looked at the notice just posted with curiosity.

The notice was an arrest document with a portrait of the arrested person.

Looking at the portrait, this person looked ordinary, and what was more special was that there was a striking oblique scar on his forehead.

Looking down, there was a detailed introduction. The prisoner's name was Long Yuan. His age was unknown and his place of origin was unknown, either. However, the reward was as high as five thousand gold.

Looking at the people who were whispering, a yamen runner standing next to the notice cleared his throat and sang loudly: "Traitor Long Yuan, he tried to harm the emperor while he was traveling. It is a great rebellion, and there is no mercy. Those who has his clue or who can arrest him can have five thousand gold as reward! "

"Five thousand gold?!" Many illiterate people heard the three words of five thousand gold, all of them stared at each other, and they were speechless.

"Don't even think about it. He dares to kill the emperor, how can he be arrested by you?"

"Same thing, but five thousand gold ..."

People whispered and talked.

The ordinary man looked at the portrait in the notice intently, and could not help but secretly lament: great man, as he should be!

At the moment when he was pondering in his heart, a person came silently behind him.

This man was of medium size, stout and dressed commonly. He wore short shirt and long trousers with his trousers rolled high. He wore straw shoes and a straw hat on his head.

He lowered his head and walked casually to the back of the young man. His hands were placed in front of himself, and his right hand touched the cuff of the left sleeve without leaving a trace.

Hidden in his left sleeve was a sharp dagger.

Just as he drew the dagger from the cuff a little bit, someone behind him suddenly shouted, "A'Xiu!"

This sudden scream shocked the man, he stuffed the dagger half of which had been pulled out back into the cuff, and then looked at the sign casually.

It was at this time that the ordinary man turned back, and he didn't see the movement of the man behind him hiding the knife. He only thought he was just like himself, a passerby watching the notice.

The eyes of the clothed youth crossed him and looked at the person who called him. Seeing clearly who was coming, he walked over quickly and said, "Elder Brother!"

The man he was called eldest brother was about thirty years old. He was very strong with a burly figure and a bee-like waist. Looking towards his face, he had thick eyebrows, straight nose, straight mouth, and handsome appearance, with a rough temper.

"Elder Brother, why are you in the city?"

"I entered the city and met some friends."

The Young man named Liu Xiu, whose secondary personal name was Wen Shu. The burly man's name was Liu Yan, also called Bosheng, was Liu Xiu's biological brother.

Looking at Liu Xiu's empty hands, Liu Yan asked, "Are you coming to the market to sell food again?"

Liu Xiu nodded with a smile, and patted the bulging wallet around his waist, saying, "The price is not bad!"

Liu Yan shook his head and said with frustration: "Now the natural disasters and man-made disasters caused most people did not have enough food to eat. You are fine, and you should have surplus grains to sell on the bazaar."

Although Liu Xiu was like a scholar carrying the gentleness, but he was an outright peasant.

But the elegance of his body did not come out of nothing. Compared to other farmers, Liu Xiu was considered a talented student among farmers.

He studied in Chang'an for three years and studied the Book of History. In the present words, he had gone to the country's top-ranking colleges and studied in the Department of History.

It stood to reason that anyone who had gone to school could be employed in a certain official and gain a job in the court.

It was a pity that Liu Xiu did not catch up with the good times. The current court was the new dynasty established by Wang Mang.

After Wang Mang became the emperor, he greatly relaxed the admission criteria for Taixue, which led to a surge in the number of Taixue students. After graduation, the court could have assigned jobs to Taixue students, but now there was no such generous treatment.

Only those juniors who had the power and background could have an official position in the court. Students did not have power or background like Liu Xiu, could only go home to farm after graduation.

However, Liu Xiu's three years of Taixue study didn't mean anything. His land cultivation skills were indeed good.

In the current drought in Nanyang County, the crops of other people were dead, but the crops he planted could have a good harvest every season. Not only could he be self-sufficient, but also he had the surplus grain to get money from the market.

If this trend developed, Liu Xiu was likely to become the top and most professional farmer in the country in the future, but the tide of the times did not let him go on this professional farmer 's road, but let him step on a difficult and dangerous road that could only advance but not retreat.

Note:

1. Dr. Fengche Guanglu: an official position title

2. Taixue: a top-ranking school in ancient China