Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1465 Selfishness
Regarding Yuan Rui's marriage, Yuan Xi tentatively approached officials from different places and pretended to casually test their opinions. The result was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Naturally, his tentative attitude had long been noticed by the shrewd officials under him, and Yuan Xi had not deliberately concealed it, so the statements of these people were their true thoughts, but their opinions were surprisingly consistent.

Almost everyone has vaguely expressed that they are not optimistic about Sun Shangxiang.

When Yang Xiu, who had been following Yuan Xi, was asked by Yuan Xi why, he said, "It's actually very simple."

"Your Majesty, when governing the country, you must maintain checks and balances."

"And at the moment, it seems that the Jiangdong faction is a little too powerful."

"Not to mention that your Majesty's second son was named the Prince of Chen and is in charge of Shouchun. If the entire Jianghuai area is influenced by him, it will not be good in the long run. Now if the prince marries the Sun family, it means that the Sun family will become the largest foreign relative."

"Although Jiangdong is a remote place, it has a good geographical location. If there is any trouble, it will not be settled in a short time."

"So I suggest that we appoint more heirs to the Jianghuai region to check and monitor each other, which is a safe strategy."

"When the lord started his career and conquered the world, he mainly relied on the generals and officials from the north and the central plains. Even if they did not want privileges, they did not want to be suppressed by the privileged families from the south."

"They definitely prefer the Crown Prince to marry a queen from the North, and Queen Zhen's background is extremely ideal."

Yuan Xi raised his eyebrows, "Why?"

Yang Xiu said: "Throughout the Han Dynasty, many of the chaos in the court were the result of rebellion by eunuchs and relatives of the emperor."

"The nobles wanted to gain power from the emperor, so they united to put pressure on the emperor. In order to suppress the nobles, the emperor needed to rely on the power of the eunuchs and relatives."

"But the stronger the suppression, the stronger the backlash. In response to the growing power of the aristocracy, the emperor could only give the eunuchs and relatives greater power, which eventually led to the situation getting out of control and the collapse of the government."

"So as officials from the aristocratic families, they naturally do not want to have an overly powerful relative. This is the inevitable result and choice they make from the perspective of the country and themselves. That's all."

"Oh?" Yuan Xi smiled, "The Yang family was once a famous family with three dukes for four generations. There is no one in the world more suitable to be a noble family than you. What do you think?"

Yang Xiu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Xiu is now standing on your majesty's side, and as long as the Yang family does not cross the line, they will have a meal to eat, but if their ambitions are too big, it will be different."

"Xiu also thought a lot about the future of the Yang family. Later, he got a lot of inspiration from Prime Minister Zhuge's story."

Seeing Yuan Xi signaling him to continue, Yang Xiu continued, "Prime Minister Zhuge lives a frugal life. Apart from his salary, he does not buy land or engage in business. He also disciplines his family and practices what he preaches. It can be said that his inner desires are very low, or that he has other national affairs as his goal."

"Putting state affairs first and being frugal in private matters, I think this is a good way to control the desires of the clan members and prevent them from doing wrong. If the noble families can act with morality, there will be no powerful people causing chaos in the local area, or committing corruption and perverting the law."

"Of course," Yang Xiu said solemnly, "It is also because I have seen clearly that Your Majesty will never tolerate the existence of local tyrants in the future, so I have begun to warn the Yang family to keep a low profile and cooperate with the order to release slaves and clear the land."

"I believe that the smart people in other families have also noticed the signs and started to take action."

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Dezu is really a smart man."

"So you think that if powerful relatives emerge when the gentry transfer power, it will inevitably lead to an imbalance in the government and cause disasters?"

Yang Xiu nodded in agreement. He couldn't help but ask, "But Xiu still has some things that he hasn't figured out."

"Relatives from outside the emperor's family are also members of the nobility. No matter which method Your Majesty adopts, the nobility as a group will not be completely eliminated. They will change their appearance and eventually enter the court."

"Some noble families will decline, but the officials who enter the court will sooner or later become powerful families and become new noble families. If Your Majesty completely eliminates them, sooner or later a new group of people will emerge, and then the cycle will repeat."

"So where will your Majesty go in the end?"

Yuan Xi said in a deep voice: "Dezu asked a good question."

"Besides the Prime Minister, you are the second person who dares to ask this question."

"I can only say that I don't want to destroy the nobles. After all, the nobles are also part of the people of the world, and they have also contributed their share to this world."

"What I want to eliminate is the concept of the samurai clan."

"I hope that one day, people will not be proud of being a noble family, and will not be ashamed of farming and working. That will be my ideal world."

Yang Xiu pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I can't think of it."

"There is no hierarchy in this world, so..." He paused, and Yuan Xi understood what he meant, and said with a smile: "The emperor of that world would have no need to exist, right?"

Yang Xiu was silent. Yuan Xi said, "So I can only say that my idea may not be feasible, but I firmly believe that this general direction is correct. Perhaps thousands of years later, future generations will find the completely correct path, but that will not be something we can see."

"What we need to see now is that everyone can see that there is such a possibility in the future and be willing to work hard for it."

"In order to move towards this future, I must at least ensure that the vast majority of people in this world can get the most basic fairness."

"Of course, absolute fairness does not exist. Just like you said, the emperor's governance of the world is nothing more than a matter of balance."

Yang Xiu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I understand what you said."

Yuan Xi said, "Then let's get back to the original topic. Who does Dezu think is the most suitable candidate for the Crown Princess?"

Yang Xiu thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Hasn't Your Majesty already found the most suitable candidate?"

"He has almost no family support, a clean background, and is from Youzhou. Is there anyone more suitable than him?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Are you guys just waiting for him to show up, or did you have an idea in mind?"

Yang Xiu said calmly: "It's just a coincidence."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"In fact, Sun becoming the Crown Princess may not necessarily lead to chaos in the government, but we, as ministers, naturally hope for more stability and less turmoil in the government."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "I understand. Many people have asked me this question, and with Dezu's judgment, I have a rough idea of ​​it."

"You go down first."

After Yang Xiu left, Yuan Xi called Zhen Mi. After hearing Yuan Xi's idea, she opened her eyes wide in surprise and said, "Whatever your majesty decides, I will not object. But in this case, how can your majesty fulfill the promise made by Madam Wu before her death?"

Yuan Xi sighed, "If Xiang'er agrees, I will naturally not cause any trouble. Even if there are some obstacles, they will definitely not stop me."

"But now both of them are like this. If we force them to be together, it will cause resentment in the future. You have to know that the emperor's family affairs are also state affairs. If they are not handled properly, the world will be in chaos. We can't just act based on personal feelings."

"I don't understand. Xiang'er said that she and Rui'er only have a sister-brother relationship, but she is not young anymore. Doesn't she have any favorite boys?"

"So you should go and test her opinion on this matter first. In the end, you still have to consider her feelings. After all, I have made a promise first."

Zhen Mi agreed, but on the way back, she thought to herself that His Majesty was unmatched in state affairs, but sometimes he was really insensitive to private matters.

While Jin was dealing with its internal affairs, the government and the people of Wei were once again invaded by panic and unrest. Officials were worried and uneasy, and the people were in panic. The entire city of Chengdu fell into chaos.

The main reason for this was, of course, the news that Hanzhong was lost, Xiahou Shang was missing, and the Wei army was almost completely wiped out.

The 50,000 Wei troops in Hanzhong accounted for almost half of the Wei State's military strength, plus Xiahou Dun who returned to Chengdu with 30,000 troops, and Sima Yi who went to Nanzhong with 20,000 troops. These were all the troops that the Wei State could muster by putting all its efforts in Jingzhou.

Now Xiahou Shang's entire army was wiped out, and Hanzhong was lost. In addition to the previously abandoned Baidi City in Fangling, the Wei State has lost more than half of its soldiers and almost all of the territory of Jingzhou, and is in a state of complete desperation.

The early loss of Hanzhong also shocked and angered Cao Pi. He fainted on the spot and was surrounded by doctors for emergency treatment. This also led to chaos in the court. Xiahou Dun was forced to step forward to take charge of the situation and lead the implementation of curfew and martial law in Chengdu again.

At this time, Zhong Yao, an official from another family whom Cao Pi trusted, had been on sick leave, Chen Qun's prestige was difficult to maintain, and Sima Yi predicted that the situation in Hanzhong would fail and the future was uncertain. For a time, Empress Guo in the palace also lost her composure.

Thinking of Sima Yi's solemn promise to Cao Pi before leaving that Hanzhong would not be lost within half a year, Empress Guo was filled with hatred. Did Sima Yi fail in his prediction, or did he deceive Her Majesty?

For some unknown reason, Empress Guo always felt that there was something fishy about Sima Yi, but Cao Pi trusted him very much, so Empress Guo was reluctant to tell Cao Pi about her guess. After all, she had no evidence of her own.

However, thinking about the rising prestige of Sima Yi in recent years, Empress Guo also vaguely sensed something was wrong. She thought that His Majesty was wary of the Cao clan because he was afraid that they would seize her position as emperor. But who could guarantee that Sima Yi was not a problem?

If he says one thing in public and another in secret, and secretly colludes with Cao to place bets, then what cards does Your Majesty have now?
Thinking of the fact that Xiahou Dun held a large army, Empress Guo became even more worried. If His Majesty was in a bad condition, would the Cao family simply replace the emperor?
At this time, Cao Pi in front of him slowly opened his eyes. He ignored Queen Guo's surprise and said directly: "What's going on in the city? Tell me quickly."

Empress Guo quickly explained the situation. When Cao Pi heard that Xiahou Dun had taken control of Chengdu, his face immediately turned even uglier. He said, "If I were dying, he would definitely support my fourth brother to take the throne, right?"

"No, we have to call Sima Yi back."

Empress Guo couldn't help but voice her doubts after hearing this, and finally said, "Sima Yi has suffered many defeats, and now he has misjudged the situation in Hanzhong. Why does Your Majesty still trust him so much?"

(End of this chapter)