At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 264 Liu Xie dies and Yuan Shu becomes emperor

Feng Ji didn't expect that Yuan Shu was even more idiotic than he thought. After being intimidated like this, he was a little confused.

If it were any other monarch, even if he was worried, he would not show it in front of the foreign envoys.

The safest way is to convene the civil and military personnel under your command to discuss a solution to the problem.

However, Yuan Shu was a man of great ambition and talent. Thinking of the possible terrible consequences in the future, he directly forgot about the calmness and magnanimity that a monarch should have.

Feng Ji couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "I am also from the Yuan family in Runan. The king is so wise and powerful, but it is a pity that the identity of his direct lineage has been stolen from the dead bones in the tomb."

"If your Majesty takes the name of the direct descendant of the Yuan family, I'm afraid the world will belong to the Yuan family!"

Fengji's idea is not unreasonable.

After the princes attacked Dong, the heroes were divided into two camps around the Yuan brothers. The so-called Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Jian and others were still vassals of others.

Although Yuan Shu had great ambitions and limited talents, he still had the support of the Yuan family in Runan, which allowed him to dominate in the early stage.

Even though he acted recklessly and was defeated repeatedly, he was not destroyed until he became emperor.

If all Yuan's resources were integrated and Yuan Shao had exclusive experience, there would be no chance for Cao Cao, Liu Bei and others to rise.

The Four Generations and Three Dukes, with disciples and old officials all over the world, is not just a false name.

Although he looked down on Yuan Shu in his heart, Feng Ji said calmly on the surface: "I have three strategies, upper, middle and lower, to relieve the general's danger."

Yuan Shu was overjoyed when he heard this and asked hurriedly: "Can Yuan Tu please tell me in detail?"

Feng Ji smoothed his beard and talked eloquently: "The so-called next step is for the Prime Minister to hand over the jade seal passed down to the southern puppet court as a sign of submission. In this way, Zhou Qi will have no excuse to attack Yuzhou, which can relieve the temporary crisis. "

Yuan Shu frowned, obviously not wanting to adopt this strategy.

He had a disloyal heart, and he thought he was destined to receive the imperial seal. How could he be willing to give it up to others?

Yuan Shu said: "As Yuan Tu said, now that Zhou Qi has gained Yizhou, he will definitely continue to go north. Even if I hand over the jade seal to the emperor, he will lead troops to attack sooner or later."

"This plan is wrong!"

Feng Ji nodded and said: "It is precisely because this plan can only solve a temporary crisis that it is the next volume."

Yuan Shu asked: "What is the middle strategy?"

Feng Ji said: "The middle strategy is for the Prime Minister to give the imperial seal to King Zhao. At that time, the brothers worked together to punish the disobedient princes in the world. Such a magical weapon will eventually belong to the Yuan family, and the Prime Minister will not lose his position as king."

Hearing this, Yuan Shu's face became extremely gloomy.

He and Yuan Shao have been fighting for so many years, and neither of them surrenders to the other. If he hands the imperial seal to Yuan Shao now, wouldn't it be equivalent to surrendering to him?
Yuan Shu always claimed to be the orthodox Yuan family of Runan, so how could he be willing to be stepped on by a concubine?
Even if the artifact eventually belongs to the Yuan family, it should be created by himself, not Yuan Shao, a bastard.

Seeing Yuan Shu's ugly face, Feng Ji sighed: "If the Prime Minister feels that the plan is not trustworthy, I still have a better plan."

"It's just that I am a counselor under the command of King Zhao. I shouldn't offer this plan to the prime minister. However, I am also a disciple of the Yuan family and an old official. I don't want the Yuan family to fight within themselves and be chased by other princes."

Yuan Shu calmed down his anger when he heard this and said hurriedly: "Please ask Yuan Tu to tell me the best strategy!"

Feng Ji was silent for a long time, then sighed: "To do this, courage, determination, and destiny are all indispensable. I wonder if the prime minister meets the conditions."

Yuan Shu became interested and said: "Yuan Tu might as well speak frankly."

Feng Ji said: "In the 400 years of the Han Dynasty's national destiny, it has experienced Dong Zhuo's rebellion, Li Jue and Guo Si's rebellion, and the Baibo Army's rebellion. The imperial court's majesty has long been wiped out."

"Nowadays, there are constant disputes and the rise of princes. If my prediction is correct, the magic weapon will be more convenient in the future."

"The people of Li have been fighting hard for a long time. If at this time there is a highly virtuous and respected person who responds to the destiny of heaven and the people's will, ascends the throne and proclaims himself emperor, he will take the Liu family and replace him."

"Then the talented people from all over the world will definitely flock to join us, and the people of Li will all welcome and encourage you."

"This is about gathering great righteousness and gathering momentum!"

When Yuan Shu heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned on the spot.

He had already had this idea in his mind to proclaim himself emperor. Without Zhou Qi's appearance, Yuan Shu would have proclaimed himself emperor two years ago.

At this time, being provoked by Feng Ji, Yuan Shu suddenly felt his blood surge, and said in a deep voice: "The Yuan family comes from Chen. After Chen Naishun, he used earth to inherit fire, so he was lucky."

"There is a prophecy among the people: "Those who succeed the Han Dynasty should be painted high." Isn't this my fate?"

But soon, Yuan calmed down and said: "However, in the current situation, Yuan Benchu ​​is watching eagerly in the north, Zhou Ziyi has strong troops and horses in the south, and I am in a dilemma in the middle."

"If you rashly proclaim yourself emperor, and both of them come to attack you, what can you do?"

When Feng Ji heard this, he shook his head and said, "What the Prime Minister said is wrong."

"The relationship between King Zhao and the Prime Minister is a quarrel between brothers. If the Prime Minister proclaims himself emperor, King Zhao will also be a royal relative and noble. How can he sit back and watch Zhou Qi attack the Prime Minister and ignore him?"

"What's more, with the fourth generation and the third Duke of the Yuan family, their disciples and former officials are all over the world, and the prime minister is proclaimed emperor. The disciples of the Yuan family from all over the country will definitely flock to join him. At that time, his strength has greatly increased. Why should he be afraid of Zhou Qiye?"

"And now that Nanzhong is in rebellion, Zhou Qi has stationed troops in Yizhou and has no time to visit the north."

"After the prime minister proclaimed himself emperor, he sent troops to Ji County to first destroy the southern puppet court to show his legitimacy, and then attack Xuzhou to capture Liu Bei and take the opportunity to expand his power."

"After Zhou Qi pacified Nanzhong, the prime minister had already obtained Yuzhou and Yangzhou."

"I heard that Zhou Qi's eldest son is holding hostage in Xuzhou. After the prime minister conquers Xuzhou and kidnaps Zhou Ji, why should we fear Zhou Qi?"

Yuan Shu was overjoyed when he heard this. He immediately took Feng Ji's hand and said, "Yuan Tu's words have won my heart. Are you willing to stay in Ruyang and serve me?"

"After I become emperor, Yuan Tu will not lose his status as a prince!"

Feng Ji bowed with tears in his eyes and said, "I already have the same feelings, but my family is all in Yecheng. If the king knows that I have defected to the prime minister, how can I survive?"

"After the prime minister proclaims himself emperor and defeats the princes and leads his troops to Yecheng, I will definitely be the first to surrender!"

Yuan Shu was overjoyed and became more and more aware of the reunion. He summoned his subordinates and civil servants to discuss the matter of proclaiming the emperor, saying: "Now the Liu family is weak, and the country is abuzz. My family has been under the rule of the public for the fourth time, and the people have returned. I want to obey the heavens and obey the people. What do you think, sir?" "

The civil and military officials did not dare to speak, but Zheng Tai argued hard: "In the past Zhou Dynasty, from Houji to King Wen, he accumulated virtues and merits. Two out of three parts of the world still served the Yin Dynasty. Although the Ming Dynasty brought prosperity to the world, it was not as prosperous as that of the Zhou Dynasty. "Although the Han Dynasty is small, it is not as violent as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties."

When Yuan Shu heard this, he was very unhappy. He dismissed Zheng Tai from his official position and ordered him to meditate in his mansion.

The rest did not dare to persuade him.

Yuan Shu then proclaimed himself emperor in Ruyang by Zhang Jiong's talisman, established the Zhong family, established public ministers, built ancestral halls in the north and south suburbs, housed ministers and courtiers, and built altars for the emperor to worship the emperor in the south and north of the city.

Feng Ji had already returned to Yecheng before Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor.

Before Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he had asked Ji Ling to secretly lead troops to Ji County. After conquering Ji County, he captured Liu Xie and the Manchu ministers and escorted them all to Ruyang.

On the way home, Emperor Liu Xie unexpectedly fell ill and died.

As soon as the ministers came to Ruyang, Yuan Shu immediately began to enfeoff all ministers and re-appointed Liu Biao as the shepherd of Jingzhou. Many ministers refused and some even fled Ruyang privately.

Liu Xie's sudden death and Yuan Shu's proclaiming himself emperor shocked the world.After Liu Bei learned of this, he urgently summoned his civil and military officials to discuss the matter.

Guan Yu immediately opened his eyes angrily, his face as red as blood, and shouted sternly: "Yuan Shu is a thief, how dare you plot to kill the emperor and usurp the Han Dynasty to establish itself!"

Zhang Fei also shouted: "Everyone in the world will find these Han thieves and punish them. I have invited [-] troops to attack Ruyang and capture Yuan Shu alive!"

Not only Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but also Zhao Yun and Tai Shi Ci, who had always been calm, also asked for battle.

As for Sun Ce, Huang Gai, Cheng Pu and others, they saw the opportunity for revenge and stepped forward one after another, saying: "Yuan Shugou killed the emperor in vain and claimed to be emperor without permission. This is the hatred of the country; he designed to kill my father." , this is a family feud."

"The country hates the family and must avenge it. If you want to attack Yuan Shu, please be the vanguard!"

Liu Bei also clenched his fists and said: "The traitor Yuan Shu must be defeated."

"Order Sun Ce to be Xi's vanguard and lead five thousand troops to attack Yuzhou; Zhao Yun and Zhuge Jin will lead the troops to guard the rear. I will personally lead the army and lead the rest of the generals, vowing to fight to the death against the traitors and traitors!"

At this time, Liu Bei no longer cared about the alliance with Yuan Shu, and would raise troops to attack Yuzhou no matter what.

When Chen Deng saw this, he hurriedly said: "You should lead your army to attack Yuan Shu, but Yuan Shao has stationed troops in Hebei and is eyeing him, so he has to defend himself."

"Furthermore, Yuan Shu is powerful. If he attacks rashly, there will be a stalemate. There is no guarantee that Yuan Shao will not reap the benefits."

"Your Majesty, you might as well send an envoy to Yizhou first, inform the general about what happened here, and invite him to join him in sending troops to attack Yuan Shu."

"So even if Yuan Shao leads his troops south, don't be afraid!"

Liu Bei was convinced and sent an envoy to Chengdu on a starry night trip.

never thought.

Not long after Liu Bei's envoy was sent out, Yuan Shu had already marched in person and led an army into Xuzhou.

He also knew that if he waited until Zhou Qi conquered Nanzhong, his life would be difficult.

Only as Feng Ji said, first destroy Xuzhou and Liu Bei, then occupy Yu and Xuzhou, even if they are against Zhou Qi, they will not be without resistance.

Moreover, Yuan Shu also felt that since he became emperor, although many famous scholars fled, many people from the lower class came to join him.

These people cannot see clearly the general trend of the world. They know that Yuan Shu is a direct descendant of the Yuan family in Runan, and he has now proclaimed himself emperor.

Therefore, many people with poor backgrounds and insufficient vision thought that Yuan Shu could conquer the world in the future, so they came to join him one after another.

In a short period of time, although Yuan Shu's reputation became bad among the nobles in the world, his strength increased greatly, which also made Yuan Shu more confident.

But it was said that Zhou Qi was far away in Chengdu. Seeing that the time was right, he was about to go to quell the Nanzhong rebellion, but he suddenly learned the news that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor and Liu Xie had been killed.

When Zhou Qi suddenly learned the news, he couldn't help but turn pale with shock. Then he burst into tears and said, "I have betrayed the great trust of the late emperor. I thought I could help the prince Xie become the emperor in accordance with the late emperor's last wish."

"I never thought that Yuan Shu, the dog thief, could be so rebellious and unethical. Not only did he claim the title of emperor, but he also secretly killed the emperor."

Zhou Qi howled bitterly, and all the ministers offered words of comfort. They could not help but feel in their hearts that the general was indeed a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty.

Zhou Qi fainted from crying and was sent to the mansion. Not long after, Youyou woke up and had Xu Shu summoned.

While waiting for Xu Shu to arrive, Zhou Qi couldn't help but frown and thought to himself: "History has been changed. Yuan Shu was promoted to the position of prime minister, which can calm his desire to become emperor."

"I never thought that Yuan Shu would have the guts to proclaim himself emperor with so many enemies watching."

From Zhou Qi's point of view, he never expected that Yuan Shu would proclaim himself emperor.

But the facts are in front of you.

That can only show that Zhou Qi had previously overestimated Yuan Shu's mind and underestimated his ambition.

He, Yuan Shu and Liu Bei originally jointly promoted Liu Xie as emperor, and he wanted to use this to tie them up and ask them to help him block Yuan Shao in Yuzhou and Xuzhou.

Now that Yuan Shao is proclaimed emperor, this alliance will be destroyed without any attack. Yuan Shao will not let go of this golden opportunity.

Yuan Shu's defeat was inevitable.

What Zhou Qi is hesitating about now is whether he should lead his army back to Xiangyang and then send troops to attack Yuan Shu, or whether he should stay in Yizhou and put down the rebellion.

Both options have pros and cons.

If the former is chosen and the rebellion in Guanzhong cannot be quelled, then Yizhou, a fertile granary thousands of miles away, will still have consequences.

The advantage is that Zhou Qi can take advantage of Yuan Shu's proclaimed emperor to send troops northward to seize Yuzhou.

In this way, not only can he show his loyalty to the Han Dynasty, but he can also benefit from it. At the worst, he can also rob a lot of people from Yuzhou and go south.

If he chooses the latter, although Zhou Qi will not benefit from Yuzhou, he can take advantage of this opportunity to pacify Nanzhong.

Nanzhong is certain, and only Hanzhong County is left in Yizhou.

Based on Zhou Qi's understanding of Zhang Lu, as long as he shows enough strength and promises enough benefits to Zhang Lu, the other party may not surrender.

If so, the entire territory of Yizhou can be settled.

Historically, the Shu Han Dynasty only occupied Yizhou, which had not yet been completely unified, and was able to divide the world into one third. Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei were always able to maintain their offensive against the powerful Wei State.

It can also be seen from this how great the potential of Yizhou is.

After pacifying Yizhou, plus Jingzhou and Yangzhou, it is no exaggeration to say that Zhou Qi could at least rule across the river and claim control facing the south.

As for Liu Xie's death, Zhou Qi didn't care. He pretended to cry faint just now, just to show it to others.

In the final analysis, Liu Xie is just a puppet pushed out by Zhou Qi.

And not only did Yuan Shu have the ambition to become emperor, but Zhou Qi, a time traveler, didn't know what awe was. Since he was reborn, he naturally wanted to sit in that position.

Although Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor disrupted Zhou Qi's planned plan, it also set a precedent for proclaiming emperor in the late Han Dynasty.

Zhou Qi could conclude that if no accidents occurred, Yuan Shao would definitely be the next emperor.

Even Zhou Qi planned to completely pacify Yizhou and then become king.

Otherwise, with Zhou Qi's current official position and title, it would be a bit reluctant to promote his subordinates with meritorious service.

If you call yourself the king, all the meritorious ministers under your command will be inspired, and it will also be of great benefit to stabilize people's hearts.

Just when Zhou Qi was hesitating whether he should continue to put down the Nanzhong rebellion, Xu Shu had already arrived in a hurry.

"Is my lord in good health?"

Seeing Xu Shu's arrival, Zhou Qi pretended to be heartbroken again and said: "I'm not seriously injured. I just suddenly heard that His Majesty died suddenly. After Yuan Shu became emperor, I felt angry and a little uncomfortable."

(End of this chapter)