Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 729: Hexi's Submission
The news of Huo Jun's resignation and handover instantly aroused discussions among officials inside and outside Luoyang.

In their eyes, Huo Jun led his army to the north, recovered the two capitals, and became famous in China. In terms of achievements, he was the first person in ancient and modern times. Some people in the world may not know Liu Chan, but they must know Huo Jun.

At the height of his power, they were suddenly told that Huo Jun would no longer serve as the Prime Minister, but would hand over power to Zhuge Liang. This political change without prior notice really confused many people.

After the banquet that night, many people asked people around them about the reason, asking why there was a change in the Prime Minister and whether there was a political conspiracy involved.

But how would ordinary officials know?

A group of people were speculating on the wind and shadow. First of all, the coup conspiracy theory was ruled out because all the troops around Luoyang were former subordinates of Huo Jun, and the appointments of Huo Fan, Xu Sheng, and Liu Ji remained unchanged. They even transferred the chief secretary Jiang Ji to the imperial guards to serve as the general of the guard.

Jiang Wan, Gu Yong and other old subordinates were appointed as officials in the Secretariat, while Chen Zhen, Ma Liang and others were appointed as officials outside the government. From the perspective of distribution of political interests, this was obviously giving benefits to the Huo family.

As the discussion became increasingly heated, Huo Jun and Zhuge Liang successively used various channels to dispel rumors to the outside world. On the grounds that Huo Jun's long-term wars had caused complications of hidden illnesses, he resigned as Prime Minister and handed over the position to his deputy Zhuge Liang.

Everyone was skeptical about Huo Jun's explanation of his illness. After all, the matter of forcing Xiahou Hui into marriage had caused a lot of uproar in Luoyang.

Under the guidance of some people, people gradually guessed that Prime Minister Huo might be suffering from a mental illness. After all, his power and reputation have reached the peak. If he continues to stay in power, the future outcome will be hard to predict.

With this explanation, people actually admired Prime Minister Huo. Regardless of his character, he was open-minded about fame and fortune and was willing to forge ahead bravely, unlike Huo Guang who was in power for a long time, which led to his family being killed after his death for violating taboos.

When Jiang Ji was chatting, he asked Huo Jun how to retire after achieving success.

During the conversation, Huo Jun extended the concept of political protector, that is, before leaving office, selecting a suitable successor to reconcile the interests of various factions.

Therefore, from the current perspective, Huo Jun chose Zhuge Liang as his political protector, and at the same time reused and cultivated Jiang Wan and Gu Yong as his second political protectors.

Huo Jun chose Zhuge Liang as his political protector not only because he trusted Zhuge Liang's character, but also because his political base was similar to Zhuge Liang's.

Zhuge Liang had been in Jingzhou for many years and even married a Chu woman. Most of his friends were Chu people. In addition, he was from Xuzhou, so he was close to the people of Xuzhou and Huaihe. Huo Jun was born in Nanjun and had been stationed in Jianghuai for more than ten years. He had many Chu people and Xuhuai people under his command.

Therefore, the two have a lot of overlap in their political bases, and after a long period of co-governing the council, they have become political partners rather than simply friends or colleagues.

Although political partners are partners formed for politics, they share a common political goal. If Huo and Ge do not do anything that harms the other's political interests, they will be able to stay together for a long time.

From the current perspective, the political goals of the two groups are becoming increasingly consistent, so in the short and medium term, it is very appropriate to choose Zhuge Liang as Huo Jun's political protector.

As for their relationship with Lu Xun, they could only be described as colleagues. Huo Jun and Zhuge Liang did not trust Lu Xun enough. Also, because he was far away in Bashu, it was difficult for them to form a political partnership with him.

After Zhuge Liang, Huo Jun chose Jiang Wan as his next political protector because when Jiang Wan started his career, he was recommended by Huo Jun for office.

In the subsequent promotion, in addition to Jiang Wan's own talents, Huo Jun's support was also inseparable. Especially during Huo Jun's reign, Jiang Wan was selected to serve as an official in the Shangshutai.

After the court banquet that day, Liu Chan led all civil and military officials to offer sacrifices to the temples of Gaozu and Shizu, as well as the newly built Zhongzu Temple.

Generally speaking, one dynasty has one temple, so during the Eastern Han Dynasty, many Confucian scholars wanted to move Liu Xiu into the Gaozu Temple. However, they were rejected by Emperor Guangwu and Emperor Ming. After all, the founder of the foundation would not submit to others. Therefore, Emperor Ming built the Shizu Temple, forming a unique system of two temples in the Han Dynasty.

The Southern Han Dynasty revived the Han Dynasty for the third time. In order to show the difference with the Eastern Han Dynasty, they built the Central Ancestral Temple, formed the Three Temples System, and stood side by side with the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties to imply to everyone that the Southern Han Dynasty was the new dynasty.

In order to comply with the rules and avoid the descendants of the Eastern Han Dynasty from coming to Zhongzu Temple, Liu Chan revised the genealogy of the Southern Han royal family. Liu Biao regarded Liu Hong, the father of Liu Bei, as his father, Liu Qi as Liu Bei's nephew, and Liu Chan as Liu Pu's uncle.

Because Langya King Liu Xi had crossed the river to the south earlier, he was granted the title of Duke of 2,000 counties and appointed as the Imperial Clan Director of the Han Dynasty. At a grand ceremony, Liu Xi presided over the ceremony, Liu Pu was granted the title of King of Lu, Liu Qi was posthumously named King of Lu Wen, and Liu Biao was posthumously named King of Lu Jing.

In terms of character and martial arts, Liu Qi was not worthy of the title of Wen. However, because of his abdication, Liu Qi was praised as having the virtues of the Five Emperors, so he was posthumously named Wen.

After the royal genealogy was authenticated, Liu Chan conferred the title of Duke of Xiangyang County on Huo Jun in the Zhongzu Temple, which was hereditary. Later, Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, Guan Ping, and Zhang Fei were also granted the hereditary title of Duke of the County.

Because of Zhang Fei's health problems, Liu Chan appointed Zhang Shao as the crown prince so that he could inherit Zhang Fei's title in the future.

During the Han Dynasty, the feudal system still existed, and most of the titles were hereditary. However, because there were too many titles, in order to recover the fiefs, Huo Jun proposed to divide the titles into two types: hereditary and hereditary, based on the size of the merits.

There is no need to say much about hereditary succession, but inheritance by demotion means the succession will be based on the reduction of rank. For example, a county marquis will be demoted to a township marquis, and a township marquis will be demoted to a pavilion marquis, and after a pavilion marquis, he can be demoted to a Guannei marquis.

As for which title to inherit, it depends on the meaning of the imperial edict. For example, although Man Chong was a county marquis, he inherited the title of pavilion marquis from generation to generation. Unless Man Chong or his descendants have made meritorious contributions, they may be promoted to township marquis.

After lengthy and complicated rituals, it took Liu Chan almost a week to complete the operation of restoring the two capitals and announce to the world that Southern Han was the legitimate heir.

After the sacrificial ceremony, time turned to December.

Lu Zhi was ordered to persuade Guo Huai to surrender and talked with him for many days. He conveyed to him the generous conditions offered by the Han Dynasty, and made Guo Huai the Marquis of Yangqu, with the three counties of Yuanping, Yangqu as his fief, and appointed him as the Shaofu. His brother Guo Pei was made the Xianqin Marquis and appointed as the governor of Wuwei.

After many days of ideological struggle, Guo Huai finally agreed to surrender to the Han Dynasty after realizing that Cao Wei was doomed. He ordered his brother Guo Pei and Lu Zhi to go to Luoyang first, and then Guo Huai would lead the five prefecture governors to the court to meet Liu Chan.

Liu Chan summoned Huo Jun to attend the meeting and discussed with Zhuge Liang the matter of surrendering Hexi. Under the leadership of Huo and Ge, Guo Pei sincerely submitted to Han and told his brother Guo Huai not to worry.

At the end of December, Guo Huai led the governors of Zhangye, Wuwei, Jiuquan, Xihai and Dunhuang to pay homage to the emperor. Due to the difference in reputation, Liu Chan entrusted the prime ministers Huo Jun and Zhuge Liang to appease Guo Huai on his behalf.

Guo Huai offered the seal of the governor of Liangzhou, and the other five prefecture governors offered their seals. Zhuge Liang examined the abilities of the five prefecture governors, and retained the capable ones and appointed the incompetent ones to other positions.

Guo Huai stayed in Luoyang, and four of the five prefects were retained, while one was appointed to another post. Zhuge Liang selected a good official to take the vacant post.

After Zhuge Liang's instructions and warnings, the five people set out on the road back to Hexi.

Because the journey was long, Wang Ping, the governor of Liangzhou, led 3,000 soldiers to first meet up with the five prefects, and then traveled thousands of miles to Liangzhou to take up his post.

When the group was halfway there, the Protector General of the Western Regions, Jiang Wei, led a thousand elite infantry and cavalry.

Wang Ping managed Liangzhou, and Jiang Wei conquered the Western Regions. Due to the focus of the Han Dynasty, the road ahead for the two was destined to be hard and difficult.

In the memorial submitted by Zhuge Liang, the Protectorate of the Western Regions was under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou and was under the dual management of the central government and Liangzhou. Liangzhou should provide financial assistance when necessary.

After the five counties of Liangzhou surrendered, the territory controlled by Cao Wei was only the provinces of Hebei. Seeing the fierce momentum of the Han Dynasty, Sun Quan officially raised the banner of anti-Cao and expressed his surrender to the Han Dynasty.

The submission of Liangzhou and the statement of Pingzhou made the Han Dynasty's reputation rise again, and its momentum to unify the world was unstoppable.

At the same time, the first month of the sixth year of Jianxing (230 AD) soon arrived.

At the beginning of the New Year, under the chairmanship of Zhuge Liang, the Northern Expedition to Hebei was put on the agenda.

(End of this chapter)