Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 750: Meritorious Officials Establish a Pavilion
The ninth year of Jianxing, spring.

Chang'an, Daxing Palace.

Inside the palace, the emperor and his ministers sat and discussed political matters. Even Huo Jun, who seldom appeared in public, participated in military and national affairs at the invitation of Zhuge Liang.

The sunlight shines through the windowsill and fills the hall, covering the Han emperor and his ministers with a veil.

Liu Chan sat on the bench and sighed, "In just one month, our Han Dynasty has lost two pillars of state. I am heartbroken!"

Zhuge Liang was in a heavy mood and said, "Yuanzhi and Yide died of illness one after another. The old ministers of the previous emperor have gradually withered away, and there are not many left now."

Last winter, Huo Jun went down the mountain to visit Zhang Fei and Xu Shu. However, in the following two months, Zhang Fei died of illness in bed, and then Xu Shu unfortunately died of a headache.

Huo Jun, Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang attended the funeral of Zhang Fei and Xu Shu together. Because the two were ministers entrusted with the care of the young emperor and were also old ministers of Liu Bei, not long after the burial, they were buried in Huiling Mausoleum and their statues were erected in front of Zhongzu Mausoleum.

There are two Huiling mausoleums for Liu Bei. The original coffin was placed in Wuhan. After the capital was moved to Chang'an, in order to implement the mausoleum-town system, Liu Chan built temples and cenotaphs in Guanzhong, and then established Huiling Town around them.

The mausoleum-town system consists of two parts: the mausoleum is the emperor's mausoleum, and the town is the town accompanying the mausoleum. Without the mausoleum, there is no town, so Liu Chan used temples and cenotaphs as mausoleums.

At the same time, considering that many Guandong clans had moved to Chang'an and it would be difficult to settle them in a single town, Liu Chan took the initiative to build a mausoleum for himself, named it Jingling, and established Jingling Town.

Liu Chan patted his armrest, looking regretful, and asked, "What are the plans for the posthumous titles of Zhang and Xu?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Zhang made great contributions through military means, assisted the previous emperor, and laid the foundation for the country. I think he should be given the posthumous title of 'Huan'."

Wang Can submitted a memorial to the emperor, saying, "Mr. Huan conquered distant lands, conquered states with military power, and moved the people with respect. Lord Zhang assisted the late emperor with merit, and was responsible for the emperor's orphanage and the government, so he deserves to be called Lord Huan."

After a pause, Wang Can said, "Mr. Xu established his career with his political career, assisted the two emperors, upheld the law, and enforced the law. Can and the others think that he should be given the posthumous title of 'Jing'."

"Respect means to be vigilant day and night, to respect oneself and to be cautious. Good laws and regulations are called respect. Lord Xu has been in charge of the Censorate for a long time, monitoring the behavior of all officials, making the court officials respectful, the government is clean and upright, and he is fair and just. He deserves to be called the Marquis of Respect."

"Duke Huan, Marquis Jing?"

Seeing that Zhuge Liang had no objection, Liu Chan muttered to himself, "Your Majesty's choice of posthumous title is appropriate, and I have no objection."

As he spoke, Liu Chan looked at Zhuge Liang and said with concern, "I have heard from people around me that since you came to power, you have been personally involved in everything, no matter how big or small. You must personally review all reports from the county level and above, without asking anyone else to do it. I wonder if this is true?"

Zhuge Liang hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, it is indeed so!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Chan's expression suddenly changed, and he said in dissatisfaction: "The reason why the court distributes salaries to the ministers is to assist the prime minister in governing the country. Now the prime minister has to do everything himself, and the ministers are doing nothing. Isn't this against common sense?"

"The daily affairs of the Shangshutai are handled by the Shangshu Pushe; the affairs involving the prefectures and counties should be handled by the Shangshu Ling. If there are things that are difficult to handle, the Prime Minister will be required to step in and handle the affairs. Now the Prime Minister has taken away his power and has to do everything himself, which is not a long-term strategy!"

"Now that Duke Huan and Marquis Jing have left me, if the Prime Minister becomes ill due to overwork, it will be a great harm to the Han Dynasty. I hope the Prime Minister will make good use of the ministers to assist in governing the country, and not do everything himself, which will only increase his workload."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!"

Zhuge Liang was stunned and laughed, saying, "When the Han Dynasty first came to power, if the county magistrate was not strict in administration and did not enforce the law impartially, the world would not be at peace. In order to quickly bring peace to the world, I have no choice but to do everything myself. From now on, I will keep this in mind."

Huo Jun looked at Gu Yong and Jiang Wan and said with a smile, "You two should be the right and left arms of the Prime Minister. From now on, you should guard against the Prime Minister's attempt to seize power and do everything yourself. If there is any mistake, don't blame Your Majesty for dismissing you two from your posts to save your salaries."

Seeing Huo Jun jokingly scolding the two, Zhuge Liang was deeply moved and said, "After this year, the counties and prefectures of the country will be at peace, and I will no longer need to personally manage the affairs. You two will be very busy in the future."

"promise!"

Gu Yong and Jiang Wan sat down and bowed, looking serious.

Liu Chan said in a heavy tone, "Since the capital was moved, I have often thought about how to make the world prosperous. In the past, the Prime Minister wrote in a memorial that the former Han Dynasty prospered with wise men, while the latter Han Dynasty declined with villains. Our country, the Later Han, inherited the two Han dynasties. If it declines, it will be like the two Han dynasties, and if it prospers, it will also be like the two Han dynasties."

"As the Prime Minister said, history is a mirror that can help us understand the rise and fall of dynasties, and bronze is a mirror that can help us correct our appearance. Our dynasty uses the Han Dynasty as a mirror to understand the gains and losses of the two dynasties. I have already ordered various talented people to compile the various heroic histories of the late Han Dynasty, but the history of the middle Han Dynasty has not yet been compiled. Now it is better to entrust the Shangqing to compile the history of the middle Han Dynasty, and to supervise the talented people to compile the various heroic histories."

"Do you have any candidates?"

Zhuge Liang thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty has talent in literature and history. Why don't you compile the history of the Later Han Dynasty and supervise the compilation of the history of other heroes?"

Wang Can evaded the question by saying, "I am following the order of the late emperor to compile a history of the heroes of the late Han Dynasty. I have no time to take care of the history of the middle Han Dynasty."

Zhuge Liang could not understand and asked, "Why can't the two histories be compiled at the same time?"

"Forehead!"

Wang Can smiled bitterly and said, "The compilation of Han history is based on Han history, while the history of heroes is based on the subject, so there is a fundamental difference between the two. Can can provide historical materials and proofread documents, but he dare not compile Han history."

Seeing that Wang Can's reason was not appropriate, Huo Jun said, "Since Master Zibu has been studying behind closed doors, why not invite him to come out and take charge of compiling the history of the Han Dynasty? In addition, we can set up a record of our dynasty's gains and losses, and make it a permanent system."

Zhuge Liang agreed and said, "Zi Bu has a talent for classics and literature. He can be in charge of compiling history. Based on Dongguan Han Ji, he can compile Zhong Han Shu to explain the rise and fall of the Han Dynasty."

"it is good!"

Liu Chan smiled and said, "I have long heard that Your Majesty has compiled a biography of the heroes of the world. If I have the opportunity in the future, I would like to read it myself." "Yes!"

During the conversation, the attendant stepped into the hall and reported, "Your Majesty, the governor of Bingzhou has a secret report!"

"read!"

As he was surrounded by high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty, Liu Chan did not shy away from asking his attendants to read it out directly.

"promise!"

"Your Majesty, I, Yan, report that Kebineng fell into a plot to sow discord and killed and annexed Budugen. Budugen was defeated and fled to Yanmen, where the governor Tian Yu led his troops to personally welcome him. Now, according to Budugen, Kebineng has ordered his son Tun Weize to lead his troops to attack Mobei."

The attendant paused and read: "The envoy of the court asked me for a good horse. If it is your majesty's wish, I will offer you a good horse. If you ask for it without permission, then the envoy is not a good official."

Listening to Wei Yan's report, the Han emperor and his ministers were surprised at first, and then fell silent about Wei Yan's impeachment of the envoy.

Liu Chan coughed and said, "I have never been on the battlefield and have seldom hunted, so it is useless to ask for a good horse. This is what the envoy did without authorization, trying to please you. He is really a treacherous person. Please order the Prime Minister to punish him."

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly and said, "Take the envoy to the Imperial Censorate and hand him over to the officials for punishment. Bingzhou Governor Wei Yan has made meritorious contributions in reporting the crime and should be rewarded with additional money and food."

"promise!"

When everyone was passing around Wei Yan's letter, Liu Chan took the initiative to ask, "Now that Bu Dugen has surrendered to the Han, I wonder how the Prime Minister and the Chancellor will treat him?"

Huo Jun hesitated for a moment and said, "You can appoint him as Chanyu and order him to go out of the border to recruit displaced people to weaken Kebineng's power. And order Budugen to write letters to persuade the three Xianbei tribes in Liaodong to submit to our dynasty."

"The three tribes of Xianbei in Liaodong, Yuwen, Duan and Murong, live in a cold and harsh land. They have strong soldiers and horses and are powerful captives outside the Great Wall. However, because they are not blood relatives of Kebi Neng, they are not given important positions by him. If our dynasty can get the assistance of the three tribes of Xianbei, we can cut off Kebi Neng's wings."

Zhuge Liang handed the letter to Lu Xun and said, "Your Majesty, Dou Bin is a powerful Xianbei in Hexi, and Deng Lingwu is on good terms with him. We should use the Bu Dugen incident to persuade Dou Bin to return to Han. Even if he cannot return to Han, we can try to make him neutral."

"Ok!"

Liu Chan said with a smile: "Ke Bineng's intention to kill Bu Dugen will surely arouse suspicion among the Xianbei tribesmen. This is a sign of God's help for our dynasty!"

Although Kebi Neng unified the southern desert, the unification was short-lived. With the loose political system of nomadic peoples, it was difficult to effectively integrate the forces of various tribes like the Xiongnu. Now Kebi Neng's behavior of using Budugen and then killing him has invisibly destroyed his own reputation.

"His Majesty!"

Lu Xun took the opportunity to say: "Kebi started from a weak position. Although he ruled the south of the desert, many Xianbei Hu people fled south to Bing and You during the mutual killings. Now we can not only lure the three tribes of Liaodong, but also lure the Wuhuan and Xianbei on the border of Youzhou to submit."

"Besides, Liangzhou can reach the south of the desert from Juyan, and there are many assorted Hu people living in the area. Now we can ask Liangzhou Governor Wang Ping to recruit the assorted Hu people and recruit them as cavalry volunteers to be ready for war."

Liu Chan smiled and asked, "Mr. Lu said before that we should build the Great Wall and restore the national strength so that we can attack the Xianbei in the north. Why do you agree with the strategy of attacking the Xianbei in the north and offer advice on this?"

Lu Xun remained calm and said, "The country has a great plan. Since we want to attack the Xianbei in the north, the emperor and his subjects should take this as their goal. How can we ignore it just because of different political views?"

"color!"

Liu Chan stood up in awe and said, "Mr. Lu has lived up to his responsibility as a minister entrusted with the care of my son. I apologize for what I said just now."

"Don't dare!"

Lu Xun hurriedly returned the greeting, saying, "My military strategy is not as good as the prime minister's, so my plans are biased. Now that we have an opportunity to fight, I will do my best to help Han destroy the Hu and enhance our country's prestige."

Since Huo Jun faded out of government affairs, although Lu Xun was respected in the army, don't forget Huo Jun's power in the army. When Huo Jun said that he could fight Xianbei, Lu Xun had no choice but to obey the national policy.

In this case, with Lu Xun's political wisdom, he naturally understood that forcing a dispute with everyone was a bad idea. Only by being selfless and expressing support for everyone's choice could he win Liu Chan's trust.

"it is good!"

Liu Chan thought of something and said, "The late emperor established the country and I ruled the world. The rise of the Han Dynasty was all due to the efforts of you ministers. Now many of my old ministers are declining. In order to honor the achievements of my civil and military officials, I want to draw a picture and erect a statue in the Daming Pavilion for future generations to admire."

"What suggestions do you have now?"

Zhuge Liang was the first to express his opinion, saying: "In the past, there were eleven meritorious officials in the Qilin Pavilion in the Former Han Dynasty, and twenty-eight meritorious officials in the Yuntai Pavilion in the Middle Han Dynasty. In this period, the Han Dynasty has risen for the third time. It is a good deed to draw pictures in the pavilion and record their achievements."

After a pause, Zhuge Liang said: "Since we honor meritorious officials, we should list them in the cabinet according to their achievements. Those without outstanding achievements are not worthy of being in the cabinet."

Then, Zhuge Liang bowed to Huo Jun and said with a smile: "However, no matter what, the first meritorious person of the Daming Pavilion should be respected as the prime minister."

To show his humility, Huo Jun said, "Your Majesty, if you want to erect a statue, you might first honor the deceased."

"Since there is no objection, I will take charge of this matter."

(End of this chapter)