I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 178 Old Fox

Liu Bian understood Lu Zhi's concerns.

If he wanted to kill Yuan Wei, he only needed an edict and a jailer. In the extreme case, there is no need to go through the chancellery. As long as he nods, whether it is a relative or a eunuch, he can complete the matter for him.

But everything has a price.

Taking action without reason will only mold Yuan Wei, who upholds political correctness, into the next Yang Zhen.

This will lead to another separation between the monarch and his ministers, and more seriously will lead to another party ban.

If the entire Yuan family is implicated for no reason, the more people Liu Bian kills, the closer he will be to Jie and Zhou.

He is not the arrogant Dong Zhuo in history, who could kill all the more than 20 members of Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji's family with reckless abandon.

But this does not mean that Liu Bian does nothing.

After the court meeting, Liu Bian received another resignation letter from Yuan Wei.

Yuan Wei had just made such a big fuss, and Liu Bian had just tried to persuade him to stay in the court. Of course, he could not agree to his resignation at this time.

But when he opened the memorial, he found that it had been written by someone else.

It said that when Situ got off the carriage back home, he accidentally stepped on the air and fell off the carriage. He was injured in many places and could no longer hold a pen.

Yuan Wei once again asked Liu Bian to resign because he could no longer serve the country.

After reading it, Liu Bian almost couldn't help but turn the table over.

what is this? Do you want to retreat from the rapids and want to run away after flirting? How can there be such a good thing in the world?

He didn't think it was an accident.

Liu Bian's first thought was to refuse.

Liu Bian immediately ordered someone to prepare a car and called Hua Tuo. He was going to visit Yuan Wei in person and persuade the Han Dynasty Situ Gong to stay.

But Lu Zhi and Ma Rixi, who were both in Yuntai Hall, stopped him.

Lu Zhi suggested: "Your Majesty, please calm down and take advantage of the situation to remove Yuan Situ from his post and let him rest."

"This might be the best outcome."

Liu Bian, who calmed down, already understood Yuan Wei's plan.

He knew that this was a good reason for Yuan Wei to come to his door, and Yuan Wei had even considered his retreat.

As a leader in the field, Yuan Wei did what he should do. As a minister of the emperor, he also gave Liu Bian the opportunity to vent his anger.

It can even be promoted in private as Situ's retribution because he opposed the rectification of officialdom.

Liu Bian understood that this was Yuan Wei's show of goodwill to him.

Yuan Wei tried to please both sides, but Liu Bian felt aggrieved.

Because he even had to thank Yuan Wei.

Before leaving office, Yuan Wei clarified the position of the courtiers for him.

To New Deal supporters, opponents, and centrists.

Even the bargaining chip was opened to Liu Bian, that is, Yuan Shu, one of Yuan An's descendants, clearly supported the rectification of officialdom.

Liu Bian could only curse the old fox in his heart.

He asked: "Master Lu and Ma Gong have known Situ's plan for a long time?"

Lu Zhi shook his head and replied: "I just feel that Yuan Situ's letter today is too sudden and too early. He could have been hiding in the dark."

With the size of the Yuan family in Runan, even if they can no longer annex land, the Yuan family has many officials inside and outside the court. These alone are enough to make the Yuan family invincible.

Ma Rixi said: "I just understood it."

Liu Bian finally agreed to Yuan Wei's request.

But after being put in such a position by Yuan Wei, Yuan Wei still wanted to leave easily? Liu Bian couldn't bear this tone. …

On the other side, after hearing that Yuan Wei was injured in a fall, Yuan Ji immediately took leave from the army and came to visit.

When he hurried to Situ's mansion, he saw Yuan Wei half-leaning on the bed, teasing his young grandson with a smile on his face.

There are injuries, but they don't look serious.

Lu Zhi was not the only one who felt that Yuan Wei had acted too early. Yuan Ji had always felt that Yuan Wei should not have shown his chariot and horse so early, which would have aroused the emperor's hatred.

"Uncle, this is..."

Yuan Wei handed his grandson over to his wet nurse, turned away the slaves, and then said to Yuan Ji, "The next step is to wait."

"If Your Majesty agrees to my resignation, everything will be fine. If you refuse..." Yuan Wei said, shaking his head, "With Lu Ziqian and Uncle Ma Weng here, it won't happen, it won't happen."

"Otherwise, we can only go one way to the end!"

After all, Emperor Huan and Emperor Xian had solved problems with swords. Once the clan was destroyed, what was the use of leaving a good reputation? As the patriarch of the Yuan clan in Runan, how could Yuan Wei not take this into consideration!

How could the Yuan family sacrifice themselves for the most powerful family in the world?

Yuan Ji asked puzzledly: "But my uncle has left, how will my disciples and former officials of the Yuan family regard it..."

Yuan Wei said: "Did you know that Dong Zhuo was the first to oppose me in front of the highway today? This was definitely not my order."

"You have to remember that the so-called disciples and old officials are attached to me, the Yuan family, just because I, the Yuan family, can give them a future!"

As he spoke, Yuan Wei pointed to the injured area on his body: "Are my injuries fake?"

Seeing that Yuan Ji stopped talking, Yuan Wei then talked about the real reason for his retreat: "How can the government be so easy to rectify? The petty officials are like raccoons in the same flock, one after another. There are only so many students from the Imperial College, and they can only serve for a while. Now, He seems to be honest, just because he has been an official for a short time..."

"If they are allowed to serve as small officials in the countryside for decades and are not allowed to be promoted, and you look at it again, will these imperial students be different from other small officials?"

"The Han Dynasty has had many disadvantages for many years, so it is so difficult to change!"

"How many reformers from ancient times have achieved a happy ending? I, the Yuan family, can neither stop nor participate in it, because both of them will make me, the Yuan family, a target of public criticism."

"Let the clan members feel at ease as officials in the local area and do not stand out."

"When the emperor understands the difficulties of change, encounters insurmountable resistance, and is willing to return to the old system, then you will emerge."

After hearing this, Yuan Ji was speechless for a moment.

He thought of Yuan Shu and Yuan Yin.

Who will be the one who will sacrifice for the Yuan family in the future? I am afraid that only the future will tell.

……

After Liu Bian agreed to Yuan Wei's resignation, he still took the time to visit Yuan Wei in person before he left the Situ Mansion.

Because Yuan Wei was injured, Liu Bian skipped the etiquette of going out to greet him in advance.

Yuan Wei seemed very touched by Liu Bian's visit.

But Liu Bian knew that he would be even more moved next.

After the unnurturing words of concern, Liu Bian rejected others, including several of Yuan Wei's sons, on the grounds of confidentiality, leaving only Yuan Wei, Zhang Rang and others.

He mentioned: "Mr. Yuan has made outstanding achievements. I would like to worship him as the Marquis of the capital and rest with the country!"

Yuan Wei thought Liu Bian had said something wrong at first, but he was actually stunned.

After a while, he opened his eyes wide and said: "I have not made any achievements, and now I am dragging my body with me, and I can't continue to serve your majesty. How can I be worthy of being a prince?"

"Of course Mr. Yuan has made great contributions!" Liu Bian took something like a memorial from Zhang Rang who accompanied him.

"How can it not be a great achievement that Mr. Yuan gave me such a list of courtiers who secretly interacted with each other and slandered the late emperor's virtues?"

Yuan Wei saw at first glance that the first name of the leader was Han Fu, the censor Zhongcheng.

(End of this chapter)