I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 503 Doubt

It was the seventh year of Guangxi when Liu Bian received the letter from Liu Bei.

Liu Bian was not at all surprised that he had opponents both inside and outside the court. After all, since he ascended the throne, his step-by-step reforms had infringed on the interests of countless people.

It is normal to say that there are some unspoken rules that have been gradually cultivated among the nobles and bureaucrats over time. However, if there is a large-scale family group that is secretly plotting through a close connection, this loose combination that can't even be called an alliance has a unified will and takes action...

Anyway, Liu Bian didn't believe it.

Not to mention that there is now the Ministry of Education to act as the eyes and ears of the emperor, even before the Ministry of Education came into being, He Jin and Dou Wu, who acted earlier, could get rid of a eunuch and it became known to everyone, not to mention directly opposing the emperor.

The reply from Liu Bei made Liu Bian certain that there must be a person, or even several people, who were unknown and not valued in the dynasty, so they were running around and causing chaos in order to seek some shady personal gains.

Their abilities were limited, so they could not stir up a great chaos; their knowledge was limited, so they did not know the relationship between Liu Bei and him.

Liu Bian was meeting with Liu Duan, Marquis of Hefei.

Having been raised as a banner of rebellion twice, Liu Duan was extremely panicked when he first arrived in Luoyang, fearing that the emperor would settle old and new scores with him.

Although he later successfully led the people in Hefei City to disrupt the rebels' deployment with the help of the School Affairs Department, he made an indelible contribution to Huang Zhong's capture of Hefei City in one day.

Fortunately, the emperor not only did not take his mistake to heart, but also widely publicized his noble character of not colluding with evildoers.

It’s a pity that he didn’t know whether the Wu rebellion was led by him or there was someone behind it, so he couldn’t lend a helping hand to the Holy Emperor in this regard.

"After the Hefei Rebellion, you should have understood that the Han family still has a group of traitors hiding in the dark and sneaking around!"

"Now is the time for them to show up!"

"You are a member of the royal family. I would like to ask you to inspect the land survey in all directions on my behalf. You should observe the results of the land survey in each county and state, and check whether the official records of land and population correspond to each other, just like the King of Hejian. Are you willing?"

Hearing the emperor's words, Liu Duan, who had already been aroused in Hefei City, immediately bowed and said, "I will obey your majesty's orders!"

"Very good!" Liu Bian stood up and walked to Liu Duan and personally pulled Liu Duan up.

"There are still many people like Wu Fang in the Han Dynasty. I will send you helpers when you go, but you must be careful not to be deceived!"

Liu Duan, whose hand was held by Liu Bian, could not bow again, and replied solemnly: "I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust!"

Liu Bian said: "I have long wanted to reform the royal family system so that all the talented people in the royal family can be fully utilized. Today, I will start with the Prince of Hejian and you!"

Liu Duan was even more moved when he heard this!

After Liu Duan left, Liu Bian waved his hand and Zhang Rang next to him quickly came over.

"What do you think, Lord Zhang? Is the Marquis of Hefei innocent?"

"I cannot make a final conclusion!"

Liu Bian smiled slightly, then said, "Mr. Zhang did a great job in Jizhou the year before last. Marquis Hefei doesn't know much about local politics after all, so he needs someone to look after him a little more."

When he heard that he was going out, Zhang Rang immediately thought of the blow he had suffered from Man Chong the year before... Even some of the eunuchs under him were more afraid of Man Chong than they were of him.

However, Zhang Rang immediately thought that this time he should just accompany Hefei Marquis and observe his every move, so there should be no need to pair him with Man Chong anymore!
Maybe it's as easy as when He Jin first toured the schools in the counties and countries!

Thinking of this, Zhang Rang recommended himself: "Although I am old, I can still serve your majesty!" Liu Bian immediately agreed and said: "Is it not Zhang Gongwu who cannot be trusted?"

……

After Zhang Rang left happily, Liu Bian suddenly felt tired.

At first, Liu Bian felt that what Lu Zhi had always emphasized to him was not necessary, because he knew the necessity of measuring land.

But now, looking at the endless troubles everywhere, and the enemies hiding in the dark who have only revealed a little clue now, a figure emerged in Liu Bian's mind, making him want to stop here.

Liu Bian breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and returned to the palace to visit his two sons and one daughter.

Especially the youngest daughter of Dong Heng, who was named Le by Liu Bian. She is now as pretty as a piece of jade and looks cuter than her two brothers at such a young age.

After staying in the Central Palace for more than an hour and gaining motivation from the concubines and children in the harem, Liu Bian threw himself into the battle with high morale.

"Speaking of this person hiding in the dark, I think of one person."

"Xu You and Xu Ziyuan, I wonder if Wenhe still remembers them?"

Jia Xu immediately said: "I remember that when we were searching for Wang Fen's remnants, the rest of the fugitives all voluntarily surrendered and confessed their crimes because their clans were arrested. Only Xu You was still at large, and later he led the bandit Zang Ba from Xuzhou into Beihai State to cause chaos."

He remembered everyone involved in the Wang Fenzhi case very clearly.

Before the Wang Fenzhi case, he was just an official who was valued by the prince and summoned to the Eastern Palace. After the Wang Fenzhi case, he was directly appointed as the Shizhong by the previous emperor, and rose to a high position overnight.

"At that time, Wang Yun was serving as the Imperial Censor and inspecting the prefectures and counties. Xu You fled to Xia Pi and was captured by him. However, according to Xu You's confession, those who helped him hide and do all kinds of evil things were Yuan Shao of Runan, Yang Qi of Hongnong, and Chen Gui of Xia Pi..."

"According to his confession, all the noble families and officials in the surrounding counties and states had contacts with him."

"At that time, Prince Master reported Xu You's words, and also said that Xu You looked crazy at the time. At that time, I thought that Xu You's confession implicated many people, so in order to calm people's hearts, I put it aside."

After hearing this, Jia Xu looked serious.

Apart from anything else, Yuan and Yang are now helping to measure the land. If we investigate according to Xu You's confession... it would be fine if it is a secret investigation, although the investigation may take years, but it is safe. If they are discovered, the worst that can happen is they will deny it and regard it as a temporary worker who did the job ignorantly.

But if you investigate openly, although it would be easy to find out the result, it would also be a way to bring disaster!
Jia Xu made up his mind that if the emperor chose the latter, he would advise and persuade him even if it meant going against the emperor's will.

It was definitely not because the emperor had promised Lu Zhi in person that he would be able to "become the prime minister" in the future.

After all, he is no longer the person who only thought about protecting himself!
"Your Majesty, now that I think about it, I still feel that Xu You is just trying to curry favor with me. He is not Zhang Jian's equal, and he is a rebel who disregards his clan and has a bad reputation. How could he attract so many famous people to help him?"

"I know it."

Liu Bian said: "But I sometimes wonder if Xu You did this intentionally to mix in the people who helped him in order to help them out of trouble?"

"Wenhe has ever seen such a prisoner in the school affairs department's general prison?"

Jia Xu paused and replied, "Yes, I have seen it before."

(End of this chapter)