Great Han Empire

Chapter 1027 The Banner of Heroes in Troubled Times Unrolled
Under November, Nanyang.

The left general Yan Liang led his army out of Wuguan, went south along the Danshui River, and successfully captured Shunyang. At this time, the Han army did not attack Wancheng eastward, but continued to attack Rangcheng southward, aiming directly at Xinye.

Rangcheng is an important land pass connecting Xiangyang and Wancheng, and Xinye is an important waterway connecting the two cities. If both cities are lost, Wancheng will be surrounded immediately.In August, Yang Feng led the army to attack Rangcheng and Xinye for the same purpose, but he was informed of the marching route by the Jingzhou army, was ambushed, and the whole army was wiped out. However, the Jingzhou army also paid a heavy price for this. Just over two months later, the Han army made a comeback aggressively, which caught the Jingzhou army by surprise. Although they knew that the Han army planned to quickly conquer Rangcheng and Xinye to cut off the connection between Xiangyang and Wancheng, due to insufficient preparation, the troops It's not enough, I can only watch the Han army let down, helpless.

When Xiangyang was going all out to rescue Rangcheng and Xinye, Kuai Liang sent an urgent report from the front line. Zhong Yao assembled an army of [-] in Luyang to launch a counterattack, and Wang Dang also assembled an army of [-] in Kunyang to attack from Yecheng, The front line of Duyang launched an attack, and Kuai Liang couldn't take care of both ends, so he had to lead his army to retreat to Wancheng and stand firm.Kuai Liang told Liu Biao that there was news that the emperor of Chang'an was following up with an army of tens of thousands, and it was estimated that he would arrive at the Nanyang battlefield soon.

Chang'an's 10,000+ army marched into Nanyang in three ways, and it was inevitable to win Jingzhou. The decisive battle between the two sides kicked off in the cold winter.

Xiangyang didn't realize that the decisive battle was coming until now, and people in the government and the opposition were panicked.Liu Biao asked for help from Yizhou Liu Bei, Xuzhou Cao Cao, Jiangdong Sun Quan and Zhou Yu as quickly as possible.

Xuzhou Cao Cao, Jiangdong Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu's armies are all on the Jianghuai line. In September, Liu Biao wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of the Nanyang victory to advance east and west, but Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu had their own ideas and didn't want to lose troops. Hong's illness was in critical condition, so the three of them wrote a letter to Liu Biao and waited for the situation to change before making countermeasures.Sun Quan withdrew his troops on the pretext that winter was coming and it was inconvenient to transport food and grass. Zhou Yu also returned to Chaisang, leaving Lu Su to lead the troops to sit in Lujiang.Both Sun Quan and Zhou Yu left, Cao Cao immediately changed his face and pleaded guilty to Chang'an.Chang'an decided to plan, Xingtai Shangshu ordered Fu Gan to comfort him with kind words in the name of the emperor, saying that the imperial court understands your difficulties, as long as you let the people in Jianghuai have enough food and clothing, your contribution will be great enough.

Liu Biao implored the three of Cao Cao to send troops again to contain the northern army in the direction of Jianghuai.If Xiangyang falls, can Jianghuai still hold on?The lips are cold and the teeth are dead. Once we lose the Jiangbei counties and let the Northern Xinjiang army march on the Yangtze River, the country will surely be defeated. At this moment, it is better for everyone to let go of the past, help each other, and work together to resist the Northern Xinjiang army.For these three people, Liu Biao had no hope. At the beginning of the year, Li Hong led the army to suppress the rebellion in northern Xinjiang. The frontline defense forces in the Central Plains were weak, which was the best chance to regain the Central Plains. Missed opportunity.Now that Li Hong has pacified the two northwestern borders, and his main force has all moved south, it is impossible to expect Cao Cao and others to send troops north to attack. For this reason, Liu Biao pinned all his hopes on Liu Bei in Yizhou.

At the beginning of the year, Liu Pan and Liu Bei were going to attack Longnan, but because Liu Pan died of serious injuries, the army was in turmoil, and the army had to withdraw. However, Liu Bei took the opportunity to go south to Chengdu and occupied Bashu, shattering Liu Biao's dream of occupying Yizhou again.Liu Biao was very angry and once wanted his eldest son Liu Qi to lead an army westward to Bashu, but because of the fierce fighting in Nanyang, he had to swallow his anger and pretend to deal with Liu Bei.After the great victory in Nanyang, under the persuasion of Cai Mao, Deng Yi and others, he prepared to send troops to Shu, but Kuai Liang, Liu Xian, Ma Liang and others tried their best to dissuade them, thinking that Chang'an would be in chaos after Li Hong's death, and it was precisely Xiangyang who sent troops to the Northern Expedition. The best opportunity, don't get confused and miss the opportunity.Liu Bei also sent people to Xiangyang to flatter him, expressing his willingness to invite Liu Qi to be the governor of Yizhou.When Liu Biao was considering whether to let Liu Qi lead his army into Shu, the Han army entered Nanyang again, forcing Liu Biao to abandon Yizhou and turn to Liu Bei for help.

Liu Biao asked the emperor to change Liu Bei to be the king of Shu, and asked Liu Bei to send troops to rescue him immediately.

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Under November, Chang'an.

Guang Luxun Zhang Yun brought back the emperor's imperial decree. Considering that the general was critically ill, the great Sima Xu Rong went to the western borders to pay homage to Taifu Liu and Canli Shangshu, and to manage state affairs with Hushi General Zhao Yun.

This imperial decree sent Chang'an a message that the emperor intends to strengthen the imperial power, attack the prime minister's power, and suppress the prime minister's power.

Grand Tutor Liu He is a minister of the imperial family, and his participation in Li Shangshu again is obviously to consolidate the imperial power.The prime minister is the head of the three lords and holds the power of the prime minister. Logically, Li Wei is the most qualified minister to assist the emperor in the official affairs, but the emperor turned a blind eye and threw him aside.

After the announcement of the imperial decree, the Taifu's Mansion was crowded with traffic, and the ministers of the imperial court and merchants and wealthy merchants from Chang'an visited Liu He one after another. On the contrary, the Prime Minister's Mansion was much deserted.At this time, it was the period of "Shangji", and Li Wei and the officials in the prime minister's mansion were busy reviewing the "Shangji Book" day and night, asking the officials of the Shangji in various states and counties, but they didn't seem to care about it.

Only two days later, another imperial decree came from the platform.

The general's condition has stabilized and is improving, so the emperor dismissed the petition from the great Sima Xu Rong some time ago, and decided to retain the official position of the general.

This news made the situation in Chang'an very delicate.

There is nothing wrong with the imperial decree issued by the emperor. The general's condition has improved and he is out of danger. Of course, there is no need to permanently award the "general" to Li Hong as a supreme honor, but why did the emperor always treat this matter before? No comment?Since he asked Zhao Yun to lead the army as a general of hussars and participate in the affairs of Li Shangshu, why didn't he announce the abolition of the official position of "general" at the same time?What is the emperor worried about?Are you worried that once Li Hong recovers from his illness, he will hold power from now on?What kind of hint did he want to give Chang'an by giving this edict to Chang'an now?
A day later, Xingtai delivered the imperial decree again, and Her Royal Highness the Princess Chang was worried about the safety of Chang'an, so she specially suggested that the emperor re-appoint Yang Feng.The emperor immediately dismissed Yan Liang from the post of Wei Weiqing, and worshiped Yang Feng as Wei Weiqing.

Chang'an immediately understood what the emperor meant.

The general's illness is getting better. Now that the eldest princess has married the general and she actually controls the power of the great man, the general's power has surpassed the emperor. He can control everything through the eldest princess. In the future, if the eldest If the general's daughter becomes the queen, then the general will be able to hold power in the dual identities of the clan and relatives, and the consequences are self-evident.

The emperor needs imperial power, an imperial power that is strong enough to fight against Jinyang, and to do this, he must first overthrow the prime minister Li Wei and regain the power in Li Wei's hands, and then he can fight against Jinyang.

If Li Wei does not fall, Li Hong can use the power in the hands of the princess and Li Wei to control all the power of the big man, but if Li Wei is brought down, it will be difficult for Li Hong to control the power.The power in the hands of the eldest princess needs the support of strength to play a role, because she has already returned to the emperor in name, so when the emperor grows up and has full wings, and when Chang'an and Jinyang compete head-on, the eldest princess's choice It has become the key to the fate of the Han Dynasty, but the princess will definitely put the interests of the Liu family's royal family first, which is related to the survival of the Han Dynasty, and she will never let Li Hong usurp the Han Zuo.

The emperor has clearly conveyed his thoughts to Chang'an through three imperial decrees, and he needs the help of the ministers of Chang'an.

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On November 28, Grand Tutor Liu He, Yushi Dafu Xun You, and Taichangqing Xu Jing rushed to Qilin Hall to meet with Hushi General Zhao Yun and Shang Shuling Tian Chou, and formally proposed to revise the official system.

Liu Shuo is the emperor of the Han Dynasty. Now he is in charge, and he will be in charge in the future, but the power of the general and the eldest princess has already surpassed the emperor and the court. How will he hold power in the future?Even if the general and princess are willing to hand over power to the emperor, how?By word of mouth?The transfer of authority requires the basis of the law and the support of strength. Does the big man have such a law today?Does the little emperor have such strength?
Only by amending the official system, using the revision of the official system to redistribute power, let the little emperor firmly control the power from now on, and gradually weaken the authority of the general and princess, and let them slowly return the power to the emperor and the court.

The three ministers drew up the steps to revise the official system. The first step is to change the "Prime Minister" to "Da Situ" to weaken the power of the prime minister; the second step is to abolish the Taiwei and combine Taiwei and Da Sima into one. The Great Sima is in charge of military affairs and weakens the power of the generals; the third step is to strengthen the Shangshutai, expand the Shangshutai organization, maintain the power of the little emperor to the greatest extent, and lay a solid foundation for the little emperor to rule in the future.

This official system is actually the official system of Emperor Guangwu's Zhongxing period. The purpose is to strengthen the centralization of power, control the outline of power, and limit and weaken the power of the three princes.

Replacing the prime minister with "Three Dukes" as the emperor's prime minister began in the Suihe period of Emperor Xiaocheng.At that time, Da Sima, who was assisting the government, became the prime minister, and the doctor Yushi became Da Sikong. He was called Sangong together with the prime minister, and his status was the same as his salary. (In the past, the status and salary of the royal doctor was lower than that of the prime minister and the Taiwei.) In this way, the status of the three princes was equal in the system. Later, it was transferred to the authorization of the three officials, and the prime minister was no longer in charge of the power, and he was alone in the affairs of the three officials.

This system was inherited by Wang Mang, and Emperor Guangwu continued to adopt this system after his resurgence. Three centimeters had full power, equal status, and clear responsibilities.

After the implementation of this system, firstly, the authority of Prime Minister Li Wei was severely weakened, and secondly, the authority of the general was severely weakened.The little emperor is now in charge of the government and leads the Shangshutai himself, and his assistant ministers are naturally the ministers of the three princes. The general is naturally excluded from the assistant ministers, and the power actually controlled by him and the eldest princess increases with the growth of the little emperor and the weight of the Shangshutai. , and gradually handed over to the court.Of course, this requires a premise, that is, the general and the eldest princess are indeed willing to hand over their authority, and the realization of this premise first requires an official system that can ensure the centralization of power by the emperor.

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Hushi General Zhao Yun and Shang Shuling Tian Chou did not immediately agree. They invited Zhang Ying, Tian Yu, Zhao Jian, Wang Lang, Hua Xin, Sima Lang, Dong Zhao, Liu Yi, Qianzhao, Song Wen and other ministers to discuss together.

The ministers discussed for many days, and finally agreed that although this official system is conducive to the centralization of power and the ruling of the little emperor, its harm is also obvious, that is, the imperial power is too concentrated, and the imperial power is too strong. The most fundamental reason why the traitors and eunuchs take turns to control the government and bring disaster to the country.

Dong Zhao and Liu Yi also made the same suggestion to Zhao Yun. They believed that under the current circumstances, this official system can indeed alleviate the fierce conflicts in Chang'an, which is conducive to the little emperor's governance. In the future, when the world is peaceful, the conflicts in Chang'an will be reduced. Therefore, the imperial court can use the influence of the general and the eldest princess on the little emperor, and then change the official system back, so that the imperial power and the prime minister's power can be effectively checked and balanced.

Zhao Yun and Tian Chou then decided to accept the proposal to revise the official system.

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On the second day of December, Grand Tutor Liu He, Hushi General Zhao Yun, and Yushi Doctor Xun You met with Prime Minister Li Wei and presented the new official system that had just been drawn up.

Prime Minister Li Wei was furious, and angrily reprimanded Liu He and other ministers for "healing the scar and forgetting the pain". Why did the 20-year war start?The effective checks and balances of imperial power and ministerial power are directly related to the fate of Han Zuo, don't you know?Emperor Xiaocheng revised the official system, which led to Wang Mang's usurpation of the country and the overthrow of the Han Dynasty.After Emperor Guangwu rejuvenated, he still adopted this kind of official system, but the imperial line of the Han Dynasty was repeatedly cut off, and the harem, relatives, and even eunuchs took turns to control the government. Why?Isn't it because of the imbalance of imperial power and relative power that everyone wants to hold power and do whatever they want?
Liu He mocked in a cold voice, "Is the prime minister also holding power and doing whatever he wants?"

Li Wei was so angry that he jumped up from the table, "Since you want to subjugate the country, then go for it. I want to see how long the big man can last under your governance?"

With a roar, Li Wei kicked the table in front of him away, screaming away.

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On the fourth day of December, more than 30 ministers, including Taifu Liu He, Hushi General Zhao Yun, Yushi Dafu Xun You, Taichangqing Xu Jing, Taifuqing Cui Yan, Zongzhengqing Zhang Fan, Tingweiqing Chen Qun, etc. , I implore the emperor to revise the official system, change the system of three officials and nine officials headed by "Prime Minister, Taiwei, and Yushi doctor" to the system of three officials and nine ministers headed by "Da Sima, Da Situ, and Da Sikong", and change "Prime Minister" to " "Da Situ", abolished the post of "Taiwei", weakened the power of the prime minister and the general, and put the weight on the Shangshutai.

In order to persuade the little emperor and the Xingtai ministers, Xun You and Cui Yan personally carried the memorial and rushed to the camp of the emperor in Yingchuan.

On the same day, Liu He and Zhao Yun copied the memorial to Jinyang to ask the eldest princess and the general for their opinions.

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I got together with my relatives and friends yesterday, and I was so drunk that I didn't know what to do, so I delayed the update. I'm really sorry, and I hope readers can forgive me.

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