Great Han Empire

Chapter 810 The Heroes of Troubled Times Compete in the Central Plains
The conflict between Jushou and Guo Tu broke out very quickly, which not only directly led to the deterioration of the war situation in Henan and the loss of the important town of Xingyang, but also seriously endangered the safety of Luoyang, which was unexpected by Yuan Shao.So far, he hasn't figured out how to properly resolve the matter of Jushou while ensuring Luoyang's safety.

Ju's authorization is too powerful, and many of Luoyang's military and political officials are former students of him. Although he can use this matter to remove Ju's power, there are also great risks.If I mishandle it and make Jushou and many Yizhou officials feel that their lives are threatened, then a bigger crisis may erupt in Luoyang.At the critical moment of the current conquest of the Central Plains, this crisis may deal a fatal blow to his career as king and hegemony.This result was something Yuan Shao absolutely did not want to see.

Yuan Shao summoned Xu You, Xin Ping, and Feng Ji to discuss repeatedly.

Xu You was very emotional and thought of many solutions.

Xu You and Yuan Shao have been close friends for decades. In order to rescue the party members, they and a group of brothers went through life and death.After Dong Zhuo rebelled and Yuan Shao fled to Jizhou, he wrote to Xu You, and Xu You immediately rushed to Jizhou to help Yuan Shao with all his strength.Xu You made outstanding achievements in defeating Dong Zhuo, forcing Han Fu to occupy Yizhou, and conquering Guanluo. This important person made Xu You brooding and depressed.

After Yuan Zhi gained a foothold in Guan and Luo, Xu You thought that with the support of the powerful Yingchuan and Runan forces behind him, he could replace Jushou's position, but things backfired.Because of the breakdown of the relationship between the Xu family and the Yuan family, because of the intricate relationship between the various factions in Yingchuan and Runan, and because of many sensitive issues such as Yuan Shaozhi's dispute over Wang Ye and the Yuan family's heir, the power struggle in Luoyang was extremely fierce. Therefore, not only failed to replace Jushou, but was gradually alienated by Yuan Shao, getting farther and farther away from the center of power.

This opportunity is once in a lifetime for Xu You, so he spared no effort to make suggestions with Xin Ping and Feng Ji, intending to completely drive the Yizhou forces that have suppressed them for many years out of Luoyang.

Xu You believes that the situation is complicated at the moment, and capturing the Central Plains is a top priority. In order to quickly stabilize Luoyang, it is better to eradicate the forces in Yizhou quickly, so as not to leave endless troubles.

Xin Ping firmly disagrees.

Uprooting the Yizhou forces is equivalent to creating a bloodbath in Luoyang. The action is too big, the impact is too big, and the involvement is too big. Even if it succeeds and ensures the stability of Luoyang, it will definitely hurt the muscles and bones, and it will be a loss for Luoyang. It is immeasurable that once an accident occurs in the middle, Luoyang may be seriously injured, completely losing the opportunity to capture the Central Plains and establish a royal industry. Therefore, he suggested that Jushou should be temporarily idle, gradually weaken the power of Yizhou, and maintain the stability of Luoyang. After taking the Central Plains, Then consider the long term.

Feng Ji immediately objected.

If the Luoyang crisis is resolved according to Xin Ping's method, it must be Yuan Tan who finally gets the most benefit from this crisis.

Many people in the Yizhou faction insisted on establishing the elders rather than the young, and strongly supported Yuan Tan to become the heir of the Yuan Clan.When Yuan Tan got this opportunity, he would definitely spare no effort to harass them in order to consolidate and strengthen his power.With the full support of the officials from Jizhou, Yuan Tan's strength will skyrocket. In this case, Yuan Shang will have no chance.This time Yuan Shao made up his mind to weaken Yizhou's power, which is one of the main reasons.

However, Yuan Shao thinks that Xin Ping's worry is very reasonable.

Xin Ping's persuasion is all based on stabilizing Yuan Shao's great cause, but Xu You is not. In order to gain power, he will do whatever it takes, even disregarding Yuan Shao's hegemony.

After Yuan Shao betrayed him by Zhang Miao, he no longer trusted his old friends. Although he still kept Xu You by his side, Yuan Shao no longer trusted him because of their different political views and frequent disputes over the past few years. .After Jushou was kicked out of Luoyang this time, Yuan Shao planned to use him again and use his power to check and balance the forces in Yingchuan and Runan.In his opinion, Xu You can still be trusted as long as he supports him in establishing the king's business, but after talking today, Yuan Shao found that Xu You is no longer the high-spirited, guiding, and loyal Xu You was more than ten years ago. Yau.

"Master Ju mishandled the situation after the Beijiang army went south, which brought many crises to Luoyang. Considering that the crisis was caused by Gongze (Guo Tu)'s resistance, Lord Ju was not mainly responsible, so..." Yuan Shao looked at the three of them, and asked in a questioning tone, "I plan to play the role of the emperor, recommend him as Dahonghe, and let him go to Xuchang to serve the emperor, what do you think? Master Ju has worked hard, and this fault is nothing after all. There is no penalty."

"My lord, it's a good way, a good way." Feng Ji applauded and praised.Xu You and Xin Ping looked at each other and smiled wryly.

Feng Ji danced and danced on the side, and the two couldn't stay indifferent, so they had to stand up and say a few compliments.

After Cao Cao sent the emperor to Xuchang, except for the prime minister's mansion, other court mansions also moved to Xuchang.Now that the emperor is no longer in his hands, he certainly doesn't want to spend money to support a bunch of officials who eat and drink for nothing will do him no good.This imperial court is purely a decoration, not fully staffed, and there is nothing to do at ordinary times, but at least it can take a salary to fool around, and it is good for retirement and leisure.At this time, in order to calm the crisis in Luoyang, Yuan Shao asked Jushou to go to the Xuchang court to serve as Dahonglu. Obviously, he was promoted to an official of Jushou and affirmed Jushou's achievements, but secretly deprived Jushou of his power.

Everyone knows the real reason why Jushou left Luoyang, but Yuan Shao used this method to remove Jushou's power. Officials from Jizhou can accept it and continue to be loyal to Yuan Shao. After all, their lives are not threatened, and their vested interests are not. suffered a great loss.On the contrary, Yuan Tan, who came forward to protect Guo Tu, suffered a catastrophe because of the hatred of Guo Tu by the officials in Jizhou. He offended the forces that originally supported him and suffered great losses.

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"How will Gongze (Guo Tu) deal with it?" Xu You asked slowly.

"Now he relies on someone to back him up, so he doesn't even listen to my words." Yuan Shao sneered, "However, we are all friends who have known each other for many years, so there is no need to turn against each other because of this incident. Since I didn't punish Lord Ju, I will Don’t embarrass him, let him go to Guanzhong. If he doesn’t listen to me, it’s useless to stay in Luoyang.”

"Who will lead the army in Hanoi?"

"Let Gao Rou go." Yuan Shao said, "I originally wanted Gao Gan to go, but if we return to aid Henan, we need to stay here. I think it is more appropriate for Gao Gan to stay in Baima and Puyang."

"Master Ju is gone, who is sitting in Luoyang?" Xu You asked again.

Yuan Shao glanced at him.Xu You's expectant eyes had already revealed what he was thinking.

"I plan to let Meng Qian (Yuan Wei) sit in Luoyang." Yuan Shao's mouth curled up with a trace of sarcasm, "Ziyuan, what do you think?"

A trace of disappointment flashed across Xu You's eyes, and the smile on his face was a little bitter, a little heavy, and a little lonely.

"Brother Meng Qian is not as majestic as he is, but as friendly as he is. I'm afraid he won't be able to convince the public if he sits in Luoyang." Xin Ping pondered for a long time, then said cautiously, "My lord, this is the critical period to capture the Central Plains. Luoyang must not be chaotic. In my opinion, it is still It would be better for Xiansi (Yuan Tan) to sit in Luoyang. This is a foolproof strategy."

"Guanzhong is very important, Xiansi cannot leave." Yuan Shao flatly vetoed it.

Xin Ping wanted to persuade him again, but Yuan Shao waved his hand to stop him, "I know it would be difficult for him to let Meng Qian sit in Luoyang. With his prestige, it is indeed difficult to control Luoyang's various prefectures, so I plan to let Zhengnan (the judge) go back with him."

Xu You's expression darkened, and a trace of resentment suddenly appeared in his eyes.Xin Ping was stunned for a moment, then said "Oh" softly, and stopped talking.

Feng Ji was overjoyed, and spit out a series of flattering words.

Jushou is gone, but the civil and military officials borrowed from Yizhou are still there. These people are now spread all over Luoyang and in the military everywhere. Many of them are in key positions and are familiar with military affairs.With Yuan Wei's qualifications and prestige, it is difficult to command them

Jushou has a high prestige among the officials borrowed in Yizhou, second only to Jushou, but because of his political disagreements with Jushou, Tian Feng and others in recent years, he was gradually pushed aside by Jushou and Tian Feng by taking advantage of various opportunities. It was one of the reasons why he got closer to Yuan Shao, and was even influenced by Yuan Shao to support Yuan Shang as the heir of the Yuan Clan.

Yuan Shao's arrangement took all aspects into consideration.Removing Jushou's power, splitting and weakening Jizhou's forces, hitting Yuan Tan's strength, further consolidating his own power, and laying the foundation for the next step to establish Wangye and designate Yuan Shang as his successor.

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Xu You and Xin Ping left.

Yuan Shao stayed with Feng Ji to continue discussing some details, and at the same time sent someone to invite Yuan Wei and the examiner to rush to the big tent to discuss the matter immediately.

"My lord, did you see Xu Ziyuan's expression?" Feng Ji asked in a low voice.

"He's a little unhappy." Yuan Shao said lightly.

"Hmph..." Feng Ji sneered, "Xu Ziyuan is not only unhappy, he probably has the intention of killing people."

Yuan Shao sighed, "I shouldn't have called him here today."

"If he doesn't come today, how will the adults see his true face?"

"Yuantu, you think too much." Yuan Shao shook his hand, "Ziyuan and my friend for decades, I know him very well. Apart from arrogance and selfishness, Ziyuan has nothing else. Can be picky. In some places, we are not as good as him, you have to admit that."

Feng Ji curled his lips in disdain, "When Shen Zhengnan arrives in Luoyang, Xu Ziyuan's good days will come to an end."

Yuan Shao glanced at him suspiciously, and was about to ask, when Yuan Wei's voice came from outside the tent.

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The judge did not raise any objection to Yuan Shao's arrangement.

He knew that this day would come sooner or later, but it was a pity that Jushou and Tian Feng couldn't listen to his advice. They were very stubborn and completely unaware that their situation was becoming more and more dangerous.

From the beginning of Dong Zhuo's chaos to the present, Dahan has been in war for ten years.Everyone has worked hard for ten years, but the status quo is getting worse and worse.Jushou, Tian Feng and others believed that in order to revive the country, the national policy must be changed, the old system must be fundamentally changed, and the disaster should be curbed from the source, but Yuan Shao and many other officials did not realize this. Either they didn't fully see this point, or they were unwilling to accept this fact. They are still dying in the whirlpool of saving the great man, and are still struggling to save the thorns of the country.

Hebei is a clear example.Li Hong, a martial artist, rose rapidly from the barren land of northern Xinjiang, not because of his powerful force, but because of a series of new policies he had implemented since the time of the first emperor.Li Hong's knowledge is definitely not as good as that of an ordinary scholar in a big man, but he is determined to reform, and he is very courageous. With the help of a group of scholars who are also determined to reform, he has used the current dynasty's government for more than ten years. The official system, land system, taxation system and other systems that have been in place for hundreds of years have been revised, and some have even been completely overthrown and reformulated. The new classics of the two masters of ancient Chinese classics ended the more than 200-year-long dispute between modern and ancient Chinese classics.

The reason why Hebei is becoming stronger and stronger is not because of its strong force, but because it has sufficient wealth to support its strong force, and this sufficient wealth comes from the New Deal implemented by Hebei.

Compared with Hebei, Luoyang's restructuring is very conservative.In the past few years, some new systems implemented by Yuan Shao have also led to the rapid development of wealth in Luoyang, Yuzhou and other places. However, compared with the new policies implemented in Hebei, this kind of reforms only treat the symptoms but not the root causes, and have no vigorous vitality.This kind of development is short-lived, and after a certain period of time, its own disease will break out again.

In the battle of Jizhou the year before last, the coalition forces were defeated.Jushou, Tian Feng and others took the opportunity to set off a climax of restructuring in Luoyang. They believed that the coalition forces of Luoyang, Yuzhou, Jingzhou, and Jianghuai failed to defeat Li Hong. The most fundamental reason is that there is no system with vigorous vitality like Hebei.

Hebei used the benefits of Jizhou to support 20 troops, why not Luoyang?Luoyang has the advantages of Guandong, Yuzhou, fertile land, and a large population. Why can't it build a strong army of 20 people?

Yuan Shao was moved by this statement, and he accepted it and began to implement the dictation land system and the new taxation system revised from this land system.

However, Yuan Shao encountered huge resistance. The rich and powerful in Luoyang, Henan, Nanyang, and Yuzhou resolutely resisted when their own interests were damaged.Jushou, Tian Feng and other officials who resolutely promoted and implemented the New Deal became the targets of attack by the rich and powerful.The rumors of slandering Jushou and Tian Feng's affair with Hebei began at that time.

Yuan Shao backed down.Because there are few people in Guanzhong, Yuan Shao immediately ordered that the new system be tried out only in Guanzhong.

This turmoil intensified the contradictions among the various forces in Luoyang, and at the same time made Yuan Shao feel the fragility of power in his hands, so things began to develop in a direction that was not conducive to the resolute and radical restructuring forces such as Jushou and Tian Feng.

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That night, the examiner went to watch Tian Feng, and explained in detail Yuan Shao's arrangement to solve the Luoyang crisis, and also analyzed the cause and effect of Yuan Shao's arrangement.

"Yuan Hao, write a letter to Mr. Yuan and admit your mistake." The judge persuaded, "It's not a problem to stay here, let's go out first. After leaving the camp, you can go wherever you want, Luoyang, Xuchang, etc. , I will help you to beg your lord."

Tian Feng was silent for a long time, then nodded.

The next day, Tian Feng's letter was delivered to Yuan Shao.

In his letter, Tian Feng explained in detail the decisive role of the implementation of the New Deal in rejuvenating the country, and cited examples such as Wu Qi, Shang Yang's reform, and Emperor Guangwu's resurgence, etc., and advised Yuan Shao to implement the method of thunder, and severely crack down on the illegal behavior of the powerful and rich against the New Deal. .Then Tian Feng reiterated his reasons for opposing the army's return to aid Henan, and tried his best to dissuade Yuan Shao from missing the best opportunity to occupy the Central Plains.

At the end of the letter, Tian Feng questioned Yuan Shao's way of handling the Luoyang crisis. He accused Yuan Shao of cronyism and arranging his clan and relatives in important positions. If things go on like this, treacherous villains will fill the government office, discipline will be lost, defeat is just a matter of time, and the master's hegemony will be wiped out in a blink of an eye."

When Yuan Shao saw the front, he was quite moved by Tian Feng's loyalty. When he saw the back, he was so angry that he trembled all over. He wished he could chop Tian Feng off with one knife, "Kill him for me."

Yuan Wei, Shen Pei, Xu You, Xin Ping and others begged hard.

"Yuan Hao's words are a bit harsh, but they are the truth." Yuan Wei cupped his hands and said, "If Yuan Hao was not a loyal person, he would not be abusive. The so-called loyal words are harsh, and that's it. Your Excellency, please be merciful." .”

Everyone chatted around Yuan Shao, only Feng Ji stood outside the crowd, leisurely.The appraiser walked up to him in a hurry, and begged in a low voice: "Yuan Tu, hurry up and intercede for Yuan Hao. You must not kill Yuan Hao at this time. Xiansi (Yuan Tan) will benefit the most from Yuan Hao's death. It is of no benefit to stabilizing the situation in Luoyang."

Feng Ji pretended to think deeply, and then slowly walked to Yuan Shao's side, and said in a low voice: "My lord, it's better to take Tian Feng back to Luoyang first. When the matter subsides, it won't be too late to kill him."

Yuan Shao also spoke in a moment of anger.He has been with Tian Feng for nearly ten years, and he knows his personality very well. He knows that Tian Feng is upright and upright, and he has always spoken like this.When Feng Ji said this, Yuan Shao just stepped down, "Okay, okay, escort back to Luoyang, escort back to Luoyang."

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In the afternoon of the same day, Yuan Wei, Shenpei and Gao Rou escorted Tian Feng to Luoyang.

Yuan Shao hesitated in the White Horse Camp, should he return to Henan?He called Xu You, Xin Ping, Feng Ji, Gao Gan and others to discuss again.

At this time, the fast horse galloped in, bringing Yuan Shao an astonishing news.

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(End of this chapter)