Liu Jian had already made correct instructions and arrangements for various affairs and government orders in Youzhou, so in mid-August of the fourth year of Chuping, Liu Jian led his troops back to Jizhou.
However, although he left, the team he left in Youzhou can be said to be extremely luxurious, almost the strongest elite group under him.
As a latecomer, Liu Jian wanted to do more than just revive China. His biggest goal was to strengthen the Han Dynasty, to make the Han Dynasty stand at the top of the world and attract all nations to come to court.
Ruining China indiscriminately? This is absolutely not allowed!
All causes of trouble must be eradicated as soon as possible.
Not only must they be eradicated, but they must also be used to their own advantage, so that they can become the subordinate people of the Han Dynasty and willingly contribute to building a strong Han Dynasty.
Previously, the imperial court had actually left one person behind when it came to granting titles to Youzhou generals who had contributed greatly to suppressing the rebellion.
That person was Liu Jian, who was in charge of the overall situation of Youzhou and exercised all the powers of holiday.
In fact, it was not that the imperial court forgot about it, but that it was intentional.
Regarding this, Liu Jian was not surprised at all.
My position is really too high now. As a general of the left, I also have the important responsibility of Mu Shou. If I get promoted higher, I might have to be granted the title of general.
From the imperial court's perspective, this was naturally not possible.
Therefore, the imperial court can only pretend to be dumbfounded about its own achievements.
But Liu Jian didn't care.
Not taking the name, just taking the reality, has always been his development strategy.
Build a wall high, store a lot of food, and slowly become a king?
However, it turned out that Liu Jian was a bit petty in thinking of the imperial court.
…
On his way back to Jizhou, Liu Jian finally received an imperial message from the imperial court.
After the capital was moved to Chang'an, Sili was changed to Sizhou, and five counties were established at the same time.
With Luoyang as the center point, Xiaomengjin in the north, Heyang in the north as the boundary, Xin'an in the west as the boundary, and Yiyang in Hongnong and Wucheng in Henan as the south, a so-called "Luoyang" was established.
"County", the administrative seat was Luoyang County, the original capital.
After the emperor's sincere invitation, Lu Zhi, who had a good reputation in the country and was also a good general of the Han Dynasty, became the prefect of Luoyang, guarding this important place and managing the eastern capital for the emperor.
Liu Bian was very relieved when he handed over the eastern capital of Luoyang to Lu Zhi, but Dong Zhuo was not so relieved. After all, Luoyang was so rich, and most of the world's wealth was accumulated here. He was not at ease when all the wealth in the world was handed over to Lu Zhi.
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Therefore, Dong Zhuo thought of a damaging move.
In addition to Luoyang County, Hedong County, Hanoi County, Hongnong County, and Henan Yin, which had just been changed to Henan County by Dong Zhuo, all belonged to Sizhou.
Coincidentally, these four major counties in Sizhou are located in the northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest of Luoyang County.
It can be said that Lu Zhi was trapped in it.
The governors of these four counties are all direct descendants of Dong Zhuo's close relatives.
In addition, there is also the position of Sizhou governor, which is held by Zhonglang general Niu Fu.
This can be regarded as a disguised punishment for Niu Fu's previous defeat to Liu Jian.
Of course, the most important thing is to let him take charge of the army to supervise Sizhou and watch over Lu Zhi in Luoyang.
When the appointment was issued, Liu Jian was still handling local government affairs in Youzhou. He wrote to Lu Zhi, saying that the situation in Sizhou was so bad and he hoped that Lu Zhi would not go.
But Lu Zhi did tell his good disciple not to worry, as he would have no problem going to Luoyang.
In the end, Liu Jian still failed to persuade Lu Zhi... Lu Zhi finally went to Luoyang to take office.
Regarding Lu Zhi's move to Sizhou, Liu Jian was still worried at first. In his opinion, the teacher was a bit of a sheep in the tiger's mouth.
But as follow-up news came, Liu Jian felt relieved again.
Lu Zhi is Lu Zhi after all.
He had been in the Han Dynasty for nearly twenty years, and he was among the best in terms of political experience and military achievements. Faced with the situation Dong Zhuo laid out for him, how could he not think of his own countermeasures?
Yinhe Hongnong in Henan was originally under the control of Dong Zhuo, and it was understandable that he changed the people in charge. Wang Yi from Hedong County was a more obedient person. In his early years, he studied under Taiwei Liu Kuan and was summoned by the court. After the order was issued, he returned to Beijing to take up his post and gave up his position.
However, compared to these three counties, the situation in Hanoi County was beyond Dong Zhuo's control.
Who is the governor of Hanoi County now? Wang Kuangye!
And who was the person who was stationed in Hanoi County with Wang Kuang and led the troops together?
It’s Zhu Jun, the cavalry general!
What is the relationship between these two people and Dong Zhuo?
The front line is in Yuan Shao's crusade, and the two of them can always stay in the north to contain Li Jue's troops.
Then he can definitely be regarded as Dong Zhuo's enemy.
Dong Zhuo now wants to arrange for someone to take office in Hebei?
Before the people who took office could enter the city, they were immediately driven away by troops sent by Wang Kuang and Zhu Jun, and they were unable to enter either city.
Lu Zhi, who had just arrived in Luoyang, immediately used a luxurious carriage to send the two-thousand-stone man who had resigned within a day of taking office back to Chang'an all the way.
Soon, Lu Zhi sent people to communicate with Wang Kuang and Zhu Jun to discuss how to guard against the Baibo Army in Baibo Valley.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Lu Zhi was looking for an excuse to form a military alliance with Wang Kuang and Zhu Jun.
After Dong Zhuo learned the news, he was so angry.
The plan to surround Lu Zhi and control him was completely failed.
The northeastern part of Hebei County borders the State of Zhao, and where is the State of Zhao? It is the territory of Liu Jian, the shepherd of Jizhou. As long as Hanoi is a connecting point, soldiers from Hebei can come to assist Lu Zhi at any time.
Only then did Liu Jian understand why Lu Zhi dared to go to Luoyang. It turned out that his teacher had already secretly discussed everything with Wang Kuang and others.
With Lu Zhi acting as a barrier to the south of Hanoi, the pressure on Wang Kuang and Zhu Jun was greatly reduced.
Lu Zhi went to Luoyang to take office, and the position of Beimu in Jizhou became vacant.
As for the imperial court, after Empress Dowager He's instruction, no new pastoral envoy was appointed. After a "public discussion" by the court, it was finally decided to appoint Liu Jian as the pastoral minister of Jizhou!
Regardless of the east, west, south, or west, he was the only pastoral guard in the whole state in the Han Dynasty.
At the same time, he promoted his position as Tinghou, changed his residence, and was granted the title of Champion County Marquis.
When Liu Jian learned the news, he was leading his troops back to Jizhou. He smiled and informed the people who returned with him about the news.
Among them, Yu Ze was accompanying him.
Over the years, Yu Ze and Li Damu have been responsible for the defense of Yecheng's headquarters army. After all, Yecheng is Liu Jian's headquarters camp. Even if it is in a safe zone, there will never be any mistakes. Therefore, these two accompanied him there. His subordinates who went to Luoyang had been in charge of the garrison for him in Yecheng.
After several years of hard work, both of them have developed their skills. Now there is no need for them to guard Yecheng at the same time, so when they went to Youzhou this time, Liu Jian took Yu Ze with him.
After listening to Liu Jian's story, Yu Ze was very happy.
"Congratulations on winning the title of County Marquis, especially this champion, which means a lot to me, the great Han Dynasty."
Liu Jian looked at him: "How to solve it?"
Yu Ze said: "In the old days during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, Huo Huoqi was awarded the title of Champion County Marquis, which extended the honor to the entire clan. Later, his son Huo Huan inherited the title. Unfortunately, Huo Huan died early, and Huo Yun adopted him as Huo Qi's first wife.
Fang, inherited the title, and later the Huo family was exterminated, so the inheritance stopped."
"More than a hundred years ago, the famous general Jia Fu was ranked in this title. He had great military exploits!"
"The person who later received this title was General Dou Xiandou."
Speaking of this, he saw a look of envy on Yu Ze's face, saying: "Since the beginning of the Huo clan, in my territory of the Han Dynasty, those who have been awarded the title of Champion Marquis are all famous generals in the world! Now with this title of Marquis
Granting the lord a title shows that the court should regard the lord as a famous general to support the Han Dynasty. After a thousand years, the lord's reputation will no longer be inferior to that of Huo Qiaoqi."
If it had been anyone else, hearing Yu Ze's words, they would have almost burst into laughter.
But Liu Jian is a pragmatic person, and he is not actually interested in the so-called title of "hero and famous general".
Moreover, Liu Jian seemed to have some other meaning in this imperial edict from the champion.
"Actually, in addition to the few people you just mentioned, there is another person in our Han Dynasty who was once named a champion, but you don't want to mention it."
Hearing this, Yu Ze showed some shame and embarrassment on his face.
It's no wonder that Yu Ze showed such an expression. The person Liu Jian mentioned was really unspeakable.
Liu Jian didn't care, he directly said the person's name.
"If I remember correctly, the last champion of my Han Dynasty should be Wang Fu."
Wang Fu was one of the most trusted eunuchs of the late Emperor Liu Hong. In terms of role and status, he was even far above Zhang Rang at that time.
After killing Dou Wu, Chen Fan, and Cao Jie, Duan Jue had been in power for many years and was hated by scholars all over the world. In the end, he died at the hands of the late Emperor Liu Hong's sharp knife Yang Qiu.
While Liu Jian was beating his horse, he turned to look at Yu Ze.
"Brother Yu, you said that the imperial court gave me the title of champion, was it His Majesty's intention, Dong Zhuo's intention, or Queen Mother He's intention?"
Yu Ze felt a little hesitant.
To be honest, with his political literacy, he simply cannot think of such a complicated issue.
Of course, even if he could figure it out, he wouldn't be able to tell Liu Jian.
After all, the scope of this matter is quite large.
What he directly targeted was the relationship between Liu Jian and those in the court who were in charge of the most important weapons in the world.
Seeing that Yu Ze didn't answer, Liu Jian didn't force him.
He himself answered for Yu: "According to my own opinion, this champion is probably Dong Zhuo, and the emperor and the queen mother intend to confer it on me."
"The emperor is young, and I am his uncle. I have never failed to pay tribute to the imperial court and provide state pastoral care on time every year."
"So from the emperor's point of view, he may really think that my meritorious service is very important and I have repeatedly made military exploits for the Han Dynasty, which can be compared with Huo Qiaoqi and Jia Ganghou, so he chooses Champion County as my seat."
Yu Ze nodded suddenly.
Liu Jian continued: "As for Dong Zhuo, he probably saw that after I occupied Youzhou, my power became more and more powerful, and he felt a little jealous in his heart, so he regarded me as the champion. After all, he became the champion.
The people of the county, except those who later became Marquis of Jiaodong, either died early or died violently. Mr. Dong somewhat reminded me and also cursed me."
After hearing this, Yu Ze was dumbfounded.
"How could Dong Zhuo have such an idea?"
Liu Jian smiled and said, "I'm just guessing, I don't dare to be sure."
"As for the Queen Mother, she was born in a butcher's family and has poor knowledge. She may not understand the affairs of the previous dynasty that clearly. In his opinion, the last champion was Wang Fu, and the eunuchs are all the arms of the emperor.
The imperial power is extended, so it seems that Queen Mother He wants to use this official position to remind me that I must serve the Tian family well."
Yu Ze sighed: "It's just an imperial title from a champion county prince. Didn't my lord think too much?"
Liu Jian said: "There are so many places that can be granted by imperial decree. Why do you want me to be the champion county marquis? I don't want to think more about it."
Yu Ze said: "In that case, what should my lord do?"
"Staying the same is the way to cope with all changes. The more Chang'an hints at me, the more calm I become, making it impossible for them to figure out my attitude."
"Now, I am the Lord of the Three States. As long as I do not take the initiative and make all the princes in the world angry, both Dong Zhuo and the imperial court will treat me differently."
"So with my current status, no one can do anything to me if I don't move."