Chapter 17 When the Dead Branches Are Not Seen to Build the Soil (Part 1)
The Tongquetai Great Court Meeting in mid-September was originally just a process for Gongsun Xun to unilaterally implement and reaffirm his authority within the Yan system. He just wanted to use his power and authority to remind these people that the world was not yet unified. As a Yan
A minister of the state, as his minister, is not allowed to have extra political stances.
Of course, there are also necessary cleaning actions.
However, as Jia Xu suddenly stood up together with several ministers and asked questions, the nature of the matter completely changed. After those questions and answers, the meeting essentially turned into a political commitment... Since the Yan Kingdom
The mutual commitment between the bureaucracy and the Duke of Yan is also the political commitment made by the Yan State bureaucrats and the Duke of Yan, Sun Xun, to the entire world.
In fact, this is Jia Xu's brilliance.
If Kong Rong and those who made trouble before were hoping that their scholars, who were on the fringes of the Yan State system, would reach a political commitment with Gongsun Xun himself in exchange for their support for Gongsun Xun to become emperor, then this question and answer is
With the Yan State as the main body, a general political commitment was reached with the people of the world, thereby gaining the support of the people of the world for Gongsun Xun's proclaimed emperor.
Which one is better and which one is worse, which one is higher and which one is lower, is clear at a glance.
In fact, after this court meeting, Gongsun Xun personally ordered that the content of the questions and answers should be distributed to the world in the form of internal official documents and announcements, word for word.
This is a temptation and a declaration, but no matter what, he is very ambitious and will not hide it!
After this incident, Yan Gong’s heart was only known to everyone on the road at first, and then everyone in the palace knew it, but now it is known to everyone in the world!
When the news spread, naturally some people were heartbroken, some were filled with grief and indignation, some sighed, some were panicked, some turned a deaf ear, some were overjoyed, some were anxious... But overall, it was not within the current rule of Yan State.
What a big stir it caused.
After all, the people below were just watching the fun. The die-hard opponents had already left south. Those who stayed but still held objections either didn't have the guts to say anything or didn't care anymore.
It is said that when the incident reached Yingchuan, Du Xinzheng, the county magistrate, took the notice to ask Xun Yu. Xun Wenruo was repairing his barn at that time. After reading the notice on the wall of the barn, he only said:
In a word - it's better than a yellow dragon flying out of Zhang Shui, right?
After saying this, Xun Wenruo ignored it and continued to repair the barn for winter storage.
The news continued to spread southward, and finally reached Jianghan. Unexpectedly, Jingzhou Liu Biao and others were just depressed after reading the announcement, and there was no strong verbal reaction... Of course, they had not yet recovered from the shock of the fall of Shu.
After coming out, Yu Wu County, who was very anxious, set up defenses in the Zigui area, fearing that the army gathered in Shu would directly go down the river and break through the Three Gorges.
If that were the case, I would probably lose the freedom to read notices.
And the message continued to spread southward, and before the end of the year, the first big force to make a violent reaction finally appeared... It was not Liu Bei and Sun Quan in the military confrontation, nor the small Jiangxia court that had gradually stabilized recently, but something more.
To the south, Shi Xie Shi Weiyan controlled the six counties of Jiaozhou.
After a fierce ideological struggle, he exchanged letters with Gongsun Yue and Tian Feng who entered Yizhou several times to discuss the formal conditions for the surrender of Jiaozhou, and finally made up his mind after receiving a private letter from Gongsun Xun himself along the coast.
, began to fully move towards Hebei.
Among them, the most iconic political move was the formal memorial he sent to the small court of Jiangxia before the New Year. The memorial clearly mentioned that he would leave for Luoyang in person in the spring and summer of next year.
In the old capital, I had a meeting with Duke Yan to talk about old times and discuss things.
At the end of the memorial, he suggested that the young emperor should return north to Luoyang with him and worship the tombs of the Han Dynasty with Duke Yan.
When the news came out, the remaining forces in the entire south were completely shaken, and the four southern counties of Jingzhou, which were half covered by Jiaozhou and Yizhou, were immediately shaken. Lingling County, Wuling County, Guiyang County, and Changsha County were all under control.
Stunned and caught off guard, a self-protection group that was almost a loose alliance began to form with Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha County, as the core.
This group did not explicitly raise slogans against Liu Biao, nor did it explicitly support Hebei. It only began to use an official stance to non-violently resist Liu Biao's military and warehousing orders.
The reason for this can be traced apart from Jiaozhou’s decisive statement:
First of all, Zhang Xian had served as the prefect of Lingling and Guiyang counties a long time ago. He had great political influence and appeal here and could be called a natural leader between Hunan and Han;
Secondly, although Liu Biao appointed Zhang Xian to the post of Governor of Changsha, Liu Biao was not polite to him at first, just because the previous Governor of Changsha, Su Dai, had rebelled against Liu Biao, and after dealing with Su Dai, he needed to appease the place.
Therefore, such a figure had to be appointed to appease the Jingnan area... Liu Biao and Zhang Xian had a preconceived notion;
In addition, Zhang Xian and the other three prefects all have families in the north. For example, Zhang Xian was born in Nanyang. At this time, his family was completely located in the Yan Kingdom's ruling area. His younger brother Zhang Ji and Zhang Zhongjing were even more powerful.
Gongli hired me to go to Ye to open some hospital;
Finally, and the most important reason is that he was born in Changsha and started his career as an old official of Sun Jian. However, he became the general of Wei after Dong Zhuo's rebellion.
After the Yue Da court meeting, he immediately left for the south. At this time, he had already returned to Changsha and began to be active as an important minister of the Yan State.
There is reason to believe that this person brought the political commitment of Duke Yan to the military and political officials of the four southern counties of Jingzhou and even the Sun family in Jiangdong.
At this time, the weight of Yan Gong's political commitment is naturally self-evident.
However, after all, the Han Dynasty was a Han Dynasty that had been unified for four hundred years. The name Hanchen really made the four governors of the four counties of Jingnan feel psychologically difficult to pass.
At this moment, the ministers within the Yan State system can naturally follow the Yan State's internal system, use the Yan State's shell to cover up their loyalty generously, and secretly work hard for the goal of Yan overthrowing the Han Dynasty; ordinary people who care about the Han Dynasty can also do the same.
Xun Wenruo and Du Zixu ignored them. After all, they had done their best for the Han Dynasty and always had a clear conscience; but these four prefects were really embarrassed...
All in all, for the sake of survival and reality, they chose to listen to Huan Jie and break away from Liu Biao, but they also felt that they did not want to openly defect to Hebei at this time, so they created a strange political model of mutual protection between the four counties of Jingnan.
But even so, for the remaining forces of the Han Dynasty in the middle and lower reaches of Chang'an, it was like a bolt from the blue!
Although it is said that the essence of Jingzhou is in the north, under the current situation, Jingzhou has lost Nanyang, and handed over Jiangxia to the emperor. Then the four southern counties suddenly lost control following Jiaozhou's statement. Doesn't that mean it's Tangtang?
Liu Biao and Liu Jingsheng, the pillars of the Han Dynasty, suddenly had only one county left? Not even as good as Sun Quan?!
This is too ridiculous!
In addition to feeling ridiculous, Nanjun, Jiangxia, Yuzhang, and Wujun felt complete despair again... The so-called Han Dynasty Alliance, which originally only had ten counties, ran away with four of them. Obviously, this innocence is really going to happen.
changed!
However, how could these smart people not know?
This was the inevitable result after the Guandu War, but Hebei's ferocity in taking Yizhou within three months seriously catalyzed this process.
All in all, it’s time to make a decision!
So, before the New Year, the small court of Jiangxia issued decrees one after another, mediating between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and inviting the only three remaining Han princes along the Yangtze River to put aside their prejudices and come to Jiangxia to participate in the Han Dynasty's New Year's meeting!
Liu Biao and Liu Bei immediately agreed, and Sun Quan, citing his age as an excuse, accepted mediation and sent the second-in-command in the regime, Zhu Zhi and Zhu Junli, the prefect of Kuaiji, who had just recovered to health, to go to Jiangxia in his place.
It can be considered very sincere.
Speaking of which, this Spring Festival ‘Great Court Meeting’ may be the last glimmer of hope for the Han Dynasty.
"Beijing Chariot, please come down and see. After all, the Han Dynasty has been in the world for four hundred years, but there is still a glimmer of hope!" In a spacious courtyard in Xiling City, Jiangxia, a famous man named Cui Yan who went south was sincerely talking to him just now.
The pillar of the Han Dynasty, the cavalry general Jingze, who arrived at Xiling, was talking about something.
"Where is the vitality?" Jingze, who was sitting in the top position, sighed with a tired face.
"In the north." Cui Yan quickly faced him seriously. "As far as I know, this time Yan Ni was at the Tongquetai meeting. In order to ensure that there would be no accidents in this question and answer, he first convicted Kong Beihai and set a scale of implicated crimes.
In this case, hundreds of scholars, children of famous families, and even Yexia students who were just fifteen or sixteen years old were sent to the front line as companions just because they criticized his new policies and discussed his employment... Kong Beihai
He was even sent to the Yin Mountains to herd sheep! How can such a willful and cruel person last long?"
Jingze held his forehead and was speechless for a moment.
"There is also the south." Cui Yan continued to speak earnestly. "Jingnan, Jiaozhou, and even the southern part of Yizhou actually did not fall into the hands of Yan Ni. They just saw that they were powerful and did not dare to stop them. This is the result of human
It’s normal... and after all, they have Han Dynasty in mind, and they will never turn against them!"
Jing Zefu sighed again in the Taiwei's chair, and then spoke: "I understand what Cui Jun means, and I believe what Cui Jun said is reasonable... But it doesn't matter whether it's the south or the north.
If you want to have a chance of survival, you have to win the battle first, right?"
Cui Yan suddenly felt sad.
"And the current situation? There are really flaws everywhere." The cavalry general Jingze tried his best to cheer up and spoke seriously to the other party. "Xuzhou Guanyun's advantage is that he can send his navy to attack Wu County, Kuaiji, and even Wu County at any time.
Crossing the river to reach Danyang and Yuzhang, it takes not less than five years but three years to form a naval force at sea. However, Tancheng was defeated before and General Zuo's navy was completely lost. What could the Sun and Liu families on the east side of the river do to resist the navy from the north?
The same is true here in Xiangyang. Although Xiangyang is in a dangerous position, now that Yizhou has been completely lost and Jingnan is neutral, Xiangyang is equivalent to being attacked on three sides. Then when Gongsun Yue leads the Shu army down the river, Cheng Demou will lead the Sili troops to surround Xiangyang.
, what can Liu Zhennan use to resist? Can Jingnan really remain neutral by then? And Jiangxia, I won’t say more in front of Anlu, there are really no soldiers or generals..."
Cui Yan became more and more depressed, but did not refute because he also knew that what the other party said was all the truth.
"Cui Jun." Jingze caught a glimpse of the other party's gesture, and seemed to feel that the words were a bit harsh, so he tried his best to speak again. "Cui Jun, please be patient. I will definitely ask for a good job for Cui Jun during the court meeting in a few days. I would like to come with Cui Jun."
There is absolutely no reason why the Emperor would disapprove of your reputation and talent. At that time, Cui Jun will be able to tell the Emperor all his thoughts and ideas, and the Emperor will definitely use Cui Jun again."
Cui Yan hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, but when he saw that Jingze was really tired, he took the initiative to leave.
But as soon as Cui Yan left, Jingze just put down his arrogance, but almost collapsed in his seat... In other words, this year was really not easy for Jingze, or to put it simply, it was really difficult for him!
The first half of the year was fine. At most, he, a cavalry general, was in Anlu. As the north-facing portal manager of Jiangxia's small court, he took over a large area of many scholars who fled south. As a spy, he naturally did not seek land.
He is greedy and has no intention of separatizing the local area and treating Anlu as private property, so he is extremely generous and fair. Whether it is for the people fleeing to the north or the local scholars and people, although this Beijing chariot rider cannot be perfect, he still does everything.
It’s time to do your best.
So, naturally, the reputation of being a corporal of courtesy and virtue and a pillar of virtuous ministers cannot escape.
All in all, in the first half of the year, with the large-scale support from public opinion, coupled with the common reliance of the young emperor and the empress, he was probably promoted higher and higher, and became more and more relied on, so that he gradually had Liu Bei and Liu Bei.
Liu Biao's ordinary reputation is more than that of that stupid boy Sun Quan... But how should I put it? In a sense, he is already used to it.
However, in the second half of the year, he was involved in a huge incident!
Yes, that is the matter of the queen giving birth.
By the way, as the queen's brother-in-law, Jingze, who is almost forty years old, is naturally very gentle and considerate when facing his wife, who is actually the second daughter of the Yuan family who is not even fifteen years old, and this naturally arouses
Empress Yuan's attention and favor.
Of course, this is also because Empress Yuan has no one else to rely on now. Her younger brother is useless, so her brother-in-law is naturally his only choice.
Therefore, in the second half of the year, Empress Yuan, who had become increasingly pregnant, publicly proposed conditions to the emperor. She could release the minister, but as she became increasingly pregnant, someone needed to come to Sha Xian to control the situation for her... But
She just couldn't trust the emperor, so she hoped to let Jingze go to Shaxian while conquering Shu in the west and the north was safe.
In other words, she can hand over Shaxian and the Jiangxia territory west of Shaxian, but she must take over it from Jingze to ensure the safety of their mother and son in Shaxian - this is called surrendering to the Han but not to the emperor. The queen only trusts her brother-in-law.
!
The little emperor has no choice.
Although he is smart, he cannot be completely clear about matters of men and women and pregnancy... In fact, it is not that this little emperor has never doubted who the child in Queen Yuan's belly is. But the problem is that doubts
Gui suspected that even though he had had physical contact with the other party, he could not completely deny that the child might be his. And if it was really his son Liu Xie, then as his parents, grandmother, uncle, aunt and brother, he really needed to
Such a child.
This need is a dual need from the perspective of the emperor and the only seedling of this sect.
Therefore, the emperor also approved Jingze to handle this matter. The style of the sword that day, plus Yang Biao's entrustment, finally made him completely trust Jingze.
Therefore, in July, Jing Youxi, who had just arrived in Shaxian, met the child!
That’s right!
The baby was born in July! Not August!
Jingze realized almost instantly that this was Lu Bu's posthumous son and had nothing to do with the emperor!
However, what Jingze encountered was not only this shocking fact. He also encountered Empress Yuan, his sister-in-law, who had just given birth, holding his nephew. The mother and son had not even cut the umbilical cord, and they were bleeding.
The situation of kneeling down to him...but Jingze finally relented.
Because he knew that as long as he made it clear, it might be a huge blow to the Han Dynasty, but Empress Yuan and her son, no matter how innocent they were, would still die, even if he did not do it in the end, they would definitely die!
In short, if you can't do it, you can't do it.
Therefore, Jingze concealed everything and waited until August to announce the news that the queen had given birth. This basically dispelled the emperor's suspicion and confirmed that the child was the legitimate inheritance of the Han Dynasty.
But once this thing is done, the pressure on Jingze will not be that simple.
First of all, doing this means that he, Jingze, has betrayed his apparent allegiance, which is the young emperor and the Han Dynasty! Moreover, the nature of this betrayal is extremely bad... Otherwise, is there a worse way of betrayal?
This is simply more ridiculous than regicide! And the little emperor still trusts him so much!
Secondly, he also seriously betrayed his de facto allegiance, which was Duke Yan and the State of Yan... After all, Jingze knew very well that what Duke Yan needed most was no longer military things, but
The birth and exposure of a false eldest son of the emperor would probably be no worse for Duke Yan than the acquisition of Yizhou.
But such a huge and effective fact that attacked the authority of the Han Dynasty was changed by him himself.
The scary part is here. This is a fact. It is not a trick done by a Yan State spy to confuse the public! He could just go with the flow and announce it, but in the end, he was covered up by a spy.
Moreover, with the fall of Yizhou in March, and with the announcement of the question and answer from Tongque Terrace, he truly felt that Duke Yan, who had been kind to him, was the real master of destiny! But he still failed him!
The possibility of war continues.
In other words, one moment of weakness, a life that is likely to die at any time in this era, caused the originally calm Jingze to completely lose his position and betray almost everyone at the same time!
At this moment, Jingze had no idea who he was.
And just when Jingze was in routine struggle because he came to see the emperor, suddenly, a guard came to report in a hurry.
"Cui Yan is gone?" Jingze quickly put away all his thoughts and forced himself to ask. "Didn't I say that I wanted to beg for an official position for him? Why don't you just leave?"
"Reporting back to the general, Mr. Cui left something to tell you. He said that he is not the kind of person who asks for land and housing... Since he was expelled from the north, he has been traveling around, just to prove that he is a useful person." The articulate attendant hurriedly
Explanation. "He also said that he had seen that the general was mentally and physically exhausted, and knew that the general was a rare loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. In this case, he asked the general to do something difficult and continue to maintain the court; to make things easier, he tried to find Er Liu,
Zhu Zhi, see if you can persuade these people to unite and be loyal to the Han!"
At the end of the year, Jiangxia was not so cold that it was unbearable. However, Jingze, who was stunned for a moment, looked up to the sky and sighed. After dismissing the attendants, he actually felt a little sympathy for Cui Yan... It is ridiculous to say that, as a spy of Duke Yan
, he actually felt that he, like Cui Yan, was being abandoned by the new world brought by Duke Yan!
————I am the abandoned dividing line————
"After Yan Gong asked the question at the Tongque Tower, he promulgated it to the world... When he arrived in Jiangxia, Yan discussed it with the chariot general Jingze. They couldn't speak for a long time, but they looked at each other and shed tears. After they said goodbye, Yan held his hand and said: 'General, what are you doing?
It's difficult, but it's easy for me to do it, so be careful! 'Ze sighed and knew what he meant, but he couldn't say anything." - "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". Biography of Du Xingxing
