Bai Xiaowen only took ten days to pacify Xiliang and capture Ma Chao alive!
When the news came back to Yedu, all the officials in the Grand Sima Mansion were happy. All the officials in the court were in awe.
Dong Zhao then proposed the matter of granting a reward, and asked Bai Xiaowen to be granted the title of "Gong of the State of Yan" and be granted many privileges.
This is no coincidence.
In the romance, it was Dong Zhao who first proposed to make Cao Cao the Duke of Wei and add "Nine Tins" to show his merits and show his different status from other ministers. Now it is enough to only mention the title of Duke of Wei without adding "Nine Tins".
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Except for a few people who bowed their heads and remained silent, most of the ministers expressed their agreement.
It should be noted that these court officials were all kidnapped from Xudu by Bai Xiaowen. Relatively speaking, they are relatively soft-hearted.
Those who were tough and unwilling to move the capital with him were all regarded by the emperor as Cao Cao's party members and ordered to be killed.
At first, Bai Xiaowen did not give the order himself, but asked Emperor Liu Xie to order the execution of the ministers. Now it has achieved results, further reducing the loyalty of the courtiers to the emperor, although their original loyalty was not high.
Only one official objected to the matter and took action.
It was none other than Guanglu Qing, Shangshu Ling Xunyu.
However, Xun Yu did not raise his opinion in court, but wrote to Bai Xiaowen to advise him not to do this.
On the way to the class, Bai Xiaowen received a letter from Xun Yu. After reading it, he passed it on to several teammates of the White Phoenix team to watch, and he was silent in thought.
"Xun Yu once dissuaded Cao Cao from proclaiming himself Duke of Wei in his novels. It is reasonable for him to dissuade you from proclaiming yourself Duke of Yan now." Qiao Rui said.
Li Shuyi said: "When I read the novel, I thought Xun Yu was very strange. You said he was loyal to the emperor, but when the emperor recognized Liu Bei as his uncle, he reported to Cao Cao and advised Cao Cao to be careful; but
He is said to be loyal to Cao Cao, but he also prevents Cao Cao from proclaiming himself. He is quite a contradictory person."
Bai Xiaowen said: "It's not surprising. Xun Yu was not loyal to the emperor, nor was he loyal to Cao Cao; he was just an idealist. His ideal was for Cao Cao to be Yi Yin and Duke of Zhou! As an official subordinate to Cao Cao, he can also be famous in history. When
When reality and ideals conflict, he will not compromise, which leads to the tragedy in the novel."
"In the novel, Cao Cao gave Xun Yu an empty food box, so Xun Yu committed suicide by taking poison. What are you going to do?"
Bai Xiaowen said: "Cao Cao is suspicious and thinks that if Xun Yu doesn't help him, he will help the Han Dynasty. I am reluctant to kill Xun Yu, but I can't accommodate his will. I have checked and found out that the contribution of becoming emperor to the unification is greater.
The score is very heavy and I cannot give up. To be crowned emperor, duke or king is a necessary prelude."
Regarding Xun Yu's letter, Bai Xiaowen's approach was to treat it coldly, using the word "drag" and ignore it. He also sent an envoy to Yedu to reward Dong Zhao with a pair of white jade.
Dong Zhao understood Bai Xiaowen's true intention and contacted the officials to press the emperor.
When Bai Xiaowen returned to Yedu, the emperor sent out Luanjia and led hundreds of officials out of Yecheng to greet him.
The imperial edict granted Bai Xiaowen the title of Duke of Yan State. He entered the court without any hesitation, praised and worshiped without name, and went to the palace with swords and shoes.
The title was "Yan" because Bai Xiaowen raised his troops from the land of Youyan; the following three privileges also have their own explanations.
In ancient times, when ministers went to court to see the emperor, in order to show respect, they had to bow their heads and walk quickly into the court with small steps. This is called "trending".
When meeting the emperor, there is also a set of procedures. The master of ceremonies will call out "Da Sima, lead Yuan Xi, the pastor of Jizhou, to see your majesty." He must bring his name. In ancient times, calling by name can only be done when one of the parties is a superior/elder.
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Now the edict is "praise without name", that is, no longer mention the name, only the official title. Although it seems to be a very small change, it reflects that there is a vague meaning of equality between the emperor and the ministers.
The last one is "going to the palace with swords and shoes", which means you can wear shoes and carry a sword and go to the palace to see the emperor. This is also a kind of preferential treatment and honor.
However, for enjoying Xuanhe's power, Bai Xiaowen naturally had to pay a certain price.
For example, all the emperor's officials saw through Bai Xiaowen's true face.
Another example...Xun Yu took the initiative to resign from the affairs of the Chancellery.
Bai Xiaowen could only meet Xun Yu in person.
Bai Xiaowen was shocked again when he saw Xun Yu this time. Compared with the last time he saw Xun Yu, Xun Yu had lost a lot of weight, and he felt like he was out of shape.
"Your Majesty, why has the Qing Dynasty been reduced to this point?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
Xun Yu replied: "The food is not tasty, and the pillow is not restful for sleeping, so I am thin."
Bai Xiaowen did not continue to ask, but just sighed: "It's too hard for you to hold multiple positions. Since you resign from the post of minister, I will accept it; as for Guanglu Qing's court position, it is a sinecure, so you don't need to
Enter the court again. Gu will promote you as the governor of Jizhou, and you can concentrate on managing the civil affairs of Jizhou."
Here Bai Xiaowen calls himself "lonely" and does not go beyond that.
Xun Yu should indeed stay away from the center of the court and concentrate on local affairs. This is also a kind of protection for him.
When Xun Yu saw that Bai Xiaowen did not follow his routine, he said directly: "Before I decreed to make my lord the Duke of Yan, I wrote to my lord but there was no reply."
Bai Xiaowen nodded: "I was busy with the class at that time and had already arrived in Yanzhou, so I didn't reply to the letter."
Xun Yu bowed and said: "After my lord became a minister of the Han Dynasty, he was favored by the court for four generations and three princes. It is even more important for me to uphold my loyalty and abide by the principle of humility and retreat. A gentleman who loves others with virtue should not be so presumptuous. I sincerely ask my lord.
, if you withdraw your honorific title, the Han Dynasty will be very lucky, and the world will be very lucky."
Bai Xiaowen coughed: "Okay, Xun Yu, I understand. Please step back."
After Xun Yu resigned, Bai Xiaowen asked to resign from the title of Duke of Yan.
A glimmer of hope arose in the emperor's heart, and he asked at the court meeting: "The Duke of Yan said that he was young and virtuous and did not dare to accept the title. What did the ministers think?"
The newly appointed Guanglu Qing, Shangshu Ling Dong Zhao, came out and said: "This is because the Duke of Yan is humble and observes etiquette. Your Majesty should issue another edict and not allow Duke Yan to resign, so as to avoid disappointing his subjects."
After the ministers bowed to him again, Shan called out: "Your Majesty, please issue an edict, so as not to disappoint the subjects!" It turned out that Dong Zhao had secretly colluded with most of the courtiers, and this was the scene where mountains and seas responded.
The emperor's face changed color and he could only issue the edict again. This time, Bai Xiaowen did not say any more and accepted it directly.
Xun Yu had no choice but to stay in bed.
Dong Zhao went to visit Xun Yu and said: "I heard that your Majesty has repeatedly remonstrated with my lord, and you are not respected. If you were a jealous and harsh master, I would not be able to tolerate you. My lord even appointed your lord as the governor of Jizhou. I am favored by you."
Extremely. Why do you go against the trend and offend the world?"
Xun Yu coughed and could not speak. He pointed at the door and stared at Dong Zhao.
Dong Zhao sighed and said, "I was recommended by your Majesty so that I could meet the Master of the Ming Dynasty and show my ambitions. This advice is for the sake of your family and life. Since you don't like it, I will never visit you again in the future.