The end of the first year of Jian'an arrived quietly.
This era name was coined when the emperor's convoy arrived in Anyi. Emperor Liu Xie offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, issued an edict of amnesty, and changed the country's name to Jian'an.
This is the fourth reign title since Liu Xie ascended the throne. In 189 AD, when Liu Xie was supported by Dong Zhuo to ascend the throne, the reign title was Yonghan, which was changed to Chuping the following year.
In the fourth year of Chuping, which was 194 AD, it was changed to Xingping. Two years later, it was changed to Jian'an.
The people around Liu Xie also kept changing, from Dong Zhuo to Wang Yun, from Li Jue and Guo Si to the generals of the Baibo Army, and then to the current Lu Bu and Dong Cheng, Zhang Yang and Wang Kuang, and even Cao Cao, Yuan Xi and others behind the scenes, appearing one after another like a revolving lantern.
Some of the people who came on stage before have been eliminated by the tide of history, some have experienced ups and downs, and some have emerged, but no one knows who will be able to persevere to the end.
When Liu Xie changed the reign title to Jian'an, he was in a state of panic. At that time, there was a struggle between the Baibo Army and Dong Cheng internally, and pressure from Li Jue and Guo Si externally. Liu Xie's original intention of changing the reign title was probably just to change his luck.
However, what he didn't expect was that his bad luck seemed to have really come to an end.
Lu Bu and the Youzhou army came, Cao Cao came, Li Jue and Guo Si were defeated, the generals of the Baibo army were driven away, and Dong Cheng also restrained himself a lot.
For Liu Xie, the best thing was to have Lu Bu, who was the closest to him and had little power, come to power.
Lu Bu had almost no support from his team and his reputation was also criticized. Most of the gentry did not want to be affiliated with him, so he could not monopolize power like Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun. This gave Liu Xie a lot of room. Within just a few months, Liu Xie had cleaned up the court.
He sat on the dragon throne, accepting the worship of hundreds of officials below. Congratulations on the New Year and the emperor's health surged in the court. He raised his head slightly.
The hall above his head was built by Henei Governor Zhang Yang, who urgently recruited civilians. It was named Yang'an Hall. Although it was very crude, it finally gave him a spacious place to summon his ministers.
Speaking of which, Zhang Yang was also strange. Liu Xie found that apart from his love for farming, he was not interested in profit or being an official, but just liked fame.
When the emperor first arrived in Anyi, he was the first to lead people to welcome the emperor and offered food and clothing, which helped Liu Xie overcome the difficulties.
As a result, chaos broke out in Huaicheng, and Zhang Yang rushed back to pacify the situation in the city, but he missed the drama of the four-way conflict in Anyi.
It is hard to say whether it was lucky or unfortunate. After all, the situation was extremely critical at the time. If I had stayed in the city, I might have lost my life by accident.
However, Zhang Yang still seemed to be very resentful about it afterwards, so after the emperor arrived in Huaicheng, Zhang Yang started a large-scale construction project and built a hall for Liu Xie to receive officials. He named it after himself, which could be regarded as fulfilling his wish.
Listening to the congratulations of all officials, Liu Xie felt for the first time the wonder of being an emperor. Now that there were no more powerful ministers around him who could do whatever they wanted, this feeling... was really great.
But what made him a little uneasy was that, apart from Lu Bu, the two greatest contributors to his service seemed to have disappeared.
One was Yuan Xi, who took his imperial edict back to Yecheng, and then turned around to attack Heishan.
I asked him to mediate the Heishan dispute in Jizhou, and this is how he did it?
However, Liu Xie had not had much hope in Yuan Xi. After all, no matter how stupid the other party was, he would not betray the Yuan family for him.
So Liu Xie was well prepared. After Yuan Xi left, he replaced Wang Kuang, who was sent to Heishan to mediate, with Zhong Yao.
Facts have proved that with Cao Cao's support, Zhong Yao did have a way. He found ways to give up Yang Feng and bring Zhang Yan back, making him a great helper to Liu Xie.
Of course, Liu Xie understood that Zhang Yan must have colluded with Cao Cao a long time ago, otherwise he would not have agreed so readily. But it didn't matter. As long as he could find a way to win over Zhang Yan, sooner or later he would make him understand that following Cao Cao was definitely not as promising as following him.
But if Liu Xie could still control these developments, what happened in Puyang City was somewhat unexpected.
Although Cao's army let the brothers Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao go, they killed all their families!
This was beyond Liu Xie's expectations. Although Cao Cao later wrote a letter saying that a soldier had acted on his own and had been beheaded in public, not only did Liu Xie not believe it, but Kong Rong, who had returned, also testified in the court every day that it was Cao's generals who ordered it.
Kong Rong demanded that the leaders such as Cao Hong be executed. Zhong Yao and Ding Chong from Cao Cao's faction naturally opposed it. The two sides quarreled for two months and have not stopped to this day.
Liu Xie certainly knew that the matter could not be pursued any further. He also keenly felt that he had been tricked by Cao Cao, even worse than Yuan Xi.
In name, Cao Cao followed the imperial edict and let Zhang Miao and his brothers go, but he took advantage of a loophole and killed their entire families. This was a secret warning to the whole world that anyone who offended the Cao family would definitely not have a good end, and even the emperor's mediation would not work!
This incident indeed frightened a large number of people, and it seemed to have overwhelmed Liu Xie's momentum. Many previously wavering court ministers had begun to secretly turn to Cao Cao!
This made Liu Xie smell a bad sign. Although he had been wary of Cao Cao, Liu Xie initially felt that Cao Cao would still be obedient and dependent on him for a period of time.
After all, in his opinion, Cao Cao was controlled by Yuan Shao and faced the threat of Yuan Shu in the south. Without his support, he would have no status and his territory would be in jeopardy. Who else could help him?
But the Puyang incident made Liu Xie alert that Cao Cao was not as desperate as he thought, and he was not as important in Cao Cao's mind as he imagined!
Why was Cao Cao so confident?
His brows were furrowed. None of them could open up to me. Instead, they took advantage of me everywhere. When did the relationship between the monarch and his subjects become such a naked exchange of benefits and disadvantages?
After the ministers finished their ceremony, they saw that Liu Xie was still silent and did not dare to raise their heads. After a long while, Liu Xie came to his senses and said to the people in the hall, "Do you have anything to report today?"
The ministers looked at each other secretly, and one of them came out and bowed, saying, "I have something to report."
"Gongsun Du of Liaodong proclaimed himself Marquis of Liaodong and Governor of Pingzhou."
As soon as these words came out, all the ministers held their breath and concentrated. Sure enough, the man said, "I heard that Gongsun Du has joined forces with Anguo Tinghou. I don't know what the two sides are planning to do!"
Another person immediately stepped forward and said, "It is unprecedented in the Han Dynasty to call yourself a new marquis and establish a new state!"
"This is a violation of the rules and cannot be tolerated!"
Someone said, "We can't tolerate it? Do you want to persuade the emperor to issue a petition to reprimand them, or send troops to attack?"
The minister blushed and retorted: "Why, is the Han system in name only?"
Someone sneered and said, "Gongsun Du did something wrong, but Liaodong is far away in a barren land, thousands of miles away from Huaicheng. What can we do?"
"We can't send troops, and even if we send a letter of warning, the other side won't listen. Wouldn't this further damage the prestige of the Han Dynasty?"
Someone said, "Is that the end of it?"
The person in front replied, "Of course not. If you want to win him over, just give him another title."
"If we really want to teach him a lesson, we can only send troops to attack him nearby. We can't send troops to Huaicheng, right?"
The person behind him sneered, "Let someone attack us?"
"Who is willing to go against him? Gongsun Du has already become a local overlord. Who in that place can do anything to him?"
Someone said, "Gongsun Du broke the rules and established himself in Youzhou. How about letting Youzhou Mu send troops to attack him?"
After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent. Some people thought to themselves, this is openly to mobilize Zhao Yun, but secretly targeting Yuan Xi.
Everyone knows that Zhao Yun is Yuan Xi's subordinate, and the one who really manages Youzhou is still Yuan Xi. This idea is obviously to alienate Yuan Xi and Gongsun Du, putting Yuan Xi in a difficult position.
Some people were secretly happy in their hearts. Who asked you, Yuan Xi, and Gongsun Du to join forces? Now it depends on what you do!
At this time, someone stepped forward and said, "Heavenly Family, this matter involves many things, and we have to act with caution."
When everyone looked, it was Yang Biao.
He bowed his head and said, "Gongsun Du is indeed a traitor, but the location of Liaodong where he is located is very important."
"The Han Dynasty is weak, and foreign barbarians are causing trouble. Over the years, the Xianbei and Goguryeo outside the Great Wall have been encroaching on the borders of the Han Dynasty. If it weren't for Gongsun Du blocking them, the foreign barbarians might have already entered the Great Wall, poisoned the borders, and brought disaster to the people."
At this time, someone interrupted and said, "Gongsun Du is just a warrior. He attacked the foreign barbarians only for his own territory. How could he have the Han people in his heart?"
"Even if he lost Liaodong, he still has Marquis Anguo and General Zhengbei in Youzhou."
"A fierce tiger and a dragon, can't they stop a mere foreign barbarian?"
When everyone heard this, they thought that this was a very sinister statement, praising in name only but actually criticizing, and also directing the blame to Yuan Xi and Zhao Yun.
The use of a tiger and a dragon implies that the two have joined forces and have great ambitions. The name "Xionghu" is already a bit taboo, let alone adding a "zilong" to it.
Ever since Liu Bang killed a white snake and started an uprising, and it was said that a dragon entered his mother's womb, the emperor has established a close connection with the dragon.
Of course, other people in the world can also be called dragons, and there are many people with this title. However, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the combination of dragon and tiger has gradually appeared and has been used extensively in both stone carvings and tombs.
The reason for this is that the meaning contained in the combination of dragon and tiger ranges from warding off evil spirits to astrology, from power to life and death, to the vision of becoming an immortal, and finally to prophecy, there is a deep hidden meaning.
Life and death change, dynasties come and go.
Therefore, the nobles who were well versed in Huang-Lao Taoism could not have been unaware of the sensitive meaning of the meeting of the dragon and the tiger, let alone the ministers and the emperor who were present.
The emperor may not believe these heart-piercing words at first, but what if they are said too often?
Everyone thought that this was a stab in the heart. Suspicion often starts from a small matter. Gossip can melt metal, and after a long time, something will naturally take root in the emperor's heart!
Someone immediately spoke up to refute it, saying that if Youzhou was lost, and the foreign Hu people moved south to the Central Plains, wouldn't the Han Dynasty be the victim?
Someone just said a few words and was interrupted by Jizhou. The intention was too obvious and too boring. All the land under heaven belongs to the king, can he give it all up?
Seeing the loyal ministers arguing, Liu Xie tilted his head and thought for a while, then said, "Gongsun Du's move is indeed inappropriate."
When the ministers heard this, they all quieted down.
Liu Xie turned to Zhong Yao and said, "Issue an imperial edict to reprimand him for his improper behavior."
When Zhong Yao heard this, he was delighted and agreed immediately.
He thought that if this happened, Gongsun Du and Yuan Xi would definitely have a rift, and Yuan Xi would be caught between the emperor and Gongsun Du, let's see what he would do!
Unexpectedly, Liu Xie's next words shocked everyone, "Tell Gongsun Du that he has to fight for the territory by himself."
"If he can emulate Wei Huo, take back the four Han counties, or even pacify Saibei Han and expand the territory, why not make him a king of a different surname?"