When Liu Xie said this, the ministers were in an uproar, but Liu Xie did not give them a chance to speak again and continued, "I have another reward. Let him send a son to receive it."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. The implementation of Liu Xie's edict easily put the pressure back on Gongsun Du's shoulders. Now it was the other party's turn to be in trouble.
Sending sons as hostages was also a common practice of the Han court towards high-ranking officials, and even the children of royal family were no exception. The legitimate sons of Liu Yan, Liu Yu and others all had such experiences. Gongsun Du had no legitimate reason to refuse.
Now Liu Xie has put forward the conditions. Regardless of whether the other party believes in enthroning a king of a different surname or not, he must show some expression. Moreover, Liu Xie wants to see not only Gongsun Du's attitude, but also the thoughts of Youzhou, right?
A group of ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. Although the rule passed down after Emperor Gaozu was that people of different surnames could not be kings, in fact, this rule had been broken several times over the past few hundred years. Now that the world was in chaos, the Han court had done even more shameful things in order to continue its existence. In comparison, this was not a big deal.
Since Liu Xie had made up his mind, everyone had no choice but to obey. Kong Rong took the opportunity to scold Cao Cao together with Zhang Miao and his brothers, who had already served as officials in the court. They also started quarreling with those who supported Cao on the spot.
The court debate ended in a lively exchange of insults. When the pro-Cao officials saw Kong Rong and his companions leaving the hall triumphantly, they thought to themselves, "Go ahead and jump around. Do you really think that Duke Meng De can't discipline you?"
When Bian Rang spread the news that Cao Cao plagiarized his poems, his entire family was killed. Do you really think you are safe around the emperor?
When the imperial edict reached Youzhou, it was already half a month later. The Chinese New Year was approaching and a grand Spring Festival celebration was being held in Jicheng.
As the new seat of Youzhou, Jicheng held a grand celebration in its first year. At that time, the construction of the city had not yet been completed. Jicheng was just a large area surrounded by a simple wall only two or three people high. It looked like a huge village.
But even so, because many refugees were incorporated and accommodated, the population has seen a step-by-step growth. In addition, with the abundant water system surrounding the city, ships carrying goods and food are entering and leaving the city day and night, making the city look full of vitality and a scene where everything is flourishing.
Yuan Xi brought his family to offer sacrifices at the Yuan Family Ancestral Hall. He looked up at the name of Yuan Ji written on the spirit tablet on the incense table with mixed feelings. He had never met him before, but he was his son in legal terms. It must be said that the Han system really created the code of conduct for the Chinese nation for thousands of years.
After the sacrifice, the women followed Yuan Xi out of the ancestral hall. Hearing the noise coming from the street outside, they all looked eager to try.
When Yuan Xi saw this, he also learned that few people went out, so he arranged a few carriages and allowed them to go out of the house for a tour under the escort of Sun Li.
However, he did not leave the house, but went to the study to check the letters that had been sent to Youzhou in the past few days.
When he saw Liu Xie's edict, he couldn't help but look at the little emperor with a new respect. He was growing up very fast and was acting more and more like an emperor.
But because of this, his good days will probably not last long.
Cao Cao would never allow an emperor with the potential to be a wise ruler to grow up.
In later generations, after the emperor moved to Xu County, the two sides fought openly and secretly within half a year. At that time, even though Liu Xie arrived in Xu County, he did not control the Han court as Cao Cao did, but was instead restrained by many factors.
Cao Cao entered Luoyang in the name of "contribution". When he arrived at Xu County, he was "treated as a minister or below", which is commonly known as having food provided.
Before this, Liu Xie and his officials had a very difficult time in Luoyang. The Book of the Later Han records that "officials were starving, and officials below the rank of Shangshu Lang went out to collect food, some starved to death on the walls, and some were killed by soldiers."
Therefore, Liu Xie was quite grateful for Cao Cao's arrival and responded to all of Cao Cao's requests, but he also retained his own relatively independent administrative system.
For example, Cao Cao reported Han Xian and Zhang Yang for their crimes, which frightened Han Xian so much that he ran away. Cao Cao then accepted Han Xian's previous official position with a smile. However, Emperor Xian exempted the two from punishment because of their merits at that time. This shows that although he gave benefits to Cao Cao, he did not completely give up his power.
But after that, Cao Cao began to clean up the government and the country.
According to the Book of the Later Han, the Chronicle of Emperor Xiaoxian, Cao Cao killed Tai Chong, the Minister of State, and Feng Shuo, the Secretary of State. He also appointed General Dong Cheng as the General of the State, Fu Wan and thirteen others as marquises, and bestowed Ju Jun as the governor of Hongnong.
The second sentence is easy to understand. The appointment of officials and titles must have been done by the emperor, while the killing in the first sentence specifically states that it was Cao Cao who killed the person.
Tai Chong was also the heir of Hu Chong, who was of the same clan as Hu Shou who had been sent by the Han court previously. Emperor Xian would never cut off his own arm. It could only be that Cao Cao was trying to establish his authority for some purpose.
But didn't Emperor Xian of Han give in from then on?
No, in later generations, Emperor Xian of Han was an extremely stubborn person. He insisted until September of the 20th year of Jian'an, 20 years later, before he issued an edict.
"The emperor ordered you to follow the system and appoint princes and ministers."
That is to say, it was not until twenty years later that Liu Xie completely gave up the fight with Cao Cao, handed over the power of the emperor to appoint officials and confer titles to Cao Cao, and admitted his defeat.
Before this, Emperor Xian of Han had always refused to give up power even though all his trusted female relatives were killed, betting his life that Cao Cao would not dare to take action against him.
Therefore, for a very stubborn person like Liu Xie, Yuan Xi initially had no intention of controlling him, but let him do what he wanted, because he knew that the more he forced him, the greater Liu Xie's reaction would be.
In this life, Cao Cao might have to spend a long time and do a lot of things before he could find Liu Xie's bottom line. In this process, he and Liu Xie would gradually become enemies and eventually break up completely.
Yuan Xi thought about it and began to draft a memorial, but after writing it several times, he felt that the wording was not appropriate, so he simply threw the memorial aside and began to write a letter to Lu Bu.
He warned Lu Bu to be careful of Cao Cao's recent actions. Cao Cao wanted to find out Liu Xie's bottom line and might use the ministers to test him. This behavior was very dangerous, so Yuan Xi could only warn Lu Bu in advance.
After he finished writing, he hesitated for a moment and wrote another letter to Kong Rong.
Yuan Xi also heard about what happened in the emperor's court. In his opinion, Kong Rong was too stubborn. Wasn't he simply courting death?
He wrote a few words, but still felt awkward. What was his relationship with Kong Rong? Maybe the other party would appreciate the letter he wrote?
I'm probably meddling in other people's business just for the sake of his wife and daughter?
After all, if Kong Rong was really killed, I'm afraid his family would not escape death as well.
However, it is difficult to persuade a damned ghost with kind words. Given Kong Rong's temper, even if he escaped this time, he would not be able to escape the next time. Although Yuan Xi knew what would happen in the future, it was impossible for him and he did not have the ability to save them all one by one. He could only do his best.
Suddenly, there were a few knocks on the door. Yuan Xi answered and opened the door. It was Zhen Mi holding the child. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why are you back so soon?"
Zhen Mi smiled and said, "I can't enjoy my trip if I keep thinking about my children. I might as well not go out. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future anyway."
Yuan Xi carefully took the swaddling clothes from Zhen Mi's arms and found that the baby was obediently holding his hands together, staring at him with his eyes wide open, his little face slightly red from the winter chill, and he couldn't help laughing out loud.
The two sat side by side on the couch, listening to the whistling wind outside the window. Zhen Mi asked in confusion, "I feel like it's especially cold this year?"
Yuan Xi sighed, "It might get colder."
He briefly talked about the climate changes in the next ten years, and finally said: "Youzhou will be quite unstable in the future, so I am a little anxious. I want to establish a multi-layer defense line in Youzhou within at least three years to prevent foreign invasions."
"I am now a state, and I don't have the spare power to repair the Great Wall, let alone support tens of thousands of troops, so I have always kept the number of troops in Youzhou below 10,000. But even so, I am afraid that Youzhou will not have an easy time in the future."
Zhen Mi asked in confusion, "Since my husband had foreseen this, why didn't he choose the relatively safe Yijing as the seat of government? After all, it is close to Jizhou, so even if foreign tribes come south, they will have more time to react."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Madam is right, but I am afraid that within a few years, Yecheng will not be safe either."
Zhen Mi suddenly opened her eyes wide, her long eyelashes making her pupils appear brighter, "Is Yecheng not safe either?"
"Wouldn't that cause chaos in the world?"
Yuan Xi thought to himself that it was about the same. At least for the people of Yecheng, it could be said to be horrific.
He said, "Don't worry, I will do my best to stop it."
Zhen Mi smiled after hearing this and rested her head on Yuan Xi's shoulder. "My husband's words always make me feel at ease whenever I hear them."
She rocked the sleeping child in her arms and whispered, "My husband, have you decided on a name for the child?"
Yuan Xi felt a bit of a headache. He couldn't name the child Yuan Rui, right?
This is too weird!
He had a headache and said, "Let me think about it again."
Zhen Mi pouted slightly, "I know that you named Madam Wu's child Yuan Qian first."
Yuan Xi was sweating, "I saw Madam Wu last night, and I just happened to be inspired, so I cut her name."
"We haven't named our child yet, isn't it being prudent?"
Zhen Mi's eyes curved up at this point, "Let me tease my husband and see how nervous he makes me."
She lowered her voice and said, "From the look of Madam Wu, I'm afraid she still wants to leave."
"My husband didn't try to persuade me to stay?"
Yuan Xi sighed, "I can't force you to do anything. After all, both palms and backs of my hands are made of flesh."
"But we can't rush this matter. After all, Jiangdong will undergo some changes after the New Year, and she may not be able to leave."
Zhen Mi asked curiously: "Changes?"
"Yuan Gonglu is the only one in power in Jiangdong now. Even Benchu Gong can't defeat him easily, right?"
"Sun Bofu, a capable subordinate of Yuan Gonglu, occupies Yangzhou. I heard that the governance there is quite good. At least it is safer than Youzhou, right?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Just wait and see."
The first year of Jian'an ended in a brief period of peace, but Yuan Xi's words came true and an unexpected change did occur in Jiangdong.
Yuan Shu finally couldn't hold back any longer.
In the second year of Jian'an (197 AD), Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor in Shouchun, established the Zhong clan, appointed officials, and built shrines in the southern and northern suburbs.
After Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he appointed the governor of Jiujiang as the governor of Huainan, appointed many ministers and officials to the court, and built altars in the south and north of the city for the emperor to worship the Emperor of Heaven.
This move shocked the world.