Great Han Empire

Chapter 726
Jushou gave Yuan Shao a detailed account of the general situation in the world.

After the success of the general Qin Wang, he will only consider stabilizing Hebei in the short term, and the possibility of sending troops to conquer is very small.Even if it is necessary to send troops, it is limited by the tightness of Hebei's wealth and can only use troops locally.

At the beginning of the year, Cao Cao drove away Lu Bu and stabilized the entire territory of Yanzhou. What he needs most now is time to develop his strength.

Xuzhou was massacred by Cao Cao twice in a row, and his strength was almost lost, so Liu Bei needed more time to recover.

Although Tian Kai occupied the whole Qingzhou in name, in fact the southern part of Qingzhou was controlled by Kong Rong, Prime Minister of Beihai. He only had three and a half counties in Beiqingzhou. His strength was not very strong, and he needed time to grow himself.

Yuan Shu occupied the two counties of Jiujiang and Lujiang in Yangzhou, both on the north bank of the Yangtze River.The four counties of Danyang, Yuzhang, Wujun, and Kuaiji on the south bank of the Yangtze River were controlled by Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou.At present, Yuan Shu's general Sun Ce is leading an army to attack. If Sun Ce can defeat Liu Yao and occupy the four counties on the south bank of the Yangtze River, then Yuan Shu's strength will be greatly increased, so Yuan Shu will not be able to go north for a while.

This year, we joined forces with Liu Biao to enter Guanzhong Qinwang, which cost a lot of money. In the next period of time, we need to devote all our strength to consolidate and develop the hegemony, and Liu Biao also needs time to recuperate.

To sum up, next year, the north and south sides of the Yellow River will be peaceful, and the war will temporarily subside.How can we use this precious time to minimize and support the development of Hebei, and lay a solid foundation for the future discussion of Li Hong by the states and counties of our alliance?

The first is to work hard to connect horizontally, attack combined vertically, and isolate Hebei.

Li Hong held the Son of Heaven hostage, controlled the imperial court, possessed strong force, and even owned the three prefectures of Hebei. This was a huge threat to the survival of some high officials in prefectures and counties near Hebei. Under pressure, especially under the premise of honoring the emperor Zhongxing Sheji, it is very likely that he will take refuge in Li Hong.For example, Han Sui from Xiliang and Tian Kai from Qingzhou.As for Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Liu Bei of Xuzhou, and Liu Zhang of Yizhou, because they were descendants of the clan, although they knew that Li Hong had the intention of usurping, they would still offer their watches to the emperor and show their allegiance to the court.In fact, what Liu Biao has done in the past two years has already explained everything.

Cao Cao committed heinous crimes in succession and had no way out.Yuan Shu is a member of the Yuan Clan, and his fate is closely bound up with ours. Although the adults have many conflicts with him, once the life and death of the Yuan Clan is at stake, he will still join hands with the adults to fight against the enemy.

Therefore, apart from Han Sui of Xiliang and Liu Zhang of Yizhou, Li Hong's joint longitudinal targets were only Tian Kai, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao in the south of the Yellow River.Even though Cao Cao and Yuan Shu are his partners, Li Hong will not trust them. The purpose of Li Hong joining forces with them is to intensify our conflicts, weaken our strength and hinder our development.

Attacking Li Hong's technique of combining verticality is also working on our way of connecting horizontally.Apart from Li Hong in Hebei, we can join hands with other forces, including Han Sui in Xiliang.

The reason why we can achieve such a large-scale Lianheng is because we have the biggest advantage, that is, we do not have an emperor in our hands. Like other forces, we are Li Hong's enemies. Therefore, we can quickly turn the unfavorable factors of not having an emperor into favorable factors, and let Li Hong, like Dong Zhuo and Li Jue in the past, fall into the confrontation and siege of various forces and completely isolate Hebei.

If we succeed in connecting horizontally, the world will be divided into two major forces with the Yellow River as the boundary.One major force is Hebei Li Hong, and the other major force is the coalition of states and counties in the southern part of the Yellow River headed by an adult.In this way, Li Hong's advantage is lost, and the period of defeat is just around the corner.

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It is easy to say, but difficult to do.

All parties have their own ideas and interests. When we are not strong enough, it is difficult for them to trust us, and it is even more difficult for them to completely turn their backs on the Son of Heaven and become an enemy of Li Hong.To be honest, many forces, such as Liu Biao, Liu Bei, Tian Kai, Yuan Shu, etc. may step on two boats, neither to offend Li Hong nor to offend the adults, so as to wait and see the changes in the current situation and make the most beneficial choice for themselves .

Therefore, the key to the success of Lian Heng is strength, and it is necessary to ensure that all parties can benefit to the greatest extent.

How to weaken Li Hong's strength while ensuring the maximum benefit for all parties?

"Change the nobility system and distribute the feudal princes." When Ju Shou said this, everyone was shocked.

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This dynasty inherited the Qin system and implemented the 19th rank system. No.20 Guanneihou and No.[-] Chehou are the most prominent. (Emperor Xiaowu changed "Chehou" to "Liehou" in order to avoid taboo.)
In the two weeks before the Qin Dynasty, the system of five ranks of nobility was implemented, that is, the public, the marquis, the uncle, the son, and the male, collectively referred to as princes.The princes have Shiyi, and exercise military and political power on the land of Shiyi (that is, the vassal state).During the Warring States period, various countries changed their laws one after another.After the reform of Shangyang in Qin Dynasty, the system of [-]th-class military merits was established.This system has been used to this day.

When Emperor Gaozu founded the country, he learned the lessons of the death of Qin Dynasty, implemented the policy of paralleling feudalism and prefectures and counties, and entrusted a large number of his relatives as the monarchs of the country.These monarchs have the right to use the land and can exercise military and political power on their own land.They are equivalent to the fifth-class princes in the two-week period, but these monarchs can only be called "kings".The princes of the twentieth-class nobles are also nominally equivalent to the princes of the fifth-class nobles in the two-week period, but they only eat the fiefdoms and have no military and political power.
Gaozu once made all his officials make an oath: "You cannot be named a king unless you have the surname of Liu, and you cannot be named a marquis unless you have military merits." It can be seen that the honor of the two nobles of "king" and "hou". (The "hou" here refers to Guanneihou and Liehou in the [-]th rank system.)
From the "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion" to the centralization of power by Emperor Xiaowu, the "king" who enfeoffed the country gradually lost his status as a prince.At the same time, due to the many wars, there were also many people who were granted the title of Marquis due to their military exploits. Guannei Hou and Lie Hou stood in the court hall. This was the most glorious period for warriors.

At the same time, a major event related to the Marquis occurred.Emperor Xiaowu connected Liehou with the important ministers of the three princes.If the court minister who is worshiped as the Sangong has not yet been listed as a marquis, he will be granted the title of No. 20 and other Marquis immediately.Emperor Xiaowu's rewarding behavior was followed by later generations as a customary system.

In the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, the division of the Guanneihou and Liehou was still more rewarded according to military merit, but in addition to "martial" merit, the number of ministers who were entrusted with "literary" merit was also gradually increasing.By the time of Zhaoxuan Zhongxing, that is, the period of Wenzhi in this dynasty, especially the reign of Emperor Xiaoxuan, the situation where local officials were able to become marquises by virtue of their "literary" achievements reached the extreme for a while.

After Zhaoxuan's revival, the country's power declined, and the eunuchs and eunuchs took power one after another.A large number of these people privately enshrined their cronies and children as marquises, and their relatives even counted them as marquises, and it was not uncommon for middle officials to count them as marquises every day.The Marquis and Marquis of Guannei were no longer honorable.Later, the emperor began to sell officials and nobles, and the trend of collecting money intensified. There were so many Guanneihou and Liehou, the more they were granted, the lower they became, and they were completely worthless.

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After all, the official positions of the imperial court are limited, and the current twentieth-class title is not honorable.At this time when the survival of the country is at stake, the imperial court should revise the nobility system and restore the five-level nobility system in the two-week period. .The twentieth-class title system and the fifth-class title system are implemented simultaneously and complement each other.

Officials in Fanzhou and counties have meritorious service in civil and military affairs. In the case of no promotion, in addition to increasing salary, they should also grant high titles, so as to inspire officials in various states and counties to fight bloody battles to stabilize the country and rejuvenate the great man.

Of course, at this time we ask the court to change the nobility system, the purpose is not to encourage everyone to make more contributions, but to weaken the strength of Hebei and attack Li Hong's strategy of cooperating.

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The key to the five-class title system is not the nobility of titles, nor the number of fiefdoms, but the hereditary exercise of military and political power in the fiefdoms.This alone can make the officials of various states and counties flock to it.

After the officials of various states and counties jointly put their names on the table, Hebei will immediately fall into chaos.

Although the implementation of the fifth-class title system can temporarily appease the states and counties in various regions and temporarily stabilize the world, as the strength of the states and counties in various regions increases, the world will inevitably be in chaos.The princes competed for the throne, and the first to win became the king, and the great Han fell apart from then on.Therefore, the emperor would not agree, the court would not agree, and Li Hong would not agree.

The consequences of the rejection of the fifth-class title system are very serious.

First of all, the emperor and Li Hong offended the big officials of various states and counties, and Li Hong's strategy of unification failed immediately, and Hebei was isolated.

Secondly, Li Hong is already the Grand Sima, Grand General, Marquis of Jinyang, and an important court official with [-] households in the city. His status is extremely respected. Woolen cloth?He vetoed the fifth-class title system, which meant that he cut off the promotion of his subordinates and robbed them of their glory and wealth. Just ask, how many civil and military subordinates would resent Li Hong because of this, and would lose their respect for Li Hong because of this. Hiro's trust and loyalty?The big officials in Hebei must be separated from Li Hong, and the situation in Hebei will get worse and worse.

Thirdly, although we handed over this performance, it was Li Hong who benefited the most.In today's world, in terms of military merit, Li Hong is the greatest. Once the five-class title system is passed, the emperor will at least worship Li Hong as the Duke of Jinyang, and this point just stings the most sensitive place of the emperor and ministers.At that time, Dong Zhuo first proclaimed himself a grand master, and later even wanted to proclaim himself a "shangfu". He trampled on the dignity of the emperor and imperial power to the extreme.Today, Li Hong is intensifying. Not only does he want to trample on the imperial power, but he also wants to snatch the imperial power and occupy the emperor's country.In order to prevent problems before they happen, the emperor and ministers will unite with some big officials in Hebei to kill Li Hong at all costs.The crisis of Hebei's collapse began immediately.

As long as there is a rebellion in Hebei and Li Hong takes up the butcher's knife to kill the ministers, he will be known as a usurper, and the rest will be very simple.Your Excellency can hold high the banner of Qin Wang Xinghan, the main alliance of the world, and gather soldiers and horses from all states and counties to attack Hebei together.

In addition, under the pressure of the failure of the alliance, Li Hong might risk sending troops without waiting for Hebei to recover.

Officials from various prefectures and counties signed a petition to revise the nobility system, which is tantamount to telling Li Hong that although we respect the Son of Heaven, there is a price for respecting the Son of Heaven. Overbearing, continue the achievements of "Huan and Wen".Li Hong saw the strength of our Lianheng from this performance, and saw the consequences of the great increase in the strength of the states and counties in various places, so he will take advantage of the weak strength of the states and counties in various places to take the lead in attacking, intending to take the lead in calming the world. machine.

Li Hong hastily dispatched troops without waiting for his vitality to recover, and his strength would continue to be damaged as his injuries added to his injuries.If Li Hong wants to fight, he must choose the weakest player, either Qingzhou Tian Kai or Yanzhou Cao Cao.Tian Kai has a deep friendship with some big officials in northern Xinjiang. He is a target that Hebei can win over, so Li Hong can only fight Cao Cao.Cao Cao was defeated by him, and we will join other states and counties to send troops together.In this way, we can not only occupy Yanzhou, but also eliminate Cao Cao and severely damage Li Hong.

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"Whether Li Hong takes the risk of sending troops or not, this strategy can more or less help us win time for development and help us implement the Lianheng strategy smoothly." Ju Shou finally said, "Although Li Hong saved the emperor, he occupied part of the There are favorable factors, but as long as we implement this strategy, all the favorable factors of Li Hong will be turned into unfavorable factors. At that time, what he saves is not the emperor, but a sharp weapon to assassinate himself."

There was silence in the big tent for a long time, Yuan Shao and everyone were thinking about Ju Shou's suggestion.

Tian Feng smiled at Jushou and patted his palms to show his admiration.

Jushou's suggestion seems to be to make suggestions for Yuan Shao everywhere, and to spread across the states and counties, and to attack Hebei, but his real intention is to try to use the five-level title system to remind and warn Yuan Shao that rebuilding the imperial line should not be rushed , and the conspiracy to usurp the establishment is even self-defeating.After all, a hegemony is not a king's cause. To achieve a hegemony, to inherit the merits of "Huan and Wen", one must respect the current emperor.

Ju Shou, like Tian Feng, had already guessed the meaning behind Yuan Shao's request to rebuild the imperial line.The introduction of the fifth-class title system just gave Yuan Shao a chance to buffer, and temporarily pushed Yuan Shao to a correct position.

Yuan Shao sat behind the table, staring at the cowhide tent, expressionless.

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"If Li Hong agrees to implement the fifth-class title system, or..." Guo Tu said half a sentence, feeling that the possibility of Li Hong agreeing was too small, so he swallowed the rest of the words.

Ju Shou bowed his head and remained silent.Tian Feng sighed lightly.

Yuan Shao stared at Jushou for a long time, and an imperceptible sneer gradually appeared on his face, "Li Hong will definitely agree." He turned his head to look at Guo Tu who was stunned, and said slowly, "I don't agree with the fifth-class title. It is a disaster for Li Hong and Hebei. If you were Li Hong, how would you choose?"

Guo Turuo realized something.

The purpose of Jushou is actually to force Li Hong to agree to implement the fifth-class title system.

Once the fifth-class title system is implemented, first of all, Li Hong's strategy of combining verticals will be successful, and he will be able to win precious breathing time for Hebei.Secondly, he can appease the military and political officials of Hebei, get the support of Hebei, and can make Hebei quickly come out of the disaster.As for the resistance of the emperor and the court ministers, there is nothing to worry about.This chaos in Guanzhong had actually completely destroyed the majesty of the emperor and the imperial court. There were very few ministers in the court who were able to escape to Hebei for the rest of their lives, and the emperor had become a real loner.As long as the officials in Hebei are loyal to Li Hong, there will be no rebellion like Chang'an in northern Xinjiang.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Li Hong had no choice but to agree. Although the result of the agreement was that the princes would stand together, at this moment, he had no way to turn around.Only by implementing the fifth-class title system can he have the possibility of joining forces, and only if he succeeds in joining forces can he find a chance to destroy the enemy.

But the real purpose of Jushou's plan is to let Yuan Shao dominate and force Yuan Shao to give up rebuilding the imperial line.If Yuan Shao wants to rebuild the imperial lineage, he will lose many allies, lose the good situation in front of him, and eventually he will inevitably perish.Only by respecting the emperor can he not be isolated, can he succeed in succession, and finally defeat Li Hong and achieve hegemony.Ba Ye is successful, he can do whatever he wants.This is a very long process, but Yuan Shao recklessly attacked Kansai this time and gave up the golden opportunity to save the emperor and pacify the world in vain, which obviously shows that he has no patience.

Yuan Shao saw the ultimate goal of Jushou, and he was very unhappy. He felt that he was restricted and insulted.

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November of the second year of Xingping in the Han Dynasty (AD 195).

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In November, the emperor, queen, 52 ministers, more than 100 Hu Ben and Habayashi guards who escaped by chance, and more than 400 remnant soldiers including Zhang Xiu and Yang Mi, slowly arrived in Anyi under the escort of the Northern Xinjiang Army. The Son of Heaven camps.

In mid-November, more than a dozen ministers, including the eldest princess, general Li Hong, Zhenbei general Xian Yufu, ministers Zhang Wen, Ma Rixun, Cui Lie, Cai Yong, and Zhao Qi, rushed to Hedong day and night to meet the emperor.

Since the death of the first emperor, the emperor and the eldest princess have been separated from each other.When they met again five years later, the two were deeply saddened and cried.

The ministers were sore in their hearts, and they also wept secretly, sighing endlessly.

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After Li Hong and his ministers resigned, they immediately convened Xu Rong, Qu Yi, Yang Feng, Yushi, Hua Xiong, Lu Bu, Zhang Baiqi and others to discuss matters, and learned about the whole story of the first battle in Kansai in detail. Add appreciation.

In the afternoon, Li Hong invited Taiwei Yang Biao, Situ Chunyu Jia, Sikong Zhang Xi, former Situ Zhao Wen, Shangshu Lingshi Sun Rui, Wei Wei Zhou Zhong, Yushi Zhongcheng Zhongxuan Waiting for more than a dozen Sangong Shangqing to discuss state affairs.

Where does the Son of Heaven live?Is it Jinyang or Handan?Or somewhere else?
The imperial court was destroyed, how to rebuild it?
How to negotiate the two wars in Guanzhong and Kansai?Who should bear the responsibility for the disaster of the emperor and the destruction of the court?

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(End of this chapter)