"The husband acts for the sake of the king. If the king forgives you but does the opposite, then the husband is doing the same thing." [Guoyu·Qiyu]
This was the last time the emperor summoned Jia Xu in the announcement room this year. He ordered Mu Shun to set up a table in front of him and invited Jia Xu to sit opposite. There were tea and snacks on the table, as if to see Jia Xu off.
Seeing that the emperor treated him so grandly, Xu thanked him for a long time before he sat down steadily.
The two of them were speechless. The emperor was concentrating on playing with a few round-mouthed cups, planning to make tea. Jia Xu watched the emperor sit skillfully and skillfully, with an unexplained light flashing in his eyes. He knew the emperor's temperament well.
, there are some things that he does not need to ask, the emperor will take the initiative to say it, just for an excuse.
"Jia Gong." Sure enough, after a while, the emperor put the tea bowl in front of Jia Xu and said hello: "Drink this tea. After you leave Chang'an, if you want to drink it again, it will be gone. Wuwei doesn't have such a thing.
.”
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jia Xu picked up the tea bowl with both hands, gently blew away the floating hot steam, and drank the slightly scalding tea in one gulp.
The emperor did not touch the tea in front of him, but carefully watched Jia Xu finish drinking it. When he saw him put down the tea bowl, he said in a complaining tone: "Jia Gong has caused such a big thing, so he waved his sleeves.
It’s quite easy to walk.”
"I am scared and don't understand what your majesty means?"
"You know." The emperor looked at Jia Xu and said slowly: "If you didn't know, you would have resigned from office long ago to observe filial piety. Why wait until Dong Fen impeached you? I'm afraid you knew it when you were in Wannian County.
My intention is clear. These days I just go along with the flow and give me a topic."
Jia Xu's eyelids twitched, and he leaned forward to answer, but was stopped by the emperor's hand: "It's best for you and me to keep the whole story in mind. You want to take this opportunity to clear the stigma of convincing Li Jue to rebel. I
I don’t blame you, and I don’t want you to apologize. After all, you are my most powerful person, so naturally I can’t treat you badly. But I have only one thing to say. Don’t keep any thoughts of ‘worry, slander, fear of ridicule’ or ‘be wise and cautious’ in your heart.
Thoughts, that’s what will disappoint me!”
The emperor's idea of rectifying the increasingly powerful Ma Rixi and others had already begun to emerge as early as when he was stationed in Wannian County. Otherwise, why would he use the topic to rectify the Wannian Order, and why would he waste his time explaining the truth to Zheng Xuan?
After the First World War in Hedong, the emperor no longer needed to rely on Ma Rixi and other Kansai scholars to stabilize the situation on his behalf. As the Kanto forces that were originally able to fight against Ma Rixi began to weaken, the changes in primary and secondary conflicts also required the emperor to deal with the situation.
The actions of Ma Rixi and other Kansai scholars were imperative.
Jia Xu just took advantage of the situation, provided the emperor with an opportunity to provoke, and at the same time calculated enough benefits for himself.
"I don't dare!" Jia Xu lowered his head, stared at the red lacquer pattern on the table, and said, "I was just a thief in the past. What Dong Fen said is true. At the beginning, I wanted to save my own life and hated the king.
Yun killed the people of Liangzhou indiscriminately, and then instigated a rebellion, which almost caused catastrophe. Your Majesty did not punish the minister for this, but pardoned him.
Cows and horses galloping!”
"Jia Gong." The emperor smiled lightly. As long as his ministers were loyal to him, he would be tolerant even if they had some small calculations in private. Instigating Li Jue to rebel was a political stain on Jia Xu. Now Dong Fen has learned from the past.
, no one inside or outside the court would mention this matter again, and the emperor also wanted to take advantage of this to talk things out and resolve the last obstacle between the two people: "Guan Zhong almost shot Duke Huan of Qi at first, but in the end he still assisted Duke Huan.
Domination of the world? Duke Jia has military and state talents, can’t I be the Huan of Qi, so that I can get along with Duke Jia again as a monarch and his ministers?"
Jia Xu first looked at the emperor in astonishment. Even through observation of the emperor's character, he knew that the emperor also had a generous side besides being mean. However, until he heard the emperor's words with his own ears, he was still surprised by the emperor's broad mind. Overturning the State.
, not everyone can forgive the murder of people. It is impossible for Jia Xu not to be moved in his heart, but he is used to hiding his emotions, and his expression is still the same as before: "I can bring peace to your majesty, bring peace to the world, and revitalize the Han Dynasty.
Even if I die, I will have no regrets."
The emperor keenly heard the change in Jia Xu's tone, smiled with satisfaction, and then said: "In addition to observing filial piety, does Mr. Jia have any other plans when he returns home this time?"
Having guessed what the emperor was thinking, Jia Xu said truthfully: "Your Majesty is wise, I would like to take this opportunity to return to Wuwei and observe the situation in Yongliang for your Majesty."
The emperor raised his eyebrows: "Didn't we agree with Mr. Xun not to leave Yongliang for now and prepare to attack Shu next year?"
"It is always better to be prepared for a rainy day and take precautions early. Who can predict what will happen so long ago? Didn't I and Jun Xun discuss that the court should conquer Shu first and then conquer Hedong? Didn't they later do it for Fan Xian and others?
It messed up the plan." Jia Xu smiled lightly and said as if unintentionally: "Xunjun divided Guandong equally, and the checks and balances of all parties are the same. Looking at the current situation, I am afraid it will not be satisfactory in the end."
The emperor's face changed slightly, he pondered for a long time, and then said: "It seems that Mr. Jia also noticed it."
"The former general led his troops across the river and defeated Yuan Shao's general Jiang Qi in Hanoi. Jiang Qi led his troops to retreat and garrisoned in Dangyin. Hanoi was already in the imperial court's pocket. And the general Sui Gu who plotted against Zhang Yang
He had been killed by the former general, and his chief historian Xue Hong, Miao Shang and others were also captured." The military intelligence and battle report from Guandong was sent to the palace as early as two days ago. Because it was in the fierce period of the struggle between the government and the opposition at that time, it was not disclosed
Be known.
"Xue Hong and Miao Shang have committed a crime and conspired to rebel and defect to the enemy. I am going to summon the Taiwei and them tomorrow to issue an edict and ask Zhu Jun to execute these two people, as well as others who conspired to kill Zhang Yang and participated in the rebellion." The emperor stared at him.
The kettle was baking on the fire, leaning on the table, and said lightly: "Compare the examples of Fan Xian and Cheng Yin in Hedong. They killed the culprits and confiscated their property. I heard that many powerful people in Hanoi took refuge with the Shangdang. This
It would be better to simply move the clan members of those sinners to Shangdang nearby."
He waved his hand, signaling Jia Xu to continue.
"As for Yingchuan, Zhang Chao, the captain of Diannong School in Henan, gathered powerful troops there, and got help from Li Tong of Runan, Xu Chu of Pei and other powerful knights. Not only did he defeat the yellow turban thieves such as He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, etc.
He also took advantage of the situation to march eastward to Runan, and is now fighting with Sun Xiang, the governor of Runan appointed by Yuan Shu, in Pingyu, Gebei and other places." Jia Xu whispered, with hints and inducements in his words: "Wait until the former general settles in Hanoi.
, we will soon be able to go south to Ru Ying and cut off the contact between the Yuan brothers. This is not in line with Xun Jun’s presumption that the situation is divided into three parts.”
Zhu Jun is worthy of being a famous general in the late Han Dynasty. With his 20,000 soldiers who were cobbled together by Tao Qian and others, he was able to achieve the current situation. However, this undoubtedly disrupted the emperor and Jia.
The plan drawn up by Xu and Xun You has enough strength in his hands, but the foundation is still very weak.
Originally, the three-point situation proposed by Xun You was the strategy that best met the emperor's expectations. He hoped to attack steadily step by step, and wait until the powerful powers in Guandong had exhausted their strength, and then slowly conquer the world. At least there would be a consolidated queen to facilitate his governance, and
It’s not like the whole country surrendered as soon as the troops were sent out and no battle was fought. How can we implement a new superstructure without destroying the original economic foundation?
But this path seems to be unsatisfactory so far. The emperor did not expect that after Guo Jia joined Zhu Jun, their cooperation would play such a big role: "Guo Fengxiao is really a genius!"
"This son has disturbed the situation. If he is allowed to do what he does, he can capture Yuzhou by the end of this year. Next year, Liu Biao and Tao Qian can attack Yuan Shu together. Once Yuan Shu is destroyed, the southeast will return to the imperial court. Cao Cao and Tao Qian will also obey orders. , attack Yuan Shao from the north." Jia Xu's eyes were dark and he said in a deep voice: "In less than three years, the world will be settled, but the strong and powerful are still entrenched in the countryside. If they disobey the imperial order, they will rebel again. This is just a story of Chongqing Guangwu. .”
Seeing the emperor's expression of deep thought, Jia Xu asked: "Is it better for me to recruit Guo Jia into the court?"