"At present, the ministers of the imperial court cannot help the emperor, and they are dead to benefit the people. They are all dead and eating nothing." [Hanshu·Zhu Yunzhuan]
In the Han Dynasty, there were several different types of praying for rain. At the beginning, local counties organized rain praying activities on their own. If it was not effective and the scope of the drought expanded, the imperial court would send rain messengers to pray, and then ministers would be sent to pray for rain.
Hundreds of officials prayed for rain, and the emperor himself prayed for rain.
The higher the standard of praying for rain, the more advanced it was. At the same time, because it was related to the prestige of the court, it could not be carried out easily. Although the emperor readily agreed to pray for rain, he also made arrangements and first assigned Taichang Chen Ji to pray for rain.
Lingtai ordered Liu Wan to follow his advice and specially selected the auspicious day of July 15th. Taichang Chen Ji prayed to heaven and earth, the ancestral temple, and the country for several days. Without waiting for any results, he went to Huashan without stopping, holding an edict in hand.
The edict was sent to the mountains deep in the mountains. It took seven or eight days to go there. By the time Chen Ji returned to Chang'an, it was already
It is late July and early August. Although there is still no rain in Guanzhong, the wind has begun to blow, and clouds and mist have begun to gather in the mountains and deep valleys.
Hearing this news, everyone was excited. The emperor then asked Liu Wan to calculate the auspicious day again, and sent the princes Dong Cheng, Sikong Zhao Wen, and Situ Ma Rixi to perform the urinal ceremony to pray for rain.
At this time, it was already the ninth day of August in the first year of Jian'an.
During this period, in addition to gradually following the official procedures for praying for rain, the emperor used cumbersome procedures to delay until mid-August. He also often showed his regard for the new Huangmen minister Lai Min in public. Huang Wan and other officials
He gradually became more active, which made Ma Rixi feel more uneasy.
If Huang Wan returns to the court again, it means that the existing power structure will be reshuffled. The Yang family, which was originally weak due to Huang Wan's departure, will regain its strength. The entire Guandong scholar group will immediately have a backbone.
Overwhelming the limelight of the Kansai scholars. At this time, the imperial court, Zhao Wen, Dong Cheng and other emperors' cronies were firmly in power and could not be shaken. If Huang Wan resurrected, he would inevitably compete with Ma Rixi for interests.
After worrying for several days, Ma Rixi finally succeeded in defeating his public interest. He picked up the past and impeached the late Yizhou Shepherd Liu Yan for treason and rebellion. Although he was deceased, his sons Liu Fan and Liu Dan
, Liu Zhang and other relatives are still alive and should be investigated.
Weiyang Palace, Qingliang Palace.
"Everything has been found out?" In the Qingliang Hall, the emperor held a red tube and lightly touched ink dots between the lines of text, dividing the contents of the silk book into paragraphs.
Pingzhun ordered Jia Xu to be at the head of the subordinates. After hearing this, he cupped his hands and replied: "I promise, this matter is just as your Majesty expected. Recently, rumors have spread in Guanzhong that it came from Yuan Shao of Jizhou. According to my humble opinion, in addition, Yuan Shao should
There is still a back-up plan, so please take precautions early."
"Yuan Shao just used those few tricks. He either sent lobbyists to lurk the enemy and instigated rebellion against the local powerful; he spread rumors widely to disturb people's hearts; or he relied on force to bully the weak." The emperor squinted his eyes to check the new punctuation on the silk book.
, said casually: "He has long been dissatisfied with the rule of the imperial court. Now that he has slandered the imperial authority and said that I am an unruly king, Jizhou should also spread the word 'auspiciousness' frequently, and there is another British master."
"Since Liu Yu left, the only qualified clan in Hebei is the Prince of Pingyuan." Jia Xu said calmly.
"At this time, I still have to worry about Ping Zhunjian." The emperor looked away from the back of the silk book and looked up at Jia Xu: "Find a way to sneak into Yecheng, Nanpi and other important towns in Jizhou, and when the time comes, immediately eliminate this disaster for me.
"
Jia Xu's expression immediately became serious and he agreed: "I sincerely promise you."
The emperor seemed to see Jia Xu's thoughts at a glance, and ordered: "Contact Xun Youruo about this matter, there is no need to look for anyone else."
Jia Xu was stunned for a moment, and then quickly realized: "Your Majesty, Xun Chen has not done anything to help the court since he expressed his goodwill. This time it is time to put him to work and test his heart."
The emperor heard the implication of Jia Xu's words. He smiled softly, moved the hand holding the silk book on his knee, and said: "I know that such important matters cannot be easily entrusted to an outsider who has just expressed his surrender, and you don't have to tell him everything.
Just arrange for a few people to go. As for whether Xun Chen can be used or not, you can go find Xun Jun after you go down for a while. Those uncles and nephews are most familiar with each other."
After Yuan Shao broke his halberd at Huguan and was deprived of the position of shepherd in Jizhou by the imperial court, the positions of many people under his command began to waver. Especially Xun Chen, who had made great contributions to Yuan Shao, because he maintained close ties with Xun Yu, Xun You and other Xun clans
The relationship between the disciples is very clear to the situation in the world, so they will naturally consider it more than Guo Tu and others. In addition, Yuan Shao is secretly suspicious and neglectful of him because of his relationship with the Xun family, especially Yuan Shao's decision to form an alliance with Yuan Shu
, after confronting the imperial court, Xun Chen felt deeply cold, so he took the initiative to contact Xun You in April and May this year.
Ever since the imperial court regained Bingzhou and forced Yuan Shao to retreat at Huguan, many Jizhou scholars had secretly communicated with the imperial court. Especially after the imperial court regained Yizhou this year, this phenomenon became more and more frequent. In Yuan Shao's case,
Among the staff around him, Xun Chen was not the only secret agent in the imperial court, so Jia Xu did not want to leave this matter to Xun Chen. However, the emperor clearly gave the order, and Jia Xu could not pretend to be confused, so he accepted it.
The emperor took the Tongguan and continued to click on the silk book a few times. Seeing that Jia Xu had no intention of resigning, he asked, "What else can I do?"
Taking advantage of the fact that the imperial court organized prayers for rain these days to appease the people, the emperor sent Jia Xu to conduct overt and covert inspections in Guanzhong to investigate the source of a series of rumors such as "the emperor has lost his morality". In the end, Yuan Shao was accidentally blamed, but the fact seems to be more than that, Jia Xu said
: "In addition to Yuan Shao sending people to spread rumors, I also found out that the Ma clan of the third auxiliary was also involved."
The emperor put the Tongguan pen down on the table with a deep expression on his face: "How brave! Have you found out the specific people on these two sides?"
Jia Xu knew that the matter was of great importance and did not dare to conceal it: "Your Majesty, please grant me some time, and allow me to find out the chief envoy and then plead guilty."
"Okay." The emperor's tone was a little solemn, and he held the silk book tightly in his hand: "I was worried that I had nowhere to send them, but now I have come to my door."
Soon, on the second day after Ma Rixi impeached Liu Yan's relatives, the emperor immediately dismissed Zong Zhengcheng Liu Dan and the prince's family ministers Liu Fan. However, Ma Rixi and others felt that the sentence was too light and refused to give in.
He wrote one after another to implore the emperor to severely punish Liu Yan's relatives, and mentioned that when Dong Zhuo was around, Liu Yan had close contacts with the ministers of the court, and the court affairs may not be as Liu Yan said during his lifetime. Zhang Lu was deceived; and then he implicitly accused Lai Min of acting without permission.
, the motive for going south to Yizhou was impure.
Compared with Ma Rixi's impatient behavior, Huang Wan still looked at ease in the house, listening to the wind and rain.