Chapter 833 Yin Huo
As an outsider, the news about Chang'an that Yu Jin got was spread by lies and was so exaggerated that he didn't know where it went.
But one thing is accurate, that is, Chang'an was indeed in turmoil at this time, and all kinds of rumors and political agitation were rampant.
There were rumors everywhere in Lu Zuo and the wine shop that the emperor was going to attack the Dong family, and all the theories were conclusive, saying that this time the Hedong soldiers returned to the defense to massacre the Dong family's residence.
The emperor himself was definitely unwilling to admit it. He asked Zhao Qian to visit Dong Zhuo as his special envoy and conveyed the emperor's meaning to Dong Zhuo:
"It is extremely hateful to allow those rats to spread rumors about national affairs. I just want to recover from my illness. I will handle this matter myself."
It is said that when Zhao Qian said these words, Dong Zhuo was lying on the bed as silently as a dead person.
In fact, after Zhao Qian returned to the palace, the little emperor really asked:
"How is the Prime Minister?"
Zhao Qian did not want to see civil strife between the emperor and Dong Zhuo at this juncture, but as a human minister, he still told the truth:
"The Prime Minister's face is as white as a sheet of paper, and he may not be around for long."
Then, the little emperor said "good" three times in a row. Is there any need to elaborate more on his meaning?
Later, on the day after Zhao Qian visited Dong Zhuo, the imperial court issued several edicts to Li Jue of Yizhou and Niu Fu of Liangzhou.
The two officials from Xinjiang were ordered to go to Beijing to visit Dong Zhuo, who was seriously ill.
This move seemed to confirm the speculations circulating in the market, and the situation in Chang'an became even more heated.
Some of the ministers' families who were sitting on the sidelines left the city to escape the disaster and went to their country villas, not daring to stay long in the vortex of Chang'an.
However, some people took this as an opportunity. Each family was recruiting rangers and warriors in the capital, seeming to want a share of the chaos.
As a result, some knights and heroes in Chang'an City suddenly became popular and became the guests of many ministers' families.
When the little emperor issued an edict to Liang and Yizhou, a group of officials in the prime minister's palace gathered together to discuss the matter.
At the end of the discussion, everyone came to the conclusion that there must be an expert behind the little emperor, because this policy can be said to meet the common needs of them and the Prime Minister's Office.
Why did the young emperor want Niu Fu and Li Jue to come to court? Isn't it just for the two of them to exchange seals and come to Beijing?
But even though the little emperor seems to want to pull out the wings around the Prime Minister, in fact, a group of people in the Prime Minister's Mansion are not willing to oppose it. Why?
Because they are also on guard against Niu and Li.
As Niu Fu and Li Jue became governors of Yizhou, they actually formed their own independent factions, namely the "Niu Party" and the "Li Party".
Although the two parties belong to Dong Zhuo's family, as the most important powerful faction in the local area, not everything is in line with the interests of Dong Zhuo's side.
Just like now, Dong Zhuo is about to die soon, so whether it is Li Ru who wants to be in power or the Dong family's nephews, they will all murmur about one thing:
"Will Niu and Li still listen to themselves?"
And now the little emperor's behavior can just verify their suspicions, that is, whether these two people dare to come to Beijing.
Now that the Prime Minister is about to die, should Niu and Li, who were promoted by the Prime Minister, go to the capital to visit?
In addition, now that the Taishan Army has conquered Tongguan, Niu and Li should also enter Chang'an, follow the command of Dong's new facade, and jointly resist the Taishan Army.
Therefore, whether it is kindness or reality, Niu Fu and Li Jue need to come to Chang'an.
What was the result after the two edicts were issued?
Niu Fu came, but Li Jue didn't come. He gave an excuse that he had hemorrhoids.
Don't laugh, anyone who often rides a horse knows that a mighty knight will always suffer from hemorrhoids.
Of course, this is definitely not the reason why Li Jue didn't come. The real reason is actually his judgment about the future.
Li Jue was one of the few politically minded generals among the generals in Liangzhou. He had his own post house in Chang'an, and a large number of letters were sent to Chengdu every day.
Although there was a delay of several days, it did not prevent Li Jue from sketching out a general political situation. Entering Chang'an at this juncture would do more harm than good.
If Li Jue does not enter Chang'an, the harm will outweigh the benefit. If Niu Fu goes to Chang'an, the benefit will outweigh the harm.
Niu Fu and Li Jue are different. Not only do they have different identities, but they also control different states, so they have different choices for the same problem.
In fact, when the news of Dong Zhuo's reluctance reached Jixian County in Hanyang, Niu Fu could no longer sit still and wanted to return to Chang'an at that time.
Why did Niu Fu return to Chang'an so immediately? Because only by Dong Zhuo's side could he receive the richest political legacy.
Especially when Dong Zhuo punished Dong Min and put the Dong family in solitary confinement, Niu Fu became even more impatient.
Without Dong Min as his opponent, who among Dong's pro-party members would be his Niu Fu's opponent? There really is no one who can fight.
But as a feudal official, Niu Fu could not leave without authorization, otherwise he would really be rebelling.
Therefore, as soon as the edict from Chang'an came, Niu Fu had already made preparations. He left General Wang Fang to guard Hanyang, and then took about a thousand elite cavalry to take the North Way of the Weishui River and march straight into Chang'an.
In fact, there is another reason why Niu Fu entered Beijing so decisively, that is, Liangzhou is really poor as compared to Yizhou.
For example, Yizhou can close the door and live by himself, but if Niu Fu dares to do this, his subordinates will not be able to feed themselves.
Liangzhou without Chang'an would not have the ability to be self-sufficient at all.
Of course, Liangzhou has a vast land, and if you are willing to work hard, you can still have a good situation. However, after a hundred years of war, it is really not something Niu Fu can do to bring society into a peaceful and stable stage of production.
In this way, Niu Fu had no other choice but to go to Beijing to fight for something big.
Sometimes he also envied Li Jue's good luck. If he had a good family background, who would go to Chang'an to fight for his life.
In any case, the Gong and Wu families made a move with tacit understanding, and Li Jue and Niu Fu each made their own choices.
The wind blew like this in Chang'an before the chaos.
……
The wind rises at the end of Qingping.
The little emperor was not idle. He still arranged the chess pieces firmly and confidently, weaving a big net to capture Dong's party in one fell swoop.
As an emperor who grew up in turmoil at a young age, Liu Xie had political wisdom and forbearance that were beyond his age.
At this time, the Hedong soldiers who served as his foreign aid had arrived at Baling, and Duan Yan had also stationed troops in Lishan, blocking the Taishan army from entering the pass.
Although the current situation is worse than he expected, Liu Xie still believes that now is an excellent time to completely eradicate Dong's party.
No one had ever told him that one must first settle one's own affairs when fighting against foreign aggression. Liu Xie understood it with his own genius.
And even with such a good advantage, the little emperor was so cautious in every move he made.
He first issued an imperial edict to the court, which probably meant that the prime minister's body was failing due to years of fatigue and needed to rest, so all official activities and external court rituals would be stopped at this stage.
Then, Liu Xie ordered the palace doctors and good medicines to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion for consultation, and reported the Prime Minister's physical condition back to the court in writing every day.
None of these people in the imperial court were rich in political struggle experience. How could they not know that this was the young emperor's attempt to end Dong Zhuo's political life. Once his political life was cut off, Dong Zhuo's own life actually began to count down.
Then, the little emperor secretly summoned more than ten generals from the Liangzhou faction in the palace. They were all affiliated with the Northern Army system in Beigong.
Because the summons was secret, no one knew what these people said to the young emperor. They only knew that these Liangzhou military generals entered the palace at different times, and then left the palace with worries.
In fact, no matter what these people talked about with the emperor, no one in the Prime Minister's Palace would trust these people, because entering the palace alone at this juncture speaks for itself.
Perhaps, this itself was also part of the little emperor's calculation.
Anyway, after a series of political bribes, the little emperor felt that he had control of most of Chang'an's military power.
Previously, the military forces in Gyeonggi were the fifty-four capitals of Xiyuan established by the late emperor. However, after Dong Zhuo entered the court, these forces were reintegrated into the Flying Bear Army and unified under his own command.
Later, Dong Zhuo gradually took control of the power of the Flying Bear Army by continuously sending the Old Xiyuan Army to the front line.
But now, the young emperor selected a group of elite warriors from the Flying Bear Army to form the Yulin Army as the core force of his Beigong.
The little emperor who has come through strong winds and waves understands the importance of a gun better than anyone else.
After securing the barrel of the gun, Liu Xie immediately began a series of personnel changes in the center.
Since Dong Zhuo deposed the Three Dukes and dominated the government, the most important official positions in the court were basically Jiuqing and Shangshuling.
Among them, the post of Shangshu Ling is particularly important, because according to the Han imperial edict law, all edicts must be issued by Shangshu Ling before they can be considered correct edicts, otherwise they are correct edicts.
And who is the current Shangshu Ling? It is Li Ru, the core of the Dong clan.
Now if Liu Xie wants to open up the connection between internal and external Korea, he must capture Li Ru. And Li Ru is the core of the Dong Clan. Taking Li Ru directly would be equivalent to breaking up with the Dong Clan and starting a war.
So the problem was stuck here, but Zhao Wen, as the little emperor's think tank, suggested a way for him, which was to add two more Shangshu orders, turning the previous one into three.
Moreover, it was specifically stipulated that an edict only needed to be signed and stamped by two ministers before it could be approved.
In this way, the young emperor could directly bypass Li Ru and make decisions on the appointment and dismissal of court officials.
The two additional ministers were Dong Cheng and Fu Wan, both of whom were relatives.
The little emperor also had his own reasons.
He said that nowadays, with foreign humiliation on the side, there is an urgent need to recruit talents who know the military strategy in China and North Korea as military counselors, and Dong Cheng is such a military talent. Having him added to the Shangshutai will be beneficial to the subsequent defensive battle in Guanzhong.
The reason for promoting Fu Wan is even more valid, because Fu Wan himself is a "good" cadre.
As an outstanding disciple of the Fu clan, Fu Wan was a typical Confucian scholar-type official. He advocated the way of a saint and loved the people with pure filial piety. He had a great influence on both the government and the public.
Adding him to the Chancellor's Desk is something that everyone expects.
Therefore, the appointment of the two is beyond reproach. As for the fact that both of them are relatives of the emperor, it can only be said to be an inconspicuous misunderstanding.
Of course, Fu Wan himself is not a person who is incapable of adapting to changes.
When Yang Biao and others launched a coup in the front palace, they failed, and he and a group of officials were imprisoned in prison.
Fu Wan, then a Tingwei officer, wrote directly, saying that in order to prevent Yang Biao and others from saying something they shouldn't have said during the interrogation, he suggested not to interrogate them and to execute them all.
Dong Zhuo was already in charge of the court at that time. Of course he was satisfied with this suggestion, because he himself was not clean in this matter and was deeply afraid that Yang Biao said something he shouldn't have said in the process.
The little emperor was convinced, because Fu Wan was quite thoughtful, because if Yang Biao said anything about the palace or the late emperor, it would definitely be bad.
How can we maintain loyalty and maintain the court's reputation at that time?
So Fu Wan's suggestion was quickly adopted, and Yang Biao died quickly in the Zhao Temple. No one could even tell where he was buried.
It was also because of this incident that Fu Wan fell in Dong Zhuo's eye and let his daughter enter the palace to become the little emperor's queen.
Dong Zhuo, who was terminally ill at this time, probably never dreamed that he would dig such a big hole for himself with a casual move.
By now, when the little emperor had reached this point, no one in the court had any illusions. They all knew that the rumor in the market was true, and that the emperor was really going to take action against the Dong clan.
At this time, Liu Xie had Zhao Wen in the decision-making circle, Dong Cheng and Fu Wan in the imperial edict drafting circle, and Ju Jun and other warriors in the execution circle, as well as military men from the Liangzhou faction who had defected. It can be said that a stable small group had been formed. Group.
If so, the steps to remove directors will begin.
Before taking action, Liu Xie launched a big debate.
This time at the court, the emperor asked everyone what they thought of the "Iho incident".
Politically, the so-called Iho affair has a twofold understanding.
On the bright side, what happened in Yihuo is in line with Mencius's idea that "the people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important."
Loyalty to the country is a great loyalty, loyalty to the monarch is a small loyalty. Ministers can understand the general situation when they cannot have both.
And Yiho is such a loyal person.
And the same thing, at worst, is that everyone can punish the rebellious ministers and traitors who toy with the emperor in the applause.
At this time, Liu Xie used this method to test the attitude of the courtiers towards the removal of directors, whether there were more supporters or opponents.
This kind of using small things to see big things is a typical method used by politicians to play political signals. From this aspect, the little emperor is indeed a master of power.
Originally, when the matter reached this level, this test was just a formality. Naturally, the well-informed courtiers present would not make any fools at this juncture.
But one man walked out of the crowd and kowtowed to the little emperor, bursting into tears:
"No matter what Yihuo is, he is still a merchant and a Han official, and he abides by the way of being a minister. Let me ask, when Yihuo was alive in the past, when he saw the Taishan thieves entering the pass, was he not a loyal minister and a famous general? Your Majesty, you must not take such a big risk. Once It is difficult for the country to survive if there is a big change.”
Liu Xie's face was very ugly, because it was Zhao Qian who jumped out to oppose him.
Why is this stubborn old man still blocking the road?
Do you really think that he, the emperor, would not dare to kill one or two green ribbons to sacrifice the flag for a major event?
In this case, Liu Xie looked at Zhao Qian who was kowtowing, showing a dangerous expression.
……
At this time, when the emperor held a debate on Yin Huo's story, the Dong family was already taking action.
The warriors from the border areas were not skilled in political power and had greatly lost to the emperor in the previous political battles, but these people had their own behavioral logic.
That is to say, don't talk about power for Naigong. The man from Liangzhou will do it!