The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 137 Self-destruction
Liu Xie climbed up from Cai Yan with a little anger and came outside, wishing he could kill Jia Xu with his eyes!

But when he saw Jia Xu looking breathless and in a mess, Liu Xie suddenly realized something.

If it was just ordinary government affairs, even if he was not in the Weiyang Palace, Jia Xu would just have to wait.

Why is it necessary to chase him directly to Changle Palace where the female members live like now?
"What's the matter with Wenhe?"

Jia Xu said nothing and handed over the letter sent by Zhong Yao.

It was not bamboo slips, but paper.

The current paper production is still a bit low, and Liu Xie remembered that not much was sent to Hedong.

Now they have to write information directly on paper, which obviously means they have really encountered something big.

Liu Xie unfolded the letter, and the plan inside made him frown again and again.

Li Ru, how dare you be so bold?

And the situation in Hebei is so complicated?

Especially the information that inferred that the Black Mountain bandits had secret transactions with the Hebei scholars, which made Liu Xie a little unbelievable?
"Zhang Yan is actually the black glove of those Hebei scholars?"

No wonder.

Historically, the Black Mountain bandits, whom Yuan Shao had tried his best to defeat but failed, actually surrendered to Cao Cao directly after the Battle of Guandu.

As for the remaining inferences, Liu Xie combined them with actual historical materials and concluded that they must be the truth.

Battle of Guandu.

Xu You, Yuan Shao's staunch ally, actually surrendered to Cao Cao...

Zhang He and Gao Lan, two local generals from Hebei, surrendered to Cao Cao even though their families and close associates were still in the rear...

Such a magical thing can only mean that Yuan Shao’s checks and balances within his own faction were in vain.

The real checks and balances are to allow the two forces to compete in a healthy manner, rather than indiscriminately weakening the stronger side.

Since Emperor He of Han, Liu Zhao, used eunuchs to seize power, the main theme of the Later Han Dynasty's politics became the struggle between eunuchs and external relatives.

Over the next hundred years or so, although little emperors emerged one after another, the Han Dynasty not only did not change its flag, but it even achieved such achievements as engraving a stone tablet at Yanran and pacifying the Eastern Qiang. This was the credit of checks and balances.

If Yuan Shao plays the game like this, once he is gone, disintegration will almost be the inevitable outcome!
"Yuan Shao doesn't have the ability of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Shizu, but he still wants to learn from them to divide and balance... He deserves his defeat."

"But Li Ru wants to take advantage of the situation. Does he really think Yuan Shao dare not kill people?"

Jia Xu said at this time: "Perhaps what Li Ru wanted was to die in such a spectacular way."

Ok?
It was Jia Xu who brought Li Ru to Liu Xie that day, and the two had already talked about it in detail before, so it was not surprising that Jia Xu could see through some of Li Ru's thoughts.

only……

Liu Xie glared at Jia Xu and said, "Wen He's breathing is so even now, why was he panting so heavily just now? Could it be that he was angry at me just now and did it on purpose for me to see?"

Jia Xu's eyes changed a little, and then he quickly covered his chest and continued to gasp: "No, I'm still tired!"

"Alright, stop pretending! Can I punish you for state affairs?"

After rolling his eyes at Jia Xu again, Liu Xie held Zhong Yao's letter in silence.

"I really have no reason to refuse Li Ru's move."

"After all, if he fails, he will be the only one to die."

"Even if some food is needed, since we only need to mobilize some of the troops in Hedong, we don't need to consume too much military food."

The result of victory is self-evident.

Capture Taiyuan! Control Jinyang! Take all of Bingzhou and exert terrible military pressure on Hebei!

It is very difficult to attack Hebei from Hedong.

Chenguan is difficult, harder than climbing to the sky!
But if we fight from Taiyuan to Hebei, it will undoubtedly go directly from hell mode to super easy mode.

The natural terrain advantage can almost ignore everything else.

Unless Yuan Shao prepared artillery, Liu Xie really couldn't think of what Yuan Shao could rely on to resist the Grand Tutor's Western Liang cavalry after Guanzhong had recuperated and gathered military supplies.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, and their successors the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou, fought a stalemate in Hedong and Jinyang for nearly fifty years.

However, after Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong, captured Jinyang, the Northern Qi, which occupied half of the north, was destroyed by the Northern Zhou within just a few months, completing the unification of the north.

If Taiyuan fell into the hands of the imperial court, starting from today, Yuan Shao would probably have to sleep with one eye open every night.

Moreover, taking over Taiyuan actually alleviated the court's diplomatic pressure in disguise.

Once Taiyuan is captured, the imperial court can contact Gongsun Zan in Youzhou through Yanmen in the north of Bingzhou and outside the Great Wall!
Once they contacted Gongsun Zan and responded with Liu Bei in the plain area, it can be said that they had completely created a huge encirclement around Hebei!
Thinking back to the past, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shu formed a siege around the imperial court. But now the offense and defense changed instantly, allowing Yuan Shao to enjoy the excitement of being surrounded, and Liu Xie couldn't help laughing.

"Your Majesty, do you want to reply to Zhong Yao's letter now?"

"I'll be back immediately! I'll be back personally!"

Fortunately, there is not much else about Cai Yan, but there is a lot of writing.

Liu Xie ground some ink himself and began to write quickly on the paper.

"Although I estimate that Li Ru is unlikely to be exposed, I still want to be prepared for the worst."

"If he is discovered by Yuan Shao and gets the intelligence about Hedong, he might attack Hedong first."

"Li Ru's pursuit of fame and fortune was a gamble of his own life and death; but the actions of the imperial court affected tens of thousands of people in Hedong."

After writing the letter, Liu Xie demonstrated his dexterity by folding an envelope, putting the paper in it, and sealing the bag with wax.

"Tell Zhong Yao that the priority should be to protect Hedong. Don't rush for success."

There are some things that Li Ru may not have to think about, but Emperor Liu Xie must think about them.

What was written in the letter was the backup plan that Liu Xie left for Zhong Yao. With this backup plan, even if the plan failed and Yuan Shao sent troops to attack, Hedong would not be lost directly.

After handing it over to Jia Xu, Jia Xu did not leave.

"Is there anything else Wenhe wants to do?"

Jia Xu asked awkwardly, "I didn't disturb your majesty and Mr. Cai just now, did I?"

How dare you ask!

If it weren't for the fact that this matter was truly urgent, Liu Xie would have wanted to kick Jia Xu twice right now!

"If the Han Dynasty has no heir in the future, it will be your fault, Jia Wenhe!"

When Jia Xu heard this, his face was filled with bitterness.

"Your Majesty, are you going to go back? I have never been here before, right?"

"..."

Liu Xie suspected that Jia Xu came here on purpose to irritate him: "Isn't it that Wenhe deliberately came to irritate me so that I can take your position as Shangshu Ling so that someone else can take over and he can go and take some time off?"

"I don't dare."

"Don't dare? You and Li Ru are the bravest, and you still dare to say you don't dare?"

Liu Xie stood up cursing, "Don't dream, even if Xun Yu really comes to Guanzhong, the position of Shangshu Ling will definitely be yours!"

Jia Xu was even more sad when he heard this——

"Thank you!"

Liu Xie's face was full of suspicion, and he suddenly couldn't guess Li Ru's intentions.

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to guess! Come on! Accompany me to see the Grand Tutor and ask him what he thinks of this plan!"

………………

Yecheng.

The Duke's Mansion of the State of Wei.

It is called a government office, but it is actually the center.

All political decrees of the pseudo-dynasty were issued from then on.

Yuan Shao was discussing Confucian classics with Cui Yan, a famous scholar from the Qinghe Cui family.

Cui Yan was a man of integrity, loyalty and noble character, with a broad mind and profound knowledge, and he had the demeanor of an ancient gentleman.

Today, what he discussed with Yuan Shao was the Book of Changes.

The Yuan family of Runan passed down the Mengshi Yi (Book of Changes) from generation to generation, so the study of Yi (Book of Changes) was exactly Yuan Shao’s strong point.

But Cui Yan was, after all, a famous scholar of Confucian classics, and he had once studied under the great Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan, so even when he discussed philosophy with Yuan Shao, it was not at all false.

"He is a person of dragon virtue and uprightness. He is trustworthy in his words and cautious in his actions. He stays away from evil and maintains his sincerity. He is good to the world but does not boast about it. He is broad-minded and transforms others. What do you think of this, Mr. Yuan?"

Yuan Shao on the opposite side had a rather ugly expression on his face.

This sentence means that a person with the same moral character as a dragon is a person who is upright and honest. He is trustworthy in what he says and cautious in what he does. He avoids evil and keeps his heart sincere. He benefits the people without boasting about himself. He has great morals and can influence people's hearts.

Cui Yan asked about the meaning of this sentence, obviously wanting to remind Yuan Shao to pay attention to his own moral character and not let his heart be polluted, especially not to forget the help that the Hebei scholars had given Yuan Shao before because of his desire for power...

Yuan Shao refused to be outdone and turned to Cui Yan and asked:

"Kun is extremely soft, yet it is strong when it moves; extremely quiet, yet it is virtuous. It will eventually become the master and maintain its stability, containing all things and transforming them into light. Kun is the way of following the will of heaven. It follows the will of heaven and acts accordingly. A family that accumulates good will surely have more blessings; a family that accumulates evil will surely have more disasters. A minister killing his lord, a son killing his father, is not the result of a day or a night, but has been gradually developing!"

Compared to Cui Yan's indirect attack, Yuan Shao was undoubtedly more straightforward!

A family that accumulates good will surely have good fortune; a family that accumulates evil will surely have misfortune!

A minister kills his king, a son kills his father. This is not caused by a mistake made overnight, but the result of long-standing resentment!
Yuan Shao's words almost pointed the finger directly at the other party!

Is it all my fault for disrespecting the scholars of Hebei? Don't you have any faults yourself?

When Cui Yan heard Yuan Shao's words, he also frowned, thinking that Yuan Shao was too heartless and cruel.

Just as he was about to continue persuading him, he saw Guo Tu, the Shangshu Ling appointed by Yuan Shao, walk in.

"Mr. Yuan, there is someone outside who wants to see you."

Yuan Shao was dissatisfied: "Gong Ze, I am discussing the classics with Ji Gui, and we should not interrupt because of a visitor at this time."

On the surface, he was discussing scriptures, but in fact he was still engaged in a tug-of-war with the scholars from Hebei.

How can we allow any guest to interrupt at such a critical moment?
Guo Tu was also stupid. How could he make such a serious mistake?
……

Guo Tu actually knew that he shouldn't come in and disturb them.

But the man just now and his words shocked Guo Tu, who felt that the matter was beyond his ability to handle.

Cui Yan didn't mind: "A gentleman gathers knowledge through learning, debates through inquiry, lives with tolerance, and acts with benevolence. Yuan Gong can take the lead in this."

In a few words, Cui Yan used the Book of Changes to imply Yuan Shao...

Yuan Shao became more and more impatient: "Who is coming?"

Guo Tu carefully glanced at the two and gave their names:

"It was Li Ru, the former doctor-in-chief of the Hongnong King."

"In addition, he also had something for me to tell Mr. Yuan——"

"Li Ru was ordered by the emperor to come to Lord Yuan to serve as a spy. I hope Lord Yuan will accept him!"

(End of this chapter)