Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 20 The Taiping Dao intends to rebel!
Soon, Jian Yong brought Yang Ci, Liu Tao and Liu Kuan into the main hall.

"I will pay my respects to Your Highness."

"Everyone, please stand up quickly."

Liu Bian quickly helped the three people up, behaving properly and not daring to show any disrespect.

All three of them are elders, and the latter two are elders of the royal family. Their positions are either the Three Dukes or the Nine Ministers, or the Shangshu Ling who is in charge of the Secretariat. They are all important officials of the court.

The most important thing is that the historian was right next to him, recording his every word and action. If he did something wrong, he had no idea how the historian would write about him!
It was fine when he first forced the emperor to abdicate and seize power. As a prince, Liu Bian did not need a historian to record the incident alone. And Liu Hong would not have allowed a historian to be present when he was swimming naked and fighting in water. Otherwise, Liu Bian's "feat" of killing his brother and forcing his father to abdicate would probably never be completely washed away.

But after the grand court meeting, Liu Bian formally established his legitimacy as the crown prince regent, and officially changed his status from a minister to a monarch. Naturally, he was accompanied by several rotating historians.

Hey, he just went to the side hall to change into casual clothes, and this dog-like historian followed him, holding a booklet and making a few notes from time to time, but he couldn't be curious, let alone get angry or drive him away, otherwise he would be labeled in the historian's records as a "tamperer of history books" like a certain Emperor Taizong.

What worries Liu Bian the most is that he is not married yet. If he gets married in the future, will the historian in charge of daily records still have to lie by the wall and eavesdrop?
Shaking his head and putting these things behind him for the time being, Liu Bian keenly noticed the similarities between Yang Ci, Liu Tao and Liu Kuan who came to visit in a hurry, and couldn't help laughing in his heart.

"You three ministers have just come to the palace after the court session. I think there must be something important going on."

The Hongnong Yang family, to which Yang Ci belonged, had studied "Ouyang Shangshu" for generations.

Liu Tao was a descendant of Liu Bo, King Zhen of Jibei in the Western Han Dynasty. He moved to Qi and studied the Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals and the three versions of the Book of Documents, namely the Ouyang Book of Documents, the Da Xiahou Book of Documents, and the Xiao Xiahou Book of Documents. He also reviewed and corrected more than 700 texts and named it the Zhongwen Book of Documents.

Liu Kuan was the 15th generation grandson of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, and the son of Prime Minister Liu Qi. He lived in Hongnong and studied "Ouyang Shangshu" and "Jingshi Yi" since he was young.

These three people basically constitute half of the current Modern Literature School. Liu Bian did not expect that the people of the Modern Literature School would become restless so soon. Just half an hour after the court meeting, these three people went to the East Palace together.

It seems that the appointment of Lu Zhi as the Grand Tutor had a greater impact on the Modern Literature School than he had imagined.

"Your Highness, we do have something urgent to do!"

Yang Ci, Liu Tao and Liu Kuan looked at each other and nodded in unison with solemn expressions. Seeing the three important ministers like this, Liu Bian couldn't help but feel a little nervous for a moment.

"Your Highness, have you ever heard of the Taiping Dao?"

Liu Bian was startled for a moment, then nodded slightly. "When I was living outside the palace, the Taoist priest Shi Zimiao who raised me was a follower of the Taiping Dao. My mother, the queen, and the palace eunuchs and maids also believed in the Taiping Dao."

"It's not just the palace," Liu Tao said with a sigh, shaking his head. "Even the majority of officials in the capital, with a salary of 2,000 dan or higher, have ties to the Taiping Dao. And there are countless other officials in the local areas with a salary of 2,000 dan or higher."

"However, I have heard that the Taiping Dao is a Huang-Lao sect. They use talismans, water incantations and sayings to cure illnesses, and the sick are often cured. They also teach the people good ways, so there is no need to worry."

Liu Bian did not expect that what Yang Ci and the other two brought up was the matter of Taiping Dao. Some days ago, he had ordered Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Guo Sheng and others to inquire about the matter of Taiping Dao, but he did not expect that Yang Ci and others had such foresight to realize the hidden danger of Taiping Dao.

"Regardless of whether the Taiping Dao teaches people to be good, Your Highness, do you know the number of Taiping Dao followers?"

"Over the past ten years, the Taiping Dao has connected with the counties and states. People from the eight states of Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan, and Yu have all responded. They have since established thirty-six factions, each with over ten thousand people, and smaller ones with six to seven thousand. Each faction has its own leader. It's estimated that there are over four hundred thousand followers!"

"I know that Your Highness is kind, but Your Highness, regardless of whether the Taiping Dao has considered rebellion or not, they already have the strength to do so. We must be on guard against them!"

Liu Kuan's eloquence was much better than Yang Ci and Liu Tao's, and he hit the nail on the head and said something that was heart-wrenching.

Liu Bian narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Liu Kuan. A hint of murderous intent flashed in his sharp and majestic phoenix eyes.

Just like Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin back then, did he really think about rebelling?
No one knew whether he was planning a rebellion, but he had the power to do so, and that was his greatest sin.

Therefore, he must die.

The same is true of Taiping Dao.

When any unofficial and uncontrolled organization has 400,000 fanatical members, it must be banned.

Liu Bian took a deep breath and suppressed the murderous intent in his heart: "Let's put this matter aside for now. You must not submit a petition in writing. I already have..." "But Your Highness, the Taiping Dao is powerful. We should take precautions early!"

Liu Kuan interrupted Liu Bian before he could finish. Perhaps because he had become accustomed to Liu Hong's inaction over the years, he thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was just going to say something perfunctory like "I have made up my mind".

He really didn't understand what Liu Bian was thinking. The three of them could sense Liu Bian's fear and murderous intent towards the Taiping Dao from his eyes, but he did nothing, which really disappointed them.

Although the three of them wanted to use the Taiping Dao Rebellion to interrupt the subsequent dispute between modern and ancient texts, they were also concerned about the Han Dynasty in their hearts.

Especially Liu Tao and Liu Kuan, both of whom are relatives of the Liu family, naturally do not want the country to be in turmoil.

Liu Bian glanced at Liu Kuan sideways and said nothing.

I think you are the elder of the clan, and you are the elders of the clan. You, Liu Tao, are the fourteenth generation grandson of Emperor Gaozu, Liu Kuan is the fifteenth generation grandson of Emperor Gaozu, and I am the thirteenth generation grandson of Emperor Gaozu!
That is to say, if they really followed the clan system, even if Liu Bian was not the crown prince, Liu Tao had to call him uncle, and Liu Kuan had to call him great-uncle!

Just as he was about to explain, she interrupted him loudly. How could such behavior be the etiquette of a subject, nor the way to give advice?

Yang Ci, the oldest and more adept at reading expressions, noticed that Liu Bian hadn't finished speaking. The young prince naturally had a bit of a temper, so he tugged at Liu Kuan's sleeve and said, "Wen Rao, it's not too late to let His Highness finish his words first. How can you be so loud and noisy?"

"I've already noticed this. How can I sleep peacefully when the imperial palace is filled with Taiping Dao followers?"

In fact, the court of the Later Han Dynasty had long noticed Zhang Jiao's Taiping Dao. Such a large-scale religious organization naturally attracted the attention of the central government and local counties, but out of consideration for the situation, Liu Hong chose to back off.

Several years ago, Zhang Jue was arrested by the court on the charge of "deceiving the people" because he incited the people to "abandon and sell their property, flee to the enemy, block the roads, and even tens of thousands of people who did not die of illness."

However, in the intercalary ninth month of the fourth year of Guanghe (181 AD), Liu Hong issued a general amnesty, including Zhang Jue and his disciples and followers in the amnesty, but required Zhang Jue to immediately disband his followers. However, Zhang Jue did not repent.

In other words, the current strength of the Taiping Dao is purely due to Liu Hong's indulgence.

"This time, Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Guo Sheng, Gao Wang, and the other four cleared out over a hundred Taiping Dao followers from the palace for me. Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong also confessed to me that they had close ties with the Taiping Dao, but they didn't know if they had any intentions of rebellion, and they simply believed in the Dao."

"Then, the Imperial Eunuch Lü Qiang discovered that the Imperial Eunuchs Feng Yan and Xu Feng were colluding with Ma Yuanyi, the Grand Master of Songluo, the Taiping Dao, as an accomplice."

When Liu Bian said this, a hint of relief flashed across his eyes. He only remembered that in history, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong had close contacts with the Taiping Dao, but the two should not have any intention of rebelling. In order to ensure the safety of the palace, he still asked a group of eunuchs to check the Taiping Dao believers in the palace. However, he did not expect that there would be such an unexpected surprise.

No, it should be frightened.

During the investigation, the eunuch Lu Qiang discovered that Feng Yan and Xu Feng, who were also eunuchs, seemed to have too much knowledge of the Taiping Dao, and even deliberately let go of some eunuchs and palace maids who were Taiping Dao believers.

Originally, it was thought that the two were just protecting their adopted sons, daughters, and grandsons, but unexpectedly, after a careful investigation, Lu Qiang discovered that the two had frequent contacts with a high-ranking Taiping Dao official named Tang Zhou.

Later, someone reported to Lu Qiang that Feng Yan and Xu Feng were accomplices of the Taiping Dao and wanted to cause chaos in the palace.

Lu Qiang immediately asked Liu Bian for instructions. Liu Bian dispatched the infantry captain Gao Shun to lead people to follow Lu Qiang to capture Feng Yan, Xu Feng and their confidants and other rebels, but did not arrest Tang Zhou.

Liu Bian also interrogated Feng Yan and Xu Feng to extract the sixteen-character motto that shocked the Han Dynasty.

The three were horrified to learn from Liu Bian that the Taiping Dao actually had rebellious intentions and had even extended their hands into the palace.

"May I ask, Your Highness, which sixteen words?"

Liu Bian snorted lightly, his voice colder than ever before. He supported himself with his hands and leaned forward slightly towards the three people, speaking every word as if he was afraid that they couldn't hear him clearly.

"The sky is dead, Huang Tian must stand!"

"If you are at the age of sixty, the world will be blessed!"

(End of this chapter)