Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 366 You fool, I'll beat you to death, but this is still mine!

On the tenth day of the ninth month of the second year of the Han Dynasty, at the Chen King's Palace.

For three consecutive days, the emperor summoned the officials who had participated in suppressing the rebellion.

However, no officers or senior military officers were on the list of those summoned.

Although the rebellion was quelled, remnants of the rebellion still roamed around in various counties, and some villains took advantage of the chaos to cause trouble.

Liu Bian distributed the central army almost equally among the counties, but the deeper meaning behind this was known only to a handful of people.

Therefore, those who were summoned in the past few days were either officials from the capital who accompanied the emperor, or prefects, chancellors, and military commanders from various prefectures and kingdoms who participated in suppressing the rebellion.

During these three days, Liu Bian kept writing and drawing, and basically finalized the personnel transfers of a group of people. All that was left was for him to return to the capital for verification by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and then be forwarded to the Ministry of Personnel for review. Once the process was completed, the imperial edict could be issued.

However, all the arrangements were still confidential and not announced, but Wang Yun, the governor of Yuzhou who was also summoned, was already gradually handing over the official duties of the Yuzhou governor's office to Yang Qi, the prefect of Runan.

Therefore, the choice of the new governor of Yuzhou is self-evident.

As for what position Wang Yun would hold, although he remained tight-lipped about it, citing "secrets," he couldn't hide the beaming smile on his face.

Wang Yun, who was fond of empty fame, couldn't help but boast to others. So, at a banquet where the meritorious officials who participated in suppressing the rebellion were celebrating their great victory, he pretended to be drunk and inadvertently revealed that he would "often accompany the emperor to the right and right."

The moment the words "right neighbor" were uttered, everyone at the table understood immediately.

What is meant by "right neighbor"?

Since the Han Dynasty, military generals have respected the left side, while civil officials have respected the right side.

Therefore, "near the emperor" refers to personal guards like Dian Wei.

"Right near" means the emperor's trusted advisors.

Now, among all the officials in and out of the court, who is more suited to the role of "right-hand man" than the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat?

Given Wang Yun's seniority and achievements over the years, if he were to enter the Attendant-in-Ordinary Court, he would undoubtedly be appointed as an Attendant-in-Ordinary.

However, not everyone is like Wang Yun and Yang Qi, who either have a choice or can obtain clear information. Therefore, many people are eager to find out where they will go in the future.

The emperor, of course, could not possibly know this.

So everyone turned their attention to Du Xi, the Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, hoping to glean some information from the emperor's confidential secretary under the pretext of a banquet.

Therefore, invitations to banquets have been flying in like snowflakes to Du Xi in recent days, but Du Xi has always politely declined all kinds of banquet invitations.

Some people, unwilling to give up, went to Du Xi's door to test him, only to find him quietly handling official business without even raising his eyelids, and simply saying, "I appreciate your kindness."

Although the crowd was displeased, they had no choice but to give up and wait for news, out of respect for his background and his brother-in-law relationship with the emperor.

Besides these officials who were anxious about their own careers, there was another group of people who were restless every day, hoping to be summoned by the emperor, to the point that they were exhausted from anxiety.

This group of people consisted of prominent families from various powerful clans in Chen County.

On the day the emperor entered the city, General Dian Wei of the Left Guard strictly forbade them from participating in the welcoming procession, and even forbade them from leaving the house. Even the servants and maids in the mansion were not allowed to leave the house, otherwise they would be killed on the spot.

The beauties and treasures that were carefully prepared to be presented to the emperor were all turned away.

Anyone with even a little influence in the court knows that General Dian Wei of the Left Guard is straightforward and this action was certainly not his intention.

In other words, rejecting the overtures from the Chenjun aristocratic families was precisely the emperor's own intention!
Damn Xu Ziyuan!

This guy! Many people at home are gritting their teeth in anger.

The attitudes of the powerful and wealthy families in Chenjun towards Xu You changed almost three times a day!
When he first heard that Liu Chong had suggested gathering evidence of crimes from various families, he hated him to the core; but after learning that he was a spy for the court, he was overjoyed.

After all, only with Liu Chong gone could these powerful and wealthy families escape in time. Did they really want to perish with this guy?

But when they figured out Xu You's true intention in gathering evidence of crimes committed by all the powerful and wealthy families in Chen County, they wished he would be run over and killed by a carriage immediately.

Looking back now, it's clear why, when it came time to decide to open the city gates, Xu You insisted that the Yuan and He families of Chen Commandery be responsible for the final surrender of the city.

Xu You argued that the head of the Yuan family of Chen Commandery was Yuan Pang, the Grand Commandant of the current dynasty, and the head of the He family of Chen Commandery was He Kui, the Left General of the Household. Moreover, neither family had participated in the rebellion, so they were more likely to gain the trust of the government troops and avoid arousing suspicion.

At that time, the powerful and wealthy families, who were in great turmoil and constantly worried about being wiped out by the court as traitors, naturally had no time to think carefully. They only hoped that the court would come and recover Chen County as soon as possible.

Otherwise, given the state of Chen County at that time, it probably wouldn't have lasted even half an hour before being breached by the imperial army. Once the city fell, no one could escape the calamity of war.

Looking back now, Xu You not only used them as a means to advance his career, but also took the opportunity to curry favor with Grand Commandant Yuan Pang and Left General He Kui by offering them as gifts!
He is utterly unfilial!

Unable to meet the emperor, these powerful families turned their attention to the most distinguished person in Chen County besides the emperor—General Huangfu Song!
As the de facto commander-in-chief of the army, Huangfu Song naturally had influence with the emperor, so many powerful families placed their hopes on him.

To everyone's surprise, Huangfu Song lived and ate in the military camp the whole time, and refused to see these people.

On this rare day, he led his personal guards out of the camp, intending to pay homage to the emperor, but was stopped by the crowd halfway.

Huangfu Song was naturally aware of these people's intentions, so he didn't even dismount. Instead, with a gloomy expression, he refused all the supplies that were supposedly sent under the guise of "supporting the troops," and then coldly asked them a question.

"Was this how you comforted the rebels in the past?"

Of course, it would be a lie to say that Huangfu Song was not tempted by these supplies for the troops.

Only one hundred carts were delivered to Huangfu Song, but according to these powerful families, they had prepared five thousand such large carts.

This is a standard transport vehicle. According to the Han Dynasty system, one vehicle could carry 25 shi of millet.

It's not that we can't make transport vehicles with a larger capacity, but twenty-five shi of grain weighs a full three thousand jin!
If the weight exceeds 3,000 jin (1,500 kg), the livestock can pull it, but this is not a sustainable method and will inevitably harm the livestock.

The hundred vehicles in front of him could be heard making a crisp metallic clanging sound as they moved along the road, so there was no doubt what they contained.

Three thousand catties of five-zhu coins, one cartload would probably be worth nearly two hundred thousand coins.

Five thousand cartloads of five-zhu coins, that's a billion coins!
This is no small feat!
The imperial court's expedition this time involved 100,000 troops and 200,000 laborers. Including livestock consumption and losses during the journey, it consumed just over three million shi of grain.

After the summer harvest this year, the price of grain was 55 coins per shi (a unit of dry measure). When the imperial court purchased grain, the grain merchants offered a price of 48 coins per shi, with the total expenditure not exceeding 150 million coins.

Even if there are rewards and compensations afterward, as well as the wear and tear of military equipment, one billion coins would be more than enough.

However, given the strength of the powerful families in Chen County, while 1 billion coins is enough to make them feel pain, as if a piece of flesh has been ripped out of them, when spread among the various families, it is actually just a temporary pain, far from being a matter of serious injury.

But Huangfu Song still refused to accept it.

This money is a real hot potato; it's money to buy your life!
Furthermore, these people are simply too stupid.

Watching the group leave dejectedly, Huangfu Song turned to Kuai Liang, the military advisor of the General of the Rear's Office, and shook his head, sighing, "Zirou, have these people lost their minds?"

Kuai Liang smiled slightly. He knew the reasoning behind it all, but he was just playing along with Huangfu Song. He stroked his beard and replied, "Why do you say that, General?"

Huangfu Song's voice carried a hint of sarcasm as he said, "Kill them, and all this stuff will be ours!"

(End of this chapter)