Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 36 I waited for three whole months, Cao Mengde, you finally welcomed the Emperor.

On that day, Yuan Shu was too lazy to get up and draw his eyebrows. He was slow to do his makeup and dressing. After a while, Yuan Shu dressed with the help of the two Qiao sisters and slowly walked to the study. Yan Xiang was already waiting for him to discuss the situation in Shouchun.

The two first discussed the implementation and improvement of previous policies, and then, taking advantage of the New Year, arranged personnel matters in various places.

Among them were officials like Wu Jing, Sun Ben, and Zhou Shang who were transferred from their local posts because Sun Ce had rendered meritorious service and thus promoted them to Shouchun.

Yan Xiang could understand this, after all, everyone on both sides of the Yangtze River and Huai River knew that Yuan Gong loved Ce like his own son, so it was perfectly normal for him to take the opportunity to "promote" a few members of the Sun family.

However, the next transfer order made Yan Xiang frown. "My lord, Liu Xun has been replaced by Gu Yong as the prefect of Lujiang, and he is currently without duties. It would be fine if he were transferred back."

But Lei Bu and Chen Lan are both your trusted and beloved generals, who have led troops to guard Runan for you for many years. Now they are being transferred back with Liu Xun to serve as the vanguard in the campaign against Cao Cao. Is this not appropriate?
Furthermore, if these two are recalled, who will be capable of guarding the foundation of Runan?

"Taishi Ziyi is certainly capable of handling this!"

Yuan Shu blurted out, clearly already having a plan in mind. As for Lei Bu and Chen Lan?
He had long wanted to eliminate Lei and Chen along with Liu Xun, but he lacked a legitimate reason to do so.

He remembered that in history, Lei Bu and Chen Lan were even more despicable than Liu Xun!

In the end, Liu Xun was nothing more than a man who held military power and secretly colluded with Cao Cao. But what about Lei Bu and Chen Lan?

Seeing that Yuan Shu had declared himself emperor and that the situation was hopeless, the authorities not only broke away and established their own rule, but also refused to lend him provisions during his impoverished and desperate escape.

They won't even give us a sip of honey water, that's absolutely outrageous!

It can be said that the reason why Yuan Shu, the original figure in history, died from vomiting blood due to the lack of honey water was all thanks to these two traitors!
On this journey, I intend to march north to attack Cao Cao. My three vanguard generals must not disappoint me.

Thinking this, Yuan Shu smiled and said to Yan Xiang:

"I recently heard that a brave man from Wu County joined the army when he was fighting Yan Baihu. He was originally unknown."

Unexpectedly, at the last banquet in Shouchun Palace, when the list of heroes was awarded for meritorious service, he, a mere soldier, was promoted to the fourth rank of Bu Geng for the number of heads he had collected. This must be a hidden gem!
I only know his surname is Ling and his given name is Cao. I imagine he is quite capable. You should arrange for him to be a deputy general, to serve alongside Taishi Ziyi in governing Runan. Then I can rest easy.”

He paused slightly at this point, then his smile deepened as he mentioned Lei Bu and Chen Lan.

"Lei Bu and Chen Lan are my beloved generals. I miss them dearly, as I have not been able to serve them by my side for a long time."

The reason I summoned them here on this northern expedition to rescue the Emperor is so that they may both serve the country with great merit. When they arrive at the Emperor's palace, I will request them to be granted official titles.

Furthermore, Lei and Chen have long been stationed in Runan and are familiar with its geography. Now they intend to send troops out of Runan to attack Yingchuan. If they are not the vanguard, who will dare to take their place?

Yan Xiang remained silent. Although what his lord said seemed to make some sense, it wasn't much, and he vaguely felt that something was amiss.

The two then discussed in detail the matter of opening an academy in Shouchun, including how to invite famous people and how to conduct classes.

Given the prestige of the Yuan family, which had produced three high-ranking officials for four generations, how many of their former students and officials had retired to enjoy their old age?

Therefore, there is no need to worry about the quality of teachers at the academy. As long as the salaries are generous, we can invite them one by one.

In any case, Yuan Shu didn't expect them to produce any extraordinary talents; he just wanted them to provide a steady stream of low-level officials for his future conquests.

Those who came out of the academy were essentially labeled as Yuan's disciples, which somewhat alleviated the current concern that most talented people came from aristocratic families.

After some discussion, all the arrangements for the academy were made. Yuan Shu then instructed Yan Xiang to have craftsmen refine the papermaking process. Nearly a century had passed since Cai Lun improved papermaking, and Cai Lun paper had become widely circulated.

Because of its poor color, it failed to completely replace bamboo slips and silk and gain a dominant position. Instead, it had its own advantages in different situations of use.

Since Yuan Shu wanted to establish academies, there was nothing better than launching a new type of paper of exceptional quality to make a name for himself and gain the favor of scholars.

Although he only had a vague impression of papermaking and was completely unaware of the specific production process.

However, by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the foundation and conditions for improving paper had already been established. In fact, not long after, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, a type of paper called Zuo Bo paper emerged.

Its paper is of uniform thickness, fine texture, and bright color. Among them, the five-color floral paper and high-grade letter paper are the best and are highly regarded by celebrities of the time.

Although Yuan Shu was not clear about Zuo Bo's paper, he firmly believed that great efforts could lead to miracles. As long as he was willing to invest manpower and resources, and offered a reward to a hundred or so craftsmen in the world who were skilled in papermaking, even if he could not make Xuan paper in later generations, wouldn't it be enough to improve Cai Lun's paper?
The widespread use of paper is undoubtedly a crucial step for him to break free from the constraints of being bound by the talents provided by aristocratic families, thus avoiding repeating the mistakes of the Nine-Rank Official.

Upon hearing that Yuan Shu was once again scheming to manufacture paper, Yan Xiang felt helpless and had a headache.

However, instead of discouraging Yuan Shu's recent efforts to improve his administration, he quickly realized the benefits and importance of the new paper and immediately agreed with it.

"My lord's plan is brilliant. By simply rewarding a few craftsmen, once the task is accomplished, we can win the hearts of all the famous scholars in the land and seize the wealth of the powerful families of the nine provinces!"
I have heard that people in the world are driven by profit. They are tempted by a 10% profit, take risks when they gain nearly half, dare to break the law when they gain ten times the profit, and are willing to risk the extermination of their clan when they gain a hundred times the profit.

"The profits from papermaking, as my lord has stated, are more than a hundredfold! This is the foundation for establishing a royal enterprise!"

He bowed deeply and said, “My lord, please do not worry. I will take care of the papermaking and craftsmen matters immediately.”

Watching Yan Xiang accept his mission and resolutely turn away, Yuan Shu's unspoken words remained unspoken.

I'm just asking a craftsman to make paper, why are you acting like you're going to war with me against Cao Cao? Wait, where are you going? I still have many more ingenious ideas comparable to papermaking to tell you.

After fleeing the mansion as if escaping, Yan Xiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He now understood what Lao Tzu meant when he said: "Everything has two sides, yin and yang."

Sometimes, it's not a good thing for the lord to be too diligent in governing. Before the previous order is even finished, the next one is already being arranged, and all of them seem to make sense and sound reasonable.

Yan Xiang suspected that if he didn't take the opportunity to escape, the pile of official duties this year would wear him down and kill his old bones with all these brilliant plans of his lord.

No sooner had Yan Xiang left than Yuan Shu heard from an armored soldier, "Military Advisor Yang has arrived!"

"Please!"

Upon seeing Yang Hong arrive, Yuan Shu beamed and was about to tell him the brilliant plan that he hadn't had time to give earlier.

Before he could even speak, Yang Hong, with a delighted expression, preemptively spoke first.

"My lord, an urgent report from Yanzhou!"

The envoy sent by Yuan Shao to Luoyang via Yan and Yu provinces to contact the emperor has died!

Cao Cao knew that while he could hold off the south, he couldn't stop the north, and the death of an envoy wouldn't delay Yuan Shao for long. Therefore, he no longer waited for the emperor to come to Luoyang, but personally led his troops to receive him.

"it is good!"

Candles were burning in the hall, and Shouchun was already covered in wind and snow. I had waited for three whole months, and Cao Mengde, you finally welcomed the emperor!
(End of this chapter)