Chapter 51: Wishful Thinking

  Seeing Tang Ying's confident appearance, Liu Bian's mood relaxed and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Although this wife has a poor background and not much education, she can't compare to the likes of Princess Wan and Cai Yan who are highly educated and knowledgeable, gentle and virtuous. However, she is very resilient, when she's feeling lost, she can hold up half the sky, helping herself share the burden of pressure. Seeing her, one can always muster up courage again, just like a fighter jet refueled, rearmed, and charging into the blue sky once more.

  It's just that, I'm not afraid of anything. Anyway, the Han Dynasty is also on the verge of collapse, and even if Liu Xie, who is smarter than myself, takes over, it will still be impossible to turn things around. Since this is the case, what do I have to be afraid of? When a person dies, birds will fly towards the sky, even if we're finished, we must still fight a good battle with the Yuan family. After defeating the Yuan family, I'll go find my dragon.

  Although the overall trend of history has not changed fundamentally, it is not that there are no achievements at all. Yuan Shao gave up the Southern and Northern Armies and the Western Garden Eight Schools without firing an arrow, which is an example. Think back to when the previous emperor was so worried about the Western Garden Eight Schools that he even specially appointed the eunuch Jian Shuo as the commander of the Upper Army, with even the great general He Jin under his leadership. As a result, the Western Garden Eight Schools still fell into Yuan Shao's hands. Now, I just spent some thought, killed Ding Yuan, took over the Pingzhou army, and Yuan Shao voluntarily gave up all his military power and left Luoyang.

  The score is still a bit. Don't be impatient, accumulate small victories into big wins, who dares to say there's no day for a comeback?

  Liu Bian sat down, propped up his legs, and gazed at the white waves splashed by the waterfall in the Tuolong Pool, lost in thought.

  What is the difference between now and history, what resources can be utilized, how much chance of winning does Yuan Shao have when he rises in revolt, and who can be relied upon?

  Liu Bian weighed back and forth, his thoughts surging like a tide.

  The Princess of Wan and Tang Ying exchanged a glance, both involuntarily letting out a sigh of relief.

  In the distance, under the palace wall, a tall figure silently gazed at Liu Bian in the pavilion, with complex eyes and fluttering clothes.

  ……

  Yuan's Mansion

  Yuan Yi sat upright with a serious expression, and He, Shizhong Kindi, Huangmen Shilang Xun Yu, Yishilang Zheng Tai, Yue Qi Xiaowei Wu Qiong and others sat around him in a circle, each with different expressions, waiting for Yuan Yi to speak.

  Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's departure from Luoyang was a highly secretive affair, with almost no one knowing about it beforehand. Especially Wu Qiong, the Colonel of the Vanguard Cavalry, who only found out that Yuan Shao had left Luoyang when Lu Zhi brought in the imperial edict to the Northern Army's camp. He was shocked and hastily contacted his associates, discovering that the vast majority of them were also in the dark about it.

  They did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly came to find Yuan Wei. After the departure of Yuan Shao's brothers, Yuan Wei was the only mainstay, and what to do next depended on Yuan Wei's decision.

  Yuan Wei knew the intentions of these people, and he had long been prepared with his words. At this moment, he was as still as a mountain, with wisdom in his grasp, without saying a word, just this aura was enough to calm down the nervous hearts of these people.

  "At first, the former emperor wanted to abolish the elder and establish the younger, we relied on reason and argued strongly, without fear of offending the dragon's scales. Now it seems that we were wrong." Yuan Wei took a deep breath and began to reflect on himself: "No one knows a son better than his father, the former emperor had foresight, knowing that the Son of Heaven did not have the appearance of a wise ruler, and could not bear the heavy responsibility of reviving the great Han. The former emperor's wisdom was like a shining light, we are ashamed to be inferior."

  Everyone present was intelligent and immediately understood the implication behind Yuan Wei's self-criticism.

  At first, why did Liu Bian become the crown prince? It was because the He family had no foundation and wanted to stand firm in the imperial court, they could only rely on the Yuan family as the leader of the aristocratic families. Now that the He brothers are dead, the He family has disappeared, and Liu Bian is emperor, he has lost his significance to the Yuan family. At this moment, if Liu Bian had honestly listened to the Yuan family's words and become a puppet, it would have been fine. But he refused to accept his fate, first controlling Dong Zhuo, then using Lü Bu, brutally killing Ding Yuan, and taking away the Bingzhou army. What's more, he even publicly humiliated Yuan Shu in the imperial court, his unwillingness to be controlled by the Yuan family was already very clear.

  Since that's the case, the Yuan family naturally didn't need to tolerate him anymore. Depose Liu Bian and establish a new emperor - would the nine-year-old Liu Xie still dare to be so unreasonable? With the precedent of the He family being exterminated before them, did the Wang family, Liu Xie's maternal clan, still dare to be arrogant and contend with the Yuan family for power?

  Reviving the previous emperor's idea of abolishing the eldest and establishing the youngest, it was just a way to find an excuse for deposing Liu Bian. Anyway, the previous emperor is already dead, what his thoughts were, isn't it up to Yuan Wei to say? If Yuan Wei wants to be Huo Guang, then Liu Bian can only be that unlucky Changyi King Liu He. The Han Ling Emperor, who was chaotic but not damaging, suddenly transformed into a wise and farsighted ruler with piercing eyes.

  Yuan Wei set the tone, and everyone knew what to do.

  ……

  Liu Bian looked at the several piles of memorials in front of him, his eyebrows opened and he couldn't help but laugh with joy.

  These bookworms, they really want to have it both ways. They secretly aspire to be like Huo Guang or Wang Mang, but on the surface, they pretend to be loyal officials, speaking eloquently and convincingly as if they were telling the truth.

  These days, memorials have been coming in like snowflakes, almost drowning him. However, after categorizing them, they are nothing more than a few types of words.

  One, the four generations of the Yuan family have produced three chancellors, with a reputation that echoes throughout the land. Yuan Wei's virtue and prestige are renowned, making him a model for scholars. The Emperor humiliating Yuan Wei in front of all officials goes against the sacred teachings of revering teachers and respecting the Way, and also goes against the Emperor's duty to bring virtuous transformation to the world, causing scholars everywhere to lose hope. He should deeply reflect on his actions and apologize to Chancellor Yuan Wei, reforming himself anew.

  Let Liu Bian reflect on himself, that's still being polite. There are people who blame He's family for being the butcher of Nanyang, and Liu Bian is from a humble background, without the demeanor of an emperor, which was why Emperor Ling didn't like him in the first place. Now the facts have proven that Emperor Ling's idea of replacing the crown prince with a younger one was correct. Therefore, Liu Bian should step down and let the wise and intelligent, nobly-born Liu Xie take over to bring peace to the country.

  Secondly, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are the heroes of the world, forced by the Emperor to flee and escape to Jianghu. If we do not provide comfort and relief, it will inevitably make people's hearts float. It is suggested that the Emperor issue a decree to grant official positions and noble titles to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, to comfort the Yuan family and comfort the people's hearts.

  Thirdly, Dong Zhuo is of humble origin, coarse and unrefined, not even understanding basic etiquette, and is unfit to be the head of the Three Dukes. Lü Bu and others are guilty of treason, recklessly killing high-ranking officials, and are violent and unruly, making them unsuitable to serve as the Emperor's guards. The Liangzhou army and Bingzhou army have poor discipline, harassing the people of Luoyang and causing chaos in the capital. Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu should be stripped of their official positions, and the Liangzhou and Bingzhou armies should be sent back to their garrisons, restoring peace to the capital.

  Fourthly, when the new emperor ascends to the throne, he should issue a general amnesty to all under heaven, recruit virtuous scholars and show that he shares the joy with the people, and bestow benevolence on all under heaven. I humbly request that Your Majesty issue an edict to attract famous scholars to enter the court, dismiss treacherous officials, restore the imperial power, and revive the great Han dynasty.

  Liu Bian vaguely remembered that after Dong Zhuo entered the capital and took control, he did roughly this. First, he deposed Emperor Shao and replaced him with Emperor Xian, then he recruited famous scholars, and finally he promoted Yuan Shao and his brother Yuan Shu to higher offices. What was the result? The Yuan brothers accepted the official positions and territories but were not grateful to Dong Zhuo; instead, they used this as a pretext to raise an army against him. Those scholars also did not stand on Dong Zhuo's side; instead, they secretly collaborated with Yuan Shao, forming an alliance within and outside the capital.

  Now, they are still doing this, but the target is aimed at this emperor. Dong Zhuo did not abolish and establish, Yuan Yi wanted to take on this burden, but Dong Zhuo's abolition and establishment was a disaster for the court, while Yuan Yi's abolition and establishment was loyalty to the great Han.

  Do you take me for Dong Zhuo, that fool? Knowing full well you want to kill me, and yet I hand the knife over to you?

  What a wonderful thought!

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