Three Kingdoms

Just when the Cavalry General Fei Qian received the news of the sealing, a good show also kicked off in Xu County, Yuzhou.

At dawn, all the ministers stood on the square outside the Meridian Gate, waiting to go to court.

Jizhou farewell Cui Yan arrived in Xu County yesterday, stayed in the official residence for one night, and now went to work with a group of officials.

Someone soon noticed this and couldn't help but whisper.

Cui Yan is from Jizhou, and he was previously a military commander under Yuan Shao, and he followed Yuan Shao to do things. Now, although Cui Yan defected to Cao Cao after Yuan Shao's defeat, after all, his past experience is there, and there will still be some. It was embarrassing, so Cui Yan rarely came to Xu County and stayed in Yecheng. But for some reason, he appeared here today, waiting to go to court with others.

Cui Yan himself was a little helpless. Who doesn’t want to be the mastermind behind the scenes, charging into battle and letting his younger brother go first, while he eats, drinks and enjoys himself first? But the problem is that sometimes you can't choose some things by yourself, but after today, the attention will no longer be on himself. Seeing the evasive glances of the surrounding officials, his mood is quite complicated. .

On the edge of the square where the officials were waiting, the banner of the Han Dynasty swayed in the wind. Under the flag, there were still the guards of the Han Dynasty Imperial Army with their heads held high. Everything was as it was in the past, but everything was different from the past.

Cui Yan sighed slightly.

He didn't know how many of the officials present now were really looking towards the great man and towards the Emperor Liu Xie. The role he played this time would definitely make some people find it difficult to accept, but they wanted to How is it possible to survive and develop in such a troubled world without being contaminated by some dirty things and remain pure?

Everything in the world is so simple?

Only by living can we have a future.

On this point, Tian Feng has already told Cui Yan and others with his personal experience. As a Jizhou nobleman, you must fight when you should fight, and when you should kneel down and lick, you must also open your mouth...

No matter how innocent the fish on the chopping board is, it is just a meal on a person's plate.

Cui Yan is not willing to be in a situation where he is at the mercy of others. If he wants to be a slave, he will be a knifeman. If he makes such a choice, he will inevitably be criticized by others. He still has this awareness to some extent.

In the queue, there are some people who know very well why Cui Yan came here, so naturally these people will not just watch Cui Yan indifferently, but when they occasionally meet Cui Yan's eyes, they will smile and nod. Show goodwill.

However, the attention Cui Yan attracted did not last long, because after a while, another person arrived, causing everyone's attention to shift again.

This new arrival, who surprised everyone, was the fiery new governor of Xuzhou, Zang Ba.

Zang Ba's face looked a little haggard, and there was a faint hint of fatigue between his eyebrows. He was not wearing a military uniform, but was wearing a black and red court uniform like a civil servant.

Zang Ba rarely attended the meeting. Well, strictly speaking, he had never attended several court meetings at all. Now that he appeared here, it felt like Comrade Chuan Jianguo publicly attended a meeting. It made people feel a little surprised, but also Somewhat stunned, with some disbelieving doubts.

Seeing Zang Ba's arrival, Cui Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized that if he had not agreed to come and had not surrendered to Cao Cao, he might have been targeted by Cao Cao just like Zang Ba. Or is it that Jizhou is now in Cao Cao's calculations?

Cui Yan looked around and felt that there seemed to be this unspeakable abomination hidden in the Yingchuan gang and Guo Jia's smile.

Zang Ba's immediate actions actually expressed the same attitude as Cui Yan, which was submission to Cao Cao. The Taishan Army has always been outside the court. Although it is nominally under the control of Cao Cao, it is actually only following the deployment of the Taishan Army Zang Ba and others. Now not only Chang Xi has been killed, but Zang Ba also He was changed from general to governor, deprived of part of his military power even when he was promoted or secretly surrendered, and Zang Ba was required to personally attend the scene and kneel down to sing the song of conquest...

Well, although Cui Yan certainly didn't know how to sing "Conquer", he clearly understood the meaning of such a situation.

Cao Cao took advantage of the momentum of the Qingxu Battle and created such a situation to make Cui Yan, Zang Ba and others bow their heads. Of course, this is normal operation. After all, Cao Cao himself has to bear a lot of political risks with every killing. It would be best if the dispute could be resolved through negotiation.

Just like if the Taishan Army was willing to bow its head earlier, Cao Cao might not take heavy action against Chang Xi. After all, leaving a fool to mess around inside the Taishan Army was a relatively good choice.

From another perspective, Cao Cao's attack on the Taishan Army may also mean that Cao Cao has reached a situation where he has to take action?

Cui Yan looked calm and composed on the surface, but his eyes moved slightly, and countless thoughts were rolling through his mind in a short period of time.

After a while, Cai Mao, the captain of Jingzhou Changshui School, also arrived. He originally wanted to stand directly at the end of the queue, but was pulled into the Yingchuan queue by Zhong Yao with a smile. He talked in low tones from left to right, looking very harmonious. .

Cui Yan suddenly felt a toothache.

Who are you doing this on purpose?

You Yuanchang, are you planning to marry Cai's daughter?

Cui Yan cursed inwardly and simply lowered his eyes, out of sight and out of mind.

After a while, Cao Cao stepped on the node and arrived, and the officials in the square quickly bowed and saluted.

As soon as Cao Cao's front foot arrived, the music of the rear foot began to sound, and all the ministers came to the palace in batches.

Compared with the kind of large-scale court meetings in which everyone participates, only relatively important officials can participate in the current court meetings. Ordinary petty officials, as well as idle officials, such as a lot of people under Guang Luxun's butt, are not eligible. Participated. And choosing such an ordinary court meeting, not Wangshuo's grand court meeting, naturally has its purpose.

When all the officials entered the palace one after another, the sky was just getting bright. The sun shone in from one side of the hall, making the red ones redder and the black ones darker. The golden lines and colorful silks exuded brilliant brilliance under the sunlight. Everything seemed so beautiful.

It just seems...

Cui Yan followed the queue, advancing step by step. After entering the palace, the emperor had not yet arrived, but he turned his head and glanced slightly at Cao Cao, who was at the head of the hundred officials.

After looking at this, Cui Yan couldn't help but feel a little emotional. This authority is indeed a good thing that can rejuvenate people and rejuvenate them. Looking at Cao Cao now, he seems to be more energetic than when he was in Yecheng. His eyes were shining brightly, giving him an aggressive aura.

As if aware of Cui Yan's gaze, Cao Cao turned his head slightly, glanced at Cui Yan, and nodded slightly to Cui Yan to show his kindness.

Cao Cao's actions naturally fell into the eyes of some middle-level officials who didn't understand what would happen, so they looked at Cui Yan slightly differently than before...

Cui Yan took a breath and lowered his head silently.

Several Huangmen eunuchs walked into the hall, and then loudly announced that the emperor was coming.

Generally, the etiquette of the Chang Dynasty is relatively simple. Soon the emperor Liu Xie sat on the throne in the main hall amid the worship of hundreds of officials.

Xun Yu, who was in charge of Shangshu Ling, came out first and recited some memorials with an expressionless face. These chapters are basically a running account, such as what happened, what was done, what else happened, etc. Generally speaking, it is like breaking news, just informing the emperor and officials about the current situation, and not What instructions are needed from Emperor Liu Xie?

After Gu Kun's routine performance, many people immediately became energetic. If these people all had dog ears, they would have erected a large number of them by now!

Emperor Liu Xie also realized something, and his face was slightly gloomy. He looked in and out of Cao Cao, and then at other officials, especially Cui Yan, Zang Ba, Cai Mao and other people who did not appear often. Stayed the longest.

"Cui Yan, a humble minister, has his own origin. 』

Cui Yan took a slow breath, walked out of the queue, and saluted.

The emperor was silent for a while, but his eyes turned to Cao Cao.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became dull and tense.

Cao Cao lowered his eyes, motionless, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.

The Huangmen eunuch standing next to Liu Xie glanced at Liu Xie. Seeing that Liu Xie didn't show any expression, he didn't dare to say anything. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead and ran along his face. Rolling down...

It seemed that a long time had passed, maybe only a few breaths had passed, Liu Xie's arm placed on the armrest of the throne was slightly raised and he moved his fingers.

"Accurate performance..." Huangmen eunuch shouted quickly in a long tone. I don’t know if I shouted in a hurry, but at the end, although my voice was high-pitched, it couldn’t help but tremble a little.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Cui Yan's voice was calm and powerful, "Since the founding of Ning, there have been many hardships and disasters. During the period of peace, the atmosphere is dim, the stars have lost their place, the ugly people are rampant, the gangs of evil are rising, they are overbearing, and the country is in danger. Overthrow is imminent. Every time I read the historical records and look at the previous records, I see that the misfortune is so extreme that it has never been seen in ancient times or modern times. The dog eats the hair of the soil, which contains gas, and all of them beat their hearts and lose their breath, and walk in the streets crying. Fortunately, His Majesty has ascended the throne, and has not only the blessings of the ancestral temple, but also loyal ministers and talents, who have been granted ranks and assistants, praised for merit and virtue, and the world hopes for the beauty of Zhongxing, and the eight wastelands cherish the hope of revival. 』

"I heard that the dusk and light are used repeatedly, but they are not harmonious and harmonious. The destiny has not changed, and everything has returned. If the country is in danger, there will definitely be someone to help it in danger. If Guizhou is in danger, there will be someone to continue its progress. Now there is Cao Gong Mengde, who has overcome difficulties with all his strength, destroyed the Yellow Turban bandits in the first place, killed the two Yuan usurpers in the later years, and brought peace to Hebei and Henan. On the verge of death, there is Qingxu, who is gentle and docile, attacks the rebels and punishes them, and kills the rebels. The wind blows away the wasteland and filth, and it is intimidating and intimidating, and it is in harmony with the inner world. This is a great achievement that has never been achieved since Guangwu. 』

"Therefore, I dare to consider the aspirations of heaven and earth, and consider the hope of the country. I have promoted Duke Cao to serve as prime minister, so as to stabilize the country and secure the general school. I can win the favor of the Holy Dynasty, and be crowned and respected by my subordinates. I will continue to assist His Majesty Bi." Great cause, continue to govern the country of Jingsheji. I hope Your Majesty will keep the loyalty of Shun and Yu, take the country as your priority, and not take small actions first, worry about the head of Guizhou, and don't give in as a matter of course. The upper part is used to comfort the ancestral temple, which is the heart of care, and the lower part is used to express the hope of the whole world. As the saying goes, prosperity is born from dry catkins, and flesh is nourished from rotten bones. Gods and men find peace without any misfortune. 』

"I cried with overwhelming emotion, all from the bottom of my heart. I spoke in fear, and I kowtowed a hundred times." Please allow your majesty! 』

Cui Yan spoke loudly, but Liu Xie, who was sitting on the throne, couldn't help but grasp the armrests tighter and tighter, and even some veins were exposed on the back of his hands.

After Cui Yan finished playing, there was silence in the hall.

Only the sound of rapid breathing was heard, and no one spoke.

Prime Minister!

This word is both familiar and unfamiliar...

There were prime ministers in the beginning of the Han Dynasty, but since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty killed eleven prime ministers during his reign, this position has gradually declined and has lost its glory in the early Han Dynasty.

After Cao Cao ushered in the Han Emperor and defeated Yuan Shu, his position was Sikong. This Sikong was not something Cao Cao patted on the head, like in a vegetable market where he picked the one that pleased his eyes or bought the one that was cheap. Instead, he passed by. The location was decided upon after careful consideration.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the struggle between imperial power and prime minister power was very fierce.

For the ambitious Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he naturally wanted a political group that fully obeyed his instructions, rather than the official offices of foreign prime ministers who were always at odds with him.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, most of the officials in China and North Korea were lower-ranking officials, mainly Langguan, doctor, doctorate and other officials who were in charge of admonishment, or close servants around the emperor. They did not have high life experience and political status. Most of them came from poor families or commoner families, which created an innate opposition between the Chinese officials and the foreign officials during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Naturally, the result was that the Chinese officials who were encouraged by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were used one after another, and eventually the foreign officials were trampled under their feet...

But after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty turned the prime minister into a high-risk profession, the prime minister became increasingly depressed. Even during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, some prime ministers did not care about things at all and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to saving their lives. In order to maintain the normal operation of the court, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty He pioneered the creation of some official positions in China and North Korea, and brought matters that originally belonged to foreign officials to China and North Korea in an upright manner. On the one hand, he continued to evade the authority of the prime minister, and on the other hand, it allowed Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to expand his own space for activities. .

Therefore, the officials of the Zhongchao, or the officials of the inner court, are basically the emperor's close ministers, such as Shizhong, Changshi, Gishizhong, Shangshu, etc. They are closer to the emperor on weekdays and can be said to be representatives. The emperor's will was exercising his rights, which was consistent with Cao Cao's status at that time.

This is one factor, and another reason is that Yuan Shao represented himself as a chariot and cavalry general at the time. According to the practice of the Han Dynasty, he was an external court official who founded a government office. Therefore, Cao Cao chose to serve as Sikong at that time. Express to Yuan Shao that the younger brother is still assisting the elder brother...

The eldest brother, you fight bravely in the outer court, and the younger brother assists in the inner court. Husband and wife, uh, brothers work together to make a fortune together! Brother, look, there is a man named Fei over there who keeps glaring at you...

Yuan Shao hummed and turned his gaze to the west for a moment.

After all, Cao Cao, who had just pinned Yuan Shu to the ground and rubbed him for a while, was really physically exhausted and needed some time to breathe. If he had a bad attitude and Yuan Shao threw a piece of soap, Cao Cao would be in trouble. Moreover, Cao Cao was born in the eunuch series and was originally an internal court official, so it was natural and reasonable for Cao Cao to serve as an internal court official at that time, and there was nothing unexpected about it.

Later, Fei Qian rose all the way, but Yuan Shao couldn't defeat him. After losing his troops, he realized that he had fallen into his younger brother's trick. He changed his position from a chariot general to a general, and threw the chariot general to Cao Cao.

The original general positions in the Han Dynasty were all foreign court officials. Except for the four generals at the front, back, left and right, who were originally defined to defend the capital, the rest of the generals were basically on expeditions abroad, so they were naturally foreign court officials.

However, during the reigns of Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan, Huo Guang, who was a general, also served as a chief minister. All court affairs must be reviewed by Huo Guang before being transferred to the emperor. After that, the title of this general was the same as that of the four generals, and he became an internal court official. Therefore, Yuan Shao's intention of considering himself a general was naturally very subtle...

If we really talk about it, when Yuan Shao became a general, he had some thoughts about asking Liu Xie to move to Yecheng, but in the end Yuan Shao's phobia of choice still got sick, so that in the end Yuan Shao's general was just an empty shell. , and did not really gain the power of the inner dynasty, it was impossible to talk about exerting any suppressive power on Cao Cao.

After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, he successfully reached the end of the inner court official, that is, the general. However, when Cao Cao lost Yuan Shao's authority and truly established a political system that favored internal court officials, Cao Cao suddenly discovered that this system was no longer as easy to use as before, let alone At that time like Huo Guang, even the power of ordinary generals was inferior. Not only was there insufficient internal suppression, but there was also a Fei Qian who was very happy outside.

In the process of awarding Fei Qian this time, this contradiction between east and west became more and more obvious. Xun Yu's suggestion was to push Fei Qian to the outside world and never give Fei Qian the authority to participate in the internal dynasty. That's why the so-called The title of "General of the Hussars" ranks above the Three Dukes, which means that he is outside the Three Dukes...

In this way, it will naturally be difficult to reconcile Cao Cao and Fei Qian, and Cao Cao will be forced to focus on the west, like the great general Yuan Shao, on the three assistants of Chang'an, and then naturally We can no longer continue to compete with the local tyrants in Yuzhou and Jizhou.

We are all the imperial army, uh, the internal army under the emperor, and our guns should be aimed at the outside world in unison!

Lao Cao, please stop tearing down the pillars of your own family!

But doing this made Cao Cao unhappy.

Guo Jia originally did not want to participate in this matter, but in order to make up for Xun Yu's problem, on the one hand, he gave Cao Cao a strategy that seemed to sow discord. On the other hand, he also suggested that Cao Cao should no longer serve as a general, but instead become the prime minister!

After all, this "General" is two words less than "General Hussars". It would be embarrassing for ordinary people not to know which of these two generals is bigger.

In addition to the above-mentioned title fight, for Cao Cao, changing the position of prime minister also has many additional benefits...