Chapter 636 The Most Handsome Man in the World

The sudden change in the palace caused the atmosphere in Luoyang city to suddenly become tense, and then the news spread in all directions. Starting from the time the Taiping Army broke through Luoyang, endless shocking news came, making the whole world almost numb.

The first to receive the news were naturally Guandong, which was closer to Luoyang, including the Five Surnames, Confucian scholars, and county tyrants.

After the Five Marquises returned to Guandong, they each went back to their own states to suppress bandits. Fortunately, the Taiping Army attacked Luoyang all the way westward, which reduced their pressure and losses a lot.

The five states are being cleared up step by step. After Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei and others escaped, they also joined in, mainly to strengthen their strength.

Although Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were brothers, their family positioning was completely different. Yuan Shu went straight back to the Yuan family's base camp, Runan County, which was one of the most populous counties in the Han Dynasty, even with a larger population than some states.

Yuan Shao did not have the status of Yuan Shu, and did not receive much material investment from his family. The support that the Yuan family gave to Yuan Shao was mainly nominal.

Yuan Shu went south, so he went north. It happened that too many provincial governors and prefects died in the battle with the Taiping Army. Jizhou governor Han Fu and his general Pan Feng died at the hands of Zhang Jue, which gave Yuan Shao an opportunity.

Yuan Shao originally just wanted to be a prefect, but a Beijia from the Hebei gentry invited him to go to Jizhou to serve as the governor, which made Yuan Shao very excited.

If he was just a governor, he might not be as good as a prefect, but now he is called a governor. If he has the assistance of a Beijia, he is actually a governor of a province!

Here we have to mention why the status of the gentry was high.

Because in a province or county, the highest person is naturally the governor or the prefect, but it is impossible for one person to rule a province or county.

In addition, according to the requirements of the Three Mutual Laws, locals could not serve as the highest officials. Even a dictator like Emperor Lingdi gave Dong Zhuo a fake governor of Liang Province and did not violate this iron political law.

In this situation, in order to safeguard the interests of the local gentry, the most prestigious person among the gentry in the prefectures and counties would serve as an assistant to the governor or prefect, just like the prime minister of the emperor, assisting foreign officials in ruling the local area. Naturally, they would have extremely high power and status.

The provincial governors and prefects were replaced every few years, while the assistant officials were often from powerful families. It was obvious what the consequences would be.

The origins of these powerful families are quite complicated, and many of them can even be traced back to the Six Kingdoms period. Since the decline of the country, the main branch of the Han Dynasty has been constantly migrated, but branches have always remained in the local area, possessing books and knowledge, which has enabled them to develop again and again.

Hebei mainly refers to Jizhou.

Because it is close to Zhaocheng, it is more convenient to study here than in other states, resulting in a large number of scholars. They are also greatly influenced by the Luo family, which in turn formed a huge aristocratic force. Not to mention other aspects, just how to maintain their status and learn very thoroughly, the practice of picking outstanding talents from poor families was promoted by the Hebei gentry.

Why did Huangfu Song dare to assert that as long as the gentry and powerful people in the prefectures and counties rose up in rebellion, the Taiping Army would inevitably fail? It was because half of the world's resources were in the hands of the gentry and powerful people. As long as these gentry were released, it would be easy to quell the peasant uprising.

Without the support of the gentry, even if they have soldiers, they are just bandits. As long as the gentry defends the city and starves the warlords who dare to rely on military force for ten days or half a month, the warlords will obediently cooperate with them.

Yuan Shao was lucky to be welcomed by the Hebei gentry.

Han Fu was able to serve as the governor of Jizhou not because of his ability, but because of his powerful family. He was a prominent family in Yingchuan, and his family had produced high-ranking officials such as the Nine Ministers. When he went to Jizhou, prominent families in Yingchuan such as Xun Chen and Xin Ping all sent people to assist him.

The Hebei gentry did not exclude him either. For example, talents from big families like Ju Shou were promoted to assist him.

As a result, Tianhu died suddenly in the battle, and Jizhou was suddenly left without a master. The world cannot be without a master for a day, and the same applies to the states and counties. The Hebei gentry needed a new candidate to take charge of Jizhou.

There are very few people in the world who have such prestige.

At that time, there were four leaders of the army to support the king. Huangfu Song is dead. Marquis Wushuang and Marquis Ying are both sons of the Luo family and cannot serve as the governor of Jizhou. Although they are now the governor of Jizhou, it is hard to say when they will become the herdsman of Jizhou.

Only Yuan Shao was left.

After Yuan Shao's army was almost wiped out in an ambush, he was not depressed at all. Instead, he worked hard to revive the situation. Everything he said and did was commendable. He basically did his best and truly lived up to his reputation as a handsome man in the world.

All of this was seen by the Hebei gentry, who believed that this was a perfect partner. Those who had followed Han Fu from Yingchuan also had no objection. Since Ru and Ying were one family, it was not a bad thing for the Yuan family to come to power.

So this enormous wealth fell into the hands of Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao was of course well aware that Jizhou was a place of trouble. As the number one province in the world, the affairs therein were extremely complicated and required extremely high skills. If things were not handled properly, the outcome might be death.

But he was not a person who would shrink back. After just a little thought, he decisively accepted the invitation.

At the border of Jizhou, Ju Su led all the civil and military officials of Jizhou to welcome Yuan Shao with a huge momentum.

Ju Su and others personally helped Yuan Shao onto his horse, and then entered Yecheng, the capital of Jizhou.

Yuan Shao, who had just arrived in Jizhou, naturally had no power. To put it bluntly, there were really many talented people among the Hebei gentry. With a top-notch talent like Ju Shou, Jizhou would not have any problems even if a pig who only knew how to say the right thing was placed in charge.

But Yuan Shao was obviously unwilling to be a puppet. Under the heavy pressure of the Hebei gentry and the unpredictable situation in the world, he showed all the excellent qualities that an wise leader should possess.

Whether it was the Hebei gentry or the people of Yingchuan, facing Yuan Shao who was always in a super god state, they could only sigh that there is no false reputation under a great name, and Yuan Benchu, the most handsome man in the world, was indeed worthy of his reputation. Soon, some people were impressed by Yuan Shao and worshipped him as their lord, instead of just wanting to cooperate with Han Fu as they did in the past.

The first news to reach Jizhou was the posthumous title given to Emperor Ling. In Yecheng, everyone looked at each other, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Shao realized that it was difficult for these people to speak up. After all, they were all subordinate officials, and he was the only prince who directly obeyed his orders.

Yuan Shao was not afraid of saying the wrong thing. As a lord, he had to be responsible. If his subordinates felt that something was difficult, they had to face it head-on. So he said directly: "This posthumous title has been confirmed by the Emperor Su Wang, and the title of tyrant has been confirmed. All your words and actions from now on must be based on this."

Everyone nodded slowly. It was not easy to become a dictator. That was why there were not so many people rebelling under the banner of killing the dictator. Because no one was sure that they could really give the emperor a bad posthumous title in the end.

As a result, Emperor Lingdi got this title without even the word "filial piety" added to his posthumous title. In the Han Dynasty, the emperors whose posthumous titles did not include the word "filial piety" were Emperor Li and Emperor Daodi who could have children but didn't. It can be said that they had brought disgrace to their ancestors.

Ju Su said slowly: "Now that Emperor Ling has become a dictator, we can no longer treat the Taiping Army as bandits.

But I still don’t know what the rebel leader Zhang Jiao will do next. I don’t know if Jizhou can withstand the next attack of the Taiping Army.”

Yuan Shao's expression suddenly froze, and he recalled Zhang Jue's invincible figure. He quickly shook his head to get rid of all those complicated thoughts, and said in a deep voice: "Now that Emperor Ling has hanged himself, and Marquis Wushuang has fled west with Prince Bian and Prince Xie, what attitude should we maintain?"

Yuan Shao's question made everyone shudder. No one knew whether the Han Dynasty would be able to receive orders again in the future, but at least now, with Emperor Lingdi losing the crown of the emperor during his lifetime, there is no emperor in the world at all!

Someone asked tremblingly: "When was the last time there was no emperor in the world?"

"The last time was at the end of the Han Dynasty, when Emperor Guangwu was appointed. The last time before that was at the end of the Qin Dynasty, when King Xiang was appointed. The last time before that was when King Huai of Zhou died in Luoyang. There was no emperor in the world until the First Emperor was appointed."

There are only three times in this world when there is no emperor!

Everyone gasped. It would have been fine if this kind of thing hadn't been said out loud, but once it was said out loud, everyone realized that the Later Han Dynasty had reached its end.

In this era, it is really possible to clearly know whether a dynasty has reached its end, because the signs of the loss of the Mandate of Heaven are so obvious.

"Zhang Jue won't accept the order directly!"

No one said it out loud, but the idea came to everyone's mind, including Yuan Shao.

At this moment, another messenger hurried in, bringing news from Luoyang. Yuan Shao recognized him as his family member at a glance. Only the most urgent news would be delivered in this way. Did the Yuan family who stayed in Luoyang discover something big again?

Yuan Shao hurriedly unfolded the letter and read it. He was shocked, then delighted. He quickly showed it to everyone and said, "Zhang Jue has ascended to heaven!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard the words, and some anxious people even stood up from their seats and gathered together to read. The news was too shocking for them. The letter described Zhang Jue's deeds in detail.

The miraculous scenes during the period surprised everyone, but the most important thing was that no matter whether Zhang Jue really ascended to heaven or died, he was no longer in the human world, and the biggest obstacle disappeared.

Just now everyone was still worrying whether Zhang Jue had received the order, and now they received the news that Zhang Jue had passed away. This was a huge surprise to everyone.

The palace was full of talented people, and someone immediately thought, "My lord, doesn't this mean that Luoyang is now empty? The world has no master?"

There is no master in the world!

This is the most crucial point. The brains of these talented kings are not comparable to those of Empress He and the leaders of the Taiping Dao. With their wisdom, they almost immediately realized that in a situation where the world was without a master, the flag of the Han Dynasty was the only thing that could be used temporarily.

Moreover, if you don't want to use it anymore, you can throw it away at any time. After all, the Han Dynasty only has political significance, but not sacred significance.

You are not appointed by Heaven, but I am the one appointed by Heaven. Even though you are the emperor, I am the Son of Heaven. As the Son of Heaven, I depose you from the position of emperor. Who can say that it is wrong?

Xun Chen said excitedly: "My lord, Marquis Wushuang has taken away Crown Prince Bian and Prince Xie, but Empress He and Prince He are still in Luoyang City. If we can enter Luoyang City and take charge of the situation, the situation in the world will change."

The biggest problem for Liu Bian and Liu Xie now is that they are not in Luoyang City, which leads many people to turn their attention to Liu He. This is the case with Wang Yun and Queen He. Only Liu He is around, so they can only support Liu He.

Ju Su was thinking about the key point. Luoyang was in Henan County. To enter Luoyang from Jizhou, one had to at least enter Henei County and cross the river. It was relatively far away, which was of no benefit to the Hebei gentry.

The Hebei nobles wanted to move the capital of the world to Yecheng, but entering Luoyang now is indeed a good thing. Controlling at least one prince is very beneficial to the power. Thinking of this, Ju Su bowed and said, "Mingsir, Luoyang is a place surrounded by wars. If we want to enter Luoyang, Hebei may not be able to exert its full strength. If we can bring Queen He and the prince to Hebei, it may be a better approach."

Yuan Shao fell silent after hearing this. He was obsessed with going to Luoyang, and going to Luoyang would bring him a lot of political benefits, which he could not give up.

But Jizhou is now the base. If Empress He, soon to be Empress Dowager He, and Prince He are brought to Hebei, a group of court officials will surely come here as well.

He has not yet gained a firm foothold, and the Hebei gentry has not yet been completely conquered. For example, Ju Shou does not call himself Lord yet, but Ming Gong, which means that Ju Shou has not completely recognized himself.

It is unclear whether it would be beneficial or harmful to introduce these two more orthodox political figures at this time.

Yuan Shao was in deep thought, and everyone was waiting quietly. The lord could have few strategies, but he must be good at making decisions. The super god Yuan Shao did not lack any advantages.

"Gentlemen, we must go to Luoyang, but Jizhou has not yet fully recovered, so we can only spare a small amount of troops. If we can reach an agreement with the Taiping Army's leader, perhaps he can help us succeed.

Previously, the Taiping Army leaders left Luoyang one after another. These people have no higher aspirations and are the ones we can cooperate with.”

The Taiping Army scattered across the country has become a hot commodity in the eyes of these people. These people have both combat effectiveness and have completely lost Zhang Jue, who dominated everything. I am afraid that they are in a state of panic and guilt. If we extend an olive branch to the Taiping Army and incorporate these people into normal society, I am afraid they will easily accept it.

"The biggest problem is how to make these Taiping troops believe that we really want to accept them and not deceive them?"

After all, the two sides were enemies not long ago, so it sounds very strange to suddenly recruit these people.

Yuan Shao looked at the people in deep thought, stood up, looked around and said loudly: "I will go there in person to persuade them to surrender!"

Everyone was shocked and said in unison: "My lord, you can't do that!"

Yuan Shao added: "Wealth and honor are sought in danger! With Yan Liang and Wen Chou guarding my side, I have nothing to worry about!"

Yan Liang and Wen Chou stepped out of the line, knelt down and said: "We will defend our lord with our death!"

(End of this chapter)