Chapter 426: Returning
Although when Qiao Yan ascended the throne, it was the transition period between the Han and Yong dynasties, and her era had completely arrived, but before the complete demise of the Yecheng court, there were still some different voices in the world.
The Han Dynasty had repeatedly turned the tide, which always left people with hope for a comeback, and Liu Bian's situation was undoubtedly much better than the one when Emperor Guangwu started his rebellion in his early years.
Who knows if he will have a chance to make a comeback?
No, if it were according to the current time, there would not have been the phrase "come back to life". Even if there was another Xie An in the future, he would definitely not be Xie An from the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
When Qiao Yan took control of the world, she would never allow the Five Barbarians to invade China or the Yongjia Southern Migration to happen.
"Send someone to bury Liu Bian's body."
In her words just now in the court, she did not acknowledge Liu Bian's identity as the King of Hongnong, and only considered him as the Duke of Shanyang and Duke of Anyi, who were conferred upon him by her. However, since she had completely extinguished the last spark of the Han Dynasty, it would not hurt to give the other party some dignity.
If she didn't pull back a little, those scion of Hebei's aristocratic families who were still awaiting trial would probably think she was Dong Zhuo.
But for the defeated party, the treatment received by the Hebei family could not be said to be too bad.
She had chosen the right person in her early years, and served as a representative of the Hebei family under her command.
Cui Yan was the Inspector of Bingzhou as early as when she was the Governor of Bingzhou. She supervised the people and officials of Bingzhou with her "integrity and integrity of a green pine tree". As Qiao Yan became the emperor, Cui Yan continued to follow Zheng Xuan and study hard, while also taking an official position in the Secretariat as one of the emperor's close ministers.
Cui Lie lived in Bingzhou in his old age, while his son Cui Jun took up the post of governor of Yuzhou.
Tian Feng was originally assisting Youzhou in planning the battle, and now he can be promoted based on his military achievements in the confrontation with Yuan Shao.
During the attack on Yecheng, the Zhen family of Zhongshan, who changed sides quickly, also gained a lot of benefits.
In their early years, the Zhen family did not make their fortune through business. In fact, if we trace it back to the period when Wang Mang usurped power, Zhen Han, the Taibao of the Han Dynasty, was once appointed Grand Marshal, and Zhen Feng was also appointed Grand Chancellor. It was only with the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty that they gradually declined. By the time of Zhen Mi's father, he was only the magistrate of Shangcai, and because he died young, he was unable to provide any support to the Zhen family.
However, because of their far-sighted surrender, and the Zhongshan forces led by Zhen Yan, they paved the way for Lu Bu and others, allowing them to meet up with Zhao Yun and others in time and successfully get on the chariot of Dayong.
Zhen Yan himself became the county chief of Xiaquyang, and his sister, who was supposed to become Yuan Xi's second wife next year, was sent to study at Leping Academy, with the intention of being trained as a direct official of Dayong.
So, what's the problem if those traitors who stood on Yuan Shao's side were dealt with impartially?
The Emperor of Dayong personally led the army to invade, and Dayong’s troops invaded on all fronts. It can’t be that they are here to seek amnesty!
“However, although I understand that this is the only way to get rid of the filth and retain the good, when I really have to face such a scene, I still feel a little...sigh.” Cui Lie, who had just arrived in Jizhou, happened to encounter the trial of the Hebei noble families which started on the second day, and spoke up.
Considering his age, he is not young anymore. Back then, when he spent five million yuan to buy the position of Si Tu among the three highest officials, he could be said to have lost his integrity in his later years. Now, he even seems to be lacking energy and strength.
Fortunately, he was luckier than anyone else. He was chosen by Emperor Ling of Han to suppress and protect Qiao Yan. He was not transferred from Bingzhou when Qiao Yan became the governor of Bingzhou. As a result, today he can barely regard himself as the emperor's teacher based on the "teaching" he received in his early years.
To this day, Cui Lie certainly would not do such a foolish thing as to use this friendship to seek preferential treatment for the Hebei family, but it would not be a problem to let the Boling Cui family and the Qinghe Cui family, who belong to the same clan, survive in the handover between Ji and Qing states.
The two Cui families produced many upright and famous people. Except for him, a "money-grubbing man" who took a wrong step, the family style of the whole family was closer to that of the Yuan family of Chen County. In fact, even if Cui Lie had not come to ask for help in person, this disaster would not have fallen on them.
After all, Qiao Yan not only owed Cui Lie a favor, but also owed Cui Shi a favor for writing the agricultural book "Monthly Orders for the Four Classes of People".
But Cui Lie's personal arrival did have a greater effect than the so-called official appointments, as it relieved the Hebei families that had not been involved in the incident from having to worry all day long.
Qiao Yan replied to Cui Lie, "They originally had the initiative to make the decision, and no one forced them. In order to win over the Hebei nobles, Yuan Benchu did not hesitate to kill Guo Tu and Feng Ji to show his determination, which shows their status. It is said that governing is based on virtue. If you have no virtue, why bother governing!"
Cui Lie said sadly: "As your majesty said, since they brought this upon themselves, their leaders must be killed as a warning to others. In fact, your majesty has already shown mercy."
If Qiao Yan had not brought up the assassination publicly, and even mentioned it briefly as a rebuke to Yuan Shao, the bloodbath suffered by the Hebei family would have been much more terrible than it is today.
That's assassinating the emperor!
When the emperor is angry, millions of people will die. This is not something that can be said casually.
Even if Qiao Yan didn't intend to pay much attention to a ridiculous assassination that failed, there would definitely not be many of her subordinates who could tolerate someone actually having such thoughts!
Especially Lu Lingju, who regarded Qiao Yan as her idol, picked up her spear and ran to settle the score with the culprit.
Fortunately, she was not impulsive enough to smash Yuan Shao's head on the spot. Instead, she turned around and left after watching Yuan Shao count the wheat for half an hour.
Cui Lie originally thought that Lu Lingju felt that Yuan Shao's transformation from a great general to a prisoner was already miserable enough, so he decided not to do anything to add insult to injury. However, within two hours, two more people appeared not far from Yuan Shao's prison.
Both of them received wages from Lu Lingju for their work.
The former was responsible for eating opposite Yuan Shao when he could only eat prison food, and the other was responsible for counting soybeans opposite Yuan Shao - the kind that counted out loud.
After asking, Cui Lie found out that the second one was the advice Lu Lingju got from Sima Yi after asking him.
For a moment, he didn't know whether he should feel pity for Yuan Shao, whose situation was already not good and was now even worse, or whether he should feel impressed that the next generation of successors cultivated by Qiao Yan were really... amazingly capable.
In fact, these second-generation officials could be regarded as his children. Although they used such means, they never did anything to disrupt Qiao Yan's plan or make it difficult for him. They showed a good sense of propriety.
Anyway, just as Qiao Yan said, for some people, living to see Dayong prosper and suffering all these hardships is far more torturous than dying.
What's more, Yuan Shao wanted to use this to save his three sons, but could he really do as he wished?
There are not many people who can hold high positions and still enjoy great reputation like Ju Shou and Shen Pei!
In just half a month, the celebrities from Ji and Qing states who had died one after another had almost soaked the execution ground on the long street of Yecheng with blood. At first, the people who came after hearing the news were a little hesitant, wondering whether the measure proposed by Qiao Yan was just a show.
But it was probably the death of Liu Bian that gave them the confidence to report, and with the example of the first criminal who was killed, all the charges reported were presented to Qiao Yan one after another, and were verified as her subordinates took over the files of Ji and Qing states one after another.
Unfortunately, Yuan Shang was among those who should be executed.
Yuan Shang, the person most favored by Yuan Shao, said that he wanted ice to cool down when he was captured by Cao Cao. It is not difficult to guess to what extent he was favored and favored on a daily basis!
On the surface, he was indeed the type of person Yuan Shao liked the most. He was handsome, close to the elders, and had sweet words. But behind the scenes, he did a lot of things like bullying men and women and occupying land.
The moment he was pushed onto the execution platform, no matter how panic-stricken he was, it was obviously of no use.
It was impossible for him to see his father coming to save him. He could only see the people around him clapping and cheering at the moment the sword and axe fell.
The news of Yuan Shang's death was brought to Yuan Shao by Qiao Yan.
This once prominent figure now looked several years older, and his aging was evident not only in his complexion and hair color, but also in his slightly hunched back and the pause when he was flicking the wheat grains through his fingertips.
But when he heard that Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan survived and became part of the labor force again, he quickened the pace again.
This job of counting grain certainly wouldn't give him any chance to fish in troubled waters. Once he slowed down, someone would "urge" him to speed up.
He did not look in the direction of Qiao Yan, for fear that after seeing the other party's complete becoming the common ruler of the world, he would take back his decision to accept his fate and do something foolish enough to cause the complete demise of the Yuan family. He was even more afraid that he would not be able to bear the boring torture of Qiao Yan's current victory and would choose to end his own life.
At this moment, he just watched the grains of wheat flowing through his hands, and felt as if he was seeing a piece of quicksand of history flowing past in a way that he could not interfere with.
When he heard Qiao Yan's footsteps gradually fading away, the bag of wheat had just been counted to the last grain, and this was the only thing he could handle.
What happened to Jizhou from then on had nothing to do with him anymore.
"By the way, who does Your Majesty plan to appoint to take over the position of Governor of Jizhou?" Cao Cao heard about Yuan Shao's fate from Qiao Yan, sighed, and then asked.
The position of Qingzhou Governor was already in Jia Xu's pocket even before Qingzhou was recovered.
Although he did not go to Yecheng to join the forces this time, which seemed a bit lazy, it could also be said that he was working on restoring the government affairs in Qingzhou.
Then the only vacant position was that of Jizhou Governor.
The influence of the Yecheng court will certainly remain in Jizhou for quite a long time. As Qiao Yan said, if the situation in Ji and Qing provinces is taken into account, it is unknown how many years behind other places. If someone is really to be sent to govern, he must be Qiao Yan's confidant, and he must have enough courage and ability to act, and have the confidence to clear up the post-war order.
Qiao Yan replied without hesitation: "I intend to let Zixiu take over the position of Hanzhong governor and transfer Xu Yuanzhi back to take charge of Jizhou."
"In addition, Youzhou had previously left too many people behind in preparation for conquering Jizhou. Today is a good time to make some adjustments."
It was a waste to train Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi and Lu Yi in one state, especially Xun You. Sima Yi was already planning to be placed in Yuzhou to assist Cui Jun, so the other three should be sent to three states.
Including the deployment of generals, adjustments should also be made after returning to Chang'an.
Appointing Xu Shu as the governor of Jizhou was not a surprise to Cao Cao.
This person truly meets the requirements of being a direct official, loyal, capable and qualified.
However, Cao Cao was a little surprised to let Cao Ang serve as the prefect of Hanzhong.
But the moment he met Qiao Yan's gaze, he clearly saw her calmness in making this appointment.
Since she dared to appoint Cao Cao as General of Chariots and Cavalry, why didn't she dare to let Cao Ang serve as an official?
Chang'an, north of Hanzhong, is her birthplace. Yizhou, north of Hanzhong, is no longer an isolated place as the southern barbarians were pacified. Hanzhong, located in the middle, will never have its power taken away just because someone is appointed here.
This is the confidence of a powerful emperor!
She continued the previous sentence in a casual tone, "Speaking of too many people, there is another interesting thing. A few days ago, Qingzhou sent me news that the Funan warships that Jiaozhou regularly sent in August arrived at the port of Donglai County. As a result, Donglai County had already been captured by Sun Guan, Jiang Qin and others, and they were not put to use at all. The Jiaozhou scholar who came with them was so anxious that he cried."
"I can only reply that the ocean is vast. In addition to the offshore Izu and Ryukyu, there are countless territories and countless species out there. Perhaps there are more crops that can produce thousands of kilograms per mu and are not afraid of drought and locust disasters. These large ships will always come in handy."
"Meng De, don't you think so?"
Although the world has been settled, her journey is far from over!
Cao Cao couldn't help but feel proud as she spoke, "It seems that your majesty's position of general, which was only established during wartime, may not be removed so soon?"
Qiao Yan did not give a direct answer to this, but just replied: "That depends on Meng De's performance."
In short, now is the time for them to return home!
What surprised Qiao Yan a little was that when they were about to leave Jizhou, Ren Hong came to her for something quite interesting.
"A few days ago, there was a thirteen-year-old girl among those who sued the wealthy families in Anping County. I happened to meet her and saw that she was very talented, so I planned to take her in as my disciple and bring her back with me, but..."
"But what?" Thinking of the time when she met Ren Hong, she was accepted as a disciple by Ma Lun and taken to Bingzhou after the Luoyang Palace Coup. She had just begun to glimpse a little bit of the way to change her destiny, and she didn't yet feel that she could really realize the vision of "Hong Yu never flies low". Today, she has accepted a disciple, which makes her feel quite satisfied to see a young seedling grow up.
"Her courtesy name is a little special." Ren Hong replied, "This girl's name is Guo Zhao. Her father was the governor of Nanjun during the late Han Dynasty. Because she was so smart, he gave her the courtesy name Queen, which means this is the queen among the girls in my family."
So, if you put your surname and courtesy name together, it will be——
Queen Guo.
"Are you asking if her name is presumptuous?" Qiao Yan asked when he saw Ren Hong's hesitation.
Before Ren Hong could reply, she smiled brightly: "Why worry so much? If she really has the ability to rise to the top and strive to be the king, then let's try and see if there can be another woman in the three dukes and nine ministers in a few years!"
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