Chapter 334: Xiliang is pacified
Guo Jia's strategy worked.

From that day on, Xun Yu told Liu Xie all the questions, no matter how big or small, even the secrets of Jin Mao's army.

At this time, while Liu Xie was marveling at Jinmao's strong military strength, he had a new idea.

He began to implement the situation he had under the rule of Dong Zhuo and others, recruiting loyal ministers who were loyal to the Han Dynasty!
This matter soon reached Jinmao's ears.

Luoyang North Palace.

Jin Mao had a terrible headache.

The questions I had thought about before surfaced again.

Who does the throne belong to?
If you want to be behind the scenes, then the throne will be a puppet, but what about future generations?
Power is not something that can be passed down from generation to generation. Even the throne is at risk of being overthrown, let alone power.

If he seized the throne, what would be the difference between him and Cao Wei?
History will repeat itself, and it doesn't matter how many Sima Yis are killed.

But is there really an empire in the world that will last forever?
Unless it's like in fantasy novels, where the emperor is a god and can live for tens of thousands of years.

Jin Mao touched the beard that was growing longer and longer on his chin. It was obvious that he was not.

Let's think about it simply. Give the emperor a term, and then re-elect the emperor after a certain number of years.
That's terrible. It's not that elections are bad, but the soil of the Eastern Han Dynasty cannot produce such a thing.

Military and political separation?

The throne will become Tang Monk's flesh, and everyone who holds military power will covet it, making the world even more chaotic.

The most cruel method is to raise poisonous insects.

Before each new emperor ascends the throne, he must be the most outstanding among his many sons. The disadvantage is that the mortality rate is extremely high. Sometimes, he can even devour his father like Li Er.

If one is not careful, the family line will be extinct, which will lead to the tragedy of the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

And if the second emperor ascends the throne, who will be the third emperor? Do the children of the princes have a chance?

It's all problems.

History always repeats itself, and there is very little that Jinmao can do.

"Forget it, let's just continue on our current path."

The disadvantages of establishing a legitimate heir are obvious, so we should follow the strategy of raising poisonous insects, but we should also make rules: anyone who kills his brothers will be demoted to a commoner and will never be emperor again.

Although it is impossible to eliminate all conspiracies and intrigues, on the one hand, you can raise the strongest son, and on the other hand, you can preserve your offspring to the greatest extent.

As for the method of raising his son, Jinmao has already implemented it, throwing him to the bottom to hone him, and then relying on his own abilities to climb up.

Of course, this is unfair to the common people, but Jin Mao is training an emperor, not a prime minister.

The speed of promotion definitely depends on performance.

As for the treatment of Xun Yu, it was very simple. Jin Mao simply found an excuse to transfer him to an honorary position and keep him there.

This throne will belong to him sooner or later, but now it is temporarily in Liu Xie's hands.

As a result, Liu Xie no longer had to continue his training down there, and was invited back to the palace by Jin Mao to take charge.

Don’t you like handling government affairs?
All back to you!
Jin Mao had been annoyed for a long time. As long as Liu Xie didn't touch the army, everything would be fine.

As for this period of time, those generals who had ambiguous relationships with Liu Xie were all transferred. The main force was transferred to the logistics, and the logistics was transferred to the county soldiers. The county soldiers went down to cultivate the land, and those who cultivated the land could find any excuse to start over again.

As a result, the entire army was replaced, the attack on Xiliang came to a standstill, and the attack on Youzhou could not be stopped, but it was also affected to a certain extent and morale was not high.

Jinmao has launched a big move to implant religion into the army. If you don't believe in religion, don't even think about getting promoted. A bigger wave of turmoil is coming.

However, these pains are necessary.

In order to keep the army firmly in his own hands, he had to downplay Liu Xie's influence and strengthen Jin Mao's influence.

Regardless of the process, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao got a chance to catch their breath and develop rapidly.

Guo Jia's strategy was very successful.

The second year of Xingping (195).

Luoyang North Palace, Chongde Hall.

Liu Xie finally completed the coming-of-age ceremony and became an adult.

But he was not happy. Every day in his dreams he would miss the happy times in Wancheng.

Every day when he went to court, he had to listen to the ministers making alarmist remarks, one moment saying that the King of Wu was plotting treason, the next moment saying that the King of Wu was monopolizing power.

How is Jinmao? How come Liu Xie doesn’t know?
Even if he becomes a monopoly of power or commits treason, so what?
These ministers just pray that Jin Mao will remain so merciful. If he raises his butcher knife one day, they will see how many loyal ministers will remain.

this day.

After leaving court, Liu Xie ran to the Secretariat. Behind the scenes, the ministers had already called this place the Pseudo-Emperor's Palace.

Although Jin Mao was not as autocratic as Dong Zhuo, he had a tighter grip on the military than Dong Zhuo. Anyone who dared to lay a hand on him would be uprooted.

If Liu Xie dares to take action, the drama of abdication will soon be staged. Jin Mao will not tolerate anyone!
Fortunately, Liu Xie always held on to the last glimmer of hope and did not reach the point of breaking off relations.

"Uncle, what are you doing?"

Liu Xie stepped into the Shangshu Terrace and looked at Jin Mao doing radio gymnastics with surprise.

"I haven't exercised for a long time, and my body is stiff."

Jin Mao stopped what he was doing, looked at Liu Xie and asked, "What do you want to tell me, Your Majesty?"

"How dare I tell my uncle?" Liu Xie said half-truthfully, "Spring ploughing is almost here, uncle, do you want to start plowing?"

"That's your business." Jin Mao rolled his eyes and said, "Don't throw everything to me. Aren't you supposed to govern the country? Be a good emperor."

Now Jinmao is very satisfied with Liu Xie, the tool man who handles government affairs. Those trivial matters have to be dealt with, but handling them is very tedious.

Liu Xie is young and energetic, so he can do more work.

However, after Jin Mao came to power, government affairs increased exponentially, which was completely different from Liu Xie's impression.

In just a few months, Liu Xie felt the pain that Jin Mao once felt and didn't even have time to have a baby.

Young people are at the age of having abundant energy and blood, so how can they hold it in? But there is no way, they really can't squeeze out a full hour.

"Uncle, I want to appoint another prime minister." Liu Xie asked cautiously, "What do you think?"

Jin Mao shook his head and said, "No need, you just need to restore the functions of the three officials."

"Oh, by the way, there is no need for the Grand Commandant. It would be fine if the functions of the Minister of Works and the Minister of Civil Affairs were restored to those of the Former Han Dynasty."

The Grand Marshal is in charge of all the military forces in the world, so Jin Mao would never let anyone interfere.

Sikong is in charge of civil engineering, water conservancy, and land resources.

Liu Xie's face was full of bitterness, because Si Tu was in charge of the state's education and was responsible for education and management, which was an area that could not be touched.

But Liu Xie had no other choice but to do as he was told. As a result, Sikong became a popular position, the ultimate position among all officials, and was nicknamed "Little Prime Minister" by the common people.

Time flies.

It’s autumn harvest time again.

This year is the first year after the disaster, and there is a very rare bumper harvest. All the areas south of the Yellow River are in a carnival.

Jinmao not only paid off last year's debt, but also had enough grain in stock to sustain it until next year.

Similarly, Hebei also had a bumper harvest. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were full of confidence and felt they had the capital to compete with Jinmao, so they have been making frequent moves recently.

Jin Mao was decisive and mobilized troops from Yuzhou and Xuzhou, as if he was ready for a decisive battle with Yuan and Cao.

Just when the whole country was paying attention to the situation in Hebei, the battle of Xiliang suddenly broke out.

Ma Chao was the first to bear the brunt of the battle, fighting successively with Sun Ce, Gan Ning, Xu Huang and Zhang Liao, with each team winning and losing.

It is worth mentioning that Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Liu Bei were all marginalized in the last team issue, and a new generation of generals began to emerge rapidly.

Unfortunately, foreign tribes such as the Northern Huns and Xianbei invaded Liang and Bing at this time.

Jin Mao urgently called for a halt to the war and ordered the army to chase the aliens to Shanhaiguan.

Ma Chao rarely stood on the same side as Jin Mao in this matter. They attacked from both sides and caused heavy losses to the Northern Xiongnu and Xianbei. After more than 20,000 casualties, they escaped from Han territory.

The Southern Army and Ma Chao worked in tacit agreement to clean up the battlefield separately, each getting 5,000 and 3,000 horses, and then returned to Liang Province to fight again.

This time, the Southern Army, after a period of integration, was even more powerful. Ma Chao was captured and sent to Luoyang.

Han Sui saw that the situation was not good and surrendered immediately. Zhou Yu submitted a petition to select 20,000 elite soldiers from among them to join the army to make up for the losses in this battle.

The remaining troops were all disbanded and became herdsmen. Han Sui became a shepherd captain, in charge of the pastoral industry, and the military power was handed over to Sun Ce.

Jin Mao promised that as long as Sun Ce did a good job in this position and managed Liang and Bing well, he would promote him to the rank of general.

Zhou Yu was promoted to Protector General of the Western Region, in charge of all government affairs in Yizhou, Liangzhou, Bingzhou and Sili.

Except for the generals under Sun Ce, the rest of the military power, such as Wen Pin, Xu Huang, Zhang Liao and most of the troops, were transferred to the Guandong area to prepare for the attack on Yuan and Cao.

Luoyang, Beigong, Shangshutai.

When Jin Mao first met Ma Chao, he had a good-looking face, even in the prison car. In his impression, only Zhao Yun could compare to him.

Liu Xie stood beside Jin Mao and asked curiously, "Is this Xiliang Jin Ma Chao?"

Then, Liu Xie pointed at the prisoner's carriage behind Ma Chao and said, "What a strong man this guy is!"

Jin Mao looked at Pang De, and he was indeed very strong, with extremely luxuriant hair.

At this time, a military officer standing next to the prisoner's cart bowed and said, "Yan Xing greets His Majesty, and His Royal Highness the King of Wu."

Jin Mao looked at him and asked, "I heard that you almost beat Ma Chao to death. Is that true?"

Yan Xing said proudly: "It is true, but it was not intentional. It was just a battlefield where everyone served their own masters. In the midst of swordplay, it was inevitable that some people would be injured accidentally. General Ma Chao is an outstanding martial artist, and I admire him very much. If it were not for the last resort, who would want to be an enemy of such a hero?"

Liu Xie was amazed when he heard this and said, "Heroes have always admired each other. General Yan's evaluation of Ma Chao shows his broad mind. I am very pleased that Xiliang has been pacified. Although the two generals are enemies, they are both pillars of the country. In the future, they will surely assist the government and create greater glory."

"Okay, okay, I know you have a lot of principles." Jin Mao waved his hand and said, "You have finished your government affairs today, and you dare to hang around here?"

"Also, I heard that you have taken in a few new concubines. Why don't you go and spend some time with them?"

Liu Xie blushed and said, "Uncle, there are outsiders present."

Jin Mao didn't care and joked: "Oh, you're shy when there are outsiders around. Do you want to talk about your sex life?"

"Uncle, I'm leaving." Liu Xie ran away.

Ma Chao, Pang De and Yan Xing looked at everything in amazement. How could it be completely different from what they had imagined?

Shouldn't the King of Wu be arrogant and domineering, placing himself above the Emperor?

It looks like an elder is teasing his younger generation.

The fact is almost the same. Since Liu Xie was trapped in the deep palace, the place he ran most diligently every day was the Shangshu Tai, apart from the harem.

As he grew older, Liu Xie increasingly realized that it was difficult for an emperor to have true feelings, so he cherished the present moment especially.

"Let's talk business." Jin Mao's words brought everyone back to reality and said, "If you want to serve as an official in the court, go to Chongde Hall. The emperor likes brave generals like you very much."

"If you want to join the army and continue fighting, you have to listen to me. Even if I ask you to be a soldier, you have to obey orders!"

Jin Mao said domineeringly: "In my territory, if you are a dragon, you can coil up, and if you are a tiger, you have to lie down. If you want to do things on your own, you will lose your job at best, or even lose your life at worst!"

Ma Chao remained silent.

Yan Xing seemed to be thinking about something.

Pang De then asked the most concerned question: "Can I be appointed a general and be granted a title of nobility?"

Jin Mao smiled and said, "As long as you have the ability of a champion marquis, a thousand-household marquis is nothing. I can't give you the champion marquis, but the ten thousand-household marquis is no problem!"

Marquis of Guanjun has become an honorary title, which belongs exclusively to Huo Qubing. Any posterity given the title of Marquis of Guanjun would be bringing disgrace upon themselves.

Pound knew this very well, but there was an imperceptible heat in his eyes, which was a desire for honor and a challenge to his own limits.

He nodded slowly, his voice steady and firm: "Your Highness, you are too kind. I dare not compare myself to the Marquis of Guanjun, but if I can serve the country and protect the country and the people, I will have no regrets even if I am not a marquis."

Jin Mao's expression changed slightly when he heard this. He admired Pang De's humility and responsibility. He patted Pang De on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Good Pang De, you are courageous, responsible, and even more rare is self-awareness. Remember, in this chaotic world, a true warrior is not only brave, but also cares about the world and can bend and stretch. Since you have this ambition, I will wait and see how you can make a name for yourself in this chaotic world."

Ma Chao, who was standing aside, was also infected by their lofty sentiments and ambitions, and finally spoke: "Your Highness, although Ma Chao is a surrendered general, he seeks a place to fight to wash away my previous shame. I hope Your Highness will grant me that." There was some long-suppressed excitement in his voice, like a tiger ready to pounce, eager to prove himself.

Yan Xing also nodded in agreement: "Yan Xing is willing to advance and retreat with the two of you. No matter how difficult the road ahead is, I swear to follow Your Highness until death."

Although Jin Mao liked Ma Chao very much, this guy had a bad reputation. When Dong Zhuo was alive, he openly challenged Ma Teng and followed Dong Zhuo to cause trouble.

Yan Xing was not a good person either. Among the generals of the Xiliang army, only Pang De was more worthy of his consideration.

Things are different now, Jin Mao doesn't have to worry so much, so he said: "Although the three of you were generals, you are all treated equally in our army. You all started as soldiers."

Jin Mao smiled and said, "Don't blame me for not giving you a chance. You still have a chance to regret. If you want to join politics, go find His Majesty."

After hearing this, Yan Xing hesitated for a moment before bowing to Jin Mao, apologizing and leaving.

Pound said without hesitation: "I'm willing to go!"

Ma Teng was silent for a moment, looking into the distance with deep eyes, as if recalling the past glory and today's choice. He spoke slowly, his voice steady and firm: "Your Highness, I, Ma Teng, have fought on the battlefield all my life. Although I have gone astray, my loyalty to the country has never changed. I was also at fault in the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, but if I can use the sword in my hand to do my part for the people of the world today, I, Ma Teng, am willing to do so. Whether I am a soldier or a general, I just want to do it with a clear conscience."

Jin Mao's eyes flashed with approval when he heard this. He was well aware of Ma Teng's prestige and ability, and he admired his courage to face the past and move forward positively.

So, he said earnestly: "Ma Mengqi has such a heart, and it is worth my efforts. Remember, no matter what happened in the past, from today on, you are all soldiers who protect this land. The road ahead still requires us to fight side by side and create together."

(End of this chapter)