Liu Cheng was surprised for a while when he heard that the emperor wanted to confer him the title of Grand Sima and the title of Lord Protector.
It was not that he feared that it would be unlucky for him to be granted the title of Duke, nor was he worried that his merits were not enough, but that he was being treated too badly.
People are jealous.
Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, no one except Wang Mang has been granted the title of Duke.
Not even the founding heroes.
Why should he?
At Xun Yu's suggestion, Liu Cheng wrote to refuse the emperor's reward.
Ma Rixi thought that Liu Cheng was going to cause a "three rejections" drama, so he persuaded the emperor to issue three edicts after Liu Cheng declined, and Liu Cheng also declined.
Three times.
However, Emperor Liu Bian seemed to have a confrontation with Liu Cheng without Ma Rixi's persuasion, and even sent a eunuch to ask him what he meant and whether he didn't want to be the pillar of the country.
How should Liu Cheng respond to this?
Liu Cheng was sitting on the main seat in the Sikong Hall.
All his close advisers were present.
The hall was quiet and no one spoke.
Liu Cheng rubbed his temples and sighed: "I have declined the title of Lord Protector three times in a row, but Your Majesty still sent someone to announce the decree, insisting on granting the title of Lord Protector to my country.
The Duke's title is not bad, but it is hated by others.
Don't I know that?
Wen Ruo, what do you think the emperor thinks?
Could it be that I and the emperor will go on like this forever?"
Xun Yu pondered for a moment, then stood up and said with cupped hands: "My lord, I think that His Majesty the Emperor may want to use the title of Lord Protector to tie up my lord.
If my lord is awarded the title of Lord Protector, he must do something in line with this."
If you do anything overstepping the bounds of the title issue in the future, you will be criticized by everyone in the world.
In order to reassure the emperor, my lord has to accept this title reward."
Liu Cheng was a little unhappy, "Wen Ruo, it's you who advised me not to accept the award, and it's you who advised me to accept this award.
What on earth do you want me to do?"
Xun Yu hurriedly said: "My subordinate is guilty.
I didn't understand the emperor's intention before, so I thought this reward would be harmful to my lord.
But after we understand the emperor's intention, we can only accept it according to the emperor's intention."
I’ve received this reward.”
"Then if you are not afraid that I will be hated by others, you will not be afraid of someone hiding behind my back and shooting secret arrows at me."
""Xun Yu was speechless Liu Cheng was a little irritated and waved his hand: "Okay, don't talk about it.
Pushing the reward thing back and forth is just making people laugh.
Yuan Yu, Xun You, later you go to the palace to report to His Majesty, and say I will come tomorrow I'll see you in the palace and thank Your Majesty for your kindness."
"promise" Liu Cheng said in a deep voice at this time: "Once the matter of my being granted the title of Lord Protector is made public, it is very likely that the princes in Guandong will be unable to keep their mouths shut.
The princes in Guandong are afraid that they will each submit a letter asking for the title of such-and-such official or such-and-such title.
If the imperial court If he refuses, I'm afraid they will say that Liu Cheng, how virtuous and capable he is, he can be the protector of the country.
Their family background is prominent. , serving as the emperor's pastor, why can't you be granted the title of a certain official or a certain title?
Now think of a way for me to stop their mouths.
Official titles and titles in the imperial court are not a piece of cake.
You can grant rewards at will without money.
Official titles and titles cannot.
Once it spreads, the prestige of the Han Dynasty will decline again."
Everyone agreed: "No" As expected, Liu Cheng was awarded the title of Grand Sima and the title of Lord Protector quickly spread throughout the world.
This kind of thing cannot be concealed or blocked.
Since it is a reward, people must know it.
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The princes of Guandong quickly After learning about this incident, Yuan Shao, who took charge of Jizhou as herdsman, first wrote a letter asking for the title of Duke.
Then Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shu, Zhang Miao, Zhang Chao and others wrote letters asking for the title of Duke.
After receiving the tip, Liu Cheng became furious in Sikong Mansion and roared loudly in the lobby: "These shameless people actually submitted a letter to ask for the title of Duke.
There are no more shameless people in the world than them.
Everyone, how should the court respond to this matter?"
Xun You, tell me” Xun You pondered for a moment, stood up and said with cupped hands: "My lord, I think that the imperial court keeps the letters from the princes of Guandong without publishing them.
This will make it easier for bad things to happen, but you can't let this hole go.
If everyone can write a letter to request a knighthood, If the official succeeds, won't the court become a joke?
The subordinates think that the court should take a tough stance and push back their unreasonable petitions, issue edicts, severely reprimand them, and make them lose face."
"Peng" Liu Cheng slapped the table: "That's it.
He immediately issued an edict in the name of the emperor, summoned officials and others to copy hundreds of copies, and sent one copy to each prince.
The rest were under the direct control of the imperial court.
Post it at the city gate to let the world know and let hundreds of people know Gentlemen, look at the shameful faces of these so-called princes.
Yuan Yu, you are here to draft the edict, and your words must be sharper.
You must scold them until they are speechless, ashamed, and ashamed to be like Xun Yu.
You are responsible for this matter.
Be responsible and implement it as soon as possible.”
"promise" Thanks to efficient administrative work, in just a few days, official edicts were posted at the gates of cities under the direct control of the imperial court.
When the people learned the truth of the matter, they all scolded the Kwantung princes for their shamelessness. , for a time the reputation of the Guandong princes plummeted.
The imperial edict was delivered to Yuan Shao.
After hearing the edict read out by the envoy sent by the imperial court, and hearing that the imperial court had made this matter known to the world, Yuan Shao was so angry that he vomited blood three times and fainted.
He almost died.
The judge who made this suggestion to Yuan Shao was arrested after Yuan Shao woke up and was put in jail to await punishment.
The other princes were also disgraced this time, losing all face and reputation.
The imperial court's treatment this time can be described as ruthless and accurate, and its attitude is tough.
The princes of Guandong seem to have discovered that they have not understood the imperial court very well in the past year or so.
In their impression, the imperial court is still controlled by Dong Zhuo, but in fact The imperial court is no longer what it was before.
Yuan Shao woke up and became angry.
In order to save face, he decided to send troops to attack Hanoi.
Regardless of the dissuasion of Ju Shou, Tian Feng and others, he ordered Yan Liang to lead 50,000 troops from Yecheng to attack Hanoi County southward.
Han Hao, the prefect of Hanoi County, reduced his troops and strengthened the walls to clear the country.
At the same time, he sent people to Chang'an to ask for help.
The messenger for help was still on the way, and the Shadow Guards had already passed the news to Liu Cheng.
Liu Cheng immediately summoned his close advisers and generals to discuss sending troops.
There were many officials and generals in the hall, discussing and expressing their opinions.
After Liu Cheng arrived, he asked: "Everyone, Yuan Shao was scolded by the imperial edict last time.
He was so angry that he vomited blood three times and passed out.
When he woke up, he felt that he couldn't live with his face.
He ordered troops to attack Hanoi against all opinions.
If you want to give the imperial court a show of strength, will the imperial court tolerate it this time or send troops to give Yuan Benchu some color?"
While other officials were still discussing, Guo Jia stood up and said, "My lord, I think this battle must be fought, and it must be fought beautifully."
"Oh why does it have to be beautiful and to what extent?"
Liu Cheng asked.
Guo Jia said: "My lord, if you compare the strength of the imperial court with that of Yuan Shao, the imperial court is not necessarily stronger than Yuan Shao.
This is because although the territory under the imperial court's control is vast, it has a sparse population and barren land; while the territory under Yuan Shao's control is The land of Hebei is the hinterland of the Central Plains, with a large population, rich products, and powerful soldiers and horses.
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However, this battle must be fought, and Yuan Shao must be beaten painfully, but we cannot fight him to the end."
Next, Guo Jia talked about a series of Yuan Shao's shortcomings and disadvantages, and a series of advantages of the court, and almost came up with his theory of ten defeats and ten victories.
"Peng" Liu Cheng slapped the table and shouted; "That's good, then let's discuss how to fight, how many troops to fight and who to command the troops."
Liu Cheng set the tone to be fought, and then these confidants began to express their own opinions.
After listening to several people's opinions, Liu Cheng felt that he was not very satisfied.
Finally, he named Jia Xu: "Wen He, tell me what you think."
Jia Xu stood up and cupped his hands and said: "My lord, I think that this time the court does not have to worry about whether other Guandong princes will send troops to assist Yuan Shao.
They will never do this.
In recent years, under the order of my lord, the court's news from all aspects of Guandong has been revealed."
The princes sealed off more tightly, and they The information they know is all leaked to them deliberately by us.
What we want them to know is that even if they hear about the situation and strength of the imperial court, they can only know half of it.
This time the imperial court sends troops to Yuan Shao, they will definitely be in a wait-and-see situation.
Let's see.
The strength of the imperial court” "Just now Guo Fengxiao said that the war with Yuan Shao should be on the same level this time.
My subordinates thought that if they could kill Yan Liang's 50,000 troops cleanly, that would be enough."
"How to do this?
First of all, Han Hao, the governor of Hanoi, has reduced his troops, strengthened the walls and cleared the country, completing the first step.
Next, he must give an order to Xu Shu of Luoyang, asking him to lead an army of 10,000 to reinforce Han Hao and strengthen Hanoi's military strength.
Third He ordered Zhao Yun of Bingzhou to lead an army of 10,000 troops to attack Changshan. , Yuan Shao must send troops from Wei County to rescue.
In this way, Wei County's troops will be reduced by four.
He appoints a general to lead 20,000 troops and set off eastward to Hedong as quickly as possible, pass through Bingzhou, and go to Huguan to kill When entering Wei County, the whereabouts of this army must be kept secret.
Only by attacking Wei County by surprise can we succeed."
Liu Cheng thought for a moment and then shouted: "Zhang Liao" Zhang Liao stood up and clasped his fists and said: "The end will be here."
"I order you to be the chief general and command 20,000 troops to march east of Hedong, pass through Bingzhou, and leave Huguan to attack Wei County.
After two days, you will set off secretly and arrive at Wei County as quickly as possible.
No information should be leaked."
"Follow your orders" Liu Cheng glanced at the generals again and called out their names: "Ma Chao leads three thousand cavalry as the vanguard, Yan Xingxing is accompanied by deputy general Jia Xu as military advisor, and Xun Chen is appointed as the grain and grass officer."
Everyone whose name was called stood up one by one, clasped their fists and raised their hands and agreed: "Promise" The counselors and generals present were actually very puzzled.
Yan Xing was Liu Cheng's sworn brother and one of the first people to follow him.
In terms of seniority, Yan Xing should be the commander-in-chief.
Unexpectedly, he made Zhang Liao the commander-in-chief. , and made Yan Xing deputy general.
Liu Cheng considered this matter carefully.
Yan Xing had a good relationship with him and had higher qualifications than Zhang Liao.
However, he believed that Yan Xing was not as good as Zhang Liao in terms of military commanding ability.
Zhang Liao was a natural general and had good learning ability.
Very strong, often able to draw inferences from one instance to another.
Yan Xing still needs to strengthen his study in this aspect
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