The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 112 Can it be done for the public?

God damn, this magpie is being ridden!

Dong Zhuo's face was full of smiles, making people feel like spring breeze.

But now he is extremely unkind, making Liu Xie suspect that if he were not the emperor, he would have been executed by Dong Zhuo long ago.

"Grandmaster, Lord Weiyang hasn't recovered yet. It's normal for him to talk about magpies and butterflies. Just ignore him..."

Dong Zhuo said nothing, but came over and sat at the table.

He was attracted by the poems on the table.

"Jinse?"

Another love poem?

Dong Zhuo coughed lightly: "Your Majesty will not come of age until next year, isn't it a little too early now?"

"That's what the Grand Master taught me!"

"But... Your Majesty must also know that Bai will also be coming of age next year."

"I know, huh?"

Liu Xie looked at Dong Zhuo in surprise, wondering what Dong Zhuo meant by suddenly mentioning that Dong Bai also had to come of age.

However, Dong Zhuo stopped there and did not continue the conversation. He just kept playing with Dong Bai.

Even when the two of them went back and were alone together, Dong Zhuo still did not give an explanation for these words.

"What exactly does the Master want to say?"

Liu Xie shook his head.

Never mind. I don't understand. Anyway, I still have a little over a year to go before I reach adulthood. I'll talk about it when the time comes.

"The most urgent matter is to give the Grand Master the reward."

Now Dong Zhuo has reached the highest position in the country.

He also gathered three special honors: praising without being named, entering the court without walking, and wearing a sword and shoes when entering the palace.

For Dong Zhuo, it seemed that there was really no more titles to be given.

But Liu Xie had already come up with a rough draft while Cai Yan was massaging him.

"Call Jia Lingjun here. I have something to discuss with him."

When Jia Xu was summoned into the palace, he thought it was no big deal. After seeing Liu Xie, he was still as relaxed as before.

However, when he heard that Liu Xie was going to reward Dong Zhuo, Jia Xu was slightly stunned, and then he became visibly nervous!
"What does your majesty want to reward the Grand Tutor? The Nine Gifts?"

Seeing Jia Xu's quick reaction, Liu Xie knew that his previous guess was correct.

Jia Xu did not forget about rewarding Dong Zhuo, but he deliberately wanted to ignore the matter and downplay it.

But this kind of thing cannot be kept secret forever by just ignoring it.

Dong Zhuo will not be rewarded for his meritorious service this time.

What about next time?
What about next time?

Since the imperial court wants to be reborn from the ashes, some policies must be improved as soon as possible, instead of burying its head in the sand and pretending to be deaf.

"It's not impossible for Jiuxi."

The Nine Gifts were actually just a matter of situation for Dong Zhuo now.

"But I'm not thinking of a ritual object like the Nine Gifts that has no use at all."

Jia Xu was shocked again by Liu Xie's words.

Your Majesty actually wants to bestow the Nine Gifts on the Grand Tutor!
And the reason for not wanting to bestow it is that he thinks the Nine Gifts are just ceremonial objects?

Jia Xu suddenly smelled something not so good——

"What exactly does your majesty want to reward the Grand Master?"

"Wenhe, if I remember correctly, the Grand Master is from Lintao County, Longxi Prefecture?"

"Exactly."

Liu Xie asked again: "According to the "Tribute of Yu", what is the boundary of Longxi County?"

"The area west of the Black River is Yongzhou, so Longxi County is naturally considered Yongzhou."

"Did any princes establish a country here in ancient times?"

"No, according to historical records, in the 43rd year of King Nan of Zhou, Qin destroyed the Yiqiu Kingdom and established Longxi and Beidi counties in its place. So before that, there were only some Quanrong and Hu people living in Longyou."

"It's a pity that there is no history to rely on, so I can't find a good name."

Liu Xie finally expressed his thoughts -

"I have decided to use Lintao County as the base, take the land of several surrounding counties, establish the Yong State, and make the Grand Tutor the Duke of Yong... What do you think about this, Wenhe?"

In fact, Jia Xu had guessed what Liu Xie wanted to say just now.

But when he actually heard what Liu Xie said, his scalp still tingled and he couldn't help himself.

Your Majesty...actually want to divide the land and confer the title of Duke?

"Your Majesty! I am terrified!"

Jia Xu fell to his knees.

"Dividing the land according to different surnames is something that has not happened since Emperor Gaozu! Your Majesty, please think twice!"

"I know."

Of course, Liu Xie couldn't have been unaware of the agreement between Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang and the people of the world at that time.

"No one who is not of the Liu clan can be king, and no one who has made contributions can be a marquis. Why not make an agreement and attack him together?"

Therefore, Liu Xie only wanted to be granted the title of duke, not king.

"And this time the title of duke is not a fief of divided land."

Great unification is the duty that every emperor must respect, so it is impossible for Liu Xie to directly split the land of the Han Dynasty and give it away.

"Although a duchy was established, only fiefs were given to the duke, not land."

The so-called "founding of a country" does not mean dividing up powers such as military power, but only organizing the household registration of the people on that land separately and treating it as a fief.

Liu Xie's explanation slightly alleviated the paleness on Jia Xu's face.

If it was just a fiefdom, that would be the old system of the Han Dynasty.

The titles of Duxiang Hou, Xiang Hou, Duting Hou and Ting Hou all come with fiefs, so it's nothing new.

Jia Xu slowly recovered. Liu Xie's so-called "Duke of Jiaguo" was not so shocking.

It was just a country based on the fiefdom, and Dong Zhuo was given an honorific title in name.

Even in terms of influence, the impact of making Dong Zhuo a duke was far less profound and heavy than "bestowing the Nine Gifts".

But Jia Xu still didn't dare to agree.

Although this kind of "Duke" is not the "Duke" during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it is the first time in the 400 years of the Han Dynasty.

……

This was not the first time. Jia Xu almost forgot that Wang Mang was also given the title of "Duke of Anhan".

Although the "Duke of Yong" mentioned by Liu Xie was not as scary as the "Duke of Anhan", Jia Xu still did not dare to admit it directly, but looked for other reasons -

"Your Majesty, I am not an expert in etiquette. Such important matters should be discussed by the palace doctors and etiquette officials. I dare not participate in such an important matter with my meager knowledge!"

Consult with the doctor and the etiquette officer?

Liu Xie saw that Jia Xu was trying to pass the buck, but his words did make some sense.

Involving doctors and ceremonial officers can indeed make the process more formal and demonstrate the magnanimity of the Han Dynasty, rather than being too petty.

But how could Liu Xie know any doctors or ceremonial officials?
There must be some in the palace, but who knows whether those people support Liu Xie?

If they don't support it, then calling them over would not be a discussion, but an argument.

Liu Xie hesitated for a moment, and suddenly someone came to his mind——

"Wenhe, is Cai Zhonglang ok?"

Cai Yong was a famous scholar of the time. Not only was he well versed in classics, he was also well-known for his research on rituals, so it would definitely be a good idea to find him!
In addition, Cai Yong would definitely stand on Dong Zhuo's side unconditionally, so he would not argue with Liu Xie, making it easier for him to do things.

"Your Majesty, Cai Zhonglang can certainly do it!"

Seeing that he had found someone to take the blame, how could Jia Xu still be dissatisfied?
At this time, let alone Cai Yong, even if Liu Xie wanted to discuss with Lu Bu, Jia Xu would praise Lu Bu to the sky, and then quickly grab Lu Bu to block the arrows for him.

"Then call Cai Zhonglang over... Don't be too ostentatious and avoid letting others know."

Liu Xie was afraid that those doctors and ritual officials would block the door, so he asked Jia Xu to act in secret.

"The minister obeys the order!"

After paying his respects, Jia Xu ran very fast, as if he was afraid that he would be involved in this matter if he took a step at night, and he did not stop at all.

Cai Yong was at home at this moment.

When Cai Yong heard that Jia Xu was looking for him and wanted him to see the emperor, he felt something was wrong.

"Jia Lingjun, do you know why the emperor summoned me to see him?"

"I don't know!"

Jia Xu said that he had no idea what had happened in the palace, nor did he know what the emperor wanted to discuss with him. Anyway, he just dragged Cai Yong into the palace by force.

Cai Yong became even more frightened when he saw that Jia Xu was so secretive.

It’s not that he had foresight and knew that Liu Xie wanted to discuss the matter of “conferring him the title of Duke” with him.

But it was only after the event that Cai Yong realized that there was something wrong with the poem the emperor wrote on Hongtai that day!
The poem is indeed a good poem!
Even after savoring it carefully afterwards, Cai Yong still believed that it was a good poem comparable to "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix".

But who was the poem written for?

That's a love poem!

There were only a few female members in Hongtai at that time, and most of them were Dong Zhuo's concubines!

Thinking of what happened between the emperor and his daughter in Meiwu, Cai Yong became more and more terrified.

The emperor couldn't be coming for his own daughter, right?
How can that work!
Zhao Ji is still in mourning period, how could she do such a thing?

In addition, the fact that the emperor had come to summon him personally made Cai Yong even more afraid.

"What if the emperor uses force?"

Probably not?
No, it's possible...

Unlike others, Cai Yong saw with his own eyes that Liu Xie sat on the city wall of Meiwu for the entire day.

It is not impossible for such a heroic man to act in a rough manner.

But after all, that is my daughter's reputation, how can it be destroyed like this?

Cai Yong was extremely confused for a moment, and his mood was still heavy when he met the emperor.

"Cai Zhonglang, I summoned you to the palace today only to discuss the matter of the Grand Tutor's title of Duke."

Feng Gong?

The heavy burden on Cai Yong was suddenly lifted, and a smile suddenly appeared on his serious face.

It turns out to be a title of nobility! I thought it was Soji's marriage!

……

……

wrong!

Cai Yong's eyes widened, and he almost let out a sharp explosion.

"What did your majesty say he wanted to do? Confer the title of Duke? Give it to the Grand Tutor???"

"Why is Cai Zhonglang so startled today?"

While Jia Xu was summoning Cai Yong into the palace, Liu Xie also ordered his servants to bring some books about "etiquette" for him to read.

"I have heard that the previous kings established a bright virtue, gave them land and divided them among the people, exalted their favors and prepared gifts for them, so as to support the royal family and control their generations."

"During the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, Guan and Cai were not at peace, so he punished them and remembered their merits. He ordered Duke Kang of Shao to give Duke Tai of Qi a landslide, which extended to the east to the sea, the west to the Yellow River, the south to Muling, and the north to Wudi. The five marquises and nine barons were able to conquer them, and they were made the Grand Master for generations, in order to show their support for the East Sea. When it came to King Xiang, there were also people from Chu who did not serve the king. He also appointed Wendeng of Jin as a marquis and baron, and gave him two chariots, tiger guards, axe, glutinous rice wine, bows and arrows, and opened up Nanyang, making him the leader of the alliance for generations. Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty was not destroyed, thanks to these two countries."

This is the legal principle for conferring the title of Duke.

but……

Can the legal principles of the Zhou emperor be applied to the Han Dynasty?

No way. Confucian scholars all over the world respect Zhou rites. If anyone dares to say that Zhou rites are not applicable, I am afraid that group of Confucian scholars will come up and tear the other person to pieces!

Well, there is a precedent set by Emperor Gaozu.

But the precedent set by Emperor Gaozu was simply that "only members of the Liu family could become king."

The title of Duke was just a chance to take advantage of Emperor Gaozu's...

Even though Cai Yong was a great scholar of his time, he was still stumped by this question.

Is it feasible to confer the title of Duke?
(End of this chapter)