The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 193 Volume Liu Bei is coming?

Of course Liu Xie didn't really want to avoid marriage.

The first imperial examination was not only for the imperial soldiers, but also for the current officials.

Is it a test on the meaning of the classics? On government affairs? Or on morality?
But how should we test morality? Should we resort to sting operations?
Things that can be decided with just a word in the court require repeated discussions behind the scenes before a feasible plan can be put forward.

The only thing that made Liu Xie feel fortunate was that his previous idea that "a small boat is easier to turn around" was correct.

If the court's territory becomes larger in the future and the number of officials increases, some things will really be impossible to do.

This is just one of the imperial examinations.

Preparations for the Censorate are also proceeding in full swing.

In the pre-Han period, the Chief Censor and the Prime Minister were collectively called the Two Offices. Even if the position of Prime Minister was vacant, the Chief Censor would usually be promoted directly to Prime Minister, which was extremely noble.

In the Later Han Dynasty, the Grand Censor was changed to "Grand Marshal", which became a nominal position. The second-in-command of the Censorate, "Chief Censor", inherited the dignity of the Censor, and together with the Minister of the Chancellery and the Inspector of the Capital, they were collectively referred to as the "Three Sitting Alone".

Now that Liu Xie has given the Censorate judicial power, the position of Chief Censor is undoubtedly more prominent, and this position will definitely require someone who can control all officials.

After repeated discussions, Cai Yong was finally chosen.

Cai Yong's reputation was known all over the world, and he had always been known for his integrity. He was also close to both the emperor and Dong Zhuo, so handing the Censorate over to him was also a disguised way of strengthening the court's control over all officials.

The last thing left was to formulate the Han laws.

Jia Xu, Xun Yu, Cai Yong, as well as Zhong Yao, the governor of Hedong, and Xun You, the governor of Hanzhong, were all famous scholars who had profound research on laws and regulations.

With the addition of a number of ministers in the court and many officials from the Supreme Court, they finally completed a new set of Han laws, covering twelve chapters, thirty volumes, and a total of 502 articles, including names and precedents, guards and prohibitions, official systems, households and marriages, stables and warehouses, unauthorized development, theft, litigation, fraud, miscellaneous, arresting fugitives, and judging cases.

The number of articles was reduced from sixty to twelve, a reduction of one-fifth.

In addition, all previous supplementary laws were abolished, leaving only 502 explicit regulations. This undoubtedly reduced the burden on the people and also reduced the risk of the powerful exploiting loopholes in the law.

Just when Liu Xie thought he finally had time to relax, Cai Yong shattered Liu Xie's fantasy without hesitation.

After all, as long as you are willing to be busy, there is always work to do...

"Your Majesty will come of age next year. Doesn't that mean you need to change the reign title?"

"Even if it's a wedding, it should be held on a good day! Don't be careless!"

"besides……"

Cai Yong became extremely serious about anything involving etiquette and law, and even Liu Xie was scolded severely in front of him.

Now seeing Dong Zhuo leading Dong Bai to find him, Liu Xie suddenly felt like he had found his savior and rushed over directly.

"Grandmaster, save me!"

Liu Xie's shout startled Dong Zhuo, and then Liu Xie directly grabbed Dong Bai's hand and said, "Let's go! Lord Weiyang! Let's get married! We don't have to waste time here with your master!"

Dong Bai was startled by the sudden change, but she also smiled sweetly: "Okay!"

"What's good!"

Cai Yong, who had chased after them, grabbed Liu Xie and Dong Bai like an eagle catching chicks. "It just so happens that your majesty and Lord Weiyang are here today, so let's rehearse again to avoid any mistakes in the future."

When Dong Bai heard that they had to rehearse the wedding ceremony again, his face turned green.

"I won't get married, I won't get married... Let Sister Zhaoji marry for me..."

Rehearsing a ritual usually takes three days or even longer. If there is any mistake, Cai Yong will catch you and beat you up!
So this matter has become Dong Bai's nightmare, and Dong Bai wants to run away without thinking.

"return!"

The two placed their last hope on Dong Zhuo——

"Master!"

"grandfather!"

Dong Zhuo scratched his nose awkwardly and pretended to be busy.

"If Bo Ji is in charge, I will feel relieved."

Afterwards, Dong Zhuo actually sold out Liu Xie and Dong Bai, abandoning them all to Cai Yong...

Dong Bai sat there in despair, then suddenly broke out in a sweat and fainted!

Liu Xie rushed forward in panic: "Cai Zhonglang! Weiyang Jun has fainted! I will send her to see the imperial physician!"

Cai Yong just looked at Dong Bai lying on the ground calmly, and then counted -

"one!"

Dong Bai twitched his lips a few times, but still lay on the ground pretending to be dead.

"two!"

There was a sudden movement under Dong Bai's closed eyelids, and his eyeballs moved, as if he was thinking about whether to get up.

"three!"

Seeing that Dong Bai still couldn't get up after counting to three, Cai Yong finally acted like a young man with a wild temper. He picked up the ruler and rushed towards Dong Bai. Dong Bai was so scared that he immediately turned over and hid behind Liu Xie.

"Cai Zhonglang, are we going to call it quits today?"

Liu Xie stood in front of Dong Bai and pleaded for him.

"Weiyang Jun has done a great job. If we let Master Cai teach us for a while, there shouldn't be any problems. Does Weiyang Jun agree or not?"

Dong Bai stretched out his head tremblingly and nodded to Cai Yong...

"you……"

Cai Yong was somewhat displeased when he saw that Liu Xie was determined to protect Dong Bai.

"Your Majesty is pampering Lord Weiyang too much! If there is even the slightest mistake in etiquette..."

"Will not."

Liu Xie pulled Dong Bai from behind to the front of him and patted Dong Bai's head like a watermelon. Hmm, a little unexpected, it's actually solid!
"Weiyang Jun is very smart! He has learned a lot from Master Cai! There will definitely be no problem!"

"Instead of continuing to deal with all this, it is better to finish the court affairs as soon as possible. Then I can focus on the wedding without distractions!"

"For example, the year number..."

Liu Xie also wanted to cut the Gordian knot at this moment.

"How about calling it Jian'an?"

"As for the new law, it will be called the Jian'an Law."

"I will personally come up with a set of questions for the imperial examination after I return. No need to bother you guys. How about that?"

Jian'an?

Cai Yong didn't expect that Liu Xie had actually thought of the reign title to be changed.

And it’s Jian’an.

That sounds pretty good.

At least it is better than the previous years of Liu Xie.

Since Liu Xie ascended the throne, he has had four reign titles:

Yonghan, Zhongping, Chuping, Xingping.

That’s right, these era names were all given by Dong Zhuo, a cultured man.

Especially the reign title "Chuping".

Because Yuan Shao and other princes were marching to Luoyang at that time, Dong Zhuo took the messy reign title of "Chuping" because Yuan Shao's courtesy name was "Benchu"...

Compared with the reign title randomly created by Dong Zhuo, the name "Jian'an" chosen by Liu Xie is much better than the previous reign titles both in terms of intention and literature.

"Your Majesty, since you have already prepared a plan, why not just say it? Why do you have to speak it out now?"

Cai Yong complained a few words, but his expression became much more relaxed, and it was obvious that he was indeed quite relaxed.

The reason why Cai Yong has become a little manic recently is also related to the excessive pressure he is under.

Now that Liu Xie is willing to take over these tasks, Cai Yong will naturally enjoy the results.

When Liu Xie saw that Cai Yong finally stopped forcing him and Dong Bai to attend the wedding ceremony, he immediately turned around and gave Dong Bai a victory high five.

"Your Majesty, I will repay you for saving my life today!"

Hearing what Dong Bai said, Liu Xie looked helpless.

"Lord Weiyang, please don't cause trouble for me! Everything was fine, why do you have to bring up marriage?"

Dong Bai smiled innocently, as if apologizing.

But Dong Bai really wanted to thank Liu Xie for saving his life——

"It's true! Sister Zhaoji has read the Xuansu Sutra before! She said that as long as she can learn the contents, it will be a reward to His Majesty!"

"Xuan Su Jing"? What the hell is that?
Liu Xie didn't react at first.

"Wait a minute? Xuansu? The one passed down by the Yellow Emperor?"

Liu Xie immediately became excited.

"The Xuansu Sutra is great! I must learn the Xuansu Sutra!"

Dong Bai showed an expression that showed he understood everything, and told Liu Xie not to worry, he would definitely complete the task!
In the following days, Liu Xie seemed to be full of energy and completed all the tasks he was responsible for.

On Cai Yong's side, the specific matters were finally settled.

On the first day of the first lunar month, everyone wore green banners and hats to welcome the spring outside the east gate. At a grand court assembly, the reign title was changed to "Jian'an" and new laws of the Han Dynasty were promulgated, which can be called the "Jian'an Laws."

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor performs the ceremony of coming of age.

On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, the coming-of-age ceremony was held for Lord Weiyang.

On the fifth day of February, the wedding was held. Dong Bai was named queen, Fu and Dong were named imperial concubines, and Cai was named a beauty.

In March, imperial examinations are held to select officials.

The dates had been set, and the court was so busy preparing for these celebrations that it had almost forgotten that things were still in turmoil in Kanto.

Even Liu Xie was somewhat immersed in it.

It was not until a letter came from the direction of Jingzhou that Liu Xie suddenly woke up.

"Yuan Shao, there's some action!"

During the time when the imperial court was pacifying Liangzhou and Hanzhong, Yuan Shao was not idle.

Especially after losing Taiyuan, Yuan Shao also realized that the imperial court now had the geographical advantage and had famous generals like Li Jue and Guo Si stationed there, making it extremely difficult to gain an advantage.

So Yuan Shao started to think in other directions.

Gongsun Zan, who occupied Youzhou, was a tough nut to crack and was not easy to defeat.

Then Yuan Shao set his sights on Liu Bei who occupied the plain and Kong Rong who occupied the North Sea.

Waging war abroad is always the most convenient way to resolve internal conflicts.

If we can win, we can cover up all the problems.

Although the combined forces of Liu Bei and Kong Rong amounted to about 10,000 or 20,000 troops, they were nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree in front of Yuan Shao.

The two men's allied forces were easily defeated by Yuan Shao and were forced to flee.

Now the road to Youzhou was blocked by Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao of Yanzhou and Tao Qian of Xuzhou both supported the court in Hebei. Yuan Shu and Liu Bei, who occupied Huainan, were obviously not on the same side, and the two could not go there either, so they made up their minds and went directly to Jingzhou to surrender to Liu Biao, hoping to use Jingzhou to go to Chang'an where the court was located.

The letter in Liu Xie's hand at this moment was a memorial from Liu Biao asking how to settle Liu Bei, Kong Rong and others!
(End of this chapter)