The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 390 Volume The world is shocked!

The capital of Qingzhou County was Huang County.

After learning the news that Ke Bineng could capture the pass, Yuan Tan was almost ecstatic!

"It's just as my father expected! Ke Bineng actually entered the pass! And the emperor really went north!"

Immediately!

Yuan Tan then sent information to Cao Cao, asking him to join him in attacking the Central Plains.

However, Cao Cao, who had always been extremely active in counterattacking the Central Plains, rejected Yuan Tan's request this time.

"Foreign invasion is a national affair. Your father and I have always had the ambition to protect the people. How can we send troops to attack at this time?"

When Yuan Tan heard Cao Cao's refusal, he immediately insulted Cao Cao's envoy.

"Now you know how to refuse? Then what did you and my father do in the past? You dare to call you a traitor Cao Cao! How shameful!"

Yuan Tan was not discouraged after being rejected by Cao Cao, and simply began to prepare for the attack on Hebei!
"It's not difficult to take Hebei!"

"Just get rid of Sima Yi first, then defeat Liu Bei and Gao Shun, and then resist Xu Rong in the north!"

Seeing that Lu Bu, Zhang Liao and Guan Yu, the three most famous generals today, are not in Hebei, Yuan Tan has very high expectations for this battle!

"Gao Fan, Guan Tong! You two lead the navy first and defeat Sima Yi in Yanzhou! Seize the Henan ferry to prevent the imperial army from supporting you!"

When Gao Fan and Guan Tong first heard Yuan Tan's order, they suspected that they had heard it wrong.

The two pointed at their old faces with a dull look on their faces: "Me? Go and kill Sima Yi?"

"Any questions?"

Any questions?

The problem is really huge!
Sima Yi was the commander-in-chief of the court's river crossing battle!
Even though the ones who shined on the battlefield in the end were the Xianzhen Formation that used the Queyue Formation, Zhao Yun who killed Gao Lan, and Zhang Fei who killed Zhang He...but everyone with a discerning eye knew that the one who actually coordinated the battlefield behind the scenes was Sima Yi, who never appeared on the front battlefield from beginning to end!
Gao Fan and Guan Tong considered themselves to be excellent generals, but if they were asked to fight against Sima Yi, or even defeat Sima Yi, that would be too much to ask!

"Why, can't it?"

Yuan Tan frowned.

Gao Fan and Guan Tong looked at each other, neither trying to show off, but shaking their heads in tacit understanding.

"Can't a mere Sima Yi win?"

Yuan Tan held his head high and said, "The current imperial court may seem powerful, but it is just a pile of loose sand and has no foundation in Guandong!"

"As long as our army goes there, there will surely be countless people responding! By then, the Han army will be troubled by internal and external troubles and will be unable to take care of itself... With such an advantage, can't we win?"

It was Yuan Tan's deputy driver Wang Xiu who spoke out to advise, "My lord."

"The noble families in Yanzhou and Yuzhou were implicated by Zhang Miao's rebellion. Many of them have lost their will and weapons and food supplies to resist. So they are of no use at all."

"The aristocratic families in Jizhou... the emperor offered one of the Three Dukes and three of the Nine Ministers with real power to appease them. In fact, their resistance to the court is not as great as the lord imagined."

"Therefore, the only person my lord can rely on now is probably Ke Bi, who can hold the pass and leave Hebei with a lack of troops."

"..."

Yuan Tan listened and believed it, but he refused to change!
"No matter what, Sima Yi is just a nobody and a treacherous minister! How can we be no match for him?"

Yuan Tan gave orders again, ordering Gao Fan and Guan Tong to lead the navy to march straight in and occupy Yanjin and other ferry crossings!

Gao Fan and Guan Tong had no choice but to lead their troops there.

When Sima Yi heard that Yuan Tan had indeed attacked Yanzhou as the emperor had predicted, he immediately sent a fleet to meet the attack.

Relying on the Thunderbolt Chariots and Zhuge Crossbows on the warships, and simply relying on the crushing power of weapons, Gao Fan and Guan Tong were forced to return to Qingzhou in disgrace without achieving any success.

"waste!"

After a loud curse, Yuan Tan decided to lead his troops to attack Hebei himself!

"Liu Bei is just a defeated general! Just look at how I recapture Jizhou!"

Yuan Tan could already foresee that once he entered Jizhou and let everyone see the flag of his Yuan family again, people would immediately come to support him with food and food, and line the streets to welcome his arrival!
But as soon as he arrived at the plain, the food and fodder being transported from the rear were burned and the scouts exploring in the front were driven away.

"Uncle Liu finally came back, and you, the Yuan clan, actually want to drive him away?"

Liu Bei once served as the magistrate of Pingyuan. He was kind and generous to the local people. Even ordinary people who were not scholars could sit at the same table with him and eat from the same bowl without any discrimination.

The local noble Liu Ping refused to obey Liu Bei's rule, so he instigated an assassin to kill him. Liu Bei knew nothing about it and treated the assassin with great courtesy. The assassin was deeply moved and could not bear to kill Liu Bei, so he told the truth and left... (Note 1)

Therefore, the people of Pingyuan had much stronger feelings towards Liu Bei than towards the Yuan family, which led to resistance from the local people as soon as Yuan Tan entered Pingyuan.

When Liu Bei heard that Yuan Tan was coming to attack, he also marched forward with Gao Shun and easily defeated Yuan Tan in the western part of Pingyuan County, forcing Yuan Tan to return empty-handed once again.

Yuan Tan, who had fled back to Qingzhou, beat his chest and stamped his feet, saying, "Have the people of Jizhou also abandoned our Yuan family?"

"In this case, I'm afraid we have no choice but to head north, open up the passage to Youzhou, and attack the Han army together with Wuhuan!"

Wang Xiu, the deputy driver, was worried: "My lord, you can't do such a thing! You can use the power of foreign tribes to achieve your own goals, but you must not collude with foreign tribes and let them really attack the interior of the country! Otherwise, my lord will probably bear the infamy for all eternity!"

Yuan Tan was nonchalant: "I can easily subdue the Wuhuan and Xianbei. Why should I worry now?"

So Yuan Tan ignored Wang Xiu's dissuasion and headed north again.

And it was Xu Rong who was stationed in Nanpi in the north.

When Xu Rong heard that Yuan Tan was coming, he immediately sent troops to fight him.

No victory, retreat.

Yuan Tan was overjoyed and chased after Xu Rong.

But just when they reached the city of Nanpi, a large army suddenly emerged from the city and surrounded Yuan Tan!

Yuan Tan was horrified and had to flee back to Qingzhou again.

Xu Rong became more depressed after learning about this.

He once almost captured Cao Cao and Sun Jian.

Now, Yuan Tan was almost captured.

But it was always "almost", which made Xu Rong sigh that his luck was really too bad. When he returned to his hometown in Liaodong in the future, he must renovate the ancestral tomb...

Yuan Tan suffered three major defeats in three directions, losing a total of more than 10,000 soldiers and countless money, food and weapons. Such setbacks made Yuan Tan cry: "Is it really impossible for me to avenge my father?"

Yuan Shao's direct subordinates cried along with him, while comforting Yuan Tan and asking him to cheer up and look for another opportunity!
until……

The results of the war in the north have arrived!
Lu Bu shot Chanyu, allowing Ke Bi to retreat all the way to the Great Wall!
Xu Huang defeated Suonu and wiped out an entire Xianbei army!
The victory in Ji County was even more terrifying! Zhang Liao actually rushed thousands of miles, detoured from behind, killed Suli and Tadun in battle, and captured all 100,000 young and strong men from the Xianbei and Wuhuan!

Now, even Yuan Shao's former confidants could not help but sigh and say, "The Mandate of Heaven is with the Han Dynasty!"

After hearing this, Yuan Tan could no longer even cry and could only sit there and sigh!
……

Qiao County.

After learning that the emperor had won a great victory over the Xianbei and Wuhuan, Cao Cao was not sad. Instead, he happily held a banquet and drank heartily.

Some people were puzzled, so Cao Cao said: "Defeating the Xianbei is a matter of state, why should I be unhappy?"

Not only did he hold a grand banquet, Cao Cao even prepared a gift and sent an envoy to Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor.

……

At the foot of the Helan Mountains.

Ma Chao and Pang De led the Liangzhou cavalry and joined forces with the Southern Xiongnu and Western Xianbei who had retreated into Guanzhong.

When Fa Zheng, Meng Da and Ma Chao met again, they all sighed deeply.

The Southern Xiongnu and Western Xianbei were no match for Kebi Neng. Although it could not be blamed on Fa Zheng and Meng Da, the emperor had made repeated arrangements beforehand, but they still ended up in this state, and they felt somewhat ashamed.

Before this, Ma Chao did not dare to return to Liang Province, but asked Pang De to go to Liang Province to bring cavalry, and then he would join him.

The three men now looked gloomy and had lost all their former high spirits, which made Xu Shu, who was standing aside, feel very awkward.

"How can a man be so depressed and unhappy when he is born in this world?"

Xu Shu criticized the three people without hesitation.

"I was just a knight-errant in the past, and I couldn't read a single word! Although I had the courage to avenge my friend, I was eventually caught by the officials, who tied me to a pillar and planned to behead me!"

"At that time, I thought my life was over! Unexpectedly, someone rescued me later. From then on, I changed my ways, studied hard, met Kong Ming, Shi Yuan and others, participated in the imperial examination, and finally became an envoy to the Han Dynasty."

"The emperor also explained Mengqi's matter very clearly. It was the emperor who forced Mengqi to become a pillar of the country when he was young, which led to Mengqi making a big mistake."

"It's the same thing that happened to us in the Southern Xiongnu and Western Xianbei! We thought we knew all the tribes on the grassland very well, so we were careless for a moment, which led to our defeat by Kebi Neng... But is this a reason for us to be depressed? As the saying goes, "knowing shame leads to courage"! If we continue to sink like this now, we will be really sorry for the emperor and the country, our fellow citizens, and our parents and relatives!"

Xu Shu's words made the three of them repent and they immediately apologized to Xu Shu, and the fire in their hearts was rekindled!

A few days later, Liu Bao, the Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu, and Budugen, the Chanyu of the Western Xianbei, came to them eagerly and said to them happily, "News from the grassland! The emperor has defeated Kebi Neng!"

Fa Zheng and others cried with joy, hugged each other and cheered wildly!

Liu Bao and Budugen pleaded: "I wonder if we can go to the grassland and return to our hometown now?"

"Why are you in such a hurry? We must first submit a letter to the emperor and wait for his instructions. It won't be too late to act later!"

The Southern Xiongnu and Western Xianbei wanted to return to the grassland and maintain the original order.

But Fa Zheng has keenly realized that this time, the grassland pattern will inevitably usher in a major change that has not been seen in hundreds of years!

Kebi Neng unified the grassland, and the emperor defeated Kebi Neng again... With this in and out, the emperor has completely grasped the fate of the grassland in his hands!

Now, whether it is the Southern Xiongnu, the Western Xianbei, or the Wuhuan, they can only wait quietly for the emperor to decide their fate!
It wasn't just the Central Plains forces that were shocked.

Liaodong...

Gongsun Du had previously declared himself Marquis of Liaodong and Governor of Pingzhou.

But when he heard that the emperor had thoroughly defeated Kebi Neng, he immediately ordered his men to destroy these seals and the emperor's carriage frame that he had privately made, and once again appointed himself as the governor of Liaodong.

Not only that, Gongsun Du also brought the kings of Buyeo and Goguryeo to present a congratulatory message together. They all regarded themselves as subjects and did not dare to be disrespectful in the slightest.

Western Region...

The rulers of Gaochang, Cheshi, Loulan and other countries were also deeply afraid when they heard about it. They blocked other countries' envoys from going to Chang'an, but at the same time they hurriedly wrote letters of congratulation to the emperor of the Han Dynasty and sent envoys to inquire about the situation.

"Dad, when will you come to the Western Regions to establish the Western Regions Protectorate? I really miss your big stick!"

……

These envoys and congratulatory letters gradually gathered in the direction of Chang'an, but what attracted the attention of the Han officials was another matter -

The emperor has decided that this year's imperial examination will be held in three places!

Chang'an was presided over by Shangshu Ling Jia Xu, who was responsible for the imperial examinations of scholars from Guanzhong, Hedong, Liangzhou, Yizhou and other places.

Xu County was presided over by Shangshu Pushe Xun Yu, who was responsible for the imperial examinations for scholars from Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Jingzhou.

Yecheng was presided over by Xun You, the newly appointed governor of Jizhou, who was responsible for the imperial examinations for scholars from Jizhou, Youzhou, Bingzhou and other places.

Guanzhong, Zhongyuan and Hebei, the imperial examinations are held simultaneously!

The sudden news caught everyone off guard!
Everyone thought that the emperor had gone to the northern border to fight, and that the imperial examination would not be held this year no matter what.

Who would have thought that the emperor would do such a thing?
Especially those children from aristocratic families in Hebei and Central Plains.

They all thought that it would be unlikely to hold the imperial examination this year. After all, the army was on a long expedition, and the court no longer had the manpower and resources to send all the scholars to Chang'an for the imperial examination...

But the emperor actually distributed land for examination?
Everyone panicked for a moment and asked the examiners for information.

The situation in Guanzhong was the most stable. After all, practice makes perfect, and no one dared to question Jia Xu, so everything went smoothly.

In the Central Plains, because of Zhang Miao's rebellion, a large number of aristocratic families were eliminated. In addition, Xun Yu was good at maneuvering and had a good handle on the ways of the world, so he was able to barely maintain the situation.

Only Hebei.

The indiscriminate bombardment by the Hebei noble families made Xun You overwhelmed, and finally he simply hid in Gao Shun's trap camp.

Someone sneered: "I don't believe Xun You can hide in the military camp for the rest of his life?"

result……

Xun You actually continued hiding in the Xianzhen Camp!
Moreover, Xun You also issued an official document that the examination venue for the imperial examination for Hebei scholars was in the military camp of the Xianzhen Camp!

There are scholars crying for their parents!
Why should they take the exam in the military camp?
What if you pee your pants out of nervousness?

What if a soldier is so ugly that he scares the handsome scholar?
the most important is……

Your examination room is in the military camp, how the hell are we supposed to cheat? ! !
But Xun You didn't care and just hid in the Xianzhen Camp and didn't see anyone.

Tian Feng, Cui Yan and others had no choice but to go to Gao Shun again.

"I am a military commander, and the imperial examination is not my responsibility!"

Gao Shun always said this to everyone.

Even though the Hebei scholars used their status as the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers to pressure him, Gao Shun glared at them and said, "I am the pillar of the Han Dynasty! I only obey the orders of the emperor! Don't say you are just a Three Dukes! Even if the Grand Master is here, you can't even step into the Xianzhen Camp!"

Some people didn't believe it and thought Gao Shun was just trying to scare them, so they ignored the advice and went straight into the Xianzhen Camp!

"call out!"

As soon as the front foot stepped in, the back foot heard the sound of an arrow breaking through the air and instantly penetrated the opponent's chest!

"Gao Shun! Do you really dare to kill someone?"

"I told you and you didn't believe me!"

Gao Shun is just like a copper pea that cannot be steamed, boiled, pounded or fried. He simply cannot tolerate any oil or salt!
Helpless, he had to go look for Liu Bei.

Liu Bei even spread his hands and said, "What can I do?"

"General Gao is not only on the same level as me, but he is also much closer to the Emperor than I am. How can I control him?"

"In my opinion, you should write a letter to the emperor and ask him to punish General Gao!"

Tian Feng and Cui Yan had no choice but to write a letter to the emperor.

After receiving their letter, the emperor was naturally very annoyed. On the one hand, he comforted Tian Feng and Cui Yan, and on the other hand, he reprimanded Gao Shun for daring to be disrespectful to the three ministers!
then……

Nothing happened afterwards. Tian Feng and others still couldn’t enter the gate of the Xianzhen Camp!
After one month.

The imperial examinations in the three places were held at the same time.

Since Hebei and the Central Plains had just been pacified, some famous scholars also participated in the imperial examination.

For example, Chen Gong, Liu Ye, and Liang Xi in the Central Plains examination hall.

Ju Shou, Qian Zhao and Chang Lin in the examination hall in Hebei.

No matter how famous they were, these celebrities would go to the imperial examination hall honestly and take the exam together with all the other scholars.

Especially Ju Su.

Not only did he participate in the imperial examination, but his son Ju Hu also participated in it. This inevitably made the Hebei scholars laugh at him, thinking that Ju Su was anxious because he did not get the official position granted by the emperor, so he even dragged his son out to participate in the imperial examination.

But Ju Su turned a deaf ear to it and just reviewed the "Jian'an Code" day and night, making sure to memorize these most basic legal provisions.

……

It is said that the imperial examination questions were also set by examiners from all over the country.

With the foundation laid by the previous two imperial examinations, there was not much difference in the types of questions.

The first ten questions are still fill-in-the-blank questions about the "Jian'an Code".

After three consecutive imperial examinations, the Jian'an Code has almost penetrated into the hearts of people in Guanzhong and other places.

Not to mention the scholars who participated in the imperial examinations.

Even an illiterate old farmer can memorize the general rules by observing and listening.

But this is not entirely true for the scholars in Guandong, especially in Hebei.

They all thought that this year's imperial examination would be postponed, so they did not take the "Jian'an Code" seriously and only started to memorize it until the last month.

Although the Jian'an Code is concise, it is a legal regulation after all. How can it be memorized in just one month?

Therefore, many Hebei scholars could not help crying when they answered the questions and were dragged out by the soldiers.

The following questions are also some old and commonplace issues.

The first question still follows the old system and is an old case before the judgment was made based on the Jian'an Law.

But most of the scholars in Hebei did not even memorize the "Jian'an Code", so how could they answer this question well?

Ten fill-in-the-blank questions and one essay basically account for most of the total score.

If you fail to answer these questions, you will basically have no chance of passing the imperial examination!

As for the second question, it is also an arithmetic question.

Those who always recite classics and are unwilling to study mathematics and physics are once again defeated by this question.

For the third question, there were slight differences among the three places.

Guanzhong asked about iron smelting.

The Central Plains asked about farming.

Hebei asked about textiles.

This time, countless scholars broke through their defenses again...

The fourth question finally returned to the policy essay.

Guanzhong asked about the central government and local governments.

The Central Plains asked about the theory of great unification, while Hebei asked about the Han-Hu system.

For a topic like this, even if you don’t know the answer, you can still write something down randomly.

The final big question.

Guanzhong still asked about arithmetic, obviously intending to give some strength to these scholars who were the first to come into contact with the imperial examination.

What Zhongyuan was asking about was the infringement of the country and ordinary people by the aristocratic families, which meant thoroughly using the imperial examination to expose the true face of the aristocratic families.

Only the ones in Hebei are the strangest.

What is being asked is actually about the management of the river and the improvement of boats?
"Gongda, what kind of question is this?"

Even Liu Bei found Xun You to complain afterwards.

"I know many poor scholars who say they can't solve this problem...Isn't this problem a little too difficult?"

Now that the imperial examination was over, Xun You finally stopped hiding the secret.

"Uncle Huang really thinks that I came up with this question?"

"In fact, except for the blank-filling questions in the Jian'an Code, the rest are questions that the emperor had prepared long ago."

"The imperial examination is a national policy set by the emperor. How could it be so casual that I have to set the questions myself?"

Liu Bei then suddenly realized and stopped asking about the matter.

After Xun You, he was even more resolute.

It would have been fine if he had hidden in the Xianzhen Camp before the imperial examination, but after the examination, he still stayed in the Xianzhen Camp to mark the papers.

Among those who reviewed the papers, Xun You did not use anyone else to do it, but directly transferred Sun Qian, Jian Yong and some clerks who followed the army under Liu Bei to review the papers, not giving the Hebei scholars any chance at all!
This made Tian Feng and others curse again!

But some people also felt something was wrong.

No matter it is the emperor or Xun You, now they are doing things as rigorously as guarding against thieves!
Then who is the thief?

Who is the emperor guarding against?

After taking precautions, what else do you want to do?
Cui Lin, who had previously lived in seclusion in the mountains with his family, saw it clearly, so he came back to find his brother Cui Yan and asked him to resign immediately and not get involved in official affairs.

"When you took the position of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, you should have immediately resigned from the emperor. Even if you didn't resign, you shouldn't have written a congratulatory letter to the emperor when he had just defeated Kebineng and was so proud of his victory!"

Cui Lin's words did not wake Cui Yan up. Instead, he responded with reason and evidence: "How dare the emperor take action at this time? Isn't he afraid of causing a popular uprising?"

"Civil uprising? Which people? Aristocratic family?"

Cui Lin sighed and said, "In the past, the emperor was reluctant to start a massacre as soon as he came to Hebei because he was worried about the Hu people in the north coveting it and feared that it would bring disaster to the people of Hebei. That's why he chose to pretend to be nice and gave you a few positions of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers."

"But now Kebi has been defeated beyond everyone's imagination! Today, the emperor is confident of victory in the north, and he can't even wait to return to Chang'an to attack you, but you are still leisurely licking the bait thrown by the emperor in Hebei, and even want to force the emperor to throw out the next bait... I really don't know what to say to you!"

After hearing this, Cui Yan finally became suspicious.

But Cui Yan still shook his head: "Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, no emperor has dared to directly kill the three dukes who had just been appointed."

Cui Lin said disdainfully: "Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, has there been an imperial examination system? Has there been a military system? Has there been a curved plow? Has there been a thunderbolt chariot?"

"Now is the time of great changes that haven't happened in a century, but you are still sitting in the well and watching the world from afar. If you continue like this, you may be burned dry by the raging fire under your butt before you can react!"

Cui Yan eventually became suspicious and took his younger brother Cui Lin to see Tian Feng.

When Tian Feng heard what Cui Lin said, his brows furrowed.

"Does the emperor really dare to act like this?"

"Why doesn't the emperor dare to act like this?"

One old regulation after another bound Tian Feng, so that until now, Tian Feng was unwilling to believe that the emperor would really take action against them.

"Isn't the emperor afraid that our public outcry will cause instability in Hebei?"

Cui Lin said: "The emperor has already defeated Kebineng. I'm afraid he is hoping that Hebei will be unstable. Then he will transfer the army to Hebei and kill every household!"

"The reason why the emperor is still doing these superficial things is just because he doesn't want the situation to be too embarrassing. Can't you see that, Lord Tian?"

……

It’s not that Tian Feng can’t see it.

It’s not that Tian Feng is stupid.

From the very beginning, Tian Feng did not have the same awareness as the emperor.

"Throw away illusions and prepare to fight!"

Because the emperor saw the true face of the aristocratic families, he gave up his illusions from the very beginning, and everything he did was aimed at completely wiping out the aristocratic families and reviving the Han Dynasty.

However, the aristocratic families always had a lucky glimpse and cherished the illusion that the emperor would not be their enemy.

Because they don’t know what the emperor wants!
What will the emperor get by helping that group of untouchables to kill the nobles?
Money and food?
They, the aristocratic families, can also give it to the emperor!

Reputation?
Will the reputation of the Son of Heaven be much worse than that of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu in the future?

What on earth does the emperor want? Why does he want to fight them to the death?

So even now, Tian Feng still shook his head: "The emperor will not take action against us. This matter is not in the emperor's interest."

Cui Lin: "But there are always some things that can motivate people to act more than interests."

……

At this moment, a strong sense of crisis ran through the hearts of all the Hebei scholars, as if it was splitting them in half alive!

Tian Feng wrote another letter to the emperor to test the situation.

The emperor also gave Tian Feng encouragement and comfort again.

This time, the emperor even sent an envoy to give Tian Feng a lot of gifts, asking him to wait for the court's future arrangements with peace of mind.

Now, at least Tian Feng and others can comfort themselves by thinking that they and the emperor are not enemies.

Until the results of the third imperial examination of the Han Dynasty came out!
This time, Guanzhong admitted an unprecedented number of 5,000 scholars, which is the largest number in history!

In the Central Plains examination hall, 3,000 scholars were also admitted because of a shark named the scholar from Jingzhou who sneaked in.

Only Hebei.

Only a thousand people passed the imperial examination!

Finished!

At this time, the Hebei scholars finally reacted!

It's all over!
The emperor did not need any conspiracy or trickery to deal with these Hebei nobles. He just used the accumulation of the five years of Jian'an to fight Hebei head-on!
The scholars in places like Guanzhong and Jingzhou had already mastered the techniques of the imperial examinations early on, but Hebei was just getting started!

It's like even though there are many scholars admitted to the imperial examination in Guanzhong this time, in the first imperial examination, the number of scholars admitted to Guanzhong was actually only a thousand or so, which is not much different from the number of scholars admitted to Hebei this year.

In fact, because Guanzhong had taught its soldiers to read and write very early on, its foundation was actually much weaker than that of Hebei. The fact that Hebei was able to admit more than a thousand scholars was already a favor when it came to grading the papers!

But it doesn't work!

Everyone knows the significance of this imperial examination!

That is to select officials in charge of Hebei, Central Plains and other places!

Even if Hebei catches up later, the Hebei families will lose the opportunity to get a piece of the pie.

After all, the current structure of scholars in Hebei is that the majority of the scholars are from aristocratic families, with only a few from poor families slipping through the net.

Therefore, if they lose this opportunity, the Hebei family will never be able to make a comeback!
"How can the emperor be so decisive in his actions?"

Cui Yan was very angry: "According to the number of scholars admitted, a large number of scholars from Guanzhong will definitely come to Hebei to serve as officials! If that happens, I'm afraid that even our roots will be left behind by the other side, right?"

Tian Feng had a sad look on his face. It was obvious that he had not expected that the emperor would be so impatient to take action against the Hebei family.

After hesitating for a moment, Tian Feng finally revealed the trick in his mind:

"I have a way to turn defeat into victory."

"What method?"

“Borrowing public opinion!”

"..."

A few days later, a voice appeared in Hebei:

"In this imperial examination, Hebei has the least number of scholars! Is it because the emperor hates us Hebei scholars?"

"..."

At first, no one paid attention to these words.

After all, the emperor had been implementing benevolent policies towards Hebei since he conquered the province, and had managed to build his own base with the help of equal land distribution and government soldiers. No one was willing to believe such rumors.

But as the matter developed, some more credible stories gradually came out.

For example, an "insider" who was in charge of marking the examination papers said that when Xun You was marking the examination papers, he simply threw away some of the examination papers and called the Hebei scholars "Northern Dogs."

For example, some people saw with their own eyes that Gao Shun's Xianzhen Camp abducted women and looted villages.

……

The confrontation between the imperial court and Hebei Province became increasingly intense, far exceeding the imperial examination itself!

As a last resort, Liu Bei stood up and said, "I am also from Hebei. Would I mistreat my fellow countrymen?"

"Bah! You are a high-ranking official in the court, so you should speak for the court!"

"When I, Liu Bei, was in Pingyuan before, I never treated the people of Hebei badly!"

"Bah! Hypocritical!"

……

Until the end, there was even a group of people surrounding the gate of the Xianzhen Camp, demanding that Xun You be killed!
Gao Shun naturally did not respond, but he also ordered his soldiers not to fight back and only protected himself with shields.

But the onlookers, instigated by some people with ulterior motives, became even more aggressive and rushed into the military camp with sharp knives to kill Xun You personally!
"How dare you! Are you going to rebel?"

Gao Shun could no longer bear it and ordered his soldiers to fight back!
In an instant, there were casualties among the onlookers!
It was not until this time that these instigated people realized what they had done!
They were actually holding weapons and were going to attack the Han army’s camp!
In all dynasties, this would definitely be a crime of "treason"!

the most important is……

Because of the casualties, the matter finally became a big deal and was reported to the emperor.

At this moment, the emperor was still in Yanmen, waiting for news from outside the Great Wall.

Now when I see this document, I feel angry, resentful, and also pity.

"The reason why I used the imperial examination to slowly eliminate the Hebei noble families was to avoid making a big fuss so that everyone would have a decent ending."

"But they ultimately did what I cannot tolerate the most - they manipulated public opinion and turned against me."

Since he is so shameless even when given face, Liu Xie has nothing to worry about.

"Let Hao Zhao and Guo Huai stay at Yanmen to guard it. They will be responsible for contacting Fengxian at all times and ensuring Fengxian's supplies."

"I'm going back to Hebei and cut ties with them once and for all!"

Yang Xiu asked worriedly, "Your Majesty, what about the people?"

Attacking a military camp is definitely a capital crime!

But both Yang Xiu and the emperor knew that this was actually a trap deliberately set by the Hebei family.

As long as the emperor really kills these instigated people, the Hebei families will use the emperor's hands to maximize the conflict between Hebei and the court!
But if the emperor lets these people go and directly kills the Hebei families, it will become unreasonable and will instead cause the people of Hebei to think that the emperor is being unreasonable and making trouble out of nothing, thus further deepening the confrontation between Hebei and the court.

It has to be said that the aristocratic family has been able to survive for so many years, and although some of their methods are disgusting, they often have miraculous effects.

but……

"Don't worry, Dezu. I won't blame the people of Hebei."

Yang Xiu frowned: "But..."

"rest assured!"

The emperor comforted him again.

"The reason why I promoted the imperial examination and taught the people the truth is that I wanted them to have a basic sense of right and wrong and not be manipulated by those with ulterior motives."

"But this does not mean that I will not try to manipulate public opinion or understand the people's minds."

"Public opinion has always been a double-edged sword! Since they dare to use it, don't blame me for blocking it back."

The emperor was calm and composed: "Go and find out the origins and backgrounds of those more than a thousand candidates for the imperial examination."

"After that, write down the amount of their property and announce it all to me!"

"I have the confidence to overturn the table now, but I don't know if they have the courage to fight to the death with me!"

Yang Xiu did as he was told.

Soon, the detailed information of more than a thousand scholars who passed the imperial examinations in Hebei was posted by the government.

Children of aristocratic families...

Children of aristocratic families...

He is a child of aristocratic family!

"Grass!"

Moreover, the list released by the government was not intentional, but it was deliberate.

This damn list was actually published according to surnames!

Looking from top to bottom, the surnames [Tian], [Cui], and [Lu] occupy almost 80% of the list!
On the contrary, because Ju Shou only took his son to participate in the imperial examination, his surname was not very prominent on the list!

"Oh my god! Why are all these young masters from wealthy families passing the imperial examinations?"

"No wonder! No wonder!"

"..."

At this time, some more voices were heard——

"The reason why the number of people admitted in this imperial examination is so small is because these children of wealthy families have taken up the places that should have belonged to ordinary people, that's why it's like this!"

Thinking about those wealthy and powerful families, who not only had immense wealth and luxurious living, but also took away the places that originally belonged to the scholars from poor families, countless people in Hebei became furious!
They could not see or touch the emperor's discrimination against Hebei.

But the oppression and exploitation of local people by these aristocratic families are happening around them!
For a time, the crowd was excited!
Countless Hebei people went crazy again and began to attack the farms and mansions of the wealthy families in Hebei.

Tian Feng and others were frightened, so they went to find Liu Bei and Gao Shun, hoping that they could send troops to suppress the rebellion.

But the two treated Tian Feng coldly: "When those people in Hebei falsely accused us before, why didn't you say anything?"

"Is it because these dirty waters haven't been splashed on you that you can be fearless?"

Tian Feng was driven to desperation: "If we all fall, the order in Hebei will be gone!"

"you are wrong."

"Only when you fall can Hebei establish a new order!"

Upon hearing that the emperor had returned to Hebei, Tian Feng went to the emperor to plead for mercy again.

"General Lu Bu is chasing the enemy on the grassland. How can we allow Hebei to continue in such chaos?"

Liu Xie was no longer pretending at this moment.

"All the military supplies for Fengxian were transferred from Guanzhong via Hedong and Taiyuan. What does this have to do with Hebei?"

Tian Feng said bitterly: "Is it true that the emperor will not show us any mercy?"

The emperor sighed: "You guys don't show me any mercy!"

"Even though the imperial examination was held hastily this year, most of the scholars recruited by Hebei Province are from aristocratic families, right?"

"As long as you show me some mercy, you, the descendants, will still be officials of the Han Dynasty and scholars with a promising future."

"You just want to manipulate public opinion and cause this trouble for me."

"You thought you were causing trouble for me... but in fact, you ruined the future of your descendants."

Liu Xie did not lie.

He did give the Hebei family chance after chance.

When entering Hebei, if the Hebei aristocratic families had more sense and did not select three powerful nine ministers, Liu Xie might have been impressed by their sense and really given some powerful positions to the Hebei scholars in the court in the future.

If they had been less impatient when submitting their congratulatory memorials, perhaps Association Liu would have been more lenient with them and would have dealt with their affairs after they returned to Chang'an, giving them some room to maneuver.

Even when it came to the imperial examination, if they did not manipulate public opinion, Liu Xie would still be willing to leave a way out for the descendants of their clan.

But every time Liu Xie showed mercy, he would be stabbed hard by these Hebei families.

"Before his death, Emperor Shizu said that he was of no benefit to the people."

"But before I die, I don't want to be buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum with this regret and go to see the Grand Tutor next to me!"

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Note 1:

Liu Ping, a county resident, always looked down on the First Lord and was ashamed to be his inferior, so he sent a guest to assassinate him. The guest could not bear to do it, so he told him and left. This is how he won people's hearts. - "Records of the Three Kingdoms·Book of Shu II·Biography of the First Lord"

(End of this chapter)