The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 434 Volume Someone died!

Qingzhou, Beihai.

"General, news has come from Jizhou and Cao Cao."

There was a man sitting in the hall, who looked about 70% similar to Yuan Shao, with a sturdy build and extraordinary appearance.

But upon closer inspection, he saw that his eyes were in a panic and he was always looking around, as if he was afraid of something.

This cowardice makes such a good appearance completely useless, and makes people think that this person is a weak but powerful person!

This person was Yuan Tan, who fled directly to Qingzhou after the Battle of Hebei.

After arriving in Qingzhou, Yuan Tan proclaimed himself the general, ready to counterattack Jizhou according to his father Yuan Shao's will.

But after the emperor defeated Kebineng, Yuan Tan sighed: "The Yuan family is in danger!"

Although the Great Wall of Qi has been repaired, Yuan Tan still feels insecure and his mind is focused elsewhere.

At this moment, when he heard Guo Tu coming to report the news, his eyes were wandering, as if he didn't want to hear any news about Jizhou and Cao Cao at all.

"General."

When Guo Tu saw Yuan Tan like this, he felt both pity and hateful.

But thinking of the voice, appearance and smile of the late lord Yuan Shao, he still tried hard to persuade Yuan Tan.

"General, Mr. Zhong from Anyang, Hebei, was once favored by the First Lord. Now he has sent a message, saying that he is willing to cooperate with you to counterattack Hebei."

"In addition, Cao Cao also sent news that he wanted to send troops from Qingzhou with the general to seize Yanzhou!"

"General! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Don't let it go!"

Counterattack Hebei...

These four words instantly stirred up huge waves in Yuan Tan's mind!
But this huge wave came and went quickly, and Yuan Tan soon regained his composure.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

What's the reaction?
Guo Tu followed Yuan Shao through life and death countless times throughout his life. How many scenes had he seen that ordinary people would never see in their lifetime?

But Guo Tu had never seen such a response from Yuan Tan!
"General! This is a golden opportunity! Don't miss it!"

Guo Tu tried to persuade him again, and deliberately raised his voice a few notches.

"Oh, yes, yes, it is indeed a golden opportunity..."

Yuan Tan responded casually, then turned around and left, without any further news!
Pfft! ! !
Guo Tu suddenly fell to his knees, crying and sobbing!

"General! Have you forgotten the instructions given by our late master before his death?"

"In Hebei today, there are still many former officials of the Yuan family who are looking forward to your return to revive the country. Don't you care about this?"

Guo Tu was so emotional that he pulled open his collar, revealing his skinny chest.

"If the general has really lost his ambition, I hope that the general will give me a quick death for the sake of my assisting the late Lord!"

Yuan Tan stared at Guo Tu in a daze, and then tears came to his eyes unconsciously.

"How could I not know what Gongze said?"

"But now, you and I are in the same predicament, how can we still have any ambitions?"

"Cao Cao is cunning. He says he is willing to help us counterattack Hebei, but he must have other ideas in mind. If we associate with him, we will undoubtedly be courting disaster!"

"The people of Jizhou, their land, tenants, slaves, and money and grain have all been swept away by the imperial court. How can they help me counterattack Hebei?"

"Now, although I am still the lord of Qi, I am already a pile of dried bones in a grave. I have no chance of winning!"

Yuan Tan is not stupid.

On the contrary, as Yuan Shao's most trusted eldest son, Yuan Tan may have some shortcomings in ability, but his mind has always been extremely clear.

But precisely because he was sober, Yuan Tan knew that he would never be able to defeat the imperial court or the emperor.

Any struggle is of no use in front of the emperor.

All he could do was to spend his days in fear.

Thinking of this, Yuan Tan could no longer control his emotions and actually knelt down in front of Guo Tu, hugging him and crying!
But what's the use of crying?

After crying, can I just stop living like this?
Guo Tu leaned on Yuan Tan's shoulder and wiped away his tears. Then he helped Yuan Tan up and looked at him straight in the face.

"General! Although the emperor is powerful, he is not invincible."

"The court now focuses on promoting Wang Chong's Lun Heng, and completely ignores the knowledge of famous scholars such as Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan!"

"Most of the famous scholars in Hebei and the Central Plains are quite dissatisfied with the court's promotion of Wang Chong's learning! So, General, you actually have far more allies than you think!"

"As for Cao Cao...Although Cao Cao is treacherous, it is undeniable that he is definitely a smart man."

"At this moment, there is no way he will turn against us and attack Qingzhou."

"If he is willing to join forces, just let him come! This will also be considered as an extra force!"

There was a gleam in Guo Tu's eyes.

"Now, it's definitely not the end of the road yet!"

"I know that you are planning something, General... But if you don't even try this last chance, are you really willing to accept it?"

"..."

Yuan Tan was silent for a while, and the tears on his face gradually dried up.

"Are you really sure this time?"

"General, not everything in this world needs to be done with certainty!"

"..."

Silence again.

After a long time, Yuan Tan finally raised his hand slowly and grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"In this case, let's give it one last try!"

"I just don't believe that this destiny is really in the hands of the Han Dynasty!"...

……

Changan.

Liu Xie didn't know how Cao Cao would react after seeing the letter from Cao Pi.

But Zhang Fei had already been transferred to Bohai, where he was responsible for monitoring Yuan Tan in Qingzhou.

Zhang Liao also led 5,000 cavalrymen to station in Nanyang under the pretext of supporting Wen Pin.

Military operations have begun quietly, but Chang'an, now the center of the Han Dynasty, remains peaceful and tranquil.

Obviously, a war of this scale no longer requires Liu Xie to squeeze the Han court dry like water and live a miserable life.

"When the imperial examination comes to an end, it will be time to unify Qingxu!"

Liu Xie was in a good mood and felt very leisurely.

But when he thought of Jia Xu's warning at that time, he sat up again and flipped through the documents, pretending to be very busy!
Perhaps Liu Xie's piety worked, and at least there were no mistakes in this year's imperial examination.

Started smoothly, proceeded smoothly, and ended smoothly.

As expected, this year's imperial examination questions still focused on law and arithmetic.

The only difference was that through an arithmetic problem, Wang Chong's "Lun Heng" was very subtly praised, and for the first time through official channels the complete abandonment of the knowledge of "the correspondence between heaven and man" was expressed.

……

Faced with the court's practice of inserting private goods into the imperial examinations, many old Confucian scholars were helpless.

This is the court’s method.

On the surface, I don't interfere, intervene, or express my views on academic matters.

But in reality, the selection was made among the questions in the imperial examination.

For those Confucian scholars who still insist on the "correspondence between heaven and man", they can study as much as they want, but it is unlikely that they will be able to enter the government in this lifetime!
Unless you are willing to abandon what you learned in your previous life and obediently transform into the form of the Son of Heaven...

For example, Fu Wan, the former great scholar and one of the emperor’s fathers-in-law today!
After two years of hard study in seclusion, Fu Wan actually stepped into the imperial examination hall!

Not only did he step into the imperial examination hall, but he even made it into the top 100!
So much so that Liu Xie couldn't believe it when he got Fu Wan's test paper!

"Academic master, you are worthy of being called an academic master!"

According to the old rules, the test papers of the top 100 candidates were reviewed and ranked by the emperor himself.

When seeing his father-in-law's test paper, Liu Xie really wanted to rank Fu Wan first, and then go crazy and slap the faces of those conservative Confucian scholars!

But unfortunately, the Han Dynasty is full of talented people, and among this session, there are still many geniuses emerging.

Lu Xun.

Cao Pi.

Cao Zhi...

Just as people had predicted, these three people all made it into the top 100, and were far ahead of the others, ranking at the top!
There were also some other great talents from Hebei and Central Plains, such as Qian Zhao and Cang Ci, who also participated in the imperial examination and won places.

"All the heroes in the world are within my grasp!"

And the third Han Dynasty imperial examination champion after Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang also surfaced -

"Lu Xun, Lu Boyan."

After that, Cao Pi came second and Cao Zhi came third.

As for Fu Wan, he was ranked sixth.

The winning list is announced.

The last major thing before the war has been completed.

"There's really nothing to do this time!"

Liu Xie had a rare day to relax, so he called Zhuge Liang and the two kings, Yonghua and Bie, to ask them if they could write a "Journey to the West" about Daxia, where gold and livestock are everywhere...

Just as Liu Xie was thinking about how to describe Daxia as a wealthy place where "the beams of the houses are made of gold" and "the water in the rivers is milk", Su Ze, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, rushed in in a panic.

"what's up?"

It's not autumn yet, so the Ministry of Justice shouldn't be in such a hurry!

"His Majesty!"

Su Ze's forehead was bulging with veins: "Someone died in Chang'an today!"

Liu Xie frowned.

Today, Chang'an can accommodate a population of one million. It can be said that someone dies in Chang'an due to accidents every day.

But being able to make a Shangshu rush to see the emperor meant that it was definitely not a trivial matter!

Su Ze quickly explained the whole story to the emperor.

"Your Majesty may not know that several years ago, merchants used the imperial examination to start their businesses."

"They promised the scholars that they would pass the imperial examination for 100 strings of cash. But if they failed, they would have to return 90 strings of cash."

"But these merchants often break their promises and are unwilling to return the money... Today, a scholar who failed to return the money bumped his head against the gold list and died, causing a commotion!"

Died by hitting the gold list?

Liu Xie's pupils shrank.

Zhuge Liang also looked at Su Ze in astonishment.

No wonder a Shangshu was so anxious to come and meet the emperor.

There was actually a scholar who died directly on the gold list?

What is the difference between this behavior and committing suicide in front of Emperor Gaozu's ancestral temple?
Liu Xie's eyes were filled with murderous intent: "What's the name of that merchant?"

"Your Majesty, I have already found out that the merchant is from Anyang, Hebei, and his surname is Zhong and his name is Gong."

(End of this chapter)