I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 215: Eunuch falls and Yuan Shu eats
It can be said that from this moment on, Yuan Shu is no longer just an illusory hope for this group of upstarts.

He is not just an elder brother who helps the needy and rescues people from dire straits.

Yuan Shu was a visible and tangible leader who brought about drastic changes to their future.

Yuan Shu is a generous leader who can seek benefits for them and keep his promises!
No one doesn't love such a leader.

They deeply respect such a leader and are willing to go through fire and water for him.

They believe that their leaders can protect them, stand behind them and provide support.

They were officials of the Han Empire, but they were also the most loyal subordinates of the leader Yuan Shu.

If they were given a choice, they would put being leaders and subordinates before being officials of the Han Empire, because without a leader they would not be able to obtain those positions.

These things were not given to them by the Eastern Han Empire.

But it was given to them by Yuan Shu!

Those who received the rewards were of course excited. They had taken the right path, followed the right people, and achieved victory, so they would become the trendsetters of the next stage of the Eastern Han Empire.

But for those who stood on the wrong side or did not follow the main force, they are already a thing of the past.

For example, former Grand Commandant Li Xian and former Minister of Works Zong Ju, their political careers came to an end simply because they did not stand with the right team and raised some doubts.

From October 3rd to October 6th, Li Xian and eight others headed by Zong Ju were under house arrest in the palace and had lost their personal freedom. They tried to escape, but were guarded so tightly that they had no chance at all.

They cursed Yuan Feng as a traitor and Yuan Shu as having bad intentions, but it was useless; it sounded more like the howling of a defeated dog.

Yuan Feng had no intention of giving them any chance to fight back. Yuan Feng, who had undergone a qualitative change, knew very well that it might only take one night to strike a political opponent, or it might take a lifetime to accomplish.

If he was not decisive enough, if he was not ruthless enough, then the results of the battle he risked his life for might be divided up by these people.

So even though he had a relatively good personal relationship with some of these people, even though they had joined forces to deal with the eunuchs during the Party and Faction Persecution, even though he had hesitated and was reluctant -

However, on the eve of the impending Yuan dictatorship, he made up his mind to catch all these former friends in one fell swoop, push them into the abyss, and end their political lives.

Those who tried to fight for dignity and power for Liu Kui were severely attacked by him.

They were labeled as "remnants of the Dou family" and "criminals who did not recognize the identity of the new emperor" and had committed political mistakes. They all lost their official positions, were demoted to commoners, and had to serve five years in prison. After five years, they were sent back to their hometowns and would never be employed again.

Li Xian was no longer the Grand Commandant.

Zong Ju is no longer Sikong.

The remaining six also lost their positions and became criminals.

At the same time, in order to prevent them from reviving, Yuan Feng also adopted Yuan Shu's advice.

At this juncture when the framework of the Yuan Dynasty's dictatorship was being established, he took advantage of the last opportunity of chaos to dismiss all officials who had close relations with Li and Zong, and charged them with the crime of "disrespecting the emperor", thus wiping out the network of connections they had built up with the help of their power.

All the vacant positions were filled by Yuan's former students and officials, and Yuan Shu also got a share of the profits.

Eliminating opponents and strengthening oneself, this operation of striking at political opponents further strengthened the political power of the Yuan family.

The foundation of Yuan’s dictatorship became even stronger.

Compared with the failed eunuch group, the only good thing about these people is that they did not lose their lives, they are still alive, they themselves were imprisoned, but their descendants were not affected, and their descendants still have the possibility of entering the court as officials. Those who were close to the eunuchs and those who failed in the political struggle were all sentenced to death by Yuan Feng without exception.

The things the eunuchs did and the murders they committed during the second Party and Faction Persecution would become the best excuse for Yuan Feng to kill them.

The eunuchs' massacre of party members, destruction of local prefectures and counties, and plunder of wealth during the years of the Factions and Persecutions have completely destroyed their popularity. Even if Yuan Feng killed them all, leaving no one alive, or even destroyed their families, no one would raise any objections.

From the evening of October 2nd to the afternoon of October 5th, the entire Yuan family's rebellious army was actually searching everywhere in the palace for the eunuchs who had hidden themselves there. They were even determined to dig the ground three feet deep to dig out and kill all the eunuchs.

They searched the outhouses, stables, kitchens, trees, bushes, and even the pond, every place where someone might hide was searched, and they did catch quite a few eunuchs who were hiding.

Some eunuchs were indeed capable. They actually hid in a cesspool. After being discovered, they even splashed the soldiers with feces in an attempt to force the soldiers to retreat and buy time to escape.

Of course, they can't escape.

More than 3,000 eunuchs were eventually killed, and only Yuan She survived. From then on, he changed his identity and never appeared in the eyes of the world again, becoming a living dead.

Their all-killing was just the beginning. Next, the eunuchs' cronies in the official ranks, the eunuchs' cronies in the army, as well as the eunuchs' relatives, friends, and white gloves in the local areas would all be liquidated one by one.

They are not dead yet, but their property has been almost divided up.

For example, Yuan Shu, who accepted one-third of the eunuchs' property.

In a sense, this can also be regarded as another version of the eunuch falling and Yuan Shu being full.

So in a sense, Yuan Shu really had to thank the eunuchs for collecting so much wealth, which allowed his entire plan to be implemented immediately without having to worry about financial problems.

In short, with the end of the eunuchs' dictatorship, the era of Yuan's dictatorship officially arrived.

As expected by everyone, Yuan Feng became Sikong in the reward plan, officially ascended to the position of Three Dukes, and officially obtained the qualification to record the affairs of the Shangshu.

In other words, from this moment on, Yuan Feng is the true prime minister of this empire.

He possessed the lofty status of one of the Three Dukes, and also had the real power of the lower-ranking Shangshu Ling. He officially became the leader of the court. From now on, even without the edict of Liu Kui, the rare adult emperor, Yuan Feng could independently exercise the power in his hands to accomplish most things.

Moreover, the military power of the entire Luoyang court was in the hands of the Yuan family, which further shows that the adult emperor Liu Kui was just a mascot, a rubber stamp, a human-shaped stamping machine.

He will not have any real power and will be unprecedentedly isolated in the court.

He was not even able to arrange for even one of his close confidants to take up a position, and it could even be said that he had no close confidants at all.

Unlike the princes of the Western Han Dynasty who had more or less confidants, the princes of the Eastern Han Dynasty were far inferior in terms of financial resources and freedom. Even Liu Kui came to Luoyang with only his family when he was being hunted. Apart from eleven women and seventy children, he had no one around him.

Moreover, according to Yuan Shu's speculation, after the news of Liu Kui's escape was known to Jizhou, the local officials of Jizhou would definitely do something, and then Liu Kui's relatives and friends who stayed there would probably be in trouble. If things went wrong, it was not impossible that they would all be arrested and beheaded.

If that were the case, Liu Kui would be a completely lonely man in the true sense.

In addition, the number of people serving him will be reduced, and he will not have too many opportunities and occasions to have too much contact with foreign officials. No matter how much he wants to cause trouble, he will not have a chance to turn things around.

This kind of complete loner is really rare in history.

Therefore, Yuan Feng and Yuan Shu's blatant behavior of seizing power and isolating the emperor did not cause much waves. No one in the entire Luoyang court was willing to speak for Liu Kui. The Luoyang court itself had become the foundation of the Yuan family's dictatorship.

Yuan Feng obtained the highest power and took charge of the government rightfully, while Yuan Shu, another major hero in the mutiny, did not seem to receive much reward but was only granted the title of Marquis of Yang'an County.

(End of this chapter)