Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 363: Cutting the grass and eradicating its roots, one step away

It was deep winter and snow was falling in Jingwan. The snowflakes fell like goose feathers, covering the eaves, city walls and streets.

"Knock knock~"

At dusk, Wang Fu walked cautiously into the alley and knocked on the dilapidated door. The dull sound was particularly loud in the quiet alley, which frightened Wang Fu and he couldn't help but look around.

"Crench!"

As the old sound of the door machine rang, it was Dong Cheng who opened the door himself.

"Mr. Dong!"

"Zifu!"

Dong Cheng quickly closed the door, took Wang Fu's hand and walked in, saying, "Everyone is here, I'm sending Zi Fu now!"

Wang Fu bowed his hands and apologized, saying: "I was delayed for some time in contacting the troops. I hope Mr. Dong will forgive me!"

"please!"

Dong Cheng welcomed Wang Fu into the wooden house and said, "I will ask Zi Fu to help me tomorrow!"

"Serving the Han Dynasty is our duty!"

Inside the house, everyone stood up and saluted when they saw Dong Cheng and Wang Fu.

When Wang Fu saw the faces of the people in the room, he was shocked by the number of officials that Dong Cheng had contacted, such as Changshui Commander Zhong Ji, Shizhong Wu Shuo, Guanglu Doctor Zhou Zhong, Zhaoxin General Wu Fan, Sili Commander Rong Shao, and nearly ten others.

After everyone greeted each other, Dong Cheng sat down and said, "Tomorrow, Yuan Shu will be crowned the King of Chu and will enter the palace from Duanmen to express his gratitude to Your Majesty. When he enters the palace to express his gratitude, Yuan Shu will surely be too happy to be active, so I want to set up an ambush at Duanmen and take the opportunity to kill Yuan Shu. What do you think?"

Zhou Zhong's eyes flickered as he asked, "Yuan Shu has always been cautious. Even though Dong Zhuo was executed at the palace gate, how could he not be prepared?"

Dong Cheng said, "I have bribed the captain Chen Fang who is stationed at Duanmen. Tomorrow, I will open the gate. Zi Fu and I will sneak to Duanmen. When Yuan Shu enters Duanmen, we will lock the gate and then we can encircle and destroy Yuan Shu and his followers."

"Huang Zhong is brave and always guards Yuan Shu. Now we have ambushed and killed Yuan Shu. What should we do with Huang Zhong?" Wu Shuo asked.

Dong Cheng hesitated for a moment and said, "I contacted Liu Xuande before, hoping to borrow Guan and Zhang's help to kill Huang Zhong. But now that Xuande has gone south to make contact, I can only use bows and crossbows to shoot at Huang Zhong."

"If the emperor's uncle were in Wancheng, it would be much easier to kill Yuan!" Wang Fu sighed.

Fearing that Dong Cheng might be unhappy, Wu Fan hurriedly said with a smile: "Now that we don't have the Emperor's uncle, but we have Mr. Dong, there is no need to worry about not being able to accomplish anything!"

Dong Cheng didn't care and said, "With Xuande here, it will be easier to kill Yuan."

"How many soldiers and horses do you have now?" Zhou Zhong asked.

Dong Cheng counted the numbers on his fingers and said, "I have 300 men under my command, Zi Fu has 400 soldiers, and now with the Duanmen garrison, we have at least 1,000 men."

"A thousand people may not be enough!" Rong Shao said.

"When Wang Yun killed Dong, he had only 200 soldiers and horses, but now he has nearly 1,000. Why should we be afraid of Yuan Shu?" Dong Cheng said, "If we kill Yuan Shu, you and I can have the emperor. As for the remnants of Yuan Shu, you and I can learn from Wang Yun's defeat and ask Yang Gong to appease them, so that peace can be restored in and outside the Southern Capital."

"Your words make sense!" Rong Shao nodded and said, "In that case, let Mr. Dong take charge of the matter."

"it is good!"

"Tomorrow~"

When Dong Cheng was speaking, he heard a noisy sound outside the house, and everyone looked panicked.

"what happened?"

"I don't know!"

Dong Cheng was just about to open the door to observe the situation outside, but he saw the door was suddenly knocked open by someone outside.

"Who are you? How dare you break into a private house?"

"it's me!"

Cai Mao, surrounded by his soldiers and in front of everyone's shocked gazes, lifted his leg and stepped over the threshold, saying with a smile: "You all have a private meeting here, Mao has been looking for it for a long time!"

Cai Mao's cold laughter frightened everyone.

Dong Cheng thought that Cai Mao had not caught any evidence, so he was not afraid at this moment. He said in a cold voice: "I am here to discuss something with you gentlemen. I wonder what Mr. Cai is talking about?"

"Talk about business?"

Cai Mao showed a sarcastic look on his face and said, "Are you talking about the murder of Lord Yuan?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's faces changed suddenly, and they knew that Cai Mao already knew about their conspiracy.

"How can you slander all of you without any evidence?" Dong Cheng shouted, suppressing his fear.

"How dare Mao slander you?"

Cai Mao laughed loudly and said, "If you don't want people to hear, don't say it; if you don't want people to know, don't do it. You have done great things in private, don't think that Lord Yuan doesn't know it!"

As he spoke, Cai Mao waved his hand and ordered, "Detain everyone and take them to prison for interrogation."

"promise!"

"Cai Mao, how dare you detain ministers without His Majesty's edict?"

Wu Fan did not want to be detained and tried to draw his sword and struggle, but he was quickly subdued by the soldiers and had no power to resist.

Cai Mao smiled and said, "Nowadays, the decree of the Duke of Chu is more important than the decree of the emperor. Don't you know this?" "Humph!"

Wu Fan snorted coldly, showing an angry expression, and cursed: "You are helping the tyrant to commit atrocities and colluding with the wicked. You will perish sooner or later!"

"Dog thief!"

"Take away the torture!"

"As ordered!"

Compared to the verbal abuse from the crowd, Zhou Zhong in the crowd was calm instead, which made those who didn't know the outside world couldn't help but look at him with admiration.

"Your Majesty, I have arrested nearly ten people including Dong Cheng, Zhong Ji, Wu Shuo, Wu Fan, Rong Shao, etc. According to my interrogation, Dong Cheng originally wanted to start an uprising tomorrow and ambush and kill Your Majesty at Duanmen. The Duanmen Captain Chen Fang was bribed by Dong Cheng, and I have sent troops to arrest Chen Fang."

Cai Mao bowed to Yuan Shu, who was sipping tea, and said, "According to the interrogation, Liu Bei and Dong Cheng conspired to steal the imperial edict. Should we send an envoy to Jiaoling to order Zhu Fu to hand over Liu Bei?"

"Liu Bei?"

Upon hearing that Liu Bei was involved, Yuan Shu narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Liu Bei's escape to Jiaoling really has bad intentions. It's a pity that I misidentified Liu Bei. I didn't expect that he would have the courage to participate in the Yidaizhao."

After calming down, Yuan Shu took a sip of tea and said, "Let Degui take care of everything. Just don't delay my promotion to the title of king tomorrow!"

"As for Liu Bei, have Zhu Fu send Liu Bei to Wan. If he refuses, I will lead an army to the south and personally pacify Jiaoling."

Although Liu Bei is not important, in Yuan Shu's eyes, Liu Bei's behavior of deceiving him has made him lose face. How can he be willing not to take revenge now!
"As ordered!"

After Cai Mao respectfully left, Yuan Shu offered tea to the man in front of him and said with a smile: "If you hadn't been hiding among them for me, how could I have captured all the traitors? I am sorry for your trouble."

"Easy to do!"

Zhou Zhong raised his teacup and flattered, "The Han Dynasty is declining, and the Zhong family is about to rise. It is a blessing for Zhong to be able to assist the new emperor!"

Zhou Zhong, courtesy name Jiamou, was a descendant of the Zhou family in Lujiang. His father was Zhou Jing, the Grand Commandant of the Han Dynasty; his grandfather was Zhou Xing, the Minister of State; his great-grandfather was Zhou Rong, the Minister of State Affairs. Since Zhou Zhong entered the government, he has been promoted all the way thanks to his ancestors' connections. His son Zhou Hui once served as the magistrate of Luoyang, and his family dominated the Jianghuai region. Even Dong Zhuo was afraid of the Zhou family and did not hesitate to send troops to rob and kill Zhou Zhong's descendants.

In addition to Zhou Zhong, the Lujiang Zhou family also has Zhou Yi, the former Luoyang magistrate, Zhou Chong, the former Ganling prime minister, and Zhou Shang, the current Danyang prefect. Among them, Zhou Yi is Zhou Yu's father, and Zhou Zhong is Zhou Yu's cousin. As Zhou Yi and Zhou Chong died early due to illness, Zhou Zhong is now the head of the Lujiang Zhou family.

Because the Lujiang Zhou family had been working in the central government for many years, they had a close relationship with the Runan Yuan family, and Zhou Shang was even more dependent on the Yuan family and had been friends with Yuan Shu since he was young. Now Yuan Shu's territory spanned four states and had a tendency to unify the Yangtze River, so the Lujiang Zhou family chose to bet on Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu lived up to the expectations of the Zhou family in Lujiang and appointed Zhou Shang as the governor of Danyang. Zhou Yu was appointed as the magistrate of Yicheng at the young age. In order to obtain a high position in the new dynasty and consolidate the position of the Zhou family in the new dynasty, Zhou Shang even joined the game to help Yuan Shu find Dong Cheng and his followers.

Historically, although Zhou Yu was good friends with Sun Ce, he did not join Sun Ce right away due to family ties. Instead, he waited until Yuan Shu was defeated before crossing the river to join Sun Ce.

Yuan Shu smiled and said, "Jiamou and I have been good friends. Now that I have accomplished my great cause, you will be my right-hand man. When I conquer Yizhou, Zhou Shang will be able to be appointed as the governor of Shu County. And seeing that Zhou Yu is intelligent and ambitious, he may be appointed as the governor after a few more years of experience."

"As for you~"

Yuan Shu deliberately kept the question a secret, and said, "Of course I will be appointed as one of the Three Dukes, and rule the world with me."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhou Shang stood up from the table, bowed to Yuan Shu, and said happily: "I will serve you wholeheartedly and devotedly."

"How polite!"

Yuan Shu helped Zhou Shang up and said with a smile: "The world is not at peace yet, I need you to work harder!"

"promise!"

While Yuan Shu was talking with Zhou Shang, a servant walked in and whispered something in Yuan Shu's ear.

"it is good!"

Yuan Shu nodded and said, "Minister Deng has done a good job. I will now make him Marquis of Duxiang, and he will be given another official position and reward when the country is founded."

"promise!"

Zhou Shang was curious and asked, "What did Deng Cha report?"

Yuan Shu drank a sip of tea and said lightly, "Since Dong Cheng is a traitor, how can we allow his remnants to survive? Now Deng Cha has followed my orders and entered the palace to ask Your Majesty to depose the queen and then poison her to death."

Hearing this, Zhou Shang was slightly shocked and said, "The Queen is pregnant with an eight-month-old baby who will be born soon. I wonder if it is too much to poison them all now?"

Yuan Shu frowned slightly and said in dissatisfaction: "Kill the mother but not the son. Don't you want to keep the traitor to cause chaos?"

Facing Yuan Shu's questioning, Zhou Shang remained silent. He could understand the idea of cutting the grass at its roots, but killing a fully grown baby was really unbearable.

After a short silence, Zhou Shang said, "Your Majesty's actions are appropriate, but I wonder how Your Majesty will deal with it if you abdicate to Your Majesty?"

Yuan Shu's expression relaxed slightly, and he said, "I will treat him according to the etiquette of two kings and three kings. Your Majesty will confer upon me the title of Duke of Chu, and I will return the title of Duke to Your Majesty and be crowned Duke of Jiangxia."

In short, the ceremony of two kings and three officials was to confer titles of duke or marquis on the descendants of the previous dynasty to demonstrate the tolerance and magnanimity of the current dynasty.

For example, after the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, it granted fiefdoms to the descendants of Yu Shun in the State of Chen, the descendants of the Xia Dynasty in the State of Qi, and the descendants of the Shang Dynasty in the State of Song.

After the Western Han Dynasty destroyed the Qin Dynasty, it did not recognize the Qin Dynasty's legal system, so it regarded the Zhou Dynasty as the previous dynasty. It conferred the title of Marquis on the descendants of the Zhou royal family, which was second only to the princes, and then the title of Duke. When it came to the Eastern Han Dynasty, it continued to regard the Zhou Dynasty as the previous dynasty because it did not recognize the Xinmang Dynasty.

If Yuan Shu abdicated and obtained the throne, he would have to regard the Han Dynasty as the previous dynasty and confer a high title on Liu Xie.

Seeing that Yuan Shu respected rites and laws, Zhou Shang breathed a sigh of relief. Although he betrayed the Han Dynasty and joined Liu, it did not mean that he was willing to see the Han Emperor Liu Xie being treated harshly. Now that Yuan Shu was willing to grant Liu Xie the Duke of Jiangxia, it could be considered a good treatment.

"Your Majesty is benevolent!" Zhou Shang complimented.

(End of this chapter)