Han officials

Chapter 151 Fishing in Troubled Waters [2/2]

"Everyone, take a look!"

In the main hall of the Wei Mansion, Wei Zhe sighed lightly and handed the report to the servant.

Then this letter carefully collected by Yuan Jun was circulated among everyone.

To be honest, even though Wei Zhe had expected it, he couldn't help but shake his head after reading it.

He Jin is really a loser. He can't even lose when a flying dragon hits his face!

Obviously, all the troops in Luoyang were under his control, but he still let a few eunuchs kill them.

If He Jin had not died suddenly, such a violent mutiny would not have broken out later.

Alas, this guy is really a hopeless case!
Similar to Wei Zhe, Xi Zhicai, Guo Yuan, Hua Xin and others also frowned after reading it.

Even Shi Yi and others were shocked after seeing it.

"Attack and burn the imperial palace? Is this true?"

There's no way, this kind of thing is really too horrifying.

Although many coups in this dynasty involved fighting, no one side ever dared to attack the imperial palace.

The last time such a situation occurred was during Wang Mang’s chaotic rule... This is simply the end of the dynasty!
However, Wei Zhe nodded helplessly and said, "There is absolutely no falsehood in this!"

……

On the 25th of last month, Luoyang finally exploded.

Unwilling to wait for death, the Ten Eunuchs tricked He Jin into the palace and hacked him to death with their swords.

Don't get me wrong, they didn't want to die with He Jin, but to survive.

Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, and the others had originally planned to kill He Jin and then directly apologize to Empress Dowager He. The Ten Eunuchs believed that if General He Miao took over the position of Grand General, all crises would be resolved.

He Miao already had a good relationship with the eunuchs, not to mention that he picked up a general for free.

As for Empress Dowager He, it was easier to convince her.

After all, the eunuchs were on the side of Empress Dowager He, while He Jin was a traitor who sided with the gentry.

As far as Zhang Rang and others knew, Empress Dowager He was also fed up with this stupid eldest brother. She might be even happier if it was the second brother He Miao, since they were all members of the He family after all.

By eliminating He Jin, the unstable factor, her power would be more stable.

I have to say that the Ten Attendants are really capable.

Even in a situation where they were doomed to fail, they were able to find a glimmer of hope.

However, this time the scholars in the outer court learned a lesson from the failure of the last conspiracy between Grand Tutor Chen Fan and General Dou Wu to kill the eunuchs. They spoke directly with swords and no longer gave the eunuchs room to maneuver.

When they realized that He Jin had been killed, Yuan Shu and others led their troops to attack the palace.

Zhang Rang, Duan Gui and others had no choice but to flee to Beigong with Empress Dowager He, the new emperor and Prince of Chenliu, and at the same time recruited General He Miao to come and protect the emperor.

Interestingly, according to the information Yuan Jun had inquired about, He Miao was killed by He Jin's general Wu Kuang at the Suzaku Gate, and the troops he brought with him were also incorporated into the Inspector of the Imperial Capital Yuan Shao.

On that day, all the eunuchs in the two palaces were executed, and many concubines were insulted.

"This must be Yuan's doing!" Xi Zhicai said with certainty.

After hearing this, Wei Zhe shook his head helplessly: "Even if I knew, what would it matter? Now that the He brothers are all dead, and Empress Dowager He also died in the chaos of war, the He family is finished!"

To be honest, Wei Zhe even suspected that Empress Dowager He also died at the hands of Yuan.

After all, when the brothers broke into the palace and killed all the eunuchs, who knows what else they did.

When they heard Wei Zhe say this, everyone nodded.

Indeed, if He's army had not been completely wiped out, Dong Zhuo would not have been able to handle the matter of deposing and enthroning the emperor so smoothly.

You should know that Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang on the 28th, and on the 29th he proposed the issue of deposing and enthroning the emperor at the court meeting. The key point is that no one in the court, whether civil or military, stood up to oppose it.

Finally, on August 30th, the ceremony of dethroning and enthroning the emperor was held in the front hall of Chongde, which was extremely fast.

Even the usually steady Guo Yuan couldn't help but frown and said, "The Yuan family is going too far!"

Yuan Jun saw with his own eyes that it was the Grand Tutor Yuan Wei who personally helped Liu Bian down from the throne, removed the imperial seal and handed it over to Liu Xie, and then helped Liu Xie officially ascend the throne.

That’s right, it seemed that Dong Zhuo was the one who led the dethronement and enthronement, but in the eyes of Guo Yuan and others, the Yuan family was the mastermind.

As for Dong Zhuo, he was not only recruited by the Yuan family, but was also a disciple and former official of the Yuan family.

Under such circumstances, how could Guo Yuan believe that it was Dong Zhuo's idea to depose and enthrone the emperor?

In Guo Yuan's opinion, Yuan Wei was simply afraid that deposing and enthroning the emperor would bring bad reputation, so he let Dong Zhuo take the blame.

After all, Dong Zhuo, who had just entered Luoyang, had no reason to depose or enthrone the emperor. Not to mention the huge gap between Liu Bian and Liu Xie, even if there was such a thing, it was not something Dong Zhuo needed to worry about.

How could a person who dared to disobey orders when Liu Hong was alive be so loyal?

Only the Yuan family, only the Runan Yuan family who had just killed all the eunuchs and eradicated the He family, had this motive!
After all, Yuan had just killed Liu Bian's mother and two uncles.

Under such circumstances, unless the Yuan family of Runan wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Huo family, they would never dare to let Liu Bian continue to be emperor.

Guo Yuan could see the logic behind this, and naturally the others present could see it as well.

So after a moment of silence, Hua Xin couldn't help but frown and said:
"Does Yuan want to be like Wang Mang?"

"Not necessarily!" Hearing him say this, Wei Zhe shook his head and said, "Dong Zhuo is a tiger and wolf, not a dog of the Yuan family. Even if they are now conspiring to depose and enthrone the emperor, they will definitely have conflicts in the future. He will not be willing to be manipulated by the Yuan family!"

This can be seen from the fact that Dong Zhuo forcibly led his troops into the city.

You must know that if Dong Zhuo had not led his troops into Luoyang, almost all the troops would have been taken by the Yuan brothers, and the Yuan family of Runan would have become the biggest winner.

Therefore, Wei Zhe and Hua Xin and others have different views on this aspect.

He felt that deposing and enthroning the emperor might be Yuan's idea, but Dong Zhuo's idea was also crucial.

After all, there is no faster way to establish prestige than deposing and enthroning the emperor!
Before he deposed and enthroned the emperor, he was just a fierce general from Xiliang, but after he deposed and enthroned the emperor, he became a powerful official.

Even if there are people who curse you, there will also be people who will come to you. This is power!

However, Dong Zhuo's power is not stable yet, so he sent rewards to Wei Zhe.

Yes, although the envoy from the court who brought the reward was still on the way, Wei Zhe already knew about it.

On the sixth day after supporting Liu Xie to ascend the throne, the court... to be more precise, Dong Zhuo and Yuan Wei reached a consensus, which was to appease all parties.

So without any dispute, the court decided to reward Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, as the Grand Marshal and promoted him to the Marquis of Xiangben.

But then again, Dong Zhuo and the Yuan family were not polite either.

Dong Zhuo was promoted to the rank of Grand Marshal and concurrently commanded as General of the Front. He was given additional military authority, given an axe and tiger guards, and was further granted the title of Marquis of Mei.

Yuan Shu, who was originally only the General of the Tiger Guards, was also appointed as the General of the Rear.

As for Wei Zhe, the prefect of a border county with the most outstanding military achievements during the Zhongping period, he was also treated differently.

Yuan Jun stated clearly in his official report that the court was planning to add another 4,000 households to his original fief, allowing him to control the five counties of Buye, Buqi, Dangli, Dongmu and Changguang.

In this way, Wei Zhe became the only marquis with a rank of ten thousand households at that time.

And they were also planning to appoint him as the Left General.

Although the Left General was not a general with a title like the General, the General of Cavalry, the General of Chariots and Cavalry, or the General of Guards, he was finally out of the ranks of generals with miscellaneous titles.

This shows how much Dong Zhuo and the Yuan family valued Youzhou.

Of course, it’s more of a worry than a concern.

After all, Youzhou has been engaged in wars from east to west in recent years, and its martial virtues are excessive.

Although Youzhou has finally settled down, no one dares to underestimate it!

At the same time, there were a series of personnel changes.

For example, he appointed Shangshu Han Fu as governor of Jizhou, Shizhong Liu Dai as governor of Yanzhou, Yingchuan famous scholar Zhang Zi as prefect of Nanyang, Chenliu famous scholar Kong Rong as governor of Yuzhou, and Dongping famous scholar Zhang Miao as prefect of Chenliu.

However, these were mostly arranged by the party faction and had little to do with Wei Zhe.

The reason why he called everyone over was mainly to discuss how to deal with the situation next.

At least no one expected the changes in Luoyang to be so surprising, which made Guo Yuan and others discuss it for a long time before getting to the point.

Only after regaining his composure did Xi Zhicai suddenly ask, "What is the envoy's opinion?"

"I don't know yet..." Wei Zhe said uncertainly, "Maybe we haven't received the news yet."

After all, Wei Zhe had the "Los Angeles Office" headed by Yuan Jun to tip him off.

If Liu Yu had not made any special arrangements in Luoyang, he might not be better informed than him.

Hearing him say this, Guo Yuan thought for a moment and said bluntly, "It is better to be still than to act. My Lord, please do not act impulsively at this moment!"

Xi Zhicai nodded in agreement upon hearing this, and volunteered, "I am willing to be your envoy and go to the governor's mansion on your behalf."

After all, no matter what Wei Zhe wants to do during this chaotic situation, Liu Yu's attitude is very important.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe pondered for a moment and nodded.

What Wei Zhe didn't expect was that before Xi Zhi returned from Ji County, he received a letter from Cao Cao...

(End of this chapter)