Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 27 Qiao Xuan: Swing the stick with force and raise your hand with accuracy!

"Gai Sheng's words are ridiculous!"

"How can we rely entirely on God for disaster relief?"

"Those who are just sitting there doing nothing but eating and drinking should be killed!"

Suddenly, an old figure stood up and left the table. He had white hair and beard, but he was extremely strong and had a loud voice. He looked directly at Gai Sheng with visible anger in his eyes, and swung a tablet in his hand at Gai Sheng's head.

Gai Sheng was so frightened by the sound of breaking air that he stepped back and fell onto the bamboo mat.

When he saw the old man's face clearly, he immediately became furious and also held a tablet in his hand as if ready to fight with the old man at any time.

"Mr. Qiao, how dare you commit such a crime in front of the Crown Prince and all the officials?"

When Liu Bian saw that the two of them were fighting, he couldn't help but chuckle.

These two can be considered old enemies.

The Qiao Gongzu that Gai Sheng called was the famous Qiao Gong Qiao Xuan.

The old grudge between the two can be traced back to the fourth year of Jianning twelve years ago. When Gai Sheng was the prefect of Nanyang, he embezzled 400 million yuan in a heinous manner. Qiao Xuan, who was the Shangshu Ling at the time, wrote to the emperor to put Gai Sheng in prison and confiscate all the stolen money, but the emperor not only refused, but also promoted Gai Sheng to the position of Shizhong, which made Qiao Xuan so angry that he resigned on the grounds of illness.

The reason why Gai Sheng dared to be so cruel was because he had the emperor as his backer.

Gai Sheng became good friends with Liu Hong when Liu Hong was still the Marquis of Jieduting. The emperor naturally protected this old friend. Moreover, more than half of the 400 million coins went into the emperor's treasury, and only 30% actually fell into Gai Sheng's hands.

If someone else knew that the emperor and Gai Sheng had a past relationship, they would have turned a blind eye long ago. Anyway, the emperor had done more than just this one ridiculous thing, so it would be better to start in other areas.

But Qiao Xuan was not really trying to gain fame by being honest. He just couldn't tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. Liang Ji was extremely powerful at that time, but he was unwilling to give in at all. He investigated and punished Liang Ji's confidant Yang Chang, let alone Gai Sheng?

It was also because of this strong and loyal character that Qiao Xuan valued Cao Cao, who was ruthless and above the law when he served as the Northern Commander of Luoyang.

But don’t think that Mr. Qiao’s toughness was only manifested in politics. You should know that Qiao Xuan was a military general during the reign of Emperor Xiaohuan!
At the end of Emperor Xiaohuan's reign, Qiao Xuan served as the General Du Liao and was given the Yellow Axe. It happened that the Xianbei, Southern Xiongnu and Goguryeo King Bogu rebelled together. Qiao Xuan led the generals to defend first and then attack, and defeated the rebels in one fell swoop. During his three years in office, the border tribes did not dare to cross the border.

It is no wonder that Gai Sheng was so angry about this scepter. At first glance, he is just a 73-year-old old man. But at second glance, he is a ruthless man who had personally fought in the battlefield and killed the barbarians in his youth. If that scepter had been swung hard, even if Gai Sheng did not die, he would probably have to wear a helmet before he dared to go to court in the future.

Seeing that the conflict between Qiao Xuan and Gai Sheng was intensifying and might lead to a brawl in the court, Liu Bian understood that he, the referee, had to step down.

"It's normal to have disagreements during court meetings. However, Mr. Qiao's movement when he stood up was a bit too much. I understand that since you are old, I will not pursue it. However, Mr. Qiao needs to be considerate of his colleagues."

Liu Bian characterized the conflict between the two as a difference in political views, but as for beating a colleague?

Who saw it? Besides, no one hit anyone. Why do you say that was beating a colleague?

Qiao Xuan was stunned. Although he was upright, he was not stupid. He leaned on the nine-foot royal staff with a dove on top and bent down. "Your Highness is kind and forgiving. I will pay attention to this in the future."

This old man truly repented sincerely.

Qiao Xuan glanced at Gai Sheng and estimated the length of the tablet in his left hand and the royal staff in his right hand.

The wooden tablet is too short and can easily miss. The nine-foot royal staff in his hand, which was given to a seventy-year-old man by the temple, will surely let this guy understand what it means to "swing the staff with strength and raise the hand with accuracy" next time!
In contrast to Qiao Xuan, Gai Sheng stared at the Crown Prince with wide eyes in surprise. "This fellow is about to hit me on the head with his staff, and yet the Crown Prince openly sides with this old villain?" But what could he do? The Emperor was currently under house arrest, and without the Emperor's support, no one in the court would speak up for him, a former favorite.

Furthermore, one is an old friend of the puppet emperor who is notorious for corruption, and the other is a well-known and upright person. In addition, the prince is taking sides, so all the officials know who to help.

Seeing Gai Sheng's expression, Liu Bian couldn't help but curse him as an idiot in his heart.

Strictly speaking, he is not biased towards anyone. Not to mention that Qiao Xuan didn't hit you, even if he really hit you with a baton, you would not be able to do anything about it. The most you would get is verbal criticism and salary deduction.

Qiao Xuan is already seventy-three years old!
According to the Han Law, unless he beats you to death, it is a crime if you fight back!

Moreover, Gai Sheng's yelling at Qiao Xuan, a 73-year-old man, was an act of disrespect. According to the law, the lightest punishment would be exile. If things went wrong, all the officials might collectively submit a petition for severe punishment, which would result in exile and caning.

Only the idiot Gai Sheng couldn't figure it out.

The three dukes and nine ministers, those who held high positions, could not help but laugh out loud and whisper to mock Gai Sheng.

Not only did Gai Sheng feel wronged for having taken advantage of him, but he also thought that this guy was so stupid that he actually jumped out to give advice.

The news that Yang Ci was plotting against the crown prince "to act like Emperor Xiaowen and to be as domineering as Emperor Shizong" has now spread throughout Luoyang City. Since you know that this young crown prince is acting domineeringly, why do you have to jump out and oppose him?
Are all the officials in the court not as smart as you?

Especially the three ministers, even Sikong Zhang Ji was considered to be a member of the same party as Gai Sheng, a eunuch and the emperor, and his eyes were particularly cold when he looked at Gai Sheng.

When they first took office as the Three Dukes, they were mentally prepared for being dismissed, and when the time came for them to be dismissed, they were not overly anxious about gains and losses. However, this does not mean that they were not attached to their positions.

Seeing that the Crown Prince did not mention the dismissal of the Three Dukes, Yang Ci, Yuan Wei and Zhang Ji all chose to remain silent. Didn’t they see that the officials under the Three Dukes and their disciples and former officials also chose to keep silent?

This one sentence offended the three ministers of the dynasty, as well as the officials of the three ministers' offices and their former students and clerks. Isn't Gai Sheng stupid?
"My Lords, am I a man without virtue?" Liu Bian slowly stood up and, without paying any more attention to Gai Sheng, turned to the court officials and asked this question. However, he did not give them a chance to answer before jumping to the second question, "Among the Grand Marshal Yang, the Minister of the Interior Yuan, and the Minister of Works Zhang, who is a man without virtue?"

If only the first question was raised, perhaps some famous scholar would stand up and accuse Liu Bian of not clearing out the Ten Attendants, saying that he, as the crown prince, was not a virtuous person. But when the second question was also raised, these scholars would find it difficult to accuse Liu Bian of an "unfinished project."

When the crown prince and the three ministers were put together to evaluate whether they had moral integrity, even if the crown prince or one of the three ministers was immoral, the scholars could not tell the truth.

The Crown Prince was recognized by all officials and was urged to be enthroned by all officials. The Three Dukes were the role models for all officials. If the Crown Prince and the Three Dukes were all people without virtue, then all officials and scholars, and even the entire Han Dynasty, were all people without virtue?
"Sun Qing (Xunzi, also known as Sun Qing during the Han Dynasty to avoid mentioning Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun) said: 'The course of Heaven is constant; it does not exist for the sake of Yao, nor does it perish for the sake of Jie.'"

"Since neither I, nor Grand Marshal Yang, Minister of the Interior Yuan, or Minister of Works Zhang, are without virtue, if Heaven knows, why has it sent down such a disaster?"

Faced with such a question, no official could answer. If they wanted to refute it, it would naturally be those who supported the theory of the correspondence between heaven and man. However, God was definitely not wrong, and the ones who were wrong must be the crown prince and the three officials. The answer came back to the question of whether the crown prince and the three officials were virtuous, and they fell into a vicious circle.

Seeing that his words had impressed all the officials in the court, Liu Bian took advantage of the situation and launched an attack.

"Even if I and the three ministers were all immoral, if God knew, he would punish me alone. Why would he implicate so many people?"

"If I am guilty, what guilt or sin have all the people committed? Why would God make all the people bear my sins?"

"Confucius said, 'Heaven moves with vigor; the gentleman strives to strengthen himself.' Lao Tzu said, 'Heaven and earth are unkind; they treat all things as straw dogs.' Since you and I benefit from the people's blood and sweat, we should do our utmost to help alleviate disasters. How can we place our trust in an unkind heaven and earth?"

Liu Bian glanced at the ministers and officials, his eyes flashing with confidence.

He has all the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, and morality. Come on, refute him!
(End of this chapter)