About Cao Cao's reincarnation as the emperor's uncle

Chapter 33 Who Will Play the Grand Chess Game Among the Royal Family?

The sound of hooves shattered the night frost. Liu Fang leaned against the carriage and looked up.

Today marks halfway through the month...

We're two steps away from the first stage of the plan.

Xu Shao spent the whole day with Yuan Shao and basically figured out the situation.

I'll go and meet with Yuan Benchu ​​again tomorrow.

Once Xu Rong brings Zhang Huan over, we can begin the second stage.

He recalled Liu Hong's vague statement, "The princes have provided much assistance over the years."

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have been overlooking a problem all along...

How old was Liu Hong when he ascended the throne?

At that time, Empress Dowager Dou controlled the palace, while General Dou Wu held sway over the court like a tiger and commanded a large army.

No matter how capable an emperor is, he cannot turn the tide in just a few months.

Not to mention seizing power at a young age...

Even if the palace eunuchs worked together and schemed against each other, it would be difficult to completely eliminate the Dou family's influence from within.

Moreover, the cause of Emperor Huan's death remains unclear to this day, and the first purge of the party was not only a struggle between eunuchs and scholars.

It was also a power struggle between Emperor Huan and the powerful families, which led to most of these families being tied to the Dou family.

At that critical juncture, even if the powerful families didn't help the Dou family, they certainly wouldn't help the eunuchs.

……

The carts rumbled, and the drums beat muffledly.

The night breeze lifted the carriage curtain, and Liu Fang already understood.

When Dou Wu wanted to eliminate the eunuchs, he was instead wiped out by his entire clan. On the surface, it seemed like a leak, but upon closer examination, his defeat was too suspicious.

Liu Hong was able to sit firmly on the throne at a young age, which should be attributed to the "great assistance from the princes over the years".

Someone must have secretly woven a net around the imperial clan, preventing the maternal relatives from controlling the young emperor and using the eunuchs to launch the second purge of the partisans...

After the turmoil involving the maternal relatives was quelled, Liu was brought into the palace.

Afterwards, Liu Hong, fearing that his identity would be exposed, rarely allowed him to have contact with members of the imperial clan.

Not to mention those years when he was constantly on the move, so he never noticed the connection between Liu Hong and the imperial clan.

He did not believe that the young emperor of that time was capable of uniting the princes of various regions and the imperial family in the court into one force.

only……

Is this led by a highly respected prince, or by several secret colluding pillars of the court?

Given the scale of this event tonight, it shouldn't be a trap. So what is Liu Hong's intention in doing this?
Liu Chong was a polymath. Only a polymath who was well-versed in the past and present, had extensive knowledge, and was renowned throughout the world could be called a polymath.

Liu Shuo, the Prince of Pingyuan, is his nominal third brother, and also the younger brother of the deceased Emperor Huan and the Prince of Bohai.

Liu Kuan, the Zongzheng (宗正), was one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of matters concerning the imperial clan, maternal relatives, and the genealogy of the princes. He was also responsible for the ancestral temple and the adjudication of cases involving members of the imperial clan.

Liu He, Grand Herald, was one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of diplomacy, affairs with foreign tribes, and etiquette for audiences between feudal lords and the imperial court.

Liu Meng was an advisor who was responsible for speaking frankly and remonstrating with the emperor, correcting his mistakes. He was a full-time advisor.

……

"Uu——"

Xu Feng reined in the reins, Liu Fang stepped onto the carriage shaft and landed, with Feng Xu following closely behind.

He did not rush to enter the palace, but instead looked up at the waning moon again.

"Yuan Huo, tell me about these people."

After looking around, Feng Xu took out a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve:

"Liu Chong was known for his integrity. When he left his post as governor of Kuaiji, many elderly people followed him to see him off, and each of them gave him money..."

He traced the name above with his fingertip:

"But Liu Chong only took one coin from each person, thus gaining the title of 'One-Coin Prefect' without offending the people. His method was extremely clever."

“After the Chen Fan and Dou Wu incident in the first year of Jianning, he took over as Minister of Works, and the following year he was promoted to Grand Commandant. His steps were suspicious.”

"Although he had been dismissed from office a few years ago, he had served as the Minister of the Imperial Clan, the Grand Herald, two terms as Minister of Works, and also as Minister of Education and Grand Commandant. He had a deep-rooted influence."

Liu Fang listened attentively and examined the text carefully, while Feng Xu's gaze fell on another name. "Liu Shuo, he rarely appears in public, and there is very little information about him. People have almost forgotten that Emperor Huan had such a younger brother."

"The scholars' assessment of him was that he was addicted to drinking and had many faults. Even the affairs of the Pingyuan Kingdom were handled by his mother, Consort Ma."

"As for Liu Kuan of Hongnong, his father and grandfather both held the position of one of the Three Dukes. Even if he is not a member of the imperial clan, he can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Yang family of Hongnong."

"During the reign of Emperor Huan, he served as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat. He was renowned throughout the country for his lenient and forgiving policies. He was skilled in observing celestial phenomena and divination, and was also proficient in mathematics and calendrical calculations. Like Liu Chong, he was known as a learned scholar."

As Feng Xu recounted the story, Liu Fang recalled the scene in the first year of Jianning when Liu Kuan was lecturing Liu Hong in the Huaguang Hall.

"When the case of the Prince of Bohai's treason was being tried, did it first go through this Imperial Clan Minister?"

Feng Xu lowered his head, "Indeed..."

"There are rumors circulating in the palace that he is about to be promoted to Grand Commandant..."

It's the first year of Jianning again, and it's related to the death of the King of Bohai?

Liu Fang's thoughts flashed through his mind, and he raised his hand to signal Feng Xu to continue.

"Liu He, from the Hejian lineage, is of the same generation as you, my lord, who is now the emperor's uncle, and can be considered your cousin."

After becoming the Grand Herald, he maintained close ties with various non-Han peoples and members of the royal family in different regions.

Feng Xu paused, then continued, "His elder brother, Liu Shu, is the very one who conspired with the Dou family to go to Hejian to welcome His Majesty to the throne."

"When we welcomed His Majesty to the throne, it was a great achievement, but we were framed by Hou Lan and Wang Fu and were tragically killed."

"This case also occurred in the first year of Jianning."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Fang's face darkened.

"The last one, Liu Meng, also served as the Minister of the Imperial Clan and was the previous Commandant of the Capital Region."

"In the first year of the Xiping era, he was demoted to the position of Grand Counselor due to the 'Vermilion Bird Gate Defamation Case,' and later Duan Jiong succeeded him as Commandant of the Capital Region."

"He was impeached again for protecting scholars during the second partisan purge... From the first year of Jianning, he had close ties with the partisans and was at odds with Cao Jie and Wang Fu."

Liu Fang suddenly chuckled, "Yuan Huo..."

"Could it be that Liu Meng and Zijiang are somewhat similar?"

Feng Xu nodded. "What you mean, sir..."

"Is he the one His Majesty selected, like Xu Zijiang, a spy among the scholars?"

Liu Fang did not respond.

As the waning moon dipped in the west, he gazed toward the palace walls.

In the first year of Jianning... a change of events occurred during the Taiping era... a banquet for relatives...

Is Liu Hong about to reveal a corner of this long-dormant game to him?

……

Liu Fang's boots rolled over the red brick steps, his footsteps like drums echoing back and forth between the beams and pillars.

From afar, Zhang Rang could be seen carrying a lantern, with a smile in his eyes.

He stepped forward and led Liu Fang into the hall step by step.

They had just stepped into the hall.

Then they heard a voice calling him "Imperial Uncle" and another calling him "Lord Yuanyi".

The one who addressed the emperor as "Uncle" was none other than Liu Hong, who sat upright in the center.

The one who addressed Yuanyi Gong was a middle-aged man in a blue robe with a refined demeanor, sitting at the bottom of the table. He should be Liu Meng, the Grand Counselor.

Before Liu Fang could respond, he suddenly heard four more calls of "Brother" coming in quick succession, which startled him for a moment.

At the head of the right row, Prince Liu Shuo of Pingyuan leaned back in his seat, a slightly frivolous smile on his face, and bowed to him.

The second-ranking Grand Herald, Liu He, with a long beard reaching his chest and a serious expression, also spoke with a smile.

It was reasonable for the two men to call him "brother," since they did have a certain degree of kinship in terms of their clan seniority.

However, the way the two people in the first and second positions on the left addressed him was a bit hard for him to handle.

Although the second elderly man had white hair, he was still very energetic.

And the first one... was an older man than the second one...

(End of this chapter)