Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3506: King and Minister, Father and Son

During the brief pause when there was no fighting on the Western Front, Shandong should have stepped up its repairs and made preparations to meet the thundering blow that could be launched at any time by the General of Cavalry. However, in fact, during this short break, the people of Shandong began to prepare for the overthrow of Cao in full swing.

This is almost a semi-open secret...

Unity?

Rally around yourself, yes.

To unite around others, it depends on how much compensation is given.

Nowadays, anyone who makes selfless contributions or provides free support will most likely be considered a fool or have ulterior motives.

No one wants to be a fool.

For example, Cui Yan is certainly not a fool.

When an official position reaches Cui Yan's level, there is no more room for promotion.

Going further up, one would enter the central government's system, but the Yuzhou faction would obviously not give them such an opportunity.

In the ancient officialdom, most people would not think there was anything wrong with those who made the rules.

Nepotism?

If you don't favor favoritism, would you appoint someone who is against you every day?

Wouldn't that just make things more difficult for yourself?

Therefore, once a large number of speeches appear in the feudal court, indicating the need for "executive power", nepotism is often the most likely to occur!

Only when one is "nepotism" will the orders from above be carried out in one go without any objection, no matter how outrageous they are!

Cui Yan was obviously not one of the "nepotists" of the Yuzhou faction, so it would be difficult for him to get promoted to a higher position after reaching his current position.

These days, Cui Yan often went to the palace and appeared in front of Liu Xie, which was unusual. In fact, since Cui Yan was promoted to the governor of a state, he rarely saw Liu Xie and was not so attentive.

When Liu Xie saw Cui Yan like this, he would not offend Cui Yan in public. Instead, he cooperated with Cui Yan and ordered Cui Yan to come to him for face-to-face reports from time to time, asking about the conditions and local customs in various places.

Liu Xie was actually very tolerant of his ministers' reversals. After all, as the emperor, he really didn't have any airs to put on. In general, if you put aside his status as the emperor, Liu Xie was still a good person. In history, after Liu Xie abdicated, he did not complain about himself, but lowered his status to learn medicine to treat the people. Compared with other emperors who were dismissed or deposed in history, Liu Xie was much better. It's just a pity that Liu Xie didn't realize the importance of the people until he was deprived of the throne...

Liu Xie has been very busy these days.

In addition to the annual winter sacrificial ceremonies and spring farming activities that the emperor was supposed to prepare, Liu Xie also had to take time out to meet with ministers and discuss state affairs. Although most state affairs were not Liu Xie's turn to make decisions, he at least had to show such an attitude.

Cui Yan's deliberate approach undoubtedly made Liu Xie feel proud.

Before, Liu Xie could only find the children and grandchildren of Cui Yan and others. Now it is considered an improvement.

In fact, Liu Xie also knew that the phenomenon of factionalism in the court was very serious.

But what can he do?

Grouping together is the foundation for human beings to form a country and build a society. Even if a few or some people have no awareness of grouping together, no concept of cliques or hierarchy, they will still subconsciously gather together.

In a company, there are newcomers and veterans.

In a village, there are locals and outsiders.

Level is a relatively broad concept. It is not necessary to have a sense of self-level to be called level.

Normally, multiple social groups with different identities, status, wealth, etc., and different ideologies can be called hierarchical, and there is no need for certain people to extract certain spirits from a certain level, or to make some directive and binding treaties, in order to call it a level.

At the same time, in most cases, oppression, confrontation, and infringement of interests often occur between different levels.

For example, the old people want the new people to do more work...

At present, in the court and the country of the Han Dynasty, Jizhou and Yuzhou, the high-ranking officials of the court and the local tyrants who have economic and population strength but no political power, etc., are all in opposition to each other. Fei Qian in Guanzhong and Cao Cao in Shandong are just the spokespersons of these opposites and contradictions.

Contradictions never exist alone or alone.

Just like now, for Liu Xie and Cui Yan, their common opponent is Cao Cao.

Although Cao Cao failed in his attack on Guanzhong, he still had a strong foundation in the government and the country. In particular, Cao Cao still retained a certain amount of military strength, as well as the garrison troops around Yingchuan, and Ren Jun was in charge of the troops in Xu County...

Therefore, if Cao Cao was forced into a desperate situation, it would obviously not be what Liu Xie and others expected. They hoped that through negotiation, Cao Cao would give up some of his interests.

Liu Xie believed that the Han Dynasty needed balance.

Relatives by marriage, eunuchs, and the clean officials form a balance.

Jizhou, Yuzhou, and Guanzhong are also a kind of balance.

Now Cao Cao is seriously injured, Guanzhong has risen, and the Heluo area in the middle cannot be regarded as a suitable buffer zone. Overall, gathering the strength of Jizhou, Yuzhou, and even other states to fight against the increasingly powerful Guanzhong is undoubtedly the best balancing strategy.

But the problem is that once anything involves cliques, it will become troublesome.

Everything must be balanced and discussed beforehand, otherwise even if it is enforced, it will be held back and nothing will be accomplished in the end.

So now Liu Xie felt that this was a great opportunity to get Cao Cao to sit down and talk.

Cui Yan also thought so.

To Liu Xie and Cui Yan, Cao Cao was not that bad.

Cao Cao had good attainments in Confucian classics, was good at writing and poetry, was also very good at military tactics, and was not cruel or rude to his subordinates. Overall, he could be considered a hexagonal warrior, but the problem was that Cao Cao had too strong a desire for control and was too suspicious!

Yingchuan had previously provided Cao Cao with money and people, which could support the operation of Cao Cao's political group. However, after a war, it would be difficult for Yingchuan to continue to provide or make up for the shortfall. Moreover, Cao Cao had previously held up the banner of the emperor, which also maintained the legitimacy of his rule over the Central Plains. Naturally, this was a problem now.

As Cao Cao's power grew, Liu Xie became increasingly uneasy and wanted to replace Cao Cao with a new balance, but Liu Xie also knew that if he was not careful, greater turmoil would occur.

Fortunately, the Hussars did not continue the attack.

The scary thing is that the Hussars did not continue their attack...

Smart people have realized that in today's Han Dynasty, the administrative system in the Central Plains is no longer orderly or good, and the entire county management structure is simply a mess.

Before Liu Xie ascended the throne, the court system was almost paralyzed, and it has not improved much even now.

These smart people know that if they want to do things well, there must be a strong person in power, but therein lies the problem: all smart people hope to be that person in power!

Liu Xie also wanted to be the one in power. He wanted to sort out this tangled system of contradictions, but he didn't know where to start.

Reducing Cao Cao's power and giving up some interests to the Jizhou faction is a good balancing strategy that Liu Xie has figured out at this stage. It is also the key to re-ordering the upper and lower levels and making himself, the emperor, more powerful. However, such a move is also very dangerous. If you are not careful, it will definitely cause a chaos!

By then, even if the Hussars did not attack, the Central Plains would probably be torn apart!

Since the failure of the march to Guanzhong, until the winter of the ninth year of Taixing, Liu Xie had not had a few days of peace of mind, wondering where the situation in the world would go...

However, the more Liu Xie learned about the mess of the Han Dynasty, the more disheartened he felt.

No money or food.

Taxes from all over the country could not be collected, so it was a problem whether they wanted to recruit soldiers or maintain order. Even if they provided their own dry food like Xun Yun did, it was not a long-term solution.

The operation of the Han Dynasty's court had already begun to overdraw as early as the period of Emperor Xiaoling. The continuous debts made it a joke for local governments to report to the authorities. Even if Liu Xie really sent out tax collection angels to collect money and grain from various places, most of the local governments would throw up their hands, indicating that they had already spent all their money, and their granaries were empty, with nothing.

Without money and food, there will be no people.

This is a very straightforward question.

A few years ago, Liu Xie still thought that he was the Son of Heaven. He thought that as long as he waved a big flag a few times, righteous men from all over the world would gather to him. He could just transfer some money from his left pocket to his right pocket and create food and fodder for thousands or even millions of people out of thin air... Now Liu Xie knows that this won't work.

It is not difficult to recruit people, but even if they are not paid, the difficulty lies in how to provide these people with daily food and drink.

Therefore, all Liu Xie could think of was the Jizhou Faction.

So, Cui Yan came.

However, the relationship between the two sides was not as harmonious as that between Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang in history, nor was it as harmonious as that between Sun Quan and Lu Su. Instead, they were more cautious in testing each other, weighing up the pros and cons, and adjusting with mutual suspicion...

The so-called loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness, the so-called monarch, father, and subject, this kind of integrity that was emphasized and strengthened in the early days of the Han Dynasty has basically disappeared in the Han Dynasty. Everything is about money and power. Those who can make money and seize power are capable. After all, whether it is a white dog or a black dog, the one who can bite the meat is a good dog. As for the rest, they are all secondary.

The same is true for Cui Yan.

If Cui Yan were allowed to sit on the stage and talk about loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, he could probably talk for a whole day without repeating himself, and he could also speak in a rhythmic and inspiring manner, citing classics and making his explanations, which would make the listeners feel deeply moved and reflect deeply...

But what if Cui Yan gave up his family wealth and devoted himself to the great cause of reviving the Han Dynasty for the sake of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness?

That is absolutely not allowed.

Cui Yan returned to his residence, exhausted.

I talked with Liu Xie for a whole day today, and it seemed that we had reached some results, but it also seemed that there was no progress at all.

After Cui Yan came back, he drank some of the warm water, and then asked Mei Ji to loosen his bones and massage his feet to help him relax. Then he let Mei Ji leave and asked someone to call Cui Qin over.

Although this residence was only Cui Yan's place of residence in Xu County, it was not a big property, but it had all the necessary luxury items. Four copper basins and silver charcoal were burned and placed in the four corners of the house, making it warm as spring even in winter, and only needing to wear light clothes, it was even more comfortable than in Liu Xie's Chongde Hall.

Not long after, Cui Qin arrived.

Cui Qin actually despised his father Cui Yan in his heart...

Not only did he feel that his father was somewhat fickle, he even felt that his father had stolen his credit!

Before, Cui Qin was the one who discussed with the emperor, risking being caught and attacked by Cao Cao. But now, after finally waiting for Cao Cao's momentum to change and when he was about to reap the rewards, his father intercepted him!

Can you bear this?

Well, I still have to endure it.

Cui Qin stepped forward politely and saluted respectfully.

Cui Yan rubbed his head. On the surface, he obeyed Liu Xie, and everything seemed to be done by the emperor, but in fact, he wanted to use the emperor's flag to establish his own territory, so that he could fight against Cao Cao. However, this fight did not have to be a life-and-death struggle, but Cao Cao had to recognize Cui Yan's control over Jizhou and give up Jizhou's personnel, financial, military and other rights...

Otherwise, Cui Yanguang had the title of Jizhou Governor, which would be of no use even if he was promoted to Governor of a province.

Cui Yan wanted to get some free benefits from Liu Xie and let Liu Xie stand in front to block Cao Cao's knife.

However, Liu Xie happened to think the same way...

Cui Yan raised his eyes and happened to see Cui Qin secretly looking at him. He was stunned for a moment and his heart trembled!

Although Cui Qin quickly lowered his head and acted submissive when he saw Cui Yan looking up, the resentment in that quick glance remained in Cui Yan's heart!

Cui Yan has been busy negotiating with Liu Xie these days and has neglected Cui Qin.

Originally, Cui Yan wanted to ask Cui Qin to help him with something, but after seeing the look Cui Qin gave him, Cui Yan suddenly realized that this guy might be...

Just like Cui Yan was polite to Liu Xie on the surface, but did Cui Yan actually take Liu Xie seriously?

Now Cui Qin was also polite to Cui Yan...

Cui Yan originally wanted to discuss something with Cui Qin, but now, he felt something was not right.

Cui Yan gestured for Cui Qin to sit down, and then slowly said: "Today, the world is in turmoil, and foreign enemies are all around. You and I, father and son, are of the same mind. We should work together to deal with the external world and deal with the changes from time to time..."

"Father is right," Cui Qin replied readily.

Seeing Cui Qin speaking so happily, Cui Yan's eyes couldn't help but move slightly.

silence.

After a while, Cui Yan sighed softly.

"Although the war between the East and the West has stopped for a while, the cavalry troops are stationed in Hangu Pass. There will definitely be some movement this winter and next spring." Cui Yan said, "In the past, the thief Dong led the army of Xiliang, and he was domineering and tyrannical, causing harm to the country and the people. Today, Fei is leading the fierce troops of Bingliang again. This is definitely not a good thing. We should unite and work together to fight the enemy..."

Cui Qin didn't even think twice and answered directly, "Yes, father is right..."

Cui Yan paused for a moment, "If the cavalry came with an army, you would shoulder the heavy responsibility of the court and the grace of His Majesty, how would you respond?"

"Hmm?" Cui Qin looked up at Cui Yan and said, "Of course we should unite everyone, gather troops from all counties, and fight against them together!"

"Oh? Like a sour date?" Cui Yan asked.

Cui Qin blinked, "Ah, it's like a sour date... Father, is there anything wrong with this?"

Cui Yan said nothing, but lowered his head to smooth out the wrinkles on his clothes. It seemed that the wrinkles made Cui Yan very uncomfortable, so he smoothed them over and over again, but the wrinkles had been there for a long time, so how could they be smoothed out by just a few touches?

"Father?" Cui Qin was a little confused.

"Oh..." Cui Yan seemed to have just realized what was going on and said, "You're right! It seems that you have gained something in these days. Very good, very good..."

Cui Qin was stunned for a moment, and replied, "This... is just slightly smaller..."

"In this case, I recommend you to go to Qingxu to recruit soldiers and gather people for emergency use... What do you think?" Cui Yan stared at Cui Qin and said.

This was Cui Yan's last attempt.

Can the relationship between father and son be close?

In the face of interests, can blood ties definitely stand the test?

How many children are always full of anger towards their "original family" and hate their parents' incompetence? Why can other people's parents do this and that, but my parents can't do anything?

The relationship between Cui Yan and Cui Qin, father and son, did not suddenly deteriorate.

Just like the current situation of the Han Dynasty, it did not become so corrupt in just one day.

So, is the current situation in the Han Dynasty the fault of the monarch or the fault of the ministers?

The relationship between Cui Yan and Cui Qin, father and son, became increasingly estranged and even hatred developed. Whose fault was it?

Cui Yan tried to make one last effort.

He proposed that Cui Qin go to Qingxu to recruit soldiers. On the one hand, this would allow Cui Qin to avoid the conflicts that would inevitably follow in the next stage. On the other hand, it also implied that if Cui Qin wanted to develop, he could only leave Jizhou and Yuzhou and go to areas like Qingxu.

However, Cui Qin was unwilling to go. He thought Cui Yan was just trying to get rid of him. What could he do in Qingxu? If he was just going to recruit soldiers, that would be a joke. So Cui Qin hesitated and made excuses, unwilling to go.

Cui Yan listened, but did not expose Cui Qin. Instead, he asked, "In that case, what do you want to do?"

Cui Qin was stunned. What did he want to do? Isn't this simple? He just wanted to become the legitimate heir of the Cui family and return to Jizhou to eat and drink delicious food! However, these thoughts can be secretly thought, but it is not easy to say them out loud, otherwise where would he put his brother?

Therefore, Cui Qin pretended to be very obedient and said: "My child... I don't want anything... I just want to follow your orders..."

This is actually just like some people in later generations who go shopping together, say it’s almost time for dinner and decide what to eat, and then say “whatever”.

Really "casual"? Whatever others say, I will refute it, and I will keep opposing until they say what I want in my heart, and then I will give you this face and "reluctantly" agree to go.

Cui Qin thought about it and waited for Cui Yan to say something. Then he would make an excuse to refuse as if he was against going to Qingxu. Unexpectedly, Cui Yan nodded slowly and said, "Since you have no idea... then, I feel exhausted and dizzy these days. I can't bear the heavy workload. I am ready to ask Your Majesty to retire and return home... What do you think?"

"Ah!" Cui Qin's eyes widened instantly, "How can this be possible? !"