Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1298 Political Strategy
Wei State, Xu Du.

As the calls for Wei to replace the Han Dynasty grew louder and louder, more and more petitions were submitted to re-establish the capital. Many officials believed that Xu Du was no longer suitable as the center of Wei.

After all, when Cao Cao first established the country, he obviously wanted to build Yecheng as the capital. Whether it was the Three Bronze Sparrow Towers or the city wall defense and water conservancy in Yecheng, they all followed the system of the capitals of the Han Dynasty. However, no one expected that Yecheng would be lost so quickly.

After Cao Wei withdrew from Jizhou, it completely lost the Guandong defense line. After that, its defense focus could not even be said to be placed in the Guanzhong area, because Weijun was completely lost. Luoyang had become the last line of defense before Xudu and existed entirely as a large fortress.

Under such circumstances, Xu Du, not far from Luoyang, could become a battlefield at any time, and it was obviously no longer appropriate to use it as the capital of Wei State.

There was no consensus within the Yingchuan faction about leaving Xudu, the birthplace of the Yingchuan faction, not to mention other factions. Previously, the Yingchuan faction could fight against other factions independently, but as more and more officials from the Jing and Yi clans joined Cao Wei, the power to compete with the Yingchuan faction grew stronger. In particular, Cao Pi, who had begun to suppress it secretly for various purposes, was even more happy to see this happen.

As a result, the debate in the court over the past few days about whether to move the capital has become increasingly fierce. The two factions each have their own opinions, while Cao Pi, sitting on the throne, is high above, overlooking everything that happens in the court.

Over the past few days, he has become more and more accustomed to this perspective. He likes to look at the back of the courtiers' heads from above. This makes Cao Pi feel that he can pick up something at hand at any time and smash the head of someone he doesn't like.

He moved his fingers lightly and then slapped the throne. The sound was not loud, but it was loud enough for the people in the front rows to hear. The two groups of officials who had been debating passionately just now suddenly stopped talking. They knew Cao Pi was about to speak and did not dare to breathe.

Cao Pi said, "The emperor has issued the third petition, firmly declaring that he will abdicate the throne to me."

"I wrote three letters of resignation to refuse. Not to mention that I have only been on the throne for a short time and have not achieved anything, there are still a few clowns in the world who threaten the country. I am uneasy."

"What I'm talking about is Yuan Xi and Liu Bei!"

"Sun Quan of Wu has long been subject to me, but has been repeatedly attacked by the two of us. Now the situation is unclear, and I am very worried."

"I wanted to lend a helping hand, but there has been no progress in either Xiangyang or Guandong. The route from Xudu to Shouchun has been blocked by the Jin army."

"If the three roads are blocked, are we just going to sit there and wait for the two thieves to destroy the world?"

"Also, the Jin army didn't invest too much manpower in Yuzhou, so why can't they recover the lost territory?"

A group of Cao Wei officials lowered their heads and dared not say a word. They naturally knew why. In the past few years, there had been a series of wars, and Yuzhou and Yanzhou had been plundered. The people either starved to death or fled. Now that the Jin army announced that after recovering the lost territory, they would redistribute land to the people. Who would stand on the side of the Wei army?
As soon as the Wei army entered Yuzhou, there was no need for the Jin army to conduct personal investigation. The people had already tipped off the situation, and the movements of the Wei army were clearly known. Under such circumstances, fighting the Jin army was simply seeking death, so the smart generals were unwilling to go to Yuzhou and Yanzhou to fight again.

Seeing that no one said anything, Cao Pi became even angrier and knocked on the armrest, saying, "You all discussed the capital and said that Wei needs a stable center, but I want to know where is the center of Xionghu's territory?"

"He ran to Yecheng, then to Jianghuai, but rarely went back to Jicheng, the nominal capital. There was not even a central city. How could he still maintain stability in his territory?"

"There is a lot of information about him, but the Jin State was founded even later than the Wei State, and he didn't even have a clear set of official systems. So why did he win so many times?"

"Liu Bei is the same. He has only a hundred officials under his rule, but our Wei has repeatedly conquered them but has not been able to eliminate them. Now, ministers in the court, do you have any plan to eliminate the two beasts?"

All the officials were afraid to speak after hearing this. Cao Pi looked around and pointed at Chen Qun and said, "Minister Shangshu Ling, tell me, how could Xiong Hu dare to do that?"

When Chen Qun saw Cao Pi calling his name, he stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the evil tiger's actions have their own unique characteristics, and it cannot be said to be completely useless."

"He has many territories now, and there are many problems, but he seems to have been prepared for possible hidden dangers and avoided them all without noticing."

"He has not yet appointed the positions of prime minister and general, because if he does so, both foreign and domestic affairs will have to be handled by two people, and naturally a stable capital will be needed."

"But Xiong Hu seems to have received guidance from an expert. The approach he is taking now is a bit like the ancient Zhou emperor's enfeoffment of the kings. No, strictly speaking, it is like when Emperor Gaozu conquered the world, he let several trusted generals occupy different areas and govern the country on their own."

"As for Xionghu, he often appears on the front lines. On the one hand, every time he goes on a campaign, he will temporarily set up an administrative system to make it difficult for those who oppose him to figure out the truth. At the same time, he also suppresses his subordinates from making too many contributions, which results in an imbalance in the distribution of merit. It can be said that his idea is extremely clever."

"Of course, this approach has many hidden dangers, but on the other hand, it is undoubtedly suitable for a strategy of several states attacking the enemy at the same time for quite a long time. It can give its subordinates the greatest power of self-determination, so that they can deal with various changes as quickly as possible."

"This practice has existed before, imitating Emperor Gaozu's founding of the dynasty, but the Han Dynasty also experienced the Eight Kings Rebellion and was severely damaged, so Xionghu's practice is undoubtedly a case of fishing in a dry pond, but these dangerous signs have been temporarily suppressed by him." "If something unexpected happens to him or somewhere else, it may cause a chain reaction, and the once powerful Jin State may collapse in an instant."

Chen Qun's speech was like a drop of water falling from an oil pan. The ministers began to discuss in a low voice, because many of Chen Qun's statements could also be applied to the internal affairs of Wei. While everyone was amazed at Chen Qun's boldness, they were also shocked by his vision, because such statements had never been mentioned before!

If Yuan Xi were present, he would also be amazed at Chen Qun's keen political sense. Chen Qun might not be good at military strategy, but when it comes to making decisions on domestic affairs, he is definitely among the best in the world.

Chen Qun's prediction was accurate. As for why Yuan Xi had to lead the army in person so often, it was because he knew that he had too many talented people under his command. If he allowed them to display their talents without any scruples, it would sooner or later lead to a situation where the tail was too big to be controlled.

After careful consideration, Yuan Xi decided that it is better to open up than to block. He gave Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, Ju Su and others the power to set up their own governments, while he held the military power very tightly in order to avoid the emergence of military leaders like Ma Chao and Han Sui. After all, many generals had no intention of rebelling, but as they fought and made great contributions, they would naturally be pushed to the forefront by their subordinates.

Although Yuan Xi did not think that people like Wei Yan and Huang Zhong would rebel, with so many generals, there would inevitably be competition, both benign and malignant. So Yuan Xi shamelessly went into the battle and took the greatest credit for himself, thus avoiding the rebellion that happened after Zhong Hui conquered Shu in later generations.

In domestic affairs, Yuan Xi, while insisting on great unification, decentralized the governance power within the territory to the grassroots as much as possible, relying on town officials to govern and forming a check and balance with local gentry and landlords to maximize the protection of the rights of the people.

His actions seemed to be undermining the centralization of power, but in fact, according to later history, due to the backwardness of transportation and information transmission, the imperial power could not penetrate into the grassroots level such as villages and towns. It was normal for the imperial power to stay within the capital and to rule the world together with the literati and nobles.

It’s not that there are no better ways, but the social system is limited by productivity, and the limits of feudal society will always be stuck before the line of industrialization.

Although Yuan Xi did not completely break this barrier by utilizing various messaging tools, he had already found some tricks that were in line with this era, namely, territory patrol management.

He never stayed in one place, but kept moving around, constantly learning about the sufferings of the people in various places, making officials in various places dare not do whatever they want, for fear that Yuan Xi would suddenly come to their territories for assessment one day.

Only the State of Jin, which had steam-powered transportation, could do this. Chen Qun undoubtedly saw these points clearly, which is why he dared to analyze the advantages of Jin's governance in front of Cao Pi.

At the same time, Chen Qun also keenly discovered the hidden danger of Yuan Xi's approach, that is, the heirs of Jin State were all young, and Yuan Xi had many children. If his life span was not long, and his sons were each enfeoffed, the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han might be repeated!

Sima Yi, who was sitting at the back of the crowd, also admired Chen Qun in his heart. Chen Qun's words must have been well thought out, and he dared to say them only after Cao Pi nodded in advance. But no matter what, in terms of vision alone, Chen Qun was far superior to other officials!
All the ministers were shocked and praised him unanimously. The State of Wei was now being suppressed too badly by the State of Jin, and now it needed Chen Qun's remarks to inspire people. Otherwise, if the State of Jin continued to win, the State of Wei would fall into chaos without fighting.

Cao Pi stretched out his hand and pressed it down. The court became quiet again. Cao Pi said, "Then according to what the Shangshu Ling said, how should our Great Wei respond?"

Sima Yi thought to himself, here it comes, this is obviously a double act, just to lead to Chen Qun's next words.

Chen Qun prostrated himself on the ground and said, "There are three ways to deal with this."

"First, we need to rectify the past and continue the great tradition!"

"Since the Emperor of Han has no intention of ruling the country and has submitted his petition to abdicate several times, Your Majesty should not refuse. You should accept the will of heaven and continue the dynasty!"

With a loud bang, everyone agreed. When the voices gradually died down, Chen Qun said, "Second, we should rest and recuperate, raise troops and horses, lie dormant for a few years, and wait for the chaos in Jin. Then we can fight back with all our strength and win the battle!"

This statement was also agreed by many generals and officials of Cao Wei. Everyone had been exhausted from fighting in the past few years, and many people even disagreed with the previous two-pronged feint attack. Naturally, when Chen Qun proposed it today, it received a lot of approval.

Chen Qun finally said, "Third, we need to fight against counterrevolutionaries and keep the whole country united. To do this, we need a stable rear area. I suggest moving the capital as soon as possible!"

"After the capital is moved, the positions of officials will naturally change, so I suggest that a new system for selecting officials be implemented."

"I call it the Nine-Rank System!"

As Chen Qun explained, Sima Yi thought to himself, so that's how it is. All those tremblings before were all because of this fart in the end.

(End of this chapter)