Lord Yuan

Chapter 108 Tripartite Wrestling
Cao Jie was now very proud. Looking at Yuan Shao who was tied up at this moment, all the moments when he had been refuted by him with various tricky reasons came to his mind one by one.

"Yuan Pushe probably hasn't experienced the food in Beisi Prison yet. The captain will treat you well for our regular servant."

Cao Jie's tone gradually became joyful. In fact, he didn't have that much resentment towards Yuan Shao. He had been in a high position for a long time and had met many people of all kinds along the way, including those who followed the trend and those who were noble and upright. All of them had been to his mansion. .

After all, the people Cao Jie has always wanted to suppress and deal with are now controlling public opinion, occupying most of the resources, and allocating all the scholar class to the official positions that belong to them.

Now he vaguely felt the threat from the scholars, especially the Taifu Chen Fan who had repeatedly used his authority to record ministerial affairs to arbitrarily arrange officials to serve. Even those officials who had always been close to them saw that the scholars were beginning to rise, and they immediately expressed their secret opinions. He was cultivated by an aristocratic family and recommended by his late master before he achieved his current achievements.

Cao Jie didn't understand all the details here. He just saw that the Taifu was becoming more and more powerful. Driven by eunuchs like them, he would eventually be liquidated. It would be better to put the icing on the cake now and seek benefits for himself and the family. .

The actions of these losers never thought that no matter which side they chose, such capricious actions were actually pushing themselves and even their family into the abyss. No matter who won, it would not be their turn to pick the fruits of victory.

The problems Cao Jie is facing now are very complicated. On the one hand, the officials under his command are gradually losing control, and on the other hand, the scholar class is beginning to grow. With his understanding of the scholars, when he finally decided on his attitude towards the eunuchs, It is difficult not to ensure that it will choose to completely liquidate or even destroy the eunuchs.

After all, this is what they did to the scholars in the first place, and they indeed suppressed the ability of the scholars to no longer threaten the eunuchs.

Now, Cao Jie really wanted to learn from his predecessors, the Changshi, and once again suppress or even completely cut off the sentiments of the scholars who dared to resist. At the same time, he would give a lesson to those aristocratic families who looked around and did not choose their fate, and let them understand that by controlling all civil and military officials, Controlling public opinion and deliberation does not mean that we have an absolute advantage. Sometimes our failure to take action does not mean that eunuchs are incompetent.

Now that Yuan Shao was arrested, it was actually Cao Jie's first warning to the scholars.

Yuan Shao now has a great reputation. He is a great man in Luoyang and is praised by countless scholars as a model for the world.

But so what, there are not a few models in the world who fell in the hands of eunuchs.

Li Yuanli, the previous role model for the world, also chose to die out due to the torture of his predecessors.

"Aren't you going to say anything? If you are willing to sincerely choose to take refuge in our regular servant, perhaps because of your talent and resourcefulness, you may not be able to reach the top among the scholars by planning for our regular servant. Then Dahong Lu Qing Cao Song is your role model, and with your ability, it is not difficult to achieve his status."

Cao Jie was good at tempting, and from time to time he would pick up the red-hot iron triangular utensil, which was the best tool for roasting prisoners and carving out marks representing criminals.

For those stubborn scholars who are still too stubborn to open their mouths even when they are about to die, the last thing they want to see is a situation that can leave a mark on their face and make it known to the world. Gao Jianli was treated by the head of Guizhou in the face of countless ridicules. Zhong relied on his superb piano skills to reverse his predicament.

Now, for scholars who value reputation more than life, it is tantamount to being cut into pieces.

Yuan Shao looked at Cao Jie, who was eager to try and extremely excited, and suddenly felt a surge of despair.

Facing this group of eunuchs with irreparable physical defects, the deepening loneliness caused their psychology to have abnormal emotions day after day. No matter what they did, in Yuan Shao's view, it was possible What happened, let alone the leader among them, Cao Jie, who was as cunning as a fox and as ambitious as a tiger.

But fortunately, this guy didn't seem to intend to be executed directly, but simply said a few words in front of him.

Perhaps the emperor did not completely choose to trust Cao Jie, or the still young Liu Hong seemed not to be used to the authority of the emperor. In the end, the edict that Cao Jie requested could not be punished. According to the news, after Yuan Shao has enough attitude to admit his mistake, he can also meet Liu Hong and be pardoned and released.

Yuan Shao didn't know the news, and he thought Cao Jie was preparing more cruel methods.

In fact, Cao Jie is not yet ready to fight the Taifu and other scholars to death. He needs time to plan, and he also needs to gain [-]% trust from His Majesty the Emperor, so that he can brazenly launch the second party imprisonment without any worries. disaster.

Now, let Yuan Shaoduo jump up and down first.

Cao Jie looked at Yuan Shao who was unmoved but slightly panicked, and he actually had a thought of recruiting in his heart.

Compared to that idiot Zhao Yong, it is obvious that Yuan Shao is much better than him. What is even more gratifying is that Yuan Shao, as a model for the younger generation of scholars in Luoyang, can make him join the eunuchs, which is a blow to the scholars. , it was better than recounting the countless mistakes of the scholars in front of the emperor, and it came quickly.

Cao Jie muttered a few words to himself. Seeing that Yuan Shao seemed to have an idea, he thought about it secretly. Then after saying a few words in the captain's ear, he turned around and left the Huangmen, which was slightly dark and damp and also used to judge important ministers. North Temple Prison.

"You are the first prisoner who has been asked by the regular attendant to treat him well." The captain was quite curious and kept looking at Yuan Shao with his eyes, as if he wanted to see anything different.

"You are so young, but you dare to contradict Chang Shi in person. You are still No. 1 in Beisi Prison."

He has been waiting in Beisi Prison for more than ten years and has met many high-ranking officials, nobles, and relatives.

No matter what crime you have committed, the ones who are actually being imprisoned here are those who disobey His Majesty or offend the eunuchs.

Whether this kind of crime is considered serious or minor often depends on the mood of the presiding judge at the time of trial.

And part of the reason for this mood is to act based on the look of the superior, plus whether the person involved chooses to use money to reduce his guilt.

It is well known in Luoyang that Beisi Prison allows prisoners to spend huge sums of money to redeem themselves.

However, the amount he spent was enough to buy an official position in the court with two thousand dan but no real power. If he reached the later period of Emperor Ling, this amount would probably be doubled. In order to build the West Garden for his majesty, the rest Fill the treasury as much as possible.

But in fact, anyone with a discerning eye, in an era when people were selling their jobs and getting titles everywhere, would understand the purpose of this move.

After all, if an official who committed a crime and was waiting to die simply died, it might have the effect of clearing up the government and the opposition in the court.

For the emperor, apart from being able to pay for someone else to buy an official and take office, there was no actual value.

But if he is asked to pay a huge amount of property to redeem his life and get rid of the situation of certain death, presumably no one will choose to refuse this willing to fight. Who wants to die? No one, then pay.

Over time, the emperor's small treasury gradually began to overflow, and he no longer had to worry about running out of money to do whatever he wanted to do.

That's why the captain was surprised by what Cao Jie said before leaving.

What did Yuan Shao do? He would rather get the money than harvest it.

In fact, the rank of the captain was not high, and his salary was only four hundred dan. However, because he was closest to the prisoners and had the right to initiate trials at short notice, his main source of income was actually exploited from the prisoners.

Those superiors have big heads, he has small heads.

I thought this was another good opportunity to enrich my pocket, but what Cao Jie said.

No one is allowed to redeem himself with money.

Although the captain was puzzled, he could only do it. "Have you met my teacher?" Yuan Shao suddenly became interested. He wanted to know what happened when his teacher was imprisoned here.

"Who is your master?" Captain Du had nothing to do, and he could clearly see that the young man in front of him seemed to be highly regarded by the waiter, and even wanted to arrest him personally.
If this person becomes successful in the future and he has the authority to act expediently, just keep some goodwill with him for convenience, and it is unlikely that it will be useful in the future.

"The former Sili Colonel seemed to have also served as the Yin of Henan. He was from Yingchuan. His name was Li Yuanli. They all called him the leader of the eight heroes and a model in the world." Yuan Shao counted his family treasures as if he was recounting himself. The look in his eyes The respect is beyond words.

The captain's ears rang, and he was stunned in disbelief. He opened his mouth wide and could not speak for a long time.

After a while, he looked at the young man in front of him in surprise.

He has a strong body, broad shoulders, good looks, and a talented person. Even though he is in such a dangerous situation, his face is always filled with full confidence and perseverance.

"Could it be the leader of that party, Li Ying and Li Yuanli?" The captain sighed, a little disappointed.

Yuan Shao did not expect that even in the Beisi Prison, where countless prisoners were imprisoned, including many of the royal family and nobles, his teacher still had such an obviously unusual influence. Looking at the change in his expression before, Yuan Shao felt already Generally understood.

What kind of actions did the teacher do to make all the subjects of the Han Dynasty sigh with emotion? Even the captain of Beisi Prison, the person with real power in charge of the prison, was also amazed.

Yuan Shao nodded with a complicated look on his face. The bad environment in prison did not affect his mood, and there was an imperceptible heat in his eyes.

"My teacher was dismissed and returned to his hometown. He opened a private school in his hometown of Yingchuan and taught Confucian classics. The teacher favored him and accepted him as his student."

The captain was quite emotional, as if he was recalling the past, his eyes gradually became blank: "In the past, when Li Jun was admitted to this prison, I was just a little jailer, working with the prisoners all day long. Only that day, Li Jun's appearance was not diminished at all. Compared with those corrupt officials, Mr. Li is like a bright light in the darkness, which can only be seen from a distance but not up close."

"Fortunately, Li Jun had a great opportunity and was not trapped for a long time. Now that I see student Li Jun, I feel quite guilty." The captain praised Li Ying repeatedly, and his words were full of praise for Li Ying.

Even Yuan Shao, who was tied up and tortured, was surprised.

This is a bit of a surprise.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao was open-minded, and his teacher didn't seem to suffer much from this. After all, there were fans surrounding him wherever he went, so he shouldn't suffer much.

After chatting from time to time, the captain saw that Yuan Shao had torture instruments everywhere on his body, weighing dozens of kilograms, and the damage to his body was obvious, so he simply took out the key from his body.

He stepped forward and tried to loosen the shackles on his body, so as to reduce the pressure on his body.

After Yuan Shao saw this, he hurriedly shook his head and declined: "Captain, please don't do this, for fear of getting into trouble. I will regret it later. I have been practicing martial arts since I was a child, and I have never slacked off in training day and night. Such punishment is trivial, and I am not the Commander-in-Chief." It’s doable and cheap.”

At this time, he was really looking for a future for the captain in front of him. After all, who knew what Cao Jie was thinking in his mind.

Although it seems that his attitude is quite good at the moment and he has not chosen to go directly to the criminal law, this guy is extremely cruel and the initiator of the September coup is very cruel.

"It's okay. The regular attendant also thinks highly of you. Before leaving, he specifically told me to act cheaply and not to be tortured." The captain shook his head with a smile.

"Although the regular attendant comes to this prison relatively rarely, he actually knows many of the utensils and layouts here very clearly."

Yuan Shao thought about it for a while. He was a little confused by Cao Jie's sudden kindness and didn't understand what his purpose was.

Arresting him in public would naturally serve as a warning to Taifu Chen Fan and other scholars.

Look, even if he is famous in Luoyang, the so-called model in the world, if I, Cao Jie, want to arrest him, it is not difficult. It is just a matter of words. Yuan Shao, who is highly respected by you scholars, will have to go to prison obediently. go.

In fact, Cao Jie's move did serve as a great warning to Chen Fan.

He originally thought that under his strict and endless arrangements, all officials at all levels would have a background close to the scholars, and they would have an absolute advantage above the court.

General Dou Wu was not familiar with government affairs, so he gave himself all the authority. In addition, Situ Huguang was old. Although he had the power to record ministers, in fact he had no longer been involved in government affairs.

In this way, Grand Tutor Chen Fan has become the top person in power in Luoyang, and even in the Han Dynasty.

What's more, if the Taifu insists on rebelling now, as long as his old officials do not relax and do their duty to the best of their ability, it is very possible to directly overthrow this bad emperor and take over the power, and do it himself.

Grand Tutor Chen Fan is a loyal man, so he absolutely cannot do this.

But it is enough to show how terrifying power the scholars had at this time.

However, this is the case.

The eunuch who was pushed to the corner could launch a counterattack at will, but he was able to directly bypass the Taifu and capture Yuan Shao, who was regarded as a reserve model for the world.

The current situation is becoming increasingly confusing.

Scholars, eunuchs, and even emperors.

Everyone wants to win their own victory.

And Yuan Shao was involved, and it was obvious that he was regarded as the representative of the back-and-forth game between several parties.

The eunuch wanted to make Yuan Shao break away from the scholar class and turn to the eunuch.

The scholars wanted to rescue Yuan Shao and get him out of the eunuch's control.

The emperor watched the changing situation without saying a word.

But Cao Jie, Taifu, and the emperor all seemed to have forgotten it during this struggle.

In fact, there is still a force.

(End of this chapter)