Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 508: The Imperial City's Mourning
Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

The interrogation of Zhong Yao has basically ended, and a long list was handed to Liu He.

Two days ago, Liu He also handed him a piece of information and a list obtained by the Flying Eagle Guards, asking him to investigate it thoroughly. Now there is finally a result.

In fact, the You brothers had been secretly following Liu He for a long time, in the General's Mansion, the Imperial Palace, and the military camp. In most cases, the two brothers were either following Liu He in some hidden place, or one of them went out on a mission and the other followed.

Therefore, when Liu He went to court, the two of them would hide in the palace. Fortunately, they informed the General's Mansion of the unexpected situation in time by carrier pigeon that day, and informed the defenders of Hangu Pass, Hulao Pass and Mengjin Port by flying eagle. Only then could Xun Yu dispatch troops and the three defenders lead their troops to rescue Luoyang.

After the incident was over, Liu He asked them to secretly investigate all the family forces involved in the incident. The Supreme Court Justice was in the open, and the Flying Eagle Guard was in the dark. Only by combining the two could they find out the most real and comprehensive truth.

Although Liu He has not decided whether to punish severely, he at least needs to understand who is involved in this rebellion.

Looking at the list in front of him, even Liu He couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"Okay, okay. In order to deal with me, they actually alerted more than 600 officials, big and small, and nearly 200 families. Even Liangzhou and Bingzhou each have dozens of people and families involved. They really put a lot of effort into it."

However, no matter how surprised he was, the bigger the matter was, the more troublesome it would be to deal with. If he punished according to the law based on this list, I am afraid that the collapse of the court management system would be more serious than Yang Biao had expected at the time.

Nearly 80% of the officials in the entire Sili area will be implicated. By then, more than 60% of the counties will be almost unmanaged, and more than half of the county magistrates, county lieutenants and county chancellors will be killed or dismissed. At least 70% of the mansions of many large families in the northern city of Luoyang will be ransacked and their families will be destroyed.

“Trouble… It’s really troublesome…”

Liu He really wanted to catch all these Han cancers in one fell swoop and kill them all, just like he did in Taiyuan and Yanmen back then. How satisfying would that be?

But he also understood that times were different now. To destroy a county's aristocratic family, or even a county's clan, would only leave a dozen or so vacancies. He could just let his own people fill them. As long as they occupied a few key positions, with his own help, as well as the coordination of Qian Li and Cui Jun, government affairs could be in order.

But now he was in charge of the entire court, and actually controlled Bingzhou and Sili, with a population of more than eight million. This meant that there were more than six hundred vacancies, and at least three or four hundred people were needed to fill them in order to barely ensure the functioning of the court. But where could he find so many talented and virtuous people to take up the posts? It was impossible to just pick a few random people, and in the end, wouldn't the people suffer?

"If we don't kill them, it will harm the people and the world. But if we kill them all, the people will suffer and the world will suffer. What can we do?"

If Yang Biao's suggestion was really accepted, it would indeed be a good idea, and Liu He had to admit that it was a method used by Cao Cao in history. In the end, it was proved that this method was indeed very effective. All the lists and evidence were burned in a fire. The fire brought stability to the court, the scholars' loyalty to Cao Cao, Cao Cao's reputation of "valuing virtuous people and loving scholars", and Cao Cao's half of the country.

But Liu He knew better that it was a compromise that had to be made. It was Cao Cao, the all-powerful Emperor Wu of Wei, who had to bow to the aristocratic class.

If the aristocratic families did not control, or even almost monopolize, knowledge and the channels for becoming officials, and if there were a large number of talented and virtuous people who could serve in the government at any time and place to replace those people, why would Cao Cao keep such a group of fence-sitters? Is there any lord in the world who does not like loyal ministers?

If all those ministers were really killed, who would work for Cao Cao? Could they manage the entire north by relying solely on the Xiahou Cao, the two Xuns, Cheng Yu, Jia Xu, Guo Jia, and Mao Jie?

If he were to be honest, Liu He didn't want to make such a compromise, but for a moment, he couldn't think of any good ideas, which gave him a headache.

He was rubbing his temple when Xun Yu and Cui Jun suddenly came to the door of the study together. When they were about to come in, they saw his appearance and stopped at the same time.

The two were about to leave when Liu He heard footsteps at the door. He looked up and saw the two of them.

"It's Zhou Ping and Wen Ruo. What's up? Come in and talk."

The two of them then walked in, but still looked hesitant to speak.

Liu He now became curious.

"What makes you two so hesitant?"

Cui Jun looked at Xun Yu and motioned for him to speak. Xun Yu had no choice but to speak.

"It's not a big deal, but... there's a rumor out there..."

The more he said this, the more Liu He could tell that this matter was definitely not a small matter.

Xun Yu seemed to find it difficult to speak, which made Liu He even more anxious.

"Say it quickly."

Xun Yu thought about it before speaking out.

It turned out that a rumor had begun to spread in Luoyang City a few days ago, and the rumor quickly intensified and spread to every street corner.

According to this rumor, Liu He appeared to be righteous on the surface, but in fact he was extremely cruel and inhumane. He was extremely powerful, not the emperor, but he was better than the emperor. He had long wanted to replace him and establish himself as the emperor, which was even worse than the powerful minister Dong Zhuo. Chen Ji and many other ministers, who were dedicated to the public and loyal, saw his sinister intentions, so they secretly united to overthrow him, rectify the government, and let the emperor take power again.

However, Liu He had already bribed many servants in the ministers' houses with large sums of money to inform him of the secrets early on, so he was able to wait and see, and eventually caught many loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty in one fell swoop.

Next, he would certainly start to eliminate these ministers and their families one by one, and would settle accounts with those who had offended him in the past, and those who had not been able to take bloody revenge because of his reputation for "benevolence and righteousness", including their relatives, friends, and even their followers and servants.

Through a purge, he eliminated his political enemies and took the opportunity to make a huge fortune for his own future enjoyment.

After hearing the news, Liu He was not angry, but found it extremely ridiculous.

"What? Is this their back-up plan? Just based on these few rumors, no matter how many people will believe them, even if others believe them, what can they do to me? There is no need to pay any attention to them. Those who are innocent will be innocent. What do I have to fear?"

He smiled and then continued to work on his pen, preparing to review the list.

Xun Yu frowned, thought for a long time, and then spoke again.

"My Lord, they also said..."

Liu He stopped writing and looked up at Xun Yu.

"say what?"

Xun Yu looked at Liu He and said, "They say that the lord is seeking immortality and has listened to the slander of the alchemists. Every full moon night, he has to dig out the hearts and livers of a pair of boys and girls..."

As he said this, he looked up from time to time to check Liu He's expression.

At first, Liu He's face darkened, and he seemed a little angry at these words, but he soon returned to normal.

"What? Is this all these rebels have done? It seems they have run out of tricks. There is no need to worry about them. Order people to search the entire city of Luoyang. Within five days, arrest all those who spread the rumors and parade them through the streets. I want to see whether the people believe me or them."

Liu He was fully confident about this. With the reputation he had accumulated over the years, this rumor could be easily dispelled.

He didn't take these words seriously, but Xun Yu and Cui Jun still looked worried.

Seeing this, Liu He asked, "Why? Do you still have any doubts?"

Xun Yu bowed and said, "As you said, these are just a few rumors. They are not likely to pose any threat to you. How could the remnants of the many families not understand this? If that is the case, why would they do such a futile act and even bring disaster upon themselves?"

Liu He pondered and said, "Wen Ruo means... these rumors are just part of their subsequent plan?"

Xun Yu was about to answer but was interrupted by a sudden shout.

"Report..." A soldier ran to the door of the study and saw that he was sweating profusely and looked very anxious.

Xun Yu asked, "Why are you so panicked?"

"Mrs. Wei and Mrs. Wang each carried a coffin and followed a large mourning procession to the Mingtang in front of the south gate of the imperial palace."

"Ok?"

Liu He was stunned when he heard the news.

"It seems that Wen Ruo is right. There is indeed a back-up plan."

Xun Yu thought for a moment and said, "I think we should send people to arrest them immediately, and then issue an imperial decree in the name of the court to make their crimes known to the world so as to set things right."

Liu He waved his hand.

"No hurry, since they have already set up the stage, why don't you and I go and see what they are singing."

Liu He put down what he was holding and walked straight out of the study. Xun Yu and Cui Jun shook their heads helplessly and could only follow him.

(End of this chapter)