Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 143 Discussion
Although Wang Zhengjun was the queen mother, her surname was Wang. How could she be absolutely impartial? Even if the whole court denied the words of the King of Zhongshan, she would still insist on her own way without hesitation.

If the King of Guangyang is really established, then this Grand Marshal will be a lonely man! He will be removed sooner or later.

No one dared to doubt Xu Hua's ability. As long as he had the emperor's support, it would be easy to fight against the Wang family.

Therefore, for the survival of the Wang family, the King of Zhongshan must be established!
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

Some people immediately began to refute. Although they knew that the Queen Mother was obviously crooked, they still could not agree because it was equivalent to prompting the dispute between Prince Xu again!

The world can no longer withstand disputes. Rest and recuperation, then planning for revival is the right path. Although King Guangyang is ambitious, he is not unrestrained. At least Xu Hua has already thought of a solution, which is to distribute the military expenses to local states and counties.

In this case, the emperor would have to think carefully before going to war. First of all, he had to get the support of the vast majority of ministers in the court, because the national treasury simply did not have the funds for this expense.

Although it may still be very limited, it is at least better than the doubt between the master and the minister.

"That's enough. I have made up my mind." Wang Zhengjun didn't want to argue any more. She stood up, said this and left the hall.

"Order the Left General Wang Shun to set out immediately to Zhongshan to welcome and enthrone Liu Jizi, the King of Zhongshan. Remember to act quickly, as the country cannot be without a monarch."

Although Xu's ministers were helpless, they had no choice but to compromise. It was obviously not a good idea to fall out with the Empress Dowager.

The young lord is not incapable either. The Grand Marshal is indeed the number one minister, and he is not without strength. After all, his foundation is relatively weak.

Wang Mang watched all this and breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Although there had been many twists and turns, at least the goal had been achieved. As long as he was in power, he had room for maneuver.

Although Xu Hua is experienced, he is still less mature than his father.

If he faced Xu Bo, he really had no way to deal with it. His biggest reliance, the support of the Confucian scholars, was completely useless.
Fortunately, the timing was good and fate favored the Wang family!

.........

The news that the court had designated King Zhongshan Liu Jizi as the crown prince and that he should immediately come to Beijing to succeed the throne quickly spread throughout the world through imperial edicts.

After all, the establishment of the emperor always needs to be announced to the world.

The manifesto praised Liu Jizi to the skies, as if he were the reincarnation of Yao and Shun, and it seemed that as soon as he took the throne, the problems facing the country would be immediately solved.

Of course, the succession of a young monarch to the throne would cause a lot of dissatisfaction.

Xu Yuan of Liangzhou was extremely puzzled.

boom!
He slammed the notice directly on the table, his face full of anger.

The civil and military officials on both sides immediately became nervous, as this gentleman was known for his bad temper.

In fact, it is normal. How can a person with a good temper suppress the tough folks of Yongliang?

"This Wang Mang brat! He is bullying me too much! He has only just been restored to the throne because of his status as a relative of the emperor, yet he dares to make such a big decision on his own. Who does he think he is? Jing Hou Xu Zhen?"

"Even if we don't establish the King of Guangyang, we can establish someone else, but how old is the King of Zhongshan? How can a child who is less than ten years old and still wet behind the ears decide important matters of the court? By then, the government will still fall into the hands of the Wang family's aunt and nephew."

"They have a good plan. One is ruling from behind the scenes, and the other is manipulating power. Together, they are causing chaos in the country! Could it be that they want to become the next Empress Dowager Lu?"

Xu Yuan continued to smash and destroy things to vent his anger. In his opinion, this was no less than a naked provocation! There were many people in the court who bullied his Xu family!

Big brother is indeed fighting alone, but they still have hundreds of thousands of troops to mobilize in the local area, so they are not afraid at all. It would be better for him to directly issue an edict and call on all places to purge the court.

Wait until I bring the army and put a knife to her neck, and see if that old witch dares to say no!
"Grand Commander, calm down."

Xu Yuan's current official positions are Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Army, Governor of Liangzhou, and Protector-General of the Western Regions. He is responsible for all military, political, and diplomatic affairs of the entire northwest of the Han Dynasty.

They can be regarded as an alternative type of princes, and in reality they are very close to separatist regimes.

In order to prevent the counterattacks from the Qiang people, the Xiongnu and the opposition forces in the Western Regions, they all had extremely large troops.

After Han Xiao, the governor of Dunhuang County, launched a rebellion, the late Emperor Liu Xin paid extreme attention to this place. He was really scared that time.

The other side had an army of more than 100,000 powerful soldiers, which directly threatened Chang'an and were secretly colluding with the Huns. If Xu Min had not led his troops westward and suppressed them with Xu Yuan's force with thundering force, the damage caused would have been unimaginable.

Faced with such a serious situation, Liu Xin simply gave up and directly gave Xu Yuan the title of Grand Commander of the Northwest Army, and increased the army's strength to 100,000.

It means that no matter what means are used, this piece of land must be stabilized, which is a disguised way of giving the power to act at one's own convenience.

Even if this guy really has his own army, it doesn't matter! At least he won't fall into the hands of the Huns, and the meat will rot in the pot, which basically won't affect the overall situation.

The chances of winning a rebellion relying on the barren land of Yongliang are really slim. The imperial court has given it a staff of 100,000, which means it is responsible for the expenses of 100,000 people. How could such a large army be supported in such a remote place?

Therefore, Xu Yuan's importance also increased sharply. Regardless of other things, just the number and eliteness of his troops, he even surpassed Xu Zhong in Jingzhou!
No matter how wealthy Nanyang was, no matter how high Xu Zhong's position was, even if he became one of the Four Ministers, he could not legitimately expand the army. It was more than enough to support tens of thousands of people to deal with bandits.

That place is different from Yongliang. Yongliang cannot break away from the imperial court. Basically, once the supply is cut off, they will rebel if they hold on to Guanzhong.

Jingzhou is different. It doesn’t matter whether there is an imperial court or not. They can afford the food and salary needs on their own, so strict restrictions must be imposed!
This time when Wang Mang was in power, he would not have the courage to reduce the troops in Liang Province. Others did not know that Xu Yuan really wanted to purge the court of evil officials.

"How can you ask me to calm down? Wang Mang has gone too far in insulting my Xu family!" Xu Yuan was still indignant.

The man in front of him was Longxi Governor Chen Xiang. Of course, he had a more prestigious position, the Deputy Governor of the Northwest Military Governor's Office! Yongliang's number two.

The actual power and rank must exceed that of the prefect!

"The matter of the Grand Commander has come to this point and cannot be changed. There is still a long way to go." Chen Xiang continued to persuade. He has followed Xu Yuan for several years and knows the character of this boss very well.

If he is not comforted, he will really dare to lead his troops to attack Chang'an!

Xu Yuan also calmed down. He couldn't let his two brothers' plans be ruined because of himself, so he picked up the cup, poured some hot tea, and sat down again.

"Well, let's see what this guy is up to. If he has any ill intentions, it won't be too late to strike back."

"This governor has plenty of time. Let's waste some time and see who enters the grave first."

Now he is full of vigor and vitality, commanding 100,000 soldiers, commanding a region, and his word is final! Even Huo Qubing, who was less than 20 years old when he was conferred the title of Lord of the Wolf and Lair, was not as happy as him.

This is basically equivalent to being a local emperor! No one in Liangzhou can control him, even the emperor himself has to give him some face. No, even Liu Xin didn't even have the courage to come here to inspect the troops! He was not sure whether the officials here would listen to the court or the governor. What if Xu Yuan still had a brain twitch and wanted to hold the emperor hostage to rebel?
So every time Xu Yuan invited him, he tried his best to refuse.

Liu Xin dared to go to places like Youzhou and Jingzhou, because the appointment and dismissal of officials there still needed to be approved by the imperial court and were still under control. The only exception was Liangzhou, where even the appointment of the prefect was decided by the Governor's Office!
It was also Liu Xin's own fault, because Han Xiao rebelled at that time and dragged along a large number of local officials. If they stayed behind during the suppression of the rebellion and had to report to the court, it would have been too troublesome. This repeatedly delayed the opportunity to fight and even affected the overall situation.

So they just went all out! They gave the appointment and dismissal procedures for prefects and officials below them to the Northwest Military Governor's Office, and even omitted the Imperial College's red-letter review, which has not been taken back to this day.

It can be called an independent kingdom!

.........

Nanyang, Wancheng.

On this day, several high-ranking officials from Jingzhou rushed to the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion from their local areas. Xu Zhong summoned them very early.

A long time ago, Xu Zhong learned through spies that the court had appointed him as regent, and he was surprised at first.

Although he had great autonomy and was a general of chariots and cavalry, he was only stationed in a certain place. How could he be involved in important court affairs? Besides, would the Wang family be so kind?

Take the initiative to delegate your power.

But after thinking about it carefully, I understood that he had no good intentions. He just wanted to take the opportunity to reduce his influence in the local area and bring Jingzhou back under the jurisdiction of the court.

As long as there is such a loophole, it will not be difficult to resolve Youzhou. As for Dong Chong of Bingzhou and Zhu Chun of Yangzhou, there is no need to worry. Both of them can become traitors. As long as the price is increased enough, they will surrender in minutes.

As for Liangzhou, it is a bit difficult. If you want to move Xu Yuan, you must first abolish the Zhenjun Military Governor's Office, which involves a lot of things.

Xu Yuan was so angry that he simply quit his job, allowing the Yongliang rebels to rise again, which is commonly known as nurturing the enemy for one's own benefit.

Moreover, the Zhenjun Military Governor's Office was in charge of both military and political affairs, and was independent of the imperial court. It was a tumor that the previous emperor had nurtured. How could the descendants solve it? All they could do was to appease them as much as possible.

Now that Liangzhou is out of control, it cannot be taken back unless Xu Yuan dies suddenly.

In the end, Liangzhou is dispensable. Although it is the northwestern gateway of the Han Dynasty, it will have no impact as long as we do not collude with the Huns.

"You decide whether I should accept this appointment or not, as the regent minister. A chicken turns into a phoenix, but there is a saying that goes, it is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."

"Can I be the king of this chicken coop, or be the phoenix that loses its feathers?"

Xu Zhong laughed. He didn't take it too seriously. The whole atmosphere was similar to that of a banquet.

Everyone solves the problem while chatting and laughing, and this has been the practice for many years.

It’s very classic, hold a big meeting for small matters and a small meeting for big matters.

"If you ask me, Xu Cheqi, you should just stay in our chicken coop. Why bother going to that kind of place to engage in intrigue? You may not get any results."

A man said with a red face as if he was drunk.

He was the left military advisor of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's mansion, and held considerable power in Jingzhou, where the General of Chariots and Cavalry had the final say, just like the Shangshu of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's mansion in Shu Kingdom was more important than the nine ministers of the dynasty.

Xu Zhong thinks highly of this person and would often seek his advice.

"Alas... being a chicken is good, but you have a brother who is a phoenix. No matter how much feathers you lose, you are still a phoenix. You can at least hold up the scene."

Then, Xu Zhong took a drink from the wine shop and expressed his concerns in a veiled manner.

"No, no, Mr. Xu, if you were to be a phoenix, you would be alone. The other side would have more people and more power, so one more would not be too much or too little. But being a chicken is different."

"If there were more of these bulls, they could kill the strongest tiger."

This time it was the governor Sun of Jiangxia, and he also wanted Xu Zhong to stay here.

In fact, it is completely useless to ask them, because the officials in Jingzhou basically do not want Xu Zhong to leave. Their interests are deeply bound together. What will we do if you leave?
He couldn't even be a traitor and could only be liquidated by the Wang family.

So try to keep Jingzhou first and then talk about other things. Sun Taishou has a premonition that the era of the emperor, the strong soldiers and the strong horses is coming! Only by holding on to the big thick legs can we have a smooth transition.

"Hmm... that does make some sense, but you said that the Phoenix Group finally invited Tuji once, and it would not be good if they just refused."

Xu Zhong expressed his concerns again. He actually didn't want to be a regent minister. He didn't want to live a comfortable life in Jingzhou with a bunch of subordinates scrambling to flatter him. Why should he go to Chang'an to suffer that?

However, the regent was personally selected by the Queen Mother and was popular among the people. It would be too disrespectful to refuse him.

Moreover, being transferred back to Chang'an is what many local officials dream of! But you chose to refuse. What do you want to do? The four ministers look down on you. Do you want to rebel?

Then he took advantage of the situation and Xu Zhong was going to have to drink a lot of water.

"Does Xu Gong have to be in Chang'an to assist in the administration? I remember that a pirate group has emerged in Jingnan, causing great trouble and making the people miserable. Moreover, their fighting power is extremely strong and the county soldiers are simply unable to resist them. You have to go there in person to deal with them."

Changsha County Governor Meng said.

In fact, there are examples of local government assistance. Xu Nan of the Kang Dynasty once ruled Lingnan for five years and did not cause any trouble there either.

As long as there is a precedent, it will be fine. What's more, this is our own ancestor, even though we are not from the same lineage.

"Where does the water in Jingnan come from... ah, right, right, look at my memory. I even forgot such a big thing, hahahaha... I will drink three cups as punishment."

One person was slow to react and poured himself a few more glasses of wine with a smile.

There are indeed no large groups of pirates in Jingnan, and if there are any, they are just minor ones. But what era is this? Does it mean that there are no large groups of pirates?

Xu Zhong also smiled and raised a glass. He had also learned bad things and was keeping an enemy at bay to protect himself.

Although he had strictly prohibited it before, because doing so was basically just to defraud the court of military pay.

But now is a special case, and it is not impossible to make an exception. Anyway, there is no better way.

There must be a reason to stay in a place to assist in government administration. Back then, Xu Nan stayed in that remote place to deter the rebellion of the indigenous peoples of Jiangdong and Lingnan.

(End of this chapter)