I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 352 The Transfer of Destiny
In this dispute, some argue that Liu Kui should receive a temple name because his ascension to the throne signifies the end of decades of eunuch rule.

Although he didn't have any great achievements and his reign as emperor was short, he was a symbol.

This symbol itself has great political significance. Although these actual achievements were basically obtained by the Yuan family, they still had to rely on Liu Kui's name.

Your Yuan family gained something substantial, so it's not unreasonable to give Liu Kui some face, is it?

Of course, some people believe that, according to tradition, they should attach great importance to and strictly treat the granting of temple names, and strictly tighten the conditions for granting temple names.

Of the many meritorious emperors of the Western Han Dynasty, only four left behind temple names. Even Emperor Xiaojing, who bridged the gap between the past and the future and ushered in a golden age, did not have a temple name. Liu Kui was actually just a symbolic figurehead, so how could he have a temple name?

At this time, the two factions did not show a clear political inclination. The debate at this moment was not a struggle for interests, but a purely objective discussion. There were also some internal disputes within each faction.

However, the problem lay with Yuan Feng himself.

Previously, Liu Kui was still alive. When communicating with Yuan Shu, Yuan Feng learned that Yuan Shu planned to start a war with the Xianbei in the fifth or sixth year of the Zhengshi era.

Yuan Shu anticipated that Tan Shihuai would take the initiative to attack Bingzhou, and Yuan Shu planned to launch a defensive counterattack in Bingzhou, taking advantage of Bingzhou's home ground to eliminate the main Xianbei force brought by Tan Shihuai, and then launch a counterattack to invade the northern grasslands.

He planned to completely eliminate the Xianbei by the middle of the sixth year of the Zhengshi era, exterminate the Xianbei, clear the grasslands, and then take command of the military affairs of the three prefectures of You, Bing, and Liang. He would then reorganize the three prefectures, rebuild their border defenses, and deal thoroughly with the Southern Xiongnu, Qiang, and Wuhuan people.

Yuan Shu believed that the existence of these tribes was always a destabilizing factor. He planned to use Liangzhuang to absorb the population of these tribes, and then use a combination of appeasement and coercion to eliminate the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan people, and finally use military means to completely destroy the Qiang people.

After reorganizing the three prefectures of You, Bing, and Liang, he will possess undisputed supreme prestige and military strength. At that time, when he returns to Luoyang, he will have the undisputed right to inherit Yuan Feng's position and will be able to accomplish great things.

Even if they eventually replaced the Han dynasty and established their own rule, they would have a sufficient foundation of strength.

Yuan Feng agreed with this, believing that Yuan Shu was absolutely capable of accomplishing all of this and leading the Yuan family to a new peak.

So although he himself had no intention of usurping the Han throne, as a father, he had the idea of ​​paving the way for Yuan Shu from now on.

He didn't want to give Liu Kui a temple name; he wanted to suppress the political prestige of the Han dynasty and attribute more credit to the Yuan family, leaving the Liu family with neither face nor substance.

This will pave the way for Yuan Shu better.

He recalled his conversation with Yuan Shu on the path in the palace, asking Yuan Shu if he wanted him to become King Wen of Zhou.

Yuan Shu's answer was yes.

So, if he was going to be King Wen of Zhou, he should at least do something for Yuan Shu, instead of always having Yuan Shu do things for him.

How can one become a qualified "King Wen of Zhou"?

Yuan Feng began to think.

Throughout history, those who have succeeded to replace the previous dynasty and established a new one have all been first-rate heroes. Moreover, the Han Dynasty has lasted for more than four hundred years, and its rule is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Everyone believes that the Mandate of Heaven belongs to the Liu family, and it would be very difficult to take over the throne.

There was a previous example of Wang Mang, but he failed, died, and his country was destroyed. In the end, Liu Xiu rebuilt the Han Empire, which further strengthened the Liu family's rule. If Yuan Shu wanted to replace the Han dynasty and establish himself, he would have to explain his legitimacy from multiple perspectives.

We need to gain the approval of the whole world.

First and foremost, military force is the guarantee; this is the most important point.

Without military force, nothing is useful. And in this respect, as long as Yuan Shu can eliminate the Xianbei, pacify the grasslands, and reorganize the three prefectures of You, Bing, and Liang, then no one in the world will be his match.

He will have the strongest army, the strongest military force, and the strongest generals. Anyone who dares to disobey will be directly annihilated by his troops.

Now that we have no problem with hard power, it's time to talk about soft power.

The Yuan family held great prestige, enjoying the reputation of the Zhong clan throughout the land. They possessed considerable influence and influence nationwide, which laid a foundation for their independence from the Han dynasty. However, this was not enough.

People in this era believed in destiny, and pure force could not form the foundation of a dynasty. For the Yuan family to replace the Liu family, there had to be a reason that everyone could accept and justify.

Emperor Gaozu of Han rose up by slaying a white snake, emerged from the great peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, defeated Xiang Yu, and ultimately gained control of the empire.

This series of processes, along with the subsequent White Horse Alliance, established the Liu family's transcendent status. The reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing solidified the foundation of the Liu family's rule, and the theoretical framework established during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han further built a system of ruling theories that served the Liu family.

After a series of maneuvers, it took the Liu family several decades to barely establish their rule in terms of law.

However, this was not secure. Therefore, at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the Liu family experienced their first crisis of destiny, thus temporarily losing their imperial throne.

Thanks to the fundamentalist actions of Wang Mang, who seized the Mandate of Heaven, and the intervention of the great strategist Liu Xiu, who renewed the Mandate of Heaven, the two worked together to resolve the first crisis of destiny for the Liu family of the Han Dynasty.

Subsequently, Emperor Zhang of Han, Liu Da, strengthened the theoretical system of the Liu family's rule over the world through the White Tiger Hall Conference, repaired the theoretical loopholes left by the Shiqu Pavilion Conference of the Western Han Dynasty, and formally established the Eastern Han Holy Empire, providing a theoretical basis for the Eastern Han Empire to be a dynasty that would last for ten thousand generations.

Unfortunately, the Eastern Han Empire was not so fortunate. After Liu Da, the young emperor, the empress's relatives, and the eunuchs caused trouble one after another, which made the theoretical system of the Holy Empire riddled with holes and created great uncertainty in the academic and intellectual circles.

Thus, starting from the later period of Emperor Huan's reign, with the outbreak of the first partisan purge, the second crisis of destiny for the Liu family of the Han dynasty officially erupted.

With the death of Liu Zhi and the rise of Liu Hong, as well as the outbreak of the second partisan purge, the second crisis of destiny for the Liu family of the Han Dynasty reached its peak. This crisis of destiny was marked by the Yuan family's extermination of the eunuchs and the deposition of Liu Hong, and it temporarily entered a low ebb.

However, it is worth noting that this crisis of destiny is not over yet.

Because all those who hold power and control resources are well aware that the reason this crisis of destiny has entered a low period is the Yuan family.

The Liu family did not produce a second Liu Xiu, nor did it give birth to a second extraordinary hero or great mage. Instead, it was the Yuan family of the Zhong clan who stepped forward and nominally resolved the sharp conflict.

But in reality, everyone knows that the crisis of the Han dynasty's mandate of heaven is still brewing.

The elimination of the eunuch faction only initially suppressed the outbreak of the crisis of destiny. However, suppression is not a solution, and people's hearts were not at peace.

With Yuan Feng taking power and Yuan Shu rising to prominence, quite a few people have begun to have doubts.

The Han Dynasty, which lasted for four hundred years, is now riddled with problems and struggling to move forward. If it weren't for Yuan Shikai's rise up and the elimination of the eunuchs, no one can say for sure what the world would be like now.

The last one to step forward was Liu Xiu, who extended the life of the Han Dynasty by more than a hundred years. This time, however, it is the Yuan family who stepped forward.

Could it be that the Mandate of Heaven has shifted from the Liu family of the Han dynasty to the Yuan family?
This claim actually began to appear in the latter half of the second year of the Zhengshi era. As Yuan Shu marched north to Bingzhou and defeated the Xianbei invasion, this claim gradually spread among the people of Luoyang.

The main reason is that Yuan Shu's series of actions were too incredible and legendary.

He became a great debater at twelve or thirteen, a great coup leader at seventeen or eighteen, and now at twenty-one or twenty-two, he's starting to lead the Northern Expedition. Isn't that more impressive than Liu Xiu, the great sorcerer?
So young and already so talented, who dares to say he won't become a great destiny master in the future?

Then the throne would be rightfully his.
Moreover, with his current power, status, influence, number of followers, and the massive construction projects he's launched in Bingzhou, who dares to say that Yuan Shu is just a nobody?
People these days are not good at exploring the reasons from the essence of things, nor do they believe that the world is material. So once they discover something particularly magical or incredible, they will not explore its essence, but will immediately turn their thinking to supernatural phenomena.

They don't believe that a large forest has all kinds of birds, nor do they think that the world is so big that anything is possible.

It must be destiny!

It must be fate!

It must be something supernatural or ghostly that caused this situation!
Everything that cannot be explained by the current level of productivity is attributed to God!
So, without anyone knowing when, the saying that "the Mandate of Heaven has fallen to the Yuan family" had quietly emerged.

Yuan Feng didn't know when this claim originated, but he never instructed his subordinates to spread it.

Yuan Shu didn't know when this claim originated, nor did he instruct his subordinates to spread it.

Jia Xu also expressed his confusion. He hadn't had time to think about promoting this idea. In his opinion, if Yuan Shu wanted that position, he could just kill Liu Kui and then shift the blame onto some unlucky guy.

Cheng Li stated that he would take responsibility for the matter.

Because he was the originator of this claim; he was the one who arranged for his secret agents to spread this claim in Luoyang city.

From his perspective, apart from Yuan Shu, no one was worthy of that supreme position, no one was worthy of the supreme title of emperor.

Only Yuan Shu is destined by Heaven.

So although Yuan Shu never explicitly expressed his ambitions, Cheng Li pieced together the essential fragments from his interactions with Yuan Shu, keenly discerning Yuan Shu's true intentions and ultimately uncovering his needs.

Therefore, he decided to do something in advance, starting now and from the ground up, to lay the foundation for dismantling the Liu family's destiny and shaping the Yuan family's destiny.

From the third to the fifth year of the Zhengshi era, Cheng Li secretly carried out this task, spreading the word not only in Luoyang and the Sanhe region, but also sending people to spread the word in Guanzhong, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Jizhou and other places.

(End of this chapter)