I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 368 Yuan Feng Wants to Be Emperor?

At present, Yuan Shu's status as the successor to the Yuan regime is stable and unshakable, and the succession struggle for Yuan Feng has also ceased without any further developments.

With Luoyang now stable, Yuan Shu no longer needs to return.

He can now focus all his energy on dealing with Tan Shihuai.

The situation is similar in Luoyang.

After resolving the issues with Yuan Ji and Yuan Shao, Yuan Feng, with the advice of Jia Xu and Cheng Li, two insightful and capable advisors, took advantage of the situation to completely cripple the partisan group, depriving them of their ability to continue influencing the court.

As a result, the stability of Yuan Shikai's regime was further consolidated.

Therefore, the next step of the plan can be carried out smoothly.

On the thirteenth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Yande era, Cheng Li, the Minister of the Court of State Affairs, publicly submitted a memorial to the new emperor Liu Li, discussing the issue of temple names for the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Referring to the case of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu abolishing the temple names of the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty, he suggested abolishing the temple names of the four former emperors: Emperor He, Emperor An, Emperor Shun, and Emperor Huan.

Cheng Li publicly stated that the merits of these four former emperors did not reach the point of deserving separate temples, and were far inferior to those of Emperor Guangwu, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Zhang. Each of them had their own shortcomings and faults, which had a considerable impact on the Han Dynasty. Therefore, their temple names should be abolished.

The issue of temple names is a very serious matter that must be carefully considered and cannot be decided hastily.

Cheng Li's memorial was not delivered to Liu Li, because after the coronation ceremony, Liu Li, like his father, stayed in the palace and was not allowed to go out at will. His personal freedom was strictly restricted, and he was surrounded by Yuan Feng's spies.

Yuan Feng intensified his surveillance of Liu Li and the royal family, essentially reducing their freedom by more than half, making the surveillance even stricter than that on Liu Kui.

All the decisions made by Liu Li were made by Yuan Feng, who merely held a nominal position. In reality, Liu Li had never even seen or handled a single matter of state.

Furthermore, in order to reduce Liu Li's danger, Yuan Feng specially brought in some folk performers from outside the palace so that Liu Li could watch folk performances, cockfighting, dog racing, and learn gambling. He also arranged for some eunuchs to gamble and play with Liu Li, trying his best to cultivate Liu Li's gambling skills.

As for knowledge, political skills, and so on, Yuan Feng never allowed Liu Li to seriously learn them.

Yuan Feng's goals are now very clear, and his expectations for the future are becoming increasingly firm. Therefore, after receiving Cheng Li's report, he quickly made the matter public in the court, allowing court officials to participate in the discussion.

This is a matter of great importance concerning the foundation of the nation, and it cannot be taken lightly. It cannot be decided by one person alone; at the very least, the entire court needs to be involved in the decision.

However, the entire imperial court had no foresight regarding the occurrence of this event.

Previously, a small-scale internal strife occurred within the Yuan family. Yuan Feng deposed his eldest son, Yuan Ji, and established Yuan Shu's right of succession. Everyone felt this was a major event, and all eyes and minds were on this matter, secretly praising, mocking, and criticizing Yuan Feng's methods.

While they were secretly harassing Yuan Feng, he suddenly unleashed a powerful attack that stunned them all.

One wave subsides only for another to rise. It started with the struggle for the Yuan family's succession, and now it's directly targeting the temple name of the late emperor!
The succession dispute can be considered an action taken to maintain the stability of the court, and can be categorized as official business. But what about the removal of the temple name?

The temple name was perfectly fine; it didn't offend anyone. So why is there a problem?
As a result, there was much discussion and many different opinions about this matter, both in the government and among the public.

Especially since this matter was brought up by Cheng Li, who was Yuan Shu's confidant, it naturally aroused a lot of speculation. At this time, some clever people even thought of Cheng Li's ultimate goal and suspected that Cheng Li was preparing for a change of dynasty.

If this speculation was initially a niche one, it quickly became a popular topic of discussion when a series of officials with various connections to Yuan Shu, such as Grand Commandant Duan Jiong, Commandant of the Capital Region Duan Wei, Minister of the Imperial Household Tang Zhen, and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Jia Xu, all submitted memorials expressing their support.

Temple names are not only related to etiquette and law, but also to the achievements of emperors.

The achievements of an emperor not only affect his reputation during his lifetime and after his death, but also serve as an important factor in enhancing the overall strength and legitimacy of a dynasty. According to the prevailing view at the time, the more emperors who had temple names, the more powerful and popular your dynasty was.

If not many emperors had temple names, then it's hard to say.

Now, they're even discussing abolishing temple names and establishing separate sacrificial rites—this is clearly aimed at legitimizing the dynasty and gaining popular support.

Could it be that……

Does Yuan Feng want to become emperor?

Yes, at this moment, the prevailing opinion in the Luoyang court was that the Yuan family harbored rebellious intentions towards the Han Empire and wanted to cause trouble. However, most people's opinions focused on Yuan Feng as the main perpetrator of this trouble.

There was no way around it. Although it was Yuan Shu's confidant Cheng Li who first brought up the matter, Yuan Shu was far away in Bingzhou confronting the Xianbei people, not in Luoyang. What benefit could he possibly gain from bringing up such a matter at this time?

Therefore, it must not be Yuan Shu who has any ideas, but Yuan Feng who does!
At this point, people made a connection to Yuan Feng's earlier decision to depose Yuan Ji's eldest son from his right of succession, and the combination of the two immediately led to a very popular view.

Yuan Feng wanted to become emperor, but he was afraid that not many people would support him, so he offered various official positions and benefits to win people's hearts.

Among all his efforts, the most worthy of his court was actually his own son, Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu possessed considerable personal power and deep roots in Luoyang and many other places, making him the second most powerful figure in the Han Dynasty. If Yuan Feng wanted to become emperor, Yuan Shu's approval was indispensable.

So Yuan Feng came up with a brilliant idea.

We are father and son. If you support me becoming emperor, I will make you the crown prince.

If you don't trust me, then I'll strip your elder brother of his right to inherit as the eldest son and make you my heir. That way, you can help me without worry, right?
Anyway, supporting me is supporting yourself. If I die, the throne will naturally be yours.

Wouldn't it be better to let me pave this path for you?
This speculation immediately gained widespread acceptance and quickly became the mainstream opinion. For a time, the entire court was discussing this possibility.

Moreover, to be fair, when this speculation spread, there weren't many people who opposed it; in fact, a considerable number of people were taking a wait-and-see approach or even leaning towards it.

The main reason is that the government had just experienced a political upheaval, a number of party members were purged, the party group was basically destroyed, and Yuan Feng's prestige was able to rise. Moreover, to put it bluntly, more than 80 percent of the official positions in the entire Luoyang court were held by Yuan Feng and Yuan Shu's cronies.

This father and son, one held the deep political foundation of the Yuan family, while the other ventured out and established his own business, creating the behemoth that is the Yixinhui Group.

The father and son joined forces to control all aspects of Luoyang, both inside and outside the city, and held all the central power. Most of the important officials rose to prominence because of the Yuan family's influence.

Yuan Feng's desire to become emperor was not a bad thing for them; in fact, it could be considered a good thing.

Yuan Feng is currently only the Minister of Works. Due to his status and position, he cannot grant his subordinates high official positions and titles. He is also constrained in many matters and needs to consider external perceptions. However, once he becomes emperor, he will have fewer such concerns.

Furthermore, if we follow and support Yuan Feng now, then once the dynasty changes, we will all be ministers who followed the emperor and meritorious officials who helped establish the country. It would be only natural for us to be granted titles and honors to our wives and children.

Who would complain about having too much power?

Who would complain about having too high a status?

Who would complain about having too much wealth?

If not, then why hinder Yuan Feng's desire for "progress"?
However, this would make Yuan Feng feel very wronged.

Because he truly had no intention of changing dynasties or replacing them, he still identified himself as a Han official and never dared to imagine what he would be like as an emperor.

Even after reaching this point, he still thought of "King Wen of Zhou," not King Wu of Zhou.

So when the tide of events turned in a bizarre direction, Yuan Feng even felt a sense of panic. He immediately summoned Cheng Li to the Ministry of Personnel and asked him about the ins and outs of the matter. He didn't want to be unjustly branded as a usurper.

“I have never had any thoughts of overstepping my bounds, nor have I ever prepared to be a traitor to the Han dynasty. I am merely abolishing the temple name; how can I make them think that I want to be emperor?”

Yuan Feng still felt very wronged.

But Cheng Li found it hilarious.

He smiled and spoke slowly.

"Who made you the one in power in Luoyang now? The nominal emperor doesn't hold power; you are the de facto emperor. Now that you've become the de facto emperor, isn't it only natural that you want to take the title as well?"

Moreover, your subordinates have reached this position because of your status and power, not because of the Han emperor. Therefore, even the smallest action of yours will have a huge impact on them, including this matter.

Yuan Feng felt even more aggrieved.

"But I have never had the idea of ​​replacing the Han Dynasty and establishing myself as emperor! Now such rumors are rampant inside and outside the court, and I am speechless and helpless. How did the path I was paving for my own son end up being paved for me instead?"

Cheng Li was even happier.

"That's because the path between you and the prince is the same one. King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou were successors. If you don't have such thoughts, you don't need to worry at all. After all, it's your own choice, and no one can force you."

Yuan Feng thought about it and felt somewhat worried.

"Won't anyone force me? There are so many people who want wealth and luxury!"

Cheng Li shook his head.

"If you really want to, you only need to tell the young master, and he will naturally be willing to push this matter forward. If you really don't want to, then you should tell the young master not to take any action. As long as the young master doesn't take any action, no one will openly push this matter forward."

(End of this chapter)