I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 387 General of Chariots and Cavalry, Establishing His Own Residence

Yuan Feng's suggestion was tantamount to separating the two provinces of You and Bing from the administrative divisions of the Han Dynasty, no longer directly governed by Luoyang, but instead placed under the jurisdiction of the General of Chariots and Cavalry.

Yuan Shu thought about it and thought it was a good suggestion, so he accepted Yuan Feng's suggestion.

"That's excellent. It's not difficult for one prefecture to directly manage more than a dozen prefectures, and it also allows for better coordination of affairs. In this way, what I did in Bingzhou can continue in Youzhou. Please rest assured, Father, give me three years, and I will restore a peaceful Youzhou to the world!"

Yuan Feng looked at the spirited Yuan Shu and smiled gently.

He reached out and patted Yuan Shu on the shoulder.

"You want to bring peace to the world, but all I want is for you to live a peaceful and healthy life. That's enough. After all, from now on, you are my only child."

Yuan Feng's words made Yuan Shu's heart tremble. When he looked at Yuan Feng again, he noticed that there were already some white frosts at Yuan Feng's temples.

This was the first time he had so clearly felt that Yuan Feng was getting old.

Come to think of it, he's already strong, an adult, in his twenties, and heading towards the prime of his life.

As a father, Yuan Feng was naturally also heading towards the end of his life.

How could the father and son possibly keep going together until the very end?

Yuan Shu was speechless for a moment, and could only reach out and grasp Yuan Feng's hands, remaining silent for a long time.

However, Yuan Shu did achieve his goal in the subsequent reward and recognition ceremony.

Many people who made great contributions received satisfactory rewards.

For example, Lian Da, the governor of Shuofang, was awarded the title of General Who Conquers the Barbarians for his meritorious service.

Wuyuan Prefect Shaoyuan was awarded the title of General Who Subdues the Barbarians for his military achievements.

Lu Zhi, the governor of Yunzhong, was appointed as the general of the rear for his military achievements.

Xia Yu, the governor of Yanmen, was awarded the title of General of Valiant Might for his military achievements.

Zang Min, the governor of Taiyuan, was awarded the title of General Fenwei for his military achievements.

Colonel Lü Bu was awarded the title of General Who Destroys the Enemy for his meritorious service in capturing Tan Shihuai alive.

Colonel Huang Zhong was awarded the title of Eagle General for his meritorious service in killing He Lian.

They were all granted the title of Marquis, a rank equivalent to that of a Pavilion Marquis, and officially entered the military aristocracy.

Although only Lu Zhi was able to enter the ranks of generals with honorary titles, while the others were only generals with miscellaneous titles, in this period when the conferment of honors was relatively strict, skipping the rank of Lieutenant General and going directly to the rank of general was already a huge achievement.

Generally speaking, by the late Han Dynasty, officers at the rank of Colonel were already capable of leading troops independently, and General of the Central Army was already capable of serving as the commander of a front army.

Although the title of "Miscellaneous General" is "miscellaneous," it is still a general. In the event of war, it is entirely possible to command battles independently, making it a high-ranking military officer with a prominent position in the country.

In addition to the officers, Yuan Shu's other subordinates also received rewards.

For example, military advisors such as Xun You, Wang Lang, and Zhong Yao were all awarded the title of Marquis of Duting as a reward for their military achievements.

As for the other prefects and magistrates, those who made contributions in handling logistical affairs were also rewarded with titles and wealth. The entire team under Yuan Shu, or rather the entire Yixin Society group, made great progress because of this reward.

Not only were many of Yuan Shu's generals and subordinates promoted and ennobled, but Yuan Shu himself was also officially appointed as General of Chariots and Cavalry.

He officially became the second person in the Han military to hold a military rank second only to General Duan Jiong.

Then his fief officially exceeded 10,000 households, making him the highest-ranking official in the Han Empire—the Marquis of 10,000 households.

Furthermore, he was even granted the right to establish his own government.

He was also appointed to oversee the military and political affairs of You and Bing prefectures, wielding all power. This effectively created a special administrative region in You and Bing prefectures, which was entirely under the control of Yuan Shu.

He had no governors or prefects to share his power; he directly dealt with the prefects of each prefecture, who in turn were directly responsible to Yuan Shu. The directness of his power was unprecedented.

Yuan Shu didn't stand on ceremony. After being appointed to take charge of the military and political affairs of You and Bing prefectures, he immediately arranged for many of his subordinates to go to You prefecture to take up their posts.

During the previous war in Youzhou, many officials in Youzhou made mistakes, including dereliction of duty and malfeasance.

Yuan Shu immediately decided to reassign all his capable subordinates, including Lu Zhi, Lian Da, and Shao Yuan, to positions in Youzhou.

Lu Zhi was appointed Prefect of Yuyang Commandery, Lian Da was appointed Prefect of Dai Commandery, Shao Yuan was appointed Prefect of Shanggu Commandery, Xia Yu was appointed Prefect of Youbeiping Commandery, and Zang Min was appointed Prefect of Liaoxi Commandery.

The prefectures where the former governor is no longer in office need no further explanation.

All the prefects who were still in office were immediately dismissed on the grounds of dereliction of duty, malfeasance, and incompetence. Moreover, because these prefectures were all border prefectures, Yuan Shu was able to openly replace all the positions in the prefectural government with his own people, and even fill all the positions in the counties under the prefectures with his own people to take control of the power.

Yixinhui Group may become the biggest winner.

As for the positions originally held by these transferred individuals, Yuan Shu arranged for them to be appointed by the most meritorious and honest members of the Yixin Party who had made the greatest contributions to the construction of Bingzhou in the previous years.

The meat was left to rot in the pot; not a single piece was given to outsiders.

Before the people even arrived, they replaced half of the prefects of the ten counties in Youzhou with their own people.

Even if the local officials in Bingzhou transferred their cronies away, the replacements were still the same cronies, still loyal members; there was no point in pretending anymore.

For anyone else, this would be blatant nepotism, forming cliques and expanding personal power, and would be subject to criticism.

But it's not surprising at all when it comes to Yuan Shu.

Because Yuan Shu's identity has already been made public to the world, he is Yuan Feng's successor and the future unique ruler of the Great Han Empire.

The position, nominally belonging to the Liu family emperor, will be taken by him.

He is the master of the world, and he can decide what he wants to do.

In the Yuan dynasty court, which had been purged several times, there was simply no one willing to be at odds with Yuan Shu.

As for whether he would attempt to change the dynasty, many people have various speculations.

However, it seems that Yuan Shu still feels that his achievements are not enough and wants to continue to make contributions until the day when the world has nothing left to say about his achievements.

However, it must be said that his achievements of capturing Tan Shihuai alive and eliminating 400,000 Xianbei are enough to make him famous throughout the world. Within the Great Han Empire, no one dares to claim that they are better than Yuan Shu.

Tan Shihuai, who had dominated the border for twenty years, was wiped out in one battle. The devastated Bingzhou was transformed into a solid military fortress. What more can be said about that?

Not to mention that he is now also in charge of Youzhou. Once he takes office in Youzhou, his power will be further expanded and his prestige will be further increased. In all the world, who would dare to compete with him?
If he were to resolve the border troubles in Youzhou as well, then even if Yuan Shu openly declared his desire to become emperor, there would likely be very few people willing to confront him directly.

Apart from a few idiots who dare to debate with him on the issue of reputation, how many people can say they can stop him with their strength?

Without power, there's no way to stop him from changing dynasties.

So in reality, from this point onward, Yuan Shu had entered a state where he could do whatever he wanted.

He himself was not yet aware of this.

Of course, his subordinates were much the same.

From the beginning until now, even the most loyal Yixin members only have confidence that Yuan Shu will inevitably win, but they dare not make any boasts about the scale of the victory or when it will be achieved.

Cheng Li dared not say that Yuan Shu would definitely be able to capture Tan Shihuai alive.

Even Jia Xu dared not say that Yuan Shu could wipe out more than 400,000 Xianbei people in one battle, reducing the entire Xianbei ethnic group to two-thirds, leaving only one-third to eke out a living.

Even the most radical Yixin members wouldn't dare say that Yuan Shu could resolve the northern border troubles within a few years.

Therefore, when Yuan Shu actually did this, when he reappeared in front of his long-lost followers, the scene immediately reminded Yuan Shu of a phrase—sunshine.

Upon seeing him, the Yixin members were overjoyed, shouting loudly and making all sorts of actions they would never normally do. Some even burst into tears, overwhelmed with excitement, as if they had seen a god descend to earth or a deity appear in the world, as if Yuan Shu was not a person, but a great god.

To be honest, Yuan Shu never felt that he could shine as brightly as the sun, and he always thought that if he really became the sun, there must be some deception involved. How many normal people would be so brainless?
However, as time went by and as his personal achievements increased, he discovered that whether or not one becomes the sun is not something that can be changed by personal will.

Sometimes, it's not that he wants to be the sun, but that some people or things require him to be the sun. Whether he wants to or not, in some people's hearts, he is the only sun, unshakable.

Yuan Shu had already realized that, regardless of his own thoughts, at least for the moment, within the Yixin Society, he was already an unshakable leader, the most shining sun in people's hearts, and the phenomenon of Yixin Society worshipping him had become a fact.

It wasn't just the Yixin Society; many students at the Imperial Academy were the same. After news of Yuan Shu's great victory over 400,000 Xianbei came back, even the Imperial Academy, which had previously been a stronghold of anti-Xin Xue (the school of thought of the mind), saw a large number of Yuan Shu worshippers emerge.

Although students from the Imperial Academy had been transferring there since the establishment of the Zhixing Academy, the remaining students opposed the philosophy of mind and insisted on studying the classics.

But now, even in this stronghold of upholding classical studies, a large and systematic group of Yuan Shu's admirers has emerged. They admire Yuan Shu's military achievements, then admire Yuan Shu as a person, and ultimately their attitude towards the philosophy of mind has changed.

During the time Yuan Shu returned, representatives from the Imperial Academy students invited him to give lectures at the academy. Yuan Shu naturally accepted the invitation and received a warm welcome at the academy that was no less enthusiastic than that from the Yixin Society.

These students, who had stayed at the Imperial Academy because of their studies in Confucian classics and were also dismissive of his philosophy of mind because of Confucian classics, are now actively inviting him to lecture at the Academy, and the Academy officials have tacitly accepted this.

That's really interesting.

(End of this chapter)