I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 392 End

In the third year of the Zhengshi era, Yuan Shu, then eighteen years old, went north to Bingzhou. At that time, no one knew what he was capable of.

In the seventh year of Yande, Yuan Shu, then twenty-eight years old, had fulfilled his promise and basically resolved the troubles on the northern border. Along the thousands of miles of border, there were only cattle and sheep grazing on the grass, and the arrogant barbarian cavalry were no longer seen.

The people of You, Bing, and Liang provinces finally ushered in a peace and tranquility that had not been seen for generations. They no longer had to learn how to fight or use swords and spears from birth, but could grow up and live in peace.

Yuan Shushang's proposal to establish grassland administrative regions was officially implemented. He divided the vast grasslands, which originally belonged to the Xianbei territory, into three grassland prefectures: Western Mo, Eastern Mo, and Southern Mo, which were specifically responsible for grazing cattle, sheep, and horses.

Moxi Commandery was originally the area where the Western Xianbei were active. It was placed under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou. Yuan Shu selected Han and Qiang people with herding experience to enter Moxi Commandery to carry out herding work. He arranged for Han people to be the commandery governor and county magistrate to manage it. According to the previously planned rotation herding method, he promoted the development of herding in a more scientific and sustainable way.

The southern part of the Mobei territory was originally the area where the central Xianbei were active, and it was under the administration of Bingzhou. The eastern part of the Mobei territory was originally the area where the eastern Xianbei were active, and it was under the administration of Youzhou.

Modong Commandery was similar to Moxi Commandery. Yuan Shu selected skilled and well-behaved Wuhuan prisoners captured during the war and paired them with a group of Han people with herding experience to go north into Modong Commandery. He then appointed Han people as commandery governors and county magistrates to govern the area.

The situation was different for the Southern Mongols. This prefecture was basically established by Yuan Shu to solve the problem of the Southern Xiongnu.

The Southern Xiongnu had performed well during Yuan Shu's previous efforts to consolidate the northern border, sending troops to assist him on several occasions and demonstrating their obedience to him. Yuan Shu had no reason to attack them, but he could not ignore them either. Therefore, after the war, Yuan Shu considered political means to resolve the Southern Xiongnu issue.

He announced that the area where the Southern Xiongnu were active would be returned to the administration of the former prefectures and counties under Bingzhou, and that the former Southern Xiongnu tribesmen who wished to stay could stay and live a farming life, change their surnames and names to Han surnames and names, be registered in the Han household register, and become Han people from then on.

Those who did not wish to stay and live a farming life were permitted to enter the southern part of the Mongols and continue their familiar nomadic lifestyle. However, they were still residents within the formal administrative region ruled by the Han Empire and were required to register their household registration, thus entering the direct rule of the Han Empire and beginning to pay taxes properly.

In short, it means the same thing.

I'm not acting anymore.

I have a showdown!

What I want is to annex you all and turn you into my own people.

If you don't agree, then we'll turn you into our own people lying down and bury you in the fertile soil.

You choose!
Yuan Shu didn't even go to the Southern Xiongnu to talk to Tu Te Chanyu about this matter himself. Instead, he arranged for Zhang Hong, his best persuader, to go to Meiji County and make the issue clear to the Southern Xiongnu. In addition, to support Zhang Hong, he also arranged for two generals, Lü Bu and Huang Zhong, to each lead 10,000 cavalry to guard the east and west of Meiji County.

The meaning is obvious.

If the talks went well, that's good.

If negotiations fail, then war will ensue.

The Southern Xiongnu leadership harbored some resentment towards Yuan Shu's actions, feeling that he was being unreasonable. They had previously claimed that Yuan Shu was a brother to all under heaven when they were fighting the Xianbei and Qiang people together, but now that the enemy was eliminated, he was discarding them like a used tool.
As for the resentment of the Southern Xiongnu high command represented by Tu Te, Zhang Hong obviously had his own explanation.

"You think General Yuan is immoral, that's a mistake. This is precisely where General Yuan is moral and values ​​relationships. Think about it, what happened to those who were hostile to the Han or whose attitude was unclear? And what was General Yuan's attitude towards the Southern Xiongnu?"
The Xianbei people were hostile to the Han Dynasty and were thus completely wiped out by General Yuan's army. The three Xianbei tribes were annihilated, and the remains of Tan Shihuai and others were nowhere to be found. As for the Wuhuan, they were two-faced, sometimes rebelling and sometimes submitting, which was the most despicable. General Yuan deeply loathed them.

So, except for a very few tribes that had never betrayed them, most of them were wiped out, their leaders were killed, and their followers were taken prisoner and forced to do hard labor. They could only eat one meal a day and could never be pardoned. Is this the fate you want?

It is precisely because you have always obeyed General Yuan's orders since he became the governor of Bingzhou and have never disobeyed them that General Yuan has given you and the Southern Xiongnu special treatment. That is why he did not send troops to attack the Southern Xiongnu, but instead sent me to persuade them.

Moreover, even after you submit, you and your people will receive excellent treatment. You can still retain the title of Chanyu, receive the court's salary and rewards, and live in the prosperous Luoyang, enjoying endless wealth and honor.

If you choose to resist, do you really think you can match General Yuan's army? Do you really think you can fight against Generals Lü Bu and Huang Zhong? If you persist in fighting, do you think you can achieve victory? And what will happen after defeat?

I don't need to tell you; you should understand. So, in times like these, the most important thing you should do is think carefully and make the right decision. If you make the wrong choice because of momentary anger, I will be deeply worried about your future!

After some discussion, the Southern Xiongnu leadership, represented by Tu Te, clearly agreed that Zhang Hong's words were true. Indeed, the armies of Lü Bu and Huang Zhong had approached the Southern Xiongnu territory from two directions, and the Han cavalry, with their hundred battles of elite strength and undefeated record, were indeed overwhelming the Southern Xiongnu.

If Yuan Shuzhen were to order these two armies to fight, the Southern Xiongnu would undoubtedly be defeated. Even if they survived, they would become slaves and would be unable to continue their current comfortable lives, let alone go to Luoyang to live an even better life.

In the end, Tut made the right choice.

He believed that taking advantage of the current opportunity to sell the Southern Xiongnu for a good price and receive the best possible treatment was already a very good choice. If he refused and was beaten, even if he chose to surrender later, his treatment would be greatly reduced.

After much deliberation, Tu Te decided to compromise with Yuan Shu and entrust the future of the Southern Xiongnu tribe to him.

Thus, riding the wave of his great victory, Yuan Shu eliminated the Southern Xiongnu tribes without bloodshed. In October of the seventh year of the Yande era, as the cold winds were about to rise, he eliminated the last threat to the northern border—the Southern Xiongnu.

At this point, Yuan Shu's contributions are undeniable and have reached the pinnacle of the Han Empire.

Therefore, at the end of the seventh year of Yande, when Yuan Shu returned to the capital to report on his duties, Sikong Yuan Feng, following the "instructions" of Emperor Liu Li, officially issued the emperor's order appointing Yuan Shu as Grand General, in order to commend Yuan Shu for his many merits in pacifying the northern border and eliminating the threat to the heart of the Han Dynasty.

Yuan Shu was thus able to assume the position of Grand General and increase his fief to 30,000 households, making him the most powerful man in the country.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the position of Grand General was originally below the Three Dukes. However, during the reign of Emperor He of Han, Dou Xian became the Grand General. Due to his immense power, the court was shaken and jointly petitioned to place the Grand General above the Three Dukes. Thus, from then on, the Grand General became the undisputed highest position in the Han Empire.

The Grand General can govern the country internally and command the national armed forces to quell rebellions externally. His power far exceeds that of the former prime minister, not to mention the Three Dukes who hold the position of Minister of State Affairs. Once established, his power will shake the world.

Yuan Shu was the only Grand General in the Eastern Han Dynasty since Emperor He who was not from a powerful maternal relative's family. He was also the only Grand General who ascended to the position of Grand General legitimately and openly based on his unparalleled military achievements, with no one to oppose him. The prestige of his position was off the charts, and no one could challenge it.

Yuan Shu accepted the position without any psychological burden, and then naturally changed the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion into the Grand General's Mansion, expanding its scale and increasing the number of staff on the basis of the original General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion.

In fact, ever since Yuan Shu became General of Chariots and Cavalry and established his own government, he has been ruling Bingzhou and Youzhou as the de facto "central government" through the General of Chariots and Cavalry's government, and later Liangzhou was added to the list.

After being transformed by Yuan Shu, these three prefectures were no longer responsible to the Luoyang court, but to Yuan Shu's General of Chariots and Cavalry. Yuan Shu ruled and managed more than 30 counties and a series of vassal states in the three prefectures through the General of Chariots and Cavalry. The county officials directly contacted the General of Chariots and Cavalry to handle daily government affairs.

To this end, Yuan Shu also reorganized the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Office, setting up six ministries mainly responsible for handling affairs, a cabinet mainly responsible for assisting Yuan Shu in handling government affairs, and the Censorate mainly responsible for inspecting various places and investigating illegal acts by officials.

Therefore, the number of officials in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's office was already quite large, increasing from more than one hundred at the beginning to more than five hundred in the seventh year of Yande, which was enough to handle the administrative affairs of the three prefectures and become the de facto central department of You, Bing and Liang prefectures.

The existence of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's office has cultivated a considerable number of reserve officials with sufficient political ability for Yuan Shu. They possess administrative capabilities no less than those of the Luoyang bureaucrats and have ample experience in governing. If placed in local areas, they can govern three prefectures, and if placed in Luoyang, together with the team that Yuan Shu has always kept in Luoyang, they can take over the power of the country in the shortest possible time.

With Yuan Shu's promotion to Grand General, he further expanded the General of Chariots and Cavalry's office into the Grand General's office. While maintaining his control over the three prefectures of You, Bing, and Liang, he began to seek greater power and jurisdiction.

Yuan Feng did not reject this point; in fact, it was something Yuan Feng had been looking forward to for a long time.

In the seventh year of Yande, Yuan Feng was already sixty-three years old, very old, and his spirit and body had declined significantly compared to a few years ago. Yuan Shu could see this at a glance, and Yuan Feng himself did not deny it.

When the father and son discussed this matter privately, Yuan Feng made it clear that he was lacking in energy.

"Several years ago, I could sleep for more than three hours a day, handle more than a hundred government affairs in a morning, and work in the Ministry of Personnel all day without feeling very tired. But in the past two years, I can only sleep for more than two hours a day. I can only fall asleep after midnight, and I wake up at 3 am. After that, I can't fall asleep at all."

In summer, the sky is already just beginning to lighten when you open your eyes, but in winter, it's still dark when you close them and dark when you open them again. You can only close your eyes and rest until dawn. Your energy is also decreasing day by day, and you can handle fewer and fewer things. It's already not easy to handle fifty or sixty things a day.

I'm only truly awake for one or two hours after waking up each morning. As noon approaches, I feel drowsy and sleepy, but when I try to lie down for a nap, I can't fall asleep. I'm in a daze, half-awake, easily startled by the slightest noise, my mind a jumble of thoughts that prevent me from finding peace.

Yuan Feng held Yuan Shu's hand and poured out his feelings of distress over the past few years to him.

Yuan Shu felt very bad about this and felt quite guilty.

"Father is getting old and should not do too much anymore. It is time for him to enjoy his retirement. I came back this time to share your burdens and lighten your load. Please rest more and take care of your health."

Yuan Feng chuckled and nodded.

"I've been looking forward to your return for so long. I've been waiting day after day, year after year, and finally, I've been waiting for you to come back."

Then, Yuan Feng told Yuan Shu about his plans.

He planned to submit a memorial to the emperor on the grounds of illness to request a rest, and then gradually transfer his work to the General's Mansion, and also arrange some of his capable personnel from the Minister of Works' Mansion to be under Yuan Shu's leadership in the General's Mansion.

He will gradually transfer all the power he controls to Yuan Shu, ensuring that Yuan Shu can smoothly take over the entire foundation of the Yuan family's regime. Once the situation is completely stable, he will formally submit a petition to retire and leave the court, making Yuan Shu the legitimate supreme leader of the Han Empire.

Furthermore, in order to facilitate Yuan Shu's control of the government, Yuan Feng suggested that Yuan Shu be given the official title of "Grand Marshal" so that he could legitimately and openly hold the highest political and military power of the Han Empire as "Grand General and Grand Marshal," thus becoming the de facto emperor.

What follows is Yuan Shu's own business. Yuan Feng has done his job, and he doesn't plan to get involved any further.

"Back then, you asked me to be King Wen of Zhou, and I agreed. Over the years, I have been in power and maintained stability. Although I haven't achieved any great feats, I haven't caused any major troubles either. Overall, things have been stable. Shu, what do you think of my performance as King Wen of Zhou?"

Yuan Feng looked at Yuan Shu with a smile.

Yuan Shu suppressed his gratitude and held Yuan Feng's hands tightly.

“My father is no less than King Wen of Zhou; he can be the King Wen of our Yuan family.”

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Feng was overjoyed and burst into laughter.

Having come this far, he had no more reservations and spoke his mind.

This includes some concerns he still has after stepping down.

“As any official knows, there is a saying that every emperor has his own officials. Every emperor has his own officials and people he trusts. No matter how good the people from the previous dynasty were, they were not his own people and could not be fully trusted. I am very clear about this.”

So over the years, I have employed quite a few members of the Yixin Society in the Sikong Mansion and the Shangshu Tai, and there are also many members of the Yixin Society in many departments of the court. Consider this my way of giving you an explanation. Even so, there are still quite a few people outside the Yixin Society in the court.

I know that the people of Yixinhui are your confidants. If you rise to power, they will definitely be the first group of people you will rely on. However, you are, after all, a member of the Yuan family of Runan. You can have your own power, but you cannot ignore the power of the Yuan family.

Now that I am stepping down, you will not only be the leader of the court, but also the leader of the Yuan family. You must not only take care of the Yixin Society, but also not disappoint the disciples and former officials of the Yuan family. They are the foundation accumulated by six generations of ancestors and an important ally of the Yuan family, not your enemy.

Moreover, Tree, I know that you have a very close relationship with the members of the One Heart Society, but once you take the throne, whether it is the Grand General, the Grand Marshal, or the Emperor, your relationship with them will inevitably change greatly. At that time, you will have to make corresponding adjustments.

The ancients referred to those in high positions as "lonely and isolated," and this is not just an empty phrase. Such a position is too high, with too much power, and it is too easy to arouse envy. Those who sit in the top position must always be careful and cautious. The confidants of today may not be the confidants of tomorrow, and the trusted confidants of today may not be the trusted confidants of tomorrow.

"While you built the Yixin Society from scratch, if you rely too much on them, and they band together, monopolize all power, and refuse to share with others, even you won't be able to move them. This means you won't control them; rather, you'll be controlled by them."

Yuan Feng, drawing on his ten years of experience in power, gave Yuan Shu a warning, which stirred up some unease in Yuan Shu's heart.

While the Yixin Society was not a monolithic entity and contained some small groups formed by differences in origin and family circumstances, these differences were relatively minor. Through his tireless teaching and deliberate guidance, the internal divisions within the Yixin Society were among the smallest of all political groups in the entire Han Empire.

They all share a unified political ideology, a consistency that other political groups do not possess.

From many perspectives, their existence can be described as very advanced and progressive, and Yuan Shu is willing to believe that they will bring a completely different future to this world.

They are also an important asset for Yuan Shu to transform traditional society in the future.

However, Yuan Feng's warning was not without meaning.

The New Text School of Confucianism was originally a progressive group and an important force in changing the traditional Huang-Lao thought of the time. However, in the end, they became a huge interest group that was closed off from the times and monopolized the channels of upward mobility, which was difficult to shake.

While the later classical Confucian school may not be considered progressive, it did have its own progressive significance in terms of representing the middle class in breaking monopolies and vying for political discourse power.

However, after they defeated the New Text School of Confucianism, they further evolved into a metaphysical group, embarking on a hedonistic lifestyle of living a life of debauchery, lack of ambition, and indulging in the moment. Coupled with the rampant spread of the Nine-Rank System, it is hard to say that they made any progress.

The same was true of the later imperial examination system. The imperial examination ended the bloodline inheritance of power and broadened the channels for advancement, but it also evolved into a rigid and cumbersome interest group that hindered the progress of thought and was difficult to shake.

To put it bluntly, once an organization is established, maintaining its existence becomes its primary and indispensable task. In different environments, organizations will present completely different appearances and may even represent completely different interest groups.

It can be progressive, it can be reactionary, it can be radical, it can be conservative.

The Yixin Society must exist, must develop, and must grow stronger, but it cannot be the only one.

Yuan Shu came to this conclusion.

Whether for society or for the country as a whole, Yixin needs an opponent, a point of reference.

Otherwise, if Yuan Shu could control the direction of Yixin Society while he was alive, where would Yixin Society go after he died?
He didn't want Yixin Society to become a fragmented school of thought following Wang Yangming's philosophy, unable to achieve great things.

Therefore, Yuan Shu believed that he was in a completely new political situation and should make some changes, retaining a portion of the power that originally belonged to the Yuan family and using this power to balance the influence of the Yixin Society.

When I replace Yuan Feng as the supreme leader of the Great Han Empire, I should adopt a completely new attitude to deal with the changing situation.

So, starting from the third day after Yuan Shu returned to Luoyang, Yuan Feng began to introduce Yuan Shu to his more capable and well-connected subordinates one by one.

Without exception, these people all came from Yuan's group of disciples and former officials, and a considerable number of them had a connection with Yuan that spanned more than three generations, meaning that they had been in contact with Yuan Shu's great-grandfather since his time, and their relationship with Yuan was extremely deep.

Moreover, they were all related to the Yuan family by marriage. It wasn't necessarily in the present generation; in the previous generations, someone either married a woman from the Yuan family or a man from the Yuan family married a legitimate daughter of their family. The two sides had very close ties.

However, to be fair, such families are not numerous and do not occupy a large position. The largest number of such families is the contemporary network of relationships built by the Yuan brothers, Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei.

These people are clearly not important enough.

Of course, there were also some people who were suspected because of their close relationship with Yuan Ji and Yuan Shao. Even if they did not participate in Yuan Ji and Yuan Shao's actions, they would lose the possibility of advancing further in the Yuan group.

Therefore, when Yuan Shu took over this political team, the team had already shrunk compared to its largest size, and the personnel had also undergone a round of streamlining and screening, basically only following the Yuan family.

Their primary focus was loyalty to the current head of the family, or rather, loyalty to the entire Yuan family. They didn't care who represented this family's will. Yuan Shu sensed a strong pragmatism in this group; they gave him the impression of professional bureaucrats. Expecting them to accomplish great things was unlikely, but expecting them to follow the rules was certainly possible.

Yuan Shu had no intention of employing them; as long as they followed the rules and obeyed orders, that would be enough.

In the future, the most important political force in the court dominated by Yuan Shu will be the Yixin Society. However, under the Yixin Society, the Yuan family's power will also have its own niche.

Following this, on February 11th of the eighth year of the Yande era, Yuan Feng formally submitted a memorial to Emperor Liu Li requesting retirement, stating that he was unable to continue undertaking imperial affairs due to old age, frailty, and illness, and requested the emperor's permission to retire.

His request was naturally granted, and Liu Li had no power to refuse; however, the traditional process of three refusal and three concessions still needed to be followed.

At the end of February, Liu Li officially allowed Yuan Fengqi's remains to return home, thus ending his political career.

But it is clear that Yuan Feng was not just a figurehead minister, but a powerful minister in charge. After he retires, who will hold the real power in the central government?
It certainly wouldn't be Liu Li.

Instead, as people had guessed, on the same day that Yuan Feng was allowed to request retirement, one hundred and eight key officials of the court, led by Grand Commandant Duan Jiong, submitted a memorial to Emperor Liu Li, suggesting that General Yuan Shu be given the position of Grand Marshal and given command of the government.

There's not much to discuss about this matter. Over the past month, those who should know already know, and those who shouldn't know can guess what's going on.

Although Emperor Liu Li was already an adult, no one wanted him to rule. After Yuan Feng stepped down, Yuan Shu was the only obvious successor, which was the only result that people could accept and were willing to accept.

The powerful Liu Li himself did not have a great desire for power. He chose to compromise and yield to the court, readily accepting the advice of the court officials, and then ordered Yuan Shu to be given the position of Grand Marshal.

Yuan Shu also went through a process of declining the appointment three times, and finally accepted Liu Li's appointment on the ninth day of the third month of the eighth year of Yande, officially taking up the post of Grand Marshal, becoming the first Grand Marshal and General since the fall of the Western Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

With this position, Yuan Shu ascended to the pinnacle of power among officials, rightfully taking full control of the military and political affairs of the Han Empire, becoming a top-level powerful minister even more directly than Yuan Feng.

Subsequently, Yuan Shu began to promote his Liangzhuang construction plan and the "energy-saving status" of various prefectures and counties throughout the country, and publicly declared that he would conduct a comprehensive cleanup and reorganization of the military, political, financial, administrative and judicial issues of the Han Empire within ten years.

Make the Han Dynasty great again.

Unsurprisingly, this ambitious plan was met with dissatisfaction and resistance from traditional bureaucratic forces.

Aside from the Yixinhui faction, even among the traditional Yuan family's protégés and former officials, there were many dissatisfied individuals who opposed Yuan Shu due to the loss of their economic and political interests, and carried out various countermeasures, either openly or covertly.

Starting in May of the eighth year of the Yande era, rumors inexplicably began to circulate in Luoyang City that "Yuan Shu is going to usurp the throne and become the emperor," causing great discussion among civil and military officials and residents inside and outside Luoyang City, and creating a very strange atmosphere in Luoyang City.

Yuan Shu made no statement during this turmoil, but merely arranged for Cheng Li to lead intelligence personnel to investigate the attitudes of various forces and the people in Luoyang City.

Later, in late June, Yuan Shu announced that the Qiang people in Liangzhou had made unusual movements and decided to lead a large army to garrison Chang'an to protect Luoyang.

He took most of the army with him, as well as a large number of government organizations, officials, and clerks needed to handle state affairs. Apart from Emperor Liu Li, most of those left behind were nominal officials and idle officials without important responsibilities.

Luoyang City was "completely emptied".

At first, those who remained were suspicious and wondered what kind of conspiracy Yuan Shu was plotting. However, after news came that Yuan Shu had dispatched troops to conquer the Qiang tribes around Qinghai Lake, they gradually came to believe that Yuan Shu was not plotting anything, but rather avoiding suspicion, or perhaps he was feeling guilty.

The Han Dynasty's four-hundred-year reign has been deeply ingrained in people's hearts. The emperor himself has not made any mistakes, yet Yuan Shu wanted to replace him. This naturally aroused public opposition and large-scale protests, so Yuan Shu chose to back down and avoid suspicion.

For more than a year afterward, the Han Empire maintained this strange state: Luoyang was the capital of the emperor, but it had no real power to make decisions. The main departments with authority had been taken by Yuan Shu to Chang'an, which served as the secondary capital.

The empire's operations were mainly governed by decrees issued from Chang'an, while Luoyang was merely a facade existing for the sake of existence. Chang'an became increasingly prosperous, while Luoyang appeared somewhat deserted.

All of this changed in August of the ninth year of Yande.

On the third day of the eighth month of the ninth year of Yande, Zhang Jiao, the leader of the Taiping Dao in Jizhou, shouted the slogan "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise," setting off the strongest wave of rebellion against the Han Empire.

His subordinates rose up in droves in the areas of Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou, launching surprise attacks on local governments. The unprepared local government forces were caught off guard and suffered crushing defeats.

Zhang Jiao's subordinates mostly wore yellow turbans and were known as the Yellow Turban Army. Wherever they went, they would often incite peasants to follow them, while targeting government officials, aristocratic families, and landlords as their primary targets, and launching large-scale attacks on the farms, houses, and shops of these upper-class people.

The gentry, noble families, and powerful landlords in various regions suffered heavy losses as a result, countless famous families were wiped out, and the major prosperous prefectures and counties in the Central Plains were engulfed in flames.

Moreover, the Yellow Turban Army concentrated two main forces to launch a pincer attack on Luoyang simultaneously.

Led by Zhang Jiao, they set out from Ji Province, passed through Henan Commandery, and attacked Luoyang.

One route, led by Zhang Jiao's younger brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, started from Nanyang Commandery, crossed Yingchuan Commandery, and attacked Luoyang.

Because their uprising was so swift and rapid, the Luoyang court was caught off guard when the two armies launched their attack on Luoyang.

By the time the Luoyang court realized it should form an army to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhang Jiao had already led his army to conquer Hanoi County, and Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang had already led their armies to attack Xuanyuan Pass. Luoyang was in imminent danger.

At this time, Luoyang was left with less than 10,000 elderly and weak people defending it because Yuan Shu had taken most of the troops to garrison Chang'an. Emperor Liu Li was filled with anxiety and the officials left behind in Luoyang hurriedly discussed countermeasures.

Then, the officials, led by the newly appointed Minister of Works Yang Biao, conveyed orders to Grand Marshal and General Yuan Shu, instructing Yuan Shu to immediately lead his troops back to reinforce Luoyang. At the same time, they also launched a general mobilization around Luoyang, recruiting troops to defend Luoyang.

However, the news was still too slow to spread. By the time Yuan Shu learned of the news in late September, the three Zhang brothers had already joined forces under the walls of Luoyang and launched a fierce attack on the city.

More importantly, Yuan Shu's main Han army had just defeated the Qiang people of Qinghai and achieved a complete victory. The army had not yet returned to Chang'an and was on its way, so it could not spare many men to help Luoyang.

Yuan Shu was extremely anxious and ordered his army to speed up and advance at all costs. Finally, on October 9th, he was able to lead the main force of the Han army, which had just returned, toward Luoyang to urgently defend the emperor.

However, this back-and-forth trip took almost two months, and Luoyang City ultimately could not withstand the pressure.

When Yuan Shu led his army to Hongnong County in Hongnong Commandery, he was shocked to learn that Luoyang had been captured by the Yellow Turban Army. The Yellow Turban Army was carrying out massacres in the city, and almost all the officials left behind were killed. Even the emperor Liu Li was killed by the Yellow Turban Army.

Zhang Jiao, the leader of the Way of Great Peace, offered the head of Emperor Liu Li as a sacrifice to "Yellow Heaven," officially announcing the end of the Han Empire. He then declared the establishment of the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" in Luoyang, with himself as emperor to rule the world and usher in the "Yellow Heaven Era."

Yuan Shu was deeply shaken and wept uncontrollably, his face streaked with tears. Finally, he ordered the entire army to wear mourning clothes and march towards Luoyang. By the end of October, they had broken through Hangu Pass and arrived in Luoyang.

The Yellow Turban army was no match for the main Han army led by Yuan Shu and was quickly defeated. Yuan Shu led his army to recapture Luoyang City and wiped out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had been established for less than a month.

The remnants of the Yellow Turban army split into two groups to break out, one heading towards Ji Province and the other towards Yu Province. Yuan Shu led his generals Lu Zhi, Lü Bu, Huang Zhong, and Lian Da in pursuit, chasing and killing them all the way.

Finally, at the end of December, the remnants of the Yellow Turban army under Zhang Jiao were eliminated in Julu County, Jizhou, and at the beginning of January, the remnants of the army under Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were eliminated in Runan County.

The entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom leadership, from Zhang Jiao down, was wiped out. They were captured by the Han army and taken to Luoyang, where Yuan Shu presided over a sacrificial ceremony before executing them all to appease the spirit of Emperor Liu Li in heaven.

After that, Yuan Shu decided to select another emperor to ascend the throne.

However, because Liu Li and his family were all killed by the Yellow Turban Army, the main branch of the royal family was destroyed, and the local areas were in chaos, it was impossible to find a suitable candidate to ascend the throne in a short period of time.

At that time, Yuan Shu's subordinate officials and generals jointly submitted a memorial, stating that the killing of the Han emperor and the destruction of the main lineage might be the will of Heaven. Now that the main lineage had been destroyed and the minor lineages were in chaos, a suitable candidate could not be found in a short time, and the country could not be without a ruler for a day.

Yuan Shu was both a scholar and a warrior, and had made unparalleled contributions to pacifying the world and restoring the Han Dynasty. He had done great favors for the Han Dynasty. Now that the Han Dynasty was in distress, it was Heaven's way of telling Yuan Shu that he should follow Heaven's will, ascend the throne, and end the chaos and fear in the world.

Yuan Shu refused. The officials pleaded again, but Yuan Shu still refused. The officials pleaded a third time, and Yuan Shu refused three times.

Finally, on the fourth occasion, faced with the earnest requests of his ministers, Yuan Shu had no choice but to grant their request. He ascended the throne in Luoyang, declared that he would "inherit the Han lineage and uphold the Han tradition," established the state name "Chen," made Luoyang the capital, changed the era name to "Chengde," and granted a general amnesty.

After Yuan Shu ascended the throne, he issued a decree to treat the Han imperial family with preferential treatment. He searched the whole country for Liu Zai, a descendant of the Han imperial family closest to the main lineage, to enter the main lineage and inherit the main lineage and sacrificial duties.

While abolishing the "county" system nationwide and retaining the "prefecture" system, only the "Pei Kingdom" was retained as a fiefdom for the descendants of the Han dynasty, and Liu Zai was enfeoffed as the Duke of Pei.

After a series of policies to appease the people were promulgated, the Central Plains, Hebei, and Guanzhong regions quickly stabilized. Only Sichuan and Jiangnan were less stable, with bandits and rebels frequently causing trouble.

While sending troops to quell the rebellion in Jiangnan and Sichuan, Yuan Shu also dispatched capable officials to govern war-torn areas across the country. It took him two years to basically quell the chaos throughout the country, allowing the newly established Chen Empire to enter a period of stable development.

Thanks to the Yellow Turban Army's large-scale attacks on aristocratic families, landlords, and powerful clans in the prosperous Central Plains, many properties originally belonging to this class became ownerless, allowing Yuan Shu's plan to consolidate land and build fertile estates to proceed smoothly.

In his three years in Chengde, Yuan Shu built more than 600 good estates in various prefectures and counties in the Central Plains without lifting a finger, and gathered more than 9 million landless or land-poor peasants and serfs, which greatly stabilized social order and greatly expanded the official tax-paying population.

In the fifth year of Chengde, the construction of Liangzhuang spread to Sichuan and Jiangnan, with the number exceeding one thousand. The number of Han and non-Han people entering Liangzhuang exceeded fifteen million. The large-scale production and construction movement was launched simultaneously, and the Chen Empire entered a period of rapid and prosperous development.

Based on this, Yuan Shu reorganized the imperial tax system, reduced more than 300 items of exorbitant taxes and levies, and established complete and detailed tax rules, which greatly reduced the burden on farmers.

By the seventh year of Chengde's reign, the country had fully entered a period of peace and development. Yuan Shucai began to take action in the cultural field, and successively promoted the woodblock printing, movable type printing, and papermaking techniques, which he had been researching for many years, to all parts of the country.

This move completely ended the situation where paper was expensive and knowledge was difficult to disseminate, bringing about a major upheaval in the cultural field.

Students can buy paper, brushes, ink, and inkstones at rock-bottom prices. Even finished books are sold at very low prices and can be easily purchased.

What followed was a reckoning with the New Text School and the Old Text School of Confucianism.

Yuan Shu centralized the interpretation and education rights of the New Text and Old Text schools of Confucianism, ending the era of "family learning" and transforming private schools into public schools. He established prefectural and county schools in various prefectures and counties across the country to disseminate knowledge.

The Mind School, which Yuan Shu personally founded and has been promoting ever since, officially became a "prominent school of thought" and even a "national school of thought" in the Chen Empire.

The revised version of the School of Mind, with conscience as its core and encompassing a series of disciplines such as astronomy, geography, mathematics, and physics, officially took its place in the imperial academy and became the main doctrine vigorously promoted by the Chen Empire.

As scholarship and knowledge changed, the social atmosphere of the Chen Empire also began to change gradually.

Yuan Shu disseminated nationalism and collectivism as important ideological areas of his philosophy of mind, replacing clan and bloodline-based ideology.

He also revised the imperial laws and promulgated them throughout the land to replace the "Spring and Autumn Annals Judgment" and the "Great Revenge" theory full of chivalrous spirit.

Subsequently, he promoted the transformation of the recommendation system into the imperial examination system, and promoted the transformation of the selection of officials through the imperial examination, thus ending the monopoly of political power by aristocratic families.

Domestically, he implemented a series of reforms, leading the Chen Empire, which inherited the mess of the Han Empire, into the prosperous Chengde era, greatly improving the country's agricultural productivity.

The improvement in agricultural productivity spurred the prosperity of commerce and handicrafts. Yuan Shu then broke the pattern of the late Han Dynasty where the prefectures were the state, and broke down all the commercial barriers between the prefectures, allowing free trade.

Externally, he vigorously developed his cavalry and navy.

The cavalry marched westward along the Silk Road, rebuilt the Protectorate General of the Western Regions, brought the various kingdoms of the Western Regions back under their control, took control of the Silk Road, connected with powerful states such as Parthia and Kushan, and completely opened up the land trade routes, promoting the economic revival of Guanzhong, Liangzhou, and even Bingzhou.

The navy sailed south, building major southern port cities such as Guangzhou and Yizhou, promoting trade with Southeast Asia and South Asia. The Chen Empire's fleet even sailed west, reaching Egypt and establishing relations with the Roman Empire, which controlled Egypt.

This greatly promoted the economic development of Jiaozhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou.

While propelling the Chen Empire to its zenith, Yuan Shu never forgot to be mindful of potential dangers even in times of peace.

In the tenth year of Chengde, Yuan Shu ordered the construction of the Yangkang Grand Canal from Luoyang to Jiankang, and also began to promote the Jiangnan Immigration Plan, systematically transferring residents from the Jiangbei region, especially the Central Plains region, to the Jiangnan region.

In the eleventh year of Chengde, Yuan Shu further promulgated the national policy of developing the Yangtze River Basin, indicating that the Chen Empire would focus on the Yangtze River Basin as the main area for development in the next few decades, while the traditional agricultural areas of the Yellow River Basin would remain unchanged.

From then until the twenty-third year of Chengde, the Chen Empire was in a period of rapid development, with a stable domestic political situation and no major setbacks.

If one had to pinpoint a problem, it would be that in the eighteenth year of the Chengde reign, Yuan Shu ordered General Guan Yu to lead the navy across the sea to attack Japan, seize Japan's extremely rich silver mines, and begin large-scale silver mining to supplement the country's shortage of precious metals.

In the twenty-fifth year of Chengde, the fifty-five-year-old Yuan Shu officially announced his abdication, passing the throne to his eldest son, Yuan Hui.

Yuan Hui changed the era name to Mingxing and granted a general amnesty.

The Chen Empire continued its advance, while Yuan Shu retreated to the inner palace, no longer concerning himself with politics.

After that, he sometimes stayed in the inner palace, sometimes traveled around, or went to public schools in various places to teach young students. His footprints covered the entire Chen Empire, leaving behind many legendary stories.

Later, people commonly referred to Yuan Shu as a "sage."
And so another twenty-five years passed.

On the first day of the third month of the twenty-fifth year of Mingxing, Yuan Shu set off from Luoyang and arrived at Fufeng County, where he spent several days touring the place where he had once lived and studied.

On his last day, he placed a copy of "On Knowledge and Action," a roast chicken, and a pot of wine in front of Ma Rong's tomb in Maoling County, Fufeng Prefecture.

On that day, Yuan Shu's entourage and students only saw him drinking with the tombstone as if no one else was there, then eating roast chicken by himself, and finally burning the book "On Knowledge and Action" in a fire.

He reported to Ma Rong that he had finally become the sage Ma Rong had hoped for, fulfilling the promise he made fifty-eight years ago.

After doing all this, Yuan Shu leaned against the tombstone and fell into a deep sleep.

At first, the attendants and students did not intend to disturb Yuan Shu, but as darkness fell, Yuan Shu showed no sign of getting up. Worried that Yuan Shu would catch a cold, the attendants went forward to call for him to wake up, only to find that Yuan Shu had passed away sometime earlier.

On the sixth day of the third month of the twenty-fifth year of Mingxing, Yuan Shu, the founder of the Chen Empire, passed away at the age of eighty.

His son, Emperor Mingxing Yuan Hui, gave Yuan Shu the temple name Taizu and the posthumous title Gao. He called him Emperor Taizu Gao because of his achievements in inheriting the Han dynasty and rebuilding the world. It was believed that he had achievements comparable to Liu Bang.

The Chen Empire, founded by him, was based on a number of policies, including the Grand Canal and the development of the Jiangnan region. It led the Chinese land through the increasingly severe Little Ice Age and enjoyed a reign of 399 years.

(The Shameful End)

(Extremely unwilling, I'll fight again in the next dungeon!)
(End of this chapter)