Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 150: He Jin was fooled

"The eunuchs are involved in a lot of things. Now that we are helping the new emperor to succeed to the throne, we should not start a war and make the new emperor panic!" Zhang Yu moved his lips slightly and said, "Brother Meng De, don't be anxious for the moment. You need to think about the court and the country."

Cao Cao hurried up the stairs, frowned and said: "The evil of the eunuchs lies in the eunuchs. When the new emperor ascends the throne, the court officials will be able to clear out the eunuchs in the forbidden area."

Yuan Shao glanced at Cao Cao and whispered, "Meng De, don't forget the Queen and General He. Although the general is willing to eliminate the traitors, the Queen and He Cheqi have close ties with the eunuchs. Now we need to ask the general to make a careful plan."

Cao Cao dared to refute Zhang Yu's words, but he dared not disobey Yuan Shao's words.

Cao Cao sighed slightly. He didn't understand why the issue of killing the eunuchs was so procrastinating. It was understandable that He Jin was worried about the close connection between the He family and the eunuchs, but Yuan Shao and Zhang Yu, who were anti-eunuchs, shouted about killing the eunuchs but their actions told everyone not to rush. It was really confusing.

Cao Cao's helplessness and misunderstanding can only be seen as a result of his serious desire to serve his country and his willingness to kill the eunuchs in order to clear up the atmosphere in the court.

Unfortunately, for everyone, killing the eunuchs was just a slogan to help them achieve their goals. How Jin used anti-eunuchism as a banner to win over persecuted party members and cooperate with Yuan in order to help his nephew ascend the throne.

For Yuan, the slogan of "anti-eunuch" was used to unite the gentry in order to maintain his lofty position among the gentry. Now the slogan of killing eunuchs was to attract Dong Zhuo to the capital and pin down He Jin, so that Yuan could make further progress.

For Zhang Yu, it was undoubtedly a matter of watching the excitement. Only when Dong Zhuo entered the capital and overturned the table, arousing the dissatisfaction of the Yuan and He clans, as well as the scholars in Guandong, could the world be said to be in strife. The slogan of "anti-eunuch" he used was naturally to establish a persona of working for the world.

Political slogans are sometimes just superficial appearances, and their purpose is often hidden behind the political slogans. When the purpose is achieved, the political slogans will naturally change.

"Dang~"

As the sound of gold rang out, He Jin and Yuan Wei led the way into the hall and kowtowed to Liu Hong's coffin in the hall.

He Jin's eyes were moist, and he cried sadly, "Your Majesty succeeded to the throne at a young age and cleared out the bandits for our Han Dynasty. Your early death is truly a misfortune for the world."

"Your Majesty~"

After being called out repeatedly, He Jin and Yuan Wei kowtowed three times.

Led by the two of them, Zhang Yu knelt down and cried out in grief, as if he was very sad about Liu Hong's death.

At the same time, Liu Xie and Liu Bian were still kneeling in front of Liu Hong's coffin, shedding tears alone, not knowing what would happen next.

The two queens, He and Dong, sat crouched behind the mourning curtains on either side of the coffin, looking at the civil and military officials in the palace with different expressions. Empress He looked at He Jin and He Miao, with a sad expression mixed with joy; Empress Dowager Dong saw that Dong Zhong was alone and weak, and her sadness was mixed with resentment.

"The ceremony is over!"

As the ritual officer chanted, the memorial service came to an end, and all the civil and military officials stood up and stood on the left and right.

After a moment of silence, He Jin bowed to Empress He behind the mourning tent and said, "Your Majesty has unfortunately passed away without leaving a will. According to the laws of our ancestors, we should invite the eldest prince to succeed to the throne."

Before Empress He could speak, Empress Dowager Dong, who was behind the mourning tent, spoke first, saying, "When your Majesty passed away, I was serving by your side. Your Majesty left a will that the Second Prince would succeed him. I wonder where the general got the idea that there was no will?"

Empress He spoke in a clear and cold voice, "When His Majesty was alive, he once told me that if he unfortunately passed away, the eldest prince would succeed to the throne."

"Humph!"

Empress Dowager Dong snorted coldly and said, "I am your Majesty's biological mother. Could it be that what I said is false?"

"Jian Shuo holds the edict of your majesty in his hands. Now I will let you judge whether it is true or false."

Empress He said lightly, "Jian Shuo falsely passed on the imperial edict and has now been punished. How can the fake imperial edict in his hand be regarded as evidence?"

In order to avoid an endless argument with Empress Dowager Dong, Empress He simply said, "The issue of the crown prince is questionable because of the edict left by His Majesty, so it is not for women like you and me to discuss. The affairs of the court should be handled by the ministers. Now that Lord Yuan is here, why not let him take charge."

Empress Dowager Dong glared at Empress He fiercely. How could she not know that Empress He was trying to block her mouth? Once she couldn't speak, how could Dong Zhong be He Jin's opponent in terms of the right to speak?

Yuan Wei coughed, walked to the hall, bowed to everyone, and said: "Your Majesty passed away in Jiafu Hall. I and the ministers did not serve you at the bedside. It was my fault. As far as I know, Your Majesty favored the eunuchs. The eunuchs heard Jian Shuo's false edict and have now executed him."

"Jian Shuo has passed away, and it is hard to know whether the edict in his hand is genuine or not. Therefore, in order to ensure the stability of the country, according to the rules of etiquette, the legitimate son born to the queen must succeed to the throne, so as to avoid deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son, which would disrupt the Han Dynasty."

The eunuchs and their cronies submitted to He Jin, and Yuan reached an agreement with He Jin. Except for Dong Zhong who was hesitant to speak, no one in the court dared to refute Yuan Wei.

Soon, Yuan Ji stepped out and responded, "Mr. Yuan's words make sense. We should not depose the eldest and enthronize the youngest, which will disrupt the Han Dynasty."

"It is not appropriate to depose the elder and enthronize the younger, which will disrupt the Han Dynasty!"

All the ministers knelt down in unison, and loud voices echoed throughout the palace. Dong Zhong stood alone, at a loss, with a look of panic on his face.

Liu Bian was shocked and turned to look at Empress He. Liu Xie, seeing everyone like this, had no other feelings and just cried in front of Liu Hong's coffin.

Liu Xie's cry was filled with sorrow and longing for Liu Hong. Even though Zhang Yu was a man of deep scheming, he could not help but sigh. After all, he was ashamed to have tampered with the will in front of his father and helped Liu Bian ascend to the throne. But there was really no other way. This was the succession system of the Han Dynasty. The prince had to ascend the throne in front of the coffin of the previous emperor. When this system was first established, perhaps it was to let the dead souls serve as witnesses so that the court officials would not dare to violate the will.

However, the results now prove that politicians should not overestimate their bottom line. For their own interests, they don't care about the deceased emperor. I have to say that this is very ironic. In front of the corpse, the will of the deceased emperor was tampered with, and everyone was very sad.

Seeing Liu Bian panic, Empress He hurriedly pointed out, "Prince, why don't you pay your respects to your uncle and Lord Yuan?"

Liu Bian followed his mother's instructions, stood up and saluted Yuan Kui and He Jin, saying, "I pay my respects to my uncle and Lord Yuan. I hope you will give me more guidance in the future!"

"Don't dare!"

Yuan Wei cupped his hands and said, "The Crown Prince may ascend the throne as soon as possible!"

"The Scarlet Sky Sword is here!"

He Jin presented the Chixiao sword, a symbol of the Han Emperor, to Liu Bian. Seeing that he did not know how to wear it, He Jin took the initiative to help Liu Bian put on the sword, and then motioned Liu Bian to walk towards the imperial bed.

Liu Bang killed the White Snake with his sword and started an uprising. In order to validate the legitimacy of his uprising, later Han emperors had to wear the Chixiao Sword when they ascended the throne, to represent that they were continuing Liu Bang's mandate of heaven.

Liu Bian was full of anxiety and walked slowly towards the imperial bed. Seeing his slowness, Empress He became anxious and lifted the mourning curtain and pulled Liu Bian forward.

When Empress Dowager Dong saw this scene, her face looked very ugly. She stretched out her hand to greet Liu Xie, and then pulled Liu Xie out.

He Jin and Yuan Wei didn't care about Empress Dowager Dong. They immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. I hope your Majesty will accept my condolences!"

Seeing everyone kneeling, Liu Bian sat on the imperial couch, imitated his father Liu Hong's gestures, and said in a trembling voice: "Gentlemen, please stand up."

Because the voice was too soft, the ministers could not hear it and could only continue to kneel.

Empress He glared at Liu Bian, took a breath and said in a deep voice: "My lords, please stand up!"

"Thank you, Queen Mother, thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone took the opportunity to change the title of Queen He.

Zhang Yu was close and had a sharp eye, so he could see Empress Dowager He beside Liu Bian at a glance.

The charming face of the mature woman in her thirties looks really different with the blessing of the white towel!
"Guilty!"

Out of respect for Liu Hong, Zhang Yu turned his head away and dared not look at him too much, so as to avoid any impure thoughts.

However, when he glanced at Cao Cao, he saw that Cao Cao was always glancing at Empress Dowager He. Zhang Yu couldn't help but sigh inwardly that Cao Mengde was not honest.

After helping the new emperor ascend the throne, he did as He Jin wished and issued an edict to let He Jin and Yuan Wei jointly serve as the Shangshu. In order to maintain corresponding control, He Jin put the imperial guards under his jurisdiction.

In order to thank Yuan for his help, He Jin appointed Yuan Wei as his Grand Tutor, Yuan Shao was promoted from the post of Lieutenant of the Central Army to Lieutenant of the Sili Army, Yuan Ji was given the title of Grand Coachman, and Yuan Shu was given the title of Marquis of Duting. Zhang Yu, a follower of Yuan, was promoted to General of the Central Army and was in charge of the Left School Camp again because of his contributions in defeating the Gepi bandits and supporting He Jin.

Since Liu Bian ascended the throne, the He family began to gradually purge the court. First, Dong Chong was imprisoned and interrogated on the grounds of corruption and bribery, and he committed suicide; Queen Mother Dong died inexplicably on the way to her fiefdom.

After the Dong family was eradicated, Yuan Shao, Zhang Yu, Cao Cao and others urged He Jin to kill the eunuchs. In order to persuade He Jin to do it, they kept citing Dou Wu's failed plot as a lesson and kept encouraging He Jin to kill the eunuchs.

Under the crisis created by everyone and in order to fulfill his political promise, He Jin had to contact Empress Dowager He and inquire about the killing of eunuchs.

As Empress Dowager He was in the palace and had contact with eunuchs all year round, and was also influenced by attendants such as Zhang Rang and Duan Gui, she naturally did not want He Jin to take action against the eunuchs.

Empress Dowager He then rejected He Jin's request to kill the eunuchs, citing the rules left by Emperor Ling of Han, the fact that Liu Bian was young, and the fact that eunuchs often held positions in the imperial palace.

He Jin returned empty-handed and sought the advice of his confidant Yuan Shao. In order to complete the task assigned by Yuan Wei, Yuan Shao suggested that local generals submit a petition to force Empress Dowager He to agree to execute the eunuchs.

The deceived He Jin agreed with Yuan Shao's opinion and instructed Dong Zhuo of Hedong and Ding Yuan of Henei to submit a petition requesting the execution of the eunuchs.

In order to allow Dong Zhuo to enter the capital, Yuan passed the news to the eunuchs. The eunuchs were terrified and immediately lobbied He Miao and He Mu (Lord Wuyang) to protect them.

In response to the memorials submitted by Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan, Empress Dowager He rejected their requests to execute the eunuchs and warned He Jin not to do so.

He Jin was caught between the party members and the He family, which was a headache for him. Yuan Shao took the opportunity to propose that the two armies of Dong and Ding be transferred to the capital, in the name of military remonstration, to intimidate Empress Dowager He, thus completing the task of killing the eunuchs.

In desperation, He Jin adopted Yuan Shao's advice and ordered Ding Yuan to burn Mengjin in the name of the Black Mountain Army, and invited Dong Zhuo to Beijing in the name of quelling the rebellion.

(End of this chapter)