My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 446 Let's Change the Era Name for His Majesty
Inside Ye City.

Despite the repeated occupation of Ye City by both sides, it did not cause much damage to the buildings within the city.

Gao Yu originally lived in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

He voluntarily gave up the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, allowing Yuan Xiu to move in with the women of the harem, while he moved into the Golden Phoenix Terrace.

The Three Platforms built by Cao Cao in Ye City.

Bronze Sparrow Terrace, Golden Phoenix Terrace, Ice Well Terrace.

The Bronze Sparrow Terrace is the most famous. Cao Zhi's poem "Ode to Climbing the Terrace" has been passed down to this day. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Later Zhao and other states established their capitals in Ye City, and the Bronze Sparrow Terrace was the focus of their renovations.

Ice Well Terrace was actually a large warehouse, eight zhang high, with 140 rooms. It was named Ice Well Terrace because of the well inside that stored ice. It stored a large amount of daily necessities, similar to Ao Granary outside Xingyang.

"Hahaha, General, you have certainly dampened His Majesty's spirits today! How impressive!"

Peng Le laughed loudly, and after downing a cup of wine, he vividly described, "I saw it clearly at the time. His Majesty's face was full of fear. Even the emperor has never seen anything like this before."

"He was so surprised that he overturned a wild horse with his bare hands. Even if there were wild steeds or tigers in front of him, the general would not be afraid!"

Yang Zhong toyed with the wine cup in his hand. "This is the Emperor's own doing. He really can't see the situation clearly. He actually thought he could give the general a show of force. In the end... he has made a huge fool of himself."

The crowd laughed loudly, completely unconcerned whether such 'rebellious' words would reach Yuan Xiu's ears.

Yuan Xiu has truly lost all his prestige this time.

His subordinates had lost all respect for him, and all regarded him as a laughing stock to talk about over tea. The loss of the emperor's dignity to this extent was a very dangerous sign.

A ruler can joke and mingle with his subordinates, but he must never let them lose their sense of awe.

Tolerance is not the same as indulgence.

Despite the soldiers' usual jovial interactions with Gao Yu, and their occasional overstepping of authority, Gao Yu didn't take it seriously.

But when Gao Yu is serious, they don't dare to joke around with him at all, especially at crucial moments, when Gao Yu always makes decisions on his own.

"Hmph, General, you were too lenient with His Majesty before, which led His Majesty to have some inappropriate thoughts..."

"This is good. It seems His Majesty has already seen the situation clearly and knows how to act next, so that he can still maintain his dignity. Otherwise... we would have to help His Majesty maintain his dignity on behalf of the general."

The title of Emperor of Wei was far less useful to them than the title of 'General of Heavenly Strategy'.

Cui Xian then spoke up, “Gentlemen, some things are fine to discuss in private, but you must be careful what you say in public. You are all under the general’s command; if you say the wrong thing, it will damage the general’s reputation…”

Cui Xian and Yang Yin did hope that Gao Yu could be more proactive.

But they also know very well.

It is not yet time for a change of dynasty.

Gao Yu's foundation is ultimately unstable. If he were to force Yuan Xiu to abdicate, he would be losing his sense of righteousness. Yuan Ziyou, after all, had the kindness of mentoring Gao Yu.

Even though the world believes that the fate of the Great Wei Dynasty is sealed.

Gao Yu first needed to overthrow the puppet emperor Yuan Gong's regime, which Erzhu Rong had installed, and establish the unparalleled achievement of 'annihilating a country' before he could gain enough prestige to silence everyone and make them willingly acknowledge him as the new ruler of the world.

These brutes are all sharp-minded; I hope they don't say the wrong thing outside.

"Don't worry, Chief Clerk Cui, we understand..."

Quan Jun suddenly spoke up, "In a few days, I'm afraid you'll have to change your tune, won't you? A mere clerk's position is beneath your talents..."

Everyone understands.

Gao Huan was severely weakened and was destined to be annexed by Gao Yu.

During the day, Gao Yu deliberately gave Yuan Xiu a hard time.

Next, they will definitely take action against key positions in the imperial court.

Gao Yu will definitely retain control of the army in the Tian Ce Mansion, but the civil officials in the Tian Ce Mansion no longer need to remain there as subordinates; they can be placed in the court.

He was sent to the three provinces, to various ministries, and to various departments under those ministries to take up positions.

The main reason is that arranging Yuan Xiu to work at the Bronze Sparrow Terrace sent too obvious a political signal.

They had just given him a show of force when he was sent to the Bronze Sparrow Terrace.

The meaning is obvious.

Let Yuan Xiu behave obediently like a caged bird, a canary that has been 'raised'.

………………

"Is it about Sizheng?" Gao Yu said with a slight smile, "What's the situation with His Majesty now?"

"Reporting to the General, His Majesty has closed his doors to see anyone, saying only that he is ill."

Gao Yu's smile deepened, and he asked knowingly, "Your Majesty is strong and healthy. A fall like that shouldn't have made you so ill, right?"

"His Majesty's illness is not physical, but rather a mental one."

Wang Sizheng sighed.

He had clearly explained things to Yuan Xiu beforehand.

Who told Yuan Xiu to be so 'ungrateful'?
To be fair, he felt that Gao Yu had already given Yuan Xiu enough face.

It should be noted that Yuan Xiu was not installed by Gao Yu. Gao Yu only reluctantly accepted him as the new ruler for the sake of the overall situation.

Gao Huan indulged Yuan Xiu because Gao Huan's own foundation was unstable and his prestige was insufficient. His relationship with Yuan Xiu was barely a cooperative one, which is why he indulged him in every way.

Gao Yu has such high prestige and formidable strength, especially since Gao Huan's faction has been completely absorbed by Gao Yu.

In Gao Yu's eyes, Yuan Xiu was just a mascot that could be replaced at any time.

Yuan Xiu's own lack of self-discipline gave others so much leverage. Gao Yu could easily find any one of these reasons to replace him on the grounds of "the emperor's lack of virtue." It's not like they couldn't find someone from Emperor Xiaowen's direct line of descent with a more legitimate imperial line than Yuan Xiu.

"If it is a mental illness, then it needs to be treated with mental medicine."

Gao Yu paused for a moment and then said, "I do have a prescription that might cure His Majesty's heart ailment."

Wang Sizheng was taken aback.

She suddenly looked up at Gao Yu. Surely Gao Yu wouldn't go to such extremes?

He countered with, "Please give your instructions, General."

Gao Yu stood up, walked to the entrance of the hall, and looked up at the starry sky.

"Let's change His Majesty's reign title to bring good fortune. This great victory is just in time. Hebei has suffered from repeated wars in recent years, and the local people are living in misery. His Majesty can take this opportunity to change the reign title, grant a general amnesty, and reduce the tax burden on the people of Hebei for two years. This will appease the people and demonstrate His Majesty's benevolent rule..."

The emperor changed the reign title.

There are only a few possibilities.

It could be auspicious omens from the heavens, or the appearance of a 'strange beast' never seen before. For example, in 538 AD, the Eastern Wei Dynasty changed its era name to 'Yuanxiang' because someone discovered an elephant in Yuzhou, which is in Henan Province...

Correct.

The appearance of elephants in Henan was reported as an auspicious sign. In fact, it was also an important signal that the Little Ice Age, which began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, was coming to an end. Elephants do not appear in cold places.

Or it conveys a positive vision for what's to come.

Or it could be a way to send an important political signal to the outside world by changing the era name.

such as……

Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) and Empress Wu Zetian were masters of changing reign titles.

The Tang Dynasty used a total of seventy-five reign titles, and this couple accounted for half of them.

This was because the two leaders frequently changed the reign title during their time in power to send political signals to the outside world.

Wang Sizheng secretly glanced at Gao Yu and pressed for an answer, "I wonder... does the general have any good suggestions?"

Gao Yu turned around and said.

"Jian'an is quite good. Hebei has suffered greatly from war. I hope that the people of Hebei can live in peace from now on. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Jian'an..."

Wang Sizheng was not a mere military man.

He was a man of both literary and martial talents, and he studied extensively. How could he not know such a familiar era name?

This……

Isn't it just the reign title used by Emperor Xian of Han?

Ye City and Tongquetai, the reign title was Jian'an.

All of these things combined make the message all the more obvious, both for Emperor Yuanxiu and to the outside world.

Anyone who has read a little and knows a bit about history can easily understand what Gao Yu means by connecting these keywords.

(End of this chapter)