Back to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 533
"Well, it seems that our plan has to be carried out ahead of time! The Ruhu Lake we built before can alleviate the drought in Runan County, but if the drought is too large, Jingzhou and North Yangzhou both have droughts at the same time, and they will not be able to support it. And this shortage of food, we must make up for it within one year next year! So next spring, we must intensify the war between the east and the west, and only in the war can we get what we need in a short time!" Yuan Yao said.

After Yuan Yao finished speaking, both Xu Shu and Jia Xu became deep in thought, and fell silent.

Both of them are Yuan Yao's most important subordinates, and together with Guo Jia, they are respected as the three think tanks.

Jia Xu has the longest life and is the most stable. Among the heavy-handed, it can be seen that Jia Xu does not support launching a war again soon, but because Jia Xu is stable, Jia Xu will never take the risk of gambling. There will be no disaster next year, which makes him very contradictory.

Xu Shu knew Yuan Yao's character best. As long as Yuan Yao decided to do something, unless there were sufficient reasons, Yuan Yao would definitely implement it.

Before starting to build the lake last year, Xu Shu had already heard Yuan Yao's prediction of the future drought from Yuan Yao's mouth. This was more than a year earlier than Sima Hui's prediction. At that time, Xu Shu did not completely believe Yuan Yao's prediction. The drought mentioned by Yao is only because he supports Yuan Yao's lake building, because he believes that Yuan Yao is the real son of heaven, and if he follows Yuan Yao, there will be no mistakes!
Xu Shu is pondering now because he is worried that if Yuan Yao proposes a war now, it means that he will conquer himself!
But the current situation is different from before. Now Yuan Yao, as the prime minister, plays a vital role in the court. If Yuan Yao leaves the capital and goes out to fight for several months, the stability of the court depends entirely on him and Jia. Xu two people!

It is not difficult to solve this problem. Xu Shu even thought about a possibility long ago, which is to make Yuan Yao's father Yuan Shu the prime minister, but Xu Shu didn't want this. What Xu Shu wanted to see was that Yuan Yao would ascend to the throne in the future, not Yuan Yao Father Yuan Shu.

Seeing Jia Xu and Xu Shu pondering, Guo Jia's eyes flashed, and he had a plan, so he clasped his fists and said, "My lord!"

"What's the best strategy for filial piety?" Yuan Yao asked with a smile.

"My lord, what you are worried about is controlling the court. I have a plan to allow you to further control the power of the court!" Guo Jia said.

"Huh?" Yuan Yao suddenly became interested.

Jia Xu and Xu Shu also looked at Guo Jia curiously.

Guo Jia is now a military commander offering wine. In the future, when Yuan Yao goes to war, Guo Jia will definitely go with him. Before that, it was generally Xu Shu's job to go with the army. They still had a very uneasy attitude towards Guo Jia's ability. After all, Guo Jia is only 25 years old now, and he didn't have too good a plan before.

Now when both Jia Xu and Xu Shu don't have a perfect plan, Guo Jia is confident that he has a plan. This can't help but make them curious and want to hear Guo Jia's plan.

"My lord!" Guo Jia cupped his hands and said, "Now the government is mainly controlled by you, the prime minister. If you go to war, my lord, the power will fall into the hands of Da Sima and the third prince. Da Sima is your father, so you don't have to worry about it. If Jia Xiong is in charge, there will be no problem, but the Taiwei and Situ are in the hands of others."

The current Taiwei is Yang Biao. Although he is a relative of Yuan Yao, but more often, Yang Biao is on the side of a big man, not on the side of Yuan Yao and Yuan's family. For those who hold important positions, many of the Yang family represented by Yang Biao hold important positions, and the Yang family has tens of thousands of troops in their hands!

Situ Zhangxi is considered a neutral faction, with little influence.

"Although Taiwei Yang can't stand alone, if the lord is not in court, the emperor may secretly summon Liu Biao of Jingzhou to regain power! So if there is a way to eliminate the influence of Yang Biao and Liu Biao in a legitimate way, then the lord has nothing to worry about! "Guo Jia said.

"Indeed, that's exactly what I'm worried about!! Feng Xiao, tell me about your strategy!" Yuan Yao said eagerly.

"My lord, in ten days or so, the Spring Festival will be celebrated, which also means that the new year is coming. Please, my lord, please ask the emperor to change the new year name, and at the same time issue a new decree, ordering all officials in office No more than 54 years old!" Guo Jia said.

"What? This..."

Jia Xu and Xu Shu both looked shocked and took a deep breath.

Yuan Yao also took a deep breath, his mind roaring.

"Retirement!! Haha, Guo Jia's strategy is to retire! If this plan works out, then both Yang Biao and Liu Biao, who are now 53 years old, will have to face retirement next year!! You can relieve Yang Biao and Liu Biao from their positions!" Yuan Yao was overjoyed.

"Feng Xiao, your plan is brilliant!! If the two of you don't act in accordance with the new decree, then I will have the name to conquer!" Yuan Yao said.

"Hehe, Guo Junshi, I didn't expect you to come up with such a conspiracy. I was shocked. Fortunately, I am only in my 40s!" Jia Xu laughed.

"Guo Junshi, I am convinced by your plan. You don't need a single soldier, and you will stir up internal fighting among the princes in Jingzhou. I expect Liu Biao will not accept it, but after the prefects of Jingzhou counties have issued this decree, I will definitely oppose Liu Biao, hoping to compete for the next state shepherd!" Xu Shu praised.

"My lord, after the implementation of this decree, my lord can ask Liu Biao to step down in name only, but don't actually act. This will not violate the agreement with Liu Biao. However, we can secretly encourage and hint that the generals in Jingzhou will attack Liu Biao and take the other Replace him!" Xu Shu said.

"Xu Changshi, your knife is even more ruthless!" Guo Jia laughed.

Yuan Yao was overjoyed, and said with a smile: "Good! Good! With three people helping me, this matter will surely be accomplished! Wen He, you are now one of the three princes, and you are in the court. You know the reactions of the officials best. What do you think? How can we ensure the smooth implementation of this decree?"

Jia Xu cupped his hands and said: "My lord, I think it's better to deliberately reveal the rumors secretly, so that we can observe the reactions of the officials in advance, and if there are any objections, we can eradicate them one by one before formally proposing the decree! Before that, You can bring up the matter of changing the year name first, and let the officials discuss it and divert their attention!"

"Okay, let's act according to the plan of the three!" Yuan Yao said.

"Yes, my lord!"

"Wen He, immediately after you go back, you start spreading rumors about your resignation at the age of 54!"

"Yuanzhi, start preparing for the change of the year name immediately, and inform the emperor that he will go to court tomorrow morning, and I will propose a change of the year name!"

"Feng Xiao, you and your advisers will further improve this plan! Also, you also need to analyze in detail about the Eastern Expedition to the Wa Kingdom and the Western Expedition to Xiliang. I plan to choose a direction to lead the army after the new year!"

Yuan Yao quickly made a decision, and Jia Xu, Xu Shu, and Guo Jia each responded.

next morning morning
Emperor Liu Xie, who had been resting for half a month, was very reluctant. He yawned and was supported by the maid on the dragon chair, with a displeased expression on his face.

For Liu Xie, the morning court was meaningless, and everything was arranged by the prime minister's mansion. What he usually had to do was to pick up the jade seal and stamp a few seals. This could be done at any time, but he had to get up early and go to court early It affected his sleep, which really made Liu Xie feel aggrieved.

(End of this chapter)