Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Liu He smiled bitterly in his heart, are they putting me on the fire?
So Yuan Xi has this kind of intention in mind when he wants to befriend me?
He was about to speak when Yuan Xi said, "Brother Liu, I have a few more words to say. Please wait until I finish."
"What do you think? Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion more than a decade ago, the country has been in ruins. How can the Han Dynasty be restored?"
"Let's not talk about Emperor Ling. Doesn't the emperor want peace in the world? But why has it become like this?"
"Yang Feng, Han Xian and other Baibo bandit leaders were originally refugees who could not survive. Their original intention may have been just to survive, but after they rebelled, they became people who oppressed and plundered the people. Can these people really support the Han Dynasty?"
Yuan Xi pointed at Yan Rou and said, "During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han court recruited Wuhuan cavalry, but I heard that they didn't even pay them, and even treated them as slaves, causing them to flee, right?"
After hearing this, Yan Rou smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, you know it very well. Not only the Wuhuan and Xianbei, but even the Han people in the border areas like us are not looked up to by others."
Everyone knew that the Han court adopted a policy of control, using the Hu to control the Hu, but it only regarded the border residents it recruited as tools. People are not worried about the lack of wealth but the inequality of wealth, and this is the root cause of the unrest in the border areas.
Yuan Xi nodded and said, "I hope you will think about where the problem lies."
"I agree with welcoming the emperor, but I don't agree with imitating Dong Zhuo."
"But if the officials and civilians of Youzhou encounter the same incident as the Wuhuan cavalry did in the future, what should they do?"
When everyone heard this, they were shocked. Yuan Xi was reminding them that if the emperor lost his way, what choice would they make?
This is also a problem that all the princes in the world have to face today, because since the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, the prestige of the emperor has fallen to the point where it cannot fall any lower.
All that Emperor Liu Xie can offer now are some honorary official positions. They seem to be high-ranking and powerful, but they are just nice titles. In order to expand their power, the princes today want real things such as territory, population, money and food.
There is not much benefit to be gained from welcoming Liu Xie now, but there are actually many troubles to deal with. If other forces insist on not letting go, we must be prepared for war.
Guo Jia said: "A gentleman does things based on deeds, not intentions."
"Since you want to do it, I will offer a few ideas."
"It is not advisable to welcome the emperor too early. If you do so, others will catch you while you wait for the oriole to come."
"It is also not advisable to send a large army, as this will make everyone wary and target us, and we will become the target of public criticism."
"It is not appropriate to state one's position, lest one be criticized by the world."
"It is not advisable to unite with other parties, lest we overwhelm the emperor and allow him to be controlled again."
Everyone gasped. Guo Jia meant to exercise moderation, but this degree was too difficult to control, right?
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Mr. Feng Xiao really understands me. If you don't give me some advice, I would be at a loss."
Guo Jia said angrily: "Then Sir, find a counselor quickly!"
"Youzhou is such a big place, can't we find anyone?"
Although everyone despised Guo Jia's arrogance, they had to admit that the Runan Yingchuan gentry had produced many talented people in recent years, and they occupied important positions among the princes of various parties.
Not to mention the Eight Dragons of the Xun family, others such as Xi Zhicai, Xu Shao of Yuedanping, Guo Tu, Liu Ye, and Lu Meng of later generations, are all from this place.
Even Yuan Shao was born in Runan. He masterminded the entire process of He Jin's elimination of the eunuchs and manipulated everyone in the palm of his hand, showing the demeanor of a great strategist. However, he was eventually reaped the benefits from Dong Zhuo.
"Book of Jin" records: "Xing went to Sanyuan and said to his ministers: "The ancients said that the east of the pass produces prime ministers, the west of the pass produces generals, the Three Qins are full of talented people, and Ruying is full of extraordinary people."
The reason why Runan and Yingchuan produced so many strategists is inseparable from the general environment. Their scholars often gathered together to discuss major events in the world. With the wisdom of many people, their horizons would naturally be much broader.
The Ruying scholars were powerful and needed to be restrained by other forces. Yuan Shao appointed Xu You and Pang Ji from Nanyang to balance them. But even so, the relationship between Yuan Shao's advisers was still extremely complicated.
Therefore, Ju Shou, whose temperament and ideas were incompatible with Yuan Shao, was squeezed out to Youzhou, which actually benefited Yuan Xi.
You know, judging from Ju Su's overall ability alone, he could rank among the top three among Yuan Shao's advisers.
However, Yuan Xi still couldn't guess Ju Su's thoughts, especially on the matter of welcoming the emperor. He was able to send three urgent memorials in a row. There must be some other reasons, right?
So Yuan Xi gathered everyone together in order to be frank and let everyone speak out their true thoughts.
Welcoming the emperor is of great importance and requires the cooperation of everyone. If everyone has their own thoughts, it will certainly not be accomplished.
Seeing that Tian Yu hadn't said anything from beginning to end, Yuan Xi said, "Brother Guo Rang, I want to hear your opinion."
Tian Yu was helpless, thinking that he couldn't escape.
In fact, compared to Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, who are both leading their own troops and acting independently, Tian Yu is the one who is now following Yuan Xi and is the one who is most valued by him.
The tasks that Yuan Xi assigned to Tian Yu were varied, but they were all the most important and critical, which showed that Tian Yu was highly trusted by Yuan Xi.
To Tian Yu himself, this was simply unbelievable.
Because more than half a year ago, the two of them fought to the death near Yijing, and Tian Yu personally assassinated Yuan Xi. At that time, Tian Yu did not think that Yuan Xi could understand his thoughts.
However, on the top of Jingwang Tower, Yuan Xi's bow to the dying Tian Kai and the scene of the two men sympathizing with each other deeply touched Tian Yu, and the grudge in his heart seemed to be swept away.
Tian Yu discovered that although Yuan Xi seemed to be frivolous, he actually fulfilled his promises seriously and truly understood their difficulties and hardships as subordinates!
From then on, Tian Kai made up his mind that since Yuan Xi was someone Tian Kai admired, he would see how far Yuan Xi could go.
Tian Kai has been with Yuan Xi for quite some time and has guessed 70% of his thoughts. Yuan Xi is a man of his own ideas and what he does is very different from the legacy of the Han Dynasty. How could such a person be inferior to others!
Although the task that Yuan Xi assigned to Tian Yu was dangerous, Tian Yu did not feel that Yuan Xi was harming him. Instead, he felt a sense of being recognized. He thought to himself, isn't it just a rebellion? I am also very interested in what will happen to the world in Yuan Xi's hands!
Now that Tian Yu saw Yuan Xi letting him speak, he thought for a moment and then said, "When Lord Liu was alive, he implemented benevolent policies in Youzhou and helped the people to rest and recuperate."
"The people of Youzhou were a mixture of Han and Hu people, and Lord Liu treated them all equally. Therefore, at that time, Yu only heard of Lord Liu, and not the emperor."
When Liu He heard this, his face froze at first. He thought to himself, what does Tian Yu mean by this? Isn't this just putting me on the fire?
If this gets to the ears of the Han court, will I be able to survive?
And even though you admired my father so much, didn't you still end up relying on Gongsun Zan?
Tian Yu paused for a moment, then said, "Lord Liu has a very good reputation for treating the people well, but my previous lord, General Gongsun, often allowed his soldiers to plunder his own people. I was quite uncomfortable with that at the time."
"Lord Xuande has been very kind to me, but even so, Yu has not betrayed General Gongsun, because General Gongsun is Yu's mentor."
"Once a person has received a favor, it is very difficult to make a decision, especially when he has received favors from many people."
"Yu's household registration comes from the emperor, Yu's fortune comes from General Gongsun, Yu's official position comes from the prince, and Yu's salary comes from the people."
"How can we tell the difference between the severity of Yu's gratitude?"
"If General Gongsun were still alive, I'm afraid it would be very difficult for Yu to make up his mind to join you, right?"
Some people present were still confused as to what was said, but Liu He and Yan Rou, who knew Tian Yu's character well, as well as Guo Jia and Ju Shou, who were both smart, all heard some hidden meanings, and Liu He's face changed slightly.
Although Tian Yu's words seemed to be a lot of nonsense, they were the most clear-cut among the crowd, and also had the most vicious implications.
The first meaning is that he will be loyal to his chosen lord until the end unless he dies.
The second meaning is that he does not judge based on the order of favors. There must be a sequence between the emperor and the princes. As for who comes first and who comes later, everyone should know it.
Guo Jia thought to himself that there really are people like Tian Yu in the world who are good at everything they do. It is difficult for ordinary counselors to say such meaningful words!
Tian Yu's words extinguished the last bit of worry among Yuan Xi's subordinates. They truly understood that at this point, there was actually no turning back.
Everyone said in unison: "We are willing to obey your orders, sir!"
Yuan Xi said aloud: "I understand."
"Let me tell you about the next arrangements."
"Jicheng is the seat of Youzhou."
"After the spring plowing, all cities in Youzhou will mobilize soldiers and horses for training. Zilong will be the main general, Guo Rang and Brother Yan will be the assistant, and you and Master will be the military supervisors. After the summer harvest, we will send troops to Black Mountain."
"At the same time, I would like to ask Mr. Han Yu to be a special envoy to visit Hanoi to negotiate with Wen Hou."
"As for the defense of Jicheng, Brother Liu will take over temporarily."
When everyone heard this, they thought to themselves, this is clearly an attempt to sideline Xu You in Beixincheng.
Originally, Yuan Shang placed Xu You in Beixincheng as a sting, but Yuan Xi simply changed the seat of government and left Xu You there.
After the discussion, everyone went about their own business and left.
However, the orders Yuan Xi gave to everyone were just a sleight of hand, and several of them actually had other arrangements.
Guo Jia found Yuan Xi at this time and said, "I'm afraid it's hard to find someone to help my disciples. I remember someone who is very suitable to be a counselor."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, could it be that Guo Jia really does what he wants? Maybe he saw Ju Shou coming and felt threatened?
He asked casually, "Who is it?"
Guo Jia said: "Liu Ye, courtesy name Ziyang, is from Chengde, Huainan."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi wondered how he could have forgotten about this person!
He hurriedly asked: "Where is this person?"
Guo Jia said: "It should be at the Lujiang prefect Liu Xun's place."
Yuan Xi was speechless after hearing this. Wasn't this the prefect of Lujiang appointed by Yuan Shu after Sun Ce captured Lujiang a few days ago?
Can he also go to Yuan Shu and poach people?
I'm afraid that the person will be chopped down by Sun Ce before he even arrives?
Thinking of the secret affair between himself and Madam Wu, Yuan Xi felt guilty. If Sun Ce really knew the truth, the one he would receive from him would definitely not be a call of "Father", but a blow to the head.