Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 117 Yuan Shu declares himself emperor
In the first month of the second year of Jian'an, Bai Tu moved the capital to Moling and changed it back to its original name "Jinling".
Although the documents to the court were still on the way, Bai Tu had already moved the governor's mansion here.
Early in the morning of the first day of the New Year, a "surprise" came from Huainan!
Yuan Shu officially proclaimed himself emperor in Shouchun, named himself Zhongshi, called himself the Emperor of the Zhong Family, appointed officials, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, and announced it to the world...
This news was spread directly by Yuan Shu through "Zhong Ji", because Yuan Shu's territory spanned four states, namely Yu, Xu, Yang and Jing. Now he wanted to establish his own regime in place of the Han Dynasty. This was equivalent to pulling the city girls in Huainan and part of the Central Plains to withdraw from the Han group and establish a new group. Therefore, in name, the governors or governors of these four states, as well as the Han court, all received the news first!
On the first day of the first lunar month, he could not wait to establish himself, a month earlier than in history. It was unknown whether it was because Yuan Shu was really more confident or because of the two defeats in Jiangdong and Xuzhou that made him desperate...
Although they had fun and made noises before, at least no princes made fun of the legitimacy of the Han Dynasty!
Although there were people who claimed to be emperors, they were all small groups of rebels who occupied the mountains and enjoyed themselves. The separatist forces that could truly be called princes did not nominally raise the banner of anti-Han.
Even after the two defeats, Yuan Shu's strength can still be ranked among the top among the various princes in the Han territory today, and his war potential is still there - the areas occupied by Yuan Shu are almost all densely populated and arable land areas!
At least nowadays, no prince dares to say that he is stronger than Yuan Shu.
But now Yuan Shu was the first to raise his hand and slapped the Han Dynasty in the face, and the last fig leaf of the Han Dynasty was also torn off...
Gan Ning, the prefect of Danyang, and Zhang Liao, the prefect of Wujun, were also reporting on their work in Jinling at this time. Only Sun Ce's troops in Poyang were still on guard against Jingzhou and had not rushed back.
After Gan Ning learned the news, he came to the governor's mansion cursing, seemingly very unhappy that Yuan Shu had ruined his vacation - even if it was a few days later, by then Gan Ning would have been sent out.
Zhang Liao and Gao Shun met this colleague on the road and wanted to go up and say hello. However, after hearing his mumbling and spitting out foul language, Zhang Liao frowned. It was obvious that he and Gan Ning did not get along well...
Not only these generals in Jinling, but also naturally no one in Jinling could think of taking a rest after hearing this news. Officials and staff from the six ministries immediately gathered in the central hall of the governor's mansion.
"The news has been passed to your official seals. If you have any ideas, please feel free to share them..." Bai Tu was halfway through his words when he noticed Hua Xin staring at him intently.
Especially when , Hua Xin's eyes were full of "glare".
Bai Tu had no choice but to say a few more words: "Yuan Shu is a scoundrel, a lunatic, he has occupied all provinces and counties, he has killed the virtuous and harmed the good, he was born in a noble family but he has ignored justice, he is simply... he is worse than pigs and dogs, I, Bai Tu, will never coexist with him!"
After Bai Tu finished speaking, he looked at the mahogany low table in front of him with some heartache - I just moved, and this is all new!
But encouraged by Hua Xin's gaze, Bai Tu still drew his sword and chopped it off...
Hua Xin, including Lu Kang, Wang Lang and others, also looked at the white map with greater satisfaction.
They don't need to think too much about whether Bai Tu is really loyal to the Han Dynasty, but they hope that their lord can show loyalty when he should be in the position of "loyal to the Han Dynasty"...even if it is just acting!
Otherwise, if the name is not right, the words will not flow, and if the words are not flowing, things will not be accomplished.
Lu Bu, who was in the first position on the left, curled his lips secretly when he saw this and thought: I hope these hypocritical guys don’t corrupt the hard drive.
Most of the remaining generals did not care much about this joke, except Gan Ning, who winked at Bai Tu with a half-smile, and it was unclear whether he was mocking him or trying to say that he had once suffered the same fate.
"Yuan Shu is arrogant and goes against the will of Heaven. Not only did he previously occupy the land north of the Yangtze River in Yangzhou, but now he is even offending the majesty of Heaven. My lord, you must enforce justice on behalf of Heaven and send troops to attack him. All you need is a piece of paper and all knowledgeable people in the world will respond." Lu Kang said that he had tolerated Yuan Shu for a long time.
"Mr. Lu is right. Yuan Shu is blinded by greed. This is a gift from heaven... ahem. Anyway, if the lord leads his army to Huainan now, he will surely be invincible."
Yu Fan felt that it was a bit too straightforward to say that the other party's independence from the Han Dynasty was a "God-given opportunity", so he changed his words midway.
"The Ministry of Civil Affairs has now accumulated a large amount of food and grass. Even if the lord sends out an army of 100,000, he will have no worries." Zhu Zhi said with some resentment.
Zhu Zhi also came from a noble family in Jiangdong. Bai Tu allowed him to work in the Ministry of Revenue, in charge of material storage.
According to the current division of powers among the six ministries, the Ministry of Revenue should be responsible for the safekeeping of various materials. However, when other ministries have assignments and transfers, they can requisition materials from the Ministry of Revenue.
Now, most of the "relief grain" is being requisitioned by the Ministry of Civil Affairs...
Everyone talked at once, and the staff's opinion was unanimous - fight!
Upon hearing this, the generals in the hall all asked for orders. Gan Ning, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Jiang Qin...
The civil officials have already said they want to fight, so the generals will naturally not be scared. Even someone like Gan Ning, who knows in his heart that Bai Tu will not act rashly, also shows a desire to fight.
Not to mention others, Bai Tu had already met Gan Ning when he had just returned to Jinling, and mentioned to him that he would be transferred to Kuaiji this year.
Also handed over to Gan Ning were the ship design drawings... and the Shu brocade craftsmanship.
Therefore, Gan Ning knew best that the strategic focus after Bai Tu was definitely not to fight to the death with Yuan Shu in Huainan!
But now that everyone's atmosphere has reached this point, Gan Ning also asked for a fight, without showing how familiar he is with the lord, or that he has inside information.
Among the children of aristocratic families, Gan Ning was undoubtedly the most emotional, and his emotion management was extremely poor, but some instinctive taboos were a habit.
But at this moment, Lu Su, who had been silent before, gave a different choice.
"Now that our lord's virtue is known all over the world, Yuan Shu is nothing but a dead bone in a tomb. Why bother to resort to war to deal with a mere Huainan? Weapons are dangerous tools! As long as our lord accumulates virtue and builds up his reputation, the people and soldiers will naturally tend to side with us and abandon Yuan Shu. Isn't this wiser than using force to make him surrender?" Lu Su stood up and said.
When everyone saw Lu Su speak, they fell silent - everyone knew that this man was Bai Tu's eldest cousin, who was entrusted with the important task of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and was the real confidant of the provincial governor's office.
Moreover, since Lu Su took charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, his actions have been truly convincing, and the Jiangdong gentry have all known that this "dragon from the river" from Xuzhou is not just a nepotism.
However, Lu Su's words were shocking!
Is this your line?
When did you, Lu Su, become a corrupt scholar who could not see the situation clearly? Is this the world that emphasizes "using morality to make the enemy surrender"?
Hua Xin looked at Lu Su, then at the white map, and vaguely realized something, so he also stood up and said: "What Lu Sibu said is very good, Xin admires it."
After being surprised for a while, Lu Kang suddenly remembered that Lu Su was suspected of possessing the Heavenly Book - Lu Kang had always been skeptical about the legend of the "Heavenly Book", but he was very confident in Lu Su's talents.
So he also began to follow the rhythm and said: "What this old man means is that the lord must naturally be prepared to enforce justice on behalf of heaven and wait for the call of the court. There is no need to act rashly before that..."
Lu Su represented the staff who assisted Bai Tu wholeheartedly, Lu Kang represented the Jiangdong gentry who supported Bai Tu, and Hua Xin represented the noble and famous scholars. After these three people reached a consensus, although some people did not understand, they all agreed.
Bai Tu was also a little curious. Why did Lu Su suddenly change his attitude?
Sure enough, after the meeting, Lu Su stayed behind, as if he had something to say to Bai Tu alone...
