Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 124: Pedantic Sage
"Don't be angry, Minister Xun. General Song didn't mean what he said." Hua Xin spoke to comfort him.
Xun You is now the governor of Runan, and serves as the "Shangshu" in the court - of course, Runan is still under the control of Yuan Shu, and the governor of Runan can just listen to Yuan Shu's instructions, just like the governor of Hanzhong in the Eastern Wu and the commander of the Mongolian navy in later generations...
"I'm not angry, I just heard that the laws and regulations under Lord Bai's command are strict and the military discipline is iron-clad, but now it seems..."
Xun You also understood that there was nothing to say to the Bingzhou barbarians led by Lu Bu. After all, these people had a grudge against Cao Cao and had different etiquette. It was better to talk to famous scholars such as Hua Xin, Wang Lang and Kong Rong .
However, upon hearing what Xun You said, Wang Lang of the Ministry of Justice raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? Then in the eyes of Minister Xun, what is considered strict law? Just because General Song mentioned the word 'eunuch', he was beheaded in public? In Yanzhou, is there such a rule?"
Xun You had also tested the attitudes of Hua Xin, Wang Lang and others before, but he had not made a clear judgment. After all, Xun You could not ask openly, and now Cao Cao still wanted to form an alliance with Bai Tu.
And if he didn't ask directly, how could Hua Xin and his gang of old foxes give him a direct answer?
Being confronted by Wang Lang so directly at this time, Xun You immediately understood that Wang Lang had truly decided to join Bai Tu, and was not just going through the motions because of the court's appointment!
Wang Lang was good at torture, and was appointed by Bai Tu as the head of the Ministry of Justice. At the same time, Wang Lang was very resistant to torture, so he had a bad impression of the cruel First Emperor.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, when criminal investigation methods were very backward, how did Wang Lang solve cases?
In addition to logic, there is eloquence - Bai Tu has read the files of Wang Lang's several "clear judgments", all of which were made by relying on his eloquence to make the criminals reveal their flaws and ultimately unable to deny.
So when it comes to verbal sparring, Wang Lang is no less than anyone else. When he heard Xun You questioning the laws of Jiangdong, Wang Lang immediately began to satirize Cao Cao for killing scholars without authorization.
Moreover, it was difficult for Xun You to refute this matter directly, because many of Cao Cao's staff who came from aristocratic families, including their uncle and nephew, disagreed with this matter.
"Speaking of the law... Xin also heard of a thing. It is said that the old Taiwei Yang was implicated and imprisoned because of the treason Yuan Shu. I wonder if this is true? Since the ancestor Zhen, the Yang family has had four generations of Taiwei. Their loyalty to the Han Dynasty is obvious to all. If Minister Cao puts the old Taiwei Yang in prison just because of a marriage, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public." Hua Xin asked about Yang Biao.
If it was something else, Jiangdong might not know it so quickly, but the replacement of the three highest officials would be automatically notified to the princesses in all the counties in the world.
As the Grand Marshal, Yang Biao can be said to be the backbone of the Han Dynasty court and one of the few big men that Cao Cao is afraid of.
In addition, Yang Biao had ignored Cao Cao's several attempts to make peace. This time, taking advantage of the fact that Yuan Shu's wife was from the Yang family, Cao Cao directly captured Yang Biao and tortured him severely!
Cao Cao's argument on this matter was indeed untenable. After all, according to current values, a married daughter's family would not be implicated. Moreover, Yang Biao was a well-known pillar of the country, and the Yang family was a top family comparable to the Yuan family.
Although the Yang family was not as prominent as the Yuan family in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, they were still prosperous. Even in the historical process without the white rabbit effect, if Yang Biao had lived for another six generations, the Yang family would have produced a founding emperor, Yang Jian, who would have restored the Han Dynasty in the Northern Dynasties and ended the division between the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Before Xun You set out, Xun Yu and Guo Jia also went to persuade Cao Cao to release Yang Biao.
However, Cao Cao still handed Yang Biao over to Xudu County Magistrate Man Chong for punishment. Although Xun Yu and Guo Jia also went to Man Chong and told him not to abuse torture, but... who is Man Chong? Xun You felt that Yang Biao would be beaten up if he fell into his hands.
However, Xun You would never show his weakness in front of outsiders. Even though he did not agree with Cao Cao's treatment of Yang Biao, he still retorted: "This is the emperor's will, and it has nothing to do with Cao Sikong."
"Oh, Emperor Ping executed the Wei family, but Wang Mang was also unaware of it?" Kong Rong said with disdain.
The Wei family was the wife's family of Emperor Ping of Han. The extermination of the Wei family was naturally the work of the powerful official Wang Mang, and it cannot be said that it was Emperor Ping of Han's idea...
Xun You's chest tightened when he heard this - how come Wang Mang has come out? He immediately understood that these three did not need to discuss the matter of conscription!
"Mr. Kong is too serious... Now that we have Cao Sikong in the court and pillars like Bai Yangzhou outside, the revival of the Han Dynasty is imminent. There is no chance of Wang Mang and his ilk." Xun You wanted to refute this point firmly.
"Well, I believe that with Sikong Cao in the court, the people of the world will not be disappointed. Everyone... Today is a festive banquet, and there are so many family members here, so let's not talk about official business." Bai Tu raised the wine cup and said, interrupting the argument of several people.
But in his heart, Bai Tu loves Kong Rong very much because he likes his straightforward personality!
In history, Kong Rong also went to Cao Cao to plead for mercy because of Yang Biao's matter, but the example he gave was "If King Cheng of Zhou wanted to kill Shao Gong, could Zhou Gong say that he didn't know" - Shao Gong and Zhou Gongdan were of the same generation, and were also important ministers of the Ji clan who assisted King Cheng of Zhou.
At that time, Kong Rong still had expectations for Cao Cao. Although he refuted Cao Cao's attempt to shift the blame, he gave him a high hat of "Duke of Zhou".
Now Kong Rong only expected Bai Tu, and the example was directly changed to "Wang Mang killed the Wei family", which was so straightforward.
The banquet was able to continue only after Bai Tu changed the topic.
Although the braised pork and pork rib soup tasted good, Xun You was no longer in the mood. He just kept smiling business-like and persisted until the end of the banquet. Only then did he take the opportunity to bring up the matter of sending troops to attack Yuan the traitor.
“Alas, as the governor of Yangzhou, I should protect the country and the people. This war is really an ominous sign. I’d better assist Cao Gong…” Bai Tu acted very cowardly, like a pedantic person who was afraid of war.
"Wait a minute! Yuan Shu has seized control of Yangzhou, how can we do nothing?" Upon hearing this, Lu Bu was the first to stand up and stop him.
"This..." Bai Tu seemed a little hesitant about Lu Bu's identity.
Gan Ning also said at this time: "My lord, today is a good opportunity for us to mobilize our troops, capture cities and territories, and march north from Ruxukou, first taking Chaocheng and then Hefei..."
"Shut up! Gan Ning, where do you put the people who have been displaced by the war? Where do you put the wives, parents and children of the soldiers who died in the war?" Bai Tu said angrily.
It seems that Bai Tu is really unwilling to start a war lightly...even though this is indeed a godsend opportunity!
However, facing his adoptive father Lu Bu , it was difficult for him to directly refute, but he became tough towards Gan Ning.
"My lord, you are kind-hearted and respected by people all over the country, but now you have been summoned by the court. How can you ignore the people of Huainan? I dare to suggest that Zhang, the prefect of Wujun, lead a steady army to the north to support the royal army of the court." Lu Kang suggested at this time.
"This... Everything in Wu County is still undecided, so we'd better trouble General Sun to take a trip... From now on, Sun Ce will be transferred to be the prefect of Danyang, and lead the army north to Wankou and recover Wancheng. Gan Ning... will be transferred to be the prefect of Kuaiji!" Bai Tu finally decided.
Danyang County and Lujiang County are across the river from each other. In order to ensure smooth military and political communication in the rear, it was reasonable to move Sun Ce, who was the main attacker, to be the prefect of Danyang. However, the original prefect of Danyang, Gan Ning, was directly "exiled" to the poor and remote Kuaiji, which also reflected Bai Tu's dissatisfaction with him.
At least in Xun You's opinion, Bai Tu behaved as his reputation suggested - a great sage, but not good at military affairs and without much ambition.
It's just that some of his subordinates seemed unwilling to be lonely, especially Lu Bu's group, who still harbored ill will towards Cao Gong, and Hua Xin, Wang Lang and others had completely defected to Bai Tu - as celebrities, it was indeed in their interests to guard the great sage for the sake of fame... Xun You narrowed his eyes and analyzed secretly.
Of course, Xun You had not yet completely believed this side of the story, but his subsequent understanding made him believe it more and more!
