Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 297: Ungrateful?
At the New Year's Day court meeting in Xudu, Liu Xie not only put on a stern face and rewarded Prime Minister Cao Cao greatly, commending his military achievements in resisting the traitor Yuan Shikai, but also bestowed gold and silk on Liu Bei, the governor of Xuzhou.
Thinking that this was Cao Cao's money given to Liu Bei, Liu Xie became happier and even wanted to add a few more "0".
The first person to be commended was Cao Cao, followed by Liu Bei, and then... surprisingly, it was Liu Zhang, who was praised for his ability to protect the country and the people.
After that, Xiahou Yuan launched a beautiful surprise attack in Bai Ma, defeating Yuan Shao's vanguard army, and Guan Yu defeated Yuan Xi several times in Qingzhou...
Just as Liu Ai said to Liu Xie, although Liu Bei did not stand on Liu Xie's side openly and engage in a head-on conflict with Cao Cao, but... having an uncle with real power outside the country, who was left as a hostage in Xu Du, invisibly strengthened the confidence of the royal family.
Even though they had to reward the prime minister first and establish him as the greatest meritorious official of the Han Dynasty, they still had some pitiful autonomy, for example... they could reward Liu Bei as well, and they had to spend Cao Cao's money to reward him.
The Prime Minister's Office will not stop such behavior, after all, Liu Bei is now their ally.
At this time, Cao Cao was just standing in the first position on the left hand, listening with his eyes closed and expressionless.
Obviously, Cao Cao already knew this list, but... he didn't want to fall out with Liu Bei now, otherwise Liu Bei would directly send the Qingzhou soldiers to Xuzhou, and Cao Cao would be in danger immediately!
Gradually, some people began to show surprised expressions - they didn't hear any commendation for Hua Xin... or for the Marquis of Chu.
Could it be that there is still a barrier regarding the bestowal of the Nine Gifts?
Indeed, a while ago, Hua Xin seemed to be standing in the palace and refused to leave. It seemed that something had happened...
At the beginning, some people suspected that it was because the merits and virtues of the General's Mansion were so great that they had to be specially awarded. However... after reading more than ten people, Liu Xie suddenly said: "The General's Mansion in Yangzhou also wiped out the last remnants of Yuan Shu this year, which makes me very pleased."
After that, he continued to talk about other people...
It's in such an inconspicuous place? It's better not to mention the white map!
Many court officials looked at Hua Xin quietly, but saw that the old man was looking at his nose with his eyes, his mouth with his nose, and his heart with his mouth, and he seemed unmoved at all.
His Qi-cultivation skills are first-rate, but... many court officials were gloomy about this, knowing that this was a sign of discord between the General's Mansion and the imperial court.
Whether it was the court officials who still had some expectations for the Han Dynasty or the court officials who had already shown goodwill to Cao Cao, they were all thinking about what impact this would have.
Although the Changshui Captain Zhong Shao was not of a high rank, as the commander of the Xiyuan personal army, he was also present at the court meeting. After hearing Liu Xie's words, he frowned and looked at Liu Xie anxiously, then at Hua Xin, but unfortunately he could not say a word.
The Zhong family is full of loyal heroes. Zhong Ji's elder brother Zhong Shao was killed by Li Jue after his plan was exposed in Chang'an to lead Ma Teng to attack Li Jue and save the Han emperor.
Now Zhong Ji is also a die-hard fan of the Han Emperor, but he can’t understand why Liu Xie has such an attitude, and... the Chief of the Imperial Clan Liu Ai didn’t stop him?
In contrast, Hua Xin, the person involved, seemed unmoved from beginning to end.
Hua Xin was very shocked by Liu Xie's "humiliation" - Liu Xie's face did not look like that of an emperor, but more like that of a baby!
Indeed, Liu Xie's impression of the General's Mansion has begun to take a sharp turn for the worse recently, and the reason is... the good news.
The victory report from the General's Mansion in Jingzhou stimulated Liu Xie.
In theory, Liu Biao was the governor of Jingzhou appointed by Dong Zhuo. During the period when Li Jue held the emperor hostage, Liu Biao was promoted to the governor of Jingzhou because he took the initiative to pay tribute. Liu Xie always had a bad opinion of him.
However, one thing that cannot be denied is that the only three Liu princes now are the pillars of the Han Dynasty!
With them as "external aid", the Han Dynasty could have more prestige and the court would have more room to play.
Therefore, after learning of the good news from the General's Mansion, Liu Xie summoned Hua Xin again, expressing his intention to mediate the conflict between the General's Mansion and Liu Biao, and asked him to write a letter to the General's Mansion to ask them to stop attacking Liu Biao!
But how could Hua Xin possibly pay attention to him?
They insisted on three points: "Liu Biao was a fake official appointed by the traitor Dong", "he accepted the remnants of the traitor Yuan with evil intentions", and "he attacked and killed the governor of Changsha with the intention of opposing the court."
In short, no matter what Liu Xie said, Hua Xin insisted on one point - no matter what you, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, think, our General's Mansion must kill Liu Biao in order to support the Han Dynasty!
This naturally angered Liu Xie, who even threatened Hua Xin that he would issue an order directly. However, Hua Xin remained unmoved and just stood outside the palace, acting like a loyal minister trying to persuade him...
Afterwards, Liu Xie’s “order” was directly rejected by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Because of Liu Bei, Cao Cao gave him some more color, but it was not allowed to open a mill!
From the imperial edict to Liu Xie's note asking for thicker millet porridge today, all had to go through the Prime Minister's Office before being sent out.
Cao Cao would naturally not watch Liu Xie provoking his important ally "for no reason" - if the so-called imperial decree could make Bai Tu give up attacking Jingzhou, why would he wait for Liu Xie to draft it?
Cao Cao knew best that if such an imperial edict reached the General's Mansion, it would be completely embarrassing for him. Bai Tu might even directly accuse the Xudu court of issuing a forged imperial edict. Wouldn't it be the reputation of the Prime Minister's Mansion and its relationship with the General's Mansion that would be damaged then?
The imperial edict was directly sent back by the Prime Minister's Office, and the Prime Minister's Office even only sent a minor clerk to inform him "not to make trouble", and also reminded Liu Xie that the imperial edict had nothing to do with him, and asked him to worry less in the future... Liu Xie naturally became even more angry.
Seven parts of this anger were directed at Cao Cao, and three parts were directed at Baitu, but... Liu Xie's hostility towards Cao Cao had already reached MAX, and now Liu Xie did not dare to do anything to Cao Cao and could only let him control him.
As for the General's Mansion...the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, but Liu Xie still dared to vent his anger in his own way.
However, for Hua Xin, this way of venting his anger did not cause any pain or itching at all.
After the New Year's Day court meeting, Dong Cheng, who was left behind by Liu Xie, looked disdainfully at Hua Xin's "humiliated" figure leaving.
The previous events might have been instigated by him.
Especially when Hua Xin stood respectfully outside the hall, Dong Cheng was very happy to see it - it turns out that what is fake can never be real, and I have finally tested out the loyalty and treachery, right?
Are you scared now? But even if you just stand there like an idiot, His Majesty won't be fooled by you again!
Zhong Ji was the envoy sent by the court to welcome Hua Xin. He was more familiar with Hua Xin, so he went to Hua Xin and comforted him, "Lord Hua, your majesty is still young and cannot make decisions on many things. If there is anything inappropriate, please forgive me!"
As a loyal minister of the court, Zhong Ji felt aggrieved that he had to speak softly to the "envoys" of local powerful officials. However, after experiencing humiliation from Dong Zhuo, Li Guo and others, Zhong Ji had already faced the reality.
"Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor. How can there be any term of 'tolerance'? Lord Zhong is embarrassing this old minister and the general! If Lord Zhong says so, this old minister must kneel at the palace gate for a whole night to express his gratitude..." Hua Xin was surprised and spoke with a tone of deep sorrow.
Zhong Ji was so frightened when he heard this that he broke out in a sweat and said quickly, "Master Hua, please don't do this! Ahem... I mean, it's New Year's Day now, Master Hua should just enjoy the New Year."
Hua Xin, now the people of Xudu, the entire Central Plains, and even the people of the world, all know this name.
Before, when Hua Xin stood respectfully in the palace, a lot of rumors had already arisen after the news spread. If Hua Xin knelt at the palace gate... who knows what kind of rumors would arise!
At that time, the person that the people of the world would blame would definitely not be Hua Xin, but only the "ungrateful and ungrateful" Liu Xie.
