The Tyrant's First Volume I Want to Be an Emperor Chapter 41 Fame is All Empty

  In the following days, everything went smoothly. Liu Xuan and the officials of the imperial court, with the help of Lü Bu's power, successfully opened the gates of Tongguan. At the same time, the general guarding the pass was killed by Lü Bu with a single spear thrust. The remaining soldiers were frightened into inaction, giving Lü Bu enough time for his elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to take control of the entire Tongguan in the shortest possible time.

  With Tong Pass in hand, Liu Xuan and the others also became much more at ease. Although the subsequent time was not enough to be squandered at will, there was no longer the threat of being stabbed from behind at any moment, and the civil and military officials of the entire court could finally breathe a sigh of relief. After arriving in Chang'an, they used the same trick to deceive the gate open and enter the city.

  It's just that this time it was a bit more troublesome, Chang'an is after all a major city and also the original capital of the Han Dynasty. The larger the city, the more soldiers are stationed there, which means there won't be an opportunity to make a move easily. Even if one manages to get into Chang'an, they will still have to face some trouble later on.

  Lü Bu originally wanted to repeat the trick of drawing a gourd, opening the city gate and directly killing the defending general. At that time, the city would be leaderless, and Lü Bu could take advantage of the situation to recruit more soldiers.

  Unfortunately, Cao Cao did not let him have his way this time, but only told him not to be reckless, and then settled a large group of people in Chang'an. After occupying one place in Chang'an, he suddenly rose up and attacked.

  That night, all the people in Chang'an City closed their doors tightly and didn't even dare to open a crack to take a peek. The cries of killing continued throughout the whole night, and naturally, no one could rest well under such circumstances.

  Even if it was Liu Xuan, he sat for a whole night that evening, but looking at Wang Yun, Yang Bi and Yuan Wei beside him, Liu Xuan felt that he was much calmer than them.

  Look at all the officials in the court, those with some martial arts skills are all wearing armor and carrying swords. Even if it's Wang Yun, Yuan Wei, Cai Yong and other literary scholars, although they don't wear armor, they also have long swords hanging from their waists. I estimate that when things go wrong, these people will also pick up their weapons and rush to fight with others.

  Unfortunately, Cao Cao and Lü Bu didn't give them a chance to perform. Liu Xuan's long sword was only placed aside for the night, without even being drawn from its scabbard. Because at dawn, Lü Bu arrived first and simply said: "The city is completely pacified. The original garrison commander of Chang'an, Zhang Xiu, escaped during the chaos and his whereabouts are currently unknown."

  Zhang Xiu?

  Liu Xuan really didn't expect that the defender of Chang'an was actually Zhang Heng, he only knew that the person in charge here in Chang'an was a nobody - at least Liu Xuan had never heard of his name before, it turned out that the city's soldiers were under Zhang Heng's command.

  This guy is also a talent, couldn't recruit him over and didn't get rid of him today either. Who knows if he'll bring some trouble to himself in the future?

  Liu Xuan thought for a moment and then put the matter aside, after which he let all the officials disperse and at the same time arranged for himself to enter the Chang'an Imperial Palace.

  These trivial matters did not require his attention, but the many palaces in Chang'an had been neglected for years, not only showing signs of disrepair, but also accumulating a lot of dust, which needed to be thoroughly cleaned before they could be occupied.

  After everything was busy, it had been several days again. During these days, the government affairs of the whole court were all piled up, but Liu Xuan didn't go to deal with them at all. In these few days, he only focused on his cultivation.

  It's not surprising that the ancient capital of Chang'an still has a lingering dragon energy, but what's strange is that it's different from the declining dragon energy in Luoyang. The dragon energy in Chang'an actually shows a kind of newborn appearance, which Liu Xuan vaguely feels. It's the dragon energy from the founding period of the Han Dynasty. Unexpectedly, there are still remnants of it today?

  "It stands to reason that this dragon energy should have dissipated long ago, after all, the Han Dynasty has been established in Luoyang for over 200 years, and even if there was still some dragon energy left, it should have disappeared by now... Could it be that there is a national treasure here?"

  With a guess in mind, he couldn't help but want to investigate further. So for the past few days, Liu Xuan had been wandering around various palaces in Chang'an during his free time, wanting to see where that nascent dragon energy was emanating from.

  At the same time, he secretly congratulated himself in his heart: "If I hadn't ascended to the throne as emperor, even if I had arrived in Chang'an, I wouldn't have noticed this dragon energy."

  Because this dragon energy, although it shows the appearance of being newly born, has a vigorous and refreshing feeling, but it is not strong, and is even very weak. If Liu Xuan had not become the emperor, the entire world's and imperial court's dragon energy would all have some connection with him, and certainly would not have discovered the existence of this dragon energy.

  His chaotic running around in the various palaces of Chang'an was enough to give all the officials a headache, as if the Emperor had finally escaped Dong Zhuo's control and revealed his true nature.

  The young emperor's restless nature is not hard to understand, but this important matter has been delayed for many days. This group of old ministers is still waiting to report to the emperor, but can't find him anywhere. Moreover, some people with ulterior motives see the emperor like this and instigate some old ministers to make decisions on their own.

  They certainly did not know that Liu Xuan was busy finding the dragon energy, and thought that the Son of Heaven had no intention of handling government affairs with a peaceful mind. With the instigation of others, his ambition gradually swelled up.

  But what everyone didn't know was that although Liu Xuan spent his days running around, every night he would summon Xun Yu to ask him questions. Although he couldn't grasp all the psychological changes of the officials in the court, he could guess eight or nine out of ten.

  As for how Xun Yu knew?

  The various officials in the court naturally couldn't avoid mentioning Cao Cao and Lü Bu, as these two men were currently the de facto powers, with the most reliable troops in Chang'an under their control. Although Huangfu Song and Zhu Zhi had received an imperial edict from the Emperor to reorganize the Northern Army's five divisions in Chang'an, for now, the Imperial Guard and the Tiger Guards were still the most trustworthy forces.

  So many great ministers did not dare to underestimate the two men, let alone Lü Bu having a marquis title on him, and his status was no worse than theirs. Cao Cao had not yet been granted a noble title, but everyone understood that it was only a matter of time, as soon as these trivial matters were settled, the title would be a certainty.

  Cao Cao knew, Xun Yu knew, how could Liu Xuan not know? So the discussion among the officials in the court must have been hidden from Liu Xuan's ears. Among them, several old and cunning guys naturally saw through it, so people like Taifu Yang Bi and Taifu Yuan Wei basically did not express their opinions. On the other hand, Wang Yun, without Dong Zhuo's suppression, seemed to be eager to try.

  "Your Majesty has been neglecting state affairs for some time now, and I fear that this will lead to gossip among the people."

  Xun Yu was also unclear about what Liu Xuan had been doing recently, and no matter how he looked at the emperor's daily inquiries about the dynamics of the courtiers, he only thought that the emperor wanted to test the loyalty of the officials. If so, it is likely that there will be a stir in the future.

  It was about this time that Liu Xuan estimated that the timing was also about right and called upon Xun Yu to discuss matters.

  "That dragon's origin can be ignored for the time being, anyway it won't run away if left there, just find it slowly! If these officials don't get a grip on things soon, they'll probably descend into chaos."

  He thought for a moment and asked Xun Yu, "I want to reform the official system in the court again. What do you think?"

  Xun Yu did not expect Liu Xuan to make such a big move at once? The reform of the official system is not something that can be changed just by saying it, it involves all aspects of things, and almost no dynasty will do this kind of thing. Most of them are established when the country is founded, and even if they change later, they are only slightly modified on the basis of this system.

  But judging from the emperor's tone, it's clear that this is no trivial matter.

  "How would Your Majesty like it changed?"

  Liu Xuan had such an idea, it was because the system of the Han Dynasty was too chaotic, and many powers were repeated. After Emperor Ling of Han messed around, it became even more chaotic. What's more, Liu Xuan found that many official titles in the Han Dynasty could not be linked to their actual duties, which made him think deeply.

  Although he didn't have much ability to formulate better systems, it's also possible to use some of the relatively good things from history.

  For example, the legendary six ministries system.

  The three provinces are nothing, but the six ministries system is a very suitable system for the current situation. More importantly, the current San Gong Jiu Qing system in use is actually the predecessor of the six ministries system, and many of its powers have only undergone minor changes, so the backlash caused by such reforms will not be too great.

  Of course, if it weren't for the consideration of the collective protests of the officials, Liu Xuan would have directly introduced various modern systems, which would have made the division of powers more detailed and the rights more dispersed, making his rule even more beneficial.

  However, everything cannot be rushed, and for now, the six ministries system is sufficient and also easier to accept.

  Xun Yu roughly understood what the Emperor meant by comparing it to the Six Arts.

  The Six Ministries system may not be much higher and more perfect than the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers system, but it has clear division of labor, is easy to understand, and its power is also relatively easier to concentrate in the hands of the emperor, making it easier to control than the current nine ministers each having a complete set of officials.

  This was extremely beneficial to the Emperor's rule, and Xun Yu naturally agreed, only saying: "For now, all matters are pending, it seems not quite suitable for such a major move."

  Liu Xuan, however, had a different view: "At present, the court officials are following me into Chang'an for the first time, and the court is in a state of chaos. If we don't take control of the court at this time, I fear that we will be controlled by them instead."

  His intention is to take advantage of the chaos, directly establish a team that can be used by him, and get things back on track in the shortest time possible, and then slowly clean up those who don't listen.

  Xun Yu's idea was to first eliminate those with ambitions, and then only after the imperial court was left with loyal officials would he implement new policies. In this way, naturally no one would oppose it, and more importantly, without hidden obstacles, the new policy could be implemented; otherwise, if there were people who outwardly obeyed but inwardly disobeyed, they could thoroughly destroy a good edict in no time.

  Liu Xuan certainly understood what Xun Yu was worried about, but he had his own ideas.

  "But those who disobey orders will be punished by having their families exterminated!"

  At this time, the military and horses are all in his hands. If he doesn't take advantage of this moment to do something drastic, should he wait until the officials also have the power to counterattack before taking action? Anyway, he knows enough talented people, so he's not afraid that no one will be usable. Moreover, it's not necessary to kill them all, just killing a few people, and the rest of the people will naturally dare not make any more moves.

  As for reputation? Liu Xuan realized that everything in this world is false, only when you win do you have everything.

  The previous chapter was missing a part at the beginning, it has been revised. If there's anything wrong, it's just that the system hasn't refreshed yet, wait for a while and it'll be fine.

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