Chapter 46: Pacifying the West

  The attendant thought that with this opposition, the matter would naturally be settled, and under these circumstances, the Emperor could only withdraw his edict, and the proposed change would not be mentioned again.

  He was so tight, actually because the position of Shizhong is under the Shangshu Ling and Shangshu Pushe, belonging to the Shangshutai. If you want to climb up, there's no surprise that it's going for the position of Shangshu Ling, and then you should be staring at those three public positions.

  But unexpectedly, the new emperor directly issued an edict to change the six Cao to six departments, with each department having a Shangshu as its chief official. The rank of Shangshu was also promoted by several levels, not only surpassing his own original position but also surpassing the level of the nine ministers.

  What's even more deadly is that the establishment of the six departments is equivalent to directly abolishing the Shangshu Tai, and he was still hoping to continue climbing up, but unexpectedly the emperor came up with this move.

  The position of Shizhong does not have a fixed number of personnel, that is to say, as long as the imperial court is willing, it can arrange a dozen or so Shizhongs at the same time, and this situation will not occur.

  However, there are also several people who hold this position at present. The new emperor's edict is equivalent to blocking their direct promotion path. Ma Zhi thinks that after he takes the lead, these fellow attendants will definitely respond immediately.

  Unexpectedly, before they could even speak, the Emperor directly said another sentence: "This is an imperial decree, not a discussion, just carry it out as is."

  One sentence made all the officials feel a chill run down their spines, and with Lü Bu standing there, holding his halberd, looking majestic and awe-inspiring, they almost thought that Dong Zhuo was still on the throne.

  It wasn't until this point that the officials gradually realized what kind of person this young emperor was. Although he had only issued an edict this time, judging from his actions, it seemed that the days ahead for the officials would not be as good as they were initially.

  The crowd had not yet reacted, and Cao Guan turned his head to glance at Liu Xuan. Seeing the emperor's signal, Cao Guan immediately continued reading.

  Apart from the six ministries' system needing to be implemented immediately, the emperor also decreed the reorganization of the current military equipment and removed the city gate guards and Zhongwei soldiers from the army's ranks, planning them separately as officials for patrol and capture.

  These were all trivial matters, and since Emperor Wu had not expressed any opposition, no one else would dare to say anything. However, the emperor subsequently issued an order to establish a new imperial guard, instructing Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, and Lu Zhi to quickly draft a charter for the organization of the guard. As for who would be appointed, what ranks they would hold, and what treatment they would receive - from the commander-in-chief down to the lowest soldier - all these details needed to be carefully determined. Liu Xuan had initially thought of handling everything himself, but then he thought that since he had so many high-ranking officials at his disposal, why bother with all the trouble? He simply handed over the matter of the imperial guard to a few ministers he currently trusted the most.

  These things are beyond the control of the officials in the imperial court. Currently, the troops in Chang'an are divided between Lü Bu and Cao Cao. With the emperor's two edicts, the troops that were originally under Huangfu Song's command have also been taken away. The centurions with some combat ability and the gate guards will be reassigned to form the Imperial Guard, while those who are unqualified will mainly be responsible for maintaining order within the city.

  For the arrangement of Huangfu Song and Li Su, Liu Xuan directly arranged them into the newly established six departments. The specific positions have not been determined yet, but it is certain that Shangshu will not run away, Li Su may be slightly worse, but at least he is also a Shilang-level official.

  In addition to the six departments that Liu Xuan forcibly promoted to a position similar to, or even slightly higher than, the nine ministers, Huangfu Song and Li Su can be said to have risen rapidly and smoothly, without much to complain about.

  Two imperial edicts were issued, and the officials in the court had different reactions. Some were delighted because they saw that the establishment of the six ministries would require a large number of personnel to fill them, which would enable the new reform system to operate. Moreover, the ranks of the six ministries were extremely high, so those who were originally worried about having no way to advance suddenly saw a bright and broad road ahead.

  Liu Xuan had not considered this situation before, but Cao Cao and Xun Yu both had a premonition, which was also the reason why they did not strongly oppose the direct establishment of the six departments.

  There are many Chinese officials like He Qizhong, even if a change brings dissatisfaction to many people, it will also get support from some people. There are many reasons for this, and the provision of numerous promotion opportunities is one of them.

  Liu Xuan then made some appointments, among which the most notable was the appointment of Huangmen Shilang Xun Yu as the Left Servant of the Ministry of Revenue.

  Xun Yu was a member of the Xun family. Originally, the representative of the Xun family in the imperial court was Xun Shuang, but on his way to Chang'an, Xun Shuang fell ill and resigned from office, succeeded by Zhang Wen as Minister over the Masses.

  Now the emperor's favor is on Xun Yu, isn't it to win over the Xun family?

  These people naturally did not know that there was also a Xun Yu beside Liu Xuan, but for the time being he could not find a suitable position to arrange for Xun Yu, so he just stayed by his side and waited until he had thoroughly controlled the court before arranging a suitable position.

  But also need someone trustworthy to sit in the capital, Xun Yu is naturally a suitable person, it's just that because he was originally limited in rank, promoting a Shangshu Lang was already the limit, if directly appointed as Prime Minister, fear will cause even greater backlash.

  However, Xun's reputation is already there, and now that Xun You has gained the emperor's favor, it's likely that the position of Minister of Revenue is reserved for him. In this case, whoever takes the position of Minister of Revenue will probably not have a good ending. Some quick-witted people have started thinking about other positions.

  Liu Xuan did not continue to bestow rewards, apart from having no decision at the moment, also because there were too few people available for use by his side, so he simply gave this group of old ministers a bit of face, leaving all those positions vacant, letting them recommend some people and then setting up the six boards.

  This is also giving these guys a step down, if they go downhill then it's fine, but if they don't know what's good for them, the imperial court is getting a bit crowded, maybe fewer people would be better.

  Having Liu Xuan as a stepping stone, some old ministers indeed saw the good and collected, of course, there were also some stupid people with a more impulsive temper or a dumber brain who still refused to give in. Liu Xuan didn't waste words, directly stripping them of their official positions, using the Imperial Guard to expel them from the palace, if they had any harsh words naturally they couldn't escape some bitter heads.

  Showing a bit of the power he currently grasped, the imperial court which was slightly in disarray immediately quieted down - they seemed to have also gotten used to this situation, as it was when Dong Zhuo was around, and unexpectedly just after getting rid of Dong Zhuo, the Emperor started throwing another tantrum.

  Many people have focused their attention on Lü Bu and Cao Cao, feeling that these two men have now become the greatest threats to the public, because they hold the military power in their hands, which is like a sharp blade hanging over the master's neck, and it is uncertain when it will be cut down.

  Just thinking about whether to pull in Huangfu Song and others, at least not being so passive, but unexpectedly Liu Xuan's edict was not finished, and the next few edicts not only changed the color of the group of officials, but also Cao Cao's face slightly changed.

  "Commanders of troops are not allowed to participate in politics; ministers with internal administrative duties are not allowed to command troops. The two are mutually independent and do not have a superior-subordinate relationship."

  As soon as this edict was issued, someone immediately expressed dissent: "Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun and Lu Zhi all have official positions, but Your Majesty has made them lead the Imperial Guard. This..."

  Isn't it that Liu Xuan himself is being inconsistent and contradictory? As the emperor, how can he say such things without keeping his word?

  Liu Xuan glanced over and Zhang Rang whispered, "This is Liu Fan, the Left Central Lang General." Knowing his identity, he casually said, "The three of us are only responsible for drafting the charter, determining the organization, and commanding the Imperial Guard; there are other arrangements."

  One sentence shut Liu Fan down, and although this Zuo Zhonglang general had an unyielding heart, he also had no way to refute it.

  The ones who are most opposed to this order are people like him. As the Left Central Lang General, he is exactly between the literary and martial arts, and it's really hard to define.

  However, the benefits are that both sides can stretch their hands, and the power is quite broad. Many people also attach great importance to this position. Unexpectedly, with an imperial edict, the position of Zhonglang Jiang suddenly became a useless thing.

  This is actually Liu Xuan's intention. There are too many such positions between the civil and military officials in the Han Dynasty. Liu Xuan wants to clear up these positions one by one, leaving only a few important ones that are easy to control. The rest will either be transferred to other positions and then abolished, or their powers will be directly cut off.

  Then, Cao Cao's position as Colonel of the Feathered Forest was also abolished, and the position was temporarily vacant. If there were no accidents, Liu Xuan would thoroughly replace him with someone completely unrelated to Cao Cao, while several main officials who originally led the Feathered Forest Cavalry would basically be transferred by Cao Cao to the Tiger Leopard Cavalry.

  For the time being, there was no suitable successor, so it had to be left vacant for the time being. Later, Cao Cao was sealed as Pingxi General and Wugong Hou, which can be said to have also promoted several levels. Cao Cao was naturally not dissatisfied, and Liu Xuan also formally issued an edict to deal with the northwest bandits, ordering Cao Cao to recruit young men from the northwest and prepare war horses on his own to form a tiger leopard cavalry.

  With the formal edict, Liu Xuan also granted a noble title. Cao Cao is now a powerful figure in the court. Although Liu Xuan's edict prevented Cao Cao from interfering too much with government affairs, it can be inferred from the official position that the emperor wanted him to focus on the northwest war.

  If we can pacify the northwest, let alone the General of Conquering the West, even the General of Pacifying the West is not too far-fetched. At that time, where will I be able to stand?

  He naturally did not know that Liu Xuan would continue to let him hold a military position, and in order to prevent Cao Cao from using his ambition on the court, he would properly show Cao Cao how vast this world is, and how much land is waiting for him to conquer. With a goal, Cao Cao will not be overly obsessed with fighting for power and profit.

  As for the Duke of Wugong, Liu Xuan was not very satisfied with this title system of the Han Dynasty. The granting of titles required linking to fiefs, and this way of rewarding by dividing land was equivalent to cutting off a piece of flesh from the dynasty itself, which would be the source of trouble in the long run.

  Especially considering that you will use more people in the future, you can't just cut them off from your own body, right? In that case, even if the territory is vast, I'm afraid there won't be any land left to reward your subordinates as fiefs. According to his idea, it's better to fix the rank of nobility and then directly allocate special funds from the national treasury, rather than designating a certain area for a certain person.

  However, he has already made several big moves in a row and it's not good to overdo it. The reform of the aristocracy can only be put aside for now and talked about later when there is an opportunity.

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