Volume 1: I Want to Be an Emperor Chapter 26: Talents Everywhere

  Xun Yu, Xun Gong Da, a man from Yingchuan, is indeed a member of the renowned Xun family in today's society. These things didn't surprise Liu Xuan at all; what surprised him was the person standing before him.

  When Zhang Rang told himself that, apart from Xun Yu's appointment as the Yellow Gate Gentleman in the imperial palace, there was another talented member of the Xun family serving as the Guardian of the Palace, a position closer to the emperor than the Yellow Gate Gentleman. This role was responsible for managing the emperor's writing instruments and stationery, and during the emperor's handling of official business, the Guardian of the Palace would also stand by, with powers similar to those of a secretary in later times.

  At this time, Liu Xuan was sitting there, watching the young man in front of him, who was about 27 or 28 years old and quite good-looking, arranging things neatly.

  "I heard that Wen Ru is this year's filial piety candidate and has entered the palace as a guardian of the imperial palace!"

  The emperor asked, who dares not answer? The young man opposite also respectfully replied: "Yes! I have been in the palace for more than half a year."

  Actually, according to Liu Xuan's previous understanding, he always thought that those who could serve by the emperor's side in the imperial city were all eunuchs. Even after living in the Han Dynasty for a while, this understanding was not completely overturned.

  It was almost as if he had missed such a great wise man.

  Xun Yu, also known as Xun Wenruo, was a clansman of the Yellow Gate Gentleman Xun You, but several years younger. However, he possessed great talent and later became one of Cao Cao's most important advisors.

  If Xun Yu had missed it, he wouldn't have thought much of it, but if he had missed Xun You, that would be really frustrating, the most important thing is that it was so close, and he almost didn't notice.

  It's actually not Liu Xuan's fault. He used to learn about the late Han Dynasty mainly through "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and later he read some "Records of the Three Kingdoms" and partial unofficial histories, so it's impossible for him to investigate every detail of everyone's experiences. The fact that Xun Yu served in the palace, if not intentionally searched, probably few people know about it.

  However, after Liu Xuan met with Xun Yu, he soon realized that Xun Yu would soon resign and return to his hometown, and it wasn't until later when he arrived at Cao Cao's headquarters that he finally settled down.

  This person belongs to the kind of people who can see clearly the overall trend of the world and know that the Han dynasty is about to perish. Now Liu Xuan is still developing his own power in a low-key manner, so on the surface, his situation does not differ much from that of Liu Cong, who sat on the throne in history.

  Apart from this, Liu Xuan hoped that the world would be in great chaos and then prepare to strike at the powerful clans... aren't they similar to the existence of the Yingchuan Xun family?

  This seems to mean that from the very beginning, both sides have been standing on opposite sides.

  Of course, as long as Liu Xuan is willing to make certain promises, this group of doorkeepers will not be foolish enough to oppose the imperial court. The only headache is how to control the degree?

  He casually picked up a few books to read, but Liu Xuan's mind was still entangled in these messy things. As for the matter of appointing Huangfu Shujin as the commander of the Hu Ben Army, it would be better to let Mr. Xun Wenruo handle it directly. He just had to wait for Xun Yu to finish writing the imperial edict, then take a look at it, and if there was no problem, he could stamp it with the emperor's seal.

  As soon as the Emperor's Seal was mentioned, Liu Xuan remembered that after the Ten Eunuchs' Rebellion, the jade seal had disappeared without a trace. After he ascended to the throne, he never saw it again. According to his memory, it should have been hidden by some palace maid and then fell into the well together.

  But this imperial city is so big and there are many wells, who knows which one is it?

  Of course, if Liu Xuan can still use his skills, finding a jade seal is not a problem. However, Liu Xuan's cultivation has just entered an awkward stage, and the dragon egg has tied up all his dragon energy inside his body, making it impossible for him to do anything. Even with all sorts of methods at his disposal, without any power to use them, it's all in vain.

  "Never mind, anyway that jade seal is related to Yuan Shu's stupid emperor affair later on, just leave it like that!"

  Yuan Shu claimed the title of Emperor, directly destroying the reputation accumulated by the Yuan family over several generations. From being one of the most prominent and powerful families in the Han Dynasty, they became traitors who were not tolerated under heaven. After that, the Yuan family began to experience various misfortunes - scholars from all over the country refused to help the Yuan family again, and the downfall of the Yuan family was closely related to Yuan Shu's claim to the throne.

  If we use a more familiar way of speaking, it would be: Yuan Shu's claim to the throne completely ruined the reputation of the entire Yuan family, leading to their tragic downfall.

  He also hoped that Yuan Shu would continue on this path, anyway, as long as the Emperor Yuan was established, after the vassals were eliminated, he could still issue an edict to call for the person who obtained the Jade Seal to send it into the palace - at that time, the Jade Seal would be a hot potato, and no one dared to hold it in their hands, so Liu Xuan could absolutely get it back.

  "Since it will definitely return to me, there's no need to rush!"

  Now that the jade seal is gone, it seems to have dealt a blow to the emperor's dignity. But if this hadn't happened, it would only have helped Dong Fei gain more momentum. If he hadn't caused such outrage among heaven and men, how could later events have occurred?

  After some thought, the matter was put aside for the time being. Just then, Xun Yu had finished writing the imperial edict, and Liu Xuan glanced over it without finding any issues, so he immediately sent someone to deliver the edict, summoning Huangfu Shuo to come to the capital.

  He guessed that Cao Cao had already gone to communicate with Dong Zhuo, and since he hadn't come to the palace all this time, there was no problem. After Liu Xuan dealt with some trivial matters, it was already late at night. He got up, stretched his limbs, and happened to see Xun You coming in to report on the closure of the palace gates as usual.

  Xun Yu, Xun You!

  Looking at the two Xun family members, Liu Xuan suddenly realized: "If we had openly suppressed the aristocratic families from the start, it would have definitely triggered a strong backlash. It's better to win over some of them first."

  Thinking about it as he went to the palace, the first day after ascending to the throne passed in a daze.

  For a period of time afterwards, Liu Xuan did not do anything out of the ordinary. Every day he would attend court sessions and major or minor events were all decided by Dong Zhuo's single word. However, Liu Xuan also guarded his bottom line, especially with regards to the Imperial Guard, no matter what methods Dong Zhuo used, he was unable to extend his hand into it.

  If it were a normal situation, Dong Zhuo should have realized that something was wrong long ago. However, Cao Cao had been getting close to Dong Zhuo recently, which made Dong Zhuo develop a misconception: he had become so powerful that even Cao Cao, who had troops and horses, needed to come to him to show his respect!

  So he put aside the matter of You Linjun for the time being and began to think that You Linjun was already his sure thing.

  Of course, his subordinates often came to report, and the Son of Heaven would often take people to the garrison of the Feathered Forest Army to inspect, but Dong Zhuo still didn't take it seriously.

  The key reason is that every time Liu Xuan goes, he will ask Lü Bu to bring the Hu Bao guards with him, and then go to the Yu Lin army without any scruples.

  In the blink of an eye, two months had passed. On this day, early in the morning, Liu Xuan personally appointed Dong Zhuo as Chancellor, allowing him to be greeted without being announced by name, to enter the court without hurrying, and to wear his sword and shoes while ascending to the throne (these treatments were: when a minister met the emperor, the official did not report his name, only his position, which was considered a courtesy; at the same time, he did not have to hurry during the morning court; finally, during the Han dynasty, one had to remove their shoes before entering the palace and was not allowed to carry weapons, but those who received this treatment were exempt from these two rules).

  Actually, Dong Zhuo has been showing these tendencies for several days. When attending court, he acts as if he is in his own backyard, with no regard for the rules of etiquette. Liu Xuan also sees through Dong Zhuo's arrogance, which has reached a certain level, and doesn't mind adding fuel to the fire, so he gives him such treatment.

  Of course, in the eyes of all ministers, Liu Xuan's rewards were all out of coercion, especially the title of Prime Minister - for 400 years since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, has there ever been a Prime Minister?

  As for the right to speak? It seems to have overlapped with the value of Si Tu's rights.

  After the morning court session, Wang Yun's face was as dark as a pot bottom, and he didn't exchange pleasantries with familiar people after the court session. He went straight back to his own residence, the Minister of Works' manor.

  Liu Xuan didn't know if Wang Situ would plan another assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo after returning home, but he really didn't want this group of people to stir up trouble at this time, needlessly startling the snake in the grass.

  After some thought, before dispersing the court, he specifically said: "Today I want to go to the Huabing camp to take a look, does the Prime Minister wish to accompany me?"

  Dong Zhuo listened and was displeased.

  As his power grew, although he was already in control of the imperial court, he was still one rank below the emperor in terms of status, so he tried to avoid meeting with Liu Xuan as much as possible.

  Are you going out alone with Liu Xuan today? Won't he be depressed to death?

  After some thought, he made an excuse that there were many urgent matters in the imperial court and he needed to return as soon as possible, so only Lü Bu accompanied the Emperor.

  "It's better not to go!"

  Liu Xuanben didn't expect Dong Zhuo to go with him, today he went to see the Hu Biao army, in fact he wanted to take a look at the generals under Lü Bu's account.

  He has always wanted to win over Lü Bu, apart from Lü Bu's own superior martial arts skills and extremely strong ability to command troops, there are also several useful talents under his command.

  After all, one of the five good sons of Wei State in the future, Zhang Liao Zhang Wenyuan, is now serving under his account. Not to mention others, this one alone is worth his efforts to win over.

  Thinking of this, I want to go and take a look at the Hu Bao army under Lü Bu's jurisdiction. Even if I can't dig corners in front of him, at least I have to mix my face first.

  He set about making preparations, and Xun Yu, Xun You and other close officials were to follow him. Ahead of them, the Tiger Guards from Lü Bu's camp cleared the way. Liu Xuan specially summoned Cao Cao, who brought some Imperial Guards to escort them on either side. Liu Xuan took a look and saw that the officer leading the troops was wearing copper-coloured armour, carrying a large sword, with quivers and longbows hanging from his horse's sides. He reckoned this must be Xiahou Mao, the skilled archer.

  After sizing them up, he didn't say anything, but quietly observed the Huben and Yulin troops beside him. The Yulin was equivalent to a newly established army, with most of its soldiers being new recruits, while the Huben was formed by mixing old veterans with Lv Bu's original Bingzhou cavalry. He could see the difference between the two armies at a glance.

  Nowadays, the Youlin Guard is far inferior to the Hu Biao Guard. If they were to engage in a battle, it's likely that the Youlin Guard would be completely annihilated. However, Liu Xuan has confidence that as long as he is given enough time, the Youlin Army will eventually possess great combat strength and become one of his sharpest blades.

  As they thought about it, before long, they arrived at the training ground of the Hu Bao Army. The crowd had just barely settled when they noticed a group of soldiers gathered in one place. It turned out that an officer was drawing his bow and shooting an arrow at a grass target over a hundred paces away, and amazingly hit the red center of the target. The surrounding soldiers saw this and cheered loudly, immediately drawing Liu Xuan and the others' attention over.