On the fifth day of August, Liu Hong summoned some regular ministers and Yilang to discuss national policies.
He believed that the decline of the Han Dynasty was due to the lack of virtuous ministers to assist the emperor, and the lack of virtuous ministers was due to years of party control.
He believes that the party's policy of confinement has lasted for more than ten years, and it has played a role in punishing and warning those who are disobedient. At present, there are no people in the world who continue to offend the emperor or cause trouble, so it seems that it does not make much sense to continue the party's policy of confinement. .
Therefore, it seems that the time has come for the party's policy of imprisonment to be lifted.
Scholars and officials were very surprised by this, but Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others believed that this was not the case.
They believe that there are still those who offend the emperor and cause rebellion in the world and despise the majesty of the emperor. The party's policy of restraint has been running for more than ten years without major problems, so it should be maintained until no one dares to offend the majesty of the emperor. That's okay.
The scholars and officials were very angry about this and started a debate with the eunuchs.
Liu Hong also believed that it was not possible. The punishment for those who committed rebellion was almost enough. If the punishment continued, it would harm the Han Dynasty.
Zhang asked Zhao Zhong and others to continue to plead not to lift the party's imprisonment, and knelt before the emperor and kowtowed in petition.
The participating councilors continued to have heated debates with the Chang Shi headed by Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, and even had a tendency to fight.
In the end, Liu Hong decided to adopt a compromise approach in order to "bridge" the differences between the two sides.
He announced that he would carefully consider the mutual views and make a decision at a later date.
On the seventh day of August, Liu Hong made a decision.
When the scholars were eagerly anticipating the announcement of the lifting of the party's restrictive policies, Liu Hong's declaration was not quite what most people thought.
First of all, he announced the appointment of Zhang Rang, the permanent minister, and the minister.
Then he promoted Lu Zhi, a master of ancient Chinese classics and minister, to minister Zuocheng, still with the title of minister.
He also recalled Fu Qian, a master of ancient Chinese classics who had been sent out to serve as county magistrate, back to the court and asked him to take over Lu Zhi's position and become one of the ministers in the Shangshutai, with the title of minister.
Then he announced that as the emperor, he would recruit the great scholar Zheng Xuan to serve as a servant in the court.
After Zheng Xuan, he decided to recruit thirteen scholars from the ancient classical school who were restricted by the party's policy to serve as councilors in the court.
Subsequently, there were some changes in the official positions in the Shangshutai. Some low-status scholars and officials of the ancient Wenjing school were promoted, while officials of the modern Wenjing school were suppressed to a certain extent in the Shangshutai.
This is a fatal thing.
Although the official system of the Eastern Han Dynasty generally maintained the system of the Western Han Dynasty, with the Sangong and Jiuqing system as the skeleton, the real power had been completely transferred to the Shangshutai.
Therefore, even if the three ministers and the nine ministers are scholars of the Jinwen Jing school, as long as they cannot control the minister's desk, they cannot have a direct influence on politics and are just mascots with high status.
It was Liu Hong's special approach to let eunuchs be appointed ministers. The eunuch Cao Jie had promoted ministers before, but Cao Jie died of illness two years ago and the post of ministers was pending.
Nowadays, it is no longer so unacceptable for Liu Hong to appoint the eunuch Zhang Rangti again.
What is really unacceptable is the series of arrangements that followed. After this series of arrangements, the scholars of the Ancient Classics School had an absolute advantage in the Shangshutai, while the scholars of the Modern Classics School were suppressed.
According to the gossip that circulated, Liu Hong originally planned to lift the party's policy of imprisonment, but the eunuchs firmly disagreed. For fear of being counterattacked, they cried and complained to Liu Hong in private, which finally made Liu Hong relent and compromise.
So on the advice of the eunuchs, Liu Hong decided to partially but not completely lift the party imprisonment.
Those who have been released from party imprisonment are the scholar group of the Ancient Classics School, which has relatively weak political power. The scholar group of the Modern Classics School, which still has strong political power, is still under the influence of the party's policy of imprisonment.
With the promulgation of this series of decrees, the entire atmosphere of Luoyang City entered an extremely subtle state.
For a time, all forces were waiting and watching, hibernating, and no one made a public statement on this series of decrees at the first time.
But private action has already begun.
Before the positions were appointed, some big-shot figures from the Jinwenjing School widely invited big-name figures from the Ancient Wenjing School who they had met in the past or had good personal relationships with to discuss it.
They hope that the Ancient Classics School can stand on a united front with them, not to accept appointments, but to fight against eunuchs and emperors together, and uphold the glory of scholars.
Never believe the tricks of the emperor and eunuchs. This is an attempt to divide us scholars. This is an extremely despicable act. You must not believe it.
Lu Zhi was invited.
Liu Bei, who is a rising star and has great influence within the Ancient Classics School, was also invited.
The person who invited them was Yuan Wei, the current head of the Runan Yuan family who had just taken up the post of Situ. The former Situ Chen Dan had already lost his position as Situ due to some unfounded charges, and his maneuvers after the incident were obviously unsuccessful.
The eunuch is still so strong.
However, this position was immediately succeeded by Yuan Wei, so people did not pay too much attention to it.
It seems that because of Yuan Shao's relationship, this invitation was not initiated by Yuan Wei, but Yuan Shao personally came to invite Liu Bei, went to visit Lu Zhi with Liu Bei, and then invited Lu Zhi and Liu Bei to visit Yuan Wei's house.
Before that, Liu Bei asked Yuan Shao for his opinion on this matter.
"Opinion? My opinion is not important. I am a concubine. It is difficult for me to compete with Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu for the family business. It is not my turn to inherit the family business. But in the end, I am still a member of the Yuan family. I and the Yuan family will both prosper and suffer. So I had to help.”
Yuan Shao trusted Liu Bei very much and whispered: "But Xuande, don't worry about me. If you have the opportunity, you can accept the promotion appointment. The higher your position, the happier I will be."
"Yuan Jun, this..."
"This is what I say from my heart. Please Xuande believe it and don't have any doubts."
Yuan Shao's expression was sincere.
Liu Bei believed this.
At a historical fork in the road where the dispute between modern and ancient literature is about to reach a landmark turning point, Yuan Shao must have noticed something, and he does not have an advantage in the competition for family inheritance, which will prompt him to seek some new developments outside. possible.
Although you can gain wealth by clinging to your family's thighs, Yuan Shao is obviously not a person who is willing to be a slave to others.
He is also a son-in-law who wants to slap the Yuan family in the face with a crooked smile.
As an important rising star in the Ancient Classics School, Liu Bei will be the breakthrough point for him to seek a breakthrough. Therefore, the better Liu Bei's development, the happier he will naturally be.
Besides, he didn't think that the Yuan family, the fourth generation and the third Duke, would fall. After so many years of hard work, the family's heritage was extremely strong. Could it be that the emperor just told them to fall?
A skinny camel is bigger than a horse.
In a sense, this may not be a scumbag behavior of [the red flag at home does not fall, but the colorful flags flutter outside the home].
Well, Yuan Benchu is obviously a scumbag.
