Chapter 9 3. The Emperor’s Addiction

In the spring of the second year of Jian'an (197), when Cao Cao moved to Nanyang County, Yuan Shu, who was in Yangzhou, had a sudden whim and declared himself emperor, which shocked the whole country. As early as two years ago, when Emperor Xian was defeated by Cao Yang, it was widely rumored that Emperor Xian had died, and the whole country mourned, but Yuan Shu was secretly happy because he had always had a terrible idea in his mind: to be the emperor himself. To be honest, Yuan Shu's strength at this time is very average. After leaving Nanyang County, he originally wanted to develop in Yanzhou, but he couldn't beat Cao Cao and fled to Yangzhou.He killed Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, and established a base in Shouchun. There was also a period of prosperity. Xuzhou area.

Later, Sun Ce left Yuan Shu and went to Jiangdong to develop independently, which greatly reduced the strength of Yuan Shu's group. Yuan Shu no longer had any special generals under his command. It was said that he occupied Yangzhou, but in fact it was only two of the six counties in Yangzhou. But Yuan Shu has one of the biggest characteristics, that is, he always feels good about himself.Hearing that Emperor Xian was killed, he hurriedly convened a meeting, and said to his subordinates: "Now the Liu family is weak, the world is in chaos, and there is no unified leadership. Our Yuan family has been the Sangong for four consecutive generations, and it is the reputation of the world. I want to conform to the will of the people, what do you guys think of this (if you want to obey the sky and obey the people, what do you think of the kings)?"

Everyone was stunned when they heard it, and they couldn't believe their ears. Isn't "conforming to public opinion" just wanting to risk the world's disgrace and become emperor?No one under Yuan Shu said anything.In this case, silence is an expression of firm opposition. Yan Xiang, the director of Yuan Shu's office (master book), couldn't help persuading him: "At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, from Houji to King Wen of Zhou, they accumulated virtues and merits, and they already occupied two of the three parts of the world. They still obey the leadership of Shang King Yin Zhou. Although he came from a noble family, he has not yet reached the level of the Zhou king. Moreover, although the Han Dynasty is weak now, it is not as brutal as the Yin Zhou king!"

Yan Xiang's meaning is very clear: Your old man is far worse than King Wen of Zhou, and Emperor Xian is much stronger than King Zhou of Yin. Back then, King Wen of Zhou was willing to obey the leadership of King Zhou of Yin. What capital do you have to be emperor yourself? Yuan Shu was very upset when he heard this, and he didn't say anything for a long time (he was displeased), and no one supported him, so he put the matter aside for the time being. Once Yuan Shu's addiction to being an emperor is hooked, he will not eat well and sleep well if he fails to achieve his goal.All day long he thinks about becoming emperor.It was later confirmed that it was a pure misrepresentation that Emperor Xian died in Cao Yang, but even so, Yuan Shu still did not give up.

At that time, there were many mysterious prophecies popular in the society. They were basically unintelligible things or nonsense made up by people with ulterior motives. However, many people believed it, and some people still believed it. Yuan Shu was one of them.Among these mysterious prophecies, there is a well-known sentence called "The one who replaced the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gao". The first four words of this sentence are easy to understand, that is, the person who succeeded the Han Dynasty Guozuo and the person who destroyed the Han Dynasty.But the last two words are very puzzling. No one can tell what "Tugao" is.

But Yuan Shu thinks this is easy to understand, and this "Tu Gao" refers to himself.Yuan Shu's word is highway, "shu" refers to the road in the city, "highway" also refers to the road, and "tu" is understood by him as "road", which also means road.This kind of understanding is very far-fetched, but Yuan Shu thinks it must be like this. According to the "Theory of the End and Beginning of the Five Elements", the Han Dynasty belonged to Huo De, and those who replaced the Han Dynasty must belong to Tu De.This one is the corroboration of the previous one.Moreover, at this time, Zhang Jiong, a Hanoi native, helped Yuan Shu create a life talisman, as a sign of Yuan Shu's response from the emperor, and Yuan Shu felt that the emperor must belong to him.

Zhang Jiong's fate is mentioned in all history books, but no one knows what it is. It is probably similar to a writing stone dug out of a river or a piece of writing silk found in a fish's belly. With these theoretical foundations, Yuan Shu felt that he would be a little sorry for God's favor if he didn't come out to be the emperor.He heard that Sun Jian had obtained the Jade Seal of Chuanguo in Luoyang Palace, so he put Sun Ce's wife under house arrest and forced her to hand over the Jade Seal.At this time, Sun Ce had already gone to Jiangdong to open up a base area. In desperation, Mrs. Sun had no choice but to give the jade seal to Yuan Shu.

In the spring of the second year of Jian'an (197), Yuan Shu formally proclaimed himself emperor in Shouchun, regardless of the opposition of the people, but he was a strange emperor. Zhong's family". Some people in later generations believe that "Zhong Family" is the country title or year name of Yuan Shu's new dynasty, and some people call Yuan Shu "Zhong Family Emperor", but these are speculations, "Zhong Family" does not look like a country name, let alone "Zhongjia" is used as a record of the year name. Two years later, when Yuan Shu was at a loss, he defended his act of proclaiming himself emperor, saying that he saw the chaos in the world at that time, and that the seven kingdoms were divided in the last year of the Zhou Dynasty. Out of a sense of responsibility, he came out to replace the Han Dynasty. Guan Guanshi calls himself "Zhong's family", which means second. In his heart, he still regards the Liu family as the boss, and doesn't really want to be emperor.

It is generally believed that this is Yuan Shu's excuse for himself, but looking at the actual situation, it may not be completely false. Yuan Shu's desire to become emperor is certain, but he also knows that his strength is limited, so he left a way out, so as to make it easier. Come up with something nondescript. However, except for the title of the country and the title of the year, Yuan Shu acted like a real emperor in all other aspects.He changed the prefect of Jiujiang to Huainan Yin, similar to Jingzhao Yin in the Western Han Dynasty and Henan Yin in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Shouchun naturally became the "Beijing Master".

He was appointed to all the officials in Shouchun, but everyone seemed to be disrespectful, and the applicants were not as active as expected.Yuan Shu was a little worried, thinking that no matter what, he had to find a few famous people from all over the world to support his appearance, and the three princes and nine ministers couldn't be all like cats and dogs.He thought of two people, one was Chen and the other was Jin Shang.Yuan Shu wanted to invite them to be his "Three Dukes". Chen is Chen Deng's father, and he himself is the son of a high-ranking cadre. His father, Chen Qiu, was a captain. Yuan Shu and Chen were buddies in Luoyang when they were young.At this time, Chen was with Lu Bu in Xuzhou. Lu Bu was Yuan Shu's ally, so it should be no problem to ask him for someone.Yuan Shu wrote a letter to Chen, but Chen didn't come. It wasn't that Lu Bu didn't want to let him go, but that Chen didn't want to.

Not only did Chen not come, but he also wrote a severely worded letter to Yuan Shu, criticizing Yuan Shu.Chen said, let me go to Afu and you do those injustices, even if I die, I will not be able to go (if I want to run privately in Afu, I will not be able to commit death).Yuan Shu was so angry that he had a toothache. Jin Shang is an old party member with a certain reputation. He was appointed by the imperial court as the governor of Yanzhou. At that time, Yanzhou was controlled by Cao Cao.Jin Shang had no place to stay, so he came to attach himself to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu appointed Jin Shang as Taiwei, but Jin Shang refused to do so and was about to escape. Yuan Shu caught him and killed him in a rage. In Cao Cao's view, Yuan Shu's proclaiming emperor was not only a rebellion against the Han Dynasty, but also a challenge to himself.The new imperial court in Xu County had been in operation for less than a year, and Yuan Shu openly fought against the court. If he was not taught a lesson, a second or third Yuan Shu would inevitably emerge. In Cao Cao's strategic plan, solving Yuan Shu was not at the top of the list. What he needs to solve most now is the problem of Nanyang County, followed by Lu Bu and Liu Bei, and then the Liangzhou warlord in Guanzhong.But now that Yuan Shu jumped out on his own, Cao Cao's strategic plan had to be adjusted accordingly.