Chapter 83

"Therefore, it requires a talented individual, skilled in both civil and military affairs, to take over."

"I have heard of this Su Lie; his talents are limited. Being a county magistrate is already his limit, and he does not understand military affairs."

"This victory is likely due primarily to the efforts of his son, Su Xuan."

"How could such a person shoulder the heavy burden of being the Administrator of Nanyang and pacify the Huang Jin rebellion there?"

Clearly, Yuan Feng had done his research in advance.

He had likely received news from Nanyang even earlier than the Son of Heaven.

Naturally, Nanyang was the greatest commandery under heaven and bordered Runan in Yuzhou; the Yuan clan's influence there was not small.

They had many eyes and ears.

It was normal for their information to be well-informed.

"I beg Your Majesty to reconsider!"

Yuan Feng bowed.

Immediately after, several other officials stepped out to submit: "I beg Your Majesty to reconsider."

"This..."

The Son of Heaven hesitated upon hearing this: "That is not without reason!"

He remembered receiving a memorial from Chu Gong three days ago, which also mentioned that the main credit for the Battle of Dengxian indeed belonged to Su Xuan, the son of Su Lie.

Su Lie did indeed seem less than adept at military matters.

The land of Nanyang was too important; the appointment of an Administrator could not be handled rashly.

"Then do you have a suitable candidate?"

The Son of Heaven did not insist further and instead asked: "I have only one requirement: the person recommended must have sufficient ability to recover Nanyang in the shortest possible time."

Yuan Feng did not speak further but signaled to He Jin on the other side.

He Jin had been watching Yuan Feng's expression. Receiving the signal, he understood and stepped out to request: "Qin Jie, the Administrator of Jiangxia, is skilled in both civil and military affairs and quite adept at military matters. The Yellow Turban army also erupted in Jiangxia, but he has already suppressed them."

"Furthermore, he is a native of Jingzhou and very familiar with Nanyang. I recommend him to take over as Administrator of Nanyang and take charge of the pacification of Nanyang."

"I second the motion!"

Yuan Feng and the others stepped out one after another to echo the sentiment.

Seeing this union of civil and military officials, the Son of Heaven narrowed his eyes slightly.

Deep in his gaze toward Yuan Feng and He Jin, a flash of cold light flickered and vanished.

He thought: "That dog He Jin! I trusted and promoted him, handing him military power, so that he could gather the power of the imperial relatives to compete with and resist top-tier clans like the Yuan clan."

"Not for him to collude with them and unite to bully me!"

"This is simply outrageous!"

"Does this fool really think the Yuan clan and other clans are genuinely befriending him?"

"This fool has been used from start to finish without even knowing it. I must have been blind to trust him in the first place."

He wished he could kill He Jin right now.

But he knew that was already impossible.

He Jin's wings were already full, and he had the support of the Yuan clan and other clans. Even as the Son of Heaven, he could not easily move against He Jin.

These thoughts flashed through his mind and vanished. The Son of Heaven, Liu Hong, suppressed these thoughts and recalled the person Qin Jie; he did have some impression of him.

He was a capable man.

Now was not the time to quibble over other things. He nodded immediately: "Since all you ministers feel this person has the ability, then appoint Qin Jie as the new Administrator of Nanyang!"

"Send someone with all speed to convey the appointment, order him to take office immediately, and pacify the Nanyang rebellion as quickly as possible."

At this point, the name Su Xuan surfaced in the Son of Heaven's mind.

He had an impression of this name.

Wasn't this the talented youth who had composed the Thousand Character Classic over half a year ago?

This person had even refused to come to Luoyang to serve as a Gentleman official, citing insufficient scholarship and young age.

Based on the previous performance of Yuan Feng and the others, this person should not be one of theirs, but a newly emerged young talent worth promoting and winning over.

Furthermore, he did not trust Qin Jie and intended to sow discord in Nanyang. He immediately issued a decree: "In addition, I have said before that I reward merit. Minister Yuan previously said that the credit for Dengxian belongs entirely to Su Xuan, son of the Dengxian Magistrate Su Lie."

"Then I shall promote him to Cavalry Commandant, allowing him to recruit 5,000 troops himself to assist Qin Jie in pacifying the Nanyang Huang Jin. The two shall be independent of each other; they can discuss how to pacify the rebellion themselves."

"I care not for the rest; tell them they must pacify the Nanyang Huang Jin in the shortest possible time. That is all!"

Having said this, the Son of Heaven did not wait for Yuan Feng and the others to object, but waved his hand, arbitrarily settling the matter.

Yuan Feng and the others exchanged glances, feeling that since they had already made the Son of Heaven concede, it was not good to push too hard.

Lest the Son of Heaven turn against them and flip the table.

Yuan Feng and the others immediately led the chorus: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Do you ministers have anything else to submit?"

The Son of Heaven nodded with satisfaction and asked.

Yuan Feng heard this and immediately stepped out again: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I have a matter to submit."

"Currently, the Huang Jin bandits are powerful, and the military preparedness in various places is lax, making it difficult to resist. I implore Your Majesty to grant the lifting of the Proscription of Partisans."

"Then, the scholars of the world will surely be grateful for Your Majesty's grace and eagerly participate in pacifying the rebellion."

The Son of Heaven heard this, his face immediately turning cold. He thought: "So, this means if I do not lift the Proscription, you scholars will not exert yourselves to pacify the rebellion?"

He finally understood that the reason the Taiping Dao was able to develop to this extent without the imperial court knowing was clearly because it had been deliberately suppressed by clans like Yuan Feng's.

All for the sake of creating today's situation to force him to lift the Proscription.

To suppress imperial power with clan power and seize the benefits of the struggle.

Unfortunately, even knowing this now, the Son of Heaven was powerless.

He could only coldly utter one word of approval: "Granted!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Immediately, the officials below were overjoyed and praised him in unison.

Even those who considered themselves loyal to imperial power were no exception.

After all, setting aside their status as loyal ministers, they were scholars at the end of the day.

Because of the Proscription, many of their relatives, friends, and teachers had been implicated and persecuted, either dying or forced into hiding.

Lifting the Proscription was a good thing for them too.

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