Chapter 176: Honey-Water Brother: The Imperial Seal

"Could it be that in the eyes of Dong Zhongying, I, Yuan Gonglu, am just some casual person?"

Yuan Shu glared at Fa Zheng with wide eyes.

Although he did not know what kind of "great gift" Fa Zheng would bring him.

At the very least, Yuan Shu felt he could not lose the momentum on the surface.

"Pfft."

Fa Zheng could not help but laugh out loud.

Seeing this, Yuan Shu could not help but be annoyed and ashamed.

His face flushed red like a drake.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to reprimand Fa Zheng.

He saw Fa Zheng step forward and open the box in his hands.

In an instant.

Radiance burst forth.

Reflecting in Yuan Shu’s vision were the eight large characters: "Having received the mandate from Heaven, may one live forever and prosper."

"This..."

Yes, what Fa Zheng held in his hands was indeed the Heirloom Imperial Seal.

Of course, this Heirloom Imperial Seal was not the genuine article, but a high-quality imitation.

As a transmigrator, Gu Yi clearly knew the location of the Heirloom Imperial Seal.

Therefore, not long ago, Gu Yi had retrieved it.

How should one put it? The seal certainly looked very beautiful.

But this thing could not be brought into the world just like that.

Historically, this item was first found by Sun Jian, and later fell into the hands of Sun Ce.

In order to trade for soldiers to attack Jiangdong, Sun Ce gave the seal to Yuan Shu.

Our Honey-Water Brother, unable to resist the temptation of the seal, chose to take the step of declaring himself Emperor.

In the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, the first person to truly declare himself Emperor was our Honey-Water Brother!

Although the old Dong of history also intended to declare himself Emperor.

That was mostly due to the trickery of Wang Yun.

Furthermore.

Old Dong realized that he could never defeat the Guandong clans, and wanted to experience the thrill of being an emperor.

In the end, before he could successfully declare himself Emperor, he was stabbed to death by Lu Bu’s halberd.

Therefore, Honey-Water Brother was, in the strict sense, the "first person to declare himself Emperor" in the late Han period.

He walked at the very forefront of the era.

Whether it was Yuan Shao or Cao Cao.

Or Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

In front of our Honey-Water Brother, they were all little brothers!

However.

After Honey-Water Brother declared himself Emperor, he soon faced a retaliatory strike, being attacked by almost all the warlords of the Han world!

(PS: Although Yuan Shao and Liu Biao did not directly participate in the war, they also issued declarations similar to declaring war on Yuan Shu.)

In the end, before Yuan Shu died.

He was forced to the point where he couldn't even drink a bowl of his favorite honey water.

Thus earning the beautiful nickname "Honey-Water Brother."

To get to the root of it.

Why did Honey-Water Brother not receive a chorus of support when he declared himself Emperor, but instead suffered a collective attack?

Firstly, in the second year of Jian'an (197 AD), the year he historically declared himself Emperor.

Although his territory looked vast, it contained a great deal of "water."

As everyone knows.

Before Sun Ce attacked Jiangdong, the banner he flew was actually that he was expanding territory for Honey-Water Brother.

Therefore.

In the eyes of Honey-Water Brother, the vast territory conquered by Sun Ce all counted as his own!

That is to say.

In the perception of Honey-Water Brother.

His territory included not only Yizhou, Nanyang, and Huainan, but even the six commanderies of Jiangdong were to be counted among them!

Sun Ce’s pacification of Jiangdong gave Honey-Water Brother great confidence.

Look! Even my little brother can independently lead troops to pacify Jiangdong!

If I were to go out myself, wouldn't the whole world be settled?!

Thus, Honey-Water Brother was filled with "mysterious confidence" in himself.

Furthermore.

As the legitimate son of the Yuan family, Honey-Water Brother’s task from beginning to end was to overthrow the Liu Han imperial house.

And establish a brand-new dynasty belonging to the clans.

Therefore, he firmly believed that as long as he raised his arms and shouted, the clans of the world would definitely respond to him!

The result.

In the north at that time, the hard power of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao was actually already stronger than that of Honey-Water Brother.

Especially after holding the Emperor to command the warlords, Cao Cao received even more full-hearted support from the clan groups.

And between him and Yuan Shao, a trend of standing on equal footing had gradually emerged.

That is to say, in the eyes of the northern clans.

The final master of the world would likely be produced between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

Consequently.

The northern clans either supported Yuan Shao or supported Cao Cao.

Only a very small number of hot-headed people staked their fortunes on Honey-Water Brother.

And what about the southern clans?

They had an irreconcilable hatred with Honey-Water Brother!

After Honey-Water Brother occupied Huainan, because he did not know how to manage his territory, he often let his soldiers plunder. (There are many historical records that can corroborate this.)

Letting soldiers plunder is actually a technical skill.

Robbing ordinary commoners, while effective, has limited results in the end.

If you want to rob, you must rob the rich!

Who are the rich?

The wealthy gentry and the great clans!

That is to say, Honey-Water Brother had the generals under his command—who were adapted from mountain bandits and wandering outlaws—lead troops to rob the great clans.

This...

Does it sound very magical?

But our Honey-Water Brother really did just that!

And he was tireless in doing so.

As a member of the Yuan family, the head of the world’s clans, Honey-Water Brother indulged his subordinates in robbing other clans.

This was equivalent to betraying his own class.

How could the southern clans give Honey-Water Brother a good look?

Thus.

After our Honey-Water Brother declared himself Emperor.

Whether it was the northern clans or the southern clans, they all lost their sense of identification with him.

They considered Honey-Water Brother to have betrayed the clan class, belonging to the public enemy of the clan class!

This was the real reason why Honey-Water Brother was attacked by the whole world!

And not some "betrayal of the Han house, declaring himself Emperor in private."

In fact, everyone was a clear-headed person.

Who didn't have a scale in their heart regarding what kind of state the Han house was in?

Honey-Water Brother betrayed the original clan class.

At the same time, he could not get the recognition of the commoner class.

Destruction was naturally only a matter of time.

As the saying goes.

A turncoat will never have a good end.

Although Honey-Water Brother was not a turncoat.

But his actions truly illustrated what it meant to "play a good hand of cards into a mess."

Originally, he was a rising star in whom the clan class placed high hopes.

But after several years of development.

Starting with one Yizhou, he should have grown in a "snowballing" manner.

Yet he was gradually crushed by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

The clan groups that supported him behind the scenes were also gradually snatched away by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

Consequently, Honey-Water Brother eventually headed toward destruction.

But in other words.

What if he didn't court death by declaring himself Emperor?

Perhaps he would eventually be finished off by Cao Cao or Yuan Shao.

But he would definitely not have headed toward decline so quickly.

And the things that tempted Honey-Water Brother to declare himself Emperor.

Besides the matter of "Sun Ce pacifying Jiangdong."

The Heirloom Imperial Seal was also an indispensable temptation.

……

Before his eyes, the high-quality imitation Heirloom Imperial Seal held in Fa Zheng’s hands instantly caused Honey-Water Brother’s breathing to stall.

In order to make it look realistic.

Gu Yi specifically had this high-quality imitation Heirloom Imperial Seal made with the same chipped corner as the original.

It is rumored that when Wang Mang usurped the Han.

This Heirloom Imperial Seal was thrown to the ground in anger by Wang Mang’s own sister, the last Empress Dowager of the Western Han, Wang Zhengjun, and thus lost a corner.

This allusion is no longer known to be true or false, because it is not recorded in official history.

But what cannot be denied is that the Heirloom Imperial Seal really is missing a corner.

As the legitimate son of the Yuan family, how could Yuan Shu not have heard of the Heirloom Imperial Seal?

Knowing his goods, all his attention was instantly attracted by the seal, and he could not look away for a long time.

However.

Our Honey-Water Brother still had a tiny bit of brains; although it might not be much, there was still some rationality left.

He looked at Fa Zheng with suspicion and said:

"Fa Xiaozhi, this seal is fake, right?"

"Otherwise, why wouldn't Dong Zhongying use it to declare himself Emperor?"

"Instead, he let you bring it to me?"

Fa Zheng had long anticipated Yuan Shu’s reaction.

"Instead, you let him bring it to me?"

Fa Zheng had long anticipated Yuan Shu's reaction.