Chapter 371: Chaos in Chang'an, Cao Cao Returns The seventh year of Jian'an, that is, 202 AD, was destined to be a year remembered by historians of later generations. This year, Liu Bei seized the fruits of Cao Cao's victory in the Battle of Guandu and launched a fierce attack when Cao Cao was defeated. According to the original history, Yuan Shao died of illness after his defeat in this year, and Cao Cao then began his strategic counterattack. In this timeline, Cao and Yuan fought each other and both suffered heavy losses, and the one who counterattacked became Liu Bei. Cao Cao, the shadow that had always been weighing on Liu Bei's head, seemed to have exposed his most vulnerable side. In fact, Cao Cao's subordinates were not all harmonious. Needless to say, there was a struggle between the power of the prime minister and the power of the emperor. His rule was also stabilized by high pressure. For the upper ruling class, Cao Cao set up a school to monitor the actions of civil and military officials. For the lower-level settlers, Cao Cao set up military farm lieutenants and agricultural officials to ensure production at the grassroots level. Before the rise of Liu Bei's army, this was an absolute tyrannical policy in troubled times, superior to that of all other princes.

After Liu Bei's rise, this kind of domineering behavior became less and less popular among the lower classes. The reason is very simple. The benefits he distributed to all parties were not enough. The 40%-60% distribution of military farms could have eliminated excessive taxes in the past. However, this greatly suppressed the enthusiasm of the farmers. Since the fields were not their own, the settlers were naturally unwilling to work hard on the farm. This reduced taxes under Cao Cao's command, so he had to increase tax collection efforts, often with the ratio reaching 2:8. In comparison, although Liu Bei's army also cultivated land, they could redeem the land after ten years of cultivation. Getting one's own land meant that in addition to corvée labor, one only had to pay a tithe. With such a simple comparison, the farmers found that it was better to be a farmer under Liu Bei than to be a farmer under Cao Cao. Similarly, the officers and soldiers under his command were angry about the existence of the school affairs but dared not speak out, and had long been planning to turn against him. The combination of these two conditions caused chaos under Cao Cao's command at that time, with banditry breaking out in various places. This chaos naturally gave Fu Wan, who was in Chang'an, an opportunity to restore the Han Dynasty. Since receiving the order half a year ago, Fu Wan was almost tortured to death by Cao Cao, and was naturally angry. But he had been on the brink of life and death before, and knew that rebellion should be dealt with slowly rather than hastily. Therefore, when he saw Cao Cao being attacked from all sides, he did not take any action until the fall of Luoyang and the news of Zhang Baiqi's rebellion came, and then he was sure that the time had come. It was the second day of July in the seventh year of Jian'an. Following Cao Cao's order, Xun Yu issued small five-zhu coins, which caused widespread resentment among the people. This move naturally helped Cao Cao raise a large amount of food and fodder, but it also caused the price of grain in Guanzhong to soar. At that time, one hectoliter of grain cost five thousand coins. Since the people could not exchange money for food, they had no choice but to resort to barter, and the market was extremely chaotic. Upon seeing this, court officials impeached Xun Yu for causing chaos in the country. Xun Yu had no way of speaking and had to pretend to be sick. When the court officials saw that Xun Yu refused to come out, they turned their guns on Liu Xie and petitioned the court to ask Liu Xie to issue an edict to stop paying the small amount of money. This decree was issued under the coercion of Cao Cao, so Liu Xie naturally did not dare to issue an edict to abolish it privately.

So when Liu Xie saw Xun Yu staying indoors, he followed suit and closed the court. When all the officials in the court saw this, they all sighed and secretly hated Cao Cao's evil policies. Among them was a man called Jin Yi, a descendant of Jin Midi, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, who had always wanted to overthrow Cao. Seeing that the emperor was in seclusion in court, he knew it was Cao Cao's doing and hated him even more. He often criticized Cao Cao in the palace and said that Cao Cao was similar to the thief Dong. Somehow this news reached the ears of the school official Zhao Da, who took the school official with him and broke into Jin's house to arrest him. After torturing him, he was sent directly to prison. If it were anyone else, it would be fine, but Jin Yi was from a famous family and had many old friends. One of them was Wei Huang, who was Jin Yi's boss. After knowing that Jin Yi was imprisoned, he sought help everywhere, but no one dared to cause trouble for the school. In desperation, Wei Huang found his good friend Geng Ji to discuss the matter. Geng Ji was a famous scholar in Luoyang and had always disliked Cao Cao. Seeing Wei Huang approaching him, he said bluntly: "Now that Cao Cao is carrying out such an evil policy, who dares to mess with the school affairs?" "I know that Jia Wenhe was once highly respected by the emperor and was appointed as the Minister of State. Now he is highly respected by Cao Cao and appointed as the Prefect of the Guards. Perhaps we can ask for his help!" But when Wei Huang heard this, he immediately shook his head and said, "This man is highly valued by Cao Cao, so he must not be trusted." "I saw that the father-in-law was almost killed by Cao Cao in the past, so he must be angry. Why don't we go to the palace to discuss it with him?" "If the father-in-law agrees and goes to the palace to ask for the emperor's decree, Zhao Da will not dare to harm him!" Having said this, he brought Geng Ji to Fu Wan's residence, explained everything in detail, and asked Fu Wan for help. Unexpectedly, when Fu Wan heard this, he pretended to be terrified and said bluntly: "Sikong has done favors for the country. Jin Yi is criticizing Sikong. This is just the way it is. He cannot be saved." The two of them were furious when they saw Fu Wan like this. Geng Ji pointed at Fu Wan and cursed: "Thanks to you for receiving the emperor's grace, everyone knows that Cao is causing chaos in the government, but we are not afraid, so why should we be afraid?" As he said this, he pulled Wei Huang to leave, but Fu Wan was overjoyed to see his strong words, so he told him the truth: "It's not that I'm afraid of Cao Er. I've also received orders from the emperor to fight against the enemy, but I can't trust anyone, so I did this." "You two know that Cao is a wicked ruler. Instead of asking for help, why don't we conspire to seize Chang'an, kill the rebels at home, and make an alliance with Liu Zhengdong. Why should we be afraid of such a trivial matter?" When the two saw that he wanted to imitate Dong Cheng's story, they were all shocked, but then they felt like they had found a comrade. But after all, Dong Cheng's disaster was before his eyes, and a hasty mutiny was obviously not realistic, so Geng Ji said: "If the uncle wants to do this, he needs external help. He must first rescue Jin Yi. Only with our cooperation can this be accomplished." Fu Wan felt it was polite, but he knew that the school only obeyed Cao Cao's orders. Not to mention Liu Xie's edict, even Xun Yu would not be able to do it. Hearing that Geng Ji originally wanted to ask Jia Xu for help, he said: "Jia Wenhe has a great reputation and will surely be able to help." Then he told the two to go directly to Jia Xu to ask for help, and he would definitely be able to save Jin Yi. The two followed his advice and went to see Jia Xu in person to talk about everything. When Jia Xu heard about this, he knew that the situation was serious and that the school affairs were only causing trouble for Cao Cao. So he agreed immediately and found another commander of the school affairs, Lu Hong, and asked him to release Jin Yi. The school affairs under Cao Cao were similar to the supervisory organs in Liu Bei's army, with multiple powers separated and Lu Hong and Zhao Da in charge. Compared to Zhao Da, Lu Hong was easier to talk to. He simply gave Lao Jia a favor and released Jin Yi from prison. After being tortured by Zhao Da, Jin Yi lost half his life. When Geng Ji and Wei Huang saw it, they were filled with anger and resentment. After helping Jin Yi back home, he told Jin Yi about his conversation with Fu Wan, seeking support.

Jin Yi was already angry with Cao Cao, and at this moment he wished that Cao Cao's clan would be annihilated, so he simply offered a suggestion to the two men: "This cannot be done without troops. We need external assistance. Now that we have Ma Teng and Han Sui by our side, we can first order them to come to the capital to defend the king." "When the two of them get here, we will each lead our servants to seize the city gate, and then we can accomplish our mission by cooperating with the outside world." "Because Cao Cao is wary of Fu Guozhang now, we must not let him ask for an order. I am familiar with the imperial physician Ji Ping, so we can let him enter the palace to ask for an order!" After receiving the advice, the two men immediately gained confidence and went to test Ji Ping. Seeing that he was indeed loyal, they told him everything. After receiving the order, Ji Ping waited for the opportunity. Just then, someone in the palace fell ill and was called into the palace. Only then was he able to enter the palace. After telling Liu Xie everything, he asked Liu Xie to issue a secret decree to let him take out of the palace. Liu Xie has been living in anxiety for the past six months since he was threatened by Cao Cao last time. At this time, he heard that Liu Bei had reached Luoyang and that people wanted to recruit Ma Teng and Han Sui for help. He was delighted but also worried. "In the past, the general ordered the traitor Dong to enter the capital, which led to the rebellion of Li and Guo. Later, Cao Cao entered the capital, which led to the disaster today." "Who knows how much better Ma Teng and Han Sui are than Cao Cao? Since Liu Zhengdong is by your side, why not summon him to come and rescue you?" It is true that every failure makes one wiser. Liu Xie was a very smart man. After experiencing three powerful ministers, Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Cao Cao, he realized that most of the princes in the world were the same. The only difference was that Cao Cao remained respectful for two or three years, unlike Dong Zhuo and Li Jue who were so direct. Although Ma Teng and Han Sui are now considered foreign ministers, there is no guarantee that they will be restricted and bullied again after entering the capital. Instead of continuing to train a Cao Cao, why not wait for Liu Bei to come? He also figured it out. After all, Liu Bei's surname is Liu. If it really doesn't work, and he falls into Liu Bei's hands, he will just abdicate the throne to Liu Bei, at least to protect the Liu family's kingdom. I think as long as he takes the initiative, Liu Bei, a kind and righteous man, will not treat him unfairly! Isn't this better than continuing to be in the hands of these foreign warlords? Ji Ping naturally couldn't answer this question. Seeing that Liu Xie was not very smart, he bit his finger and wrote a letter in blood, ordering Liu Bei to enter Guanzhong as soon as possible to defend the king. After receiving the imperial edict, Ji Ping returned to his mansion and asked his son Ji Miao to hand the edict to Geng Ji and others. When Geng Ji and others saw the blood edict, they burst into tears. It was obvious that the edict only mentioned Liu Bei, but not Ma Teng and Han Sui. They were in a dilemma again. Fortunately, Jin Yi was quite flexible. He asked Geng Ji and others to issue a false edict to Ma Teng and Han Sui to come to the capital, and then pass the real edict to Liu Bei. In this way, Ma Teng and Han Sui will come, and Liu Bei will naturally come as well. When Liu Bei arrives, Ma Teng and Han Sui will most likely not dare to conflict with him. After such planning, a coup against Chang'an was laid, and two edicts were sent to the north and south respectively. While everyone was making plans, Cao Cao's main force had already entered Xiagu and returned to Chang'an. (End of this chapter)