For the first time, Guo of course refused.

Guo announced to the public that he was shallow in virtue and could not be called king, so he rejected the emperor's holy decree.

Everyone is not discouraged, because this is the usual operation.

Three resignations and three concessions, the fourth time, is the time to see the real chapter.

And once such a thing happens, it will not stop talking, especially such a sensitive matter, and the officials and scholars of Yecheng will talk about it all day and night.

The war of public opinion is in full swing.

In early December of the first year of Jian'an, before the second envoy of Luoyang, a remark about "whether the White Horse Alliance still has the meaning of existence until now" suddenly spread.

The children of the eunuchs who occupied the mainstream position of Yecheng suddenly began to discuss this matter on a large scale.

They believe that four hundred years have passed, and it seems that there is no need for the White Horse Alliance that Liu Bang made at the beginning, because the White Horse Alliance cannot curb the real traitors, but it does not allow the true loyalty to be rewarded as it should be.

The White Horse Alliance can't contain Zhu Lu, Wang Mang, or Yuan Shu, but it can't contain Guo Peng, who is really fighting for the Han Dynasty, does this still make sense?

With Guo Peng's contribution to rebuilding the Han family, can't he be called king?

In addition to being the king, what else can reward Guo Peng for his dedication to the Han Dynasty?

In this regard, another opposing view has emerged.

They think that it is precisely because Guo Peng is loyal that he can't accept such a reward and can't break the White Horse Alliance, otherwise what's the difference between it and rebellion?

Is this what Guo Peng wants to see?

A minister must have the duties and rules of a minister!

Proponents are vehemently critical of this view.

They said that this itself was allowed by the emperor, and the first few were not allowed by the emperor to have no righteous name, especially Yuan Shu and Wang Mang, which was forcibly called the emperor unpopular, can it be compared with Guo Peng?

They strongly criticized those people and compared Guo Peng with Wang Mang and Yuan Shu, what was their intention?

In the field of public opinion in Yecheng, the public opinion supporting Guo Peng quickly confronted the opposing public opinion, and under Guo Peng's deliberate guidance, he soon gained the upper hand.

But the opposition did not stop there.

It was probably the last group of impurity-minded officials to show their feet.

They made remarks to guide public opinion, believing that the White Horse Alliance was inviolable, and Guo Peng should think about his own posthumous reputation.

Once he took the wrong path, what will happen in the future, but it is really difficult to say, Guo Peng does not think about himself, but also for the Guo family.

Even if a person who has taken the wrong path is unharmed in life, who will dare to say that his children and grandchildren will not suffer calamity after his death?

This sentence, Guo returned it to those people as it was, and Guo also added a sentence - disaster will be suffered in front of you.

So, coincidentally, Guo Peng started a new wave of anti-corruption actions almost at the same time.

It's just a coincidence.

Guo said so.

Guo instructed his uncle, the former Han Tingwei and the current Wei imperial historian Guo Hong, and the father of the big and small bridges, the Wei Imperial History Observatory led by Cheng Qiaorui in the imperial history, to conduct an anti-corruption investigation into the entire Wei officialdom, and put forward the slogan that corrupt officials should not continue to do whatever they wanted.

Guo Hong and Qiao Rui are both very order-obedient people, as long as Guo Peng has an order, anyone can check it.

Therefore, the two led the Yushitai investigation team to quickly file a case for investigation of corrupt officials, and arrested and denounced the illegal officials who were investigated and dealt with, and the action was very effective.

By the time Guo Peng rejected the edict of the little emperor for the second time, Guo Hong and Qiao Rui had already arrested and held accountable more than 20 central and local officials.

They were directly stripped of their positions, their families were also implicated, two officials who had a large amount of corruption were directly lost their heads, and not only that, the men of the family were exiled, and the women were sold into slavery.

However, although this operation is indeed conclusive.

But if someone is interested in a little investigation and investigation, they can know that these criminal officials are a bit of a problem.

For example, their family or someone who is deeply involved with them has made unfavorable remarks against Guo, and even they themselves have made similar remarks in private.

Then he was pulled out by the Linzi camp.

Of course, not many people know about it, and not many people think of this layer, but many people think it's a bit strange to carry out anti-corruption actions in this stall.

However, Guo Peng has always been engaged in anti-corruption actions on a regular basis, and Guo Peng is still the number one person in the anti-corruption actions so frequently.

Guo's political crackdown will never come too late.

After a period of anti-corruption efforts, on the eve of the third time the little emperor sent people to Yecheng, Guo Hong and Qiao Rui had already dealt with a total of 36 corrupt officials, and by the way, they also found out the fact that seven middle-level officers in the army were corrupt and were dealt with together.

After disposing of these corrupt officials and corrupt officials, the officialdom of Wei was cleared.

Not only that, but there are even a lot fewer remarks against Guo being the king.

So when Guo Peng decided to resign from the emperor's order to be crowned king for the third time, the Yecheng officials, under the leadership of Cheng Yu, once again asked Guo Peng to obey the emperor's order and take the throne of Wei not to continue to embarrass the emperor.

However, Guo Peng still refused, saying that he was shallow in virtue and was really unworthy of being the king of Wei.

After that, the entire Yecheng no longer heard the voices of opposition, especially the voice that proposed the White Horse Alliance has completely disappeared.

In Guo's base camp, the voices of opponents almost disappeared, and a large number of officials and military generals continued to appear on the table, competing with each other to make it to the table, hoping that Guo Peng would ascend to the throne of Wei and conform to the will of the people.

This is the situation in Yecheng, which is in the overwhelming advantage of Guo Peng, and public opinion is completely controlled.

And in Luoyang, another center of public opinion, the situation is different.

Although the little emperor has not yet been in power, every ten days, Xun You will still preside over a decent court meeting to discuss some things that have happened in the country recently for the little emperor to know.

Then the little emperor pretended to give orders for Xun You to do it, and Xun You naturally received the order.

The others wore court clothes as officials, but they didn't have to do anything, just paddling, and this situation made them gradually realize the fact that they were caged birds.

The court meeting is more of a mockery than a fact.

Under such treatment, some people began to regret it, and some began to seek reconciliation with Guo Peng.

Being left out in the cold for too long, and even forgotten, made these people have a strong sense of regret for resisting Guo Peng's will, as well as hatred for those leaders.

They are constantly looking for opportunities, trying to show their loyalty to Guo Peng, trying to leave the terrible cage of Luoyang.

And the opportunity really came.

The edict to crown Guo Peng as king was conveyed by Xun You to the little emperor himself before the little emperor went to court.

Xun You said that he hoped that the little emperor could tell this matter in court, and then he would preside over it.

The little emperor didn't quite understand what the king meant and what it meant, but as soon as he heard that it was a reward for Guo Peng, the little emperor immediately nodded.

Guo Peng is such a good person, give him food, drink and entertainment, give him a luxurious life and a happy childhood, he is too late to be grateful, how can he not even give some rewards?

Especially to compare Guo Peng with the others around him.

Those guys don't even take playing mahjong seriously, and they actually ask the little emperor to read more books from time to time, which makes the little emperor annoyed.

There is no harm without contrast, and there is harm with contrast.

No, compared to the beginning, there was an immediate and noticeable change.

So at the court meeting, the little emperor announced in court that because of Guo Peng's merits in the Liangzhou War, he decided to give Guo Peng a reward, and the content was to promote Guo Peng's title from the Duke of Wei to the King of Wei.

More than 100 officials attending the meeting were shocked.

His eyes widened, his mouth opened, and he looked at the little emperor with a calm face, as well as Xun You, who was in front of the ministers.