The lion fights the rabbit, and also uses all his strength. Liu He, a gentle lion, would never despise any opponent, especially against a heroic man like Cao Cao, who was even more immovable, and he had to finish his work in one battle if he moved.

Zhang Yan and the Montenegrin army led by the three former Montenegrin marshals came to help in the battle, which really set off the climax of the siege of Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and when the Shenxi army and the Zhenbei army joined the frontal battlefield at the same time, the Cao forces in Yanzhou and Yuzhou also came to an end.

Before Liu He's several armies surrounded Changyi, Cao Cao also sent his henchmen to Jiangdong Sun Jian for help, and bitterly stated that if he was defeated, Cao's today would inevitably be Sun's tomorrow. Sun Jian, who originally wanted to continue to wait and see, was taken aback by the grim shape faced by Cao Cao, and after a fierce ideological struggle, he decided to send a detachment of partial divisions from the direction of Shouchun to reinforce Xiahou Yuan of Peijun. However, when Sun Ce crossed the Huai River with 20,000 Jiangdong elites, he met Tai Shici, who had been waiting for a long time.

Sun Ce is known as the little overlord of Jiangdong, and Tai Shici has a reputation for loyalty and righteousness in the north. Tai Shi Ci originally had more than a dozen artillery pieces in his hands, and as long as he used them, it was estimated that Sun Ce would be killed on the spot, but Tai Shi Ci knew that this was not the time to fight Jiangdong, so he decided to focus on deterrence, and did not plan to kill Jiangdong's elite too much. Sun Ce suddenly encountered the famous general Tai Shi Ci, and he didn't dare to hold it up, so he didn't attack rashly, but sent people to fight in front, hoping to have a dignified battle with Tai Shi Ci.

Tai Shi Ci fulfilled the wish of the little overlord, and fought with Sun Ce for a hundred rounds on the bank of the Huai River, and then slapped Sun Ce off his horse with a spear, and let the Jiangdong soldiers snatch Sun Ce back to the camp.

Although Sun Ce was brave, he was not a reckless person without brains, he already knew Tai Shici's attitude, so he returned to Shouchun with his team, no longer mixing in the big battle between Liu He and Cao Cao.

In the end, Cao Cao could not count on reinforcements from Jingzhou and Jiangdong. And Liu Bei was already in ashes, and without any reinforcements, Cao Cao could only face one defeat after another, and then was besieged in the city of Changyi.

First of all, Yu Ban and Lü Qian's troops stationed in Taishan County were defeated one after another, Yu Ban became a prisoner, and Lü Qian was killed in the battle to defend the city, resulting in the loss of Taishan County. Then Xiahou Yuan, who was stubbornly defending Pei County, could not resist the siege of 100,000 troops led by Zang Ba, Guan Hai and Sun Qing, Du Yuan, and Wang Dang, and died in Qian County, and then Pei County was lost. Then Cao Ren, who was stationed in Chenliu, could not resist the fierce attacks of the Shenxi army and the Zhenbei army, and retreated all the way to the east. Finally, it withdrew to the outside of Changyi City.

Because Liu He and Cao Cao had reached an agreement before the war, although the two sides continued to fight, but the common people suffered a relatively small number, once Liu He's troops occupied the new county, there were immediately officials appointed by the imperial court to take up their posts, responsible for pacifying the people and alleviating the losses caused by the war.

When all the Cao troops retreated to the area of Anyi, Liu He dispatched various troops to attack Cao slowly, forming an encirclement circle around Anyi City.

The war is over. There is no suspense, and all that remains is a tragic siege battle.

In order to meet Cao Cao, Liu He personally rushed from Luoyang to Changyi, and he was accompanied to Luoyang by a hundred general cannons carried by Long Huwei.

Under the city of Changyi. Liu He sent someone to shout to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao went out of the city angrily and met Liu He on the battlefield.

Liu He asked Cao Cao to watch the spectacular scene of hundreds of general cannons firing in unison, and Cao Cao improvised a poem after reading it. Praise this powerful weapon that is enough to change the way of engagement.

Liu He said to Cao Cao: "The battle that should be fought has been fought, I don't want to watch the Han family's siblings and robes fight in the same room, why don't you stop?" ”

Cao Cao smiled and asked Liu He: "Stop at this time." Can you spare my subordinates who have followed me for many years? ”

Liu He also replied with a smile: "I can tolerate even a capricious person like Li Dao, how can I not tolerate the people under you?" Although it is not my wish to besiege Yanzhou, but to meet a strong opponent like you is equivalent to suing the people of the world, and no one can stop my determination to gather the military power of the states. ”

Cao Cao understood Liu He's intentions, so he drank three cups with Liu He on the battlefield, and then returned to Changyi City.

Three days later, a white flag was hung at the head of Changyi City. Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi, went out of the city to report his funeral to Liu He, and at the same time asked for surrender. It turned out that after Cao Cao met with Liu He that day, he returned to the city and began to explain what happened after his death, and he asked Cao Ren and Xiahoudun not to resist stubbornly after his death, because in front of the general's cannon, the 60,000 soldiers in the city could not stop Liu He's army from breaking through the city with their flesh and blood alone. Xiahoudun asked Cao Cao why he didn't ask Liu He to surrender together, and Cao Cao replied with a wry smile that this battle started because of me, and now there are 100,000 dead and wounded soldiers on both sides, and someone must be responsible.

Cao Cao returned to the city to deal with the aftermath, drank poisoned wine on the night of the second day, and left with his unrealized life ideals. On the morning of the third day, Cao Pi went out of the city to meet Liu He with Cao Cao's last letter.

Liu He deeply regretted Cao Cao's suicide, and he appeased Cao Pi, promising that Cao would not be held accountable for any further crimes, and that as long as Cao and Xiahou assisted the court officials in quickly restoring the situation in Yuzhou and Yanzhou, they could also get some credit for it.

Cao Pi is also a deep person in the city, he is very respectful in front of Liu He, and he says that everything is up to Liu He, and the Cao family and the Xiahou clan will definitely not disobey the yang and the yin. Liu He then demanded that all the defenders in Changyi City go out of the city to disarm and accept the streamlining and reorganization of the imperial court, and the main figures of the Cao clan and the Xiahou clan all went to Luoyang to settle down, and the rest of the subordinate figures returned to their hometown of Qian County to live in seclusion.

In the face of nearly 200,000 troops and hundreds of large and small artillery pieces outside the city, Cao Ren and Xiahoudun had no intention of resisting at all, they kept in mind Cao Cao's instructions before he died, and walked out of the four city gates with the soldiers in the city, and then surrendered to Liu He's army in a neat line, and then were taken away by various troops in batches and left the familiar land of Yanzhou.

After Liu He absorbed the armies of Yanzhou and Yuzhou, he did not rush to mobilize his army south to deal with Sun Jian, but temporarily stopped military operations.

The imperial court then appointed Youzhou Mu Liu Hui as Yanzhou Mu, Ningzhou Mu Du Ji as Yuzhou Mu, Liu Fang to replace Youzhou Mu, and Guoyuan to replace Ningzhou Mu.

Liu Hui was one of the first subordinates to follow Liu He, and he had been in politics for many years in Youzhou, the place where Liu He was the foundation, so he could bring the successful experience of Youzhou to Yanzhou, which had already begun some reforms. Promote Yanzhou to embark on the road of rapid development. Du Ji is an all-round talent in civil and military affairs, and has a long experience in commanding the military and government in the border area, and Liu He placed him in Yuzhou, a place on the border with Jingzhou and Jiangdong, so he was naturally entrusted with an important task, with the intention of guarding against and containing Liu Biao and Sun Jian.

After another year, Yanzhou and Yuzhou were completely under the administration of the central court, and the political reform of the imperial court was officially launched.

First of all, the imperial court restored the prime minister system, but there was no left and right prime ministers, only one prime minister in charge of national political affairs, and three deputy positions were set up under the prime minister. They are the Shangshu Order, the Zhongshu Order, and the Neishi Order, which are responsible for communicating between the emperor and the prime minister, and at the same time assisting and supervising the prime minister in fulfilling his responsibilities. Liu Yu, as the first person who contributed to the revival of the Han Dynasty, was naturally appointed as the prime minister, while Lu Zhi was appointed as Shang Shuling to oversee the affairs of Shang Shutai. Liu Biao was appointed by the imperial court as Zhongshu Ling, and he could not come to Luoyang for the time being, and his ministry in Luoyang was temporarily held by Zhong Shucheng (Zhongshu Ling's deputy). Cai Yong was appointed by the imperial court as the Inner History Order.

Under the prime minister and the three deputy prime ministers, the imperial court set up more than a dozen ministries such as officials, rites, propaganda, households, criminals, agriculture, industry, commerce, finance, and mines. Each department has one chief and two deputies.

Judging from this change at the top level of the imperial court, there are shadows of the three provinces and six departments in later generations, but there are many differences. This is naturally due to Liu He's consideration and design. For example, in later generations, there was no prime minister with great power above the three provinces and six ministries, and there was a military department among the six ministries, but it did not appear in the dozen or so ministries made by Liu He. In Liu He's design. The future government of the Han Dynasty was to develop in the direction of a constitutional monarchy, so it was necessary to raise the position of the prime minister so that the prime minister could have the power to limit the power of the emperor. Avoid the burial of an empire by one or two incompetent emperors.

The duties of the prime minister can be summed up in one sentence: to assist the emperor in managing a major military affairs, that is, the so-called "in charge of the son of heaven, assistant Wanji." "The prime minister is responsible for managing military and political affairs or other important affairs, and assisting the emperor in handling state affairs. Whenever there was an important matter, the emperor summoned the minister, the two thousand stones, and the doctor to discuss in front of the emperor to avoid arbitrariness. General government affairs can be implemented by the decision of the prime minister. When the emperor had something to do, he often consulted the prime minister, who could sometimes refute the edict and express his reservations about the emperor's orders. The specific duties and powers of the prime minister are: appointing officials, or recommending talents to the emperor; For magistrates, they have the power to examine and depose and reward; in charge of laws, orders and related prison matters; If there is a riot or other thing in the local area, the prime minister will send his subordinate officials to suppress it; There is also some responsibility in the military or border guards; The archives of the whole country, such as books and various picture books, are kept by the Prime Minister's Office. In the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial historian assisted the prime minister, and his duties were roughly the same, so many affairs were often handled by the prime minister and the imperial historian

As a later generation, Liu He looked through the history books and never found any cases of the prime minister rebelling and seizing the emperor's power, but those emperors who abolished the prime minister and concentrated the monarch's power in their hands were finally brought to the end of the empire. Because there is a very simple truth in this, although the prime minister is in charge of the country's military and political affairs, he is appointed by the emperor, and in Liu He's design, the army is independent and alongside the internal affairs officials, so no matter how powerful the prime minister is, he cannot start a civil strife that subverts the imperial power.

As the symbol of the empire and the supreme decision-maker, the emperor does not need and should not interfere in everything, what he has to do is to supervise the prime minister and cabinet officials to avoid the concentration of power in the hands of a few. If you want the empire to last for a long time, the emperor should not only not be autocratic and centralized, but should reasonably distribute the supreme power, so that in the event of a serious change, there will still be a group of people to maintain the integrity and unity of the empire.

At the same time as appointing internal affairs officials, the imperial court also carried out changes to the military system. Liu He's generalissimo on his head is still retained, and he has the same status as the prime minister in the court, and a privy council is set up in the generalissimo's palace, and there are two prefectures in the east and west, and the governor of the middle government is responsible for fighting and counterinsurgency, and the governor of the west is responsible for training and equipment logistics.

One prime minister, three deputy ministers, plus a generalissimo and two deputies, formed the highest authority of the Han Dynasty, that is, the cabinet.

Under the emperor, in addition to the prime minister and the generalissimo in charge of political affairs and military affairs, there were also four separate institutions under the dual leadership of the emperor and the cabinet, namely the parliamentary yuan, the legislative yuan, the supervisory yuan, and the court of justice.

The reason why it is called dual leadership is not only to prevent the emperor from using these four courts to erect or even persecute cabinet ministers, but also to prevent cabinet ministers from blinding the emperor.

When the House of Representatives discusses and analyzes an important political issue, the Emperor and the ministers of the Cabinet may attend the meeting as observers, and may also state their thoughts and views at the meeting, but shall not interfere with the voting referendum of the House of Representatives.

When the Legislative Yuan has solicited public opinion from all over the country to formulate a law, it will first be submitted to the Legislative Council for final examination and discussion, and once the Legislative Yuan has voted to approve the law, the Emperor and the cabinet ministers must also strictly abide by it, and have no right to abolish or suspend it.

The Supervision Yuan was responsible for supervising the pickets from the emperor to the hundred officials, and once they had conclusive evidence, they could submit it to the court, which would try the relevant persons according to the laws of the Han Dynasty. The Emperor and the Cabinet Ministers have the right to know about the execution of the duties of the Supervisory Court, but not to interfere with it, and after the final judgment of the Inquisition, the Emperor has the right to pardon three times a year, the Prime Minister and the Generalissimo have the right to amnesty, and the other Cabinet Ministers have the right to review. The power of amnesty can only exempt capital crimes, but not other punishments. (To be continued......)