The capital of the Han Dynasty, Chang’an.

“Zhongda! Come quickly! There’s news from the Kushans!”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

Yang Xiu knew that Sima Yi had always been cold to him, but he had been too cold recently!

“What are you doing?”

However, as soon as he stuck his head forward, Yang Xiu retreated back as if he was blind.

“Zhongda, were you resurrected by Kong Ming? Why did you start studying those ghost paintings?”

“It’s not a scribbling, it’s arithmetic.”

Sima Yi put down the pen and paper in his hand.

“The emperor approached me before and said he wanted to start a “journal.”

“To put it simply, it means publishing some of the research results, distributing them to various places, and having officials teach the people.”

“The content of this first issue is what Kong Ming gave me.”

“what?”

Sima Yi was about to explain, but was interrupted by Yang Xiu.

“Wait!!”

“The things you are dealing with must be very complicated. It will take a while to explain them clearly! You better come with me to see the emperor first!”

“Why go to see the emperor?”

“Zhongda, are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me? The Kushan War is over!!!”

But Sima Yi’s expression was even weirder.

“Is there anything to be happy about?”

“With people like Kong Ming, the emperor’s uncle, Cao Cao, Guan Yu, and Guo Jia here, and the artillery secretly prepared by the emperor… Tell me, how can we lose this battle?”

Yang Xiu was like a boiling teapot, but Sima Yi blocked his way out, making him unable to utter a word.

“No! That’s true! But this is Kushan! It’s the exaggerated Kushan described in the books!”

Yang Xiu was obviously a little anxious.

“And this time, it will most likely involve the closure of our country! Aren’t you anxious about this?”

Sima Yi raised his eyes and glanced at Yang Xiu: “No hurry.”

“This isn’t urgent? Then what are you in a hurry for?”

“…”

Sima Yi paused for a while before asking an irrelevant question:

“Dezu, do you think the emperor is a god?”

“what?”

Yang Xiu didn’t understand Sima Yi’s train of thought, and just as he was about to nod, he shook his head again.

“According to the old standards, it certainly counts! But you also know that the emperor has always disliked the talk of ghosts and gods, otherwise he wouldn’t have advocated the way of weighing!”

“That’s it.”

Sima Yi said calmly: “The whole world praises me but I don’t encourage it, the whole world criticizes me but I don’t get discouraged, I know the difference between inside and outside, and the difference between honor and disgrace, that’s all.”

“He is not so sure about the number of times he is in the world. Even so, there are still things he has not yet established. Lie Zi rode the wind and walked, cool and good, and returned after ten and fifteen days. He is not so sure about the number of times he is in the world. Even though he is free from walking, he still has something to wait for. As for those who ride on the righteousness of heaven and earth and control the debate of the six qi to travel in the infinite, what else does he have to wait for? Therefore, it is said: The most perfect man has no self, the divine man has no merit, and the sage has no name.”

This is the content of “Xiao Yao You”.

With the revival of various schools of thought today, more and more thoughts and principles of the ancient sages have come into the sight of later generations, and later generations have also given them new interpretations.

“Grandmaster De, although I don’t like some of Zhuang Zhou’s articles, the principles in them are quite good.”

“Is the sky’s vastness its true color? Is it so far away that it has no end? Is it also like this when it looks down upon us?”

“In the past, I was just like you. I never understood how the emperor could become that ‘god-man’.”

“But through Kong Ming’s letters and some things found in the University Hall recently, I can feel the emperor’s attitude.”

“To us, the emperor has already made great achievements. We don’t understand why he still wants to conquer the Western Regions and toss about the art of debate.”

“We are like the cicada and the dove that mock Kunpeng. We don’t know why the emperor is so indifferent, and why he flies.”

“So they attributed it to the fact that the emperor was born holy and knew everything… But now I think it’s just because what the emperor sees is different from what we see.”

“Now that Kong Ming and I have already vaguely raised a corner of the emperor’s vision, how can I not devote my whole heart to doing this well?”

Yang Xiu didn’t know what Zhuge Liang had given Sima Yi, nor did he know what Sima Yi had discovered.

But Yang Xiu was laughing heartlessly at this moment——

“so what?”

“When Zhongda just talked about the cicada and the dove, did he seem to be disparaging them?”

“Does Zhongda think that cicadas and pigeons cannot fly as high as Kunpeng, so they should be looked down upon?”

“I don’t remember the emperor ever showing such an attitude towards people like you and me, or towards other common people!”

“Mozi once said: The big should not attack the small, the strong should not bully the weak, the many should not rob the few, the cunning should not deceive the foolish, the noble should not be arrogant to the humble, the rich should not be arrogant to the poor, the strong should not rob the old. Therefore, all the countries in the world should not harm each other with water, fire, poison, or weapons!”

“Your Kunpeng of Zhuangzi certainly flies to the plateau, but my Mozi’s universal love is not without benefit, right?”

Sima Yi looked strange at this moment.

“It’s different now.”

“If you had dared to bring up Mo Di’s words before, you would have been dragged away and executed long ago!”

“Same here! If you, Sima Zhongda, had been tinkering with these arithmetic in the past, you would definitely be labeled as “unlearned and incompetent”! ” The two looked at each other and finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter!
“Well, I’ll go with you to the palace to see the emperor!”

The two men dressed neatly and went to the palace to meet the emperor.

A servant came to report that the Emperor, the Empress, and the concubines were resting in the Forbidden Garden and would come over later.

“The emperor has ordered that you two go to the Xuanshi Hall and wait.”

Yang Xiu and Sima Yi could only take the opposite route and enter the Xuanshi Hall.

But as soon as he entered, Yang Xiu shouted: “Zhongda! Look!!”

Sima Yi walked quickly forward, only to find a giant map placed in the Xuanshi Hall!
But the map looked really weird, it was actually an inverted triangle, unlike any other place in the Han Dynasty!
“This… looks like a map of Kushan.”

Sima Yi was a little unsure.

After all, he knew very little about Kushan and had never been there in person, so he could only guess based on his intuition.

“should be!”

Yang Xiu pointed at the colored blocks on the map and motioned Sima Yi to look at them carefully.

“Zhongda, look, there are some country names written on this map!”

Sima Yi leaned over to look, and saw three largest blocks of color in the north, southwest and southeast, marked with the names of the three countries Wei, Shu and Wu respectively.

Next to these country names, there are also Yan, Song, Xu, Wei, Lu and other country names!
Yang Xiu was immediately overjoyed: “Wow! This must be the land that the emperor has already divided among the princes!”

Although Sima Yi had previously told Yang Xiu that he did not care about establishing states, when this map was thrown in front of him so domineeringly, he also fell!
“Among these lands…does Sima Zhongda also have a share?”

Just as the two were constantly studying the map, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.

“Even if you two are happy, you wouldn’t lie down on the ground to watch, right?”

Son of Heaven!

Liu Xie held some sweet plums in his hand and chewed them at any time.

“Don’t worry, the Kushan region is different from the South Seas and the Western Regions. There are plains everywhere, and the difference between the vassal states is not big!”

Following behind Liu Xie were Jia Xu, Xun Yu and others.

Liu Xie signaled Jia Xu: “Show them the list of princes to be enthroned this time, so that they won’t be uneasy!”

Jia Xu smiled and handed the document in his sleeve to the two of them: “Your Majesty still favors you, both of you are fertile lands near the sea!”

Yang Xiu and Sima Yi took the document and read it at a glance! And they quickly found their names in it!

This time, both of them were granted titles as princes!
However, because Sima Yi had more outstanding military achievements, he was a marquis, while Yang Xiu was only an earl.

But now is not the time to worry about these things?
Yang Xiu rushed forward and hugged Liu Xie’s thighs, buried his head between Liu Xie’s legs and burst into tears.

“Thank you, Your Majesty! I thought Your Majesty had forgotten me! Wuwuwuwu…”

Liu Xie tried very hard to pry Yang Xiu apart, but Yang Xiu was so strong that he could not move at all! This made Liu Xie wonder if he had neglected to exercise recently…

“Dezu! Why don’t you get up? You are a high-ranking official in the court! Your father is a high-ranking official! How would he feel if he knew what you are like now?”

Sima Yi could not bear to see his colleague humiliated in public, especially bringing shame to their own department, so he quickly stepped forward and scolded Yang Xiu, asking him to get up.

“My father?”

Yang Xiu uttered a “huh”.

“Zhongda, believe it or not, if my father were here, he would directly acknowledge His Majesty as his biological father!”

“You mean you are restrained?”

“no!”

“what is that?”

“Because my father’s father has passed away, but my father is still alive, otherwise…”

Liu Xie rolled his eyes, and finally used all his strength to push Yang Xiu away. He gave him two sweet plums and told him to go aside and stop making trouble!

“Your Majesty, I still have some questions…”

Sima Yi held the document in his hand and asked the emperor:

“I have read it carefully. This time, the division of the country has indeed enfeoffed all the pillars of the country and some meritorious people, but… are there still some people missing?”

“Which people?”

Sima Yi glanced at the emperor carefully and said, “Your Majesty’s descendants are not included in this enfeoffment system.”

“Could it be that Your Majesty does not want the prince to be enfeoffed…”

The question Sima Yi asked was very sensitive, and he even regretted it right after asking it.

But Liu Xie soon smiled and shook his head: “What kind of vassal state can they be? What kind of country can they rule?”

“Even if they want to be vassals, we have to wait until they grow up, understand some principles, and can truly govern a country!”

Sima Yi became even more confused and did not understand what the emperor meant.

However, when he saw Liu Xie’s eyes, his heart suddenly trembled!
There is a bird named Peng. Its back is like Mount Tai, and its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. It soars up to 90,000 miles with the help of the wind. It breaks through the clouds, carries the blue sky on its back, then flies to the south and goes to the South Sea!

Liu Xie put a sweet plum into his mouth and bit it gently. The sweet juice splashed out instantly!

“Zhongda, give the children some time, give the people some time, and give the Han some time.”

“The era of the Han Dynasty is far from over.”

“By the way, let’s change the reign title during next year’s grand court meeting… After all, since Jian’an Jian’an has already brought peace, there’s no need to continue using this reign title.”

“May I ask what era name the emperor wants to change to?”

Liu Xie leaned against the gate, his eyes swept over Jia Xu, Xun Yu, Zhong Yao, Xun You and others in turn, and finally stopped at the vast sea above Chang’an.

“Then change the reign title… to [Zhonghua]!”

——End of the book——(End of this chapter)