This “retired” old man also leisurely wrote several letters to Yang Xiu, pointing out the experience he gained from managing the local area in Leping.

Advising him not to think that his grandfather stepping down was a fatal matter.

Unless he relied on being “the grandson of the Grand Commandant” to stay in Leping.

He did think that the title of County Marquis given to Qiao Yan was a bit too high, but in the exchange of letters, he realized that his grandson’s growth was significant.

Probably, it was more promising than staying in Luoyang, so he felt that this title of County Marquis was rightly given.

He even planned a few days ago whether to take advantage of the fact that he could still breathe, and simply stay in Leping for a few months, coincidentally accompanying Cai Yong.

But obviously, with Liu Hong’s words, his retirement plan had to come to an end.

But now the problem arises.

Yang Ci was originally the Grand Commandant.

Which position should he be restored to among the Three Excellencies?

When Cui Lie heard this, his face turned pale.

A few days ago, after the debate on whether to give up Liangzhou, Liu Hong directly approved Fu Xie’s idea and decided to defend Liangzhou.

Although he still held the position of Minister of Works, it was undoubtedly a loss of imperial favor.

Moreover, among his colleagues, there were also a group of people who supported Fu Xie’s idea and insisted on the dignity of the Han Dynasty.

Now, hearing that Liu Hong intended to restore Yang Ci to the Three Excellencies, his first reaction was naturally that he was going to be demoted.

However, he then heard Liu Hong say, “Zhang Boshen( Wen ) will lead the army to suppress the rebellion, and the position of Minister of Works will be vacant. Let Yang Ci first serve as Minister of Works.”

Zhang Wen went to replace Huang Fu Song to pacify the rebellion in Liangzhou, just vacating the position of Minister of Works for Yang Ci to take over.

Cui Lie breathed a sigh of relief.

But he immediately realized that there was clearly another layer of meaning in Liu Hong’s words.

What does “first serve as Minister of Works” mean? Doesn’t it mean that there will be an adjustment in a while…

His position was still very unsafe.

Liu Hong didn’t care how Cui Lie was thinking at the moment.

He continued calmly, “Although Lord Yang made a small mistake while serving as Grand Commandant, he has no major faults.

He selects talents, carries out his duties conscientiously, and can be called a model for the Three Excellencies.

As for the governor of Qingzhou, Huang Ziyue, he is also a pillar of talent. Lord Yang saw his ability and recognized his talent, recommended him to the central government, and therefore, Qingzhou is now stable.

I hereby restore him to the position of Minister of Works for his merits. I don’t know if anyone has any objections?”

There are still many disciples of the Hongnong Yang family in the court today, so naturally, there would be no objections to Liu Hong’s move.

As Liu Hong said, Huang Wan, recommended by Yang Ci, has shown an extraordinary level of governance.

Therefore, there is no problem with Yang Ci, who has been a Three Excellencies and has the merit of recommendation, being promoted back to the position of Minister of Works.

However, what everyone did not expect was that Liu Hong’s decision to appoint Yang Ci as Minister of Works was not his main intention.

He then said, “Yang Ci has made contributions as the governor of Qingzhou. So, I want to ask, what was the intention behind Yuan Ciyang’s recommendation of Zhang Yi?”

Yuan Ji, who was currently serving as the Minister of Works, was among the officials below.

He was stunned when he heard Liu Hong’s accusation, and naturally, he should stand up and answer.

The idea of the Yuan family’s recommendation of Zhang Yi was exactly as Qiao Yan had guessed.

It was based on Yuan Shao’s proposal to “hold the south of the river and block the north of Yanmen, and also control the various tribes,” seeking a way out for the Yuan family, which was equivalent to sharing the risk of the aristocratic families.

However, because the Yuan family acted as a whole, there was no way to shirk responsibility.

This idea of leaving a way out could not be clearly stated in front of Liu Hong.

Yuan Ji, after stepping forward, only replied with a bow, “Zhang Yi was selected for his filial piety and upright conduct.

He was originally a local magistrate and has served as the chief of the county.

His governance has been clear and bright, suitable for a local leader.

Therefore, Lord Yuan recommended him as the governor of Bingzhou.

May I ask Your Majesty, is there an important matter happening in Bingzhou?”

Liu Hong replied with ambiguous joy and anger, “Could the locust plague be considered a major event?”

Yuan Ji hesitated and asked, “I don’t know the situation, can you please explain?”

The locust plague was indeed a major event.

Just look at the current situation in Luoyang to understand.

However, whether this major event was a natural disaster or caused by mismanagement in the three regions,

it could not be said that the governor of Bingzhou was useless just because the locust plague had spread to Bingzhou.

It was somewhat inappropriate to further investigate the recommender in this matter.

“What’s the situation?” Liu Hong sneered.

“Very good, everything has been settled. The locust plague caused almost no damage, and the people of Bingzhou are waiting for the autumn harvest.

Because the handling of the locust plague was very fast, the barbarians(bandits) did not dare to invade.

It should be asked how the officials handled it.”

“……?” Yuan Ji looked up at Liu Hong in confusion and caution.

If what Liu Hong said was true, then Zhang Yi should be credited, not blamed.

No wonder there have been no reports from Bingzhou among the memorials recently arrived in the capital.

Obviously, they wanted to wait until the situation stabilized before delivering the good news directly.

But hearing Liu Hong’s use of Zhang Yi’s full name, it was clear that he was very dissatisfied with him, and his accusations were heavier.

Before Yuan Ji could ask the question, he heard the sound of Liu Hong slamming the memorial on the desk, “But what does this have to do with Zhang Yi?”

“The order to capture and kill locusts came from Marquis of Le Ping, and what Zhang Yi did was simply to reject the proposal made by Qiao Ye Shu(Yan) four months ago to build dragon bone carts to prevent locust plagues.”

“Exchanging grain for locusts, using night fires to lure insects, using carts to turn over the soil, using ditches to bury and kill, every detail was proposed by Marquis of Le Ping. What did Zhang Yi do?”

“He has really lost the face of a provincial governor.” Liu Hong’s tone was full of accusations, “Upon receiving the urgent news of the locust plague, he failed to make any appropriate response, and was taken down and detained by a child because of his incompetence. It’s simply a joke!”

Not to mention Yuan Ji, who was called out to respond, even the officials present were stunned.

The amount of information in Liu Hong’s words was simply too much.

What did it mean that Zhang Yi was taken down and detained by a child?

The only person capable of such a feat, besides Marquis of Le Ping, was obviously no one else.

To arbitrarily detain an imperial official, let alone a provincial governor, one would need to be incredibly audacious!

But the image outlined by Liu Hong in the previous sentence was clearly extremely wise and decisive.

Being able to quickly formulate policies to suppress the locust plague, and even to decisively decide to use the method of catching locusts to combat the natural disaster—

Even though most of the people present had climbed up step by step from the local level, there was no one who dared to guarantee that they could achieve the level of Qiao Yan.

But her methods were indeed a bit extreme.

In this way, it was understandable that Zhang Yi would be publicly reprimanded by Liu Hong, and even his patron would be implicated.

And Yang Ci, because of his recommendation for merit comparison, was promoted to the Three Excellencies, which was also completely understandable.

Bingzhou really didn’t have much news before, but now there’s a big one.

Yuan Ji was still at a loss for words, feeling that he had encountered an unexpected disaster, when he suddenly heard Liu Hong turn to another person and ask, “Minister Cui, how do you think this matter should be handled?”

Minister Cui: ……?

He really didn’t want to be singled out at this time.

At a time when he might be deprived of his position for entering the hall with his left foot first, why would such a suffocating question be thrown at him!