Bai Xiaowen pacified Western Liang and captured Ma Chao alive in just ten days!
The news reached Ye Capital, and every official in the Grand Marshal's Office was overjoyed. The officials at court, however, were filled with even greater awe.
Dong Zhao then brought up the matter of rewards, submitting a memorial requesting that Bai Xiaowen be made "Duke of Yan" and granted numerous special privileges.
This was no coincidence.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhao had been the first to propose making Cao Cao the Duke of Wei and granting him the "Nine Bestowals," thereby recognizing his merits and demonstrating that his status differed from that of other ministers. Now, merely making Bai Xiaowen a duke without adding the Nine Bestowals was already quite generous.
Aside from a handful of ministers who lowered their heads and remained silent, most expressed their agreement.
It should be noted that these court officials had all been forced by Bai Xiaowen to relocate from Xudu. Comparatively speaking, they lacked backbone.
Those with stronger principles who refused to accompany the imperial court in moving the capital had all been branded by the emperor as members of Cao Cao's faction and ordered executed.
Back then, Bai Xiaowen had deliberately refrained from giving the order himself, instead having Emperor Liu Xie order the ministers' execution. The results were now apparent: the court officials' loyalty to the emperor had been reduced even further—though it had never been particularly high to begin with.
Only one official opposed the matter, and he put his opposition into action.
That person was none other than Xun Yu, the Guanglu Minister and Secretariat Director.
However, Xun Yu did not raise his objections in court. Instead, he wrote to Bai Xiaowen, urging him not to do this.
On the return