In mid-July of the fourth year of the Jian'an Era, unrest erupted in Xu County. The Belt Edict incident, which should originally have been exposed half a year later, broke out ahead of time.
This incident marked Cao Cao's complete victory in his struggle against Emperor Xian.
Amid the unrest, Dong Cheng, Zhong Ji, Wang Fu, Wu Shuo, Wu Zilan, and others were killed in succession.
At this point, the military forces controlled by the old court officials had been uprooted by Cao Cao, and the defenses of the entire imperial city fell under his control.
Cao Cao also followed Jia Xu's strategy, taking one step back to advance two, and regained Emperor Xian's support.
The next day, when the ministers once more ascended the court, the political situation had already changed beyond recognition.
Without any discussion among the officials, the Son of Heaven directly issued an edict ordering the capital moved to Chang'an that very day.
The moment this news emerged, the entire court erupted in uproar. All the ministers believed Cao Cao was coercing the Son of Heaven.
Even Zheng Xuan, the Minister of Agriculture, stepped forward and angrily rebuked Cao Cao, demanding to know what had happened the previous night.
Yet Cao Cao showed no restraint, roaring that Zheng Xuan had colluded with Liu Bei, and asked Liu Xie to strip Zheng Xuan of his post as Minister of Agriculture.
That day, the Son of Heaven issued an edict removing Zheng Xuan from office, reducing him to a commoner, never to be employed again!
Old Master Zheng was already advanced in years. Upon hearing this, he was so enraged that he fell ill and could not rise again.
Zheng Xuan's fate also left the other ministers silent as cicadas in winter, none daring to utter another word.