Liu Ziye was killed and Liu Yu became the new Emperor of Liu Song, which may have been an unthinkable result for anyone. After all, if there weren't so many accidents, the throne wouldn't have been his turn.
Liu Yu (刘彧), also spelled Xiu Bing, was the eleventh son of Liu Yilong, born to Shen Rongji. Liu Yu was born on the 18th day of October in the sixteenth year of Yuan Jia (439 AD). In the twenty-fifth year of Yuan Jia (448 AD), Liu Yu, who was only ten years old, was given the title of King of Huaiyang and had 2,000 households, and in the twenty-ninth year of Yuan Jia (452 AD), he was renamed the King of Xiangdong. In the thirtieth year of Yuan Jia (453 AD), the fifteen-year-old Liu Yu lost both his father and mother, and at the critical moment Liu Jun's mother, Empress Lu, assumed the responsibility of raising Liu Yu. Therefore, Liu Yu was affectionate and loving to Empress Lu, and if Empress Lu was uncomfortable, Liu Yu accompanied empress Dowager Lu to serve Empress Lu's medicine, which was deeply loved by Empress Lu.
Perhaps because of this relationship, Liu Jun was still relatively kind and trusting to this younger brother, and after Liu Jun took the throne, Liu Yu held many important positions. By the end of Liu Jun's reign, Liu Yu had served as an envoy to manage the military of Yanzhou and Liang County of Yuzhou, the general of Zhenbei, the assassin of Xuzhou, the leading general, the middle rank of the attendant, and gave the band a post, which alone was already a well-deserved high-ranking official.
After Liu Ziye ascended the throne, Liu Yu entered the Hajj, but was accidentally detained, thus beginning the tragic pig king years. As Liu Ziye continued to kill and fool around, Liu Yu finally intervened in order to protect himself, which led to the fact that his cronies killed Liu Ziye and Liu Yu ascended to the throne.
Although he sat on the emperor's throne, Liu Yu at this time also knew that his foundation was too shallow and his strength was weak, so he began the road of buying people's hearts. First of all, he thought of Empress Dowager Lu, killing his grandson Liu Ziye and then ascending the throne himself, and the people's hearts must be uncomfortable. Liu Yu was also very filial to Empress Dowager Lu, so in order to comfort Empress Dowager Lu's heart, he ordered the appointment of Empress Dowager Lu's nephew Lu Xiuzhi as a Yellow Gate Attendant and Lu Maozhi as a Zhongshu Waiter. He also ordered the release of Xie Zhuang and others who were in prison in an attempt to gain their support.
For the meritorious ministers who helped him seize the throne, Liu Yu also gave great rewards, and Shou Jizhi and others were awarded the titles of county marquis and county prince according to merit. Then to appease the clan, Liu Yi the Prince of Donghai was appointed as the Zhongshu Supervisor and Tai Wei, and promoted the general of Zhenjun, the Assassin of Jiangzhou, and Liu Zixun the Prince of Jin'an to the rank of Cheqi General and Kaifu Yi Tongsansi (at this time Liu Yu did not know that he had rebelled). He then appointed Liu Xiuren the Prince of Jian'an as Situ, Shang Shuling, and Yangzhou Assassin, Liu Xiuyou the Prince of Shanyang as the Assassin of Jingzhou, and Liu Xiufan the Prince of Guiyang as the Assassin of Southern Xuzhou. Liu Zisui, the King of Anlu, was renamed the King of Jiangxia.
After officially ascending the throne, Liu Yu announced a general amnesty and changed his era name to Taishi. And some of the absurd regulations and rewards formulated by Liu Ziye were abolished. For example, the two baht money was ordered to be deposed, and the use of goose-eye money and coil money was banned, and the rest of the money was still allowed to be used for the time being.
Liu Yu then began a series of personnel appointments, appointing the general Anxi and the Southern Yu Prefecture Assassin Liu Zunkao as the Special Jin, the Right Guanglu Doctor, and the Auxiliary General, and the Liyang Southern Commandery Taishou Jianping Wang Jingsu as the Southern Yu Prefecture Assassin. Liu Ziyan (劉子顼), the King of Linhai, was appointed as the general of the Zhen Army, Liu Ziren (劉子仁) the Prince of Southern Xuzhou and the King of Yongjia (永嘉王) the General of the Central Army, and the General of the Left Guard Liu Daolong (劉道隆) the General of the Central Guard.
However, Liu Yu's appointment of Liu Daolong was strongly protested by Liu Xiuren. It turned out that Liu Daolong had been favored by Liu Ziye in the past and had raped Liu Xiuren's mother on Liu Ziye's orders. Of course, this hatred cannot be resolved, and it was not easy for Liu Ziye to die and Liu Yu took the throne, but Liu Xiuren saw that Liu Daolong was not only not punished, but continued to be promoted, so he asked for resignation. Liu Xiuren was Liu Yu's most important political ally at this time, and he must not lose him, so Liu Yu ordered Liu Daolong to commit suicide to please Liu Xiuren.
However, Liu Daolong's death seems to have caused a chain reaction, and although Zong Yue, Tan Jin, Tong Taiyi and others have been comforted by Liu Yu, they are still worried and uneasy in their hearts, and Liu Daolong's death has exacerbated this uneasiness. It just so happened that Liu Yu didn't want them to stay in the palace any longer, so he asked them straight away: "You have met such a fierce and cruel emperor, and you have worked hard for so long, you should have a place to recuperate." The powerful counties in the country are up to you to choose. ”
These words made Zong Yue and the others look at each other and be shocked. So they planned together, preparing to create a rebellion, and they also told Shen Youzhi about the plan. Who knew that after Shen Youzhi heard it, he not only did not participate, but immediately reported to Liu Yu. Liu Yu then ordered the arrest of Zong Yue and others and put them to death in prison. However, Shen Youzhi was recalled to be the general of Ren Zhi.
After the situation stabilized slightly, Liu Yu posthumously honored his birth mother Shen Shi as Empress Xuan, and the cemetery was called Chongning. At this time, the identity of Empress Dowager Lu was very embarrassing, and the relevant departments asked that Empress Dowager Lu should restore her previous title and move to the outer palace to live, but Liu Yu did not approve it, but honored Empress Dowager Lu as Empress Dowager Chongxian, living in chongxian palace, and all offerings and ceremonies were no different from usual. Princess Wang was also made empress, who was the younger sister of Wang Yu, and Wang Yu was also promoted to Shangshu servant, but because of the same name as Liu Yu, in order to avoid secrecy, Wang Yu has since been called jingwen.
Liu Yu was busy, everything was in order, it seemed that Liu Song was going to calm again, was this really the case?