Liu Bang repeatedly asked Shangshan Sihao to come out of the mountain and was rejected, why did Lü Hou easily ask for it?
In this article, I will talk to you about this topic.
The so-called Shangshan Sihao refers to the four hermits who believed in the Huang Lao doctrine in the last years of the Qin Dynasty: Tang Bing, Duke Tang Bing of Dongyuan, Cui Guang, Duke of Xia Huang, Wu Shi of Qili Ji, and Zhou Shu, Mr. Luli, all of whom were members of the seventy doctoral officers of Qin Shi Huang.
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, they chose to settle at Shangshan (
In present-day Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province
Later, after Liu Bang established the Western Han Dynasty, in view of the fame of these four people, he invited them to come out as officials many times, but they were all politely rejected.
For Liu Bang, it is nothing that these four old gentlemen do not come out to be officials, because Zhang Liang, Liu Bang's chief strategist, also chooses to live in seclusion like these four old gentlemen.
Of course, there are many people who behave like them, in a sense, they collectively represent a political force outside the system of the Han Empire, and to paraphrase our current words, they are political figures in the opposition. However, in the Han Dynasty, the official customary referred to them as Huang Lao bachelors.
On the surface, these people did not serve in the court, so naturally none of them participated in the political affairs of the country.
But in fact, because the ancient transportation medium was not developed, the so-called imperial power did not go to the countryside, especially in Liu Bang's time, the central government's management and control of the localities was actually very weak; similarly, the management and control of the local county officials and princes over the townships and counties below were also very weak.
In this context, similar to these huang lao bachelors, in fact, indirectly play a role in maintaining local order. It is precisely for similar reasons that the officials of the Han Empire have great respect and respect for these Huang Lao scholars.
At the same time, for these Huang Lao scholars, their non-entry into the DPRK as officials means that they do not have to be too constrained, and if necessary, they can also mediate the conflicts of interest between the people and the government as intermediaries, becoming the object of respect and dependence of both sides. In this context, these people did not come out to become officials, and for the emperor and themselves, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
It was also for similar reasons that Shangshan Sihao refused to come out to serve Liu Bang, and Liu Bang did not bother to force them to go out of the mountains, because although they did not come out to be officials, their existence was indeed very beneficial to maintaining the stability of the Han Empire.
In other words, these so-called Shangshan Sihao are not reluctant to come out as officials, but prefer to assist the government in governing the country as an intermediary, so for them, they also hope that the empire can remain stable.
However, when Liu Bang decided to replace the crown prince, the Great Han Empire was likely to face a large-scale bloody storm, and even if it was not good, the Great Han Empire may fall apart.
Because, at that time, the power division of the Han Empire was the three-legged establishment of foreign relatives, heroes and royal families. In other words, the foreign clique headed by Lü Hou and Fan Duo joined forces with the Gongchen clique headed by Xiao He and Cao Shan to control the central government, and the kings of the Liu clan, with Liu Bang's sons and brothers as the core, jointly controlled the local government.
In this context, these three major groups restricted each other, and no one dared to challenge the abandonment of the throne, so that the Western Han Empire could maintain sufficient stability. The problem is that when Liu Bang wanted King Ruyi of Zhao to replace Liu Ying as crown prince, it was easy to upset this balance.
First of all, the crown prince Liu Ying has a strong Lü family as a backing, if Liu Bang wants to let King Ruyi of Zhao succeed to the throne smoothly, he will inevitably carry out a great purge of the foreign relatives group after deposing Liu Ying's crown prince, otherwise in the future, even if King Ruyi of Zhao ascends the throne, his throne may not be stable.
Secondly, Lady Qi, the mother of King Ruyi of Zhao, did not have any deep background, and Lady Qi's mother's family did not have any bullish figures, let alone people with real power in the military and political circles to rely on, which meant that after King Ruyi of Zhao ascended to the throne, he lacked a strong foreign relative force to escort him, and his own age was too young, so that he could easily become their puppet in the face of those wolf-like heroes and heroes.
In this context, Liu Bang is likely to launch a large-scale purge of the Gongchen clique. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for Zhao Wang Ruyi and Lady Qi, two orphans and widows, to effectively control these heroic groups.
Moreover, if Liu Bang had cleared out his foreign relatives and the meritorious clique, and faced with the local kings of the Liu clan who were eyeing the tigers, what would King Ruyi of Zhao rely on to restrain them? At that time, the Empire is likely to have a disaster similar to the Rebellion of the Eight Kings or the Battle of Jingnan.
In fact, it can be seen from here that if Liu Bang wants to replace the crown prince, it is equivalent to re-disrupting the layout of the empire and then rebuilding, which is too dangerous. Moreover, the foreign clique headed by Lü Hou and Fan Duo, the meritorious clique headed by Xiao He and Cao Shan, and even some of the kings of the Liu clan could be purged in the process, so they joined forces to vigorously oppose it.
It is precisely because of this that Zhang Liang chose to help Lü Hou. Because, although Zhang Liang has always been in a state of refuge, the problem is that if such a catastrophe occurs in the empire, Zhang Liang is afraid that he will also suffer, so he asked Lü Hou to send someone to invite Shangshan Sihao out of the mountain.
Of course, the interests of Shangshan Sihao and Zhang Liang were basically the same, and they all had the same considerations, so they were also willing to accept Lü Hou's invitation to go out of the mountain.
Later, when Liu Bang saw that Liu Ying had Shangshan Sihao by his side, he instantly understood that even Zhang Liang, who had always avoided the world, did not want him to abolish the prince and chose to stand on the side of the prince.
In this context, the political forces equivalent to the imperial office and the political forces in the opposition have chosen to side with the prince, and there is no one behind Liu Bang, if he insists on abolishing the prince, don't say that Liu Ruyi cannot sit firmly on the throne, that is, whether Liu Bang's throne can be secured is an unknown.