Interesting History (4) - Liu Xin and Wang Mang

Who can be called the first scholar of the Western Han Dynasty?

There are many excellent scholars in the Western Han Dynasty, but it is indeed difficult to choose who is the No. 1, after all, each has its own merits. Relatively speaking, the more famous are Sima Qian and Liu Xin.

Sima Qian has the "Shiji", what does Liu Xin have?

The Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Liu Xiang is Liu Xin's father, and if the father and son had a family account, they could still get a lot of royalty income today. Sima Qian was a historical official, a writer, and a top scholar in the liberal arts, while Liu Xiang's father and son were all-rounders in literature and science, with contributions to Confucianism, literature, and history, as well as astronomical calendars and mathematics. The most important achievement is to re-study and organize the works of hundreds of children, and proofread, edit, and store them in the country together with poetry, mathematics, and square techniques. In a word, what the National Library needed at that time, what they made up. Each field has industry ancestors, such as Lu Yu in the tea industry, Lu Ban in the construction industry, and Liu Xiang's father and son are the pioneers in the field of library and information, opening up cataloguing and proofreading.

Although Liu Xiang's father and son have many works, and their groundbreaking academic achievements are also well-known in the industry, they are not as famous as Sima Qian, firstly, because they have done a lot of behind-the-scenes work, doing editors, catalogs, and proofreading, and the work objects are limited to readers, which is not easy to be known to the public. Second, Sima Qian and his works at the same time were too dazzling in later generations, dimming the light of their father and son. The Liu father and son are not divided in talent and works, but his son Liu Xin is more famous because he bound two other IPs, one is Wang Mang, the terminator of the Western Han Dynasty, and the other is Liu Xiu, the pioneer of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

How is it bound?

Liu Xin and Wang Mang are young, and they belong to the same Xueba genius series, the two have played from childhood to adulthood, and their fate is naturally tied together. With Liu Xiu, it is a coincidence of the same name. Liu Xin changed his name once when he became an adult, and he was called Liu Xiu, which was over-interpreted by later generations, thinking that Liu Xin predicted the heavenly machine, because the next emperor also happened to be called Liu Xiu. As for why Liu Xin suddenly changed his name, the reason is very simple, the emperor of Han Mourning called Liu Xin, Liu Xin and Liu Xin are homophonic, avoid suspicion, and naturally want to change his name.

It stands to reason that Liu Xiang is a minister of the central government, and he should know who is the crown prince and who is the next emperor, and he should avoid naming his children. Is it not a place where he named his son Liu Xin that doesn't make sense?

When Liu Xiang named his son, Liu Xin had not yet become a prince and did not commit taboos. The Hancheng Emperor Liu Xiao had no qualified heir to the crown prince, and Liu Xin was Liu Xiao's nephew and an emergency replacement. However, the Western Han Dynasty also happened to be destroyed in the hands of Liu Xin and Liu Xin, and their life expectancy was too short, Liu Xiao was in his forties, and Liu Xin was in his twenties.

History books say that it was popular to adopt male pets in the Han Dynasty. Liu Xiao has a male favorite named Zhang Fang, who is very famous in history.

So is there a possibility that Liu Xiao is a deep cabinet and is unwilling to touch many concubines, so as to die?

We have no way to verify this question.

Why did Wang Mang rise to power?

The hereditary system is not destined to last long, and the genetic inheritance of emperors cannot escape the laws of nature, and it will tend to be mediocre. The new emperor's energy is too weak, the level of governance is limited, and the genes of high energy are increasing day by day, and everyone's voice for high energy is getting higher and higher. Wang Mang is the high energy of the outside world, he entered the dynasty as a foreign relative, his knowledge, personality, and ability are all first-class, and he is known as the reincarnation of the Duke of Zhou. Wang Mang replaced the Liu family in the throne, to put it bluntly, strong genes replaced weak genes.

Is there an antidote to hereditary system?

There is no antidote! Looking at Animal World, how do animal populations ensure that genes are not extinct? Fight a decisive battle in the whole group, so that the strongest and smartest genes become kings and pass them on, and ordinary male monkeys and male lions have no mating rights. In fact, people also have animal attributes, and the reason why monogamy is promoted is to protect the weak. Really free pairing, everyone would rather be one ten-thousandth of Wang Sicong than be the only dick.

What is the most difficult point of changing the dynasty?

Change cognitive inertia. Because from top to bottom, the whole people recognized the family world, starting from the Western Han Dynasty, everyone felt that Jiangshan should be surnamed Liu, the emperor was the Son of Heaven, it was arranged by heaven, and anyone who tried to reverse this situation belonged to those who betrayed the will of God. Liu Bang said that the emperor had a historical background, peasant uprisings broke out in various places, the people were not living, and the common people also had the desire to see the savior. Wang Mang said that the emperor is different, completely changed his surname, the people are prone to acceptance obstacles, although the Western Han train is slightly shaking, but still moving forward in an orderly manner on the track, you suddenly derailed, that is definitely not okay, too sudden...

Does Wang Mang know this?

Definitely know. Initially, the emperor wasted firewood, and his ability was too outstanding, and everyone was recommending Wang Mang, hoping that he could stand up and preside over the work. Although everyone knew that the emperor at that time was a straw bale, no one thought of letting Wang Mang change the dynasty, and they didn't even dare to have this idea. Including Liu Xiang and Liu Xin's father and son also look at Wang Mang in this way, Liu Xiang also often educates Liu Xin to learn from Wang Mang and assist him well, Wang Mang will definitely be a pillar of the country in the future. However, after presiding over the work for a long time, people will change, and there are fewer and fewer people who can hold Wang Mang, and he naturally has the desire to be called an emperor, including Wu Zetian later, in fact, the mood is the same, first the agency model, and then self-righteousness.

So how to solve the problem of providence?

It's simple, just make up a story. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang will make up stories, won't Wang Mang, a genius, make up? At that time, there was a buddy named Zhen Feng next to Wang Mang, similar to today's priest, who issued "talismans" to the world at every turn, just like Yang Xiuqing of the later Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who was shocked and said that his heavenly father possessed the body and spoke to mortals on behalf of the gods. How did Wang Mang obtain the destiny of the Son of Heaven? He concocted it. After Wang Mang took the throne, he felt that this buddy was a scourge, because he could say that you were conforming, or you could say that you were retrograde, and after Wang Mang crossed the river, he demolished the bridge between Zhen Feng and his father.

I have been to Wang Mang's hometown, and there is a well in the village, and some stories about the drought and the python and the destiny of the Son of Heaven are written on the stele. This is all Zhen Feng's posthumous work.

It should be said that Wang Mang came to power and his voice was very high.

Wang Mang was the only one of the emperors of China who was voted by the whole people, of course, not a specific vote, but a letter from top to bottom to petition Wang Mang, asking him to stand up and preside over the work, almost the whole people participated, and the handprint that could not write was not developed, that is, the printing industry was not developed at that time, otherwise, every household would hang Wang Mang's sticker.

Wang Mang came to power, so what about the Liu royal family?

Those who win the hearts of the world will surely actively stand in line, and if they stand close enough, they will be given their surnames, well, brothers, henceforth you can have the surname king.

A bit similar to Lu Xun's "A Q Zhengbiao", A Q said that his surname was Zhao, and he was slapped by Mrs. Zhao: Just because you also deserve the surname Zhao?

In all dynasties, it is very common to give surnames, such as Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Bo, after Liu Bang ascended the throne, he gave him the surname Liu, he changed his surname to Liu, and since then it has been the identity of the imperial family, why historians generally believe that Xiang Bo did turn his elbow outward at the Hongmen banquet, that is, he thought of the matter of giving the surname, in fact, there is no necessary connection between the two, but one moment after another.

The thicker the foundation of the nobility, the more developed the root system, and the more prosperous the descendants. Take the surname Liu as an example, Liu Qiangdong looked for his ancestor some time ago and said that he was Liu Jiao, who is Liu Jiao? is Liu Bang's half-brother, in the early Western Han Dynasty was the smallest in the entire aristocratic system, but later it was the largest and most outstanding one in development, even today, one out of ten of the surname Liu is a descendant of Liu Jiao, there have been many cow people in history, including today's protagonist Liu Xiang Liu Xin father and son are also after Liu Jiao, to the Southern and Northern Dynasties we will talk about an emperor called Liu Yu, he is also after Liu Jiao.

How did Liu Xin get on the stage of history?

His father Liu Xiang is still relatively pure, at that time the country wanted to build a library, successive dynasties have saved so many books, there are essences, there are waste, there are positive, there are negative, it is impossible to directly summarize it and collect it in the library, the emperor wants to organize people to rearrange ancient books, this rearrangement is screening and elimination + modification mode. As I told you earlier, a hundred schools of thought correspond to a hundred countries, a country can only have one core value, the emperor put forward the core values, Liu Xiang and others to find materials to support and solidify, but also to optimize historical documents, suitable to stay, inappropriate either modify or delete, Liu Xiang is to do this job all his life, "Warring States Policy" is from his hands. What about Liu Xin? The basic son inherited his father's business and continued to do this job, and the most familiar thing for ordinary people was to complete the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" on the basis of the materials compiled by his father, but he really appeared on the stage of history because he and Wang Mang were old iron, and the higher Wang Mang, the higher he was, he also rose with it.

Did the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" series of stories exist in the late Qin and early Han dynasties?

It must have been earlier, I heard these stories when I was a child. "Classic of Mountains and Seas" is a re-summary of folklore, including the four famous works mentioned today, of which "Journey to the West", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" are all similar creative techniques, that is, to summarize and recreate folklore.

Wang Mang usurped the throne, what is the attitude of Liu Xin as Lao Tie?

Liu Xin did not recognize Wang Mang's usurpation of power in his bones, he felt that it was okay to preside over the imperial government, but you can't directly change the surname of my eldest Liu family. However, the raw rice was cooked and matured, and Wang Mang decided to reuse Liu Xin as a national teacher, both of them were enthusiastic about ancient scriptures, Liu Xin was responsible for theoretical research, Wang Mang was responsible for practical work, and engaged in a Togu reform, which was regarded as a short honeymoon period. The good times did not last long, there was a fate incident, implicated Liu Xin's two sons, Wang Mang did not show mercy to his subordinates, but executed the two, after which Liu Xin was not reused, Liu Xin and others turned against the water, wanted to pull Wang Mang down, restore the Han Room, and the other rebels were directly cut off and fed the dog, Wang Mang felt that Liu Xin had been iron with himself for a lifetime, forget it, hint at it, Liu Xin committed suicide.

I always feel that Wang Mang is a murderer, even killing his own son.

In the ancient emperor series, killing one's father and killing one's own children was a routine operation. When looking at people, especially kings, we must divide them in two. Anyone who can achieve great things is a person with love, even if it is a traitor or bandit, because without love you cannot be a leader. A person does nothing evil, emotionally unstable, and kills his subordinates at every turn, do you think someone is messing with him? If a person wants to condense popularity, he must have great love in his heart, but he only judges heroes by success or failure. Wang Mang and Liu Xin are both people with great love, and Ma Huateng and Ma Yun are also people with great love, so why do they have a cruel side? For example, Liu Chuanzhi sent Sun Hongbin to prison, and Ren Zhengfei sent Li Yinan to prison, because he needed to maintain the stability of his career, that is, modern civilization, put it in ancient times, and directly beheaded him.

Why does everyone say that Wang Mang is a crosser?

Because he was pursuing a socialist policy. First, land reform should be carried out, and land should be nationalized and distributed according to population. Second, the abolition of slavery proposed equality for all, but it was not abolished immediately, but a buffer period was given, first forbidding all slaves and maids to continue to buy and sell, and as for the original ones, the master's family could continue to hold them, ensuring that the size of slaves continued to shrink until natural death. Third, set up state-owned enterprises and implement a planned economy. Fourth, unify the country's weights and measures. Can you imagine that this was 2,000 years ago?

Doesn't it mean that Qin Shi Huang unified weights and measures?

Qin Shi Huang put forward this theory and idea, but it has not been implemented, and it is Wang Mang who really unifies weights and measures, because Wang Mang is an intellectual and attaches great importance to scientific research, and formed a team of academicians represented by Liu Xin, mainly engaged in science and engineering research. Liu Xin also invented the vernier caliper, hundreds of years before Europe. Didn't I say it before, Liu Xin is an all-rounder. Pi is also calculated to 3.1457, which has an error, but is close.

In this way, Wang Mang really looks like a person who traveled through the past. These "new deals" proposed by him at that time were very new, but they were too avant-garde and the mass base was too weak. At that time, the gap between the rich and the poor was too large, the poor were too poor, the wind and food were hungry, like a livestock, the rich were too rich, and the rich could be enemies of the country. There is no possibility of enlightenment for the ordinary masses, so the establishment of a political subject with the masses as the main body of interests is doomed to failure. The premise of the masses being the masters of the house is that they can eat, have a certain culture, be able to treat themselves as individuals, have the consciousness of being the masters of the house, and meet these conditions at the same time, almost in the 19th century.

Wang Mang failed because he moved the interests of the nobles. He made the nobles no longer expensive, which can be understood as a fighting landlord during the Western Han Dynasty, which was the root cause of Wang Mang's defeat. However, according to Wang Mang's wisdom and mass base, he would not have lost so quickly, and there was also a key point here, that is, his luck was really bad, just in time for the flooding of the Yellow River for many years, and the people downstream were living in poverty and revolted.

Why are the descriptions of Wang Mang mostly negative in history books?

Because the history books were compiled by the latter authorities organization, for those in power, Wang Mang and the like are too dangerous, and naturally they must be blackened with all their might. It should be said that Wang Mang was the emperor with the greatest contrast between the word of mouth and the historical records at that time, he ranked first, and the Sui Emperor ranked second. History cannot assume, if it is assumed, first, he should not turn so quickly and reform step by step; Second, don't encounter the flooding of the Yellow River. History will be rewritten, and there may be hundreds of years of Wang Shi's prosperous era. He and the Sui Emperor are all reformers, but they are unlucky, and what really affects the trend of history is often not inevitable, but accidental...

How to evaluate Wang Mang's historical status?

He is a bookmark character, that is, the original Han did not distinguish between the Western Han and the Eastern Han, but he was abruptly separated, which can be regarded as a bookmark of the history of the Han Dynasty. Because he was a heterogeneous emperor who suddenly appeared, posterity liked to define him as a usurper. How much do those in power hate him? Cut off his head and play with it for generations, and the emperor took it with him in the upper dynasty, and showed it to the civil and military officials, this is the end of the usurper. Wang Mang, Cao Cao, and Wu Zetian all belong to the Jiuzhan Magpie's Nest series, Wu Zetian is different from Wang Mang and Cao Cao, although Wu Zetian is a different surname, but has not departed from the basic track of Li Tang, and is not a real usurper. What the usurper should learn is Cao Cao, I only want power, not name. Wang Mang did not have front and back eyes, touching the stone to cross the river, while Cao Cao touched Wang Mang to cross the river.

What do the East and West of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty mean?

First there was the Western Han Dynasty and then the Eastern Han Dynasty, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty was Chang'an, it was Western Beijing, and the Eastern Han Dynasty was the capital Luoyang, compared to Xijing, it was Tokyo, but this thing was not fixed, when Kaifeng was Tokyo, Luoyang became Xijing.

Now I feel that the name Wang Mang is still very sexy. The names of ancient nobles are very sexy, such as Liu Xin, when you look at the name Liu Xin, you know that it is from the nobility, ordinary people can not know this word at all, the common people are called iron pillars, dog eggs. Why are ancient character names so nice? It was all made by the nobility, and ordinary people would not be recorded in the history books.

The field of Chinese Studies particularly praises Liu Xiang and Liu Xin's father and son. They are landmark figures, after all, the two of them systematically adapted or annotated the theoretical works before the Western Han Dynasty, rescued a large number of classic works, and created a classification book and proofread errata, and many people today study the classics of the Spring and Autumn Warring States, in fact, they are the annotated versions of their grandfathers.

Some people say that Liu Xin is the greatest scholar after Confucius, and this does not dare to agree, after all, there are limitations of the times. Li Shizhen put it today, and any village doctor beat him. But if you put it before the Western Han Dynasty, it is not an exaggeration to say that Liu Xin is the most comprehensive scholar, he is equivalent to combining Mo Yan + Yang Zhenning + Hua Luogeng + Qian Xuesen, an all-rounder.

If I gave Liu Xin a piece of advice today, what would it be?

People who engage in learning are nerds, feel free to engage in learning, just live for a hundred lifetimes, don't engage in politics, it's not for you a nerd to have fun. Sima Qianbei mixed with the imperial government will not be castrated. Of course, the power thing is a bit similar to the ring in "The Lord of the Rings", when standing outside, everyone has a set, really wears it, and there is no one who is not confused.