#Cultural History Analysis#The reason why the heroes want to establish the king as the Son of Heaven is that he is relatively easy to control. Dai Wang really lacked a foundation, and when he arrived in Chang'an, only 6 people came together. However, with his amazing political wisdom, Emperor Wen of Han won the game with the meritorious clique, and eventually monopolized power.
Chosen "puppet"
After killing Zhu Lu, the heroes of the Great Han Dynasty gathered together to discuss the establishment of another Son of Heaven. Indeed, the young emperor who was reigning at that time was originally established by the Lu clan, and if he was allowed to continue to be the Son of Heaven, it would certainly be very dangerous to kill the heroes of Zhu Lu. Therefore, the ministers discussed that they should choose the best among the descendants of Gaozu.
At that time, the most hopeful was King Qi. In terms of eldest and younger, the king of Qi was the eldest grandson of Gaozu at that time; In terms of merit, Qi has the most credit in Xu Lu. However, most of the heroes believed that the King of Qi's uncle Sijun was also as strong as the Lü clan, and if he established the King of Qi, he would probably repeat the mistakes of Zhu Lü's arbitrary government in the future (it was difficult to control). Immediately, after discussion, the group of ministers decided that the acting king was the most suitable: among the surviving sons of Gaozu, the acting king was the oldest, moreover, he had the name of benevolence and filial piety, and the Empress Dowager Bo Shi Jinliang should make him emperor!
To put it beautifully, in fact, the core idea is: good control. Gaozu's sons, many of whom were persecuted by Empress Lü and died; The fact that Dai Wang can escape a catastrophe shows that at least in Empress Lu's opinion, Dai Wang is easy to control and there is no harm! And people who are benevolent and generous can obviously "have fun" with the heroes.
In this way, the result of the discussion is: Establish a king! Thus, the game between the acting king and the heroes began!
Plan and then move
Chen Ping and Zhou Bo sent people to greet the king.
At this time, most of the acting ministers advised the acting king not to go: these meritorious ministers were all fighting with Emperor Gao, making good use of troops and multi-power, and they may not have the idea of separation! At first, they were afraid of Gaozu and Empress Lü, and did not dare to act rashly, but now, they have killed Zhu Lu and controlled the Jingshi division, and now they are facing the great king, only afraid of hiding evil intentions. Please the king say that he is sick and does not go! Obviously, everyone thinks: the acting king is not enough for those heroes to play, don't go to death! However, the words of Lieutenant Song Chang also said the conditions for the victory of the acting king! Five points were indicated.
1. At the beginning of the chaos in the world, heroes and heroes all wanted to be emperors. But after the Liu family became a son, those heroes no longer dared to compete for the throne, this is the will of God! (Do heroes dare to go against the will of God?) ）
2, the son of Gaozu's seal, the local canine tooth system, the big man of the Ping Domain! Do ministers with different surnames dare not be afraid? (Do the heroes dare to ignore the powerful princes?) ）
3. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the abolition of the harsh government of the Qin Dynasty has won the hearts of the people. (Do heroes dare to go against people's hearts?) ）
4. The Lü clan exercised power and tried his best to control the army. However, Zhou Bo entered the Northern Army with a section, and with only one sentence, "Those who support the Liu family are left", he recaptured the army and killed Zhu Lu! (Do heroes dare to go against the army?) ）
5. Even if ministers "want to change" and do not have the support of the people, can they still do their own thing? What's more, now, Chang'an has Marquis Zhu Hui and Marquis Dongmou, and outside there are Wu, Chu, Huainan, Langya, Qi, and Dai, what are you afraid of?
These 5 points, except for the first point that Providence is more "Xuan" (it seems "Xuan" today, but in ancient times it seems to be the most important reason), the remaining 4 points point out the people's heart, the military heart, the support of the princes and kings to the Han Dynasty, and the comparison of strength inside and outside the Jingshi Division, which also points out the basic conditions for the dynasty to control the situation!
When Dai Wang heard this, he became interested, but he still did not dare to make up his mind immediately, so he asked people to report to the Empress Dowager while divination. The fortune teller was lucky, but the Dai King was still determined to act safely, and first sent Empress Dowager Bo's younger brother Bo Zhao to see the situation. After Bo Zhao's inspection, he returned: Go! No need to doubt!
So, Dai Wang took six people with him to Chang'an and began to directly start a head-on game with experienced heroes. The first game: the successful "dismount"
Going to Chang'an is important, but the posture of entering Chang'an is even more important!
6 people, if they just quietly enter Chang'an and go to Chang'an to find Zhou Bo or Chen Ping, it is equivalent to being subject to others first. Therefore, after Dai Wang and his party arrived at Gaoling, they stopped and sent Song Chang to Chang'an first to "observe the change". After Song Chang arrived at Weiqiao first, the prime minister and the following came to greet him, and Song Chang returned and informed the acting king. In this way, when the king arrived at Weiqiao, all the courtiers paid homage here. Entering the city on behalf of the king can be described as majestic! At this time, Zhou Bo came with a sentence that was likely to make Dai Wang awe-inspiring: Please come with me to the side and say a few words!
I don't know if Zhou Bo, who is thick and less literate, said this intentionally or unintentionally, but this sentence is to give the Dai Wang a dismount!
Don't say it's the Son of Heaven, it's an ordinary office leader, when he took office, one of his old backbones immediately said: "Come here, let's talk!" "This is all extremely impolite and extremely contemptuous of the leadership authority!
Today Zhou Bo is looking for you to "chat alone", tomorrow Chen Ping is looking for you to "come and talk", and the day after tomorrow Dou Ying is looking for you to "chat privately", that generation of kings will really succeed in the "sounding board" of the courtiers! Song Chang replied sharply: If it is a public matter, you will say now, if it is a private matter, "the king is not selfish"! Zhou Bo was so frightened that he had no temper, so he knelt down to offer the Son of Heaven Seal Talisman. The Dai Wang replied: Let's discuss it again at the Dai Mansion! So, everyone went to the Dai Wang Mansion together. When he arrived at the residence of the acting king, the group of ministers persuaded him to enter, and the acting king resigned, and repeated repeatedly, the acting king ascended the throne. This old trick will not be repeated. But from the moment he entered Chang'an, Dai Wang showed that I was definitely not here to be a puppet!
The second game: was "dismounted" quickly, and the dai king ate another "dismounted". Since he said that he was going to ascend the throne, he naturally had to move to Weiyang Palace. Therefore, Xiahou Ying and Liu Xingju first went to the "Qing Palace", drove out the young emperor and others of Lü Houli, and asked the king to enter the palace on his behalf. However, on the way to enter the palace, some of the palace "sages" actually held halberds to obstruct: What for? What are you doing?
The acting king was helpless, so he had to ask Zhou Bo for help, and Zhou Bo ran to convey the order, and the sage collected the troops and left!
He entered the palace on behalf of the king and listened to the government that night. It can be said that at the moment before he ascended the throne, Dai Wang ate a humiliating "dismount"! Although he is called an emperor, with his current strength, he can't even master the armament in the palace!
The third game: On the night of trading into the palace, Emperor Wen was very busy.
That night, Emperor Wen did two major things.
1. Use Song Chang to pacify the northern and southern armies, and Zhang Wu to lead the Lang Zhong Order. Letting "their own people" control the army inside and outside Chang'an is the first thing that matters!
2. Make an official evaluation of the "Zhu Lu Incident": It was Zhu Lu who wanted to mess with my great man, and the ministers killed Zhu Lu, "all of them ambushed"!
This order was a reassurance to the ministers who participated in the Emperor. Zhou Bo was anxious to find Emperor Wen to "talk alone", not only to "dismount Mawei", but also really had something to determine. At that time, Empress Lü wanted to destroy the "White Horse Alliance" established by Gaozu and made the Lü clan king, which Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and others supported.
Later, after killing Zhu Lu, everyone conspired together!
The matter of Zhao Lu is not certain, and the heroes are not at ease. Obviously, on the night that Emperor Wen took office, to deal with these two things, he completed a deal with the heroes: I characterize the things I give you, and you give me the military power! It's just that Emperor Wen handled it very cleverly. In the hall, he first arranged for Song Chang and others to hold military power, and then went to the front hall to issue instructions for "qualitative". In this way, Emperor Wen, who had no foundation, completed a fair deal with the courtiers, took control of the Chang'an army, and stabilized the situation.
The fourth game: expelling Zhou Bo
Despite taking control of the army, Emperor Wen's position remained precarious. At the beginning, Zhu Lu also held military power, but Chen Ping and Zhou Bo were not "just doing what they said". Among them, Chen Ping is resourceful, but his influence in the army is general, Zhou Bo is "thick and less literate", but the influence in the army is too great! Emperor Wen wanted to fight Chen Ping and Zhou Bo at the same time, which was suicide. Therefore, Emperor Wen only had to "pull one and fight one". As it turned out, Chen Ping seemed to be on Emperor Wen's side again.
When discussing meritorious deeds, Chen Ping said: Zhou Bo's merit is the first, and he should be the right prime minister! He is willing to be only the left prime minister. This polite courtesy (respecting the right in the Western Han Dynasty) actually transferred Zhou Bo from the post of imperial lieutenant, so that he could not justifiably exert influence in the army. Afterwards, Emperor Wen and Chen Ping began to sing and sing a harmony to put pressure on Zhou Bo.
Originally, Emperor Wen was very jealous of Zhou Bo, and every time he met, he was respectful, and even after Zhou Bo left, he still kept respectfully watching. Gradually, however, Emperor Wen became strong against Zhou Bo. Suddenly, one day, Emperor Wen and Chen Ping began to "lesson" Zhou Bo. Emperor Wen asked Zhou Bo: Prime Minister, how many cases do we judge in a year?
Zhou Bo was a wufu, confused, and couldn't answer. Emperor Wen: How much money and grain do you get in and out every year? Zhou Bo continued to be confused, and used his body language to leave an idiom for later generations: sweat. Emperor Wen asked Chen Ping the same question again. Chen Ping answered: These questions should be asked by Captain Ting and Zhi Su Neishi.
Emperor Wen asked again: What did the prime minister eat? Chen Ping replied: The prime minister raises the yin and yang, follows the fourth hour, and nurtures all things, and the princes of the outer towns, and the people inside, so that everyone can perform their duties!
Emperor Wen praised the good! After coming down, Zhou Bo thanked Chen Ping, but Chen Ping smiled and said: You are in his position, don't you know his position? With a gentle sentence, he picked out a fact: Chen Ping has already stood with the Son of Heaven, and Chen Ping also thinks that you Zhou Bo is not a competent prime minister!
At this time, someone kindly reminded: your prestige is too high, it is very dangerous! So, Zhou Bo resigned... It was Emperor Wen and Chen Ping who transferred Zhou Bo from the post of imperial lieutenant and made him the right prime minister, and now, just "Yue Yu", he questioned whether people were worthy of being prime minister... As a result, Emperor Wen expelled his henchmen, and Chen Ping was "alone" and took what he needed!
Completely getting rid of the threat of the meritorious group, although the situation was temporarily stabilized, the meritorious group of the Great Han gathered in Chang'an, which really made Emperor Wen unable to sleep. When the old conspirator Chen Ping was there, Emperor Wen did not dare to move.
However, Chen Ping was only "alone" for a year in the end and soon died. At this time, Emperor Wen began his grand plan: let the heroes and their children who gathered in Chang'an move to the fiefdom! In this way, the so-called heroic group can be scattered into a plate of scattered sand.
Therefore, after Chen Ping's death, Emperor Wen invited Zhou Bo back and left the family alone. Last time, Zhou Bo only served for more than a month, and this time, Zhou Bo was for more than ten months. Immediately, Emperor Wen politely found Zhou Bo: I asked Liehou to take the country, and there are still many people who have not yet gone. Or do you want the Prime Minister to take the lead?
Therefore, Zhou Bo was exempt from the phase again and took the lead in the country. After that, the heroes and the "second generation" scattered to various feudal countries. In this way, the meritorious group, from "a fire" gathered in Chang'an that would explode at any time, scattered into a sky full of stars showing Emperor Wen's "imperial grace".
Emperor Wen, won this game with the Meritorious Group! Emperor Wen was known for his filial piety. However, when it comes to wrists, he seems to be above his father, Han Gaozu. He did not slaughter meritorious figures, on the contrary, he seemed to have always treated meritorious heroes favorably. However, in an understatement, silently, Emperor Wen achieved centralized power!
This is the master! Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, and Liu Chang, the king of Huainan, were powerful and more suitable to be emperors than Liu Heng, the acting king, Zhou Bo and Chen Ping felt wrong, and the enthronement of the princes who were too strong was too threatening to this group of military meritorious old ministers, and they jointly nominated and welcomed Liu Heng, the acting king with a low sense of existence, to inherit the throne.
In his later years, Empress Lü abolished the system of left and right prime ministers and replaced Lü Shan as the prime minister, and immediately after Emperor Wen of Han entered the city, he made Zhou Bo the right prime minister and Chen Ping the left prime minister, resuming the historical practice of having military meritorious ministers serve as prime ministers.
He also asked the princes to return to their fiefs, most of whom lived in Chang'an, far from the fiefdom, and the officials had to travel thousands of miles to transport tribute to Chang'an, where they lived permanently and posed a great threat to the emperor. Emperor Wen of Han said that those who wanted to stay in Chang'an needed to have an official position in the central court or obtain special approval from the emperor's edict, which further added weight to the imperial power. It is equivalent to the detour of the entire military merit group. Emperor Hanwen sent them back to their hometown step by step, gradually centralizing power!
Great wisdom is foolish, and he can hide his cleverness, which is probably a person like Emperor Wen of Han.
Seven years after Henkel, Empress Lü sent a telegram to Liu Heng, the acting king:
"King Zhao is vacant, please fill it on behalf of Wang Liu Hengsu."
This is indeed good news, because the country of Zhao is much richer than the remote and desolate Daiguo.
At this time, Liu Heng was only nineteen years old, and in the face of the cake thrown by Empress Lu, he did not gobble up, but quickly convened a meeting to discuss the matter. The resolution formed at the meeting was: to refuse Empress Lu's kindness and not to take office as King of Zhao. The reasons are nothing more than two points - Liu Ruyi, the king of Zhao, Liu You the king of Huaiyang, and Liu Hui the king of Liang were all killed by Empress Lu during the appointment of King Zhao, and Liu Heng did not want to follow in their footsteps; Zhao Guo's piece of fat Lu Empress actually wanted to leave it for their Lu family to eat.
Seeing these two points, Liu Heng immediately replied to Empress Lu:
"Empress Dowager Xie is good, I still want to stay in a place where it is a little bitter to guard the frontier for the country."
Lo and behold, the style is very high, in fact, I don't want to get involved in the dispute between the Liu family and the Lu family so as not to hurt myself.
Empress Lü was very satisfied, and took advantage of the situation to give her nephew Lü Lu the Marquis of Wuxin the title of King of Zhao.
Looking at Liu Bang's sons, only Liu Chang the King of Huainan and Liu Heng the Acting King survived in the post-Lü era. Liu Chang was raised by Empress Lu, which is a special case, and Liu Heng's survival is entirely due to wisdom. Including his mother, Empress Dowager Bo, it was also because she left Chang'an, the place of right and wrong, early to avoid the fate of being killed by Empress Lu like Mrs. Qi.
▲ Empress Dowager Bo TV series "Beauty Heart Scheme" / stills
Liu Heng's move not only avoided conflicts with the Lü clan, but also left a good impression on the ministers of the imperial court: this person could endure hardships, be humble, and have no ambitions. In a word, the person who represents the king can handle it. And it was precisely because Liu Heng and Empress Dowager Bo did not fight that Zhou Bo elected Liu Heng as emperor after they killed the Lü clique.
Yes, husbands do not argue, so the world cannot fight with them.
But when Liu Heng entered Chang'an, the ministers suddenly discovered that they had mistaken Liu Heng, the new emperor turned out to be a fierce man who was like water on the outside, but firm and intelligent in his heart——
On the night of Liu Heng's accession to the throne, he appointed his henchman Song Chang as a Wei general, taking full control of the southern and northern armies, and at the same time appointed his henchman Zhang Wu as Lang Zhongling. The armed forces of Chang'an City, Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace were all controlled by Liu Heng;
At the same time, the five ministers of the Dai Wang Mansion, who came with Liu Heng, were also promoted by Liu Heng to Jiuqing's team and fully controlled the core power;
Then, Liu Heng gave the meritorious ministers an official reward: Zhou Bo was worshipped as the right prime minister, rewarded with 5,000 gold, and added 10,000 households; Worship Chen Ping as the left prime minister, reward 2,000 gold with gold, and increase the number of households by 3,000; He was appointed as a lieutenant, rewarded with 2,000 gold, and added 3,000 households. In addition, other meritorious figures were also rewarded to varying degrees by Liu Heng according to the size of the merit;
Finally, Liu Heng pacified the Liu royal family: the brothers Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju each received a reward of 1,000 gold in gold, and at the same time each added 2,000 households; return Chengyang, Langya, and Jinan Counties, which were plundered by the Lü clan in the Qi state; return Xue County, which was plundered by the Lü clan in the state of Chu; made Liu Sui, son of Liu You, the king of Zhao, the king of Zhao, the king of Zhao; renamed Liu Ze the King of Langya as the King of Yan;
...... A set of combined punches fell, and the Han Empire quickly settled down. The meritorious faction got the power they wanted, the mood of the Liu royal family was also appeased, and Liu Heng was supported by all forces, not only really holding the throne, but also controlling the armed forces of Chang'an City in the shortest possible time.
Yes, the essence of politics is balance. Liu Heng understands.
When all this was done, everyone had a new understanding of their new leader, Liu Heng: this emperor was not simple.
Hehe, this is just the beginning.
In order to stabilize the most powerful group of meritorious factions, Emperor Wen of Han even lowered himself to watch the right chancellor Zhou Bo leave work to show his respect.
▲ Zhou Bo TV series "The Legend of Chu and Han" / stills
Yes, sometimes it is appropriate to show weakness in order to go further later.
In fact, Emperor Wen of Han had begun to continuously promote a group of young talents from the local level to replenish new blood for the dynasty. To put it bluntly, it is to train the core team for yourself.
When it was almost done, Emperor Wen of Han decisively sent a bright sword to the meritorious minister: Zhou Bo was first deposed as prime minister, and then returned to his own fief. In order to completely subdue Zhou Bo, Emperor Wen of Han also imprisoned Zhou Bo for a period of time.
Yes, if these heroes and princes all gathered in Chang'an, it would definitely be a huge threat to Emperor Wen of Han. And suppressing the leader of this group, Zhou Bo, can quickly achieve the goal of knocking the mountain and shaking the tiger, without harming the interests of the majority of people.
Yes, it's a dot with a surface.
In this game, Emperor Wen of Han contracted freely, and when the oppression of the meritorious faction hit, he even did not hesitate to release his henchman Jia Yiwai to the remote country of Changsha, temporarily compromising with Zhou Bo and Shu Ying.
Capable of flexing and stretching, Emperor Wen of Han has always maintained a balance with the group of meritorious figures.
How to say, some things are actually very difficult to grasp. For example, the later Han Jing Emperor, the power of cutting the domain was greater, and it quickly caused the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms".
It can only be said that Emperor Hanwen's kung fu is at the level of pure fire.
For the handling plan of the princes of the Liu family, Emperor Wen of Han was also very cautious. At first, he did not fulfill the promise sent by the heroes to Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju's brothers, and made Liu Zhang the King of Zhao and Liu Xingju the King of Liang.
He first gave these two men some rewards, and then cut out Chengyang County from the State of Qi, and made Liu Zhang the King of Chengyang, and Liu Xingju of Jibei County of the State of Qi as the King of Jibei.
It not only fulfilled the promise of crowning these two people, but also weakened the comprehensive strength of the Qi state.
Emperor Wen of Han knew the energy of the Qi Kingdom too well. The State of Qi has a vast territory of seven counties, and has the advantage of fish and salt, dominating the east. When the change of Lu Lü, it was also Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, who was the first to hear the wind and move troops to Xingyang, declaring his will to win. For the Qi King family, not only can they not increase their strength, but they also have to think of suppressing it.
Emperor Wen of Han's handling plan can be said to have caused Liu Xiang and Liu Zhang brothers to have bitter words.
Too smart. In addition, Emperor Wen of Han did not heed Jia Yi's advice to suppress the princes of the Liu family. Because he understood that he must continue to rely on the princes of the Liu family to balance the huge group of meritorious factions.
But he was also cutting some of the princes' strength by boiling frogs in warm water: the State of Qi was divided into seven by him, the State of Huainan was divided into three, and the State of Zhao was divided into two.
Lo and behold, it is still Jia Yi's formula of "building princes and making little effort". Emperor Wen of Han was more clever in that he weakened the strength of a great power like the State of Qi without causing a collective shock among the princes of the Liu family.
High, really high.
For the excessive behavior of henchmen, Emperor Hanwen also has his own unique "formula" -
Hearing that his henchman Lang Zhong ordered Zhang Wu to accept bribes, Emperor Wen of Han did not punish him, but gave him a very rich reward to humiliate Zhang Wu. After that, Zhang Wu never dared to make the same mistake again;
For his uncle Bo Zhao's serious violations, Emperor Wen of Han did not go through the normal judicial procedures, but asked a group of ministers to accompany him to drink, so that his uncle could make his own decision. In the absence of effect, Emperor Wen of Han sent a group of ministers to mourn Bo Zhao, and Bo Zhao had no choice but to commit suicide. In this move, Emperor Wen of Han not only upheld the law of the country, but also took care of the feelings of his mother, Empress Dowager Bo;
For the excesses of his younger brother Liu Chang the King of Huainan, Emperor Wen of Han did not interfere excessively, but waited for it to expand to the limit before decisively closing the net. It not only solved an arrogant and lawless prince, but also eliminated a potential threat to the throne. It's just that this thing is really done a little unorthodox. But there's actually no better way for him to sit in that position.
I have to admire that Emperor Hanwen's way of playing cards is definitely not something that ordinary people can think of.
Therefore, to be able to become the pioneer of the prosperous picture of "the rule of Wenjing", Emperor Wen of Han deserves it.