History is sometimes so strange that an extremely perfect person is not as influential as those who are full of shortcomings and controversy.
There are many controversial people in history, such as Cao Cao, such as Qin Shi Huang, such as Zhu Yuanzhang, etc., these people are either because they are cruel and unkind, or because loyalty and adultery are difficult to distinguish, and people in later generations are very controversial, people who love them worship them, and those who hate them grit their teeth.
But there is such a person, whether historians or ordinary people, rarely mention his story. He is Liu Xiu, the Emperor of Han Guangwu, a being who was born extremely perfect, and even makes people feel that such a perfect person should not exist, perfect to the point of unreality.
First, the true inheritor of Liu Bangism
Speaking of Liu Xiu, many people think that he is a crosser like Wang Mang, the two are in the same era, one usurpered Liu's Jiangshan, one wanted to take back the usurped Liu's Jiangshan, it was such a coincidence, this is such a second, two crossers came to the same era, opening an epic duel.
Wang Mang used the first half of his life to interpret a good son, a good minister, and a good father, but he used the second half of his life to destroy the glorious image of his hard work for most of his life.
If Wang Mang is intentional, then when his true face is completely exposed to everyone, he no longer has to hide it, he will feel very happy in his heart, and finally he can say to people all over the world: "This is the real me." ”
Unlike Wang Mang's good at disguise and inconsistent, Liu Xiu was so excellent and perfect from the beginning.
Although in terms of origin, Liu Xiu may not be as good as Wang Mang at the beginning.
As a descendant of Liu Bang, after experiencing the dilution of blood for more than a dozen generations, Liu Xiu could only think of himself as a descendant of Liu Bang, and his name looked very frightening, but in fact he was just an ordinary peddler pawn, compared with Wang Mang, the son of the family who was high above at that time, there was undoubtedly a difference between cloud and mud.
Fortunately, Wang Mang's self-digging grave made his innate advantage collapse in an instant, becoming a street rat shouted and beaten by the people of the world.
Liu Xiu's origin has become the best signboard after Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, after all, he represents the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty, and he is qualified to raise his arms and let the people of the world respond.
Liu Xiu is a down-and-out royal family, almost indistinguishable from ordinary people, and this identity is similar to his ancestor Liu Bang when he started his business.
Perhaps it is the similarity of identity and experience that makes many people who follow him think of him as the reincarnation of Liu Bang, the true inheritor of Liu Bang's populism, and once again defeat the old nobles who are high above with the wisdom of the commoners.
Although many people question whether he is a descendant of Liu Bang in the end, however, at least in the face of facts, Liu Xiu can indeed be called a descendant of Liu Bang, and the so-called questioning is just a self-righteous little cleverness of some people, sensationalism, and has changed history in the slightest.
Second, the perfectionist from beginning to end
In ancient China, he paid attention to the two perfections of "benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and faith" and "loyalty and filial piety", and if he could do all this, then he was a saint.
Fortunately, Liu Xiu is such a saint.
First, let's look at Liu Xiu's loyalty. Some people say that Liu Xiu was originally a soldier under Liu Xuan, a member of the first emperor's generals, and later Liu Xiu defeated his own emperor with a large army of red eyebrows, obviously a usurper, how can he explain his loyalty?
There are things right and wrong with this sentence. The right thing to do is to describe the facts at that time, Liu Xiu was indeed a general of Liu Xuan. However, after Liu Xuan took over the world as emperor, what he did had already deviated from his duty as a civilian emperor.
When it comes to disloyality, first of all, Liu Xuan is disloyal to his status and status as a civilian emperor, which is opposed by Liu Xiu, who is "loyal" to the status of a commoner, and replaced by him.
After Liu Xiu ascended the throne as emperor, his approach was completely different from Liu Xuan's, and he won the hearts of the people, which was the real loyalty, loyalty to his origins, loyalty to the general public who let himself ascend to the emperor's throne, this is a person of great loyalty.
Let's look at Liu Xiu's filial piety. Liu Xiu lost his parents at the age of nine and grew up under the care of his uncle Liu Liang, who, after becoming emperor, had great respect for his uncle Liu Liang, was rewarded with generous rewards, and even many times did a lot of things against his original intentions.
Liu Xiu's benevolence and righteousness are rare among ancient emperors, not only treating their subordinates kindly, but also allowing the vast majority of their subordinates to be rewarded and receive a good death, even if they were former enemies, Liu Xiu was able to properly place them and make them happy and convinced, this kind of mind was unmatched by any emperor in ancient times.
Speaking of Liu Xiu's wisdom, there is this allusion in the "Complete Book of Wisdom Tanks" that "Guangwu Jie Wang Lang, receiving documents, and obtaining thousands of chapters of officials and Lang to cross the slander." If guangwu is unconscious, he will burn it, saying: 'Let the opposing son be at peace!' ’”
After defeating his enemies, Liu Xiu immediately burned the letters exchanged with him, which greatly appeased people's hearts, so that those who were not very willing to rebel against themselves returned to their ranks, one more friend, one less enemy, such wisdom is comparable to ordinary people.
To sum up, Liu Xiu is really a perfect person to the extreme, really can't find any shortcomings, for an emperor with unlimited power, it is really convincing to be able to achieve such a level.
Third, the key factors in the formation of Liu Xiu's character
The reason why Liu Xiu was able to form such a perfect personality is actually closely related to his family environment, as a descendant of Liu Bang, he himself has excellent genes.
Liu Xiu's father, Liu Qin, was a county magistrate of Nandun (present-day Xiangcheng, Henan) and had been an official for many years, and as a grassroots official, Liu Qin was well aware of the sufferings of the people, which to a certain extent affected Liu Xiu's character.
Liu Xiu's mother Fan Xian is even more beautiful, and her grandfather Fan Zhong is even more a good family manager, which also deeply affects Liu Xiu.
After Liu Xiu turned to his uncle Liu Liang, he actively engaged in farming under the influence of his grandfather, and if it were not for Wang Mang's usurpation of Han and the people's lack of livelihood, I believe that Liu Xiu would definitely be an excellent farmer like his grandfather.
Liu Xiu came to the people, and after becoming emperor, he returned to the people, so naturally this practice can be loved by the people.
brief summary
As a generation of commoner emperors, Liu Xiu, like his ancestor Liu Bang, established immortal feats, which not only continued the national order of Liu Shijiangshan, but also enabled thousands of ordinary people in the depths of the water to get a peaceful and happy life, which was his greatest contribution to history.