Han Shizu

"Do you want to resign?" In the Chui Gong Hall, Emperor Liu Yang frowned slightly. He looked unexpectedly at King Lu Liu Ai who was standing solemnly in front of the emperor with his hands folded. There was a hint of dissatisfaction in his deep voice.

That's right, it's King Lu. Just this summer, Emperor Liu Yang gave more grace to his brothers. Of course, he only targeted some people. Among them, Liu Yan was the assistant to the King of Lu and Liu Zhao was the legitimate son of the ancestor. His Majesty was King Yan of the Jin Dynasty. At the same time, the fifteenth emperor's brother Liu Xuan was given to Shu Gong, and the sixteenth emperor's brother Liu Yao was given to Han Gong.

So far, Emperor Shizu has given birth to 16 sons, all of whom are famous.Liu Yao was ranked last and was young. Being knighted was a pure grace. In comparison, Liu Hao, who was fifteen years old, was much more miserable.

She had already reached the age of being granted a title, but because she had disobeyed the emperor's will and was unwilling to enfeoff to save the country, she was picked out and beaten in sheets to scare the monkeys. In addition, Concubine Hui's words and deeds in begging for a title angered the late emperor, so much so that Liu Even though Yang had ascended the throne, Liu Yan was still nameless and in an extremely embarrassing situation, unable to hold his head high among the upper-class dignitaries in the capital.

It is sad to say that this grace from Liu Yang finally solved Liu Yan's embarrassment, allowing the 24-year-old Liu Yan to finally "raise his head" as a human being.

Of course, Liu Yang also sympathized with Liu Shan's experience and felt that the late emperor's punishment was too severe, but the purpose of showing kindness to him was obviously not that simple.

Winning people's hearts is one of them. At least Liu Yan's mother and son have been extremely grateful to Liu Yang since then. Concubine Hui even praised her for being wise and benevolent when she met everyone. She continued to make Liu Yang famous in the circle of noble ladies in the capital.At the same time, after all, Concubine Hui's surname was Fu, she was the biological sister of Empress Xiaoxianren and the second aunt of Liu Yang. In view of this relationship, it would not hurt to indulge in a personal friendship that goes along with the flow.

Of course, as a mature politician, personal affairs only accounted for a small proportion of Liu Yang's decision-making factors. Behind the awards to his brothers, there were some more obscure but more critical reasons: the prince.

Undoubtedly, the choice of the crown prince was the most serious of the many problems Liu Yang faced after he came to power, and it could not be avoided. From the moment he ascended the throne, the struggle started overtly and covertly in all aspects.

As early as the time of Emperor Shizu, there was already no peace in the East Palace. There was a lot of overt and covert fighting between the Crown Princess and Concubine Zhao, as well as the two military and political forces of the Murong family and the Zhao family that they respectively represented.

However, the scope and intensity of the struggle at that time were limited. After all, Emperor Shizu was suppressing it. If the trouble was really serious, not only would he be punished, but the prince would also have to suffer.

Of course, Princess Murong failed to give birth to a prince for a long time, so she chose to adopt Liu Wenji, the son of Concubine Xiao. This led to the struggle in the East Palace for quite some time being manifested in the "jealousy" among women. "superior.

Fundamental changes will begin when the Crown Princess gives birth to her legitimate son Liu Wenpeng. This is a landmark turning point.From then on, the Crown Princess was just like the Empress Fu back then, with an aura of righteousness that was unshakable.

In contrast, Concubine Zhao's biggest "reliance" was not so reliable. After all, in the Han Dynasty's etiquette system, the distinction between concubines and concubines always came before the order of elders and younger ones.

When it comes to the issue of successors, compared to Emperor Shizu's "impartiality", Liu Yang has always been in a state of hesitation, with a somewhat wavering attitude.

On the one hand, he instinctively supports the system of direct heirs, and on the other hand, he has high hopes for the two older princes who have spent a lot of his efforts. The latter is in line with Emperor Shizu's psychology at a certain stage.

It was precisely because of this contradictory mentality that before ascending the throne, there was no discussion of the issue of the crown prince in any form; at the ceremony, Murong was only established as the queen, and the crown prince was not mentioned at all.I made this decision because I wanted to wait a little longer, take a closer look, and discuss it later.

After all, the crown prince is related to the foundation of the country, and establishing a crown prince is not just a matter of establishing the title. After giving the title, you also need to give the power.Think about the configuration of the East Palace when he was first appointed as the crown prince. It was bound to involve the court situation and cause changes in the central power system and distribution of the empire.

If that were the case, Liu Yang would have to worry more about many major political affairs, especially personnel issues. Why would he put himself in such an embarrassing situation?

Perhaps it is also the instinct of an emperor to naturally reject the division of his own authority. What's more, he has only been an emperor for a long time and has just begun to enjoy it. He is also in his prime, so why rush.
On the other hand, not rushing to establish a prince is also a kind of protection for the successor.Being a prince has always been difficult in all dynasties. As a prince who has been a prince for nearly 35 years, Liu Yang has a great say in this aspect. He was able to finally break out, wear a yellow robe, and achieve great results. This is all due to great perseverance and great determination. The result of wisdom and great patience.

One is difficult to determine his intentions, the other is his own authority, and the third is to avoid party disputes. Based on these three reasons, Liu Yang sent a clear signal to the court and put the crown prince issue on hold for the time being.

However, this was just wishful thinking after all. Liu Yang wanted to postpone it, but others didn't think so, and it was hard to do what he wanted.For more than half a year, in the palace, people kept whispering reminders in his ears, and people kept writing letters to advise: The foundation of the country should be established early to reassure people.

And from those complicated personnel affairs and advice, it is difficult to distinguish between loyalty and good and evil. All that can be seen is unpredictable people's hearts and selfish interests.Among them, in addition to those Qingliu academicians who want to talk about everything to show their presence, the most urgent one is the Zhao Group headed by Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Dezhao.

They have nothing to hide in this matter, and they can't hide it in that position. Not to mention how strong Zhao Kuangyi's political ambition is. Even if he is indifferent and quiet, there will inevitably be a bunch of people behind him to push him out and lead everyone. Go and fight.

The Zhao family has long represented not only the Zhao family, but also a large number of noble and bureaucratic interests.Although Emperor Shizu initially suppressed the Zhao brothers, he did not kill them in the end. This resulted in the Zhao family always having a strong influence within the Han Dynasty and holding some of the right to speak.

Zhao Kuangyin is in the army and Zhao Kuangyi is in politics. No one dares to underestimate the strength and foundation accumulated by these two brothers over the past few decades, especially Zhao Kuangyin. Although he himself and most of the nobles at the same time have passed away, with them as the core The formed military and political power group has survived, grown, and become intricately connected.

Of course, this cannot be regarded as a very stable military and political alliance. There are also internal differences and the cohesion is not that strong. Otherwise, with the temperament of Emperor Shizu, it is very possible to kill him.

However, most of the time, their interests and needs are consistent. For example, on the prince's issue, everyone's support must be stronger and they can work together as much as possible.

After all, although the Han Empire was large, the power and various resources at the top were ultimately limited. If the cake could not be expanded further, they would have to compete with each other.

Up to now, at the same dining table, the royal family's dinner plate is naturally the largest and the food is the most delicious. For every other family, the plate has basically been fixed. If you want to make a breakthrough, you must either continue to expand outwards, or start from the same table. Grab food from the plate.In comparison, the latter may be more difficult and risky, but the benefits are also higher.

For the group of nobles and bureaucrats with the Zhao family as the core, the rewards for raising the prince born in the Zhao family to the position of prince and inheriting the throne in the future must be considerable.

Of course, for the powerful, it is not advisable to go all the way to the dark side. Once things get difficult, it is natural to jump off the ship directly.But at least in the early stage, some real support will be provided. Based on this, Zhao Kuangyi is very powerful in mobilizing the power to overcome the difficulty of "Prince" in the DPRK.

On the other hand, as one of the historical issues left by Emperor Shizu, the Han Dynasty had a huge group of meritorious officials and various interest groups, and the situation was also very complicated. He was not the only one of the Zhao family.

At least as the other protagonist in the battle for the crown prince, the Murong family is no less important than the Zhao family, and even exceeds it in strength and influence.If we only talk about the size of the power, there is no specific standard. Each has its own advantages and can be regarded as equally matched.

But from the beginning to the end, the Murong family actually dominated the Zhao family. Murong Yanzhao was a veteran of Yuan Cong and the commander-in-chief of the early Han Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin was a latecomer no matter how great his later achievements were.That is to say, we do not mention the achievements of the previous generation, but only look at the two concubines, one is the main wife, and the other is the side concubine. They are superior and subordinate, and their status has been determined early. This is the Murong family's greatest confidence in this struggle. It comes from the Han Dynasty. The etiquette system gives her legitimacy, which gives her a natural advantage over Concubine Zhao.

It is precisely because of this that Zhao Kuangyi seems so urgent. He is a traditional civil servant who practices morality and etiquette. He is also very aware of how stubborn and powerful the etiquette that has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for decades is. If it were not for his position and interests, he would definitely I don't think about challenging it, after all, I am going against the trend.

At the same time, only by fighting for it early will they have a greater chance of success. At least for now, Liu Wenhuan still occupies a "long" character, and his "virtuous" aspect was also shown in Shizu's later years.Liu Wenpeng is growing up. If he doesn't fight hard, as time goes by, Liu Wenhuan's competitive strength will only continue to weaken, his advantage will gradually be evened out, and the other party will always occupy the orthodox position of the legitimate son. This is a situation where one loses and the other rises. the process of.

Therefore, before Liu Yang ascended the throne, Zhao Kuangyi was secretly planning. After the ceremony, he became more active, running around, connecting and joining forces to launch a political activity to "establish a prince."

In the early spring of the Han Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyi did not participate in the battles between feudal states and princes, and showed indifference, just because he put all his attention and energy on the matter of "establishing a prince." Something big happened.This is the big picture. Is there any investment in the world that is more exciting than "fighting for the country"?

For the same reason, Murong's side was much more restrained overall, and the one who made the overall plan was naturally Murong Defeng, the Minister of Personnel.

In fact, the Murong family and the Zhao family have the same attitude towards promoting the establishment of a crown prince. Especially Queen Murong, who also hopes to decide on the title early so as not to give the Zhao mother and son a chance. After all, people's hearts are unpredictable and things will change later. Putting the cake on your own plate is the right thing to do.

Therefore, there were too many struggles and too many interferences in the palace, which made both the queen and Concubine Zhao boring to Emperor Liu Yang during that period.

Among the courtiers, Murong Defeng was the first to be praised for their understanding of the emperor.After observing for a while, he tried his best to persuade the queen not to push Liu Yang too hard.No emperor likes to be forced to make decisions. Murong Defeng knew better that although Emperor Liu Yang was a generous and benevolent master, he was often criticized as "pedantic" and "without courage" by Emperor Shizu in the past, but it was actually an idea. Very upright person.

After the emperor had revealed his attitude towards the appointment of the crown prince, Murong Defeng persuaded Empress Murong several times before she calmed down. His words were consistent with Zhao Kuangyi's thoughts.

Time is on their side. The longer it is delayed, the better it will be for them. If a five- or six-year-old child is appointed as the prince, it will easily stir up controversy among opponents. But if ten years pass, the controversy will plummet. .

Therefore, if nothing can be done, why bother to anger the emperor?What the queen really needs to do is to protect the little prince and train him carefully. As long as he doesn't make a big mistake, no matter what the Zhao family does, it will be difficult to shake their status.

After all, if you do too much, you will make mistakes. If you go too far, not to mention how wise the emperor is, the Murong family is not a vegetarian.

On the issue of competing for the heirloom, Murong Defeng was considered rational after all, but not everyone shared his understanding, and the Murong clan did not have the final say alone.The queen in the palace, the Duke of Wei Murong Deye outside the palace, and some of the Murong family's brains, there are always those who disobey the advice and get involved actively or passively.

Of course, it was also because Zhao Kuangyi’s battle was too big!In that spring, from the distinguished officials to the court officials, from the capital officials to the local shepherds, hundreds of people came to Liu Yang one after another to apply for the crown prince. , they can all trace their outstanding achievements and involve intricate relationships.

Although these people did not mention making Liu Wenhuan the crown prince in one word, they still meant that between the lines.

He could see through Zhao Kuangyi's methods at a glance, and this behavior, which was better than forcing a woman to marry her, deeply offended him.Murong, who followed closely, shared part of the anger.
Seeing that the dispute between the two parties became more and more fierce, and even gradually evolved into mutual attacks and thorns, Liu Yang couldn't bear it anymore, and directly found an excuse to issue an edict to reprimand Zhao Kuangyi and Murong Defeng.It's interesting to say that within two or three months, Yongxi's prime ministers almost took turns being punished by the emperor.

What followed was Liu Yang's beatings on the "main members" of the two parties, fines and fines, power seizures, and demotions.In this way, seeing that the emperor was really determined and did not want to establish a throne, the two sides stopped fighting.

However, the influence of the "First Year Seizing the Crown Prince" turmoil continued to spread, almost throughout the entire Yongxi Dynasty. However, the subsequent struggle was no longer as face-to-face and face-to-face as this time.Of course, open fights turn into secret fights, with swords and swords, cold spears and hidden arrows, which are most harmful to people, and all kinds of underhanded tactics are also endless.
At that time, it had already affected the political situation.First of all, after Song Bai was relegated to Qingzhou, the successor candidate was initially proposed to be Jia Huangzhong, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs recommended by Zhao Kuangyi, but was finally rejected by Liu Yang and was changed to Liu Jichang, the former governor of Kaifeng.

Liu Jichang was a blessing in disguise. Due to the subsequent negative impact caused by the "Yankang Street Incident", he was left out in the cold by Liu Yang for a while.The smooth transfer of Luoyang Mansion can be regarded as a blessing in misfortune, at least he also got the title of cabinet bachelor.

Zhao Kuangyi failed to do so, and Murong Defeng also suffered a big setback. First of all, Jia Huangzhong, the "Zhao Party", could not be driven away. At the same time, his proposal to use Fu Zhaoyuan as the chief envoy to Liaodong failed to pass in the end. Liu Yang finally chose Zheng Qi, deputy chief minister of Henan, for his outstanding achievements in Henan's tax reform.

Obviously, no matter what the reason was, neither the Zhao family nor the Murong family could get a good deal, and both received strong beatings from the emperor.

However, Zhao Kuangyi was not as disappointed as he imagined. It was disappointing to see things not work out, but equally, he more clearly captured the hesitation in the emperor's attitude, and this hesitation was the hope of Liu Wenhuan and Zhao.

Subsequent events seemed to support this. Liu Yang conferred titles on the three princes at the same time. Liu Wenhuan was given the title of Duke of Ruyang, Liu Wenji was given the title of Duke of Linzi, and Liu Wenpeng was given the title of Duke of Taiyuan.Probably because he felt that it would not look good to only give three sons titles, Liu Yang also gave titles to several of his younger brothers.

Although the Duke of Taiyuan is obviously more important than the other two princes, it is the land of Longxing in the Han Dynasty after all, but even if there is a bias, the third prince and the three Dukes just illustrate the hesitation of Emperor Liu Yang.

In the whole process, Liu Wenji was a little transparent. Almost no one paid attention to him or cared about him. He and his mother, Concubine Xiao Zhuang, also kept a low profile as usual, not even interested in watching the excitement. In the end, he picked up a Linzi County Duke for nothing. of title.

The tossing of the "Prince Controversy" also made Liu Yang a little tired. Less than a year after he succeeded to the throne in front of the coffin, there were several turmoils within the imperial court, and they were not small. It was not until he became emperor that he really realized , how much "energy" do these dignitaries of the Han Empire have, how much they can do, and how powerful they can be when they do it?
Liu Yang just wanted to maintain a stable environment, devote his mind to governing the country, rectify some of the ills left by Emperor Shizu in a down-to-earth manner, and do practical things for the country and the people, but it was really too difficult.

After all, Liu Yang is not the Emperor Shizu. Once he is unhappy, he can overturn the table at any time and bear the backlash of breaking the rules. But Liu Yang is obviously not good at it. Even if he has the power, he does not have the courage. In his bones, he is not capable of doing that. person of behavior
Of course, in the past six months, Liu Yang's throne has become more and more stable, his authority has been gradually established with the passage of time, and further adjustments have been made to central power and personnel.

King Liu Yan of Lu was worshiped by him as Zhongshu Ling, in charge of the national government. It must be mentioned that no one has held the position of Zhongshu Ling in the entire dynasty of Emperor Shizu. In the past, Tong Ping Zhangshi, the Minister of Zhongshu, was He is already the prime minister of the Political Affairs Hall, which shows how much Liu Yang values ​​Liu Ming.

In fact, Liu Yan, as a representative of the royal family, takes a seat in the political affairs hall, which is a balancing measure for the foreign court. Both the original Emperor Shizu and the current Emperor Yongxi are happy with this method.

I don't expect Liu Yan to do anything outstanding or have outstanding political achievements, but as long as he occupies that position, he has already played a role.

However, today Liu Yan suddenly came to ask for his resignation from the emperor. Liu Yang could not accept it, and he immediately suspected the reason.