Han Shizu

Who was the most powerful in the Han Empire in the second year of Pingkang? This is a question worth exploring.

The first to be eliminated was Emperor Liu Wenpeng, who should have legitimately held the highest power in the empire. Then Yongxi's ministers firmly controlled the power, and then Empress Dowager Murong made a series of unpopular moves. As for the emperor himself, even Emperor Taizong was left behind. How much wealth we have has not yet been fully accounted for.

The situation of a weak ruler and a strong minister continued after the "Palace Transfer Case" in the spring of the second year of Pingkang, and it was amplified to a certain extent. The impression of "His Majesty is weak" truly entered the minds of the court officials for the first time, and the political pattern of "all assistants in charge of the country" became a reality.

When it comes to power, of course, we have to find it from the job of the political affairs hall. From the Kaibao period, Shangshu Ling became the de facto prime minister of the empire. This has long been a consensus, even if it is not mentioned in the "Han Huidian" There are only a few words to explain the position of "Prime Minister", but this conventional consensus has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the upper class of the empire.

Therefore, as Shangshu Ling, Zhang Qixian was undoubtedly one of the most powerful figures in the empire. However, what is more eye-catching or surprising than this veteran of the Three Dynasties is Zhongshu Ling and Lu Wang Liu Ai.

Since the time of Shizu, King Lu has not been an outstanding person. His talents and merits have been overshadowed by his brothers who are like dragons and tigers. Even his reputation is not as troublesome as Liu Hui and Liu Shu. " A bunch of princes.

Low-key is his style, and mediocrity is the deepest impression he brings to people. Even if he was promoted to "imperial minister" at the end of Kaibao, it was "shit luck". Wu Gong Liu Hui was angered by "abolition of the Imperial City Siyi" Shizu was deposed from the prime ministership, and Yan Gong Liu Zhao was humble about his duty and retired. Only then did Shizu pay attention to this eighth son.

To a certain extent, it can be said that Lu Wang Liu Ai was able to be active in the political arena of the Han Dynasty from the late Kaibao period, which was almost a coincidence. Power and fame almost fell to him from the sky.

And in the nearly twenty years before and after, it is difficult to find out how outstanding his achievements and deeds were. Even though he was conferred the title of king by Emperor Taizong and promoted to the position of Zhongshuling, in the eyes of the public ministers and officials, he was still the same The mediocre "eighth prince", who is based on the capital of the political hall, plays a role in the center of imperial power, only because of his status, just because the system established by Emperor Shizu requires a role with such a status to occupy the court.

No matter what Lu Wang Liu Ai thought about such a role, he grasped the sense of proportion very well. Moreover, he spent the entire Yongxi era and placed him in the position of assistant minister when Emperor Taizong came. column.

From this perspective, how can Lu Wang Liu Ai be explained by his superficial "foolishness" and "mediocrity"?

It was precisely during the period of administration after the "Palace Transfer Case" that he truly showed his true character and allowed his clan members, ministers and officials to see a trace of Liu Yan's true appearance.

Through the "gong move" operation, Liu Yan, Zhang Qixian and other Yongxi ministers reached a political alliance. This alliance may not be strong, and it is difficult to say how long it will last, but at least after suppressing the Empress Dowager Murong and Murong's relatives, they Controlling the progress of the Han Empire and maintaining order in the court.

It goes without saying that the importance of ordering the country, the country, and the national economy and people's livelihood is the positive significance of this political alliance, which also established the political pattern of the entire Han Empire in the second year of Pingkang.

In this pattern, the most prominent ones are Lu Wang Liu Ai and Shangshu Ling Zhang Qixian. There is even a clear division of labor between the two parties. Zhang Qixian, the prime minister of state affairs, is responsible for the specific handling and implementation of military affairs just like Emperor Taizong was during his time. However, It has gained more power to discuss politics, make decisions, and make decisions than before. Of course, it is inevitable that the efficiency will become lower, because it is impossible for all the ministers to work in unison, and there will always be internal tension.

The role of King Lu Liu Ai was to coordinate with the ministers, coordinate the relationship between the internal and external courts, and handle the affairs of various countries, tribes, and kings. The core point is that he is the son of Shizu and the auxiliary minister appointed by Taizong. Participate in national affairs on behalf of the royal family to ensure the stability of the empire and the security of the country.

Against this background, King Lu Liu Ai gradually gained a certain sense of righteousness and orthodoxy. His power and prestige are constantly increasing, and correspondingly, troubles and pressure are also accumulating.

"Regent" is by no means an easy position to occupy. It is not an exaggeration to say that you are sitting on the stove and roasting. If you are not careful, you may even die without a burial place.

As far as Lu Wang Liu Ai was concerned, there was an emperor named Liu Wenpeng. The emperor was young, but he was not an ignorant young master. Any reckless and extreme move could bring huge impact and trouble to Liu Ai.

At the same time, the cooperation with Yong Xi's assistant ministers may be shattered at any time. They, the old ministers of Taizong, were able to fear King Zhao Liu Fang before and cooperated with Queen Mother Murong to force him to retreat. After King Lu's authority was truly established, they could not remain indifferent.

At the same time, inside and outside the court, there were endless dissatisfaction and even voices about the situation where King Lu and Yongxi's ministers controlled the government and power was not vested in the emperor.

Today's emperor is an orthodox emperor. Taizong retains auxiliary ministers to assist Bi from the side, rather than letting King Lu and others exercise imperial power on their behalf.

If Empress Dowager Murong's rough and impetuous operations only made people feel dissatisfied, then after the "Palace Move Case", the accusations and criticisms of Yongxi's ministers became clear, because no matter what Even if there is a reason to "prevent the harem from interfering in politics", the legal rationality is not strong after all.

After all, Empress Dowager Murong did not reach the point of anger and resentment. To be fair, apart from preventing Empress Dowager Murong from further torturing the Han Dynasty, the occurrence of the "Palace Relocation Case" did not bring any more benefits to such a huge empire.

This incident actually weakened the absolute authority of the central court and completely exposed the young emperor's inability to control the empire. This was a matter of major political risk and brought huge uncertainty to the operation of the empire.

I won’t talk about those strata that are not high enough and out of reach, but at least the Gyeonggi dignitaries, high-ranking local officials, the feudal officials and even the feudal kings don’t have a clear understanding of this, but at least they have some opinions.

Of course, with the central authority of the empire that has been strong for more than half a century, and the national system that is still operating stably, these people will not lose their respect for the court and the central government.

However, there is genuine dissatisfaction with the situation of "the leader is weak and the minister is strong" and "auxiliary ministers are in power".

They may not be very loyal and convinced of the emperor Liu Wenpeng, but the fact is that they can accept a young emperor to guide the country and issue orders to them, but it is difficult to tolerate someone exercising power "on behalf of heaven".

The power of the emperor is explained by legal principles and upheld by the orthodoxy. It was given by the two generations of ancestors, Shizu and Taizong. Being young is not a reason for the ministers to rely on their power and act arrogantly to carry out state affairs on their behalf. And relying solely on a "Taizong's edict" and an "auxiliary minister's status" obviously cannot explain all their actions since they became auxiliary, and there are many things that can be criticized.

And this dissatisfaction obviously cannot be just out of loyalty to the emperor and the maintenance of legality. It will inevitably be mixed with some struggles for power and interests. And once these are involved, contradictions, conflicts, and struggles are inevitable.

It is conceivable that after the Queen Mother moved to the palace, the internal battles in the Han Empire did not stop. On the contrary, they continued one after another and became more and more intense. The cry of "returning power to the emperor" also shouts from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, from spring and summer to autumn and winter. But even in this context, the Fuchen Group with "Liu Yan-Zhang Qixian" as the core still firmly controls the ship of the Han Empire to sail forward smoothly.

Of course, this journey will not be smooth sailing, it will even be ups and downs and full of challenges. When you encounter a problem, solve it. If the problem cannot be solved, solve the person who created the problem.

Of course, there are two main reasons why they can control the government so much. First, Emperor Liu Wenpeng was relatively restrained. Empress Dowager Murong's incident gave him considerable pressure and lessons. Even if he had many dissatisfactions, he could only wait and wait for the time being.

At the same time, under the pressure of public sentiment, the "auxiliary ministers group" still returned part of its power to the emperor. State affairs handled by the political hall must be submitted to the emperor for approval, and some matters can even be decided by the emperor.

It's just that the emperor still has no decision-making power on some major issues. But with such a level of compromise, they could still get peace overnight. After all, Liu Yan and others did not dare to truly and completely "hold the emperor to order the princes", otherwise they would be besieged by the crowd.

As for the other reason, it is that after all, the "auxiliary ministers group" did not blatantly commit rebellion or deceive the emperor, and they have the endorsement of Taizong's legacy. At the same time, the real power they hold and the prestige they have established through the operation of the system are enough to suppress dissident voices at home and abroad. Even those opponents, even if they have great influence, will be difficult to sway "Liu Zhang" before a joint force is formed. political group.

Similarly, such a "auxiliary governance model" is destined to be difficult to last. First of all, there are internal problems within the Fuchen Group. Some conflicts will inevitably arise between the Fuchen group, between the nobles and the common people, and between Liu Yan and the ministers, and some contradictions are even irreconcilable.

The second reason is that one of the important reasons why it is difficult for the opponents to pose a real threat to Liu Yan and others is that they cannot form a joint force. However, within the Han Empire, they can truly integrate everyone to challenge and even overthrow the ruling structure of the auxiliary ministers. There is only one person: Emperor Liu Wenpeng.

Regarding this, people who do not know clearly can only make useless criticisms and moans. People who know clearly also have two choices. A small number of people took action, whether it was a memorial or a secret remonstrance. In short, while showing their loyalty, they also hoped to "awaken" the emperor.

But most of them chose to wait conservatively. This was still the influence of the emperor. After all, today's emperor has not given a convincing performance since he succeeded to the throne.

But even in this situation, the pressure on Liu Yan and other ministers was still huge. They could not cut off the emperor's communication channels with the outside world. There was the Imperial City Division on the left and the Wude Division on the right. Even if there were some restrictions, they could not cut off the emperor's communication channels with the outside world. No one knows the depth.

Even if the emperor is a "dark and weak" master, at the critical moment, Ersi can still only stand on the side of the emperor. After all, he is a minion of the imperial power and has never been given the wrong nickname.

When the auxiliary ministers were in power, the greatest legal basis came from Taizong's decree. The authority they possessed came more from the empire's national management system that had lasted for sixty years.

However, one of the most fundamental problems is that the national and social operating system that was infused with the soul by Emperor Shizu, even after Taizong's reform and improvement, is still essentially centered on imperial power and centered on the emperor.

The only person who can maximize the power of this system is the emperor. When the emperor is weak, the auxiliary ministers can still seize part of the power. Once the imperial power awakens and rebounds, the first power it exerts will most likely be directed at these "auxiliary pillar states."

Of course, it is still unknown whether the emperor Liu Wenpeng can awaken, how much power he can control, how much power of the imperial system he can exert, how and where he can exert it.

But one thing that is certain is that the Han auxiliary political structure led by Lu Wang Liu Ai and Shangshu Ling Zhang Qixian will not last long, and it is difficult to last for long.

The imperial character developed since the time of Emperor Shizu and Emperor Taizong is not like this. The empire can have powerful ministers, but they must be powerful ministers under the imperial power. This is not so easy to change, at least it cannot appear in the "post-Yongxi era" ".

In the early Qianyou period when Shizu ascended the throne, a similar situation barely occurred, but it was too short-lived. A group of ministers were quickly dealt with by Shizu.

Today, it may just be history repeating itself, but the same scene, different protagonists, different abilities, different situations, the resulting process and results will inevitably be different.

In fact, the situation of "auxiliary ministers ruling the country" in the Han Dynasty is very contradictory in itself. In the final analysis, it is still the fault of the "young" emperor. However, without the support of the "direct chief system", the political situation may be It's a different situation again, and it may not be much better than it has been since the Pingkang era.

Since ancient times, the period of power inheritance and handover has always been the time of greatest trouble and heaviest problems, and the situation of the Han Empire was far more complicated than that of previous unified empires at the same time, even though Emperor Taizong had passed more than ten years ago The baptism of the throne is still not mature in this regard. At least the "young emperor" is a brand new model for the unified empire that needs to be explored.

This gave the "Liu Zhang Fuguo" an ending with little future to speak of early, but it is undeniable that at least in the second year of Pingkang, Lu Wang Liu Ai officially started a period of auxiliary government and reached the peak of his life. .

Liu Ai, the king of Lu, who had been mediocre for more than fifty years, took less than a year to tell everyone that he was not mediocre.

In such a huge empire, there are so many powerful dignitaries and bureaucrats, so many complicated relationships, so many right and wrong and conflicts, but they can be coordinated in the middle to spend a stable time. How can such a person be mediocre?

Perhaps a more appropriate evaluation of Lu Wang Liu Ai is to be foolish on the outside but show off on the inside.

And if we take a longer view, look at this "era of auxiliary government" from a wider and higher perspective, from a longer timeline, from the perspective of historical development and the rise and fall of dynasties, it has certain research value and significance.

At least it proved that under the condition that the emperor interfered less in government affairs, the country could still maintain stability and all functions could still operate smoothly.

Of course, this conclusion can only be drawn under given historical conditions and special historical periods, and there are many additional constraints and the requirements for institutions, consciousness and people are too high.