As one of the four classic Chinese classics, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has a huge audience base, and many people have also gotten to know Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and other flesh-and-blood characters. In the book, when Liu Bei introduces himself, he often likes to add a sentence

After he was Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, this also earned him the title of Uncle Liu Huang.

So, who is Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan? Why is it that Liu Bei is the only one who frequently mentions it in the book, while powerful family members like Liu Biao and Liu Yan never mention it? What is even stranger is how did Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty use this to communicate with others?

What about Liu Bei’s relatives?

Compared with the official history of the Han Dynasty, Prince Jing Liu Sheng appears much more frequently in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" because he is of royal blood.

Liu Sheng was the ninth son of Emperor Jing, and the tenth son after him was the later Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. If Mrs. Wang hadn't been involved in this, then according to the ancient succession order of establishing elders rather than virtues, his succession would have been impossible.

Greater than Liu Che.

With a background like Liu Sheng's, it is completely guaranteed that he will be able to live a lifetime of food and drink, be prosperous and wealthy, and be guaranteed to be a prince. However, because Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty followed Chao Cuo's suggestion and vigorously reduced the vassalage, the treatment of the princes and kings declined steadily and was not as good as before. This kind of

The gap greatly stimulated Liu Sheng.

So when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the throne, all the civil and military officials used the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion to suppress the princes. However, Liu Sheng did the opposite, quoted from other sources, cried sadly, and complained to his younger brother that the life of the Liu clan was very bad. In the end,

This made Emperor Wu improve the treatment of himself and other princes:

He was invaded by the officials and heard about it. So he treated the princes with courtesy, kept the affairs of the princes reported to him by the ministers, and extended the kindness of relatives.

In this process, Liu Sheng showed excellent eloquence and rich knowledge. Gao Jianli built a building, Jing Ke bowed his head and refused to eat, King Wen was detained, Confucius was trapped, all appeared on stage, using the experiences of the ancients to highlight his sadness, and his words

The sharpness of his words and the sophistication of his language are definitely not something that a mediocre person can display.

In the entire "Biography of Thirteen Kings of Jing", the most words are written about Liu Sheng. You must know that after Emperor Wu successfully captured the crown prince, in order to obtain a legal basis, he weakened the records of the thirteen brothers and arranged them all

into a biography. Even so, we can still see some characteristics of the kings from the limited pen and ink. Liu Sheng is a smart person who has the ability to advance and retreat and understand the situation. This kind of person is destined to have more

Wen Da's reputation also provided a more widely known communication basis for Liu Bei's identity endorsement.

In addition to having certain talents, there are two points in Liu Sheng's life that can distinguish him from other Liu clan members.

First of all, as the successor to the throne, Emperor Jing had healthy reproductive capacity, but he did not give birth to his eldest son with his wife. You must know that in most cases, the Han Dynasty still attached great importance to the eldest son inheritance system. Only in Zhu

It was only under special circumstances such as the Lu Rebellion that brother-in-law succession occurred. When order in the court was restored, this situation disappeared.

Therefore, the succession of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty can be said to have broken through the traditional eldest son inheritance system for the first time, and can be understood as the result of a political struggle. From this result, we can know that Liu Sheng, who was born as a concubine, also has the possibility of ascending the throne.

, this gave Liu Bei, who had a bad background, and even others of the same type a lesson, that is, the heir does not have to be the eldest son (the theory of birth is eliminated).

Secondly, although there are few people like Liu Sheng who are born as concubines and obtain status, they are not an exception. To give a closer example, all the thirteen sons of Emperor Jing are of this type. Therefore, at this time, we should focus on another characteristic of Liu Sheng.

Got:

Sheng was a man who enjoyed drinking and drinking, and had more than one hundred and twenty children.

In other words, Liu Sheng had one hundred and twenty named heirs alone. As for the other unnamed heirs, the number was at least zero or more. If we consider the splendor of his descendants, then by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty,

The number of Liu Sheng's descendants is probably difficult to estimate.

Compared with the first point, the second point can be said to be Liu Sheng's uniqueness. Although the practice of three wives and four concubines was prevalent in the ancients, there are few who can match Liu Sheng's scale.

After understanding Liu Sheng's life and characteristics, we finally know why Liu Bei emphasized that he is his descendant.

Liu Bei came from a humble background. In order to stand out in troubled times, he must find help, and his goal was the Han Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, Liu was the surname of the country. However, this Liu does not just mean that your surname is Liu. You also need to pass research to prove that you are a surname.

Only the descendants of the Liu family of the Gaozu clan can prove that you are the legitimate descendant of the emperor. For example, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu clearly expressed this point:

The ancestor of Emperor Guangwu was Taixiu, whose courtesy name was Uncle Wen. He was a native of Caiyang, Nanyang, and the grandson of the ninth generation of Emperor Gaozu.

So can Liu Bei afford the title of descendant of Emperor Gaozu? The answer is naturally no. He neither can nor dares to be.

When Liu Bei raised troops to borrow strength in the early stage, he could not produce clear evidence, so he could not be the

etc.) was no less famous than his imperial uncle. At that time, the Han Dynasty was further declining and the help to him was limited, so there was no need to worry about whether it was a little or a little.

As for not daring to do so, it is because there are huge risks in using the royal name rashly. It is a good thing for the descendants of the royal family to help the Han Dynasty, but the name of Gaozu is definitely not used indiscriminately. There were still countless people loyal to the Han Dynasty at that time, and you are a nameless one.

The younger generation dares to use the title of the founder of the country as your political tool. If the matter is exposed, Liu Bei will be directly labeled as a traitor of the Han Dynasty. From then on, he will stand on the opposite side of the Han Dynasty, making enemies everywhere, and will be unable to realize his political ambitions.

Only by emphasizing that he is a descendant of Liu Sheng, who has many descendants, can he satisfy Liu Bei's goal of getting closer to the Han Dynasty without being found out that his identity is false.

Liu Bei used his identity as a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan to support himself. Does anyone doubt it? The answer is of course yes. Although we have seen Liu Bei introduce himself in this way many times, only the desperate Emperor Xian of Han was willing to recognize this identity.

, Liu Yan did not pay too much attention to other strong men of the Liu family, such as Liu Biao mentioned above, and still regarded strength as the first criterion for measuring Liu Bei, completely ignoring blood ties.

However, it is undeniable that the title of Emperor's Uncle has indeed brought great convenience to Liu Bei. At least many ministers in his camp firmly believe in this. When faced with legal disputes many times, Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu both

He decisively threw out this identity to clear his name.

So overall, after Liu Bei called himself Liu Sheng, it was a successful marketing campaign that helped him get through the most difficult initial period. After dividing the world into three parts, Liu Bei had already established a mature Shu Han regime and became the emperor.
Chapter completed!