The person who entered the palace was an old minister with a solemn face and an air of purity and integrity, Li Fang. This was also an old minister in the court, the first imperial examination winner in the early years of Qianyou.
At the beginning of this year, Li Fang was transferred to Tokyo as the chief envoy of Jinghu South Road, replacing Li Gu who was ill and unable to bear the heavy burden as the prefect of Kaifeng. After Wang Puxi went to Luoyang as prime minister, he and Lu Yin, who succeeded him and stayed behind, co-chaired Tokyo.
general affairs.
Judging from the position changes at the end of the year, it was more like a foreshadowing for Li and Lu to join the cabinet and become prime ministers. The former, after Zhang Yong was sent to Chengdu, did not think about it for long before Emperor Liu issued an edict.
Summon Li Fang back to the capital.
In fact, under the leadership of Zhao Pu, after the power to govern the three roads in Henan Province was taken back from Tokyo Liutai, Tokyo's institutions at all levels also changed accordingly. After vigorous abolition and streamlining, the two parties Lu Yin and Li Fang
It seems a little inappropriate for the big officials to be concentrated in Tokyo.
However, between Li Fang and Lu Yin, Emperor Liu had a brief hesitation on who should be transferred to his side, and finally chose Li Fang. The reason for the weighing was also very simple. Lu Yin was a bachelor of Chongzheng in the past, and there was no need to
Following the old path, in Emperor Liu's eyes, his future career would be more suitable to develop in the Political Hall.
At the same time, Li Fang, who returned to Beijing to serve again, was no longer satisfied with just a cabinet bachelor. After all, his qualifications were different. He was a cabinet bachelor and had the same affairs. Even when he was around Emperor Liu, the affairs he handled were the same.
But the difference in status is significant.
Today's cabinet is moving closer to Emperor Liu's secretariat. Military and political affairs between the DPRK and China are all handled through the cabinet. In addition, in the current cabinet, in addition to a few bachelors, there are mainly three bachelors.
However, Wei Renpu, the Duke of Yu State, had long since stopped taking charge of affairs due to his health, and had only a false reputation. Especially in recent years, he had become increasingly old and frail, and even Emperor Liu rarely summoned him to the palace to consult on important matters.
As for Zhao Kuangyin, he was a military minister after all. It was not that he couldn't do secretarial work, but he just needed to avoid suspicion, especially when his younger brother served as Luoyang Yin. He was also very knowledgeable and did not actively participate in other than normal summons and discussions. More time,
As long as I focus on drinking and hunting, I basically live a comfortable and leisurely retirement life.
Therefore, Li Fang, the bachelor of the cabinet, was the de facto leader. The cabinet was an institution with a special nature. After all, it was closest to the emperor. Most of the matters reported by the following Zaitang and various ministries and yamen had to go through the cabinet.
Therefore, although Emperor Liu delegated the power of governing the country to the bureaucratic group headed by Zhao Pu, no one dared to ignore the existence of the cabinet.
In the past, the real person in charge of the cabinet was Zhang Yong, who had weak qualifications. But when Li Fang was replaced, it was different. Changing people was like changing swords, which naturally put obvious pressure on the central departments of the imperial court.
In the eyes of those ministers who have long been immersed in power within the imperial court, there seems to be a deeper intention behind Emperor Liu's replacement. There are always people who interpret the emperor's words and deeds from various angles.
For example, when Li Fang was transferred to take charge of the cabinet and assist the imperial court, some people with lively thoughts wondered whether the emperor thought that the power of the Zhengshitang was too great and needed to be restricted, or whether he had some views on Zhao Pu's governance. After all, within the imperial court,
In the eyes of many people, Zhao Pu's power is the highest among human ministers, completely surpassing all the prime ministers in the past 20 years since the founding of the country.
As for Emperor Liu's desire for power, anyone with a little knowledge would understand it, especially those veterans. However, Zhao Pu's administration was too strong and severely suppressed his subordinate ministries. Naturally,
It is impossible for everyone to surrender.
Therefore, within the imperial court headed by Zhao Pu, those who had no ambitions, or those who did not share the same views as Zhao Pu, began to have thoughts and make some tentative moves.
At least, as far as Emperor Liu knew, within half a month of Li Fang's return to Beijing, his mansion, which had been idle for many years, immediately became bustling with people of all kinds coming to congratulate and ask for advice, including many important ministers.
There are also some people who may have deeper thoughts and wider associations. That is, Li Fang was not only a minister who went out by Emperor Liu's side, but also served as the prince's teacher for many years. It has to be said that this relationship is, compared to
Emperor Liu should be closer.
When Li Fang had such an important change in his position, interested people would naturally think of the prince. After Li Fang returned to Beijing, the prince was the first to visit him in person to express the friendship between teacher and student.
In the eyes of some people, Emperor Liu's move was to further consolidate the prince's status and enhance his influence. In the eyes of the prince's party members, such a move was tantamount to rain from heaven.
The prince has been involved in government affairs for a long time, and now he has the actual power to supervise the country. Zhao Pu does not dare to avoid the prince's independence when he is in charge. The prince can also intervene in most affairs of the court.
It can be said that the status of the prince is very stable, but the previous emperor Liu's title of prince did have a certain impact on Liu Yang.
The kings stood side by side, stayed in the capital for a long time, and even participated in the government affairs, presided over one department, and held real power. This gave the kings space to cultivate their power and attracted many people to join them. There will never be a shortage of speculators in the world.
It is also most obvious in the upper echelons of the imperial court. Within the imperial court, various forces are filled with all kinds of characters. People who have climbed to a certain status will always find ways to break through when facing the upper limit, thinking about progress, and there are allusions about rare things being able to live in.
But it has been passed down through the ages.
Just because of Li Fang's transfer, it caused a huge response in the imperial court. Emperor Liu was not surprised by this. He had even become accustomed to such situations.
In the center of the Han Empire, all power struggles revolved around him. No matter how complicated the thoughts and actions below were, he would always play the role of an arbiter.
As for those overflowing thoughts, Emperor Liu was very open-minded. He could control people's words and deeds with force, but it was difficult to imprison people's thoughts. Although he was an emperor, he was not a god after all. There were too many things in the world that he could not control.
thing.
However, as many people had guessed, he really had the intention of considering the prince when he transferred Li Fang. This was because he also discovered that the other princes were growing in ambitions that they should not have but would normally have.
Originally, it was only the King of Qin, Liu Xu, who was quietly accumulating influence and cultivating party members, and Emperor Liu did not interfere too much. At least Liu Xu's behavior was not out of line in the eyes of Emperor Liu.
However, when Emperor Liu discovered that even the seventh prince Liu Hui was following suit and began to be surrounded by some people, especially those who were getting too close to Nan Chen, Emperor Liu became wary.
Emperor Liu's thoughts were always contradictory at times. On the one hand, he clarified the status of the prince and consolidated his power and prestige. On the other hand, he seemed to have placed some hopes on his other sons.
However, when things began to develop beyond his expectations and out of his control, he would begin to intervene. From Emperor Liu's true heart, he did not want any fight for the right to inherit the throne, which would not be conducive to
The stability of the country is harmful to the society, but this kind of thing is often inevitable.
Emperor Liu also knew that he could take some more serious or even extreme measures to dissuade other princes, but there was always a voice in his mind reminding him to leave some room. With this room, it was often possible to form some
Unfathomable fruit.
Even if there are enough lessons to be learned from history, if future generations can learn from the experience and lessons of history, then the development of history will not be so cyclical.
The same goes for Emperor Liu. From an outsider's perspective, he can even comment unscrupulously and even ridicule those wise emperors who caused chaos because of their inheritance, but when it comes to himself, he is always confused and entangled.
Emperor Liu's expectations for Liu Yang are absolutely sincere, and this cannot be faked. However, the emperor's instinct also tells him that it cannot be unreserved. The relationship between the emperor and the prince is also prone to some conflicts. Over the years,
There were no problems because the prince did a good job and the other brothers were relatively calm.
However, with the passage of time, the growth of the scholars and the formation of influence, Emperor Liu began to feel conflicted, not uneasy, but entangled. On the one hand, he hoped that the inheritance would be orderly, and on the other hand, he also hoped that Liu Yang could
There was some pressure. At the same time, since he was his own son, he should inherit something from him, even though the most precious throne had been decided to be left to the prince.
Emperor Liu's character is multi-faceted and has various faces, but after all, he is not a machine that can remain rational forever. Moreover, the older he gets, the more he behaves when he is briefly freed from the whirlpool of power.