In the autumn and ninth month of the seventh year of Han Dynasty, Renwu (twenty-eighth), Hangu Pass (Xinguan).
Wang Wei, the commander of Hangu Pass, stood on the top of the city with a worried look on his face, looking to the east. However, his subordinates were already trembling with fear and their bodies were trembling.
"That tyrant is coming soon..." Wang Wei ordered to the left and right: "You all must be prepared, and don't give him an excuse to act recklessly..."
"Please rest assured, Mingfu, we have already given the explanation. Even the people in the city have been notified door to door..." Zuo Gongshen said: "It's just... many people are worried that the king may...
You are so picky and insistent on finding trouble!"
Others are also frightened and worried.
Because the person who is about to pass through here is none other than Liu Rong, the king of Huainan who is now known to the world as the cowardly king and tyrant!
The deeds and stories of this faint king are known all over the world.
In the stories circulated in the market, this king's level of delirium, desolation, and cruelty was comparable to that of Jie and Zhou.
Not only did he plunder and extort money, he also had no respect for the scholar-bureaucrats.
The most important thing is - this is an unfilial son!
He even dared to occupy the land of the late emperor's temple!
It's simply... it's broken from the head to the soles of the feet with pus!
In the past, people didn't have much impression of the cowardly king and tyrant in this story.
But today, everyone has to face this fear.
Because Liu Rong is coming.
Fifteen days ago, the king suddenly announced in a high profile that he was going to Chang'an. Then, he took his ministers and embarked on the road to Chang'an.
Along the way, he asked for the best food, the best accommodation, and the best women in the counties he passed through.
But he refused to pay even a five-baht coin.
This is already an open fight fought under open flames.
But he is the great king, the eldest son of the late emperor, and the eldest brother today!
Who dares to disobey his orders?
They can only pinch their noses and scrape together some things to make up for the trouble. Many people even buy some random things with the idea of spending money to ward off the disaster.
But then I thought, this King of Huainan was indeed a tyrant comparable to Jie and Zhou!
Along the way, as long as he was in a bad mood or in a good mood, all the local officials would be in trouble.
If you make any excuses or reasons at will, you will be hung up and whipped.
He also calls it a beautiful name: I am punishing the emperor...
On his way north, seven local county captains/magistrates and more than a dozen others were whipped by him.
Just yesterday, Wang Wei heard that a county captain in Hongnong County was almost beaten to death by this king.
This is absolutely terrible!
Wang Wei had to worry about his butt, but he had no choice but to push hard here.
"Why doesn't the Emperor reprimand this great king?" Someone was muttering, and Wang Wei happened to hear it. He glared and reprimanded: "Your Majesty has his own profound intentions, so it is your turn to gossip.
?”
But in his heart, Wang Wei also had deep doubts: Why has His Majesty indulged Huainan so far?
To be fair, shouldn't a highly respected man who is respected by the world should be sent to Huainan to supervise and guide this king?
However, there has been no movement in Chang'an. They just sit back and watch as Huainan becomes more arrogant day by day!
By now, this great king's unscrupulousness and madness have exceeded the limits of the princes and kings of the Han Dynasty.
Even in the legend, those princes and kings of Lu who deserved death and committed all kinds of evil were probably more lenient than this great king.
Just as I was thinking about these things, bursts of exclamations suddenly came from the city tower, and suddenly the entire Hangu Pass was thrown into a panic.
In an instant, the entire Hangu Pass market became deserted. Every household was closed. Even the naughty children were locked up in their homes by their parents and were not allowed to go out. Only the responsible officials were left standing at the gate of the city tremblingly.
In the distance, a huge motorcade appeared on the horizon.
The royal flag flying high showed the identity of the visitor - King Huainan, Liu Rong, the eldest son of the late emperor!
Liu Rong sat on his chariot with a golden sword, looked at the outline of Hangu Pass with arrogance, and sneered: "Did anyone from Chang'an send anyone to greet me?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, I haven't received any news that the emperor's envoys have come to greet your Majesty..." A eunuch lowered his eyebrows and said: "Mostly, it is because of your Majesty's divine power that the princes of Chang'an were so frightened that they did not dare to see your Majesty in person...
…”
Listening to the eunuch's flattery, Liu Rong was very happy and nodded: "That should be the case! Hey, I am the eldest son of the late emperor, and he is born sacred. These people dare not see me, it is understandable!"
For Liu Rong, he is now completely immersed in the world he has woven.
At that time, his move to test Chang'an made him a great success, and he was freed from the shackles of morality and law.
He can do whatever he wants!
Anyway, Chang'an had nothing to do with him.
Does Liu De dare to kill him?
Don't dare!
He didn't even scold himself for his actions, like a pheasant who buries his head in a snowdrift and is safe.
Liu Rong's high-profile visit to Beijing this time may not mean that he does not want to test further.
After testing so far, Liu Rong is convinced that even if he pokes a hole in the sky, Liu De will be helpless to him.
He couldn't even punish himself.
Because he is the eldest brother, the elder brother, and the eldest son of the late emperor.
Since ancient times, there has been no precedent for a younger brother to punish or even execute his elder brother.
He did not dare to set this precedent, nor did he have the courage to set this precedent.
Then he can only watch himself swaggering through the city and running rampant.
If you have the ability, kill me!!!!
With this thought in mind, Liu Rong stood up, walked out of the cart with his sword in hand, stood at the front of the cart, and commanded majestically: "Give me the order, speed up through Hangu Pass, and show me the momentum of my Huainan Iron Cavalry!"
"No!" An officer immediately took the order and left.
Over the years, Liu Rong has done nothing in Huainan.
With the help of his own financial resources, he recruited a large number of desperadoes, and then formed his own bodyguards, who were only loyal to his bodyguards.
Although there are not many people, only more than 500 people, they are the kind of people who are willing to do anything as long as they are given money.
Relying on the privileges of these people and the King of Huainan, Liu Rong repeatedly provoked Han law in Shouchun.
What is the iron law of repaying debts and repaying life with murder?
He just wants to challenge!
There are many people under him who are just scumbags who owe money outside and then refuse to pay it back no matter what.
The creditors complained to Shouchun Ling and even to Chang'an, but it was of no use.
As for hiding murderers, he shouldn't do too much.
Many people were even killed under his orders.
For example, some scholar-bureaucrats in the Huainan Kingdom once criticized his behavior and wrote articles calling him "unfilial".
When Liu Rong heard about it, he became furious and immediately sent several desperadoes to kill the man and hang his head at the gate of the county government office.
The entire Huainan Kingdom knew that the murderer was from the palace of King Huainan and was ordered to kill by King Huainan.
However, no one could do anything, and no one dared to go to the palace to arrest people.
The victim's wife and children had no way to complain, so they had no choice but to go to Chang'an to complain.
Liu Rong was not afraid and sent people to follow them all the way. He even provided them with protection and help, and directed them to enter the Tingwei Yamen Office to file a complaint.
As a result, of course... even the officials sent by Tingwei were helpless against him.
Instead, in front of the court officials, he personally admitted that he was the one who killed the man because he insulted him, the great king.
In front of the mistress's wife and children, he arrogantly said, "I am the king's law. Your husband dares to slander me and deserves death. I am being polite by not killing you..."
When the woman saw this happening, she went crazy on the spot.
This is Liu Rong's proudest moment.
Law, morality, and even imperial power cannot restrain him, and there is nothing they can do to him.
He is heaven, the law, and the supreme monarch!
However, as time passed, he gradually became tired of this game.
Because Chang'an didn't seem to care at all about what he did.
This is so wrong.
It was too unfulfilling.
What he wanted to see was Liu De's painful expression, and what he wanted to see even more was the tears of regret of those who had given up on him.
So, now he's here.
"Liu De, Liu De, just wait and let me reveal your true face!" Liu Rong thought in his heart.
The closer he got to Chang'an, the more restless Liu Rong felt.
He thought of many past events, and he clearly remembered how that bastard Liu De used conspiracy and tricks to take away the position of prince from his hands.
"If it weren't for you, the title of Tian Chan Yu and the title of Holy King would belong to only a few people in this prosperous era of Yuan De!"
"It's all your fault! It's all your fault! Liu De! You killed my mother, and you also caused me to lose my position as crown prince and emperor!"
"In the end, you won't even give Zhao and Qi to me!"
"I swear that I will never die with you!"
Liu Rong clenched his fists and thought viciously that for him, the initiator of all his tragedies and misfortunes was Liu De, the younger brother of the emperor who has now been renamed.
It was he who caused all the tragedies.
The queen mother died inexplicably, and the uncles who doted on him also died in the south one by one.
In the whole world, he has no friends and is alone.
However, Liu De even refused to give it to Zhao and Qi.
Not only that, but he was also humiliated and humiliated many times.
Scholars can be killed but not humiliated!
In the past, Liu Rong was still afraid of the ancestral system and the majesty of the law.
But now that he found that neither the ancestral system nor the law could do anything about him, he went crazy.
He lost all reason and calmness.
He just wants revenge and enjoys the pleasure of revenge.
Of course, during this process, the counselors and eunuchs around him must perform first-class merit.
In the beginning, a long time ago, many people around Liu Rong advised him to ease his relationship with Chang'an and become a happy king.
But now, those ministers who once tried so hard to dissuade him were either tortured by him and had to leave, or they were killed by him.
Now Liu Rong is surrounded by some villains who want to flatter him.
Surrounded by these people, Liu Rong's character naturally became more eccentric day by day.
He is now even more convinced that he is right and everyone else is wrong.
…………………………
But what Liu Rong didn't know was that in Chang'an and at the residence of the Prince of Jiangdu in Qili, his brothers were already waiting for his arrival.
"Huainan disobeys the emperor and his father, is extremely unfilial, has no respect for the king's laws, corrupts the Gaodi system, relies on his eldest brother, and insults the emperor's father!" King Liu Feiyi of Meng said righteously to his brothers: "Huainan is no longer enough to support the ancestral temple and inherit the country!
However, His Majesty thought of it with brotherly love and could not bear to punish it, so that Huainan is rampant to this day!"
"But I can't bear it! I will teach Huainan a lesson!"
The king of Jiangdu, Liu Yan, also had a solemn expression, gritted his teeth, and said to Liu Fei: "What the fifth brother said is true, and I also have this intention!"
King Lu Liu Duan used his feminine tone and said bitterly: "Brothers, please don't forget about me..."
Liu Duan has grown up this year. As an adult, Liu Duan has become more and more withdrawn and cold. Since he came to dominate the Lu Kingdom, the landowners and scholar-bureaucrats in Lu suddenly suffered bad luck.
This king had a cunning and changeable character. After he arrived in Lu, he would often convene a group of scholars from Lu for meetings and discussions. At first, everyone thought that a king with a heart for Confucianism had arrived. However, unexpectedly,
Fell into a pit.
Liu Duan's favorite thing is to use Confucian classics to find mistakes.
In the past two years, when the Zhigong case and the Sanbei case broke out, Liu Duan immediately seemed to have discovered a golden mountain and invited Confucian celebrities to discuss it every day.
Being played by Liu Duan like this, Lu Ru, who was already dying, suddenly couldn't even breathe his last breath.
Apart from being a troublemaker to scholar-bureaucrats and officials, this King of Lu has no other shortcomings for the time being.
There are even a lot of advantages.
For example, he doesn't like to enjoy himself. It doesn't matter to him whether the palace exists or not. In the two years since he came to the country, he has not even repaired the palace once.
Secondly, he is not a womanizer. There are basically no women in the palace, just a princess...
Thirdly, he doesn't like fine clothes and food, as long as the clothes are wearable.
The most important thing is - he is very, very smart, especially sensitive to numbers.
Almost no one can lie about data in front of him,
Under his rule, the lives of the people of Lu State improved a lot.
After all, not all kings of vassal states are so enlightened. Firstly, they don't want money from the people, secondly, they don't want help from the people to build palaces, and thirdly, they don't go to the people to find girls.
This is simply the perfect king!
Liu Duan was not very disgusted with Liu Rong's behavior of occupying the land of the late emperor's ancestral temple.
But he extremely hated Liu Rong's hostile attitude towards his emperor brother.
In Liu Duan's heart, he knew that there were many people in the world who looked down on him and looked at him with contempt, but the emperor's brother was the only one who never despised him and even sympathized with him.
From the beginning to now, it was the emperor's brother who was protecting him.
And Liu Rong actually dares to be disrespectful to his beloved emperor brother, which is really unforgivable!
"Brothers, how should we teach Huainan a lesson?" A small figure stood up. It was Liu Pengzu, the youngest King of Zhao who was currently in Chang'an.
