The late emperor died more than ten years earlier than in his previous life, so many things were naturally changed beyond recognition.∽↗,
The greatest influence on the Han Dynasty was naturally attributed to the authority of the princes and kings.
In the previous life, within a few years after the Wu-Chu Rebellion, Chang'an used coercion and inducement to narrowly quell the power of the Wu-Chu Rebellion and forcibly took back most of the power of the princes and kings.
For example, the power of princes and kings to appoint officials above a thousand stones was taken back step by step.
This basically eliminated the actual control and influence of the princes and kings over their feudal states.
Because the county magistrates and county captains of the Han Dynasty were basically Qianshi officials.
These county magistrates and county lieutenants actually have the power to appoint officials at all levels in the township, pavilion, and li, and to recommend the three elders.
When the princes and kings no longer have the power to appoint and dismiss personnel in the county-level governments of their feudal states, naturally no officials will regard the princes and kings as their sons. Some people with scheming and means will even use the power to defeat the princes.
King's face bit.
For example, people like Zhufu Yan and Jiang Chong rose to power step by step with their hands stained with the blood of princes and kings.
But in this life, the late emperor passed away early, before he had time to use all kinds of means, and he died without even planning many things.
Liu Che ascended the throne with a weak crown, and his first priority was to seize military power and political power.
As for the princes and kings, they naturally have no time to take care of it.
This has led to today's predicament.
In the final analysis, Liu Che's ascension to the throne was too hasty and his fundamentals were unstable.
If, like the late emperor, he had been the crown prince for more than 20 years, his influence was deeply rooted in the government and the public. After he came to the throne, he immediately liquidated his past political enemies. He was as famous as Zhang Shizhi, as rich as Deng Tong, and as deep as Wei Wan. Who?
Do people dare to resist?
If you say you want to belittle, then belittle. If you say it, then belittle.
Afterwards, the vassals were reduced. He even used the power of one person to compete with the world. It really felt like one person was challenging the whole world.
But so what?
But Liu Che can no longer do this.
We can only win widespread support, unite the majority of voices, and advance our policies through both public opinion and force.
"However, this situation will change after this year..." Liu Che thought in his mind.
Since he came to the throne, he has initially established his prestige through domestic favors and foreign wars.
But to put it bluntly, this kind of prestige is just a clay statue. At most, it is painted with a layer of gold paint. Once it encounters a storm, its original shape may be exposed.
But as long as this year and later, with the widespread popularity of waterwheels, all classes in Guanzhong will feel the benefits.
The military reclamation and immigration policy will also benefit countless civilians after its implementation.
This way you have the basic disk.
Then pass through the Yantie Government Camp and hold on to your money bag.
By next year, the treasury of the Han Dynasty will be full, and the burden of the people will be further reduced. The promotion of waterwheels and chemical fertilizers will lead to generally good harvests in Guanzhong. Military reclamation immigrants will move the landless farmers and peasants in Guandong to North Korea, and Liaodong and Liaoxi will be reclaimed. Internal conflicts will be greatly alleviated.
By then, no one can stop Liu Che from doing anything he wants to do!
However, now, it cannot be like this.
Liu Wu on the side had hundreds of thoughts running through his mind at this moment, and was a little hesitant.
Reason told him that he supported the emperor's request and took the lead in responding to the call to support the Yantie government camp. Although it did not hinder Liang Guo himself.
Nor is he a king who relies on the power of salt and iron.
only……
In this way, the resentment of the princes and kings in the world will probably be concentrated on himself.
Although the kings had no choice but to suppress and isolate Liang Guo at various royal gatherings in the future, they would even slander his personal reputation and use various despicable means to spread rumors about him.
However, looking at Liu Che, Liu Wu could not say no.
After all, this emperor treated him well. He not only met many of his personal requirements, but even granted his second son the title of feudal lord of Korea.
If you refuse, I'm afraid you will hate the emperor from now on!
With the old mother of the East Palace here, Liu Wu was not worried about what the emperor could do to him.
However, everyone has children.
Liu Wu had to think about his descendants.
Today's emperor is still young and powerful. Even judging from the life span of the late emperor, he can still rule as emperor for at least twenty or thirty years.
The old mother of Donggong will not live for twenty or thirty years. Once the Empress Dowager of Donggong passes away, it will be too easy for the emperor to settle accounts and embarrass him or his heirs!
Liu Wu knew his sons quite well.
He is simply a mediocre person who has no talent and is just waiting to die.
With all these thoughts coming and going, Liu Wu didn't know how to make a decision for a while.
At this time, Liu Wu couldn't help but miss the two wise men Yang Sheng and Gongsun Gui.
Unfortunately, last year he felt that these two guys were alarmists and said things that made him unhappy, so Liu Wu sent them back to Suiyang.
Liu Che naturally saw Liu Wu's inner struggle.
In fact, the higher the top nobles are, the less they know how to hide their emotions. As for the attribute of foresight, the vast majority of nobles do not possess it.
Therefore, there is an allusion like "Meat eaters are despicable and cannot plan far".
After all, you can't expect a nobleman who came from a young age with a golden key in his mouth, was born in a deep palace, and grew up in the hands of women, and knows neither joy nor sorrow to know what "moderate" and "modest" are.
Even in the new century two thousand years later, there are a large group of second-generation rich and second-generation officials. There are already so many examples of cheating on their fathers, but they still continue to cheat on their fathers in an endless stream, which almost makes people form
This shows the image of the entire generation having insufficient IQ balance.
Relatively speaking, Liu Wu is still the best among the noble princes and kings.
At the very least, he knows how to restrain himself and manage his own image.
But that's all.
Liu Che had already seen these things clearly in his previous life.
Even the little pig, which actually belongs to the ranks of carnivores, was led around by the nose like a monkey by a few alchemists.
So Liu Che was not in a hurry and looked at Liu Wu quietly, waiting for his answer.
Because Liu Che knew very well that it was best not to talk at this time.
As soon as you speak, the other party may catch the key, suddenly wake up, or the lion may ask for a price.
Liu Wu thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't make up his mind.
After all, if you stand up to support the emperor, you may offend all the princes and kings in the world. At that time, those cowards will secretly slander Chang'an at most, but all the resentment and pressure will fall on Liang Guo.
It is difficult for a good man to defeat the four-fisted man, but even a powerful man like the Overlord of Western Chu, who can conquer mountains and rivers, would inevitably kill himself in Wujiang.
Liu Wu didn't have the courage to bear the abuse of the Liu clan all over the world.
But if he doesn't agree, his status as an imperial uncle in the eyes of the emperor may be reduced countless times from now on, and he may even arouse resentment!
There is no telling what harm will happen to our descendants!
When Liu Wu was struggling.
Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside the palace.
Liu Wu glanced back and saw that Wang Dao, the emperor's personal attendant, was approaching hurriedly with a man dressed in plain white mourning clothes.
"Your Majesty, King Yan has passed away!" As soon as the man came in, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground, with tears and snot flowing down his face, and kowtowed and said: "This is King Yan's last words, and I have been ordered by King Yan. I came here on a starry night.
I would like to present it to His Majesty!"
Liu Wu's muscles twitched slightly, Yan Wangjia, could he finally hold on?
Liu Wu had always heard about this distant relative. This King of Yan had been lingering on his sick bed since the year before last.
As a result, Yan State fell into a fierce struggle for power.
Originally, Liu Wu had always thought that his distant cousin might not be able to survive much longer.
But every time, Liu Wu only heard the news that King Yan was critically ill, but did not hear the news that he had died.
Unexpectedly, this time, no news came that King Yan was critically ill, and he died quietly.
This really makes Liu Wu feel a little sad.
To be honest, Liu Wu still had a good impression of this cousin whom he had only met a few times.
Probably because, like Liu Wu, King Jia of Yan was an elegant man. He liked to make friends with scholars all over the world and loved poetry and songs.
Liu Che was also slightly stunned, and then took the suicide form presented by the man.
After taking a quick glance, Liu Che was overjoyed: "This Prince Yan actually has some knowledge!"
"I must have communicated with the emperor last year when Yi Zong led his army through Jicheng, and the other party also listened to it..." Liu Che thought in his heart, but there was some sadness on his face, and he said
The man said: "In Qiancheng of the Yan Kingdom, my uncle passed away suddenly. It is truly a loss of my arms. I am also very sad..."
Liu Wu quickly knelt down and worshiped with the others: "Your Majesty, my condolences..."
Liu Che had actually already expected the death of King Yan Liu Jia.
I just didn't expect that the other party would give me such a generous gift before he died!
Liu Wu raised his eyes and looked at Liu Wu, feeling that compared with his distant cousin, his imperial uncle was as good as heaven or earth.
But, then again, the lineage of King Yan Liu Jia is indeed the lucky star of Liu Che's royal family.
At the beginning, the princes and ministers jointly destroyed the Lu, and the one who had the greatest merit and the largest army was the King of Qi Ai Liu Xiang.
This Liu Bang's eldest grandson, Liu Fei's eldest son, was the most suitable and most likely person legally to ascend the throne of the Emperor of Chang'an at that time.
He had the military power and was the first to kill Zhu Lu. He was the first to raise an army to resist, thus gaining the honor of being a righteous man! Moreover, the barrel of his gun was unbelievably tough!
Not to mention Liu Che's grandfather, Liu Heng, who was the acting king, even the troops controlled by the princes and ministers of Chang'an at that time were not as good as him!
But, it happened that at this time, when someone was discussing in the court who should be chosen as the emperor, he stood up and said something: The Queen Mother of Qi's family is Junsi, a wicked person, and she will immediately become the Lu family.
These words immediately caused a hundred times the damage of a critical strike, directly extinguishing Liu Xiang's dream of becoming an emperor.
Even Liu Xiang's younger brother Liu Zhang lobbied in every possible way at that time, but he could not change the minds of the princes.
After all, everyone is tying their heads to their belts and risking their lives and fortunes not just to kill one Lu family and support another Lu family!
Moreover, the princes and elders who were victorious in Chang'an at that time also felt that instead of welcoming an emperor with strong soldiers and horses, it would be better to choose a puppet who is less eye-catching and has a good temper.
After much selection, everyone chose the acting king who was always unknown and uncontested in the clan.
Everyone knew what happened after that, and then, the old Liu family's reputation for pretending to be pigs and eating tigers completely became famous all over the world.
The 'someone' who inflicted a hundred times the critical damage to Liu Xiang at the court meeting was none other than Liu Ze, the king of Langya at that time, who was also the biological father of Liu Jia, the current king of Yan.
Twenty or thirty years ago, Liu Jia's father Liu Ze made great contributions to Liu Che's leadership. Twenty or thirty years later, Liu Jia gave Liu Che another substantial gift.
The now deceased King of Yan, in the suicide note he submitted to Liu Che, threw away the words of modification, humility, surrender, etc., and summed it up in one sentence: Only your Majesty can do power and bring blessings!
And how can it be said that only the emperor can dominate and bring blessings?
Liu Jia also gave the answer: The ministers are stupid. I am stupid, do not understand people's affairs, and have no knowledge of people. Only your majesty is divine and powerful, and can penetrate thousands of miles. I invite your majesty to observe that all the ministers are only virtuous.
Choose the wise ones to inherit the ancestral temple...
In other words, Liu Jia gave Liu Che the right to choose the next generation of princes and kings of the Yan Kingdom!
This may be a common thing for later dynasties, but now, it is the power that Liu Che dreams of!
Today's Han Dynasty is generally governed by the eldest son inheritance system. In a nutshell, the heir to the vassal states is not determined by the emperor's canonization but by the order of birth and the status of the mother.
If there is a legitimate son, the legitimate son will be the crown prince. If there is no legitimate son, the eldest son will be the crown prince.
For the Han Dynasty regime, this meant that the emperor's power was superior to that of the princes and kings' heirs, and he actually had little say.
The old king died and a new king came to the throne. Chang'an only had two options: admit it or not.
Normally, no matter what, Changan would have to hold his nose and accept the choice.
Just like when King Chu Yi died, everyone knew that Liu Wu who came to the throne was a notorious bastard and a ruthless man, but what about Chang'an?
Even Liu Wu's father, Liu Ying, was helpless. He tried to depose Liu Wu several times, but gave up halfway.
But now, Liu Jia did not follow the convention and choose his legitimate son, the prince Liu Dingguo, to take the throne. Instead, he used his status as a vassal king to hand over the decision-making power to Liu Che in the form of a deathbed testament.
This is a huge change!
It can even affect the entire Han Dynasty regime!
Everything is difficult at the beginning. With Liu Jia Lai at the beginning, when the kings die, the right to choose their successors will belong to the Emperor of Chang'an!
In the future, if anyone does not make a final statement and let the emperor choose their successor, they will be trampling on tradition!
As for this power, Xiaozhu worked hard in history, and finally relied on King Zhao Liu Pengzu to achieve it.
Now, Liu Jia took the initiative to offer this 'big gift', and Liu Che naturally wanted to reciprocate the favor.
He pondered for a moment and then issued an edict: "It is said that when King Yan was in power, he performed good governance and benefited the army and the people. I have always respected him very much. Now that he has passed away, I am deeply saddened. His order is to give King Yan a piece of Huang Chang Ti, gold
He was given a piece of jade clothing, ten swords, three hundred terracotta warriors and horses, and a Si chariot to be buried with him. He also asked the ministers to discuss the political affairs of King Yan during his lifetime and choose a beautiful posthumous title to benefit him!"
The man immediately kowtowed and said, "I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"
Yellow intestines and jade clothes, gold and jade robes, were all rewarded by princes and kings who were close to the emperor.
As for swords and terracotta warriors and horses, they are gifts that only the emperor can give on an exceptional basis.
Liu Che glanced at Liu Wu, and then said: "As for what King Yan wrote in his last testament, I have thought about it for a long time, and I have decided it! You will return home now and bring the princes of Yan to Chang'an. I will come in person to inspect them.
The prince must be virtuous, so choose a virtuous man to inherit the country and the country of Yan!"
Liu Che paused and then said: "The rest of the disciples all recommend En as the king!"
"Nuo!" The minister was overjoyed and said: "I sincerely obey the imperial edict!"
Thanks to the order of grace, all men are kings!
In other words, all the princes of Yan can be said to be lonely and few. This is bad news for the Yan State, but it is extremely good news for the princes of Yan.
The game mode has changed from the winner-take-all game in the past to the winner eating the meat and the loser also eating the soup!
After he returns home this time, the princes will definitely be generously rewarded!
Then slowly retreated.
Liu Wu's mouth opened wide, almost speechless in surprise.
Liu Jia actually let the emperor choose his heir, instead of using the eldest son as the heir as usual?
This fact shocked Liu Wu to the point of being almost speechless!
Liu Wu immediately thought that among the vassals of the Han Dynasty, there were two vassal kings who always regarded themselves as loyal ministers.
Liu Deng, the acting king, and Liu Ci, the king of Hengshan!
With Liu Jia's precedent, these two people will definitely follow suit.
And after one, two, and three, this will become a new routine or even a system!
The last trace of hesitation in Liu Wu's heart was finally over!
When Wang Dao led the man out of the palace, Liu Wu immediately paid homage: "Your Majesty, I thought that the Yantie Guanying was pursuing Emperor Gao's policy of 'strengthening the foundation while weakening the weak', and following the late emperor's intention of cutting down the vassals.
This is a great idea, and I am willing to take the lead for His Majesty and be a pioneer for the world!"
With Liu Jia making such a fuss, the emperor's authority would inevitably expand without the support of the Yantie government.
Coupled with the order of Tuien, all the princes and kings in the world no longer have the ability to compete with Chang'an.
Just take Liu Wu himself as an example. If he wants to compete with Chang'an, I'm afraid the first thing he has to deal with is not the pressure from Chang'an, but his own sons and concubines!
Since the princes of Guandong are all useless and can no longer fight against Chang'an, what else is he afraid of?
Of course, hurry up and hug your thighs!
Liu Che nodded with great satisfaction, helped Liu Wu up, and said: "With the help of your uncle, I feel at ease!"
In his heart, Liu Che was extremely happy.
With Liu Wu's support, the Yantie government-run strategy was basically a smooth road.
Liu Wu and Liu whoring, these two people who can influence Queen Mother Dou have already turned to him, so who else can stop him?
Dou?
Liu Che sneered twice in his heart.
Before he became emperor, Liu Che really couldn't afford to offend Dou's relatives.
But now he is the emperor, ruling the world and holding great power.
If Mr. Dou wants to be naughty, he can also be spanked!
What's more, the Dou family has always been a model relative of the Han Dynasty. With Dou Guangguo in charge, they can distinguish the important and the important and will not mix things up randomly.
"It's just that I still have to convince Empress Dowager Dou personally!" Liu Che thought in his mind.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
In fact, Liu Che was confident that he could convince Empress Dowager Dou as long as no one spoke ill of her or deliberately provoked her.
Because this salt and iron official camp actually enhanced the power of the central Han Dynasty, and it was impossible for Empress Dowager Dou not to know!
Moreover, when the late emperor cut down the feudal vassals, the Guandong princes often created obstacles for Empress Dowager Dou. Now that she is weakening the power of these princes, she is probably optimistic about the success! (To be continued...)
