Frightened by Zhidu, the knees of the princes weakened faster than the soil in the spring rain.
In less than three days, at least thirty princes who had been jumping around earlier announced that they would close their doors and thank guests, and they would concentrate on "studying poetry and books."
Among the remaining people, some announced that they would return to the feudal country, some said they wanted to travel around the world, and some even ran to Xinhua under the pretext of visiting Han territory.
So, in the blink of an eye, what seemed like a mighty alliance immediately turned into a small group with only three or five people left looking awkwardly at each other.
This is normal. The princes of the Han Dynasty held high positions and controlled huge power, wealth and land.
Moreover, at least two generations of management have allowed these guys to have a network of contacts throughout the country, government and the public.
A feudal lord family can usually influence or control the politics, economy and personnel affairs of at least two or three counties surrounding its feudal state.
Therefore, the princes in the middle and early Han Dynasty often played the role of later aristocratic families in the local area.
But the power and glory of the princes come from the emperor.
Once they lost the trust from the emperor, the fate of the princes was often very tragic.
There have been too many such examples in the past sixty years.
It's just that Liu Che allowed Zhi Du to blatantly threaten the Duke of Chang'an, which made the East Palace a little bit unbearable.
Now, Empress Dowager Dou did not dare to directly call Liu Che over to scold him like she did in the past, and ordered Liu Che to think about it.
But as an elder, Queen Mother Dou can still give some well-intentioned suggestions and advice.
So, at a routine family banquet, Queen Mother Dou suddenly said to Liu Che: "Emperor, the Ai family heard that the lieutenant was recently renamed Zhi Jinwu. Isn't this a little too overbearing?"
Jinwu has many interpretations in the classics of the Han Dynasty.
But in the usual sense, Jinwu and Muwu are synonyms for big sticks.
Such a change is tantamount to a strong warning to everyone not to mess with the emperor.
If Empress Dowager Dou likes it, she'll be damned.
But Liu Che's skills in dealing with (fooling) Empress Dowager Dou were the best.
Hearing this, he smiled slightly, without looking at the relatives who were bowing their heads in deep thought, and said with a smile: "The Imperial Grandmother is overly worried. Kingo is a divine bird. I am taking the lieutenant as Kingo, just to ward off evil spirits..."
Well, in the legend, there is indeed a kind of evil-proofing bird called Kingo.
Queen Mother Dou was slightly startled when she heard this.
But the relatives in the audience only felt that there were a million grass-mud horses running past in their hearts.
Damn, that’s not what your Majesty said in your edict a few days ago!
Liu Che's eyes swept over these guys.
Liu Che knew very well that some of these guys were behind the current storm.
Therefore, Liu Che said calmly: "Furthermore, Imperial Grandmother, our Han family has made laws. It is neither the Zhou Dynasty nor the Shang Dynasty. Emperor Gao ordered Xiao Xiangguo to make nine chapters of the law. Although the purpose of the legislation is to 'lenient punishments', its spirit is not
It is 'punishment has no grade', as the corrupt Confucians call 'rituals with varying degrees', which our Han family does not accept. Therefore, Emperor Taizong punished Heyang Marquis and Cheng Marquis! Since the late emperor established the three-foot law, how dare I be insulted?
"
When the relatives heard these murderous words, they all stretched their necks and felt the coldness on their backs.
But what Liu Che said was right!
So far in the Han Dynasty, the spirit of the law is just four words: "There is no hierarchy in punishment!"
In layman's terms, if the law is broken and the common people are whipped, the princes must also be whipped.
Although in practice, this is almost unlikely to happen.
However, this is a provision written in black and white in the Han Code.
Moreover, it has been practiced before.
One of the unlucky ones was the Marquis of Heyang mentioned by Liu Che.
In the fourth year of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's reign, Chen Xin, Marquis of Heyang, was beaten to the end according to the law because he "sit for six months without paying anyone's responsibility".
What does it mean to sit back and wait until June?
According to the laws of later generations, it means violating the provisions of the contract and defaulting on the principal and interest of other people's loans for up to six months.
This matter is probably the first civil contract dispute with major influence in the world.
In this case, the Western Han Dynasty fully embodied what later generations of public intellectuals called the "spirit of contract" and strictly protected the interests of creditors.
Moreover, the emperor himself made the most stringent ruling that he violated the contract and deliberately and maliciously defaulted on the money owed to others. The Marquis of Heyang, who had a household of 2,000 households, disappeared into thin air and disappeared from the political arena of the Han Dynasty.
And a similar situation happened more than once.
Historically, during the Xiaozhu Dynasty, Xiaozhu's cousin, Zhou Yanghoutian Pengzu, was beaten to the end because he was "sitting in the house of Zhihou and not with him".
The so-called "sitting in the house and not giving it to others" means to act like a rogue by giving the house to others but not giving it to others.
This is true for all the relatives and princes of ten thousand households.
How dare other people continue to guard their authority and act recklessly?
Therefore, many strange things in the history of the Han Dynasty have explanations.
For example, the Ziqian family actually dared to lend money to the princes openly and still get ten times the principal and interest back.
But unfortunately, after Confucianism came to power, everything changed.
The emperor of Germany punished the auxiliary, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, the law began to favor the powerful noble officials.
The mud-legged people have lost fairness and justice.
So much so that some people later lamented: There are many princes, nobles, and rich people. They pretend to be arrogant and extravagant, and they are responsible for tens of millions and refuse to pay their responsibilities. The common people guard the door and cry, but they are not fearful, wary, ashamed, and sad.
Meaning. (Note)
But everything has come to an end, and the law can never go back to what it was before.
But at this time, the Han Code was still the law that Liu Bang ordered and ordered Xiao He to formulate based on the Qin Code and the three chapters of the Covenant.
Although it favors aristocrats and officials, it is not too biased. At the very least, it still adheres to the most basic legislative spirit since the Warring States Period, that is: there is no hierarchy in punishment, and there are no omissions in the law.
Resolutely resist Zhou Rites and the idea of "equal differences in etiquette" that has gone to hell with slavery.
So far, the boycott has been successful.
Legalists and Huang Laoxue joined forces to block all attempts to resurrect corpses.
This is also the reason why Liu Che does not appreciate Confucianism very much.
Confucianism has its advanced side and its decadent and backward side.
His persistence and stubbornness in Zhou Li and Zhou Zhi, in many cases, actually reversed the course of history.
Therefore, Liu Che is currently actively promoting the reform and evolution of Confucianism.
So far, the reform work is very effective.
At the very least, the Simeng school has been revived.
Especially in this year's examinations, Liu Che deliberately enlarged the proportion of Simengian scholars among the Confucian scholars admitted, and even gave the green light to dozens of people.
The emperor's will represents the direction of thought and school.
Therefore, the treatises and works of the Simeng school in Chang'an City began to become popular.
Queen Mother Dou was silent after listening to Liu Che's words.
The case of Chen Xin, the Marquis of Heyang, was a familiar case in the Han Dynasty. As long as it involved civil disputes, this example was an ironclad example that could not be bypassed. It was also the trump card used by the Liu family to intimidate the relatives of the Marquis.
.
The trouble has gone too far, and Chen Xin's fate will be your fate.
Queen Mother Dou knew in her heart that the emperor was probably really angry this time.
If you think about it carefully, Queen Mother Dou can understand.
Dozens of princes gathered together to fight with the emperor. This would be intolerable for anyone who became emperor!
This time the emperor was able to hold back and did not go on a killing spree. All he could really say was 'The Sacred Heart is merciful'. (To be continued.)
ps: Note: This passage comes from "Qian Fu Lun Jian" written by Wang Fu, a famous social critic and thinker in the Eastern Han Dynasty. I read the corrected and annotated version of the Qing Dynasty. In addition, if you want to understand the Han Dynasty, this book is
There is no way around it. Wang Fu has analyzed many issues in great detail, including the causes and consequences, and why. I have read a lot of books about the Three Kingdoms. To be honest, if I were to travel back in time to the early days of the Three Kingdoms, especially before the Yellow Turban Uprising, instead of going there
To raise Zhuge Liang, you might as well ask Wang Fu for help. Even if you just get his work "Qian Fu Lun Jian", I think it is no less than Zhuge Liang (for time travellers), it is very simple.
This book analyzes the entire social, economic, military and legal system of the Han Dynasty from all aspects, and puts forward many severe criticisms, which are directed at the social malpractice at that time. This allows time travelers to understand and understand what they are facing.
The world. This is no less than Baidu. But this book was not famous at the time. The author was a hermit. It was not taken seriously until the Sui Dynasty.
