Eight hundred and ninety-first chapter of the gentleman's ze, beheaded by the third generation
When Zhou Yafu entered the palace, Liu Che was looking at some reports placed in front of him. Net
"Ping Liuhou has been taking wax pills made from ginseng recently..."
"Honghou swallowed many pills..."
Liu Che took the reports of the two embroidered guards and played with them for a moment, then threw them into the fire plate.
The 6th rank is Liu Li, the 6th rank is Liu Fu, and the 6th rank is Liu Fu.
These two brothers are already very old.
After all, they were born in the era before the establishment of the Han Dynasty. At that time, Liu Bang was just a pavilion chief of the Qin State, a scoundrel who ate in the countryside and waited for death.
Moreover, their health is not very good.
Liu Che remembered that in the original history.
Honghou Liu Fu died three years ago.
Liu Li, the 6th prince of Ping Dynasty, could not survive for a few more years than his elder brother. He passed away a year after ascending the throne of King Chu.
Now, the reason why these two brothers are alive today.
This is thanks to the Hanjia Medical Technology Exhibition.
Ginseng and velvet antler from Anton and cod liver oil extracted from the liver of deep-sea whales have effectively helped them delay their lifespan and quality of life.
However, now it seems that this delayed life has probably come to an end.
The fire of their lives is going out.
Therefore, the two brothers desperately tried every means to save themselves.
"But how long can you hold on?" Liu Che sighed as he looked at the report burning in the fire plate.
In the State of Chu, after the death of Brother Liu Li, there was no heir of Prince Yuan left in the world.
According to the provisions of Han law, other direct lineages have the right to worship the state of Chu. The legal principle remains the same.
Chu State is now like a ripe peach, just waiting for Liu Che to pick it.
There are more than 60 cities in the Chu State, and they are adjacent to the Huaisi area. From above, they can monitor the kings of Huaisi, especially Liu Rong, who is always chattering all day long. No matter how you look at it, he does not look like a loyal minister.
Looking down, you can overlook Mitsukoshi.
Standing high, together with Jiangdu, he became the backbone of the Han Dynasty in intimidating and stabilizing southern Xinjiang.
More importantly, Chu State is too close to Fengfei.
Liu Bang's original temple and the clothes and crowns of Han Taizu are enshrined there.
In good conscience, Liu Che felt a little uncomfortable leaving such a key kingdom in the hands of a fellow clan member who actually had no close blood relationship with him.
Therefore, the East Palace has been slow to decide on the candidate for King Chu.
Liu Che was also happy to see this.
Anyway, just delay.
Time is with me.
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister wants to see you..." Wang Dao quietly walked to Liu Che and reported.
"Why did the Prime Minister enter the palace today?" Liu Che was quite curious: "I remember that today was the day when the Prime Minister took a rest..."
"Go and show me the briefing from the Prime Minister and the ministers last month..."
Not long after, Wang Dao held a thick stack of briefing papers and presented them to Liu Che.
Liu Che took it and looked at it.
There is very little information in the briefing, usually just one sentence.
But the entire briefing, put together, can present to people the main activities of an official this month and what he has done.
Since Liu Che came to the throne, he has further strengthened and strengthened the institutionalization of briefings.
Now, the Han Dynasty has clearly stipulated that every subordinate must submit his briefing to his superior on a regular basis.
In other words, Cheng and Jiuqing must report their briefings to Liu Che regularly.
This is important!
The establishment and standardization of this system greatly strengthened centralization of power.
This enables the country to extend its authority to the countryside.
As an emperor, you can know whether this guy is doing things carefully through the daily administration and handling of government affairs recorded in the briefing to the courtiers.
Together with Gantang, there is simply no disadvantage.
Liu Che looked at the contents of Zhou Yafu's briefing, looked at a certain date for a moment, and smiled slightly.
No minister dares to falsify in a briefing.
Because this is bullying.
To deceive the emperor is to kill the whole family.
Therefore, the words recorded in the briefing are absolutely true and credible.
"Geng Shen, Xiu Mu, send letters to friends in Jiangdu..." Liu Che played with these words, then put away the briefings and told Wang Dao: "Summon the Prime Minister to the throne..."
"promise!"
Not long after, Prime Minister Zhou Yafu, led by Wang Dao, came to Liu Che.
"I respectfully send my regards to Your Majesty!" After the usual salute, Zhou Yafu raised his head and looked at Liu Che: "I am entering the palace this time. I have important matters to discuss with Your Majesty. Your Majesty, please step aside!"
Liu Che waved his hand, and all the eunuchs and maids in the palace bowed respectfully and slowly exited the hall, leaving the door ajar.
Of course, there are still people in this palace.
For example, there are historians who specialize in recording the emperor's daily life, words and deeds, and personal guards who protect the emperor's safety.
These people will never leave the emperor no matter what happens.
This is also the reason why the old Liu family's gossip was always spread all over Chang'an.
After Liu Che came to the throne, he strengthened the supervision of the palace.
This resulted in a lot of material being lost all at once.
Now, basically, no one dares to talk nonsense to the outside world.
Generally, when they reveal information to the outside world, it must be the emperor Liu Che who has given orders behind the scenes.
"Prime Minister, you came just in time..." Liu Che held a booklet and handed it to Zhou Yafu with a smile: "Prime Minister, please take a look, this is a wonderful book I just got!"
Zhou Yafu suddenly choked.
But there is no way, the emperor has the greatest labor and capital!
He reluctantly pinched his nose, turned his head, and saw a small book.
The book is not big, only about the size of two palms.
The cover is made of hard paper, and there are five small compilations of "The Heroes of the Emperor and Han Dynasty" written on it.
"Family words?" Zhou Yafu shrank his neck. Zhou Yafu was quite familiar with the kind of reading material in the market.
Even, his house has some that are not so crabby.
For example, "Secret Stories of Zhu Lu", "Stories of Taizong"...
Anyway, the family often suffers from big disasters.
Fortunately, Mr. Liu doesn't take this seriously.
Nowadays, I have even said to those who proposed censoring texts and regulating public discussion of royal privacy: Can I still delete posts and create a list of blocked words?
Although I have never understood the meaning of deleting posts and blocking words.
But this statement is obvious, and it is in the same vein as Emperor Taizong's "Edict to Eliminate Defamation".
The old Liu family has never cared about people gossiping about their private lives.
As long as you don't rebel, that's fine.
But what the hell is this "Heroes of the Imperial Han Dynasty"?
Zhou Yafu opened the book curiously, and then he couldn't take his eyes off it.
The things in this book are really exaggerated.
At the beginning of Emperor Gao's rebellion against White Snake, there was some basis for it.
But what follows is pure nonsense.
When Zhou Bo first met Empress Lu, he knew that she would bring chaos to the world, so he secretly planned and conspired with Chen Ping.
Xiao He raised Han Xin and secretly told Emperor Gao: There is something rebellious in the back of this man's head...
What's even more exaggerated is...
Records of the Battle of Pingcheng.
Chen Ping actually went to Maodun Shanyu's tent, and used his intelligence to successfully persuade Maodun, making him realize that "the emperor of China is also a man of gods" and rescued the siege.
This, this, this...
It's just nonsense...
but……
"It's so touching!" Zhou Yafu, who had never seen this kind of writing style and story before, was deeply fascinated.
Especially the last chapter of this book made Zhou Yafu's blood boil with excitement.
This last chapter is about his father Zhou Bo's soul ascending to heaven after his death.
God Taiyi came to greet him personally, gave Zhou Bo the magic medicine, and took Zhou Bo to travel around the world.
Taiyi God fished a group of fish from the ocean and ordered them to live forever, follow a fixed route, migrate to Xinhua in Anton, and provide food for the summers from generation to generation.
Taiyi also took a few foals from the three animals offered to him by the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and then threw them into the sea, turning them into huge whales, and ordered them to become the source of fat and fertilizer for the summers.
Finally, Taiyi brought Zhou Bo to Shendu, pointed to the fertile land and said: This land I created thousands of years ago should have been known to the Han Dynasty fifty-six years after the rise of the Han Dynasty.
Sixty years after its rise, it was acquired by the Han Dynasty.
"The second and third sons, it is your destiny to receive this Xuanshe, work hard and sleep nightly, and serve the emperor forever!"
At the end of the story, his father saw countless light spots falling from the starry sky and landing on the land called Shendu.
So in each country, one by one, the princes and princes stood up.
Zhou Bo also fell to the earth involuntarily, landing on a plain beside a long river, and entered the mountains and the earth.
"The virtue of a gentleman will be cut down in three generations; the virtue of a saint will be cut down in five generations. If virtue declines, the family and country will perish; if virtue flourishes, the country will last forever. In the past, I taught the Queen of Xia the Nine Taos, and Yu made the Nine Cauldrons. Therefore, the Queen of Xia
After enjoying the kingdom for eight hundred years, Emperor Kong Jia failed to behave morally and brought chaos to the world. Therefore, the destiny came to an end. Three generations later, he died in Jie.
I also ordered Tang to make Tang's oath to rule the world with business virtues for five hundred years. When Emperor Wu Yi came to the throne, he ignored King Wu's admonitions and failed to practice kingly virtues. Therefore, the destiny is over and Zhou Nai is prosperous..."
"Emperor Wuyi died in Zhou after the third generation..."
The story ends here.
Although it did not say how the Zhou Dynasty perished, nor did it mention the key to the rise and fall of the Han Dynasty.
But in the book, Taiyi God’s meaning couldn’t be more straightforward.
A country that cannot help the people and bring peace to the world will lose its destiny.
If you continue to spend it, the merits accumulated by your ancestors will gradually be consumed.
Therefore, there is a hero who rises from the wilderness and strives for the world.
Zhou Yafu thought about it carefully and realized that some of the things in this nonsense book were really like that.
The flow of destiny mentioned in it seems to be more reliable and logically consistent than the so-called ending and beginning of the five virtues of the Yin and Yang School.
Zhou Yafu raised his head and looked at the emperor with a smile on his face.
He felt a knot in his heart, and couldn't help but think: "Perhaps, some of the contents in this book were made known to the world by His Majesty's false words?"
Reminiscent of the emperor's previous year, he suddenly renovated the Xuanshi Hall, spending tens of millions, and changed the decoration of the entire hall.
In front of the Xuanshi Hall, Emperor Taizong's edicts were burned.
Tang Wu's oath was also hung in the main hall of the Xuanshi Hall: "Poverty in the world will lead to eternal prosperity."
Think of all the wonders today.
Reading this book again, Zhou Yafu had to think deeply about something deeper.
"What is said in the book may not be false..."
The Han people firmly believe that people have spirits after death, and their ancestors are under the Nine Springs to protect their descendants for a long time.
Historically, a large number of people became gods after death.
Erlang Guankou of Shu County, Du Bo of Guanzhong, Qu Yuan of Chu State, even Zhang Shizhi who died of illness not long ago, and even Xiang Yu all had incense sacrifices and enshrinements, and were considered to be ghosts and gods.
In his heart, Zhou Yafu was of course willing to believe that his father became a ghost and god after his death and ascended to heaven.
In particular, his father also acted as a protector for the ‘fengguo’ where he was poisoned.
This kind of words that God has destined that his old Zhou family will become princes is very useful to Zhou Yafu.
only……
"The beauty of a gentleman will be beheaded in three generations; the beauty of a saint will be beheaded in five lives!" Zhou Yafu pondered these words in his heart.
What this means, Zhou Yafu knows very well.
This is the death knell of hereditary rule!
Although the Han Dynasty has always had a system of reducing titles.
The title of nobility below the rank of prince decreased gradually from generation to generation.
It is even difficult for the princes themselves to escape the fate of decline.
Of the more than a hundred princes who founded the country, only a dozen or so can still retain their feudal status.
The rest either disappeared into thin air or flew into the homes of ordinary people.
Even the heroes of Taizong have declined a lot now.
No family can stay rich for a long time.
Just like the Zhou family, without Zhou Yafu, the next generation might have been punished and exterminated.
It is even possible that the country has been eliminated long ago.
At that time, his brother Zhou Shengzhi broke the law and was deposed from the feudal state. He subsequently inherited the Tiaohou state, which was due to a lot of luck and his own efforts.
Therefore, Zhou Yafu did not object to the extension of the descending title system to princes and even princes and kings.
If the previous generation has no meritorious service, the next generation will have to accept the punishment of being deprived of the country's food and land or even being demoted.
That's fair.
But the problem is, others may not see it that way.
For most princes, heroes of labor and capital are the most important thing in the world.
The family should live forever, riding on other people's heads.
Even they themselves know that this is impossible.
"So your Majesty uses this family language to explore the future?" Zhou Yafu pondered in his heart.
Liu Che looked at Zhou Yafu and said with a smile: "This book is good for entertainment. The prime minister can take it back and read it slowly..."
Okay!
The emperor recommended a book to the prime minister and said it was very interesting.
What should the Prime Minister do?
Of course I will recommend it to other colleagues when I go back.
Zhou Yafu knew very well that this was what the emperor meant.
Let him, the prime minister, come forward to recommend this book to officials, scholar-bureaucrats, and diners.
Then, this book slowly flowed into the market, became the target of study by various gossip parties, and even became part of the daily entertainment and pastime of the common people.
In this way, more than ten years later, when the contents of this book were widely accepted, the emperor took advantage of the situation and issued an institutional edict: "The noble man will be beheaded in three generations, and the saint will be beheaded in the fifth life."
There are no saints after Duke Zhou.
In other words, all nobles, princes, ministers, officials, and officials will face the crisis of being "killed in three generations."
In order not to be killed by the third generation, they can only work hard and gain political achievements.
And every generation cannot relax.
Otherwise, the current princes who have had their titles reduced because they did not perform military merits will be the fate of the future princes! (To be continued.) 8
