Grain History Plus 000269 "Historical Records" Volume 10 "Xi Wen Ji" 01: In fact, where are there so many conspiracies! ?

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Emperor Xiaowen, Gaozu Neutron. In the spring of the eleventh year of Emperor Gaozu, Chen Xi's army had already been broken, and he was appointed as the king of the capital, the capital of Zhongdu. The Empress Dowager Bo Shizi. Seventeen years after he ascended the throne, in July of the eighth year of Gao Hou, Gao Hou collapsed. In the ninth month, Lu Luchan and others wanted to cause chaos, and they threatened Liu Shi, and the ministers jointly executed him, and planned to call up a king, which was in the words of Lu Hou.

Prime Minister Chen Ping, Taiwei Zhou Bo and others sent people to welcome the king. The king asked about Zhang Wu and others. Zhang Wu and others discussed: "All the ministers of the Han Dynasty were generals at the time of Emperor Gao, who practiced military affairs and were conscientious and deceitful. This is not the end of their intentions. They are especially afraid of Emperor Gao and Empress Dowager Lu. , this is in the name of welcoming the great king, which is not credible. I wish the great king to say no to his illness, so as to see the change." Lieutenant Song Changjin said: "The discussion of the ministers is wrong. There are thousands of people who think they can get it, but the one who dies and takes the throne of the emperor is the Liu family. The world is desperate, and it is one. Second, Han Xing, in addition to Qin's tyranny, decreeing decrees, applying Dehui, everyone is at ease, and it is difficult to shake. The Northern Army, all the soldiers on the left, were Liu, rebelled against Lu, and killed them. This is a gift from heaven, not manpower. Although the ministers want to change, the people are not envoys, their party would rather be single-minded? Fang Jin has relatives of Zhu Xu and Dong Mou inside, and fears Wu, Chu, Huainan, Langxie, Qi and Dai. Therefore, the minister wants to welcome the great king because of the heart of the world, and the great king should not doubt it." The king reported the queen mother's plan, and it was still undecided. The tortoise of the fortune-telling, the hexagram has a big omen. Zhan said: "Great Heng Geng, the rest are the kings of heaven, Xia Qiyiguang." The king said, "The few people are already kings, so why are they kings?" Wang Nai sent Bo Zhao, the younger brother of the Queen Mother, to see the Marquis of Jiang, and the Marquis of Jiang and others were Zhao Yan, so they welcomed the king. Bo Zhao also reported: "I believe, no doubts." The king laughed and said to Song Chang, "If it is a public statement." To the Gaoling to rest, and make Song Chang Xian Chi's Chang'an concept change.

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Emperor Xiaowen was the middle son of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, in other words, the fourth of eight sons. In the spring of the eleventh year of Emperor Gaozu's reign, after defeating Chen Xi's rebel army and pacifying Daidi, he was established as the "daily king" and established his capital in "Zhongdu". He was born of Empress Dowager Bo. In the seventeenth year of his reign as king, that is, in the seventh month of the eighth year of Empress Lv's reign, Empress Lv died. In September of that year, Lu Chan and other members of the Lu family attempted to rebel and endanger the Liu family. The ministers jointly executed all Lu, and discussed the establishment of the king as emperor. The details are recorded in "The Chronicles of Empress Lu".

Prime Minister Chen Ping, Taiwei Zhou Bo and others sent people to greet the king. On this matter, the king asked the ministers on the left and right and the commander "Zhang Wu" and others for opinions. Zhang Wu et al argued that:

"The court ministers were all the generals of the original Emperor Gaozu. They were familiar with military affairs, and they were conscientious and deceitful. Their intentions may not stop there . It's just because they are afraid of the power of Emperor Gao and the Empress Dowager Lu. Now they have just wiped out Zhu Lu and stained the capital with blood (新啑【同結】blood capital ), at this time the person who came here nominally greeted the king, but in fact, it is not to be trusted. I hope Your Majesty pretends to be ill and does not go there, in order to observe the changes in the current situation ( may the Majesty say no to the disease, to observe the changes ).”

At this time, the lieutenant "Song Chang" came forward and said:

"The arguments of the ministers are all wrong. At the beginning of the Qin Dynasty's political chaos, the lords and heroes rose up one after another, and the number of people who thought they could conquer the world was tens of thousands, but in the end, it was the Liu family who took the throne This is the first point.

Emperor Gao made the sons of the Liu family as kings, and the fiefs were intertwined like dog teeth and restrained each other ( earth and dog teeth control each other). This is what the ancients called the clan to be strong, like a rock ( this is the so-called sect of the rock ), and everyone in the world belongs to the Liu family. This is the second point .

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the strict decrees of the Qin Dynasty were abolished, new decrees were agreed with the people, and kindness was given to the people. People were stable and unshakable. This is the third point.

Furthermore, by virtue of Empress Lu's majesty, the three members of the Lu family were established as kings, who controlled the government and acted arbitrarily. Arm, expressing to assist Liu clan and abandon Lu clan ( however, the Taiwei entered the Northern Army in one section, and all the soldiers were left on the left side, for Liu clan ), and finally wiped out Zhu Lu. This is given by God's will, not man-made (this is God's gift, not man-made ). Now even if the ministers want to cause chaos, the common people will not obey their orders. Can their party members be of one mind? Today, there are relatives such as Marquis Zhuxu and Marquis Dongmu in the capital, and powerful princes such as Wu, Chu, Huainan, Langxie, Qi, and Dai outside the capital. At present, the only sons of Emperor Gao are the King of Huainan and the king, and the king is older and famous for being virtuous, sage, benevolent and filial. Therefore, the ministers want to welcome the king as emperor according to the wishes of the world. And if you want to welcome the king ), you don't have to doubt it, king. "

The king also reported to the queen mother to discuss this matter, but he was still hesitant and did not make up his mind. Therefore, the tortoise shell was used for divination, and a large transverse crack appeared on the tortoise shell ( the tortoise of the divination, the hexagram was a big horizontal ), and the divination was:

"Da Heng heralds the replacement ( Da Heng Geng Geng ), I will be the King of Heaven ( Yu is the King of Heaven ), just like Xia Qi, so that my father's business will flourish ( Xia Qi Yiguang )."

King Dai said:

"I'm already a king, so what kind of king do I need to be ?

The fortune teller said:

"The so-called Heavenly King is the Son of Heaven (the so-called Heavenly King is the Son of Heaven )."

So the king sent the Empress Dowager's younger brother "Bo Zhao" to the capital to meet with "Zhou Bo", the Marquis of Jiang. Zhou Bo and others explained to Bo Zhao exactly why they wanted to welcome the king. Bo Zhao came back and reported:

"It's all true, there's nothing to doubt ( believe it, no doubts)."

The king then smiled and said to the lieutenant "Song Chang", "It's exactly as you said ( if it is an official announcement)."

Immediately, "Song Chang" was ordered to serve as a passenger in the carriage, and "Zhang Wu" and other six people also traveled to Chang'an with the king. But when they reached the "Gaoling", they stopped again and sent Song Chang's pioneer car to Chang'an to observe whether the situation had changed.

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Since ancient times, "the success of succession" has always determined the existence of a regime. Taking the Qin Dynasty as an example, the doubts about the succession of the second emperor made him lose the popular support. In addition, he deliberately emphasized his own power through severe punishments, which aroused public resentment and eventually led to the collapse of the Qin Dynasty. Furthermore, after the death of Emperor Xiaohui of the Han Dynasty, whether the successor of the little emperor was truly legitimate, and the change in the attitude of Empress Dowager Lu, led to a period of bloody years in the imperial family of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, in order to permanently quell the dispute, the next emperor of the Han Dynasty had to be chosen carefully.

Since the Lu family had already been executed, the selection of the new emperor had to be decided by the ministers at that time, that is, the group of heroes who followed Liu Bang to conquer the world, in addition to the coordination through the Liu family. In the end, when the decision-making power returned to the hero group, the hero group did not choose the king of Chu who participated in the quelling of the Zhulu Rebellion, but chose the acting king "Liu Heng" who always kept a low profile and silently guarded the north as the emperor. Although the hero group claimed to be because the acting king was the oldest surviving child of Liu Bang, scholars of later generations believed that this was actually because the hero group chose this seemingly "controllable" person for its own interests. emperor.

Closer to home, the beginning of this "Book of Filial Piety" describes the reaction of Dai Wang Liu Heng to the sudden "great gift". Since the current king Liu Heng was already an adult, unlike the previous little emperors who had no ability to judge, they could only accept it silently, so the king would have so many considerations when facing the matter of "being an emperor".

Judging from this piece of historical data, the reason why the king and the ministers around him did not dare to accept it rashly was because the coup d'état in the imperial city had just passed. Will it be affected by going there? In addition, the prestige of the king is far inferior to that of the brothers who participated in the pacification, why did the hero group choose him? This shows that there must be a conspiracy. Therefore, the king of the generation dared not accept it for a long time.

Fortunately, at this time, a minister named Song Chang persuaded the king, and finally let the king accept the throne. This Song Chang's statement is a bit like the "Hanlon's Razor Principle" in modern philosophy, which holds that " if it can be interpreted as stupid, it should not be interpreted as malicious ." In other words, the world doesn't actually have so many intrigues, and it's all just because you are a member of the royal family and a child of the great ancestor. In terms of seniority, you are the eldest, and you behave in a normal manner, so you are chosen as the new emperor. Therefore, stop thinking wildly and always think that it is a trap and a conspiracy.

Although the acting king Liu Heng still carefully took over the throne through divination, even after accepting the throne, he stopped the team before entering the capital and sent people to observe the situation in the city. But it turns out that the previous trouble was thinking too much! There is really no conspiracy, the ministers just want to choose a suitable person who can become the system. In other words, "establishing the direct line and establishing the leader" is the principle of succession for the next emperor of the Han Dynasty.

People in later generations always hope to see a lot of conspiracies and tricks in history, which is also one of the joys of reading history for many people. But maybe many conspiracies and tricks are just made up by later generations, and maybe the parties involved are not as complicated and complicated as we thought.

The above is my biggest takeaway from reading this historical material.