Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 117 Emperor Li of Han

Jinghou Mansion.

Now that the new emperor has just ascended the throne, there are many things to deal with. As the left prime minister, Xu Bo is extremely busy. His health is already very poor, and he is somewhat unable to handle government affairs.

If Chen Nian were still alive, he wouldn't have to be so busy.

However, Wang Feng's health was actually worse. After he recommended his younger brother to inherit the position of general, he fell completely ill. He was bedridden for many years and was almost paralyzed from head to toe. The only parts of his body that could move were his mouth and a few fingers.

He can't even be self-sufficient when it comes to eating and needs help from maids and servants. Wang Feng has always refused to accept his age, but facing the current situation, there is nothing he can do.

People cannot help but accept that they are getting old. What’s the use of having great power? In the face of time, the final outcome is just turning into a handful of earth.

Obliterate the crowd.

"Father, something happened." Xu Hua knocked on the door and walked straight in.

"What's the matter?" Xu Bo raised his head with some difficulty. He was actually old and should not be so stubborn anymore. He should be obedient and hand over the government affairs to his eldest son.

But Xu Bo was even more unwilling to admit his age than Wang Feng. As long as he was not paralyzed and bedridden, he would insist on handling government affairs himself! He always believed that he was no worse than those young people.

Alas... this is true. Generally speaking, since Xu Gong, each generation of the Xu family has been weaker than the previous one. Xu Bo's ability is actually not that outstanding. Although he is very strong in his time, it is not worth mentioning when looking at his ancestors.

The fundamental reason why he could compete with the powerful Wang family was the protection of his ancestors. His foundation was the powerful influence of the Imperial Academy and his control over the local area. These were what they feared.

Central power and other things are secondary. The army is the power among powers. Whoever controls the central imperial guards is the uncrowned king of Chang'an!
Without an army everything is just empty talk.

"The emperor passed away yesterday evening." Xu Hua said with some emotion.

The reason why Liu Ao killed Chen Nian was to avoid the curse and live a long life. It can be said that he was afraid of death to the extreme. After all, no one was willing to give up the supreme power and status, as well as the wealth and glory of his beloved concubine's palace.

Maybe I'll be an ordinary citizen in my next life? If not now, when will I enjoy it?

But in the end, he died. Two months after Chen Nian committed suicide, the emperor died in Changle Palace. It was a huge loss for him. Not only did he lose the throne and his reputation, but he also lost his life.

It’s such a pity. I’m afraid the emperor will feel resentful about it even in the underworld.

Fate is so unfair.

"Birth, aging, sickness and death are the laws of the world. Apart from our ancestor Xu Zhen, I have never seen anyone who can live forever."

"In the past, Emperor Qin Shi Huang spent a lot of manpower in pursuit of immortality and sent Xu Fu to the sea to worship the Penglai Fairy Island. But in the end, it was all in vain. It is not that easy to become an immortal. Great merit, great perseverance, and great opportunity are all indispensable. None of them can be missing."

Xu Bo is a materialist, so he believes in the existence of gods, because he has seen them with his own eyes! The ancestor Xu Zhen is really alive and has the power to influence reality! His appearance is exactly the same as when he was young.

Rejuvenation, immortality, calling the wind and rain, what else could this be but a god? It's definitely not an ordinary god.

What kind of god can interfere with reality at will and not be punished by the Emperor of Heaven?

"Father is right." Xu Hua was also very depressed because his father, the pillar of the family, was also going through this. If people were to die anyway, and his grandfather Xu Ning hadn't died, the Wang family would never have had the opportunity to take power.

As for the fact that his ancestor Xu Zhen became an immortal, he didn't take it to heart. He had never seen the jade pendant, so naturally he didn't believe it.

At present, the only younger generation who has seen the ancestor is Xu Zhong who is far away in Nanyang. He has truly seen what the power of the gods is! He can call the wind and rain.

If this ability could be used on a large scale, it would definitely solve many problems. Agricultural civilizations and even nomadic peoples rely on the weather for their livelihood. Often a natural disaster can shatter a family's hopes and cause them to starve to death.

That is why people revere heaven the most. The Chinese people only like useful people, such as the land temple and dragon king temple with the most popular incense, because they happen to be the one who is most needed.

Land is equivalent to modern houses, land, and hard currency. The Wang family will never be able to compare with the Xu family in terms of foundation, and the reason is the gap in land.

The two Xu families were a super family that had almost turned an entire county into their private property. All the blood they had shed in the early years could be recovered a lot with a good harvest in autumn.

Nanyang Qinghe has always seemed to be favored by God. For nearly two hundred years, there has not been a single natural disaster there. The Xu family has always believed that it was the blessing of their ancestor Xu Zhen.

"How's that old guy Wang Feng? Is he dead?" Xu Bo's tone was full of concern. He just didn't want to die before Wang Feng. He had been fighting openly and secretly for most of his life and rarely won. This time, he must win!
"The Wang family has blocked the news. He should not be dead yet, but he will be dead soon."

After Xu Hua finished speaking, he added: "Father, you must take care of yourself. Dahan and the Xu family cannot do without you."

"My uncle passed away a few days ago."

"What? He's dead?" Xu Bo's expression froze, as if he didn't expect Xu Ming to die so soon. That guy was apparently quite leisurely, drinking tea and taking walks every day.

With such a comfortable life, it would be normal for him to live to be a hundred years old, but why did he die?
In fact, Xu Ming is different from Xu Bo. He was not forced to become an official, but he really likes power. For him, being in the court is much more comfortable than retirement. He looks very free and easy, but in fact he feels very depressed.

Even though he almost walked around drunk in Jizhou, almost no one, from the governor and prefect to the ordinary people, disrespected him.

But he just doesn't like it. Some people just can't sit still, and Xu Ming is one of them.

"Forget it. I'm just an old man. It's better for me to die early than to live and suffer." Xu Bo was silent for a long time, but he finally let it go. What's the point of feeling sorry for the dead?

Just make yourself feel better.

"Father, His Majesty also went to Qinghe before. In addition to touring the fields, he also went to comfort my uncle."

Liu Xin has a good impression of Xu Ming. Of course, the Qinghe Xu family is also a key target. They represent the entire Jizhou people. If Xu Min is willing, the entire Hebei area will be under his control.

Hebei students will also be closer.

Apart from this aspect, the new emperor really admired Xu Ming. He was just an imperial censor back then, but he could make Wang Feng, a great general, feel difficult!
As he was the first person to fight with the Wang family, he needed to make a statement and win over those who also disliked his behavior.

"Well, this is to be expected. Jizhou is completely under the control of Xu Min. Brother Yuan has already sent a letter. Other forces in Hebei can no longer intervene."

Xu Bo's expression was very calm. There was no local tyrant stronger than his two families. The Jizhou faction, Jingzhou faction, Huainan faction and Guanzhong faction were the most important local factions in the Han Dynasty. As the name suggests, local factions are forces that form groups based on their regions. These ministers were almost all from both the political party and local faction.

After all, when you are away from home, people still prefer to get close to their fellow villagers.

The court was fine, as political parties dominated the situation. But it was different in the local areas, where local parties controlled most of the land and population, and the grassroots were essentially composed of powerful people.

Because the Han Dynasty had rules for avoiding suspicion, generally speaking, local governors were not from the county or even the state, and they needed to be transferred frequently.

This is why, in order to avoid the emergence of local factions, it is safer for the imperial court to take direct control of the local areas.

Xu Zhong and Xu Min were just accidents. They were locals, so strictly speaking they were not considered locals. The Xu family's ancestral home was in Wuyang, so they barely broke the rules.

The Han Dynasty was actually a castle in the air at the grassroots level. The central government's policies could only be implemented with the help of local powerful people. Emperor Wu of Han did not need this and could exploit them at will.

It’s different now. Hebei, Jingxiang and Huainan are still okay because the Xu family is in the lead, but Liangzhou, Youzhou and Bingzhou are completely controlled by local powerful people.

The local prefects and governors had to compromise and make concessions to them, otherwise they would be forced to transfer after only a few years and would be unable to accomplish anything. The people would only obey the calls of the powerful.

The situation in Yanzhou and Yuzhou was also very serious before, but because of the physical salvation performed by Wang Tong and Zhang Ning, things have become much more regulated.

Peasant uprisings were devastating to the powerful landlords, especially those that were uprisings in the pure sense, without the participation of landlord forces.

The death of the retired emperor was of course a major event for the country. The first thing Liu Xin did when he returned to Beijing was to prepare for his funeral and finalize his posthumous title.

Forget about the temple name, there is no face for it. Emperor Yuan ascended the throne under pressure, so there is no doubt about it for an emperor who was forced to abdicate.

What's more, the current emperor has no father-son relationship with him, which makes him even less embarrassed.

The only suspense is the posthumous title.

At present, no emperor of the Han Dynasty has ever been given a bad posthumous title. In any case, even Emperor Yuan had a good posthumous title. At most, he could get a neutral posthumous title, such as Ai or Xian, which expressed regret and sympathy.

The famous Liu Xin himself was called Emperor Ai of Han and Emperor Ping of Han, but they were only given the posthumous title of Ping, which people felt was a pity.

But this one is a little different, he was too stupid, it was nothing, he built a lot of buildings, and he favored a concubine, so he could bite the bullet and give her a beautiful posthumous title, but Liu Ao was driven off the throne! The reason was that he killed innocent people.

If they still dare to give him a beautiful posthumous title and pretend that the previous parade never happened, it would be a slap in the face of the Imperial Academy.

Of course, scholars can't do anything to you physically, but they can kill you with reputation! The history books will certainly say the worst.

Emperor Yuan favored eunuchs, which led to mediocre evaluations in history books. Who dared to write openly about the emperor's faults in official history books? No one else except the Imperial Academy.

They had true "freedom of speech" and there was no problem with what they said. Xu Gong had never thought of this when he established the Imperial Academy.

However, as it developed, more and more things went wrong, and it gradually changed from an official private institution to a truly bureaucratic institution.

In order to show his closeness to his teacher, Emperor Wu of Han changed the position of Taixue Jijiu to Taixue Ling. His status was fundamentally changed. He was no longer a lowly but powerful official, but also a 2,000-stone official, equal to the Nine Ministers. In fact, in the later period, he could be comparable to the Three Dukes!
It's just that at this time the power has no practical significance, so there's not much to say.

The most important power to approve the appointment and dismissal of officials was given by Emperor Kang, with the original intention of showing favor to the Xu family, since Xu Nan was the Imperial Academy Master.

As time went by, with the operation of the Imperial College bureaucracy, the power to approve documents truly became the power of the Imperial College, rather than just Xu Nan's, and it became uncontrollable from then on.

The power and influence of the school rose rapidly, becoming a terrifying existence that even the emperor and his ministers could not shake or ignore. If it was well managed, it could even force the emperor! After Liu Ao abdicated, the momentum of the Imperial College rose again.

If this continues, even the emperor's succession to the throne will require their approval, which is somewhat similar to the direction of the Roman Senate.

Although it was stopped in time later, its influence still remains.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor must be given a bad posthumous title! Otherwise, how can we face those countless loyal students who were tortured to death? If we still give him a good posthumous title, wouldn't Dr. Li's parade become a joke?"

Taizhong Daifu, who came from a Confucian family, was the first to stand up and oppose it. The reputation of the retired emperor as a tyrant had been completely established, and Taixue had never lost in terms of public opinion.

Although Liu Ao did not become infamous for all eternity, it was almost the same. The manifesto was widely circulated and even made into a nursery rhyme.

Emperor Liu Xin pondered for a moment and said, "The Emperor was indeed wrong. His killing of a loyal minister like Chen Xiang was indeed a great misfortune for my Liu family."

"But he is the late emperor, the son of Emperor Yuan, the grandson of Emperor Xuan, and the great-great-grandson of Emperor Kang. Wouldn't this be a slap in the face of all the late emperors? There is no precedent in the Han Dynasty for giving bad posthumous titles."

"I think a posthumous title is enough. The emperor has already given up the throne, his reputation has been ruined, and the history books have recorded a heavy page. This is already the greatest punishment."

"Why do you have to do this again?"

Liu Ao was his "father" in public. If he gave him a bad posthumous title, he might be branded as unfilial. The reason why Liu Ao insisted on giving Emperor Yuan a temple name was that he was afraid of being criticized for being unfilial.

"Your Majesty, please don't act on impulse..."

All the ministers began to advise and remonstrate that filial piety, which was once of great importance, was not so important in the face of the legal principles of the Imperial Academy.

In fact, there is no need to worry about this. The Imperial Academy is responsible for compiling history and has the greatest influence among the people. If we do what they want, will the evaluation be bad?
History is a little girl who can be dressed up by anyone.

"Your Majesty, I think that the Emperor Retired should be given an evil posthumous title! Because he is a tyrant in the traditional sense, it is really inappropriate if he is not punished."

Xu Bo also took the lead and spoke. With the support of the Imperial Academy Master, the ministers persuaded him even more vigorously, and the situation became one-sided.

Seeing this, Liu Xin made sure that he would not be scolded, so he pretended to be compassionate and said, "Alas... Although I don't want this to happen, as you said, the deaths of countless loyal ministers need an explanation."

In the end, the ministers agreed on the posthumous title "Li", and he was Emperor Li of Han!
The posthumous name law states: "Killing the innocent is called Li; being tyrannical and cruel is called Li; being stubborn and rude is called Li; supporting evil and violating justice is called Li; being long-tongued and causing trouble is called Li!"

A definitely bad posthumous name, extremely unpleasant to hear.

(End of this chapter)