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

Chapter 118: Wang Feng dies, Shi is deposed and Mu is appointed
Emperor Li of Han, Liu Ao, this is an unprecedentedly bad posthumous title!

Except for some monarchs who lost their country due to political needs, there has never been an emperor who was in this situation! Because now the role of posthumous titles is only to show respect for the monarch.

As long as you don't go too far, you will still be able to maintain some dignity.

Compared with him, the previous emperor Emperor Yuan of Han was considered quite good. From then on, the political influence of Taixue soared, and later, the Confucian Academy supported Wang Mang in usurping the Han Dynasty.

He was dethroned by another force from the Imperial Academy, namely the Legalist Law School.

Now the momentum of Confucianism can be said to have surpassed that of Legalism again. Forcing the emperor to abdicate is far more difficult than imagined. In addition, Xu Bo is seriously ill, and without the mediation of the Imperial Academy Master, the open and secret struggles have become even more intense.

The Confucian and Legalist academies were almost incompatible, and Xu Hua's reputation was far from enough to become the head of the Imperial Academy, so the court was very worried about this.

It is very difficult to get the two families to compromise. The Xu family must send someone to suppress them with the so-called "orthodoxy".

On August 1st of the first year of Jianping, former Grand Marshal Wang Feng died of illness in his mansion, which had a huge impact and shocked the political structure of the Han Dynasty.

With the support of major figures of the Wang family such as Chunyu Chang and Wang Shang, Wang Gen gradually took control of the central situation, but he also officially lost control of the local areas.

The powerful forces in Yangzhou grew stronger in a short period of time and overwhelmed the government. The governor Wang Kong was forced to resign. In order to appease these people, the court appointed Zhu Chun, the prefect of Danyang, as the governor of Yangzhou.

The Zhu family was a powerful family in Jiujiang. This was a compromise between the imperial court and the local area. From then on, the land of Jiangdong was almost out of the control of the Wang family, because Wang Kong was a member of the Wang family.

Zhu Chun, who served as a captain in his early years, led two thousand Danyang soldiers and followed Xu Zhong to the north to quell Wang Tong's rebellion. He led his troops to attack Huanglong, defeated the main force of the rebels, killed Wang Tong, and took the first credit.

As a result, he was granted the title of Guannei Hou, promoted to the position of Taishou of Danyang, and gradually became the leader of a powerful force in Huainan.

He is grateful for Xu Zhong's support and is a staunch supporter of the Xu family. He also knows who he needs to follow if he wants to make progress.

Finally, he was chosen by Jiangxia prefect Li Jing, who joined forces with Nanjun prefect Xu Yuan to recommend him as the governor of Yangzhou and grant him special authority in order to appease and intimidate local forces that did not obey his orders.

Therefore, the situation now has become a game between local and central powerful officials. Hebei, Jingxiang, Jiangdong and Huainan are all surrounded by the Xu family, while the Wang family controls the central power, and the two are dealing with each other.

At present, no one can do anything to anyone else, but the possibility of the Wang family usurping the throne has been cut off. Wang Gen, Chunyu Chang and others have a bad reputation.

He was known for his extravagant and debauched lifestyle and was a classic example of a corrupt official who was criticized by the Imperial Academy.

If they dared to usurp the throne, the two academies of the Imperial Academy would certainly issue a manifesto to condemn them immediately. At that time, Xu Zhong, Xu Min and others would take the opportunity to rise up in rebellion, and they would have a legitimate reason to do so, and people from all over the country would respond.

Under the joint suppression of local prefectures and counties, the Wang family would certainly not be able to resist relying only on Guanzhong and Bashu, which was not sure whether it could be used or not.

In other words, if the royal family's relatives want to change the dynasty, the first goal is to solve the reputation problem! First of all, they need to get the support of the Confucian Academy, which controls public opinion, so that it is possible to make the local government compromise.

If the Xu family launches an uprising when there is no internal gap in the other side, the success rate will not be high. If the Wang family has the support of Confucian officials, at best they can retreat to Hangu Pass, occupy the former Qin territory, and restart the chaos of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

At that time, we will be able to emulate the fierce momentum of Qin's conquest of the six kingdoms and Emperor Gaozu's conquest of Chu, and march eastward to unify the world again.

Because the Xu family had a fatal problem, that is, they would not become emperors! They could only support the descendants of the Liu family, and their own reputation could not be fully utilized. Based on the premise that the Wang family had a good reputation, the Liu family was exhausted and could not be recognized by the local tyrants and the people.

Therefore, it is difficult to form a combined force, which would give us a chance to defeat them one by one.

This is the biggest drawback of the loyal minister’s character. Once he rebels, the character will collapse. Moreover, the Liu family treats the two Xus very well now.

On this day, Zhu Chun, who had just been promoted, came to Beijing and wanted to do something big because he encountered a great setback when he was commanding the governors in Jiangdong and Huainan.

At the same time, he was also seeking opportunities for his old boss.

"Your Majesty, I, Zhu Chun, the governor of Yangzhou, come to see you."

The wealthy governor of Yangzhou bowed and all the officials around him looked over.

They didn't know yet what the new governor's purpose was.

The position of Governor actually had great limitations. First of all, he was only a supervisory official without any actual military or political power. Even if Zhu Chun took a leave of absence, it would not make much difference as he could not use his Danyang soldiers.

A typical example of a person of low status but great power, his salary was only 600 dan, while the governor's salary was 2,000 dan! The gap was too big.

In fact, the rank of a governor was only equal to that of a county magistrate. This was a preparation made by Emperor Liu Che to prevent the local government from becoming too powerful.

It turned out to be quite useful. In many cases, a provincial governor could not even control a powerful prefect.

"Well, Governor Zhu said he wanted to make a suggestion to me. I wonder what it is?" Liu Xin sat high in the main seat with a calm expression, and no one knew what he was thinking.

He actually had no reaction to the Yangzhou riot, because that was originally the Wang family's territory. This time, the powerful people headed by Zhu Chun replaced them, and he happened to be able to control the place.

Because the Xu family listens to me, it is said that when the imperial power declines, government orders do not leave the capital.

But he was just the opposite. He could only control the local areas, while the central government had been monopolized by the Wang family. Liu Xin liked Wang Mang so much because he felt that he had noble character and was different from other members of the Wang family.

Well...it is indeed different. Others could at most become powerful ministers and establish puppet emperors, but he could do it directly in one step.

"Before I make this suggestion, I must first report a phenomenon to Your Majesty. This concerns the stability of Yangzhou and even the Thirteen Prefectures of the Han Dynasty!"

Zhu Chun raised his head and said, "Nowadays, Yangzhou is full of thieves. For example, Zhang Ling, a bandit from Kuaiji, has thousands of elite pirates under his command. He is rampant in various counties in Jiangdong and is colluding with the government. This makes it impossible for me to suppress him."

"Huainan is not peaceful either. There are countless big and small leaders. The people suffer greatly from them. I am incompetent and can do nothing about it."

"But besides my incompetence, there must be other reasons, that is, the governor does not have enough power and lacks his own security troops, so he often has to rely on the counties. If the counties do not make efforts, things will not be done."

"I am extremely confused by this."

At least this is the situation in Jiangdong. The local officials allow the enemy to support themselves and often do not work hard!

If the prefects and county magistrates in various places were princes, then the governors were just members of the Zhou royal family living in Luoyi. Any action would require troops and manpower from various places to be put together.

If they don't move, then it will be impossible.

This is the case in many places. The governor and the prefect are not in a superior-subordinate relationship, but simply a supervisor and the supervised.

It might have been okay before, but now there are countless bandits in Jiangdong, and a "prince" is needed to take charge of the situation, but the governor does not have that power. Zhu Chun discovered that what he accomplished as a governor was not even as good as when he was a prefect.

That's why he decided to change.

"You make sense." Liu Xin was also thoughtful. In fact, he had always known about the local problems. Many people who could not survive turned to banditry and made a living by looting. If they robbed the rich to help the poor, it would be fine. But the problem was that the powerful often had private soldiers to protect them, so it was difficult for thieves to rob them.

So the target is still ordinary people. It is even worse for ordinary people after being robbed, but the rent to the landlords still cannot be reduced. These people have no humanitarianism at all.

The common people were left with nowhere else to go and chose to become bandits again, thus forming a vicious cycle. No matter how hard they tried, the bandits could not be completely eliminated because the problem was not solved at the root.

That is to say, land annexation. Without land, people will have no food to eat, so they will become thieves. When they become thieves, they will continue to rob the people. When the people have no food to eat, they will continue to become thieves.

It goes on and on, or it’s a question of resource allocation.

But now Liu Xin is incompetent. He cannot increase the land out of thin air, and the central government cannot be as domineering as Emperor Wu in the past. He can only continue to use the land of the royal family.

Then it continued to be annexed by powerful people, resources continued to be concentrated, and the court continued to sell land. Gradually, the court no longer had any extra wealth, and it was all concentrated in the hands of the powerful people.

This is what every dynasty has to face at the end of its life. It only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. The simplest way is to massacre everyone, but this is just a hypothesis.

The emperor cannot be a robber. He needs to rely on the powerful to govern the local areas and unite them. In other words, the court and the powerful are allies and they work together to exploit the people.

If the intensity of exploitation by the powerful exceeds that of the imperial court, the imperial court will also make up for it at the grassroots level, so that the people cannot survive and the balance is broken.

Zhu Chun felt more confident when he saw this, and said, "My suggestion is to increase the power of most provincial governors to deal with the problem of thieves and foreign tyrants who do not obey orders!"

He bowed and said: "I think that if we abolish the historian and establish the governor, we can have peace in this area!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers were shocked and began to talk among themselves. Of course, they had heard of the term "provincial governor".

He had overall control over the military and political power of a state, completely surpassing the governor, and was equivalent to a true prince! His power was so great that he could mobilize all the forces of a state.

The governor and the governor were no longer equals, but a superior-subordinate relationship! This could lead to the local authorities not obeying the imperial court's orders.

When a local government becomes too powerful, it is a sign of the country's demise!
So it is certain that the ministers were discussing this matter. They were also afraid that the prefect would harbor the enemy to protect himself, so would the governor of the province not do the same?

If this is done, the impact will be even worse!
A county can at most mobilize more than 10,000 elite combat-capable soldiers without affecting taxes and people's livelihood, but a state is enough to mobilize 100,000 soldiers!

If we choose to resort to militarism and launch a rebellion, we can mobilize 200,000 to 300,000 people! It will be a disaster for the country!

"Your Majesty, I think this is absolutely unacceptable. If a region becomes too powerful, it will lead to disaster and ruin. The impact will be extremely bad! What difference will this governor make from the former Zhao Wang Liu Ruyi and Wu Wang Liu Bi?"

"These people who are not surnamed Liu are more at risk. If they unite to rebel, how can the imperial court resist? The central government's military power is far less than it was during the heyday of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing."

"There is no Xu Zhao, the Grand Commandant, who saved the day under the city of Chang'an, nor is there the Holy Master Xu Gong, who went to the meeting alone and beheaded the King of Wu!"

Wang Gen stepped out and spoke with a bow.

Of course he was against it, mainly because this place belonged to the Xu family! If Shi was deposed and Mu was established, the Xu family would benefit.

This was because important officials like provincial governors could not be appointed generally, and could only be appointed by loyal officials, and Xu's son was definitely the best choice.

They will have more power, which will not be of any benefit to the Wang family.

Instead, they are even more restricted in doing things. It is hard to imagine how many troops the governors of Jingzhou and Jizhou can mobilize!
"I second your opinion. Your Majesty, this is a sign of national ruin!"

"Yes, isn't the lesson of the Zhao Rebellion clear enough?"

"Your Majesty, please think again!"

"Your Majesty, please think again!"

Most of the ministers came out to express their opposition, and some were not even from the royal family.

Because everyone knows that it is absolutely forbidden for a place to become too big. Since ancient times, this situation has only occurred during the founding and demise of a country.

Now that the new emperor has just ascended the throne, everyone still has a lot of hope for the Liu family.

Of course I don't want him to die like this.

"What does Prime Minister Xu think?" Liu Xin was silent for a long time, then looked at Xu Hua.

Xu Bo was seriously ill and had stopped attending court at this time. He was replaced by his successor, Xu Hua.

After Wang Feng's death, the leader of another faction also fell ill immediately, seemingly free of worries. It can be said that another big change is about to happen.

However, the changes in the Xu family should be far smaller than those in the Wang family, because when Wang Feng died, Xu Bo was still alive, which shocked many people.

This time Wang Feng is dead, and Wang Gen and Wang Shang have not yet shown much talent, so the effect is naturally greatly reduced.

"I think it's possible and not possible. There are both advantages and disadvantages. If a loyal minister is chosen as the governor, it will greatly enhance the authority of the court. On the contrary, if it is a treacherous minister, it will undoubtedly be a disaster!"

Xu Hua didn't want to make too many suggestions, but gave an ambiguous statement.

First of all, this is good for himself, but the risk to the court is greater, so he made this choice.

It still depends on Your Majesty.

Liu Xin nodded. He actually wanted to set up provincial governors, but not abolish the provincial governors. Finding some loyal ministers to serve as provincial governors in states that did not obey his orders could indeed greatly improve the local situation.

It is also very simple to reduce the risk, that is to let the governor hold a temporary official position and immediately cancel it once the problem is solved.

In this way, there is no need to worry so much. Liu Xin feels that he still has loyal ministers to use, such as Xu Zhong and others in the local area, who are all loyal to him.

Letting them be governors of states would probably prevent them from getting out of control, and at the same time could serve as a deterrent.

At the same time, there is another point, that is to check and balance Wang Gen, Wang Shang and others in the central government! Let them be cautious!

Emperor Liu was not without soldiers at his disposal. With a blood edict, he could gather hundreds of thousands of troops to support him, so he would not be isolated and helpless.

After careful consideration, Liu Xin said, "What you said is indeed reasonable. What Governor Zhu said is not completely unreasonable. This place is also a major concern for the court."

"In this way, we can both take a step back and not abolish the provincial governors, but only appoint some loyal officials as temporary governors. In this way, the local chaos problem can be solved and the risk of rebellion by the governors can be alleviated."

(End of this chapter)