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

Chapter 126 Xu Bo Passes Away

It was not until the third year of Jianping that the situation in the world began to stabilize. The emperor, together with the Xu family, began to confront the Wang family's in-laws. And as Wang Gen's health gradually deteriorated, he began to regain the central government's dominance.

Liu Xin was quite capable in politics, and was a level better than the previous emperor Liu Ao, but in reality not that much better, otherwise he would not have been able to even deal with the Wang family and could only barely seize power from them.

It's roughly at the level of Emperor Yuan, and with the help of other ministers who are well versed in politics, he can control the situation.

Back then, Emperor Yuan relied on the support of the great eunuch Shi Xian to defeat the powerful Wang Si and seize all the core power in his hands.

The current emperor Liu Xin is in much the same situation. With the help of Xu Hua, the new leader of the Xu family in the court, he was able to re-establish his authority. In addition, with the threat of local Xu family forces, Wang Gen did not dare to act rashly and could only allow himself to be weakened.

If the two sides fall out, the emperor actually still has a 5,000-man elite guard in Chang'an. It will take time for the Wang family to transfer the Luoyang garrison. By then, a secret decree will be issued, and Xu Zhong and Xu Min will be able to lead the army from Hebei, Jingxiang, and Huainan to the capital. Relying on the authority of the governors, they will be able to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people in a short period of time.

It would be bad for no one to get stuck in a tug-of-war at that time, and there is another point, that is, the Wang family does not have the ability to change the dynasty now.

They established their authority simply by relying on force. Except for Wang's followers, neither the ministers nor the people obeyed them. Even the local officials followed the Liu family's lead.

Once a rebellion breaks out, the country will be plunged into a new warlord melee, recreating the situation at the end of the Qin Dynasty. The only difference is that the Liu family will not be the winner and be condemned by everyone.

People all over the world still had hope for the Han Dynasty. It was not like the Qin Dynasty in the past, where the first impression was that the Qin army destroyed their homes, and then they built large-scale projects, making people live in misery. The world has suffered from the Qin for a long time, which was definitely not just a slogan. In addition, with the death of the wise Fusu and the rise of the even more brutal Qin II Hu Hai, the people completely lost hope in it.

So they rose up in rebellion.

When the Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, the warlords, whether they had selfish motives or were truly willing to help, had to support or nominally submit to a Liu monarch. It was very important to have a legitimate reason for doing so. The Han Dynasty ruled the world with loyalty and filial piety, and loyalty was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it was difficult to change it easily.

Therefore, for now, there is no need to worry about the Wang family turning the table. If they really do so, it will be exactly what Liu Xin wants. He dreams of becoming the leader of the revival of the Han Dynasty, but he is tied up. He can't accomplish anything unless he deals with the Wang family who has been in power for two dynasties.

It is a pity that his Majesty is also a short-lived person. He has been weak and sickly since childhood. It may be that the fate of the Han Dynasty has come to an end. It is a pity.

In the Weiyang Palace, Liu Xin sat at the desk, concentrating on correcting memorials.

This was something he had finally snatched back from the Wang family, and he treasured it immensely. He was personally involved in all military and national affairs, and he was worried about no one, even the Xu family was a little suspicious of him.

Xu Bo worked diligently and was loyal to the Liu family all his life, so of course he was absolutely trustworthy. But others didn't know that Wang Feng had also pretended to be a loyal minister before and deceived the late emperor, which led to a disaster. He must not make this mistake again this time.

Power is safest when it is in your own hands.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." The sound of light footsteps was heard.

An eunuch knocked on the door outside.

"Enter."

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. Something terrible has happened!" He knelt on the ground anxiously.

Liu Xin also put down what he was doing and raised his head: "Why are you so out of control?"

The eunuch's voice trembled: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Xu...can't hold on any longer!"

"What!" Liu Xin stood up and walked over anxiously.

"Are you serious? You should know the consequences of deceiving me!"

Xu Bo is now his only 100% trustworthy subordinate! Others, such as his successor Xu Hua, Xu Zhong, the governor of Jingzhou, and Xu Min, the governor of Youzhou, are in power and have the potential to become the next Wang Feng.

The main reason is that we don’t know these people well, and how can we trust them completely without the test of time?

Liu Xin's suspicion had reached its extreme after learning about the previous emperor's experience. He would be wary of anyone except those he had certified as absolutely trustworthy. He wanted to avoid being retaliated against and follow in the previous emperor's footsteps, receiving another bad posthumous title.

Now the only person he can be sure of in the court is Xu Bo. No one else can do it, including his most powerful person, Dong Xian, who is actually just a tool to suppress court officials.

Their relationship was more like that of close friends, because Dong Xian had a wife, and she was allowed to enter the palace, so it was not that complicated.

The eunuch quickly said: "I dare not deceive your majesty."

Xu Bo's health was not good to begin with, but he managed to live for two more years. He was even able to get out of bed and walk for a short time without becoming paralyzed. The imperial physician exclaimed that it was incredible and that he was simply blessed by God.

This was indeed the case. Xu Zhen spent some of his destiny points to extend his life for two years.

"Prepare the sedan chair and go to Jinghou Mansion." Liu Xin even forgot to change his clothes. This was undoubtedly a big deal for him.

Over the years, Xu Bo has always held a very important position. Relying on his strong influence in Taixue, he has played a huge role in fighting against Wang Feng Group.

He deserves at least half the credit for the fact that the late emperor was not completely sidelined.

This time Xu Bo died of illness, but the head of the Wang family, the new Grand Marshal General Wang Gen, is still alive and well. How can people not be worried? The Xu family is also in a period of transition, and Xu Hua has not yet officially grown up.

The most important position of Imperial Academy Commander is still a long way off, and will most likely be vacant for the next ten years, because neither the Confucianists nor the Legalists are convinced of the right path and have different opinions, so naturally the Imperial Academy Commander cannot be appointed.

Now the chief doctor of Confucianism is Li Nianzhao, and there is also Kong Guang. The chief of Legalism is Chen Rong, who has just taken office.

Li Nianzhao and Chen Rong are sworn enemies! The conflict is so great that they even fought over it. Therefore, it is impossible for them to reach a consensus, and there will be open and covert fighting.

The confrontation between the two sides can only stop after Xu Hua has gained enough qualifications to become the Imperial Academy Master.

Originally, the dispute between Confucianism and Legalism was beneficial to the court, and Emperor Xuan relied on it to eliminate dissidents, but over time, the nature of the dispute changed, and now it has evolved into internal friction! As long as it starts, the court will not be peaceful!
So it takes a lot of effort to adjust.

.........

Jinghou Mansion.

At this time, the entire mansion was filled with various doctors and officials. The mansion was also like this when Wang Feng was seriously ill. Xu Bo had a better reputation, so there should be more people coming to visit him.

As the chief doctor, Li Nianzhao also came, and he met Chen Rong of the Legalist school.

"Hey, Dr. Chen, long time no see." Li Nianzhao's tone was a little joking. He was wearing a Confucian robe and had the air of a hermit.

"It's been a long time since we last met. I hope I won't see you again." Chen Rong glanced at him. The Legalists were not so obsessed with frugality, and all their clothes were elegant and luxurious. Behind the two of them were surrounded by entourages and other doctors, and the atmosphere was a bit depressing.

"Okay, okay, Mr. Xu is seriously ill, let's not have a conflict, it's not appropriate."

Someone broke the deadlock. They came here to visit Xu Bo. If the two grand secretaries fought like last time, they would inevitably become the laughing stock of outsiders.

Li Nianzhao waved his long sleeves and said, "Humph, I won't argue with such a person."

Chen Rong stared at him and rarely said anything.

Ever since the Confucians led the march and forced Emperor Li to abdicate, Li Nianzhao's reputation has skyrocketed, and he has now completely surpassed his arch-rival Chen Rong.

After all, this kind of thing of forcing the emperor to abdicate is really the first time in the world! Of course, there have been such cases in the past, but the participants were not Confucian scholars or legalists, but those powerful ministers or royal family members.

For example, Xu Zhen once deposed the Later Emperor Shao of the Han Dynasty. However, the situation at that time was that the Grand Tutor's faction held all the power. Not only did they defeat the Lü clan and take back the military power of the central imperial guards, but the armies of the princes outside also followed their lead.

The monarchs of great countries such as the King of Zhao and the King of Qi all agreed with Xu Zhen, but what happened to Li Nianzhao? Apart from the boiling public resentment, there was only passion. This was the first time that the people's power fought against the imperial power, which was a milestone.

That action was beneficial to the entire Imperial Academy, as their voice became more important. Liu Xin's succession to the throne was the result of their tacit approval.

Controlling public opinion and talent education is the greatest advantage. The aristocratic families of the Eastern Han Dynasty in later generations relied on public opinion and the power to select filial and honest people to threaten the imperial power.

Although it could not have a subversive effect, it was also quite crucial! Because if he offended the scholars in the Imperial Academy, the throne would be unstable.

"Your Majesty has arrived..."

The eunuch's duck voice sounded.

Everyone turned their eyes over and packed their bags, including Li Nianzhao and the other man. The emperor was still supreme, and even the chief doctor of the Imperial College could not be arrogant.

After all, even Xu Bo, the Imperial Academy Master, has to follow the rules, so what qualifications do others have?

"Your Majesty..."

Liu Xin walked over slowly, perhaps noticing Li Nianzhao and Chen Rong, and smiled, "No need to be polite, everyone."

After saying this, he walked into the master bedroom of the Xu Mansion.

At this time, Xu Bo was lying on the couch with a pale face, and his blood had disappeared. His eldest son Xu Hua was lying beside him crying, and he stood up only when he saw Liu Xin coming.

"I have met your Majesty."

"No need to be so polite." Liu Xin also walked over with light steps.

"Your Majesty..." Xu Bo opened his eyes and slowly sat up with the help of his eldest son. He looked dazed, as if he was already in his twilight years.

"Prime Minister Xu, please lie down quickly. You are my most important minister, and nothing can happen to you."

What Liu Xin said was true. Xu Bo did not care about the affairs of state, but as long as he was alive, he was still playing a role. At least the students in the Imperial Academy did not dare to act rashly and still sang praises to the court.

Once the head of the Xu family gets older, his status will skyrocket. For some reason, there are almost no exceptions. When he was young, he was looked down upon by the older generation of doctors, but once his peers came up to him, the attitude was completely different.

Even Xu Ning, who did not serve as the Imperial Academy Commander, possessed absolute authority. People compared him to the sage teacher Xu Gong, and compared Xu Ning's brother, the actual Imperial Academy Commander, to Xu Zhou.

It is obvious that Xu Hua is not old enough now. More than thirty doctors are not very interested in him. According to convention, the Legalists will continue to support him, but it is not sure about the Confucianists. They have never taken the young head of the Xu family seriously.

Unless it was a special case, such as Xu Gong's nephew Xu Ye, the son of Xu Zhao who "turned the tide", had never been looked down upon. The rise of Taixue was due to him.

Therefore, his reputation is very good. People say that he has the style of Xu Gong, while Xu Nan's reputation is average, mainly because he left later, causing Xu Gong to die of worry, which greatly reduced his reputation.

Some radicals even blamed Xu Nan for the death of the Holy Master.

"Hehe..." Xu Bo smiled, and sat up with all his strength, and said slowly: "I know my own body well. Now it is just a last gasp. I am afraid I will not survive tonight. You don't have to cry for me."

"Birth, aging, illness and death are the laws of nature. Who can disrupt them? All good things must come to an end. I have worked hard all my life and it is time for me to take a break."

"When my uncle, General Xu Ning of the Yuan Dynasty, died, I was also unable to accept it, because that was the beginning of the decline of imperial power."

"I have been thinking, if my uncle had lived longer, wouldn't the Wang family's abuse of power have never happened?"

Xu Bo laughed at himself: "But it didn't take long for me to feel relieved. I figured it out. There are not so many ifs. Death is inevitable for everything in the world. Time is the most important factor."

"If my ancestors Xu Zhen and Xu Gong had not died, wouldn't the world be forever peaceful? If Emperor Gao and Emperor Wen had not died, wouldn't politics be forever clear? Unfortunately, this is impossible."

"Emperor Gao, Emperor Wen, and Emperor Xuan were all wise rulers that only appear once in a thousand years, but they all died in just a hundred years. God bless our Han Dynasty, but prosperity is followed by decline. The flame cannot burn forever, it will gradually decrease and finally go out."

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was not as well regarded as Liu Bang, Liu Heng and Liu Xun by his contemporaries, mainly because he caused too much damage to people's livelihood in his later years and was classified in the same category as Emperor Jing. In fact, if he had not advocated the establishment of Imperial Academy and appointed Xu Gong, he probably would not have achieved even this level.

He was already half a tyrant. Although he had led expeditions to the Huns and annexed Nanyue, and could be considered to be a leader in military exploits, the people's livelihood was too poor, refugees were everywhere, the treasury was empty, and all the accumulation of Wen and Jing over the years was destroyed.

Therefore, he is not a wise ruler in the traditional sense of the world, and is still a tyrant overall.
"Prime Minister Xu's words are very profound." Liu Xin deeply agreed. He would rather Emperor Wen remained the emperor and he could just be a vassal king.

Unfortunately, this is impossible after all.

"It's good that your Majesty understands. There's no need to be too persistent about some things. Just let nature take its course..." Xu Bo seemed to have used up all his strength and collapsed again.

"Father..." Xu Hua hurried over to support him.

“Don’t be sad, don’t be sad…” Xu Bo wiped away the tears of his eldest son with a smile. Then his body gradually lost strength and his hands dropped heavily.

In June of the third year of Jianping, Xu Bo died of illness in Jinghou Mansion.

(End of this chapter)