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

Chapter 18: Taking the throne
Although Liu Ying fell seriously ill in the second year of Emperor Hui's reign, he was still the emperor with real power. He had the full support of meritorious officials headed by Xu Zhen. No matter what Lu Zhi did, she could not undermine this emperor.

Today, Emperor Hui passed away, and the opportunity to seize power has come, but at the same time, power will be lost. The meritorious officials and princes will not allow a young emperor to take power.

When the emperor passed away, the whole country was in mourning. At this time, most of the kings with the surname Liu came to Beijing to attend the funeral, including Liu Ruyi, Liu Fei and others.

However, what is strange is that the Empress Dowager Lu Zhi, the mother of the late emperor, did not cry out loud, but just howled dryly, with no tears in her eyes.

It could be intentional, or it could be because of shock.

"Prime Minister, do you know why the Queen Mother is just crying?"

Zhang Piqiang, the son of Liu Hou and the then Shizhong who was only fifteen years old, approached Chen Ping and said.

"Why?" Chen Ping also felt it was odd. This old woman must be up to no good and must be planning something.

"The Crown Prince is young, and the power of the court's meritorious officials is strong. The Queen Mother is worried about you old ministers. If the Prime Minister recommends Lü Chan, Lü Tai and others as generals, commanding the northern and southern armies and the palace guards, and then lets Lü's sons enter the palace to hold important positions, this will surely dispel the Queen Mother's suspicion, and the old ministers will be spared."

Chen Ping nodded thoughtfully, then shook his head: "My words don't count. You should go to the Grand Tutor. If he doesn't agree, there is absolutely no room for negotiation."

Although the government is now monopolized by Lu Zhi, half of the central military power is still in the hands of Xu Zhen. The border troops stationed in Dai Yan and other places are generally promoted by the Grand Tutor. He has no say in such matters, and the Queen Mother cannot interfere.

Because the lieutenant commanding the Northern Army now is Xu Zhen’s nephew!

"Alas... In my humble opinion, it would be better for the Prime Minister not to wait until the Queen Mother speaks herself." Zhang Piqiang is worthy of being the descendant of the sage Zhang Liang, and he has a very clear view of the court affairs.

After Liu Ying's death, the situation in which the empress dowager and the grand tutor took turns in power and checked and balanced each other would be completely broken, and the empress dowager would have absolute advantage in holding the emperor in her hands.

Therefore, she will inevitably fight for power, and the military power of the Northern Army is an extremely important link.

"Don't worry, the Grand Tutor is a smart man and won't be tempted by the petty gains in front of him." Chen Ping looked at Xu Zhen who was sitting in the front row on the right and said nothing.

There is almost no chance of winning the power struggle with the Queen Mother now, because the current emperor is young, and the Queen Mother represents the imperial power! Behind her is the terrible reputation that the Liu family has accumulated over the years.

At this time, Xu Zhen was also thinking about this question: should he confront the opponent or show weakness first according to the historical process?

If you really fight for power, you may not lose, but the price will be too high. If you are not careful, you may turn yourself into a powerful official.

Perhaps it is Zhu Xu who will be executed in the future. Moreover, since ancient times, when the emperor was young, the group of foreign relatives was almost invincible, and few court officials could defeat them.

[House owner: Xu Zhen]

[Status: Marquis, Grand Master of the Han Dynasty]

[Faction: Han Emperor]

[Attributes: Politics (96), Command (98), Wisdom (94)]

[Faction attitudes: Han Emperor (indifferent), Empress Lü (hostility), Chu (friendly), Jing (friendly), ministers (respect), Xiongnu (blood hatred), Donghu (blood hatred)]

【Destiny Points: 80100】

[Props:
Golden God-Descending Order (Haotian Servant, God descends from the sky): Use this item to summon the gods to appear, call the wind and rain, meteorites to hit, and turn defeat into victory in a disadvantageous battle.
Gold·Innate Spirit Gathering Card (Save the building from collapse, save the storm): Guaranteed to summon a hero with an average attribute of 95 or above

Red Death Totem: It can protect the family from a certain death, showing the way to continue the family heritage.

Red: Burn the Boats: At the cost of one's own life, forcibly increase the army's combat effectiveness by 300%.

Red Dreaming Platform (can be used to tell orders to the future Xu family master through dreams, can be used repeatedly)
Purple Sprint: Marching speed increased by 200% (avoiding any objective factors)
Purple Fireworks Order: Summons a thunderbolt for viewing. Purple Late Bloomer: Ten points of random attributes are awarded for each year of age above fifty, with all attributes increased to a maximum of ninety-five.

Yellow·Rebellious×3
Yellow·East Wind Break: Summons 2 hurricanes blowing eastward.

Yellow Swallow Snow: Summons 2 snow clouds.

Yellow Resurrection Rain: Summons a rain cloud

White·Heavy Armor (Increases infantry combat effectiveness by 2%, up to 20%) x 11.

White weapon enchantment (increases the damage caused by arrows by 2%, up to 20%) x 8]

Did Lu Zhi change her expression so quickly?
The corners of Xu Zhen's mouth twitched. When he saw it three days ago, he still admired it, but now it has turned into hatred. It seems that he is regarded as the biggest political enemy.

"No, I have to stay here. It's too unsafe to go up and attract fire."

After thinking for a while, he decided to give up power temporarily. The outcome of continuing to fight was unknown, but if he "killed all the Lüs" according to the plan, it would be very stable. The military capital accumulated over the years of leading troops in battles would not disappear.

"Queen, I have something to say..."

In the end, Xu Zhen took the initiative to resign on behalf of his nephew, gave up the military power of the Northern Army, and recommended Lu Chan, Lu Lu and other sons of the Lu family as generals to take control of the central military power.

He also took the initiative to seek marriage for his fourth son and became relatives of the Lu family.

Lu Zhi was overjoyed and burst into tears immediately, looking very sad.

Doesn't Xu Zhen's initiative to ask for marriage mean that she is declaring her submission? Without the obstruction of this important minister, it would be a natural thing for her to take power.

Then, the empress dowager immediately announced a general amnesty, and formally buried Emperor Hui Liu Ying half a month later, and welcomed the crown prince to the throne as emperor, becoming the former Shao Emperor. From then on, Xu Zhen rarely asked about important court affairs, and all government orders came from the empress dowager, and the emperor was in name only.

In the first year of the reign of Empress Lü, Lü Zhi intended to establish the Lü clan as kings and asked her ministers for their opinions. Wang Ling protested strongly on the grounds of the "White Horse Alliance", but Chen Ping and Zhou Bo agreed.

Xu Zhen, the Grand Tutor, did not forget his own personality and immediately refused sternly. Under pressure from this important official, Lu Zhi chose to give up first.

A few months later, the Right Prime Minister Wang Ling was transferred to the position of Grand Marshal, and he resigned in anger and returned home.

Later, because of the Grand Tutor Xu Zhen, Lu Zhi was never able to make the Lu family king, and the blockade of power was supported by one person.

In order to win him over, Lu Zhi gave the Xu family important positions, increased their fiefdoms, and frequently asked for their advice on handling state affairs, as if they were "sharing" the world.

Faced with this situation, Xu Zhen could not give in, otherwise the image of a loyal minister that he had worked so hard to establish would collapse.

Afterwards, under the constant persuasion of the Liu clan princes and court officials, Xu Zhen "reluctantly" agreed, and Lu Zhi took the opportunity to enfeoff the Lu clans as kings.

Then she vigorously promoted the marriage between Liu and Lu, and married Liu Zhang, Liu Ze, Liu You, Liu Hui and Liu Ruyi, respectively, and actually monopolized the government.

Almost all members of the Lu family were granted titles of king and duke and held great power.

When the former Shao Emperor was eight years old, he angered Empress Lü by threatening to avenge his mother. Liu Gong was then killed and another young emperor, Liu Hong, succeeded to the throne and became the later Shao Emperor.

During the Queen Mother's reign, several of Liu Bang's other sons were killed one after another, leaving only King of Dai Liu Heng, King of Zhao Liu Ruyi and King of Huainan Liu Chang alive.

(End of this chapter)