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

Chapter 96: The Drawbacks of Opening the Western Regions
The impact of this court meeting was actually very great. It shook the Han Dynasty's structure to a certain extent, and the Xu family, which had been in decline, made a comeback.

He actually controls the military power of the border troops. With the title of Grand Marshal, he can legitimately interfere in the government affairs to a certain extent. That terrible influence will come into play again.

Liu Xun handed over all matters concerning the Xiongnu and the Western Regions to Xu Ning, who strictly speaking was also serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Han Dynasty.

It seems that the emperor also realized that the blow was too severe and planned to support him again.

Although he was afraid, the Xu family's reputation over the years was there, and various facts proved that they were the golden ministers to take care of the orphan, and there would definitely be no problems if he entrusted the heir to them.

Liu Xun saw the prince's weakness and decided to leave behind a strong team. He trusted Huo Guang, but not the Huo family because they were a bunch of useless people.

Not to mention the Wang family. Everyone knows the character of Confucian officials. To entrust the orphan to someone else means to hand over the authority of the Han Dynasty.

Imagine what Liu Shi would do when he found that the power of Confucian officials was too great and out of control? Of course, he would support others to check and balance them.

He doesn't like the Legalists, and his external relatives are unreliable. The only ones who can be used are the eunuchs. At that time, the government will be divided into two factions again.

In essence, it was still a dispute between Confucianism and Legalism, but in form it changed to the dispute between external relatives and eunuchs. This was undoubtedly not a good thing. It was too risky to hand over the country to a group of close ministers and eunuchs.

So it would be better to continue using the Xu family. As it happened, the prince admired the old Jinghou Xu Gong very much.

Of course, he was also close to Xu, and had hinted more than once that Liu Xun had gone too far.

So using Xu Ning is just a start.

.........

After Xu Ning took charge of the military operations of You, Bing, Qing and Ji, he achieved great results and frequently sent troops to the north for expeditions.

The Xiongnu were too busy with internal strife and exhausted to withstand the attack and were repeatedly defeated. The Han army did not kill them all but only plundered their livestock, destroyed pastures and polluted water sources.

This was like cutting off the firewood for the nomadic peoples. They couldn't defeat outsiders and had no food to eat, so they could only attack their own people.

As a result, the contradictions within the Xiongnu became increasingly acute and disputes continued.

Xu Ning took the opportunity to maneuver and incite, using political means to sow discord. Among them, the tribes headed by the Right Wise King Hubi were the closest to the Han Dynasty.

The attitude of the Western Regions also began to become more obedient. The various countries, led by King Wan, chose to surrender, trade with the Han Dynasty and pay tribute. Spices and other items began to flow into the Han Dynasty.

The Silk Road was reopened and made more secure.

Although the Protectorate of the Western Regions had not yet been established, there was already a replacement similar to the "Captain of the Western Regions", who had about 3,000 elite soldiers under his command, held imperial seals, and supervised the military and political affairs of various countries on behalf of the Han Dynasty.

Today's Han Dynasty has recovered to the level of the former Emperor Wu's Dynasty. If there is any movement, the country will be destroyed. The Han cavalry gallops across the desert, and no one dares to provoke them.

Xu Ning's status also rose, and the Xu family gradually recovered its vitality. This terrifying prestige did not actually disappear.

Before, there were no official positions to be distributed, so the students would not choose the Xu family.

Now this shortcoming has been made up. Xu Ru's eldest son and Xu Ning's second son have both been given important positions, and Xu Bo has been transferred to the position of Shaofu and has gained real power.

Although it still could not recover to its heyday when its students and former officials were all over the country, it was pretty good. At least the legal officials began to follow them, and the Confucian officials did not dare to offend them, after all, they were the family of the Saint Master Xu Gong.

Tianran is a golden signboard. Unless he commits the serious crime of treason, he will be able to make a comeback sooner or later.

What the Xu family had to do was to try their best to help the Liu family maintain the emperor's authority. Although Liu Xun had gone a little too far, they could not just turn against him. After all, their family was already connected with the Han Dynasty.

It is normal for someone to be feared by his master because of his achievements. Both Xu Ning and Xu Ru had been prepared for this, but they did not expect the intensity to be so great.

In fact, Liu Xun was just too much. He started with indiscriminate attacks from the very beginning, which hurt the two Xus. He simply went all out and began to reshape the Han Dynasty's pattern.

This is a typical method of using both kindness and force. He guessed that when the prince ascends to the throne, he will promote Xu to a higher level.

After Liu Xun became the emperor, he realized that the Han Dynasty could not do without the Xu family. Such a capable and loyal group is rare in the history.

So the hostility has been greatly reduced.

In the military camp, Xu Ning fell into deep thought. He was thinking about what to do in the future as younger generations like Xu Bo were not yet mature enough.

Xu Ru died of grief and anger. I am the only one who can be of great use. It will not be easy to help the emperor stabilize the government in the future. In fact, deposing the prince is the best option.

This kid is really, really not suitable to be an emperor. How can an emperor personally go into battle? It is too unwise. His political methods are still at the level of a three-year-old child.

Moreover, his health was not good and he was unable to handle state affairs for a long time. This naturally created fertile ground for the emergence of powerful ministers. If he was not handled properly, it would be the beginning of the decline of the Han Dynasty.

"My prince, tell me, why do you want to get close to those Confucian officials? They can really shake the imperial power."

Xu Ning severely criticized the prince, saying how Confucianism is different from Legalism.

The essence of Legalism is obedience, with the king making the laws and then taking the lead in abiding by them, this is the final accountability, and the chance of rebellion is relatively low.

Confucianism is different. The current Confucianism has not yet been transformed by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. Although it still advocates loyalty to the emperor, the emperor they want to be loyal to is like Yao, Shun, Emperor Wen, and Emperor Gao.

That is what is commonly known as a "saint", who implicitly supports the system of abdication and the transfer of power to people of virtue.

It is no wonder that later monarchs wanted to abandon the Confucianism of their early years, as it was an unstable factor.

Xu Ning had a clear understanding of his own abilities. All he could do was to try his best to maintain the emperor's authority and keep power in the hands of the Liu family.

He also began to complain about his own abilities. If he had the talent of his father Xu Nan and uncle Xu Ye, he would be able to take the initiative to suppress the court officials, and he would not be completely powerless to resist in a situation like this.

Liu Xun dared to start the dispute between Confucianism and Legalism because he took advantage of the fact that there was no one in the Xu family who could take the lead at the moment. There would be no problem as long as either Xu Nan or Xu Ye was alive.

They both had too much power. One was a prime minister who had held power for decades, and the other was a cavalry general who controlled the border troops and had made great military achievements.

Even the former emperor Liu Ju had to take this into consideration, so there wouldn't be such a situation of cutting off the source of the problem.

Well... if one has the abilities of Xu Zhen and Xu Gong, there is no need to worry at all. No matter what the Confucian Party or the Legalist Party is, he only needs to extend a finger, and any extra effort would be bullying.

It's so terrifying. There is no need to say much about Xu Zhen, the first minister of the founding of the Han Dynasty. Xu Gong's ability is also terrifyingly strong.

His military ability was unrivaled and he was invincible in the world. His martial arts were even more powerful than that of an overlord. King Liu Bi of Wu gave him a thumbs up for this. The King of Wu was able to kill their king and escape unscathed!

His political ability was originally a shortcoming, but it was completely made up for later. With the addition of Xu Zhou to complement him, it was simply perfect.

Xu Ning was a bit miserable. Did he have a partner? Of course he did. Xu Ru was also very strong in strategy and political power, but the problem was that he passed away early.

After giving the patriarch's jade pendant to his eldest son, the second son Xu Bo, he no longer cared about anything else and was left to struggle.

But there was no other way. With great ability came great responsibility. He was the Grand Marshal Zhengbei General, holding real power, and both Xu Ke depended on him. In addition, he had to assist the crown prince, so he had to be even more motivated.

"At present, the biggest hidden dangers are still the Confucian officials and... the powerful."

Xu Ning became worried. With the development of the times and the gradual concentration of land, a new class was born, the so-called powerful people!
Of course, he has a more common name, landlord.

There was no powerful landlord class in the Former Qin Dynasty. At that time, the hereditary aristocracy system was still prevalent, and there were only aristocrats! Strictly speaking, landowners were also aristocrats.

Their power was very strong. Most of the princes who destroyed the tyrannical Qin Dynasty were aristocrats, and even Emperor Gao's ancestors were aristocrats.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the old aristocracy was liquidated and replaced by meritorious officials, headed by Xu Zhen, who controlled extremely terrifying resources and influence. It was they who played a role in the previous extermination of the Lü clan.

The decline of the meritorious officials probably began with the Enfeoffment Order, but the real reason that brought them to the brink of destruction was Emperor Liu Che's practice of taking away titles with bribes.

This incident deprived more than one hundred marquises of their titles, and the situation returned to the period before liberation. The princes, the greatest aristocracy, also officially declined at this time.

What followed was the era of powerful people. In fact, powerful people had already appeared during the reign of Emperor Wen, but because of the existence of meritorious officials and princes, they were never able to exert political influence.

Among the officials in the court today, the majority come from powerful families. Their children enter the Imperial College and are later recruited, gradually replacing the group of meritorious officials.

It’s a pity that their power is too dispersed to form a combined force, which cannot shake the imperial power. The formation of the aristocratic family will take at least another hundred years.

To be precise, it had to wait until Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu restored the Han Dynasty.

During the heyday of imperial power, the powerful were like green leeks, which grew again after being cut, and their descendants would never run out of food.

The purpose of establishing Chang'an City by Emperor Gao was to suppress the powerful... Strictly speaking, it was to increase the number of wealthy households at that time.

But once the central government begins to decline, the powerful will no longer have the opportunity to control it, their land annexation will be inevitable, and the people will return to starve to death without their land.

In order to survive, they have no choice but to rebel, but then they will repeat the mistakes of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty.

In addition, the open and covert struggles among Confucian officials, Legalists, and relatives of the emperor made the situation even worse. Xu Ning didn't even dare to think about it. It was simply a disaster. It was difficult for the Han Dynasty to survive.

"The primary goal now is of course to ensure the stability of imperial power. As long as the central authority is strong, the powerful are just a bunch of leeks that can be harvested at will."

"If we want to cure the root cause, we must return to the imperial court."

Xu Ning shook his head. Perhaps some reforms could improve land annexation, but his ability was limited.

He was unable to do what Xu Gong did in the past and replace the role of meritorious officials by building an imperial academy, and he did not provide talents to the court.

Even if the dispute between Confucianism and Legalism was unavoidable, the advantages of the Imperial College system still far outweighed its disadvantages. The court now had no shortage of middle and low-level officials, and they all benefited from the Imperial College.

What's more, the emperor was also the initiator of the irreconcilable conflict between Confucianism and Legalism. In order to better control it, Liu Che deliberately instigated it from the very beginning.

Otherwise, Confucianism and Legalism would be integrated into one and become indistinguishable from each other.

Xu Ning picked up the letter beside him and began to read it. It was sent by Xu Bo. It briefly talked about the political situation in the court and the family situation.

After looking for a while, he put down the bamboo slips, his face full of solemnity.

"I didn't expect you guys would place such a big bet."

The Confucian officials headed by the Wang family have begun to fully support the prince, causing the legal officials to dare not sing a different tune.

Everyone knows that His Majesty will never depose the Crown Prince.

The prince was also very happy. Not only did he marry Wang's daughter as his concubine, he also vigorously promoted Confucian scholars to become officials in the prince's mansion.

As expected, he only remembered to eat and not to be beaten. He forgot everything Liu Xun taught him. He continued to employ Confucian scholars and opposed the Legalist ideas.

Liu Xun could only sigh helplessly about all this, as there was nothing he could do if the prince didn't listen to him.

At the same time, Xu's power began to recover, and a large number of Xu's disciples emerged in the court, once again holding a high degree of voice.

Even top families like the Huo family dare not underestimate them, and they only have the upper hand among high-level officials.

Xu's absolute influence in the middle and lower levels worked perfectly.

Once this group of people climb to high positions, Xu Ning will be able to handle emergencies well enough. No matter how capable he is, he cannot stand the fact that he has no foundation and no one is available.

But apart from this good news, it's all bad news.

Liu Xun is seriously ill and will probably die within two years. By then, the crown prince will successfully ascend the throne. Given his character, he will certainly promote Confucian scholars and the Xu family first, and then vigorously suppress the Legalist officials.

Afterwards, a new dispute between Confucianism and Legalism will break out. This time the emperor will not try to smooth things over, but will personally intervene, which is undoubtedly a mistake.

The correct option should be to control the scale and use it as a tool to eliminate dissidents and build authority. Liu Xun let go because of special needs and because he could not control himself for a while.

By then, Confucianism will win, the power in the court will be unbalanced, and the legal officials will decline. In order to maintain the balance, Xu can only choose to take action himself.

In this way, its neutral status was no longer valid. Although the Confucian scholars did not dare to turn against it, they could not kill it out of hostility and regarded it as an ally of the Legalists.

After all, no matter how great the prestige is, it will be exhausted one day, unless a great figure like Xu Gong and Xu Zhou who are recognized by both sides can appear again, but this is obviously unlikely.

And one of them is the most difficult one.

Xu Ning was a little helpless, because the prince was weak and sickly, not much better than Emperor Hui in the past.

Emperor Hui allowed Empress Lü to take power due to health reasons, so it was fortunate that Xu Zhen existed.

There will be no such thing this time, and the only emperor who can suppress Confucian officials will also disappear.

"If we don't include the Confucian and Legalist officials and the royal family, then we can only have the maternal relatives... No, Wang is the leader of the Confucian Party."

"Who else...wait."

Xu Ning actually thought that it could be used to check and balance the court. Not only could it be used as a knife, but it would not get out of control. There would never be a risk of usurping the throne, and the emperor could take back power at any time.

Those are the eunuchs in the palace! Don't underestimate them, they are very effective in a certain sense.

In addition, the prince himself is relatively close to the eunuchs, so the probability of this choice is very high. And according to Xu Ning's assumption, using eunuchs is almost the only option.

　That Liu Xun is Liu Ju's grandson. The author didn't notice it before. Sorry, I will change it tomorrow and make a patch.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)