Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 550 Yongyuan
Liu Zhao's power grab proceeded smoothly.

Because of Dou's arrogance,
Because of Dou's high status
Also because of Wang Mang's "legacy",
People in both the inner palace and the outer court spontaneously gravitated towards the emperor, who was growing up and displaying his talents.

When Dou Xian and other powerful relatives of the empress returned to Luoyang one after another...

The emperor then dispatched eunuchs to enter and leave the palace, contacting trusted officials in the outer court to convey his instructions to restore order.

Empress Dowager Dou was arrogant and did not take the people who served her seriously.

They were treated like lackeys, ordered around and bossed around without the slightest bit of kindness.

Therefore, although she restricted Liu Zhao's interactions with the outer court, and even his two older brothers who were growing up were restricted from entering the palace to accompany the emperor, she never forbade the emperor from playing with eunuchs and palace maids.

This gave Liu Zhao the opportunity to win over allies and plant spies.

When he was reading history books, he came across the story of "Yang Zhen's shameful soup," and a sudden realization flashed through his mind.

Yang Zhen,

He was the coachman of Hua Yuan, a high-ranking official of the State of Song during the Spring and Autumn Period.

When the State of Zheng attacked the State of Song, Hua Yuan was appointed as the commander-in-chief to resist the attack. Before the battle, he slaughtered a lamb and cooked it into lamb soup to inspire the soldiers.

As a result, most of them received their share, but they forgot to serve a bowl to their own driver.

Yang Zhen harbored resentment because he believed that this was a sign that Hua Yuan looked down on him.

So during the battle, he ignored Hua Yuan's orders and drove his chariot straight towards Zheng's side, delivering a huge gift to the enemy.

Liu Zhao commented on this, saying:
“You must not insult those who serve you, even if they are of lowly status.”

The other party has frequent contact with influential people and knows their habits of eating, drinking, living, and traveling like the back of their hand. If they want to do something, it would be too easy for them.

Liu Zhaoke also heard that,

During the early Xia dynasty, there was a powerful official who was stabbed to death by a cook!
Corresponding,

These servants, who existed in large numbers in the palace but were never noticed by the nobles who only knew how to appreciate poetry and distant places, could provide absolute assistance to the puppet emperor.

therefore,

Liu Zhaochang treated the eunuchs and palace maids around him with kindness.

The latter was flattered and then prostrated himself on the ground, willing to serve the emperor.

that's it,
The inner palace and the outer court were connected by eunuchs who frequently went out to purchase supplies.

Empress Dowager Dou, who considered herself to have absolute power and no one able to escape, was completely unaware of this.

"go!"

"Let's go to the White Tiger Temple to listen to the sutra lectures!"

On the day of the operation,
Liu Zhao donned a magnificent robe and a crown adorned with dangling pearls, and calmly headed to the place where the late emperor had lectured on scriptures and essays, thus reclaiming the "right to interpret scriptures" from the hands of aristocratic families and returning it to the central government.

quickly,

He also wants to be there to reclaim his power.

The Dou family's sons were not alert.

They were even more corrupt and incompetent than the Wang clan of Yuancheng during the Former Han Dynasty.

Even Dou Xian, who had distinguished himself in battle, was not as cunning and treacherous as Wang Feng.

He directly seized the princess's estate when he was expanding his territory.

Several expeditions to the northern desert,

The number of mixed-breed barbarian tribes in the northern desert has indeed decreased.
However, the power of the Xianbei and Wuhuan grew stronger.

The scattered and fleeing barbarians also turned the once peaceful borders of the Han Dynasty into a noisy and chaotic place.

Therefore, Liu Zhao did not agree with the statement made by some ministers that "the Dou family of the present Han dynasty is the same as the Wang family of the former Han dynasty".

The Wang family was able to maintain their wealth and status for decades and generations thanks to their cunning leader.

As for the Dou family?

It's simply that you will rise to power by this, and you will also fall by it!

The wheels rolled on.

The court officials responded to the emperor's decree and gathered at the White Tiger Temple.

Dou Xian took the news he had heard earlier as fact, thinking that the emperor was gathering his subjects here to commend his achievements.

So he held onto his belt, his belly, which had clearly endured the harsh winds of the northern deserts yet was growing increasingly round, and happily arrived at the White Tiger Temple, waiting to enjoy the little emperor's flattery and fear.

result,

That was the end of the story.

The Dou family's powerful members were all captured.
Meanwhile, Empress Dowager Dou, deep within the palace, remained completely unaware of the bloodshed at the White Tiger Temple, thanks to the protection of her palace servants.

……

"That's why you must wear armor to meetings!"

“I have written about similar examples several times in ‘A New Account of Tales of the World,’ so how can there still be people who don’t know this truth?”

A New Account of Tales of the World
It is a byproduct of the historical records piled up into several mountains in the underworld.

The lazy God doesn't like to observe all the people and things in the world, but prefers to peruse the records of people, events, and customs that dead historians have brought back from all over the world.

Liu He, who often played around with God while slacking off, was very puzzled by this.

He asked He Bodao:
"You're too lazy to use your powers to look down on humanity, thinking you're all-knowing, so why do you like watching these things?"

Essentially, isn't this still about understanding the local customs and traditions?
To see and hear something directly, yet have to rely on someone else's writing, is like taking off your pants to fart!
"You do not understand!"

God then adopted a mysterious and enigmatic demeanor, saying, "Some pleasures can only be truly appreciated through the accounts of others!"

If you are in the middle of it
Then we won't be able to taste it!

But Liu He still didn't understand the meaning behind those words.

He Bo then extracted interesting people and events from historical records and compiled them into the book "A New Account of Tales of the World".

Then Liu He understood the joy of reading.

Don't say

Some jokes are really hard to come up with; only in real life do you encounter situations that are completely illogical and unreasonable.

"Perhaps Dou Xian didn't like reading!"

Liu He held a copy of the recently published "A New Account of Tales of the World" in one hand and ate melon seeds with the other, talking as he did so.

Dou Xian, a powerful maternal relative...
He had a completely different style from Wang Feng and Wang Mang back then.

The latter used literary talent as a gimmick to gain fame.

The former, however, used military merit as a weapon to seize power.

In addition to the period since the founding of the People's Republic of China,
Only three generations of monarchs have passed, yet the importance of military strength remains.
This made Dou Xian completely disdain certain literary works.

Moreover, *A New Account of Tales of the World* is not a collection of fabrications; it is based on real events and events.
If you are narrow-minded, or are going through something similar,
This inevitably creates the effect that "some people find it amusing, while others see it in a mirror."

Therefore, after the book was revised, it did not become popular quickly, and many scholars criticized it for being "crude in style and completely disregarding the meaning of the Spring and Autumn Annals".

Therefore, Dou Xian has not yet been able to read "A New Account of Tales of the World" and has not learned the importance of "precautions for meetings" from the predecessors in it.

This is just great,

We won't need to hold meetings anymore.

Seeing Dou Xian board the carriage in a daze and be sent back to his fiefdom by the emperor, many people knew in their hearts that his death was not far off.

Empress Dowager Dou was, after all, the emperor's nominal mother.

Afterwards, they will be returned to power and will enjoy generous treatment in the palace.

However, Dou's cronies must be eliminated.

The emperor could not give these people a chance to retaliate.

However, he would not deal with it in Luoyang, in front of Empress Dowager Dou.

He still understands filial piety and righteousness.

"To cut the weeds, you must pull them out by the roots."

"These are the words I said when the Grand General persuaded the Empress Dowager to issue an edict to send troops to the northern desert!"

When Dou Xian was sent back to his fiefdom, looking at the poisoned wine in front of him and listening to the angel's words, he felt a truly inexplicable mix of emotions.

He held the cup, trying several times to force himself to drink it all in one gulp, but always gave up halfway through.

"I had my servants stew bear paws earlier. May I eat them before drinking the wine?"

The angel refused his request.

"The bear's paw is hard to bear, His Majesty is still waiting for my good news!"

Dou Xian had no choice but to curse angrily, "I should have persuaded my sister to make up her mind to get rid of this brat back then, otherwise, how could things have turned out like this!"

Then, with trembling hands, he poured the drink into his mouth.

After trembling in pain for a long time,

This powerful maternal relative died.

His ghost fell into the underworld, where the gods and spirits will judge his sins.

"...He insulted the picture drawn by God himself and had many of them destroyed. Shouldn't he be punished more severely for this?"

The ghost who took over Dou Xian glanced at the burly Han general standing below, who looked tense, and then turned to ask his colleague.

"This isn't a good idea!"

The colleague covered his mouth and replied cautiously, "This isn't just something one person and one ghost have said."

To truly determine guilt,

Wouldn't Emperor Taizu of Han and King Changyi, who constantly mocked God for drawing pictures that were not as good as their own urination, be beaten to a pulp?

To laugh at Emperor Jing of Han, whose chess skills were inferior to even the graceful movements of the chessboard when he wielded it, would be...

Oh.
This woman has already been personally sent by God to serve as a chopping block for his female enemies, who are composed of women from his harem.

There's no need to consider his fate.

"Treate his common problems first, and then let God decide!"

The Fengdu judge slammed his fist on the table and delivered the verdict.

Dou Xian was still a little dazed. As he was being led to his prison cell, he still craned his neck to turn around and ask:
Who painted the ugly picture of Yanran Mountain?

"Tell me sooner rather than later, so I can have peace of mind!"

For this,

The judges lowered their heads, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

The former emperors of the Han dynasty who witnessed this scene breathed a sigh of relief, and sincerely cheered for the downfall of the Dou clan and the rise of the young emperor.

"I told you I didn't do anything wrong back then!"

Emperor Zhang, who deposed Liu Qing and installed Liu Zhao, was finally able to hold his head high in front of his ancestors, hands behind his back, head held high, showing an expression of pride for his son.

Neither Emperor Ming nor Emperor Guangwu could bear to look at him.

After all, having witnessed everything, they knew perfectly well that this guy had no ulterior motives when he replaced the crown prince.

He simply felt that Liu Zhao was more suitable in terms of etiquette and physical health.

Who knew it would be done this way?

I actually got a gold item on my first try!

"You should wait until your sons are born before you start pretending to be a benevolent father and wise ruler!"

Emperor Taizu of Han, who was always reckless, slapped Emperor Zhang on the back of the head.

In the eyes of Liu Zhao's descendants,
Emperor Zhang's father was indeed not a very good person.

When Liu Kang's mother died of illness, Emperor Zhang was enjoying a sweet and loving relationship with Dou, who had just entered the palace.

When his second son, Liu Quan, died young, he was still happily married to Dou.

As for the third son Liu Qing and the fourth son Liu Zhao...

Their birth mothers were all forced to their deaths by Lady Dou with Emperor Zhang's tacit approval.

Looking at Emperor Zhang's harem, apart from Lady Dou, who emerged victorious, only Consort Shen, who gave birth to two princes, achieved a good outcome.

Just as Dou was about to launch an attack on him

Emperor Zhang had just passed away.

Under the pretext of keeping vigil for the late emperor, Consort Shen moved with her two children to a remote and desolate palace, keeping a low profile and hiding out of Dou's attack range.

"Anyway, thanks to you and Dou, your sons are all good children who are friendly and respectful to their elder brothers."

But after dying, he saw his father who had passed away many years ago.
Whether they are willing to be filial sons or not is still up for discussion!

Emperor Zhang became dejected as a result and dared not be proud anymore.

He then went to Consort Liang, hoping to build a relationship with her and make amends for the mistakes he made in his previous life.

But Consort Liang refused to see him, focusing instead on praying for the children still in the world.

She said to Emperor Zhang, who had previously avoided her, fearing persecution from her enemies:
"You are like this now only because Liu Zhao has the demeanor and ability of a wise ruler and is happy for the country and its people, not because you feel guilty about what you did to my mother and me."

“I understand the importance of governing the country, and I know that you, as emperor, have not failed your subjects.”

"But women in the inner palace don't like to talk about grand principles. All I wish for now is for my child to live a long and healthy life. As for the relationship between you and your son, let Liu Zhao decide for himself in the future."

For a monarch who has no shortage of offspring, only those who are intelligent and capable can be considered his own children.

The dull-witted and foolish are merely appendages kept in a corner.

However, in Consort Liang's eyes,
Both the intelligent and the foolish are her own flesh and blood.

Before Liu Zhaoming's death, she often prayed for him.

Even now, as the pearl's brilliance shines across the land, she still prays for it.

Seeing this, Emperor Zhang could only retreat in frustration and would not bother Lady Liang again.

In the human world,

At the age of fourteen, the emperor, who had seized power through a coup, began his reign.

He displayed remarkable intelligence and wisdom, neither becoming arrogant because of his ministers' praise of his "young and promising" abilities, nor panicking because of the heavy responsibilities that suddenly fell upon him.

He simply and calmly implemented his own policies, wanting to restore the great achievements of his father and grandfather.

Next year,
The chaotic situation caused by Dou's usurpation of power has been resolved and the people are at peace.

The court and the public were amazed by the emperor's extraordinary wisdom and were full of expectations for the future of his rule.

"At only fifteen years old, he already possesses such abilities."

"The future is long, and who knows what kind of achievements I will be able to accomplish!"

Although Emperor Zhang died young
However, the Han Dynasty has only had four emperors to date.

Emperor Guangwu lived to the age of sixty-three.
Emperor Ming lived to the age of forty-eight.
They didn't think Liu Zhao would die young.

As long as you cultivate for thirty years,

The current Han dynasty will surpass the prosperity of the Former Han dynasty under Emperor Wu and Emperor Xuan, and the reigns of Emperor Cheng and Emperor Kang of the Western Zhou dynasty, becoming the direct impression of a "golden age" for later generations.

For this,

Liu Zhao was also very confident.

When the surrounding barbarian tribes heard about the emperor's deeds, they were also moved by the unwavering mandate of the Han Dynasty.

Can anyone think of,

How could such a reversal occur when things had clearly reached the point of a powerful family wielding absolute power?

They then came to pay tribute to show their submission, so as to avoid the Han army, which had been like mad dogs ravaging the northern deserts in previous years, from descending upon them in a more rational and tolerant manner.

"We should also go to the East to pay homage to the Emperor!"

Faraway western Thailand,
As they grew increasingly prosperous and powerful, the various Xia states, which were originally scattered like seeds and each occupied its own territory, now had borders with each other.

They came to Guangye, the undisputed "ancestral land," to hold a meeting, and through worshipping God and their ancestors, they learned from the local wise teachers about recent events in the East.

After some deliberation, the feudal lords put forward this suggestion.

"Our mandate was issued by Emperor Guangwu of Han, and it has been forty years since then."

"Now that we have successfully educated and tamed the people, we should bring the news back to the Central Plains."

"It's impossible that Rome has sent envoys while we remain completely silent!"

At this point, the feudal lord who had spoken couldn't help but get angry.

The big-nosed Roman secretly returned to his hometown without even telling them.
Is that reasonable?

Do you understand what "distinction between host and guest" means?
They wouldn't have known about this if the great wise teacher, who had been invited to Rome to retire, hadn't sent a message back!
"We really should make a trip to the Central Plains!"

"Since we are blessed by God and have the Western Sea as a medium for communication, we cannot fall to the state of the ancient Yan Kingdom."

If it really happens several hundred years later...
Once the gentlemen of the various Xia states in the Western Sea, Xin Xia, and the Central Plains have all united, and they peek out and shout, "Fellow countrymen, I've come out!" If no one responds and they are not recognized, how embarrassing would that be?
The ruler of Liu Chu agreed.

Although he had a square face and a large mouth, with brow bones that showed the features of the Chinese, his father and grandfather had engaged in many marriage alliances in order to educate the barbarians, which gave him the appearance of purple beard and blue eyes.

This meant that whenever the Western Xia states held their annual councils, the Chu ruler always seemed out of place, and could only sit at the same table with the Romans, who had black hair and black eyes but high brow bones.

Therefore,
His motivation to gain the emperor's approval was stronger and more intense than that of others.

"Ok, deal!"

"Please, Taoist priests, choose an auspicious day, discern the winds and waves, and then set off eastward!"

(End of this chapter)