Han Shizu

Chapter 1446 The ambivalence of Emperor Liu
"His Majesty!"

The one who came into the palace was Li Fang, an old official with a serious face and a sense of integrity.This is also a veteran of the court, Qianyou's early imperial examination champion.

At the beginning of this year, Li Fang was transferred to Tokyo as the chief envoy of Jingnan Road, replacing Li Gu, who was ill and overwhelmed, as the governor of Kaifeng. affairs.

Judging from the position changes at the end of the year, it was more like a foreshadowing for Li and Lu's entry into the cabinet.For the former, after Zhang Yong released Chengdu Mansion, Emperor Liu ordered Li Fang to return to Beijing without thinking about how long it took.

In fact, under the leadership of Zhao Pu, after taking back the governance power over Henan Sandao from Tokyo Liutai, the institutions at all levels in Tokyo also changed accordingly. It seems a little inappropriate for the big officials to be concentrated in Tokyo.

It's just that, between Li Fang and Lu Yin, Emperor Liu hesitated for a while about who to transfer to his side, and finally chose Li Fang.The reason for the balance is also very simple. Lu Yin used to be a scholar of advocating politics, so he doesn't need to follow the old path. In Emperor Liu's eyes, his future official career is more suitable to develop in Zhengshitang.

At the same time, Li Fang, who returned to Beijing to serve again, was no longer satisfied with a mere cabinet bachelor. After all, his qualifications were different.Even with Emperor Liu, the affairs handled are the same, but the difference in status is significant.

Today's cabinet is more and more close to Emperor Liu's secretarial organization. The military and political affairs of the DPRK and China are all handled through the cabinet.Moreover, in the current cabinet, in addition to a few bachelors, there are mainly three bachelors.

However, due to his health, Wei Renpu, the Duke of Yu, had long been ignoring the affairs of the state. It was just a false name. Especially in recent years, he became more and more old and feeble, and even Emperor Liu rarely called him into the palace for consultation on important matters.

As for Zhao Kuangyin, after all, he is a military minister. It's not that he can't work as a secretary, but he just needs to avoid suspicion, especially when his younger brother is Luoyang Yin.More time is spent on drinking and hunting, and basically leads a comfortable and comfortable retirement life.

Therefore, Li Fang, a cabinet scholar, is the de facto top leader.The cabinet is a special organization. After all, it is the closest to the emperor, and most of the things that the ministers below and the ministries and yamen have to do need to go through the cabinet.Therefore, although Emperor Liu delegated the power of governing the country to the bureaucratic group headed by Zhao Pu, no one dared to ignore the existence of the cabinet.

In the past, the real head of the cabinet was a mere Zhang Yong with weak prestige, but it would be different if it was replaced by Li Fang. Changing people was like changing a knife, which naturally brought obvious pressure to the central departments of the imperial court.

In the eyes of the ministers who have been immersed in power for a long time in the imperial court, Emperor Liu seems to have a deeper intention behind this change of person. People who interpret the emperor's words and deeds from various angles are always indispensable.

For example, when Li Fang was transferred, he was in charge of the cabinet, and he was an assistant to the imperial court. Some people with active thoughts wondered whether the emperor thought that the power of the Zhengshitang was too large and needed to be restricted, or what did he think of Zhao Pu Bingzheng? After all, within the court In the eyes of many people, Zhao Pu's power is already extremely powerful, completely surpassing all the prime ministers in the more than 20 years since the founding of the country.

But Emperor Liu's desire for power is very important, and anyone with a little knowledge knows it, especially those veteran officials.However, under Zhao Pu's leadership, he was too strong and suppressed his subordinates extremely severely, so it was naturally impossible for them all to succumb.

Therefore, within the court dominated by Zhao Pu, those who were unwilling, or those who did not follow Zhao Pu's way, began to move their minds and began to make some tentative moves.

At least, as far as Emperor Liu knew, within half a month of Li Fang's return to Beijing, his mansion, which had been idle for many years, immediately became crowded with people of all kinds who came to congratulate him and ask for advice.

There are also some people who may have deeper thoughts and wider associations.That is, Li Fang was not only a minister who went out beside Emperor Liu, but also served as the prince's teacher for many years. This relationship, I have to say, is closer than that of Emperor Liu.

When Li Fang had such an important position change, interested people would naturally associate it with the prince, and the prince was the first to visit Li Fang in person after Li Fang returned to Beijing to recount the friendship between teachers and students.

In the eyes of some people, Emperor Liu's move was to further consolidate the status of the prince and enhance his influence.From the point of view of the prince's party, such a move is tantamount to rain from the sky.

The time for the prince to participate in the government is not too short, and now he has the power to supervise the country in essence. Zhao Pu is in charge of the government, and he dare not avoid the prince's self-discipline. The prince can also intervene in most of the affairs of the court.

It can be said that the position of the prince is very stable, but the former Emperor Liu's appointment of the prince did have a certain impact on Liu Yang.

The kings stood side by side, stayed in Beijing for a long time, even participated in the government, presided over a department, and held real power.This gave the kings room to cultivate their influence, and attracted many people to join them. There will never be a shortage of speculators in this world.

It is also most obvious in the upper echelons of the imperial court. Inside the imperial court, all forces are full of all kinds of people. People who have climbed to a certain position will always find ways to break through when they are faced with the upper limit, thinking about progress, and the allusion that rare goods can live, But it has been passed down through the ages.

Just because of Li Fang's transfer, it aroused huge repercussions in the court.Emperor Liu was not surprised by this, and he was even used to such a situation.

In the center of the Han Empire, all power struggles revolved around him. No matter how complicated his thoughts and actions were, he would always play the role of an arbitrator.

As for those overflowing thoughts, Emperor Liu is very open. He can control people's words and deeds with power, but it is difficult to confine people's thoughts after all.Although he is an emperor, he is not a god after all, and there are too many things in the world that he cannot control.

However, as many people have guessed, the transfer of Li Fang really meant for the prince.Because, he also discovered that the ambitions of the other princes who should not have, but are normal, are growing.

Originally, it was only Qin Wang Liu Xu who was silently accumulating influence and cultivating party members, and Emperor Liu did not intervene too much.At least all of Liu Xu's performances were not out of line in Emperor Liu's eyes.

However, when Emperor Liu found out that even the Seventh Prince Liu Hui was following suit, and began to surround himself with some people, especially when he got too close to those Nan Chen, Emperor Liu became vigilant.

Emperor Liu's thoughts were always contradictory. On the one hand, he clarified the status of the crown prince and consolidated his power and prestige. On the other hand, he seemed to place some hopes on the other sons.

However, when the development of things began to exceed his expectations and out of his control, he would start to intervene.From Emperor Liu's heart, he didn't want any battle for the heir apparent, which would not be conducive to the stability of the country and would be detrimental to the society, but such things were often unavoidable.

Emperor Liu also knew that he could take more serious and even extreme measures to dissuade the other princes, but there was always a voice in his mind reminding him to leave some room.With this leeway, it is often possible to bear some unpredictable fruits.

Even if there are enough lessons in history for reference, if future generations can learn from the experience and lessons of history, then the development of history will not be so cyclical.

The same is true for Emperor Liu. From an outsider's point of view, he can even comment unscrupulously and even ridicule those British lords who caused chaos because of the seizure of the throne, but when it comes to himself, he is sometimes confused and entangled.

Emperor Liu's expectations for Liu Yang are absolutely sincere, and this cannot be faked. However, the emperor's instinct also told him that he cannot be unreserved.The emperor and the crown prince were prone to some conflicts. For so many years, there were no problems because the crown prince did a good job and the other brothers were more peaceful.

However, with the passage of time, the growth of the philosophers and the formation of influence, Emperor Liu began to feel conflicted, not uneasy, but entangled.On the one hand, he hopes that the inheritance will be orderly, and on the other hand, he also hopes that Liu Yang will be under some pressure. At the same time, he is his own son, so he should inherit something from him, even if the most precious throne has been decided to be left to the prince.

Emperor Liu's character is multi-faceted and has various faces, but after all, he is not a machine that can maintain rationality forever, and the older he gets, the more he behaves when he is temporarily freed from the vortex of power. like a person.

(End of this chapter)