Start having a baby!I dressed as the mother of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 105 103. Legitimacy of the Regime

After rewarding Zhou Yafu with a jade mat, Wang Quan hurried to Tingwei Mansion to pick up Ji An and rushed to Luoyang.

Before leaving, Wang Quan gave Liu Xiaozhu a lot of advice.

"Che'er, the Ai family is really worried about leaving you alone in the capital..." Wang Quan was worried, "The war in South Vietnam is not over, and the twelfth lunar month is coming again... Correct the new moon, Yi Fusese, and use the first lunar month as the beginning of the year. This should be announced to the world and celebrated by the whole world. . In the first year of reform, there will be a grand celebration. All ministers in the court have made arrangements for the Ai family. When things happen, they often discuss with Prime Minister Dou Ying and Taiwei Tian Fu. The imperial censor, Dr. Zhi, has all gone to Henan County, but there is no news so far... Wang Quan sighed heavily, "There is something fishy going on, and Aijia must go and check it out in person!"

"The war in South Vietnam has long mountains and rivers, and it is difficult to convey information in time. We can only let go and let the soldiers fight. If you want to take it, you must give it first. Pass the decree to all the ministries and make them marquises based on their military merits. The enfeoffments and food and salary will be doubled!" Wang Nuan stared at her son, "If any good news comes back, I will be promoted to an official and a title immediately. You must not imitate the benevolence of a woman like the Overlord of Western Chu!"

"Women's benevolence" comes from Han Xin's evaluation of Xiang Yu: When King Xiang saw people, he was respectful and kind, but his words were disgusting, and when people were sick, he wept and shared food and drink. When it comes to making people meritorious and should be given a title, they will not be able to bear the consequences of their deeds. This is the so-called benevolence of a woman.

Han Xin said: King Xiang treats people with respect and love, and speaks softly. When he saw his soldiers were sick, he would shed tears and share his food and drink with the sick. But for the soldiers who have made meritorious service and deserve to be given a knighthood, he is reluctant to do so... reluctant to... reluctant to...

Got it? That is to say, Xiang Yu can only give his subordinates the same benefits as women: being gentle, crying for you, taking care of you to eat and drink... But what his subordinates really want is: to get rewards, official titles and titles... But Xiang Yu doesn't give them! The seal was already patinated in my hand, the edges and corners were worn away, but I still couldn't bear to give it to my subordinates.

Who doesn’t come for the phrase “Princes, generals, and generals would rather have the guts”? Frankly speaking, everyone gathers together for glory and wealth, and Xiang Yu seems to have violated this consensus.

I risked the death of my whole family and rebelled with you, just to get a thumbs up: You are a true hero! And then retire to the mountains and forests? Don't blame the brothers for being rude, bye!

Xiang Yu could only give his subordinates "women-like benefits", rather than the benefits of being granted titles and titles as a heroic commander. Therefore, Xiang Yu's "women's kindness" cannot retain talents.

Later generations thought that Xiang Yu had "women's benevolence" and did not follow Fan Zeng's plan to kill Liu Bang at the Hongmen Banquet. As a result, Gai Xia was surrounded by enemies on all sides and committed suicide in Wujiang River.

The Hongmen Banquet is a game, a game related to the political trend of the late Qin Dynasty. The people in the game are Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, as well as Fan Zeng and Fan Kuai, but behind them, Xiang Yu's real opponent is not in this game.

"Although Chu has three households, if it opposes Qin, it will be Chu." Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu's uncles and nephews were nobles of Chu State. In order to consolidate his status and legitimacy, after Xiang Liang gained real power, he adopted Fan Zeng's strategy and supported Xiong Xin, the grandson of King Huai of Chu who was living among the people, as King Huai.

King Huai himself does not have real power. He is just a mascot. As a symbol, he plays an motivating role for the nobles and survivors of the Six Kingdoms. However, Xiang Liang was killed by Zhang Han, which caused a major change in the situation.

At this time, King Huai of Chu showed the political acumen and skills of an outstanding politician, and decisively sent his subordinate Song Yi from Xutai to Pengcheng to take over the armies of Xiang Yu and Lu Chen. This move completely took control of the military power, thus making him truly the supreme leader of the anti-Qin alliance, and gaining the support of various anti-Qin forces, large and small.

Since King Huai took real power, the Chu army has actually been divided into two camps, one is the King Huai camp and the other is the Xiang camp, and behind the two there is a conflict of political ideas.

As a representative of the old aristocracy, King Huai represented the old seven-nation structure during the Warring States Period; although Xiang Yu was also an old aristocrat, he was a representative of the emerging military class. In order to gain political status, he must hope to break the old structure and establish a new world. order.

The conflict between the two is directly reflected in the covenant between King Huai. King Huai made an appointment with the generals, and the one who entered Dingguan first would be the king.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, the six kingdoms were restored one after another. However, there was no unified plan for the situation of the world after the destruction of Qin. The Treaty of King Huai actually confirmed the order of the Seven Kingdoms: that is, the old order would still be retained in Guandong, and the descendants of the Six Kingdoms would continue to be kings. Only the Qin royal family in Guanzhong can no longer stay, and the one who enters Guanzhong first will be the king of Guanzhong.

King Huai and his cronies, because Xiang Yu massacred the city in Xiangyang too cruelly, sent Xiang Yu to Julu to meet the enemy and contain the Qin army, allowing Liu Bang to take the opportunity to enter Guanzhong first. In fact, the two have reached a political deal: Liu Bang surrendered to King Huai's camp, and King Huai gave Liu Bang the only chance to be crowned king for his merits.

This also means that Xiang Yu, who was made a general by King Huai of Chu, could only submit to the state of Chu as a minister, and almost completely lost the possibility of being crowned king. This made Xiang Yu deeply resentful of King Huai.

The first head-on conflict between Xiang Yu and King Huai was to kill Song Yi and seize military power. This led to a great victory in the Battle of Julu, forcing King Huai of Chu to recognize his status as the military commander.

After the Battle of Julu and before the destruction of Qin, Xiang Yu established himself as King Yong after killing his uncle and enemy Zhang Han. Through this move, Xiang Yu informed all the princes: He announced that the agreement with King Huai was void! Everyone can be crowned king! At this point, Xiang Yu's self-establishment as a military leader and his desire to dominate the world have become clear.

The Hongmen Banquet is the final game between Xiang Yu and King Huai. At this time, Liu Bang was not only the last card in King Huai's hand, but also the key figure in King Huai's agreement. Liu Bang's choice at this time is of vital significance to the situation of the Chu army: should he continue to support King Huai in order to gain the status of King of Guanzhong, or should he completely give up this idea and seek refuge with Xiang Yu to obtain the greatest benefits? In the end, Liu Bang chose the latter.

At the beginning of the Hongmen Banquet, when Liu Bang proclaimed his vassalship to Xiang Yu and expressed his intention to withdraw from Guanzhong and surrender, for Xiang Yu, the Hongmen Banquet was already over. Because his goal had been achieved, Liu Bang abandoned King Huai and chose himself, and King Huai completely lost.

The biggest winner of the Hongmen Banquet is undoubtedly Xiang Yu. He captured Guanzhong without spending a single soldier, completely defeated King Huai, and became the true common master of the world.

Followed by Liu Bang, Liu Bang used retreat to advance and maintained his political status. Xiang Yu enfeoffed Liu Bang to Bashu and became the king of Hanzhong. Only then did Liu Bang have the opportunity to accumulate strength, "build the plank road openly and secretly visit Chencang", and return to the Three Qin Dynasty.

The only loser was King Huai of Chu who was not in the game. Although King Huai was later honored as the Righteous Emperor, his political life ended at the Hongmen Banquet.

Fan Zeng saw further than Xiang Yu. Liu Bang entered Guanzhong, accepted the surrender of Prince Qin Ying, and made a "three-part agreement" with the people: not to live in the palace, not to open treasury, not to disturb the people, and to recruit the Qin army. This allowed Fan Zeng to see that his ambition would be a serious problem in the future - Liu Bang was a threat and he could take the opportunity to kill him when he came to the Hongmen Banquet. Xiang Yu was worried that killing Liu Bang would give King Huai an excuse and incur the hostility of the princes. And Liu Bang has expressed his willingness to cooperate, so of course he should not be killed. In Xiang Yu's view at this time, Fan Zeng, the "sub-father", was exactly the person he wanted to get rid of.

"Xiangzhuang's sword dance is intended for Pei Gong." When Xiang Zhuang was instructed by Fan Zeng to perform a sword dance at the Hongmen Banquet with the intention of assassinating Liu Bang, Xiang Yu was probably dissatisfied with Yafu, who was dictating what to do. Xiang Zhuang was his confidant, but he was arranged by Fan Zeng, a man with a foreign surname!
So when Xiang Bo joined in the sword dance to block Xiang Zhuang's assassination, he did not stop him. Even after Fan Kuai participated with his sword, Xiang Yu became a silent spectator.

After Liu Bang escaped, Fan Zeng was heartbroken and cursed Xiang Yu as a "straight son", which must have aroused Xiang Yu's extreme disgust: I respect you as "Yafu" just because you, Fan Zeng, are my uncle Xiang Liang's counselor, not my Xiang Yu's counselor. Bringing out King Huai of Chu for his uncle's bad advice has become a big problem! Again, he shows off his seniority and relies on his seniority to show off his seniority!
The arrogant and arrogant Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng, who hates iron but cannot become steel, are increasingly separated. Chen Ping used a small plan to spread rumors that Fan Zeng was having an affair with Liu Bang. Xiang Yu's suspicion and neglect forced Fan Zeng, who was in his seventies, to become disheartened and died on his way back home.

Fan Zeng, who saw further than Xiang Yu, certainly did not see the outcome of the Western Chu overlord's "reluctance to cross the Yangtze River". If Xiang Yu didn't keep Fan Zeng, who "will die for his confidants", how could he keep Han Xin and Chen Ping? Xiang Yu, who was born in a noble family, looked down upon these people who were born in the common people.

Good birds choose trees to roost in. Liu Bang said that he was "not as good as Zhang Liang in strategizing; not as good as Xiao He in pacifying the people; not as good as Han Xin in conquering cities; not as good as Chen Ping in conspiracy; not as good as Fan Kuai in charging; not as decisive as Zhou Bo in the city gates". But why do these people follow him? Only those who are courageous and knowledgeable, have the ability to make changes, and know people well can do their job well.

"Women's benevolence" was not the root cause of Xiang Yu's failure; "knowing people well and being good at appointing them" was not the only condition for Liu Bang to create the Han Dynasty.

Regime legitimacy comes from three aspects: ideological legitimacy, procedural legitimacy and performance legitimacy.

Xiang Yu violated these three rules. Why did Xiang Yu become the overlord of Western Chu? Because of his outstanding military talents, he defeated the main force of the Qin army in critical moments and achieved leadership status.

Faced with the problem of how to establish a new order, Xiang Yu was at a loss. He did not adopt the prefecture and county system of Qin Shihuang and returned to the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty.

Respect King Huai of Chu as the Righteous Emperor - equal to the Emperor of Zhou. He proclaimed himself the Overlord of Western Chu, acting as the Righteous Emperor with full authority, and enfeoffed eighteen princes. This return to the hell mode of fighting for hegemony during the Warring States Period paved the way for the feuding princes to fight.

When it came to decision-making and hiring, he was nepotistic and had "women's benevolence". He did not have the magnanimity to rule the world, which led to the departure of outstanding talents such as Han Xin and Chen Ping.

In the competition between princes, Xiang Yu did not pay attention to ideological control. Killing the Righteous Emperor, killing the Qin Prince's infant, burning the Qin Palace, and killing 200,000 Qin soldiers, he lost the control of his ideological voice, lost the legitimacy of the process, and even lost the support of the people of the world.

Xiang Yu was bloodthirsty and massacred the city many times, even worse than "The Human Massacre of Bai Qi". Especially after the great victory in the Battle of Julu, in order to enter Guanzhong early and seize the opportunity to destroy Qin, he disliked the Qin army that had surrendered and held it back, and used treacherous means to bury all 200,000 Qin troops alive in Xin'an! The people in Guanzhong live in plain clothes.

After the Hongmen Banquet forced Liu Bang to withdraw from Guanzhong, he killed Prince Ying of Qin who had surrendered, burned, killed and looted. Epang Palace burned for more than 20 days, turning Guanzhong into a scorched earth. The people of Qin State were all resentful towards Xiang Yu.

"Guanzhong is blocked by mountains and rivers, and the land is fertile, so we can dominate the whole country." From the perspective of ruling the country, Han Sheng persuaded Xiang Yu to build the capital of Guanzhong. Xiang Yu faced the ruins of Xianyang and knew that the hatred of the Qin people made it impossible for him to gain a foothold, so he said: "Wealth and honor do not return home, like embroidered clothes walking at night." Han Sheng ridiculed him for "taking a crown while bathing with monkeys", and was cooked by Xiang Yu kill.

Abandoning the capital of Guanzhong led to a very passive follow-up. The eighteen feudal princes fought fiercely against each other, causing Xiang Yu to run around. The cost of rule became very high, and it was useless even if he won every battle.

Xiang Yu respected King Huai as the Righteous Emperor. When the rule was still unstable, he expelled Emperor Yi from Pengcheng, the capital, out of hatred, and ordered Yingbu to kill Emperor Yi. Killing Emperor Yi undoubtedly lost the trump card of "holding the emperor to control the princes", and gave Liu Bang an excuse to avenge Emperor Yi. Calling on the princes of the world to attack Xiang Yu allowed Liu Bang to stand on the moral high ground in the subsequent conflict between Chu and Han.

Xiang Yu, who lost the legitimacy of his political power, was eventually abandoned by the people of the world and was besieged by all the princes. After losing the only military advantage he could rely on, this dying hero was defeated in Wujiang and ended a life that made people sigh.

As the emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiaozhu undoubtedly had the legitimacy of the political power. In the seventy years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the people have lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the country has been prosperous and strong. The rule of Wenjing gave the Han Empire its glory.

When Wang Ao was confidently taking Liu Xiaozhu to write a glorious chapter in this prosperous age, the disaster and strange events in Henan County gave her a blow!
It seemed like I could smell betrayal again. Why did the alert and loyal Henan governor Yuan Zhong conceal the disaster? Zhidu, the loyal and upright imperial censor, went on an inspection tour, but why was there no news from him? Is this forcing her, Wang Ao, to go and check it out personally?
"Does the Queen have to go?" Liu Xiaozhu was a little uneasy, "Jianzhengshuo, Yifuse, Jianmingtang, Xingtaixue, etc. The children still need to ask the Queen for instructions on many important matters in the court..."

"Che'er, there is no news about the disaster in Henan County so far, and there is no reply from Zhidu, the imperial censor... If the Ai family doesn't solve the mystery, won't the court lose the support of the people? The Yellow River has repeatedly flooded and caused disasters, and the people along its banks have suffered greatly! The purpose of Aijia's visit is to survey the water conditions and tie up the blue dragon to eliminate floods! The fertile fields of thousands of miles away must be the granary of our great people!" Wang Quan said firmly.

"The Ai family has ordered the Prime Minister and the Taiwei to take care of everything. Che'er," Wang Quan pondered for a while, "let the Taiwei accompany the Weiyang Palace!"

A biological uncle is better than someone else. Prime Minister Dou Ying's private association with Zhou Yafu always made Wang Ao feel that he had different intentions. Zhou Yafu's death also made Dou Ying's eyes dodge and tremble when he saw the empress dowager.

"But... my uncle said that the affairs of the court are big and the affairs of the counties are small, so I asked my son to persuade his mother not to leave Beijing!" Liu Xiaozhu said seriously, "My uncle said that my son should lead all the ministers to Lu to pay homage to the Confucius Shrine. Taishan Fengchan!”

"Feng Chan?" Wang Quan frowned. Her younger brother Tian Fu was obedient to her, but never mentioned it. Why did he only propose this to the emperor?
The meaning of Feng Chan is to communicate with heaven and strengthen the divine power of kings, which is naturally a good thing.

But the legitimacy and performance of the regime are also important aspects. The aspirations of the people, "water can carry a boat but also capsize it," are all requirements for the ruler's political performance.

As the granary of the empire, Henan County was the foundation of the Han Dynasty's rule. If the disaster is ignored, public dissatisfaction will boil over. If things go on like this, won't it trigger a popular uprising?
"We will discuss the issue of the title of Zen after the Ai family returns to Beijing. When the Ai family arrives in Henan County, they must leave as soon as possible. It should not be delayed any longer!" Wang Quan said decisively.