I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 304 The turbulent five years of the Han Dynasty
The winter of Dahan's 23rd year was extremely cold.

The cold wind from the far north made my cheeks hurt, and my palms were so cold that dark red sores appeared. The cold air penetrated up my trouser legs, like a cold and poisonous snake, wrapping around my legs and spitting messages.

Many old people saw the heavy snowfall after a night of hail, and sighed with fear. It was the first time in their lives that they knew that snow could fall so hard.

February 23, early morning in Changle Palace.

"My eldest brother passed away?" Liu Ying asked in shock, her fingertips loosened slightly, and the light-colored silk letter fell slowly like snowflakes.

All the ministers in the court lowered their heads and remained silent.

Even if Liu Ying's attitude is usually kind, under the current situation, no one dares to say anything.

If I say something that offends His Majesty, the punishment will be dozens of times heavier than usual.

Liu Ying's body was trembling slightly and her eyes were red. If he were in the palace now, he would probably be crying at his desk.

"Brother, it's too... too sudden." Liu Ying picked up the silk book and murmured to herself.

He attaches great importance to family ties and wants to play every role perfectly in front of his family.

In front of Liu Bang and Lu Pheasant, he was a filial son.

Even though Liu Bang was indifferent to him, Liu Ying still obediently implemented every government order left by his father, fearing that the man would decline in his own hands and live up to Liu Bang's efforts during his lifetime; and Lu Pheasant had quite harsh requirements for him, even though Liu Yingda No, I just feel like I didn’t work hard enough.

In front of his younger brothers Liu Ruyi, Liu Heng and Liu Chang, he tried his best to portray the image of a reliable brother.

Every time they came to Chang'an, Liu Ying gave many rewards to his brothers. He was concerned about the difficulties they encountered in their daily lives, and would discuss them with the ministers during the court meeting to help them solve their problems.

An elder brother is like a father. When Liu Ying faced Liu Fei, his only elder brother, he acted like a younger brother.

On weekdays, Liu Ying's attitude towards him was one of closeness and respect.

At a small banquet at the beginning of his accession to the throne, Liu Ying even planned to let his elder brother sit in the top position, but was severely stopped by Lu Pheasant.

Countless scenes of memories flashed through my mind, finally stopping at the penultimate scene.

In the twelfth month of last year, the Qi State envoy arrived in Chang'an and brought the news that Liu Fei was ill and could not come to Chang'an to celebrate the New Year.

When Liu Ying agreed, she also gave many items and wrote a handwritten letter, saying that she wanted her brother to have a good rest and that when his body recovers this year, he would come to Chang'an to drink and play chess together. She had learned a lot from Liu Ruyi. The "Flying Knife" in the first few steps will let the elder brother see what he is doing when the time comes.

The mission left Chang'an on the ninth day of the first lunar month, and more than 50 days have passed by now.

From Chang'an to Qidi, if the convoy goes smoothly, it will take about 35 days.

But considering that the news of Liu Fei's death had already been sent to Chang'an, even if it was rushed all the way, it would have happened in 30 days.

After calculating everything in her mind, Liu Ying was silent for a while, then sighed softly.

It seems that my eldest brother has not been able to read his handwritten letter.

"Everyone, my eldest brother, King Qi, has passed away. We can discuss and decide on his posthumous title." After being sad for a while, Liu Ying calmed down a little and started to deal with business.

In the past year, the king of Changsha died three times a year, which provided sufficient experience for discussing the posthumous titles of the princes, so the courtiers put forward their own suggestions one after another.

Someone proposed to "mourn" King Qi. After all, Liu Fei was about the same age as Wu Chen, so "died early in middle age" seemed very appropriate.

Then the minister was almost thrown out by Liu Ying.

Historically, the reason why Liu Fei was given the posthumous title of "Mourning" is related to the fact that the person in power at that time was Lv Zhi. As the eldest son of a commoner and a prince, he was a thorn in Lv Zhi's side. No words of praise.

After all, mourning is a posthumous title with a sympathetic meaning. The last person to use this posthumous title, Wu Chen, passed away only three months after taking the throne and did not achieve anything famous at all, so it is not suitable to use a posthumous title.

And my eldest brother has been in Qi for nearly [-] years, and the people are happy and prosperous. How can he not be praised well?
The current situation in the Han Dynasty is different from that in history. Liu Ying will definitely not let Liu Fei use this posthumous title again.

After pondering for a moment, he suggested: "Everyone, do you think it's okay to give King Qi a posthumous title in writing?"

As Liu Ying finished speaking, many ministers stood up to express their opposition.

The posthumous title "Wen" is too top-notch.

A monarch who dares to use it as a posthumous title without being laughed at must have made great progress in the place he governed during his reign.

Dozens of people died after the founding of the Han Dynasty, Marquis Che, but only a few of them, such as Xiao He, used "Wen" as their posthumous title.

Liu Fei did a good job in Qidi, but if he wanted to use Wen as his posthumous title, he still fell short. Even if Liu Ying took the initiative, many ministers chose to oppose it.

After all, the posthumous title system has not collapsed now, and there is credibility in the eyes of the world.

Then it is related to the posthumous names of many courtiers, and they will certainly not let them lose credibility at will.

Seeing that there was a lot of opposition, Liu Ying did not persist and insisted on giving Liu Fei the posthumous title of "Wen". After all, he knew in his heart that his brother was indeed not "knowledgeable" or "well-informed". "Benevolence and love for the people" can barely touch it, but if "Wen" is used as the posthumous title because of this, I am afraid that the posthumous title will shrink.

So Liu Ying asked the courtiers to continue to make suggestions.

They saw the courtier in front of them who proposed "Mourning" as a posthumous title, and Liu Ying almost threw him out, so they understood that Liu Ying wanted to give the King of Qi a posthumous title.

No one has any psychological burden on this requirement.

Although the King of Qi did not make any great achievements in Qi, he has been peaceful and stable for more than ten years without any trouble in the territory, so he can be regarded as a good king.

After some discussion, among the posthumous titles such as "An", "Ping" and "Hui", they felt that the word "Gong" was the most suitable for the recently deceased King of Qi.

Respecting the virtuous and giving way is called Gong, being diligent and considerate to the people is called Gong!
The posthumous title "Gong" belongs to the upper posthumous title, and unlike later generations, it has no hidden derogatory or sarcastic meaning.

After Liu Ying thought about it carefully, she felt that it was indeed a perfect match for her brother.

Many people think that Liu Fei mainly relied on the Prime Minister Cao Shen to govern Qi. Whether this view is correct or not, it at least shows that Cao Shen played an important role in the governance of Qi. Then "respecting the virtuous and respecting the concessions" makes sense.

For more than ten years, the State of Qi has been adhering to the rule of inaction and not competing for profits with the people. So it can be concluded from this that it "diligently cares for the people".

Liu Ying closed her eyes slightly, nodded and said, "The posthumous title is respectful."

After discussing the posthumous title of King Qi, and then only discussing a few minor matters, Liu Ying announced his resignation.

After he sat on the dragon chariot, he raised his head and leaned on the back of the cushion. He felt that the scratches of tears on his face were slightly numbed by the cold wind.

"Brother, I can only do so much for you in the end. If I had known this earlier, I would have let you win more games in chess."

……

February 27.

Another news came out of the palace city, which shocked the whole of Chang'an.

Liu Ying's eldest son, the future prince in everyone's eyes, died of typhoid fever that persisted for several days.A baby that was less than five months old suddenly encountered such a cold winter, plus typhoid and cold. Even if it was born in the emperor's family, the survival rate was too low.

This not only caused Liu Ying to suspend a court meeting and cry in the palace for two or three days, but the mood of the court officials also hit rock bottom.

You must know that many people are planning to invest in the baby in advance. After all, according to Liu Ying's character, even if the eldest son behaves recklessly, as long as it is not excessive, he will not be abolished.

In just ten days, Liu Ying was hit by two pieces of news, and he was filled with grief. When he went to court again, the officials found that he was much thinner and his face was slightly pale.

However, Liu Ying was still concerned about state affairs, although occasionally she would look at the documents in a daze with a blank expression when she was presenting to her ministers.

The dull clouds lingered over Chang'an for only half a year.

In July of the 23rd year of the Han Dynasty, Queen Cao was happy again, which made everyone feel a little relieved.

You must know that Liu Ying is already 28 years old, which can be said to have entered middle age in ancient times.

The fact that he did not have a legitimate son meant that he could not establish a stable crown prince, which was very detrimental to the stability of the court.

Due to the status of Queen Cao's natal family, no one has proposed changing the queen for the time being, but the anxious courtiers in the court can be said to have queued from the palace gate to the Wei River.

On March 24, the [-]th year of the Han Dynasty, Empress Cao slipped and fell. During the birth process, she suffered a massive hemorrhage and passed away. The premature child also only lived for one and a half hours...

The eunuch who went to deliver the news had never seen such an angry look on the face of this gentle emperor.

Liu Ying cursed God loudly for a quarter of an hour, expressing her unwillingness.

Since I inherited the throne, have I failed the thousands of people of the Han Dynasty?
Even for the simplest decisions, I have to think about them several times before approving them, for fear of making a mistake.

Could it be that I am still not virtuous enough, causing God to punish me?
But why is the punishment not imposed on me alone, but on people close to me?

Then he felt dizzy and his legs felt weak.

After falling to the ground, Liu Ying suddenly cried out helplessly: "What's my crime? What's my crime? Why is this? Why, why?"

The attendants on the side saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to help him, but were waved away.

In just a few years, a mother, a brother, a son, a wife and a son have been lost. No matter how determined a person is, it will be difficult for them to withstand such a blow.

What's more, his feelings for his relatives are extremely deep.

The death of every relative is like a stab in Liu Ying's heart.

After five consecutive blows, Liu Ying felt that the beating of her heart was just relying on inertia and was so weak.

After collapsing for dozens of breaths, Liu Ying stood up unsteadily, as if she was suffering from a serious illness. To outsiders, she looked like a reed in the wind, about to fall down at any time.

When he appeared in court again, it was already less than half a month later.

After losing her expectations for life, Liu Ying's energy and energy dropped rapidly. Her original black hair was as withered as autumn grass, her eyes were swollen and blue, and her expression was as dull as a puppet.

He thought about treating government affairs with care, but he couldn't help but be lost in thought, imagining his mother sitting beside him to guide him, his brother coming to visit with green onions and fish from all over the ground, and his wife holding two sons in her arms, waiting for him in the palace. .

What a beautiful scene.

The sound of the courtiers' speeches was like a stone hitting a bronze mirror, tearing the beauty and peace apart.

So Liu Ying reduced the frequency of holding morning court meetings.

The original meeting once every five days was changed to once every seven days, and he would be absent from time to time.

In November, Liu Ying had only two morning court appearances, and one time only lasted for half an hour, and the other time was slightly longer and only lasted for more than an hour.

Faced with this situation, the ministers in the court were helpless, but there was nothing they could do.

Liu Ying was not deliberately lazy or negligent in politics, he was really unable to do what he wanted.

After all, ask yourself, if important relatives are leaving one after another, how many people will continue to focus on work?
The first month of the 25th year of Han Dynasty.

Liu Ying died in Changle Palace.

According to what the doctors in the palace said a few years ago, His Majesty's physical condition was extremely bad, and his daily food intake was less than one pound and six taels.

Not even an iron man can withstand such a thing.

Therefore, the ministers were not actually too surprised.

At this time, an extremely critical question was placed in front of everyone. Who should succeed as the emperor of the Han Dynasty?
----

【main character】

The protagonist of this issue of "What If History Has Happened" is Liu Ying, the second emperor of the Han Dynasty.

In the long history of history, his reputation is not very prominent, far behind his father Liu Bang and his mother Lu Fei. Even because of the story novel, his sister Liu Le's reputation is much higher than him.

[Background introduction]

After six years of Han Dynasty, "attacking the Xiongnu in the north and conquering South Vietnam in the south", the Han regime officially stabilized and entered the "golden 15 years of the early Han Dynasty" that historians talk about.

According to the household census data recorded in history books, in the 18 years from the seventh year of the Han Dynasty to the eighteenth year of the Han Dynasty, the number of households in Hanoi County increased from 11 to 50, a growth rate of nearly [-]%.

Although there are reasons for identifying a large number of people who went into hiding during the war, it is also inseparable from the stability of the current situation, the promotion of new agricultural tools, and the development of wasteland.

……

However, the continuous rise of the Han Dynasty was suddenly interrupted in the fifth year of Emperor Hui, that is, the 20th year of Han Dynasty.

Because of the deaths of Lu Pheasant, Liu Fei and others, the then emperor Liu Ying fell into extreme sadness. He went to court less than twenty times in half a year and ignored government affairs for 23 consecutive days.

According to ordinary people's standards, Liu Ying's behavior is beyond reproach and can be said to value love and justice.

But he was no ordinary person, and he was the actual person in power of the Han Dynasty at that time.

The people at that time were quite sympathetic to Liu Ying's experience, but from ancient times to the present, most people did not think highly of Liu Ying, thinking that "he was a good person and could be a good emperor, but he failed to become a true emperor." A good emperor."

Therefore, the author believes that Liu Ying's posthumous title is very appropriate for his life.

A person who is gentle and kind to the people is called Hui; a person who is generous and not harsh is called Hui.

【Start hypothesis】

Assuming that history holds true, if Liu Ying had not been hit by the death of his relatives one after another, what height would the Han Dynasty have reached under his rule?

Will he himself be better regarded? ——"Assume that History Has What If" (No. 11)
(End of this chapter)