I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 308 Liu Ruyi: My fourth brother actually still has such a side?
Dahan 27 years.

In the year of Gengyou, the zodiac sign is Rooster.

Exactly one century has passed since the death of Emperor Taizu Gao.

Two years and seven months have passed since Emperor Xiaohui passed away.

This was also the third year that King Yan Liu Heng came to Beijing to become emperor.

Since the beginning of this year, there have been many happy events, which have swept away the gloom that had shrouded the sky in the past few years.

So the courtiers in Chang'an felt the new atmosphere, and spontaneously submitted a letter, detailing the emperor's achievements in recent years, and wrote a poem in gorgeous words to praise Liu Heng's achievements and deeds.

Only ten months after he ascended the throne, a locust plague occurred in Henan County. A large number of people worked hard for half a year, but they could only look at the fields with no harvest and cry bitterly.

If handled carelessly, it will turn into a famine, and a large number of affected people will either starve to death or flee to other places.

Liu Heng decided to transport the grain reserves in the Guanzhong warehouse and sent trusted ministers to supervise the whole process. If anyone dared to pocket this batch of relief grains, not only would he be killed, but his relatives within three generations would have to scold that person loudly. .

With such determination, the losses caused by the locust plague in Henan County were minimized. No one chose to leave their hometown. When the next spring begins and a new crop of wheat grows, the people on that land will be revitalized.

As for the second important event recorded in the ode, it was in February of the 26th year of the Han Dynasty that the Xiongnu invaded the Yan region. Liu Heng led his army to fight in person, which lasted for five months.

The final result was that the Xiongnu Chanyu chose to give in and sent a letter asking for peace, stating that it was King Yougu Li who made the decision on the border without authorization, which hurt the friendship between the two countries and had already punished him.

If dealing with the locust plague can only be regarded as civil governance, then in the eyes of courtiers, it can be called "martial arts".

During the years when the previous emperor Liu Ying was in power, the world was stable, but he had no external military exploits, which made people subconsciously feel that there was a gap between him and Liu Bang.

After all, Liu Bang not only conquered and ruled the world, but also resisted the Xiongnu in the north and conquered South Vietnam in the south, which were also very impressive achievements.

Although Liu Heng has been on the throne for only three years, he has the potential to rival Liu Bang in the eyes of the ministers just by personally conquering the Huns, and the eulogy makes a special mention of this matter.

Ignoring the rectification of officialdom, reduction of taxes and other miscellaneous matters mentioned in the poem, the time comes to the 27th year of the Han Dynasty.

The writing style suddenly changed.

Originally, the words used to describe the hardships of facing hardships were gloomy and frustrating, but many happy events happened one after another, which naturally made it cheerful.

The first happy event was that Queen Dou gave birth to Liu Heng's eldest son in March, named Qi.

If nothing else happens, Liu Qi will be the future prince of the Han Dynasty.

You must know that Liu Ying had no legitimate son, which made many court officials anxious. Now that Liu Heng has just been on the throne for three years, he has his eldest son, which makes the officials in Chang'an feel relieved.

The second happy event is the harvest of spring wheat planted in the Sanhe area.

You must know that the south has not been fully developed. The two most important places for the Han Dynasty to collect grain are Guanzhong and the Sanhe area.

Therefore, the abundant grain harvest in the Sanhe area completely made up for the grain losses caused by the use of grain reserves in Guanzhong in the 25th year of the Han Dynasty and the war launched by the Han Dynasty in the 26th year of the Han Dynasty.

The third happy event was that Liu Heng decided to build a terrace for observing astronomical phenomena during the morning meeting the day before yesterday.

This is the first time he has decided to build a new building after taking the throne, and his ministers will naturally choose to support it.

After all, building a terrace is not a major construction project, and the manpower and material resources consumed are probably less than one-tenth of that of a palace, so they have no reason to object.

When Liu Heng asked the craftsmen and learned that building the terrace required a hundred taels of gold, he sighed with emotion: "Building such a terrace actually costs the entire property of ten ordinary families. It is really too extravagant. The palace left by the late emperor is quite new. I shouldn’t build any more new buildings.”

So he announced in public that he would give up building the terrace.

This is something neither Liu Bang nor Liu Ying did.

Liu Bang was very simple in traveling and living, but he paid attention to pomp and circumstance when hosting banquets to entertain others.

Liu Ying was equally simple in hosting banquets and living, but when she went on hunting trips, she mobilized and followed many people.

As the emperor, Liu Heng set an example and respected simplicity, which was a great benefit to the country and the people.

This is another reason why today’s society should be praised.

In Dai City, Chen Luo finished reading this article, then turned his head and looked at Liu Ruyi.

Although he didn't say anything clearly, the meaning was already obvious.

Liu Ruyi sighed helplessly and said: "I understand the Prime Minister, and I know that I am far behind my fourth brother."

In the days when Liu Heng had just succeeded to the throne, Liu Ruyi paid special attention to the situation in Chang'an and wanted to compare everything secretly.

As time passed, he developed a deep sense of powerlessness.

Moreover, there are some operations that I don't understand, and I need to be explained by Chen Luo before I can suddenly understand them.

At the beginning, Liu Ruyi felt that she had not thought of that level, but as more and more operations she did not understand followed, many of them were even "gray lines". The foreshadowing was even a few months or even a year ago. It shocked him deeply.

Chen Luo smiled and said, "Your fourth brother is a good emperor, even a rare good emperor. If you can't compare with him, there is no need to feel upset."

Liu Ruyi rubbed her chin, picked up the cup and drank tea silently.

He now feels more and more that Guo Xiang is really prescient.

Looking at the traces of the fourth brother's journey in the past three years, even if it is some unexpected behavior, there is no wrong step.

Anyone who looks at it will feel ashamed.

Before Liu Heng took charge of Chang'an, he gave Zhou Bo a showdown at the Weishui Bridge.

Liu Ruyi felt puzzled at first: the Taiwei was an important minister of the imperial court, and his fourth brother had not yet ascended to the throne of God. If he offended him like this, wouldn't he be afraid of something unexpected happening?

Regarding his question, Chen Luo explained at the time: "Liu Heng's rejection of Zhou Bo is justified, and he is the candidate who was formally announced by the Heroic Party in the court to inherit the throne. It is impossible to refuse because of such a trivial matter. Let him take over Chang'an."

Liu Heng understands the appropriateness of this very well.

After all, Zhou Bo is not Cao Cao or Sima Zhao, and even compared to Huo Guang, he is fundamentally different.

You must know that when Cao Cao and Sima Zhao encountered such a situation, even if they did not attack Liu Heng directly, they would still use the people around him to establish their authority. Queen Dou would most likely become a victim.

What is different about Zhou Bo is that he is a very powerful minister, not a powerful official. Not to mention that he cannot speak the truth in the court, the Meritorious Ministers faction also does not have such ability.

In addition, Zhou Bo and the others fundamentally have no rebellious intentions and are loyal to the Han Dynasty and the Liu family.

Therefore, after Liu Heng did this, he was not retaliated against, but received visible benefits.

The number of confidants he originally brought over from Yan State was not large, and there were only three or four capable ones.

After establishing their authority, a group of officials in Chang'an City who wanted to advance saw the right opportunity and chose to join him, which greatly enriched Liu Heng's wings.After Liu Ruyi was prompted by Chen Luo, she felt that although she had not thought of this, the country of Dai already had more outstanding ministers than the country of Yan, and she could gain a foothold in Chang'an without finding another way.

Of course, establishing power at the Weishui Bridge was only Liu Heng's first move.

In the third month after taking control of Chang'an, Lu Chan and Lu Lu were promoted honorably.

The first moment Liu Ruyi saw this resolution, she thought that her fourth brother was planning to use the Lu family to fight against the hero faction, playing a power balance game.

When Chen Luo heard this idea, he smiled and said that he had only seen the first layer.

Lu Chan and Lu Lu can be said to have risen and fallen secretly.

They were originally the commanders of the Forbidden Army and controlled one of the most elite troops in the Gyeonggi region. You must know that the Lu family's greatest confidence in the confrontation with the Hero Faction lies in this.

After the two were promoted, they seemed to have a higher position, but their actual power was as small as an ant seeing an elephant compared to the hero sect as a whole.

Therefore, Liu Heng's plan was not to use them to fight against the hero faction.

On the contrary, judging from the subsequent development, their resigned positions were replaced by Zhang Wu and Song Chang, Liu Heng's cronies brought from Yandi.

This shows that Liu Heng does not want to rely on other forces, and consolidating his own foundation is his choice.

Liu Ruyi was stunned on the spot after listening to the explanation.

After this incident, he even felt that if he were sitting in that position, he would definitely notice this, and it would not be considered that there was a big gap between him and his fourth brother.

Liu Heng's subsequent operations amazed him even more.

In the 25th year of the Han Dynasty, there was a locust plague in Henan County. Liu Heng transferred grain from Guanzhong and successfully pacified the people.

Liu Ruyi felt that he could do this easily.

However, in the 26th year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Heng personally conquered the Xiongnu. The reason was that there was no grain reserve in Guanzhong.

This series of operations seemed ordinary. After Chen Luo explained to himself solemnly, Liu Ruyi realized how outrageous his fourth brother was.

In the 26th year of the Han Dynasty, the Huns invaded Yan in February.

After Liu Heng learned the news, he immediately announced his personal expedition.

However, the Xiongnu's attack on Yan this time was only the action of the Youguli King tribe. It was not like the whole country pressed forward in the sixth year of the Han Dynasty. After learning that the regular army of the Han Dynasty had arrived, they chose to retreat at the end of March.

After the enemy retreated, Liu Heng did not immediately choose to return to the court with his troops.

At that time, he had just led his army to the border area and learned that the Huns had retreated. He stayed in the army for a full five months with seven or eight reasons, including "beware of the Huns coming again", "rectifying the border troops and consolidating the border defense", and "checking for leaks and filling vacancies". .

It was not until early July that Liu Heng returned to Chang'an.

Does he do this because he loves military life?
Naturally not.

During his stay in the army, Liu Heng mainly did one thing, which was to eliminate Zhou Bo's influence on a large scale.

The Han army went through three stages of development.

The first stage was the founding stage. At that time, the villagers of Peixian County were the main component. The total number of the army was only three to five thousand. The core was Liu Bang. Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Xia Houying, and Lu Ze, the elders of Peixian County, were equally important. .

The second stage is the growth stage. At this time, the size of the Han army expanded rapidly. The total number of the army exceeded 20. The main commander became Han Xin. Experienced generals such as Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, and Xia Houying relied on their own abilities to lead the army. Yu Yijun.

The third stage is the stable stage. The Han Dynasty is officially established, which means that the commander of the army will not undergo drastic changes. The most influential person in the army is naturally the Taiwei.

The person with the longest term was not Han Xin, who was the most famous and led the Han army to resist the Xiongnu in the north, but Zhou Bo, who had held this position for a long time since the tenth year of the Han Dynasty.

Zhou Bo can be found in all three stages of the development of the Han army.

Especially in the second stage, Liu Bang trusted the elders of Peixian County more. Han Xin had the highest command authority, but he was not close to the soldiers below. On the contrary, those generals who had been in charge of the army since the first stage were more familiar with the soldiers.

Therefore, his influence among the current Han army has reached a very terrifying level. Most of the soldiers know and recognize this old general Zhou.

Even Zhou Bo didn't realize this.

It is not a good thing for a general to have too much influence.

Except for emperors like Li Shimin who personally led troops to conquer the world and whose reputation was unparalleled, everyone else would be more or less afraid of someone like Zhou Bo.

The same is true for Liu Heng.

So during this period of time, he deployed countless of his cronies and initially took control of the Han army.

After listening to Chen Luo's analysis, Liu Ruyi was filled with questions.

The fourth brother actually has such a side?
I used to think that the fourth brother was taciturn, but now that I think about it, could it be that he didn’t want to communicate with fools?

There is another point that is horrifying to think about, but Chen Luo did not bring it up.

That is, according to the investigation of Mohist disciples, the reason why the Xiongnu invaded the Yan region was because the officials of the Yan region first provoked external aggression, which ultimately caused conflicts.

This is very intriguing.

The Xiongnu had been quite peaceful in these years. They tried to accumulate strength by trading with the Han Dynasty. There was no reason to suddenly launch a war without sufficient preparation.

Perhaps... this time the Xiongnu went south was not an accident.

Yandi was a feudal state before Liu Heng took over Chang'an. Although it has been changed to a county now, most of the local officials are still the same people who used to work under Liu Heng.

Therefore, if he wanted to take the opportunity to weaken Zhou Bo's influence in the army, he could have specially arranged such an "accident" to let officials from Yan land go to provoke the Huns at the border and trigger this dispute.

However, Chen Luo had no concrete evidence to prove his conjecture.

But you must know that the locust plague in the 25th year of the Han Dynasty used the grain reserves in the Gyeonggi area, which was the reason for Liu Heng's personal expedition in the 26th year of the Han Dynasty.

It can be said to be a chain.

If this was Liu Heng's plan long ago, he would use the excuse that there were few grain reserves in the customs and needed to conduct conquests to stabilize the morale of the army, and then expand his influence in the Han army.

If this is true, then Liu Heng's scheming may be far beyond most people's imagination.

Of course, when it comes to power and means, Liu Heng can be ranked in the top ten in history, but the reason why he was nicknamed "Wen" is not because of those means.

After all, Jiajing succeeded to the throne by coincidence and was also deeply thoughtful. He relied solely on power but his personal style was completely different from Liu Heng's.

Judging from the fact that he never repaired the terrace, Liu Heng's methods were just techniques, and his benevolence and righteousness to the people was his way.

(End of this chapter)