I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 359 Liu Duan, King Li of Jiaoxi

The ministers all impeached the King of Jiaoxi in the early dynasty, which undoubtedly formed a "momentum".

Liu Che was very smart, and he understood that he could use this power to completely suppress King Jiaoxi to death.

So the subsequent conviction process went smoothly, and there was no need to go through repeated troubles at all.

Firstly, the crimes committed by Liu Duan were numerous and serious enough. If he was convicted according to the law, he could directly follow the highest standards.

Originally, there were rules left over from the time of Emperor Gaozu. The princes and the princes of Che could be exempted from the death penalty except for the serious crime of treason.

But Liu Duanzhen killed several high-ranking officials of the imperial court worth two thousand shi. From a dead point of view, it can be considered that he had an attempt to rebel.

Secondly, no one wanted to defend Liu Duan anymore, and the conviction process went extremely smoothly.

You must know that factions have always existed in the court since the Emperor Gaozu's dynasty, and the disputes became more obvious because of Emperor Jing's use of power checks and balances.

Many times the reason a courtier opposed a proposal was not that he disagreed with the idea, but that people from rival factions wrote letters supporting its implementation.

It is precisely because of this kind of opposition purely for the sake of opposition that there has not been a uniform argument in this meeting hall for a long time.

Liu Duan's achievements this time are unprecedented.

Three days later.

Liu Che officially issued an edict to remove the country from Jiaoxi and deposed Liu Duan as a commoner.

When the envoy left Chang'an with this decree, he was even equipped with an army to escort him, letting everyone know that the matter was completely finalized.

But the Jiaoxi King case must not be treated as an isolated incident.

The keen courtiers sorted everything out in private.

Taking stock through the timeline, the origin of this matter can even be traced back to the period of the late emperor, when Liu Duan was granted the title of Jiaoxi.

Just talking about the beginning of Liu Duan's complete thunder, it was the Prime Minister of Jiaoxi who sent a mission to write a letter to impeach Liu Duan.

There are three key nodes in the whole process.

One was the riot among the people in Yi'an County.

This made the emperor plan to investigate Liu Duan and found many doubts. In addition, the Jiaoxi mission submitted documents, so he decided to convict Liu Duan.

The second is that the Queen Mother issued an order to prevent him from being spared.

The involvement of Empress Dowager Dou means that the matter is no longer just a conflict between the central and local governments, but also the internal struggle between the central and high-level powers has been involved, which has also caused disturbances in the originally stable development, and Liu Duan almost escaped.

The third was that the envoy named Chen Xun confessed his identity and gave the King of Jiaoxi a fatal blow.

The clan of the Han Dynasty sent people to assassinate the descendants of Marquis Wenzhen of Yangxia. If this matter was spread by someone with intentions, it would shake the foundation of the country.

The power of the human heart can never be ignored.

Marquis Wenzhen of Yangxia was highly praised by the late emperor and respected by countless people and officials in the Han Dynasty. In addition, the Chen family of Yangxia had not made any mistakes in recent years. His reputation could be said to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, especially in the southeastern region.

When Chen Sheng held events in Daze Township, he did so in the name of Xiang Yan.

If Liu Duan is not dealt with, who knows if someone will raise a banner to protest Chen's injustice and start an uprising in the future.

A wise ruler would never leave such a big hidden danger to the country.

Therefore, when things have developed to this point, Liu Duan no longer has any chance.

Even Queen Mother Dou chose to stand aside and did not continue to plead for him.

However, the courtiers did not ignore the subsequent impact of the Jiaoxi King case.

After all, the Jiaoxi Kingdom was eliminated, and as long as Liu Duan was not crazy enough to start a rebellion, the contradiction between the central and local governments was completely resolved.

But the internal struggle among the top powers is not over yet.

Originally, most courtiers felt that as long as Empress Dowager Dou lived, it would be impossible for the emperor to truly have supreme power by relying on her seniority and the basic national policy of "ruling the country with filial piety."

But after this case, they found that the situation had changed.

Chen Xun is the variable.

His public support of the emperor's decision and the conviction of King Jiaoxi was enough to show that he did not belong to the Queen Mother's faction.

What's more, this person's identity cannot be ignored.

At present, the Yangxia Chen family does not have any other direct descendants working in Chang'an, so does Chen Xun's attitude represent a certain attitude of the Yangxia Chen family?

If he could really represent the entire Yangxia Chen family, then all the officials who were originally swinging between the Queen Mother and the Emperor would quickly fall to Liu Che.

This is the influence left by Marquis Wenzhen of Yangxia.

……

The news of King Jiaoxi's extermination was rushed to Qidi by courier, and was escorted by a considerable number of troops. There was no delay on the way.

The purpose of expediting the letter delivery was to prevent others from spreading the news to Jiaoxi first and to prevent Liu Duan from having too much time to react.

Rabbits will bite when they are anxious, and dogs will jump over walls when they are anxious.

What if the princes and kings find out that they have been deposed as common people, and they cannot accept it in their hearts and choose to rebel?

Therefore, conveying the edict to Jiaoxi Kingdom as soon as possible and removing Liu Duan from his power can avoid the worst situation.

As for why military escorts are provided, the reason is even simpler.

After all, Liu Che was worried about "bandit chaos" on the road.

When someone intercepts and kills the messenger, destroying the delivery of the decree, it may cause new waves, causing another incident to happen in what should have been a smooth implementation.

However, the mission's journey was smooth.

After the county governors and magistrates from various places knew their identities, they did not dare to embarrass them and gave them the green light all the way.

If I make any misleading move, what if the angel goes back and makes some remarks, making His Majesty think that they are Liu Duan's accomplices?

That's amazing.

When the delegation rushed into Gaomi City like the wind and announced Liu Che's decree, everyone in the Jiaoxi court was stunned.

what?

What's happening here?

Especially the Prime Minister of Jiaoxi who had not come to court for a long time due to illness and learned that another edict was finally sent from Chang'an.

He listened to the beginning of the document and was quite surprised to learn that Liu Che had been convicted.

Did the documents he sent to Chang'an really work?

But after learning the specific content below, he felt that his head suddenly turned into mush.

My request is just to transfer myself and no longer serve as the Prime Minister of Jiaoxi Kingdom. How come your Majesty directly eliminates Jiaoxi Kingdom?

Although his goal seems to have been achieved.

After all, the Jiaoxi Kingdom is gone, so I can’t serve as the Prime Minister of Jiaoxi Kingdom.

But the process of realizing my wish was a bit too exaggerated.

Moreover, I serve as the prime minister of the country and wipe out the monarch. Is there any boss who is willing to accept me as a subordinate?

The Prime Minister of Jiaoxi was in a complicated mood, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should cry or laugh.

At the same time, Liu Che felt like a bolt from the blue.

After he received the edict from the messenger, he felt confused, became clear again, and returned to the harem. Looking at the familiar decoration, Liu Duan understood that this place was no longer his residence.

Why is this so?

Obviously I had sent people to rob and kill that damn mission, I had written a letter specifically to cry to the Queen Mother, and Prime Minister Wei had agreed to help me. Those mob troubles should not have affected me at all, so why did it end up like this? Like this?

He wanted to smash everything around him in anger, but he lowered his head feebly.

The idea of ​​starting a rebellion flashed in Liu Duan's mind.

But Liu Che sadly discovered that if he really wanted to rebel, it seemed that no one would choose to follow him.

The eunuchs and guards in the palace were afraid of the power of the previous King of Jiaoxi, so they obeyed his orders.

And now that he has lost his throne, those people will probably never pay attention to him again.

Most of the ministers and generals in the court must have resentment in their hearts.

Although those who dared to speak out were basically killed by him, Liu Duan could still clearly see the indifference on most people's faces during every court meeting.

If you want to rely on these people to start a rebellion, I'm afraid they will defect immediately and go to Chang'an to exchange for credit with their heads.

As for those conspirators who want to disrupt the world, I don't know them.

What's more, even if you know each other, the probability that the other party will choose to invest in you should be close to none.

Liu Duan, who was groggy, walked to the palace.

He lay on the big splendid bed, feeling that his limbs were extremely cold, and the coldness seeped out of the dark corners and invaded him.

Liu Duan fell asleep and opened his eyes again. The anxiety in his heart was not relieved at all. When he raised his head, he felt that the walls, beams, and ceiling were covered with blood.

The wall was filled with dark shadows.

The concubines, eunuchs and guards who had been killed by him gathered there and stared at him coldly with white eyes.

"You? Why are you?" Liu Duan's eyes widened.

The shadows didn't answer his question, and still stared at him with cold eyes.

Liu Duan screamed like a maniac, calling for his guards, but no one responded.

After the eunuchs and guards in the palace learned that King Jiaoxi had been deposed as a commoner, they left long ago with smiles.

No one cares about Liu Duan's next situation.

Frightened, Liu Duan rummaged through his cabinets, trying to find a sharp sword to dispel these shadows.

But after searching for a long time, he only found half a packet of gray-red powder in the drawer.

"Haha, haha." Liu Duan smiled wildly, poured them into the wine tremblingly, and drank it in one gulp.

Gradually, Liu Duan felt that the world in front of him was no longer blood red, but his stomach felt a little cramped.

"Boom."

With a muffled sound, the King of Jiaoxi, who had killed countless people, fell beside his bed with fear and severe pain.

It wasn't until five days later that someone discovered the rotting and stinking corpse. They picked it up at random, threw it outside the city and buried it crudely. However, because the burial was not deep, after a heavy rain, the bones were washed away. .

……

When the news that King Jiaoxi committed suicide by drinking poison reached Chang'an, it did not attract any attention.

Politically, Liu Duan was already a dead man when he was expelled from the country.

His suicide by drinking poison this time has confirmed all the previous charges. Others will not even think about overturning the case for him.

As for Chen Luo, who led the three key nodes in the entire Jiaoxi King case, he was enjoying tea leisurely at Guo Jie's house.

"...Liu Duan dies this time, so we don't have to take action anymore. Okay, brother Boyu, let me declare again before leaving that the Yangxia Chen family has recognized your identity and supported all your previous actions. And according to the wishes of Mr. Zhengqu and Mr. Ruoyu, as long as you don't do evil things and don't harm the people, we will always support your actions." The man sitting opposite him is named Chen Xu, whose nickname is Dongsheng. The fourth generation descendant of the Chen family in Yangxia.

He came to Chang'an to verify Chen Luo's identity.

Finally, Chen Xu used the half of the jade pendant to completely confirm that Chen Luonai was the descendant of Yangxia Wenzhenhou's brother.

And this time Chen Luo's performance in the Jiaoxi King case won him the power to represent the Yangxia Chen family.

Chen Luo smiled and nodded, and said with a hint of relief: "Okay, I will finish the trivial matters here in Chang'an and will go to Yangxia as soon as possible to pay homage to Marquis Wenzhen of Yangxia and meet the head of the family."

"Yeah, then I'll take a step forward and go back to Yangxia to report this happy event to my eldest father and the others." Chen Xu responded and stood up to leave.

However, he always had the illusion that Brother Boyu in front of him looked at him with an inexplicable...kindness?

It was like the look my father gave me when he saw that I had written a good article.

It must be an illusion, right?

After Chen Xu left, Li Xu also entered the house.

"You're not here to say goodbye, are you?" Chen Luo pursed his lips and asked.

Li Xu smiled and shook his head: "Brother Boyu guessed the opposite. Originally, after the King of Jiaoxi was busy with the matter, I should go to Qidi or Chudi, but they felt that I could provide some help by being by your side, responsible for liaison, etc. matter, so I stayed.

So Brother Boyu, I will give you more advice in the future. "

After saying that, he bowed his hands.

"Guidance is out of the question, but with Brother Li by my side, I can do many things with peace of mind." Chen Luo returned the favor and joked, "Brother Li, just don't starve me."

Li Xu should have been arranged by his side through negotiation between the Mo family and the Yangxia Chen family.

Chen Luo was not disgusted with this arrangement.

After all, his existence is relatively unfamiliar to the Yangxia Chen family and the Mo family, and it will take longer to win complete trust.

Therefore, they arranged for Li Xu, an internal member, to stay with them to ensure that they would not do anything wrong and tarnish the reputation of the Chen family in Yangxia.

As for Chen Luo, having Li Xu around him is also a lot more convenient.

He doesn't have many confidants around him now, so he can't face everything and do it himself.

On the one hand, I don’t have enough energy, and on the other hand, I don’t have enough resources.

With Li Xu by his side, some of the more important things can be left to him.

Then, Guo Xie pushed the door open and entered again.

He said to Chen Luo: "Boyu, someone from the palace said that His Majesty called you to come. This time he probably wants to conduct a formal inspection on you. You must seize this opportunity."

After the case of King Jiaoxi, Chen Luo, who was blessed by the Chen family of Yangxia, has now become a rising political star in Chang'an City.

Chen Luo squinted his eyes and stood up without any trace of nervousness. He nodded and said, "I understand, I'll go right away."

----

The king of Jiaoxi was cruel, hated by the people, and ashamed of the emperor. Twenty-three years after the founding of the country, he was impeached by the officials.

After the death of the motherland, the land was transferred to the Han Dynasty and became Jiaoxi County.

If you are afraid, you will commit suicide.

None of the people in Jiaoxi were sad.

After hearing this, he was given the posthumous title of King Li for his crime. ——"Historical Records·Five Families"

(End of this chapter)