The great man will live forever

Chapter 218 Creating a First-of-its-kind

Jiazi Day in December of the first year of Jianping in the Western Han Dynasty (January 5, 1 BC) was auspicious, and this day was destined to be recorded in history books.

"Whoa whoa whoa."

With a loud cry, a little boy was born in a house in Jiyang County, Chenliu County.

An unusual vision appeared in the sky. Among them, there were colorful auspicious clouds hanging over the roof, and a bird flew into the house and landed next to the child, constantly spreading its wings for him.

There was also a huge bead that fell from the sky, flipped over the top of the house, then rose on its own and floated into the distant tree shade...

These miraculous visions made the people present feel unusual and filled them with confidence and hope for the child's future.

As for whether these visions are true or false, no one knows. Maybe they are, maybe they are not. Even if they are recorded in history books, they may not be true.

When recording official history, you must understand the truth that the essence of history is writing, and the most important thing is to write it down. Only in this way can we be qualified to see it.

The premise of writing is choice, what to write or not to write, the writer has the right to choose. There are many hard bones in writing history books. China has them since ancient times, but there are also many weak ones, such as Cui Zhu's regicide. Yes, there are many people who have served as slaves for 72 generations and served as ministers for 25 dynasties...

The boy's father is Liu Qin, who is currently the order of Jiyang. He is the eighth grandson of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, the great-great-grandson of Liu Fa, the king of Changsha, the great-grandson of Liu Mai, the Marquis of Chongling Festival, the grandson of Liu's wife, and the son of Liu Hui.

Because he complied with the principle of "extending favor orders", he was demoted from the ranks of princes. In Liu Qin's generation, he was only a small official like the magistrate of Jiyang County.

He may seem like a minor official, but he has actually surpassed most people. For ordinary people, a county magistrate will be someone to look up to in future generations.

Probably because he noticed something strange in the sky, Liu Qin felt strange, so he immediately summoned Shi Chonglan, a meritorious officer, and sent him to ask someone who knew how to divine.

Chonglan and his subordinate Su Yong went to the residence of the diviner Wang Changsun. Wang Changsun warmly welcomed them. After some divination, he said to Su Yong and Chonglan: "This is an auspicious thing, no need to say more."

This year, millet grew on the place where sedum was planted in front of Liu Qin's house. There were three plants in total, each with nine ears on a stem. They were one or two feet longer than ordinary millet. They were extremely good millet.

"In this case, my son will be called Liu Xiu from now on, Heaven and Earth Bell Shenxiu. I hope you will not live up to this name."

Looking at his son in his arms, Liu Qin, who was blessed with a son for a long time, was extremely happy. This was his youngest son...

Time passed, and in the third year of Yuanshi (AD 3), Wang Mang was already 48 years old and became an extremely qualified politician. In order to consolidate his position in the court, he prepared to make his eldest queen Yan the queen. , learn from Huo Guang’s approach.

In this year, Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty was 12 years old. Wang Mang asked Empress Dowager Wang to choose a queen for Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty.

Empress Dowager Wang agreed and issued an edict asking several ministers to handle the matter.

Within a few days, the ministers wrote a list of recommended girls and reported it to Wang Mang. Wang Mang saw that in addition to his own daughter, there were dozens of other girls, and all of them were young and beautiful.

Wang Mang was shocked by this. He was afraid that his daughter would not be chosen, so he pretended to say to the Queen Mother Wang: "Aunt, I have no virtue myself, and my daughter has no talent or beauty.

Besides, half of the applicants are girls from our Wang family. This is too inappropriate. Please check off my own daughter’s name first. "

Good guy, Ling Ran looks very righteous, but his calculations in his heart are loud and clear. This is obviously taking retreat as an opportunity to advance.

"That's not good. I think Suqin is very good. Why can't I choose her?"

"Let's forget it." Wang Mang shook his head.

Seeing Tong like this, Empress Dowager Wang really thought that Wang Mang was unwilling to let his relatives' daughters become queens, so she issued an edict: "No women from the Wang family can be selected."

Good guy, as soon as this edict came out, all the civil and military officials in the dynasty were fighting for Wang Mang's daughter.

"An Le Gong's daughter is virtuous and beautiful. An Le Gong is like a saint. A saint's daughter should be worthy of Your Majesty."

They made a big fuss, not necessarily without Wang Mang's encouragement, and then together they begged the Empress Dowager Wang to appoint Wang Mang's daughter as queen. There were more than 1100 petitions every day from both inside and outside the court recommending Wang Mang's daughter.

Wang Zhengjun was helpless. Seeing that everyone supported his nephew's daughter to be the queen, he decided to choose Wang Mang's daughter as the queen based on everyone's opinions.

In February of 4 AD, Wang Mang's daughter was officially named queen.

Also in this year, Liu Qin died while serving as magistrate of Nanton County (in today's Xiangcheng City, Henan Province).

"Third brother, Aweng is gone." The speaker was Liu Yan, Liu Xiu's eldest brother. He was now about 20 years old, tall and tall, and looked extremely sad.

"Really? Big brother!"

Liu Xiu is now a nine-year-old child, but he already looks more mature. Tears burst into his eyes. From now on, he has no father.

Liu Xiu and her brother and sister became orphans when they were only 9 years old. They lived without support and were raised by their uncle Liu Liang in Caiyang County, Nanyang County (now Zaoyang, Hubei Province). They became ordinary civilians, but even ordinary farmers , he still has land, can make a living, and can read and write. He is already considered a very wealthy farmer...

But history will not stop for anyone. In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 4), in order to further consolidate his power, Wang Mang asked the emperor to give him the title of Prime Minister, ranking him above the princes and princes.

He petitioned to build various ceremonial buildings and public facilities, such as Mingtang, Piyong, Lingtai, etc., and also built [-] residences for scholars to attract scholars and people with special abilities from all over the world to come to Chang'an and vigorously promote ritual and music education. , won the support of Confucian scholars.

During this period, more than 48 people, as well as princes, princes, and clans, petitioned to reward Wang Mang, the Duke of Anhan, and then [-] ministers also requested to reward Wang Mang with nine tins.

The Nine-Xi Ceremony is one of the nine ritual utensils given by ancient Chinese emperors to princes and ministers with special honors. It is the highest expression of courtesy.

The nine kinds of special gifts are: chariots and horses, clothes, Lexuan, Zhuhu, Nabi, Huben, ax and ax, bow and arrow, and 鬬鬯.

Those who are virtuous will be given chariots and horses, those who can calm the people will be given clothing, those who can make the people happy will be given happiness, those who have a large number of people will be given Zhuhu, those who can do good will be given Nabi, those who can turn away evil will be given tigers, and those who can ward off evil. Those who conquer injustice will be given bows and arrows, those who can punish the guilty will be given axes and axes, and those who are filial will be given a spear.

Therefore, in the fifth month of the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 5), the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun came to the front hall and personally gave Wang Mang Jiuxi.

The various gifts Wang Mang received were: "Green gourd crown clothes, jade and jade, jade shoes, horse riding on the Luan Road, dragon flag with nine tassels, leather and plain skin, horse riding on the military road, Tong bow and arrow, Lu bow and arrow, On the left is a Zhuyue, on the right is a golden Qi, one piece of armor, two swords, two Gui Zan, two nine-life sapphire Gui, Zhu Hu Nabi. There are Zongguan, Zhuguan, Diviner, Historian, 300 Huben people, and the family Each of the ministers was ordered to have one person, and Zong, Zhu, Bu, and Shiguan were all assigned mistresses to assist Han Gong.

In the outer area of ​​Zhongfu, Huben is the gatekeeper, and he is responsible for the entry and exit of Fu Ji.Since Si Fu and Sangong have affairs in their mansions, they all use Chuan.The palace of the King of Chu was designated as the residence of the Duke of Han Dynasty, and a large-scale renovation was carried out to connect the Zhou Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty.Your temple and sleeping quarters are all Zhuhu Nabi.Chen Chong also played: "Anhan Gong ancestral hall, you go out of the city gate, and the knights will follow you."There are guards when entering and knights when leaving, so the country is heavy. 'Zou Ke. "

At that moment, Wang Mang was almost equal to the emperor, even better than Huo Guang. Huo Guang deposed the emperor and he wanted to be the emperor!

In later generations, those who usurped the throne would first add nine tins and then usurp the throne. It was best to make three concessions and three resignations. Obviously, I really want it in my heart, but I still have to do it on the surface. Probably the Chinese people are like this in their bones. They always have to work hard to save face. Everything he did came from Wang Mang.

Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Sima Zhao all accepted it; later the founding emperors from Song, Qi, Liang, Chen to Sui and Tang dynasties all received "Nine Tins", so "Nine Tins" became synonymous with treason.

But this was not enough. After all, Wang Mang was going to be the first to usurp the throne. In order to gain more bargaining chips, he created a scene of peace and prosperity. First, he sent eight "custom envoys" to inspect various places. After returning to the court, he praised the peace in the world. , to demonstrate his contribution to preaching and enlightenment.

Secondly, he used the policy of large sums of money to induce the Xiongnu and other foreign tribes to send envoys to pay tribute. For a time, Wang Mang became a virtuous saint in people's hearts who ruled the country and brought peace to the world.

Later, Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty became seriously ill. In order to show his loyalty and love for the emperor, Wang Mang claimed that he would pray to heaven and die on Emperor Ping's behalf.

In December of the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 6), Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty died of illness. In order to prevent the new emperor from threatening his power after he ascended the throne, Wang Mang established Liu Ying, the only two-year-old great-great-grandson of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, as the crown prince.

Adhering to the wishes of the ministers, the Empress Dowager asked Wang Mang to act as the emperor's government, calling him a false emperor. His subjects called Wang Mang the emperor regent, and Wang Mang called himself "Yu". Wang Mang was already 51 years old at this time.

As for how Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty died?

Wang Mang said he died of illness, so it could only be that he died of illness. After all, he had the final say, but there was a high probability that he poisoned him. After all, Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty was 14 years old, and he had his own thoughts and could resist him.

It is best for the puppet to be a child under 10 years old. He does not understand anything. No matter what he does, the officials will not take it seriously and think it is a child's play...

Therefore, there is another version that says that on December 5, 12 AD, ministers congratulated Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty on his birthday.

In accordance with the ceremony at that time, Wang Mang personally presented a cup of longevity wine laced with poison.Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty drank it. He fell ill the next day and became even more seriously ill on the third day.

When Wang Mang wanted to be Duke of Zhou, he remembered the story of Duke Zhou.It is said that when King Wu of Zhou fell ill, the Duke of Zhou was willing to die in his place and wrote a prayer and hid it in a box.

So, like Zhou Gong, Wang Mang wrote a prayer and hid it in a box in the front hall, sealing it to express his secret prayer to God to let him die in his place.

But he is the Duke of Zhou, and he is really willing to die. He wants others to die. The ancients may have been afraid of these things, afraid of God, afraid of gods, afraid of curses, and would not curse themselves... But he is a time traveler, The fake Wang Mang has lived hundreds of years, what is he afraid of?

Obviously, this has no effect. Only if it does, there will be ghosts. On December 5, 12 AD, Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty Liu Chan passed away in Weiyang Palace at the age of 16...

After some operations, his power in the court was at its peak, almost equal to that of the emperor. Some people may think that he is just the Duke of Zhou, but discerning people, especially the descendants of the Liu family, have already seen that, good guy, he is not trying to be Huo Guang, he is. I want to be an emperor.

As a result, the opposition, led by the Liu clan, began to exert force. The country that your ancestors worked hard to build has been more than 200 years old, and you just take it away casually?
No one would be willing to change him. If Wang Mang becomes emperor, will those of them named Liu still have good things to eat?
So, they began to resist. First, Anzhonghou Liu Chong attacked. In the first year of Jushe (AD 6), Liu Chong led more than a hundred people to attack Wancheng. They had the courage, but they were too stupid. More than a hundred people What is the use?

As a result, he failed without even entering the city gate.

In September of the following year, Zhai Yi, the prefect of Dongjun, raised troops and proclaimed Yanxiang Hou Liu Xin as the emperor. He notified various places that the "thief" Zhao Ming and others in 23 counties west of Chang'an also rose up in rebellion.

"Good guy, you've turned against me, forget it, just cry."

In the mansion, Wang Mang wanted to laugh a little, he had already anticipated this effect.

"Being an emperor is indeed good. I haven't done it yet. It's a pity. Compared with immortality, these are far behind."

So, just like in history, he pretended to be very frightened and prayed and cried in the ancestral temple day and night with his baby in his arms. He cried so miserably that everyone was sad to see him.

At the same time, he not only cried, but also continuously mobilized the army to suppress the opposition, and finally succeeded in stabilizing the situation.

The year after Zhai Yi's troops were defeated, Wang Yi, under the assignment of Wang Mang, successfully quelled the rebellion.

"That's it. I thought you were so awesome. You are a group of natives. It's time to become emperor. Liu Xin is a talented person and he changed his name to Liu Xiu. Do I want to kill a few Liu Xiu too?"

Wang Mang murmured to himself, but after all he did not order Liu Xiu to be killed, otherwise history would have to change again. He didn't care about the change, but it couldn't change drastically.

Liu Xin, whose courtesy name was Zijun, later changed his name to Xiu, and whose courtesy name was Yingshu. He was a native of Pei (now part of Jiangsu Province) in the Western Han Dynasty, the fifth grandson of his great ancestor, King Chu Yuan (Liu Jiao), and the son of Liu Xiang.

He was a famous Han Dynasty Confucian scholar, colographer, and bibliographer in China. He once served as Huang Menlang and Zhonglei Colonel.

This man was born with intelligence, and was born into a scholarly and noble family. He received a good education and influence since he was a child. He read a lot of books, including poetry, books, classics, and history, and he wrote good articles.

In the early years, he and Wang Mang were close friends. Both of them were dissatisfied with the various social chaos in the late Western Han Dynasty, and were determined to find the way to rectify the world from the books of ancient sages. They hit it off immediately and formed a deep friendship.

Of course, he didn't know that his good brother Wang Mang had been replaced.

At that time, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty Liu Xin succeeded to the throne. Because the names of Liu Xin and Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty Liu Xin had the same pronunciation, Liu Xin had to change his name to avoid taboos about the emperor's name.

In the same year, an ancient book "Hetu Chi Fu Fu" appeared, which contained a prophecy: "Liu Xiu sent troops to capture the enemy, and all the barbarians gathered in the dragon field. On the occasion of April and Seventh, fire will be the main thing."

This prophecy predicted that a man named Liu Xiu would become the master of the world, so this year, Liu Xin changed his name to Liu Xiu...

This guy is a die-hard supporter of Wang Mang and cheers for him. Although he is a descendant of the Liu family, he has ideals. In the past few years, Liu Xin wrote the "Zhong Almanac" and "The Calendar of the Three Unifications".

Among them, "The king, who is given the destiny of tomorrow, is not the only one with a surname", which became the basic theory of Wang Mang's usurpation of power.

Of course, Wang Mang was able to usurp the throne because of more than that. He had to thank Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Since Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, he had deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism. Dong Zhongshu had come up with the telepathy between heaven and man. Ministers and scholars in the court were keen to discuss the topic of disasters and abdication. .

After decades and almost hundreds of years, everyone has come to think this way, believing that disasters are God’s condemnation of human beings’ misconduct.

During the reign of Emperor Zhao, a minister named Hao Hong proposed that the Zen throne should be given to someone from the Gongsun family. At that time, there were stones standing on their own in Mount Tai, and willow trees in the forest. They were withered and stiff, and insects were eating leaves. stand.

During the reign of Emperor Xuan, Gai Kuorao also made the same suggestion.Moreover, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty Liu Xin also did stupid things. He was already sick at a young age and had no heirs.

At this time, a Confucian scholar named Xia Heliang came to him and told him that this was a warning from God to His Majesty. Only by changing the chronology, the country's name, and receiving orders again can the declining national destiny be changed.

This is the so-called "re-mandation". Its theory is in line with the Confucian theory of "response between heaven and man". It is believed that the emperor is appointed by "heaven". Since the fate of the Han Dynasty is coming to an end, allowing the emperor to receive another mandate from heaven can continue the rule of the Han Dynasty. .

Liu Xin, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, listened to Xia Heliang's words and issued an edict announcing the change of his title and calling himself "Emperor Chen Sheng and Liu Taiping".

This title seems very strange. Liu Bang claims to be a human-dragon hybrid, the son of the Red Emperor, and a descendant of Yao. After all, the Liu family originated from Emperor Yao, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. The previous human-dragon hybrid, son of the Red Emperor may have been made up. But this Liu Bang lineage comes from the "Imperial Clan" and is the 76th descendant of Emperor Yao. This is true and has basis.

Now, the weird thing is coming. The Liu family is considered to be a descendant of Yao, while Chen is a descendant of Shun. Although the abdication of Yao and Shun means changing dynasties, this title is equivalent to Liu Xin's declaration that he will overthrow himself, and I will inherit it myself. , isn’t this a mess?You still can’t tell whether you inherited Yao or Shun. Do you want to rebel against your ancestors?

Good guy, it has been more than a month since he was "re-appointed", but the condition of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty has not improved. Instead, news of frequent natural disasters came from all directions. Xia Heliang was so proud that he even recommended his comrades to take important positions and control the government... …

Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty was not a fool. The fact that he was able to bring down Wang Mang showed that he was quite capable. Knowing that he had been fooled, he quickly canceled the title of "Emperor Chen Sheng and Liu Taiping", restored his original reign title, and executed Xia Heliang. .

If it was just like this, forget it. When he was about to die, he did a stupid thing and said that he wanted to abdicate the throne to Dong Xian. Good guy, is Dong Xian worthy?
Since you want to abdicate, you should abdicate to a saint with strong ability, good morals and reality. Isn't this the current Wang Mang?
As a result, Wang Mang cleverly made use of these concepts and generously rewarded those who offered talismans. With his encouragement, some people even presented the Golden Chamber Policy Book to the Han Emperor Gaozu Temple.

The general idea of ​​this policy book is that Wang Mang is the destined emperor, and 11 people in the list have official titles.

Finally, Wang Mang was ready to usurp the Han Dynasty, but he still lacked one thing, and that was the imperial seal.

So he sent his cousin Anyanghou Wang Shun to ask for the jade seal from his aunt Wang Zhengjun, the Queen Mother.

At this time, Wang Zhengjun was already 80 years old. He had experienced five generations of emperors. This long life was terrifying. He had witnessed the Han Dynasty becoming the strongest in the hands of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, and also declining in the hands of his husband and son. Now it is about to perish.

"You, your father and son, and your family have been able to achieve wealth and honor from generation to generation thanks to the help of the Han family. You have not repaid them, and you have taken the opportunity to seize the country when others left you alone, completely ignoring the principles of kindness and justice.

Being like this is really worse than a pig or a dog. How could the late emperor have brothers like you!

And if you think you have received destiny and become the new emperor, and want to change the Zhengshuo service system, you should make a new jade seal yourself and pass it down to eternity. Why do you want to get this ominous jade seal that ruined the country?
I am just an old widow of the Han family, and I may die at any time, so if you want to bury me with this jade seal, you will not get it after all! "

"Woo!" Wang Zhengjun, who was already 80 years old, cried bitterly, and his aunt scolded her nephew and Wang Mang.

Although she vigorously promotes her own Wang family, the daughter she marries will be thrown away. What she will enjoy after her death is the incense of the Liu family, not the Wang family. She is already considered a Liu family.

If this big man is usurped by the Wang family nephew she promoted, how will she see her husband and son after her death?How to meet Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty and the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty?

Thinking of this, she felt an unstoppable sadness. She couldn't help crying, and others also cried. For a while, the hall was filled with crying.

"Aunt and nephew can't help it. My cousin is like this. It's hard to change the situation."

Wang Shun, who was over 50 years old, also felt sad and shed tears, but after a long time, he still said: "My nephew has nothing to say. Of course I feel sorry for my aunt, but my cousin must get the imperial seal." , can you still refuse to take it out until you die?"

Wang Zhengjun knew that Wang Shun's words already contained a threat. If she didn't take it, others could actually snatch it or even poison her, but he just didn't want to go that far.

She tremblingly took out the imperial seal, "Crack!" and threw it directly to the ground to Wang Shun, causing a corner of the seal to break. She said loudly: "I am almost dying of old age. With relatives like you, we The Wang family is going to be exterminated!"

Wang Shun felt sorry for the jade seal, so he could only pick it up and did not dare to provoke his aunt. "My nephew, please leave. Aunt, have a good rest. You will always be the Empress Dowager."

Finally, in the first twelfth month of the first year (January 9, 1 AD), Wang Mang forced Wang Zhengjun to hand over the imperial seal, accepted Ru Ziying's abdication and proclaimed himself emperor.

He entered the Gaozu Temple to worship, put on the crown and became the emperor, changed the name of the country to "Xin", and called himself the New Ancestor.At the same time, he also changed Chang'an's name to Chang'an.

All this happened in the "first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China", when Wang Mang was already 54 years old.

With widespread support from the government and the public, Wang Mang ascended to the highest position of power, creating a precedent in Chinese history for abdication as emperor.

It took eight years to go from Duke Anhan to prime minister, then to the false emperor, and finally to the real emperor. He not only broke the inherent pattern of aristocratic revolution and civilian revolution, but also set a precedent for usurpation.

"I have to find some gold and inlay it. I remember that this jade seal was made by me and Li Si back then. It was ordered by God to live forever. Most people can't refuse it, but I can't refuse it. I am immortal and carefree. "

At night, Wang Mang sat on the dragon chair, gently stroking the jade seal, and was filled with emotions. His time seemed to have come, but he would soon be gone, because a man named Liu Xiu would come to kill him.

(End of this chapter)