The great man will live forever

Chapter 227 This Liu Xiu is not that Liu Xiu
Taking advantage of the power of victory, the Green Forest Army marched northward, aiming directly at Wancheng.

Here, when Xin Chao got the news, Wang Mang pretended to be extremely surprised.
"Did you report a great victory the day before yesterday? That was a hundred thousand troops, a hundred thousand troops!"

Imperial Advisor Liu Xin quickly said: "Your Majesty, Little Chang'an was victorious before, but Zhenfu and Liangqiu were careless and underestimated the enemy. They left the baggage in Lanxiang, Xianshui County. They led 10 elite troops to cross Huangchun River south, and the vanguard He reached the Xianshui River and set up camp between the two rivers. At the same time, he demolished the bridge over the Huangchun River to show that he had no intention of returning anything.

Then there was a decisive battle with the rebels. As a result, the baggage was first intercepted, and then they were defeated in a great battle. They were completely defeated. Nearly [-] people were killed or drowned. Zhen Fu and Liang Qiu Ci were also killed, and Liu Yan was killed. The morale of the rebel army was greatly reduced. The price surged, and the surrounding bandits also went to Liu Yan one after another..."

"How could the traitor Liu Yan be so powerful? Taishi Wang Kuang and Gengshi General Lian Dan led an army of [-] to suppress the Red Eyebrow Army. It has been effective. Now there is trouble in Nanyang again. What should we do?"

Wang Mang pretended to have a headache, but little did he know that he already knew the outcome and was looking forward to this day.

"Your Majesty, don't be anxious. Although the Chimei rebels are powerful, they are still far away from Guanzhong, and Wancheng is the gateway to Guanzhong. If Wancheng is lost, our Guanzhong will be in danger, and Chang'an and Luoyang will be difficult to protect. , for the current plan, we can only summon all the great armies from all over the world to rescue Wancheng."

"Hurry up and do it, I don't believe it. Our hundreds of thousands of Celestial troops can't destroy a little Liu Yan? Tell the world that anyone who kills Liu Yan will be rewarded with 5 households, 10 catties of gold, and Grant the official position of Lord."

"promise!"

Looking at Liu Xin's leaving figure, Wang Mang suddenly wanted to laugh. He murmured to himself: "You should have noticed something, right? You're going to rebel in a while and kill Liu Xiu? That's how it came about. Those in later generations will Marketing account, I’m also drunk, the battle of Kunyang, come here early, it depends on what you do.”

Liu Xin returned to his mansion with a heavy heart and issued the latest order. His eyes were solemn and he looked at the sky, his eyes a little wandering.

"Do people change? Or has power corrupted you? You have changed since you came back from Xinye. Have you forgotten all the thoughts we had?"

Liu Xin is a cultural giant in Chinese history. He and Wang Mang were friends in their youth. They have known each other for 45 years and can be described as good brothers with similar interests and deep affection.

When he was young and unsuccessful, he relied entirely on Wang Mang to support him. Wang Mang was able to found the country and become emperor, and Liu Xin was indispensable.After the establishment of the new dynasty, Liu Xin ranked among the fourth assistants and became the core of Wang Mang's group. However, he clearly felt that Wang Mang had changed, becoming unsympathetic and unjust, and losing his former self.

He hadn't been meditating for long when a servant came in and said, "I'd like to inform the Imperial Master and ask you to see me directly."

Wang She, whom Zhidao Rangong refers to, was a native of Pinglingdong (now east of Jinan, Shandong) during the Xinmang period in the late Han Dynasty. He was the son of Wanggen, Marquis of Quyang in the Western Han Dynasty, and was Wang Mang's cousin.

Wang Mang proclaimed himself emperor and appointed him as the general of the guard. When he ascended the throne, he was granted the title of Duke, and he was favored by his clan.

"Let him come in." Liu Xin said, and at the same time he was a little confused. He was wondering what this person wanted to see him for so late?
"promise!"

The servant went down, and not long after, Wang She came in. He was now over 50 years old, but he walked as fast as flying.

"Zhi Dao Yi Gong, it's so late, what do you want from me?" Liu Xin went straight to the point.

Wang She looked around, and Liu Xin understood instantly. He asked his servants to go down and started talking to Wang She alone.

"The national teacher is the most knowledgeable in the Han Dynasty. You should have heard of "Hetu Chi Fu Fu". There is a sentence in it: Liu Xiu sent troops to capture the enemy, and all the barbarians gathered in the dragon field. On April [-]th, fire is the main thing..."

Liu Xin was stunned for a moment, then pretended not to know, "What does this mean? I've never heard of it."

Wang She smiled slightly and said, "Don't pretend, I've seen through you."

"Why did the Imperial Master change his name back then?"

"To avoid tabooing the late emperor's name."

"The meaning of this sentence is that the Han Dynasty should be revived, and Liu Xiu, the Imperial Master, should be the emperor. Now His Majesty has made the world angry and resentful. The red eyebrows in the south have hundreds of thousands of troops. Grand Master Wang Kuang and Gengshi General Lian Dan lead an army of [-] We went to suppress it, but it had no effect. We could only watch the rebel army grow bigger. Now that Nanyang has raised its troops again, the world will fall. Doesn’t the Imperial Master have any plan?"

"Liu Xiu will be the emperor" is a prophecy circulated in the society in the middle and late period of Wang Mang's new dynasty. Due to the example of Liu Bing and Hu Hai, and the prophecy that Wang Mang succeeded in usurping the dynasty, everyone believed in the prophecy. .

Later, people thought that this "Liu Xiu" refers to Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, but people at that time did not think so, because although Liu Xiu had some fame at this time, it was not enough.

In everyone's eyes, this "Liu Xiu" is Liu Xin. As early as when Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, Liu Xin had changed his name to Liu Xiu to avoid taboos (the name of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty was Liu Xin).

The reason why Wang She came this time was because one of his disciples, a charlatan called Ximen Junhui, said to Wang She a few days ago: "The Han Dynasty should be revived, and the Grand Master Liu Xiu should be the emperor!"

He also quoted the words from "Hetu Chi Fu Fu" and conducted a detailed analysis. Wang She took a look and realized that his cousin's throne was probably unstable. Rebels were everywhere. From the fifth year of Tianfeng (5 AD) ) It has been seven years since the fourth year of the Emperor of the Earth (18rd year). The rebel army is getting stronger and stronger, and there is no sign of being destroyed.

As soon as he figured it out, he felt that this was right, and decided to rebel, so as not to be destroyed along with Wang Mang, he found his first helper, the Grand Sima Dong Zhong.

Dong Zhong leads the central army and has military power. If he wants to rebel, he is an important link.After Dong Zhong joined, he decided to lobby Liu Xin and asked Liu Xin to take the lead.

"Mr. Zhidao, please go back. I haven't seen you tonight, so I'll pretend I haven't heard these words. Let's stop here."

Although Liu Xin was tempted by this, he firmly refused because he was afraid that this was a temptation.

Seeing that the fire was not enough, Wang She said directly: "Has the Imperial Master forgotten how Liu Fen, Liu Yong and Liu Min died? Has he also forgotten how Wang Yu, Wang Huo and Wang Lin died?"

This time, the national advisor Liu Xin was touched.

Liu Xin had three sons and one daughter, namely the eldest son Liu Die, the second son Liu Fen, the third son Liu Yong, and the daughter Liu Min.

Generally speaking, Wang Mang took great care of Liu Xin's family. While promoting Liu Xin to the rank of Fourth Assistant and making him a new Duke, he also made his three sons marquises and lords, and held important positions. His daughter was betrothed to his third son, Prince Wang Lin.

In the second year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (AD 10), Liu Fen and Liu Yong were involved in the rebellion case of Zhen Feng and Zhen Xun's father and son, and were killed.

In fact, there have always been two major factions within Wang Mang's political group. One faction is the "Modern Mandate Faction" represented by Liu Xin, which advocates that the destiny of the Western Han Dynasty has been destroyed, and Wang Mang should comply with the destiny and replace Liu Han to establish a new dynasty.

The other faction is the "auxiliary Han faction" represented by Zhen Feng, which advocates that Wang Mang should not change dynasties because of Huo Guang's affairs, such as going to Qilin Pavilion and leaving a good name for eternity.

In the end, Wang Mang established a new dynasty. Zhen Feng was very disappointed with this. He wanted to fight against Wang Mang. He mistakenly thought that Wang Mang really believed in the theory of destiny, so he decided to make a fuss about destiny.

Out of caution, he tried something else first.It was said that the new family should have two uncles in Shaanxi, with Zhen Feng as the right uncle and Taifu Pingyan as the left uncle, following the old rules of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong.

This talisman was submitted and was approved by Wang Mang.Then he and his son Zhen Xun were so ambitious that they forged their "talisman" and planned to marry the "Master of the Huang Royal Family".

The head of the Huang royal family was Wang Mang's daughter, the queen of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, and later the princess of the New Dynasty.

Wang Mang was naturally very angry, and he was just trying to show his face. He yelled angrily: "The Queen Huang is the mother of the world, how can she be Zhen Xun's wife?"

As a result, Zhen Xun was ordered to be arrested, but Zhen Xun fled for his life while Zhen Feng committed suicide.

The result of the investigation of the case was that Liu Fen and others participated in the forgery, including the "Second Order of the Second Uncle" and the "Fu Ming" for planning to marry the head of the Huang royal family. As a result, Liu Fen and Liu Yong were killed, and Liu Xin lost his two sons. .Liu Min died in the second year of Emperor Di Huang (AD 21) and was implicated in the prince's rebellion.

Wang Mang was not merciless in killing his son. Also, he was not his son, so he could kill him if he wanted to.

Back then, when Wang Mang established a new dynasty, his third son Wang An was confused and probably frightened by him. Before he usurped the throne, he first killed his fourth son Wang Huo and then his eldest son Wang Yu. Isn't this scary?

Therefore, Wang Mang made his fourth son Wang Lin the crown prince.

At first, Wang Mang's legitimate wife cried blindly because Wang Mang killed her son several times. In order to eliminate the negative impact, Wang Mang asked the prince Wang Lin to live in the palace and take care of her.

Wang Mang had an affair with Yuan Bi, the maid next to his wife, and later his son Wang Lin also got involved with her. Perhaps the matter was leaked, so the two planned to kill Wang Mang together. Or maybe they discovered that Wang Mang was not the same Wang Mang and had been replaced. .

Wang Lin's wife Liu Min was the daughter of the national counselor Liu Xin. She could observe the stars. She told Wang Lin that there would be a meeting in white in the palace, which meant that there would be a funeral.Wang Lin was delighted, thinking that what he planned would succeed.

Before he could kill Wang Mang, he was noticed. In 20 AD, because Wang Mang believed that "it is unfair to call him a prince when he has a brother", he named Wang An the newly moved king and made Wang Lin the king of Tongyiyang. Before being sent to live in an outside mansion, he became even more worried and fearful.

When Wang Mang's wife became seriously ill, Wang Lin sent her a letter saying: "The emperor is very strict with his descendants. In the past, my brother Zhangsun (Wang Yu) and Zhongsun (Wang Huo) both died at the age of 30. Now I am just 30 years old. I am afraid that if something happens to my mother, I don’t know where she will die. Moreover, my father seems to have changed. I always feel that he is not the same as before!"

Later, Wang Mang came to check on his wife's condition. When he saw the letter, he was furious and even refused to allow him to attend the funeral after his wife died.

After the funeral, Wang Mang immediately arrested Yuan Bi for interrogation, and Yuan Bi fully admitted the adultery, murder, etc.Wang Mang didn't want to cause too much political turmoil and wanted to cover up the matter.

He sent people to kill the commander and subordinate officials who were ordered to handle the case. The bodies were buried in prison. The whereabouts of the deceased's family were unknown. Then they gave Wang Lin poison, but Wang Lin refused to drink it and committed suicide.

Wang Mang again forced the state counselor Liu Xin to shirk his responsibility. He had no choice but to say: "King Yiyang didn't understand astrology. The incident started with Liu Xin and she was the one who confused him."

At this time, Liu Xin had no choice but to commit suicide. Under Wang Mang's coercion, Liu Xin reluctantly abandoned her daughter.

Good guy, in just 11 years, Liu Xin's two sons and one daughter all died at the hands of Wang Mang. Although there was a reason for the incident, how could Liu Xin, who was already in his seventies, not feel sad and angry when faced with the tragic ending of his children?

Although Liu Xin's attitude remained the same, everyone in the court knew that he would probably resent Wang Mang in his heart, so Wang She dared to find him.

"If the Imperial Master doesn't trust me, I can leave a seal. I swear to God..."

Wang She expressed his sincerity with tears and runny nose, and swore an oath. The ancients paid attention to oaths, so Liu Xin believed him.

"Okay, the east will be completed, wait until the Taibai star comes out."

Liu Xin held his hand and agreed tremblingly, which heralded a complete break between him and Wang Mang.

For Liu Xin, making this decision was extremely painful. He respects Confucianism and has deep roots in people-centered thinking.If there is a wise king who can save the Western Han Dynasty that is on the verge of collapse and save the people from the fire and water, it must be a great good thing.

Therefore, he strongly supported Wang Mang's establishment of a new dynasty. He and Wang Mang were close friends and trusted this good friend very much. He believed that Wang Mang would do something that would benefit the country and the people, so he trusted Wang Mang very much.

Moreover, Wang Mang was frugal and simple, courteous to the virtuous and caring for the common people.In Liu Xin's opinion, he was much more qualified than the current emperor.Therefore, he followed Wang Mang wholeheartedly and worked hard for Wang Mang to control the political power.

But the reality is cruel. The two sons were talented and talented and were highly regarded by Wang Mang, but in the end they were executed on suspicion of being involved in a rebellion.

The princess's daughter was also involved in a rebellion and was forced to die. Liu Xin was loyal to him, just for the ideal in his heart, but his two sons and one daughter died of suspicion. Liu Xin was jealous and cruel towards Wang Mang. Already somewhat dissatisfied.

More importantly, because Wang Mang carried out extensive construction projects and attacked the Xiongnu and small border countries, taxes were heavy and the people were miserable.

Coupled with natural and man-made disasters, the people were displaced, and the refugees fled and became bandits. Suddenly, the world was in chaos and uprisings continued, but Wang Mang was helpless and indifferent...

Various incidents made Liu Xin lose confidence in Wang Mang, and he could clearly feel that Wang Mang had changed.

The Ming Lord that he followed wholeheartedly turned out to be just a pursuer of power. Wang Mang's previous love and affection for the people were all illusions. Wang Mang did not make any great achievements that benefited the country and the people during his reign. On the contrary, it made the people's lives even more miserable. Liu Xin The expectations for Wang Mang completely fell to the bottom.

After waking up from the dream, this was the reality he had to face. To oppose Wang Mang was to oppose his support and dedication in the previous 45 years, to oppose his own ideals, and to oppose his own life. But he had no choice but to rebel. He had already seen the new situation. The dynasty is not far from destruction.

But although he reached an agreement with Wang She and Grand Sima Dong Zhong, Liu Xin insisted on waiting until the Taibai Star came out on the date of action.

As a Confucian scholar, he was the most superstitious, and Liu Xin himself was extremely superstitious about the "Prophecy Theory". However, it was this process of waiting for Taibai Star that made his coup fail.

Dong Zhong, this guy, probably has a simple mind and well-developed limbs, and he doesn't know anything about rebellion. The fewer people who know about it, the better.

Good guy, in order to increase the chance of the coup's success, he instigated the rebellion of a senior official named Sun Ji. As a result, Sun Ji reported the secret to Wang Mang.

Then, Dong Zhong was killed in front of the palace by Wang Mang's men.

Immediately, Liu Xin saw that the matter was exposed and escaped. Wang Mang ordered him to hunt down Liu Xiu, because Liu Xin had changed his name long ago, and his fake Liu Xiu was really killed and his body was taken away. came back.

"Wang Mang killed Liu Xiu? Those marketing slogans in later generations are really good. Why can there be only one time traveler? But you are not that Liu Xiu. You think you changed your name to him? If it were him, how could I be willing to kill him?

Human imagination is sometimes very strong, sometimes very weak. How can they imagine that we are walking in history, but outside of time, everything is possible. "

Wang Mang looked at Liu Xin's body and sighed, "Why bother? I actually don't want to kill you. After all, I get along well with you. Your literary talent is really good..."

"Xiu, I'll wait for you here. Being an emperor is boring!"

His eyes were far away, as if he could see the entire big man.

At this time, Liu Xiu, who was in Nanyang, suddenly felt cold.

"What's wrong? Xiu? We just won the battle, why are you unhappy?" His eldest brother Liu Yan asked.

"It's nothing, brother, I just feel like someone is spying on me secretly."

Liu Yan looked around and found that it was just the two of them. He smiled and said, "Where is there anyone? You, you are a little suspicious. You have been under a lot of pressure from the war recently. Take a good rest."

Liu Xiu smiled and said, "Maybe!"

(End of this chapter)