The great man will live forever

Chapter 23 Death of King Huainan

In the past half month, Liu Che was in a pretty good mood. The emergence of Qu Yuuli directly made the country's productivity take a big step forward.

It is very likely that the amount of taxed food will increase in the coming year, and if it is promoted nationwide, it may even double.

Of course, it is not that the food produced per acre of land has increased, but that the land under cultivation has increased.

At this time in the Western Han Dynasty, there were still fewer people and more land. Many places still looked like virgin forests and were completely undeveloped. On the top of the mountains, you could still see tigers and other fierce beasts.

It’s not that people are unwilling to develop, but that developing new wasteland is really time-consuming and laborious.

Now that their efficiency has doubled, they can barely free up some manpower and slowly reclaim the wasteland.

Reclaiming wasteland is not something you can plant right away as soon as you clear it. It takes several years of cultivation.

In any case, the rapid increase in productivity will inevitably lead to an increase in food production.

As long as the wasteland is reclaimed and planted casually, although the harvest will be small at first, at least it will not be a harvest, and as time goes by, if this wasteland becomes mature land, the total output will increase sharply.

Just when Liu Che was still relatively happy, news about King Huainan came in.

Looking at the evidence brought by Zhang Tang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a solemn expression.

"Although I was aware of it, I really didn't expect that Liu An would go so far, sink so deep, plan so carefully, and be so courageous!"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took a deep breath as he spoke, becoming more and more angry, with a hint of regret in his tone.

"It seems that no matter how educated a person is, there are still knots that cannot be untied. He cannot turn back even if he screams, and must repeat his father's old path. In this case, I have no choice but to follow his wish and send you to Yangguan Road. "

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said with regret in his eyes, and put a roll of bamboo slips on the fire to burn.

Indeed, Liu Chang, the father of Huainan King Liu An, also loved to rebel. It can only be said that the grandfather of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was too tolerant to others.

Liu Chang is the youngest son of Han Emperor Liu Bang, the half-brother of Han Hui Emperor Liu Ying and Han Wen Emperor Liu Heng, and his mother is Zhao Ji.

It is said that he was able to carry a tripod and was named King of Huainan in 196 BC.

During the period of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, he was called arrogant and domineering. He often went hunting with Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. He did not use Chinese laws in his fiefdom and made his own laws.

In 174 BC, this guy wanted to be emperor, contacted the leaders of the Xiongnu and Minyue, plotted a rebellion, and was arrested after the incident was revealed.

The court officials discussed the death penalty, but Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty pardoned him, abolished the title of king, and relegated him to Qiongyou, Yandao, Shu County. He died on a hunger strike on the way, and was given the posthumous title of King Li.

It's a pity that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was never Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and the fate of Huainan King Liu An was already doomed.

Not long after, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued an order to hurry up and notify Liu Li, the then Zongzheng King of Chu Yuan, to ride in a carriage to the fiefdom of Huainan King Liu An with the talisman symbolizing his Zongzheng.

Zongzheng is an ancient Chinese official name, established since the Qin Dynasty. It is an official close to the royal family and an official who manages royal affairs.

In the Han Dynasty, Zongzheng had a higher status and was one of the Nine Ministers, usually held by members of the Liu family.

This trip was very ceremonial. Zongzheng Liu Li was holding a talisman symbolizing clan status in his hand. It was made of pure gold and was much more powerful and majestic than a crutch. There were red silk strips around it, floating in the wind, like Tibetan prayer wheels, but slightly different.

Zhang Tang wore a sword gifted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to his waist, and the two of them rushed to the palace of Huainan King Liu An side by side.

At this time, Liu An, the king of Huainan, had been imprisoned. Of course, his movements were restricted, but he still had good food and beautiful women as his company.

"Open the door!"

Zongzheng Liu Li came to the door and gave orders to the soldiers guarding the door.

"promise!"

The soldier quickly opened the door, and Zhang Tang and Zongzheng Liu Li walked in together.

In the room, Huainan King Liu An was sitting at the very back, surrounded by his concubines.

The moment he saw Zong Zheng, Liu Li and Zhang Tang coming in, Liu An's eyes seemed to sparkle with tears, but he calmed down after a moment.Zongzheng Liu Li took the lead and said: "Huainan King Liu An, the emperor ordered me to convey you to Chang'an. Now, you come with me on the road."

He is about 60 years old, highly respected, and has managed the Liu clan quite well in recent years.

Huainan King Liu An took a sip of the tea in his hand and said unhurriedly: "I really want to go to Chang'an. Chang'an has my daughter."

After he finished saying this, several concubines on the side held wine glasses and saluted him, and then said, "Your Majesty, let's take our leave now."

Then he drank the wine glass in one gulp, and within a few seconds he was holding his stomach and wailing beside him, vomiting blood. It was obvious that he was poisoned and was about to die.

King Huainan didn't even look at her and asked calmly: "How is it? Is she okay?"

Zongzheng Liu Li on the side saw this scene, his eyes were a little panicked, and he looked around. Zhang Tang on the side was very calm.

Zhang Tang said: "Your daughter committed suicide half a month ago."

"Master Zhang, what do you think?" Zongzheng Liu Li asked Zhang Tang whether he wanted to save these concubines.

Zhang Tang did not answer, but looked directly at King Huainan.

Liu An smiled slightly, but there was sadness in this smile. He seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and said like crying but not crying: "Okay, okay, I have another flesh and blood companion on this road to hell, and I won't be in trouble." It’s so lonely.”

As Liu An spoke, tears could not help falling from his eyes. He slowly picked up the golden staff that symbolized his royal power in his right hand.

"I am a close relative of our ancestors. I am closer to my ancestors than the current emperor. How can I be insulted by your generation?"

In fact, there is nothing wrong with what he said. His father, Liu Chang, is Liu Bang's biological son, and Liu Bang is his biological grandfather.

Liu Heng, the grandfather of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was only Liu Bang's concubine, and Liu Heng's mother Bo Ji was often not favored. It was precisely because she was not favored that she escaped the bloodbath in the harem of Empress Lu.

After Liu An finished speaking loudly, he threw away the scepter and drank the poisonous wine in front of him.

"Quick, quick, get the antidote."

Zongzheng Liu Li quickly shouted, "Liu An, the king of Huainan, was one of the princes and kings. It would not be okay to die like this."

You know, his father Liu Chang did even worse than him back then, and he was not even sentenced to death. If he hadn't gone on a hunger strike himself, he probably wouldn't have died.

If his son was killed like this, how could he explain it to the other Liu clan members?
Huainan King Liu An quickly waved his hand and refused: "No, no."

He stood up, with tears in his eyes, and said loudly: "I wrote in the article,

A real man is calm and carefree;

Use the sky as the cover and the earth as the base;
The four seasons represent the horse, and the yin and yang represent the emperor;
Ride the clouds and reach the sky, and be with the Creator. "

As he spoke, he danced and pointed to the sky, the ground, and the air.

"Upstream in the wild, downstream in the boundless gate, return to the infinite."

As he spoke, Huainan King Liu An spit out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground, breathless.

Zongzheng Liu Li hurriedly stepped forward to detect his breath, and found that he was indeed dead. He sighed helplessly: "Why is this? They are all blood relatives of the great ancestor. Blood is thicker than water. Why do you want to follow your father's old path? Your Majesty did not I want to kill you."

As for whether Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty really wanted to kill him, he didn't know. His understanding was that even Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's grandfather had not been killed, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would not kill him. He would probably be exiled, but that was Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Not long after, Liu Ci, the king of Hengshan who had rebelled against him according to his agreement, also committed suicide. He was also the grandson of the great ancestor.

Of course, he, Liu Ci, the king of Hengshan, was much inferior to Liu An. In the history books, he wrote very little.

Although Liu An died, it is undeniable that he was very talented, especially his "Huainanzi" which was very influential in later generations.

(End of this chapter)