The great man will live forever

Chapter 243 The Reform Regime Doomed to Failure

Liu Xiu just had a small territory here. In order to consolidate his throne in Chang'an, Liu Xuan easily believed the villain's slander and began to break the ancestral system of the Han Dynasty established by Liu Bang and began to establish meritorious officials as kings.

It does not seem unfeasible to canonize these kings with different surnames, if he can use them properly to temporarily stabilize the court situation, and then follow Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to implement the order of favor and take back the titles of these kings with different surnames.

However, for Liu Xuan, canonizing these people would undoubtedly add fuel to the fire at the time. It would only make various political groups fall into a more intense struggle to compete for interests. So from the perspective of canonization, Liu Xuan is already digging his own grave.

When Liu Bang conferred a king with a different surname, it took several years and a lot of money to get it done. That was Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, a man who could defeat Xiang Yu. He came from the bottom, was ruthless, shady, and had extremely clever political methods. , and almost capsized in the gutter, how could he, Liu Xuan, handle it?
Liu Bang initially granted several titles to kings with different surnames, but Liu Xuan granted about thirteen titles at once, which was incredible.

While canonizing a large number of these kings with different surnames, Liu Xuan also reused two people, one was Li Song and the other was Zhao Meng.

These two are typical opportunists. Not only do they have no talent, they also wait for opportunities to provoke political struggles to satisfy their personal political interests. The reuse of these two people is also due to Liu Xuan's selfish motives.

The reason why Zhao Meng was named was because of his daughter Zhao. Liu Xuan fell in love with her when he first saw her because she looked very similar to his former master. He would never forget that person and secretly thought about her. Wang Ruohua, whom he loved, unfortunately left forever. It would be best if he could not get her. Now he has found a replacement.

Of course, part of the reason is that Liu Xuan has indeed fallen. Although he was born into a royal family, Liu Xuan has not lived a good life so far. After becoming the emperor, Liu Xuan was blinded by glory and wealth before he could secure the throne. He opened his eyes and began to pursue personal enjoyment.

After finally becoming the emperor, he can't enjoy it anymore?
After re-appointing Li Song and Zhao Meng, these two men gained power and began to collect a large amount of money to help Liu Xuan replenish his personal treasury.

While the national treasury was increasingly depleted, Liu Xuan was enjoying the pleasure of glory and wealth while playing day and night. He did not pay any attention to the fact that Li Song and Zhao Meng would betray themselves for their own political interests, so he was slowly replaced by Li Song in the court. After he and Zhao Meng took control, the country, which had just escaped from the war, once again fell into a catastrophe.

Emperor Gengshi took Zhao Meng's daughter Zhao as his wife and loved her very much, so he entrusted Zhao Meng with political affairs. He drank and had fun with her in the back court day and night.

The ministers wanted to report something to him, but Emperor Gengshi was often unable to meet him because he was drunk. Sometimes, as a last resort, he would order his servants to sit in the curtains and answer the questions.

The generals heard that the voice that answered was not that of Emperor Gengshi, and when they came out, they all complained: "We still don't know whether we will succeed or not, so why are we so indulgent?"

Mrs. Zhao was particularly fond of drinking. Whenever she served Emperor Gengshi for a drink, she would often get angry and say, "Your Majesty is drinking with me, why did you choose this time to do something?" She got up and broke all the books on the desk.

Zhao Meng was authoritative and tyrannical, and some officials spoke out about Zhao Meng's indulgence. Emperor Gengshi became angry and drew his sword to attack each other.No one dared to speak since.

Zhao Meng hated the servant and took him out to kill him. Emperor Gengshi came to save him, but Zhao Meng refused.

At this time, Li Yi and Zhu Kun were despotic in Shandong, and Wang Kuang and Zhang Xun were tyrannical in Sanfu.The officials and titles awarded were all small businessmen, cooks, and the like. Many of them wore embroidered tops, brocade trousers, short coats, or women's big-breasted tops, and laughed and cursed on the road.

There is a song in Chang'an City that sarcastically says: "If you raise a sheep under the stove, you will be a lieutenant general. If a sheep's stomach is rotten, you will become a riding captain. If a sheep's head is rotten, you will be a marquis in Guan Nei."

Of course, Liu Xuan indulged Zhao Meng not without reason.

If Liu Xuan wants to break the current political dilemma that is being evacuated by the Green Forest Army, he must centralize power. It is this act of seizing power that leads to the alienation of people within the court and sows the seeds for subsequent failure.

The method he chose was the usual trick of the ancestors of the Han Dynasty, which was to reuse relatives. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used these skills to perfection, and so did Liu Bang. Liu Bang died early, which led to Empress Lu taking over the power. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was afraid of following in his footsteps, and even killed Liu Fu. Ling's mother, Mrs. Gou Yi.

He let Zhao Meng dominate the court and exclude dissidents, while he hid in the harem and refused to meet the ministers.This is actually just a kind of imperial power. The bad things are all done by my father-in-law, Lao Zhao, and all the hatred is concentrated on him. I am just mediocre at best.

Once the situation gets out of hand, I can push my father-in-law out as a scapegoat. Look, I killed my relatives and killed all my father-in-law. What else do you want?
I am a wise king. Any mistakes the king makes are the fault of his ministers.

But the people under his command were not fools either, and they began to segregate themselves one after another, obeying orders rather than announcements.

I receive rewards and titles, but if you want me to do something, it must be beneficial.

At this time, although the political struggle within the Gengshi court was very bad, it had not yet reached the point of collapse. What really made the regime unstable was that he refused to cooperate with the powerful landlord class at that time, because all the people under him were from the lower class. .

Even the imperial examination system invented by the Sui and Tang Dynasties was still difficult to shake when co-ruling the world with scholar-bureaucrats. They controlled a large number of people and land.

The commander-in-chief of Yuzhang, Li Shu, wrote a letter to advise: "Now that the bandits have just been wiped out, and the transformation of the king is far from being implemented, all officials and officials in charge should exercise their duties carefully.

The officials of Sangong are responsible for the platforms and constellations in the sky, and the officials of Jiuqing are responsible for regulating the rivers and seas on earth. These are all using people to replace the duties of heaven.

Although His Majesty established the emperor's career due to the prosperity of Xiajiang and Pinglin, it was only a temporary factor that could no longer be used when the world was established.

Now it is urgent to organize and reform the system, recruit heroes from all over the world, and grant titles and officials according to their talents, so as to save the kingdom.Nowadays, all the positions of public ministers are occupied by the government and the army, and all the ministers and ministers are from mediocre backgrounds. Those mediocre people who can only be used as pavilion chiefs and bandit catchers are reused to assist the emperor in governing and prospering the country.

You must know that names and implements are the most important things for saints. Now to put the things that saints value most on mediocre people and expect them to be of great benefit and promote kings and principles is tantamount to asking for fish based on wood. It is completely impossible to go fishing for pearls in the mountains.

Seeing this situation at home, some people began to have a glimpse of the Han Dynasty.I am not jealous or resentful that I want to be promoted, but I really feel sorry for His Majesty's move.Ruining good materials and damaging beautiful things should be carefully considered.Only by abandoning the absurd mistakes of the past can we prosper the virtues of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty. "

Emperor Gengshi was furious and ordered Li Shu to be arrested and imprisoned.Since then, Guanzhong has been alienated, and all parties have resented and rebelled.When the generals go out on an expedition, they each place their own cronies to serve as governors and governors of the provinces. In this way, the provinces and counties are intertwined and they don't know what to do.

What made him fail even more was his arrogance, contempt and rejection of Red Eyebrow.

At the beginning, Fan Chong's Pang'an and Donghai people Xu Xuan, Xie Lu, and Yang Yin all raised their own troops, and tens of thousands of people came to join Fan Chong. Then they attacked Juzhou together, but failed to capture it, so they ran to nearby areas. Gumu County was looted.Soon after, he defeated the army of Wang Kuang, the Marquis of Tantang, who was granted the title of Wang Mang, and killed more than [-] soldiers and horses of the New Dynasty. Then he marched north to Qingzhou, boldly plundering various counties, and then returned to Taishan County, where he finally stayed. In Nancheng, it is considered the base camp.

At first, Fan Chong and others started the uprising because of poverty and had no plan to attack the city. Unexpectedly, the number of soldiers and horses later increased. In order to strictly enforce military discipline, a decree was issued: "Those who kill others will die, and those who injure others will be killed." Pay!"

But at that time, orders were only transmitted verbally, and there were no documents, order flags and other ceremonial guards.The most respected rebels in various places just call themselves the "three elders" (township chiefs), and they generally refer to each other as "giants", which is equivalent to the modern "big boss".

Wang Mang learned that thieves were rampant in Shandong, so he ordered Peng Liandan and Taishi Wang Kuang to lead an army to conquer. Fan Chong was very excited for a while, thinking that if he could defeat the imperial army this time, it would be equivalent to spreading his name far and wide in the world.

But facing these unarmed mobs under his command, he couldn't help but become very worried. Later, he thought of a way and ordered all the rebel soldiers to dye their eyebrows vermilion, so he took up the banner of "Red Eyebrow Rebels" .

Then the Red Eyebrow Army fought a decisive battle with the New Dynasty army. When the New Dynasty Army saw that Fan Chong's soldiers and horses were all red-browed like ghosts, they were frightened to death. They were defeated and fled in all directions. Fan Chong's formation killed Lian Dan and led his troops to kill [-] enemies. The rest of them chased them to Wuyan County, where Wang Kuang managed to escape by running desperately. From then on, Fan Chong and the Red Eyebrow Army became a powerful force in the world.

At this time, there were more than [-] red eyebrow soldiers. Fan Chong sent his troops to besiege Juzhou, which had not been captured for a long time. After fighting for several months, they still could not capture it. When one of his subordinates saw that he was riding a tiger and was unable to dismount, he said to him: "Juzhou , is originally the hometown of the king’s parents, why bother attacking it repeatedly?”

Fan Chong naturally used the donkey to get off the slope, praised him for being right, and left to relieve the siege.

At that time, Lu Mu, a heroine of the sea, died of illness. Her tribesmen joined the Red Eyebrow, Qingdu, and Bronze Horse rebel armies respectively. Fan Chong was so happy to get Lu Mu's troops that he thought they were even more powerful, and later sent troops to invade. Donghai County fought with Yiping Prefecture of the New Dynasty, but was defeated and thousands of people died.

At this time, Fan Chong was very frustrated. He retreated with his troops and fled to Chu County, Pei County, Runan, and Yingchuan to plunder. Then he entered Chenliu County, captured Lu City, and then moved to Puyang.

At that time, the Green Forest Rebel Army in the south supported Liu Xuan as emperor and named him "Emperor Gengshi of the Han Dynasty". They had captured the eastern capital of Luoyang and sent envoys to recruit Fan Chong.

Fan Chong originally wanted to proclaim himself king, but he heard that the Green Forest Army was able to capture a "top" metropolis like Luoyang in the name of "restoring the Han Dynasty", and he led these rabble to even a small city of Juzhou. Can't figure it out.

So he decided to move closer to the Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan, so he left his troops and horses in Shandong. He took more than [-] generals under his command and followed the envoy to Luoyang to congratulate Liu Xuan on his submission.

In that era when all heroes came together, there was actually a popular saying about the general trend of the world: "Winning or not depends on Hebei, harmony or disharmony depends on Chimei." This means that whoever wins Hebei will win the world, but whether the country is stable or not depends on it. In the red eyebrow army.

The words came true, and the two points mentioned in this sentence were verified one after another not long after.Liu Xiu, who made his fortune in Hebei, conquered the world. Before the Red Eyebrow Army was wiped out, he really turned the situation upside down.

The Gengshi regime was actually a bunch of short-sighted people in power. They showed extremely obvious indifference and arrogance towards the Red Eyebrow Army, saying that they were beyond their reach. They only named Fan Chong and about 20 other people as marquises, and had no rights. No salary.

Good fellow, I have traveled thousands of miles to seek refuge with you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t grant me a kingship. I don’t even have a kingdom, and I have no power. I am just an empty-headed prince, all born in mud. Who are you looking down on?

In addition, soon someone from Shandong came to report that many of his tribesmen had rebelled, which made Fan Chong anxious. Fan Chong realized that he could not stay in Luoyang for long, so he left without saying goodbye and ran back to his hometown base camp in Shandong to stabilize the morale of the army, and then led The soldiers invaded Yingchuan again.

In Yingchuan, Fan Chong divided his troops into two groups. Fan Chong and Pang An led their own troops, and Xu Xuan, Xie Lu, and Yang Yin led the rest.

Fan Chong's troops soon captured Changshe, then went south to the important town of Wancheng and killed the county magistrate of Wancheng.The troops of Xu Xie and Xie Lu also captured Yangzhai, then entered Daliang and killed the prefect of Henan County.

Both groups of the Red Eyebrow Army were victorious one after another, but the war-weariness among the army was rising. Most of the people were farmers who had no choice but to join the rebel army.

They just want to take back their farmland, but they don't want to be exhausted and become desperadoes. There are sad and crying sounds in the military camp day and night. Many people are thinking about how to return to their hometown in Shandong.

Of course, Chi Zhaoping, or Ayimei, also brought people to Luoyang, but it turned out that Liu Xiu was not in Luoyang and had gone to Hebei.

Xu Yiqing asked, "General? What should we do now? In Luoyang, should we still follow Chimei?"

"Go back first and reorganize the army. Let's go to Hebei."

"Why are you going to Hebei?"

"If you take refuge in Liu Xiu, this person will win the world. Liu Xuan is short-sighted and allows his subordinates to have arbitrary power. Although it is intentional, he cannot control it. He is not Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and does not have the ability. His subordinates burn, kill and loot, and his military discipline is lax, making it difficult to achieve great things. Not to mention Fan Chong's red eyebrows, he is simply asking for death.

As for Fan Chong, they only know how to rob and have no fixed territory. They are short-sighted and cannot achieve great things. They can be rampant for a while if they indulge, but they will be wiped out before long. They will be wiped out. "

Zhang Zishi was eager to try, "Why don't you, general, lead us to fight our way out?"

"It's difficult. Is there any woman who can be the emperor now? Can you accept it, and can the people under you accept it? And that's not my ambition. I must look at Liu Xiu to see if it's him."

Ayimei looked towards the north, her beautiful eyes filled with vicissitudes of life.

"Who is he?"

"An old friend, a person who can make Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty afraid."

Ayimei didn't say much and led the people away from Chang'an. She looked back at Chang'an and murmured to herself: "Chang'an, Chang'an, I will come back. Lanlinghou Mansion is in ruins. I just need to rebuild it." But can we go back?"

People, sometimes, you only feel regret when you lose, but you don’t care when you get something!
(End of this chapter)