I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 1 I want to be a prince

In the autumn of the third year of Zhongping, ten-year-old Liu Bian came to the palace who was not loyal to him.

After Liu Bian was born, because all the children of Emperor Liu Hong died in infancy, he was fostered in the home of Taoist Shi Zixuan since he was a child. He was not even dared to call him by his name, so he was called "Shihou".

Historically, he was young and ignorant, and he failed to show his authority in front of the Ling Emperor, leaving him with the evaluation of "frivolous and without dignity, and not worthy of being the master of others".

Liu Bian didn't know what kind of majesty Emperor Ling needed. He had only traveled here for half a month, so he could only try his best to be more upright and in line with etiquette.

As a result, after meeting Emperor Ling today, Liu Bian was indeed no longer "frivolous and without dignity".

"It's dull and boring, not like me."

A good guy, not like yourself. Liu Bang said this about Liu Ying, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also said this about Liu Ju...

Liu Bian also understood that being lively and talking too much is frivolous, and being calm and talking too little is dull. Anyway, as long as you don’t like it, whatever you do is wrong.

Thinking of this, Liu Bian sighed. He originally thought of relying on his status as the eldest son to compete for the crown prince position, and wait until the natural succession when Emperor Ling died two and a half years later. Instead of being helped from the prince to the throne by his uncle and general He Jin as in history.

It was not the first time in the Eastern Han Dynasty that the young emperor ascended the throne, the empress dowager lowered the curtain, and the general, a relative, took control of the government.

But He Jin is really unreliable. He is obviously a relative of a butcher, but he wants to become a leader of scholars. He focuses on eradicating eunuchs and summons foreign generals to the capital under the deception of Yuan Shao and others.

Then Dong Zhuo came... Not only was He Jin himself killed by the eunuchs in desperate situation, but Liu Bian's second uncle He Miao also died at the hands of his men. After that, Queen He and Liu Bian were poisoned by Dong Zhuo.

Liu Bian did not want to be the young emperor, nor did he want to drink poisoned wine. He wanted to seize the initiative and never become a puppet emperor without real power again in two and a half years.

It's a pity that as long as Emperor Ling doesn't agree, he can't be the prince.

In fact, Liu Bian also understood that Emperor Ling undoubtedly preferred "Dong Hou" Liu Xie, who was raised under the knee of Empress Dowager Dong, to him whom he had not seen for many years. Harmony, harmony, like me. In addition, there was a public case in which Queen He poisoned Liu Xiesheng's mother, Wang Meiren, which also affected Emperor Ling's tendencies.

"Your Highness, Changqiu Palace has arrived. The Queen has been waiting for a long time." Guo Sheng, the Zhongchang Attendant who led the way, interrupted Liu Bian's thoughts.

Since Emperor He of the Han Dynasty, eunuchs have appeared on the political stage of the Eastern Han Dynasty as a political force capable of confronting relatives and scholars. Today's Ling Emperor allows the eunuchs headed by the Ten Constant Attendants to have exclusive power. As we all know, there are twelve in total, and Guo Sheng is one of them.

Guo Sheng is in his forties, a native of Nanyang, and his hometown is the same as Queen He. He helped Queen He enter the palace, so Guo Sheng has a very close relationship with Queen He and He Miao.

"My son, you have suffered so much these years!"

Queen He was a beautiful woman who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties at most. She was dressed in palace attire and the concern in her eyes was very real. She came over surrounded by several palace maids and chamberlains.

"My son pays homage to his mother..."

Compared to Emperor Ling, Queen He was much more approachable. Liu Bian was hugged into her arms before he finished his greetings.

Liu Bian was an adult at heart after all, so he was still a little embarrassed to be held in his arms. He wanted to push him away but was afraid of hurting Queen He's heart.

Empress He noticed Liu Bian's discomfort and felt even more pity. Afterwards, she took Liu Bian's hand and talked a lot.

Some were concerned about Liu Bian's daily life in Shi Zixuan, some complained that the emperor did not make Liu Bian the crown prince, some cursed Empress Dowager Dong who raised Liu Xie, and some missed Liu Bian...

History books commented that she was "a taboo because of her strong sexual nature, which shocked everyone in the harem", but to Liu Bian, she was just a mother who wanted to do her best to make up for her children. At the end of the day, Queen He did not forget to introduce Liu Bian to her two most trusted ministers, Zhao Zhong, who served as the chief minister in the Queen's Palace, and Guo Sheng, who brought Liu Bian into the palace and accompanied him all the way.

Of course Liu Bian understood that one cannot use diode thinking to judge the quality of eunuchs. For today's Eastern Han Dynasty, the existence of eunuchs is necessary. And he felt that he could try to use eunuchs to change Emperor Ling's attitude towards him.

So, after Queen He's introduction, Liu Bian praised Guo Sheng and said, "If Mr. Guo hadn't helped me today and answered everything I knew, I don't know how many mistakes I would have made."

Guo Sheng immediately showed a very moved look and called out "the old minister is scared". Zhao Zhong also looked proud.

Queen He was very happy and hugged Liu Bian again. Zhao Zhong and Guo Sheng echoed Queen He's words one after another, just like before.

Just at this time, there was an announcement from the Xiaohuang Gate, interrupting the harmony in the palace. It turned out that the emperor arranged schoolwork for Liu Bian and asked him to go to Dongguan to study tomorrow.

Dongguan, that is, the library, in addition to being used for collecting books, also has special officials sent by the imperial court to compile and review books, most of whom are famous Confucian scholars in the world.

When Empress He asked who the emperor had as his teacher, Xiao Huangmen couldn't answer, so Guo Sheng volunteered to go to the Yutang Hall where Emperor Ling had his office to find Zhang Rang to find out something.

It is true to ask for information, but it is also true to exchange information.

There are too many people who want to get rid of the Ten Constant Attendants, and they themselves know this. After experiencing several crises, the Ten Constant Attendants who originally had their differences had to stick together on many things to survive.

Liu Bian hoped that Guo Sheng could convey his attitude.

After Guo Sheng left, Queen He was not idle and took Liu Bian to his palace. Now Liu Bianxu was only eleven years old and was assigned to a side hall of the Changqiu Palace where the Queen was.

All the arrangements in the palace were neat and tidy, and Zhao Zhong told Liu Bian in a timely manner that these were all arranged by the queen herself.

Later, Queen He saw that Liu Bian was a little tired, so she left him to rest in the palace.

Liu Bian kicked out the people who were left to serve him, and lay alone on the couch thinking about what he would do next.

Since Emperor He in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there have been three political forces for a long time - relatives, eunuchs, and scholar-bureaucrats.

Among them, He Jin had the tendency to follow the example of Dou Wu and Chen Fan and let his relatives and scholar-bureaucrats join forces. He Jin wanted to be a scholar leader, but Liu Bian didn't know where his confidence came from as he was a butcher and had no family history of poetry and calligraphy.

But Liu Bian understood that if he wanted to come to the forefront, he must get the support of some scholars.

Fortunately, in this era when Qingliu originated, although there are speculators among them, there are also a group of idealists who practice it.

As for how to take the first step, perhaps Dongguan can tell Liu Bian the answer.

Now, Liu Bian only hopes that Emperor Ling will find him a reliable teacher.

But he was soon disappointed. Guo Sheng brought a name - Liang Hu, a person he had never heard of.

Liu Bian still hoped to ask Guo Sheng about Liang Hu's origins, and then he learned that Liang Hu came from Hongdu School, studied literature intensively, was especially good at calligraphy, and was famous for his eight-point calligraphy.

　This book is mainly about history

　　

　

(End of this chapter)