A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 238 Three-party competition, deception
Before Emperor Xuan's death, he had arranged a "troika" for the Han Emperor to assist the government, with Marquis of Leling Shi Gao as the leader, and the Crown Prince Xiao Wangzhi and the Young Master Zhou Kan as deputy.

In addition to the Han emperor, today's court is divided into relatives, Confucian ministers, and other courtiers.

Among them, the relatives include the Shi family, the Xu family, and the Wang family; Confucian officials are divided into ordinary Confucian officials and Confucian scholars with ancestral ancestry. Among them, the Confucian officials with ancestral ancestry are mainly the Bai family and the Yang family; other courtiers are mostly ministers from other schools, and Choose other neutral families, or other ministers with no background.

Among the foreign relatives, the main ones are Leling Marquis Shi Gao, who occupies 40% of the power in the court, the Confucian officials, mainly Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan, occupies 40%, and other courtiers who have no tendency occupy the remaining Two percent.

Xiao Wangzhi was the successor of Xiao He, the founding hero of the People's Republic of China. He was not a direct descendant of Xiao He, so he did not inherit the title. However, he relied on his own ability to enter Taixue, where he became a disciple of Bai Tao, a famous scholar in the country, and eventually became a great Confucian. He became the crown prince and tutor, and now he is a former general and a minister.

Since Emperor Wu, the court has been divided into inner and outer dynasties. The outer dynasty is dominated by the prime minister, and the inner dynasty is dominated by Guanglu officials. They participate in the government affairs by receiving ministerial affairs and giving affairs, and gradually surpass the power of the prime minister and become the head of the world's officials.

Because Xiao Wangzhi was the master of the Han Emperor, he won the trust of the Han Emperor. He and Zhou Kan were both Confucian disciples, so he often visited the Han Emperor with Zhou Kan in his spare time, discussed with him the strategies for governing the country, and stated Serving the king.

He also recommended Liu Xiang, a Sanqi scholar in the clan who was well versed in classics, to advise the official, and Jin Chang, a fellow servant in the imperial family, to advise the Han emperor. Liu Xiang and Jin Chang were both disciples of Confucianism.

From this, Xiao Wangzhi, Zhou Kan, Liu Gengsheng, and Jin Chang worked together to persuade Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty using the ancient system, and put forward many corrective suggestions. Emperor Han Emperor Dona used his words.

During the reign of Emperor Xuan, because he did not listen to Confucianism and relied on the law, and because Zhongshu Ling Honggong and Zhongshu Pushe Shixian were proficient in legal provisions, they were allowed to be in charge of the confidential departments of the court for a long time, which caused the eunuchs in the palace to interfere in the government affairs.

Now Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan, both assistant ministers, have become close ministers to the Han Emperor. However, Shi Gao was ignored by the Han Emperor. As a result, he was dissatisfied with Xiao Wangzhi and others, and began to quarrel with Xiao Wangzhi in some places. This confrontation led to the confrontation between relatives and Confucian officials.

Xiao Wangzhi was a great Confucian, so he was upright, honest, benevolent and loyal, and could not bear a grain of sand in his eyes. Seeing that Hong Gong, Shi Xian and others were monopolizing power by virtue of their positions as Zhongshu, he said to the Han Emperor:
"Your Majesty, Zhongshu is the basis of national affairs and should be managed by wise and just people. When Emperor Wu was enjoying banquets in the back court and appointed eunuchs to be in charge of Zhongshu, it was not in line with the old system of the country and violated the ancient rule of not punishing people. Righteousness', so I believe that it must be corrected."

The Han Emperor hesitated and said: "I have just ascended the throne, and I am not familiar with the government and state affairs. I am afraid it will not be good if the system is suddenly changed!"

Xiao Wangzhi also gave an example of the harm caused to the country by many eunuchs in ancient and modern times. Emperor Han said: "Master Xiao's words may be biased. These eunuchs are all people without heirs. They have nothing to want, let alone They will not form cliques for personal gain and cause any harm to the country.

Moreover, after so many years of observation, I have seen what they did. These eunuchs are all thinking about me. Master Xiao may have been deceived by the stories in the book. "

"His Majesty···"

Seeing that Xiao Wangzhi wanted to say something else, Emperor Han said directly: "Okay, since we can't reach an agreement, let's discuss it later and discuss other things first."

The Han Emperor said so, so Xiao Wangzhi had no choice but to stop persuading him.

However, how could Xiao Wangzhi's series of remarks be hidden from Hong Gong, Shi Xian and others who had eyes and hands in the palace? Knowing that Xiao Wangzhi and other Confucian officials looked down on themselves and others so much, they felt jealous, so they decided after discussion to The two relatives named Shi and Xu joined forces to deal with Xiao Wangzhi.

After refuting Xiao Wangzhi's suggestion, the Han Emperor was still a little embarrassed, so he promoted Liu Xiang to Zongzheng as compensation.

On the other hand, Zheng Peng, a Confucian scholar in Kuaiji County, knew about Xiao Wangzhi's power and secretly planned to rely on him. So Shangshu said that the cavalry general Shi Gao sent his disciples to the county to carry out some cunning activities, and also mentioned that Xu Zhang , some sins of the children of the Shigao family.

He also praised Xiao Wangzhi's virtues in the memorial, saying that he had the virtues of Duke Zhou and Duke Zhao, etc. At first, Xiao Wangzhi accepted him when he saw that he had some talent and was a disciple of Confucianism.

However, Zheng Peng thought he had Xiao Wangzhi's clues. After that, he praised Xiao Wangzhi many times, talked about the shortcomings of the cavalry general Shi Gao, and talked about the mistakes of Xu Zhang and Shi Gao.

This aroused Xiao Wangzhi's displeasure, thinking that his behavior was not decent, so he cut off all contact with him. As a result, Zheng Peng and others in the same batch got official positions, but he alone did not.

Seeing this, Zheng Peng held a grudge and asked Xu Zhang and Shi Gao instead. When asked about the bad things he had said about Xu and Shi before, Zheng Peng just shied away and said, "Those were taught to me by Zhou Kan, Liu Xiang and others." Yes, I’m from Guandong, how do I know this?”

Then he told them five faults of Xiao Wangzhi, a serious crime, saying that he wanted to exclude the cavalry general Shi Gao and others.

Xu Zhang and Shi Gao were overjoyed to receive Xiao Wangzhi's evidence of guilt and asked Hong Gong and Shi Xian about the matter.

However, Hong Gong and Shi Xian were afraid that Xiao Wangzhi's appeal would be ineffective in front of the Han Emperor, so they decided to pass the matter to other officials, who would report it to the Han Emperor.

It happened that Zheng Peng had joined them, and he was from Xiao Wangzhi's side before, so he decided to support him as the whistleblower and ordered Zheng Peng to report this matter to Xiao Wangzhi when he was out of the palace for vacation.

When Emperor Han learned about this, he didn't quite believe it, but he couldn't ignore it, so he asked Hong Gong to go down and investigate.

Faced with the inquiries from Hong Gong and the other two, Xiao Wangzhi said clearly: "My foreign relatives have been extravagant and promiscuous during their reign. I am trying to right the country, so how can I do something unfair and end my own path?"

However, what Hong Gong and his two men reported to the Han Emperor was: "Xiao Wangzhi, Zhou Kan, and Liu Xiang formed a party to compliment each other and recommended each other. They repeatedly framed and accused ministers, slandered and alienated His Majesty's relatives at home and abroad. They wanted to monopolize power and were disloyal to the ministers. To deceive your majesty, please ask your majesty to send your envoys to bring these people to the court."

The Emperor of the Han Dynasty did not understand that the visitors summoned the Tingwei to mean that they would be sent to prison. He just thought that the Tingwei would be asked to investigate, so he agreed to their request.

So Xiao Wangzhi and the other three were imprisoned without any explanation. According to Bai's character, Bai Du didn't want to pay attention to the fight between Xiao Wangzhi and others and Shi Xian and others. He believed that this was another power struggle within the court. In Bai Du's impression, the eunuchs' intentions were mostly the emperor's. He thought that this was another struggle between the emperor and his relatives to suppress the Confucian officials, while Xiao Wang The other three were just imprisoned and their lives were not in danger.

After suppressing the Confucian officials, the emperor would naturally take action to rectify the imperial court, and then there would be a new Zhaoxuan rule.

But this has been waiting for several months. Since the three were imprisoned, the emperor not only failed to fill their positions, but also made Hong Gong, Shi Xian and others more involved in the government affairs, and Shi Gao and other relatives had no ability to govern. , which actually led to some irregularities in the operation of government affairs, and even some pauses and errors.

Since Emperor Wu established the Inner Dynasty, the emperor rarely showed up. Everything was communicated to the outer dynasty through the inner dynasty, making it rare for the outer dynasty to see the emperor himself except for major national events.

You must know that the central court is the administrative hub of the world, and the outer court is the prime minister of the world's political affairs. All matters in the world must be gathered in the outer court, and then reported to the inner court. After the emperor's approval, the outer court will handle it. If the inner and outer court If something goes wrong, it will affect the whole world, so Bai Du cannot help but ignore it.

"Your Majesty, Taichang Bai Gong wishes to see you."

"Oh? Mr. Bai actually came to my place when he was free. Could it be that something big happened?"

The Han Emperor thought to himself that apart from attending court meetings on time, serving in the Taichang Mansion, and handling government affairs, Bai Du rarely visited the Han Emperor on his own initiative.

The Emperor of the Han Dynasty also knew the power of the Bai family in the Han Dynasty. Seeing that the Bai family had no action, he was happy to see the success. He only needed to drink and have fun.

"Please come in, Mr. Bai!"

Bai Du is now over seventy years old, with white hair and beard, and slowly walks into the hall. A few years ago, Bai Bin passed away due to illness, and Bai Du had already succeeded Bai Gong.

However, since Bai Ke is still a censor Zhongcheng who is more powerful than Qianshi and has not yet met the standards for promotion to Jiuqing, Bai Du has to continue to serve in Chang'an, and the affairs of Bai Kingdom are temporarily handled by Gongsun Bai Guan.

"Give me a seat."

Seeing that Bai Du was quite old, already as old as his teacher Xiao Wangzhi, and Bai Du was a descendant of his most beloved teacher Bai Tao, they became even closer to him.

"I wonder what Mr. Bai wants from me?"

"Your Majesty, I came here to ask something from Your Majesty. Xiao Wangzhi, Zhou Kan, and Liu Xiang are all important ministers of the country who hold important positions. I don't know what they have committed, and they are sent to prison. If it is serious, I hope Your Majesty Punish crimes early to fill the central position.

If it is not serious, please release them, so as not to cause the government to run smoothly and cause the country to fall into chaos. "

"What's wrong with what Mr. Bai said? Aren't Master Xiao and the others still in office?"

Bai Du looked at Emperor Han suspiciously, whether he really didn't know or was pretending not to know.

Seeing Bai Du's questioning look, Emperor Han didn't know that he had been deceived. However, out of the emperor's majesty, he just smiled and said: "Thank you very much, Mr. Bai, for reminding me. Please rest assured that I have made my own considerations in my heart and will not let the government's affairs be compromised." into chaos.”

"That's good. Since your Majesty knows about this, I won't say more. Please retreat!"

"Mr. Bai, go slowly. Someone is coming. I wish you a happy life and see Mr. Bai off."

Bai Du slowly walked out of the hall with the support of a young eunuch.

As soon as Bai Du's figure left, Emperor Han's face suddenly fell.

"Come here, call me these two idiots Hong Gong and Shi Xian!"
-
【Descent】

Wu Zu (aged fifty-five years): Si’s surname was Bai Shizhen [last words]: Wu’er didn’t expect that, treat your retainers well.

Xiangzu (aged sixty-three): His surname was Bai Shiwu. [Last words]: Come on, Huan'er! Pay attention to the inheritance of the school.

Huan Zu (aged forty-one): Si’s surname was Bai, Huan’s last words: Ji Xia, you are a cheat, you TXX.

···
Jing Zhaozu (93 years old): His surname was Bai Shiyun. [Last words]: When the water is full, it will overflow. If you are in a high position, you will not be affected by yourself.

Wen Chengzu (aged eighty-nine): Si's surname was Bai Shibin. [Last words]: The Bai family is not the same as the head of the Bai family.

(End of this chapter)