My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 291 The Growth of the Kings

Weiyang Palace, Xuanshi Palace.

After an absence of several years, Liu De, Liu Yu and other kings of Xiaojing could not help but feel emotional when they came to this magnificent and yet not heavy palace again.

The world has changed dramatically over time.

Just seven years ago, the person sitting on the imperial couch at the top was the grandfather of all the brothers: Emperor Taizong Xiaowen.

At that time, the brothers were only grandchildren of the emperor, and they could only come to the Xuanshi Hall a few times a year and see their grandfather a few times;

Even the brothers' father, Crown Prince Liu Qi, could only stand respectfully beside the imperial bed, allowing Emperor Taizong Xiaowen to scold the crown prince.

Three years ago, the brothers left Beijing to establish their fiefdoms. Sitting on the imperial couch was their father, the late Emperor Xiaojing, Liu Qi.

The brothers, as princes and vassals of the royal family, listened attentively to the teachings of the late Emperor Xiaojing, and from time to time cast their seeking glances towards their eldest brother, Crown Prince Liu Rong, who was standing beside the imperial bed.

Now, the one sitting on the imperial couch has become Emperor Rong.

The brothers were only a few years old, but they had already become the emperor's brothers and the pillars of the clan and the country.

In just seven years, three generations of Han emperors passed through;

It is just like the Qin Dynasty back then. After King Zhaoxiang, there were four kings in three years. The King of Qin changed from Ying Ji, who was over 60 years old, to Ying Zheng, the great-grandson who was only 12 years old.

——It is inevitable that people will feel at a loss.

But all the brothers knew: no matter how confused they were, they had to accept reality and adapt as soon as possible.

To adapt to his status as a relative of the vassal king, the son of the previous emperor, and the current brother...

"The previous emperor passed away, and I, the new emperor, was enthroned. I am not very lonely..."

"I originally wanted to summon all the kings and brothers to attend my father's funeral;"

"But the ancestral rules are as great as the sky, what can the disciples do..."

After returning to the Xuanshi Hall with his four younger brothers, Liu Rong asked everyone to take a seat. He let out a long sigh and then expressed his feelings like this.

These words are not entirely polite.

——There was a time when Liu Rong really thought: If he had a younger brother he could trust, like the second oldest Liu De or the fourth oldest Liu Yu;

Perhaps the old lady in the East Palace would be afraid and would not bully Emperor Rong, who hadn't even warmed up on the imperial couch at that time, into that state?
But later, Liu Rong slowly figured it out.

For Liu Rong, the only thing his brothers could really help him with was to stay in the feudal state of Guandong and deter the villains...

Ever since Emperor Taizu Gaozu founded the Han Dynasty, discussions about the princes and vassal kings have always been dominated by the theme of "the princes' separatist rule threatening the central government."

At first, they were princes of different surnames, and later they were vassals of clan relatives;

But no matter whether they were princes of different surnames who were personally appointed by Emperor Taizu Gao and produced by him, or the clan relatives with Liu blood flowing in their veins, they were all the same in the eyes of the central court in Chang'an.

They are all powerful countries within a country and unstable factors for Liu Han's country!
However, few people thought about it, or few people could understand that for the Han emperor, the princes from Guandong - at least the princes from the royal family - had a certain necessity to exist.

The reason is simple;
——In the 27th year of the Han Dynasty, Empress Dowager Lü passed away, and the Lü clan's foreign relatives caused chaos in Chang'an. Old ministers such as Chen Ping and Zhou Bo were rewarded with honors internally and allied with the King of Qi externally, and they worked together to put down the Lü clan's rebellion!

After the rebellion was quelled, why did Chen Ping and Zhou Bo choose to welcome the then King of Dai to the throne instead of establishing a king from a different family or even establishing themselves as king?

Some people might say that this was because Chen and Zhou, as founding fathers of the Liu Han Dynasty, still had a certain degree of loyalty and affection towards the Han family and Emperor Taizu Liu Bang.

But every politician will scoff at this statement.

For politicians, especially those who hold great power, emotions are almost the most worthless things.

Did Emperor Taizu Liu Bang have no feelings for Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin?
After the defeat in Pengcheng, King of Han retreated to Xingyang to confront Xiang Yu. King of Liang Peng Yue almost single-handedly stabilized the Xingyang defense line for Liu Bang at that time.

Don’t you have any gratitude towards this great contributor who helped rebuild the Liu Han clan, Emperor Taizu Liu Bang?

In fact, there are only two reasons why Chen Ping and Zhou Bo did not establish a new family but directly established themselves.

First: At that time, the Liu Han Dynasty had only been in existence for more than 20 years, and the people and reputation of the world still supported the Liu family;

Second: In Guandong, in addition to King Liu Xiang of Qi who raised troops to respond to Chen and Zhou and eliminate the Lü clan, there were still relatives and vassal kings such as King Liu Heng of Dai, King Liu Chang of Huainan, and even King Liu Bi of Wu.

Chen and Zhou knew very well that as long as they dared to act recklessly, the spit of the people of the world and the knowledge of the soldiers who cooked for the Guandong clan would be enough to tear them to pieces and nail them to the pillar of shame in history.

Therefore, Chen and Zhou did not dare to act recklessly. They only dared to make some careful considerations on the selection of the emperor. They welcomed Liu Heng, the King of Dai, who was the most honest, weakest and kind-hearted among the kings, as the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty.

As for King Dai Liu Heng, his counterattack after Emperor Taizong Xiaowen ascended the throne, that is a story for later.

From this one incident alone, it is not difficult to see that from the perspective of the country, nation, and political power, the clan feudal system that the Han people have retained to this day does have many drawbacks.

Since Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the Han Dynasty has been pushing for the weakening of the princes in the Guandong region in order to reduce the threat they posed to the central court in Chang'an.

But from Liu Rong's personal perspective, the Han emperor's relatives and princes in Guandong were not just conspirators with strong military forces, who were always ready to take over the world.

It's the same old saying: When Empress Dowager Lü passed away, the Lü clan started a rebellion in Chang'an;

If King Liu Xiang of Qi had not raised his troops to respond and distracted the attention of Lu Chan and Lu Lu who were in power, as well as most of the troops they controlled, it would have been impossible for Chen Ping and Zhou Bo to accomplish anything on their own!

In other words: in some extreme cases, the clan princes in Guandong were precisely the emperor of Liu Han - at least the most solid and most favorable supporters of Liu Han's country.

After supporting and protecting the ancestral temple, they might take over and become emperors;

But compared with the destruction of the clan and society and the change of dynasties, this is undoubtedly a way to continue the Liu Han dynasty.

——Haven’t you heard that King Liu Bi of Wu raised an army to rebel and raised the righteous banner of "killing Chao Cuo and clearing the court of officials", and his goal was nothing more than to replace the Han emperor?
Haven’t you seen that King Liu Wu of Liang, who almost single-handedly resisted the pressure from most of Guandong and saved the Han Dynasty and the ancestral temple of Liu Han for his brother?
After all, as substitutes for the princes of different surnames, the princes of royal blood never threatened the continuation of the dynasty, but the foundation of the regime.

In some cases, such as when King Liu Wu of Liang was related to Emperor Xiaojing, and when the kings of Hejian and Linjiang were related to the current Emperor Liu Rong, etc., who were very closely related by blood, the clan princes would not only not become a threat to the dynasty, but would instead become the most deterrent force to the emperor.

In the original historical timeline, Emperor Wu of Han was the new emperor who came up with the Jianyuan New Deal. Why did Empress Dowager Dou dare to abolish all his policies just because of a disagreement, and even kicked Emperor Wu of Han to face the wall, and even thought of deposing him?
Because Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was the tenth son of Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, but he was also the only son of Queen Mother Wang.
If something happened to Emperor Wu of Han, no princes or vassal kings in Guandong would stand up for him out of brotherhood or blood ties.

Not only will he not feel resentful, but he will even covet the throne.

If it were today, would it be better to let Liu Rong follow the example of Emperor Wu of Han in history and launch a new policy of Jianyuan?
Although Empress Dowager Dou was angry and annoyed, she would definitely take action; but no matter what, she would never dare to trample Liu Rong, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, into the dirt as she did to Emperor Wu of Han in the original historical timeline.

Because of Liu Rong, he has brothers.

To put it simply, Liu De, the King of Hejian, and Liu Yu, the King of Linjiang, were brothers from the same mother as Liu Rong and shared the same honor and disgrace.

To put it in a broader sense, brothers including King of Lu Liu Yu, King of Jiangdu Liu Fei, and even King of Changsha Liu Fa, King of Shan Liu Pengzu, and King of Zhongshan Liu Sheng all recognized Liu Rong as their elder brother who was like a father to them, and were willing to fight for him!
However, Empress Dowager Dou did not dare to take overly drastic measures against Liu Rong and risk causing chaos in Guandong.

It's like in the folks, compared to a single household with no relatives and a completely separate family, a family with many brothers and sisters is always more difficult to mess with.

As an only child, you don’t have much pressure to bully him;
But if you have a lot of brothers and sisters, even if he is powerless, you have to think carefully: if you really get bullied, can you withstand the wrath of that group of rough men?

Liu Rong clearly remembered that when King Xiao of Liang, Liu Wu, died, the late Emperor Xiaojing said this.

——I am very happy because the King of Liang of the Han Dynasty has passed away;
I am also very sad because my brother died.

At that time, although Liu Rong was not completely confused, he was somewhat unable to understand.

And now, Liu Rong can fully feel this fragmented, complex, yet reasonable emotion.

As the ruler of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Rong still took the attitude of steadily weakening the clan vassals including Hejian and Linjiang, reducing the threat of the separatist forces in Guandong to the central government in Chang'an and the obstruction to the centralization of power;

But as an elder brother, Liu Rong has the attitude towards his brothers including Liu De and Liu Yu that "if the younger brothers are in trouble, I will protect them, and if the brothers are in trouble in the future, the younger brothers will also lend a hand."

The two attitudes are diametrically opposed, but they do not conflict with each other.

Liu De and Liu Yu clearly have a full understanding of this...

"The late emperor passed away, leaving Your Majesty alone in Chang'an, facing the scoundrels inside and outside the court;"

"——Our hearts are broken as if by a knife..."

"However, our ancestors' system came first. Even if I, your humble servant, wanted to, I would not dare to violate it and come to Chang'an without permission."

"So they had no choice but to spend three months in mourning for the late emperor in their respective countries and wait for the national mourning period to end."

"It was not until the fifth month of summer that I was able to submit a petition and go to Chang'an to attend my father's funeral..."

Ben is the oldest, most mature, and most stable of the brothers;
After serving as princes for a few more years, Liu De and Liu Yu have now grown into qualified politicians.

In response to Liu Rong's statement, whether it was a polite greeting or an expression of true feelings, the two brothers responded flawlessly.

In sharp contrast to these two are Liu Yu and Liu Fei, who are both more cautious and have become more pure than before.

"Yes, yes!"

"When I learned that the late emperor had passed away, I immediately planned to submit a petition and go to Chang'an!"

“If it weren’t for my second brother… ahem;”

"If the King of Hejian hadn't stopped me, I would have already..."

Then Linjiang King Liu Yu stood up indignantly. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he was glanced at by Hejian King Liu De with a cold look. He had to sit back in grievance, and did not dare to finish his words.

On the other side, Jiangdu King Liu Fei also looked like he agreed, but he also timidly glanced at his brother beside him: Lu King Liu Yu;

When Liu Yu glanced at him in confusion, Liu Fei also muttered and lowered his head like Liu Yu.

Seeing this scene in front of him, which seemed like a copy and paste, appearing simultaneously on the east and west sides, Liu Rong couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

In a sense, the three brothers Liu Rong, Liu De and Liu Yu who lived in the Phoenix Hall at that time had almost the same way of getting along with the four brothers Liu Yu, Liu Fei, Liu Fa and Liu Duan who lived in the Xuanming Hall.

——Each of them is headed by the eldest brother, and Liu Rong and Liu Yu make decisions and guide and restrain their younger brothers.

After Liu Rong was established as the Crown Prince and could no longer take care of his younger brothers, especially the third brother Liu Yu, this burden naturally fell on the second brother Liu De.

After so many years of hands-on teaching, Liu Yu has learned something from his second brother.

Although he was dull and failed to receive Liu De's "true teachings", he at least figured out his own way of survival.

——When you encounter something you don’t understand, it’s always right to listen to your elder brother.

As for Liu Fei, the King of Jiangdu, he was not as honest and straightforward as Liu Yu, but the nature of a warrior was more straightforward and he did not have so many tricks.
Liu Fei's reverence for his elder brother Liu Yu was almost ingrained in his bones...

"I have been a vassal in Jiangdu for three years, but I haven't had a chance to fight that old man Zhao Tuo."

"Old Five, I'm afraid you're also feeling depressed, right?"

After a brief silence, Liu Rong asked with a smile, which finally made Jiangdu King Liu Fei, who had been lowering his head dejectedly, raise his head again.

After Liu Rong asked this question, the pair of eyes that had been somewhat numb became visibly brighter!
If it were three years ago, when the Wu-Chu Rebellion had just ended, Liu Rong had no doubt that his fifth brother would jump up and beg Liu Rong to give him a chance to fight!

But three years later, the young man who was once full of vigor and vitality and went to the battlefield at the age of fifteen and led the army to Guandong has become more mature after being eroded by the years.

"Your Majesty, I am terrified..."

"When I was young, I admired Li Mu and Lian Po, and my lifelong ambition was to go north to drive out the Hu and expand the territory."

"Now that I am older, although still foolish, I understand my identity."

"——As a prince, I should take over my brother's duties to govern the people of one area and serve as a wing of the country."

"I have nothing to do with fighting in a military formation..."

···
"Ah~"

"After I was enfeoffed in Jiangdu, I also thought about whether I should find a reason to have a fight with that old man Zhao Tuo."

"But after being a king for a few years, I finally understand what my brother meant when he said, 'The rise and fall of a country is the suffering of the people'..."

(End of this chapter)