My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 298: The Desolate Zhao
"Zhao Guo..."

"Um……"

The main hall of Xuanshi in Weiyang Palace, the Qingliang side hall, and the Yanwu hall.

Standing in front of the huge feng shui chart hanging in the air, which was more than ten feet high and nearly two feet long, Liu Rong couldn't help but frown.

Zhao's strategic location and its strategic position in the Han Dynasty's military and political aspects were undoubtedly extremely special.

From the first prince of a different surname: Zhang Er, the King of Zhao, to Zhang Ao, the second King of Zhao and Marquis of Xuanping, who was able to achieve a soft landing by marrying Princess Yuan of Lu and was deposed as a king and became a marquis;

Then there were Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao, Liu You, the King of Zhao, and Liu Hui, the King of Zhao, who were all murdered by Empress Dowager Lu one after another, as well as Lu Lu, the King of Zhao of the Lu family who was conferred upon him by Empress Dowager Lu.

When Emperor Taizong Xiaowen succeeded to the throne, he conferred the title of King You of Zhao on Liu You's son: Liu Sui was made King of Zhao.

When Emperor Xiaojing came to power, he used Chao Cuo's "Plan for Reducing the Power of the Feudal States" as a weapon to deprive the State of Zhao of its Changshan County. As a result, the King of Zhao bore a grudge and raised an army to respond after the Wu-Chu Rebellion broke out, but was eventually defeated and killed.

——Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, it has been only more than fifty years, and the Han Dynasty has gone through three surnames, Zhang, Lu, and Liu, and a total of seven Zhao kings.

Except for Zhang Er and Zhang Ao, father and son, at the beginning, none of the other five had a good end.

Some people say that Zhao State has bad feng shui, and no matter who it is, once they are appointed to Zhao State, they will not have a good death.

But think about it: if it was really so weird, then the princes of the Han Dynasty would not have been trying so hard to be appointed to the State of Zhao so that they could experience the charm of the Yanzhao singers.

The fact is: as a vassal state, Zhao State was almost the best fiefdom second only to Liang State and the complete Qi State!
Although Zhao State was mountainous and had little arable land, it was not too bad considering its vast territory.
The geographical location of Zhao State could be considered to be well connected. It was located on major transportation routes between the east and the west and the north and the south, so it was impossible for it not to be prosperous.

However, the strategic focus of the Han Dynasty in the north, as well as the rule set by Emperor Taizu Gao that "in wartime, the King of Zhao can call on the troops of Yan, Dai, and Zhao without an imperial decree to prepare for the invasion of the Hu outside", have made Zhao, which was originally a very good and high-quality fiefdom, more politically risky.

High requirements were also placed on the political level and political principles of the prince who was given the title of King of Zhao.

Since Emperor Taizu Gao, who would be the King of Zhao had become a major headache for the court in Chang'an, and to this day, this issue has not been properly resolved.

——After Emperor Taizu Gao gave up his plan to depose the crown prince and establish another one, he decided to make his favorite son, the third prince Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao.

In Liu Bang's view, his third son Liu Ruyi was undoubtedly his most outstanding son and the one who was most capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility of King of Zhao.

But what Liu Bang did not take into account was that the King of Zhao already held the wartime command over the three border kings of Yan, Dai and Zhao, and posed a considerable military threat to the court in Chang'an - to the emperor!

In addition, Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao appointed by Liu Bang, had a political record of competing for the throne and even nearly succeeding;
This made Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao, a major hidden danger who was absolutely untrustworthy during the reign of Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying.

All people know is that after the death of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, Empress Dowager Lu was always planning to kill Prince of Zhao Liu Ruyi, and finally succeeded!

Emperor Xiaohui, Liu Ying, kept Liu Ruyi by his side day and night to protect him, but he was eventually captured by his mother, Empress Dowager Lu.

But no one has ever thought about: Why was Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao, in Chang'an?
Emperor Xiaohui kept Liu Ruyi by his side day and night in the name of "protection", and he really did protect her - at least for quite a long time;
But did Emperor Xiaohui and Liu Ying really not have any intention of "putting Liu Ruyi under house arrest" or even keeping Liu Ruyi under his nose to prevent any changes in Zhao?

In Liu Rong's opinion, this past event is worth recalling.

Empress Dowager Lü's hatred for Liu Ruyi may have originated from the fact that during the reign of Emperor Taizu, Concubine Qi competed for favor and sought the position of crown prince for Liu Ruyi;

But as a politician, Empress Dowager Lu should have been very clear: a prince who "once competed for the throne", especially one who was remotely controlled by his mother behind the scenes, could not pose even the slightest threat to her son - Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, who had already ascended the throne - after the death of Emperor Taizu Gao.

Take the present for example. When Liu Rong faces his younger brother Liu Zhi, with whom he once competed for the throne, has he ever thought, "I must turn the Queen Mother of Jiaodong into a human pig, and then poison Azhi to death"?

After all, the previous emperor had passed away, and Liu Rong had already sat on the imperial couch in the Xuanshi Hall of the Weiyang Palace. The historical Emperor Wu of Han and Liu Zhi, the tenth son of the previous emperor, could no longer pose any threat to Liu Rong.

Would Liu Rong really target and embarrass a brother who posed no threat at all, or even kill him to vent his personal anger?
Liu Rong is obviously not that stupid.

Naturally, Empress Dowager Lu is unlikely to be dumber than Liu Rong.

In Liu Rong's view, whether it was Empress Dowager Lu who cut Concubine Qi into a human pig or poisoned Prince of Zhao Liu Ruyi, the real reason was that Liu Ruyi, the Prince of Zhao, threatened the Liu Han state under the rule of Emperor Xiaohui.

——Liu Ruyi was indeed a good son of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang and the most suitable candidate for the Prince of Zhao during Emperor Taizu's reign;
But at the same time, Liu Ruyi was by no means a good brother of Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, nor was he the most suitable relative to be the King of Zhao during Emperor Xiaohui's reign.

In order to prevent changes in the State of Zhao - in order to prevent the day when King of Zhao Liu Ruyi, under the banner of Emperor Taizu, mobilizes the border troops of Yan, Dai and Zhao in the name of "preparing for the Hu" and marches south to pose a threat to the court in Chang'an, Empress Dowager Lu decided to strike first!
As for Emperor Xiaohui, he was probably unwilling to take such extreme measures. He only wanted to ensure the stability of the State of Zhao by controlling Liu Ruyi as an individual through methods such as house arrest.

But in the end, Empress Dowager Lu acted on her own and killed Liu Ruyi, eliminating the hidden danger for her son, Emperor Xiaohui.

Later, the mysterious deaths of several generations of Zhao kings actually indirectly confirmed this point.

——First, Liu You, King of Zhao, was transferred to King of Zhao by Empress Dowager Lü after Liu Ruyi's death;
This was Empress Dowager Lu declaring to the whole world on behalf of Liu Ying: Liu You, the sixth son of the late emperor, is my most trusted brother.

But later, Liu You was starved to death in his mansion in Chang'an by Queen Dowager Lu due to her false accusation.

The next King Gong of Zhao, Liu Hui, was in a similar situation - his favorite concubine was killed by Queen Lu, which made Liu Hui disheartened and committed suicide for love.

In the eyes of outsiders and even later generations, these two generations of Kings of Zhao were persecuted by their respective queens of the Lu family, and eventually died tragically under the tyranny of Queen Dowager Lu.

But in fact, considering the special strategic position of Zhao State, it is not difficult to infer that the cause of death of these two people was that they failed the obedience test.

——As the proxy of Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, Empress Dowager Lü did not want every Han clan prince to marry a queen with the surname Lü;

What Empress Dowager Lu really wanted was to ensure the absolute obedience of the clan relatives and princes to Chang'an and the emperor through this method - through such an obedience test.

Especially the King of Zhao, as the most important and crucial king guarding the northern border of the Han Dynasty, his loyalty and obedience to the court in Chang'an must be impeccable!

Thus, after Liu Ruyi, two generations of Kings of Zhao were killed by their respective Queens of the Lu family for almost the same reasons.

The logic is very simple: Empress Dowager Lü sent a queen from the Lü clan to King You of Zhao Liu You and King Gong of Zhao Liu Hui respectively.

Since they were from the Lu family, the two queens of the King of Zhao were both relatives of Empress Dowager Lu and her spies.

In a sense, the attitudes of these two kings of Zhao towards their respective queens are also the same as their attitudes towards Queen Dowager Lu.

——Liu You, King You of Zhao, chose to ignore his queen;
——Prince Gong of Zhao, Liu Hui, did not hesitate to die for his favorite concubine, which made Empress Dowager Lu lose face.

Therefore, they deserved to die. Because even Empress Dowager Lü, who was the most honorable and prestigious person in the Han Dynasty at that time and should be respected and loved by the people of the world, could not get the respect of these two people;
What’s more, it was the central court in Chang’an, and the young and weak Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying?

After understanding this, it will become clear when we look at how Empress Dowager Lu conferred upon her relative Lu Lu the title of King of Zhao.

——There is really no reliable person in the Liu family~
The eldest brother, Liu Fei, had long been the King of Qi and had also long since ceded land to offer as tribute, demonstrating his loyalty directly to Empress Dowager Lu and indirectly to Emperor Xiaohui;
After all, it is not a good idea to move it somewhere else.

The second son, Liu Ying, was Emperor Xiaohui himself.

The third son Liu Ruyi, the fifth son Liu Hui, and the sixth son Liu You all died in their respective positions as kings of Zhao.

The only three brothers left were the fourth king Liu Heng, the seventh king of Huainan Liu Chang, and the eighth king of Yan Liu Jian.

Empress Dowager Lu sent people to investigate the older Liu Heng. He was honest but very timid. It seemed that he was frightened by the three brothers who died in Zhao State, and he refused to be the King of Zhao.

The remaining two are young, and there is no point in really enfeoffing them to Zhao State.

In desperation, Empress Dowager Lu finally decided: instead of taking great pains to select brothers who were loyal to the ancestral temple, the country, and Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying from the old Liu family and the descendants of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, it would be better to directly select a loyal maternal relative for Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying from her own family: the Lu family.

Thus, King Lu Lu of Zhao and King Lu (King of Liang) Lu Chan came into being.

——From the perspective of later generations and later generations, Lü Chan and Lü Lu, one was granted the title of King of Zhao to suppress the north, and the other was granted the title of King of Liang to guard the gate to Guanzhong, are undoubtedly strong evidence of the wolfish ambitions of the Lü family's in-laws.

But it must be said: For Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, these two maternal relatives from Liang and Zhao were the more reliable and even the best choices.

So reliable!
Believable!
Although he might rebel against the Han Dynasty, at least he would not rebel against Liu Ying!

It is a pity that Emperor Xiaohui died young, and the two subsequent emperors were not truly supported by Empress Dowager Lu, who died early.

When Empress Dowager Lu passed away, there was no one to rule the Lu family;

When the young emperor was in power, the Liu family was leaderless.

In the end, of course, the Lü clan fought to the death, the ministers in the court, the princes of the Guandong clan joined forces from both inside and outside, and the ancestral temple and the country were plunged into obscurity overnight...

When Emperor Taizong Xiaowen succeeded to the throne, the State of Zhao still gave him a lot of headaches.

Again, the same old saying: Zhao State is too important...

The power of King Zhao is really too great!

If a trustworthy person is not sent to be the King of Zhao, the Emperor of Chang'an must keep one eye open even when he is asleep, and glance in the direction of Hangu Pass from time to time.

Compared with Emperor Taizu Liu Bang's concise and clear approach of "selecting the most outstanding son to go" and Empress Dowager Lu's simple and crude approach of "directly sending my nephew to go", Emperor Taizong Xiaowen adopted a relatively gentler approach.

——Let his nephew Liu Sui, the son of King You of Zhao Liu You, be the King of Zhao.

Few people noticed that when Emperor Taizu's fourth son, Prince of Dai Liu Heng, succeeded to the throne from Dai, he was only 22 years old.

King You of Zhao, Liu You, was the sixth brother of Emperor Taizong Liu Heng, and was even younger than his 22-year-old fourth brother Liu Heng.

Even though Liu You, the King of Zhao, was only one or two years younger than his fourth brother Liu Heng;

Even if King You of Zhao Liu You had a son Liu Sui when he was fifteen or sixteen years old;

By the time Emperor Taizong Xiaowen succeeded to the throne, Prince Sui of Zhao, to whom Emperor Taizong had restored the succession rights of the State of Zhao, was only a child of three or five years old.

And this is precisely the brilliance of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen.

——Return the Zhao ancestral temple to King You’s lineage, and no one in the world can criticize it;
King Liu Sui of Zhao was young, so he sent Taifu Wang and the prime minister to take charge of the government affairs of Zhao State, and no one could find any fault with them.

By the time Prince Sui of Zhao grew up and became a threat to the central government in Chang'an, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen had already straightened out the affairs of the court and became a living saint who ruled the world.

Around the fifteenth year of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's reign, the crowned Prince of Zhao was full of vigor and ambition, and was about to start a great cause, but he discovered that Emperor Taizong Xiaowen in Chang'an was becoming known among the people as a saintly ruler who was "no less virtuous than Emperor Taizu Gao"...

If there had been no previous emperor, and the massive rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu, no matter how "ambitious" King Liu Sui of Zhao was in his life, he would probably have been like King Liu An of Huainan: always preparing for rebellion, but always just preparing.

Now, three years have passed since the Wu-Chu Rebellion was put down;

The flooding of Handan by Li Ji, Marquis of Quzhou, caused the people of Zhao to be outraged and alienated from the central government in Chang'an, but this sentiment was largely diluted by the passage of time.

Next, the great disaster that had tormented successive emperors of the Han Dynasty also faced Liu Rong.

——Who should be the King of Zhao!

Who should be sent to be the King of Zhao, who seems to have unlimited glory but is actually walking on thin ice and will be crushed to pieces if he is not careful...

"After this autumn, our Han family will retake Henan, and the pressure on the northern defense line will be alleviated to a considerable extent."

"The north and Longyou no longer have to face the grassland directly, and the upper and lower dynasties no longer have to face enemies from multiple fronts."

"——The reduced pressure on border defense naturally means that when the Huns invade from the south, our Han family can respond more calmly."

"Rather than just throwing the entire north to the King of Zhao like Emperor Taizu Gao did, and then leading the army in person at any time, and hunting with the Xiongnu Chanyu on his homeland..."

...

"Um……"

"Perhaps the wartime command of the King of Zhao is no longer necessary."

"Without the life-threatening privilege of 'commanding and mobilizing the border guard kings during wartime', it will no longer be a headache for anyone to become the King of Zhao..."

(End of this chapter)