My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 301 Let's Leave It Like This

In the hall, the kings talked about their own grievances and difficulties, and expressed their demands in a gentle manner.

——The second son, Liu De, the King of Hejian, wanted to be the King of Zhao;

The third brother, King Linjiang Liu Yu, wanted to move to a slightly more "decent" fiefdom.

What is a 'decent' closed country?

They are nothing more than ancient countries like Yan, Dai, Zhao, Qi, Chu and Wu, but not the new vassal states that were first established by the Han Dynasty, such as Hejian and Linjiang, which are "unfair" vassal states that use county names as their country names.

Liu Rong might be able to make a rough estimate of these two brothers;

But obviously, these two brothers are not the only ones who have the same pursuit.

——The fourth prince of Lu, Liu Yu, had no intention of moving his fiefdom;
Liu Rong had already made arrangements for the fifth brother, King of Jiangdu Liu Fei.

The sixth prince, Liu Fa, King of Changsha, was satisfied with the result of being granted three counties in exchange for a song and dance.

But after Liu Fa, there was a series of outrageous demands that gave Liu Rong a headache...

"Seventh Brother Changshan wants to be transferred to the south, preferably Huainan..."

"The eighth brother Liu Duan wants to annex the Jiaodong of the tenth brother, and combine Jiaodong and Jiaoxi into the 'Jiao State'..."

"Old Nine Zhongshan, after Changshan is transferred, he wants to unite the troops of Changshan and Zhongshan to gain a county..."

While secretly counting on his fingers and listing the demands of the kings, Liu Rong's eyes fell uncontrollably on the short, thin child with a childish face.

——The tenth son of the late emperor, Liu Zhi, the King of Jiaodong, wanted to be closer to Liu Rong and Chang'an;
It sounds like there is nothing wrong with it, but upon closer examination, it is not difficult to find that Liu Zhi's request is not an exaggeration to say that it is "harbouring evil intentions"!
Liu Zhi's current fiefdom: Jiaodong, is located in the former complete territory of Qi State, on the Jiaodong Peninsula, which is the Shandong Peninsula in eastern Shandong in later generations.

From a geographical point of view, Jiaodong State is indeed one of the easternmost regions of the Han Dynasty;

Considering that Guanzhong is located in the western half of the current Han Dynasty territory, it seems that there is nothing wrong with saying that Jiaodong is "too far from Guanzhong" and "too far from Chang'an".

But the key point is: today, the Han Dynasty and most of the clan vassal states are in a similar situation.

You said that your Jiaodong country is far away from Guanzhong, with a straight-line distance of thousands of miles from east to west?

What about Yan State?
What about Dai State?
What about Jiangdu and Changsha in the south?

From Jiaodong to Guanzhong, at least the road is flat, so you can just head west.
To reach Guanzhong from Yan State, one must first go south to Qi, and then take your road heading west to reach Guanzhong!
As for Jiangdu in the southeast, Changsha in the southernmost part of the Han territory, and Dai in the northernmost part, the weather was either hot and humid or bitterly cold.

Which one is not farther than your Jiaodong Country?
To put it bluntly: the various clan princes in Guandong, from Yan, Dai, and Zhao in the north, Qi, Chu, and Liang in the Central Plains, to Huainan, Changsha, and Jiangdu in the south - were either far or near from Hangu Pass, but there was still some distance between them.

Except for Liang State, which guarded the eastern gateway of Guanzhong, no other vassal state dared to say "I am close to Guanzhong" or "I am not far from Chang'an".

——You must know that even if you enter Hangu Pass and step on the land of Guanzhong, you still have to walk another thousand miles before you can reach Chang'an!

Therefore, Liu Zhi's seemingly sympathetic words, "I want to be closer to Chang'an and my royal brother," were actually a wishful thinking.

Liangdi!

Only Liangdi can satisfy the request of His Royal Highness the King of Jiaodong to be closer to Guanzhong and Chang'an.

Of course, under the premise that King Xiao of Liang, Liu Wu, had passed away and the State of Liang was passed on to the crown prince, the current King of Liang, Liu Mai, it was certainly impossible for Liu Zhi to replace Liu Mai and become the King of Liang of the Han Dynasty.

In this case, Liu Zhi's humble statement...

"Is Jiaodong's intention to extend favor to Liang State and split up King Xiao's land?"

as predicted.

Empress Dowager Dou was the first to realize Liu Zhi's evil intentions. The warm smile on her face disappeared in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, the old lady's face turned dark.

Pretending to turn her head to observe the changes in Liu Rong's expression, the old lady realized that she couldn't see. She took a deep breath and murmured casually, "The Queen Mother of Jiaodong, I'm afraid she has become confused after being away from Chang'an for so long;"

"I actually taught the King of Jiaodong to say such sinister words. If you don't know, you would think that the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty was born in the Tian family of Changling..."

The Changling Tian clan is the remnant of the former Tianqi royal family in the late Warring States Period and the maternal clan of the current Queen Mother of Jiaodong: Wang Zhi.

The old empress dowager's words were obviously a reminder to Liu Rong: Don't forget what kind of person that woman is!
Beside the old empress dowager, Liu Rong calmly raised his hand, rubbed his lower lip with his fingertips, and looked up and down again at his tenth brother Liu Zhi, who was already a little uneasy at the bottom of the imperial steps.

Obviously, neither the eternal pie of "hiding a beautiful girl in a golden house" in the original historical timeline, nor the sentence "I want to leave Chang'an and be closer to my royal brother" were something that Liu Zhi, who was only seven years old, could say.

The real masterminds behind the scenes are the Queen Mother of Jiaodong, Wang Zhi, and the current Internal History of Jiaodong, Tian Fen.

But even so - even though these two were once his only competitors in the fight for the throne, Liu Rong still couldn't help but be amazed.

There is no other reason;

The political wisdom of Wang Zhi and Tian Fen was so great that even Liu Rong, their former rival, could not help but applaud them.

Extend favor to Liang State!

I have to say, this idea is very bold!

Especially when Empress Dowager Dou was still alive and the death of King Xiao of Liang, Liu Wu, was still a thorn in the old empress's heart. Any proposal that was unfavorable to the State of Liang and the lineage of King Xiao would inevitably arouse the old empress's hostility, or even anger!
The strategic significance of Liang State, the needs of the court in Chang'an, and political considerations can all be left aside;
The proposal of "dismembering the remains of King Xiao" alone was enough to make the Jiaodong King family, led by Wang Zhi and Tian Fen, the focus of the Queen Mother's attention!

Well, the problem is coming.

Wang Zhi and Tian Fen, as the main forces in history who reasonably supported Liu Zhi to become the crown prince and even the emperor, didn't they know that doing so would incur the resentment of the old empress dowager?
Obviously, they know.

Not only did they know that doing so would arouse the hostility of the old empress dowager, they also knew that if this proposal really resulted in the result of "moving the fiefdom of Jiaodong to Liangdi", then their family would become despised and ignored by all groups including clan members, the court, and the nobles.

You, the King of Jiaodong, wanted to be transferred to Liang, so you demoted the King of Liang?

Then when you want to move the fiefdom again, won’t you have to demolish an ancient great country every time you move the fiefdom?

Forced demolition, right?
Especially this move, if successful, would have secured a fiefdom in Liangdi for Liu Zhi, King of Jiaodong - even if it was only a county or even half a county, it would have set a very bad example for other clan princes, and even future royal descendants.

Today, you set your eyes on Yan, and Yan will be demolished with a bang; tomorrow, he will set his eyes on Chu, and Chu will be shattered into pieces.

If everyone does this, how can we live a good life?
It’s good to extend favor, but there has to be a reason, right?

It is just like Emperor Taizong extended favors to Qi and Huainan, splitting these two large countries with several counties into today's Qi and Huainan systems. There is a cause for every effect!

The Qi family had a Qi prince Liu Xiang who wanted to be the emperor, and a large family of Qi princes who wanted to be loyal subjects.

The Huainan faction produced a man named King Li Liu Chang who was addicted to rebellion, had big breasts and no brains.

He deserves the favor he gets!

Extending favor to dismantle their country is a punishment!
But you - just saying "I want to be the king of somewhere" and you demolished a big country for no reason?
Why?
Why shouldn't I scold you and call you a cunning villain?

If my kingdom is also demolished in this way in the future, how can I not hate you as the instigator?
This is the current situation of the Han Dynasty.

——The policy of extending favors, which was praised by later generations and even regarded as the best solution to all problems, is not a national policy that can be implemented at will in the current Han Dynasty;

But a punishment.

In the perception of most people in the Han Dynasty today, only those clan princes who have committed heinous crimes but whose crimes are not worthy of being exterminated from their country can have the opportunity to experience the Enfeoffment Package specially customized for them by the Emperor of Chang'an.

Only those disrespectful and powerful vassals who cannot be killed, cannot be abolished, and who are really uneasy to keep, are worthy of being granted the favor of dismembering their territories.

In other words: In this era, there needs to be a reason to extend favors and dismember the territories of the princes.

It is not as simple as the original history, when Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, made each vassal state take the initiative to extend favors to his sons with a stroke of his pen;
Instead, he should give an impeccable reason, like Emperor Taizong Xiaowen did, to make the people of the world - at least the vast majority of people inside and outside the court understand: Extending Favor is the only way to solve the problem of this family of princes and eliminate the hidden dangers brought by this family of princes.

For example, the Qi system back then;
Emperor Taizong Xiaowen once explained to the court: As the fourth son of Emperor Taizu Gao, I just can't bear to punish the sons of my eldest brother, King Daohui of Qi.

But after the princes and ministers joined forces to punish the Lü clan, King Liu Xiang of Qi had an idea that he shouldn't have - he wanted to get his hands on the throne, but he failed!

King Ai died of depression, and the sons of King Daohui of Qi were even more resentful of me, the illegitimate son of Taizu, who "stole the throne from King Ai" because they failed to follow the emperor.

If we don't deal with the lineage of King Daohui, they will definitely become a serious threat to our Han family!
But after all, he was the blood of Taizu's eldest son, so it was not right to start a war or destroy the country at will.

Therefore, in order to appease and dismantle the sons of King Daohui who are united in purpose, and also to dismantle Qi to weaken its power, I have decided to extend favors to the sons of King Daohui, divide Qi into seven parts, and grant the sons of King Daohui the land of Qi...

With such a set of procedures, everyone will say: Oh ~ Although the extension of favor is not good, Your Majesty really has no other choice ~
I mourn for the sons of Hui. It is not easy to kill them, nor is it easy to imprison them. If I leave them alone, I am afraid that they will become a great disaster.
Extending the favor to all of Qi is truly the best solution with no disadvantages and only a hundred benefits...

This is not the best!

Later, Emperor Taizong's actions in extending his favor to Huainan can be regarded as a textbook example in the imperial politics course!
At the beginning, it was King Huainan Liu Chang who smashed the old Marquis of Piyang Shen Yiji to death with a hammer in Shangguanli - in broad daylight!
When asked why, it turned out that Liu Chang blamed Shen Yiji for not interceding for his mother when Empress Dowager Lu murdered his biological mother...

Emperor Taizong made a big deal out of this matter. In addition, Shen Yiji could indeed be considered a remnant of the Lü clan, so he did not make things difficult for Liu Chang.

Just this incident made Liu Chang feel that he had understood the mysteries of heaven and earth, and thought that his brother Liu Heng was just a show-off!

Even if I kill someone, my brother doesn't dare to say a word, so what is there to be afraid of?

Just like that, Liu Chang gritted his teeth, stomped his feet, swallowed two ounces of horse urine, and then he gathered forty ox carts for transporting goods, formed a team of about one hundred and eighty people, and raised the flag of rebellion.

Half an hour after the uprising, the rebel leader, King Huainan Liu Chang, was captured alive by the local county lieutenant, namely Gukou County.

Logically speaking, it would be difficult for Emperor Taizong Xiaowen to kill Liu Chang for such an absurd rebellion.

If you are generous enough, you can just laugh it off and think that Liu Chang was just having sex after drinking.

But Emperor Taizong decided to exile Liu Chang to Shu.

Moreover, on the prison car that exiled Liu Chang, there was a seal written by Emperor Taizong himself and stamped with the imperial seal, on which were written four large characters: Anyone who damages it will be executed!

The prison van is sealed on all six sides, leaving only a few ventilation holes, and the doors are sealed with seals. What can the officials along the way do?
They could only be respectful to the seal and then accept the fact that Liu Chang starved to death in the prison car.

Then, Emperor Taizong's outrageous actions began.

——The first step is to sentence to death all the officials along the way who dared not tear off the seal on the charge of "harming clan members and killing my brothers and sisters"!
The second step was to deprive Liu's eldest son of his right to inherit the throne in accordance with the court's rules for dealing with treasonous officials.

The third step was to be frightened out of his wits by the nursery rhyme about the incompatibility between two brothers, and to hastily confer the title of king of Huainan on all of Liu Chang's sons.

At this point, after going through the entire process of extending favors, no one, not even one person, thought that Emperor Taizong originally wanted to extend favors to the Kingdom of Huainan.

Everyone just thought that at the beginning, Emperor Taizong wanted to exile Liu Chang to Bashu to turn a blind eye to him.

As a result, Liu Chang died "accidentally", and Emperor Taizong was so grief-stricken that he was unable to govern the country, which led to the Huainan Kingdom being deposed by the court according to the rules.

When he found something wrong and found himself suspected of "plotting to seize the fiefdoms of the princes", Emperor Taizong hurriedly stepped forward to remedy the situation and returned all of Liu Chang's Huainan Kingdom to Liu Chang's sons to show that "I have no interest in Huainan Kingdom".

Without making a fuss, the Huainan Kingdom completed its favor, but everyone still had to remember Emperor Taizong for a favor.

I can only say, one word: absolutely!

It was in this context that the later Emperor Wu of Han made a bold statement: I want to extend my favor, which triggered such a strong resistance from the relatives and princes in Guandong.

Extension of favor?

Why!
I didn't rebel!

Why do you use such a cruel method as extension of favor to punish me, a loyal relative and pillar of the country, for no reason?
Then, this person is 'guilty'...

How to say~
Emperor Taizong's two successive operations, especially the latter one, were textbook-level operations, which undoubtedly set extremely high requirements for the political skills of future emperors in extending favors to the princes.

Without sufficient political skills and wisdom, you really can’t pull this off!

Of course, if you choose to do as Emperor Wu of Han did and defeat the enemy with force, that is not impossible.

But after all, it is not justified and there is a lot of resistance, so there will always be difficulties in actual implementation.

(End of this chapter)