Chapter 116 Liu Ying
[After Liu Ying ascended the throne, he was always depressed, perhaps because he and his mother had different political views, or perhaps because the power was no longer in his hands. In short, he always adopted a non-violent and non-cooperative attitude towards Lu Zhi.

After Liu Bang passed away, his favorite concubine, Lady Qi, was exiled to Yongxiang by Empress Lü to do hard labor by pounding rice. Even in such a situation, Lady Qi still did not wake up and kept singing in Yongxiang: "My son is the king, and my mother is a captive. Pounding rice all day long, always with death! We are three thousand miles apart, who can tell you?"

We don't comment on Concubine Qi's brain, but this obviously angered Lu Zhi.

In December of the first year of Emperor Hui of Han, Liu Ruyi, who had been sleeping and eating with Liu Ying and protected by Liu Ying, was killed. Later, Concubine Qi was turned into a human pig. Upon hearing the news, Liu Ying fell seriously ill and then drank and enjoyed himself every day, ignoring the affairs of state.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

"Huh?" Liu Bang was really shocked by Liu Ying. Just because of this matter, he actually started drinking and having fun and ignored the affairs of state?

Emperor Gao was an open-minded and cheerful person, but when it came to being ruthless, he was more ruthless than anyone else.

Therefore, he really couldn't understand why Liu Ying would be so depressed and completely give up on himself because of the matter between Concubine Qi and Liu Ruyi.

Even though Concubine Qi had been his favorite for many years, and even though Liu Ruyi was his most beloved son at present, Liu Bang could not understand it - on the contrary, he quite understood Lu Zhi's actions.

Although Liu Bang disliked Lu Zhi and his son and wanted to replace him with Liu Ruyi, it was precisely because of this that he knew better that Liu Ruyi was Liu Ying's biggest and life-threatening political enemy, and that Concubine Qi was also domineering and aggressive. Under such circumstances, it was not surprising that Lu Zhi did anything, but Liu Ying actually "slept and ate together" to protect Liu Ruyi? From his mother Lu Zhi?
Liu Bang's mentality was a little broken. He felt that he really didn't want to make Liu Ying the crown prince. Even if he didn't make Liu Ruyi the crown prince, he didn't want to make Liu Ying the crown prince.

Beside him, Lü Zhi was much calmer than him, probably because she had clearly seen Liu Ying's style over the years, and was not as shocked as Liu Bang at this time. She sneered, yes, her son was like this, he would sympathize with everyone, but never thought about his mother, uncle's family, and sister.

What could she do? She only had this one son, and she didn't even have the chance to choose one.

Xiao He and Zhang Liang, who were also present, looked at each other in surprise. Although they had already seen the temperament of the current Han prince, they had never expected that he would behave like this in the future.

Liu Ying was still deeply shocked. How could his mother be like this?

He cast his accusing eyes at Lü Zhi, who still ignored him. He then looked at Liu Bang, but Liu Bang was still immersed in the mentality of "how could the prince be like this", and ignored him. Xiao He and Zhang Liang looked at each other with their eyes and noses, pretending that they saw nothing.

[In August of the seventh year of Emperor Hui's reign, Liu Ying died at the age of 24. He was posthumously named Xiaohui.

The death of Liu Ying disrupted all of Lü Zhi's original plans. Faced with such a crisis, she could only strengthen the power of the Lü family and expand her wings to ensure her rule. She appointed Lü Tai, Lü Chan, and Lü Lu as generals to command the northern and southern armies, and the Lü family held great power in the court. After that, she made the Lü clan kings, and made more than a dozen Lü clan members kings and marquises, and made the Liu clan kings marry Lü clan daughters.

Afterwards, Lu Zhi made Crown Prince Liu Gong the emperor, who was the first Shao Emperor. Later, Liu Gong became resentful of Lu Zhi for killing his biological mother and forcing him to recognize the queen as his mother, so Lu Zhi deposed him and made Liu Yi, King of Changshan, the emperor instead, changing his name to Liu Hong.

In the eighth year of Empress Gao's reign, Empress Lü died of illness, and chaos ensued. 】

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang gnashed his teeth and his eyes went dark. Liu Ying was dead just like that? Died so easily and so early?

Didn't Lü Zhi kill Lady Qi and Liu Ruyi and suppress others? Liu Ying couldn't bear it? Was he so fragile? Or did he drink and have fun and kill himself? Was he so weak?
Do you know what your death will bring to the Han Dynasty?
No, he had to think of a way. Either find someone who could replace Liu Ying, especially Lu Zhi, or change Liu Ying. In short, he could not allow such a situation to happen again.

Lü Zhi looked at her own actions, deposing and enthroning the young emperor, letting the Lü family control the northern and southern armies... these were nothing. But was enfeoffment of the Lü clan the best option?

Although she has been weakening the power of the group of meritorious officials, she has not yet achieved the effect of complete weakening. The power of the group of meritorious officials is still strong. After her death, the outcome of the Lu family is completely foreseeable. As for the Shao Emperor and Liu Ying's other sons... She sneered, fearing that they will also go the same way as the Lu family.

The only one who has never had a clear mind is Liu Ying. Among those kings and meritorious officials with the surname Liu, none of them are compassionate people.

[King Liu Xiang of Qi started a rebellion outside, and Chen Ping and Zhou Bo responded inside. The Liu kings then rose up to kill the Lü clan. All the men and women of the Lü clan were beheaded, regardless of age. The descendants of the Lü clan women were also killed.

Regarding Liu Ying's sons, the ministers believed that the later Shao Emperor established by Lu Zhi and the other two illegitimate sons of Liu Ying were not Liu Ying's biological sons, so they first deposed and then killed Shao Emperor Liu Hong, and then killed all of Liu Ying's descendants.

After the young emperor was deposed, a new emperor naturally had to be chosen. Who should he choose?
After discussion, Liu Xiang, the eldest son of Liu Fei and the eldest grandson of Liu Bang, who had risen up in the chaos to punish the Lü clan, was excluded because "the maternal family of the King of Qi, Si and Si Jun, are evil people. If the King of Qi is established, the Lü clan will return." His maternal family was too powerful to be handled.

Subsequently, Liu Bang's seventh son, Liu Chang, King of Huainan, who inherited Ying Bu's fiefdom and title, was also excluded because he was "considered young and his mother's family was bad". He was young and his mother's family was very capable and had many ideas.

Finally, Liu Heng was chosen. He was the oldest son of Liu Bang who was still alive. He was also "kind, filial, and generous", and "the Empress Dowager's family was cautious and good", so they secretly sent people to Dai to summon Liu Heng to the capital.

Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Hui.

Lü Zhi pointed at the scene in the sky where the Shaodi and others were executed, and said to Liu Ying in a cold voice: "Emperor, did you see it? Did you see the fate of your sons and them? Did you see the fate of the Lü family?"

"In a fight like this, no one will let go of their opponent. I am not cruel enough to have implicated the families of those people. And what is our outcome?" She looked at Liu Ying. "I am not surprised by the Lu family's ending. After all, the Lu family is a foreign relative, not a royal family. But none of your descendants will be left alive! Even though they are members of the Liu family."

Would the ministers keep Liu Ying's son? How is that possible? The reason they deposed the Shao Emperor was that he was not of Huidi's bloodline, otherwise there would be no legitimate reason to depose the emperor. But didn't they know whether he was of Huidi's bloodline?
If that was the case, how could they leave behind the descendants of Emperor Hui as a hidden danger for them? When the time came, they would trace back to the source and find that it was they who killed the lineage of Emperor Hui and welcomed the minor clan into the major clan. As long as the descendants of Emperor Hui were still alive, they would not be able to rest in peace.

Liu Ying remained silent.

Lu Zhi didn't want to care what he was thinking. After all, she had already seen through it over the years.

But in the final analysis, Liu Ying's greatest role was to stay alive, to stay alive as an emperor and to have offspring; and his greatest goal was also to stay alive, to live longer. As long as his life span was long enough to allow the next generation to be brought up, there would be fewer problems.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang looked at the ministers discussing who to nominate as emperor and laughed coldly.

He really didn't like Liu Ying very much, and he didn't have a very good relationship with Lu Zhi. He also cared more about the Han Dynasty. As long as the person sitting on the throne was a member of his Liu family, he would allow it.

But this does not mean that he can allow ministers to be picky about their sons. The criterion for selection is still whether the power of the maternal family is easy to control. What about the issue of the Lu family? The group of meritorious officials actually still hope that the power can be in their own hands. With a closer maternal family, how much power will the emperor be willing to give them?

Even for the sake of checks and balances, the emperor would give some power to his relatives. After much deliberation, the ministers finally chose Liu Heng because he was "benevolent, filial, and generous" - easy to talk to, easy to control, and easy to fool; and his mother's family, the Bo family, was "cautious and kind" - they had no power and no ability.

Liu Bang gritted his teeth. It seemed that he had to try to live a few more years and reduce the number of meritorious officials. It would be even better if he could solve the problems of his foreign relatives and the crown prince.

Han Dynasty, during the first year before Emperor Wen.

Liu Heng saw Tianmu talking about the process of how the ministers chose him to succeed the throne and smiled indifferently.

He knew what these people were thinking. Although they supported the Liu family to rule the country, they also wanted to choose an emperor who was, in a way, docile and obedient, and who could allow them to enjoy full glory and freedom.

In this case, the emperor's own temperament is one thing, and whether there is the power of his relatives by marriage to compete with them is also very important. After all, as long as the situation does not collapse, for the emperor, relatives by marriage are always a very, very useful force.

At least that's how he is.

This was exactly the idea that Emperor Gao had in mind back then, but unfortunately, Emperor Hui died too early, which led to an irreversible end of everything.

It is also a pity that although the Bo family is indeed weak and difficult to stir up trouble, Liu Heng is not the "benevolent, filial, generous", gentle and obedient person in the minds of those ministers.

He looked at his prince, and seeing that Liu Qi was puzzled, he didn't say anything, but patted him and asked him to concentrate on looking at the sky.

It seems that the prince who was appointed to stabilize people's hearts is not someone who is easy to talk to either.

As for the Emperor Wu who came later... As he thought about it, Liu Heng's smile became much more genuine - in the game between the Han emperor and the princes and ministers, for a period of time, it seemed that the emperor had the upper hand.

[At this critical juncture, letting people go to Beijing, the meaning is clear and obvious, it is simply a huge pie falling directly on one's shoulders!
According to the ministers' ideas and their understanding of Liu Heng, when Liu Heng knew about such a great opportunity, he should have been overjoyed and grateful, and then immediately went to Beijing to inherit the throne, and they could also take action accordingly.

So, what was Liu Heng's reaction? 】

People from all dynasties who knew how this happened all smiled, and some even laughed out loud - if Liu Heng had decided to go to the capital like this, he would not be Emperor Wen of Han.

Even the Qin and Han dynasties, which were not aware of this before Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, scoffed at the ministers' ideas: Can things in the world really develop as the ministers imagine? How is it possible! If this is really the case, it should have developed according to the emperor's ideas first.

【Liu Heng’s reaction was simple: suspicion.

He is a clear-headed man. Someone suddenly comes from the capital and asks him to come to the capital to inherit the throne - is it credible?

Why did he choose me instead of the others? After all, the one who made the greatest contribution to this incident was King Liu Xiang of Qi, while I was just the King of Dai in a remote place. How could I have such good luck?

Even if the news was true, Liu Heng still had doubts. The pie was real, but could he catch it? Wouldn't he be crushed to death or choked to death?

Liu Heng discussed with his subordinates. Some, led by Zhang Wu, the doctor-in-chief of Dai, believed that there was a trick and suggested that Liu Heng decline the trip by saying he was ill and could not go, and observe how the situation changed. Lieutenant Song Chang, on the other hand, believed that the Liu family's rule was stable and there was no trap that could threaten his life, so he did not need to worry.

Liu Heng went to consult a divination again, and the result was that the person who divined was about to become the "King of Heaven", that is, the Son of Heaven.

This situation made Liu Heng decide to go to the capital.

But before leaving, he asked his uncle Bo Zhao to go to the capital first to meet with Jiang Hou Zhou Bo, get accurate information, and come back to report to Liu Heng.

Liu Heng then felt relieved. He asked Song Chang to accompany him and took Zhang Wu and six others to drive to Chang'an.

When they arrived at Gaoling, Liu Heng stopped again and asked Song Chang to go to Chang'an first to see what the situation was like and whether there were any changes.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin admired Liu Heng's meticulous thinking and caution: "If Emperor Wen did not have such thoughts, I am afraid that the Han Dynasty would really fall into the hands of those ministers." What's more, there are princes of the same surname who have replaced the princes of different surnames in various places, eyeing them covetously.

Could such a Han Dynasty still have created the glory of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing's rule, Emperor Wu's northern expedition against the Huns, and Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan's restoration?
As he thought about it, Zhao Kuangyin naturally thought about the Song Dynasty again, since he was the emperor of the Song Dynasty after all: "Isn't Zhao Guangyi very cautious? He was so careful in his pursuit of the throne, why is he not so cautious in foreign wars?! Doesn't he gather intelligence from many aspects?!"

[When Song Chang arrived at Wei Bridge, he found that all the officials including the Prime Minister had come out to greet him, so he went back to report to Liu Heng, who then continued his journey to Wei Bridge.

After arriving at Wei Bridge, Zhou Bo and others came to pay their respects and called themselves his allies. Liu Heng also got off the car to return the greetings.

Is this the end? No, not by a long shot.

Moreover, Liu Heng faced a key problem: there was no precedent. Since the founding of the imperial system by the First Emperor, he was the first emperor to ascend the throne as a vassal king, rather than being passed down by the emperor as a crown prince. Unlike later generations, whether it was a palace coup, a rebellion, or anything else, there was already a complete system and process.

At this time, Taiwei Zhou Bo suggested that he wanted to find a time to meet with Liu Heng alone.

Liu Heng asked his subordinate Song Chang to respond quickly: "If the commander-in-chief's report is about public affairs, please report it in front of all the ministers; if it is about private matters, the king has no private affairs."

So, what exactly did Zhou Bo want to say in private?

In short, next, he knelt down and presented the emperor's seal to Liu Heng.

Liu Heng did not accept it, but declined, saying that the matter should be discussed again at the official residence of Dai State.

(End of this chapter)