Chapter 121 Jia Yi
After Liu Chang died, Liu Heng buried him according to the rites of a marquis, and executed all the related personnel along the way. He named his son Liu An as Marquis of Fuling, his son Liu Bo as Marquis of Anyang, his son Liu Ci as Marquis of Yangzhou, and his son Liu Liang as Marquis of Dongcheng.

But the matter is not over yet.

In the twelfth year, a folk song about Liu Heng and Liu Chang "being brothers who could not get along" circulated. Liu Heng posthumously conferred the title of King Li on Liu Chang and built a mausoleum for him according to the rites of the princes.

In the 16th year, Liu Heng appointed Liu An, Marquis of Fuling, as King of Huainan, Liu Bo, Marquis of Anyang, as King of Hengshan, and Liu Ci, Marquis of Yangzhou, as King of Lujiang, and gave them the fiefs they had received during the time of King Li, sharing one-third of the land.

Among them, there was another person who made suggestions, and that was Jia Yi.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Although Zhao Kuangyin had a mediocre attitude towards civil officials, he still appreciated Jia Yi: "Jia Yi is the king's assistant." Although he did not think that "the only Confucian scholar in the Han Dynasty was Jia Yi" and thought that Liu Xin's words were a bit exaggerated, he agreed with Liu Xiang's evaluation of Jia Yi: "Jia Yi's words about the governance of the Three Dynasties and the Qin Dynasty... If he had been put to good use, his achievements would have been great. It is very sad that he was harmed by mediocre officials."

Zhao Guangmei and others also felt sorry for Jia Yi's untimely death: "If Jia Yi could relax his mind, he would have been valued by Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing and realized his ambitions." Given the Han emperors' consistent attitude towards people who are beneficial to them and talented, how could they not use him as long as the time was right? Even if Emperor Wen was not able to do it, Emperor Jing would still be able to do it. It's a pity that he left too early.

In the future, whether it was Chao Cuo's policy of reducing the power of the princes during the reign of Emperor Jing, or Zhufu Yan's order of extending favors during the reign of Emperor Wu, they were ultimately the embodiment and extension of Jia Yi's idea of ​​"establishing many princes and reducing their power."

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

The rulers and ministers of the Tang Dynasty were also familiar with Jia Yi. The previous curtain also mentioned Wang Bo's "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng", in which Jia Yi was also mentioned.

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "Although Emperor Wen did not listen to Jia Yi's advice and insisted on making King Li's son a king, judging by his act of dividing King Li's fiefdom into three parts, it is possible that he did not fail to adopt Jia Yi's advice."

Otherwise, if he really had pity on the heirs of King Li and wanted to give them a proper title of king, why didn't he find them three proper pieces of land as fiefs? Why did he need to divide King Li's fief into three?
By doing so, he was ultimately gaining fame for himself, maintaining the power of the Liu family, and weakening the power of the other kings.

[Who is Jia Yi?]
Some people say that "During the reign of Emperor Wen, the only person who could be a minister was Taifu Jia" (Li Dongyang), while others believe that "the only Confucian scholar in the Han Dynasty was Jia Sheng". His various political views were also highly praised. The best political commentary of the Western Han Dynasty was his "Policy for Public Security" (Administrator).

In the seventh year of Emperor Gaozu's reign, Jia Yi was born in Luoyang. He was a talented man at a young age and studied under Zhang Cang, a student of Xun Kuang. After Liu Heng ascended the throne, he summoned Jia Yi as a doctor and promoted him to the position of Taizhong Dafu one year later.

He once proposed to Liu Heng an economic policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, advocating the development of agricultural production, strengthening food reserves, and preventing famine; later, he pointed out that private coinage led to currency chaos, which was very detrimental to the country and the people, and suggested that Emperor Wen order a ban. He also suggested designing a complete set of Han Dynasty etiquette system based on Confucianism and the Five Elements Theory, advocating "changing the calendar, changing the color of clothing, establishing laws and regulations, and promoting rituals and music" to further replace the Qin system.

Some of these contents were adopted by Liu Heng, while some, although not adopted by Liu Heng, were actually applied by the emperors after the Han Dynasty and even became part of the entire Western Han Dynasty rule.

Han Dynasty, during the first year before Emperor Wen.

At this time, Jia Yi had returned to Chang'an from Changsha and served as the Taifu of King Liang. He had presented many of his political ideas to Liu Heng, which benefited Liu Heng greatly.

Although Liu Heng did not adopt some of Jia Yi's views, he also had a very high opinion of Jia Yi, and even had the idea that he was "not as good as" Jia Yi.

Liu Qi looked at Liu Heng and asked seriously: "Father, you agree with many of Master Jia's suggestions, so... is it because the timing is not right?" According to his understanding of his father, Liu Heng may not disagree with many of Jia Yi's views in the sky, but now his father only pays attention to agriculture and does not adopt other ideas.

Liu Heng rubbed his head and said with a smile: "There are some things that may still require you to complete." The current situation may not be suitable for doing those things.

Of course, Liu Heng was also very clear about the possible consequences of the current situation. However, it was indeed not appropriate. Besides, the prince seemed to be worthy of being entrusted with the important task, so why should he be so anxious?

Han Dynasty.

Although he was not directly named, Liu Che also felt the connection between this passage and himself: Apart from anything else, wasn't the prohibition of private minting of coins the system he had re-established?
In order to raise money and promote the imperial court's five-zhu coins, he spent a lot of effort, carried out six reforms, imposed the death penalty on anyone who dared to mint coins privately, and strictly controlled copper and silver mines...

These measures, coupled with the power and prestige he had accumulated over many years of ruling, enabled him to achieve his goals more effectively.

The benefits, the benefits brought by privately minting coins, are not something that can be easily given up, especially when related alliance groups have been formed.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang took another sip of wine and didn't pay too much attention to Jia Yi's suggestion to change the Qin system.

This is indeed a problem left by him as the founding monarch. In theory, after establishing a new dynasty, the etiquette rules of this dynasty should be formulated, but he basically still used a series of contents from the Qin Dynasty, including official positions, clothing, etc.

But is he interested in this now? Not really.

As for Jia Yi, Liu Bang sighed with regret: "He is indeed a talent for the country, but he is young, what a pity." Does Jia Yi have the ability? Yes, as can be seen from these few passages, whether it is his own political advice or the high evaluation of him by later generations, they can prove his talent.

But having talent does not mean that one can achieve it, nor does it mean that he can rise to a high position and be highly valued. Are there not many people who are talented but not appreciated?

Although Jia Yi was a good person, he was young and energetic, and could not fully adapt to the court environment that Liu Heng was in at the time. As for Liu Heng, he did not know this son very well before, but now it seems that he is indeed his son.

What was the situation of the Han Dynasty during the reign of Liu Heng?

Liu Bang, Lü Zhi, and finally Liu Heng have always been committed to improving people's livelihood, and have indeed achieved certain results, especially after the policy of "those who till the land own the land", the conflicts among the people have been further eased. But is this enough?
Of course not. In Jia Yi's words, "There are one that is worthy of weeping, two that are worthy of shedding tears, six that are worthy of sighing deeply, and as for the others that are against reason and hurt the Way, it is difficult to list them all."

Where did these things that made people weep and sigh mainly manifest? Naturally, it was between the central government and the local princes, and between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu. Jia Yi became famous at a young age, so he naturally had some opinions on this. After becoming the Taizhong doctor, he took the lead in proposing his own suggestions on the issues between the central government and the local princes: let all the princes return to their fiefdoms.

That’s right, this was the policy that eventually led to Zhou Bo being stripped of his position as prime minister and taking the lead in returning to his fiefdom as an example.

Did Liu Heng agree with this policy? He quite agreed. He overcame many obstacles and eventually sent Zhou Bo and others back to their respective fiefdoms.

As an obstacle to be overcome, Jia Yi himself was one of them. Liu Heng originally wanted Jia Yi to take the position of a minister, but Zhou Bo and others strongly opposed Jia Yi's proposal that the marquises return to their country, saying that "he is young and inexperienced, and he wants to take power and mess up everything." Jia Yi's promotion was shelved, and he was later sent out as the Grand Tutor of the King of Changsha.

Han Dynasty, during the first year before Emperor Wen.

Looking back at the process of letting the marquises return to their country, Liu Heng did not think there was anything wrong. When he ascended the throne as a vassal king, these people were thorns in his heart, making him unable to sleep peacefully at night. Under such circumstances, how could he be willing to let these people stay in Chang'an for a long time?
As for Jia Yi, "I also wanted to protect him. After a few years, didn't I call him back to Chang'an?" Given the situation at the time, all the marquises regarded Jia Yi as a thorn in their eyes and a thorn in their flesh, an enemy to be fought to the death. If he stayed in Chang'an, it would be basically difficult for him to escape unscathed. He was transferred to be the Taifu of the King of Changsha, which was also to keep him away from the whirlpool and to hone his skills at the same time.

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng felt a little upset: "Could the Huns be a problem that makes an entire dynasty cry and sigh?" The Han Dynasty was so poor and impoverished that even the Huns became a serious concern and perhaps an unbeatable enemy.

However, the statement "Han inherited the Qin system" was basically confirmed by Ying Zheng. During the Han Dynasty, at least in the early days of the Han Dynasty, most of the Qin system was inherited without much change.

In the Han Dynasty's system of princes and dukes, kingdoms were able to rebel, but Liu Heng and Jia Yi both tried to drive marquises like Zhou Bo back to their fiefdoms, which means that these people could not actually rebel, that is, they had no military power.

This is not a bad idea.

Song.

There were also people in the court who thought they were talented but not appreciated and that the political environment was bad. Because of this "Grand Tutor of the King of Changsha", they remembered Wang Bo's "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng": "Jia Yi was exiled to Changsha, not because there was no sage ruler..."

[Three years after becoming the Grand Tutor of the King of Changsha, Jia Yi was called back to Chang'an by Liu Heng to discuss the principles of ghosts and gods with Liu Heng. Liu Heng still admired his talent, but did not reuse him and let him serve in the central government. Instead, he appointed him as the Grand Tutor of the King of Liang Huai - of course, this was better than before, as the King of Liang Huai Liu Yi was Liu Heng's favorite youngest son.

In the same year, Liu Chang's rebellion failed, and Jia Yi once again put forward his point of view on the issue between the central government and local princes of the Han Dynasty: the princes must be dealt with as soon as possible, because "those who are distant from the central government are in danger, and those who are close to the central government are incubating rebellion."

So, what is the best way to deal with the princes? Shouting for war and killing is not good. Not to mention the need for military strength, such behavior itself will have a negative impact on the emperor's reputation. The emperor must be benevolent, filial and friendly, and he cannot wield the butcher knife against his brothers and meritorious officials.

In this regard, Jia Yi proposed a method to show his benevolence: establish many princes and reduce their power. "Let Qi, Zhao, and Chu each be divided into several states, and let the descendants of King Daohui, King You, and King Yuan receive the land from their ancestors in turn, and stop when the land is exhausted"...】

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang slapped his thigh, his eyes full of praise: "This boy's method is very good!" Isn't it the emperor's grace to give the descendants of princes the title of king and fiefdom? If the descendants of princes are given titles and rewards, it is not benevolent governance, then what is benevolent governance?

And this method does not require bloodshed and sacrifice in the imperial court, and can seize the power of the princes without bloodshed. This is the noble and correct way!
As for whether these separated princes would unite to rebel...if they could negotiate the distribution of their respective interests and had such determination, they would never reach the point of being "built by the masses".

Moreover, through such division, the power of each prince has been further compressed. If the central government is still unable to cope with it, it would be better to abdicate as soon as possible - if these kings were not weakened, the Han Dynasty would probably have disappeared long ago.

"But, Nai Gong should still use Nai Gong's method now." Liu Bang sighed. Although this method is very good, it is the early days of the Han Dynasty now, and some things still need him to use his method to handle them.

Therefore, such measures should be left to future generations to implement.

Anyway, there is no problem with his successor~
Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period.

As one of the rare dynasties that officially conferred titles on kings among the later dynasties, Zhu Yuanzhang did not react much to what Jia Yi said. The princes and ministers present also looked calm and composed, seemingly not affected at all by Jia Yi's words "Those who are distant will be in danger, and those who are close will be in chaos."

What a joke! Your Highness/Dad decided to grant fiefs and titles of kingship to the princes after careful consideration. He naturally paid attention to the various hidden dangers of conferring titles of kingship and had various preventive measures in place.

Apart from anything else, Zhu Biao alone was enough to make these princes guarding the borders obedient and not plan rebellion on their own; and if there were various problems in the central government - such as Zhu Yunwen, for the Ming Dynasty, it would be a good way out for the frontier princes to rebel and serve the king. At least in theory, those who could rebel successfully would always have some skills.

The most important thing is that although Zhu Yuanzhang conferred titles on his sons, he also restricted the power of these sons. The number of troops was limited, and the princes also relied on the central government for their wealth and food...

[However, Liu Heng did not adopt Jia Yi's suggestion.

In other words, during Liu Heng's reign, on the whole, he treated the kings, mainly those with the surname Liu, with a tolerant and supportive attitude, and allowed the power of those kings with the surname Liu to gradually develop.

Of course, this was also related to the political environment at that time, but no matter what, his indulgence did make some princes stronger and more ambitious, and also deepened the urgency and necessity of Emperor Jingdi Liu Qi's reduction of the power of the princes.

Another important suggestion Jia Yi made about the policy of the princes came after the death of King Huai of Liang. At this time, except for the crown prince Liu Qi, Liu Heng's sons Liu Wu was the King of Huaiyang and Liu Shen was the King of Dai.

Jia Yi thought it was very dangerous to continue like this, because Liu Heng and Liu Qi could only rely on Huaiyang and Dai. Huaiyang was too small, and Dai was adjacent to the Xiongnu. So he suggested that Liu Heng establish a King of Liang, or move the King of Dai here; and expand the fiefdoms of Huaiyang and Liang so that the two fiefdoms could be connected as a barrier for the emperor in Chang'an.

Liu Heng finally moved Liu Wu to be the King of Liang, and Liu Xi, the King of Chengyang, to be the King of Huainan - Liu Wu played a huge role during Liu Qi's reign. 】

(End of this chapter)