Chapter 128 Some Things
Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period.

Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply wary of his in-laws and did not think they were good things.

However, seeing Tianmu's evaluation of the Han Dynasty's relatives by marriage, and the fact that there were indeed many heroes among the Han Dynasty's relatives by marriage, he said: "The situation in the Han Dynasty is different from that in the Ming Dynasty, and we cannot generalize."

At that time, the support of maternal relatives was indeed needed, but in later dynasties, the positive role of maternal relatives became smaller and smaller, and the negative impact became larger and larger. Moreover, the emperor was in power, and there was no threat from the numerous princes of the same surname who had actual fiefs and full power like in the Han Dynasty, so naturally maternal relatives could only be maternal relatives.

[The most famous foreign relatives in the Han Dynasty include the Lu family, the Wei family, the Huo family, the Xu family, the Wang family, the Dou family, the Deng family, etc.

Apart from the Lu family who founded the country, the ones who truly held power and made significant positive contributions were the Wei family, the Huo family, the Dou family, etc.

The Wei family was the wife's family of Emperor Wu of Han. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing fought against the Xiongnu and made great achievements. They achieved the feat of "no king's court south of the desert". They were also close to the emperor and were trusted and favored. The only pity is that both of them did not live long. Huo Qubing died of illness at the age of 24, and Wei Qing died of illness at the age of over 40.

Huo was the maternal grandfather of the Empress of Emperor Zhao of Han and the wife of Emperor Xuan of Han. Huo Guang, the representative of the Huo family, was the minister entrusted by Emperor Wu of Han and the half-brother of Huo Qubing. Huo Guang ruled the country for 20 years and followed the laws of Emperor Wu of Han. Huo Guang allowed the Han Dynasty to recover its national strength and laid the foundation for the restoration of the Han Dynasty. Huo Guang was buried in Maoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of Han.

The Dou family, unlike the previous two, was the clan of the wife of Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Dou Xian defeated the Northern Huns at Jiluo Mountain and Jinwei Mountain, climbed Mount Yanran, and "carved stones to record his achievements." The main force of the Northern Huns was completely annihilated, and the Northern Chanyu was driven out and forced to move westward.

As for the Huns who migrated westward, they fled to Europe and contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Although it had already been planned that the story about Emperor Taizong of Han would contain a lot of content related to the Han Dynasty, there might also be some bad information in it - of course, in fact, many emperors and ministers of the Han Dynasty went for this.

After all, if there is any bad news, it is better to know it early so that you can prepare early, and only by preparing early can there be a possibility of change.

However, Liu Che was still dizzy and confused by these bad news.

Qu Bing, died at the age of 24? ! 24 years old, how old is that? He had just made great achievements and had not had time to display more talents, but he died?

It is now the fourth year of Yuanshou, and Qubing is probably... about twenty-two years old, only two years left!
And Zhongqing, although he is much better than Qubing and is over 40 years old, we can't compare them like this, right?
Although dying at the age of forty or so was not considered an early death at that time and was within the normal age range, this did not mean that Liu Che believed that his general should live that long.

Moreover, according to the age difference between Zhongqing and Qubing, Zhongqing died of illness at the age of over 40, which was only more than ten years before Qubing's death.

In just over a decade, is he going to lose the two pillars of his empire?
After a moment of collapse, Liu Che quickly regained his sanity and began to think hard.

What disease did Qubing die of? What disease did Zhongqing have? Is it too late for him to let these two people rest and recuperate? Is it too late to encourage medical research and find famous doctors all over the world?

Also, Qubing died young, so his successor must not have been trained yet; without Qubing, Zhongqing also had to take on multiple positions, so would there be time to train his successor?
If the two of them left and the Han Dynasty still had no one to take over, then the Han Dynasty would be helpless against the Xiongnu...

Wei Qing and Huo Qubing heard the news of their own death clearly, and they also saw the emperor's shock and panic after hearing the news suddenly - this was really rare, the emperor had never, at least since they had served him, been so out of control.

Wei Qing didn't care about his life span, because it was actually within his own expectations: he was a military commander, and he fought on the front line. The harsh environment and the killings on the battlefield naturally made his physical condition not as good as others. As a result, it was normal for him to get sick in his later years.

Moreover, he is already satisfied with living to over 40 years old, which is a normal life span nowadays.

What Wei Qing was worried about was Huo Qubing's physical condition.

He was Huo Qubing's uncle, and the two shared similar interests. In addition, Huo Qubing's own family situation made him and Wei Qing extremely close.

As soon as Huo Qubing saw Wei Qing's expression, he knew what he wanted to say. Coupled with Liu Che's absent-minded state and the worried eyes of other ministers in the hall, Huo Qubing could not help but say: "Uncle, I'm fine. Besides, being 24 years old is nothing. Anyway, my ideals have been realized. Why should I be afraid of life and death?"

By the time he was 24, he would have accomplished something great, so why would death be a problem? - Of course, he admitted that he also wanted to appease his uncle, His Majesty, and others so that they wouldn't worry too much.

But it seems that the effect is not very good.

While Liu Che was thinking, he heard what Huo Qubing said and was almost angry to death. He could only call a medical officer to examine Huo Qubing and Wei Qing.

Huo Qubing quickly added: "Besides, since we already know the situation, it may not be impossible to change it."

Wei Qing and Liu Che then let him go.

Liu Che was actually still worried about another problem, and the sharp-minded people present were also aware of this problem.

That is - "entrust an orphan to someone else".

Your Majesty actually needs to entrust an orphan to someone else? !

As everyone knows, if a person wants to entrust an orphan to someone else, it is most likely because the lord is young.

But here comes the problem: if the person to be entrusted is the current crown prince, he is already eleven years old, and in nine years at most he will be able to handle state affairs on his own and does not need to be entrusted;
And if His Majesty passed away before the ninth year, then the best person to entrust the orphan to would actually be Wei Qing, who had not yet died of illness at that time - but His Majesty did not choose Wei Qing, but chose the half-brother of the Marquis of Guanjun, which could only mean that the general had died of illness;
But according to the year the general passed away, the prince had already reached adulthood and there was no need to entrust his son to someone else.

Well, there is only one conclusion, that is, the person to be entrusted with the care of the orphan is not the current crown prince!

If it's not the crown prince, then who is it? Is it the crown prince's son? Or, is it simply another son of His Majesty?
Moreover, why was he not the crown prince? Did the crown prince die young, or was he deposed? If he died young, why did he die so early?
There are too many issues here, and each of them is important. They are related to the inheritance of the Han Dynasty and the turmoil in the court. One very important point for the ministers is that if the prince dies abnormally, including being deposed or killed, given the character of the current emperor, there will definitely be a major purge in the court...

Even though everyone present here is the emperor's confidant, they cannot guarantee that they can escape unscathed from such a horrific purge if they were still in the court at the time.

Because of these heavy bombshells, the palace of Hanwu Dynasty fell into silence instantly, with only intermittent eye contact. Everyone was thinking secretly.

As for the Huo family or the Eastern Han Dynasty, they should be put aside for the time being.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

After Liu Bang and others briefly discussed the issues of the Han Wu Dynasty, they moved on to the affairs of the Huo family.

As the first emperor of the Han Dynasty to choose to entrust the throne to the emperor's maternal clan, Liu Bang directly asked: "What about the maternal clan of Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan? What about the empress dowager?" It is true that Huo Guang was the minister entrusted by Emperor Wu, but in theory, there should be a relative to check and balance the ministers and kings, and before the emperor was young and had not married, it should undoubtedly be the maternal clan. No matter how capable this maternal clan is, their existence itself has value.

However, the fact that Huo Guang was able to rule for twenty years fully illustrates the problem: there was no maternal relative to check and balance him - as for the maternal grandfather of the Empress of Emperor Zhao of Han, he was not considered a maternal relative, and the importance of this identity could not compare to his identity as a minister entrusted with the care of the young emperor; and the family of Emperor Xuan of Han's wife were indeed maternal relatives, but the source of his power was not because of being from his wife's family.

Liu Bang was puzzled. Why did Emperor Wu choose a prince without maternal power to inherit the throne? Or... "Did Emperor Wu himself get rid of the maternal family of his heir?" At the very least, he got rid of the Queen Mother.

Liu Bang remained silent, which was not impossible, after all, the emperor was young. However, was it really a good idea to rely entirely on the ministers entrusted with the care of the orphan?

Lu Zhi still agreed with Liu Bang's guess. After all, according to their previous inferences, Emperor Wu must have appointed a crown prince, and he must have been an older crown prince. However, in the end, a young prince ascended the throne. It was hard to say what Emperor Wu would do to his mother's family.

However, although this minister seemed to have made great achievements, "he was in power for 20 years and experienced two generations of emperors, which was a bit too high." Emperor Zhao of Han was a young ruler, but he also grew up to the age of having a wife and family; Emperor Xuan of Han was able to have a wife and family, which showed that he was not too young either, so...

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Later dynasties such as the Song Dynasty still gave positive comments on several of the Western Han Dynasty's foreign relatives, including Huo Guang.

Although Huo Guang did monopolize power, sideline the emperor, and act like Yi Yin, his loyalty to Emperor Wu was genuine, and his loyalty to the Han Dynasty was equally evident, and his achievements are even more proven in history.

Moreover, even Emperor Xuan of Han, who wiped out the Huo family, did not deny Huo Guang. Among the eleven heroes in the Kirin Pavilion, Huo Guang ranked first, and his tomb was still buried in Maoling. Later Han emperors also continued to offer sacrifices to Huo Guang.

However, these people in the Eastern Han Dynasty were different.

Especially Dou Xian, the culprit of the monopoly of power by relatives of the emperor, was overbearing and domineering, taking advantage of the empress dowager to be disrespectful and arrogant, relying on his own merits to be proud, and his minions bullied the common people, robbed property, usurped criminals, and plundered women...

Dou Xian himself did not respect the royal family. He forcibly bought the farmland of Princess Qinshui, the daughter of Emperor Ming of Han, at a low price, and assassinated Liu Chang, the Marquis of Duxiang...

How can such a person get positive comments? !
Even if he did make contributions to the Xiongnu, could these contributions cover up his various rebellious and immoral actions?

In any case, Zhao Kuangyin was not very willing to do so. In his opinion, Dou Xian's behavior was no different from those of the arrogant and fierce generals in the Five Dynasties who disobeyed orders, burned, killed and looted. He had always disliked such generals.

What's more, although he did not want to exclude military generals like the Song Dynasty in the sky, he also wanted to eliminate the arrogance in the army - if Dou Xian became famous because of his merits, how could the arrogance of these arrogant soldiers of the Five Dynasties be improved?

Wouldn't that just be the same as before, where as long as the generals had made contributions, all other matters could be taken care of and the emperor would have no right to say anything bad?

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

The emperors and ministers of the Zhenguan period were still quite regretful about Wei and Huo Qubing, especially the untimely death of Huo Qubing.

However, just like Li Shimin chose to lead his troops into battle himself in his early years, if Huo Qubing's death was really related to his combat style of fighting for years and long-distance raids, Huo Qubing would not have changed in order to avoid early death.

Everyone present understood this. If one does not use his talent just to live a few more years, then what is the difference between him and death? And if one changes to a style that does not achieve such success just to live a few more years, then what is the difference between him and death?
If this is true, it would be better to live a grand and spectacular life, realize your ideals, achieve great things, and leave your name in history.

So, they didn't talk much and turned to another topic.

Li Shimin laughed and said, "This Great Qin could originally be called the Roman Empire. I never thought that the demise of the Great Qin was actually related to the westward migration of the Huns." However, what was the exact state of the Great Qin at that time?
Changsun Wuji had already pulled his mind away from the matter of his uncle who had been killed, and laughed with Li Shimin - or rather, in order to divert attention, he simply looked at other things first: "I wonder if the Turks will also migrate westward and influence other countries like the Xiongnu did."

"Of course they will, if any Turks migrate westward," Fang Xuanling affirmed.

Li Shimin suddenly became interested in the Roman Empire: "My lords, look, this great Qin-Roman Empire also has an inland sea." He pointed to the simple map of the Roman Empire's territory that he had just drawn according to the miracle.

The territorial structure of the Roman Empire was very different from that of the Tang Dynasty. What surrounded them was not land, but a vast ocean.

Fang Xuanling looked at the simple diagram and thought: "If it is built like this, then the navy of the Roman Empire must be very strong, and so is their shipbuilding technology." If there is no navy and they only rely on land to convey messages, it will take too long and it will be a waste of such a large ocean.

Everyone looked at each other. Since ancient times, Europe has had a great empire relying on the inland sea, so their water transportation and ships will theoretically continue to develop, and their desire for external voyages will be greater than that of the Central Plains. In this way, it will be easier for them to gain the upper hand on the ocean.

You can write this topic down and put it aside for later.

Li Jing looked at the map. Although it was called a map, it actually contained some records about rivers and mountains. He said, "This place has a large plain." There are actually quite a few rivers, but...

Everyone understood what he meant. The vast plain meant that the defense pressure would be higher, and there was a lack of a layered defense system - although the country could build it itself through cities and other means, it was ultimately not as useful as natural barriers.

This is probably one of the reasons why the westward-migrating Huns were able to influence the Roman Empire more easily.

After all, plains are a good place for people like the Huns.

Moreover, it would be fine if it was unified like the Roman Empire, but if the Roman Empire collapsed, in such a situation, wanting unification might not be a good thing.

Du Ruhui suddenly remembered the content before the sky curtain, which was an example of the division of the Ming Dynasty into north and south: "The Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany in Europe originally belonged to the Holy Roman Empire... What is the relationship between the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Empire?"

Both have the word Roman, so is it like the relationship between Eastern Han and Western Han, or Eastern Zhou and Western Zhou, where they are successor and inherited?

The crowd shook their heads.

However, they all recalled this sentence, and the meaning behind this sentence is that since the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe has never been unified again? It has always been divided?

The important officials of the Zhenguan period looked at each other and expressed their incomprehension.

Don’t they have a unified idea?

(End of this chapter)