Chapter 45 imperial power

In terms of consolidating and strengthening the imperial power, Liu Bang also tried his best, one is by respecting his father Taigong as the Supreme Emperor, and the other is by dealing with Jibu and Dinggong.These two things finally served his purpose. After the long-term chaotic situation of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the short-term rule of the Qin Dynasty, coupled with the Peasant War at the end of the Qin Dynasty, this weakened the concept of loyalty in people's hearts, and everyone still maintained the "Impermanence Lord" formed since the Warring States Period. The idea that a country has no fixed ministers is a non-binding relationship, which is not conducive to the consolidation of imperial power.Therefore, Liu Bang believed that it must be guided and rectified from etiquette regulations and moral concepts.So he took some methods, first of all, by respecting his father to educate ministers and people to follow the etiquette, respect the elders, and be loyal to the monarch.

The second matter is the treatment of the half-brothers Ji Bu and Ding Gong.When Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were fighting for the world, both of them were generals under Xiang Yu. Ji Bu and Ding Gong, half brothers of the same mother, were both generals under Xiang Yu at the beginning. In the early days of the Chu-Han struggle, they both made great contributions to Xiang Yu. It is recorded in the book: Ji Bu was a general of Xiang Yu. Chasing Liu Bang several times caused Liu Bang to be frightened and humiliated.So that after Xiang Yu's defeat and death, Liu Bang offered a reward of 24,000 taels of gold for the capture of Ji Bu, and ordered those who dared to hide Ji Bu to massacre the three clans.When Ji Bu was desperate, he had to disguise himself as a monk and go to the Zhu family. Fortunately, the Zhu family was chivalrous and remonstrated through Xia Houying. Goodbye Jibu.

Ding Gong is Ji Bu's half-brother and a general under Xiang Yu. He once hunted Liu Bang in Pengcheng. Both of them are talents of a generation, why can't they be compatible?" Ding Gong was merciful.When Xiang Yu fell, Ding Gong paid homage to him, but Liu Bang punished Ding Gong for being unfaithful to Xiang Yu, and warned the world not to follow Ding Gong. Ji Bu and Ding Gong, the experience of two people is so similar, but the result is completely different.Not only that, in terms of grievances, Ji Bu should be Liu Bang's big enemy, and Liu Bang will take his head as a matter of course.But Ding Gong let Liu Bang go at a critical moment.It enabled Liu Bang to escape the battlefield, make a comeback and win the world. It should be said that Liu Bang still had the grace of saving his life. This is why Ding Gong was not worried about being beheaded and took the initiative to visit Liu Bang.However, things backfired, Ji Bu concealed his name and wanted to escape the pursuit, but the result was far beyond his expectations. Not only was he not beheaded, but he was also made a guard.However, Ding Gong, who thought he could get promoted and make a fortune by saving his life, was sentenced to death indiscriminately. What is the reason why the person who should have been beheaded became an official, and the person who should have been promoted and made a fortune was beheaded? Where is the head?

In name, Liu Bang killed Mr. Ding Gong for the crime of infidelity to warn future generations.In fact, the real reason is not the case.Because Liu Bang almost died in front of Mr. Ding Gong, he begged Ding Gong in a very low tone before he escaped. Scars, of course, must be removed quickly.This is the main reason why Liu Bang killed Duke Ding. Being disloyal to Xiang Yu is just a beautiful cover played by Liu Bang, warning the world is just a side effect.Why so many people betrayed, but only Ding Gong was killed?Sima Guang's analysis was logically chaotic, while Bo Yang's analysis made some sense, but they were just discussing the facts, without in-depth analysis of Liu Bang's psychology of killing Duke Ding.

If Ding Gong can understand Liu Bang's thoughts, he should go to the end of the world instead of running to the Jin Dynasty.Of course, Liu Bang would not let go of the opportunity that came to his door. Just finding a crime of infidelity would make Ding Gong disappear completely, and the knot in his heart would naturally be untied. No one will know about that disgraceful history in the future Yes, and it can also warn the world, it really kills multiple birds!In this regard, the members of the Zhu family are indeed wise and courageous.At first risked his beheading to hide the wanted criminal Yingbu, and later persuaded Liu Bang to withdraw his life and treat Jibu kindly through Xia Houying's advice. After Jibu became an official, he immediately cut off contact with Yingbu. The Zhu family should have gone into hiding This once again proved the reason why Liu Bang killed Mr. Ding Gong. Ding Gong didn't understand the emperor's psychology, so he killed himself in vain. The Zhu family understood, so they were able to save their lives after Ji Bu became an official.

After analyzing the root cause of Ding Gong's death, let's compare why Ji Bu and Ding Gong had such different fates.The starting point of the analysis is Liu Bang's imperial psychology.Once on the throne of the emperor, Liu Bang's psychology will be very different from before, not only Liu Bang, but all emperors are like this, except for a few extremely mentally retarded and confused emperors. Therefore, only by understanding the psychology of the emperor and knowing how to advance and retreat can we protect ourselves.Ding Gong didn't understand, he gave his life in vain, but Ji Bu was lucky, he escaped and was promoted.