Chapter 4 The "small abacus" of the heroes and veterans

The hero group had some discussions when considering who to support as the emperor. This matter is related to the self-interest of the hero group in the future, and it must be carefully chosen.However, it is a pity that this supposedly wonderful discussion was not clearly recorded in the history books. It only recorded the dialogue of the participants, and did not say who the participants were. It was too boring.In order to describe this event more vividly, the scene of the meeting is deduced as follows based on historical records. Minister A: "The current Young Emperor Liu Hong, King Lu, King Huaiyang, and King Changshan are not actually the sons of Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, they are all children snatched by the bad woman Lu Zhi, not the blood of the old Liu family. Empress Lu killed the mother, raised the child in the palace, and let Emperor Xiaohui recognize him as his son."

Everyone laughed secretly. This was all a lie fabricated by the hero group to exclude Liu's clan. Liu Hong and Liu Gong were just not Liu Ying's direct sons. Minister B flattered and said: "That's right, isn't this old woman Empress Lu doing this to cultivate the power of her Lu family? When the Lu family's boys take power, we will definitely be disarmed by others, and we will all be finished." I think we might as well choose one of the Liu family kings who looks pleasing to the eye and is easy to control, and embrace him as the emperor." Minister A: "I think Qi Wang Liu Xiang is not bad. His father is Gaozu's eldest son Liu Fei, so he should be regarded as the eldest grandson. This is absolutely justified."

"Did you make a mistake? Don't you know that Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, and his uncle Sijun are old hooligans? If you make Liu Xiang the emperor, then Sijun will not be able to ride on our heads! His family will be the Lu family Second, what are you doing when you have nothing to do?" Minister C roared angrily. Minister B: "Actually, I think King Huainan is pretty good." "Come on, that little baby can't control people at all, and it's useless for us to control it. Besides, his mother's family is not very fuel-efficient." Minister Ding looked disdainful.

"I think the Dai Wang Liu Heng is good. He is the oldest living son of Gao Zu. He is honest and kind and easy to bully. His mother's family is not bad. It is a matter of course to support the older prince. He is selected with benevolence and filial piety. It will not be questioned by the people of the world, so it would be better." Minister Ding said. So everyone adopted Minister Ding's plan. The process of the group of heroes choosing Liu Heng to inherit the throne is basically like this in the history books.We can see from it that the hero group has five considerations in choosing the right princes and kings.

First, they must choose an orthodox heir of the Liu family, at least a Liu family member who can be recognized by the people and the hero group, and must be a direct descendant of Liu Bang. This way, the range of choices is narrowed down. After all, Liu Bang’s sons are almost taken care of by Empress Lu, and there are not many grandchildren. Second, only Liu Bang’s direct descendants can reduce the political turmoil, because this identity is the most deterrent Candidates can be said to be confident, which reduces the political risk of the hero group after supporting the new emperor. Second, they must choose a person who can be used and controlled by them, at least subjectively, who will not have a conflict of interest with them to inherit the throne.

As mentioned earlier, most of the heroes who advocate violence are egoists. What they need is someone who can protect and expand their own interests. Therefore, the emperor they support must be easy to control, and because of this, Only then did the third and fourth considerations emerge. Third, they must choose a person whose mother clan is weak and not domineering. The shadow of Empress Lu has been lingering in the hearts of everyone in the Hero Group. If Empress Lu hadn't passed away, the Lu family might have killed the Hero Group first.Therefore, the hero group must not allow the foreign relatives to interfere in politics again, and their interests will be threatened again.

Fourth, they must choose someone who is neither too old nor too young. This principle is very easy to figure out.Firstly, it is not easy for the heroic group to use its prestige to deter and suppress hostile forces if they are too young; people who are too old are more likely to develop self-assessment, and may not only not listen to the heroic group honestly, but will also fight with the heroic group Against.Second, if you are too young, you will be easily interfered by your mother, and your relatives will take the opportunity to intervene; or your mother will find a male favorite because she is very young, and then she will be the second best.These situations will cause the interests of the meritorious group to be threatened or divided. Of course, Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and others do not want to see these things happen.

Fifth, they must find someone who is low-key and has few interest entanglements, so that the common people will not be familiar with him or have a strong reaction to his ascension to the throne. On the one hand, the group of heroes must rely on the power of the new emperor, and on the other hand, it must downplay the public image of the new emperor.This requires that the person they support must always be very low-key, at least on the surface, he does not appear to have ambitions, does not get entangled in any conflicts of interest, and does not have major rights and wrongs. Taking all these five points into consideration, looking at the Liu clan, it seems that Liu Heng alone is the most suitable person. At least in the eyes of the hero group, Liu Heng's image and background are just as they expected.

After the discussion, supporting the acting king Liu Heng has become a certainty.Zhou Bo and Chen Ping hurriedly drafted an invitation letter to warmly welcome the acting king Liu Heng to come to Beijing to ascend the throne. Although the hero group sincerely welcomes Liu Heng, Liu Heng is still hesitant.Liu Heng didn't have much contact with the heroes, and he couldn't figure out what kind of medicine these people were selling in their gourds, so he asked his ministers for their opinions. Zhang Wu, the Lang Zhongling of the Dai State, said to Liu Heng: "The heroes and veterans can lead troops and are good at making intrigues. Maybe they plan to become emperor themselves. They didn't rebel back then because they were forced by the power of Gaozu and Empress Lu. I think it's better for you to say you're sick and wait for the momentum first."

However, Lieutenant Song Chang had a different opinion from others. He told Liu Heng four points: First, Liu Bang put down the rebel armies from all walks of life and finally established the Han Empire, which has already cut off the hope of other people with foreign surnames as emperors; Second, Liu Bang entrusted princes and kings with the same surname, which made the country united and extremely strong. The Liu family will only continue to grow and develop in the future; Third, after the founding of the Han Dynasty, the benevolent government was widely implemented, and the people's will, the ruling foundation of the Liu family was unshakable;

Fourth, Lu's rebellion was punished, and if the heroes and veterans planned to rebel, the people would definitely not submit to them, and their party members might not completely obey them. Besides, there were Zhu Xuhou Liu Zhang and Dong Mou Hou Liu Xingju in the court. In addition, there are Liu Bi, King of Wu, Liu Jiao, King of Chu, Liu Chang, King of Huainan, Liu Ze, King of Langya, and Liu Xiang, King of Qi. At this time, the strength of the princes and kings surnamed Liu cannot be underestimated.Moreover, Liu Bang's sons are only Liu Heng and Liu Chang. Of the two, Liu Heng is the eldest, so he naturally does his part. Liu Heng was obviously moved by Song Chang's persuasion, especially the second and fourth articles gave Liu Heng great confidence.No matter how closely the vassal kings and the heroes hook up, the blood relationship between Liu Heng and the vassal kings is there. The hero group is not the Liu family after all. As long as the Liu family is in a group, the heroes are all afraid. To be on the safe side, Liu Heng asked the ghosts and gods again, and after the divination revealed auspicious omens, he sent his uncle Bo Zhao to Chang'an to ask Zhou Bo for specific information.The Hero Group has been impatient with Liu Heng for a long time. In order to dispel Liu Heng's doubts, Zhou Bo explained all the plans of the Hero Group. Liu Heng was also very happy when he heard it. After all, it is a good thing for the pie to fall from the sky, and he has been close to Song Chang ever since.He took Song Chang, Zhang Wu and other seven people to the west to Chang'an, and let Song Chang sit in the same car as himself. When he arrived at Gaoling (now Gaoling, Shaanxi Province) in the northeast of Chang'an, Liu Heng sent Song Chang to Chang'an to inquire about news and make preparations. Guo Songtao, a native of the Qing Dynasty, commented that Liu Heng sent envoys to Chang'an twice for investigation, "Send Bo Zhao to see Marquis Jiang, so he can observe the hearts of the ministers and generals; he also sent Song Chang to observe the changes, thinking that the young emperor is still alive, and consider the changes in the matter. It was written in such a way that Emperor Wen was careful and prudent." As Guo said, Liu Heng's small actions showed the characteristics of a 23-year-old who is thoughtful, calm and manly.He sent Bo Zhao to find Zhou Bo before, which was to test the thinking of the hero group; but this time he sent Song Chang to the front stand, in fact, because he considered that the young emperor Liu Hong had not abdicated. All these politically savvy actions of Liu Heng may mean that the hero group has misjudged the fact that they invited not the weak and incompetent Liu Heng as they imagined.Liu Heng has been dormant for fifteen years. The relatively stable environment in Daiguo allows him to hide his strength and bide his time. Maybe he didn't have the idea of ​​fighting for the throne at the beginning, but just for self-protection. The two quietly combined and fell on Liu Heng, allowing him to step towards the throne step by step.