Chapter 33 Aragakida falsely claims ghosts and gods

In the fourteenth year of Emperor Wen's BC, Gongsunchen, a well-known yin-yang and five-element expert in Ludi, wrote to Liu Heng, proposing to "rectify Shuo, change color, and yellow color". Stir in. Gongsun Chen told Liu Heng that in the past, according to the theory of the Five Elements, the Qin Dynasty was the virtue of water, and the Han Dynasty inherited the destiny from the Qin Dynasty.Gongsunchen believed that the Han Dynasty should implement a new calendar, advocating the yellow color corresponding to Tude, rather than the black color of the Qin Dynasty or the red color advocated by Liu Bang. Jia Yi also mentioned this point before.

"Correcting the Shuo and changing clothes", this is a matter of great significance in the eyes of the autocratic dynasty, marking the beginning of a new dynasty and a new destiny.Liu Heng had also been arranging this matter long ago. He asked the prime minister Zhang Cang, who is proficient in rhythm and calendar, to be in charge of the revision of laws and regulations.Therefore, Zhang Cang proposed that the Han Dynasty should still use October as the first year of the year, and the color should be black on the outside and red on the inside, echoing the virtue of water. Wu Jiansi, a native of the Qing Dynasty, commented on this passage and said: "For the luck of the five virtues, Gongsunchen regards Qin as the righteousness, his homeland; Zhang Cang regards Qin as his intercalation, and his hometown." The reason why Zhang Cang and Gongsunchen have differences is because Zhang Cang is unwilling to admit Qin Dynasty is an orthodox dynasty, and he is denying Qin Dynasty's destiny in disguise.Zhang Cang believed that the Han Dynasty inherited the destiny of the Zhou Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty was the virtue of fire, so the Han Dynasty should be the virtue of water.

But will Liu Heng accept Zhang Cang's statement? of course not. The reason is that the Han Dynasty implemented the imperial system, which was invented by the Qin Dynasty, so the people of the Han Dynasty could only admit that they had won the Mandate of Heaven from the Qin Dynasty, and had nothing to do with the Zhou Dynasty. But in debates, only the winners stay.Gongsunchen failed to refute Zhang Cang's statement in front of Liu Heng, so he had to be driven away in despair, but Gongsunchen did not admit defeat. He wanted to create evidence to prove that Zhang Cang's statement was wrong.

As a warlock, Gongsun Chen is a member of the charlatans, so he is naturally very proficient in the art of counterfeiting.So in the 15th year of Emperor Wen, rumors began to spread that Huanglong appeared inexplicably in Chengji County (now northwest of Qin'an, Gansu). Preside over the revision of the calendar, and the choice of official dress colors. Under the banner of the Huang-Lao Religion, Gongsun Chen succeeded in falsifying his position, and once he was rich, he was in his hands. In April of that year, Liu Heng went to Wujiao in Yongzhou to perform suburban sacrifices in the summer, in order to repay the gods, thank the gods for giving the auspiciousness of the Huanglong's coming to the world, and let the people have a good harvest that year.However, Liu Heng didn't change the color of his clothes. He still wore red clothes. From this point of view, Gongsun Chen was very unprofessional and cared about having fun, and he didn't pretend to suggest some changes to Liu Heng's clothes.

In the sixteenth year of Emperor Wen (164 BC), another ridiculous thing happened. Xin Yuanping, a local scholar of Zhao, was summoned by Liu Heng because he was good at observing good and bad by looking at Qi. He said to Liu Heng: "There is a colorful spirit in the northeast of Chang'an. The magical shape is very similar to the crown of the emperor. I heard that the northeast The side is where the gods live, and the west is the burial place of the gods after death. Now there are colorful clouds in the northeast, which is clearly auspicious, and temples should be built to worship the gods."

Liu Hengxin thought it was true, and built the Five Emperors Temple on the north side of the Weihe River to worship the Five Emperors advocated by Huang Lao's theory. The Temple of the Five Emperors is a temple. There are five shrines in the same room, one for each of the five emperors. The color of the shrines is the same as the name of the emperor, and the sacrifices and etiquette are also completely imitated from the arrangement during the "Yong Wuyi" sacrifice. In addition, according to Wang Mang's memorial in the first five years of Emperor Ping of the Western Han Dynasty (AD 5), Taiyi was also worshiped in the Wudi Temple in Weiyang, which is a typical Huang-Lao Taoist god.

Regarding the origin of Xin Yuanping, Mr. Wang Baoxuan analyzed that because Shen Dao, who had studied Huang Lao's art in the Jixia School, and Le Xia Gong and Le Chen Gong who believed in Huang Lao in "Historical Records Biography of Le Yi" were all Zhao. He is a Chinese, and Le Chengong is the teacher of Gai Gong who taught Cao Shen the art of Huang Lao, so the Huang Lao School of Zhao State at the end of the Warring States period should be very active.Therefore, Mr. Wang believes that Xin Yuanping is the successor of the Huang Lao School of Zhao State at the end of the Warring States Period.

But whatever his background, the man was ultimately nothing more than a charlatan.Although this kind of person can always grasp the state of mind of the emperor and succeed in defrauding them, they often do not end well, and Xin Yuanping is no exception, and his end will be miserable in the future. In April of the 16th year of Emperor Wen, Liu Heng went to the Wudi Temple in Weiyang to worship the Five Emperors in person, and lit a beacon fire in the distance. The fire seemed to reach the sky.In addition, Liu Heng also appointed Xin Yuanping as a senior doctor, with an official position inferior to Lieqing, and ordered doctors and Confucian scholars to select sentences from the "Six Classics" to compose a "Royal System", which is said to be divided into "Original System", "Military System", and "Service System". There are three parts in "System", which is different from "Royal System" in "Book of Rites".

Liu Heng passed by the Changmen Pavilion on a trip, and saw five figures vaguely by the side of the road. Liu Heng was surprised to think that it was the manifestation of the Five Emperors. Of course, this was probably Xin Yuanping's ghost again.In short, Liu Heng later built the altar of five emperors in the north direction where they stood, and used five livestock to worship the five emperors. Liu Heng did this for three reasons. First of all, Liu Heng really believed in Huang Lao's technique.As for the religious superstition in it, let's not be too demanding. Secondly, Liu Hengxin ghosts and gods are looking for comfort for himself, which is almost a common problem of autocratic emperors, even people like Tang Taizong could not get rid of this.As the saying goes, "the heights are too cold", people at the pinnacle of power are extremely prone to feelings of loneliness and guilt.

Again, Liu Heng used this to consolidate his rule, instill superstitious ideas into the minds of the people, make them believe in gods, and finally believe in his Liu Heng's rule, and at the same time correct his name for his throne and the fate of the Han Dynasty. In September of the 16th year of Emperor Wen (162 BC), Xin Yuanping sent someone to bring a jade cup to the gate of Weiyang Palace, claiming that it would be dedicated to the emperor.Xin Yuanping was naturally not at the palace gate, but beside Liu Heng, he told Liu Heng that there was a spirit of precious jade outside the palace gate.Liu Heng ran to take a look, and sure enough, he met someone who came to present a jade cup, engraved with the words "The Lord prolongs life".After that, Xin Yuanping told the emperor that after observing the sky, he found that the sun would return to the south in a while, and it really came true.

Of course, this kind of record is not worthy of people's belief, but it also reflects that Liu Heng's superstitious belief in Huang Lao's religion has reached a level of obsession at this time, and Xin Yuanping believes everything he says.Fortunately, Xin Yuanping is only greedy for money. If he has political ambitions, then the government may be manipulated by villains. Because of these visions, Liu Heng decided to change the seventeenth year of his reign, that is, the next year, to the first year of the Houyuan. At the same time, he took the opportunity to allow the people of the world to gather and drink for three days, so that the people of the world could celebrate the change of Yuan. . Xin Yuanping probably became obsessed and obsessed with ghosts. He didn't know what went wrong in his head. One day he said to Liu Heng: "The treasure tripod of the Zhou Dynasty fell into Sishui. Seeing the aura of treasure in Fenyin (southwest of today's Wanrong County, Shanxi), it seems that this treasure tripod is about to be born. Although the signs have appeared, if we don't pray, it still won't be born." Generally speaking, when hearing what Xin Yuanping said, everyone will think that this must have been designed by Xin Yuanping again. Maybe he got a treasure tripod from somewhere and put it in the toilet for a few times, dried it and buried it in the old place. Local in Fenyin. However, it is not. After Liu Heng listened, he hurriedly followed Xin Yuanping's instructions, but probably this time Xin Yuanping did not negotiate a price with the "teacher" he hired, or the "teacher" had an accident, or Xin Yuan Ping lied to people too much, and I went crazy, I really thought I had supernatural powers... In short, Liu Heng's emissary squatted in Fenyin for half a month. I prayed in the temple in the south of the city, but I didn't see anything. In October of the first year of Emperor Wen's reign (163 BC), that is, one month after Xin Yuanping found someone to play the double reed and presented the jade cup, someone reported Xin Yuanping as a fake.An autocratic emperor can't stand being deceived the most, especially Liu Heng trusted Xin Yuanping very much before.After learning the truth, Liu Heng was like a thunderbolt. He was so angry that he immediately ordered Xin Yuanping to be interrogated.Liu Heng was furious and killed the three clans of Xin Yuanping. It is said that the decree of the "three tribes of barbarians" was abolished in the third year of high school, and Liu Heng himself advocated the abolition of harsh laws, but around that time Liu Heng became angry and felt that not killing would not be enough to calm his anger, and Xin Yuanping had already been killed. The ministers hated it, so no ministers came out to plead for mercy. Liu Heng finally used cruel corporal punishment to clean up Xin Yuanping's family. After experiencing the Xinyuanping case, Liu Hengda was hit hard. From then on, he no longer cared about ghosts, gods and sacrifices, and no longer personally took care of Huang Lao's religious affairs as in the past. Instead, he arranged for the minister in charge of sacrifices to tell them Sacrifice on time, and then there will be nothing more. Although Liu Heng is not a fool, he was indeed too stupid when it came to Xin Yuanping, and he was fooled by a sorcerer.Perhaps Liu Heng's belief in Huang Lao's art is rooted in superstition, not for the purpose of governing the country.The Huang-Lao technique objectively promoted the social development during the Wenjing period, but it is undeniable that the Huang-Lao religion also brought some damage to the political situation in the early Han Dynasty.