Chapter 42 The Achievements of Emperor Wenwen of Han Dynasty

In the sixth year of Emperor Wen's reign (158 BC), there was a severe drought and locusts ravaged the world. Liu Heng issued an edict with seven items in total: First, local governments are required to do a good job of stabilizing the people; Second, it was ordered to exempt the vassal states from paying tribute to the central court; Third, the common people are allowed to hunt and fish in the mountains, forests and water swamps that were originally developed and used only by the government; Fourth, it reduced a lot of Liu Heng's personal food and clothing spending and entertainment;

Fifth, reduce the number of Langguan around Liu Heng; Sixth, take out food from the granary and distribute it to the victims; Seventh, let the poor exchange titles for money. This is the last political event of Liu Heng recorded in "Historical Records Xiaowen Ji". Shi Qian then sorted out Liu Heng's main political achievements, which I summarized into four points: First of all, Liu Heng lives frugally. During the twenty-three years of Liu Heng's reign, there was no increase in the number of palaces or gardens, including horses, dogs, clothes, and cars.When encountering wars or large-scale natural disasters, they always open their gardens and let the common people go in to pick, hunt, and cultivate.

Once he wanted to build a terrace, and the project budget cost a hundred gold.When Liu Heng heard it, he couldn't beat it, and said angrily: "What are you doing, do you know that a hundred gold is equivalent to the sum of the property of a middle-class family? I am clearly in the palace left by the late emperor. If you live well, why spend so much money to build another palace? It’s not like our government has too much money and nowhere to spend it, I think it’s better to forget it.” Liu Heng often wears clothes mixed with silk and cotton, which are made of rough materials. Liu Heng also asked his beloved Mrs. Shen not to wear clothes so long that they could be dragged to the ground. The curtains in Mrs. Shen’s boudoir cannot be embroidered with patterns .

All of Liu Heng's actions are to lead by example and set an example of diligence and thrift to the world. In addition, when Liu Heng built the Ba Mausoleum, he required that all pottery be placed in the tomb chamber, gold, silver, copper and tin were not allowed to be used as decorations, and the mausoleum was erected on uneven ground, which could save engineering expenses and manpower, and save government revenue. At the same time, it will reduce the negative impact on people's agricultural life caused by the construction of mausoleums. Secondly, during Liu Heng's reign, he handled the relations with neighboring countries well and did a very good job in diplomacy.

At the beginning of Liu Heng's administration, he surrendered the South Vietnam without bloodshed, and let Zhao Tuo, the king of South Vietnam who ruled one side, remove the title of "South Vietnam Wudi". Here came the sincere surrender of Zhao Tuo and the people of Nanyue. In addition, Liu Heng has always handled the relationship between Han and Hungary properly during his reign.On the one hand, they fought back when the Xiongnu invaded, and on the other hand, they never expedite the Xiongnu without wasting money and money, and kept a proper distance from the Xiongnu to avoid the intensification of conflicts between the two sides, thus creating conditions for the country to recharge its batteries.

Third, Liu Heng is good at uniting the relations of all social strata within the country, and handling the relations with the vassal states and ministers well. As I said before, Liu Bi, king of Wu, and the central court were suspicious of each other, which led to intensified conflicts. Later, Liu Bi simply stopped going to see Liu Heng.In order to improve this relationship, Liu Heng gave Liu Bi a couple and a cane.At that time, Yuan An and others made a lot of trouble in the court and asked Liu Heng to clean up Liu Bi. Liu Heng listened to all their opinions but did not implement all the plans.The relationship between the central court and the Wu government was eased.

In addition, Zhang Wu and others who came to Chang'an with Liu Heng from Daiguo accepted bribes from others. After someone told Liu Heng, Liu Heng instead gave Zhang Wu and others a lot of rewards, making them feel ashamed in their hearts.This kind of reward is similar to the "nourishing silver" in later generations. The meaning of giving you money is to let you stop accepting bribes from others, and the country will support you well. Liu Heng is good at coordinating interpersonal relationships, which is also an important factor for the harmonious political situation during his administration.

Fourth, Liu Heng practiced a virtuous government. During Liu Heng's reign, he tried every means to educate the people, and many moral things were done by setting an example, so the world was rich, and etiquette and righteousness flourished. The above content is summed up by Sima Qian. It is not wrong in terms of historical facts, but it is exaggerated in the comments. Liu Heng advocates frugality, but Liu Heng's frugality is very deliberate. You can see from the fact that he casually rewarded Deng Tong with a copper mine that was originally a state-owned property, Liu Heng still has the habit of spending money lavishly.Sima Qian is right, but it only shows that Liu Heng is more rational and knows how to restrain himself when he is sober, but simplicity is by no means in Liu Heng's character.

In addition, Liu Heng's Baling Tomb is not without treasures, gold and jade, but the number is smaller compared to other emperors. "Book of Jin Suo Jing Biography" records that in the third year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty (AD 225) during the Three Kingdoms period, the government of the State of Wei stole Liu Heng's Ba Tomb and Han Xuan Emperor Liu Xun's Du Tomb, including countless gold, jade, and silk. , but compared to the extravagant burial in the mausoleum of Emperor Wudi, it can be regarded as frugal. Thrift is a comparison. In short, Liu Heng's mausoleum is not only pottery, but also high-end luxury goods. The history books of the Han Dynasty may not be completely reliable.

In addition, looking at Liu Heng's political achievements throughout his life, there is one thing Sima Qian has not summed up, which is to deal with the group of heroes. When the history books record Liu Heng's treatment of the group of heroes who founded the country in the early Han Dynasty, we can clearly find that the records are very casual and simple. Obviously, Shi Qian didn't pay attention to this part at all.However, in fact, when Liu Heng dealt with the group of heroes, he used a lot of political tactics in the face of multiple interests. Recall that when Liu Heng dealt with the heroic group, on the one hand, he appeased the heroic group, and on the other hand, he cut off the political interest connection between the heroic group and the vassal group. This was only the first step.

Going further, Liu Heng let the princes return to their feudal kingdoms, and even Zhou Bo was kicked out of the central government. In doing so, first of all, the influence of the heroes in the central government was weakened, and the threat around Liu Heng was reduced. Secondly, the problem of the hero group is transformed into the problem of dealing with the princes and kings, so that the hero group is placed in the princes and kings group.In this way, the problems that Liu Heng has to deal with are reduced, the power of the central government can be concentrated, and Liu Heng's issuing orders will not be hindered by the group of heroes. Thirdly, because Liu Heng previously cultivated the contradiction between the group of heroes and the group of princes and kings, when the group of heroes is forced to be in the group of princes and kings, this contradiction will evolve into a contradiction within the group of princes and kings.Liu Heng's move not only eliminated the hidden dangers brought by the hero group, but also weakened the power of the hero group.Moreover, when Liu Heng entrusted the new heroes, they all cut land from the old vassals and established the country, and there would inevitably be conflicts between the old vassal kings and the new recipients. Liu Heng played this move extremely well. In addition, Liu Hengguang opened up his voice and allowed the spread of many ideas, which Sima Qian did not mention.However, that should be because Sima Qian himself is a traditional intellectual who advocates dictatorship. He cannot publicly stand up to advocate pluralism of thought. He wants to promote the unity of official thought from the standpoint of the ruler. Liu Heng has made many political achievements, but when it comes to stains, I think it is one thing to let Xin Yuanping and others disrupt the court in the name of Huang Lao religion, and the insidious murder of Huainan King Liu Chang is also one. In general, Liu Heng's political achievements outweigh his demerits, his pioneering and innovative spirit outweighs his traditional stubborn ideas, and his executive strategy and policy of benefiting the people based on the teachings of Huang Lao as the guiding ideology are also unprecedented. In the seventh year of Emperor Wen's reign, Liu Heng's death knell rang in Weiyang Palace.