Chapter 44 8. Destroy the Qing name, Xiao Heqiao reassures the king's heart

At the beginning of the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the kings with different surnames were Liu Bang's confidantes. Now Liu Bang has removed the kings with different surnames Han Xin, Peng Yue, and Yingbu who contributed the most to Jianhan.No, the more concentrated the power in Liu Bang's hands, the more jealous he was of others coveting his power, and even the people around him who were too famous.Therefore, after pacifying the king with a different surname, Liu Bang began to weaken the prime minister's power, which involved one of Liu Bang's closest relatives-Xiao He.

The rise of Liu Bang and the dispute between Chu and Han cannot ignore Xiao He, who almost ran through Liu Bang's life.When Liu Bang was the head of the pavilion in Surabaya, he was a good friend of Liu Bang; when Liu Bang launched an uprising, he was Liu Bang's most capable assistant; when Liu Bang was named King of Han, he was Liu Bang's prime minister; .Xiao He is diligent in government and loves the people, loyal and loyal, and has an excellent reputation in the court and among the people, but such a person sometimes makes Liu Bang "uncomfortable". Xiao He is the most important "accomplice" in Empress Lu's plan to punish Han Xin.He assisted Empress Lv to do such an important thing, and Liu Bang favored him even more. In addition to granting him a title, he also sent a captain and 500 soldiers as the guards of the Prime Minister, which was unprecedented for the officials at that time. glory above.So all the guests came to Xiao's residence to congratulate, and the court was full of joy.

On this day, when Xiao He held a banquet in the mansion to celebrate, suddenly a man in plain clothes and white shoes came in to pay his respects.This retainer named Zhao Ping was a very respected person by Xiao He, and he did not expect such an abnormal behavior.Seeing this, Xiao He said angrily: "Are you drunk?" He was not afraid, and said calmly: "Prime Minister, don't be so happy, your disaster is about to come." Xiao He was puzzled and asked why.Zhao Ping said: "The emperor fought south and north, and left many arrow wounds on his body, but you have been staying in the capital safely. As soon as the emperor came back, he rewarded you. I guess the emperor has distrust for you. You have not seen What will happen to Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin?" When Xiao He heard this, he suddenly realized, and broke out in a cold sweat.The next morning, Xiao He hurried to Chaomiansheng, resigned from the fiefdom, and took out a lot of family wealth, allocated it to the treasury, and transferred it to military supplies.Liu Bang was really happy.After this incident, Xiao He became more careful, but can Liu Bang's suspicion of him be completely eliminated?

Later, Yingbo rebelled, and Liu Bang personally led troops to conquer.Every time Xiao He sent people to deliver military rations to the front, Liu Bang would ask: "What is Xiao Xiangguo doing in Chang'an?" The envoy replied: "Xiao Xiangguo loves the people like a son, and besides running military supplies, he just does something to appease the people. "Liu Bang was always silent after hearing this. When the envoy came to report to see the emperor, Xiao He couldn't figure out what the emperor meant, so he talked about it with all the disciples, and one of the disciples said: "The prime minister will be executed soon!" Xiao He was very surprised, and said quickly: "Why do you say that, sir?" The retainer continued: "You are now the head of the officials, and the emperor has no more positions to confer on you. You have won the love of the people since you entered the customs, and it has been more than ten years now. Yes. The people support you, and you try your best to do things for the people. This is known to all the people in the world. Now the emperor asks about your daily activities several times, because he is afraid that you will take advantage of the popularity of Guanzhong to do something wrong!" Xiao He heard , I suddenly understood in my heart: If I took advantage of the vain to incite the people and closed myself, the emperor would not even be able to enter Guanzhong after the battle... Xiao He felt that it was reasonable for the emperor to be suspicious of himself, but how should he protect himself?He sighed and said, "What should I do?" The doorman said, "Why don't you forcefully buy private farms and houses at a low price, deliberately let the people scold you, resent you, and create a bad reputation, so that the emperor will take a look at you." Only when you are unpopular, will you be at ease."

In order to get rid of Liu Bang's suspicion and protect himself, Xiao He had to do some bad things against his will to embezzle folk property from the stigma festival.Soon, Xiao He's actions were secretly reported to Liu Bang.Sure enough, after hearing this, Liu Bang acted as if nothing had happened, and did not inquire.After the Yingbo Rebellion was put down, when Liu Bang triumphantly returned from the front line, the common people stopped the road and wrote a letter, accusing Xiao Xiangguo of robbing and buying private land and houses worth tens of millions.After Liu Bang returned to Chang'an, when Xiao He went to see him, Liu Bang smiled and handed over the people's letter to Xiao He, saying meaningfully: "As a prime minister, you even compete with the people for profit! That's how you 'benefit the people'? Go and apologize to the people yourself!" After this incident, Liu Bang dispelled some doubts about Xiao He and gradually relaxed.

Xiao He usually loves the people very much, although this time he used this to protect himself, but because he violated the interests of the people against his will, he was very disturbed and always wanted to find an opportunity to compensate the people.This compensation once again made Liu Bang feel "uncomfortable". Xiao He saw that the arable land in Chang'an was small and the people were short of food and clothing. They lived very hard. However, there were many idle wastelands in the Shanglin Garden where the emperor used to hunt animals.Xiao He thought about it, and felt that it was too wasteful, so he planned to ask the emperor to distribute these wastelands to the people for cultivation.Unexpectedly, Liu Bang, who was on the throne and suffering from illness, had lost his original open-mindedness, not to mention that the strategies in peacetime and wartime were different.

Xiao He said in the memorial: The wasteland in Shanglinyuan can be distributed to the people of Chang'an for cultivation, and the stalks left after harvesting the crops can still be used to support animals. He was very angry and threw the memorial to the ground at once.I thought: Xiao He, Xiao He, just don’t change!To please the common people under my nose, am I a foolish king?Then Liu Bang ordered the arrest of Xiao He, and the charges were: Xiao He took bribes from businessmen and used the name of the people to make profits in the name of businessmen. Liu Bang's move was very abrupt, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty did not understand what was going on, thinking that Xiao He had committed a crime of treason and immorality, and they dared not defend him for fear of hurting themselves.There was a small official in the palace named Wang Weiwei, who respected Xiao He very much on weekdays. Xiao He suddenly had such a crime, which made him find it hard to understand.Once when he was serving Liu Bang, Liu Bang asked him a few homely words, and he asked Liu Bang by the way: "What serious crime did Xiao Xiangguo commit?" Liu Bang seemed to have not calmed down, and said, "Don't mention him! Mention him." I was angry. When Li Si was Prime Minister of Qin, all good deeds belonged to the monarch, and if he made a mistake, he took it upon himself. Now Xiao He actually asks me to open the Shanglin Garden for the people to cultivate. This is obviously to please the people, and to gain a place for himself. Good reputation. I don’t know what kind of monarch you think of me!”

Lieutenant Wang Wei is timid and bold. He usually thinks that Liu Bang and Xiao He are wise emperors and ministers, and he wants to speak out when he has something in his heart.He said: "I think your majesty mistrusted the prime minister. I think that if the people are rich, the emperor will naturally be rich. The prime minister seeks benefits for the people, but he is actually seeking benefits for the emperor. The common people think that he is a good prime minister, which shows that you are a good prime minister." Mingjun! There is another level, if the prime minister has the slightest ambition, His Majesty fought abroad for several years, and he could sit in the Guanzhong without any effort at that time, so how could he use Shanglin Garden to please the people and buy people's hearts?" Liu Bang's doubts about Xiao He Originally, he was chasing after the wind and shadows, but when Wang Weiwei said that he was a "Ming Jun", he felt a little happy in his heart, and his face softened a lot.

Seeing that the emperor's face softened, Wang Weiwei continued: "The former Qin Dynasty perished because of the jealousy of the monarch and ministers. If your majesty is suspicious of Prime Minister Xiao, you will not only underestimate Xiao He, but also underestimate your majesty himself." Liu Bang was silent for a long time after listening. , waved Wang Weiwei out, and ordered Xiao He to be released that day. Xiao He is also in his sixtieth year, and he has dedicated himself to state affairs, but he did not expect that a very ordinary memorial will lead to prison.During this period of time in prison, Xiao He rarely had a leisure time, and he thought a lot.The former Surabaya pavilion chief was his friend, but now Liu Bang is his own monarch, and accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. This is an eternal truth.The emperor does not allow anyone to compete with him, including power, wealth and reputation, Xiao He thought, maybe this is the reason why he was sent to prison.But Xiao He still firmly believes that the emperor will eventually understand after his painstaking efforts that the current emperor is not a foolish person.

Liu Bang finally ordered Xiao He to be released.Because Xiao He had been wearing torture instruments all over his body for many days, his hands and feet were numb when he was released, and he could hardly walk.Xiao He staggered to the main hall and knelt down to thank him.Liu Bang also felt a little sad when he saw it. In order to conceal his apology, he said mockingly: "Xiangguo has suffered, so there is no need to be polite. This time, it was originally Xiangguo's petition for the people, and I will not allow it. I am just Xia Jie and Shang Zhou are just innocent emperors, but you are a virtuous prime minister. The reason why I imprisoned Xiangguo is to let the people know your virtuousness and my faults!" Liu Bang said these words with a bit of yin and yang, It was also insincere, but he finally acquiesced to Xiao He's honest government for the people.Xiao He was speechless, but he knew it clearly in his heart, and he was even more sincere and fearful towards Liu Bang, and he became more respectful.

From then on, Xiao He was still diligent and conscientious, but kept more silent on state affairs. Liu Bang also treated each other with courtesy as usual.The majesty of the emperor was established step by step. In this matter, although Liu Bang's performance was a bit "making a fuss out of a molehill", did he not know that Xiao He's power did violate the emperor's power in a certain sense.In peaceful times, there is naturally no danger to have a virtuous prime minister like Xiao He, but in troubled times, if the prime minister has too much power, there will be danger of forming cliques for personal gain and disrupting the government.As the founder of the country, Liu Bang didn't want to see such a thing happen in the future, so he took advantage of this incident to weaken Xiao He's prime minister power and created a court "practice" that was conducive to centralization.Xiao He destroyed his innocence because he understood the emperor's intentions. After going through prison, he was still loyal and loyal without any complaints. He made laws for the Han Dynasty and assisted the monarchs of the two dynasties.