Chapter 21 Chapter Four
There are two people in Liu Bang's frame of reference in his life, one is Qin Shihuang who died not long ago, and the other is Xiang Yu who once fought together and then turned against each other and fought against each other.
Although Xiang Yu was his sworn enemy and finally defeated him, he always had an indescribable respect for him in his heart.After King Xiang's death, because he was originally named Duke of Lu by King Huai of Chu, Liu Bang solemnly buried him in Gucheng with the ceremony of Duke Huai, and went to pay homage to him in person, crying a lot.Liu Bang's crying this time was not just a gesture. He didn't need to "paste gold" on his face in the form of crying. His crying was out of nostalgia and respect, and it was also a kind of "emptiness" after losing his opponent. "Performance.Liu Bang was afraid of emptiness. When he was young, he often looked around in a daze because of his hazy ambitions.Chu and Han fought together. Although both sides were exhausted after four years of fighting, he finally had a clear opponent and target to attack, and he lived a quite fulfilling life.And one's own value is often reflected in the opponent. Only by defeating the opponent can one have the glory of victory. The negation of the enemy is essentially the affirmation of oneself.Opponents are sometimes "comrades in arms" in another sense.Once the opponent disappears, his own existence will become a bit redundant. Naturally, the next person to disappear is himself.Thinking about it this way, Liu Bang still felt a sense of "sorrow for the death of the rabbit and the fox" in his heart.Therefore, his crying at the memorial ceremony can be regarded as a rare expression of true feelings in his life.
Liu Bang also treated Xiang Yu's family members leniently. Not only did he not punish them, but he enshrined them one by one.
Fortunately, after Xiang Yu died, the "void" left by him was quickly filled by new targets and new opponents.
Another frame of reference for Liu Bang is Qin Shihuang.He did not think of deliberately overthrowing the rule of the Qin Dynasty. The cruelty, oppression and restraint of the Qin Dynasty did not feel very deep to him, a pure hooligan. It was a series of accidents that forced him to embark on an uprising against Qin and violence. The road, and step by step to the peak of victory to the throne of the highest power.When he saw Qin Shihuang in Xianyang, he couldn't help but say "a man should be like this" out of envy.He is a self-knowledgeable person who never thought of becoming an emperor.Out of curiosity and a playful game mentality, he also enjoyed the taste of the emperor for a few days after entering Guanzhong and occupying Xianyang.Since then, although he often reminisced about it, he never thought about being an emperor for the rest of his life.The four-year conflict between Chu and Han was difficult and long, but once the war ended, it seemed so short, and victory seemed to come a little too soon.As soon as Xiang Yu died, all the places surrendered, and the eyes of the princes could not help but focus on him. Everyone discussed and elected Liu Bang as emperor.If you want Liu Bang to play some hooligans and come up with some unscrupulous things, it may be his best trick, but once you really want him to be the emperor of the lord of the world, he will be a little panicked, and he quickly refuses: "I heard that the sages You can become the lord of a country, and you can’t keep the throne if you have empty words and a false name, and I don’t dare to make mistakes casually.” Naturally, the ministers tried to persuade, and Liu Bang gave in again, and he couldn’t evade it, so he said: “Since Everyone sincerely recommends that as long as it is beneficial to the country and the people, I will do it." On the third day of the second month of the lunar calendar in 203 BC, Liu Bang officially ascended the throne and became emperor in the north of Sishui, and the dynasty took his title—"Han Wang Zhi" Han" is named for the Han Dynasty, and Liu Bang was revered as the great ancestor by his successors.The name of today's Han nationality and Han people began during Liu Bang's Han Dynasty.
When Liu Bang became emperor, he was naturally faced with the major events of establishing the state system and formulating national policies.Qin Shihuang naturally entered his field of vision again.His attitude towards Qin Shihuang was both affirmation and negation.
The administrative measures of the Han Dynasty inherited Qin Shihuang’s autocratic and centralized authority in almost all aspects: the establishment of the Sangong and Jiuqing, the official rituals and etiquette “mostly all follow the Qin Dynasty, and there are few changes from the title of emperor to assistant officials and palace officials”, and Adopted the religious ceremonies of the Qin Dynasty, announced the restoration of law, order, security and other measures, respected and accepted the privileges of all ranks of titles and granted dignified social symbols...
The difference between the Qin and Han government systems is mainly reflected in the local organization: during the Chu-Han dispute, a group of Liu Bang’s allies had acquired some territories of other countries and claimed to be kings. Grant a piece of territory that has long belonged to them.
The regime established by Liu Bang is a unique product of the combination of centralization and enfeoffment.The emperor directly controlled the fourteen administrative regions located in the center, while the large tracts of land in the north and east were ten relatively independent kingdoms that he granted to the heroes.
The political system "all follow the Qin Dynasty", and in terms of policy, Liu Bang is basically "opposing" Qin Shihuang: Qin Shihuang pushed the authoritarian centralization to the extreme, and managed it like a monolith from top to bottom, and Liu Bang implemented the rule of Huang Lao , Rest with the people, let the people who have been tense for a long time breathe a sigh of relief; Qin Shihuang extorted violently, he exempted the people from certain taxes; Reunited, guarding a few acres of land to live in peace and stability; the Qin Dynasty emphasized severe punishment and strict rule of law, Liu Bang advocated "combination of virtue and punishment", advocated "punishment should never be too light" and "punishment should never be light". Abolished the harsh laws and corporal punishment of the former Qin Dynasty; Qin Shihuang clamped down on the people's mouths and restricted ideology and speech, and Liu Bang allowed the people to have more freedom in terms of ideology...
Liu Bang wanted to be an emperor, but he didn't want to be an emperor like Qin Shihuang.Qin Shihuang was not only harsh on himself, but also harsh on his ministers and the general public.What Liu Bang valued was the emperor's profligate enjoyment, unrestrained and freedom.If we put it another way, then the emperor Liu Bang wants to be is just the rogue side.In fact, most of the ancient Chinese emperors were rogue leaders and rogue masters who could be called high-level rogues.Of course, the instigator was none other than Liu Bang.Sometimes, the rogue element often forms a proportional relationship with the emperor's element.
Liu Bang sat on the throne as it seemed, and immediately showed an awe-inspiring attitude of nobility and dignity.He is naturally very proud, just like Monkey King will show his monkey tail when he is proud, and Liu Bang will reveal his rascal nature if he is not careful.Once, Zhou Chang, a fellow countryman who fought with him and an official worship doctor of the royal family, paid a visit to Liu Bang in front of him. It happened that Liu Bang was amused with his beloved concubine Qi Ji.When Zhou Chang came to see him, Liu Bang was indifferent, and still teased Qi Ji in his own way.Zhou Chang was so angry that he turned around and left.Seeing this, Liu Bang immediately pushed Qi Ji away, chased after him, grabbed his head and pressed down, straddled his back with his right leg and said loudly: "You seem very unhappy, do you think I How is this emperor?" Zhou Chang raised his neck vigorously and replied angrily, "It's similar to Xia Jie and Shang Zhou." When Liu Bang heard this, he didn't care about him, but just laughed.
After Liu Bang became emperor, what he liked to do the most and what he did the most was to find every opportunity to show off himself in order to satisfy his inner vanity.
He sent someone to look for the mysterious old man who had prophesied that Lu Zhi would be "the nobleman of the world", but he couldn't find it after a long time.The potential motive Liu Bang is looking for is nothing more than wanting to show off intentionally in the form of gratitude.
After Liu Bang became emperor, he was the first to reward his father Liu Taigong as the Supreme Emperor.When the Weiyang Palace was completed, Liu Bang held a glass of wine to celebrate the birthday of his father, the Supreme Emperor, and said braggingly: "Didn't you often scold me for not doing business properly, buying property, and being worthless? You always said that I am not as good as Second brother, you keep forcing me to learn from him and concentrate on farming. If I really do what you say, if I can become the emperor today, can you become the supreme emperor? Old man, tell me, I Compared with the second brother, which one is stronger or more in the business created and the property purchased today?" Hearing this, all the officials in the palace shouted long live and laughed happily.
Liu Bang became the emperor, and he wanted to go back to his hometown to show off.He wanted to show the old people and companions in the past what Han Gaozu looks like today.Finally found such an opportunity, he called the old folks to drink, and selected 120 men to teach singing and dancing.After drinking several cups of alcoholic wine, Liu Bang couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion when he drank to his heart's content. Immediately, he wrote his own lyrics and sang loudly: "When the strong wind rises, the clouds are flying, Vega will return to the homeland, and the warriors will guard the four directions!" The "Great Wind Song" passed down to later generations.One hundred and twenty men sang in unison, and Liu Bang sang and danced, "generously sad, weeping for a few lines".
It was Liu Bang, the great patriarch of the Han Dynasty, who raised concepts such as "returning to the homeland" and "brilliant ancestors" to the category of continuous national traditional culture.
When Liu Bang first became emperor, everything seemed very casual and casual.During the dynasty, the ministers were either former fellow countrymen, or comrades-in-arms who shared life and death together. Although they each had their own positions and had strict levels of monarchs and ministers, most of them came from reckless backgrounds. , often quarreling when things happen, drinking in the palace, often getting drunk, and making a fuss when drunk, not serious at all.After a long time, Liu Bang felt that everyone was making too much noise, and he had to find a way to restrain it.Dr. Qin Shusuntong grasped what was on his mind, so he lost no time in saying: "Everyone is messing around like this, how can there be any royal dignity! I think we have to adopt the ancient rituals and Qin Yi, and formulate some new systems. As long as the emperor sends If you want to say something, I will immediately call the Confucian scholars of Lu State and my disciples to discuss and implement it." After hearing this, Liu Bang naturally replied: "You might as well try it, but don't make those etiquette too trivial. It's too complicated and I can't stand those constraints, it's better to be simple and easy."
Shu Suntong took the order, and immediately called more than a hundred people to study and formulate it seriously.After the plan was formed, it took more than a month to conduct exercises, and when it was almost done, Liu Bang was invited to watch the ceremony and make a decision.Liu Bang read it again and thought it was good, so he ordered his officials to imitate it.In October 200 BC, the Changle Palace was completed, and the officials paid homage, and the etiquette was officially implemented.Under the guidance of the audience, civil and military officials walked into the gate of the palace again and again in strict accordance with their ranks; a high-pitched "Turn" sounded in the palace, and hundreds of Langs in His Highness immediately stood on both sides of the servant ranks, and civil and military officials stood on both sides, The civil officials stood facing west, and the military officials stood facing east; until then, Emperor Liu Bang sat out of the house in a chariot, and all the officials called the guards;After saluting, they began to drink. All the officials bowed their heads and drank, and no one dared to make a loud noise.After pouring the wine nine times, the audience sang "Stop drinking", and all the officials quietly withdrew one by one.
After the pilgrimage, Liu Bangxi couldn't help saying: "Until today, I didn't know how honorable it is to be an emperor!" As soon as Liu Bang was happy, he worshiped Shusun Tong as Taichang and gave him five hundred catties of gold.Since then, this pilgrimage ritual has formed a system, and Liu Bang has enjoyed the dignity of the emperor every day.