Chapter 18 flesh and blood

——Mutual killing within the Liu clan of the Xiongnu Although the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi still has the title of deputy crown prince and lives in the East Palace, his authority is gone.It happened that red rain fell from the sky once, making the area around the Yanming Hall where he lived a deep red, as if blood had fallen from the sky.The ancients were superstitious, and Liu Yi couldn't help being afraid of evil, so he hurriedly invited Lu Zhi, Cui Wei, Xu Xia and other Han Confucian officials into the palace to discuss countermeasures.Lu Zhi and others persuaded: "At the beginning, the emperor regarded you as the emperor's younger brother. It was a last resort to stabilize people's expectations at the beginning of his succession. His real idea was to pass the throne to King Jin (Liu Cong's eldest son Liu Can), and the court All the princes and ministers in China are well aware that they overwhelmingly support King Jin. Moreover, King Jin has recently been conferred the title of Prime Minister. It is a signal for the crown prince to succeed to the throne. Jin Wang has now surpassed the East Palace where you live, and all major affairs in the court are decided by him. It is impossible for you, Your Highness, to succeed. Not only can you not succeed, you Now that we still have to worry about our lives, we should make a plan early. If we can make up our minds, there are 20,000 elite soldiers in the four guards of the Eastern Palace, and the kings who command the battalions in the capital are all young, so they can take away their military power in one fell swoop. Xiangguo ( Liu Can) is frivolous and defenseless, and he can be dealt with by sending an assassin. The general Liu Ji has been fighting outside for years, and there are no strong generals in the city who can resist the battle. If you turn against the enemy and flatter you, you will surely succeed!"

Lu Zhi and the others were far-sighted and thoughtful, and analyzed the situation in a logical manner.After all, Liu Yi, the emperor's eldest brother, was young and lacked political experience. He didn't have the courage to do such a big thing, "it's only a plan." Within a few days, Xun Yu, one of Liu Yi's servants from the East Palace, reported to Lu Zhi and others about persuading Liu Yi to rebel. (The most pity is Lu Zhi. He did a lot of good things under Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu.) At the same time, he ordered General Guanwei Bu Hua to guard the East Palace and put Liu Yi under house arrest.

Fearful, the "emperor's younger brother" Liu Yi came up to the table, begging to be a commoner in Guizhou, and begging to remove the crown titles of his two sons, and to give up the position of crown prince to Liu Can.Bu Hua, who was in charge of the East Palace, received Liu Yi's performance and threw it into the fire without looking at it. Liu Cong, who lived deep in the inner palace, was not only greedy for wine and lust, but also favored several eunuchs such as Wang Shen, Guo Yi and other regular servants. Liu Cong went to the harem for banquets, sometimes not going to court for three months.All major government affairs in the court were decided by Wang Shen and other grand dukes, and they randomly awarded officials and rewards according to their likes, angers, loves and hatreds.These people form cliques for personal gain, cite relatives and old relatives, together they are extravagant, greedy and cruel, and harm the good.Jin Zhun, the father of Empress Jin, "flattered both inside and outside the clan".After the eunuchs and relatives took control of the state power, they repeated slander, angered Liu Cong, and killed more than a dozen court ministers who were usually hated by the eunuch party.Clan Dazai Liu Yi and Yushi Dafu Chen Yuanda and others came forward to admonish Liu Cong, risking their lives, and advised Liu Cong to pay attention to political affairs and not to kill Zhongliang.

Liu Cong was furious, and tore up Liu Yi's seal with his own hands, praising Wang Shen and others for their "heart to the royal family, loyalty and integrity".Dazai Liu Yi became sick with anger, and died of anger within a few days after returning to the mansion.Chen Yuanda, the official censor, also committed suicide in grief. Guo Yi, the chief eunuch of Zhonggong Servant, was once disliked by the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi. Seeing that Liu Yi's authority had been lost, he wanted to take the opportunity to kill this lost "older brother". Once, during a banquet, he said to Liu Can, the prime minister: "The emperor is alive, but the emperor's younger brother Liu Ai still has plans to usurp the throne. From this point of view, this person is the deepest enmity of His Highness, father and son, and the grievance of the people of the world. Too lenient, I have never been able to bear the imperial edict to abolish Liu Yi's name as the emperor's younger brother. Once there is a change in the world, I am really worried for your highness. Your highness, you are the grandson of Gaozu (Liu Yuan), and the current emperor's direct line How can you not fight for the seat of the crown prince? I heard that the emperor's younger brother conspired with the general Liu Ji and others. Once they succeed in usurping the throne, you and the emperor will inevitably be in trouble! If you don't believe the words of the minister, you can go Ask the general's subordinates, Zhong Lang Wang Pi and Wei Jun Sima Liu Dun."

After Liu Can heard this, he was half-believing and skeptical. Guo Yi was not idle for a moment, and when he left Liu Can's house, he sent someone to secretly summon Wang Pi and Liu Dun to see him.Hearing that the famous father-in-law next to the emperor had something to say, Wang and Liu rushed over like crazy. Guo Yi sat in the upper seat, with a worried expression on his face, staring at Wang and General Liu, without saying a word for a long time. The two felt uneasy for a long time, and couldn't help asking: "Why did your lord call me?" Eunuch Guo Yi pondered for a while, then asked in a low voice: "Emperor Taidi Liu Yi and General Liu Ji want to rebel, the Emperor and Xiangguo know about this now, are you two also angry with Taidi and others? "

When the two of them heard the words, their hearts were broken, and they hurriedly argued: "It's nothing, the emperor's brother and the general never told us that they wanted to rebel." Eunuch Guo looked sad, sighed and said: "The emperor's younger brother's rebellion is already clear, but you and I have a good relationship and old friendship. I'm afraid the two brothers will be punished by the clan after the incident is revealed!" When the two generals heard the words, they all knelt down on the ground and kowtowed to Guo Yi. Eunuch Guo stroked his beardless chin, with a kind face on his face, and asked, "I have a plan to save you two, can you listen to me?"

The two kowtowed and bled, crying and said: "Please teach me, my lord, life is life!" Guo Yi said: "The Prime Minister will interrogate you both in secret about the emperor's younger brother's rebellion, and you must answer that you know about it. If the Prime Minister asks you, why didn't you report it earlier? Just say, you know that the Emperor is merciful and loving, and that the Prime Minister cherishes it." Flesh and blood ties, so I dare not announce this matter." Wang Pi and Liu Dun kowtowed non-stop, thanking Eunuch Guo for pointing out the way out for them.

Sure enough, the two were soon called into the mansion by Xiangguo Liu Can at different times to interrogate the matter of treason.The two generals unanimously admitted that the emperor's younger brother Liu Ai had attempted rebellion. Liu Can had long hated this little emperor standing in front of her so much that her teeth were itchy, and now she was even more murderous. Not only the eunuch Guo Yi framed the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi, but also the patriarch Jin Zhun deeply hated Liu Yi. Before Jin Zhun's daughter entered the palace, he searched everywhere, always wanting to marry the royal family, and finally got a chance to send a cousin to the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi as a concubine.This younger sister Jin is lustful by nature, once in broad daylight while Liu Yi was not around, she had sex with the guards in the back garden, and was bumped into by Liu Yi who had just returned to the house due to an accident, and in a fit of rage, two swords ended up with the pair of dogs men and women.Afterwards, every time Liu Yi saw Jin Zhun in the court, he would talk about his cousin and ridicule him, which made Jin Zhun deeply ashamed.

Now, the two daughters have entered the palace to serve the emperor, and Jin Zhun, who is already the head of the state, knows that Liu Yi is going against his luck. Jin Zhun visited the Prime Minister's Mansion at night, and cut straight to the point, saying, "I have heard rumors that the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi is plotting to usurp the throne. I hope that your highness will be prepared." Seeing that the abbot was also supporting him, Liu Can was secretly happy, but he kept his face on the surface and asked, "Then what can we do?" Jin Zhun came up with an idea: "The emperor has deep love and trust for the emperor's younger brother. I am afraid that the emperor will not believe it rashly when he suddenly reports that there is a conspiracy. According to my foolish plan, you can lift the vigilance of the East Palace on the surface, and don't block the request to see the emperor's younger brother." Liu Yi has always neglected money and favored scholars. After the guards were released, many people must have entered and exited his mansion. When the time comes, I will first expose his crimes, Your Highness, and then make friends with him. They will catch all of them in one go, and they will be tortured and served, and the crime will be judged." At this point, Jin Zhun gave Liu Can a meaningful look, lowered his voice but emphasized his tone, and said, "Otherwise, the court will now belong to the Empress Dowager." Brother, once the emperor dies, how can you succeed, Your Highness!"

Liu Can nodded repeatedly.He immediately ordered Bu Hua to withdraw the troops that surrounded the East Palace. Liu Ai, the emperor's younger brother who has been under house arrest in the mansion by heavy soldiers, sees the sudden withdrawal of troops outside the door, thinking that the emperor's elder brother has changed his mind, and feels relieved. A few days later, Liu Yi was sitting in the mansion when Wang Ping, a general under Xiangguo Liu Can, broke in with an anxious and dignified look on his face, and announced: "According to the emperor's decree, someone in the capital wants to rebel. Armor is in charge, in case of emergencies!"

When Liu Yi heard the order, he didn't dare to be negligent, and quickly ordered the guards of the East Palace to put on their whole bodies, each holding a weapon, and gather in the mansion, waiting for the order, and preparing to die for the emperor. When Liu Can learned that everything was going as expected, he immediately led the guards and went straight to the palace, telling Jin Zhun and eunuchs Wang Shen, Guo Yi and others who were on duty in the palace, saying: "According to General Wang Ping, the emperor Taidi is gathering soldiers in the East Palace and preparing to enter the palace to usurp him, what should we do?" Jin Zhun, Wang Chen, and Guo Yi exchanged glances with each other, knowing that everything was "going according to plan", they immediately entered the inner hall and reported to the emperor Liu Cong, who was having a lot of sex with the beautiful women: "The emperor's brother is going to rebel!" When Liu Cong heard this, he almost became impotent with fright, and said in shock, "How could such a thing happen!" Wang Chen, Jin Zhun and others responded in unison: "I have heard for a long time that Liu Yi wants to rebel, but I'm afraid you won't believe what I said to His Majesty." Surprised, Liu Cong hurriedly ordered Liu Can to lead heavy troops from Beijing to surround the East Palace. Sure enough, he found that the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi and the guards of the East Palace were fully dressed and looked like they were about to send troops to fight.Before they could react, Liu Yi and his guards were disarmed by the soldiers of Prime Minister Liu Can. Because the emperor's younger brother Liu Ai has the title of Great Shanyu, he is in charge of the Di and Qiang nobles who usually live in Beijing.Jin Zhun seized this breakthrough, arrested more than a dozen Di and Qiang nobles who were living in Beijing or were Renzi (protons), tortured them, hung them in mid-air, and burned them with red-hot irons. People's eyes are full of bitterness. These people were beaten into tricks, and in the end they all falsely claimed that they had been conspiring with the emperor's younger brother and were preparing to rebel. After the prison was over, Liu Cong was angry, fearful and joyful after reading the case file. He patted Grand Duke Wang Shen on the shoulder and said, "From now on, I know that Qing and others are loyal to me. You should know everything and don't forget the past." , don’t blame me for not listening to you before.” Therefore, Liu Can and others punished dozens of members of the Eastern Palace palace and ministers who had feuds with them on weekdays, and massacred nearly 20,000 soldiers of the four guards of the Eastern Palace, leaving no one behind. Liu Cong did not kill the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi immediately, but issued an edict to abolish him as the king of the north.Not long after Liu Yi left the capital, on the way to the new fiefdom, Jin Zhun and the others had already been waiting for a long time with sharp knives in hand.A group of thieves rushed forward, stabbed with guns and knives, dismembered and killed the handsome young prince. Because the proton who stayed in Pingyang was killed for no reason, hundreds of thousands of Di, Qiang and other tribes rebelled one after another. Liu Cong sent Jin Zhun as the general of chariots to suppress it, and massacred tens of thousands of people.During the suppression period, Jin Zhun was ordered by Liu Can to kill the two sons of the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi, and wiped out the roots. Because of his meritorious deeds, Liu Cong made Liu Can the crown prince, and led the prime minister and the general regent of the state.Da Shanyu was actually the "vice king" of the Xiongnu, who was in charge of the domestic elite soldiers and led the soldiers of the Hu, Jie, Xianbei, Di, and Qiang chieftains.Liu Yuan, the Xiongnu, practiced separate rule between Hu and Han, which can be clearly seen in his official title. Except for Liu Yi, the emperor's younger brother who is a "confidant", Liu Cong consciously escaped a catastrophe.When he was happy, he led tens of thousands of Yulin guards to hunt Shanglinyuan.Before leaving, Liu Cong ordered the captured Emperor Min of Jin to be the "General of Chariots and Cavalry" in order to show his prestige and embarrass the officials of Jin Dynasty. When the emperor went out, many people gathered around to watch, pointing and pointing, and they all said, "The one at the front is the former emperor of Chang'an."Many middle-aged and elderly people with deep feelings for the Jin Dynasty cried and wiped away their tears on the side of the road seeing that the emperor was like a servant. Crown Prince Liu Can saw this situation and was angry in his heart.In parallel, he said to his father Liu Cong: "The people of Jin who are now fighting against Sima Ye are all in the name of welcoming back Sima Ye. It is better to get rid of him early to make people hopeless!" I killed Yu Min, Sima Chi (Emperor Huai of Jin) and others for the first time, but now the people's hearts are still so attached to the Jin Dynasty, the Han people are difficult to control, let's wait and see for a while." In January 318 A.D., Liu Cong entertained the officials in Guangji Hall, and the same trick was repeated, and he ordered Emperor Jin Min to drink and wash the cups. After several rounds of drinking, Liu Cong came back from the toilet, and ordered Jin Huai Emperor to stand behind him and hold the cup high. The instrument cover serves.Seeing this situation, in the hall, "Jin officials wept a lot, and some lost their voices".Shang Shulang Xin Bin was overwhelmed with grief, rushed over to hold the young Jin Mindi and cried bitterly.Liu Cong was angry and ordered the guards to push Xin Bin out of the hall and behead him.That night, Liu Cong sent someone to kill Jin Mindi, who had been a prisoner for nearly a year, at the age of eighteen. For the Han monarchs of the former dynasty of the enemy country, they can be killed, imprisoned, delicious and delicious, and placed under house arrest, but they don't want to make these "Qingyi Yujiu" and "washing the prince Zhanggai" in public Her insulting tricks were performed quickly and aroused the anger of billions of husbands.Both Liu Cong of the Xiongnu and the Wanyan family of the Jin Dynasty loved to engage in such "performances", which made the Han courtiers hold grudges in their hearts.Looking at the results, the descendants of the Xiongnu Liu family and Jurchen Wanyan were basically slaughtered, leaving no roots behind.As the so-called reincarnation of heaven, retribution is not good, so you can't do things too badly.As cruel and ruthless as the Mongols, a Queen Hongjila who understands righteousness finally came out.For the little emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty who was captured into the Yuan court, she dissuaded Emperor Kublai Khan from performing the insulting ceremony of captivity, saying: "Since ancient times, there has been no country that never perishes, so how can you humiliate the last emperor! If the descendants of this dynasty can survive the country's perish Only then can we rejoice!" In this situation, he can be called a hero among women, with profound insight.After the death of the Yuan Dynasty, the violent and cruel Zhu Yuanzhang did not kill the old Yuan royal family who did not run away. Thinking back to the beginning, it was also the retribution of a little compassion from the queen of the Yuan Dynasty. However, God's retribution is sometimes too fast.More than three months later, a fire broke out in the palace in Pingyang City, burning to death Liu Cong's son Kuaiji King Liu Kang and 20 people including the sons and grandsons of the dragon. "Liu Cong heard about it, threw himself on the bed, and died of grief, it was Su for a long time." From crying to crying, from mourning to mourning, Liu Cong is still obsessed with beauty.In order to invite favor and strengthen themselves, the eunuchs in the palace took beautiful girls as adopted daughters one after another, and offered them to Liu Cong to win their favor.Liu Cong was really happy. After tasting these fourteen or fifteen-year-old girls, he felt very refreshed, so he made the adopted daughter of eunuch Wang Shen the left queen, and the adopted daughter of the eunuch Xuanhuai the middle queen. Although the Liu family of the Xiongnu was violent, the Han officials who were loyal to him were still very dedicated.Shangshuling Wang Jian, Zhongshujian Cui Yizhi, Zhongshuling Cao Xun and others wrote letters one after another, arguing that the queen's mother should be the daughter of the famous family of Shide, and the eunuch's adopted daughter of the clown should not be allowed to preside over the harem. It is not good for the country if the maidservant fills the palace and becomes the ruler. For Liu Cong, who has beautiful women in his arms and good wine in his mouth, these remonstrances are simply frustrating.He immediately sent the eunuch Xuanhuai to tell the crown prince Liu Can: "Wang Jian and others, insulting the Lord, talking nonsense, without the courtesy of a monarch and a minister, should be arrested immediately and beheaded!" When Liu can got the order, he immediately sent people to arrest Wang Jian and three others, and sent them to Dongshi for execution.The great eunuch Wang Chen couldn't let go of his hatred, and hit Wang Jian who was shackled and kneeling on the ground with a big stick, and cursed: "Yong slave, can you do anything wrong to me again? Sir, my daughter is the queen, it's none of your business!" Wang Jian scolded angrily: "Zhuzi, the one who destroys the big man is a rat like you and Jin Zhun's disciples. After I die, I will become a ghost and I will arrest you and go to hell!" Cui Yizhi also yelled at Jin Zhun, who was in charge of the execution: "Jin Zhun's owl's voice must be a national disaster. If you cannibalize people, people should also eat you!" Before the words fell, the heads of all the admonishing ministers were beheaded. Although the Liu Cong regime captured and destroyed the two emperors of the Western Jin Dynasty, it was apparently the master of the Central Plains. In fact, its power was very limited. The actual ruling area only included a part of Shanxi and the Guanzhong area guarded by Liu Yao. Luo, the west does not go beyond Longdi, and the north does not go beyond Fen and Jin."There was a famine in its capital, Pingyang, and tens of thousands of people starved to death at one time.In addition, the war is endless, the tribesmen flee, and the favor is not attached, and the internal rule is already in jeopardy. In July 318 A.D., Liu Cong, who had a wedding and lust, finally emptied his body. When he was seriously ill and was about to die, he announced that the great Sima Liu Yao would be the prime minister, Shangluo King Liu Jing would be the Taizhang, Jinan King Liu Ji would be the great Sima, and Liu Ji, the Duke of Changguo, would be the prime minister. Kai is the Taishi, and Hu Yanyan is the Taibao, entrusted with the funeral.Soon, Liu Cong died suddenly, and Prince Liu Can succeeded to the throne.Liu Cong reigned for nine years, posthumously Emperor Zhaowu, and his temple name was Liezong.