Chapter 60 59 White Horse League

When Han Gaozu was in his later years, he doted on a lady named Qi.Mrs. Qi gave birth to a child named Ruyi, who was named King Zhao.Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty felt that Liu Ying, the prince born to Empress Lu, was weak by nature. He was afraid that he would not be able to do great things in the future, but Ruyi talked and acted like himself.Therefore, I want to change Ruyi as the prince. He once discussed this matter with the ministers, but the ministers objected, and even Zhang Liang, whom he had always respected, helped Empress Lu. Four famous hermits called "Shangshan Sihao" (hao, sound hao, meaning old man with white hair) were invited to assist Prince Liu Ying.Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty knew that the prince could not be abolished, so he said to Madam Qi: "The prince has a helper, and his wings have grown hard. There is no way to change it." Madam Qi was also too sad to say anything.

When Han Gaozu was attacking Yingbo, he was shot in the chest by a stray arrow.Later, the injury became more and more serious.Once, someone secretly said to him: "Fan Kuai (Empress Lu's brother-in-law) and Empress Lu are in collusion, and they plan to kill Mrs. Qi and Zhao Wang Ruyi as soon as the emperor dies." Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty was furious, and immediately called Chen Ping and General Zhou Bo into the palace, and said to them: "Go to the barracks quickly, and immediately cut off Fan Kuai's head to see me." At that time, Fan Kuai was leading troops in Yan State.Chen Ping and Zhou Bo accepted the order, and they discussed in private: "Fan Kuai has made great contributions and is the queen's brother-in-law. We can't kill him casually. Now the emperor is angry and wants to kill him. What if he regrets it later? "

After discussing for a while, the two locked Fan Kuai in a prison car and sent him to Chang'an, where he was released by Empress Lu. Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty was seriously ill. He summoned the ministers in front of him, and ordered his men to slaughter a white horse, and asked the ministers to drink blood as an alliance.In front of Gaozu, everyone drank blood and swore: "From now on, anyone who is not surnamed Liu will not be crowned king, and those who are not meritorious officials will not be crowned marquis. Anyone who violates this covenant will be punished together."

After the ministers swore an oath, Han Gaozu was relieved. Han Gaozu became more and more ill.He asked Empress Lu to go in and give instructions for the funeral. Empress Lu asked him: "After a hundred years, Your Majesty, if Xiao Xiangguo dies, who can succeed him?" Han Gaozu said: "You can let Cao Shen take over." Empress Lu asked again: "What about the future of Cao Shen?" Han Gaozu said: "Wang Ling can take over. However, Wang Ling is a bit blunt, so he can ask Chen Ping to help him. Chen Ping has enough resourcefulness, but he can't be alone. Zhou Bo is kind and prudent, but he doesn't know much about writing. But in the future The stability of the Liu family depends on Zhou Bo."

When Lu asked further questions, Emperor Han Gaozu shook his head and said, "You will not be able to know what will happen in the future." In 195 BC, Han Gaozu died.Empress Lu sealed up the news, and secretly found one of her confidant ministers, Shen Shiqi (Shi Qiyin yiAli), and said to him: "The generals and the late emperor all raised troops together. They are not reconciled under the late emperor. Now that the late emperor is dead, it is even more unreliable, it is better to kill them all." Shen Shiqi felt that this matter was not easy to handle, so he asked Lu Shizhi, the elder brother of Empress Lu, to be his helper.Lu Shizhi's son Lu Lu leaked the secret news to his good friend Li Ji, and Li Ji secretly told his father Li Shang.

When Li Shang heard the news, he hurried to find Shiqi, and said to him: "I heard that the emperor has passed away for four days. The queen did not mourn, but planned to kill the ministers. Doing so will definitely arouse the resistance of the ministers and generals. Needless to say, there is a great chaos, I am afraid that your life will not be saved." Shen Shiqi was frightened, and hurried to find Empress Lu.Empress Lu also felt that she was not sure about killing the minister, so she ordered a funeral. The ministers buried Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, and the crown prince Liu Ying came to the throne, who was Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty.Empress Lu became the empress dowager.

Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty was indeed an honest and incompetent person, and everything was decided by his mother, Queen Mother Lu.Empress Dowager Lu has great power in her hands, she can do whatever she likes. She hated Madam Qi and Zhao Wang Ruyi the most.She first punished Mrs. Qi as a slave.He also sent people to recall Zhao Wang Ruyi from the fief to Chang'an. Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty knew that the Queen Mother was going to kill his younger brother Ruyi, so he personally took Ruyi to the palace, and even ate and slept with him, so that the Queen Mother Lu couldn't do anything.

One morning.Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty got up and went out to practice archery.He wanted to ask Ruyi to go with him. Ruyi was young and sleepy. Emperor Hui of Han saw that he was sleeping soundly, so he couldn't bear to wake him up, so he went out by himself.When Emperor Hui returned to the palace, Ruyi had already died on the bed.Emperor Hui knew that his younger brother was poisoned to death, so he hugged the corpse and cried loudly. Empress Dowager Lu killed Ruyi, and brutally chopped off Madam Qi's hands and feet.Gouged out her eyes, forced her to take dumb drugs, and threw her into the pigsty.

When Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty saw Madam Qi being tortured like this by the queen mother, he couldn't help crying loudly, and was so frightened that he fell seriously ill.He sent someone to say to the Queen Mother: "This kind of thing is not something a human can do. I am the Queen Mother's son, and I have no ability to govern the world." After that, Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty was unwilling to intervene in the political affairs of the imperial court.