Chapter 42 Chapter 42: The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu

There is a man who seems to have been born to cut down the territory of the king of the land.This person's name is Chao Cuo.He is from Yingchuan, has studied criminal names (politics) of Shang Yang, and has a straightforward and unfeeling personality. Unfeeling means not being moved by love, that is, being stubborn. Chao Cuo was a retainer in the era of Prince Jingdi. After Emperor Jing came to the throne, he appointed Chao Cuo, who had followed him for many years, as the "internal history".Emperor Jing is a wise emperor, he promotes his retainers not because he has followed him for many years as the only reason, but because this person is indeed talented.

The chief of the capital of the Department of Internal History is a senior bureaucrat who is second only to the Sangong Jiuqing and receives a salary of two thousand shi.Because what Chao Cuo studied was politics, and because of his relationship with the governor of the capital, he was an extremely enthusiastic centralizationist and very stubborn.What he thinks is the right policy, even if some people oppose it, will be implemented with a strong attitude.Maybe some rely on Emperor Jing's love for him!In short, his attitude of ignoring the ministers was quite blatant, and he glanced at the Sangong Jiuqing and the ministers present at every turn, and said to the emperor: "Please ask the emperor to ask everyone here to stay away temporarily, and the minister is going to report important events in the world now..."

Every time Emperor Jing heard what Chao Cuo said, he declared unceremoniously: "Really? Good! You all avoid it!" It goes without saying that the officials felt unhappy because of this. The one who was most upset about this was Prime Minister Shen Tujia.The prime minister is the head of the three princes and the highest person in charge of state affairs.It was a matter of national affairs, but the prime minister was ordered by the emperor to avoid him. How could he swallow this tone? The words of the prime minister were rarely adopted, but most of the words of the internal history were accepted, and the revision of laws and regulations was not uncommon.

"Young man, just wait and see!" Whenever Shen Tujia mentioned Chao Cuo, he couldn't hide his displeasure. The office of Neishi is located in the open space outside the inner wall of the Taishanghuang Temple, with a door on the east side.The Taishanghuang Temple enshrines the father of the great ancestor Liu Bang.Due to the inconvenience of entering and exiting from the east gate, Chao Cuo also opened a gate on the south side.One side of this place is the outer wall of the temple. "I finally got my chance!" Shen Tujia thought that he had caught the evidence that could kill Chao Cuo.Digging a hole in the wall of the temple dedicated to the first father - isn't that a crime of disrespect!

Chao Cuo had known for a long time that Shen Tujia regarded him as a thorn in his side, so he sent a spy to undercover in the prime minister's mansion.After the spy noticed the prime minister's movements, he immediately reported to Chao Cuo. So Chao Cuo rushed into the palace, visited Emperor Jingdi, explained the opening of the south side door, and asked for ratification afterwards. ——This measure of the minister is entirely for the quick handling of state affairs, and I ask the emperor for special permission. In this regard, Emperor Jing really agreed. —Forget it, that place is just the outer wall.

Soon, the prime minister entered the palace to report the crime of disrespect to the internal history, and said: "This crime should be punished." However, Emperor Jing rejected the prime minister's statement with the following words: "Oh, what you said, the internal history has already reported to me. The outer wall cannot be regarded as the same as the temple wall, so it cannot be said that it must be executed crime." Prime Minister Shen Tujia stomped his feet when he returned to the mansion, and said, "I should have killed that boy first before reporting. I didn't do this because I made a mistake. Who else can I blame?"

Perhaps due to excessive anger, Shen Tujia died of illness soon after. After his political opponents were gone, Chao Cuo was able to grasp the real power better, and his position was promoted successively, and finally he became Doctor Yushi. Doctor Yushi is one of the three princes, and his status is equal to that of the deputy prime minister.According to the system of the Han Dynasty, only those who had served as imperial officials were eligible to become prime ministers. Chao Cuo has the position to promote his own policies as he pleases. He began to devote all his energy to racking his brains to reduce the territories of kings and princes everywhere.If the princes made a slight mistake, he used it as an excuse to reduce his territory.

It is a natural trend for Chao Cuo to become the object of hatred of the princes.He knew this clearly, but he refused to give in at all—if not, the Han Empire would not be able to survive! Although it is not critical, once something is found to be wrong, it will be used as an excuse to reduce the territory-this is Chao Cuo's policy towards the princes and kings. Even the princes who think they are innocent are often found in trouble, and the princes who are guilty of thieves will feel chills all over their bodies when they hear his name. The one with the most guilty conscience should be Wu Wang Liu Bi.

Liu Bi was the son of Liu Zhong, the elder brother of Gaozu Liu Bang, and had a relationship with Emperor Jing as uncle and nephew. Liu Zhong, who was originally named acting king, was defeated by the Huns.Liu Bang was inconvenient to execute him because of his brotherhood, but only deprived him of the throne and demoted him to the rank of Marquis. Later, Yingbu rebelled, and Liu Bang's personal conquest was as mentioned above. At that time, Liu Zhong's son Liu Bi, who was only 20 years old at the time, joined the army as a cavalry general and made great military exploits. Because the people of Wu and Kuaiji (Jiangsu, Zhejiang) were extremely strong, it was necessary to rule by a strongman. At that time, Liu Bang's sons were still young, and they couldn't find a suitable candidate for a while, so they had to make Liu Bi the king of Wu.

Wu's Yuzhang County has Tongshan, which can cast copper coins, and the coastal area is rich in salt.King Wu's territory can be described as quite rich, and all residents are exempt from paying taxes.It is inevitable that people flock to places where they do not have to pay taxes. What Liu Bi was awarded was a first-class place with a prosperous economy and a large population, and this place was far away from the capital Chang'an.Although Liu Bi is not yet there, it is inevitable that he and his family who were born in Wudi will gradually assume the posture of a little overlord.

When Emperor Wen ruled the world and Emperor Jing was still the crown prince, the eldest son of Wu Wang Liu Bi came to Chang'an.This is called "entering the court", and it is also one of the obligations of princes.At that time, he probably came to visit the emperor on behalf of his father. Later, when the banquet was held, the eldest son of King Wu played a game of chess with the crown prince. "Game" as the name suggests should be a kind of gambling, but it is impossible to check how it is played.This is an old way of gambling. When Wu Wang's son played this game with the crown prince, there was a dispute.The content of the dispute is probably about whether to fight back or not. Playing games with the crown prince but refusing to give up justified, this shows the son of Wu Wang's little overlord style. This incident is recorded in "Historical Records": It's disrespectful to fight for the way. No one in Wu country dared to contradict him, and he seemed to think it was right in Chang'an. The crown prince became angry for this. How dare this country bumpkin be rude!The crown prince grabbed the chessboard and threw it hard at King Wu's son.This chessboard may be as large as the current Go board.King Wu's son was hit on the head by the chessboard and died. The imperial court sent people to send his remains back to Wu. Wu Wang Liu Bi was angered by this. — We are all clansmen.A member of the Liu family of the royal family died in Chang'an, so he should be buried in Chang'an at this time.What does it mean to send the remains back to Wu! He then sent his son's remains back to Chang'an. According to Wu Wang Liu Bi's idea, Chang'an, where the emperor lives, is the hometown of the Liu family.According to reason, clansmen who died in Chang'an should be buried there.I live in Wudi as the King of Wu, but I am only entrusted to station, and my native place is still in Chang'an! ——Don’t forget, I’m also a member of the royal family! King Wu's return of his son's remains seems to indicate this. Although the kings were obliged to enter the court, the king of Wu complained of illness and never came to Chang'an again. The imperial court was also very unhappy with King Wu's attitude, so every time Wu sent an envoy, he would be imprisoned. Under such circumstances, Wu Wang Liu Bi certainly couldn't step down. Emperor Wen considered this, so he said that everything in the past would go to waste, and he gave the king Wu an elbow and crutches, and declared: You are old, and you will not be exempted from entering the court in the future. The fact that King Wu did not enter the court was forgiven, and the relationship between the court and Wu was prevented from deteriorating further. Such a compromise can be achieved purely because Emperor Wen is in power.After the death of Emperor Wen, his son Emperor Jing came to the throne. Because of Chao Cuo, a fanatical statist, princes from all over the country were often cut off their territories for slight reasons. There is no need to deliberately find fault with the disobedience of the King of Wu in the past, but it is not easy to list them randomly now. Minting copper coins, making salt, sheltering desperadoes... These can all be used as excuses.Coin minting and salt making were state monopoly undertakings, and local kings were not allowed to get involved in them at all.Since this is a country that does not have to pay taxes, jobless people from all over the country and even those who are wanted by the authorities often come to this place. King Liu Wu of Chu played with women during his mourning period, and Donghai County, which was part of his territory, was cut off. Liu Ang, King of Jiaoxi, was confiscated in six counties for selling his title. King Wu’s crime of disobedience is many times more serious than that of King Chu or King Jiaoxi. Maybe it’s not enough to confiscate part of the territory, or the whole land will be confiscated, and even the king’s family will be killed—to avoid It was commonplace for some people to kill their clansmen with hatred and revenge. Kill them all before you get killed!Wu Wang Liu Bi had this idea. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, although the Lu family had been the king, these people were all punished later, and the only non-royal princes and kings left were the Changsha king Wu's family.This Wu family was also confiscated shortly after the death of Emperor Wen and after the death of the lord Wu Zhu because he had no heirs.Therefore, the current kings everywhere are the royal family. Liu Bi conspired with the princes and kings from all over the country to rebel.He relied most heavily on the vigorous Jiaoxi King Liu Ang.Liu Ang lost six counties because of selling nobles, but selling nobles is something that every prince has to do, and he was the only one who was punished. King Jiaoxi was very dissatisfied with this. Some of the kings still hesitated to wait and see, but King Wu's statement was indeed very convincing to them: Although there is no serious problem now, one day you will be stripped naked! The king of Jiaoxi wanted to be patient about the fact that the six counties were cut down.But even the behavior of selling nobles has been cut down by six counties. If there are more disputes, the result will not only be cut down, but even counties may be cut down.In this way, wouldn't I have nothing in the end! ——It is said that Chao Cuo, the official censor, has said that no king will be allowed to exist in this country! Such rumors were circulating at the time. This seems to be more than just rumors.Since Emperor Jing came to the throne, the central policy under the leadership of Chao Cuo seems to have been working hard to promote this matter. When he received the edict to reduce the two counties of Kuaiji and Yuzhang due to crimes such as casting money and salt production, the King of Wu decided to rise up. The righteous name he announced is: Chao Cuo, the treacherous official on the side of the emperor! The kings who responded to King Wu's military campaign included six countries including Jiaoxi, Jiaodong, Suichuan, Jinan, Chu, and Zhao, and seven countries including Wu. This is the so-called "Wu Chu Seven Kingdoms Rebellion". King Wu Liu Bi issued an order to the whole territory: "Although I am sixty-two years old, I will go out as a general myself. My youngest son, who is only fourteen years old, will also join the army. Therefore, the whole territory All men over the age of fourteen and under the age of sixty-two must all participate!" The mobilized military force was as high as two hundred thousand. In the seven foreign countries of Wu and Yue, the proclamation was spread farther to Minyue and Dongyue, which were regarded as undeveloped areas. This was the local government in southern Zhejiang and even Fujian and Guangdong. Such turmoil is no small matter. The imperial capital Chang'an was astonished.Taiwei Zhou Yafu immediately led the thirty-six generals to crusade. General Dou Ying was the son of a cousin of Empress Dowager Dou, the mother of Emperor Jing.Before he left for the expedition, he recommended Yuan An, who had been dispatched to the state of Wu in the past. Yuan Ang was incompatible with Chao Cuo, the official censor.As long as Chao Cuo is present in any scene, Yuan An will leave.On the contrary, Chao Cuo never participated in the scene where Yuan Ang was present. Chao Cuo impeached Yuan Ang on the grounds of "corruption" as a royal censor in the past, saying that Yuan Ang was bribed by King Wu.Therefore, Yuan Ang was demoted to a commoner. Such Yuan An will appear again.