Chapter 47 Chapter 47: The Young Emperor's Feminine

Despite the coming-of-age coronation, the sixteen-year-old Emperor Wu was treated like a child at court.Just as his father Jingdi had mother Dou and grandmother Bo when he came to the throne, he also had mother Wang and grandmother Dou when he came to the throne. Although the grandmother, Empress Dowager Dou, was almost blind, she was very energetic and still reigned in the harem. Princess Guantao, the mother-in-law who is already a subject, has always had a strong desire for power, and frequently goes in and out of the harem whenever she has something to do. Emperor Wu himself also has a sister, Princess Pingyang, who is also a very difficult woman.

After ascending the throne, Emperor Wu was still surrounded by a group of women. I'm going to do things my way and move the world in new directions.Sixteen-year-old Emperor Wu had this ambition.He was really tired of the atmosphere of the court. Women are too domineering!This is something he really hates. Everything is muddled, what is this!He often grumbles about it. His father and grandfather adopted the "nothing is forced" doctrine.The reason for this is its philosophical background.That is: the way of Huang Lao. The life principle advocated by the legendary sage Huangdi and Lao Tzu, whose career is to promote his way, is "the way of Huang Lao".This Tao is now called "Lao Zhuang".Not to mention the legendary sage, but Zhuangzi, who inherited Laozi's way, is called together with him to fight against "Confucius and Mencius". "Transformation without doing anything" is the fundamental spirit of this Tao.To put it more clearly: it is useless to be anxious, everything has a definite number.The best way is to let everything take its course and not force it.

Life is short, like a dream in the south, all the hard work is meaningless - Emperor Wu is of course extremely opposed to this kind of thinking. Empress Dowager Dou, the actual ruler of the court, is a fanatical believer in the "Way of Huang Lao".She used semi-compulsive means to ask all the clansmen to read the book of Lao Zhuang.This is the same situation as an old woman who believes in a new religion and introduces it to her relatives.It's just that this old woman holds great real power. Of course, the helpless sixteen-year-old boy emperor was no match for this old woman.Emperor Wu then decided to lie down temporarily.

Many people who opposed the old woman's "Lao Zhuang" thought gathered around the young emperor.What this group of people believed in was the theory of "Confucius and Mencius" which was opposed to the thought of "Lao and Zhuang". The Confucianism mentioned by Confucius and Mencius tends to focus on sequence.They emphasize the difference between superior and inferior, high and low, and pay more attention to etiquette and etiquette. They think that Lao Zhuang's saying of letting nature take its course is heresy. The school of Confucius and Mencius was highly valued after Emperor Wu ascended the throne. Even Dou Ying, a member of the Empress Dowager Dou's family, and Tian Fu, the younger brother of the Empress Dowager (Emperor Wu's biological mother), were appointed prime minister and Taiwei respectively.Although these two people are relatives, they are very opposed to Queen Mother Dou's thoughts.

They successively appointed people from the Confucius and Mencius schools as heads of government.Zhao Wan was appointed as Doctor Yushi (Deputy Prime Minister), and Wang Zang was appointed as Lang Zhongling (Chief of the Palace Police). Zhao Wan believes that the fundamental way to wipe out the Lao and Zhuang faction is to deprive the old woman of her real power, so she said: Reporting political affairs to the East Palace should be abandoned. "East Palace" is now interpreted as the residence of the crown prince or his person, while the Changle Palace, where the empress dowager lived at that time, was on the east side, which refers to the empress dowager Dou.

Since the emperor was still young, Empress Dowager Dou became the guardian, and all political affairs must be reported to her.What Zhao Wan meant was to abolish this regulation and change the emperor to be in charge. When the old woman found out, she was furious: "You want to get rid of me? Don't think about it!" She immediately sent someone to investigate Zhao Wan's affairs.It is inevitable that anyone will have scars to some degree.Finding a few sores, and finding fault with them, is the best way to bring a man down. Zhao Wan and Wang Zang sent by Confucius and Mencius were forced to commit suicide for this reason.Dou Ying and Tian Fu were saved from death because they were relatives, but they were also dismissed.

The old woman is still very powerful. The old woman is over seventy years old, let's see how long she can live!One day, time will solve everything!However, the other one is still young, I don't know how long we have to wait, this is very terrible... The young Emperor Wu murmured to himself. The other one is still young - Emperor Wu refers to Empress Chen. He takes the daughter of his father's sister, Princess Guantao, as his wife. His cousin, the queen, is a very arrogant woman. In fact, this is a matter of course, because she knows that her husband can become the emperor, it is entirely the result of her mother's instigation.

Moreover, her family has always been a style in which women are superior to men.The mother married Chen Wu, the father who was a minister, as the emperor's daughter.The father couldn't hold his head up at all in front of his wife who was the prince.Being used to seeing this kind of situation since she was a child, she naturally thinks that the status of women is above that of men. Empress Chen often despised her husband in her family life with Emperor Wu. For this, Emperor Wu was very displeased. There are many people around him who make him unhappy, but take his grandmother, Empress Dou, as an example. Her days are numbered.However, Empress Chen is still young, and I don't know how long they will be together in the future, Emperor Wu feels really sad.

And the queen has not yet given birth to a son-in-law.I thought she had some kind of physical defect, and tried to persuade her to take various medicines, but it didn't work at all. "If you don't have a prince, will our Han Empire let it be cut off? You can just spoil women other than the queen! In fact, this is a common thing!" It was his sister, Princess Pingyang, who told Emperor Wu so. "But, Gillian..." Emperor Wu shrank his neck and said.Gillian is the name of Empress Chen. "Don't worry about what Gillian said, you are the emperor, the lord of a country. Having a prince is one of your responsibilities to the country!" Princess Pingyang said anxiously.

It was rare for her to enter the palace, and Empress Chen happened to be away, so the siblings had the opportunity to chat like this. "Of course I want to have children too..." "You have scruples about the Queen, don't you?" "That's not the case... because I haven't met a woman I like!" "That's because there is no chance in the palace. Well, leave this matter to me!" Princess Pingyang said. Empress Chen's mother, Princess Guantao, also used the identity of the emperor's sister to find a woman for her younger brother in the time of the first emperor, so she was resented by Li Ji.Princess Pingyang is now also the sister of Emperor Wu, doing exactly the same as her aunt Princess Guantao did back then.

Since her younger brother, Emperor Wu, has no sons, Princess Pingyang believes that doing so is a legitimate thing to do for the country as a member of the royal family. "Next time you go to Bashui to pray for the gods to eliminate disasters, come to my house! I will prepare some beauties for you." Prince Pingyang smiled. Her husband is the great-grandson of Cao Shen, the founding hero—Cao Shi, who was named Marquis of Pingyang.He is also the husband whose wife rides on his neck.After her younger brother became the emperor, Princess Pingyang wanted to gain a lot of power, but her aunt, Princess Guantao, who was the queen's mother, took charge of everything as the emperor's guardian. Princess Pingyang has a sense of hostility towards her aunt, Princess Guantao. "I am a sister, Your Majesty should treat me closer than my aunt!" Princess Pingyang was very dissatisfied. The reason why my aunt has power is because her daughter Gillian is the queen.But this Empress Chen has been married for many years and has never given birth to a child.What is a woman who cannot produce offspring! Regrettably, Princess Pingyang herself does not have a daughter of marriageable age.But it can be found - buying and selling slaves was a flagrant thing in those days.In addition, as long as they are willing to spend money, singers and dancers can be their own. It is a common custom to use peach wood bows and arrows on the first day of March to ward off disasters and perform evil spirits, as mentioned above. Empress Dowager Lu encountered a monster on the way home from Yuxuan, and died of illness as a result.This point makes people doubt the effect of 祓禊, but in the era of Emperor Wu, it was customary to follow the formula. The imperial rituals are held on the banks of the Bashui River.On his way home, Emperor Wu arrived at the mansion of his sister, Princess Pingyang. During the banquet, in addition to delicacies from mountains and seas, there will be singing and dancing performances.The people who poured the wine, sang and danced were all young girls. For this day, Princess Pingyang tried her best to find beautiful women.These include the maids who were originally in the mansion and the newly bought slaves. In addition, there are also young ladies who are invited temporarily.These women are all beauties who have passed the appraisal of Princess Pingyang. "Your Majesty, please browse carefully. If there is a lady you like, please feel free to order." Princess Pingyang said to Emperor Wu. Although Emperor Wu was only eighteen years old at the time, he had married Chen for five years, and he thought he had enough appreciation for women. After the banquet and sideshows were over, Emperor Wu said, "I'm going to change my clothes." The so-called "changing clothes" here is actually "going to the toilet". At that time, when the princes and nobles went to the toilet, they had to take off all the clothes on their bodies and put on another one afterwards.This undressing and dressing is not done by oneself, but by a special person.Since there are changing rooms connected together, the area of ​​the toilet is huge.When the coup took place after the Queen Mother Lu's death, Lu Chan was chased into the toilet and killed. It can be seen that the area of ​​the toilet is large enough for people to fight. "Which woman should I call Shang Yi?" Princess Pingyang asked. "Shangyi" refers to women who wait by the side when changing clothes.Princess Pingyang asked Emperor Wu which maid he would name to be in charge of this matter.In effect, this sentence asks: which one do you like? "I ask you to look at the one on the far left from the front." "Ou Zhe" is a person who sings in unison, that is, a chorus member.There were five chorus members at the banquet that day. "The far left? Uh, that's Zifu." Princess Pingyang said with a surprised expression. It was a singing girl named Wei Zifu, the daughter of an old woman named Wei Yu who worked as a laundry worker in Princess Pingyang's mansion.Unless there are special reasons, it is a general custom for children to call their father's surname, and it is an unwritten rule not to marry with the same surname.Mrs. Wei's daughter took "Wei" as her surname, it must be because she didn't know her father's surname.In fact, don't mention the father's surname, Mrs. Wei doesn't even know who is her daughter's father. ——Because there are too many men looking for me! The old lady Wei did not show any shyness, she said such a thing. She is indeed a beauty.Although she is old and pale, she still has some beauty.Such a person was quite favored by men in his youth, no one would believe that. Mrs. Wei has several children.There is also a son named Qing under Zifu, and this son is also surnamed Wei. There are so many ladies from all over the world, but they want to...Princess Pingyang thought to herself, but she didn't say it.Because she knew her brother too well.He is not a person who will listen to others and change his opinion. It is useless to speak more at this time.Fortunately, what Zifu said to her was obedient. "Yes, as ordered." Princess Pingyang smiled sweetly. The emperor got up and changed clothes.Fortunately, the son-in-law's servant Shang Yixuan.Still sitting happily. This matter is described in the "Hanshu" as before. "Xuan" refers to the toilet.Even fighting is not hindered, and a place for men and women to have sex is of course not a problem. Emperor Wu took Wei Zifu back to the palace.When Wei Zifu got into the car, Princess Pingyang stroked her back and said: "You have to work hard! Eat more good food and increase your physical strength... When you have a day of prosperity, you can't forget me!" The young emperor in the female body can still do this.Although Empress Chen and her mother, Princess Guantao, were very displeased, Empress Dowager Dou, the master of the harem, expressed her approval of her grandson's behavior: "You haven't had a baby yet, you should get in touch with more women." Emperor Wu was very open about things.I'm still in the prep phase... Although he has great ambitions, he has not yet had the strength to break through the barriers of the negative policies of the second generation of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing.During the lifetime of his grandmother, Empress Dowager Dou, who believed in the idea of ​​"leaving everything to its own accord", the only thing he could do was to prepare for the future.Of course it is impossible to launch a large-scale battle, but grandma will not object to sending a small expedition team, right? There is a country named "Yuezhi" in the west, whose king was killed by the Huns, and the whole family was driven to the far west.The Xiongnu used the skull of King Yuezhi as a wine glass, and the Yuezhi people hated the Xiongnu to the extreme, and were looking for allies to attack the Xiongnu together. Upon hearing these words from the Xiongnu's descending soldiers, Emperor Wu immediately tried to get in touch with the Yuezhi Kingdom. As a result, it was decided to send an expedition team headed by Zhang Qian and composed of more than one hundred people.This is the greatest thing that Emperor Wu of the Yufu era can do.