Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Preserving the Huo Guang System

The era of expansion of the Han Empire is over.The matter of expanding the territory was completed in the hands of Emperor Wu.Therefore, he avoided aggressive characters and chose conservative characters such as Huo Guang and Jin Ridun as the young emperor's assistants.What he wants is not a military general who has repeatedly made outstanding achievements like Wei Qing or Huo Qubing in the past, but a minister who is afraid of making mistakes and has a cautious attitude.Liu Dan, King of Yan, was extremely displeased with the succession of his youngest son Emperor Zhao (Liu Fu). Emperor Wu had six sons.The eldest son Liu Ju (Prince Li), who was originally the crown prince, died of tragedy, as mentioned above.

Liu Hong, the king of Qi, who was born to Mrs. Wang, and Liu Mao, the king of Changyi, who was born to Mrs. Li, the sister of General Li Guangli, were dead at this time. Except for Emperor Zhao, the only survivors were the brothers Yan Wangdan and Guangling Wang Xu born to Li Ji.Liu Xu, the king of Guangling, had no idea of ​​becoming emperor at all because he had a sibling brother.King Yan, on the other hand, was very unhappy with the ascension of the young Emperor Zhao. "Why not let me be the emperor!" The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.His mother, Mrs. Wang, died of illness, while Mrs. Zhao's mother, Mrs. Quan, was killed for violating the law.How could a son born to a criminal woman be an emperor!

King Yan was a rhetorician. He read many classics and miscellaneous stories. He was fond of astronomy and calendar calculations. He also loved entertainment and hunting.He is also very hospitable, and a large number of diners can be seen coming and going in and out of Yanwang Palace at any time. When the crown prince was around, he certainly had no intention of coveting the throne, but after the crown prince's defeat, King Yan believed that the throne should be inherited by himself. Of Emperor Wu's son, only his younger brother and his mother, Yaodi, were executed.Because he was in a remote place in the country of Yan, the king of Yan was quite unfamiliar with the inner affairs of the court.Therefore, he believed that since Mrs. Quan, Yaodi's mother, was killed by his father's hatred, the son born to this woman should not be eligible to inherit the throne.And the same mother's younger brother, King Guangling, is indeed incompetent. He is able to do things for fun, and his only advantage is his superhuman physical strength.He often held up a huge iron tripod in front of his retainers and was proud of himself.Not only is he good at weightlifting, but he also has the bravery to defeat ferocious beasts with his bare hands.But as recorded in "Hanshu": "Movement can't be controlled." This wayward younger brother doesn't like reading at all, that is to say, he has no brute force.

Therefore, King Yan believed that he was the one who was qualified to be emperor. ——My son wants to go to Beijing to live in the guard. He then wrote to his father. I am the successor, so I shouldn't stay in a remote place like Yan for a long time, but I should go to the capital Chang'an to accompany my father.Since my father is old, if something goes wrong, I can immediately control the officials - this is the meaning of this letter. "The fellow has lost his head! Put the messenger in prison!" In a rage, Emperor Wu not only threw the envoy into prison, but also confiscated the management rights of Liangxiang, Anci, and Wen'an counties in the territory of King Yan.King Yan was greatly surprised by this.

At this time, Emperor Wu had decided to use his youngest son Fu as his successor.The reason why he killed Mrs. Quan was to keep the young emperor from being restrained.King Yan was completely unaware of this inside story. "Because of his age, the old man has become very angry. Now he has become so difficult..." He just shrugged like that. Liu Dan was named King of Yan, and his biggest task should be to rule the territory well.He interpreted his father's anger as an admonition to "don't try to meddle in state affairs, and fulfill your own tasks well." In fact, Emperor Wu's anger said: "You are not the successor!" But King Yan didn't think of this.

When receiving the notice of Emperor Wu's death, King Yan did not salute according to the usual practice. He sent his retainers to Chang'an on the grounds that "the seal of this edict is too small, maybe something happened to the capital of the country". After the envoy came back, he reported about Emperor Zhao's ascension to the throne. "The late emperor did not have a last word, and Princess Gai was not summoned when she was dying." Princess Gai is the eldest daughter of Emperor Wudi. "Isn't this wrong?" King Yan decided to overthrow Emperor Zhao and take the throne himself.He first spread the following rumors:

The first emperor did not leave a will, so Huo Guang made the child enthroned without authorization.This child is not the biological son of the late emperor. This is not without precedent.When the second emperor, Emperor Huidi, died without heirs, the Lu family once helped a young child who had no blood relationship with the Liu family to the throne as a puppet. ——It's not impossible. King Yan hoped that the common people would think of this precedent and believe in this rumor. And Emperor Wu, who thought that he might be speechless when he was dying, had already left "material evidence" to prove that he wanted to choose his youngest son Fu as his successor.

It turned out that Emperor Wu asked people to draw a picture of the legendary Zhou Gong introducing the princes with the young King Cheng on his back, and handed it to Huo Guang in front of the officials. ——The youngest son is the emperor, and he is assisted by you. His intention is to use this picture as evidence of his meaning. Therefore, King Yan's attempt did not come true. "The court supporting the young emperor is in a state of instability, and sooner or later there will be strife. I will wait until then and wait for the opportunity to act!" King Yan, who made this decision, began to carefully observe the dynamics of Emperor Zhao's court.

This is Huo Guang's world.Jin Ridun, who was also entrusted by the former emperor to be the assistant of the young emperor, kept a restrained attitude on the grounds that he was a foreigner.Therefore, the government was completely under the control of Huo Guang. When a person's power is particularly prominent, it is normal for injustice elements to join forces to fight against him. ——There is only one person on the other side.Together, we can bring it down. Things like this happen a lot too. At that time, a man named Shangguan Jie was in the position of General Zuo.His son, Shangguan'an, was a general of hussars and married Huo Guang's eldest daughter.The daughter born to the couple entered the harem under the mediation of Emperor Zhaodi's sister, Princess Gaichang, and became Empress Zhaodi because of their matched ages.

This is a pair of golden boy and jade girl type emperor and queen. Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie were originally relatives by marriage, and their granddaughter is now a queen.The reason why this marriage was established is entirely because of the deep friendship between the two. Power has incredible power, it can almost be called "magic power".A person's heart is often completely changed because of this. After Huo Guang's power expanded, Shangguan Jie gradually felt unhappy. "My rank turned out to be higher than his." Shangguan Jie was worried about his seat in the palace in the era of Emperor Wu.

"As far as the queen is our granddaughter, I am the grandfather, and Huo Guang is just the grandfather. But I am under the pressure, it is really unreasonable..." At first, he was thankful for his in-law Huo Guang's prosperity, but seeing Huo Guang's success and success, he felt very uncomfortable at first. "I want to have that kind of power too..." Since the other party had power in his hands, Shangguan Jie had to beg him for help everywhere.Of course Huo Guang tried his best to help Shangguan Jie, but there was always a limit. The late Emperor Wu entrusted the funeral affairs to Huo Guang because he liked his sense of propriety.In other words, Huo Guang is not easy to be moved by personal feelings. Since Shangguan Jie's granddaughter became a queen thanks to the mediation of Princess Gai, Shangguan Jie has been looking for opportunities to repay. The emperor's sister, Princess Gaichang, is a very lecherous woman.During this period, her concubine was a little boy named Ding Wairen, whose background was very humble.Then the Han Dynasty stipulated that the lover of the inner prince must have the status of a prince. ——Please make Ding Wairen a Marquis. Shangguan Jie begged Huo Guang so much.But this is an unreasonable request for Huo Guang. ——Only those who have meritorious service can be granted the title of Marquis. This has been the principle since the founding of the Han Dynasty. At best, Ding Wairen is just good-looking and has not made any contribution to the country.What's more, the person who claims to be from the Hejian area doesn't even know his origin. "Please don't embarrass me. Since Emperor Gao (Liu Bang), it is a principle not to be conferred without meritorious service, and you are not ignorant of this." Huo Guang shook his head and said. "That's why I ask you to be extra accommodating!" "Some things really cannot be accommodated, please understand that." "Then, it should be okay to give him the position of Doctor Guanglu?" Shangguan Jie no longer mentioned the matter of being a Marquis, and took the initiative to lower his requirements. Doctor Guanglu is a privy adviser, with the same rank as Jiuqing, and an official position with a salary of two thousand shi.With this status, he could be promoted to the emperor. Therefore, Shangguan Jie wanted to win this minimum position for Princess Gai's lover.Huo Guang still shook his head and said, "What achievements or talents does this man have that make me appoint him Doctor Guanglu?" "It's not a matter of merit or talent, but... it's for Princess Gai..." "The imperial court treats Princess Gai very well, I believe she would not dare to ask extravagantly... All in all, this principle cannot be changed." Because of being strictly rejected by Huo Guang, Shangguan Jie was so angry that he almost vomited blood. "This guy was promoted to the Great General of the Great Sima, and he became so stumped." Shangguan Jie, who was related by marriage, thus became a dissatisfied element against Huo Guang's system.King Yan, who was paying close attention to the situation in the central government, soon got this information. Sang Hongyang, the royal historian, established the salt and iron monopoly system and the wine tax law, which added a lot of wealth to the country, which can be described as a high-level contribution.He also asked for an official rank for his relatives, but Huo Guang refused. "The reason why Huo Guang has such an official position and majesty is entirely the result of my hard work promoting the monopoly system and taxation to make the country rich. I asked for a little help, but he refused. Isn't this too extreme!" Sang Hongyang became an anti-Huo Guang element. ——One more person! Yan Wang was secretly delighted to add a comrade. Princess Gai also complained to Huo Guang because she failed to win the official title for her lover.King Yan took the opportunity to draw her to participate in the conspiracy. The rebel group waited eagerly for the opportunity.At this time, Huo Guang increased the number of lieutenants (troop leaders) under the general's command.In the name of King Yan, the members of the rebel group in the imperial court proposed the impeachment of Huo Guangzhi: Huo Guang arbitrarily increased the number of lieutenants under him. If he was allowed to act beyond his authority, the army would be in his hands in the future and he could command him freely.I hereby intend to return the status of King Yan, enter the palace to take on the task of guarding the Holy Majesty, and monitor the treacherous ministers' stupid movements, and pray for your permission... Officials at the time had one day off every five days.The rebel group deliberately chose the day of Huo Guang's vacation and submitted a memorial. Emperor Zhao was fourteen years old at the time.According to the custom, the emperor handed over the memorial to the solicitor after receiving it.The legal officer is under the jurisdiction of Sang Hongyang, the imperial historian.The plan of the rebel group is: when reviewing the report, they will be convicted of "guilty" under the guise of the imperial decree, so as to arrest Huo Guang. As a result, Emperor Zhao kept the memorial in his hand and did not hand it over to the legal officer. The next day, after Huo Guang entered the palace, he heard the news that he had been impeached. He was afraid and dared not enter the palace. "Why didn't the general come in?" Emperor Zhao asked. "Since King Yan impeached the general, it is inconvenient for him to come in." Shangguan Jie replied. "Tell him not to be afraid, come in quickly." Emperor Zhao ordered. Huo Guang came before the emperor, took off his crown, knelt down and waited for the verdict. "Ha! Ha! Someone forged this memorial. The general has increased the number of lieutenants for less than ten days. How could it be possible that King Yan in a distant place already knew about it? Isn't this a very contradictory thing? Obviously this It was not written by King Yan. Hurry up and arrest the person who proposed this memorial!" Emperor Zhao ordered. The person who submitted the memorial has already fled. The plans of the rebel group fail. Only with Huo Guang can he have himself—Even though Emperor Zhao was only fourteen years old, he knew this very well.In case of losing Huo Guang, King Yan would attack immediately - he could imagine this. Yan Wang and his group arranged another plan. Princess Gaichang held a banquet in honor of Huo Guang.When the time comes, deploy an ambush and kill him in one fell swoop.With Huo Guang removed, the emperor had nothing to fear.Then abolish Emperor Zhao and replace King Yan—this is a coercive strategy. But the plan was reported by the father of one of Princess Gai's retainers—named Yancang—and failed. The rebel group, Shangguan Jie, Shangguan An's father and son, Sang Hongyang, and Princess Gai's little boy, Ding Wairen, were all executed along with their clansmen. King Yan and Princess Gai, who were the royal family, were gifted to death by the emperor. The Huo Guang system was preserved.