Chapter 46 3. Weird solar eclipse

2 BC, spring, the first day of the first month.On that day, a vision occurred in the sky in Chang'an, that is, a solar eclipse.What a solar eclipse is, we don't need to say, it is a very common thing.However, two thousand years ago, that was a very unusual thing. Therefore, Prime Minister Wang Jia took the opportunity to write a letter.According to the understanding of the ancients, such as earthquakes, droughts and floods, solar eclipses, etc. in the world, it is all due to man-made disasters.Therefore, what Wang Jia wants to write is to avoid man-made disasters.In Wang Jia's eyes, the so-called man-made disaster is that Liu Xin favors Dong Xian too much.

Wang Jia said in the memorial: "In the history of the Han Dynasty, there has never been an emperor who favored others so much that Liu Xin was so unrestrained. Back then, Liu Ao also favored Chunyu Chang and Zhang Fang. But Liu Ao still has limits, he should be killed, he should be exiled, he is not ambiguous at all. But what about Dong Xian? What the emperor has, he basically has; what he has, we basically don’t have it, and the emperor doesn’t. There must be. It can be said that there is no one who has broken the rules before." In the end, Wang Jia also concluded by citing classics: "When Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty favored Deng Tong, he did too much and lost his life. Therefore, I ask your majesty to think twice, so that Dong Xian can enjoy wealth for a long time, and the country's long-term stability , it’s better to be restrained.”

Liu Xin seemed to hear teeth chattering, and a cold murderous aura came from his heart. Thinking about it seriously, it is unreasonable to say that Liu Xin does not hate Wang Jia.There is a solar eclipse, Wang Jia should talk about the matter, even if he criticizes the emperor, he should be subtle and euphemistic.But he went so far as to go online and put everything on the emperor's favor on Dong Xian, it's unreasonable! Don't give Wang Jia some flair, he doesn't know how much he weighs.Thinking back to the beginning, Liu Xin's teacher, Shi Dan, played against Empress Dowager Fu's honorary title, and Liu Xin drove the teacher out of Chang'an without hesitation.Compared to Shi Dan, who is Wang Jia?

In order to prove that Wang Jia was making trouble unreasonably, Liu Xin decided to recall someone.That person is Kong Guang, the former prime minister.Therefore, Liu Xin met Kong Guang in front of the bus gate of Weiyang Palace to inquire about the solar eclipse. Since Kong Guang was forced to withdraw from the world due to his opposition to the title of Empress Dowager Fu last time, he rarely showed up.However, after that forced retreat incident, he became much more slippery.In the past, Kong Guang still had a bit of backbone. Although he didn't have the spirit to play with the emperor to the end, he still dared to say a few words when he saw the emperor was upset.

However, he has suddenly come to his senses now, and dare to say that he is not worth a fart.The rivers and lakes of the past were Liu Xin's rivers and lakes; the current rivers and lakes are still Liu Xin's rivers and lakes.If you want to make a living in the arena, you have to listen to Liu Xin. So, when Liu Xin asked him about the solar eclipse, he made many detours to excuse Liu Xin.In the end, he summed it up like this: Your Majesty is virtuous and intelligent, conscientious, obedient to the precepts of heaven, fearful of mutation, diligent and humble.Even if it is a huge solar eclipse, what is it!Your Majesty need not worry too much.

Comparing before and after, it is obvious that what Kong Guang said is human.Liu Xin was very happy, and immediately gave Kong Guang a bundle of silk, and made him Doctor Guanglu. He also gave him two thousand stones, and his status was second only to the prime minister. Kong Guang wiped Liu Xin's butt clean, but what about Dong Xian?According to the current situation, the people in the central government of the whole Han Dynasty are basically one-sided against Dong Xian.Therefore, it would be nothing short of a miracle to find someone who would take the initiative to wipe Dong Xian's ass in the center of the Han Dynasty in Nuo Da.

However, Dong Xian's buttocks are still dirty and must be wiped.How to wipe it, Liu Xin told him: You wipe it yourself first, and then I will deal with the dirty parts for you.Therefore, Dong Xian had no choice but to stand up and speak out. He said: "The solar eclipse in the sky is not because of me. It must be caused by the two of them." Who are they?One is Fu Yan, a relative of the Fu family, and the other is Xi Fugong. How did it happen?Dong Xian was able to become a Marquis, even if Fu Yan had no credit, he still had hard work.Why did Dong Xian want to shoot him as a target just as soon as he turned around?

In fact, once you understand the truth of the matter, you will understand that Dong Xian did this very kindly and not at all excessively. We know that when Liu Ao favored Chun Yuchang, the most anxious person was Wang Mang.The reason why Wang Mang was in a hurry was mainly because he was afraid that Chunyu Chang would snatch the food.Among the second generation of Wang's relatives, Shu Chunyuchang and Wang Mang are the most outstanding, and Chunyuchang is Liu Ao's playmate and has the closest relationship. Wang Mang is afraid that the position of Da Sima will fall into Chunyuchang's hands.That's why Wang Mang desperately wanted to get rid of Chunyu Chang.

History is surprisingly similar.Over the years, through the unremitting efforts of Empress Dowager Fu and Liu Xin, Fu's and Ding's relatives finally have their own place.Among Fu's relatives, Fu Xi was blacklisted by Empress Dowager Fu, and the only person he could trust was Fu Yan. Fu Yan thought that as long as old lady Fu supported him, one day he would win the position of chief minister.But he never expected that Dong Xian would suddenly appear on the way and snatch away the infinite glory of Fu and Ding's relatives. There are various indications that Liu Xin has empathized with other people, devoted himself to Dong Xian, and is willing to promote Dong Xian's family and his in-laws to officials.If this trend continues, the Han Dynasty will have a third force rising, that is the Dong force headed by Dong Xian.

It's really not as good as man's calculation.Fu Yan also saw that everything Liu Xin did was for Dong Xian's sake.After Dong Xian became a marquis, there must be big moves.What is this big move?It must be to push Dong Xian to the position of Da Sima. The Han Dynasty is like a bowl of broth, where the two forces of foreign relatives are fighting fiercely enough.If another strongman comes to grab food, then Fu's relatives, let alone the meat, may not even have to drink the bone soup. The situation is critical, so Fu Yan has no choice but to act first. He must take what he deserves before Dong Xian grabs the flesh.

However, how to get Da Sima quickly?There must be an excuse.Soon, he found an opportunity to fool around. We know that since Wang Zhaojun went out to get married, the Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty are like a family, and they have never fought again.Fast forward many years, the Huns were still so polite to the Han Dynasty, and they went to Chang'an to meet the emperor every spring as a Tibetan.However, in this year, that is, 3 BC, Shanyu, the 18th Hun, suddenly sent someone to say that he was ill, and he might not be able to go to Chang'an to meet the emperor this year, and asked the emperor for approval. This is just a trivial matter, of course it is easy to discuss, Liu Xin allows the Huns to come again next year.Unexpectedly, such a small matter would be considered by a genius: the move of the Huns is really unusual. The one who said that the Huns moved abnormally was Xi Fugong.Xi Fugong was born with a good nose, as if smelling the wind could stop the rain.Precisely because of his skill, he sensed that King Dongping's worship of the boulder in the palace was actually an ulterior conspiracy.This time, he said that the Xiongnu's actions were abnormal, and that there might be an ulterior secret hidden. Therefore, Xi Fu bowed and wrote a letter saying: "The Xiongnu Shanyu originally said that he would come to Chang'an, but suddenly he couldn't say it. I suspect there is a fraud. At this time, our satellite country Wusun is poor and weak, and Wusun has a rebel general. , is colluding with the Xiongnu. Therefore, I suspect that the Xiongnu wants to take the opportunity to eliminate Wusun and march into the Western Regions. If so, the Han Dynasty will suffer." Finally, Xi Fugong quoted a sentence from "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and said in a nutshell, "Soldiers on behalf of the strategists, followed by fighting. We must strike first to be strong." Liu Xin thought that what Xi Fugong said was reasonable, and immediately called a meeting of all the ministers.At the meeting, someone strongly opposed sending troops. The person who opposed it was General Zuo Gongsun Lu.He was very firm and said: "I guarantee with my life that the Xiongnu will not cheat. I also want to say responsibly that the Xiongnu will not attack the Han Dynasty when I die." However, Liu Xin didn't listen to Gongsun Lu's words, so he simply dismissed the meeting and summoned Xi Fugong alone.Now it's all right, Xi Fugong can let go of his hands and feet and fool around. Xi Fugong told Liu Xin this way: "I'm afraid the situation is not as optimistic as General Zuo said, so I suggest that Your Majesty should send senior generals to inspect the frontier fortresses, rebuild armaments, establish majesty, and deter the four kingdoms." Xi Fugong was about to speak to Liu Xin's heart.When Wang Zhaojun left the fortress, it was 33 BC, and thirty years passed in a blink of an eye.In the past 30 years, the Han Dynasty has not fought a single battle, and the armaments and weapons are almost moldy.For the prestige of the Han Dynasty and the majesty of the emperor, why can't I, Liu Xin, hold a military exercise?It can be said to kill two birds with one stone, which is wonderful. Therefore, Liu Xin immediately summoned Prime Minister Wang Jia, pretending to discuss whether to hold a military exercise.When Wang Jia heard this, he denied it politely. Wang Jia said: "Maybe the Xiongnu Chanyu is really sick and can't come to Chang'an for a while. So don't just listen to the wind and rain, some people! Don't do business, just flatter and confuse the audience. Your Majesty, don't be confused by them. " I really don't like to hear anything, so Wang Jia will say whatever.Liu Xin couldn't listen anymore.In 2 BC, on the first day of the first lunar month, Liu Xin issued an imperial edict that Fu Yan, the Hou of Kong Township, was made the Grand Sima and General of the Guards, and Ding Ming, the Marquis of Yang'an, was named the Grand Sima and the General of Hussars. Fu Yan had already determined that this day would come.What Liu Xin meant was very clear. Military exercises still had to be held, but it was only reliable to hand over the tasks of the military exercises to Fu Yan and his relatives. Now, we finally see the point.It turned out that Xi Fugong was with Fu Yan, and all he did was to help Fu Yan snatch Da Sima before Dong Xian.Although Liu Xin sealed two big Sima in a row, Ding Ming is also his own.As long as Da Sima is in hand, what else can Dong Xian grab? Fu Yan was really overjoyed.Strange things happen every year, especially this year.Fu Yan didn't expect that on the day Liu Xin appointed him as chief minister, he was about to leave for the border for military exercises, when a solar eclipse suddenly occurred in the sky. Immediately afterwards, Wang Jia wrote a letter, saying that the solar eclipse was entirely because the emperor favored Dong Xian too much.Unexpectedly, Dong Xian bit Fu Yan back, saying that the solar eclipse was not caused by him, but was entirely caused by Fu Yan and Xi Fugong's conspiracy to provoke a war against the Huns. It's over, even if Fu Yan has a thousand mouths, he can't speak clearly. Liu Xin told Dong Xian that as long as Dong Xian wiped the front of his butt, he would handle the rear.Sure enough, on the eleventh day of the first lunar month, Liu Xin dismissed Fu Yan, took back all the seals and ribbons of Da Sima and General Wei, and drove him out of Chang'an City and returned to the feudal kingdom.