Tracing China: Through history, dialogue between ancient and modern

Chapter 199
Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, courtesy name Uncle Wen, was born in Jiyang County, Chenliu County (now Lankao, Henan), and was the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the history of China, it can be described as a perfect emperor, a unique existence.

It's just that such a nearly perfect person has a low sense of existence in history, which is a bit unbelievable.

In the Liu family.

Compared with Liu Bang, Emperor Wen Jing, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Xiu, who are at the forefront.

Even Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty at the end has a much greater sense of presence than Liu Xiu.

why?
Maybe it's because Liu Xiu has made three great achievements in his life. He doesn't kill heroes, but only loves to marry his wife, and asks for a light burial after death!
For example, this is the first one not to kill the hero.

After Liu Xiu ascended the throne of God.

He treats every close minister around him kindly, and gives them rights and status.

of course.

According to the traditional political routine - "the birds and beasts are exhausted, the good bows are hidden", facing the group of heroes, many emperors could not handle their relationship well. However, Liu Xiu also went to the imperial school after all, and many generals were his own. Classmates, let’s talk about Liu Xiu himself first. It is said in "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Guangwu Benji": "Although when things are fighting, you can throw yourself into the game and talk about art, and you can talk about the way without horses."

It can be seen that Liu Xiu himself not only has martial arts, but also is very proficient in Confucian culture.

And what kind of people are the generals around him?
There is a record in the classics: "The heroes of the Eastern Han Dynasty are mostly close to Confucianism."

It can be seen that most of the founding heroes of the Western Han Dynasty were out of desperation and rascals. When the Eastern Han Dynasty rejuvenated, all the generals and commanders had the atmosphere of Confucianism. Therefore, from the rise of an era, we can see that the Eastern Han Dynasty was an era in which monarchs and ministers all liked each other, and their temperaments and hobbies were similar. What kind of monarch there is, and what kind of ministers there will be, which is beyond the reach of many dynasties.

The second one occupies the throne and does not waste government affairs, and loves one person all his life.

"3000 beauties in the harem" is the first impression many people have of the emperor's private life. However, Liu Xiu used his own actions to prove to history that he is not only a Confucian emperor, but also a very infatuated man.

When Liu Xiu was studying at the Taixue in Chang'an, she met a girl—Yin Lihua, and fell in love with Yin Lihua at first sight, so Liu Xiu decided to marry her back home.

Sure enough, before he became emperor, Liu Xiu married Yin Lihua, whom he had admired for a long time.Since then, Liu Xiu has never abandoned Yin Lihua.

Although later he was forced to marry Guo Shengtong for his own future, but this kind of political marriage has only political value to Liu Xiu, and has no personal relationship with children.

After Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, he wanted to make Yin Lihua his queen many times, but Guo Shi was pregnant with a child at that time, so he had no choice but to let Yin Lihua be a noble person, and Yin Lihua also refused to become queen, so he made the queen's position Let it go to Guo Shengtong, but in the end Liu Xiu abolished Queen Guo after a series of things, Yin Lihua became the queen, and her son later became the next emperor, which shows Liu Xiu's affection for his married wife.

The third is simple and frugal, and the burial is thin.

As an emperor, from life to death, he was shrouded in the word luxury.

Some emperors even paid more attention to the world after their death.

For example, Qin Shihuang spent a lot of effort to build the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, but Liu Xiu was different. The will left by him before his death was touching. Difficulties, the emperor, as an example for all people, should not be extravagant and corrupt first, let alone let officials from other places go to Beijing to mourn, because he knows that this will inevitably cause officials from all over the place to pay tribute, which will disturb the peace of the people.

What is even more unexpected is that.

He acted in accordance with Confucianism all his life, and he felt that he had not made any contribution to the country and the people in his life, and it was not worth disturbing the people after his death.

As a figure standing at the top of power.

Liu Xiu was not controlled by power. As the founding emperor, he was able to treat his heroes well, so that the monarch and his ministers were congenial.

This can be called a clear stream in the era of cold-blooded politics and imperial power.

At home, as a husband, Liu Xiu was able to not forget his wife when the king came to the world, and still fulfill the vows of the year, showing love and righteousness.

Such an emperor will of course become the object of praise from later generations, and he can be called a perfect emperor in history!
however.

Is there any perfect person in this world?

If so.

I'm afraid he is also a legendary ancient sage, right?
As the saying goes, "Emperor Qin, Han Wu, slightly inferior in literary talent, Tang Zong and Song Zu, a little less coquettish, a generation of proud Genghis Khan, who only knows how to bend a bow and shoot a big eagle"

Whether it is Qin Huang Han Wu who created a magnificent system, or Tang Zong Song Zu, who ruled the world, or Genghis Khan who brought force to the extreme, although they are the pride of their respective eras, in order to avoid their shortcomings, no emperor is perfect. Flawless.

For such a "perfect" emperor.

The big guys who watched the show also began to speak freely.

Unexpectedly.

The outlet is not against Liu Xiu.

Everyone's evaluation of Liu Xiu mainly focuses on the entanglement with the "ancient wealthy family".

Noble family.

In ancient history, it is a bend that no dynasty can avoid.

It can be said that it was not until the Song Dynasty that under the blessing of the imperial examination system, the influence of the powerful and wealthy families was almost eliminated.

"Fighting the world is not about treating guests to dinner or doing embroidery. It can't be done calmly and elegantly. Liu Xiu's appearance is perfect, which just means that he didn't do some things that must be done. For example, leveling the powerful. There are not many murders, so the evaluation is good."

"The key lies in how Liu Xiu started his business. Didn't he start by being powerful? His basic foundation is also powerful. In fact, he himself was born powerful. Remember what Princess Qiangxiang said, cutting your own flesh is the most important thing. hard!"

"Brother, it is true that being strong and strong is his ruling base. I dare say that the emperor who moved his own ruling base basically backfired. Zhu Yuanzhang basically killed the Huaiyou military group, and Zhu Yunqi was gone. Zhao Kuangyin drank wine and released his military power. , In the Song Dynasty, the soldiers did not know the generals, and the generals did not know the soldiers. Of course, look at the big men who did not touch their own basics. They built slaves and raised the Eight Banners for more than 200 years. In the end, it was up to the local army to suppress the rebellion. The Western Jin Dynasty learned the lessons of Cao Wei. Taking the royal family as the basis, the result is the chaos of the Eight Kings. Have you seen that, regardless of whether they are strong or powerful, the historical limitations of the feudal system cannot be broken, and land annexation cannot be avoided under the feudal system. It can only be said that Liu Xiu made his choice , to win fame before and after life.”

"Liu Xiu only had one chance to restrain the powerful, and that was when the Bronze Horse Army had just been pacified. If the Bronze Horse Army was brought under his direct command, he would have the ability to wrestle with the powerful. It's a pity that he distributed all these to his subordinates. However, if If he does this, he is not Liu Xiu, and the evaluation of him by later generations will probably be similar to that of Cao Cao."

"It's too difficult to attack the powerful, especially Liu Xiu, who is from a powerful background. This is to kill himself."

"When Liu Xiu wanted to strike at that time, he probably went against the trend, and he would end up like Wang Mang."

"It doesn't work to flatten Haoqiang. He leveled himself? Where did the Eastern Han Dynasty come from without Haoqiang? In other words, since Haoqiang has the strength to replace Wang Mang with Liu Xiu, he can also replace Liu Xiu with Zhang San."

"I'm curious what you think of Cao Cao and Liu Xiu's evaluation, how did he become Cao Cao's evaluation after doing this."

"Cao Cao's later controversy mainly came from his suppression of the powerful family and promotion of the poor family. It was not the so-called coercion of the emperor to make the princes. After all, the pen or public opinion is in the hands of those powerful families. Bullying the monarch is just an excuse. , Cao Pi has gone too far, they didn’t scold Cao Pi, it’s not because Cao Pi compromised with them; if Liu Xiu also suppressed Hao Qiang at the beginning, it is estimated that Cao Cao’s evaluation will be almost the same.”

"Historically, the powerful family had great power all the way to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Liu Xiu has done his best. After all, Wang Mang died so badly. Isn't it enough to suppress the powerful and the system of land?"

"In short, he really conquers the world with bare buttocks. He is a bit similar to Zhou Tianzi, but much stronger. Have you ever heard that Zhou Tianzi can destroy Qin?"

……

When everyone is discussing.

Camera pans.

Shining on the mountains, rivers and land 2000 years ago, the flow of time is also accelerating, and the "time point" on the screen shows.

It was 25 A.D. at this time.

Hebei City.

Qian Qiuting

This is where Emperor Liu Xiucheng came to the throne.

This year, after fierce fighting, Liu Xiu forced to land hundreds of thousands of Bronze Horse Peasant Army, and incorporated the strong and strong people into the army, which greatly increased his strength. At that time, people in Guanzhong called Liu Xiu of Hebei "Bronze Horse Emperor" ".

In June, Liu Xiu, who had already "occupied the land across states and had millions of armies", was supported by the generals, and took the throne of emperor at Qianqiu Pavilion, Jianyuan Jianwu.

In order to express the meaning of rejuvenating the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiujianguo still used the country name of "Han", and it was called the Later Han Dynasty in history.

After the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the Han Dynasty built by Liu Xiu was called the Eastern Han Dynasty based on the fact that Luoyang, the capital city, was located in the east.

As the camera zooms in.

For the first time, everyone saw the true face of Liu Xiu in history.

Under the stars and rivers in the sky, the Qianqiu Pavilion was in full swing, with a radius of several miles, it was as bright as day. At the same time, the war drums and thunder, and all the officials bowed down. The protagonist of this sensational enthronement ceremony in Kyushu was Liu Xiu. He was wearing a The new dragon robe, mighty and extraordinary, stands at the front of the crowd, seven feet three inches in length, beautiful man, big mouth, long accurate, sun angle...

This is definitely a handsome man.

It's like a god descended from heaven.

Be king in the world.

(End of this chapter)