I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 141 The King of the Late Han Dynasty Is Not Beautiful (Part [-])
Huang Zhong did not accept the post of county magistrate for the time being. Liu Jian and Dong Zhuo jointly wrote a letter on this matter, sharing the inside story.

With the war in the Northwest now evident, it is not advisable to delegate all the powerful generals who conquered the Yellow Turbans. It is most appropriate to leave some elite soldiers and generals to fight in Liangzhou.

The appointment and retention of a marching Sima is naturally not a big deal for the court, and it will be played immediately.

Afterwards, the three newly appointed Jizhou pastoral envoys went to take up their posts.

As the shepherd envoy of Xizhou, Liu Jian can govern the areas of Changshan State, Anping State, Julu County, and Zhao County.

The place where Liu Jian took office was decided in Anping State.

Anping State Prime Minister Wang Ming and Anping King Liu Xu are both in Xindu. In order not to conflict with State Prime Minister Wang Ming's governance, Liu Jian temporarily stationed in Nangong in Anping. Local officials clashed.

But it never occurred to him that just as Liu Jian stopped in Nangong County, Wang Ming, Prime Minister of Anping, came to meet him in person from Xindu.

Now the prefectures in Hebei have just suffered the turmoil of the Yellow Turban, and a lot of waste is waiting to be done. The chiefs of the counties and countries are all very busy to settle the follow-up matters.

And this Prime Minister of Anping can still take time to meet Liu Jian, so apart from discussing important matters with him, he is the only reason why he respects Liu Jian very much, so he came to visit him from afar.

But obviously, the other party didn't come here because of admiration for Liu Jian, but to discuss a major matter with Liu Jian.

It's about Liu Xu, king of Anping.

During the Yellow Turban Uprising, two princes and kings of the Han Dynasty were captured alive by the Yellow Turban Army. One was Liu Zhong, the king of Ganling, and the other was Liu Xu, the king of Anping.

Both were imprisoned in Guangzong. Later, during the fight between Lu Zhi and Zhang Jiao, the imperial court redeemed the two princes and kings with a ransom. After the Yellow Turban was pacified, Liu Hong decreed to restore Ganling and Anping. And set the country for the two countries.

The prime minister of a country is equivalent to the prefect of a country, and he has the same power as the prefect. The military, political and financial power of a country is in the hands of the prime minister, and the so-called princes and kings are just idle people who eat ranks and salaries in the country, and do not have any serious business on weekdays. It can be done, but it must be supervised by the Prime Minister of the State, who will report his behavior to the court from time to time and make a small report.

This time, Ganling and Anping regained their kingdoms, and the ministers Liu Hong sent to them were all important figures and the emperor's right-hand men.

Liu Yu, who was supposed to be summoned to Beijing to serve as Zongzheng, was sent back halfway by Liu Hong, and went to Ganling to serve as the prime minister.

And this Wang Ming, although he doesn't know what relationship he has with the emperor, but since he was appointed together with Liu Yu in this special period, it shows how important he is.

It's just that the Anping Kingdom is now rebuilding the country, and this Anping Kingdom is correspondingly troubled by many things. What is it that made the head of the country go to Nangong to see him in person?
The two sat down, and Wang Ming stated his name, which was Ziyu.

Liu Jian asked: "Mr. Ziyu has been involved in many things. I don't know what's going on here today?"

Wang Ming saluted Liu Jian respectfully: "A certain person came to see Fang Bo from Xindu Yuandao, not for other reasons, but because of a matter about King Anping's loss of royal authority and submission to the Yellow Turban!"

"The matter is of great importance. Wang originally wanted to report to the court and explain all the matters in it, but now that Fang Bo is here, he is in charge of all affairs of the state. With Fang Bo here, Wang has no right to make a statement. He can only report this matter." The matter is reported to Fang Bo, and I also ask Fang Bo to play it for His Majesty."

Liu Jian asked in surprise, "Why submit to the Yellow Turban?"

Wang Ming shouted towards the door, and someone brought in a wooden box.

Behind the wooden box are scrolls of bamboo slips.

Liu Jian picked up a volume in doubt, and looked at it roughly.

Most of the content in it is the letter paper that Liu Xu flattered and begged for survival after the Yellow Turban Uprising. Although he did not directly say surrender, the meaning is probably the same.

"Where did you find these?" Liu Jian looked at Wang Ming suspiciously.

Wang Mingdao: "Where can I find it? Sorry for the inconvenience of the official, but the contents are all based on facts. If Fang Bo doesn't believe it, he can ask King Anping and he will know the clue."

Liu Jian closed the slips in his hand, and said to Wang Ming: "In that case, I will follow you all the way."

……

The two of them came to Xindu in light clothes, and Liu Jian immediately went to see Anping Wang Liu Xu.

Liu Xu, king of Anping, was dressed in plain clothes. After meeting Liu Jian, he behaved politely and knew how to back down.

No wonder, this is the normal state of most princes and kings in the Han Dynasty.

The princes and kings of this period were indeed kings in name, but they only had the word "king".

In front of the head of a county and the prime minister of a country, these kings still know how to retreat and be humble.

Because the princes and kings have no administrative, military, personnel and other powers, the financial and military power of a country is in the hands of the prime minister, and even the prime minister submits an admonition about the princes and kings to the central government, which may lead to their being abolished.

Because the emperors of all dynasties guarded against the kings too tightly.

What do princes and kings have?
To put it simply, it is the land granted to them by the imperial court when the first generation of kings founded the country, as well as the farmers on the land left to them.

Rather than saying that they are princes and kings, it is more appropriate to say that they are the owners of the manor.

But some princes and kings are not even as good as the local nobles and manor owners, because the land they have received and the amount of salary they can receive are registered in the Han Central Committee.

Famous and powerful people can annex land endlessly and hide people, but it is difficult for princes and kings to do so.

The recipient of the title has no right to rule in the fief, and the food and salary are collected from the households in the fief, and the amount is calculated according to the private property, that is, the annual income of the princes and kings, which is linked to the local financial revenue and expenditure Yes... the court, especially the emperor, may allow the rich and the right to annex their private properties, but they will never allow the behavior of the princes and kings to cross the line.

To put it bluntly, the princes and kings created by the central government of the Han Dynasty did not allow you to touch power, nor did they allow you to touch land and money.

Do you dare to be disobedient?There is no way not to be obedient, the prime ministers of a country who are in charge of the military and government are all members of the imperial court, and they are always watching these people surnamed Liu.

In such a situation where they can't do anything, most of the princes and kings have been raised as useless people. They can't do anything and they can't do anything.

There is no way, after all, those princes and kings when the Liu family first founded the country were so capable of acting as monsters, so that all emperors after the Han Dynasty had lingering fears about the position of princes and kings, and they did everything they could to suppress them for a hundred years.

And the Anping King in front of him has been in power for 34 years. He has experienced the supervision and warnings of countless "Anping Prime Ministers". He has just suffered the "pain of subjugation" recently. A senior official directly under the central government like Wang Ming is naturally cautious in order to avoid the risk of "abolishing the country".

But no matter how careful he was, he never thought that Liu Jian would reveal the bamboo slips that he succumbed to the yellow scarf before he was captured alive.

King Anping was so frightened that he collapsed tremblingly on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

He is also a young man, over fifty years old, and as a prince and king, he was caught humiliating and humiliating a thief, so the fate would not be so good.

Under the majesty of the national law, he must die.

"Oh, the widow is also forced to do so, forced to do nothing."

Wang Ming looked at Liu Xu who was crying bitterly, and sneered.

Liu Jian stretched out his hand to help Liu Xu up, and said: "What is your majesty's difficulty, you may wish to speak frankly, if there is really a grievance, I will report it to your majesty, and please majesty give the king a way out."

Liu Xu stretched out his hand to wipe away his tears, and said, "Uncle Liu, I just want to talk to you alone."

Liu Jian turned to look at Wang Ming helplessly.

Wang Ming was also very knowledgeable, so he immediately bowed his hand to Liu Jian, bid farewell and left.

And Liu Jian stayed in Liu Xu's palace, listening to him explain his grievances.

"Hey, Liu Fangbo, I heard that you are also a relative of the clan, although you are not a prince like the widow, but you are considered a younger brother by your majesty, alas, compared to the widow, you are much, much better. "

"Your Majesty, I don't understand. As a close relative of the Emperor of Han, you have been supported by the court for generations. Why can't you keep the chastity when you are in trouble?"

Liu Xu shook his head, and said bitterly: "If you haven't reached the position of widow, you won't understand... Although Anping Kingdom has been established for 62 years, its predecessor was Lecheng Kingdom. Most of the land and farmers belonging to the widow are left, and the yield per mu is low every year, and the life of this king is getting worse day by day."

"During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, kings like the widow, because the land was barren and no one was cultivating it, left the kingdom without re-renting, but they saw captives plundered, or they ate at the same time, and turned to die in the ravine... Alas, the widow is worrying Before the thieves hijacked them, they already had no way to survive, but if they succumbed to the Yellow Turbans, they would have a way out."

"No re-rental, turn to die in the gully?" Liu Jian frowned and looked at him: "The princes and kings of the big Han, are they so miserable?"

"If there is no war, it's okay. If there is war, even if there is a field in hand, there will be no one to plow it, and the plowed land will not yield anything. Where will our kings live? This is the only hope of the widow."

"Where is the person who should plow the land for the king?"

"Hehe, Liu Fangbo, you are also from Hebei. Who owns the arable land? You don't know? , We and other princes are restricted in the behavior of the country, such as fish and meat under the sword, what can we do again?"

"Hey, the Son of Heaven is on guard against the kings, the Prime Minister supervises the kings, Haoyou secretly annexes the kings, and it happens to be Huangjin, Liu Fangbo, what do you think is the way out for the widow?"

Liu Jian frowned and said, "In the end, it's still the king. You can't cheer yourself up and let people take advantage of the gap. Could it be that all the kings in the world are like this? I don't believe it."

Liu Xu cried: "The widow admits that he is not a talent for the world, but the situation is forced. Although the situation of the kings is different, the predicament is roughly the same. This time the Yellow Turban disaster happened, most of them have no money to rent, and they eat day by day. Turning to the death valley, only Chen Du is rich and strong, and many people from neighboring counties return to him. Chen Wang and Liu Chong are heroes, but such heroes are very few in the world."

(End of this chapter)