A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 204: Power is falling aside, hidden rules
First year of Han Dynasty

Because the Han emperor was young, although he was on the expedition himself, his relatives, represented by the empress dowager Dou Yifang and the empress dowager Wang Ao, had great influence in the court. Therefore, the Han emperor had to "serve the East Palace", that is, report government affairs to the empress dowager. Only after the report is sent out will it be effective.

June
The Emperor of Han dismissed Prime Minister Wei Wan and Yushi Dafu Zhi Buyi, and appointed Wei Qihou Dou Ying and Wu'an Hou Tianfu as prime minister and Taiwei respectively. Dou Ying is the younger brother of Empress Dowager Dou, and Tian Fu is the younger brother of Empress Dowager Wang.

In order to arrange for his own people, the Han Emperor incidentally appointed Confucian scholars Zhao Wan and Wang Zang as Yushi Dafu and Lang Zhongling. Zhao Wan and Wang Zang were respectively disciples of Shen Gong, a great scholar of Guliang School, and Jia Yi, a great scholar of Bai family Confucianism.

Since the death of Emperor Jing, Jia Yi resigned from the position of offering sacrifices to Taixue, returned to Taibai Academy, and began a life of teaching for the elderly. However, his influence was very far-reaching. He was preceded by the late imperial censor Chao Cuo, the doctor of Taixue and the great Confucian Dong Zhongshushen. Affected by him, he later taught disciples such as Wang Zang, who had peaches and plums all over the world. They were called Jia Banshi, that is, half of the masters of Confucian scholars in the world, and half of the masters of Emperor Jing.

The foreign prime minister Dou Ying and the Taiwei Tian Fu both loved Confucianism, so they were not so opposed to some of the Han emperor's actions in respecting Confucianism. Therefore, at the court meeting, they agreed with the Han emperor's recommendation for internal and external ministers to be "virtuous, upright, outspoken and extremely remonstrative." Scholars" edict.

Later, Zhao Wan's teacher Shen Gong was summoned with a chariot, a pull wheel, and a bundle of silk and jade. After meeting with the Han emperor, Shen Gong said that governing a country requires "action" rather than "words", which made the Han emperor unhappy.

"If I have real power, do I need to say more?" Emperor Han thought angrily.

Later, he was appointed as Taizhong doctor and asked to take charge of Confucian etiquette work such as repairing Mingtang, correcting Shuo, changing clothes, patrolling hunting and conferring Zen.

Although Confucianism prevailed in the court for a while, Empress Dowager Dou admired Huang Lao's studies and blocked the reform of Confucianism many times, which aroused the dissatisfaction of Zhao Wan, the imperial censor.

September
The Emperor of the Han Dynasty needed to offer sacrifices. Empress Dowager Dou said that she should fast for seven days according to Taoist interests and then go to offer sacrifices. However, Zhao Wan, the imperial censor, objected and insisted that the court etiquette, that is, the Confucian etiquette, should be followed. , there was no need to fast for seven days to avoid delaying the government affairs, but Empress Dowager Dou took it back on the grounds that during this period, the government affairs could be temporarily handled by herself.

Zhao Wan was very angry. When the sacrifice was over, Zhao Wan stood up and said to the Han Emperor at the end of the banquet: "Your Majesty is the king of a country and has personally governed the country. How can he have to interfere with the East Palace in all political affairs? It is not a big joke in the world."

Emperor Han knew that there must be two empress dowagers in the palace, so he quickly said: "The empress dowager is the mother of a country, why not? What's more, I am still young and need to learn more. When the empress dowager thinks that I can handle government affairs personally, I will do it myself." Give it back to me, you don’t have to say anything!”

Zhao Wan had no choice but to retreat.

Wang Zang, the doctor's commander, heard that Zhao Wan was not shy about persuading the Han Emperor to seize power. He quickly found him and said, "Brother Zhao, you are confused. How can you say such a thing in public?"

Zhao Wan still didn't know the seriousness of the matter, so she said: "Why can't you say that? As a censor, it is my duty to say unreasonable and inappropriate things. Even if the saint is alive, he can't say anything more about me. "

Wang Zang sighed: "The big thing is over. Now your Majesty has basically no foundation in the court except for us. Originally, we needed to plan carefully to expand your Majesty's influence and eliminate the tentacles of the Queen Mother of the two palaces. Originally, Queen Mother Dou was dissatisfied with our reform of Confucianism." , now that you are here, you will definitely arouse her vigilance."

Zhao Wan said nonchalantly: "I don't believe that as the Empress Dowager, she dares to openly frame the ministers of the court?"

Wang Zang had no choice but to seek foreign aid.

Taichang Mansion

"Mr. Bai, someone is looking for you outside the door!" A clerk from Taichang Mansion said respectfully to a middle-aged man in his forties with some white hair on his temples.

This person is Bai Lun, the crown prince of the Bai Kingdom. It turns out that he came to Chang'an on the orders of his father Bai Zhou to take over his position in Chang'an and coordinate the Bai family's power in the central government. He first served as Taizhong doctor in Langzhong Mansion, and was later sent to other places. As for the position of You Neishi, everything went well as expected and he has become Jiuqing, ranking among the three nobles.

However, Emperor Jing died not long after that. The empress dowagers of the two palaces took advantage of the power vacuum to suppress dissidents and eliminate the power of the Bai family and the Liu family in the court. Even the three princes, including Prime Minister Wei Wan, would be dismissed if they did not take refuge in them. Removed from office.

As for the power of the Chehou Group, it is now difficult to develop in the court, and it is basically limited to the military, local and border areas. Therefore, today's imperial court is almost dominated by relatives such as the Dou family and the Tian family.

Not long after Emperor Jing's death, three months later, Bai Lun, the head of the Bai family in Chang'an, was appointed Taichang Cheng and became the second-in-command of the Taichang Mansion, rising up and down secretly.

"who?"

"This person calls himself Master Jia's disciple!"

"Oh?" Bai Lun thought carefully for a while and asked someone to take him to the side room.

Soon, when he saw the visitor, Bai Lun immediately stepped forward and said, "Brother Wang, why do you have time to come to my place?"

Wang Zang sighed and said, "I'm here to ask you for help!"

Bai Lun asked doubtfully: "Brother Wang, as a doctor and a close minister of His Majesty, still need to ask me for help?"

Wang Zang told what happened to Zhao Wan before. Bai Lun kept pacing in the room thinking, while Wang Zang frowned.

"Zhao Wan has offended Queen Mother Dou to death!"

"Who says it's not?"

Bai Lun sighed: "Empress Dowager Dou is well-known for her retribution. The former Yuan An, the imperial censor, tried her best to prevent the late emperor from making Prince Liang the crown prince, so she and Prince Liang assassinated her and killed her. This was before Emperor Jing. When you have great power but don’t have much power.

Now that she has great power, she is afraid that she will not be able to tolerate anyone saying no to her. "

"Then what should we do? Zhao Wan and I are the pawns promoted by His Majesty. In the eyes of outsiders, we are regarded as one. If anything happens to Zhao Wan, I will definitely be implicated." Wang Zang was a little panicked.

Bai Lun thought about it carefully, then turned around and said, "Empress Dowager Dou is not attacking you, but attacking the emperor's power, so she will definitely not let you go. However, this matter is not serious even if it is serious. I am afraid that Empress Dowager Dou will not let go.

As for the current plan, I can only save your lives. As for your official positions and identities, you will be exempted! "

Wang Zang fought in his heart for a long time and sighed: "I didn't expect it. I thought I could be like a teacher and rely on providing advice to His Majesty to govern the country and the people. But now it has not even begun and it is about to end. Why bother?"

Bai Lun comforted him: "As long as you remain useful, are you afraid that there will be no place to display your talents? In this way, when the time comes, you can go directly to Chaoge and hide for a while. When the situation becomes clear, you can come out and show your ambitions." Too late!" "That's all we can do!"

Wang Zang left in despair.

"I just felt that what Zhao Wan said was going to happen to me, but I didn't expect that I would suffer like this. Alas, it seems that I'd better go back to teaching!" Wang Zang felt very confused.

After Wang Zang left, Bai Lun was alone in the room, quietly thinking about what to do next.

"Today's situation is very serious. I am a little exhausted. It seems that I need to ask for some support from my family." Bai Lun thought to himself.

Then he wrote all the situation of the government and his own analysis on a piece of cloth, and asked his retainers to send it to Chaoge. He also asked his father Baizhou to help analyze it, and he decided who to send.

When the work was over, Bai Lun immediately returned to Bai Gong's Mansion and sent many servants. That night, Bai Gong's Mansion was brightly lit day and night.

Soon, Queen Mother Dou's revenge came.

October
Empress Dowager Dou used a banquet to curse Zhao Wan in front of the ministers, saying that he was another Xinyuan Ping. By bewitching the Han Emperor, she wanted to launch a conspiracy, and she also sent people to collect information about Zhao Wan and Zhao Wan. Wang Zang and others released evidence of illegal profit-making, and asked the Han Emperor on the spot to imprison Zhao and Wang.

Most of the ministers immediately stepped forward to support Empress Dowager Dou's remarks and asked the Han Emperor to punish them for their crimes, but Prime Minister Dou Ying and Taiwei Tian Fu did not come out to speak.

The Emperor of the Han Dynasty looked very ugly, because the people listed by Empress Dowager Dou were all old ministers or newly promoted ministers of the Crown Prince's Palace. However, Empress Dowager Dou was pressing hard, and most of the ministers were on her side, so the Emperor of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to obey. Zhao and Wang were punished.

A few days later, Empress Dowager Dou asked the Han Emperor to remove Dou Ying and Tian Fu because they did not support her at that time, and then appointed Xu Chang and Zhuang Qingzhai, descendants of the founding heroes, as prime ministers and imperial censors.

After Xuchang and Zhuang Qingzhai took office, the first thing they did was to order the abolition of a series of Confucian etiquette systems such as Shen Gong's Mingtang. Because Shen Gong was a great Confucian at home, and the Taizhong doctor in him was directly appointed by the emperor, so there was no Removed from office.

Tingwei Mansion, prison.

"Pa!" "Try or not?"...

The jailer raised his hand to ask them to stop whipping.

Walking up to Zhao Wan, she raised his chin with her hand, came closer, and said coldly: "Are you still unwilling to recruit me?"

"What's the move?" Zhao Wan asked weakly.

"Humph, what are you recruiting? As a censor, don't you know? Do you still want to ask me, a little jailer?" The jailer was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily.

Seeing that Zhao Wan did not respond, the jailer ordered: "Hit me, please continue!" After saying this, he left the interrogation room.

The shirtless jailer next to him spat on his hands, rubbed them, picked up the iron whip and approached Zhao Wan with a sinister smile on his face, and then "Crack!~"

The torture continued.

"Boss, do you want to beat the person next to you?" The jailer on the side asked the jailer eagerly, pointing to the interrogation room next to Zhao Wan.

"Beat, beat, beat, you know how to beat in one day, who can be beaten and who cannot be beaten, don't you understand?" the jailer kicked the jailer twice and said angrily.

Not long after the jailer arrived, he asked shamelessly: "I saw that they both came in together. Why can one be beaten and the other cannot be beaten?"

"Nonsense, one is with people on it and the other is without people, can it be the same? By the way, tell the people inside that they can be beaten, but only a little bit. They cannot be beaten to death. Once they are beaten to death, you are finished!" The warder left after saying this. .

"Yes, yes!" the jailer responded immediately.

Tingwei Mansion

"Have you all been ordered to go down?"

The jailer just now stood respectfully in front of a middle-aged man.

"Don't worry, the prison guard has already ordered everyone to go down. Beat one, but not one. The one who was beaten will not be beaten to death."

"Well, in this case, you go find a hunter, collect some blood, apply it on the person who was not beaten, and then explain it to him carefully. You won't see any injuries outside my Tingwei Mansion. Wouldn't it be too fake! "

"Well, I understand."

"Go!"

The second year of Han Dynasty

March
Zhao Wan and Wang Zang, who had been imprisoned for many months, were released. After many rounds of games, they were spared until the very end. They were told that they would not be allowed to use their services for life and were immediately expelled from Chang'an.

As soon as the two were released from prison, they were put into a carriage and sent out of the city without even seeing each other. But one person was dragged up, and the other limped up looking awkward.

(End of this chapter)