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

Chapter 253 Change of heart? Still mature?
The sixth year of Emperor Han (the second year of Yuanshou)
Emperor Liu Xin of the Han Dynasty died of illness at the age of twenty-five. The posthumous title of the ministers is "Ai", and the posthumous title of "Ai" is called "Ai" when a person is young and lonely; he is called "Ai" when he is a respectful person; he is called "Ai" when he is a respectful person; and he is called "Ai" when he is short of virtue. It is to mourn the emperor of the Han Dynasty
Buried in Yi Ling.

During the reign of Emperor Ai, the political situation was chaotic, the trend of local annexation was not stopped, and natural and man-made disasters continued. The Han people were in urgent need of a capable person to speak out for them and solve their problems.

So on the day after the emperor's death, the Queen Mother Wang Zhengjun drove to Weiyang Palace to take back the imperial seal. He also summoned the Grand Sima Dong Xian and asked him how to arrange the funeral.

Dong Xian was worried and unable to answer, so he had no choice but to apologize. The Queen Mother said: "Wang Mang, the Marquis of Xindu, had previously handled the funeral of the late emperor as the Grand Sima. Knowing the old practice, I will order Wang Mang to help you."

Dong Xian had no choice but to kowtow to show that he was greatly favored. Then the Queen Mother sent an envoy to summon Wang Mang.

When Wang Mang arrived, he used the power of the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun to instruct the minister to impeach Dong Xian for not attending to the medicine when Emperor Ai was ill, and prohibited Dong Xian from entering or leaving the gate of the Sima Mansion in the palace. Dong Xian didn't know why, so he took off his hat and walked barefoot in the palace to apologize.

The next day, Wang Mang sent an edict to Dong Xian in the name of the Empress Dowager's edict: "Since Dong Xian entered the palace, yin and yang have been out of balance, disasters have occurred, and the common people have suffered. The three princes are the most important to the emperor. The auxiliary minister, Dong Xian, Marquis of Gao'an, does not understand the principles of things. He cannot satisfy everyone as the chief minister and cannot be used to defeat the enemy and appease remote areas. The Ai family decided to take back Dong Xian's chief minister's seal and order him to dismiss from office and go home."

Dong Xian and his wife committed suicide that day, and their family members were so afraid that they buried them quietly at night.

But Wang Mang suspected that he was pretending to be dead, so he asked a secretary to open Dong Xian's coffin and go to inspect it.

Then he hinted that the great Situ Kong Guang wrote: "Dong Xian was good at flattery by nature. He colluded with evil and evil people to obtain titles. His father and son controlled the government, and his brothers were favored. He accepted too many rewards, built large-scale residences, and built buildings. The tombs, imitating the kings without restraint, are no different from the emperor's mausoleums. The cost is calculated in tens of thousands of coins, and the country is therefore empty.

His father and son were arrogant and disobedient until they disrespected the envoys sent by the emperor and refused to kneel down to receive rewards. The sin was already very obvious. Now Dong Xian commits suicide and pleads guilty. After his death, his father Dong Gong and others did not repent. They also painted the coffin with cinnabar and carved it with the colors of the four seasons. On the left is a blue dragon, on the right is a white tiger, with gold, silver, sun and moon attached to it. He is encased in jade robes and jewels, and his dignity cannot be surpassed.

Dong Gong and others were lucky enough to be spared execution and should no longer stay in the court. I request that his property be confiscated to the court. All those who relied on Dong Xian to hold official positions were dismissed to show the majesty of the court. "

The Great Situ Kong Guang was a descendant of the sage Confucius. He had always relied on the Bai family for his existence. Later, Wang Mang believed that he needed the full help of Confucianism. Now, apart from the Bai family, the most orthodox Confucian family should be the Kong family.

So he won over Kong Guang's son-in-law Zhen Han, who was Zhen Feng's cousin, and promised him huge profits and promised to get rid of Bai's control. This received strong support from Kong Guang and his family.

Following Kong Guang's petition, Dong Xian's father Dong Gong, younger brother Dong Kuanxin and their families were moved to Hepu, and Dong Xian's mother returned to her hometown of Julu.

Later, the imperial court sold Dong Xian's property and received a total of 430,000,000 yuan. This provided important help for Wang Mang's subsequent rise to power.

Dong Xian has passed away, and the court urgently needs someone to take charge. Therefore, the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun issued an edict asking the ministers of the court to recommend candidates for the Grand Sima. Not surprisingly, the ministers recommended Wang Mang one after another, but only the former general He Wu and the left general Gongsun Lu expressed objection.

He Wu had a very close relationship with the Bai family, but he also had his own opinions. He was a typical loyalist. When there was no conflict with the emperor, he was a strong supporter of the Bai family in the court.

Until Wang Mang, the Wang family became powerful officials and governed for the emperor. They had been rich and noble for decades. How can a family be rich and noble for decades? If the name is not correct, the words will not be correct, which will definitely be detrimental to the Han Dynasty.

But he was a little distressed when he thought that Bai Xuan, the son of the Bai family, was now supporting Wang Mang, so he wrote to Chao Ge to ask Bai Guan, the head of the Bai family, whether the Bai family fully supported Wang Mang?

Because in his understanding, the Bai family would not support a powerful minister so strongly, even if it was Huo Guang, the support would be limited. The Bai family's attitude towards Wang Mang now should be the work of Bai Gongzi Bai Xuan alone. This is not Bai's attitude.

Sure enough, when Chaoge wrote back, "The person in charge of Chang'an now is Bai Xuan. What Bai Xuan did was done by the Bai family, but what I did was also done by the Bai family."

So He Wu knew about it, and it was estimated that only Bai Xuan supported Wang Mang's actions, while Bai Guan only had a tacit attitude at most.

Although He Wu and Gongsun Lu opposed it, nine out of ten courtiers agreed that Wang Mang should take over the position of Chief Sima.

A few days later, the Empress Dowager issued an edict, ordering Wang Mang to serve as Grand Sima again, record affairs of the Shangshu, and also be in charge of military orders and the imperial army.

In order to prevent the recurrence of the Emperor Ai incident, Wang Mang supported the nine-year-old Liu Qu to succeed him despite the opposition of most people.

Liu Kun was the grandson of Emperor Liu Shi of the Yuan Dynasty and the son of Liu Xing, the Xiaowang of Zhongshan. His mother was Wei Ji.

Since the new emperor was young, Wang Mang naturally took charge of government affairs and won unanimous support from both the government and the public.

Since then, Wang Mang's political ambitions have gradually been exposed. He began to reject dissenters, first forcing the Queen Mother Wang Zhengjun to drive away his uncle Wang Li, then promoting those who relied on and obeyed him, and killing those who offended and resented him. Kong Guang, the great Situ, was a veteran of the Three Dynasties and was deeply respected by the Queen Mother and the government and the public. However, he was timid and overly cautious.

Wang Mang first appointed his son-in-law Zhen Han as a servant and captain of Che, and then made his son Kong Xiu a Marquis of Baocheng to worship Confucius. He also named Gongsun Xiangru, a descendant of Duke Zhou, as the Marquis of Praise of Lu, and worshiped Duke Zhou.

This move made Wang Mang win over the hearts of Confucian scholars all over the world, and also made Kong Guang obey his words.

So he used Kong Guang's influence as a tool to exclude dissidents, impeached He Wu and Gongsun Lu, and removed them from their official positions.

Later, senior officials with more than 2,000 shi, including Shi Li, the servant of Zhongtai, Wu Jianglong, the governor of Nanjun, Ding Xuan, the governor of Taishan, Zhao Chang, the governor of Hanoi, and Zhang He, the governor of Hedong, were successively dismissed on various charges, and deprived of Gaochang Hou Dong Wu, The title of Zhang You, the Marquis of Guannei.

At the same time, Wang Mang gradually began to promote a large number of his cronies and confidants. With his cousins ​​Wang Shun and Wang Yi and his friend Bai Xuan as his confidants, Wang Mang used his cronies Zhen Feng and Zhen Han to supervise impeachment inspections, and Ping Yan to manage confidential affairs. .

Wang Mang usually has a serious expression. When he wants to gain something, he only needs to give a slight signal, and his followers will follow his wishes. Then Wang Mang will kowtow, cry, and resolutely refuse, thereby confusing the Queen Mother. Hiding his ambitions from the common people.

The reason why Bai Xuan supports Wang Mang so much is because Wang Mang said: "If we don't take all the power into our hands, we will be like Emperor Ai. Even if he wants to change the world, he will be stopped by Ding Ming and Empress Dowager Fu. Only true With the power in hand and no one dare to oppose us, we can forcefully push forward the measures we decide on.

You have to know that cowardice and compromise cannot bring about peace and order in the world. If I can let the people live a prosperous life, the price I have to pay is to ruin my reputation or die without a burial place, then let me bear it alone.

Brother Bai, I will call you this for the last time, because from now on, I will no longer compromise. Although there are many difficulties ahead, I will go through without hesitation. If you trust me, please follow me. If there is any One day you think that I have changed and you want to quit or even oppose me. I don’t blame you. Who told me, Wang Mang, that you are the only best friend in my life? "

Bai Xuan looked at Wang Mang who was smiling modestly, as if he had returned to the first time the two met. Yes, how could such a thing be so simple? Jujun is facing so much pressure from the front, and I still doubt him. Damn it.

"General, I understand, please continue moving forward? I, Bai Xuan, will be the staunchest Taoist friend behind you, for no other reason than for you to believe in me, just for you and me, comrades."

Therefore, no matter what decision Wang Mang makes in the future, Bai Xuan will firmly support it, even if this move does not seem so bright and right.

Some people are in darkness, but their hearts are in the light; some people are in the light, but their hearts are in darkness. Bai Xuan understood what kind of person Wang Mang was.

Regarding Bai Xuan's behavior, Bai Guan, who was in Chaoge, was well aware of it, but he was also somewhat helpless in dealing with the chaos in the world today. The "Book of Limiting Land and Slaves" mentioned by Shi Dan before was indeed a good way.

But according to Bai Guan's perspective, it can only be alleviated but not cured.

The Bai family's own information, especially the information on the lower levels, has always been the most important thing for the family heads of the past generations.

Nowadays, Bai Guan clearly sees the land dispute between local wealthy families and common people. In Bai Guan's view, there are only two ways to fundamentally solve this problem. One is to completely overthrow the wealthy families and give all the land to the common people.

The second is to completely deprive civilians of their land, completely treat them as consumables at the bottom, and cut off all opportunities for them to study, become literate, and get promoted. Completely solidifying classes, that is, the sons of slaves will always be slaves, no matter how genius you are, and the sons of nobles will always be nobles, no matter how stupid you are.

The first way is to make enemies of everyone in the world except civilians. Because of the limited vision of civilians, a large number of people will betray and massacre other civilians on the same level. Therefore, with the current strength of the Bai family, It is simply impossible to achieve the state of peace and common people.

The second method makes Bai Guan feel depressed just thinking about it. This thing is to dehumanize and forcibly deregister most people. This is inconsistent with his family's ancestral aspirations and runs counter to the meaning of his family's existence. , and if he finds one, the Bai family will definitely try his best to eliminate it, even if his body is shattered and his family is destroyed.

The original Qin Dynasty also had part of this reason. Its policy of attaching importance to Legalism, dumbing down the people, and not treating the people at the bottom as human beings was the reason why the Bai family would resist even if their whole family was ruined.

It is precisely because the successive heads of the Bai family have seen through this problem, but have no method, that they are not interested in ascending to the position of the lord of the world. In the eyes of the Bai family, which is dominated by the family, it costs a huge price to ascend the emperor who is destined to be destroyed. This is a very stupid choice.

Therefore, this is the reason why Bai Guan did not object to Bai Xuan's full support for Wang Mang, even though he had discovered that Bai Xuan was wrong about Wang Mang's status.

Give it a try, what if he succeeds? Therefore, Bai Guan began to train his younger brother, Bai Shi.

(End of this chapter)