My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 422 The Wonderful Feeling of Being a Father
"Hi~"

"It's not a big deal, but I'm just pregnant, and I don't know if I can give birth safely;"

"Why did you have to spread the news all over the city and make it a big fuss?"

Weiyang Palace, Xuanshi Palace.

Upon learning that the news had 'leaked', almost everyone in and outside the court was busy preparing gifts for him. Liu Rong could only grumble.

He just said this at any time, but Liu Rong couldn't suppress the slightly raised corners of his mouth.

——If in his previous life, he had made a woman who was not his wife pregnant, Liu Rong would have been terrified;

Even if this person was his girlfriend or even his fiancée, Liu Rong would only feel fear and confusion, but would not feel the slightest bit of happiness or joy.

But in this era, Liu Rong was the emperor.

As an emperor, Liu Rong could theoretically seduce any unmarried woman who was not related to him.

No one would say that Liu Rong was forcing or violating women's will.

Because in this era, there is only one adjective to describe the emperor's in-depth communication with a woman.

--fortunate.

——Visit.

The emperor is merciful and gives you a chance to make a leap forward, and also grants you a chance to be pushed down by the emperor.

This is your blessing.

The great blessings accumulated in previous and present lives.

Unless it touches the red line of human ethics, or causes a scandal like "Cao Wei's legacy";

Otherwise, any time Liu Rong thought with his lower body would only be seen as that woman's luck.

Pushed by the emperor?

Is there smoke coming out of your ancestral grave? !
Therefore, even though the girl who was pregnant with his first child was a maid who came with the dowry and was not even a concubine, Liu Rong still did not feel any psychological burden at all.

——A dowry maid, as the name suggests, is a female servant who accompanies the wife into a family to serve the master and mistress.

Whether in the common people or in the royal family, the scope of duties of the dowry maids is basically the same.

That is: as a slave, you must do the dirty and tiring work;
If a woman's body is sold to her master, she may be beaten to death.

Furthermore, as a woman, it is inevitable that she will provide pleasure for her master in certain circumstances...

For example, last year, Liu Rong had already booked the Wei family's relatives, namely Wei Zifu and Wei Qing, whose mother Wei Ai was in Pingyang Marquis's Mansion, and she probably played such a role.

——Work when there is work;

——If she has no work, then she is just being worked on…

Of course;
The maids in Pingyang Marquis's mansion are naturally no match for those in Weiyang Palace.

Ordinary female slaves and dowry maids with names and surnames are not the same thing.

The former only requires two elements: female and alive;
The latter needs to meet all kinds of requirements according to the scope of responsibilities.

For example, as a maid accompanying the queen of the current dynasty, she had to be diligent and capable. These were basic requirements that did not even need to be mentioned.

In addition, being tight-lipped, having a sharp mind, and knowing one's own position are also indispensable characteristics for this person to stay by the queen's side.

Finally, as a potential sleeping partner for the emperor, she must be pretty enough;

In addition to being beautiful, one must also have a sense of propriety and know the hierarchy - not to become a dick just because one is pregnant with a dragon seed, which would simply provide abstract material for future historical soap operas.

Combining these, it is not difficult to know what the situation is like for the maid in the Pepper Palace who is pregnant with the dragon seed.

——After all, they were slaves, and their status was lowly.

——She was able to serve as a dowry to the Empress Cao of the current dynasty, and her IQ and appearance were basically all right.

The most important thing is: the maidservant who could be safely brought into the palace by Empress Cao must be someone who could never threaten Empress Cao's close relatives even if she was pregnant with the emperor's seed.

For example, this was the case with Tang Ji, the mother of the sixth son of the late emperor, King Liu Fa of Changsha.

She was originally Madam Cheng's maid. As a result, Madam Cheng was not able to sleep with the emperor one day, and she was unwilling to leave the late emperor to other seductresses, so she gritted her teeth and stomped her feet, and in accordance with the principle of keeping the wealth within the family, she stuffed her maid into the late emperor's bed.

Then there was the sixth son of the late emperor, now King of Changsha, Liu Fa.

From the later circumstances of Tang Ji and Liu Fa, it is not difficult to foresee what kind of life this maid in the Pepper Room who conceived Liu Rong's son will have in the future...

"Hmm~"

"Send someone to Changle to tell the Queen Mother and the Empress Dowager the good news."

"Ask the imperial physician to see the queen."

"The Queen will make the arrangements for the details."

As Liu Rongchun's first wife in a political marriage, Empress Cao had basically not let Liu Rong worry about the affairs of the harem in recent years, except for occasionally urging him to "come to the Pepper Room to have a baby."

Just like today, the maid Ma who was reported to be pregnant was the one that Empress Cao forced into bed with Liu Rong because she knew that she couldn't have Liu Rong's body for the time being.

As for his words, they were so sensible that they made people feel distressed - Your Majesty may not pity me, but the ancestral temple and the country must not be without an heir for a long time because of my incompetence.

It must be said that when Liu Rong heard Queen Cao's words, his heart, which had already been as hard as a rock, was a little moved.

Afterwards, Liu Rong obediently accepted Queen Cao's advice and, under the influence of alcohol, worked for the ancestral temple and the country.

Look, in just a few seconds, a critical hit occurred.

All I can say is that the Liu family's emperor's critical hit is somewhat telling.

——The Emperor Taizu Gao shot a powerful shot, and a critical hit gave rise to the Emperor Taizong Xiaowen;

The late emperor did it reluctantly, and a critical strike brought out Liu Fa, the King of Changsha, who influenced the historical course of the Eastern and Western Han dynasties for more than 400 years.

Now, it is Liu Rong's turn to make a critical hit.

Who knows what strange things Liu Rong will reveal after this critical strike...

Let’s get back to the present.

Liu Rong left behind a bloodline. Regardless of whether the child was a boy or a girl, or even whether it could be born successfully;
The fact that someone was pregnant with Liu Rong's child was already a major benefit to him.

On this basis, it will be better if the child is born in the end, and it is best if it is a boy.

Liu Rong didn't care whether it was a boy or a girl.

After all, this was the first time that Liu Rong felt the wonderful feeling of becoming a father...

"Hmm~"

"Draft an imperial edict;"

"According to the custom of Queen Mother Tang of Changsha, I will take Ma from the Pepper Room as my good wife."

Liu Rong said this with a smile, which immediately caused Zhou Ren who was standing beside him to step forward to dissuade him.

"Just now, the Queen sent a message saying that she was asking His Majesty for a reward on behalf of Ma..."

After hearing this, Liu Rong finally realized: This favor would indeed be better done by Empress Cao.

After understanding, Liu Rong did not hesitate and nodded immediately: "Even so, let the Queen go to Changle."

"After all, the Imperial Grandmother has the final say on matters concerning the harem's rewards."

"The Queen doesn't have to worry about me." After giving the instructions, Liu Rong pretended to be calm and pretended to deal with the documents in his hand.

He was obviously pretending to everyone in and outside the court: I am really not that excited.

Again, the same thing;
Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, from Emperor Taizu Gao to Emperor Xiaohui, from the former Shao Emperor to the latter Shao Emperor, from Emperor Taizong to Emperor Xian Xiaojing, and then to Liu Rong - there were seven Han emperors in total, and six successions to the throne. There was only one time when the system of primogeniture was fully followed.

That is, Emperor Taizu Gao, who passed the throne to his eldest son: Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying.

After that, Emperor Xiaohui passed the throne to his eldest son: the former Shaodi Liu Gong;
The former Shao Liu Gong was secretly murdered by Empress Dowager Lu, and his half-brother Liu Hong was enthroned as the Later Shao Emperor.

After the Lü clan, Emperor Shao died tragically on the street, and Emperor Taizong's side branch took over the throne as the legitimate heir.

Then the throne was passed to the eldest son: Emperor Xiaojing Liu Qi;

Emperor Xiaojing passed the throne to his eldest son: the current Liu Rong...

Over the past few years, the Han family has been talking about the "primogeniture system" from top to bottom. In the end, there was only one Emperor Xiaohui who inherited the throne as the eldest son.

It's reached the limit.

The paradox between the system of primogeniture and the succession to the throne of the Han Dynasty has reached its limit.

In another generation - as long as Liu Rong performs the operation of 'passing the throne to the eldest illegitimate son' once again, from then on, there will no longer be any system of primogeniture inheritance, or even the difference between legitimate and illegitimate sons, in Chinese civilization.

The reason is simple: the emperor passed the throne to his illegitimate son, so why should I pass the throne to my legitimate son?

Only the state officials are allowed to set fires, but the people are not allowed to light lamps, right?
I do not care!
I also want to establish a bastard!

Doesn’t it sound like no big deal?

For the lower-class people and farmers, it is really no big deal.

——Because it takes a lot of effort to even find a wife, let alone a concubine;
All children are born to the wife, all children are legitimate children, there are no illegitimate children at all.

Liu Rong wanted to set an example and let the royal inheritance return to the essence of the primogeniture system, and it was never aimed at the lower classes.

To put it simply, the system of primogeniture is conducive to the stability of royal inheritance.

Even though Liu Rong was a vested interest, he still had to admit that the system of primogeniture was the most favorable system for the succession of the throne and the alternation of political power.

Because the succession to the throne is nothing more than the 'primogeniture system' of establishing the eldest son as the legitimate heir, or the unorthodox way of establishing the most virtuous one as the heir.

The eldest son shall be the heir, which is certain and obvious.

The legitimate is the legitimate, the eldest is the eldest;
However, the decision to appoint someone based on his or her talent is heavily influenced by subjective factors.

You think you are virtuous, and I think I am virtuous too.

What?

Fight;

Grab it.

If you can control it, then fight secretly. If you can't control it, then stage a military coup at Xuanwu Gate.

Therefore, Liu Rong must implement the system of primogeniture - this will be beneficial to the stability of the future succession to the throne and the handover of political power in the Han Dynasty.

Furthermore, on a deeper level, meritorious nobles, officials, ministers, local tyrants, clan princes, etc., also need to rely on the system of primogeniture to ensure their "stability".

This is also the most fundamental reason why Liu Rong wanted to restore the practical application of the primogeniture system in the royal family.

——Because under the system of primogeniture, there is a high probability that the nobles will be extinct;

for example.

You are a relative of a noble clan, such as the King of Liang or the King of Yan.

You and the queen have five legitimate sons, and you have dozens of illegitimate sons with other concubines.

In this era, the average adulthood rate for infants and young children is less than 30%. Among your five legitimate sons, at most only two will grow up successfully, and the other three will most likely die for various reasons.

In this case, the existence of the system of primogeniture means that if you are unlucky enough and your only two remaining legitimate sons do not live to see your death, then your family's throne and your vassal state will become extinct.

The central government can use the reason that you have no descendants as an excuse to reduce your fiefdom to a county.

On the contrary, if the system of primogeniture becomes less and less important, to the point where the succession to the throne is not strictly followed, then even if you lose all five legitimate sons, you will still have dozens of illegitimate sons.

Regardless of the quality, whether they have the ability to inherit your kingdom - at least it has been passed down, right?

This is true for the princes, the marquises, the dukes, the nobles, and the local tyrants.

——The title of Marquis can only be inherited by the legitimate son;
The eldest son is ranked first and will be the Marquis's son. If something happens to the son, the second son, the third son, and so on will be ranked first.

If all the legitimate sons have died, it will be the same - even if you have a thousand illegitimate sons, you will still be "extinct", and your fiefdom will still be abolished as a county.

Obviously, it was not only Liu Rong's generation of Han emperor who wanted to take back the princes and marquises bit by bit by the method of "extincting the heirs and abolishing the country".

But every Han emperor with a bit of brains would not give up this legitimate opportunity to take back the fiefdoms of vassal kings and marquises.

Therefore, in order to allow the princes and marquises to slowly "extinct their descendants and abolish their states" in a certain proportion, Liu Rong had to promote the system of primogeniture.

The last ones are the local tyrants.

In addition to using the system of mausoleum towns to reap profits, another means for the Han Dynasty to curb the rise of local tyrants and the power of local clans was also the system of primogeniture.

It’s the same old saying - only the eldest son has the right to inherit core assets.

If you are a powerful person, owning thousands of acres of land, hundreds of shops, dozens of houses, and tens of millions of dollars in wealth;

Then after your death, most of your property - especially real estate - can only be inherited by your legitimate son.

As for the bastard, you can give him some money, or a symbolic manor, shop, etc.

But core assets, such as houses and fields, are the same as the princely throne and the fiefdom of a duke - if there is a legitimate son, it will be passed on to the legitimate son. If there is no legitimate son, then you will also be "extinct" without descendants.
The assets may not necessarily be confiscated, but they will certainly be divided up by local officials.

That's why Chinese men care so much about fertility.

——In this era, having poor fertility is really not possible!

If he doesn't give birth to a dozen or twenty legitimate sons while he is still young, what if he is extremely unlucky in the future and all his legitimate sons die? Wouldn't that mean he has lived his life in vain?
If you understand all these things, you will naturally understand why Liu Rong, the current Liu Rong who inherited the throne as the eldest son of a concubine, cares so much about the authority of the primogeniture system.

Because it is a sword;

It was held in the hands of the Han emperor, ensuring the stable succession of the throne, and constantly cutting flesh from the vassal kings and marquises, and at the same time serving as a sword to cut the leeks of the powerful.

Such a sword can obviously be used again after being wiped, why do you have to leave it aside to rust?
As for the future, will the son born by Queen Cao be able to inherit the Han Dynasty and meet Liu Rong's requirements for the future heir?
This brings us to the most essential difference between Liu Rong, a visitor from later generations, and the native feudal emperor.

——Different from the indigenous people of this era who either believe that "human nature is good" or "human nature is evil";
Liu Rong’s view on human nature is: Man is born as a blank sheet of paper.

What kind of painting is finally drawn depends mainly on the artist's skills, not the material of the paper.

Liu Rong was confident that he could train his eldest son, who might have mediocre talents, into a qualified emperor who was above average.

For example, Emperor Xian Xiaojing is a representative work of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's "turning waste into treasure".

As for your expectations for the future and your successors?

Liu Rong wanted to say: It’s always right to have a balance between relaxation and tension.

During Liu Rong's reign, the Han Dynasty had to do many things;
When it comes to the next generation of Han emperor, it is time to stabilize the situation and digest the fruits of reform.

Otherwise, if two wise rulers with great talents and strategies appeared in succession, the people of the world would not be able to bear it.

——In fact, let alone two consecutive generations;
In the original history, even Emperor Wu of Han, who lived longer, almost died.

(End of this chapter)