My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 443: The Difficulties of the Taohou Family
"You have worked hard for the past five years, Tao Hou."

After enumerating the difficulties and problems encountered by the Han Dynasty in the past five years and implicitly expressing his recognition of Liu She's term as Prime Minister, Liu Rong finally slowly stood up from the imperial couch.

Such a voice: "Tough Tao Hou", made Old Liu She's eyes moisten;
Just as he was about to bow again to express his gratitude, he saw Liu Rong walking down the stairs from the imperial bed and coming in front of him.

"His Majesty……"

Muttering something, Liu She immediately lifted up his robe and knelt down to kowtow.

But before Liu She could bend down, Liu Rong's still strong hands had already firmly subdued Liu She by the arms.

Then, Liu Rong took off his crimson cloak under the astonished gazes of all the ministers and officials in the court.
With a sweep of his arm, the cloak was already covering Liu She's shoulders, which, although not hunched, were already showing signs of being old.

"Ever since Emperor Taizu Gao established the Han Dynasty with great difficulty;"

"It has been more than fifty years since then."

"——First, he was Emperor Xiaohui, then he was Shaodi and then Pseudo-Emperor."

"Emperor Taizong Xiaowen also succeeded to the throne at the age of 23—at the tender age of 23."

"It was not until Emperor Xiaojing, who had prepared for 22 years and had the crown prince govern for several years before ascending the throne at the age of 31, that our Han Dynasty finally got rid of the long-standing problem of a young ruler and a state of suspicion..."

As Liu Rong was speaking, he took a step and walked to Liu She's side.

Standing in the opposite direction of Liu She, Liu Rong randomly raised his hand and patted Liu She's shoulder, which was trembling slightly due to crying.

Then, he looked around at everyone in the hall.

"Emperor Xiaohui came to power at a young age, and fortunately he had Prime Minister Xiao and Prime Minister Cao, who kept the country safe and the ancestral temples preserved."

"When the (former) Shaodi and the pseudo-emperor (later Shaodi) were established, there was no elder in the prime minister's office, and the clan and society were almost overthrown."

...

"Fortunately, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen was mature at a young age."

"Even though I am still young, I have not allowed the ancestral temples and the country of the Han family to suffer disasters because of the emperor's youth and weakness..."

With these words, Liu Rong did not give any face at all to the three prime ministers who served successively during the reign of Empress Dowager Lü: Wang Ling, Chen Ping and Shen Yiji.

——Wang Ling is better;

After all, just after Emperor Xiaohui passed away, Wang Ling was kicked out of the court by Empress Dowager Lu because he opposed the enfeoffment of all the Lü clans.

There is nothing to say about Shen Yiji - he was originally a member of the Lu party and there is no redemption. Even if he has good morals and abilities, he must be blacklisted under the current political background of the Han Dynasty.

Moreover, Shen Yiji himself had no virtue or ability.
There are even rumors in later unofficial histories that the reason Shen Yiji was able to satisfy his desire to be the prime minister of the Han Dynasty was because he had the same talent as the Qin thief Lao Ai, and he received special favor from the Empress Dowager Lu.

Only Chen Ping.

Only Chen Ping was negatively categorized as "not the elder of the country" by Liu Rong, which was a bit unfair.

In terms of ability, Chen Ping is at least a founding father.

What's more, Chen Ping's appointment as prime minister had already been decided by Emperor Taizu Liu Bang when Prime Minister Xiao was still alive.

——Xiao He, Cao Shen, Wang Ling + Chen Ping, these were the first three prime ministers/left and right prime ministers of the Han Dynasty entrusted by Liu Bang to Empress Lu on his deathbed.

In terms of political composition, according to the basic consensus of the Han Dynasty, "the lineage of Emperor Taizong is praised, the lineage of Emperor Xiaohui is secretly disparaged, and the lineage of Emperor Lu is discredited";

As the mastermind behind the execution of Lu and the first decision maker in welcoming Emperor Taizong, Chen Ping should have received unquestionable positive evaluation and characterization from every Han emperor in Emperor Taizong's lineage.

However, considering that after Emperor Taizong succeeded to the throne, a group of old ministers led by Chen Ping and Zhou Bo sidelined Emperor Taizong in order to gain power, Liu Rong's sarcasm and slander today was understandable.

——After all, Your Majesty is still young!
——It is human nature to feel indignant for one’s grandfather and want to avenge him.

Everyone in the hall thought so as they listened to Liu Rong's resounding verdict.

But in the center of the hall, Liu Rong had turned sideways, facing the old prime minister who was now facing him and facing the imperial couch, and had already cried bitterly;
He took a step back solemnly and bowed solemnly.

"Thank you, Prime Minister."

There is no excessive flowery language;

There is no unnecessary political showmanship.

With just this straightforward bow and a simple "thank you", Old Liushe could no longer hold back his tears and turned around sobbing.

"Your Majesty~"

"Why is it so~~~"

"Why, why is it so…"

At this moment, all the court etiquette and "improper conduct in front of the king" had long been thrown out of Liu She's mind.

Liu She, who should have knelt on the ground in fear and said, "I dare not accept your majesty's gift," but at this moment, with tears on his face, he stretched out his hand and tremblingly helped Liu Rong up.

When Liu Rong stood up with reluctance on his face and even red eyes, Liu She had a thousand words to say, but they only turned into unstoppable tears and he kept nodding his head.

——No one knows how frustrated Liu She has been over the years!
Not only Liu She, but the entire Taohou family has never been treated as a "human" since the day they decided to betray the Xiang family.

Not only in private and behind the scenes - even in informal banquets and even formal public occasions such as court meetings, people have always been disdainful and contemptuous of the Taohou family's betrayal of the Xiang family and their fence-sitters.

And for some reason - every time people are about to forget this matter, an event that is worthy of being recorded in history always happens, causing the Taohou family to be dragged out for moral whipping again.

For example, Emperor Taizu Gao was crowned emperor on the bank of Luo River and founded the Han Dynasty.
As we all know, the year when Emperor Taizu Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty was not the first year of Taizu, but the fifth year of the Han Dynasty.

Because the Han Dynasty's chronology did not start from the time Liu Bang became emperor, but from the year when Qin III died and Liu Bang was named King of Han.

In the first year of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Liu Bang was granted the title of King of Han and settled in Hanzhong.
In the same year, General Han Xin openly repaired the plank road and secretly passed through Chencang in order to regain control of the Three Qins!
In the second year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, who had basically controlled the land of the former Qin State, summoned the rest of the princes to form an alliance, marched east through Hangu Pass, and formally challenged the Overlord Xiang Yu.

This battle is also known as the Battle of Pengcheng.

The Battle of Pengcheng was also regarded by later historians as the beginning of the "Chu-Han Contention".

Liu She's father, Liu Xiang - or Xiang Xiang, surrendered to the Han after being defeated by the Han general Guan Ying in the Battle of Dingtao that year.

Three years had passed from the second year of the Han Dynasty when Xiang Xiang surrendered to the fifth year of the Han Dynasty when the Overlord Xiang Yu committed suicide at the Wujiang River and Emperor Taizu Liu Bang was enthroned as emperor.

Besides, there were already many surrendered generals in the Han camp, and there were more than just Xiang Xiang among the Xiang clan. Logically speaking, even if one despised and looked down upon Xiang Xiang, three years had passed, and there was a "joy of founding a country";
No matter how low the EQ of other Gonghous was, they would have grumbled: Forget it, let’s get along well in the future;
Then stop making fun of Xiang Xiang.

As a result, Xiang Xiang was given the surname Liu as soon as the title of Marquis of Tao was conferred.

As a result, public opinion exploded once again.

——As a member of Xiang Xiang’s clan, you betrayed your family?
OK, from the perspective of "justice", you are putting justice above your own;
Help your opponent turn against your own family?
Well, you are so cruel.

Becoming a founding hero by your opponent?
That’s fine too—just consider it as you leaving a bloodline for the Xiang family through this compromising method.

but?
Change your last name?

Especially changing the surname to Liu?
Don’t even want to lose face? !

Just because of this, the Taohou family completely became the most despised family in the whole world.

Coincidentally, in the same year, an incident occurred that caused the public opinion storm over Xiang Xiang being given the surname Liu to reach an unprecedented climax.

——In the early years, during the Battle of Pengcheng, Overlord Xiang Yu was busy attacking Qi, while Emperor Taizu Liu Bang marched straight into Pengcheng, the capital of Chu!

With everything going smoothly, Emperor Taizu Gao believed that victory was already achieved, so he plunged headlong into the harem of the King of Chu's palace, wasting his time all day long.

When Xiang Yu returned from Qi with light equipment, Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, who was still trembling in the Chu Palace in Pengcheng, did not even have time to pull up his pants and hurriedly ran out of the city.

As a result, I almost couldn’t leave Pengcheng!
After finally leaving the city from the west and embarking on the road to escape, he was caught up by the cavalry led by the Chu army general Ding Gu, and was closely followed.

Being chased by cavalry, Liu Bang was terrified;

Sitting in the carriage driven by Grand Coachman Xiahou Ying, the sons and daughters kicked the carriage without hesitation, in an attempt to reduce its weight, increase its speed and escape faster.

As a result, every time he kicked the ball down, Xiahou Ying had to stop the car and pick up Liu Le, the later Emperor Yuan of Lu and Emperor Xiaohui, into the car.
Instead of reducing the weight of the vehicle and increasing the speed as Liu Bang had expected, a lot of time was wasted because Xiahou Ying stopped the car to pick up the child.

In desperation, Liu Bang could only stick his head out from the back of the carriage and shouted to Ding Gu who had already caught up: How can two such wise men be in trouble with each other!

The literal meaning is: Why should a hero make things difficult for others?
After hearing what Liu Bang said, Ding Gu stopped his horse and led his troops away, no longer pursuing Liu Bang.

——Of course it wasn’t because Ding Gu was praised as a hero by Liu Bang!
But Liu Bang's words have a deeper meaning.

The birds are gone, the good bow is hidden, the cunning rabbit is dead, and the lackeys are cooked.

——Ding Gu may be a hero, or he may not be;
But there is no doubt that Ding Gu was a general of Chu.

In that era, the purpose of the existence of most Chu generals was to deal with Liu Bang's Han army.

The Chu generals wanted to achieve success and gain honors only by defeating the Han army.

What's more, the Overlord Xiang Yu was a bit contemptuous of others in military affairs. He even looked down on Han Xin and was unwilling to use him, let alone promote him to a higher position.

Therefore, out of consideration for the sake of keeping the enemy at bay and protecting his own safety - out of consideration for 'leaving the leader of the Han army and leaving a copy for the Chu army soldiers to kill monsters and gain experience', Ding Gu let Liu Bang go on the run.

Then, this boomerang, which had nothing to do with Xiang Xiang, hit Xiang Xiang right on the forehead three years later - when Xiang Xiang was given the surname Liu.

——In the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, shortly after Emperor Taizu Liu Bang founded the country and proclaimed himself emperor, Ding Gu, who had luckily survived the Battle of Gaixia, instead of hiding in a mountain valley, ran to Luoyang to find Liu Bang!
What to do?
To be rewarded.

Because Ding Gu felt that if he had not let Liu Bang go, Liu Bang would never have been able to establish a country, build a country, and rule the world.

Unexpectedly, when Liu Bang heard Ding Gu's intention, he said with a sigh: Ding Gong was a disloyal minister to King Xiang;
It was Ding Gong who caused King Xiang to lose the world.

He then ordered the execution of Ding Gu, and said to his subordinates: This will make future ministers no longer regard Ding Gong as an worthy opponent.

As for Ding Gu's life-saving grace, in the end, he only received a respectful "gong" from Liu Bang...

Then, public opinion exploded again.

——It makes the ministers in the future ineffective as Ding Gong!
——Liu Xiang!
——Don’t you have anything to say?!

——Ding Gu was a foreign minister who betrayed the Xiang family and suffered such an end. How can you, a member of the Xiang family, have the face to continue living?

——Hurry down and apologize to King Xiang in person!
For a period of time, there was always a faint sound of elegy outside Taohou Mansion.

Xiang Xiang didn't dare to intervene, let alone say anything.

Of course, there is no 'suicide out of shame'.

He endured this for more than 20 years, until the day he died. When he was seriously ill and lying on his deathbed, Xiang Xiang, who was unrecognizable, kept repeating: I am not guilty;
Not guilty...

When his father passed away, Liu She, as the eldest son of the Marquis, was of course by his bedside.

Moreover, whether it was the Tao Hou Prince before or the twenty Tao Hous after that, they all knew clearly the situation of the Tao Hou family.

——The Taohou family just can’t fit into the circle of founding fathers!
Because the title of Marquis was won on the battlefield, sword by sword and spear by spear;
However, the Taohou family was the one who stabbed the Xiang family in the back.

Not only can the Taohou family not fit into the Gonghou circle - they can't fit into almost any normal circle that has some moral pursuits.

Let’s take a look at the people in the Taohou family who have daily interactions and visit each other during festivals, weddings and funerals over the years. Who are they?

——Li Ji, the Marquis of Quzhou, who sold out his friends for fame;
—— His father sentenced Han to surrender to the Huns, and he himself sentenced Han Tuidang, the Marquis of Gonggao, to surrender to the Han.

——Zhang Shizhi, who was born into a merchant family, started out as a clerk, and eventually became a court official;
——Yuan Ang, a socialite who would not easily fall out with anyone.

Gone.

Liu She remembered it clearly: after his father died, not a single minister or noble family member came to offer condolences.

As for himself, Liu She could probably determine how many people would come to investigate him, depending on how many of the few old friends mentioned above were still alive.

To a certain extent, Liu She's appointment as prime minister can be regarded as a certain compensation from the late emperor on behalf of the Liu family for the unfair treatment the Taohou family had suffered in the past years.

——I just want to satisfy my desire to be a prime minister, just as a consolation;
By the way, I would like to take this opportunity to mention the status of the Taohou family - this family has produced a prime minister!

Therefore, as early as the beginning of his tenure, Liu She had already understood that he should regard the position of Prime Minister as a trial ticket and just satisfy his desire.

Just make a transition and when the right person comes along, give way to him/her.
If necessary, he could even make mistakes on purpose so that the emperor could dismiss him with justification.

Until this moment, Liu Rong hung his cloak on his shoulders and thanked him solemnly in front of all the ministers in the court;

Liu She felt so aggrieved that he could no longer live in Bengbu...

(End of this chapter)