My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 570 The Lower Limit is More Important

Later generations often say that the last dynasty in Chinese history was the culmination of the centralized feudal system.

From this theory, later generations derived a conclusion.

—That last dynasty reached the pinnacle of feudalism in almost every aspect, with no room for further improvement and virtually no areas for further reform.

However, one point is controversial.

It was a unique and unprecedented historical event of that era: the struggle for the throne among the nine princes, and the resulting system of not establishing an heir apparent or the eldest son of the legitimate wife, but instead appointing the most virtuous and capable as heir.

Is this system good or bad?

In theory, it was indeed the best during the feudal era.

Because the concept of primogeniture is fundamentally based on bloodline, meaning "a son's status depends on his mother's," while the concept of seniority is based on birth order.

Neither of these two methods is as superior or scientific as the merit-based selection method of "appointing the virtuous and capable".

But everything has two sides.

In the political world, especially in the political arena of feudal times, whether something is scientific or superior is often not the most important factor to consider.

In his later years, did Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang not realize that his crown prince Liu Ying was weak and his third son Liu Ruyi was more outstanding and capable?
If we were to place this in two thousand years, in the last dynasty of Chinese history, the one who ultimately inherited the throne and became the 'Second Emperor of Han' might very well be Liu Ruyi!
But in the end, Liu Bang did not insist on his own way, deposing Crown Prince Liu Ying and establishing Prince Yin of Zhao, Liu Ruyi, as emperor.

Some say this was because Liu Bang was wary of the Lü clan, the maternal relatives of Crown Prince Liu Ying, as well as the officials, nobles, and other dignitaries who were deeply connected with the Lü clan.

Some say that it was the four reclusive scholars of the pre-Qin period, known as the "Four Sages of Shangshan," who made Liu Bang realize the extraordinary nature of Crown Prince Liu Ying, thus dispelling his idea of ​​deposing the heir and establishing another successor.

Some say that it was Xiao He, Zhang Liang, and other meritorious officials who unanimously opposed Liu Bang's decision to install Liu Ruyi as crown prince, thus securing Liu Ying's position as heir apparent.

In fact, as the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang did not consider any of the above-mentioned key factors.

—The Lü family?
Even the Ying and Xiang clans were swept into the dustbin of history by Emperor Taizu Liu Bang!
Even meritorious officials like Han Xin and Peng Yue were killed by Emperor Taizu Liu Bang!
What about the Lü family?
No matter how outstanding his Lü clan's achievements were, could they compare to Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin?

No matter how powerful they were, could they defeat the Qin Dynasty, which ruled the world, or even the Hegemon-King Xiang Yu?
—The Four Recluses of Shangshan, that's even more absurd.

It was already quite remarkable that four scholars from the pre-Qin period could receive reasonable courtesy in front of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang.

To put it bluntly, Emperor Taizu Liu Bang was already showing respect for the elderly and treating scholars with courtesy by kicking those four old men into a ditch or urinating on their hats.

As for the matter of deposing and establishing an heir apparent, let alone the four former Qin scholars—even if all seventy scholars appointed by the First Emperor were combined, it would not be possible to shake Emperor Taizu Liu Bang in the slightest.

—Xiao He, Zhang Liang, and other meritorious officials?

That's a plausible explanation.

As the founding emperor, Liu Bang always valued the opinions of meritorious officials such as Xiao He and Zhang Liang.

But still the same sentence.

The appointment of a crown prince is no ordinary state affair.

In other matters, such as the construction of the imperial palace or capital, or the establishment of national policies, Liu Bang might have listened to the advice of these veteran advisors.

But the crown prince, especially the crown prince of the founding emperor, is a matter of national security and even survival!

Unfortunately, the cautionary tale of the Qin Dynasty's demise under the second emperor occurred just over a decade ago!

No matter how oblivious Liu Bang was, or how much he listened to the advice of his meritorious officials, he could not possibly be influenced by these ministers on the issue of succession to the throne.

Ultimately, whether it was deposing Crown Prince Liu Ying, establishing Liu Ruyi as heir, or retaining Liu Ying as crown prince, only Emperor Taizu Liu Bang himself could make the final decision.

If Liu Bang wanted to depose Crown Prince Liu Ying, neither Lady Lü, the Four Sages of Mount Shang, nor the founding heroes led by Xiao He and Zhang Liang could have stopped him.

Conversely, if Liu Bang wanted to retain Liu Ying as crown prince, then no matter how exceptionally talented Liu Ruyi was, or how powerful Consort Qi's influence was, it still wouldn't be able to shake the position of the founding emperor.

In other words, the final factor influencing the decision was inevitably Liu Bang's own judgment.

Liu Bang would only make an independent decision after he himself came to the conclusion of whether he could do it or not.

Between Crown Prince Liu Ying and Prince Zhao Yin Liu Ruyi, the reason why Emperor Taizu Liu Bang ultimately made the decision of "no changes, no deposition or establishment" was because after Liu Bang tentatively revealed his intentions, he discovered an extremely serious problem.

—Political instability!

Liu Bang foresaw that if he insisted on deposing Crown Prince Liu Ying and instead establishing Liu Ruyi as the new crown prince, the court and the people of Chang'an would inevitably fall into a long period of chaos of unpredictable severity.

Veteran ministers like Xiao He and Zhang Liang have been addressing Empress Lü as "Sister-in-law" and Liu Ying as "Young Master" for so many years, which means they have long accepted the future trend of Empress Lü becoming Empress Dowager and Liu Ying becoming the Second Emperor of Han.

Once changes occur, these people will be at a loss and who knows what trouble they might cause.

Even if nothing went wrong and Liu Bang successfully changed the heir apparent to Liu Ruyi, how would Liu Ruyi treat veteran ministers like Xiao He, Cao Can, and Zhang Liang?

Trusting and appointing them is undoubtedly using the "remnants of the previous dynasty" as his arms;

However, if it is not used, or even punished, it will undoubtedly trigger a very serious political earthquake.

Therefore, after a brief test and careful consideration, Liu Bang finally concluded that the crown prince should not be deposed.

Because Crown Prince Liu Ying may not be outstanding, but he is the most 'suitable' and can best guarantee a stable transition of power;

On the other hand, Liu Ruyi may be truly outstanding and talented, but making him the heir apparent would inevitably lead to unnecessary chaos and risks.

At that time, the Han dynasty was established amidst ruins, with everything needing to be rebuilt.

Beset by internal and external troubles, with barbarians in the north and invaders in the south, we really can't afford any more trouble.

In short: establishing Liu Ying as heir is a safe bet; although the potential for growth is limited, it will at least guarantee a minimum standard of success.

Establishing Liu Ruyi as heir is risky; the potential ceiling is very high, but the floor is also inevitably extremely low—perhaps even lower than that of the Qin Dynasty, which perished after only two generations.

In order to maintain a minimum standard, Emperor Taizu Liu Bang ultimately gave up and decided not to reconsider the matter of deposing and establishing an emperor.

As for the persuasion from Xiao He and Zhang Liang, and the consideration for the Four Sages of Mount Shang, these were merely ways for Liu Bang to save face.

—The emperor, a man of great stature, cannot say that he was originally undecided and so he tested the waters, can he?

So you can only go along with it, pretend nothing happened, and subtly admit that you almost went astray, but luckily you realized your mistake and turned back.

For example, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen ultimately passed the throne to Emperor Xiaojing (Liu Qi), rather than to Liu Yi, the Prince of Liang, who died in a fall from his horse. This is despite the fact that Emperor Xiaojing eventually became Emperor Xiaojing, and Liu Yi died in a fall from his horse.

Initially, when Emperor Xiaojing was still a chess master and Prince Liang Huai was still alive, why did Emperor Taizong, who intended to depose the crown prince and establish another, ultimately not do so?

The answer is still the same word: stability.

The stability stems from the primogeniture system, which needs no further explanation.

With this understanding, it becomes easier to comprehend why the historical struggle for succession among the nine princes, the selection of a virtuous heir, and Liu Rong's unwavering commitment to restoring the Chinese imperial throne to the primogeniture system.

Appointing a virtuous person is the path to chaos!
In theory, selecting the most outstanding offspring as the heir to the throne is indeed the most scientific and superior selection method.

But the key issue is that the cost of identifying the concept of 'virtuous' was something that feudal times could not afford.

Because the concept of 'virtuous' is not purely objective reality, but is also accompanied by subjective judgment.

For example, Emperor Taizu Liu Bang had eight sons. The eldest, Liu Fei, was the King of Qi, and the second, Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, was the legitimate heir.

Then who is considered 'virtuous'?
Emperor Taizu Liu Bang would say: "My third son is Liu Ruyi, the Prince of Zhao."

Those who know history in the future, as well as Liu Rong, who is a time traveler in the present, would say that it was the fourth emperor, Emperor Xiaowen, Liu Heng.

Are the other sons all convinced?
At the very least, Liu Chang, the Prince of Huainan, would certainly not accept this!

For example, Emperor Xiaojing had more than a dozen sons, none of whom were legitimate sons, and Liu Rong was the eldest son of the current emperor.

Who is 'virtuous'?
Scholars and officials would say that Liu De, the second son of the emperor, known as "Little Master," was the most virtuous.
Military officers would say that Liu Fei, the fifth prince who went to war at the age of fifteen and quelled the Wu and Chu states, was the most virtuous.
Debaters who enjoy verbal sparring might say that Liu Pengzu, the seventh prince who was skilled in sophistry, was the most virtuous.
Those impoverished nobles and aspiring nobles who hoped to gain favor with the imperial family by offering women would say that Liu Sheng, the ninth prince, was the first to be considered a human-shaped stallion.

Of course, there are also historical figures like Emperor Jing of Han, and future generations who will say that Liu Zhi, the tenth son of the emperor, also known as Emperor Wu of Han, was the most virtuous.

Both sides have their own reasons;
Everyone has different standards of judgment, different perspectives on what constitutes 'virtuousness,' and even different interests regarding who is considered virtuous.

Almost everyone will judge the person who best suits their own wishes and desires as the 'most virtuous' based on their own standpoint and vested interests.

As for whether he is truly virtuous?
Anyway, this isn't absolute, everyone has their own opinion...

As for the eldest son and the legitimate heir, there is no room for discussion.

The legitimate heir is the legitimate heir, and the eldest son is the eldest son.

A legitimate son is born a legitimate son, and an eldest son is born an eldest son; there is absolutely no room for discussion.

It's impossible to say that princes who are neither the eldest nor the legitimate heir can always find a reason to consider themselves the eldest or the legitimate heir, even if they consider themselves the most virtuous.

In short: virtue needs to be judged.

It requires a tremendous amount of manpower, material resources, and military strength, as well as the tempering of specific events, and decades of systematic evaluation standards, to finally arrive at a general judgment result.

Even so, it's still impossible to prevent someone from 'pretending to be virtuous'.

At the same time, regardless of whether they are objectively virtuous or not, every candidate qualified to inherit the throne will subjectively consider themselves 'virtuous'.

Even if they know they are not 'virtuous' enough, they will pretend to be 'virtuous' in some way because of their yearning for the throne and supreme power.

This further increases the cost for the emperor to judge whether his successor is 'virtuous,' making it much more difficult and less likely to make a successful judgment.

Furthermore, in the process of judging whether a successor is 'virtuous', it is necessary to assess their competence by delegating power to external parties.
This adds a great deal of uncertainty to the potential succession to the throne in the later years of an emperor, as most of the candidates for the throne hold power.

The wisest may not be recognized by the emperor's discerning eye;
Even if the emperor's shrewd eyes spot it, it may not necessarily allow them to ascend the throne smoothly in the end;
Even if he successfully ascends to the throne, he may not be able to win the hearts of the people.

Even if he can win over the masses, he will inevitably cause a lot of trouble because of his disobedient younger brothers.

In summary, in the pursuit of "virtue," we have incurred excessive judgment costs, wasted resources that could have been used for people's livelihood and economic development, and created many unnecessary hidden dangers.

In comparison, the primogeniture system, which may seem somewhat outdated, unscientific, and inferior, saves the emperor the time, energy, and resources required to judge the merits of his successors to the greatest extent.
At the same time, it also minimized the potential instability factors that might arise during the transfer of power.

The time, energy, and resources spent judging whether a successor is qualified and excellent are all used to improve people's livelihoods, thus forming the foundation for the new ruler to consolidate his own position.

Furthermore, ensuring a basic standard for successors through one-on-one elite education is clearly much more convenient and less troublesome than methods such as the struggle for succession among princes or establishing a virtuous successor.

what?
You say this model can only ensure that no incompetent rulers emerge, but it's difficult to produce wise rulers?

Excuse me;
The Western Han Dynasty, relying on this model, produced five great rulers in succession: Emperor Taizong, Emperor Jingzong, Emperor Shizong, Emperor Zhaozong, and Emperor Zhongzong!

Even at the end of the dynasty, a great mage could still emerge and revive the Han dynasty!

In contrast, what about the last feudal dynasty that played the game of the Nine Princes' Succession?
嘿；
The perfect old man, those who know, know.

Of course, Liu Rong did not deny that, when necessary, choosing the best one would ultimately be beneficial to the ancestral temple and the state.

For example, after the Lü Clan Rebellion, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen was able to ascend the throne;
For example, after Liu He, the King of Changyi, was deposed, Emperor Xuan, Liu Bingyi, ascended the throne.

However, in non-essential circumstances, the advantages of primogeniture are actually quite high.

—At least in the pre-Christian era, when resources were scarce and civilization was underdeveloped, the superiority of primogeniture might even have been greater than that of merit-based succession based on 'selection of the virtuous'.

Again.

If you take too big a step, you'll easily go astray.

Policies are not necessarily better the more advanced they are.

Compared to being advanced, being 'suitable' and 'in line with the times' is more important.

However, the system of primogeniture is clearly more "suitable" for the Han dynasty today, and more in line with the current historical context and universal values ​​of the Han dynasty.

Historically, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Rong, received mixed reviews, but overall was still respected.

However, compared to gambling that the Han dynasty would produce another Emperor Wu, Liu Rong still hoped that the Han dynasty would produce several Emperors Jing.

——Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was born.

Emperor Xiaojing, on the other hand, was like a factory assembly line, mass-producing [employees].

At least Liu Rong was confident that he could cultivate his successor into at least the next Emperor Xiaojing.

(End of this chapter)