Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 489 Liu Xie: No need to miss Emperor Gaozu, I will surpass him!

On the third day after Zhen Mi arrived in Chang'an, Liu Xie announced at the morning court his decision to enthrone Lu Lingqi as queen and Prince Liu Jue as crown prince.

As soon as the news came out, it caused an uproar.

All the ministers were extremely shocked by this.

Before Liu Xie announced this decision, all the officials in the court were speculating who would become the queen.

Some people thought that he would be won over by Lu Lingqi. After all, Lu Lingqi had a strong background, and Lu Bu had outstanding military achievements and was deeply trusted by the emperor.

Although the second "Empress Lu" makes some people feel scared, this Empress Lu is not the same as that Empress Lu, and they are different after all.

Moreover, when Ma Chao attacked Chang'an, many people were impressed by what Lu Lingqi said when she stood up and opposed Fu Wan's offering of the queen.

Therefore, many ministers thought that the throne would be taken by Concubine Lu.

However, some ministers believed that since Lu Lingqi had no children, while Zhen Mi had children and was favored by the emperor, she would have a greater chance of winning the throne.

The most important thing is that Lu Bu's status and position are already high enough. If Lu Lingqi is given the position of queen, it will be suspected of being an external relative who is becoming more powerful.

Everyone thought that the position of queen would either be Lu Lingqi or Zhen Mi. As for other concubines, they were not even among the candidates.

Because no matter in terms of the degree of favor from the emperor or identity and background, they cannot be compared with the two above.

But what no one expected was that the emperor actually divided the position of queen and crown prince into two, giving the position of queen to Lu Lingqi and the position of crown prince to Zhen Mi's child!

This is simply unheard of!

Therefore, after Liu Xie announced this decision, all the officials in the court petitioned the emperor to give it careful consideration.

However, Liu Xie did not listen to the opinions of his ministers and put an end to the matter.

Weiyang Palace, greenhouse.

Liu Xie had just retired from court and was being helped by palace maids to take off his imperial crown and put on his regular clothes for the four seasons.

An eunuch walked into the hall and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Grand Marshal and the Grand Tutor are outside the hall asking to see you."

"Let them in."

Liu Xie said without turning his head.

The eunuch withdrew.

After a while, Guo Jia and Jia Xu walked into the greenhouse. Seeing Liu Xie changing clothes, they stood aside and waited.

After Liu Xie changed his clothes, he turned around and looked at them, and asked, "Are you also here to discuss the matter of establishing a queen and a crown prince?"

He was not surprised by the arrival of Guo Jia and Jia Xu.

He made this decision without discussing it with the two of them, and since it was indeed somewhat shocking, it was normal for them to come and ask about it.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Guo Jia nodded, then said with a worried look: "Since ancient times, the eldest son has always been the heir, not the eldest son. Your Majesty has given the empress position to Concubine Lu and the crown prince position to Concubine Zhen's son. I am worried that this will lead to disaster."

The legitimate son is chosen as the heir instead of the eldest son. No matter whether it is the royal family or the aristocratic family, under normal circumstances, the heir is the legitimate son born to the wife. This is the default rule.

But Liu Xie's decision went against this common sense.

He made his eldest son the crown prince right after unifying the country, but did not give Zhen Mi the position of empress. Isn't this asking for trouble?

"Filial piety is justified."

Jia Xu also nodded in agreement with Guo Jia's words and said, "Duke Wen has made outstanding contributions and has great prestige. He is the best among the military commanders."

"Although Concubine Lu has no children now, who knows if she will give birth to a prince in the future? If that day comes, I'm afraid..."

Jia Xu didn't finish his words.

Sometimes, some things are not determined by whether people want to do them or not, but by the things that push them to do them.

Lu Bu has no grandson now, so naturally he has no intention of competing for the position of crown prince. But what if Lu Lingqi has a son in the future?

Even if Lu Bu still would not help his grandson and Liu Jue to fight for the throne, what about the generals and nobles under his command and around him?
Who doesn’t want to be a dragon’s servant?
Moreover, Lu Bu was already quite old. Once he died, no one would be able to suppress those generals. They would help Lu Lingqi's children to fight for the throne, which would surely lead to a bloody storm.

"Finished?"

Liu Xie listened to their thoughts without saying a word, and then asked.

Guo Jia and Jia Xu both nodded.

Liu Xie smiled and said, "I have considered all of your thoughts. It is indeed not a good idea to establish the eldest son instead of the legitimate heir."

"But I think that this kind of thing has been an unsolvable problem since ancient times. Even if I didn't make Jue'er the crown prince, and passed the throne to Concubine Lu's son in the future, wouldn't there be no dispute over the throne?"

"I know the temptation of this position better than anyone else. It cannot be solved by simply appointing the eldest son as the heir."

"I gave the position of Queen and Crown Prince separately, firstly to fulfill the two promises I made in the beginning, and secondly to cultivate the Crown Prince myself."

"I don't want an incompetent person to inherit the throne in the future. If he is qualified to inherit the throne, he will naturally be able to handle this matter well."

"As for whether this incident will set a bad example for future generations... I can only say that the changes in the world are unpredictable. How can I know what the future will hold?"

Liu Xie didn't think there was much wrong with his actions.

What sets a bad example and what has a bad influence.

It's all bullshit.

Looking at history from the perspective of future generations, in the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, how many princes were the heirs to the throne?

There are only four words in history books.

That is "striving to become emperor"!
He will teach Liu Jue well and try his best to train him to be a qualified heir, but if Liu Jue is incapable of keeping the throne, let someone else take it away.

The throne has to be fought for. He gave Liu Jue the qualification to inherit the throne and taught him how to be a good emperor. What else could he do if he couldn't become the emperor?
The struggle for the throne has always been like this.

Haven’t you seen the deaths of Fusu and Liu Ju; the sorrows of Li Jiancheng and Li Chengqian; and the five dragons ruling the country and the nine sons competing for the throne during the Ming and Qing dynasties?

These examples all show that whether or not one can inherit the throne does not depend on qualifications, but on ability, means, and luck.

It has little to do with establishing the eldest son as the legitimate wife.

After Liu Xie finished his speech, Guo Jia and Jia Xu looked at each other. They had never expected that the emperor would be so open-minded.

Although these words sound very unorthodox, if you think about it carefully, they do make some sense.

"Your Majesty's thoughts and vision are far superior to those of me. I admire you."

Guo Jia said after a wry smile.

Although he still couldn't quite understand and agree with the emperor's words, he also knew that the emperor's decision was not made on a whim, but was made after careful consideration.

That's enough.

As ministers, they could at most make suggestions and express their own ideas about who the throne should be passed on to, but the ultimate decision still lay with the emperor.

If you say too much, it will be an act of usurpation. Liu Xie smiled faintly and said, "I know you can't understand my thoughts, but it doesn't matter. History will bear witness to everything."

"Each generation has its own responsibilities and missions. I am a mortal and cannot care about what will happen in the future. Now I just want to lead the Han Dynasty to prosperity."

"Okay, sit down, I have other things to discuss with you."

Liu Xie asked someone to bring two cushions to Guo Jia and Jia Xu.

The two men also knew that the emperor wanted to discuss serious matters with them, so they perked up and sat down.

Liu Xie did not beat around the bush and said directly: "Now that the world is unified, many things can be put on the agenda."

"I want to talk to you about reform."

As soon as these words were spoken, both Guo Jia and Jia Xu's eyes turned stern!
reform!

They both knew that reforming the government was something the emperor was concerned about.

It’s just that the world was not unified before, and most of the energy was focused on suppressing rebels, so there were no conditions for reform.

But now it is different. All the rebels have been defeated and the power is in the hands of the emperor alone. It is the best time for reform!
"I have waited for this day... for six years."

Guo Jia said with emotion, his face full of sighs and mixed feelings.

It was after listening to the emperor's idea of ​​reforming the talent selection system that he decided to assist.

Now that so much time has passed, his original intention has not changed, and even more fortunately, the emperor has not changed either.

"I have been waiting for this day for a long time."

Liu Xie said with a smile, his eyes full of spirit, "The Han Dynasty has too many accumulated problems, and the aristocratic families have become too powerful. This is the fundamental reason for the decline of the Han Dynasty."

"If the Han Dynasty wants to prosper again, reform is a must. Only by eliminating the accumulated problems can a new life be achieved."

The Han Dynasty consisted of two dynasties, which were later called the Eastern Han and the Western Han.

The Western Han Dynasty was the peak period of the Han Dynasty. At that time, the imperial power was highly unified and the country was extremely powerful.

Although the Eastern Han Dynasty was nominally a continuation of the Western Han Dynasty, it could not be compared with the power of the Western Han Dynasty.

Because Liu Xiu unified the world with the support of the aristocratic families, which is fundamentally different from the unification of the world by Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang.

Of course, this does not mean that Liu Xiu was not capable. Although he was very capable, he would not be able to unify the world without the support of the aristocratic families.

So he exchanged interests with the aristocratic families, allowing himself to eliminate all opponents and restore the Han Dynasty within a few years.

The price to pay was that over the next few hundred years the aristocratic families rapidly developed into behemoths, with ever-growing influence, which directly affected the stability of the country.

Liu Xie was very clear about this, so he wanted to take advantage of the fact that he currently held great power and the fact that the world had just experienced a period of turmoil and was in the process of redistributing interests to carry out reforms.

There is no need to miss the time when Emperor Gaozu was alive, because he will surpass him!
"What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Jia Xu asked simply and directly.

Liu Xie said simply: "Reform the talent selection system and abolish the recommendation system; rectify the civil service system and rebuild the composition of officials at all levels of the country; reform the tax law, reduce the burden on the people, and curb the annexation of aristocratic families."

"These are the three basic directions of my reform."

The key to a country's prosperity lies in three things: selecting talents, rectifying the administration of officials, and curbing the influence of aristocratic families.

Of course, improving productivity is also a top priority, but this is something that needs to be done simultaneously and included in the content of the reform.

Although a strong army is also important, it is not the focus of reform now that the Han Dynasty has no rebels at home and no worries outside.

And now the army is already very strong.

Therefore, the most important and most difficult ones are the three points he just mentioned.

"This……"

After hearing this, Jia Xu was dumbfounded and broke out in a cold sweat at Liu Xie's shocking words.

He thought the emperor would say something about rectifying corruption and cracking down on the aristocratic families, but he didn't expect him to make such a big deal right away!

Abolish the recommendation system, rectify the administration of officials, reform the tax law and curb the power of aristocratic families!
Any one of these would be a major event, and if an emperor could accomplish any one of them, he could be called a sage monarch!
But the emperor intends to do all of them?
After Guo Jia was shocked, he said excitedly: "Good! Your Majesty is wise! I will fully support and cooperate with Your Majesty!"

Jia Xu's eyes twitched wildly, and he quickly held down the excited Guo Jia, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this matter has too great an impact. If we are not careful, the world will fall into chaos again!"

"Would you...consider this carefully again?"

He could imagine that once this news got out, it would directly cause war to break out again in the newly stabilized Han Empire.

"If the disease is incurable, how can it be cured without taking strong medicine?"

Liu Xie asked back, and then smiled and comforted Jia Xu: "Wenhe, don't panic. How could I not know that reform must be done gradually? What I just said was only the overall direction of the reform. I will naturally not start with drastic measures directly."

Liu Xie was not a fool. He knew that if those aristocratic families knew of his plan, they would all rebel tomorrow.

So he had to take it slow and boil the frog in warm water.

Jia Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Your Majesty is really a man who never stops talking until he is shocked. Next time, just finish your words in one breath. I am not young anymore and cannot stand such threats."

He nearly fainted from fright.

Guo Jia said contemptuously: "Wenhe is too timid. Reform is imperative. If we can eliminate the stubborn disease of our Han Dynasty, what does it matter if we are crushed to pieces?"

Jia Xu said unhappily, "I know you are the most noble, but I am a greedy minister in front of His Majesty, isn't that enough?"

Hearing the conversation between the two, Liu Xie laughed loudly, took their hands and said: "You are the vanguard generals of my reform. If I want to reform, I cannot do without your help."

"Okay, let me talk to you about what to do next, starting with reforming the talent selection system and abolishing the recommendation system."

"Feng Xiao should have some ideas about this matter."

Liu Xie looked at Guo Jia and said.

Guo Jia nodded slightly and said, "Since Emperor Guangwu first created the recommendation system, the path to officialdom has gradually been controlled by aristocratic families."

"It is extremely difficult for people without background and status to be promoted."

"This also led to the court being filled with people from wealthy families, and no one from humble backgrounds would be seen at all."

"Although I am from the Yingchuan Guo family, I am only a branch of the family. Even though I have great talent and learning, I cannot be recommended to serve as an official."

"If I had not been so lucky to meet Your Majesty, I would have been doing nothing now... Therefore, I think it is extremely important to have a fair selection system. Only in this way can the world's talents be used by the court."

"Instead of the rotten wood officials in the temple and the beasts eating the salary between the steps of the palace, they are all a bunch of people who are just sitting there doing nothing but eating for free!"

The more Guo Jia spoke, the more excited he became, and his expression became more indignant.

He really hated the system of recommendation.

That was why he was so excited when he heard the emperor propose a fair and just imperial examination.

Jia Xu sighed softly and patted Guo Jia's shoulder to comfort him. He could understand Guo Jia's feelings because he felt almost the same.

If he had no hope of becoming an official, why would he join the army and become someone else's aide?
(End of this chapter)