History Live: Starting from Qin Shi Huang

Chapter 131 System Update
Han Dynasty, during the first year of the reign of Emperor Jingdi.

Liu Qi's health was already not good at this time. He struggled to hold on and watched the sky curtain with Liu Che, the best successor in his mind.

Seeing that the issue of the princes left by his father was mentioned in the sky curtain, he just smiled, turned to look at Liu Che and said: "Che'er, I hope you can handle some things more calmly. After all, although some problems need to be solved, it also takes time."

Just like the power of the princes that grew stronger during Liu Heng's reign, did Liu Heng really not know about it?
No, it's just that, just like the Han Dynasty's overall national policy of recuperation over the years, the growth of the princes was just a side effect caused by the lack of other options at the time. Perhaps they could be restricted by various means to prevent their power from being too strong, but the overall trend was difficult to change.

Since he ascended the throne, the power of the princes began to weaken. Although he was threatened once during the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, the power of the princes was weakened and their activities were restricted afterwards. "The princes were not allowed to govern the country again, and the emperor appointed officials for them." In this way, a major hidden danger was eliminated for Che'er in the future.

As for his son, Liu Qi saw clearly that he had the same determination and pride as himself. When he was a hundred years old, he would definitely want to conquer the Xiongnu...

However, this cannot be achieved overnight.

Liu Che was full of confidence and high spirits, and the youthful spirit was fully demonstrated in him: "Don't worry, father, how could I make such a mistake! I will definitely realize the long-cherished wish of our Han Dynasty and avenge the previous shame!"

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che no longer cared about those princes. After all, they had long been unable to oppose the central government and influence its policies. Instead, he paid more attention to the local powerful families.

Some of these local nobles rose to power through the Han Dynasty's military merits, some were related to the wealthy merchants mentioned in Tianmu, and some were both and intertwined with each other. These people affected the Han Dynasty's most basic control over various places.

Although the appointed officials may not be able to fully and accurately convey the emperor's intentions, they are court officials after all and can be dealt with according to various laws. But if the local power is completely seized by the powerful families, then how much difference is there between that piece of land and the actual fiefdom?
What the Han Dynasty has been striving for is to eliminate the fiefdoms that have been established since the founding of the country, so that all these lands, populations and other resources can be returned to the central government and under the control of the emperor, thereby strengthening the emperor's power.

These powerful families undoubtedly violated this principle.

Of course, as a wise and powerful emperor, he naturally had countermeasures. He regularly relocated the powerful families in order to strengthen control and interrupt their development. However, such power would only increase, not weaken; and could the central power of the Han Dynasty maintain the suppression of these powerful families?

You know, the reason why he was able to successfully relocate the wealthy families on a regular basis was not because of the power of the emperor, but because of real power.

Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but repeat the old saying in his mind: "Everything in our Ming Dynasty is good, especially the people, but there are some local tyrants who don't understand the imperial decree and are unwilling to abide by our rules and regulations. There are also some people who, for the so-called selfish interests, have thrown the entire China and all the people behind and bought everything."

The generals nodded one after another, expressing their absolute agreement and support for Wansui's words.

Among the civil servants, some were a little embarrassed. After all, there were few generals who came from noble families, and most of them were peasants. The civil servants were different, as many of them came from families with a certain background.

As for who Zhu Yuanzhang was targeting without naming him, they all knew it. It was just the aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River! It wasn't just one or two days that Wansui hated those people. With the story about Taizong in Tianmu, Wansui hated them even more.

Haven’t you noticed that during this period, people from Jiangnan in the court are criticized more frequently than others.

[Of course, these problems have historical reasons and are characteristics of the times.

Many of these issues were alleviated or even resolved after Liu Qi ascended the throne. When Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he carried out more thorough governance, making the central imperial power of the Han Dynasty even stronger.

However, the problem of powerful local tyrants was not completely eradicated by these two generations of emperors. On the contrary, as time went by, the powerful local tyrants gradually became stronger. The migration method that had existed since the founding of the Han Dynasty was destroyed during the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han. Later, Emperor Cheng of Han and Emperor Ai of Han were even more unable to cope with it.

"During the Kaiyuan period, since the Tianbao period, the laws and regulations have been relaxed and corrupted, and the evils of annexation have exceeded those during the Cheng and Ai periods of the Han Dynasty."

By the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it had been impossible to separate itself from the powerful since its founding. The founding emperor, Emperor Guangwu of Han, could only reach a compromise with the powerful. The power of the powerful penetrated into the entire system of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The only way for the court to form a balance with the powerful was to appoint local officials.

Eastern Han Dynasty, the 17th year of Jianwu.

Liu Xiu smiled bitterly. This was indeed the situation of his Han Dynasty. There was no reason to defend it, nor was there any need to defend it.

After all, his founding of the country was indeed deeply connected with a group of powerful people, and even he himself had a certain powerful background; and if it is said that after ascending the throne like Emperor Gao, he relied on the power in his hands to reshape the order and eliminate the founding heroes...

He can't.

After all, these powerful people have been operating for many years, and their power is no longer limited to the economy. They are not limited to the military like the meritorious officials of Emperor Gao, and their military is not very reliable. Their tentacles are everywhere, including the economy, culture, military, politics, and public opinion...

Even though he was the most powerful founding emperor in theory, he could only weaken them through some means and reach a tacit treaty with these powerful people.

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng found another person who needed to be dealt with.

Nowadays, the local powerful families are basically nobles from the six kingdoms. They rely on the power of their ancestors to act tyrannically and unscrupulously in the local area.

But it seems that even without these powerful families, new power groups will emerge and become local powerful families, influencing the central power and making it impossible for the court to directly control the local grassroots.

I think that some of the literati and aristocrats in the Ming Dynasty were also converted from these local nobles.

The game between the central government and local governments has never stopped.

This requires that the successor of the Qin Dynasty must be a decisive person who can resolutely deal with the problems in various places and nip all the buds in the bud.

Liu Bang also secretly raised his vigilance against local nobles and decided to add this item to the education of his descendants after the end of the Tianying period. He did not rely on Liu Ying, but on the emperors who came after him.

As for Lu Zhi, this woman doesn't need to be reminded by myself. It's so obvious, she must have remembered it in her heart a long time ago.

He began to be curious about the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Emperor Guangwu..." The word "Wu" is needless to say. Founding emperors usually have to fight on the battlefield and conquer the world with swords and guns; but Guang,

"Achievements are called 'light', those who can carry on the legacy are called 'light', those who are humble are called 'light', and those who have outstanding achievements are called 'light'." Xiao He recalled. Apart from other praises of achievements, the one who can carry on the legacy is equivalent to revival. If we add the word 'martial', which means to overcome disasters, it clearly points out the difference between the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang sighed, "My Han Dynasty has truly been usurped." He originally thought that it was for the same reason as the classification of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.

[No matter what, Liu Heng stabilized the situation of the Han Dynasty, promoted the development of the Han Dynasty's national strength, and further adjusted the political structure of the Han Dynasty, allowing the Han Dynasty to continue to be passed on.

At the same time, he also set an example for later emperors who were promoted from minor clans to major clans, so that they could follow a precedent - although not everyone knew how to learn from the precedent. 】

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

"..." Liu Bang was silent. There was nothing wrong with this precedent, but the person who came later and didn't know how to learn from the precedent, wouldn't it be the same in his Han Dynasty?
No, it's impossible. It must be some fool from some later dynasty! Just like Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty, who didn't even know how to reduce the power of the feudal lords.

Han Dynasty, the third year of Yuankang.

Liu Bingyi was speechless. It was obviously referring to Liu He.

There was a good example in front of him, but he didn't learn from it. He had just been crowned emperor and hadn't even taken the throne firmly, but he was actually thinking about getting rid of Huo Guang...

It is not surprising that he ascended the throne quickly and was deposed just as quickly.

Moreover, he has too many handles and doesn't know how to cover up at all. He just lets himself go, which makes it too easy for others to destroy him.

It’s no wonder that I made him the Marquis of Haihun this year, with a fief of 4,000 households.

[Emperor Wen's will said: I know that there is no immortality in the world. Death is the common sense of heaven and earth, the unchanging natural law of all things. What is there to be sad about! In this era, people are happy to live and hate death. I do not agree to spend all my wealth to bury the dead and bring burdens to the living. Moreover, my virtue is shallow and I have not brought any benefits to the people. Now that I am dead, if I let my subjects mourn for me for a long time, endure the torture of cold and heat for so long, make the fathers and sons of the people sad, and the elderly sad, and then restrict their diet and stop offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods, this will aggravate my moral failure. How can I be worthy of the people of the world! I have inherited the throne and entrusted myself to the kings of the world with my insignificant body for more than 20 years. Thanks to the blessing of the gods, the country is blessed, and the country is peaceful and there is no war. I am dull by nature and often afraid that I will do something wrong and bring shame to the virtues of the previous emperor; I am afraid that as time goes by, I will not have a good end because of my moral failure. Now that we are lucky enough to live out our lives and be supported by the ancestral temple of Liu Han, what is there to be sad about? Three days after the promulgation of my will, mourning activities will be stopped and all mourning clothes will be taken off. People should not be prohibited from marrying wives, marrying daughters, offering sacrifices, drinking, and eating meat. Starting with relatives and officials who handle funerals and participate in memorial services, no one should go barefoot. The hemp towel tied on the head and the hemp rope tied on the feet should not be more than three inches wide. Do not put mourning clothes on vehicles and weapons, and do not organize people to come to the palace to cry and mourn. Relatives and officials in the palace who should cry and offer sacrifices should come at the specified time in the morning and evening, and cry only when offering sacrifices, and stop immediately after the sacrifices. It is strictly forbidden for anyone to cry at the altar without authorization except for the morning and evening crying and offering sacrifices. After the burial, those who should wear mourning clothes for nine months should wear them for fifteen days; those who should wear mourning clothes for five months should wear them for fourteen days; those who should wear mourning clothes for three months should wear them for seven days; and they should take them off at the end of the period. Other issues not clearly stipulated in this edict shall be handled in accordance with the intention of this edict. This will shall be announced to all the subjects of the world so that the people know my intention. The mountains and rivers around the Ba Mausoleum shall remain in their original state and shall not be changed. The concubines in the harem, from "Madam" to "Minor Eunuch", shall be sent back home. Lieutenant Zhou Yafu shall be appointed as General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Guo Han as General of Garrison, and Doctor Zhang Wu as General of Mausoleum Restoration. 16,000 soldiers from nearby counties and 15,000 soldiers from the Internal History Department shall be recruited and assigned to General Zhang Wu to dig the tomb well and fill it with soil. A certain amount of money and silk shall be given to all princes and filial and hardworking people.

This will of Emperor Wen shows his wisdom and benevolence, his gratitude for everything, and his indifference to life and death, which is rare in history. He reigned for 23 years, was lenient in politics, abolished harsh laws, and founded a prosperous and strong Western Han Dynasty. He is one of the greatest emperors in history and is highly praised by later generations.

Early Han Dynasty.

"As expected of you, you are my son," Liu Bang laughed. Lu Zhi rolled her eyes and praised herself highly.

[This episode of Emperor Wen of Han ends here. See you next time. ]

[Ding, the system is updating, please wait for the update to complete. ]

[Update content barrage (modern people cannot see the barrage of ancient people, so modern barrage will not appear.), chat group (you can only invite people from your own dynasty)]

People from all dynasties became interested in the updated content of the sky curtain and couldn't wait to study it.

Qin Dynasty.

This time, Emperor Wenzong of Han was the closest to the Qin Dynasty, and the social and political environment he lived in was also the most valuable for reference to the Qin Dynasty.

The emperor and his ministers of the Qin Dynasty all agreed that many of the policies and practices of the Han Dynasty were worth referring to and could be applied with some modifications. As for their work, the ministers had already been trained by the emperor, and they did not need to be specifically instructed or urged by Ying Zheng. They had already spontaneously picked out the content that was more in line with the national conditions of the Qin Dynasty and began to try to add, modify, delete, and subtract in order to find the most suitable solution.

Early Han Dynasty.

After Liu Bang finished viewing the sky curtain, he discussed with Xiao He and others how much of Liu Heng's policies were in line with the current content of the Han Dynasty, and tried to delete or add some of them and then implement them.

Then he talked with Lu Zhi, because Liu Bang knew that after his death, the Han Dynasty would still rely on Lu Zhi.

Han Dynasty, during the first year before Emperor Wen.

After the end of the Sky Curtain, Liu Heng did not have to make many adjustments - many of his policies and measures were proven to be correct, and the events of the late Han Dynasty were too far away and beyond his reach, so naturally he did not need to care too much about them.

The most important thing he needs to adjust now is his attitude towards the princes of the same surname.

It is true that we rely on princes with the same surname and expand the power of princes with the same surname to fight against the military merit group, but now it seems that a certain degree of restriction is indeed needed.

However, Liu Heng did not intend to suppress the growth of the power of the clan princes with the same surname too much. The reason was the same. The most important contradiction at the moment, that is, the role of the clan princes with the same surname, was to form a balance with the military merit group. If it was suppressed too much, wouldn't it be ineffective?
As for the rebellious princes of the same surname, their power is not yet so strong.

(End of this chapter)