Diqin Designer

Chapter 256 "The Great Han Chess Master"

"Zhou Bo, Chen Ping and others were all smart people. Ideally, they would not bet on such a possibility, but the future generations cannot be sure of the truth."

"After Liu Heng ascended the throne, he practiced frugality, worked hard to govern, and continued to implement the policy of 'resting with the people', allowing the country to further recuperate and recover its vitality. At the same time, he reduced corvée and taxes, reformed the prison system, abolished corporal punishment, and together with his son, Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, created the famous 'Reign of Wen and Jing' in history."

"Liu Heng was highly regarded in later generations. Even Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who initiated the 'Zhenguan Era' and the prosperous Tang Dynasty, regarded him as a role model and respected him very much."

"The Emperor of Qin, the Emperor of Han, the Emperor Taizong of Tang, and the Emperor Taizong of Song", the Emperor Taizong of Tang must be the "Emperor of Tang" among them. The Tang Dynasty was a dynasty that could be ranked alongside the Han Dynasty. The hero who founded its prosperous era actually respected Emperor Wen of Han, which shows how good the reputation of Emperor Wen of Han was.

When Ying Zheng heard this, he wanted to ask Li Nian, "Are there no emperors in later generations who take me as an example?" But he suppressed the urge to ask, as he knew the answer in his heart.

Li Nian continued, "During Liu Heng's 24 years in office, both the population and the economy have been greatly restored and developed. The population that had withered during the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty has prospered again, and the whole world has surplus food and money, which helped the Han Dynasty get through the difficult period at the beginning of its establishment."

"But Liu Heng also made mistakes. He neglected military preparations, which led to the Xiongnu army approaching Chang'an and burning down the Huizhong Palace..."

Li Nian looked at the First Emperor and said, "The Huizhong Palace was built by the Qin Dynasty. In history, your majesty also lived there when he toured various places."

When Meng Tian heard this, he found it a little unbelievable. Now the Huns in the north, who recognized the Qin Dynasty as their big brother, could still march to Chang'an. Did the Huns have such strength and courage?

Seeing the confusion on Meng Tian's face, Li Nian smiled and said, "The Xiongnu at that time were not the Xiongnu of Daqin today. Under the leadership of Maodun, the Xiongnu were extremely powerful. Although Maodun had passed away for several years when the Xiongnu army arrived at Chang'an, the Xiongnu he left behind were still powerful."

"At that time, the Han Dynasty had not recovered its vitality and could not fight the Xiongnu, so it adopted the policy of marriage to ease the relationship with the Xiongnu."

He heard a familiar person again, and it was a dead man. Meng Tian finally knew the truth about Maodun's death. Maodun was a powerful leader of the Xiongnu. Under his leadership, the Xiongnu became strong. After knowing this history, how could Your Majesty send Maodun back to the Xiongnu?
So, in fact, it was not Prince Li Nian who killed Maodun, but Your Majesty who did it, and Prince Li Nian took the blame for Your Majesty.

But it is really hard to imagine that the Huns could become so powerful that they could march to the capital of the Han Dynasty, forcing the Han Dynasty to hold its nose and marry its princess to them as a marriage alliance. No wonder Master Li Nian hated marriage alliance so much, he must have felt it was humiliating.

Meng Tian said: "Even if there are women who marry the Xiongnu, how can the Xiongnu be satisfied with just a few women? They will definitely become a threat to the Han Dynasty!"

Li Nian nodded and said, "That's right. The Xiongnu problem has been plaguing the Han Dynasty for many years since Emperor Gaozu. It was not until the reign of Emperor Wu that the Xiongnu dared not invade the border so recklessly."

"Liu Heng's second major mistake was that he promoted the policy of recuperation. Although this policy was good, he was too laissez-faire. He even gave up the salt and iron monopoly and the right to mint coins, which greatly increased the power of local tyrants and the strength of the vassal states. This laid the groundwork for his son Emperor Jing's 'Rebellion of the Seven Princes'."

Ying Zheng nodded. He now knew very well how important the salt and iron monopoly and the right to mint coins were. This was an important purse that must absolutely be owned by the central court. How could it be granted to others?

But Liu Heng let all these go. It would be normal for chaos to occur, and if there was no chaos, something strange would happen. In this regard, he would definitely be better than Liu Heng.

Now Ying Zheng has a new goal in mind. He wants to be stronger than those wise rulers in later generations and become a truly unique emperor who has never been seen before and will never be seen again. That is, he wants to do what those wise rulers have done, and he also wants to do well what those wise rulers have not done well. He only hopes that the heaven can give him more years.

Li Nian didn't know that the First Emperor had the idea of ​​comparing himself with later emperors, and continued, "Liu Heng's mistake is also related to the ruling ideology of the early Han Dynasty. At that time, the Han Dynasty ruled the world with the Huang-Lao school, and I have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the Huang-Lao school with Your Majesty in the past."

"Overall, Liu Heng's merits outweighed his faults, so after his death, he was given the temple name Taizong and the posthumous title Emperor Xiaowen, and was later called Emperor Wen of Han."

"After Liu Heng passed away, his son Liu Qi succeeded him. He was later known as the 'Han Dynasty Chess Saint'!"

Meng Tian asked curiously, "Could it be that Liu Qi's chess skills were so good that even people in later generations were impressed by him?"

"No, Liu Qi's chess skills are not very good, at least not top-notch."

This made Meng Tian even more curious. Even though he was not very good at chess, he was still called the "chess saint". Could it be that he made a significant contribution to the development and spread of chess?
Li Nian said: "When Liu Qi was the crown prince, Wu Wang's son Liu Xian came to the capital and accompanied Liu Qi to drink and play Liubo chess. Then the two had a dispute over the chess."

"According to common sense, although Liu Xian is the crown prince of Wu, Liu Qi is the prince and has a more noble status. Even if Liu Qi is not right, Liu Xian should give in to Liu Qi, but Liu Xian just doesn't give in."

"Liu Qi picked up the chessboard and hit Liu Xian's head a few times, successfully winning the game with the chessboard, and Liu Xian could only win it back in his next life."

It was difficult for Meng Tian to find the right words to describe his feelings after hearing these words. It seemed that this was how the title of "Han Chess Saint" came about. When he couldn't beat others at chess, he would beat them to death with the chessboard, but he was still alive, so he won!

People in later generations were also quite interesting. They deliberately gave Liu Qi the title of "Chess Saint of the Han Dynasty", which means that he was a bit of a useless chess player, and his stamina must be very strong. If his own son was beaten to death while playing chess with the crown prince, the King of Wu would definitely have a reaction.

Li Nian said: "Liu Qi beat Liu Xian to death, and it is not easy to deal with his father Liu Heng. Liu Xian has been beaten to death, and we can't give Liu Qi's life to the King of Wu, right? We can only send Liu Xian's body back to Wu and let the King of Wu bury him. But his own son was beaten to death, and the old man sent the young one away. How can the King of Wu not feel resentful?"

"This is also one of the reasons why many people in later generations believed that King Wu Liu Bi would later unite with other princes to launch a rebellion."

"After Liu Qi succeeded to the throne, he continued the policies of his father, Emperor Wen of Han, which allowed Emperor Wen's reign to continue. Together with his father, they are known as the 'Reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing'. However, his father actually made greater contributions to the Reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing."

"In terms of military preparation and diplomacy, Liu Qi was not like his father who neglected military preparation, which led to the Rebellion of the Seven Kings, but he also put down the rebellion of the Seven Kings. He adopted a policy of both peace and appeasement towards the Xiongnu and the Baiyue. He made peace with the Xiongnu and appeased the Baiyue in the south. Although he did not take the initiative to attack, he actively defended."

"However, Liu Qi also had his faults. His greatest fault was probably that he left a great hidden danger for the Han Dynasty. Liu Qi's mother was Empress Dowager Dou, a woman who left a name in history. Because of his mother, Liu Qi granted many of his relatives by marriage the title of marquis, allowing the power of his relatives by marriage to grow rapidly in the Han Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)