Zhang Ao, the king with a different surname, had just been demoted to the title of Marquis of Xuanping, so the position of King Zhao should be replaced by a descendant with the surname Liu. So who got the title of King Zhao? He is Liu Ying's younger brother and Liu Bang's favorite son, Liu Ruyi.
Although Liu Ruyi was born as a concubine, Liu Ruyi had a young, beautiful and charming mother - Qi Ji. The famous Qi Ji in history was a great beauty from Dingtao. Her status in Liu Bang's mind was second only to Empress Lu, perhaps even higher than Empress Lu. Everyone knows that Liu Bang is recognized as a lecher, and it is common for him to do scandalous things because of his lust.
Both are women, but Qi Ji's scheming, resourcefulness and experience are not as good as those of Empress Lu. However, she has all the abilities of a woman, especially the emperor's favorite. She is beautiful, versatile, good at singing and dancing, and can even act coquettishly and pretend to cry. Liu Ruyi was named King of Zhao because she was favored by Liu Bang.
Liu Ying, who is kind-hearted by nature, likes his younger brother Liu Ruyi very much. However, Lu Pheasant was mean and vicious, hated Qi Ji, and hated Liu Ruyi even more, because she was afraid that Liu Ying's crown prince position would be snatched away by Liu Ruyi. Liu Bang just liked Liu Ruyi and wanted to make Liu Ruyi the crown prince. Although Liu Ying is the prince, he is destined to survive in the cracks in the face of various relationships. In the palace, if you don't have the strength, it will be difficult for you to be the prince.
In July of the tenth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (197 BC), the Supreme Emperor Liu Taigong died. Qi Ji burst into tears and took this opportunity to ask Liu Bang to make Liu Ruyi the crown prince. Liu Bang was moved when he saw Qi Ji's pitiful appearance. Thinking that Liu Ying was weak and incompetent and far inferior to his concubine Liu Ruyi, he decided to abolish Liu Ying and establish Liu Ruyi. As soon as Liu Bang said that he wanted to establish another crown prince, the ministers held their own opinions and argued endlessly. The major interest groups in the court were fighting with each other. Liu Bang saw that the ministers were mostly protective of Liu Ying, so he did not dare to abolish Liu Ying rashly, but established Liu Ruyi. The idea has been made up, just waiting for the time to come. When the courtiers were arguing, a minister who could not speak but dared to speak out was killed - Zhou Chang, the imperial censor.
Zhou Chang was a fellow countryman of Liu Bang and served as a soldier in the Qin Dynasty. He stuttered, but was not afraid of death and dared to say whatever he wanted.
Let’s talk about an interesting story recorded in official history: Once, Zhou Chang went to the palace to report something during Liu Bang’s free time, and happened to bump into Liu Bang hugging his concubine Qi Qingqing in a show of affection. Zhou Chang was so angry when he saw this that he turned around and left.
Out of sight out of mind.
Liu Bang, who was a little embarrassed, immediately got up and chased him back, stretched out his hand to touch his neck, and asked: "What kind of emperor do you think I am?"
Zhou Chang raised his head and said very seriously: "You are the same emperor as Xia Jie and Shang Zhou."
Liu Bang was speechless and just smiled, but from then on he was afraid of Zhou Chang in his heart.
He had heard before that Liu Bang wanted to depose the crown prince Liu Ying. Zhou Chang, who was already very angry, said questioningly: "I can't say it well, but this... thing... is... just... no... no... ...If...if...Your Majesty...you...want to depose...the...Prince...I...I...will not...listen to...your call."
After hearing this, Liu Bang smiled and said he would not waste Liu Ying.
So the matter of deposing the prince came to an end.
Lu Zhi, who heard Zhou Chang talking next door, ran out, knelt in front of Zhou Chang and said, "Without you, the prince would have been deposed!"
For such a resolute person like Lu Fei to behave like this shows how important Liu Ying's position as prince is to her, and it also shows how helpless she is at this time. Zhou Chang temporarily retained Liu Ying's position as prince with a few words, and Lu Fei was grateful to him.
The matter of deposing the prince was put on hold. Not only did Qi Ji's wish come true, she was also sweating in her hands. Although Liu Ruyi is the King of Zhao, he is young, his mother has no power, and has no family background. Lu Pheasant is not a kind person, and the ministers of the court help Lu Pheasant's mother and son. Zhou Chang is a typical example. In the palace, once you get involved in a power struggle, you will definitely be killed if you don't succeed. For the safety of King Zhao and herself, she must find a powerful person to protect her. Who will be her protective umbrella? Qi Ji was very worried, who should she look for?
Liu Bang also knew that Liu Ruyi was only ten years old, and he was worried that if he died, Lu Pheasant would not let Liu Ruyi mother and son go, so he thought about how to save Liu Ruyi mother and son every day. He frowned, and from time to time he would sing a sad song.
When fighting Xiang Yu, Liu Bang could play "rogue", but he couldn't play "rogue" with Lu Pheasant. After all, there was a big difference between external and internal affairs, and one of the most important factors was that Lu Pheasant was even more "rogue" than him. . Last time, Liu Bang wanted to marry Princess Lu Yuan away from home, but he failed because he couldn't stand up to Lu Fei. Lao Lai hits Lao Lai, Lao Lai is in the family! .
Zhao Yao, the censor of Fuxi, saw that Liu Bang was worried and knew that the opportunity for promotion had come, so he said to Liu Bei: "Your Majesty, are you unhappy because King Zhao is young? However, Qi Ji has a deep conflict with the queen. She is worried that once you die, No one can protect King Zhao?" Liu Bang said, "That's true, I just don't know what to do."
"It's easy, as long as your Majesty arranges for King Zhao to have an assistant to the prime minister who will make the queen, prince and ministers respect and fear him."
"I think so too, but who among the ministers is suitable?"
"In my opinion, only Zhou Chang, the imperial censor, is qualified for the job. This man is upright and outspoken. Empress Lu, the prince and the ministers all respect and fear him."
Zhao Yao calculated that as long as Zhou Chang was squeezed out, Zhao Yao could take over the post of imperial censor. It is a rare and beautiful thing in the world to relieve the emperor's worries and to be promoted at the same time. After listening to Zhao Yao's words, Liu Bang felt that it made sense.
So, Liu Bang said to Zhou Chang, "I want to ask you a favor. You can go to the State of Zhao to be the Prime Minister and assist the King of Zhao." Zhou Chang was outspoken and outspoken. Liu Bang respected him seven points and feared him three points. Others Naturally, I fear him 70% and respect him 30%. As long as Zhou Chang is here, Qi Ji, mother and son can save their lives.
When Zhou Chang heard this, he cried and said: "I have followed you, the emperor, from the beginning. Why did the emperor abandon me to the princes halfway?" It is a great difficulty in the world to make a person who is upright and dare to speak out shed tears. Zhou Chang shed tears, showing his loyalty to Liu Bang.
"I know that if you do this, your rank will be lowered, and I can't help you. But I am really worried about the State of Zhao, and I am worried that the King of Zhao will be murdered. There is no other candidate except you, so just feel aggrieved!"
Zhou Chang, who heard Liu Bang's heartfelt words, had no choice but to agree, and it was Zhao Yao who finally succeeded him. At first, others said that Zhao Yao would be the one to succeed Zhou Chang. Zhou Chang was furious after hearing this, Xiao Xiaodao! To say that Zhao Yao is not qualified at all. But he didn't expect that Zhao Yao only said a few nice words in front of Liu Bang, and Zhou Chang would leave early. What's more, he didn't expect that after Zhou Chang left, Zhao Yao successfully persuaded Liu Bang to take over as Zhou Chang.
For some things, you can't just rely on strength, but also whether you can speak well. Zhao Yao is a person who can speak well. Zhao Yao made a plan to transfer Zhou Chang away. Lu Pheasant suddenly lost an arm and hated Zhao Yao.
As soon as Zhou Chang left, Liu Ying's protective umbrella was lost, and Lu Pheasant immediately frowned. Lu Pheasant was worried again and couldn't understand her worries. Someone suggested that she ask Zhang Liang to take action. At this time, Zhang Liang was in seclusion, wanting to be a god and ignoring worldly affairs. Zhang Liang had many clever plans. Lu Pheasant was overjoyed when he heard this suggestion and ordered Lu Ze to go and ask Zhang Liang to take action no matter what.
When Lu Ze saw Zhang Liang, he asked, "You are His Majesty's advisor and wise man. Now that His Majesty wants to depose the crown prince, how can you still sit back and relax?"
Zhang Liang replied: "His Majesty was trapped many times in the past, and it was only right that I came up with plans. Now the world belongs to the Liu family. Whoever he wants to establish and destroy is a matter of their flesh and blood. Even if we are ministers, So what if hundreds of people try to persuade me?”
Zhang Liang does not want to get involved in other people's family affairs, similar to Zhuge Liang.
Lu Ze, who received the death order, knew that he could not go back to see Lu Pheasant without results. Lu Ze is trying to be tyrannical, and no matter what, Zhang Liang must come up with a plan. Faced with Lu Ze's arrogant attitude, he could only give Lu Zhi a clear path.
"It's not enough to just talk about abolishing the establishment. There are four people that your Majesty admires but cannot recruit. Just hire those four people. Those four people are all old because your Majesty despises the scholars. , fled into the mountains and swore not to be Han ministers, but His Majesty values the four of them very much. If you can politely invite them with humble words, generous courtesy, and a letter written by the Crown Prince, you should be able to invite them. Ask them to assist the Crown Prince and let His Majesty see them when he goes to court. See you, it will be of great help.”
Who are these four people?
These four people are the Shangshan Sihao, namely Dongyuan Gong Tang Bing, Yongli Master Zhou Shu, Qili Ji Wushi and Xiahuang Gong Cui Guang. The four of them once composed a song:
There are high mountains and winding deep valleys.
Ye Ye Zizhi can cure hunger.
Tang Yu Shiyuan, where will I go?
The horse has a high roof, and its worries are great.
The fear of others in wealth is worse than the ambition of poverty and lowliness.
The general idea of the lyrics is that the mountains are high and the valleys are deep, wild fruits can satisfy hunger, and clear springs can quench thirst. The good old days of the humble corporal are over, where do we go? It's not good to be in the imperial court, where people are worried. If you want to be rich, you have to be driven by others. It is better to live a plain and carefree life. We keep ourselves clean and do not want to wade into that muddy water. We are poor, but we have aspirations to not be poor.
People are poor but their ambitions are not poor! It's from this song.
Zhang Liang was worthy of being the great counselor of the Han Dynasty. He hit the nail on the head, and Lu Gu indeed hired the four people. As soon as these four people came together, they came up with many clever tricks, allowing Liu Ying to pass through all the obstacles safely.
