After thousands of calls, Liu Hengfang finally proclaimed himself emperor, just like a pipa girl. When the pipa girl comes on stage, the scene must be cleared for her and the performance area must be vacated. When Liu Heng proclaimed himself emperor, the court officials should clean up the scene for him and create a stage for him to show off his talents.
The new emperor wants to live in Weiyang Palace, but the old emperor cannot. In the battle to annihilate the Lu family, Liu Xingju did not make any great contribution, so he took the initiative to ask for help in the hope of making up for his contribution. Xia Houying drove Liu Xingju to Weiyang Palace and Qing Palace. As soon as he entered the palace gate, several of Liu Hong's guards held halberds and blocked him from entering. Liu Xingju explained the reason to Liu Hong's guards in detail, and the guards retreated on their own.
Liu Xingju told Liu Hong that he was not Liu Ying's son and could not be emperor. Liu Hong was very confused. He was clearly Liu Ying's son before, but why was he suddenly not the son now? Xia Houying carried Liu Hong into the car, and Liu Hong asked softly: "Where are you going to put me?" Xia Houying replied: "It's in Shaofu, not far away."
The Han Dynasty, in the sense that it carried its master to escape, was pulled out by Xia Houying's carriage. Xiang Yu pursued Liu Bang, and Xia Houying used his advanced driving skills to protect the embarrassed Liu Bang and the cowardly and incompetent Liu Ying. Now, Xia Houying is old and strong, and he has fulfilled his mission and sent Liu Hong away safely, ushering in the beautiful era of Emperor Xiaowen. Xia Houying was loyal to the Liu family and remained unchanged for a hundred years. He did his best to pick up Liu Bang and send him off, and he also worked hard to see off Liu Bang's descendants.
At this time, something unexpected happened again. When Liu Heng checked into Weiyang Palace, several unruly guards held halberds to block him, saying that the emperor was there and not allowed to enter. Zhou Bo immediately announced that the old emperor was fake and was deposed; the new emperor in front of him was real. The guards retreated after hearing this, and Liu Heng was able to enter Weiyang Palace safely. After entering the palace, Liu Heng appointed Song Chang as General Wei to pacify the northern and southern armies and protect the royal family. He also appointed Zhang Wu as Lang Zhongling to manage the affairs of the palace.
As soon as he entered Weiyang Palace, someone was blocking him with a halberd, which was very disadvantageous. Liu Heng felt slightly unhappy. In order to eliminate Liu Heng's concerns and reduce unnecessary worries about the future, the death of Liu Hong's brother was inevitable. The sons of Liu Yingsheng, including Liu Qiang, King of Huaiyang, Liu Shan, Marquis of Xiangyang, Liu Chao, Marquis of Zhi, and Liu Wu, Marquis of Huguan, all lived such miserable lives, so sad and tearful!
Liu Heng was very kind and offered amnesty to the whole world. A general amnesty is something the emperor must do after he ascends the throne, but some people cannot be pardoned, such as the fake prince Liu Hong and his brother.
In 179 BC, Liu Heng ascended the throne as Emperor Xiaowen, known as the first year of Xiaowen in history. Emperor Xiaowen was benevolent and generous, and practiced virtuous governance, which opened the door to governance that would later be called the "Government of Wen and Jing".
The courtiers choose the emperor, and the emperor also appoints and removes the courtiers, rewards good deeds and punishes delinquents. People's likes and dislikes often become the standard of good deeds, especially for those who hold great power. After Liu Heng proclaimed himself emperor, he first granted titles to veterans Song Chang and Zhang Wu, all based on his personal wishes. Liu Ze proposed to welcome Liu Heng, and his merits were particularly high. Liu Heng made him King of Yan, which was also his personal will. Liu Heng's delay in granting titles to the brave Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju who came forward was due to his own will.
After Liu Heng ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Chen Ping claimed to be ill and resigned as the right prime minister. Chen Pingzhi was far-sighted, followed Liu Bang, worked hard and achieved great results, but suddenly resigned, Liu Heng was very puzzled. Liu Heng asked, and Chen Ping told him that when he followed Liu Bang to conquer the world, Zhou Bo's contribution was not as great as his; in killing the Lu family, Zhou Bo's contribution was greater than Chen Ping's. Chen Ping wanted to make Zhou Bo the right prime minister. Liu Heng adopted it and made Zhou Bo the Prime Minister of the Right, Chen Ping the Prime Minister of the Left, and Guan Ying the Taiwei.
Liu Heng returned Chengyang County, Jinan County and Langya County to Liu Xiang, completing the seventy cities in Qi's fiefdom. Liu Xiang raised an army and made a big fuss, which was the loudest and most influential. In the end, he could only return to Qi's territory, and he was very unhappy. Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju waited for several years for the reward, but Liu Heng gave the King of Zhao to Liu Sui, the son of King Zhao You, and named his son Liu Yi the King of Liang. Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju risked their lives and spent a lot of effort. It was okay that their eldest brother Liu Xiang could not become the emperor. They even lost the positions of King Zhao and King Liang promised by Chen Ping and Zhou Bo. They felt very depressed.
Bo Ji, who had suffered for decades, finally waited until her son became the emperor. Empress Dowager Bo asked her filial son Liu Heng to once again reward those who had contributed to the murder of the Lu family. This time the rewards were mostly material rewards, with the exception of Liu Jie, who was named Marquis of Yangxin. Zhou Bo transferred all the rewards he received this time to Bo Zhao.
Two years later, in the second year of Xiaowen (178 BC), Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju finally waited for the reward. After Liu Heng proclaimed himself emperor, he knew that Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju's original intention was to welcome Liu Xiang as emperor. Although Liu Fei's three sons worked hard and made great achievements, they all had their own plans, and Liu Heng was unhappy. Therefore, they only cut two counties from Qi State to the two brothers, and named Liu Zhang King of Chengyang and Liu Xingju as King of Jibei. To kill the Lu family, the three of them took the lead in rising up and raising the flag of righteousness. However, in the end, the Qi State was cut off, the fiefdom was small, and the three brothers were full of complaints.
Liu Heng has been emperor for several years, but he has not yet established a prince. The ministers have repeatedly advised him. Liu Heng said many times that he had little virtue and little merit and was not worthy of being crowned a prince. The courtiers persuaded him again, so Liu Heng agreed and made Liu Qi the crown prince. Liu Qi is very similar to Liu Heng, he is kind, kind and filial to his elders. When a prince is established, the mother is as valuable as the son. Liu Qi's mother Dou Ji is the queen, and she is known as Queen Dou. The harem was settled, the courtiers were settled, and the feudal state was settled. Liu Heng's world was running smoothly, with less taxes and less corvee, and people's lives were naturally stable.
Liu Heng's character was lenient and benevolent. Under his rule, politics were clear, punishments were rarely used, and even the crime of sitting was abolished.
Liu Heng has a gentle personality, a kind heart, and cares about the people. He plans to greatly reduce the punishment and give a lighter sentence to all crimes. Once, he asked the right prime minister Zhou Bo how many cases the court settled in a year, but Zhou Bo couldn't answer. He also asked how much grain he earned in a year, but Zhou Bo still couldn't answer. The emperor asked, but Zhou Bo couldn't answer. The latter's pride suddenly disappeared and he was sweating profusely.
In desperation, Liu Heng had to ask Chen Ping, and Chen Ping replied that there were professionals to manage it. For example, he would ask Ting Wei to resolve the case, and Qian Gu would ask Zhi Su Neishi. Liu Heng said, in this case, what role does the prime minister have? Chen Ping said that the prime minister assisted the emperor to straighten out the yin and yang, adjust the four seasons, go down to support the princes, appease the people, make the people live a good life, and manage the officials well. Chen Ping said that people could not say what they wanted to say. Liu Heng respected him and stopped asking questions.
After resigning from the court, Zhou Bo blamed Chen Ping for not teaching him in advance. Chen Ping said that Zhou Bo was the right prime minister and should have known about it, and added, "If Liu Heng asked how many thieves there are in Chang'an, how would he answer?"
Chen Ping asked Zhou Bo many of his worries. Zhou Bo suddenly had an epiphany and knew that such questions could not be answered directly. If you can't answer directly, Zhou Bo is dull, has sluggish thinking, and has poor eloquence, so he can't answer at all.
After this incident, Zhou Bo admired Chen Ping's wisdom and bowed to him. Zhou Bo knew that it was difficult to be qualified for the position of Prime Minister of the Right, so he asked Chen Ping to serve as Prime Minister of the Left. Liu Heng happily agreed.
