Liu Rong had been deposed for two years. Perhaps because his mother died and he could no longer see the hope of restoration, he expanded the palace and occupied the ancestral temple area of his grandfather Liu Heng, Emperor Wen. Therefore, he was summoned by Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty to pay an audience. Liu Rong set off on his journey, but the axle broke when he got on the car. This was considered an ominous sign. The elders in Jiangling looked at each other and cried, saying, "The king will never come back!" ("My king will not rebel") Sure enough, as soon as Liu Rong arrived in Chang'an, he was summoned to the Lieutenant's Mansion (in charge of Chang'an's security guard) and handed over to Lieutenant Zhidu for interrogation.
Liu Rong in prison wanted to write a letter to Emperor Jing, but Zhidu gave the jailer guarding Liu Rong a death order and strictly prohibited them from giving Liu Rong knives and pens. Later, with the secret help of his teacher and former Taifu Wei Qihou Dou Ying, Liu Rong obtained the sword and pen and was able to write the letter. Liu Rong committed suicide immediately after handing over the "blood letter". "The King of Linjiang thanked you for the letter and committed suicide."
Generally speaking, most of the letters written in prison are to admit mistakes and beg for mercy, or to defend what one has done, or to be moved by emotion. In short, the purpose of the letter should be to save one's life. But why did Liu Rong commit suicide immediately after submitting the letter without waiting for Emperor Jing's "instructions" and feedback? Could it be that he suffered great humiliation in prison, which aroused his fierceness and gave up his young life? Or maybe you already know the answer before you submit the letter, and the letter is just the last confession before death?
The bright moon peeked out from the iron window. Liu Rong's body hung on the beam, and the shadow cast by it swayed in the silver light on the ground. This was probably the last trace of a generation of princes left in the world.
Liu Rong was forced to death by Zhidu, and Empress Dowager Dou was furious when she found out. As the saying goes, "Young sons and eldest grandsons are the lifeblood of old ladies." She used the excuse that Zhidu had broken the law and wanted to demote him to a commoner to avenge his grandson. As a father, Emperor Jing's reaction was very strange. He did not listen to the Queen Mother. He sent an envoy Chijie to Zhidu's home and appointed him as the prefect of Yanmen to resist the Xiongnu. He also gave him the power to make arbitrary decisions based on the situation. Zhidu left Yanmen far away, and Queen Mother Dou was out of reach, and there was nothing she could do to him for a while.
Most of the emperors of the Han Dynasty were so-called "filial sons", and their posthumous titles often had the word "filial piety" in them. For example, "Emperor Wen" was actually "Emperor Xiaowen", and "Emperor Jing" was actually "Emperor Xiaojing". "Emperor Wu" is actually "Emperor Xiaowu"...
Who is this Zhidu that dares to force the prince to death, and the filial Emperor Jing disobeys his biological mother to protect him?
Zhidu, whose birth and death dates are unknown, was born in Yang County, Hedong County (now east of Ruicheng, Shanxi Province). During the reign of Emperor Wen, he served as a Langguan and served Emperor Wen. Regarding Lang Guan, ancient historians said that "Lang" is connected to "Corridor", which generally refers to the guards who stand in the corridors of the palace and are at the mercy of the emperor. After becoming a Langguan, one becomes the emperor's "closer". He hears about major military affairs every day and is immersed in them. Unknowingly, he develops political vision and accumulates political experience. In addition, Lang Guan has been with the emperor for many years, accompanying him on horseback and hunting, and escorting him. The emperor can almost call each of them by name and knows them very well. Once an official position is vacant, they are always the first to join the emperor's staff. candidates for sight. Wei Qing, the great general who attacked the Xiongnu and was famous for generations, served as a Langguan, and Sang Hongyang, a great minister who made suggestions and raised money and grain for Emperor Wu, also served as a Langguan.
There are three ways to be selected as a Lang official: first, through yinren, the descendants of meritorious officials and the children of officials with a rank of more than 2,000 shi can be directly selected as Lang by virtue of yin'en; secondly, if the family is rich and has donated more than 40,000 yuan, their children can also To be a Lang, during the reign of Emperor Jing, Sima Xiangru donated money to be a Lang; the third is "extraordinary talent", such as Sang Hongyang, who was selected as a Lang when he was thirteen because of his ability in mental arithmetic. In "Historical Records·Biographies of Cool Officials", there is such a motto of Zhidu:
"If you are an official when you are as close as you are, you should be loyal to your job and serve as an official until the end. You will never care about your wife."
That is to say, since I have left my parents to become an official, I have to uphold my integrity and sacrifice my life in the line of duty. How can I take care of my wife and children?
Zhi is a well-known cruel official, and he often shouts cruel words such as "double kiss" and "disregarding his wife" at the neck, several times a day.
During the reign of Emperor Jing, Zhidu was promoted to the rank of Zhonglang General. Once he followed Emperor Jing to Shanglin Garden. When Emperor Jing's concubine Jia Ji went to the toilet, a wild boar followed him in.
Wild boars are ferocious and can fight tigers, and Jackie's situation is critical. Emperor Jing winked at Zhidu and told him to rush in and save people. But Zhidu seemed to regard Emperor Jing as nothing and had no reaction. Emperor Jing was in a hurry and wanted to save Jia Ji himself.
At this time, Zhidu rushed to kneel in front of Emperor Jing and stopped him. He only heard him say: "If one Jia Ji dies, you can find another one. Is there still a lack of beauties in this world? Your Majesty doesn't know how to cherish yourself. Have you ever thought about it?" Jiangshan Sheji, have you ever thought about the Queen Mother?"
It turns out that Zhi didn't go into the toilet to save people, not because of the difference between men and women, but because of the emperor's safety. In fact, if you think about it carefully, Zhidu's fallacy doesn't make sense at all. The emperor went in to save people and put himself in danger. As Zhidu, as a lieutenant general, it was his duty to protect the emperor and his concubines. Why didn't he save people? And you come up with such a grand and shameless excuse!
Emperor Jing obviously didn't think deeply about this and stopped unexpectedly. Fortunately, the wild boar only came out for a walk and then left. Poor Jackie, who had been "abandoned", was finally safe and sound. Empress Dowager Dou was very happy when she heard about this. She "gifted the capital a hundred catties of gold" and paid great attention to Zhi.
But here's the weird thing. Zhidu forced the former prince Liu Rong to death. Empress Dowager Dou wanted to demote him to the people. In fact, it was not just demoting an official. From what happened later, Empress Dowager Dou had a series of means to deal with Zhidu and had to kill him. However, he refused to save the concubines in the palace, but Empress Dowager Dou rewarded him greatly.
What is the rationale behind one belittlement and one reward? It turns out that he did not save the concubine to protect his son. The son is his blood, and the grandson is also his blood, so forcing his grandson to death is of course an unpardonable crime. You know how protective the Empress Dowager Dou was!
Probably after observing for a long time, Emperor Jing also saw Zhidu's talents, so he appointed him as the prefect of Jinan. Zhidu lived up to Emperor Jing's expectations. When he first arrived in Jinan, he quietly wiped out all the culprits of the Ju family. The so-called "violent and resolute action" was nothing more than that. The remaining people were frightened by Zhidu's thunderous methods, and they all remained silent and did not dare to use force again. A year later, people in Jinan County did not pick up lost items on the road and did not close their doors at night, creating a scene of peace and prosperity. When the nearby county guards heard about the situation, they all regarded Zhidu as a superior and did not dare to treat him as an equal. This kind of mentality is very normal. In a circle where everyone is polite and friendly, if a ruthless character suddenly comes who may be violent and hurtful at any time, other people in the circle will naturally be afraid of him and agree with him. Now, in the circle composed of these gentle county guards, there is a cruel official who is famous in history, and his name is Zhidu.
Not only was he proud in the local officialdom, Zhi Du also straightened his back when he was an official in the court, and always looked like he was about to take action. Tai Shigong said of him, he "dare to give direct advice and defeat ministers in the court." Tiao Hou Zhou Yafu is the son of Zhou Bo, the founding hero of the country. He also made great contributions in quelling the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, and was finally named prime minister. He has been a general for a long time, and he is fierce and majestic. Everyone is a little afraid of him, except Zhidu. When he saw this top officer, he bowed and turned around and left. Zhi Du secretly wanted to challenge Zhou Yafu. People of low birth are always secretly envious of those of noble birth, but pretend to be disdainful on the surface. Perhaps even they themselves do not understand this ingenious and complex psychology. This is the case with Zhi Du, and the same is true with Guan Fu, whom I will talk about later.
When Zhidu was in charge of public security in Chang'an, he enforced the law strictly and without any scruples. Even the emperor's relatives did not dare to look him in the face when they saw him. Perhaps Zhidu's ruthlessness has been externalized, so that his eyes are as cold and sharp as a raptor like an eagle, so people call him "Goshawk". The goshawk's sharp claws were aimed in the direction of Emperor Jing's finger, and it hit every target without fail. No wonder Emperor Jing did not hesitate to offend his mother in order to protect him.
Could it be that Emperor Jing didn't know Zhidu's harsh and cruel style, so why did he hand over his son, the former prince Liu Rong, to him for interrogation? Liu Rong is the son of Emperor Jing after all! The truth here is too profound and mysterious. However, some people say that the mastermind behind Zhidu and forcing Liu Rong to death was Wang Quan, but it is difficult to convince people.
Zhidu brought his tough style to Yanmen, the border area. The Huns heard about his ruthlessness and knew that he was in charge, so they no longer dared to invade Yanmen. It is said that the Huns carved the wooden statue of Zhidu as a target for archery practice. Because of the evil reputation of Zhidu, no Hun warriors could hit it.
These are probably all exaggerated stories made up. How could such a thing happen in the world? Unless the Huns' carving craftsmen were so skilled that although they may not have seen Zhidu, they were enough to fully express his ruthless expression, affecting the minds of the archery warriors and making them become cavalry shooters since childhood. They suddenly missed the moment they released the arrow.
What Zhi Du did was eye-catching, but he didn't know that Empress Dowager Dou also quietly put a knife on his neck. Ever since the governor of Zhidu paid homage to the governor of Yanmen, Empress Dowager Dou had been secretly collecting evidence of his crimes. "If you want to impose a crime, why bother?" Emperor Jing also defended him, saying that he was a loyal minister.
"Prince Linjiang is not a loyal minister?" the Queen Mother replied angrily, her voice sharp and harsh, and Emperor Jing had nothing to say. A generation of cruel officials, "Goshawk" Zhidu was beheaded in this way.
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, most of the most respected ministers were aristocrats, because their ancestors followed Liu Bang to conquer the world and received titles one by one based on their merit. For people like Zhi Du, who came from a lower level, the only way to get ahead was to "please the emperor's favor." Zhidu understood what Emperor Jing wanted. He played such a role, or maybe he was such a person. Emperor Jing just provided him with a stage to show his ruthlessness through actions and words. No matter what, the two hit it off and worked together very well. However, a person like him who takes an eccentric approach and blindly "uses heavy codes" no matter whether the times are troubled or not, cannot last long. Because he is only loyal to the emperor, no matter what he has to face, what kind of opponents he has to face, what kind of risks he has to face, because his glory and wealth are all given by the emperor! In this country, the emperor has no control over many things. Maybe Zhidu also knows that there will be no good end in the end, but this is his choice: rather than lying silently like dust, it is better to burn happily and vigorously like fire, even if it is burned to ashes in the end!
The reason why the fire in Zhidu burned so brightly was not only because he was not afraid of death or didn't care, but more importantly, he removed the stumbling blocks for Emperor Jing and some people, so his actions and death almost became a matter of course. . This is a unique phenomenon during the social transformation period from "Wen Jing" to "Wudi", and Zhidu is by no means an isolated case.
