In the third year of Emperor Jing's reign (141 BC), Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty died of illness, and Liu Che ascended the throne as Emperor Wu. He honored his grandmother Dou Yifang as the empress dowager, and his mother Wang Quan as the empress dowager. At this time, Emperor Wu was only sixteen years old.
This sixteen-year-old boy, when he sat on the throne, for the first time truly discovered the huge power in his hands - the vast territory of this country, the huge population, the endless mountains and rivers, the endless rivers... …
Emperor Jing put down the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms, and the power of the princes and kings was greatly reduced. Coupled with the recuperation of several generations of emperors, the Han Dynasty had already got rid of the poverty and poverty of the Liu Bang period and became rich and prosperous. The rise of powerful powers, the Xiongnu invaders, and the crude and inadequate system were the main problems faced by the country in the early days of Emperor Wu, and the princes and kings were also watching with eager eyes when the new emperor ascended the throne. Therefore, the reforms and innovations advocated by Jia Yi, Chao Cuo and others were put on the agenda again.
In 140 BC, Emperor Wu adopted "Jianyuan" as his reign name, which was the first "reign name" in China. "Jianyuan" means "initiation", which shows Emperor Wu's determination to reform and restructure.
Emperor Wu knew very well that an individual's power was limited, especially since he had just ascended the throne and was still in his infancy, so he needed helpers. Therefore, the central and local chief executives at all levels were ordered to recommend talents and "recommend virtuous people who can speak uprightly and give advice." The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty may have stayed in the atmosphere of "Huang Lao's theory" for too long and had no motivation to work hard. Therefore, the first step in Emperor Wu's reform was to replace people with his own people. He must "stand firm and move".
Before Emperor Jing's death, he left Wei Wan as Emperor Wu's prime minister. Wei Wan was selected by Emperor Jing because he was a kind-hearted elder, hard-working and never complained, which was in sharp contrast to Zhou Yafu, the marquis of Tiao. In fact, Wei Wan turned out to be the coachman of Liu Heng, the "acting king". Because Wei Wan has amazing physical strength and superb driving skills, she is very popular with Liu Heng. Later, Liu Heng was welcomed as emperor by Zhou Bo, and Wei Wan followed him to Chang'an, where he became a Langguan and was soon promoted to Zhonglang General.
Liu Qi was a scheming man. When he was the crown prince, he hosted many banquets for Emperor Wen's ministers, including Wei Wan. However, every time he received an invitation from the prince, Wei Wan always complained that he was ill and refused to go forward. Although the prince is the future emperor, he is still just the prince now. A loyal minister has nothing to do with the two masters. Wei Wan feels that he should be more cautious.
Sure enough, this move was appreciated by Emperor Wen. Before Emperor Wen died, he told Emperor Jing to treat Wei Wan well. He was an elder and could be trusted. However, Emperor Jing was always worried about Wei Wan not coming to the banquet, so he never used him. Later, when Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty visited Linyuan, he asked Wei Wan to accompany him in his carriage.
Emperor Jing patted him on the shoulder and asked, "I used to invite you to banquets, but why couldn't I wait for you?"
Wei Wan was so frightened that he kowtowed to the ground: "I was indeed ill at that time."
Emperor Jing looked at Wei Wan lying on the ground for a while and did not mention this old matter again. So he summoned the people around him to reward him with a sword.
Unexpectedly, Wei Wan rejected Emperor Jing again. It turned out that Emperor Wen had given him six swords, and Wei Wan kept them all at home. The emperor's favor was so great that Wei Wan could no longer accept the swords given by Emperor Jing, for fear that he would not be blessed to receive them. Emperor Jing asked: "People often change and buy and sell swords. Why do you always keep these swords?" So he ordered him to get them from home. Six swords, the color of the scabbards is still new. When they are pulled out, each one is shining with cold light! Emperor Jing was deeply moved and looked at Wei Wan differently from then on.
Later, Wei Wan was ordered to recruit warriors from the river to quell the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, and was promoted to lieutenant for his military exploits. Three years later, he was granted the title of Marquis for his military merits. Wei Wan was a relative of the Li family. Emperor Jing deposed Liu Rong and Li Ji, and Wei Wan was implicated. However, Emperor Jing felt pity for his loyalty and just dismissed him and returned home. Soon, Emperor Jing made Liu Che the crown prince, and appointed Wei Wan as the Taifu. Soon he was promoted to the imperial censor, in charge of the prison. Five years later, Wei Wan became prime minister.
Wei Wan believed in Huang-Lao politics and acted cautiously. When he was appointed prime minister, he only played the role of uploading and issuing orders. "Everything in the court should be done according to the official duties." However, he often ignored the important affairs of the government. However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty advocated Confucianism and ended Huang-Lao's political rule after ascending the throne. Wei Wan was dismissed as incompetent.
Try your hand at a small test and send troops to the southeast
A country cannot live without a king for a day, and a country cannot live without a prime minister for a day. Emperor Wu began to consider candidates for the new prime minister.
Many of the officials in the early Han Dynasty were selected from the children of meritorious nobles. These people were quickly exhausted. By the time of Emperor Wu, the choice space was very small. The two relatives who have the best chance are the Empress Dowager Dou's nephew Wei Qihou Dou Ying and the Empress Dowager's younger brother Tian Fu. Both of them are good at Confucianism and are Confucian believers. Later, Emperor Wu appointed Dou Ying as his prime minister, which was all due to Tian Fu's operation.
After Emperor Jing's death, Emperor Wu granted Tian Fan the title of Marquis of Wu'an, and he became a celebrity in the court. Tian Fu wanted to become prime minister himself, but his steward Ji Fu dissuaded him. Ji Fu said, if the emperor wants you to be the prime minister, you must refuse and give up the position to Wei Qihou. You have just developed and cannot compare with Wei Qihou. Wei Qihou is the nephew of Empress Dowager Dou, and has been a prominent figure for a long time. Moreover, he has made great contributions in quelling the chaos, and all the talents in the world have joined him. When Wei Qihou becomes prime minister, you will at least become a Taiwei. The Taiwei and the Cheng both belong to the Three Dukes, and you also gain the reputation of being humble and giving way to the wise.
Tian Fu believed that Ji Fu was right, so he went to the palace to express his feelings to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother handed the words to Emperor Wu, so he worshiped Dou Ying as prime minister and Tian Fu as Taiwei.
But when it came to practicing Confucianism, neither Dou Ying nor Tian Fu had the knowledge, so Dou Ying recommended Zhao Wan and Wang Zang to Emperor Wu. Both of them were disciples of Lu Shen Gong, a giant in Confucianism at that time, and studied "Poetry" from Shen Gong. Duke Shen was already over eighty years old at that time. When Emperor Wu was still the prince, Wang Zang was his teacher. So he worshiped Zhao Wan as the imperial censor and Wang Zang as the doctor.
The first is Li Ming Tang.
In ancient times, politics and religion were integrated. The so-called "Mingtang" was the place where ancient emperors declared politics and religion, held grand ceremonies, and worshiped ancestors.
Emperor Wu was superstitious and was particularly interested in worshiping ghosts and gods. He is an energetic and curious person, and with his youthful temperament, he is naturally drooling over such an "image project" as Li Mingtang.
But Mingtang is too far away, and Zhao Wan and Wang Zang don't know what Mingtang is. So Emperor Wu sent an envoy to "bundle silk and jade, install the chariot and wrap the wheel with cattails", and solemnly invite Duke Shen from Lu. Emperor Wu had been famous for Shen Gong for a long time. When he saw Shen Gong, he was probably as if he saw a light when he was trapped and lost, and he was extremely excited.
Emperor Wu asked: "What should I do?"
Duke Shen had white hair and said as if yawning: "Talk less and do more."
Emperor Wu concealed his disappointment and worshiped Shen Gong as Taizhong doctor to "discuss the affairs of the court."
Then the princes were ordered to return to their country. This is more difficult to do because all the princes are unwilling. It turned out that although the princes' residences were in other places, most of them married royal princesses. Not to mention that they themselves were unwilling to return to remote villages, and neither were the delicate and elegant princesses. In fact, this matter is very puzzling, because this edict "ordering the princes to serve the country" has no real benefits, but it shows Emperor Wu's determination to reform.
The other decrees are:
1. Clear customs. Before Emperor Wu, various countries had their own restrictions. Emperor Wu abolished the restrictions not only to pretend to be a prosperous age of "undefended", but more importantly, it was very helpful to disintegrate the "occupying the mountain as the king" state of the vassal states.
2. Create the Han system by imitating Zhou rites. Emperor Wu wanted to practice Confucianism, and the origin of Confucianism was in the Zhou Dynasty, so the promulgation of this edict was inevitable.
3. Relegate the members of the Dou clan to a lower position, and those who "do not behave with restraint" will have their titles removed. This directly involves the transfer of personnel and the interests of wealthy families. This decree against the Dou family was a provocation and a test by Emperor Wu to Empress Dowager Dou. As expected, the Dou family secretly complained to the Queen Mother.
At this time, Minyue attacked Dongou, and Dongou asked the Han Dynasty for help. Minyue is today's Fujian, and Dongou is today's Zhejiang and northern Fujian regions. Both countries belong to the Yue people and have similar customs. Since the chaos at the end of Qin Dynasty, Fujian, Yue, Dongou and others have regained their independence and become increasingly prosperous.
It turned out that Liu Ziju, the son of King Wu Liu Bi, was hiding in Minyue. He resented Dong Ou for killing his father Liu Bi when he was defeated and fled, so he always encouraged the king of Min Yue to use troops against Dong Ou.
The news reached Chang'an, and Emperor Wu asked his ministers to discuss the matter during the meeting. Taiwei Tian Fu was the first to speak. He believed that Yue people attacked each other. This had happened since ancient times. There was no need to be surprised at all, let alone the waste of people and money to send troops to rescue. Most of the land is barbaric. Even if we win, what practical benefits will there be? It had been abandoned during the Qin Dynasty.
When Emperor Wu was thinking about what Tian Fu said, a man stood up and denounced Tian Fu for refusing to save him. This person is called Yanzhu. Yan Zhu was the son of Master Yan Ji. When Emperor Wu came to the throne, he "promoted the virtuous and upright". Yan Zhu was one of the first batch of people to be selected. He was highly appreciated by Emperor Wu and often argued on Emperor Wu's behalf with the old ministers whom he looked down upon. , and soon Emperor Wu promoted him to the rank of Zhongdafu.
Yan Zhu's real name was Zhuang Zhu, but later generations changed his surname to Zhuang Zhu to avoid being tabooed by Han Ming Emperor Liu Zhuang. Strict and solemn, the two originally taught each other. In fact, Liu Zhuang was born more than a hundred years later than Yan Zhu, and he was a younger generation as late as possible. If there is a spirit underground after Zhuang Zhu's death, and he knows that he has become Yan Zhu, I don't know how he will react.
Yan Zhu analyzed that when it comes to rescuing people, he is afraid that his strength is not enough to save people, and his kindness cannot spread to Dongou. If he has the strength and ability, why not save him? The Qin people gave up Yue, should we give up? The Qin people even gave up Xianyang, not just Yue Di! Now Dong Ou has come to ask for help. If His Majesty cannot rescue them, where can they go to ask for help? How can we, the Han people, lead all nations?
Yan Zhu's words were sharp and every word was sonorous. After hearing such passionate discussion, Emperor Wu immediately said: "The Taiwei is not enough to make plans."
So Emperor Wu ordered Yan Zhu to lead troops to rescue Dongou. The military system since the Warring States Period has stipulated that the tiger talisman must be used as a token of trust when dispatching troops. The tiger talisman is divided into two halves, one half is in the hands of the monarch, and the other half is in the hands of the general. Only when the two halves are put together can the army be sent, so Lord Xinling wanted to "steal the talisman to save Zhao".
Maybe it's because the tiger talisman is in charge of the Empress Dowager and not in his own hands. Maybe it's to test Yan Zhu. The specific situation is hard to know. All in all, Emperor Wu did not put the Tiger Talisman into Yan Zhu's hands, which depended on Yan Zhu's cunning and resourcefulness.
Yan Zhu came to Kuaiji County holding the banner given by Emperor Wu.
Yan Zhu said to the county guard: "The emperor has just ascended the throne and does not want to use the tiger charm. Please send troops."
"If you want to send troops without a tiger talisman, it is tantamount to treason." The county governor cited the laws of the Han Dynasty and refused Yan's help.
The cruel words have been said, and if it fails without success, it will not only be a matter of face. Yan Zhu gritted his teeth, grabbed a Sima under the county guard, and raised his hand to strike with a sword. Sima's head rolled down the stairs, stained with blood. The county guard's eyes almost dropped from his eyes.
Yan Zhu later shouted: "Anyone who dares to disobey the emperor's order will end up like this!"
So the county guard sent troops to rescue Dongou quickly. Before the Han soldiers arrived, the Fujian and Yue soldiers retreated after hearing the news.
It is difficult to say whether it is right or wrong to send troops to Dongou. According to Tian Fu's opinion, the Minyue attack on Dongou was indeed an internal dispute between the Yue people, and the Han Dynasty's sending troops to maintain peace was indeed using its own money to plug the holes of others. However, only in the long run can we draw a clearer conclusion. The Han Dynasty sent troops to increase its influence on Wu and Yue, which would have a non-negligible impact on its permanent inclusion in the territory of China. Regardless of the calculation of interests, the crisis in Dongou was originally caused by helping the Han Dynasty kill Liu Bi. The Han Dynasty should not sit idly by and ignore this. Emperor Wu had a big territory in his mind, and he had to draw it out bit by bit with his own will.
