Once the emperor has his own courtiers, Liu Xin also hopes to have his own courtiers. Since he ascended the throne, he has been searching hard for talents, and finally found a bold and daring Zhu Bo. He thought he could finally feel proud, but Zhu Bo was blind, completely ignored his promotion, followed Fu Zhaoyi's orders, and eventually set himself on fire. Zhu Bo's short-lived appearance dimmed Liu Xin's ideals again. For tomorrow, Liu Xin has to continue to look for talents.
Looking at Liu Xin who was eager for talent, God gave him a false hope. Just when the ideal was dim, God sent Dong Xian to Liu Xin. In the third year of Emperor Ai's Jianping reign (4 BC), 22-year-old Liu Xin was in his prime. Also in this year, he met Dong Xian, and his obsession with Dong Xian became out of control.
Heroes are always troubled by "beauties". When faced with "beauties", neither Liu Ao nor Liu Xin can move.
Liu Heng's way of doting on Deng Tong went too far, but in Liu Xin's opinion, it was nothing more than that. What Liu Xin did after getting to know Dong Xian was even worse than Liu Heng, and it simply reached a peak.
Dong Xian, courtesy name Shengqing, was born in Yunyang (now northwest of Chunhua County, Shaanxi Province). His father was a supervisory official named Dong Gong. Dong Gong was very discerning. When he saw that his precious son was beautiful, he tried every means to send Dong Xian to Prince Liu Xin as a benefactor. As the saying goes, "When one person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." After Liu Xin became emperor, Dong Xian was named Lang Guan.
Since becoming emperor, Liu Xin has not had a happy day. He survived two years of unhappy life, and finally one day two years later met Dong Xian, who looked amazing. Dong Xian was the prince's heir, and they often met when Liu Xin was still the prince, but Liu Xin had no impression of this handsome man. Two years later, with a sudden glance, Dong Xian lived in Liu Xin's heart.
Since then, Liu Xin has lived a happy life that he will never forget. Liu Xin felt that having Dong Xian in life was enough; Dong Xian felt that having the emperor in life was enough. For two people to be together, they don't have to be in love with each other. The important thing is that they cannot live without each other. Both people feel that each other is an indispensable part of life, which is dependence on each other. Liu Xin loves Dong Xian, just like Liu Ao loves the Zhao sisters, the essence is the same.
Since he came to the throne, although Liu Xin has not been addicted to beauty, he is indeed a person who knows how to cherish women. One day at noon, Liu Xin and Dong Xian were lying on the same bed. Liu Xin woke up, but Dong Xian was not awake yet. Liu Xin wanted to leave, but Dong Xian pressed his sleeves and slept soundly. In order not to disturb Dong Xian's dream, Liu Xin drew her sword, cut off her sleeve, and left quietly. This incident was small, but earth-shattering, because it gave rise to the idiom "the fetish of the cut sleeve", which later generally referred to homosexual behavior between men.
Although Liu Xin and Dong Xian loved each other, they lived in a period of etiquette and law, and they could not show it openly. As the king of a country, Liu Xin is unable to express his love for his beloved, which is really painful. Moreover, when Liu Xin and Dong Xian fell in love, Dong Xian already had a wife, and Liu Xin ordered Dong Xian's family to move into the palace.
Love can make people blind, but it can also make people smart. Ever since Liu Xin took Dong Xian's family into the palace, Dong Xian could legitimately stay with her. Liu Xin not only dotes on Dong Xian, but also Dong Xian's whole family receives his attention. Since he fell in love with Dong Xian, he immediately made Dong Xian's father Dong Gong the Marquis of Guannei and appointed him as the Shaofu. He also built a super luxurious residence for the Dong family outside the north gate of Weiyang Palace.
At that time, Liu Heng doted on Deng Tong and gave Deng Tong copper mines so that Deng Tong could make his own money. Now, in order to show her love for Dong Xian, Liu Xin gave all the gold, silver and jewelry to Dong Xian, and gave Dong Xian priority in food and clothing expenses. He wanted to use his actual actions to tell the world that if you love someone, you must give everything you have to that person. And Dong Xian's actions prove that if you love someone, you must accept everything about the other person.
The old saying "Live in the same bed, and die in the same hole" expresses the desire of lovers to be together for all eternity. Liu Xin's love for Dong Xian was so great that he ordered people to build a very luxurious tomb for Dong Xian next to Yiling Mausoleum. Seeing that Dong Xian was so favored, the ministers in the court couldn't help but start to worry, fearing that Liu Xin would repeat Liu Ao's mistake of favoring Dong Xian and annihilate his heirs, thereby ruining the Han Dynasty's foundation.
When facing a person in love, it is best not to tell the truth. Some courtiers did not know this truth and jumped out to advise. Liu Xin was furious and threw the other person into prison. Good advice always offends the ears, and good medicine must taste bitter. At this moment, Liu Xin was immersed in Dong Xian's sweet words, and naturally resented the minister's bitter words.
To evaluate whether a person's political skills are flexible, we need to see whether the things he does are coherent and connected with each other, one link after another. Liu Xin lived a hard life in the bellows and got unprecedented training. He began to act coherently and knew how to let the previous thing pave the way for the next thing. Liu Xin made Dong Xian's father a marquis, just to test the courtiers' opinions. If the courtiers had little objection, the next step would be to make Dong Xian a marquis.
There were not many powerful people in the court, and the court officials did not react much to Dong Gong being named Marquis of Guannei. There was no ambush ahead, so Liu Xin called Fu Yan to come and said that he wanted to make Dong Xian a marquis and let Fu Yan take care of it. After Fu Xi left, Fu Yan became the biggest figure in the Fu Group. In order to reduce unnecessary sacrifices, Liu Xin gave Fu Yan some face.
Liu Xin gave Fu Yan face, but Fu Yan wanted it. Fu Yan hopes to overthrow the Wang Group, and then the Fu Group will dominate the world. Before the Wang Group is destroyed, Dong Xian suddenly rises to become the most threatening force. For the benefit of the Fu Group, Fu Yan decided to fight Dong Xian, the tiger.
Since Liu Xin ascended the throne, he has been like holding a hot taro in his hand, whether he eats it or not. Liu Xin, who was riddled with sorrow, fell into poor health as a result. This happened to be one of the reasons why Liu Xin doted on Dong Xian. He thanked Dong Xian from the bottom of his heart for bringing him joy. So even though he was unwell, he still supported himself and worked hard to make Dong Xian a marquis. This is the power of love.
Where there's a will, there's a way. God saw that Liu Xin had good intentions and gave him a chance. There is a mysterious mountain in Wuyan County, the capital of Dongping Kingdom, and a landslide suddenly occurred. Landslides are nothing more than silt and rocks falling down one after another. At most, they can crush Han people to death and destroy crops. However, this landslide was amazing, and the fallen sand and gravel turned out to be a flat road. It is said that this road is very good, comparable to the official road built by Qin Shihuang. A large stone naturally stood beside the avenue. It was flat and smooth, like a stone tablet. From today's perspective, this big rock is nothing more than a cliff. This is how the Huashan Cliff was formed.
For the ancient people who did not have any scientific knowledge and relied on ghosts and gods for everything, this was simply a miracle. In ancient times, anything was possible as long as you dared to think and dare to do it. When the feudal state encountered this auspicious sign, Liu Yun, the king of Dongping, had a bad heart. Liu Yun took his beloved wife, got on the carriage, and came to visit Dashi. People who have ghosts in their hearts always want to encounter a miracle. Liu Yun and his wife stared at the big stone for a long time, and the more they looked at it, the more energetic they became. Liu Bang was a rogue pavilion chief who became emperor after beheading a white snake. Liu Yun and his wife looked at the big stone, but they were thinking about other things.
In order to respond to God's will, Liu Yun ordered people to build a rockery in the palace, which was very similar to the rockery on the mountain where the landslide occurred. For his own selfish desires, Liu Yun ordered people to move the big stone back to the palace and burn incense to worship it all day long. Ancient times were a superstitious society, but there were many superstitious activities that ordinary people could not do, such as worshiping the heaven. Liu Yun worshiped a broken stone as a god. He had ulterior motives, and the people who saw him had even more ulterior motives.
In the far distance, there is always someone who is closely connected with you. If you find it, it is fate. If you don't find it, don't be sad, because not all fate is a good thing. Liu Yun worshiped gods and ghosts all day long. An expert from Hanoi County named Xi Fu Gong took advantage of this and wanted to get a golden rice bowl. The heroes saw the same thing. In the distant Chang'an, there was an expert named Sun Chong who also wanted to take advantage of this matter and get a golden job. The two of them met by God's will. They were of one mind and had the same reason. They worked together to deliver the exposing letter to Liu Xin through the hands of Song Hong, the permanent minister.
Liu Xin felt that she was in good health, but she felt sick all day long, so she suspected that someone was practicing witchcraft to harm her. It is better to believe that there is rebellion than to believe that there is no rebellion. For his own safety and to establish the imperial authority, Liu Xin decided to sacrifice Liu Yun to find out who he was.
Liu Yun's wife did not live up to expectations and wanted to be a queen, but she did not have the courage to do so. The court sent people to investigate, but she was so courageous that she took action on both those who should and shouldn't be involved. She said that by burning incense and worshiping stones, she wanted to curse Liu Xin to die early so that Liu Yun could become emperor. By the way, Liu Xin, like Liu Ao, has not given birth to a son yet.
Ancient politics had a set of bluffing logic. Liu Xin acted according to this logic and demoted the culprit Liu Yun to a commoner and exiled him to a different place. Following the vine of King Dongping, many officials were dealt with so that they would never stand up again. Liu Yun's wife has never seen the world, and neither has he. On the way to exile, Liu Yun committed suicide.
God's will is all "coincidence". After Liu Yun's stone worship case was solved, Liu Xin wanted to make Dong Xian a marquis. But Dong Xian has no merits and only looks. In order to fulfill her wish, Liu Xin granted Dong Xian the title of Marquis for the meritorious officials in Liu Yun's case. Liu Xin announced that he wanted to make Xifu Gong, Sun Chong and other people who had made meritorious service in reporting Liu Yun a marquis. According to common sense, after Liu Yun's death, both Xifu Gong and Sun Chong were appointed officials, and the matter was over. However, Liu Xin wanted to continue to talk about merit and reward.
For people who are passionately in love, common sense cannot be used to make inferences. Prime Minister Wang Jia did not make common sense inferences. Liu Xin said that he made Xifu Gong, Sun Chong and others marquis. Among these "etc. people", Dong Xian's name was among them. It turns out that Song Hong, the regular servant of the Central Committee, delivered the whistle-blowing letter to Xi and Sun, which can be regarded as a meritorious service. Liu Xin wanted to confer the title of Dong Xian, so she replaced "Song Hong" with "Dong Xian", thus substituting the title of "Song Hong" with "Dong Xian". Liu Xin made Sun Chong the Marquis of Guannei, but Wang Jia had no objection. Liu Xin wanted to make Dong Xian a prince, but Wang Jia was the first to say no: This would be going against the emperor.
Wang Jia is an upright person. Wang Jia, whose courtesy name was Gongzhong, was ranked in the first division when he recommended Xiaolian, and the court gave him a job as a gatekeeper. Maybe he was too busy studying and only recognized the clothes but not the person. It happened that one day an official was wearing casual clothes, and he blocked the door and refused to let him in. The superiors investigated and demoted him. Talented people are not afraid of being demoted. Soon, a senior official asked him to do odd jobs. After a fall, Wang Jia behaved and became a success.
Opportunities are always reserved for talented and well-behaved people. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty knew that he was talented and summoned him to the propaganda room to consult on political affairs. Wang Jia's life was good, and when he entered the propaganda room, the emperor asked about political affairs; Jia Yi's life was miserable, and when he entered the propaganda room, the emperor asked about ghost affairs. The emperor favored him, and Wang Jia was promoted one after another from then on, and successively served as county governor, Dahonglu, Jingzhaoyin, and Yushi doctor. Liu Xin had no one in his hands, Wang Jia was so talented and had such a good fortune, so he was made prime minister.
Wang Jia dares to stick to his own opinions because he can risk his life for his position. This is the best expression of professionalism. However, the emperor does not need professionalism, the emperor loves flattery. Liu Xin gave the edict to Fu Yan. Fu Yan was heartbroken after reading it, but he did not dare to speak. Wang Jia dared to poke a hornet's nest, and Fu Yan passed it on to Wang Jia. Wang Jia has been in the officialdom for many years, and he understands it at a glance.
Wang Jia and Jia Yan, the imperial censor, wrote a letter opposing the designation of Dong Xian as a marquis. Wang Jia would not lie, and the memorial was more straightforward: We know that the emperor wants to make Dong Xian a marquis, and the awards to others are just a foil, so there is no need to pretend. We will not lie. In one sentence, we do not agree to make Dong Xian a marquis. If we say that Dong Xian had merit in exposing Liu Yun, we need evidence and original materials. Wang Jia also threatened Liu Xin that if after reading the original materials, the courtiers could not object to making Dong Xian a marquis, they would have no choice but to admit defeat. Once Dong Xian is made a marquis, if he has any shortcomings, the courtiers will definitely not blame Liu Xin.
In fact, what Wang Jia did was to remind Liu Xin. Wang Jia aims to remind Liu Xin of Deng Tong, who was favored by Liu Heng but died of poverty in the end. However, in Liu Xin's view, Wang Jia's reminder was false, while threatening the emperor and cursing Dong Xian was true. For such a trivial matter as becoming a marquis, Wang Jia openly hit his head on Liu Xin's knife edge. Wang Jia decided to go head-to-head. As an emperor, Liu Xin would not be cowardly.
Wang Jia is so upright that he is almost stubborn. He does not understand the principle that people in love can only coax and cannot confront them head-on. The result of the head-to-head confrontation was that Liu Xin forced him to issue an edict, naming Dong Xian as the Marquis of Gao'an, Sun Chong as the Marquis of Fangyang, and Xifu Gong as the Marquis of Yiling.
The world is in Liu Xin's pocket, and the title of nobility and marquis depends entirely on Liu Xin's own will. When he was making a decision, he asked Wang Jia, but it was just a show.
For Dong Xian's sake, Liu Xin did not hesitate to anger the courtiers and forcefully made Dong Xian a marquis. It is a trivial matter to make someone a marquis, but the important thing is that Liu Xin broke the rules. Liu Xin broke the rules at will, and no one could guarantee that Liu Xin would not give up the throne to Dong Xian.
Suddenly, Dong Xian became the target of public criticism.
