In the early morning of Ding Chou in December, the emperor of the Western Dynasty brought hundreds of officials to the Ancestral Temple and set up an altar in front of the temple with a radius of nine miles and distributed in five directions, with flags and guards of honor on each side. The nine ministers under the stage were arranged in order. Taifu Liu Biao, Sikong Tao Qiuhong, and Situ Hanrong invited Emperor Liu Xie and General Liu Bei to the altar.
After entering the crown and seal, Chen Chong read out the imperial edict, and the emperor crowned Liu Bei himself. Then he went into the temple to worship, and told the two ancestors and five sects. After the ceremony, he sat facing south with the emperor, and was congratulated by civil and military officials as the acting king. Afterwards, the ancestral temple, ancestors, and La were granted the title of emperor, and the capital of the country was Jinyang. His wife Liu Jia was made the queen, and his eldest son Liu Xie was made the prince.
Speaking of which, Liu Bei was listed among the kings this time, which was very different from the old system.
At the beginning of the founding of the vassal state by Emperor Gaozu, each country had its own organizational system, which was no different from that of the emperor. After the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, Emperor Xiaojing ordered the kings not to govern the country. The officials appointed by the vassal states were all dismissed by the emperor and the officials of the kings and clans. After Shizu revitalized the Han Dynasty, the kings' behavior became a system. They could only entertain themselves in the palace on weekdays. They were not allowed to visit the people or interfere in political affairs. All other communications were strictly prohibited.
This time, Liu was granted the title of King of the Dai Dynasty. In addition to being the military governor of China and foreign countries, being positioned above the princes and kings, not obeying ministers when doing things, not worshiping when receiving orders, etc., he was also allowed to establish a position in the country just like the system in the early Han Dynasty. Officials such as Shangshu, Shizhong, Liuqing and so on. So Liu Bei appointed Zhang Zhong as Taifu, Xunyou as Shangshuling, Fazheng as Taiyuan Yin, Meng Da as Tingwei, Liu Bao as Shaofu, Yu Fan as Guangluxun, Liu Qi as Zongzheng, and all the generals in the five prefectures also accepted the title. He served as a military official in the royal palace. At this point, Jinyang Bafu, the most important military institution in power in the country, has officially transformed into Daiguo, a huge political entity in name and in reality.
Originally, according to the plan, after conferring the title of king, Liu Bei planned to lead his troops back to the country to continue preparing for next year's war. But it happened that Zhong Yao came to negotiate and frankly said that he wanted to recruit his son Liu Xie as his son-in-law. Liu Bei was overjoyed: the Zhong family of Yingchuan is one of the big families with the same name as the Chen family, Xun family and Han family of Yingchuan. The Zhong family Yao is also the pillar of the Sili Mansion. If they can unite, Liu Xie will be in a stable position. How can he not allow it? In addition, after discussing with Chen Chong, he learned that Liu Xie was the first to admire him, so Liu Bei simply made a decision and settled the matter at the end of the year.
Chen Chong immediately prepared sheep, wild geese, brocade, wine, millet, millet, rice flour and other supplies, and hired him from the Zhong family on the day of Ding Chou. Then in the first month of spring in the eighteenth year of Yanxing (AD 210), Chen Chong took over for the crown prince Liu. Xie officially married Xuan Ji, the second daughter of the Zhong family.
The wedding was held in the southern suburbs of Chang'an. Just like Liu Bei's wedding twenty years ago, the groom still prepared a wedding vehicle and waited for the bride on the way. However, times have changed. This time, the carriage is no longer pulled by oxen, but by four seven-foot-tall brown and red stallions. Surrounded by front and rear feather guards, advocates, and mediators symbolizing the royal majesty, there are even more outlines on the carriage frame. The phoenix, unicorn, cloud patterns and other patterns, and the majestic and gorgeous caravan, even the people of Chang'an felt that it was rare.
Around noon, the bride is accompanied by her relatives. Seeing the eldest daughter of the Zhong family in the distance covering her face with a fan and carefully riding a horse, Chen Chong had mixed feelings for a moment. He quietly said to Liu Bei: "The day you got married seems to have been yesterday."
Liu Bei nodded silently, and then looked at Liu Xie, who was riding a horse and sitting upright, with a smile that seemed to be reflecting on a masterpiece. He turned back to Chen Chong and said with a smile: "It's a pity that your Ah Zhi is too young, otherwise I would have asked Ah Jian to wait."
Zhang Fei heard this from the side and took Chen Chong's hand and said: "Speaking of which, my A Cai is also eleven this year. My wife often asks me which family I should match with, but I always reject her. Brother, I think she will match your family." Hanzhen is just right." Chen Chong nodded slightly, stroked his beard with a smile and said, "Then I will talk to Hanzhen about this later." His only son, Chen Zhangzheng, was in Yuan Dynasty last year. Chen Chong gave him the name Hanzhen, hoping that he would keep his integrity.
While they were talking, the graceful bride had already pulled Cangtou into the carriage, and the surrounding drummers immediately played "Taoyao Song". The music was noisy and festive, without losing the grandeur of the new king. When everyone returned to the palace with the carriage, the people along the way gathered around to watch. Du, loudly blessing the newlyweds, and Liu Bei had already prepared rice, meat and other items in advance and sent people to distribute them door to door to the people in the city. The people of Chang'an also reciprocated the favor by lighting up lanterns and festoons all night long, adding a lot of festive atmosphere to Chang'an.
At the previous New Year's Eve, only the seven-day night ban was originally lifted. Because of this, the Chancellor's Office specially approved it, and the lights were turned off for twenty days. During this period, the city was as bright as day late at night, and men, women, old and young took to the streets to play and it was very lively. Even in the more than ten years after the capital was moved to Chang'an, there seemed to be no such scene.
For Liu Xie, these days are also rare happiness. On weekdays, Chen Chong put more restraints on him, either reviewing official documents or teaching political affairs by his own example. Even Xiu Mu was mostly reading and copying scriptures. At this time, Yan'er was newly married and Chen Chong was inconvenient to discipline him, so he went hunting in Shanglinyuanzhong with Qianjia, Xunji, Fa Miao and others. Whenever he saw wild animals running away, he would gallop forward, leading the way, and no one of his peers could catch up with him.
One day, the emperor ordered him to enter the palace according to etiquette, gave him a jade belt to celebrate the wedding, and then invited him to have a meal together. It happened that Cui Yan and other doctors came to give lectures that day, and he sat with Sun Qian and others during the meal. Liu Xie liked drinking, so he repeatedly asked the emperor to drink. The emperor couldn't bear the power of alcohol and reluctantly refused, which made him boring. Then Liu Xie stood up in the banquet and said: "I have recently practiced a new sword dance, which can be seen by the emperor." Without waiting for the emperor to refuse, he pulled out a long sword from the waist of a guard, and immediately swung his sword and sang in the banquet as if no one else was around. . But listen to Liu Xie singing:
"The morning mist fills the sky, and the marching horses roar in the north wind. The dew is always stained by damp dust, and the crows caged in frost are not frightened."
"The military uniform is like iron armor, and the eyebrows are like silver ice. I am galloping on the Pingyang Road, and I am traveling upstream."
This is "Pingyang Road Song" written by Liu Xie when he returned to his hometown the year before last. At this time, he was dancing with a sword in the palace in a long-sleeved robe. His movements were as fast as lightning. Everyone saw a silver snake whirling between the beams and pillars. He also heard the sound of the sword cutting through the air, as if there were soldiers marching in the air, and a chilling atmosphere suddenly arose. Most of the people in the hall were literati, and they were all frightened when they saw this. The guards who had the sword taken away were at a loss what to do, and they didn't know what to do. Either forward or backward.
After Liu Xie finished dancing, he walked up to the emperor with his sword in hand, turned around and asked everyone with a smile: "You are rude, how do you think of my swordsmanship?" All the doctors forced themselves to smile and cheered. After hearing this, Liu Xie smiled and nodded slightly, whether with satisfaction or ridicule. He turned to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, if you want to secure the sacred weapon of the country, the scriptures are just decorations, and the swords and blood are what the king relies on."
After that, he ignored the emperor's trembling body and pale face and handed the sword back to the guard, then sat back at the table and continued drinking as if no one else was around. The doctors on the side couldn't help but sigh secretly when they saw the emperor being so humiliated. Even Sun Qian, who was responsible for monitoring the emperor, felt deeply uneasy.
When returning, Liu Xie and Sun Qian rode their horses into Sili Mansion. Liu Xie walked back to his bedroom as usual, while Sun Qian hurriedly reported the matter to Chen Chong. Chen Chong was stunned when he heard this, and then became very angry. He immediately sent someone to call Liu Xie to a small house by the lake, reprimanded him, and cursed: "You dare to threaten the emperor before the world is handed over to you! When you sit on the throne in the future, won't you be able to do whatever you want?! I originally said that you have two points of arrogance, but now I think it is less than that. Even if you are compared to Jie and Zhou, you will not give up three points!" After that, Liu Xie asked him to kneel down. .
Liu Xie did not dare to disobey, and immediately fell to the ground, but he still said: "Uncle misunderstood, I just heard that the emperor was already famous in Beijing at a young age. He was praised by Dong Zhuo and also won the support of his old ministers. They all said He is the perfect person to re-establish the Han Dynasty. I had no personal opinion before, but I was really curious, so on a whim this time, I wanted to imitate my ancestors and try it out to see what the emperor is like."
After Chen Chong heard this, he was both angry and amused. Liu Xie raised his head and asked mockingly: "Then what do you think of the emperor based on what Mr. Gonglin has seen?"
Liu Xie was not afraid of the stage. He raised his eyes and looked directly at Chen Chong and said: "The emperor lives in the palace. We haven't seen each other for a long time, and he was forced by his uncle. His heroic spirit has disappeared. However, he is still very courageous, and his expression is mesmerized." He was so scared that he looked like he was going to stab me!"
Chen Chong could already imagine the scene at that time, and couldn't help but sigh slightly in his heart, and then heard Liu Xie sigh with emotion: "But even if it is in name only, the emperor's popularity is not false. When I danced the sword to test, all the doctor guards present were lustful Change, even Sun Shaofu came to report to my uncle. Although they are all uncle's people, they are somewhat interested in the emperor!"
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Speaking of this, Liu Xie saw Chen Chong's reminiscing expression and heard him say slowly: "The person who can be the emperor is not a mortal in the first place. Why do you have to ask? Since you have become the heir, who will be the emperor in the future?" I will let you sit here. You are extremely noble, so don’t think about fighting with others. As the master of the country, you want people to respect your achievements, not your character. Remember, generosity will win people! "
Although I don't know if Liu Xie remembered it, Chen Chong also felt tired. He sat back as the chairman and said slowly: "When you get married, be more affectionate to your wife. Don't overdo it. Your father and I will arrange everything well. The world will be peaceful in the future. You If I can work diligently and love the people, I have nothing more to ask for." Then he waved to Liu Xie, indicating that the matter was over.
Even so, this matter still caused a commotion in the capital. Many people wrote to the palace about this matter and gave Liu Bei advice, causing Liu Xie to receive another lesson from Liu Bei. Even Jia Xu, the military advisor of the Xifu who rarely participated in political affairs, at this time rarely asked for Xiu Mu's order from the army, returned to the capital and visited the Sili Mansion to visit Chen Chong and inquire about Chen Chong's future arrangements for the emperor.
In fact, Chen Chong had already discussed these matters with Liu Bei. After Hebei was unified, he ordered the emperor to abdicate, then sent him back to his ancestral homeland and named him King of Hejian, ranking first among the kings. In this way, both internally and externally, he was also There is a reasonable explanation. At this time, Jia Xu came to ask, and Chen Chong used him to spread the news so that all the ministers could be prepared. After Jia Xu learned about it, he also knew that this was the end of his benevolence, so he was speechless. After a quick meeting with the emperor, he rushed back to Chencang.
