"His Majesty!"
The person who entered the palace was Li Fang, an old minister with a solemn face and an air of purity and integrity. This is also a veteran of the court, the first imperial examination winner in the early Qianyou period.
At the beginning of this year, Li Fang was transferred to Tokyo as the chief envoy of Jinghu South Road, replacing Li Gu who was ill and unbearable as the prefect of Kaifeng. After Wang Puxi went to Luoyang as prime minister, he and Lu Yin, who succeeded him and stayed behind, co-chaired Tokyo general affairs.
Judging from the position changes at the end of the year, it was more like a foreshadowing for Li and Lu to join the cabinet and become prime ministers. For the former, after Zhang Yong was released to Chengdu, Emperor Liu didn't think about it for long before he issued an edict to summon Li Fang to return to the capital.
In fact, under the leadership of Zhao Pu, after the power to govern the three roads in Henan Province was taken back from Tokyo Liutai, Tokyo's institutions at all levels also changed. After vigorous abolition and streamlining, the two parties Lu Yin and Li Fang It seems a little inappropriate for the big officials to be concentrated in Tokyo.
However, between Li Fang and Lu Yin, Emperor Liu hesitated briefly as to who should be transferred to his side, but in the end he chose Li Fang. The reason for the trade-off is also very simple. Lu Yin was a bachelor of Chongzheng in the past, and there is no need to follow the old path. In the eyes of Emperor Liu, his future career is more suitable to develop in the Zhengshi Hall.
At the same time, Li Fang, who returned to Beijing to serve again, was no longer satisfied with just a cabinet bachelor. After all, his qualifications were different. His official title was cabinet bachelor and Tongping Zhangshi. Even though the affairs handled by Emperor Liu were the same, the difference in status was significant.
Today's cabinet is getting closer to Emperor Liu's secretarial agency. Military and political affairs between the DPRK and China, as well as information from superiors to subordinates, are all handled through the cabinet. Moreover, in the current cabinet, in addition to several bachelors, there are mainly three bachelors.
However, Wei Renpu, the Duke of Yu State, had long since stopped taking charge of the affairs due to his health. He only had a false reputation. Especially in recent years, he had become increasingly old and frail. Even Emperor Liu rarely summoned him to the palace to consult on important matters.
As for Zhao Kuangyin, he was a military minister after all. It was not that he couldn't do secretarial work, but he just needed to avoid suspicion, especially when his younger brother served as Luoyang Yin. He was also very knowledgeable and did not take the initiative to participate in normal meetings and discussions. He spends more time drinking and hunting, basically living a comfortable and leisurely retirement life.
Therefore, Li Fang, the cabinet bachelor, was the de facto leader. The cabinet is an institution with a special nature. After all, it is closest to the emperor. Most of the matters reported by the subordinate bureaus and ministries and yamen need to go through the cabinet. Therefore, although Emperor Liu delegated the power of governing the country to the bureaucratic group headed by Zhao Pu, no one dared to ignore the existence of the cabinet.
In the past, the real person in charge of the cabinet was Zhang Yong, who had weak qualifications. But when Li Fang was replaced, it was different. Changing people was like changing knives, which naturally put obvious pressure on the central departments of the imperial court.
In the eyes of the ministers who have long been immersed in power within the imperial court, Emperor Liu's replacement seems to have a deeper intention behind it. There are always people who interpret the emperor's words and deeds from various angles.
For example, when Li Fang was transferred to take charge of the cabinet and assist the imperial court, some people with lively thoughts wondered whether the emperor thought that the power of the Zhengshitang was too great and needed to be restricted, or whether he had some views on Zhao Pu's governance. After all, within the imperial court, In the eyes of many people, Zhao Pu's power is as high as that of a human minister, completely surpassing all the prime ministers in the past 20 years since the founding of the country.
As for Emperor Liu's desire for power, anyone with a little knowledge would understand it, especially those veterans. However, Zhao Pu's administration was too strong and severely suppressed his subordinate ministries, so it was naturally impossible for them all to surrender.
Therefore, within the imperial court headed by Zhao Pu, those who had no aspirations or who did not share the same views as Zhao Pu began to have their thoughts and make some tentative moves.
At least, as far as Emperor Liu knew, within half a month of Li Fang's return to Beijing, his mansion, which had been idle for many years, immediately became bustling with people of all kinds coming to congratulate and ask for advice, including many important ministers.
There are also some people who may have deeper thoughts and wider associations. That is, Li Fang was not only a minister who worked beside Emperor Liu, but also served as the prince's teacher for many years. It has to be said that this relationship is closer than that of Emperor Liu.
When Li Fang had such an important change in his position, interested people would naturally think of the prince. After Li Fang returned to Beijing, the prince was the first to visit him in person to express the friendship between teacher and student.
In the eyes of some people, Emperor Liu's move was to further consolidate the crown prince's status and enhance his influence. In the eyes of the prince's followers, such a move was tantamount to rain from heaven.
The prince has been involved in government affairs for a long time, and now he has the substantive power to supervise the country. When Zhao Pu is in charge of government, he does not dare to avoid the prince acting independently. The prince can also intervene in most affairs of the court.
It can be said that the status of the prince is very stable, but the previous emperor Liu's title of prince did have a certain impact on Liu Yang.
The kings stood side by side and stayed in the capital for a long time. They even participated in the government affairs, presided over one department, and held real power. This gave the kings space to cultivate their power and attracted many people to join them. There will never be a shortage of speculators in the world.
It is also most obvious in the upper echelons of the imperial court. Within the imperial court, various forces are filled with all kinds of characters. People who have climbed to a certain status will always find ways to break through and think about progress when they face the upper limit. But it has been passed down through the ages.
Just because of Li Fang's transfer, it caused a huge response in the court. Emperor Liu was not surprised by this, he had even become accustomed to such a situation.
In the center of the Han Empire, all power struggles revolve around him. No matter how complicated the thoughts and actions below are, he will always play the role of an arbiter.
As for those overflowing thoughts, Emperor Liu was very open-minded. He could control people's words and deeds with force, but he could not restrain people's thoughts after all. Although he is the emperor, he is not a god after all. There are too many things in the world that he cannot control.
However, as many people had guessed, Li Fang was really considered for the prince. Because, he also discovered that the other princes were growing in ambitions that they shouldn't have but would normally have.
Originally, it was only the King of Qin, Liu Xu, who was quietly accumulating influence and cultivating party members, and Emperor Liu did not interfere too much. At least Liu Xu's behavior was not out of line in Emperor Liu's eyes.
However, when Emperor Liu discovered that even the seventh prince Liu Hui was following suit and began to be surrounded by some people, especially those who were getting too close to Nanchen, Emperor Liu became wary.
Emperor Liu's thoughts were always contradictory at times. On the one hand, he clarified the status of the prince and consolidated his power and prestige. On the other hand, he seemed to have some hopes for his other sons.
However, when things start to develop beyond his expectations and out of his control, he will start to intervene. From Emperor Liu's true heart, he did not want any fight for the right to inherit the throne, which would not be conducive to the stability of the country and harmful to the country, but this kind of thing was often unavoidable.
Emperor Liu also knew that he could take some more serious or even extreme measures to dissuade other princes, but there was always a voice in his mind reminding him to leave some room. With this leeway, it is often possible to bear some unpredictable fruits.
Even if there are enough lessons to be learned from history, if future generations can learn from the experience and lessons of history, then the development of history will not be so cyclical.
The same goes for Emperor Liu. From an outsider's perspective, he can even comment unscrupulously and even ridicule those wise emperors who caused chaos because of their heirs, but when it comes to himself, he is always confused and entangled.
Emperor Liu's expectations for Liu Yang were absolutely sincere and could not be faked. However, the emperor's instinct also told him that he could not hold everything back. The relationship between the emperor and the prince is inherently prone to some conflicts. The reason why there have been no problems for so many years is because the prince has done a good job and the other brothers are relatively peaceful.
However, with the passage of time, the growth of the scholars and the formation of influence, Emperor Liu began to feel conflicted, not uneasy, but entangled. On the one hand, he hoped that the inheritance would be orderly, and on the other hand, he also hoped that Liu Yang would be under some pressure. At the same time, since he was his own son, he should inherit something from him, even if the most precious throne had been decided to be left to the prince.
Emperor Liu's character is multi-faceted and has various faces, but after all, he is not a machine that can remain rational forever. Moreover, the older he gets, the more he behaves when he is briefly freed from the whirlpool of power. Like a person.
