Wu Guogong's Mansion and Liuguang Garden were built by Liu Hui with huge sums of money. It only took three years to complete. The exact amount of money spent on food is still a mystery. We only know that thousands of craftsmen and coolies of various types were recruited and worked day and night. .
Truck after truck of stone, wood, and tools were transported in, even crushing the pavement of the two long streets outside Wu Guogong's mansion. In the end, the government had to spend a sum of money to repair the road, but it also earned a " The reputation of "being kind and charitable".
After spending so much manpower, the Liuguang Garden was built to be magnificent and magnificent. At the same time, when building such a garden, Liu Hui also had the idea of "building a nest to attract phoenixes". Since its completion, he began to recruit scholars and economics masters.
Liu Hui's "virtuous reputation" among scholars is illustrious, not only because of his status as a prince, but also because of his contribution to the literary and poetic circles, and he was highly respected by traditional Confucian scholars and officials.
He sent invitations, and almost no one refused them. Confucian scholars from all over the world gathered together, and Liuguang Garden became a beautiful scenery in Luoyang City in a short period of time. There is nothing more prosperous than this, and the reputation of Wu Guogong Liu Hui is becoming more and more famous.
Although Liu Hui has been active in the past few decades, he has basically accomplished nothing in terms of politics and people's livelihood, and has even caused some negative consequences. But Liu Hui's reputation has always been "spotless". A large number of literati and poets used ink as water to help Liu Hui clean up his reputation.
Up to now, Liu Hui's Liuguang Garden has ninety-eight scholars, and most of them are "talented scholars" with a certain background and reputation. Not everyone can see the dignified Lord Wu Guogong. With his arrogance and talent, most people don't look down on him. Those who can have a place in Liuguang Garden must have "one skill" that can catch Liu Hui's eyes.
At the same time, there is another common characteristic among those guests, that is, most of them are politically frustrated people. Either they are dissatisfied with the current political environment and talent selection policies of the imperial court, or they simply cannot pass the imperial examination, and are unwilling to settle down and take the hard and highly competitive path of "official service". Those who really come here because of the same spirit are really It's rare.
Basically, every month, Liu Hui would hold a banquet for guests in Liuguang Garden. It was really a grand gathering of poetry and prose, and also a social gathering. In addition to the guests at the house, there would also be many literary giants and Confucian scholars who were close friends with Liu Hui. Everyone, even some who held important positions in the imperial court, received invitations to attend the meeting, and those who were delighted to see it even left some works behind.
As a result, the "Liuguang Club" soon became as famous as the Peony Poetry Club. There were many scholars talking and laughing, but no white people came and went. Naturally, the scale could not be compared with the former. After all, the brand was hatched more than 20 years ago. , great influence.
But in terms of talent, Liu Guanghui is higher, and the quality of the works produced is also better than many others. Let alone others, Liu Hui and Li Yu, the "Kings of Poetry" and "Emperors of Ci" from the north and the south, are the only ones left. He wrote a large number of popular poems and songs.
There is always some hypocrisy in the writings of Confucian scholars, which is vividly reflected in Liu Hui. He is also a singer, dance pavilion, and rich family wine and meat. For Liu Shu, the Duke of Chu, he is a big builder, extravagant and lewd. It is insulting to be polite, but when it comes to Liu Hui, it is sunny, elegant and noble.
The atmosphere of the recent Liuguang meetings has become more harmonious and lively. The reason is also very simple. Liu Hui has become the Prime Minister, which is both in name and in reality. Even some ministers who were relatively cautious in the past have put aside their reserve and actively participated in the meetings. , chatting, singing and dancing with the "streaming scholars".
The poems and articles he wrote have also changed. The most representative of them is a long narrative poem with an equally long title: "I was so happy and drunk when I heard that His Highness Wu Gong paid homage to the Prime Minister, I was so happy and drunk that I wrote a composition to express my congratulations." This was written by a Jiannan scholar named Li Quan in front of the audience, and it attracted a round of applause. It praised and complimented Liu Hui so much that it was enough to make people sick. The style of writing can be called the pinnacle of contemporary "Xikun style" work.
Then this Li Dan's reputation suddenly "out of the circle". Many people praised him for his literary talent, but more people despised him and flattered him. At the same time, there was no shortage of envious people. Because not long after, Li Dan was first replaced as a subordinate official of the government, completed the status change, and then promoted to the supervisory censor. No one would believe it if there was no instruction from Liu Hui behind this.
Liu Hui raised so many people. In addition to inviting names for his works, cultivating some usable talents was obviously one of his purposes. Within a few months of entering the Political Hall, as many as ten people were released as officials from Liuguang Garden. Although the three positions are not high, they all show the "positive" significance brought by Liu Hui's worship as prime minister.
Wu Guogong can really bring political progress and a leap in the future to these frustrated poets and passers-by. Li Dan was the most obvious example when he was promoted to an official position because of a poem.
The poetry innovation movement advocated by Liu Kai, Wang Yucheng and others was aimed at this kind of people. Among these "comrades", the brightest star is none other than Liu Hui. It can be said that in the world of poetry and literature, Liu Hui was regarded as a leader by those scholars who came from nobles, bureaucrats, and landlords, who supported him in arguing with Liu, Wang and others.
This is not only a question of the concept and direction of poetry creation, but also a question of political opinions and policies. The long-lasting peace in the world has allowed the rulers and exploiters to focus their main energy on the common people, and political policies focus more on the working people. This It would test their conscience too much
As time went by, the contradictions and conflicts between the old and new factions became more and more intense. Wang Yucheng had ups and downs. In addition to the changes in Emperor Liu's likes and dislikes, he was also criticized and excluded by many bureaucrats in the government. With Wang Yucheng's character It's really hard for people to like him and his ideas.
As for the reform at the level of poetry and prose, although Liu Wang and others have made a lot of efforts and vigorously appealed for it, which has also aroused considerable repercussions, from a higher and broader perspective, there are more people who oppose them and their strength is less. To be stronger, Wu Guogong Liu Hui is just a representative figure who was pushed to the forefront.
This is also linked to the overall social environment and customs. The current Han Dynasty is in the prosperous period of a feudal dynasty, and it is still gradually climbing. It is a traditional "prosperity" in the era of autocratic monarchy.
Although external conquests continued, the continuous victories suppressed the resulting problems. There were external crises, but they were not serious. They were just scratching the surface and could not create real pressure on the powerful men of the Han Dynasty.
Internally, although various problems and ills have arisen during the long period of peaceful development, this has not hindered the overall prosperity of the country. Everyone is still living in a glorious era.
Under such circumstances, it is unrealistic for those in power to put aside their status and consider the common people, to care about the sufferings of the people, and to reflect on the gains and losses of government. It is very rare for carnivores not to indulge too much in the prosperity of the prosperous age and fall directly, completely and quickly.
This is the result of the old emperor's continuous encouragement for twenty or thirty years. The wars in the south and the north, and the expansion of overseas colonies have certainly caused certain disadvantages to the country, but without these, it is hard to predict that the Han Dynasty will be the Han Dynasty after nearly thirty years of peace. What does the upper ruling class look like?
Even Emperor Liu, who used to use reflection as his motto, gradually lost this habit, and since the death of Queen Fu, he no longer knows what reflection is. Emperor Liu is like this, let alone others. It is obviously not enough to rely solely on the vigilant appeals of a few "people of insight" such as Liu and Wang. It can have a certain positive effect, but it cannot influence the overall situation.
However, although Emperor Liu himself was slacking off, he still supported Liu and Wang's ideas. It didn't matter whether they could be implemented or not, but they had to be publicized. This was also a kind of political correctness.
As a prince, Liu Hui was involved in such a dispute, and he might become a representative of the exploiting class in the eyes of future generations who is greedy, hypocritical, corrupt, and degenerate. How could Emperor Liu have a good impression of him and have too high expectations for him? If it hadn't been for the stimulation of Liu Xu's death and Liu Zhao's humble words, Emperor Liu would never have put Liu Hui in the Political Hall. The consequences of a lack of moral integrity would be very serious.
In fact, there has always been a question surrounding Liu Hui, the Duke of Wu State. With so many celebrities, large and small banquets on weekdays, and this magnificent Liuguang Garden, where would Liu Hui get the money and food to support him?
It is far from enough to rely solely on the annual salary issued by the imperial court and the manors and land awarded by Emperor Liu. Of course, there are some reasonable reasons on the surface, such as the government's well-run business or the fact that it has made huge profits from overseas trade, but everyone knows what the actual situation is.
It's just that many people keep it secret and are unwilling or afraid to reveal it. Otherwise, the Tian family's face will be greatly damaged. There is a saying that in some aspects, Liu Shu, the always absurd and extravagant old man, has a better bottom line. He is at least frank and does everything in the open, while Liu Hui, under the gorgeous clothes and gorgeous poems, is hiding something. No one knows how unbearable it is...
Emperor Liu had many eyes and ears, and the Duke of Wu's mansion was indispensable for his spies. Even if he didn't know everything about the situation in the mansion, he had some understanding of it. However, perhaps because of his love for his son's literature, or because of his guilt for his mother Zhou Shufei and his sister Liu Xuan, Emperor Liu has always been more tolerant and turned a blind eye to many things. .
However, this tolerance has limits. Liu Hui's memorial touched his bottom line and even brought out the dissatisfaction that had been buried in his heart for many years...
