Chapter 320: The Split Nation: Prelude
“Boom boom boom!”
The deafening sound of horse hooves seemed to make the earth tremble slightly. In the rolling smoke and dust, a group of knights galloped on their horses. They were wearing leather armor, with swords, spears, bows and crossbows hanging on the sides of their horses. They were obviously the imperial court's soldiers.
The knights entered Chang'an City and headed straight for the Zongzheng Mansion. The leading knight jumped off his horse and shouted, "We are from Huainan. The king has passed away. We are here to report the death of the king on the queen's orders."
The guard was shocked when he heard this and hurried inside to report. The group was allowed to enter the Zongzheng Mansion. Zongzheng Liu Cheng hurried into the courtyard and asked anxiously without even waiting for the messenger to speak, "Did the King of Huainan really pass away?"
It is no wonder that Liu Cheng was so anxious. You know, the King of Huainan is probably the oldest person in the current Liu royal family. After Liu Bang put down the rebellion of King Ying Bu of Huainan, he granted the Kingdom of Huainan to his brother.
As it turned out, this person was really able to live, and he actually outlived Liu Bang, Lu Zhi, and Liu Ying. Liu Bang's other brothers had all died long ago, and each of the vassal states had second or even third generations of vassal states, but only the Huainan State still had one generation.
Back then, Ying Bu relied on the Huainan Kingdom to rebel. Although he was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot and overestimating his own capabilities, it still showed how strong the Huainan Kingdom was.
Liu Cheng was able to serve as a key position among the Nine Ministers under strong men like Lu Zhi and Luo Xin, so one can imagine his position.
In fact, Liu Cheng was the confidant of Lu Zhi and Luo Xin in the Liu clan, and now he was a staunch supporter of Emperor Liu Heng.
He had long been worried about the powerful strength of the princes. Now, upon hearing that the backbone of the kings south of the Yellow River, King Huainan, had passed away, he almost wanted to laugh out loud.
If the King of Huainan knew that his nephew was so eager to see him die, I wonder how he would feel.
These knights naturally had no idea what Liu Cheng was thinking, so they wept and said sadly, "Report to the chief of clan, the king has indeed passed away and has gone to see the Emperor Gao. We will go to Chang'an first to announce the death, and the Huainan Kingdom delegation will arrive shortly."
Liu Cheng forced himself to look sad and said, "Everyone, please take a rest first. After I report to His Majesty, we will discuss the affairs of the King of Huainan."
When a prince dies, the court needs to do a lot of things, such as agreeing on a posthumous title, preparing ritual vessels, arranging the affairs of the vassal state, and the succession of the subsequent prince.
Even under the complete feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states were almost completely independent of the Zhou emperor, but the new vassal states still needed to be enthroned by the Zhou emperor.
This is called receiving orders from the king!
This rule would naturally not change in the Han Dynasty. If the emperor had been firm in not allowing the Prince of Huainan to succeed to the throne, there would have been a stalemate.
Liu Cheng settled the group of people coming from Huainan State and ran to the palace with a happy face. He was a powerful figure in the Han Dynasty.
"Is the Grand Prime Minister in Changle Palace?"
Liu Cheng directly stopped the palace servant serving in Changle Palace and asked.
"Replying to Zongzheng's question, the Grand Prime Minister is currently handling government affairs in Changle Palace."
Upon hearing this, Liu Cheng went straight to the side hall of Changle Palace.
Luo Xin looked at Liu Cheng, who was full of joy, and joked: "Mr. Liu is so happy, but is it because he has suddenly become a pampered child, an old tree blooming, and a new son?"
Liu Cheng's face instantly turned red when he heard this, and he waved his hand quickly and said, "Grand Prime Minister, please don't tease me. I came to see you this time because I have an important matter to report."
"happy event?"
Liu Cheng frowned slightly and thought, then said, "Yes and no."
Luo Xin looked up at Liu Cheng, the chief of the clan, and said thoughtfully, "It is worth your personal trip. Could it be that some prince has passed away?
Could it be the long-lived old turtle of the King of Huainan?"
Liu Cheng was excited when he heard this and said, "Your Excellency is indeed a man of genius. It is precisely because the King of Huainan has passed away that I hurried to see you upon hearing the news."
When Luo Xin heard that it was indeed the King of Huainan who had passed away, he also showed a happy smile on his face and said, "This King of Huainan seems to be loyal and kind, but the information I have collected about him over the years shows that he is a sinister and vicious person.
He seems to have a good reputation in the country, but he has calculations in his heart and has denied the court's policies over the years.
Now that he is dead, his contribution to the world is greater than his entire life."
Then, seeing the historian coming in, Luo Xin immediately put on a sad expression. Liu Cheng also put away his smile and said in a deep voice: "The King of Huainan passed away, and the country sent people to Chang'an. I want to do this. Please give instructions to the regent prime minister."
Luo Xin sighed slightly and said, "The Huainan King's clan was strong, and your majesty's elder passed away suddenly. It is really a great loss to the clan."
Liu Cheng also responded with grief: "What the Prime Minister said is true. This is indeed a great loss for the clan."
Luo Xin added: "The taxes paid by Huainan to the court have been increasing year after year. This is the credit of the King of Huainan. The court cannot treat such a meritorious official unfairly."
Liu Cheng nodded heavily and said, "The Prime Minister is right. We cannot treat such meritorious officials unfairly."
Luo Xin pondered for a moment and said, "Regarding the posthumous title of the King of Huainan, the court will discuss it. The chief of the clan should return to the office first to appease the envoys from Huainan who will arrive later and tell them that the court will definitely give a decent honor to a powerful vassal like the King of Huainan."
After Liu Cheng left, Luo Xin sat there with his eyes closed, motionless. Countless storms began to unfold in his mind. He pondered for a long time, and finally slowly opened his eyes and said softly: "Establish many princes to reduce their strength, and start with Huainan Kingdom."
…
The dignitaries in Chang'an City soon met the delegation from Huainan State. There were more than 300 people, including two or three sons of the King of Huainan.
Everyone was covered with white cloth and dressed in obvious mourning attire, and soon the news of King Huainan's death spread.
For ordinary people, it just gave them more topics to talk about in the streets, but for the powerful people in Chang'an City, it was a major event that affected the wealth of their family.
Soon the news spread from the palace, and Luo Xin summoned some important officials to discuss the posthumous title of King Huainan.
Although many people here wished that the King of Huainan would die sooner, they still had to be as fair as possible in the matter of posthumous titles. After listening to some opinions, Luo Xin finally decided to be as fair as possible and give the King of Huainan a slightly higher posthumous title of "Xiang", which was considered a relatively high posthumous title.
Liu Cheng brought Luo Xin's decree to the palace where the Huainan Kingdom's delegation was staying, and a large number of people bowed to receive the decree.
Liu Cheng said in a clear voice: "According to the will of Emperor Renzong Xiaohui, acting on behalf of the emperor, and the order of the regent prime minister:
Huainan King Chang is the elder brother of Emperor Gao and an elder of outstanding moral character in the clan. He obtained the throne by virtue of his bloodline. For the past twenty or thirty years, he must have worked diligently as a vassal of the emperor. If the court does not reward such a loyal clan member, it will not be enough to reflect its benevolence.
After discussion among the court officials, the king of Huainan was given the posthumous title of "Xiang", and was called the King of Huainan Xiang. This was announced to the whole world.
When everyone heard the posthumous title given by the court, they all showed surprised smiles on their faces. The King of Huainan did have contributions to the country over the years, but these contributions were rather vague. When it came to posthumous titles, it was a panacea, and a higher or lower one would do. They did not expect that they could get such a good posthumous title.
This was considered by many to be a gesture of friendship from the imperial court towards the Huainan Kingdom.
"There is a will!"
Liu Cheng took out another decree and spoke loudly, and the people who had just stood up bowed again.
Liu Cheng said in a clear voice: "The King of Huainan has a good way of educating his children. Everyone in the world knows this. The Han Dynasty has just been established and needs the royal family to do things. I want to ask the sons of the King of Huainan who are in Chang'an to enter the palace. I want to test them on behalf of Your Majesty. If they have talent, you should not let the royal family's nobles wander in the wilderness."
Everyone was a little confused after hearing this decree. How could they not know that the King of Huainan was a good parent? The King of Huainan did have a good reputation, but everyone in Huainan Kingdom knew that he did not care about illegitimate sons and he was even unwilling to hire teachers for them.
Although favoring a concubine over one's wife is a taboo, treating a concubine's son so harshly is also against the moral values of that era.
After all, the Luo family is the weather vane of all morality. The Luo family has always treated illegitimate sons well. During the Bang Zhou period, in addition to the legitimate sons of the royal family, the most trusted helper of each generation of monarchs was their half-brothers.
The King of Huainan was criticized by many people for doing this, but since it was a family matter after all, it was not made a big deal.
The three illegitimate sons of King Huainan who came to Chang'an this time were not liked by the queen in the country, so they were sent to Chang'an, a dangerous place. However, they did not expect that the prime minister's attitude was unexpectedly good and he even wanted to summon them and use them.
The three brothers looked at each other, the joy and shock in their eyes could not be concealed at all. If they could leave Huainan Kingdom, they would be free to fly in the sky and fish in the sea.
Some people in the Huainan Kingdom delegation frowned. These people were sent by the queen, and some did not expect why Luo Xin wanted to meet these bastards.
He couldn't help but mutter in his heart: "The regent prime minister is busy with all kinds of affairs, why would he care about a few small princes' bastards?
These people cannot even inherit the title and can only be idle members of the royal family.
Not to mention being compared with the princes and marquises, he is not even as good as the ordinary nobles, and can be said to be of no value to the regent prime minister.
How strange.
We can only wait until they come out of the palace and ask them."
No one dared to openly question Luo Xin's will at this time. Liu Cheng looked at the people in front of him with an inexplicable look, put away the will, and said to the few people in the front: "Brothers, please follow me into the palace. The prime minister is very busy and time is precious. Don't keep him waiting."
According to the genealogy of the Liu clan, Liu Cheng is really the elder brother of these people, so he said this to show his closeness. He knew that Luo Xin must have a purpose in letting these Huainan kings enter the palace. As Luo Xin's confidant, he naturally had to be closer to these illegitimate sons and let these people cooperate with Luo Xin's actions.
The three of them stood up and said with a smile, "Thank you for your concern, brother. We cannot delay the Prime Minister's business. We will follow you to the palace now."
After saying that, Liu Cheng took the three of them to the palace, leaving the rest of the people standing there to look around.
(End of this chapter)
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