Chapter 508 Don't betray my trust
I don't want to make wedding clothes for others!
Huo Guang understood what the emperor meant. The Wusun Kingdom covered an area of a thousand miles, where people could both farm and raise horses. It was close to the westernmost land and had weapons and armor. It was also five thousand miles away from Chang'an. If the Central Plains sent troops to the Western Regions, it would take one or two months just to march.
This time is enough for the local ruler to stage a coup and completely take control of the situation. The border of the empire is naturally a place for separatism.
Now the emperor wants to develop the Western Regions and import a large amount of population and technology into them.
Once these precious resources from the Central Plains entered the Western Regions, the power of the Wusun Kingdom would expand rapidly.
The reason why the King of Wusun is so respectful to the imperial court is because he is weak.
When the Wusun Kingdom has a population of one million and tens of thousands of soldiers, they will definitely challenge the imperial court and even rebel. The lessons of the Zhou princes are not far away.
Liu Xun would never make such a low-level mistake as to create enemies for himself.
This was because the Wusun power in the Han Dynasty was not strong enough. In fact, the land of the Yishui River Valley could give birth to a super agricultural nomadic country with a population of millions. If it really reached that level, it would be an opponent far more terrifying than Goguryeo.
It can even be said that the Huns' war potential cannot be compared with it.
It was almost impossible for the Central Plains dynasty to cross thousands of miles to attack a big country with millions of people and destroy it in an era without firearms.
Although there is no such sign at present, Liu Xun still became suspicious of this place based on his judgment of past data and was unwilling to let the King of Wusun continue to enjoy this fertile land alone.
After all, the King of Wusun was not Liu Xun's own man, and there was no basis for mutual trust between the two sides. Liu Xun did not understand the nobles and officials in the Western Regions, and could only infer what might happen from the perspective of human nature.
In politics, trusting others casually is suicide.
Huo Guang was a loyal defender of the central government. Upon hearing this, he said directly: "Your Majesty, your descendants are gradually growing up, but most of them have not yet been crowned kings. I suggest that you crown the kings of the Western Regions."
The standard practice of the Han Dynasty was to first confer titles of king on the places that could not be controlled.
With the extension of favors and the transfer of fiefs, the country would basically be abolished after three or four generations. If one did a good job, he would be left with the title of marquis, and the capital of the kingdom would be transformed into a marquisate. If one did not do a good job, he would naturally become an idle member of the royal family.
Generally speaking, after about three generations, the local royal family has become quite large in number, and the number of Han people is also quite large.
At this time, either new princes could be appointed or the areas could be changed into counties to increase the land directly under the central court.
The royal family members without royal titles are naturally the emperor's base, because every year the Han emperor would select and appoint some of them.
Cooperating with the marquises of the previous generation and the county magistrates who govern the people's livelihood, the results achieved have always been very good.
Liu Xun pondered for a few seconds, then slowly said: "It is true that two kings should be enfeoffed, but that is not enough, we must also select the hereditary marquises. I plan to enfeoff the ruler of a small country in the Western Regions as a hereditary marquis.
Zi Meng, I remember that among the Western Regions nobles who followed Marquis Wuxiang to the expedition, there was a ruler of the Western Regions who had made great contributions and was one of the commanders of the Temple Army, so he was canonized as a marquis.
Just call him Marquis Cheng'en.
Let his young son come to Chang'an to study the Han classics, and return to inherit the position of marquis in the future, serving as one of the examples of the Han Dynasty to the barbarians in the Western Regions.
As long as they make contributions to the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty can grant them titles. "
This time Huo Guang was really shocked. It was not that the Han Dynasty had never conferred titles on ethnic minorities. After all, when it fought against the Huns, it incorporated so many ethnic minorities and even conferred the title of king on them.
Moreover, the system of conferring titles on people of different ethnic groups has a long history, and this tradition has existed since the Bang Zhou period.
The so-called treat, behead, and accept as a dog.
After the use of force to intimidate, it is still necessary to recruit them. Except for Liu Dan who was really obsessed with killing, other emperors were good at recruiting foreigners and using them for their own purposes.
But this is the first time for the Hereditary Marquis!
"Shizhenliehou" is not the name of a title, it is actually an unofficial title.
Generally speaking, it refers to the marquis families who hold the emperor's golden order and have the right to command the county in wartime. There may be two marquis families in the same county, one with the golden order and the other without. The one with the golden order has great power, while the one without the golden order is just purely rich. This is the difference.
The princes who participated in the Jingnan Campaign were basically hereditary marquises, especially the six major families of Lanling Xiao, Huaiyin Han, Xinzheng Zhang, Jimo Lu, Anyang Han, and Yinghou Luo. They had not moved for a hundred years and had ruled the area east of the Taihang Mountains and north and south of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers for generations, and were the cornerstone of the imperial court.
The Jingnan Campaign was initiated by these six major families, and only then did other hereditary marquises dare to follow suit, because these six major families had golden medals of immunity from death in the Han Dynasty.
Huo Guang was quite surprised and asked: "Your Majesty, are you really granting the Golden Book, Golden Edict, and Golden Order to the people of the Western Regions at the same time? This is the first time in the country."
Liu Xun smiled slightly and said, "A sage king is supposed to do what others cannot do. How can he surpass his predecessors if he does things according to the rules?
After the Wusun Kingdom was divided into three parts, there were four Liu princes in the Western Regions, and four garrisoning marquises were required.
But the Western Regions are foreign regions after all. If we rashly transfer people from the Central Plains there, it will cause a backlash from the Western Regions. Moreover, Marquis Wuxiang's last words before his death were that he hoped I could reward the troops in the Western Regions normally.
He personally killed the Xiongnu Chanyu, and this victory was achieved at the cost of more than half of the 40,000 troops in the Western Regions being killed or wounded. I cannot disappoint these meritorious officials.
The hereditary marquises must be appointed from among the locals. A local king of the Western Regions will serve as the hereditary marquis, as well as the already existing Wushuang Marquis. Then, one who has made great contributions from the Han army that participated in the raid on the Xiongnu royal court will be chosen to be enthroned as a marquis and stationed in the eastern country of Dayuan.
The last position of the Guardian Marquis will be left vacant for now, and will be appointed when the population increases."
Where there is a county, there must be a marquis; where there is a king, there must be a marquis. This is the iron political law of the Han Dynasty. The establishment of each county and the appointment of each prince will involve at least one marquis position.
Huo Guang did not care about these details. He heard some key information from Liu Xun, "It will cause a backlash from the Western Regions", "Reward the Western Regions normally", and "Don't disappoint the heroes."
These unintentional remarks proved that although the emperor was working to weaken the power of the Grand Protectorate, he was not prepared to discard the position.
On the contrary, he reduced the military and political power of the Grand Protector-General and dispersed it into the hands of the garrisoned marquises, kings and court officials. The Western Regions lost an undisputed ruler, but the overall power of the Han people in the Western Regions was growing.
The reason for doing this is that the Huns were defeated and the Western Regions lost their biggest external threat. High military cohesion is no longer the first choice for dealing with issues in the Western Regions.
If they wanted to resist the Huns, they still had to implement the previous highly integrated military and political system.
"As for the candidate for the Grand Protector, I plan to send Marquis Anyang."
???
Huo Guang was filled with questions when he heard this, and thought he had misheard. What was the difference between sending Marquis Anyang over and letting Marquis Wushuang continue to hold the position?
The relationship between the Huaiyin Han family and the Luo family has gradually become distant, but although the Marquis of Anyang belongs to the Han family now, he may not be so at any time. The Luo family still has the legal right to this title. And, Your Majesty, don’t you know how many members of the Luo family there are in the Marquisate of Anyang?
Liu Xun couldn't help laughing when he saw Huo Guang's confused expression. "Zimeng, oh Zimeng, you are a wise man. Can't you see my intention?"
Huo Guang was smart after all. An idea suddenly occurred to him and he asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, are you trying to find another way to let the Luo family continue to rule the Western Regions?"
Liu Xun nodded with a smile and said: "If I were asked to choose one I can trust from the two kings and one marquis in the Western Regions, I would definitely choose Wushuang Marquis.
If there is a rebellion in the Western Regions, I still believe that Marquis Wushuang will be able to quell it, and everyone in the Western Regions will also feel at ease.
If the ministers who have made contributions receive the rewards they deserve, making them honorable and wealthy, the monarch's world will be stable.
Zi Meng, do you think I am doing the right thing?"
Huo Guang immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The sage said that a scholar will die for his friend. Your Majesty shows favor, and the ministers repay the favor. This is the principle between heaven and earth."
Human beings are too complicated. Even Liu Xun is no exception. When it comes to playing power games and seeking balance, he still places his hopes on humans.
There is no perfect system in this world, but there are trustworthy people. All divisions are for the stability of power, but at the deepest level, the brilliance of human nature overshadows everything.
Liu Xun stared at Huo Guang closely, making Huo Guang feel uneasy and wondering what was wrong with the emperor.
Then I heard a long voice, "Zi Meng, I may be about to do something big, and you are the person I trust the most. I hope you can always remember this trust.
You go down first and spread my message."
Huo Guang retreated in a cold sweat and walked out of the hall. When the cold wind blew, he came to his senses and recalled the emperor's last words.
"event?"
Huo Guang was very confused. The emperor held great power and did not go to war with the Luo family. What in this world was a big deal to him?
I'm afraid even this attack on the Huns is not a big deal?
"strangeness."
Huo Guang couldn't think of a solution and had to give up. The most important thing now was to reveal the adjustments to the Western Region and see everyone's reaction.
————
Whenever I study Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, a word always flashes through my mind, and that is caution.
During his twenty years in power, I have hardly seen any violent behavior. He was always cautious and careful. The political wisdom proposed by Lao Tzu, "governing a large country is like cooking a small fish," was fully reflected in him.
Starting from dealing with the princes in the Jingnan Rebellion, he was always able to reasonably deal with those meritorious officials who had made great contributions, which neither affected the operation of the imperial power nor prevented the meritorious officials from getting rewards. This was probably what a great king could do.
All kinds of talented people can freely exert their abilities without worrying about being liquidated by the monarch. This is why Liu Xun is called one of the greatest emperors of the Han Dynasty. - Biography of Emperor Xuan of Han
(End of this chapter)
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