Chapter 550: The princes of Guandong can’t bear it anymore!
The Kingdom of England.
The contemporary Ying Hou Luo Zhong was looking at the letter in front of him with a complicated expression. Sitting next to him was the contemporary Lu Hou Lu Chang. The letter was sent by Wang Mang on Lu Hou's behalf, and the content was very simple.
I simply explained to him the situation between the world and the court.
Finally, he said: "Emperor Gao and Emperor Xiaoxuan both made a vow, and more than two hundred years have passed, and they have not changed.
But if the Han Dynasty falls, these vows will turn to ashes.
If we don’t save the country now, when will we save it?”
Guarding the marquis.
A force that cannot be ignored since the founding of the Han Dynasty.
Especially in the game between local counties and kingdoms, among the three parties, namely, the powerful aristocratic families, the county governors, and the garrisoned marquises, only the garrisoned marquises were invincible.
The worst outcome is to reduce the number of households sealed off and then relocate them.
This can be regarded as the royal family's protection for the garrisoned marquises.
Luo Zhong put the letter down, then looked at Lu Chang beside him and asked, "Wen Chang is willing to deliver the letter for Wang Jujun, so I guess he supports him?"
Lu Chang shook his head and said, "Of course not, the family's principles will never change, that is to follow the emperor's footsteps.
But the family also has its own interests.
After the Jingnan Rebellion, our garrison marquises rarely intervened directly in the central court.
Recommending talents only through methods such as recommendation is now far behind the most glorious days.
Twenty years ago, the governor of Qingzhou, who was only an official with a salary of 600 stones, dared to use his supervisory power to bully the Lu family directly. If it were not for my father's decisive response, the Lu family of Jimo would have been embarrassed in front of the world.
Natural disasters have occurred frequently in recent years, resulting in many refugees and bandits in Qingzhou.
The family's land and caravans were hit, and many family members who went out died outside. After the incident ten years ago, a direct order was issued that family women were not allowed to leave the state at will.
This was unimaginable in the past.
Brother Zichen, I heard that the merchant caravan of Yinghou State was hijacked by pirates in Yangzhou. This is a very bad sign.
Although the Yinghou Kingdom caravan did not carry the Luo family logo, they were at least a little cautious in the past. Now...
If nothing changes, Qingzhou is already a densely populated place, and once refugees arrive, a powerful rebel army will soon emerge.
At that time, as a guarding marquis, there was a great possibility that his family would be destroyed.
Many people have forgotten the last disaster caused by Emperor Li, but the Lu family has not forgotten. How many marquisates were conquered and how many princes were killed on the throne.
When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?
Even with the reputation of the Luo family, once chaos breaks out in the world, it will be extremely difficult to remain unscathed.
The people's hearts are like flowing water.
The Lu family had a good reputation in Qingzhou, but they were still not immune.
Wang is from Guandong and of course he knows all this, so he came to persuade me, and I admit that I was persuaded by him.
This world really needs to change!"
Lu Chang's words were full of worry and vague fear, and then he sighed heavily.
It is too difficult to maintain the wealth of a family.
Although the titles of marquises were not stripped as quickly as those of princes, there were hundreds of marquises at the founding of the country, and many of them still existed today.
After all, the throne changed frequently, and nobles like the marquises who were dependent on the emperor would definitely be affected, and many of them were transferred to other places.
Moreover, they could not get any military merits, and the number of households was reduced again and again.
Even though they eventually lost their titles, with nearly a hundred years of reproduction and accumulation, as well as a large amount of wealth, inherited classics, and political connections, these once marquis families were able to transform easily, and they could even expand wildly as they were no longer bound by any constraints.
But Lu Chang didn't want to!
Or perhaps several great marquises were unwilling to do so, as their titles and surnames were their pride.
Wang Mang saw this force.
He understood that the power of the guarding marquises was still very great. If these people stood against him, his great cause would definitely be affected.
Luo Zhong pondered and asked, "This letter is definitely not just for the two of us, it must have been sent to other marquises as well.
So what will other families do?
Can these central powers who have been away from the court for many years still remain calm?
What will these marquis families think when faced with this opportunity to return to the center?
Now the emperor does not support the reform, what can you and I do?
Are we going to launch another Jingnan Rebellion to bring down the emperor?
I'm afraid that Marquis Ying and Marquis Lu will become synonymous with traitors and rebels in the future!
The more you are at this moment, the more you should not be anxious. You should first sort out the situation around your own country and ensure a relatively stable environment before considering other things. "
Upon hearing this, Lu Chang pondered and nodded. He was indeed a little confused because of what had happened in recent years.
Naturally, all the great marquises received the letter. Compared to some other marquises, as long as they did not consider the future, these great marquises lived a relatively comfortable life.
Because the marquisate had a large population and many private armies, it had strength in the local area.
Once they are pushed into a corner, they will be able to let those bullying officials see what the foundation of a founding hero is.
In response to Wang Mang's recruitment, many marquises with declining family power climbed up, but the attitudes of these founding marquises were very ambiguous.
Especially those marquises who have golden decrees.
After all, Wang Mang was not an emperor, so his temporary prominence was nothing. These families could easily last for a hundred or two hundred years. If every powerful official had tried to curry favor with them, they would have died countless times over.
The fact that the letter fell into oblivion did not make Wang Mang feel depressed at all.
Because the guarding marquises were one of the emperor's last lines of insurance, and the relationship between him and the emperor was not particularly harmonious, the marquises naturally had concerns.
However, he won over the dukes just for the sake of convenience and did not take it seriously.
Because now is no longer the time to tame the rebellion. If it were at that time, Wang Mang would really need to be cautious when facing the garrison marquises with strong martial virtues.
But now, after so many years of prosperity and wealth, most of the dukes and princes in Guandong have lost their former bravery.
Even if all these princes and marquises were added together, they actually posed no threat to the Chang'an court. In fact, in Wang Mang's eyes, if the emperor did not take sides, the garrisoning marquises would not necessarily be stronger than the local powerful people.
In Wang Mang's reform plan, the marquises were not the main targets of attack. They were just a bunch of trash. What was there to attack?
Use Guanzhong to control the four directions, and use the imperial court to control the local areas. No one has said these two things, but this policy has been implemented for so many years, resulting in whoever controls the center controls the world, unless the whole world rebels.
But Wang Mang was not worried at all. Once he gained control of the imperial power, as long as he did not create a situation where order collapsed as during the time of Emperor Li, he would be invincible with three rivers, six counties, and the orphans of the Yulin Army!
No one can be his match!
…
The Luo family of Zhaocheng has also been paying attention to Wang Mang. After all, the world has not seen a person with such a high reputation for many years.
When Wang Mang came to Zhaocheng to study, he was already quite famous and his reputation was also circulated among the disciples of the Luo family. He was even evaluated as "his sincerity is close to falsehood".
Although this evaluation sounds strange, it is indeed a genuine compliment. Anyone who sees Wang Mang's determination will praise him.
"Master, the former Imperial Censor suddenly participated in a rebellion and committed suicide at home. The Emperor appointed Wang Mang as the Imperial Censor.
Wang Jujun had only been Guanglu Xun for four months when he was promoted to Imperial Censor. It was said that the Prime Minister had submitted his resignation to the Emperor, hoping to retire.
Judging from the current situation, Wang Mang will soon be promoted to prime minister. Since the Han Dynasty does not have a grand marshal or a general now, he will basically be in control of the government.
Wang Mang was the leader of the reformists. Did this mean that the emperor had changed his attitude?
The current head of the family, Luo Fu, pondered and said, "The most likely possibility is that the emperor is under tremendous pressure. After all, there is the empress dowager above him, and the voices of reform in the court are getting louder and louder. Even the marquises who guard the city have begun to report the bad conditions in various places. The people's resentment is too great and it is almost impossible to suppress it."
————
In the summer of the seventeenth year of Shenque, the people in Guandong were in turmoil, and banditry became more and more rampant. The princes took up their swords and defeated the Jin magistrates who commanded the state and county troops for ten or more years. In one year, they defeated the Jin magistrates three times, but the princes were still unable to protect themselves. They said, "It's a pity that the disaster of Emperor Li was far more serious than this, but it was also settled by drawing swords. Now we have elite troops and food and grass, but we can't control it. Isn't this the lack of blessing from heaven?"
The princes united, all bowed their heads and sighed, unable to revive. Four of them were destroyed by bandits, eleven died, those who had made contributions restored their country, those who had committed mistakes had their households and people reduced, seven were stripped of their titles and exiled from their country, the princes declined at this time. - "Han Shu·Chronology of the Princes since the Rise of the Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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