Whether it is called the Year of Gonghe, the Year of Chengtian, or the Year of Taiwu.
In short, on September 23rd, the Guandong court, the young emperor Liu Bian, the general He Jin, and many many people in Kyoto all came to a crossroads in their lives.
Regardless of whether he goes left or right, no one knows whether an abyss is waiting for him, but what is certain is that the future of the Han Dynasty has once again become uncertain.
The little emperor had his own confidants, a group of ministers he formed from Lantai in the name of his teacher Xu Xiang, the representative of whom was Zhong Yao.
After a series of secret talks with Zhong Yao and others, they made the plan as follows:
According to the original plan, on September 23, the young emperor would bring all the court officials, including He Jin, to the White Horse Temple to welcome the Jade Buddha into the temple.
The Jade Buddha of Gandhara presented by the Khotanese gave the young emperor an excellent excuse.
With this reason, the Jinwu Guards led by Liu Bei could logically send troops to White Horse Temple to participate in the defense.
At that time, as long as He Jin's gang members enter the temple and the door is closed, Liu Bei's Jinwu Guards will be able to kill them all.
The plan is so simple and crude.
……
Deep inside the palace, the young emperor Liu Bian was walking around anxiously.
He was very irritable, and this irritability was physical.
Because he had made a fool of himself while hunting in the West Garden, Liu Bian began to practice archery hard when he returned to the palace. However, because he was impatient and eager for quick success, his fingers were pulled out of the hole. Now they are bandaged, but when he touches it, pain.
It's just that the irritability in the body is nothing compared to the irritability in the heart.
Seeing that the big event was approaching, he suddenly felt a little regretful, not because he missed his uncle, but because he thought that if he couldn't control the situation, Kyoto would really be in chaos.
So he is still wandering between doing it and not doing it.
At this time, the imperial doctor came in and started dressing his wounds. Seeing that the wound was not healing, the imperial doctor carefully comforted Liu Bian:
"Your Majesty, you have a lot of things to do every day, but you still have to go with your heart, so that the wound can heal quickly."
Words are the doctor’s conscience and good words.
But the little emperor immediately became impatient and scolded:
"Don't say too much, and leave quickly after changing."
So the imperial doctor didn't dare to speak anymore, packed up the medicine box and left.
When all the outsiders left, Zhong Yao, who had been accompanying Liu Bian, said softly:
"Your Majesty, if you are upset, people will notice that you are abnormal."
Yes, today's Liu Bian is indeed abnormal. If it were in the past, when facing the imperial doctor, Liu Bian would smile and respond no matter how impatient he was, instead of like this now.
What Zhong Yao means is that now is the critical moment to do big things, and he must not show any abnormality. After all, who knows how many eyes and ears of the Queen Mother and General are in the palace.
Liu Bian also understood it very well. He sighed:
"Master Zhong, you are right. I really have to meditate now. But it is easier said than done. Nowadays, the court is troubled by internal and external troubles. How can I be calm? Even if I am still, I am just deceiving myself."
Zhong Yao knew that he was a precocious student and had his own ideas about everything. He just lacks time now, and given time, it will be a blessing to the Han Dynasty.
But it was precisely this student who had too many ideas of his own, and the time was short, so he seemed to be very eager to do things. This made Zhong Yao very worried, but it was not easy to persuade him.
Because he could understand what the little emperor said so well.
Nowadays, the imperial court in Guandong can be said to be at the end of its rope externally.
In terms of peripheral geography, Kyoto's northern Kadong and the gateway to the west, the Weihan Passage, are both occupied by the Kansai side.
To the south of Kyoto, in the direction of Nanyang, Yuan Shu occupied it, blocking Jingzhou's transportation to him. In the southeast are Yuan Shao, Zhang Miao and other rebels. It can be said that the Kanto court at this time was surrounded by only a piece of land in Gyeonggi.
If you are an ordinary person, you may have despaired of the current situation.
But the little emperor didn't think so, because he thought that he had surrounded the Yuan family.
To the south of Yuan Shu was Liu Biao of Jingzhou. Liu Biao was appointed by him, so if he wanted to rule Jingzhou smoothly, he had to follow the little emperor.
To the south of Yuan Shao were Tao Qian and Liu Yao. Tao Qian has always been a loyal supporter of the Guandong court, and Liu Yao was also appointed and dismissed by the young emperor, and was a representative of the Qingzhou royal family.
Then what? To the east of Yuan Shao, although there was his ally Zhang Miao, there was also Liu Dai, the shepherd of Yanzhou appointed by the young emperor.
In other words, in the Guandong territory, the forces loyal to the imperial court did not completely suppress the Yuan brothers, but they were at least 50-50 divided.
Therefore, the little emperor was only worried about the dangers from the external situation, but not to the point of being restless.
What really worried him was guilt, his uncle He Jin.
When thinking about this matter, he thought of the autumn hunting in Xiyuan. And when he thought about He Jin daring to board his carriage, his chest ached with anger. However, part of this anger is the fear of showing cowardice.
He was annoyed that he could not withstand He Jin's pressure and actually handed the bow and arrow to He Jin.
A king cannot show weakness, so he must kill He Jin, otherwise no one in the government and the public will take him seriously again.
By then, Liu Bian will really become a puppet.
It can be seen from this that the imperial education Liu Bian received was very successful, and he clearly understood where his current authority came from.
What exactly is power? It is actually a kind of human heart. When everyone supports you, you have power. When everyone is afraid of you, you have power.
So power means that you can influence, drive or even control others to do things with your will.
There are at least three ways to make others accept your arrangements, and these are also three sources of power.
The first one is actually violence, which we often say comes from the barrel of a gun. This source of power is the most primitive, crudest, but also the most direct.
I don't care whether you are convinced or not, as long as I beat you until you are convinced. Then the interesting part comes. After most people are coerced into giving in, they will actively find reasons to beautify and package this kind of violence. Let’s start talking about destiny and destiny.
For example, the Han family originally wanted to conquer the world immediately, but in the end they had to reincarnate a son of the Red Emperor.
In addition to violence, another source of power is procedure, or routine.
Human beings have an instinctive obedience to tradition, because following routines always brings stability and can bring a sense of security to everyone.
Therefore, once the father dies, the son succeeds, the brother succeeds the brother, and it becomes a routine and a tradition. The violence will continue, and this is the power of tradition.
And relying on procedures, power can continue to be delegated downwards. For example, Liu Hong, the father of the little emperor, why should he become the emperor? How many parts does he have?
But once the procedure gave him the title of emperor, he legally inherited the imperial power. And the eunuchs who supported him in the past also need to bow to him.
The eunuchs did not obey Liu Hong, but the imperial power behind him.
Therefore, even if it was not Liu Hong who was sitting on the imperial couch, the eunuchs would still kneel down.
In addition to violence and procedures, the last source of power lies in the ability to solve problems.
Why was Dayu able to conquer the world? Because he managed the floods and brought virtue to the world. When people in the world receive his kindness, he will naturally become a worthy king.
And power under this condition is also the most stable power, because everyone supports you not because of your violence or your identity, but because of who you are.
Therefore, because of his great virtue, the king is in the world.
And now? What are the sources of the little emperor's power?
To put it very embarrassingly, the little emperor's power is very weak in all three aspects.
First of all, in terms of violence, he is still underage at this time, and most of the troops in Kyoto are not in his hands, so he has no advantage at all in terms of violence.
And what about the program? That would be even more embarrassing.
You must know that he was supported by the Henan rebels. In other words, he did not even come to power through legal procedures. The one who truly inherited the legal power was Xi Bian, his younger brother.
Therefore, the little emperor is not even comparable in terms of procedures, but he still has an advantage, and that is the hearts and minds accumulated by the Han Dynasty over the past four hundred years.
Four hundred years is too short in the grand timeline, but it is too long for one generation.
In a cycle of twenty years, the Han Dynasty experienced ups and downs for more than four hundred years, which is twenty generations of people. During such a long time, generations of people died, but only the Han Dynasty lasted forever like the rivers, the sun and the moon.
So what a powerful human heart this is.
Now, although the Han Dynasty has declined and the people's hearts are also in turmoil, there are still too many people who still follow the inertia and follow the Han Dynasty's edicts and execute the Han Dynasty's orders just like their fathers.
And before this inertia of people's hearts was completely exhausted, the Han Dynasty still had power.
But having said that, the Kansai court next door also has this legacy of the Han Dynasty, so why do these Han officials still miss Liu Bian?
After all, if we really talk about interests, only those families in the core circle have the opportunity to share the profits. What can't the peripheral ministers do?
In fact, the answer to this question is the source of Liu Bian's current power.
The reason why these people obey Liu Bian is because of Liu Bian's ability.
This was not obvious at the beginning. Before the bloody wedding in Kyoto, the outside world often felt that He Jin was the real planner and hunter. But they soon discovered that the one who gained the greatest benefit in the end turned out to be the silent little emperor.
The best hunters always hide themselves and then strike.
Since then, more and more people have surrounded Liu Bian, because they saw in Liu Bian the hope of reviving the Han Dynasty and that he had the opportunity to bring order to the world again.
It was precisely because of this belief that everyone followed Liu Bian, and Liu Bian suddenly gained power.
In the past, Liu Bian was complacent about his power and often boasted of his filial piety and martial arts. However, the autumn hunt in Xiyuan directly exposed Liu Bian's tiger skin, making him suddenly exposed.
Afterwards, everyone realized that he was still a child.
Thinking of this, Liu Bian couldn't help it any longer. He immediately picked up his ink pen and was about to write down the charges against He Jin.
But at this time, Zhong Yao stopped him and worriedly said something he had been choking in his heart.