An autumn rain and a cool, the bleak autumn wind swept down the fallen leaves, and the sky was gloomy like cotton full of ink, which was suffocating.

The construction of the Ming Hall led by Zhao Juan and Wang Zang was fiercely opposed by the Empress Dowager Dou, coupled with the fact that Shen Gong was old and frail, the progress of restarting the Ming Hall was extremely slow, and Liu Che was extremely helpless due to internal difficulties and external worries.

Zhao Juan saw that Liu Che was at a loss, and proposed: "Your Majesty has just ascended to the great treasure, and there is a lack of virtuous and upright people around you, why not follow the example of Gaozu, ask for virtuous edicts, seek the world's virtuous ability, and open up a prosperous era of the Yuan Dynasty?" ”

"Asking for a virtuous edict?" Zhao Xuan's words reminded Liu Che of the eleventh year of Gaozu, after quelling the rebellion of Han Xin, the king of Chu, and Peng Yue, the king of Liang, Gaozu personally led his troops to quell the rebellion of Yingbu, the king of Huainan. At that time, the internal order of the Han Dynasty was chaotic and there was a shortage of talents, in such a situation, Gaozu had issued an edict to seek talents, open up the way of speech, and seek the world's talents to discuss national policies, and this matter also formed the current election system of the Han Dynasty.

"The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying, Weijia is returning to his hometown, and the warriors are guarding the Quartet!" Recalling the past, Liu Che's eyebrows and eyes rolled, and he chanted Gaozu's "Song of the Great Wind" back then, and sighed: "Compared to Gaozu, I am too inferior!" ”

"No!" Zhao Juan said loudly, "Your Majesty is eloquent and strategic, comparable to Gaozu!" It's just a slight setback at the moment, as long as Your Majesty's confidence is still there, the ministers are willing to do their best and swear to follow! ”

Zhao Xuan's words aroused Liu Che's fighting spirit, thinking that he was bleeding the blood of Emperor Gaozu, Liu Che couldn't help but say loudly: "After all, the surname Liu in this world is not surnamed Dou!" I am the descendant of Gaozu and the son of heaven of this Han Dynasty! ”

"Zhao Xuan, you will give me a 'Virtuous Edict', I want to follow the example of Gaozu, seek the world's virtuous ability, and restore the light of my great Han!"

Zhao Juan saw Liu Che's eyes blazing and his fighting spirit was high, and he was very happy in his heart, and responded loudly: "No! ”

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Under the order of seeking talents, for a while, people of insight in the world poured into the capital like carp crossing the river, Liu Che personally asked the way of ancient and modern times, and there were no less than 100 people, among which the doctrine of "three strategies of heaven and man, and exclusive respect for Confucianism" of Dong Zhongshu of Guangchuan people was the most in line with Liu Che's mind.

"Those who hear the place of heaven and serve the king, there will be those who are beyond the reach of human beings, and this talisman is also ordained. The people of the world return to it with one heart, if it belongs to the parents, so Tianrui should come sincerely. ”

"It is reasonable that if you do not do it for the sake of government, you will even change and change it. When it is more open and not more open, although there is a good work, it cannot be well adjusted. When it is changed but not changed, although there are great sages who cannot govern well. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty won the world, those who often want to govern well but have not been able to govern well have failed to change but not change. ”

"Today's teachers are different, people are different, there are hundreds of different schools, the meaning is different, it is the above to die to maintain the unity, the legal system is changing, and the lower does not know what to keep. Those who fool to think that they are not in the six arts, and those who are the sorcerers of Confucius are all out of their way, and do not make them go together. The heretical doctrine will be extinguished, and then the discipline can be unified and the law can be understood, and the people will know what to follow. ”

"Good! Well said! Liu Che struck the festival and praised, and the Sacred Heart was happy.

-----

According to Dong Zhongshu's proposal, Liu Che made a big show of running Taixue, reforming the rule of officials, advocating the Confucian idea of great unification, and strengthening the centralization of power. In order to suppress the influence of the princes on the imperial court, Liu Che issued an edict to strictly order the princes to return to their fiefs, and at the same time ordered the fiefs and vassal states to open the city gates, and no private checkpoints were allowed to restrict entry and exit.

These reform measures aroused strong dissatisfaction among the princes and nobles of the clan, and they all gathered around the Empress Dowager Dou to complain and cry. The Empress Dowager Dou has always been a supporter of Huang Lao's technique, and she was already unhappy to see Liu Che restarting the Ming Hall and reusing Confucianism, and the matter of Dou Ying made her feel disgusted for a long time, and now she saw that this group of people encouraged the emperor to implement Confucianism to govern the country, and dared to take advantage of her close ministers and relatives, she was even more angry.

It was night, and there was another storm in the Changxin Palace.

The old Empress Dowager Dou said sharply: "The mourning family opposed your appointment of Zhao Juan and others early on, not to mention that they relied on your favor to ascend to the sky in one step, and now they are so bold and reckless, do you want to cause another rebellion in the Seven Kingdoms?" ”

Liu Che had expected this day, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "The imperial grandmother is angry, the reason why there was a rebellion in the Seven Kingdoms back then was precisely because the princely states were autocratic and self-respecting!" Now Sun Er has driven the princes and kings back to their respective fiefdoms, cut off their ties with the capital, and weakened the power of the princes and kings to strengthen the centralization of power with the Confucian idea of great unification..."

Before Liu Che finished speaking, he was interrupted by the Empress Dowager Dou: "Confucian! Confucianist! Now that the emperor is Confucian, why don't you want to think about your father and grandfather, who relied on Confucianism to govern the country? If it weren't for the skills of Huang Lao for decades, how could the Han Dynasty have the wealth it is today? ”

Looking at the old empress dowager Dou's deep hatred for Confucianism, Liu Che couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart, "Imperial grandmother, this time is different from the past, although the treasury of the Han Dynasty is full now, but the princes and kings in Beijing use local forces to influence the court, and regard the national law as nothing, if this is not severely punished, the grandson is only afraid that the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms will not be far away!" ”

"Smack!" The old Empress Dowager Dou took the case and said angrily: "The emperor accused the mourning family of conniving at their cholera dynasty? ”

Liu Che saw that Empress Dowager Dou was angry, and hurriedly leaned over to make amends: "The imperial grandmother is angry!" The grandson has no such intention! ”

"Humph!" The old Empress Dowager Dou sneered and walked away.

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The previous dynasty was full of crises, and the Empress Dowager Dou frequently exerted pressure, which made Liu Che miserable, thinking that there was a childhood sweetheart queen in the harem, who could make herself enter the gentle township and have a comfortable and relaxed half-day.

When Liu Che's mother Wang Wan was just a Jingdi beauty, she dreamed of embracing the sun in her arms, and it didn't take long for her to get pregnant and give birth to Liu Che. Liu Che was named the king of Jiaodong when he was four years old, and Liu Rong, the eldest son of Emperor Jing, was canonized as the crown prince, Emperor Jing's sister Princess Liu Concubine hoped that her daughter could become the queen in the future, so she wanted to give her daughter to the prince Liu Rong, but Liu Rong's biological mother Li Ji was short-sighted, and refused the marriage because she was disgusted with the beauty that Emperor Jing had repeatedly presented beauties, which made Princess Tao very annoyed, and turned to Liu Che, the king of Jiaodong, who was born in her arms.

The princess of the pavilion asked Xiao Liu Che: "Does Che'er want to marry a daughter-in-law when she grows up?" ”

Xiao Liu Che said: "Yes." The eldest princess pointed to the left and right maids and asked Liu Che which one he wanted, and the little Liu Che said no, and finally the eldest princess pointed to her daughter Chen Ajiao and asked, "Is Gillian good?" ”

Xiao Liu Che replied with a smile: "Okay! If I can marry Gillian as a wife, I will build a golden house for her to live in. The eldest princess was very happy, so she asked Emperor Jing several times, and finally decided on this family business.

In order to make Liu Che sit on the throne of the crown prince, the princess of the pavilion Tao often slandered Li Ji in front of Emperor Jing, which made Li Ji gradually fall out of favor. On the other hand, Wang Wan secretly sent people to urge the minister to ask Lili Ji to be the queen, Emperor Jing had always been afraid of the collusion between the previous dynasty and the harem, and immediately executed the official for the crime, and soon after he abolished the prince and changed the title to the king of Linjiang. After that, under the promotion of Princess Tao, Emperor Jing officially canonized Wang Wan as the queen, and Liu Che won the position of prince.

Several years have passed, Liu Che sat on the throne of the emperor, and Gillian also got her wish and became the queen of the Han Dynasty. Because of this past, Gillian has always said nothing in front of Liu Che, and she has been favored since childhood, although she is now the queen, she has not restrained herself in half a minute, and is still willful and arrogant.

"What kind of emperor am I?" Liu Che laughed at himself while walking towards the Jiaofang Palace, the palace people on duty were about to pass the word, Liu Che stopped and said, "No need to pass it, I will go by myself!" ”

This pepper room hall is in the Weiyang Palace, in the north of the front hall, for the residence of the queens of the past dynasties. At this time, it was close to Shen, there were not many people in the palace, only to see a few palace maids bowing their heads and scrubbing the ground, and a palace maid was hurriedly carrying a basin of water to meet him, and suddenly saw that Liu Che was in a panic, and the whole basin of water fell to the ground with a bang, splashing Liu Che's body with water droplets.

"Slaves and maids deserve to die, slaves and maids deserve to die, please forgive your majesty!" The palace maid was so frightened that her feet were weak, and she hurriedly stepped forward to wipe the hem of Liu Che's clothes.

Seeing that the maid was frightened, Liu Che couldn't bear to blame, and said while wiping himself: "It's okay!" ”

Gillian, who came to hear the sound, saw that Liu Che's clothes were damp, and a palace maid was next to Liu Che showing her delicateness, jealousy and anger surged up together, and said sharply: "Bold and cheap, dare to collide with Your Majesty!" Come on, drag this out and whip her for twenty canes! ”

The palace maid panicked when she heard this, and kept begging for mercy: "The queen spares her life!" The queen spares her life!! ”

"Gillian, I didn't let the palace people report and went straight to the palace, spare her!" Liu Che flicked the water on the placket of his shirt and said in a good voice.

"Your Majesty!" Gillian listened to Liu Che's plea for the palace maid, and her heart was even more unhappy, she couldn't help frowning, and said angrily: "Your Majesty was splashed with water, and he spoke for this cheap maid, all the concubines didn't manage the palace people well!" Then he ordered the guards on the left and right: "Drag this out!" ”

"Queen!" Liu Che said angrily when he heard this, "Is what I said in vain? ”

"Your Majesty!" Gillian was also angry, and went straight over, "The concubine disciplines the subordinates in the palace, and please don't interfere with Your Majesty!" ”

"You, you... You! Liu Che was speechless angrily, pointed his finger for a long time, and dropped a word, "Okay!" He walked away without looking back.

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"Your Majesty, the princes and kings return to the fiefdom, there are still King Hengshan, King Li and others who are unwilling to leave, please Your Majesty limit time, if you don't leave, the ministers will report to Yousi and forcibly expell." On the top of the golden palace in Weiyang Palace, the imperial historian Zhao Juan came out of the ranks, and he was on the table of the Son of Heaven.

Liu Che heard that he had just quarreled with the Empress Dowager Dou about this matter not long ago, if he ordered a forcible expulsion at this time, he was afraid that he would have a more stiff quarrel with Changxin Palace, thinking of this, Liu Che couldn't help but say slowly: "The Empress Dowager is merciful, I can't see the separation of clan relatives and the expulsion of my children, this matter is suspended, and then we will discuss it!" ”

Unexpectedly, Zhao Juan knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, major national affairs should be decided by the emperor of the dynasty, and the women of the harem are not allowed to participate in the government affairs. ”

As soon as this sentence landed, it immediately set off a thousand waves, and the ministers of the palace snickered in private, looked at each other, and gloated waiting to see a good show, Wang Zang admired Zhao Juan's courage and couldn't help but secretly sweat for him, no one knew better than him why Zhao Juan did this.

During these days, they cultivated the Ming Hall, advocated Confucianism, and drove out the princes, and everything they did was nothing more than one purpose, that is, to respect the imperial power, value the king, and strengthen the centralization of power. However, the construction of the Ming Hall is too often delayed for some reason, and you don't need to ask the reason to know that this is the meaning of the old Empress Dowager Dou, and the expulsion of the princes in Beijing to return to the fiefdom has been resisted by the Changxin Palace, and now even the emperor himself is wavering, which makes Zhao Juan very anxious.

Rather than being pinned down, it is better to strike first. Therefore, Zhao Juan made that remark with all his heart, firstly, he hoped to open up the situation and let the courtiers take the emperor as the center, and secondly, he also strengthened Liu Che's determination to reform.

Wang Zang came out of the line with a wat board in his hand and knelt on his knees: "Your Majesty, what Zhao Yushi said is extremely true!" Your Majesty is the king of a country, and you can decide on major national affairs by yourself! ”

Of course, Liu Che understood the intentions of the two courtiers, but looking at the court, except for Zhao Juan and Wang Zang, the rest of the people were silent, Liu Che couldn't help but fight a cold war from the bottom of his heart, it seems that this is a battle with an early victory.

Before the smoke of gunpowder cleared from the court, Changxin Palace received the news, and the old queen mother Feng Yan was furious, and said in her heart, Liu Che, you have only been the emperor for a few days, and you are about to seize power from the mourning family so soon? Good! Don't you have Zhao Juan and Wang Zang as pioneers? Yes! I'd like you to see who has the final say in this great Han Dynasty!

"Drive Weiyang Palace!" The old Empress Dowager Dou's face was full of anger.

"The Empress Dowager has arrived!" With the sound of the sound outside the Weiyang Palace, there was silence in the hall.

"Who is slandering the emperor and saying that national affairs should be decided by the emperor of the dynasty, and there is no need to ask the Changxin Palace?" In front of the Manchu Dynasty, the old Empress Dowager Dou scolded sharply, and the dragon head crutch struck in Weiyang Palace, the majesty could not be questioned, and the hall was silent in an instant.

Liu Che saw that Changxin Palace received the news so quickly, and the old queen mother rushed over in person, and he didn't feel a sneer in his heart, and he got up very reluctantly, squeezed out a smile and said: "Grandson greets the imperial grandmother!" The imperial grandmother has something to do, why did she come here in person? ”

"Humph!" The old queen mother's anger did not subside, "If the mourning family doesn't come again, I'm afraid that I will be infamous for this harem chaos!" ”

"The imperial grandmother is too worried!" Liu Che responded in a good voice, "Grandson and courtiers are here to discuss state affairs, when will they talk about the chaos in the harem?" ”

"Counseling on state affairs?" The Empress Dowager Dou's crutches slammed again, "Stop Huang Lao, respect Confucianism, this is the emperor's so-called state affairs?" This group of Confucian scholars is full of female yellow and stirs up trouble, they are simply the likes of Aragaki Taira, and the emperor must punish them severely! ”

"Grandmother Huang's anger is relieved!" Liu Cheqiang put aside all his dissatisfaction, and still said in a good voice, "These two people's words are indeed inappropriate, but they are brave and loyal, and they have no intention of provoking, this matter is a bit misunderstood!" ”

"Misunderstanding?" The old queen mother sneered, "Is it a misunderstanding to expel the princes and kings from Beijing?" Is Huang Laozun's Confucianism a misunderstanding? Saying that the mourning family is a harem woman and is not allowed to get involved in politics is a misunderstanding? The old lady's tone was pressing step by step, especially the last sentence, which was even more sabre-rattling.

"Put Zhao Juan Wang Zang in the Tingwei Mansion, and immediately someone will investigate and deal with the treacherous interests of these two people, and report it to the mourning family!" The words of the old empress dowager Dou were undoubted majesty, as if to warn all the people in the court that she, Dou Yifang, was the ruler of the Han Dynasty.

"Imperial Grandmother!" Liu Che was about to stop him, but was interrupted by the old queen mother, "Emperor, the mourning family advises you." The Empress Dowager Dou looked at Liu Che and said word by word, "Do it yourself!" ”

It's good to do it yourself, these four words are like a sharp cold arrow, which instantly makes Liu Che feel cold inside, what a great man is a son of heaven, what a ninety-five supreme, at this moment, it is clearly a big joke.

Zhao Juan Wang Zang raised his head and was escorted down by the guards, and said to Liu Che with iron bones: "Your Majesty does not have to intercede for the ministers, the two ministers are loyal to the sun and the moon, I only wish Your Majesty to be in charge of the mountains and rivers, what are the regrets of the ministers and their broken bones!" ”

"Hold on!" When the old Empress Dowager Dou heard this, her face was already pale.

The hundreds of officials in the palace were silent, and Liu Che only heard the blood in his heart, drop by drop, falling down.