Liu Bang was already old when he ascended the throne, and the establishment of the prince was the top priority. According to the law of etiquette, there are descendants and no heirs. In the second year after Liu Bang was crowned King of Han, he appointed his six-year-old son-in-law Liu Ying as the crown prince. After Liu Bang became emperor, Liu Ying was also promoted to become the crown prince.

As Liu Ying grew up, Liu Bang found more and more that Liu Ying's personality was not like himself.

Liu Ying is merciful and weak. There is no doubt that this is a good person, and it is highly likely that a good person will not be a good emperor. Under a system of high concentration of power, to do the high-risk and high-intensity work of the emperor well, it is necessary to hold authority, balance the interests of all parties, and when necessary, courage and determination are indispensable.

Since ancient times, there have not been many good emperors, and even fewer good people have been good emperors.

Liu Bang's favorite successor is Liu Ruyi, who was born to Mrs. Qi. Liu Bang feels that Liu Ruyi is very similar to himself in all aspects and has a future in cultivation. Then the problem comes, Liu Ruyi is the third son of the concubine, neither the eldest nor the longest, the successor should be Liu Ying, and the chief should be Liu Fei, how can it not be Liu Ruyi's turn. Abolishing the elders and the young, and abolishing the heirs and the young, is a serious mistake in etiquette.

The ministers disagreed. Liu Ying was born to Empress Lu, the righteous son-in-law, who has been made the crown prince, and the abolition of the prince is shaking the country. What's more, Empress Lu is an old person in Pei County, and she is inextricably linked with the Fengpei Hero Group, and Mrs. Qi is a Dingtao person, who only came to Liu Bang when Liu Bang was the king of Han, and has little contact with the ministers of the court.

Liu Ying has the support of the Lu family and even the entire Fengpei Group behind him, while Liu Ruyi only has the affirmation of his father, Liu Bang.

Liu Bang had many debates with the ministers of the DPRK and China on the abolition of the crown prince.

Once, the more Liu Bang spoke, the more excited he became, and when he saw that Liu Bang was angry, the ministers were silent.

Zhou Chang, the imperial historian, stepped forward, Zhou Chang was known for his uprightness, he had a stuttering problem, and due to nervousness, his stuttering became more and more severe, "minister...... I thought it was impossible, His Majesty wanted to abolish the prince, and the minister was ...... I dare not obey the edict".

This embarrassment made Liu Bang laugh. The controversy over the abolition of the crown prince was temporarily suspended.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Empress Lu found Zhou Chang and was grateful, crying and saying, "If it weren't for you today, the prince would have almost been deposed!" ”

Empress Lu found Zhang Liang and asked him to come up with an idea to keep Liu Ying's crown prince. Zhang Liang pointed out: "Your Majesty admires the 'Shangshan Sihao', and has been rejected several times when he summoned them out of the mountain, if the prince can invite these four people to assist, his position can be preserved." ”

"Shangshan Sihao" is a famous four hermits in the Qin and Han dynasties, all of whom are more than 80 years old. Lu Hou used both soft and hard, and finally invited four old men out of the mountain.

At a banquet, Liu Ying was followed by four old men with white eyebrows, Liu Bang saw it and asked curiously who it was. The four old men hurriedly stepped forward to meet Liu Bang and replied, "We are Shangshan Sihao." The four old men have been rehearsing this plot for a long time.

Liu Bang was taken aback and asked, "I summoned you several times and didn't come, and now you are willing to follow the prince?" ”

The four old men replied in unison: "The prince is benevolent and filial, and he is famous all over the world!" We are willing to follow the crown prince. ”

Liu Bang nodded and said, "Okay, then please trouble you to assist the prince well." ”

Looking at the back of the prince and the "Shangshan Sihao" leaving, Liu Bang had mixed feelings. He pointed to Mrs. Qi and said, "See, the prince is full of wings and can't move, Empress Lu will really be your master in the future." ”

Mrs. Qi cried, Liu Bang also cried, and he comforted: "Don't cry, you dance a Chu dance, and I will sing Chu songs for you." ”

Mrs. Qi danced with tears, and Liu Bang sang, "The bird flies high, and it is a thousand miles in one fell swoop." Across the four seas, the wings have been formed. The wings have been completed, and the rest of the work has been done! ”

The song is generous and sad. This is the "Song of the Bird" that has been handed down to this day.

The appearance of "Shangshan Sihao" made Liu Bang understand that the courtiers had completely sided with Liu Ying and forcibly abolished the crown prince, Liu Ruyi could not sit in a stable position, and division was inevitable. This is what Liu Bang does not want to see. Liu Bang could only stop his plan to change the crown prince.

The emperor can't do everything as he wishes. Before the Ming Dynasty, the imperial power and the relative power checked each other, whether it was the aristocratic "king and horse, the world" or "the world with scholars", the emperor was a representative of the collective will.

Liu Ruyi was still young at this time. When the prince is an adult, he opens a palace, has a fief, has an official subordinate, can make meritorious contributions to establish prestige, cultivate his own team, and then abolish the prince's resistance. Later generations of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty and Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty Taizong all took this route to kill the prince's brother and turn over to become emperors. Liu Ruyi was born to Liu Bang when he was about fifty years old. Liu Bang lived to be sixty-one years old. Liu Ruyi didn't have enough time to grow.

Liu Bang has seen people very accurately throughout his life, and it is by no means out of love that he wants to abolish the crown prince. At a critical juncture, he can kick his children out of the carriage, how can such a person let his personal affairs affect national affairs!

Liu Ruyi must have something extraordinary, but unfortunately he was killed by Empress Lu at the age of about 12, and he was still a minor, and there is not much information about him in the history books.

After Liu Ying succeeded to the throne, he fell behind in the struggle for power with his mother, and was even more frightened by his mother's cruel methods to deal with political opponents.

Liu Ying is kind, Empress Lu wants to poison his eldest brother Liu Fei, he immediately stops the poisonous wine, and Empress Lu wants to harm his half-brother who has competed with him for the crown prince, and he comes forward to protect it.

To paraphrase the famous phrase in "The Siege", "You are a good person, but you are useless." ”