Wang Mang's chaotic government inspired a wave of rebellion across the country, providing a broad stage for an imperial talent like Liu Xiu to fly his dreams and the best opportunity to show his skills.

At this time, the countryside is not very peaceful, in addition to **, there are natural disasters.

The great drought and locust plague came together in the two crops that the croppers feared the most.

However, Liu Xiu is an excellent student and an expert in growing crops. After careful care, someone else's crops did not harvest well on his land

The harvest is as usual.

(When Nanyang was dry and hungry, and Ueda harvested alone.) ）

That is, the dragon is originally a thing in the sea, and it can still make beautiful splashes in the shallow pool.

Due to the chaos everywhere and the continuous hunger, many people have engaged in the act of robbing homes and roads.

(The world has plagued locusts year after year, and robbers have swarmed.) ）

Once, a friend of Liu Xiu's eldest brother Liu Xiu committed an accident and was wanted by the government, and he was also connected to Liu Xiu.

In order to avoid the limelight, Liu Xiu had no choice but to run to Xinye County and hide in the house of his second brother-in-law Deng Chen.

Historians call Liu Xiu's experience of hiding from the wind in Xinye as "avoiding officials in Xinye".

Liu Xiu's life in the second sister's house should not be a problem, he doesn't go to school anymore, the land is planted well, and the second brother-in-law Deng Chen was originally born in the family of the eunuch.

However, staying here to eat idle meals and being anxious is not Liu Xiu's style.

So, he started a business of trafficking grain, and traveled between Zhiwancheng (now Nanyang City, Henan) and Xinye in Nanyang County.

(Guangwu avoided Xinye, because he sold Gu Yu Wan.) ）

As we all know, food is a strategic commodity, especially in times of famine, and this business can make a lot of money.

At this time, Liu Xiu was already in his 20s.

Most rural youths of his age have already married and had children. And he is still alone.

Now, he's under the fence again.

In fact, in his hometown, no matter what he compares, Liu Xiu's conditions are good, marry a daughter-in-law who is considered good by the neighbors, have children, and build

He can still set up a small family and live a well-off life.

It's just that he has his own ideas.

In the face of the chaos in the world and his own situation, Liu Xiu is trying to maintain a calm mind.

In the eyes of many people, the third son of the Liu family is gentle, smart and capable, righteous and wealthy, and a very trustworthy young man.

Only he understands that deep down in his heart, he has long been filled with volcanic lava!

It's a lava that's so hot that it melts everything and swells quietly!

No! There is another person who also knows his inner thoughts: his second brother-in-law Deng Chen.

Once, Liu Xiu and his eldest brother Liu Xuan and Deng Chen came to Wancheng to run errands, and drank and chatted with their friend Cai Shaogong, a native of Sui (now Deng County, Henan).

At this time, all kinds of prophecies and talismans prevailed in society.

Prophecy and talisman were both popular superstitions in the Qin and Han dynasties, and we have already come into contact with them earlier.

Liu Xiu lived in an era when prophecy and talisman were rampant, and he himself attached great importance to this, and later used it as a very important ideological weapon.

While Liu Xiu is not too busy for a while, let's introduce it a little.

Prophecy is the use of some hidden words or prophecies, often pretending to be the prophecy of the gods to predict what is to come; Wei is the Confucian scholars who use disasters and strange changes, gods and ghosts

to explain and interpret the classic works of Confucianism ("the tributaries of the scriptures, derived from the side meanings").

As a superstition, it is very marketable among the common people.

Symbols are similar to it, that is, with the help of some carved stones and other objects, they tell the harbingers of something, saying that they can foresee what will happen from them.

The common people are also very interested in this.

Careerists and politicians in the Qin and Han dynasties often used it as a powerful tool for practical struggle.

For example, as early as the time of Qin Shi Huang, there was a monk named Lu Sheng who spread the proverb "Hu Ye of the Dead Qin", which almost fooled the Great Qin Empire

Finish.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang mobilized everyone to rebel, and the fish belly book "Da Chu Xing, Chen Sheng Wang" is a kind of talisman.

Wang Mang was so violent, and when he usurped the Han Dynasty step by step, he also arranged for his henchmen to make a large number of prophecy talismans as a tool of ideology and public opinion.

It's fashionable to play with the Fortune of the Weft.

The reason for this is, first, the need of careerists, to fool people is not only justified, vigorous, but also easy to understand, convenient and practical; The second is the appearance of the common people

Faith, even the gods and learned men say so, we believe; Third, the input-output ratio is large, and a little fiddling with it will have a miraculous effect, such as the rogue lamentation.

Because the Wei Fu is very marketable, both grotesque and mysterious, it can be made at will, and no one can check it, so it can be effective

Privilege services.

Some Confucian scholars and even miscellaneous people in society flocked to this.

It is impossible to verify which year it was in the former Han Dynasty, and it has become a science.

Throughout the Han and Han dynasties, tyrannical people such as Wang Mang and gentlemen such as Liu Xiu were strikingly similar in their obsession with the study of Wei Wei, and it is no wonder that this science is so sought after.

Cai Shaogong, who is now sitting in front of us and tasting wine, is an expert in this area.

He likes to make friends and use his expertise to decipher popular proverbs and ballads.

He solemnly told Brother Liu Xiu one of the most popular proverbs at the moment:

"Liu Xiu should be the Son of Heaven!"

("The young prince is quite a scholar of diagrams, and Liu Xiu should be the son of heaven.") ”）

The phrase is succinct and explicit.

As the old saying goes, "No merit is higher than the Savior, and greater sin is greater than rebellion." ”

If this was during the period of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, or even in a peaceful era, not to mention that the person who made this proverb would be killed and listened to in front of him

No one escapes responsibility.

But now it's different, the world is in chaos, and there are many people who want to scold and beat Wang Mang, so it's not a big deal.

Everyone muttered for a while, and someone asked:

"Is this person the national teacher of the dynasty, Jiaxin Gong Liu Xiu (that is, Liu Xin)?"

Liu Xin is the son of Liu Xiang, the former Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and Wang Mang was named the national teacher and Jiaxin Gong when he ascended the throne, and he was the only surviving Liu clan of the Xinmang Dynasty

Room.

As we all know, after Qin Shi Huang burned books and pit Confucianism, the ancient books of the pre-Qin period were tragically destroyed.

In order to develop cultural undertakings, after the "rule of Wenjing", the former Han Dynasty began to vigorously sort out ancient books. The ancient books of the pre-Qin period that we can see now are all worshipped

The work of the experts of the Tohan Dynasty.

Emperor Hui abolished the order of holding books hostage. During the reign of Emperor Wu, preferential policies were formulated and special posts were set up for people to write works and sort out ancient books. Emperor Cheng arranged a special person to meet

Collect ancient books from all over the country, and issue an edict asking Liu Xiang and others to concentrate on sorting them out.

Liu Xiang worked very hard, and Liu Xin inherited his father's business not far behind.

The "Beilu" and "Seven Strategies" compiled by the father and son are not only the culmination of pre-Qin culture, but also the germination and foundation of China's bibliography.

Not only that, when Liu Xin was helping his father to school books, he also found the ancient text of "The Biography of the Zuo Family in the Spring and Autumn Period", and suggested that the imperial court should list the ancient scriptures as official textbooks.

Therefore, Liu Xin is also the first person to shout for the ancient scriptures and the founder of ancient scriptures.

In other words, the pre-Qin culture is the source of China's national culture, and the contributions of the Liu family to sorting out and inheriting the pre-Qin culture are unparalleled.

You say that Liu Xin is more knowledgeable and prestigious!

We still can't find out when Liu Xin changed his name to Liu Xiu, but we only know that it was shortly after Wang Mang ascended the throne and named him a national teacher.

Whether he changed it after seeing it, or whether it appeared after changing his name, will always remain a mystery.

Because he is too knowledgeable, he uses the names Liu Xin and Liu Xiu alone.

And our hometown educated youth and grain dealer Liu Xiu is still a grass farmer, and he has basically not opened his popularity yet.

Everyone in the audience knows that at present, the people of the whole country believe that Liu Xin, as a national teacher, is easier to become the emperor, and if he comes to be the emperor, everyone will not

It's going to be so annoying.

Therefore, everyone thinks that the person who asked the question was knowingly asking.

However, no one expected that Liu Xiu suddenly asked half-jokingly and half-seriously at this time:

"How do you know it's not me?"

(What's the use of knowing what is not a servant?) ）

When everyone heard this, they burst into laughter.

A young man in the countryside who is digging in the soil and sending people under the fence actually wants to be the emperor, you can make fun of people!

It's no wonder that at this time, even the eldest brother Liu Xiu thought that Liu Xiu was so interested in growing crops that he couldn't get anywhere.

Deng Chen didn't see it that way, he knew his brother-in-law's cultivation and ambitions, and he was secretly happy for him in his heart.

(Everyone laughs in the morning.) ）