"Hongdu Gate Learning" is a teaching institution that Liu Hong, the Son of Heaven, was dissatisfied with the lack of obedience to the Son of Heaven in the government-run educational institution "Taixue" at that time.

The so-called "Taixue" was renamed "Guozijian" in later generations, which is probably equivalent to the status of "Tsinghua University and Peking University and the Central Party School". In the early days, "Taixue" had a wide range of students, and was mainly selected by counties and states across the country. After Liu Hong succeeded to the throne, the source of "Taixue" students gradually became mainly "recommended by officials above 600 stones".

Officials with more than 600 stone can be regarded as local governors or backbones of the imperial court. The right to recommend in the hands of these people, of course, must first be prepared for the advancement of their own children. With the recommendation of the elders, the starting point for the children of those officials to enter the ranks is automatically raised very high. In the competition with the children of non-officials, the students naturally occupy an absolutely dominant position.

For the emperor of the Han family, it doesn't matter whether his background is from a poor family or a family. The key is to be loyal and useful to the selected talents. Unfortunately, of course, the students knew how they got their identity. They would not be grateful to the Son of Heaven who sat high on the throne, but they were respectful to their sponsors.

In this way, the Tai students, who were the reserve of the officials, were gradually monopolized by the nobles and bureaucrats. The Taixue students who obtained the official position after graduating from Taixue were either the children of the ministers of the scholars, or the protégés of the ministers of the scholars. Not to mention the uneven quality of the good and bad, just because these guys lack the respect and obedience that the Son of Heaven should have, Liu Hong, the Son of Heaven, will not be satisfied.

Therefore, in order to avoid the monopoly of the scholar forces in the selection of talents, which led to the further expansion of the already extremely large scholar forces in the court, Liu Hong withstood the huge pressure of the courtiers and established the "Hongdu Gate School" with the assistance of the eunuchs. In order to compete with "Taixue".

"Taixue" takes the Confucian classics as the main content of learning. These Confucian classics are the strengths of the scholarly family. Many families in today's court have made their fortunes by being proficient in a certain scripture.

For example, the Runan Yuan family, known as the "Four Worlds and Three Princes", took "Meng's Yi" as their ancestral family tradition; It is also known as the "Four Worlds and Three Princes", and the Hongnong Yang family is known in the world together with the Yuan family of Runan. The generations have read "Ouyang Shangshu" intensively.

The "Hongdu Gate Study" completely abandoned the study of Confucian classics, and instead started with courses such as dictionaries, novels, rulers, calligraphy and painting, etc., to cultivate students' artistic talents. These artistic talents have always been regarded as "small ways" by Confucian scholars, but they can't stand the likes of Liu Hong, the son of heaven. The Son of Heaven insisted on using these talented people as officials, which was very difficult to stop as a courtier.

Because in terms of enrollment, "Hongdu Gate Learning" mainly recruits the children of ordinary people, so it is naturally looked down upon by the "Taixue", which is dominated by the children of the aristocracy. This kind of opposition between each other is exactly what Liu Hong wants to see. If any day. The students of "Hongdu Gate Study" and the students of Tai University have become one, and Liu Hong, the Son of Heaven, will probably close the "Hongdu Gate Study" the next day.

As a result, Liu Hong gave preferential treatment to the graduates of "Hongdu Gate Study", and often promoted them beyond the level and entrusted them with important tasks. And these students of "Hongdu Gate Learning" are also worthy of the preferential treatment given to them by the Son of Heaven, and basically take refuge in the eunuch group to fight against the court scholars. Some help was provided.

However, since the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" in the first year of Zhongping. The world has been in turmoil. The spirit of Liu Hong, the son of heaven, can't always focus on fighting those big families. With the dissipation of the attention of the Son of Heaven, the "Hongdu Gate School" is shrinking day by day, and now it is about to close under the oppression of "Taixue".

Then, Liu Hong, the son of heaven, appointed Empress He's brother He Jin as a general. wants this new relative to compete for power with the court scholars. But who would have thought that He Jin actually turned around and got involved with those troublesome party members. Isn't this eldest brother in his head? Relatives and scholars, can't they get along in the end?

As soon as he thought of this, Liu Hong's mind was dizzy. Today's Liu Hong is in extremely poor condition. The perennial excessive alcohol has hollowed out his originally healthy body. The eunuchs and imperial doctors around him can see that when the time is today, I am afraid that the time is numbered.

Liu Hong is a smart man. More than ten years of court life allowed him to see through the worries of the attendants around him. Faced with the life-and-death situation, Liu Hong was naturally very afraid. It's just that he also knows that all human beings will die one day. This kind of thing will not change because of your status or status.

Therefore, on a certain night at the end of March, Liu Hong first called the "Ten Standing Attendants" to his side, and then summoned Jian Shuo, the captain of the Xiyuan Army, into the palace.

Glancing at the small yellow door in the corner of the room, Liu Hong, the son of heaven, asked him to stand beside him. This little yellow gate was the eunuch in charge of writing the "Living Note" (1) in the palace. Usually, Liu Hong hates this guy who has to follow his ass at all times. But now, it's time to play this guy's role.

The ten permanent attendants all looked solemn and stood beside the bed of the Son of Heaven with their hands down. However, when Liu Hong's words were spoken, these powerful people knelt down in front of the bed of Liu Hong, the son of heaven, one by one, and did not dare to make a sound.

Liu Hong's sentence is only eight words:

"I want to make the Prince's Association the heir......"

"Your Majesty, take care of your body!"

"The old slave is terrified......

"Your Majesty will recover soon, why do you say this?"

……

The ten permanent servants knelt on the ground and comforted the Son of Heaven one after another, but they never mentioned the topic that Liu Hong, the Son of Heaven, said just now.

Seeing the appearance of the ten permanent servants, Liu Hong didn't even have the strength to be angry, and there was only helplessness left in his heart.

The Ten Servants are his cronies. However, they have now achieved fame and have lost their adventurous spirit. Especially now, the great general He Jin has greatly increased his power and has been accepted by most of the courtiers. And abolishing the elder and the younger, it is another thing that is not in accordance with the law of etiquette. The risks that need to be taken in order to accomplish this big thing are indeed not trivial.

The Ten Standing Servants refused to express their stance on this matter, and the Son of Heaven was helpless. Liu Hong had no choice but to close his eyes and pretend to be asleep. The old and spicy ten permanent servants immediately seized this opportunity and cautiously and quietly exited the room.

After a long time, the Son of Heaven opened his eyes again and asked the little yellow door beside him:

"Where's Jian Shuo?"

Hear the summons. Jian Shuo bent down his tall and sturdy body, trotted to the side of the bed of the Son of Heaven, and knelt down automatically. Liu Hong saw that his eyes were red, and although he didn't cry, it looked like he was more sad than crying.

Liu Hong spoke, and there were only eight words:

"I want to make the Prince's Association the heir......"

"The slave and maid did their best. Never give up! ”

Jian Shuo's answer was categorical.

He is different from the Ten Permanent Attendants. If He Jin gains power, Jian Shuo will definitely not end well. On the contrary, if Jian Shuo can defeat He Jin and support the new emperor to ascend the throne, then he is the first hero of the new emperor. As soon as he thought that he could be like the "Five Marquis" (2) of his ancestors, he was determined to use his net worth and his life. Go take a gamble!

"Okay, in the future, the prince's association will be handed over to you. You can consult with the hussar generals on how to establish the Prince's Association......"

The voice of the Son of Heaven was full of exhaustion. After laboriously saying this, Liu Xie closed his eyes and stopped moving. Jian Shuo waited on the ground for a long time, and saw that the Son of Heaven had no other orders. So he quietly retreated.

In order to establish the Emperor Association as the next emperor, Jian Shuo mobilized with the greatest enthusiasm. That night. With his cronies, he quietly visited the mansion of the hussar general Dong Chong.

Hussar General Dong Chong, the brother of the Son of Heaven's biological mother, Empress Dowager Dong, was born in poverty, his ability was mediocre, and he even came out of office late. There has never been much presence in the DPRK. His position as a hussar general is obtained by virtue of his status as the maternal uncle of Liu Xie, the son of heaven, although his position is high, his power is not very good.

For Jian Shuo's visit, Dong Chong was not surprised. Jian Shuo knows. Empress Dowager Dong is also an important help to support the succession of the Prince's Association. Therefore, Dong Chong, who is the brother of the Empress Dowager Dong, naturally cannot be separated from the matter.

The conversation between the two was not long. Jian Shuo, who came out of the hussar general's mansion, had a little more confidence in supporting the prince's association in his heart.

To summarize the conversation between Jian Shuo and Dong Chong, it can be summed up in 30 words:

If you want to set up a prince's association, kill the general first.

If you want to kill the general, you need to wait for the Son of Heaven to collapse.

On the day of the funeral of the Son of Heaven, when He Jin died!

In order to wait for the moment when He Jin was conferred the head, Jian Shuo not only selected a close-fitting soft sword from the palace arsenal, but also selected from the Xiyuan Army and the palace guards, including the captain of the military academy Sima . Fifteen reliable masters, including Pan Yin, are ready to take the opportunity to kill the Son of Heaven when He enters the palace to preside over the funeral ceremony after his death!

More than ten days later, Liu Hong, the Son of Heaven, finally with his nostalgia for the emperor's throne and his unwillingness, interrupted the sad gaze of the ten permanent servants in the palace.

It was the summer of his own year, on the 11th day of April, that is, on the 13th day of May 189.

Then, the funeral procession, which had been prepared long ago, immediately went into full force.

Tai Changqing (3), the head of the nine kings of the imperial court, commanded the palace attendants and was busy arranging the affairs of the emperor's death.

Jian Shuo was dressed in mourning clothes, mingling among the servants of the court, observing the important ministers of the court who entered the palace to worship. He had already planned to stop, as soon as He Jin entered the palace, he would immediately lead fifteen masters led by Pan Yin to besiege the head of this military attache with mediocre martial arts.

Captain of the military academy, Sima Pan Yin, is also a member of the eunuchs. This person has never had any background in the palace, so that although his martial arts skills are good, he has been quite hard for many years.

When Jian Shuo began to rise again four years ago, Pan Yin decisively took refuge in Jian Shuo's hands and became Jian Shuo's most effective deployment at present. Moreover, in terms of martial arts alone, although this Pan Yin is not as good as Jian Shuo, he is also a master in the palace who is recognized as being able to rank in the top ten.

Jian Shuo, who was consciously well prepared, felt that even if He Jin was surrounded by bodyguards with martial arts skills such as Wang Yue, the "No. 1 swordsman in the world", he would definitely not be able to please the fifteen martial arts masters selected by Jian Shuo. What's more, behind the fifteen strong men, there is Jian Shuo, the "No. 1 Master of the Inner Court" who even Wang Yue feels tricky! (To be continued......)

PS: PS: (1) "Living Note" is a record of the words and deeds of emperors in ancient China. Since the Han Dynasty, almost all emperors have lived in the house, but very few have been handed down. Mainly because it is generally not disseminated, it is only used as one of the basic materials for writing national history.

Legend has it that the earliest living note is the "Forbidden Living Note" during the Han Dynasty when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Later, during the time of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, there was also "Emperor Ming's Living Note". However, most of these notes were compiled by the Chinese court itself, and there was no full-time or special person to be responsible for compilation.

It was not until the Jin Dynasty that officials such as living orders, living langs, and living houses began to be set up to compile living notes, and then until the Qing Dynasty, all dynasties had written living notes.

(2) Five marquis, refers to the five eunuchs who are marquis at the same time. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty was the eunuch Shan Chaoxin Fenghou, Xu Huang Wuyuan Marquis, Zuo Yi Shang Cai Marquis, Gu Ying Dongwu Yang Marquis, Tang Heng Ruyang Marquis. Book of the Later Han Dynasty. Biography of the Eunuchs. Shan Chao": "The five people were sealed on the same day, so the world called the 'Five Marquis'." ”

(3) "Taichangqing" is the chief official of "Taichang". "Taichang" is in charge of the heaven and earth of the state, the gods, the gift of people and ghosts, the auspicious and evil military gifts and the jade silk bells and drums and other powerful cultural relics, ranking first among the nine kings of the Han Dynasty, the status is very lofty, and is in charge of culture and education, Lingxian administration, and also governs the doctor and Taixue.