"Father." Ai Ai said during the Xiang Zheng period, "This is not quite in line with the ancient system, right?" ”

Xiang Zhuang bowed his head lightly and said: "That's right, since ancient times, the inheritance system of the Huaxia clan has been the succession of father to son, brother to brother, but is this system really good?" My father didn't think so. ”

Xiang Zheng opened his mouth but didn't say anything, although he wanted to refute it, he didn't dare.

Xiang Zhuang sighed, and said earnestly: "Zheng'er, since your father handed over the Jiangshan Sheji to you, he will never go back on his word and abolish you again, if you have something to say, your father will never blame you, as long as you are right, even if your father changes his mind, what's the matter?" Today, you and I, father and son, are talking openly, okay? ”

"Whoa." Xiang Zheng took a deep look and said respectfully, "My son respectfully listens to his father's teachings. ”

Xiang Zhuang smiled bitterly and said: "Then say it for the father first, why is it bad for the father to die and the son to succeed, the brother to the brother?" If the old emperor does not die, even if he lives to be a hundred years old, as long as he does not take the initiative to give way, his son can only wait obediently. ”

"People's energy is limited, and when they get older, they will inevitably have low energy, and if they don't have enough energy, they will easily rely on others, and they will be more likely to listen to and believe partially, and it will be easy for maladministration to occur at this time." patted Xiang Zheng on the shoulder, Xiang Zhuang said calmly: "Zheng'er, not everyone can calmly let go of the authority in their hands like their father. ”

Xiang Zhuang was inspired by this, and there are countless such examples in history.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty can be regarded as eloquent Ming monarchs, right? But they are over sixty years old, and after their physical strength and energy are obviously lost, they still can't get in love, and as a result, they all cause chaos in their later years, and the witch Gu rebellion caused the prince and the queen to kill hundreds of thousands of people in vain, and the Anshi Rebellion directly led to the decline of the Tang Empire.

But these are things that can't be said to Xiang Zheng, but fortunately, Xiang Zhuang was prepared, and immediately turned out the history books and said: "Zheng'er." King Qin Zhaoxiang can be regarded as a hero, right? But in his later years, he also made a big mistake, he listened to the rumors and recalled Bai Qi from Handan to China, which resulted in a big defeat, and then killed Bai Qi in anger and destroyed the Great Wall! ”

"Gong Qi Huan, the head of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, I won't talk about his eloquence, but in his later years, he was unconscious. The reuse of villains such as Yi Ya and Ji Diao has led to the accumulation of domestic congestion, and even he himself starved to death in civil strife! Xiang Zhuang wrenched his fingers and said, "There is also King Wei Hui, who is still in love with the power stack when he is over eighty years old, so that the Wei State has completely declined." ”

In the end, Xiang Zhuang finally said: "Take history as a mirror, and only then did I decide to let Zen go for my father." ”

Xiang Zheng couldn't help nodding, he also felt that what his father said was reasonable. The old emperor still can't stay in love with the stack after he is old, which is indeed not conducive to the long-term peace and stability of the empire. At that moment, he swore an oath: "Erchen swears in the name of the ancestors and ancestors that he will follow the example of his father and give up the throne to the prince before the age of fifty." ”

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and said with a smile: "Fifty years old is still considered to be in the prime of life, but there is no need to rush to the Zen position, but after the age of sixty, a person will be completely old, and my father hopes that you can abdicate before the age of sixty." As a father, I hope that through the personal practice of the two generations of emperors, you and me, father and son, will fix the emperor's year limit as the ancestral system of the empire. ”

"Ancestry?" If Xiang Zheng is thoughtful, it is not voluntary. It's forced.

"Yes, Ancestor!" Xiang Zhuang nodded heavily, the emperor's annual limit must be enforced as an ancestral system.

The Huaxia people worship ghosts and gods since ancient times, worship various natural phenomena, but the most worshipful is the ancestors, so as long as Xiang Zhuang, the first emperor, and Xiang Zheng, the second emperor, are on the throne before the age of sixty, it is really possible to fix the emperor's sixty-year-old limit in the form of the ancestral system. …,

Xiang Zheng nodded and said: "I completely agree with the sixty-year-old restriction of the sons, but the matter of establishing the crown prince ......"

"Hehe, it seems that you and my father and son have reached a consensus on the emperor's sixty-year-old limit." Xiang Zhuang smiled and said, "Now let's talk about the prince, my father resolutely opposes the establishment of Chu'er as the prince, and insists on choosing one of your more than a dozen adult younger brothers as the crown prince, do you know the reason?" ”

Xiang Zheng said respectfully: "The son respectfully listens to his father's teachings. ”

Xiang Zhuang said: "The orderly inheritance of the throne is a big matter, which is related to the long-term stability of the empire, and the old emperor is old but still loves not to go so that the country is shaken, this is just a kind of disorderly inheritance, and there is another kind of emperor who died violently and the prince is young, at this time it is easy to have the chaos of the harem or the regent of the ministers." ”

In Chinese history, there are countless examples of harem chaos or regentship because of the lord and child, such as Empress Lu in the early Han Dynasty, for example, the Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty, all of which are models of harem rebellion, such as Huo Guang, Wang Mang, Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao and even Zhang Juzheng, all of which are classic cases of regents of powerful ministers.

Xiang Zhuang said: "Zheng'er, they all say that life and death are fate, wealth is in the sky, take off your shoes tonight, maybe you won't have a chance to wear them tomorrow?" If one day you and my father and son died violently, and Chu'er was still young, you dare to say that your dozens of younger brothers would not have the ambition to usurp the throne of your nephew? Do you dare to say that your queen will be willing to be willing to wait for her? Do you dare to say that there will be no traitors in the DPRK and China, such as Lü Buwei, Li Si, and Zhao Gao? ”

Xiang Zheng was speechless, he really didn't dare to assert it.

"Therefore, in order to prevent chaos in the harem and regents because of the young master, the prince must choose from the children of the royal family who have become adults!" Xiang Zhuang said this, and said, "But you don't have to complain for Chu'er, as long as you teach well, so that Chu'er can succeed in his studies, he will still have a chance to be elected as the prince when he is older!" ”

"What does my father mean ......" Xiang Zheng was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Xiang Zhuang with some puzzlement.

Xiang Zhuang said: "The so-called prince is actually the monarch of the reserve, but he does not necessarily become the monarch, just say that your dozen or so adult brothers, they are not much younger than you, and when you abdicate at the age of sixty, they are almost about to reach the age limit, so it doesn't make much sense for them to succeed to the throne." ”

Xiang Zheng's heart moved slightly, and he said: "What does the father mean ......?"

"For the father's meaning, the prince is elected once every ten years, and only the children of the royal family between the ages of eighteen and thirty are selected, ten years have passed, if the old emperor is still there, the prince will be re-elected, so after twenty years, Chu'er still has the opportunity to be elected as the prince." Xiang Zhuang paused, and said, "I'm afraid that after twenty years, Chu Er will not be able to choose if he has nothing to learn, hehe." ”

Xiang Zheng smiled embarrassedly, and said: "Father, the sons have regarded you as a role model since childhood, whatever you say the sons and daughters will do, there will never be a trace of yin and yin disobedience, I am afraid that future generations will not follow this rule." ”

"Yes, this is indeed a problem, so we have to set another rule for future generations." After a pause, Xiang Zhuang said again, "Regarding the crown prince, who to choose or not to choose, the emperor said that it doesn't matter, it has to be collectively elected by the meritorious generals of the martial arts academy, and whoever gets the most support will be the next crown prince." ”

Regarding this, Xiang Zhuang is also well thought out.

The emperor is sixty years old, there are two emperors as an example and the gimmick of the ancestral system, and it is estimated that few emperors in later generations dare to overpass, even if some people want to overpass, it is estimated that they will be drowned by the saliva of the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty! It is necessary to know that the system of officials who have nothing to say and no one who cannot be impeached has been established, and an atmosphere of pride in spraying the emperor is being formed.

However, it is not so easy to establish the imperial court push, and it is pushed every ten years. …,

Xiang Zhuang believed that when he was still alive, this system could still be implemented, but after his death, this system would come to an end, the gimmick of the ancestral system may not be able to match the favor of the concubine, and the saliva of the official may not be able to match the pillow wind of the concubine, unless there is enough checks and balances, it will be difficult for this system to continue to be implemented.

The Martial Academy, or the meritorious generals of the Martial Academy, is the counterbalancing force envisioned by Xiang Zhuang!

The Chinese Empire followed the Chu State's system of cultivating and fighting merchants and reading books, and nominally the status of cultivating and fighting merchants was equal, but in fact, farmers and merchants could only obtain low-level titles, and scholars could only obtain low-level titles, such as the six Shangshu in the court, most of which were only third-class barons (the twenty-level title system has been changed to five levels of dukes and uncles, with three levels per rank).

The reason for this situation is that it is difficult to obtain enough merit in farming, doing business, or being an official.

And only when you are a soldier and fight, you have the opportunity to obtain a lot of meritorious deeds, and you have the opportunity to continue to be promoted, so even if you don't count the six princes and the thirty-six founding marquis, the warriors raised by the martial arts academy are also easier to obtain titles than farmers, merchants or literati, so the status of warriors is generally much higher than that of literati, merchants or farmers.

In other words, in the Chinese Empire, the influence of the warriors was the greatest.

To put it bluntly, peasants grow grain, merchants grow money, literati are managers, and warriors are the principals!

The selection of the best or most ambitious children of the imperial family as princes is also highly consistent with the interests of the warriors, because only the best princes can become the best emperors, and only the best emperors will continue to expand externally, and only in this way can the warriors have the opportunity to continue to obtain military merits and promote titles.

When the Lichu system is highly consistent with the interests of the martial arts, the entire martial arts system has become the biggest supporter of the Lichu system, and it is possible to restrict the imperial power.

And the election of the prince every ten years is undoubtedly the greatest embodiment of the martial artist's right to speak, and the martial artist will definitely support it.

This,In fact, it is a disguised aristocratic republic,The martial academy is almost the senate,And the noble warriors raised by the martial academy are almost the old nobles of the Roman Republic,The only difference is that the nobility of the Roman Republic is hereditary,And the nobles of the military academy except for the six princes and the thirty-six marquis,The rest are all lifelong。

With this huge force of martial arts to counterbalance each other, the crown prince's court has the basis for its existence!

Of course, the power of the martial arts also needs to be restricted, Xiang Zhuang's measure is the lifelong title system, so that the aristocratic military generals of the martial arts academy will not be solidified, and the other is to give all the nobles above the captain in the martial arts academy the same right to speak, the six major princes are one vote, a small captain is also one vote, and the voice is more, the possibility of being controlled by people is very small.