Both women's performance was beyond Zhao Bing's surprise, especially Empress Dowager Yang was so easily convinced by herself. But when she thought about it, she felt relieved. The tenacity and ruthlessness shown by a woman at the moment of crisis was often unexpected. Everyone said that the empress Lu Zhi, the ancestor of Han Taizu Liu Bang, was vicious. In fact, she was also a famous lady from a famous family and received a good education. The reason why she was so cruel and ruthless later was absolutely unrelated to Liu Bang.

Liu Bang could throw away his wife and children on the way to escape, and he could also ask for a share of the pie when Xiang Yu said he wanted to cook his father. He could not care about his wife's upset and triumph, try to change the queen and depose the prince, and other a series of things that were found in character. He was made into a "people-porn" Qi Ji, to be honest, and she was just the daughter of a farmer married by Liu Bang on the way to escape. After he ascended the throne, he took her into the palace and was so popular that he was out of control.

When Lu Zhi was the queen, she actually didn't interfere much in the affairs of the government, but she was also a virtuous supporter and helped Liu Bang get rid of Han Xin. Qi Ji was the one who was spoiled by Liu Bang, but Qi Ji was not a calm master. She whispered to Liu Bang, wanted to be the queen, and even deposed the crown prince Liu Ying, and made her son Liu Ruyi the crown prince. Liu Bang was a person who did not value family affection, but when he was about to die, he was afraid that Lu Zhi would be bad for Qi Ji and his son, so he really wanted to depose the crown prince. If Lu Zhi had not been orthodox and had connections in the court, he would have succeeded in the end.

Lu Zhi was always at peace, but when it threatened the interests of her children, the mother would become tough. After Liu Bang's death, Lu Zhi shaved off Qi Ji's hair and imprisoned her in Yongxiang, wearing Chu Hong's prison clothes and pounding rice with shackles. Her son Liu Ruyi was also sent to the fiefdom. This was Lu Zhi's punishment for Qi Ji, but she could not bear this insult and was unwilling to give up. She wrote "The Song of Rice Pounding" herself, hoping that her son would come to save her. This song eventually became her own death talisman, driving Lu Zhi to trick Liu Ruyi into the palace and kill her, making her a human pig.

Unfortunately, when Lu Zhi's son Liu Ying was the emperor for a few years, he died at a young age. At this time, Lu Zhi's temperament changed drastically. In order to ensure power, she began to appoint relatives and almost turned the Liu family into the Lu family. Since then, his descendant, Liu Che, Emperor Wu of Han, did not forget this. In his later years, he made Liu Fuling the crown prince, but brutally killed his biological mother, Lady Gouyi. The reason was that after Liu Bang's death, Liu Ying was young and Empress Lu was strong. Empress Lu held the imperial power and almost killed Liu Bang's descendants. This shows that this lesson made Liu Che unforgettable.

History also verified Liu Che's foresight, just as he said: "In ancient times, the country was in chaos because of the young master and the strong mother. The heroine lived alone and was arrogant and self-indulgent, and could not stop it. You did not hear of Empress Lu! Therefore, we have to go first." After his death, Emperor Zhao of Han, Liu Fuling, who was only eight years old, succeeded to the throne. Emperor Zhao of Emperor Zhao succeeded to the throne. Emperor Zhao was smart and wise, but he died only twenty years old. If Gouyi was still alive, then Emperor Zhao would definitely be the empress dowager in one day, although she was only twenty or thirty years old.

If Lady Gouyi could live to the age of fifty, then after Emperor Zhao, she would definitely be the Empress Dowager. Such a noble identity was destined to be the final decision in the court. That is to say, Gouyi would have to influence and even control the government for 30 years. In these thirty years, it is unknown whether she would become the new Empress Lü, whether she would become the Queen Liang of the Eastern Han Dynasty in the future, or even a monster like Empress Huijia of the Western Jin Dynasty.

Because under unlimited power, any kind of ugly or evil thing can happen. It can be seen that the cruel principle of prevention that seems to be incompatible has certain foresight and rationality in the inheritance of the throne of a feudal autocratic society.

Wu Zetian, who later generations, perfectly interpreted this principle. From the fact that she framed the queen of the king and strangled her biological daughter to replace her, in order to realize her dream of reaching the peak of power, she killed her daughter, son, daughter-in-law, brother, sister, niece, granddaughter, and aunt, and nearly 100 high-ranking officials she killed. What's even more inhumane is that she also used cruel means similar to Lu Zhi to deal with the favorite concubine Xiao Liangdi, who was left by her husband, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and threw Concubine Xiao, whose hands and feet were chopped off, into the urn, causing her to suffer humiliation and torture to death.

Therefore, Zhao Bing felt that the fact that Empress Dowager Yang could quickly communicate was not because he had the political wisdom of Emperor Wu of Han, otherwise he would not have insisted on making Wu Xi the queen, but he was still a mother and the guardian of a dynasty. I remember that Empress Dowager Yang was ordered to protect the two little princes and fled in a hurry the moment before the country was destroyed. You should know that he was a concubine who had been in the deep palace for many years. Although he was not favored, he was also rich and frugal, so he suffered no suffering.

But she was able to avoid difficulties under the pursuit of the enemy and protect her two young sons to escape to Fujian. The process was a life-and-death death. Needless to say, the years later had difficulties, not only suffered all the hardships, but also suffered the pain of the death of parent-child illness. But she soon made Zhao Bing the emperor to continue the national lineage. It was precisely because of the great motherhood that she could sacrifice everything for her children. Now, when she discovered that the Wu family might threaten the interests of Zhao, she chose to stand on his side without hesitation.

The closest person Zhao Bing came to this world can be said to be Empress Dowager Yang. He gave him maternal love that spanned thousands of years in ten years and gave him selfless support. It can be said that if he had no such thing as he did not have him, he would be even less likely to have great power. At the same time, he is also the person who is the most "fearing" of Zhao Bing, but it is not the kind of fear on the surface, but the fear from the heart, fearing that this pitiful and strong woman is sad, sad, and afraid that he will disappoint him. So after Empress Dowager Yang expressed her attitude, Zhao Bing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Zhao Bing knew that even though he had obtained the support of Empress Dowager Yang, it was an extremely risky thing to deal with the Wu family. He did this in fact, it was equivalent to confronting the entire scholar group and seizing power from them. Because according to Confucian governance ideas, the emperor "ruled the world", but should "rule without governing". The so-called "governing without doing anything", "holding clothes and governing the world", and "just respect yourself to the south", all of which are all about this.

On the surface, there is no doubt that the monarch of the Song Dynasty is at the top of this power structure, with the most respectful status, and is also a nominal source of power. All edicts must be promulgated in the name of the emperor. However, in the eyes of the literati, the emperor should only exist as a symbol of sovereignty, a model of morality, and a representative of etiquette, and does not require specific governance; the governance power of the state is controlled by a court institution that can be held accountable and replaced.

Zhao Bing knew that this state system was similar to that of modern constitutional monarchy. In the concept of modern political science, this was called "the republic of the void king"; in the words of the Song people themselves, it was called "the power belongs to the master, and the political was the Secretariat". Of course, under the overall feudal society, the actual power operation in the Song Dynasty was of course still far from the ideal "the republic of the void king", but "the void king" was obviously an overlapping consensus among the literati and official class in the Song Dynasty.

Zeng Zhao, a native of the Northern Song Dynasty, said, "The emperor must be simple and generous. If the legislation is severity and severity, and the defense of the people are all subjects, not the emperor's affairs." Luo Congyan, a contemporary, also said that the monarch "except for the great affairs of rituals and music, the other matters of conquest, and the rest of the matters of meticulous matters should be dictated by the left and right." Lu Jiuyuan, a Dali scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, said, "The ruler is high above the superior, does not follow his own intentions, does not interfere with his own intentions, does not control his villain, and does not maintain a small rope to make his ministers comply with his ministers, so that his ministers have no constraints, and then he can be blamed for his success." Zhu Xi, a Neo-Confucian, who influenced the thoughts of the Southern Song Dynasty, also believed that "the body of a monarch is based on the original and the people in the world are in accordance with it." In actual governance, "only use a good person to be the prime minister." Zhu Xi's friend and enemy Chen Liang also proposed that "the world is self-governed and the world is self-governed."

Therefore, if the monarchs of the Song Dynasty wanted to take over power, they would be regarded as "over-the-job" and invaded the legitimate power of the government, and therefore they would inevitably be protested by the ministers: "Now all the officials must be responsible for their duties, but how can Your Majesty invade it?" "The emperor invades the power of the prime minister, then justice is gone!" Therefore, even the emperor himself did not dare to openly sing a rebellion with the governance consensus of the scholars and officials. Even Emperor Taizong, who has always been strong, could not refuse to admit it, "I should do the way of doing nothing"; Emperor Zhenzong also said that "I have never made arbitrary decisions"; Renzong was a model of "empty king", "no matter big or small, I will submit it to the outside court for discussion." At that time, someone commented, "Emperor Renzong did not know everything, but would become an official."

The emperor was so weak and inaction that some censors could not stand it and questioned Renzong: "Now, there is no big or small political affairs, all of which are determined by the Secretariat, Privy Council, and Your Majesty, are you undeniable. How can you be the ruler of a man?" Renzong himself thought so: "Some people often say that I have made few decisions. It is not that I do not want to punish them, but because the country has a story of ancestors. If some orders are issued, it will be a mistake. This must be discussed by the ministers. The censors have failed to see it, but they do not fear retaliation." Therefore, the Song people believed that the people who talked about family laws under the Han and Tang dynasties were as good as our dynasty; the simplicity of family laws in our dynasty was Renzong.

In theory, Zhao Bing, who comes from modern society, should be very willing to accept this idea of ​​"democratic co-governance", but he is difficult to accept it now. Of course, this is not only his greed for power, but because this impure democracy has actually become the root cause of the struggle between imperial power and ministers. If it is in a peaceful and stable era, he is still acceptable. However, in this turbulent period, this democracy has become a fatal flaw, causing the monarch and minister to argue with each other, the government is inefficient, and the execution is weakened, and the result can only be that it is often passive, lagging, and being beaten everywhere in tactical terms.

Therefore, Zhao Bing thought that extraordinary methods should be practiced in extraordinary times. He did not expect that he could become a dictator, but he also hoped to gain power and establish a strong team so that he could deal with complex and changeable situations. He thought so and kept doing this. After several battles, he could have taken the initiative. However, after entering Jiangnan, with the influx of scholars from Jiangnan into the officialdom, the previous deep-rooted idea of ​​"virtual king" began to affect the operation of the court.

As a representative of the power of scholars and officials in Jiangnan and a strong supporter of Neo-Confucianism, the Wu family is inevitable because of differences in ideas. Even if they are married, they can only resolve for a while, but cannot guarantee a long-term compromise. Zhao Bing felt that it is better to solve this problem first because of the outbreak of conflicts. Only by unifying the thoughts and eliminating fundamental contradictions can one implement his own plan.

When Zhao Bing was in Qiongzhou, he thought that after he recovered Jiangnan, he could obtain sufficient financial resources and manpower, and then he could use large-scale troops to the Mongolian Yuan, regain the Central Plains with the monsoon sweeping away fallen leaves, and drive the Mongols away from the frontier. However, he found that there was still a huge gap between reality and his ideas, and the internal and external situations and situations he faced were very similar to those of the Sui Dynasty.

After years of war, the era of great division that lasted for four hundred years was finally brought to an end by the Sui Dynasty. In the process of four hundred years, the Chinese nation embraced all rivers, absorbed the martial arts style of the Hu tribe, and the Hu tribes were sinicized, and the nations achieved integration. But this "pain" and legacy problems were not so easy to pass! After the integration of Emperor Wen of Sui, the situation was still not optimistic, and then this task fell on Emperor Yang Guang of Sui.

The historical evaluation of Emperor Yang of Sui, the word "Yang" shows the problem. However, it cannot completely deny his achievements. As soon as he came to power, he faced not only the problem of national integration, but also the aristocratic families controlled the civil service system and nobles controlled the real power of the army. The "emperor" was equivalent to the "leader of the aristocratic family alliance". In other words, the emperor was often constrained, so Yang Guang had to consolidate his rule, so he had to centralize his power!

It is well known that Yang Guang built the Grand Canal, but historical books often emphasize that it was to satisfy his selfish desire to go to the south of the Yangtze River, but ignored the role of the Grand Canal. It connected the north and south, accelerated the integration of the north and the south, and facilitated transportation to the control of the Sui Dynasty and eliminated the threat of local group forces. The importance of this canal to China in later generations is obvious to everyone. It further developed the imperial examination system, restored the "Imperial College" and "Taixue", opened the channels for poor families to impact the upper level; attacked foreign tribes such as the Turks, and rebuilt the Silk Road in the Western Regions.

Yang Guang's fault was actually in the battle of the Three Defeats of Goguryeo, which led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty. Zhao Bing always believed that with the Sui national strength, it should be easy to destroy Goguryeo with the comprehensive national strength of the Sui Dynasty. The reason for the failures was that Yang Guang was not aware of the army, was stubborn and went to the expedition to command himself. This caused military command errors and was also concerned about protecting the monarch's army.

In addition, the monarch seeks one-sided glory for his own achievements, and is determined and face. He does not care about the cost, and devotes the whole country to a small place several times, and eventually makes a big mistake. Originally, there was no big problem in the failure of the conquest, but he acted with impulse because of his personal defeat. On the one hand, he can solve the problem with a capable general, but he requisitioned the wealth of the whole country and once again made a mistake.
Chapter completed!