In October 23 AD, with Liu Xiu crossing the Yellow River in the north and appeasing Hebei, the legendary story of the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty was officially begun.
But at the same time, when Liu Xiu went north, he did not bring his new wife, Yin Lihua.
As the daughter of the wealthy family of the Xinye Yin family, before Liu Xiu's mission, Yin Lihua had just married Liu Xiu, and it was less than three months at this time, and the two were newly married Yan'er. However, as Liu Xiu went north, the two could only be separated temporarily. Liu Xiu went to Hebei, while Yin Lihua stayed in Xinye's hometown.
In the next two years, Liu Xiu soared all the way in Hebei, gradually sweeping the entire Hebei. Two years later, Liu Xiu directly proclaimed himself emperor and established the Eastern Han regime. During this period, Yin Lihua stayed in Xinye's hometown and never went to Liu Xiu's side.
Therefore, for this situation, many history lovers in later generations once had a question: since Yin Lihua stayed in Xinye at that time, and Xinye was the territory of the first emperor Liu Xuan.
So after Liu Xiu became independent, why didn't Liu Xuan directly arrest Yin Lihua? Why didn't he use Yin Lihua as a bargaining chip to balance Liu Xiu?
Could it be that Liu Xuan, the first emperor, is really so incompetent? Didn't he even think of this most basic kind of hostage as a guarantee?
In fact, it's really not to blame the first emperor for being soft-hearted.
At that time, the reason why the first emperor did not catch Yin Lihua was actually due to two main reasons: one is the reason of time, and the other is the reason of strength.
Let's start with the time. 
If we carefully look at the history from Liu Xiu's northward journey to Liu Xiu's proclamation as emperor, we will find that in the past two years, Emperor Gengshi has never had the reason to directly arrest Yin Lihua.
In early June 23 AD, Liu Xiu won the Battle of Kunyang, forcing Wang Mang's regime to collapse. After that, Liu Xiu took advantage of the situation to lead his troops north and constantly attacked the territory of Wang Mang's group.
But it was during this period that because Liu Xiu's eldest brother Liu Xuan was too powerful, the first emperor suddenly killed Liu Xuan directly in the name of Liu Xiu's great power.
There is no record in the history books of the detailed time when Emperor Gengshi killed Liu Xuan, but according to later historians, it should not have been in June of this year. After Liu Xuan was killed, Liu Xiu gave up the army as soon as possible and came back to bow to Liu Xuan. Then, Liu Xiu put on an unintentional performance of power, shouted the slogan of 'marrying a wife should marry Yin Lihua', and officially married Yin Lihua.
Therefore, later generations generally believed that Liu Xiuying's marriage to Yin Lihua was at least at the end of June or July of this year.
And then, because Liu Xiu was more obedient, Liu Xuan let him go for the time being. But after that, only more than two months later, that is, in September 23 AD, Liu Xuan gave Liu Xiu his first task.
This task is to ask Liu Xiu to go to Luoyang to clean up the palace for him, and then Emperor Shi plans to go to Luoyang to work.
At that time, Luoyang had just been taken by the rebel army not long ago. It is clearly recorded in the official history that the first regime took Luoyang in the same month that Wang Mang was killed. So inferred from the time, it should be early September or mid-September, Luoyang has just been taken, and then Liu Xiu went to Luoyang.
And the reason why the first emperor at that time wanted to send Liu Xiu to clean up Luoyang was actually a little bit of a plan to dig a pit for Liu Xiu. After all, Luoyang had just been taken down at that time, and there were still many ** of the new reckless regime in the city, and it was easy for some assassinations to occur. It is estimated that the first emperor at that time also wanted Liu Xiu to clean up Luoyang for him, and died in Luoyang by the way.
Of course, Liu Xiu performed very well next, not only did not die, but completed the task. So after that, when Emperor Gengshi arrived in Luoyang, Emperor Gengshi gave Liu Xiu the next task and asked Liu Xiu to go and appease Hebei for him.
In this way, in October 23 AD, Liu Xiu officially went north to Hebei.
Therefore, it is not difficult for us to see from this timeline: from the beginning of marrying Yin Lihua to the separation of the two, the time for the two to get along with each other is definitely not more than three months, and there may even be only more than one month. In the eyes of outsiders, it is difficult for couples who have only been together for more than a month to have too many feelings.
This is also the key to the fact that the first emperor is unwilling to spend a lot of money to catch Yin Lihua. Because in the eyes of Emperor Gengshi, the later Yin Lihua was simply an abandoned son of Liu Xiu.
Then, as Liu Xiu went north, for the next month, Liu Xiu has been trying to appease the separatist forces in Hebei. More than a month later, Liu Lin in Handan supported Wang Lang as emperor, and the Zhao Han regime was established.
With the establishment of the Zhao Han regime, the importance of Liu Xiu in the Hebei region was suddenly highlighted. You must know that at that time, Liu Xiu was the biggest official of the first regime in Hebei, and he already had great prestige. Therefore, at this time, the first emperor of the change, not only could not check and balance Liu Xiu, but wanted to give Liu Xiu more support and let Liu Xiu contain Handan.
In the months that followed, Liu Xiu had been at war with Handan. During this period, two key events occurred. First, the first emperor moved the capital from Luoyang to Chang'an; Second, in order to pacify Handan, Liu Xiu married Guo Shengtong, the niece of Liu Yang, the king of Zhending.
When Liu Xiu married Guo Shengtong, it was only about half a year since Liu Xiu left Yin Lihua.
In the previous six months, because Liu Xiu had always been more cautious, Emperor Shi never felt that he was a threat. In this way, during this period, Emperor Gengshi naturally would not spend too much money to arrest Yin Lihua. And after Liu Xiuying married Guo Shengtong, in everyone's eyes, Yin Lihua was an outcast. At this time, going to imprison Yin Lihua again has no coercion on Liu Xiu.
And more than five months later, in May 24 AD, Liu Xiu finally took Handan and became the strongest force in Hebei.
Liu Xuan was actually very surprised by this result, so he also responded quickly. On the one hand, he named Liu Xiu as King Xiao and elevated Liu Xiu's status. On the other hand, he sent another of his henchmen to bow down and led a lot of troops to the north, stationed in the Yecheng area to balance Liu Xiu.
After Handan was taken down, Liu Xuan asked Liu Xiu to go to Chang'an to receive a reward on the grounds of rewarding. In this regard, Liu Xiu refused this order and continued to stay in Hebei. In the following year, Liu Xiu killed Xie Gong in the name of appeasing the rebel army, became the dominant family in Hebei, and recruited hundreds of thousands of copper horse troops to completely unify Hebei.
However, it was not until the middle of 25 A.D., that is, a year after Liu Xiu destroyed the Handan regime, in this year, Liu Xiu's real identity to the outside world was King Xiao of the original regime.
Therefore, Liu Xiu's position in the Changshi regime at this time is probably the same as Han Xin's position under Liu Bang during the Chu-Han War. In this case, even if Emperor Gengshi knew that Liu Xiu wanted to be independent, he did not dare to be the first to make it clear.
If Emperor Gengshi didn't take the initiative to make it clear, Liu Xiu would still be his courtier, and Hebei would also be his nominal territory. But if Emperor Gengshi took the initiative to find out at this time, he went to catch Yin Lihua and tore his face with Liu Xiu. Then the whole of Hebei will be completely independent in name in an instant.
This result was something that Emperor Gengshi could not bear at that time.
Because during the period when Liu Xiu recruited the Hebei peasant army, in December 24 AD, the Red Mei Army broke through the Hangu Pass and entered the pass in one go. For the next nine months, the Gengshi regime had been fighting the Red Eyebrow Army with all its might, and there was no time to take care of Liu Xiu.
Moreover, with the Red Mei Army entering Guanzhong in the west, the first emperor at this time had no influence on Nanyang County for a long time. Even if he wanted to catch Yin Lihua, he didn't have the ability to do it at all.
In this way, in August 25 AD, Liu Xiu was officially proclaimed emperor in the Gaocheng area. After knowing this, Emperor Gengshi was naturally furious, but he didn't have any ability to fight back at all. Because the Red Eyebrow Army at that time had already reached Chang'an.
And then, at the same time that Liu Xiu was proclaimed emperor, Liu Xiu sent someone to pick up Yin Lihua as soon as possible. In October of this year, Emperor Genshi officially surrendered to the Red Mei Army, and the Genshi regime was completely destroyed.
Therefore, judging from the timeline, in the past two years, the first emperor did not take Liu Xiu seriously, and he couldn't afford to spend too much money to catch Yin Lihua. In the middle period, Liu Xiuying married Guo Shengtong, and catching Yin Lihua basically had no ability to check and balance Liu Xiu. In the later period, the power of the first emperor retreated to Guanzhong, even if he wanted to capture Yin Lihua, he didn't have the ability.
Time, in fact, is the root cause.
Of course, some people will say that even the later Emperor does not have this ability. So in the early stage, why didn't Emperor Genshi take Yin Lihua with him directly in the name of taking care of Liu Xiu's family? He could have taken Yin Lihua from Xinye to Luoyang from the very beginning, and then took him to Chang'an!
This is going to talk about the strength of the Yin family, as well as some complex character relationships.
To put it simply, even in the early stage, as long as Emperor Gengshi was not ready to completely turn his face with Liu Xiu and bear a huge infamy, he would not be able to catch Yin Lihua.
Because of the strength of the Yin family, it is really strong!
Yin Lihua's family, in Xinye County and even the entire Nanyang County at that time, was a well-deserved super rich man! According to historical records, the Yin family has more than 700 hectares of cultivated land alone! By analogy with modern times, it is about the size of ten Forbidden Cities today!
Moreover, in this chaotic war in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yin family was not simply rich, but also had an army in their hands.
Yin Lihua's elder brother Yin Zhi was optimistic about the Liu brothers long before Liu Xuan and Liu Xiu brothers started their troops. Then before the Liu brothers raised troops, he brought more than 1,000 people and went to seek refuge with Liu Xuan. Later, before the Battle of Kunyang began, Liu Xuan led the main force under his command to besiege the county seat of Nanyang County. During this period, it was Yin Zhi who led the army under his command to sweep several counties such as Xinye, Duyan, and Huyang.
Therefore, when Liu Xuan was killed, Yin Zhi had already become the most effective cadre under his command, and he directly controlled a large number of troops! And after Liu Jiu was killed, in order to appease Liu Jiu's subordinates and stabilize the interior, the first emperor also rewarded several of Liu Jiu's capable cadres, for fear of them.
At that time, Yin Zhi was named Yin Dehou and acted as a general.
Of course, after Emperor Gengshi completely took power, it was not without suppression of these Liu Xuan's old departments. On the one hand, he went to Luoyang by himself, and later went to Chang'an, directly getting rid of the influence of these Liu Xuan's old departments. On the other hand, Emperor Gengshi was also taking various opportunities to deprive these old Liu Xuan troops of their military power.
But shortly after Yin Zhi was suppressed, another key figure appeared.
This person's name is Deng Feng, and he is a member of the Deng family, another big family in Xinye.
In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xinye Deng family produced a total of three most important figures. One is named Deng Yu, who was a college roommate with Liu Xiu before. After Liu Xiu went north, he went to Liu Xiu for the first time, and later became the number one general under Liu Xiu. The other is named Deng Chen, who is Liu Xiu's second brother-in-law.
There is another one, which is this Deng Feng.
From the perspective of historical records, Deng Feng should have been the leader of the Deng family at that time. At the same time that Liu Xuan and Liu Xiu raised troops, he also raised troops in the Xinye area. Later, in the course of the battle, Deng Feng gradually occupied the county of Nanyang County. Although the site is not large, its influence is not small.
After Liu Xiu went north, Yin Lihua first returned to Xinye's hometown, and later, under the arrangement of her brother, she went to Shuyang County, where Deng Feng was located. It was under the protection of Deng Feng that Yin Lihua spent those two years safely.
In this situation, if Emperor Gengshi said that he wanted to take Yin Lihua away, neither Deng Feng nor the Yin family would agree. In the Nanyang area, Emperor Genshi did not have any descendant army. In other words, if he wants to take Yin Lihua away, he must send an army!
Moreover, judging from the situation at that time, Emperor Gengshi had to send at least 350,000 troops to defeat Yin Zhi and Deng Feng, and finally take Yin Lihua away. But if Emperor Genshi really did this, it would be tantamount to slapping Liu Xiu in the face and forcing Liu Xiu to break with him completely.
This kind of thing, before Liu Xiu was officially proclaimed emperor, it was basically impossible for Emperor Gengshi to do it. But when Liu Xiu became the emperor, the first emperor himself was too busy to take care of himself, and naturally he could no longer have the ability to catch Yin Lihua.
In short, Yin Lihua was able to spend the past two years safely, firstly, thanks to the protection of the Yin family and Deng Feng, and secondly, during this time, Emperor Gengshi has never had the opportunity to turn his face with Liu Xiu. Of course, the most critical point is that Liu Xiubei married Guo Shengtong half a year later, which greatly reduced Yin Lihua's influence.
If Liu Xiu had never married Guo Shengtong, and had a child with Yin Lihua first, I am afraid the situation would have been different. If during Liu Xiu's sweep of Hebei, Yin Lihua gave birth to Liu Xiu's eldest son. Then even if Emperor Gengshi risked a rupture, it is estimated that he will send a large number of troops to grab Yin Lihua as a hostage first.
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