Emperor Liu Xiu of Han Guangwu had three ministers who were not afraid of death, dared to speak out, and dared to enforce the law. One was named Ji Zun, the other was named Song Hong, and the other was named Dong Xuan.
When Liu Xiu was still the Polu general, the person in charge of military orders was Ji Zun. This person enforced the law very strictly. No matter who violated the military orders, he would severely punish them. Once, one of Liu Xiu's favorite soldiers violated military orders and was beheaded on the spot by Ji Zun. The soldiers reported to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu was very angry and wanted to punish Ji Zun. The chief secretary Chen reminded Liu Xiu: "When you manage the army, you pay the most attention to strict laws and disciplines. Ji Zun enforces the law and handles affairs. You should not punish him!" Liu Xiu said! When Xiu heard this, he immediately realized what he was doing. Instead of blaming Ji Zun, he instead named him the traitor general. Liu Xiu also said to his generals: "You must strictly abide by discipline. Whoever dares to disobey discipline will not be able to save you when encountering Ji Zun. Ji Zun dares to behead even my favorite person. If any of you If you violate the military order, you will be even more rude."
Song Hong was originally an official during the reign of Emperor Ping of the Western Han Dynasty. After Liu Xiu became emperor, he appointed him as the Great Sikong, and Song Hong recommended Huan Tan. Liu Xiu plays the piano. Once, Liu Xiu convened a meeting of civil and military ministers and ordered Huan Tan to play the piano. Song Hong was also sitting at the ministers' table at that time. Huan Tan saw Song Hong's serious appearance and was so frightened that he could not play the piano well. Liu Xiu asked Huan Tan what was going on. Song Hong kowtowed to Liu Xiu and apologized, saying that he had chosen the wrong person. Liu Xiu didn't blame Song Hong. From then on, he stopped listening to the piano during gatherings.
Once, when Song Hong was discussing things with Liu Xiu, he saw many beauties painted on the walls and screens in Liu Xiu’s room. Song Hong immediately criticized Liu Xiu for being lustful, which made Liu Xiu very embarrassed and had to All the screens with pictures of beautiful women were removed.
Liu Xiu had an older sister who was named Princess Huyang. Princess Huyang’s husband died while fighting with Liu Xiu, and she remained a widow at home. Liu Xiu saw how pitiful her sister was when she was alone, so she persuaded her to remarry and asked her who she liked. Princess Huyang said that she liked Song Hong, so Liu Xiu wanted to be a matchmaker for her sister.
When Song Hong went to the palace again to discuss things with Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu said: "As the saying goes, the rich are easy to make friends with, and the rich are easy to get wives. This is a common thing for mortals. I don't know how you did it." See it?" Song Hong knew the meaning of Liu Xiu's words as soon as he heard it. He said seriously: "Don't forget the friendship between the poor and the humble, and don't throw away the wife in trouble!" How can people forget the past? Song Hong rejected him so firmly that he was embarrassed to say any more. Later, Princess Huyang did not mention the remarriage again.
After Princess Huyang was rejected, she has been living a single life. Liu Xiu saw that she was pitiful, so he gave her a lot of money and many slaves to make her life as comfortable as possible.
Among the slaves of Princess Huyang, there are many lawless elements. They dare to do anything, and even dare to kill people in broad daylight. The magistrates did not dare to go in to arrest the prisoners, and these slaves became more and more bold.
Luoyang Ling Dong Xuan was a tough guy who was not afraid of death. He vowed to catch the prisoner. A servant of Princess Huyang's family killed someone outside and hid in the princess's house. Dong Xuan waited for many days but failed to catch this person.
Once, when the princess went out to play, this murderous servant rode a horse and walked proudly in front of the team. Dong Xuan had already sent people to find out clearly, so he sent people to suddenly stop the princess's carriage. The princess was furious and ordered Dong Xuan to give way. Dong Xuan was not polite and accused the princess of harboring the criminal. Not only the criminal was guilty, but she herself was guilty. And sternly ordered the criminals to dismount. The servant had no choice but to get off his horse and apologize to Dong Xuan. He thought that with the princess around, he would be fine if he apologized to Dong Xuan. Unexpectedly, Dong Xuan was rude and cut the servant into two pieces with a wave of his knife, which was regarded as execution on the spot, and then he let the princess go.
When Princess Huyang returned to the palace, she became more and more angry as she thought about it. She ran to Liu Xiu crying and complained to Dong Xuan, saying that Dong Xuan had bullied her. When Liu Xiu heard this, he was very angry and immediately sent a message to Dong Xuan to enter the palace. As soon as Dong Xuan came, Liu Xiu ordered the warriors to beat him with big sticks. Dong Xuan was not afraid. He said: "Please listen to my words, and then let me be executed!" After Liu Xiu agreed, Dong Xuan said loudly: "Your Majesty, you revitalize the royal family of the Han Dynasty and rule the world with morality. Now that Princess Huyang allows evil slaves to violate the law and kill people, and does not punish the murderers, how will the world be governed in the future? You don't need to fight me, I will just commit suicide!" After saying this, Dong Xuan lowered his head. He rushed towards the stone pillars in the main hall and hit his head badly, but he was not killed. He got up and hit him again. Liu Xiu felt that Dong Xuan was right, so he asked the warriors to hold him back and prevent him from hitting him again, but asked him to kowtow to Princess Huyang and ask for her forgiveness. Dong Xuan just refused to kowtow.
Princess Huyang said to Liu Xiu: "You were very powerful when you were a common people. Why can't you become emperor today?" Liu Xiu said with a smile: "After all, the emperor and the common people are not the same." Same!" Then he said to Dong Xuan: "You tough-necked guy, go back quickly!" Dong Xuan then left the palace gate.
A few days later, Liu Xiufa issued an edict to reward Dong Xuan for his courage in enforcing the law and gave him 300,000 yuan. Dong Xuan accepted the edict and distributed all the money given by the emperor to his subordinates.