(Zhang Mingyang).
Their father was the Emperor, but in the imperial era, they were almost the most dangerous of the kind. Starting with Fusu, the quasi-crown prince of Qin Shi Huang, the first de facto crown prince in Chinese history, set the tone of high risk for this noble identity by suicide.
As the number two person in the empire, the crown prince is destined to be an awkward identity. First, the crown prince is not an "iron rice bowl", and the stability of his status depends on the recognition and favor of the "father". Second, the emperor and the crown prince are not only father and son, but also monarchs and ministers, and if the crown prince and the political group behind him pose a threat to the emperor, it will be a matter of time before they are liquidated. Third, if the crown prince is deposed, the hope of becoming a rich man is very slim, and if it is good, it will be exiled and imprisoned, and if it is bad, it will be a cup of poisonous wine.
So, the question is, how to be a crown prince safely? Or rather, what factors could make the crown prince so dangerous?
First of all, politically, the crown prince must closely follow his father's governing style and major policies, and must not expose his "independent personality" prematurely. In particular, if the emperor is ruling in the same way as a tough guy, the crown prince will have to be especially careful. The emperor often worries about "those who mess with my family, the crown prince also" like Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, and turns against Kuanren's son.
A typical case is Zhu Yuanzhang's crown prince Zhu Biao. Zhu Yuanzhang was known for his penchant for heavy use of edicts and slaughter of heroes, while the crown prince Zhu Biao was deeply influenced by Confucianism and politically inclined to be lenient and benevolent. It is okay to have different political positions, the key is that Zhu Biao rarely hides his differences with his father, and repeatedly argues with reason. In a serious dispute, Zhu Yuanzhang angrily asked Zhu Biao: "Do you want to be the emperor yourself and teach me?" Some historical sources believe that this conflict led to Zhu Biao's early death.
The princes who fell on it were numerous. The quasi-crown prince Fusu was alienated to the border because he advised Qin Shi Huang to burn books and pit Confucianism; Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's crown prince Liu Ju, although he died in the Witch Gu Rebellion, if he traces the source, it is still due to disagreement with his father's political views; The crown prince of Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, Zhenjin, opposed his father's heavy taxation to govern the country, so that the father and son fell out of harmony, and finally died in fear like Zhu Biao. This is even a universal phenomenon, and Peter the Great's crown prince Alexei was tortured to death for opposing his father's radical reforms.
Second, the crown prince must pay attention to the threat of interest groups. The reason is very simple, the emperor is a representative of an interest group, and the ascension of the prince means the demise of this group, so it must be full of various conspiracies and plots against the prince.
Li Ying, the crown prince of Tang Xuanzong, faced the conspiracy of Concubine Wu Hui's interest group, Concubine Wu wanted her son Li Mao (Yang Guifei's ex-husband) to be the emperor, and long-term layout to slander Li Ying, and finally successfully framed her rebellion, so that Li Ying and her two brothers were deposed as concubines and given to death; Li Chongjun, the crown prince of Tang Zhongzong, was a thorn in the side of Empress Wei's interest group, and Princess Anle, the daughter of Empress Wei, wanted to be the "imperial princess", and finally Li Chongjun was defeated and killed in the coup; Zhu Changluo, the crown prince of Mingshenzong, was lucky, although he was plotted by Zheng Guifei's interest group in the famous "Attack Case", he finally became a short-lived emperor for a month...
Finally, the crown prince must get his relationship with his brother right. The crown prince is a highly competitive profession, facing vicious competition from other brothers all the time; The bigger concern is that the emperor usually indulges in such competition, sits on the mountain and watches the fight, and rarely shows favoritism for the crown prince.
One possibility is that the crown prince lacks initiative and decisiveness, and is directly killed by his brother in a head-to-head confrontation. The most representative here is undoubtedly in the "Xuanwumen Change".
the crown prince Li Jiancheng, who was killed by Li Shimin; and Yang Yong, the crown prince of Emperor Wen of Sui, who was too low-key and calm, was replaced by Yang Guang, the younger brother of Shenwen Zhouna. Another possibility is that the crown prince's performance in protecting the throne was too fierce and wantonly formed a party, so that the emperor felt threatened to depose the crown prince, such cases include Li Chengqian, the crown prince of Tang Taizong, and Yinren, the crown prince of Kangxi.
A discerning person can see that the crown prince is certainly dangerous, but the crown prince, who is the "first emperor of the ages", is the most dangerous. Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Yuan Shizu, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Shengzu of the Qing Dynasty, what a luxurious list of outstanding emperors, their crown princes all have a common feature - deposed or unnatural death. and Wu Zetian, who was not mentioned before, she even contributed two places, Li Hong and Li Xian, both of whom were their own sons, but they were either abolished or died early with suspicion. Of course, there are also foreign entrants. ** The first Tsar, Ivan the Terrible, is said to have stoned the crown prince to death with an iron rod; The greatest Tsar, Peter the Great, also killed the crown prince. The Ottoman Empire was even more exaggerated, and the "conqueror" Mehmed II instituted the infamous "Brother Killing Law", which allowed the enthroned sultan to legally kill all his brothers.
Why is the relationship between the famous monarch and the crown prince so bad? There may be two reasons for this: first, most of the so-called famous monarchs firmly control the supreme power in their hands, and "only one person rules the world", and they are highly sensitive to the potential political threat posed by the prince. Second, the expectations of the famous monarch for the heir are relatively high, not only hoping that the prince will have the ability to continue the prosperous era he created, but also worrying that the prince will engage in revisionism after he ascends the throne. The paradox is that often the unassertive crown prince is incompetent, so the emperor can only find security through vain substitutions.
Why were you born in the emperor's family", Chongzhen's long sigh of waving his knife to Princess Changping is also where the glory and tragedy of the crown princes' lives lie.