In 1 BC, with the thirteenth emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Han Ai, suddenly died young.
After that, the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, who had been in the harem for many years, suddenly stood up and presided over the government. At the same time, Wang Zhengjun appointed his nephew Wang Mang, as the great Sima of the Han Dynasty, with full responsibility for the affairs of the court.
However, no one expected that in the next few years, Wang Mang would gradually control all the power of the high-level of the Western Han Dynasty. Moreover, unlike other powerful ministers, Wang Mang not only established a self-centered power system, but he also received the support of the entire Confucian ** group.
So after that, Wang Mang gradually began to go further and began to prepare for usurpation. In the following years, Wang Mang first gave himself the title of 'Duke of An Han', and then proclaimed himself a false emperor. Finally, in 9 AD, Wang Mang officially accepted the Zen throne and forced his aunt Wang Zhengjun to hand over the jade seal of the country.
At this point, the Western Han Dynasty perished, and Wang Mang successfully usurped the throne.
From the death of Emperor Han Ai to Wang Mang's official usurpation of the throne, only ten years have passed. So, what really happened in this decade? What did Wang Mang do at that time? Why is it possible to complete the transition smoothly in the end? And when Wang Mang usurped the throne, why did his aunt Wang Zhengjun disagree?
This story can start from before the death of Emperor Han Ai.
As the thirteenth emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Han Ai was definitely not a Ming monarch. During his reign, the problem of land annexation within the Western Han Dynasty became more and more serious. The contradiction between man and land is also becoming more and more prominent. At the beginning of Emperor Hanai's ascension to the throne, he actually thought about changing this state. He even planned to ease the conflict by forcibly confiscating land from landlords and then distributing it to civilians.
But apparently, later these methods failed.
And as the problem became more and more serious, Emperor Han Ai gradually found that he could not solve the problem at all. At the same time, voices from the lower middle classes are getting stronger. More and more people began to demand that Wang Mang, who was previously in charge of the government, come back to solve the problem.
So later, a few years after Emperor Han Ai ascended the throne, Emperor Han Ai couldn't withstand this pressure, and finally had to invite Wang Mang back.
Before Emperor Ai of Han ascended the throne, Wang Mang had actually been the first minister of the Han Dynasty for a short time and served as the Great Sima. Before Emperor Han Ai ascended the throne, his eldest uncle Emperor Han Cheng had reigned for more than 20 years. During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, he especially didn't like to work, so he asked his mother's relatives to help deal with the government for a long time.
So, in the entire era of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, several uncles and elders of the Wang family were successively responsible for handling court affairs. At the end of the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, several capable male elders of the Wang family basically passed away. So later, it was the turn of Wang Mang, the leader of the next generation of the Wang family, to take over the position of the first minister.
And more than a year after Wang Mang took power, Emperor Cheng of Han died, and Emperor Ai of Han ascended the throne. After Emperor Han Ai ascended the throne, out of consideration for the safety of his own throne, he was particularly jealous of the royal family. So next, Emperor Han Ai wantonly promoted his own grandmother and mother's family, and began to suppress the Wang family.
In this way, Wang Mang naturally knew what was going on. Later, not long after, Wang Mang took the initiative to resign and went home to live in seclusion. With Wang Mang's previous resignation, the Wang family also quickly retired. After this, Emperor Han Ai completely sat on the throne.
After that, it was Emperor Han Ai who began to reform, but found that he couldn't change anything. And after Wang Mang returned home, many ministers saw that the situation was getting worse and worse, and they felt that the two major relatives families who were newly in power were not as powerful as the Wang family. In addition, Wang Mang's performance was relatively good during this period, so more and more people began to take the initiative, hoping that Wang Mang would come back to preside over the overall situation.
In this way, in the end, after Wang Mang lived in seclusion for more than three years, Emperor Han Ai had to recall Wang Mang.
However, even if Wang Mang returned, Emperor Han Ai was still very jealous of him. Emperor Han Ai knew very well that once Wang Mang took power, he would definitely pose a huge threat to his throne. So after Wang Mang returned, Emperor Han Ai was not willing to give him any actual position at all, but only gave him a job similar to that of a consultant.
And then, probably after Wang Mang returned, in less than two years, Emperor Han Ai's body failed, and he gradually reached the point of death.
The above is basically the general situation of the high-level of the Han Dynasty before Wang Mang really took power.
Although in the later history books, Emperor Han Ai was not a Ming monarch. But we also have to admit that if Emperor Han Ai could live a few more years, Wang Mang would not have a chance to usurp the throne at all. But unfortunately, it was precisely because of the untimely death of Emperor Han Ai that Wang Mang had the possibility of success.
In this way, on August 14, 1 BC, Emperor Han Ai died of illness. And from the day Emperor Han Ai died of illness, Wang Mang will spend ten years to complete the entire usurpation process.
And Wang Mang's usurpation process can actually be roughly divided into six steps.
The first step is called taking control of the capital.
Because Emperor Han Ai died young, and he died without a son. Therefore, before Emperor Han Ai died, around the matter of who had the final say next, undercurrents had begun to surge in Chang'an City.
During the previous reign of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, the high-level of the Han Dynasty was roughly controlled by the three major families. These three families are the Fu family, the Ding family and the Dong family. Among them, the Fu family is the family of Emperor Hanai's biological grandmother, and the Ding family is the family of Emperor Hanai's biological mother. As for the Dong family, it is a bit of an exception. The Dong family is not the family of the Empress of the Han Wai Emperor, but the family of the Han Wai Emperor's male favorite Dong Xian.
As for the queen of Emperor Han Ai, she failed to bring out another family of relatives alone. Because the empress of Emperor Han Ai is his grandmother's niece, and she is also surnamed Fu. Therefore, the empress of Emperor Han Ai and his grandmother are equivalent to supporting a Fu family together.
At the time of the death of Emperor Han Ai, among the three major families, the Dong family was actually the most powerful.
This is mainly because long before the death of Emperor Han Ai, his grandmother Fu and mother Ding had already died early. Since these two female elders are gone, the relationship between Emperor Han Ai and the Fu family and the Ding family is naturally not so close. Although the queen was still surnamed Fu at that time, Emperor Han Ai did not favor the queen, and his support for the Fu family was naturally quite limited.
But the Dong family is different.
The Dong family can be juxtaposed with the two major foreign families, mainly because of a man named Dong Xian. This Dong Xian is the male favorite of Emperor Han Ai, and the relationship between the two is very good. So in the later period of the reign of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, Dong Xian directly became the Great Sima, and many men of the Dong family were also promoted and held important positions in the court!
As for the Wang family, in the previous era of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, it has been in a semi-invisible state. Although the Wang family has been in power for 20 years, he has a large number of protégés and former officials. But before, because Emperor Han Ai didn't like their family, their family naturally had no power.
However, compared with the other three, the Wang family at this time has one of the biggest advantages, that is, the existence of the Queen Mother Wang Zhengjun.
In this way, on the day of the death of Emperor Han Ai, the Wang family, which had been preparing for many years, suddenly began to make trouble. And the Wang family's power point is first in the harem. At that time, in the harem, Wang Zhengjun had the highest rank and the highest status.
When Emperor Han Ai was in power before, because he was not Wang Zhengjun's bloodline, Wang Zhengjun had no influence. But with the death of Emperor Hanai's grandmother and mother, at this time, there is no woman in the harem who has more weight than Wang Zhengjun. Even if it is the queen of Emperor Han Ai, in terms of seniority, she has to call Wang Zhengjun grandma!
So next, Wang Zhengjun, who was 70 years old, suddenly stood up and proposed that he would preside over the funeral of Emperor Han Ai. Naturally, no one could object to this, because there was indeed no one with a higher rank than Wang Zhengjun at that time.
And after getting the power of funeral, Wang Zhengjun ordered Wang Mang to come out and start working on her behalf as soon as possible. At the same time, Wang Zhengjun also ordered that Dong Xian, the former powerful male pet, be temporarily placed under house arrest in the palace, depriving him of contact with the outside world.
Dong Xian's previous position was Da Sima! After the death of Emperor Han Ai, theoretically speaking, all the soldiers and horses in the capital should be controlled by him. And Wang Zhengjun's move is tantamount to directly cutting off Dong Xian's connection with the army.
At the same time, in the name of funeral, Wang Mang began to quickly contact those protégés of the Wang family back then. Because Emperor Han Ai's reign was relatively short, the influence of the Wang family was still there at this time. So soon, the Wang family quickly received a lot of support and quickly recovered into a full-blooded Wang family.
After the political power of the Wang family recovered, in the next step, the Wang family began to unite the Fu family and the Ding family to join forces to attack the Dong family. At that time, Wang Mang instructed the people below, **Dong Xian's previous improper relationship with Emperor Han Ai, and put the responsibility for the bad things that happened in the Han Dynasty on Dong Xian's head.
In this regard, the Fu family and the Ding family naturally have no opinions. Because in the past few years, they were in competition with the Dong family. For the Dong family to be suppressed, they are also happy to see it. And with the acquiescence of the Fu family and the Ding family, Wang Mang quickly completed the ** process.
After that, all kinds of charges were successfully deducted on Dong Xian's head. At the same time, the Wang family launched psychological warfare against Dong Xian. In short, in the end, Dong Xian didn't even resist in order not to implicate his family, and directly chose to commit suicide.
In this way, Dong Xian died, and after Dong Xian was gone, the entire Dong family lost ground in an instant, and then they were all driven back to their hometown by Wang Zhengjun. With the departure of the Dong family from the capital, most of the military power in the capital fell back into the hands of the Wang family.
At this point, the Wang family finally took control of the capital.
After that, Wang Zhengjun convened his ministers to elect the new Great Sima. At this time, the Fu family and the Ding family finally objected. But the problem is that at this time, the military power has fallen into the hands of the Wang family. And the Fu family and the Ding family, at this time, within the family, did not elect an accurate leader in time. So in the end, Wang Mang still didn't encounter much resistance, and he became the big Sima again.
At this moment, the first round is truly over. The whole round, in fact, is only a few days.
And after taking control of the capital, the next second round is called supporting the new emperor.
In the second round, there is not so much to say. Because Emperor Han Ai died violently, he did not designate any heirs before he died. And when he was alive, he left no descendants. Therefore, who will be the emperor next can only be brought to the court for discussion.
But at this time, the court, with the Wang family controlling the capital, Wang Zhengjun's seniority and prestige were placed there, and it was already the main battlefield of the Wang family. The most important thing is that the best person who can be launched to be the emperor at this time is only one Zhongshan King Liu Yin!
It's a complicated thing to say. To put it simply, Wang Zhengjun's husband, Emperor Yuan of Han, only had three sons in total. And these three sons are either extinct or have only one son. Anyway, at this point, the only surviving descendant of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty is this Liu Yin.
If you don't choose him, it will be tantamount to skipping the living descendants of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty and choosing other Liu clan relatives. From the point of view of succession, this is clearly unreasonable.
So in the end, the Wang family almost didn't hesitate, and directly chose to support Liu Yin as the new emperor.
Here's one more thing to say: Although many history lovers in later generations have different views on Wang Mang's support for Liu Yin. Many people believe that Wang Mang supported Liu Yin mainly because he was young and easier to control. But in fact, at that time, except for Liu Yin, there was really no one more suitable than him**. If you don't choose Liu Yin, it is not suitable to choose anyone else.
In this way, not long after the Wang family took control of the capital, Wang Mang officially supported Liu Yin and came to the capital to ascend the throne, which was Emperor Ping of Han.
And the subsequent ** process, there is also nothing worth talking about. Since the capital was completely controlled by the Wang family at that time, the Fu family and the Ding family could not openly oppose Liu Yin's succession. So the whole process, basically without any surprises.
But at the same time, at the end of the second round, Wang Mang did two more things.
The first thing is that he married his eldest daughter to Liu Yin and became Liu Jin's queen. In this way, Wang Mang will become the emperor's father-in-law in the future, and it will be more convenient to control the government in the future.
The second thing is that after Liu Jian came to the capital, Wang Mang ordered that Liu Jin's biological mother Wei was forbidden to come to the capital. At the same time, all the clansmen and close relatives of the Wei family are not allowed to come to the capital.
This order, however, is not very reasonable. But at the same time, after this order was issued, the possibility of Emperor Ping of Han cultivating new relatives was basically eliminated. Since then, Emperor Ping of Han can only become a puppet in the hands of Wang Mang. In the future, the government of the Han Dynasty was basically Wang Mang alone.
However, these two things basically happened after Emperor Ping of Han ascended the throne for a period of time. But logically, it's still part of the second round.
In the second round, Wang Mang gradually became the emperor's spokesperson by supporting Emperor Ping of Han and the next two operations. At this time, Wang Mang, in terms of power and status alone, has basically caught up with Huo Guang at the peak of the year.
In this way, after embracing Emperor Ping of Han, the third round began. In the third round, we can call it a dominant family.
In the third round, Wang Mang's main job was to suppress the Fu family and the Ding family.
As relatives of the former dynasty, the Fu family and the Ding family still have a high status after Wang Mang took power. Especially the Fu family, if the Fu family had a backbone figure taking the lead at that time, they would actually have a chance to compete with Wang Mang. Because the queen of Emperor Han Ai was still alive at this time. In terms of identity, she is also the queen mother at this time.
But the problem is that within the Fu family, there has been little unity.
The Fu family was just an ordinary family in the early years, and the grandmother of Emperor Han Ai, Empress Dowager Fu, actually started by being a palace maid at first. Therefore, within the Fu family, there are no particularly powerful talents.
This led to the rapid decline of the Fu family after the death of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty. In addition, there is no one in the family to take the lead, so it is naturally like a plate of loose sand.
In this way, soon after Wang Mang officially took power, Wang Zhengjun, as the empress dowager, issued an order to deprive several key figures of the Fu family and the Ding family of their official positions, and drove them back to their hometown. And with the departure of the Fu family and the Ding family from the capital, since then, the Wang family has completely dominated the capital.
But at this point, the third round is still not over.
Because of Wang Zhengjun's edict, the Fu family and the Ding family temporarily left the capital. But at the same time, when the Fu family and the Ding family were in power, they also left some protégés and former officials, and they also had great prestige. And how to sweep away the influence of the Fu family and the Ding family, this problem, Wang Mang has not solved it in the next few years.
It wasn't until a few years later, as Wang Mang was in power for longer and longer, that Wang Mang finally freed up his hands and began to solve the problem.
In 5 AD, that is, six years after Emperor Ping of Han ascended the throne, Wang Mang suddenly instructed the following ** to start the identity of Empress Dowager Fu and Empress Dowager Ding.
Because when these two queen mothers were alive, they were not wives. Empress Dowager Fu's husband is Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty's wife is Wang Zhengjun. As for the Ding family, she was also a concubine back then. But later, because Emperor Han Ai became the emperor, when they died, they were buried with the etiquette of the queen mother.
But at this point, Wang Mang began to make a fuss about this matter. Wang Mang proposed that since Fu and Ding were not the main wives, they could not be buried as the queen mother. After that, Wang Mang ordered that the Fu family and the Ding family, who had been buried, dig up the graves, dig them all out of the ground, and then bury them as ordinary concubines.
This had a great impact at the time.
Anyway, they were also the queen mothers back then, and they were the foundation of power of the Fu family and the Ding family. But now, even they themselves have been dug up by Wang Mang. So since then, the Fu family and the Ding family have no influence in the court.
At this point, the third round was completely over, and Wang Mang was completely dominant in the Han Dynasty.
However, please note that at the end of the third round, it was not the Wang family that dominated the court, but Wang Mang's family in the court. Because during the third round, there were also some things that happened in the fourth round.
In the fourth round, we can call it the Dog Blood Gate Incident, also known as 'Lu Kuan's Prison'.
The so-called Gouxuemen incident is more complicated to say, because there are too many people involved. And if you put it simply, the situation at that time was probably like this: because after Wang Mang supported Emperor Ping of Han, he forbade his biological mother Wei to come to the capital and forbade their mother and son to meet. Therefore, many ministers at that time expressed great dissatisfaction with this.
Among them, there are some people who are dissatisfied simply because they feel that this matter is unreasonable and out of justice. There are also some people who feel that Wang Mang is too powerful and has threatened their own status, so they feel dissatisfied.
These people may have different purposes and different positions. But now, because Wang Mang is too powerful, they have gradually come together and formed a group against Wang Mang. Within this group, the membership is very complex. There are not only people from the Wei family, the mother of Emperor Ping of Han, but also several princes of the old Liu family, and some upright ministers.
And then, the contradiction between the two sides was detonated by a very special person.
This person is Wang Mang's eldest son, Wang Yu.
As Wang Mang's eldest son, Wang Yu actually didn't do anything, after Wang Mang usurped the throne, he was still the crown prince. But the problem is that Wang Yu at that time was against his father!
Wang Yu believes that at least in the matter of not allowing Wei to enter Beijing, his father must have done something wrong. In Wang Yu's view, Wei is the biological mother of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, and it is reasonable to let Wei enter the palace as the queen mother and raise the little emperor.
No one knows what Wang Yu thought at that time. We don't know if Wang Yu and his father had quarreled over this issue before. Anyway, in the end, in order to make Wang Mang regress, Wang Yu adopted a very radical method.
He asked his eldest brother Lu Kuan to run to Wang Mang's house in the middle of the night, and poured a bunch of dog blood on the gate of Wang Mang's house, wanting to scare Wang Mang in this way.
This kind of means is impossible for anyone with a little experience in political struggle! But Wang Yu at that time did just that.
And after the dog's blood was spilled, Wang Mang naturally quickly found out the situation. Then, Wang Mang soon realized that this was a critical moment to test himself. If they can't punish themselves with thunder, then in the future, these opposition will be even more radical. Moreover, if Wang Mang's eldest son does not support him, then who will give Wang Mang his life in the future?
So later, Wang Mang thought about it for a long time, and finally came up with a more radical solution.
Under Wang Mang's treatment, soon, Wang Mang's eldest son Wang Yu was arrested, and then poisoned by Wang Mang's personal order in prison. At the same time, Wang Yu's wife, the Lu family, the whole clan was arrested, and then the three clans were razed!
Relying on this method of self-destruction of his own son, Wang Mang instantly showed his attitude.
And then, Wang Mang quickly expanded the matter and began to involve more people in this case. In the end, after Wang Mang's wanton involvement, Emperor Hanping's biological mother, the Wei family, and the whole clan was destroyed. Liu Li, the most powerful vassal king of the old Liu family, was directly deposed from the throne, exiled to Shu, and finally forced to commit suicide.
and Wang Mang's sixth uncle Wang Li and cousin Wang Ren, all of whom were involved in this incident, and finally all of them were forced to commit suicide.
This is actually the most ruthless thing about Wang Mang.
Through a bloody incident, Wang Mang not only cleared the opposition, but also got rid of the internal restrictions of the Wang family. As for why Wang Mang wanted to attack the Wang family's own family at that time, the reason is actually very simple. Because the Wang family supports Wang Mang in power, but they most likely do not support Wang Mang's usurpation.
Because the power base of the Wang family before was Wang Mang's aunt Wang Zhengjun. For Wang Zhengjun, Lao Liu's family is her husband's family, and the Wang family is her maiden family. If you can only choose one of these two families, Wang Zhengjun in his later years will definitely choose the old Liu family.
Therefore, those elders of the Wang family are unlikely to support Wang Mang's usurpation. And if Wang Mang wants to usurp the throne next, he must solve many obstacles within the old Wang family. Except for Wang Zhengjun, other people who oppose Wang Mang, Wang Mang can be directly eliminated.
In short, relying on this thunderous means, Wang Mang bloodied the entire Western Han Dynasty high-level. Since then, in the Han Dynasty, there have been no strong forces against Wang Mang. Even the Queen Mother Wang Zhengjun was also vacated by Wang Mang at this time.
Instead, there are many of Wang Mang's own descendants, as well as many Confucian Confucians who agree with Wang Mang's thoughts. By this time, Wang Mang had actually gradually surpassed Huo Guang's power back then.
And after that, in the fifth round, we can call it a promotion to a false emperor.
Strictly speaking, the third and fourth rounds actually coincide with a large part of the time. And after Wang Mang cleaned up the opposition and reburied the Empress Dowager Fu and Empress Dowager Ding, at this time, no one at the top of the Han Dynasty dared to oppose Wang Mang.
And then, not long after that, another big event suddenly happened in the Han Dynasty.
In 6 A.D., Liu Jin, who was only 16 years old, died suddenly.
There has been a great deal of controversy about the death of Emperor Ping of Han in later generations. Some people believe that Liu Jian suddenly got sick and then suddenly died. Some people also say that Wang Mang was poisoned at that time and poisoned Liu Yin to death.
Anyway, after this, Liu Jin died, and he left no descendants.
And in this way, the vein of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty was completely extinct. After that, if you want to pick the emperor again, you can only choose one more from the other Liu clansmen. Because of the Han Dynasty at that time, Wang Mang was already in charge alone. So who to choose as the emperor next, that is, Wang Mang's choice alone.
After some screening, Wang Mang finally chose a child named Liu Ying. This child is the great-grandson of the third brother of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty. The reason why Wang Mang chose him was mainly because the child was still relatively young at the time, only more than two years old.
Such a child, let alone being an emperor, can't even speak normally. Choosing him as the ** person naturally cannot threaten Wang Mang's power.
At the same time, Wang Mang was no longer satisfied with the status of a powerful minister. During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty before, he had already added the name 'Zai Heng' and enjoyed the treatment of Jiuxi. And now, after selecting Liu Ying, Wang Mang did not let Liu Ying take the throne directly, but first named Liu Ying the crown prince.
At the same time, Wang Mang manipulated his ministers to submit a letter, requesting that Wang Mang be temporarily appointed as emperor. In this way, after some process, Wang Mang was promoted to the 'fake emperor', that is, the ** emperor.
When Wang Mang was promoted to the first emperor, there were naturally many people who were unwilling to join the clansmen of the old Liu family below. So next, many clansmen of the old Liu family began to spontaneously raise troops against Wang Mang. But then, because Wang Mang's propaganda work was relatively good, most of the people of the Han Dynasty felt that Wang Mang was a good person. And the old Liu family occupies the throne and does not let go, which is the reason for the frequent natural disasters in recent years.
So in the end, when Wang Mang sent his cousin Wang Yi to lead troops to quell the rebellion, these resistance forces of the old Liu family were quickly suppressed. In this way, Wang Mang's position as a fake emperor will naturally be completely secured.
In this way, after being a false emperor for a year, most of the rebellion of the Han Dynasty was suppressed. At this point, Wang Mang began to be dissatisfied with being a fake emperor and began to prepare to be a real emperor.
In the two years since, Wang Mang has exhausted all kinds of means to build momentum for himself. After Wang Mang's momentum, many people began to believe that Wang Mang was a contemporary saint and that he should be the emperor.
So in the end, in 9 AD, Wang Mang, who had solved all the troubles, finally came to the harem and went to find his aunt Wang Zhengjun for a showdown. Under Wang Mang's persecution, although Wang Zhengjun was angry, he threw the jade seal of the country to the ground and smashed a corner. But in the end, Wang Zhengjun still had to hand over the jade seal of the country.
In this way, in the end, in this year, Wang Mang successfully accepted the Zen position of the crown prince Liu Ying and became the true emperor himself.
In 9 AD, after Wang Mang officially accepted the Zen throne, the Western Han Dynasty came to an end. In its place was a new dynasty established by Wang Mang.
This is the whole process of Wang Mang's usurpation.
**10,000 Fans Incentive Plan