In 202 BC, when the Western Han Dynasty was first established, Liu Bang learned the lessons of the fall of the Qin Dynasty and implemented the parallel system of county states. In order to maintain the centralization of power, he adopted a cautious attitude towards the vassal states in the peripheral areas, and even made a covenant with his ministers in his later years that only those surnamed Liu could be kings.
This is to ensure the stability and long-term inheritance of the Liu family.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Han Dynasty, after the death of Lü Pheasant, Zhou Bo and Chen Ping's old ministers united with the Liu clan to successfully eradicate Zhu Lü and support the acting king Liu Heng as the emperor, that is, Emperor Wen of Han.
However, after decades of struggle, the princes and kings with different surnames and the relatives of the Lu family were eliminated, and the contradiction between the centralization of power by the emperor and the decentralization of power by the clan became the main contradiction.
In 154 BC, during the reign of Emperor Jing, a rebellion broke out between the clans of the Seven Kingdoms. In the past forty years, the ** of the clan surnamed Liu has been a gradual evolutionary process, which reflects the law of the complex feudal ** power struggle.
Liu Bang favored Madame Qi and her son Liu Ruyi, and wanted to depose Liu Ying, who was born to Lu Pheasant, thus triggering a secret war for the heir to the throne. Empress Lü took advantage of Liu Bang's perennial expedition abroad to continuously expand his power.
Together with Xiao He, she plotted to kill Han Xin and get rid of Peng Yue with the help of Liu Bang in order to solve the threat to her from the military merit group that was in power. In addition, Empress Lu also successfully won over Zhang Liang and Xiao He, so that the government fell into her hands in Liu Bang's later years.
All the ministers opposed Liu Bang's replacement of the crown prince, and Empress Lu invited the "Shangshan Sihao", who was very famous at that time and could not be invited by Liu Bang, to assist the crown prince Liu Ying.
Liu Bang saw that the crown prince was already full-fledged, so he could only give up the idea of replacing the prince, but he was worried about Lu Pheasant, who was hiding behind Liu Ying.
He seems to have foreseen that Empress Lü would usurp the Liu clan after his death, and Empress Lü had actually already begun to act. In order to prevent the imperial power from changing hands, in 195 BC, the terminally ill Liu Bang gathered together the former heroes and important ministers, asked his subordinates to kill a white horse, asked them to make a blood alliance, and vowed: "If the people who are not Liu usurp the throne, the people of the world will rebel together." ”
In the Han Dynasty, people were very superstitious about blood oaths, and Liu Bang's move was both a warning to Lü Pheasant and a set the tone for the future division of power in the empire.
Soon after the White Horse swore an oath, Liu Bang died. After Liu Bang, Liu Ying, Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, inherited the throne, although he was young and had a weak personality, the real power of the empire was in the hands of Lu Pheasant.
After Lü Pheasant took power, she showed no mercy to the Liu clan, and in the year of Liu Bang's death, she killed Liu Ruyi, the king of Zhao. Liu Ying was depressed under the suppression of Lu Pheasant, and died depressed in 188 BC.
Lü Pheasant established Liu Gong as the emperor, and she herself was in the dynasty to control and exercise imperial power. After that, she killed Liu You, the king of Zhao, and forced Liu Hui, the king of Liang, to commit suicide, and when she learned that Liu Gong complained, she first abolished Liu Gong and then secretly killed him.
At the same time, Lü Pheasant violated Liu Bang's white horse oath and sealed Zhu Lü, and in 187 BC, he named three nephews as kings and nephews as marquises. However, under the leadership of Liu Bang's grandson, Liu Xuhou, the Marquis of Zhu Xu, the Liu clan secretly contacted and gradually grew in power.
In 180 BC, Lu Pheasant died of illness, and the Liu clan ushered in an opportunity to fight back. In the palace, Liu Zhang, together with the imperial lieutenant Zhou Bo and the right prime minister Chen Ping, launched a mutiny.
Liu Zhang secretly informed Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, that he would send troops from the west to disturb Zhulu. After Zhou Bo took control of the army, Liu Zhang led thousands of troops to hunt and kill Lü Chan and Lü Lu, and then all the clans of the Lü clan were punished regardless of men, women, old and young.
At this point, the Lu clan was completely wiped out, and the ruling power returned to the hands of the Liu clan. In the fifteen years between Liu Bang's death and the eradication of Zhulu, the Liu clan adhered to the White Horse Oath for a common goal, and with the support of the meritorious elders, they turned the tables from the predicament, regained the country, and soon ushered in a new master.
However, the competition for the throne has sown the worst consequences. During the Wenzhi period under the reign of Emperor Wen, after the ruling crisis had been pacified by Zhulu, Zhou Bo, Chen Ping and other old ministers began to discuss the election of a new emperor.
At that time, Liu Hong was not Liu Ying's biological son, so he was secretly killed. In this way, the throne can only be elected from among the surviving princes of the clan. The most competitive is Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, who is the eldest son of Liu Bangshu's eldest son, Liu Fei, who has deep qualifications and has made great contributions to the pacification of Zhulu.
He was supported by his two younger brothers, Liu Zhang, the Marquis of Zhu Xu, and Liu Xingju, the Marquis of Dongmu, and his influence increased rapidly. However, due to his uncle's violent personality and ambition, Zhou Bo and others were very worried about the recurrence of the phenomenon of the dictatorship of his relatives.
After discussion, the ministers set their sights on Liu Heng, who was far away in the north.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng, the best candidate for the heir to the throne. In terms of blood, he is Liu Bang's son and older, which is legal logical; In terms of background, his mother Bo was born in a commoner and was low-key, avoiding the possibility of dictatorship by his relatives.
In addition, Liu Heng's benevolence and generosity enabled him to succeed to the throne with the support of Zhou Bo and Chen Ping. Under his rule, the throne was initially secured, and he also carried out a series of feudal divisions of the princes of the clan, including the promotion of Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju, who had contributed to the bulldozing of Zhulu.
However, the competition for imperial succession led to the emergence of ** within the clan, mainly between Liu Heng and Liu Xiang, the king of Qi. And Liu Heng's ascension to the throne will also lead to an uneven distribution of interests in the clan.
With the fall of the Lu family's relatives and the decline of the meritorious group, the clan lost its common enemy, and the contradiction between the centralized forces and some unpowerful princes and kings became the mainstream of the struggle.
Liu Xiang died of illness after losing the battle for the throne, and the cause of death is unknown. Emperor Wen attacked Liu Zhang and Liu Xingju, erasing their exploits in pacifying Zhulu, dividing the land of Zhao and Liang among his sons and nephews, and relocating the Liu Zhang brothers to the sparsely populated cities of Chengyang and Jibei.
Liu Zhang died in 177 BC, and the cause of death is also unknown. Liu Xingju saw the misfortune of his two elder brothers, and under the anger, he rebelled in the year of Liu Zhang's death. However, the strength of Jibei was too weak, and the resistance was like a grasshopper shaking a tree, and it was soon eliminated, Liu Xingju committed suicide in defeat, and Jibei was canceled.
However, after more than ten years of development, the princes of various clans have gradually become larger, and the contradictions with the centralization of power have increased day by day. Liu Chang, the king of Huainan, was Liu Bang's youngest son, relying on the favor of Emperor Wen of Han, arrogant and domineering, and often directly called Emperor Wen of Han "big brother".
For Liu Chang's illegal behavior, Emperor Wen of Han did not punish him out of brotherhood, but this only fueled his arrogance. In 174 BC, Liu Chang colluded with the Xiongnu and Minyue to attempt a rebellion, but the matter was soon revealed.
Instead of punishing him, Emperor Wen of Han moved him to Sichuan, but on the way, Liu Chang died of hunger strike. This may have been the consistent political style of Emperor Wen of Han, who did not want to be charged with killing his brothers, so he chose to treat Liu Xiang and other brothers similarly.
Although Emperor Wen did not blindly deal with the clan ** forces, he skillfully took advantage of the opportunity of Liu Ze, the king of Qi Wen, to have no heirs, divided the Qi State into six kingdoms, and divided the Huainan Kingdom into three, so as to weaken the power of the princes.
However, at that time, Emperor Wen was working to stabilize the political situation and restore the social economy, and the situation did not allow him to take an overly aggressive approach to the question of the princes. Therefore, the contradiction between imperial power and royal power was not fundamentally resolved.
As Emperor Wen adopted a conciliatory attitude towards the princes with the same surname, this eventually led to the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms that broke out during the reign of Emperor Jing. The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms was a concentrated manifestation of the contradiction between centralization and decentralization.
In 157 BC, Liu Heng's eldest son Liu Qi inherited the throne, and he was the later Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. When Liu Qi succeeded to the throne, the contradictions between the imperial power and the local vassal states had reached the point where they could not be reconciled, and some powerful princes ignored the decrees of the imperial court and acted as a prestige without authorization, and a situation of not falling off the tail had been formed, especially Liu Bi, the king of Wu.
Liu Bi was the son of Liu Bang's second brother Liu Zhong, and he was deeply appreciated by Liu Bang for his heroic performance in the process of quelling the rebellion against Yingbu. Therefore, Liu Bi was established as the king of Wu and was in charge of three counties and fifty-three cities.
Due to the abundant copper ore resources in Wudi, Liu Bi recruited outlaws from all over the country to steal copper coins, so that a large number of copper coins circulated in the Western Han Dynasty. At the same time, the coastal areas of Wudi are also rich in salt, and Liu Bi uses seawater to boil salt and sell it to all parts of the country.
These behaviors have allowed Liu Bi to accumulate a lot of wealth and strength, and gradually aroused the vigilance of ***. In addition, when Liu Qi was still the prince, he played chess with Liu Xian, the prince of Wu, Liu Xian's attitude was disrespectful, Liu Qi smashed his head in anger, and Liu Wei was even more dissatisfied with **, saying that he was sick.
After Liu Qi succeeded to the throne, he accepted the suggestion of the imperial historian Chao Cuo and began to plan to cut the feudal domain. 155 years ago, Liu Qi used the excuse that Liu Wu, the king of Chu, had committed fornication in private during the mourning of Empress Dowager Bo, and cut off Donghai County.
Then, Liu Ang, the king of Jiaoxi, was cut to six counties for selling his lordship and fraud. Then, Liu Qi began to make a move on Liu Bi, the king of Wu. This is the first time since the early Han Dynasty that the princes have been directly weakened, and the target is still the Liu clan.
As the strongest prince, Liu Bi was naturally unwilling to sit still, and he privately united with the princes of the clan who were dissatisfied with **, ready to rebel. Soon, Emperor Jing ordered the seizure of Liu Bi's Yan County and Huiji County.
After receiving the order, Liu Bi did not hesitate to kill the officials below 2,000 stone set up in the territory of Wu State. Then, he united with the six kings of Chu, Liu Wu, Liu Sui, Zhao, Liu Piguang, Jinan, Liu Xian, Zichuan, Liu Ang, Jiaoxi, and Liu Xiongqu, Jiaodong, and openly rebelled.
This is known in history as the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms.
The rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, on the surface, was a struggle between the royal family, but in essence it was a game between centralization and decentralization, and it was the embodiment of the struggle for power within the ruling class.