In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty died, and the 19-year-old Liu He ascended to the throne under the support of the powerful minister Huo Guang.
However, only 27 days later, Liu He was deposed by Huo Guang on the grounds that he and his team had done 1,127 bad things during this period, and it was difficult to take on the heavy responsibility of Jiangshan Sheji.
We all know that this is the result of his and Huo Guang's failure to fight for power.
This ending can't help but make us think that Liu He's ancestor, Emperor Liu Heng of the Han Dynasty, also came to the crisis-ridden Chang'an to succeed the unification as a prince and king without any foundation.
Unlike Liu He, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty relied on superb means to sit on the throne and finally created the rule of Wenjing.
So, what is the difference between Liu He and Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng, so that one loses the throne and the other reigns in the world for 23 years?
The 24-year-old Liu Heng couldn't help but be worried when he heard the envoy say that the clan and the heroes wanted him to enter Beijing to become the emperor.
At this time, the situation in the imperial court was very chaotic. The Lu clan had just been eradicated, and the power was in the hands of those heroes. No one knows whether they want to trick the Liu family clan into Chang'an and wipe it out, or if they want to set up a puppet emperor so that they can take power conveniently, or if they really want to set up a real emperor.
He cautiously summoned the ministers, made some discussions, and sent his uncle Bo Zhao to Chang'an City to inquire about the news, and after initially determining that Chang'an City was relatively safe, he walked slowly all the way to Chang'an City, accompanied by his confidant ministers.
We can imagine that in the days when Liu Heng was waiting for Bo Zhao's news, on the way to Chang'an City, he must have discussed the situation in Chang'an City with his henchmen many times, and what they should do after they arrived in Chang'an.
This also laid a solid foundation for Liu Heng to successfully take power later.
And 19-year-old Liu He, when he heard that Huo Guang and others invited him to Beijing to be the emperor, he was so happy that he was about to faint.
The seal book of Chang'an City arrived at night, and Liu He couldn't wait to open the seal book under the light of the candle flame at about 1 o'clock in the morning, and set off to Chang'an at noon that day.
Naturally, it was impossible to have enough time to plan the itinerary and the entourage, so that after only four or five hours of departure, the horses of the attendants died on the road one after another because of the wild gallop all the way.
Because the entourage was not arranged, the courtiers in Changyi also followed Liu He out in a hurry in order to catch up with the opportunity to soar. It was not until about four or five o'clock in the afternoon that Lang Zhong ordered Gong Sui to catch up with Liu He, and persuaded Liu He to send the surplus personnel back to Changyi.
Along the way, Liu He was also extremely indulgent, and before he arrived in Chang'an, he began to rob the people's daughters, and he had no consciousness to maintain his image at all.
Liu He's mentality also doomed him to be unable to deal with the complicated situation in Chang'an City, and he didn't think about how to deal with Huo Guang. The final failure, although surprising, was also reasonable.
After Liu Heng came to Chang'an, he had the upper hand in several secret confrontations with the heroes.
In Weiqiao, Zhou Bo, the greatest hero of the Lu clan, asked Liu Heng to take a step back and speak in front of the civil and military officials who came to greet him.
The vigilant Liu Heng immediately signaled his subordinates to tell Zhou Bo: What you say is public, what you say is public. The king is selfless.
Whether Zhou Bo wanted to invite merit and consolidate his position, or wanted to show favor and take the opportunity to hold Liu Heng hostage, Liu Heng did not give him this opportunity, and he would not allow this matter to become a handle for himself.
Subsequently, Liu Heng rejected the jade seal of the Son of Heaven offered by Zhou Bo, and invited the ministers to his residence to discuss, so as to transfer the guest and occupy the initiative.
In the Dai Mansion, the ministers once again asked Liu Heng to ascend the throne. And Liu Heng was patient and seized the possible loopholes in the process of persuasion by the ministers, such as the name of Liu Bang's only surviving brother Liu Jiao was not in the persuasion table, and the two sides pulled back and forth 5 times, Liu Heng finally agreed to ascend the throne and live in Weiyang Palace after making up all the possible loopholes.
In this way, at least in terms of process, it is difficult for the heroes and clans of Chang'an to find fault with Liu Heng, so as to send him back to Daiguo.
On the evening of entering Weiyang Palace, Liu Heng issued his first edict:
The Lu family endangered the Liu family's temple, and the heroes and the clan jointly killed them, which was a feat of helping the Han family, and it was meritorious and rewarded.
This can be regarded as a reassuring pill for everyone in Chang'an City.
Although the killing of the Lu family was under the banner of supporting the Han family, after all, the people of the Lu family were personally appointed by the Empress Lu before his death, and the actions of the heroes and the clan were suspected of "committing the following crimes, and being rebellious". How the new emperor perceives their actions is very important.
Liu Heng, on the other hand, accepted their kindness with gratitude and cooperation. This means that the interests and status of the heroes will be guaranteed, and they can rest assured that they will hand over the power to Liu Heng.
After implementing this most important thing, Liu Heng then took small actions such as amnesty to win the hearts of the people for himself and arranged for his henchmen to surround the palace for safety, all of which were not blocked and interfered by the heroes. He has already preliminarily secured the throne.
Compared with Liu Heng, Liu He's methods are too immature.
Before Liu He entered Chang'an City, he had already set up a shelf for the Son of Heaven. When his carriage came to the eastern capital gate of Guangming, the ceremonial officer told him that it was still the mourning period of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty and that it was time for him to start crying.
Liu He refused to cry under the pretext that his throat hurt. It wasn't until he was about to arrive at Weiyang Palace that he finally cried reluctantly.
Before he completed the process of ascending the throne, he had already begun to call himself the "heir emperor", and after he officially ascended the throne, he was even more reckless, and even refused to follow the usual practice to pay tribute to Liu Bang's temple, but ignored that he was already the son of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, and went to worship his own biological father first.
did not worship Liu Bangzong Temple, which later became one of the reasons why Liu He was abolished - even the Gao Emperor Temple did not worship, how could he inherit the mandate of heaven?
Liu He's succession process has been riddled with holes, and it is easy to be caught. And after he officially ascended the throne, he was even more reckless.
During the mourning period of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, he could not eat and drink too much according to the regulations, so he ordered people to go out of the palace to buy chickens and pigs.
When the coffin of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty was still parked in the front hall, he took out the musical instrument, called the musician, and played wildly.
As soon as Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty was buried, he sang and danced in the front hall, and chased wild boars and tigers in a chariot.
The carriage of the Empress Shangguan of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty was also forcibly requisitioned by him.
He even broke the concubine of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty and fornicated the harem.
In just 27 days in office, Liu He and his team did 1,127 bad things, which were recorded.
Since Liu He is a loser in the power struggle, Huo Guang needs to have enough excuses to abolish the emperor, so we have reason to believe that some of Liu He's absurd records are smeared by Huo Guang and others, and they cannot be fully believed.
However, we can also see traces of Liu He's attempts to weaken Huo Guang and even try to regain power from Huo Guang.
The purpose of disrespecting the law of etiquette is to show that he is the master of the world.
Worshipping his biological father and downplaying the inheritance relationship between himself and Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty is because the empress of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, that is, the empress dowager of the current dynasty, Shangguan, is the granddaughter of Huo Guang, Huo Guang is an important relative of the dynasty, and Liu He needs to reduce Huo Guang's influence in this regard.
Uncontrollably and unruly rewarding the former ministers of the Changyi State in order to improve the status of his henchmen as soon as possible, which is enough to compete with Huo Guang.
While playing games with his men, he rewarded them with swords, which was to strengthen his armed forces for fun.
Later, Liu He even dismissed the guard of the Changle Palace where the Empress Dowager Shangguan lived, and replaced it with his own henchmen. In Huo Guang's eyes, this is tantamount to holding his granddaughter hostage and wanting to declare war with him.
Even though Liu He had the intention of seizing power, his actions were too rough and too obvious, and finally touched Huo Guang's bottom line and was deposed by Huo Guang.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty faced a group of ministers headed by Zhou Bo, Guan Ying, and Chen Ping, although they were not only the founding heroes of the Han Dynasty, but also the great heroes of the eradication of the Lu family, and they were double meritorious, but they were really not real ministers.
In Liu Bang's era, the person in power was undoubtedly Liu Bang, and no one dared to be a minister under Liu Bang. In the era of Empress Lu, although these people still maintained the dignity of their status, they had no real power.
Zhou Bo, nominally a lieutenant, actually has no military power in his hands. After Empress Lü died, if he wanted to enter the Northern Army, he had to find a way to deceive the talisman from Lü Lu's hands.
Guan Ying, who was nominally a general, was also in control of the soldiers and horses sent by Lu Chan to crusade against Liu Xiang. However, his troops were mainly used to guard against Liu Xiang, who also had heavy troops, and had no time to take care of Chang'an.
Chen Ping is nominally the right prime minister, but the real power is in the hands of the left prime minister, and he can only have fun day and night to avoid the edge of the Lu family.
At this time, Chang'an City was in a vacuum period after the Lu clan was killed, and we can imagine that there were many personnel in key departments, all of whom were vacant.
And the heroes, although they briefly controlled Chang'an City, but in this situation of personnel vacancies, they have no real power for many years, and their control of Chang'an City is limited.
Among them, Zhou Bo, who is the most threatening, was able to control the military power because he played the banner of eradicating the Lu family and reviving the Han family. Once he pointed the finger at the Liu family, it was really unknown how many soldiers would be willing to listen to him.
Moreover, in Chang'an City, there are not only heroes, but also many clans of the Liu family, which can also form a check and balance on these heroes.
Outside Chang'an City, there are also many princes and kings like Liu Xiang who hold heavy troops, eyeing each other, once something is wrong in Chang'an City, the ambition of the heroes is too big, and they do not want to support the Liu family, they may wave the Qin King, or compete for the throne.
After all, the princes and kings of the early Han Dynasty were not the princes and kings who were repeatedly weakened by the Tui'en Order in the later period. Their strength was strong enough to threaten the imperial court.
In this case, the situation of Emperor Wen of Han is relatively safe.
As long as he doesn't force the heroes to be anxious, but appeases the heroes through the distribution of benefits, he can sit on the throne.
And what Liu He faced was a real minister, Huo Guang.
Since the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Huo Guang has become the chief minister of Tuogu, holding great power.
In the seventh year of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, Huo Guang got rid of other ministers in the struggle for power, and became the ruler of the Han Dynasty in the actual sense, even the emperor had to act according to his face.
After calculation, Huo Guang at this time has been the leader of the Han Dynasty for 13 years, of which he has been in power for 6 years. Both the government and the opposition are his henchmen and supporters.
Even the Empress Dowager Shangguan is Huo Guang's granddaughter. You must know that the Han Dynasty attached great importance to filial piety, and the empress dowager had the theoretical power to depose the emperor.
At this time, the Liu family clan, under the effect of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's Tuien Order, was cut again and again, and there was no longer the strength to threaten the imperial court, so naturally it could no longer become a help to balance the ministers and defend the royal family like in the period of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty.
In this case, Liu He wants to fight Huo Guang hard, which is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.
So, in the face of such a sinister environment and such a terrifying Huo Guang, can Liu He only be doomed to be abolished?
Again, the answer is no.
We need to be sure of one thing: when Huo Guang welcomed Liu He into Chang'an City, he was not mentally prepared to depose the emperor one day. In fact, Huo Guang was trembling until he officially abolished Liu He, and the whole process could get out of control at any time.
Even, if it weren't for Liu He's behavior during this period of time being too absurd and leaving too many loopholes, Huo Guang couldn't find a formal excuse to depose the emperor.
Therefore, if Liu He can be as cautious as his ancestor Liu Heng, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and as careful as he balances the interests between him and Huo Guang, it is very likely that he will retain the throne.
After all, Huo Guang is already old. The history books do not record the year of his birth, but in 119 BC, when Huo Guang was brought to Chang'an City by his brother Huo Quai, the Hanshu said that he was a teenager. By the time Liu He ascended the throne, 45 years had passed, and Huo Guang was almost 60 years old.
In terms of the average life expectancy of the Han Dynasty, this was already quite a long lifespan. If nothing else, Huo Guang has not had a few years to live.
If Liu He can calm down and observe the situation in Chang'an City, he will find that the Huo family's people are quite thin. Huo Guang's only elder brother, Huo Quai, has been dead for more than 40 years, and he has no other brothers. The next generation of the Huo family is Huo Guang's only son Huo Yu, and Huo Quai's two grandsons, Huo Shan and Huo Yun, but they are all sons of gentlemen, and they have no father's or ancestors' demeanor.
In other words, as long as Liu He can be patient, survive Huo Guang, and take back power from Huo's hands, it will not be difficult.
Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, who ascended to the throne after Liu He, did just that.
I have to say that Liu He was too immature and too anxious to be completely defeated in the battle with Huo Guang, and he was deposed after only 27 days as emperor.
Don't you think?
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