After Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, when Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty passed away, his crown prince Liu Zheng ascended the throne, which was Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty. In the 36th year of A.D., the Xiongnu's Zhizhi Shan Yu, his name was Hutu Wusi, he was killed by the general Chen Tang in the place of Kangju. We know that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was fighting against the Xiongnu, and he did not hesitate to spend a lot of manpower, material and financial resources at that time. After the Xiongnu Zhizhishan Yu was killed, it can be said that all the anti-Han Xiongnu forces were completely wiped out, which was the end of the war between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu at this time.
In the later period of Emperor Yuan's accession to the throne, in the latter part of his reign, the Western Han Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. Because in this period, there were many social contradictions, including land annexation, which was very prevalent, and the centralized power slowly declined, it could not be as stable as the regime of Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, and Emperor Wu in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, and the contradictions between people of different classes also deepened, so after Emperor Yuan, the Western Han Dynasty slowly declined. In the end, when Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, there was a situation in which Wang Mang usurped the Han, which is what our "Three Character Classic" said to filial piety, Wang Mang usurped.
During the period of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang was the Great Sima at that time, and held this position, and Wang Mang killed the monarch and usurped the throne. In the "Historical Records", there is also a very legendary story in the early years of the Han Dynasty, that is, when Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, rebelled in Mangdang Mountain, he killed the snake and rebelled. As a result, when Liu Bang cut off the snake, his subordinates saw an old lady sitting on the ground and crying, and the old lady said, "The son of the Red Emperor killed her son, the son of the White Emperor." Who is the son of the Red Emperor? The son of the Red Emperor refers to Liu Bang, and the son of the White Emperor is the snake that was cut off by Liu Bang. According to folklore, after Liu Bang killed the snake, because we knew that the snake's hatred was very heavy, it was ghostly, and shouted in the air: If you want him to die, you want him to die. At this time, Liu Bang saw this situation and said to it: How can there be a life in the deep mountains? Let's talk about it on the ground. As a result, the snake remembered this sentence, so he waited until Emperor Ping, that is, Emperor Ping of Han, to return his life. So, by the time of Emperor Ping of Han, this snake was reincarnated and became Wang Mang, and Wang Mang really poisoned Liu Bang's descendants, that is, Emperor Ping of Han.
Although this is a piece of folklore, it also reflects such a period of history when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty. "Zizhi Tongjian" recorded that Wang Mang killed Emperor Han Ping, Teacher Yuansheng said here, this is only recorded in the "Zizhi Tongjian", before this, in fact, there is no such statement in the history books, the previous history books recorded that Emperor Han Ping died of a heart attack. This is Wang Mang's usurpation of the throne, and there is such a history.
Emperor Ping of Han was only nine years old when he ascended the throne, and he was only fourteen years old when he died. At that time, Wang Mang appointed the nine-year-old Emperor Ping of Han as the king, and Wang Mang himself was the regent to assist him. In the beginning, Wang Mang was very cautious and cautious, looking particularly modest and respectful, and some people even praised him as the reincarnation of the Duke of Zhou, believing that he assisted the young king.
During the Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi once wrote a poem, and the teacher quoted it here, and the poem was written like this: Zhou Gong was afraid of rumors, and Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the time. You see, even a virtuous man like Duke Zhou, he was once slandered with gossip, and the relationship between him and King Zhou Cheng was very tense for a while. When Wang Mang was not yet usurped, you can see that he looked humble and respectful, as if he was a loyal and loyal minister. Next, Bai Juyi said: Xiang Envoy died at the beginning, who knows the truth of his life? That's why we say that a person should be sealed in the coffin. He is saying that if Zhou Gong or Wang Mang died very early, then who can evaluate and judge the authenticity of his life and the merits and demerits of his life? If Zhou Gong was slandered by Uncle Guan and Uncle Cai at that time, he died when he was going to rebel; Or before Wang Mang did not usurp the throne, at that time people still thought that he was like the Duke of Zhou, if he died at this time, then it would be difficult to distinguish who was good and evil. This is a poem by Bai Juyi.
Later, Wang Mang set up a puppet emperor Liu Ying, in the eighth year of AD, he abolished Liu Ying, became the emperor himself, and changed the name of the country to Xin, which is the usurpation of Xinmang, and he reigned for 17 years. Later, the world was in turmoil, and troops were raised everywhere to oppose the new reckless regime. Liu Xiu, a descendant of the royal family of the Han Dynasty, raised troops in Nanyang, Henan, and the 28 generals like Yuntai came to help Liu Xiu and oppose Wang Mang. Later, Liu Xiu became the first emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was his revival of the imperial family and the overthrow of Wang Mang's rule.
We see that in the "Outline of Chinese History" by the old man Xuegong, we see that there is also a record of the history of Wang Mang's usurpation of the throne during the period of Emperor Xiaoping. The record of the old man Xuegong's "Compendium" still mentions that Wang Mang drank wine because of the wax day, and he put poison in the wine. At that time, Emperor Xiaoping was not in good health, so Wang Mang pretended that he wanted to pray to heaven and use his own body and life to replace Emperor Xiaoping. As a result, the emperor later drank and collapsed. Therefore, this history, this record of Xue Gong is believed to be that Wang Mang poisoned Emperor Ping of Han. So later, when Wang Mang was regent, he called the false emperor, and he continued to welcome Emperor Xuan's great-grandson Ruziying as the crown prince, and later he abolished Ruziying and called himself the Son of Heaven. Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, and he set up the name of the country as a new one, which marked the demise of the Western Han Dynasty at this time. This is recorded in the "Historical Compendium" of the old man Xuegong, and it is indeed Wang Mang who killed Emperor Ping of Han.