In the entire history of the power struggle in the Western Han Dynasty, Xiao Wangzhi's death was definitely a huge watershed.
Before this, the ministers of the Western Han Dynasty, or ** groups, belonged to an independent political force. This group was called the Founding Heroes Group in the early stage, and the Confucian ** Group in the later period. They can directly participate in influencing national affairs and have a great right to speak.
But after Xiao Wangzhi's death, there were no such heavyweight ministers in the Western Han Dynasty. In their place were eunuchs and relatives in power. And those ministers who come up through the probation system, they can only choose to rely on a certain party, or rely on a certain family of relatives to do things.
So after that, the high-level political structure of the Western Han Dynasty was completely different. At the same time, this also means that since then, the rules of high-level power struggle in the Western Han Dynasty have completely changed. Even many people in later generations believed that Xiao Wangzhi's role in the Western Han Dynasty was actually basically similar to Xia Yan, the first assistant of the later Ming Dynasty.
Before their deaths, the high-level political struggle is still in a controllable stage. But after their deaths, this struggle was completely uncontrollable.
So, what kind of person is the real Xiao Wangzhi in history? Why would Xiao Wangzhi's death have such a destructive effect on the Han Dynasty? Why is Xiao Wangzhi, who is so important, not so famous in later generations?
In this matter, we have to start with Xiao Wangzhi's own experience.
Xiao Wangzhi's seventh ancestor is Xiao He, the founding prime minister of the Han Dynasty. It stands to reason that with such a powerful ancestor, Xiao Wangzhi should be destined to have an inexhaustible old book from the day he was born, and he can sit back and enjoy his success.
But in fact, Xiao Wangzhi really doesn't have this treatment.
Because the seniority difference is too far, and he is not the heir of the head of the family.
This matter is actually easier to understand, after all, there are more descendants of Xiao He, and after seven generations of reproduction, it is estimated that the old Xiao family also had many clansmen at that time. Not to mention the old Xiao family, even the old Liu family, Liu Bang's blood relatives, after seven generations, it is estimated that there are ordinary people.
Therefore, no matter how thick the family background left by Xiao He back then, there are not many things that are distributed to Xiao Wangzhi, the children and grandchildren of the younger generation. Moreover, because the branch where Xiao Wangzhi is located is not a descendant of Xiao He's lineage. So when Xiao Wangzhi was young, his family was really not wealthy, and he could only make a living by farming.
Of course, in ancient times, farming was actually quite good. Because the ancients paid attention to farming and reading heirlooms, Xiao Wangzhi's father and grandfather, although they were not officials, they both belonged to that kind of intellectual. Therefore, after Xiao Wangzhi grew up, he gradually embarked on the road of academics.
When Xiao Wangzhi was young, he was still the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It was not until Xiao Wangzhi was 28 years old that Emperor Wu of Han died. This also means that since Xiao Wangzhi's birth, the Han Dynasty has begun to implement the inspection system on a large scale. And after having the probation system, Xiao Wangzhi still has the opportunity to be an official even if he does not rely on his family background and studies his own.
In this way, as Xiao Wangzhi gradually grew up, Xiao Wangzhi began to study hard. He first studied the Book of Songs with the Great Confucian in his hometown, and later went to the capital to study the Analects with Xiahou Sheng, a top scholar at the time.
In this way, by the time Xiao Wangzhi was almost thirty years old, he had become a very learned person, and he gradually became famous in the capital.
But it was at this time that Emperor Wu of Han died. Then, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty **.
In the following decades, the main line of the history of the Han Dynasty was that Huo Guang gradually came to power. At the beginning, it was Huo Guang who joined several other auxiliary ministers to take power. Later, Huo Guang defeated several other ministers and began to have the final say on his own, until he died.
The whole process lasted about 20 years. In these twenty years, the Han Dynasty was basically Huo Guang who had the final say. As for the Emperor, it has to be in second place!
Therefore, when Xiao Wang's name moved to the capital and began to prepare to enter the office, it was just in time for Huo Guang to take power. At that time, Huo Guang had just defeated several other auxiliary ministers, and the appointment and dismissal of high-level personnel in the Han Dynasty was in his hands.
So after that, Xiao Wangzhi was recommended and recommended to Huo Guang.
And Xiao Wangzhi, who was just in his early thirties at the time, would never have thought that this recommendation would become one of the two biggest choices in his life. Because later, after Huo Guang died, Emperor Xuan of Han directly liquidated the Huo family. Even many ** promoted by Huo Guang were later deposed by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
In other words, if Xiao Wangzhi's performance was better at this time, he would be reused by Huo Guang. That also means that after Emperor Xuan of Han ascends the throne in the future, he will definitely be liquidated. And if he can't be reused at this time, Emperor Xuan of Han may reuse him in the future.
Xiao Wangzhi definitely didn't think about this choice at that time, after all, he couldn't have expected what would happen later. But then, fate used a coincidence to push him to the right option.
The situation at that time was probably like this: After Xiao Wangzhi was recommended, he went to see Huo Guang one day. But because Huo Guang had just killed several other auxiliary ministers at that time, he was always afraid that someone would want to retaliate against him, so the guards around him were more strict. Everyone who went to see Huo Guang had to be searched before entering the door.
Then, when Xiao Wangzhi went, the guards wanted to search him, but he didn't want to.
In this way, the two sides quickly quarreled, and then Huo Guang heard it. And then, when Huo Guang came over, Xiao Wangzhi still didn't bow his head. Xiao Wangzhi also directly said to Huo Guang that now that Huo Guang is in power, he should be like the Duke of Zhou back then. If, as it is now, random people come and search their bodies, then there will be no one to work for him.
In this regard, later historians generally believe that the reason why Xiao Wangzhi did not accept the body search was not because he wanted to assassinate Huo Guang, or for some other reason, but because he couldn't afford Huo Guang at all! In Xiao Wangzhi's view, he is an orthodox scholar, and he is also a descendant of Xiao He, and he is naturally very tall. On the contrary, it was Huo Guang, who was just a cronie of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty before. Relying on the emperor's trust, he was lucky enough to be in a high position.
For such Huo Guang, Xiao Wangzhi felt that if he allowed Huo Guang's guards to search him, it would be an insult to himself.
And Huo Guang's side, after listening to Xiao Wangzhi's thoughts, he didn't get used to him! At that time, Huo Guang was at the peak of his power, and the entire Han Dynasty was in his hands. And in Huo Guang's opinion, there is nothing wrong with emphasizing the safety of the guards. Since Xiao Wangzhi does not accept this rule, then in the future, even if he promotes him, he will not work for himself.
So after this meeting, Huo Guang didn't like Xiao Wangzhi very much. Later, although Xiao Wangzhi passed the civil service assessment of the Han Dynasty, he still did not get reused, but was directly sent by Huo Guang to be a petty official who guarded the door!
In this way, Xiao Wangzhi refused to be searched and directly missed the entire Huo Guang era. In this era, he was just a low-level petty official.
And ironically, on that day, another person who went to see Huo Guang with Xiao Wangzhi was quickly promoted because he accepted a body search. Just a few years later, he was appointed as a doctor of Guanglu and directly became a high-level adviser to the state!
So sometimes, fate is really weird. We often inadvertently come to a crossroads of fate. And then, in complete unpreparedness, make the most important choice. After that, we will move towards a completely unpredictable future.
Xiao Wangzhi at that time was like this.
But at the same time, sometimes, what seems to be choosing the wrong path may be wrong a few years later. But many years later, looking back, it may be right.
Because he refused to be searched, Xiao Wangzhi could only be reduced to showing the door to others in the era when Huo Guang was in power. And later, because his younger brother committed a little thing and implicated him, he was not even qualified to watch the gate, so he was directly sent back to his hometown and became a grassroots official in his hometown!
In this way, in the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed in a hurry. It wasn't until 68 BC, when Xiao Wangzhi was 47 years old, that he finally ushered in another opportunity in his life.
This year, Huo Guang died.
After Huo Guang died, the most important mountain that pressed on Xiao Wangzhi's head disappeared. At the same time, the political structure of the entire high-level Han Dynasty began to become undercurrent. Next, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty still attached great importance to the Huo family on the surface, but in fact, he began to transfer the people of the Huo family from important posts.
In this way, a storm of 'liquidating the Huo family' gradually began to brew.
However, at the beginning, Xiao Wangzhi was definitely not qualified to know the inside story. After all, Xiao Wangzhi's status was not high at this time, and he was not qualified to know so much high-level information. So it wasn't until a year later that Xiao Wangzhi saw the general pattern clearly.
Then, Xiao Wangzhi keenly realized that this might be the best chance for him to turn over! Since the emperor consciously wants to liquidate the Huo family, then next, someone should naturally take the initiative to stand up and provoke this political turmoil. And if he can play this role, he will naturally be reused by the emperor afterwards.
It happened to be during this time that a hailstorm fell on Chang'an City. This is actually a very normal thing, but Xiao Wangzhi took advantage of this hail to write a letter to the emperor. In this letter, Xiao Wangzhi used his lifelong talent and wisdom to pull an originally normal hailstorm to the Huo family's great threat to the emperor.
In this way, after this letter was sent to Emperor Xuan of Han, Emperor Xuan's eyes lit up instantly.
At that time, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, after a year of layout, had basically transferred the Huo family from key positions and deprived their family of the right to guard the palace. But the problem is that if you want to liquidate the Huo family next, Emperor Xuan of Han can't come forward by himself. In ancient power games, the emperor often could not play in person, and the emperor could often only referee.
Because once the emperor is gone, it means that there is no room for maneuver in the matter. Political games are never played like this.
And the appearance of Xiao Wangzhi obviously solved this trouble of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. Who can see that Xiao Wangzhi's letter is talking about the Huo family. In this way, if Emperor Xuan of Han reuses Xiao Wangzhi next, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will understand Emperor Xuan of Han's intention to liquidate the Huo family.
Therefore, after receiving this letter, Emperor Xuan of Han immediately sent someone to check the details of Xiao Wangzhi.
As a result, Emperor Xuan of Han instantly discovered that Xiao Wangzhi was simply the best chess piece given to him by God.
First of all, Xiao Wangzhi is a descendant of the Xiao family, and he is very knowledgeable. His experience made him belong to both the group of founding heroes and the group of scholars. It is obviously more suitable for such a person to ** the Huo family. Secondly, Xiao Wangzhi was suppressed by Huo Guang for more than ten years before, and he had a personal enmity with Huo Guang. This means that once this struggle starts, Xiao Wangzhi will definitely not retreat.
What's even more interesting is that when Xiao Wangzhi was recommended to Huo Guang, the person who recommended him was named Bingji! This Bingji is the prison where Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty was very young and protected him in prison!
So some things, it's really that coincidental! Xiao Wangzhi, who has these experiences, instantly became a sweet spot in the eyes of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. In the next short year, Xiao Wangyi became the prime minister of the Han Dynasty and directly entered the ** management of the Han Dynasty.
In addition, because the signal that Xiao Wangzhi was promoted is too obvious. The Huo family, on their side, also felt a lot of pressure later. So in the end, the Huo family could only choose to take risks and want to rebel. But as a result, it was naturally suppressed in advance by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
After the Huo family was suppressed, Xiao Wangzhi naturally got everything he wanted, and his career was even smoother. And Xiao Wangzhi himself is indeed extremely talented. Such a minister who has the ability and will please the boss, Emperor Xuan of Han naturally wants to focus on promotion.
In this way, Xiao Wangzhi, who is in his forties, is still watching the gate. But when he was nearly fifty years old, he became a high-level leader of the Han Dynasty. After the fall of the Huo family, he was appointed as Zuo Fengyi. By analogy in modern times, it is basically equivalent to the mayor of a municipality!
Because Xiao Wangzhi rose too fast, and he was indeed extremely talented. So later, when Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty officially took power, he became an important representative of Confucianism in the court. During this period, he basically participated in several major events that happened in the Han Dynasty. For example, the Han Dynasty pacified Xiqiang and married a princess to go to the Western Regions, Xiao Wangzhidu was deeply involved in the planning of these things, and directly determined the final result.
In these incidents, Xiao Wangzhi also showed very extraordinary ability, and was more and more recognized by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, in 59 BC, that is, 9 years after Huo Guang's death, and when Xiao Wangzhi himself was 56 years old, he was finally promoted to the imperial historian and became one of the top ** in the Han Dynasty!
But after that, Xiao Wangzhi's career once again encountered a major twist and turn.
Regarding the twists and turns that happened to Xiao Wangzhi next, most history lovers in later generations were a little puzzled. However, most people think that Xiao Wangzhi should have been promoted too quickly in recent years, so it is a bit floating.
At that time, the situation was probably like this: after Xiao Wangzhi served as the imperial doctor, he had become one of the several giants in the court. Coupled with the support of many Confucian schools behind him, it has become a big mountain in the court. So next, Xiao Wangzhi may start to think about making more progress and working hard towards the position of prime minister.
But the problem is that the prime minister who reigned at that time was Bingji, who recommended him before.
In the heart of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the status of Bingji and Xiao Wangzhi is obviously different. For Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Xiao Wangzhi was just a smart person worthy of his reuse, but Bingji was his savior! The most important thing is that Bingji is a very good person! Even if he became a prime minister, he was never arrogant, and he was always very humble, which made Emperor Xuan of Han feel very comfortable.
Therefore, when Xiao Wangzhi began to attack Bingji under the pretext, Emperor Xuan of Han stopped doing it first! At that time, Xiao Wangzhi first wrote to Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, saying that there were problems with the appointment of many high-level **. And this responsibility should be attributed to the three princes at the highest level.
At that time, Xiao Wangzhi was one of the three princes. But at the same time, the first among the three princes is Prime Minister Bingji. In other words, Xiao Wangzhi used this method to launch an attack on Bingji.
And after Emperor Xuan of Han knew about it, it didn't take long for him to directly give his approval. He didn't blame Bingji for this, but directly found an opportunity to remove Xiao Wangzhi from his position as the imperial historian on the spot.
In this way, Xiao Wangzhi's career once again fell into a trough.
However, Emperor Xuan of Han did not plan to kill them all. Although Xiao Wangzhi did this, he was a little unhappy. But then, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty still did not completely dismiss Xiao Wangzhi. After being relieved of his position as the imperial historian, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty made him the teacher of the crown prince Liu Zheng!
In this way, Xiao Wangzhi was once again blessed by misfortune and took the prince's bus.
In the next few years, Xiao Wangzhi has been working here in the East Palace. During this period, Xiao Wangzhi participated in relatively few major government events. But there is one thing that is very important. That is, a few years later, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty convened a 'Shiqu Pavilion Conference', and Xiao Wangzhi also directly participated in this meeting as a great Confucian.
In the entire history of the Western Han Dynasty, this Shiqu Pavilion Conference was a very inconspicuous, but particularly important meeting. To put it simply, according to Confucian learning, the emperor was just a title. If the emperor loses his morality, he can do it differently. But in this meeting, some of the great Confucians who participated in the meeting found a lot of theories and filled this loophole.
After this meeting, the emperor became a sacrosanct profession. Even if the emperor makes a mistake, the people below cannot rebel.
In this meeting, Xiao Wangzhi undoubtedly played an important role. He used his knowledge to provide a sufficient theoretical foundation for Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. It was precisely because of participating in this meeting that after this, Xiao Wangzhi finally gained the trust of Emperor Xuan of Han again.
That's it, wait until this meeting is over. It didn't take long for Emperor Xuan of Han to die.
Then, before his death, Emperor Xuan of Han appointed three auxiliary ministers to assist the crown prince in handling court affairs. And Xiao Wangzhi was one of these three people at that time.
In this way, in 48 BC, with the death of Emperor Xuan of Han, Emperor Liu Zheng of Han Yuan ascended the throne. At the same time as Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, Xiao Wangzhi also began to deal with the major affairs of the Han Dynasty as an auxiliary minister.
At this point, Xiao Wangzhi has finally reached the apex of his life!
The above is the general process of Xiao Wang's ascension. The whole process may seem a bit like a running account. But this is actually because in the entire era of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Xiao Wangzhi did participate in many major events. Although in none of these big events, he is not the protagonist. But in everything, he basically played a fairly important role.
If we tell all these stories carefully, then this story is too long. But obviously, after experiencing these things, when Emperor Xuan of Han had just died, Xiao Wangzhi finally reached the apex of his life.
At that time, Xiao Wangzhi, as a descendant of the Xiao family, could represent the founding hero group. After being suppressed by successive Han Dynasty emperors, although this group is no longer strong, it still has a great influence. At the same time, because Xiao Wangzhi relied on reading to get to the top of the position, he could represent the group of readers.
The sum of these two identities led to Xiao Wangzhi at this time, who could basically represent the entire ** group, and directly became the so-called first person in the foreign dynasty!
This year, Xiao Wangzhi was 67 years old.
It was in this state that the political struggle at the top of the Han Dynasty took place with far-reaching influence.
And the situation at that time was probably like this.
After Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, Xiao Wangzhi, as the teacher of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, was undoubtedly fully trusted. Moreover, the emperor of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty is a bit special. He was a very fanatical Confucian disciple. The previous Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, as well as the previous emperors of the Han Dynasty, mostly liked to play the outer Confucian and internal laws. But Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty was different, he really felt that Confucianism could solve all problems.
Therefore, after Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he began to comprehensively implement Confucian reforms throughout the country.
In this way, Xiao Wangzhi, as a representative of Confucianism, naturally becomes more important. Suddenly, the entire high-level of the Han Dynasty basically became the emperor's boss, and he ranked second.
As for the other two auxiliary ministers, one is named Shi Gao, who was born in the grandmother's family of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty and belongs to a proper relative. The other is called Zhou Kan, who is also a scholar and a representative of Confucianism. But at the same time, he is equivalent to Xiao Wangzhi's deputy, and his influence is slightly weaker than Xiao Wangzhi.
In this historical background, Xiao Wangzhi's power at this time has reached an extreme. If you go further, it will be at the level of Huo Guang. So next, Xiao Wangzhi began to carry out various transformations of the country on a large scale according to his own ideas, so that the Han Dynasty was fully Confucianized.
In fact, this incident is also a major event with far-reaching impact in history. However, when later generations mentioned this incident, most people would think that Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty was the protagonist of this incident. As for Xiao Wangzhi, he can only be said to be a worker. But in fact, Xiao Wangzhi, who works, actually has a lot of decision-making ability.
It was at this time that Xiao Wangzhi discovered that within this huge empire, there seemed to be a force that he couldn't handle by himself.
This power, which even Teacher Xiao can't handle, is called a eunuch.
In the Western Han Dynasty, eunuchs have always been not very powerful. But only in the era of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, eunuchs rarely raised their heads once. At that time, the high-level Han Dynasty was divided into two parts: the Inner Dynasty and the Outer Dynasty. The Inner Dynasty generally has the emperor as the core and is responsible for decision-making. The outer courts, on the other hand, are headed by ministers such as prime ministers and are responsible for implementation.
And when Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty himself was too lazy to make decisions, these eunuchs became the decision-makers of the empire.
In this regard, Mr. Xiao naturally couldn't bear it. So he soon began to write books, began to spray those eunuchs, and hoped that Emperor Han Yuan would expel all these eunuchs.
And in this way, when Mr. Xiao's book was sent to the Inner Dynasty, the eunuchs naturally got the news at the same time. After that, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty did not directly deal with the eunuchs. On the contrary, the entire eunuch group began to completely hate Teacher Xiao.
So next, a very classic political struggle drama was officially staged.
At that time, the eunuchs first united with their relatives and completely controlled the inner court. On the side of the relatives, because Xiao Wangzhi was too powerful at that time, he was also a little jealous of this Teacher Xiao. Especially Shi Gao, who is the head of his relatives and one of the auxiliary ministers, is quite dissatisfied with Mr. Xiao.
So next, the eunuchs united with their relatives and planned to set a trap for Mr. Xiao together.
Under their arrangement, soon after, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty received a large number of letters, saying that Xiao Wangzhi was arrogant and threatening his relatives. In this regard, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty naturally had to send someone to find out, so he let the eunuchs be in charge of this matter.
But what they didn't expect was that the eunuchs had a poor concept this time. They directly changed 'please Xiao Wangzhi to answer' to 'arrest Xiao Wangzhi'.
In this way, without knowing it, Xiao Wangzhi was directly arrested and imprisoned in Tingwei Prison.
The dignified civil official leader was directly arrested and put in prison, which undoubtedly completely touched the sensitive nerves of the **. So next, Emperor Han Yuan soon received the letter again, and then he knew about Xiao Wangzhi's arrest.
After that, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty severely punished the eunuchs and released Mr. Xiao at the same time.
But at the same time, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty took back the military power seal in Xiao Wangzhi's hand, and at the same time swept Zhou Kan, the second-in-command of the civilian official group, directly to the end, and completely dismissed him from his post and became a common man.
Doesn't this choice of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty seem strange? Since Teacher Xiao was obviously wronged, why was Teacher Xiao deprived of his power by Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty after he was released. Even the entire ** group was beaten by Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty?
That's the real subtlety of this game.
Nominally, the eunuchs did understand the wrong meaning and accidentally arrested Teacher Xiao. But this move is tantamount to using the imperial power to suppress the ministers. And next, the ministers' ** is a challenge to the imperial power!
In this way, the original contradiction between the eunuchs and the ** has become the contradiction between the ** and the emperor!
Of course, not long after this, Emperor Yuan of Han also reacted and realized that he had been used once. So soon after, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty ordered again to increase the reward for Xiao Wangzhi, and intended to promote him to be prime minister.
But at this time, the killing moves of the eunuchs arrived at the same time.
The eunuchs took advantage of their own advantages in the Inner Dynasty to consciously let Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty see those recitals for Xiao **. Especially later, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty saw a redress for grievances written by Xiao Wangzhi's son.
In this way, the sensitive imperial nerve of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty was touched again. In the eyes of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, he rewarded Xiao Wangzhi, which was already compensation for Teacher Xiao. Now the ministers below continue to redress their grievances, what does this mean? Is this trying to force yourself to bow your head?
At this critical time, several eunuchs around Emperor Han Yuan began to speak ill of Mr. Xiao in the ears of Emperor Han Yuan again. This made Emperor Han Yuan finally make up his mind and teach Mr. Xiao a lesson again. So Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty quickly ordered the eunuchs to bring Teacher Xiao over to explain the situation.
But in this way, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty was obviously used by the eunuchs again.
After this, the eunuchs who received the holy decree directly sent troops and openly surrounded Xiao Wangzhi's mansion! After that, the eunuchs passed a lot of misinformation to Xiao Wangzhi, making Mr. Xiao mistakenly think that he was cornered.
So, after the house was besieged, Xiao Wangzhi, who had been up and down in the sea for many years, chose to refuse to be humiliated, and he committed suicide by drinking poison himself.
And when the news of Xiao Wangzhi's suicide came out, Emperor Han Yuan himself was stupid. Emperor Han Yuan may have wanted to suppress Mr. Xiao before, but he never thought of forcing him to commit suicide. However, things have developed to this point, and if the eunuchs are to be held responsible, it is tantamount to slapping Emperor Han Yuan in the face. So in the end, Emperor Han Yuan could only pinch his nose and admit it, acquiescing to Mr. Xiao's death.
And with Xiao Wangzhi's unexplained suicide, the entire ** group lost its leader in an instant. After that, the entire ** group began to collapse rapidly, and it was no longer able to form a powerful political force and independently make its voice heard in the court.
So later, we will find out that those prime ministers and ** in the late Han Dynasty are basically eunuchs or echoes of a certain family of relatives. As for themselves, they are not at all worthy of being a separate political force.
And all this actually started with Xiao Wangzhi's suicide at the beginning.
Throughout the history of the Han Dynasty, we will find that the death of Mr. Xiao was actually a watershed. Before this, although the political struggle of the Han Dynasty has not stopped, the emperor or the supreme ruler can mostly control the situation. Even when Huo Guang was in charge of the government, the emperor said that it didn't matter, but Huo Guang himself could have the final say.
But starting from Xiao Wangzhi's suicide, some of the bottom lines of struggle have been completely broken. Since then, the high-level struggles of the Han Dynasty have become more and more bottomless. Moreover, with the collapse of the ** group, the next struggle at the top of the Han Dynasty became a struggle between eunuchs and several relatives and families.
This also laid a foreshadowing for the later dominance of Wang Mang's family.
In addition, if we take a closer look at Xiao Wang's life experience, we will find that in fact, Mr. Xiao's whole life has been a struggle. In the early stage, he was fighting with Huo Guangdou, and later relied on moving to the Huo family, obtained enough political capital, and successfully ascended to the throne. And by the time of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, he was defeated by the eunuchs again.
Therefore, in a sense, the existence of Mr. Xiao himself actually represents a huge watershed.
Before him, the Han Dynasty had done more work than struggle. Although everyone often fights among themselves, they still focus more energy on their work, so they have done so many big events that will go down in history.
But after Mr. Xiao's era, the power struggle of the Han Dynasty began to overwhelm the work in an all-round way. After that, even the high-level leaders of the Han Dynasty rarely thought about doing things for the country anymore, and more about how to fight for power and profit for themselves.
And at this time, the regime of the Western Han Dynasty began to soar all the way downhill. From the end of this dynasty, in fact, it is not far away.
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