Liu Fuling: **The best among people?
During the Western Han Dynasty, in addition to Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, there were many wise and heroic emperors such as Wen, Jing, Wu, and Xuan. However, between Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, there was also a young emperor, and if he had not died prematurely, the ranks of the Ming monarchs of the Western Han Dynasty would have been even stronger.
He is Liu Fuling, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty. Although he only lived to be 21 years old, history has a very high evaluation of him, and some people even think that Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and the second emperor Wenjing are inferior to him in some aspects.
At the age of 14, he had already shown the characteristics of calm, decisive, wise and powerful, far more than most emperors in history. It can be said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a very unique vision in selecting his heirs.
Liu Fuling's birth is full of mystery. According to the Book of Han, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was touring the river, a warlock reported that auspicious clouds were shrouded in the area, indicating the appearance of a special woman.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard this, he immediately sent people to look for her, and sure enough, he found a woman surnamed Zhao, who was outstanding in appearance and was known as the national color and heavenly fragrance, but there was a special symptom - she couldn't open her fist since birth.
This surprised Emperor Wu of Han, who personally opened his fist for her, and as a result, she managed to open it and was able to stretch freely later. Although these records are from the canonical history, it is likely that the warlocks fabricated them in order to curry favor with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, or that later generations have made a legendary account of Liu Fuling's mother.
As a result, the Zhao family was favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was named "Lady of Fist", and lived in the Gouge Palace. In 94 BC, she gave birth to a son after 14 months of pregnancy, Liu Fuling.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very pleased with this, and he thought that it was an arrangement from heaven, so he named the place where Liu Fuling was born "Yaomumen".
In 91 B.C., at the age of three, Liu Fuling faced a difficult situation, because of the scourge of witchcraft, his father Emperor Wu of Han and his mother Wei Zifu's eldest son, the crown prince Liu Ju, were forced to rebel and died in defeat.
In the following years, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not re-establish the crown prince, and according to the traditional patriarchal system, Liu Fuling had no hope. Because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also has two sons, Liu Dan, the third Yan king, and Liu Xu, the fourth Guangling king, although they are not sons-in-law, they are in accordance with"There are grandchildren, but there are no grandchildren"The new crown prince should be born from them.
However, in 88 BC, Liu Dan wrote a letter requesting to serve his father in Beijing, hinting that he wanted to become the new prince. But Emperor Wu of Han was angry about this, and to:"Hiding the Outlaws"The crime stripped the fiefdoms of Liu Dan's three counties.
From this, the ministers concluded that the position of crown prince should be Liu Xu's. However, soon after, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was recuperating in Ganquan Palace, he specially summoned a painter to paint a picture of the young man becoming a king of Zhou Gong, which made the ministers suddenly realize that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was going to set up his young son Liu Fuling as the crown prince.
Liu Dan and Liu Xu are not incompetent, Liu Dan is erudite and eloquent, and Liu Xu is brave and powerful. However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty valued his youngest son, Liu Fuling, even more. Although he was only six years old, Liu Fuling was strong and smart, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had already selected him as the first person.
However, he faced a dilemma: Liu Fuling was too young, and his mother, Madame Gogo, was only 20 years old. If Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dies and the imperial power changes, there may be confusion of power.
In order to solve this problem, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took two decisive measures: first, he sent the favored Lady Gouge into the cold palace and executed to prevent the chaos caused by the "master and young mother"; Secondly, he put all the harems with children to death to prevent others from usurping the throne by using Liu Fuling's identity.
These decisions of Emperor Wu of Han showed his incomparable determination and calmness.
After Liu Fuling ascended the throne, he chose an auxiliary political team composed of Huo Quai's brother Huo Guang, the Xiongnu prince Jin Riyan, Shangguan Ji, Sang Hongyang and Prime Minister Tian Qianqiu. Although Liu Fuling was still young, he had great respect for these former emperors, listened to their suggestions, and implemented many policies that benefited the country and the people, such as reducing taxes, abolishing the liquor monopoly, and eliminating redundant personnel.
These measures gradually restored the almost exhausted national strength, and were recognized by the common people at that time, who believed that Liu Fuling was a thriving hero. Although some people think that Liu Fuling's political achievements are ready-made by him, in fact, there is no shortage of talents in any dynasty, and the rarest is the emperor who can tolerate and employ people.
As Liu Fuling grew older, he showed extraordinary talent, and twice calmly and properly handled complex palace political turmoil, ensuring the stability of the Western Han Dynasty.
In ancient China, the auxiliary political group was usually composed of the top officials, who held power for a long time, and it was difficult to avoid conflicts due to conflicts of interest, and even developed into brutal factional struggles, threatening the stability of the regime.
Among the auxiliary ministers during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Shangguan Ji was one of them. He befriended Huo Guang, and the two families formed a close relationship of interests, and even became sons and daughters.
Shangguan Ji's granddaughter was operated as the empress of Emperor Zhao of Han, and the two families seemed to be one. However, Shangguan An, the son of Shangguan Ji, because of his arrogance and lewdness, tried to promote his own people in violation of regulations many times, but Huo Guangyan refused, and dealt with the illegal Shangguan clan henchmen according to the law.
This led to the Shangguan family and Huo Guang turning against each other, and they united with Liu Dan, the king of Yan, to buy Sang Hongyang, in an attempt to overthrow Huo Guang first, and then abolish Liu Fuling, and support their own Liu Dan.
However, Emperor Zhao of Han was only 14 years old and managed to defuse two of their conspiracies.
In the summer of 80 BC, Huo Guang left Chang'an, went to the nearby to inspect the Imperial Forest Army, and arranged for a lieutenant to take care of the general's mansion on his behalf. Shangguan Ji and the others saw this opportunity, and they thought that this was an opportunity to bring down Huo Guang.
Therefore, they played a letter in the name of Liu Dan, accusing Huo Guang of "showing off his might when he went out to Beijing to inspect the army, usurped the imperial etiquette for private purposes, and privately transferred the school captain, recalled Su Wu, who had been detained by the Northern Xiongnu for many years, in an attempt to collude with foreign enemies and plot against him."
Their plan was that if Huo Guang could be arrested, then they could summon Liu Dan, the king of Yan, in the name of King Qin, and then Sang Hongyang would lead the ministers to force Emperor Zhao of Han to abdicate.
However, their plan did not succeed, and Emperor Zhao of Han did not react to it. The next day, Huo Guang, who returned to Beijing, knew that he had been falsely accused, but it was difficult for him to understand himself, so he could only kowtow and ask for guilt.
Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty smiled slightly, and announced in public that the concert was slanderous, and the reason was very simple: Huo Guang was close to Chang'an and Liu Dan was far away, and Huo Guang had only been away from Beijing for a few days, why did Liu Dan, who was far away in the north, know that he was going to rebel?
Moreover, if Huo Guang really wanted to rebel, it was impossible to mobilize only one captain. Clearly, this recital is a false accusation by a political opponent.
When the 14-year-old Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty listened to the analysis, "Shangshu, left and right were shocked", thinking that a person of such an age was so sober and wise, it was really a great character.
Emperor Zhao of Han then ordered the arrest of the person who submitted the note, but the other party had already fled. Shangguan Ji and others hurriedly persuaded not to pursue it, but Emperor Zhao of Han knew that falsely accusing the auxiliary minister was said to be a trivial matter, isn't it a lack of heart?
Therefore, when Shangguan Ji and others spoke ill of Huo Guang again, Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty severely reprimanded him, announcing that the general was a loyal minister, and whoever dared to slander him again would be punished. Shangguan Ji and others could not soften Emperor Zhao of Han, so they planned to assassinate Huo Guang during the banquet, and then depose Emperor Zhao of Han and replace Liu Dan.
But Huo Guang's loyalty and prestige were well known, and soon someone in the know told the imperial court. When Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty learned about it, he immediately took thunderous measures to arrest Shangguan Ji and Sang Hongyang**, and executed them all.
At the same time, he did not kill innocents indiscriminately, and Liu Jian, the crown prince of Yan who was not involved, was exonerated from capital and demoted to a commoner, while Empress Shangguan was unharmed.
Liu Fuling, a 14-year-old boy, showed decisiveness and calmness beyond his years in the face of complex palace infighting. He was resolute in his handling of the coup d'état, and he was able to avoid indiscriminate killing of innocents, showing the demeanor of a mature politician.
His outstanding performance brought the Western Han Dynasty back to a stable track, and various undertakings flourished, and it was even hailed as the revival of the rule of Wenjing. However, God is jealous of the talent, this Ming Jun who is comparable to Wen and Jing died of illness in Weiyang Palace only 6 years later, which made the world sigh.
Liu Fuling's outstanding performance was affirmed by the Western Han Dynasty, and his nickname was "Zhao", according to the "Law", "Zhaode has Lao Zhao, Shengwen Zhou Da Zhao", which fully proves that he has received extremely high praise.