Whether the system of foreign relatives ended after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty
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In China's 5,000-year-long history, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was undoubtedly one of the most representative monarchs.
Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, as the son of Emperor Liu Qi of the Han Dynasty and Empress Wang Huan, was the grandson of the Empress Dowager Dou. In his life, he culturally admired "overthrowing a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", and militarily set Korea in the east, conquered Dawan in the west, swallowed Baiyue in the south, and conquered the Xiongnu in the north, expanding the territory and spreading the national prestige.
However, in his later years, he trusted villains, cut himself off from the three clans, and created a precedent for killing mothers and children. However, why is he willing to trust Huo Guang? Perhaps it was because of Huo Guang's personality charm and wisdom that he chose the right path at a turning point in his life.
Speaking of the marriage of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it is impossible not to mention the origin of the allusion of 'Jinwu Zangjiao'. It is said that Empress Dowager Dou and Princess Guantao, the eldest daughter of Emperor Wen of Han, wanted her daughter to enjoy the honor of the empress, and at the same time hoped to strengthen her relationship with the royal family, so she planned to marry Chen Ajiao to the son of Emperor Liu Qi of the Han Dynasty.
Under the circumstances at that time, after repeated weighing and selection, Princess Pavilion Tao finally decided to choose Liu Rong, the eldest son of Emperor Jing of Han and Li Ji, as her son-in-law. ”
It turned out that as early as childhood, he was set by his parents to be a baby. As time passed, the child's personality gradually emerged, and the life in the same palace caused them to quarrel frequently.
As the emperor's favor, Li Ji gradually became arrogant, and her words revealed that she wanted Chen Ajiao to be a concubine and let her son marry another wife. This made Princess Guantao very angry, so she decided to look for her son-in-law again.
Inadvertently, she discovers the son of Wang Huan, who was imprisoned by mistake, who later became a young Liu Che.
At a family gathering, the child showed grace and respect for his elders. The lord tested him by asking him if he would marry his cousin, and if he wished, he would build a palace with gold to treasure his cousin.
Under the careful arrangement of his mother, Empress Wang and Princess Guantao, the child was made crown prince at the age of seven and ascended the throne as emperor at the age of sixteen. He fulfilled his promise and canonized his cousin Chen Ajiao as empress.
As the empress of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Wei Zifu has not been able to have children for many years, making the issue of succession to the throne a major problem. There were even rumors that Emperor Wu of Han had no children, and the spread of such rumors made the succession to the throne more complicated and uncertain.
Under these circumstances, Tian Wei, the uncle of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, told Liu An, the king of Huainan, that as the grandson of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Liu An's benevolent and righteous deeds were widely known, and if the emperor died, he should inherit the throne.
Such rumors and uncertain succession issues threatened the stability of the throne.
In the second year of the founding of the Yuan Dynasty (139 BC), Wei Zifu was originally a singer in the family of Princess Pingyang, the sister of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. During a visit, Emperor Wu of Han was attracted by Wei Zifu's beauty, and after being introduced by Princess Pingyang, he brought Wei Zifu back to the palace.
A year later, Wei Zifu became pregnant, breaking the rumor that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could not have children, he was ecstatic, and his love for Wei Zifu continued unabated. In the next few years, Wei Zifu gave birth to three daughters in a row, and finally succeeded in giving birth to his eldest son, Liu Ju.
At the age of seven, Liu Ju was made crown prince. The Wei family was originally unknown, but because of Wei Zifu's relationship, they gradually emerged. However, the relatives led by Wei Qing and Huo Quzhi are not those parasites who rely on nepotism to survive.
They put on armor and marched all the way to the north, successfully disintegrating the power of the Xiongnu in the north and bringing stability to the Western Han Dynasty. In the process, they also experienced the Witch Rebellion.
In the palace, the crown prince Liu Yi gradually grew up, and the queen Wei Zifu lived in the Jiaofang Palace. Outside, there are Wei Qing and Huo Quai's brave and good fighting, and the power of the Wei clan is getting stronger and stronger, and the merit is high, which causes a sense of crisis for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
He was worried that the Wei family would control him and become a puppet emperor, so he gradually alienated Wei Zifu. Moreover, as Wei Zifu grew older, his appearance was not as good as before, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's favor gradually decreased.
This reminded Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty of his early years of Empress Dowager Dou and Princess Guantao, whose power struggles made it very difficult for him to take power.
When the Wei family was powerful, Wei Zifu's brother-in-law Gongsun He was imprisoned in order to save his son Gongsun Jingsheng**, and in order to clear his name, he arrested Zhu'an City, who had not been brought to justice for a long time.
However, Zhu'an City hated Gongsun He because of this, and framed Gongsun Jingsheng and Princess Yangshi for using witchcraft to curse the Son of Heaven, which also opened the famous "Witch Gu Rebellion" in history.
In order to show his demeanor as a Ming monarch, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not immediately punish Gongsun He, but sent his own confidant Jiang Chong to investigate. Under the manipulation of Jiang Chong and others, Gongsun He was exposed to a number of crimes, including mistreatment of men, reckless regard for human life, and serious disruption of the court.
When Emperor Wu of Han heard the news, he was very angry, and he ordered Gongsun He to be arrested and all those involved to be thoroughly investigated. However, not long after, Gongsun He's father and son mysteriously passed away in prison, which makes one wonder if someone is framing them.
In that summer, Princess Zhuyi, Princess Yangshi, the son of Wei Qing, Cao Xiang, the son of the eldest princess of Pingyang, and Cao Zong, the son of the eldest princess of Wei, were executed on charges of witchcraft curses.
It is said that "tiger poison does not eat children", however, during that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty often dreamed that someone hit him with a piece of wood, and woke up in pain. As he grew older and in poor health, he became very sensitive and suspicious, convinced that someone had cursed him with witchcraft in the palace.
So, he ordered Jiang Chong to search everywhere in the palace, especially in Wei Zifu's Jiaofang Palace.
Jiang Chong seized on the festival with the crown prince Liu Ju and the threat that Emperor Wu of Han's deteriorating physical condition might pose to him, and began to investigate the prince's East Palace. He teamed up with Hou Han Shuo and the eunuch Su Wen to frame the prince for finding the paulownia villain used by witches in the East Palace.
At this time, Emperor Wu of Han was in the palace, and Liu Ju wanted to meet Emperor Wu of Han to confess, but because the palace was full of Jiang Chong's people, he had no chance to get close to Emperor Wu of Han.
Liu Ju knew that the situation was urgent, and in order to get out of trouble, he asked the prince and young Fu Shide to discuss countermeasures. Shi De was deeply disturbed and worried that he would be implicated, so he gave advice to Liu Ju.
He said that many people have been killed because of witchcraft evidence before, such as the prime minister's father and son, the two princesses and Wei's family, and now the witchcraft evidence found in the East Palace cannot prove the prince's innocence, and may end up in a tragic ending like Fusu in the Qin Dynasty.
Prior to this, Wei Qing and Huo Quzhi, the two pillars of the Wei family, had passed away, and his uncle, Prime Minister Sun He, and his father and son had also passed away.
Jiang Chong's death put Liu in a difficult situation, and he lost the evidence to prove his innocence, which only made the accusation of rebellion more real. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty heard the news in the palace and expressed suspicions about Liu Ju's rebellion.
For Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who had no children in his early years, Liu Ju was like a child of his old age, with a personality like Empress Wei Zifu, gentle and dignified. Although there were some suspicions between father and son, Emperor Wu of Han never thought of killing him, and even if there was a reason for raising troops this time.
The prince and Jiang Chong have long had a problem, and they are dissatisfied with Jiang Chong and other villains. So he sent an envoy to mediate, but the messenger was afraid of the rumors in the city and did not dare to enter the city.
So he used the prince's rebellion as an excuse to report to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu was furious and sent heavy troops to the capital. Liu was defeated and committed suicide on the way to escape, and soon after, Empress Wei Zifu also committed suicide.
With the fall of the crown prince and the empress, many people were implicated and killed.
In the months of the Western Han Dynasty, there were not only courtiers** but also ordinary people who were shrouded in the shadow of death. Everyone is in danger and frightened. At this moment, when life or death could be decided in an instant, a petty official in Huguan County stepped forward and presented the "Letter of Injustice to the Prince" to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
In the book, he said that the crown prince was to kill Jiang Chong and other traitors, not to seize power and usurp the throne. He hoped that Emperor Wu of Han would stop the hunt for the prince's family.
When Emperor Wu of Han saw this letter, the anger and murderous intent of the months suddenly disappeared, and he recalled the empress and children who had accompanied him for many years, and only then did he realize his mistake.
So, in 89 B.C., he promulgated the "Luntai Guilty Edict", acknowledging that his rebellious behavior had brought pain and irreparable losses to the country and the people, and promised not to do anything to harm the people and waste the country's resources in the future.
At this time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reverted to his early appearance of being virtuous and close to the people.
Liu Fuling, the youngest son of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was already fourteen months old when he was born, the same time as the legendary Emperor Yao, so he was revered as the reincarnation of Emperor Yao. His appearance is round and cute, and his personality is smart and lively, very similar to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty when he was a child, and he is deeply loved.
In his later years, Emperor Wu of Han gradually weakened and began to look for a suitable heir. However, the successive deaths of the princes made the heirs scarce, and only the young Liu Fuling was the most suitable.
In 94 BC, the young Liu Fuling was elected crown prince. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty felt the danger of the Empress Dowager's dictatorship, and in order to prevent a similar situation from happening again, he made a decision that shocked the world - to kill his mother and son.
Subsequently, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty selected Huo Guang and Huo Quai, who were young and heroic, brave and good at fighting, and entrusted them with taking care of the young prince. Huo Guang followed his uncle Wei Qing on the expedition since he was a child, and at the age of eighteen, he was named Captain Yao, showing extremely high military talent.
On the way back to the court, Huo Guang passed by Huo Zhongru's house, not only rewarded him with a huge amount of gold and silver, but also took away his half-brother Huo Guang as the prince's protector and companion.
At that time, the Wei family was in a prosperous period, so Huo Guang was able to go in and out of the palace frequently and walk beside Emperor Wu of Han. In 117 BC, Huo Qu died of illness at the age of twenty-four, and Huo Guang began to serve by the side of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, gradually winning the trust of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Since he was not related to the Wei family, he was spared in the Witch Rebellion. Out of guilt in his heart, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty tried his best to make up for the Wei family, but the Wei family was almost extinct, so Huo Guang, who was related to the Wei family, entered the field of vision of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
After the Witch Gu Rebellion, the Wei family suffered a heavy blow, and the core figures such as Wei Zifu, Wei Qing, and Huo Quzhi were almost all eradicated, and the forces of foreign relatives were also swept away. In contrast, Huo Guang was born from the grassroots and had no power for him to use, and even if he was reused, he would not be able to bring much threat to the government, which was one of the reasons why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty chose to reuse him.
According to the "Biography of Huo Guang", Huo Guang insisted on a fixed position every time he entered and exited the palace, which showed that he was a very cautious and rule-abiding person.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's prudence and strategy contributed greatly to the maintenance of his imperial power. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the young lord Liu Fuling, he carefully selected Jin Riyan, General Zuo Shangguan Ji, Yushi Dafu Sang Hongyang and Da Sima Huoguang as the ministers of Tuogu.
In addition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also let his daughter Princess Eyi play the role of Liu Fuling's adoptive mother to ensure the smooth succession of the crown prince. All this reflects the shrewdness and thoughtfulness of Emperor Wu of Han, whose good intentions paved the way for the succession of the crown prince.
Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was prominent during his reign, he probably did not foresee that after his death, with the early death of Jin Riyan, the power gradually became unbalanced, resulting in Huo Guang monopolizing power, and the children of the Huo family entering the court as officials, and the power of the Huo family gradually getting out of control.
Until Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty Liu Fuling died young, and was succeeded by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun, in order to make his daughter the queen, Huo Guang's wife even wanted to kill Liu Xun's wife, Empress Xu, this is a later story.
Hunt for immortal wine in Junshan, wield a sharp sword to kill the giant Jiao. Although he advocated the Virtuous Sect and the Dharma and Confucianism, he was still keen on going out to worship and cultivate immortals. However, this obsession of his eventually led to the innocent murder of those closest to him, and he lived in remorse and guilt in his later years.
In desperation, he could only be on his deathbed. Such an ending makes people feel the ruthlessness and helplessness of the royal family, which can't help but make people sigh. "