Wang Mang is simple and humble, and has a reputation for business
Wang Mang is good at false flaunting, preaching benevolence, righteousness and morality, putting on the veil of a saint to himself, and constructing the illusion of the destiny of heaven, and his wisdom is unprecedented.
Wang Mang, born in the Han Dynasty relatives of the Wang family, although his grandfather Wang Ban is a small court Wei Shi, but there are many wives and concubines, his wife Li divorced and remarried Gou Bin, gave birth to a beautiful and moving Wang Zhengjun.
Wang Zhengjun was unmarried and widowed twice, but under the prophecy of Xiangshi, Wang Ban was convinced that his daughter was unspeakably precious and dedicated her to the palace.
After Wang Zhengjun entered the palace, he never met Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun (Liu Ai has been), and Wang Ban's "father-in-law's dream" was about to be shattered. However, fate made people, and Wang Zhengjun was suddenly pushed to the crown prince Liu Zheng.
At that time, Liu Zheng's favorite Sima Liangdi died of illness, and this scheming woman left Liu Zheng with a problem before she died. Sima Liangdi accused the concubines in the palace of cursing her in every way, causing her fate to be so tragic.
Liu Zheng originally had no opinions, but after listening to Sima Liangdi's accusations, he hated all the concubines to the core, and his relationship with them was even more estranged. Because the crown prince had no children for a long time, this made Emperor Liu Xun very angry.
However, because he felt sorry for his innocent and tragic death of his deceased wife, Queen Xu, he couldn't bear to blame this son of a nest, so he could only find another way. As a result, Queen Wang took the initiative to take on the task of finding a new concubine for the crown prince.
The queen was very dedicated, and soon selected five women from the palace, dressed them beautifully, and sent them to the prince. At this time, all Liu Zheng was thinking about Sima Liangdi's voice and smile, how could he have the heart to pay attention to these strange women.
When the female official asked him which one he had a crush on, Liu Zheng realized that this was a "palace fight", but he didn't have the courage to refuse, so he had to say perfunctorily, "One of them can be".
The female official did not know what to do, but when she saw a woman sitting closest to the prince and seemed to be favored by the prince, she decided that it was the object of the prince's affection, so she sent her to the East Palace.
This woman is Wang Zhengjun. Liu Zheng didn't have much interest in Wang Zhengjun, and after hurried over the wedding night, he forgot about her. However, he did not expect that Wang Zhengjun would become pregnant, and gave birth to a baby boy ten months later.
When Emperor Liu Xun learned of this, he was very happy, and then gave Wang Zhengjun the official status of daughter-in-law - the crown princess. In 48 BC, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun died, Liu Zheng succeeded to the throne and became the Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, and Wang Zhengjun also wore a phoenix crown and became the queen.
And her son Liu Biao also became the crown prince. Since then, the life of the Wang family has become like walking on thin ice.
Our dynasty has its own Han family system, can not rely solely on morality and politics, vulgar Confucianism is dead to read and ignorant of current affairs, like to affirm the ancients and ancient things, deny the present people and today, can only talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality, has no practical ability, can not be entrusted with important tasks. ”
At this time, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty realized that Liu Zheng was not suitable to be the emperor, and he wanted to change Zhang Jieyu's son, Liu Qin, the king of Huaiyang, who was "aware of the law", as the crown prince, but he was reluctant to die his wife Xu Pingjun, and finally passed the throne to Liu Zheng.
After Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, the imperial power was weakened, and relatives, Confucian ministers and eunuchs competed for power and profit, and the country's political situation was turbulent. Because Wang Zhaojun was unwilling to pay bribes, he was scandalized by the painter and married to the Xiongnu.
However, Liu Zheng was not aware of this crisis, and Sima Guang commented that he was "easy to deceive and difficult to understand" after a thousand years. The emperor preferred Confucianism, and his courtiers began to sell their reputations, and only a few people could really do practical things, and Wang Zhengjun's maiden family was one of them.
Wang Zhengjun was a queen, but she was not successful in competing for favor, and Liu Zheng, the emperor of the Han Yuan Dynasty, did not have much affection for her. Wang Zhengjun's maiden family, the Wang family, was also in a difficult situation, worried about Wang Zhengjun's abolition on the one hand, and worried about the dissipation of the family scenery on the other.
But in the bumps, Emperor Liu Zheng of the Han Yuan Dynasty died, and Wang Zhengjun's son Liu Biao ascended the throne as the emperor, and she became the queen mother. At this time, Wang Feng was in power, and the five marquis were in power.
Emperor Yuan died, and the Wang family was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, because they thought they had survived. At that time, although Empress Xu's maiden family was strong, the Xu family was weak, and Empress Xu had no sons.
Compared with the Xu family, the Queen Mother's family is more powerful. After Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, Wang Zhengjun urged his son to promote his mother's family, and her brother Wang Feng soon became the Great Sima and the Great General Lingshangshi, while the younger brother Wang Chong was named Marquis of Ancheng.
Several of Wang Zhengjun's half-brothers were also named the Marquis of Guannei, forming a situation of "Wang Feng's dictatorship, and the five marquis are in power". According to Liu Bang's ancestral teaching, "a vassal who is not a meritorious hero shall not be a marquis", and a marquis should be awarded to a meritorious hero.
However, the Wang family was all made marquises, which caused the dissatisfaction of the ministers, who believed that this was a vision from heaven to warn that "all the brothers of the queen mother have failed to become marquis".
Wang Feng also felt that he was at a loss, and hurriedly wrote a letter to resign, but Emperor Han Cheng was not allowed to return the edict to comfort him, which allowed Wang's relatives to exercise dictatorship. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty ignored political affairs and liked women, and the Wang family took the opportunity to manipulate the government.
Wang Feng is the most powerful, and if the ministers of the court and the central government are slightly dissatisfied, they will be executed by him under various pretexts. Since then, the Wang family is extremely noble, but extravagant, they do not value books, the family has a group of concubines, thousands of slaves, the mansion is magnificent, comparable to the palace, singing and dancing, dogs and horses rushing.
Their prestige and blessing made the ministers and officials dare not speak out. However, when the Wang family was immersed in arrogance and luxury, there was one person who behaved incompatible with them, and he was Wang Mang.
Wang Mang's demeanor was in stark contrast to the Wang family, who did not participate in the luxurious life of the Wang family, but won the respect of the people with his humility, frugality, and wisdom.
Wang Mang, born in the fourth year of the early Han Dynasty (45 BC), is the nephew of Wang Zhengjun. His father, Wang Man, was the half-brother of Wang Zhengjun, who died early and failed to obtain the title of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty.
Wang Mang spent his childhood in the strict environment of the Wang family, and because his mother was not loved by Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, the Wang family lived a cautious life. The most unfortunate thing is that Wang Mang lost his father when he was a child, and he and his brother Wang Yong depended on each other for their lives and relied on their uncles to support them.
When the Wang family turned over, Wang Mang had also grown up**. Compared with other cousins who relied on their father's shadow and behaved flamboyantly, Wang Mang's family was more shabby. But in any case, the Wang family was powerful at that time, and Wang Mang, as the nephew of the Queen Mother Wang Zhengjun, could still show his majesty.
However, he chose to live a frugal life, concentrate on his studies, and keep his distance from his idle cousins, but instead liked to socialize with the famous people in the capital and learn Confucian classics from Peijun Chen Shen.
Wang Mang has won widespread praise for his modest and courteous attitude and polite behavior. After the death of his brother Wang Yong, he not only treated his widowed sister-in-law politely, but also raised Wang Yong's widowed son Wang Guang as his own son and sent him to study in Taixue.
Wang Mang not only respected Wang Guang's teachers very much, but even personally visited them with gifts, which caused a great sensation at the time. He was also very thoughtful to his uncle, especially when Wang Feng was sick, his son was nowhere to be seen, but Wang Mang, who was his nephew, served in front of the sickbed without clothes.
Wang Feng was very grateful for this and asked his sister Wang Zhengjun to take care of Wang Mang. Wang Zhengjun listened to his brother's instructions and asked his son Emperor Han Cheng to worship the 24-year-old Wang Mang as Huangmenlang, a fat man who could get close to the emperor.
Wang Mang also took care of his uncle Wang Shang, and even offered to give him half of his fiefdom so that he could also be a marquis. These actions not only made the courtiers and celebrities praise Wang Mang's virtue and ability, but also made Wang Mang the most prominent person in the Wang family and his generation at the age of 30.
However, Wang Mang did not become arrogant because of his elevated status, but the higher the title, the more cautious he became, and he was as simple and humble as before. He even devoted himself to helping the poor and the poor, and won wide praise from celebrities and the people.
Wang Mang's modesty, courtesy, and prudence have won people's respect and love, and his true colors have gradually emerged.
After Wang Feng's death, Wang Shang also served as the Great Sima for a short period of time, and after Wang Shang's death, Wang Mang's seventh uncle Wang Gen succeeded him as the Great Sima. When Wang Gen was about to retire, it was believed that Chun Yuchang should take over the position of Great Sima.
However, in order to bring down Chun Yuchang, a competitor in his career, Wang Mang secretly collected a lot of Chun Yuchang's "crimes", and when he visited his uncle Wang Gen, he revealed that Chun Yuchang was ready to take over as the Great Sima, and he had made wishes to many people.
Wang Gen was very angry when he heard this, and Wang Mang told Chun Yuchang about the fornication with the abolished Xu. Wang Gen didn't care whether this matter was true or not, so he reported the matter to the Queen Mother, and as a result, Chun Yuchang was arrested and put in prison and died in prison.
Wang Mang easily "borrowed a knife to kill" and got rid of his rivals. Later, Wang Gen was seriously ill, and before he died, he recommended his nephew Wang Mang to take over the position of Great Sima. The people who got Wang Mang's benefits from up and down all vied to say good things to him, and in this way, Wang Mang, who was 38 years old at the time, succeeded his three uncles and uncles, and became the big Sima under the "expectations of everyone".
Emperor Cheng of Han had no children under his knees, so he could only pass the throne to his nephew Liu Xin, who was Emperor Ai of Han. After Emperor Wai ascended the throne, Wang Zhengjun was named the empress dowager, and Zhao Feiyan was the empress dowager.
However, the position of the Wang family began to waver. Emperor Wai's grandmother, Empress Dowager Fu, is also quite powerful, and was once the favorite concubine of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, Fu Jieyu, who almost replaced the position of Wang Zhengjun's mother and son.
Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty wanted to change Liu Kang many times, but Fu Zhaoyi had already bribed Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede, making it impossible for Wang Zhengjun to turn over. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty died suddenly, Liu Xin ascended the throne, Fu Zhaoyi became the de facto Empress Dowager, and Ding became the Empress Dowager Ding.
The resentment between Wang Zhengjun and Empress Dowager Fu deepened, and a fight was inevitable. The maiden family behind them is each other's main rivals. Empress Dowager Fu wooed people from her mother's family to enter the court and confront the Wang family.
At the same time, she went around collecting evidence of the Wang family's crimes and launched a comprehensive attack on Wang Zhengjun's family. The emperor was not related to the Wang family, and Wang Zhengjun was not a smart person, so he was soon forced to lose.
Wang Mang tried his best to belittle the legal status of Empress Dowager Fu and Empress Dowager Ding, believing that they were only concubines of vassal kings, and that Emperor Mourning should respect the mother family of Emperor Cheng of Han and should not destroy the righteousness of the country with personal blood relatives.
However, Emperor Wai was already nineteen years old and had his own ideas, and Wang Mang's "moral kidnapping" did not work. Wang Mang was charged with great disrespect and was forced to leave the capital and return to live in Fengyi.
In this way, the new system of foreign relatives squeezed out the Wang family and took away the core of power. Empress Dowager Fu forced her son to die in order to regain control of the situation.
Wang Mang has always been in Taoguang, he is unwilling, and he is eager to make a comeback. Although he is ostensibly closed, he has actually been secretly keeping in touch with the capital side, waiting for an opportunity.
However, just as he was plotting to return to Beijing to seize power, his son Wang Shu made a big mistake and killed a man. For the Wang family, such a thing can cover up the past, but for Wang Mang, it can become a stumbling block to his political ambitions.
He thought about it for a long time and decided to let his son end himself, even though he begged him to send him to justice. As a result of this, it not only eliminated hidden dangers, but also won Wang Mang a reputation as "righteous annihilation of relatives", and at the same time won the support of a group of officials and ministers, who believed that Wang Mang's moral conduct was commendable and should be recalled.
Under this pressure, Emperor Wai had no choice but to recall Wang Mang back to the capital. However, Emperor Wai did not give him much power, but Wang Mang's "luck" was very good, and Empress Dowager Fu, Empress Dowager Ding and Emperor Wai died one after another, and Wang Mang was able to regain the position of Great Sima.
His political ambitions were rekindled.
After the death of Emperor Han Ai, because he had no heirs, Wang Mang deliberately let Liu Wei, the nine-year-old king of Zhongshan, inherit the throne and become Emperor Ping of Han. Although the little emperor was too young to govern in person, the actual government affairs were delegated to Wang Mang by the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun.
After Wang Mang seized power, he immediately deposed the Empress Xiao Fu of Emperor Mourning and drove them to guard the tomb, and the two eventually committed suicide. For the relatives surnamed Fu and Ding and their attached **, Wang Mang also dealt with it, either dismissed from office or swept out of Beijing.
However, there was another person in the court who made Wang Mang feel jealous at that time, and that was his uncle Wang Li. Although Wang Li had never had a conflict with his nephew, because he was the highest in the Wang family, it was inevitable that the Empress Dowager would obey his words.
In order to better control his aunt and queen mother, Wang Mang asked to send his uncle out of Beijing, and finally Wang Li was also sent out of Beijing. At this time, Wang Mang's political ambitions had gradually been exposed, but he did not rush to achieve success, but worked hard to manage his reputation and curry favor with the famous Confucian scholar of the time, Situ Kongguang.
Kong Guang was an influential old minister in the court, but he was timid and fearful, and was easily controlled. Wang Mang skillfully exploited this characteristic of Kong Guang and used him as a tool for himself to exclude dissidents.
For those who oppose Wang Mang, Wang Mang will instruct Kong Guang to play ** them, while he is secretly gaining benefits. Wang Mang will also win over his henchmen, such as his cousins Wang Shun and Wang Yi, as well as his cronies Zhen Feng and Zhen Han, to perform "Double Reed" together.
Although the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun held the lifeblood of the entire Western Han Dynasty in her hands, she lacked the talent of Lu Pheasant. She is keen to promote her mother's family, but she can't detect the scheming of her nephew Wang Mang.
The ministers suggested to her that Wang Mang be given the title of "Duke of Anhan", but the old lady did not wake up, but agreed. Under Wang Mang's bewilderment, she also knighted his henchmen. Wang Mang and his cronies were thus promoted to the position of "four auxiliaries": Wang Mang was the Taifu and received the affairs of the four auxiliaries; Kong Guang is the Taishi; Wang Shun is the Taibao; Zhen Feng is a young master, ranking above the three princes.
The Queen Mother Wang Zhengjun is over 70 years old, she is indeed older, and she does not like to take care of political affairs. Under the reminder of some people, she did not hesitate to edict that all political affairs should be decided by "An Han Gong and Sifu".
In this way, all the power of the Han Dynasty was transferred to Wang Mang. In the end, Wang Mang even killed his own son to block the mouth of Youyou.
Despite his power, Wang Mang still showed great respect for his aunt, Wang Zhengjun, and often took her out to play or arrange shows to make her happy.
Wang Mang's approach made the old queen mother trust him even more. Wang Mang went on to establish his reputation in the court and among the people, such as restoring the titles of those who had lost their titles for various reasons and the descendants of princes and kings, giving one-third of the original income to old and retired officials, providing relief to widows, widows and lonely old people, taking the lead in living a frugal life, and contributing millions of dollars and 30 hectares of land to the relief of the people.
These actions made the people of the world think that Wang Mang was a good man, and the courtiers also praised Wang Mang's exploits, saying that he could be compared with the ancient saints. However, despite Wang's great success in building momentum for himself, he remained wary of Emperor Hanping's grandmother, Feng, and his mother, Wei, fearing a repeat of a new relative's seizure of power, and so he held them back in Zhongshan.
However, Wang Mang's eldest son, Wang Yu, was dissatisfied with his father's actions, believing that Wang Mang's actions would allow Emperor Ping of Han to take revenge on the Wang family when he grew up. So, he found a way to trick Wang Mang into taking Wei back to the palace, but this action was discovered by the doorman and reported to Wang Mang.
Wang Mang was very angry when he heard the news, and he arrested Wang Yu, his daughter-in-law Lu Yan, Lu Yan's brother Lu Kuan, and Wang Yu's teacher Wu Zhang, who were involved in the matter, and put them in prison.
The next day, someone sent a letter from Wang Mang to Wang Yu, ordering him to commit suicide immediately. This is the second time Wang Mang has forced his son to death. In the early years, Wang was sentenced to death for killing slaves, but now, Wang Yu is not guilty.
Wang Yu's wife, Lu Yan, was pregnant with Liujia at the time, and she would also be executed after giving birth to a child. Wu Zhang was the worst, his idea was sent to Chang'an City, and he was dismembered and died.
Only Lu Kuan escaped, but did Wang Mang really want to let him go?
Lü Kuan's confession revealed the truth: a small incident actually involved a big case, Princess Jingwu, Liu Li, the king of Liang, Wang Mang's uncle Wang Li, cousin Wang Ren, and hundreds of other ministers and local officials were charged with rebellion, and finally Wang Yu became a stepping stone for his father Wang Mang to clear the obstacles, and he blocked everyone's mouth by killing his own son.
Soon after, Wang Mang's daughter became the empress of Emperor Ping of Han, and he got rid of the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun from the imperial family. Although he thought that he had done a good job, in fact, Wang Mang's ambition had gradually been revealed, and he even asked for the imperial seal of the country and became the emperor.
Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty was still young, but he died violently in the Weiyang Palace, and the cause of death is unknown. Wang Mang was unwilling to let him take over the power, so he appointed Liu Ying, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, as the crown prince, and took control of the government himself, calling himself a "fake emperor".
The Liu clan was the first to stand up against Wang Mang, but their anti-reckless activities were suppressed by Wang Mang one by one due to lack of preparation. Subsequently, there were constantly ** who presented talisman books to Wang Mang, declaring that Wang Mang was the "true son of heaven".
With a rich reward as **, some people began to create the so-called "vision", Wang Mang seized the opportunity, entered the Gaozu Temple to worship, put on the crown, and officially ascended the throne as the emperor, when he was 54 years old.
However, just before Wang Mang ascended the throne, he sent someone to the old empress dowager Wang Zhengjun to pass on the imperial seal, and it was not until this moment that the old lady realized Wang Mang's true intentions. She scolded Wang Mang for not eating pigs and dogs, seizing the world of the Han family, and even angrily threw the imperial seal to the ground, although the imperial seal was broken by a corner, Wang Mang still managed to get it, and was the emperor for fifteen years.
However, Wang Mang did not end well, and his reign ultimately ended in failure.
Wang Mang tried to realize his ideal society through the retro Zhou system, but instead of solving the problems of land annexation and displacement, he increased the burden on the people, resulting in the death of thousands of people.
This person, who was praised as a "saint", eventually became the one who brought disaster to the people, and the people were unbearable and revolted one after another. Although we don't know if he had a premeditated plan to usurp the throne, or if he had the idea of "saving the world" because of the corruption of the government, he obviously spent half his life disguising himself, gaining fame, and packaging himself by **.
The more his moral performance deviates from ordinary people, the more likely it is that he has hidden ulterior motives. He carefully devised one bureau after another, all of which may have been prepared to usurp the Han family.