Lü Pheasant is the first empress dowager in Chinese history to be called the system, and she held power for 16 years, and was called "Lü Wu" together with Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty. Although Lu Pheasant was nailed to the pillar of shame in history, it is undeniable that she has outstanding political ability, and in the more than ten years she has been in power, she has implemented the concept of "ruling by doing nothing and resting with the people", which laid the foundation for the later rule of Wenjing.
You must know that the Han Empire was established after three years of anti-Qin war and four years of Chu and Han wars, after seven years of war, the country needs to recuperate, and the common people are eager to live a stable life.
If the Han Dynasty did not want to repeat the mistakes of the Qin Empire, it was the best choice to rule the world, so Lü Pheasant was a very good politician. But because her various behaviors have been criticized by later generations, such as abusing and killing Mrs. Qi, poisoning Liu Ruyi, and killing the founding heroes, everything she did was nothing more than to clear the way for her to power.
After Emperor Hui of Han was angry with her, Empress Lu directly came to the dynasty to weigh the system, without the name of the emperor, but with the power of the emperor. In fact, Empress Lu is very clear that the Han Dynasty was established by Liu Bang, and the country will always be the country of the Liu family, and Liu Bang's sons will be the roadblocks on her road to power, so how does the powerful Empress Lu treat other princes?
Stills from Empress Lu. (1) Liu Fei, King of Qi
Liu Fei is Liu Bang's eldest son, his biological mother Cao, after Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, he migrated to Han Xin, the king of Qi, as the king of Chu, and his advisers told Liu Bang that the country of Qi is very important, and non-biological brothers cannot be awarded, so Liu Bang named his eldest son Liu Fei as the king of Qi.
After Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty Liu Ying ascended the throne, once Liu Fei entered the Beijing Dynasty to see Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Hui saw his brother coming, and held a family banquet in the palace of Lu, Emperor Hui was weak and humble, although he was the king of a country, there was no emperor's shelf, he let Liu Fei sit on the throne, like a family banquet.
Empress Lu was furious about this, she ordered someone to bring two cups of poisonous wine, and asked Liu Fei to toast her, Liu Fei didn't think much about it, picked up the wine and prepared to toast his mother-in-law, Emperor Han Hui watched his brother toast to his mother, and he picked up another glass and followed the toast, Empress Lu hurriedly knocked over the wine glass in the hand of Emperor Han Hui, which made Liu Fei suspicious, and he immediately pretended to be drunk and left.
Liu Fei later inquired and found out that it was poisonous wine, so he felt panicked, and later someone offered him a plan, Liu Fei followed the plan, and took the initiative to dedicate the Chengyang County of Qi to Princess Lu Yuan, the only daughter of Empress Lu, and respected her as the queen mother (mother), so that he could get out.
Liu Fei died four years after returning to Qi State, although the history books do not record the cause of Liu Fei's death, but the author believes that in order to get out of danger, respect his sister as his mother, presumably Liu Fei returned to Qi State, his heart is not a taste, most of them are depressed.
Liu Fei stills. (2) Zhao Wang Liu Ruyi
Liu Ruyi, the king of Zhao, is Liu Bang's third son, the biological mother Mrs. Qi, Liu Ruyi's tragedy is that he has a young and ignorant mother, Mrs. Qi openly challenged the queen's throne before Liu Bang's death, but ended in failure, laying the groundwork for the tragedy of himself and his son.
After Emperor Liu Ying of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, Empress Lu also became the empress dowager naturally, and she immediately ordered Mrs. Qi to be imprisoned in Yongxiang and let her eat rice every day. If Mrs. Qi is a smart person at this time, she should know the means of Empress Lu, because of her ignorance, she became a prisoner, but now Empress Lu has not extended her clutches to her son after all, as long as she is honest every day, she may be spared a disaster, but Mrs. Qi sang a song very irrationally when she sang a song, the gist of the song is that the son is the king, the mother is a slave, wearing prison clothes and rice, he may lose his life at any time, the mother and son gather for three thousand miles, who can send a message to King Zhao for him. Mrs. Qi's extra-song meaning obviously wants to rely on her son.
Soon this song spread to the Empress Lü, who was angry and summoned the king of Zhao into Beijing and wanted to kill him, Emperor Hui of Han was kind and benevolent, and in order to protect his younger brother, he ate and lived with Liu Ruyi. One day, when Empress Lu was out hunting, Empress Lu sent someone to forcibly pour poisoned wine on King Zhao, and a song by Mrs. Qi buried her son's life.
Liu Ruyi stills.
(3) Liu You, King of Huaiyang
Liu You, the king of Huaiyang, was the sixth son of Liu Bang, and after the death of Liu Ruyi, the king of Zhao, Liu You, the king of Huaiyang, was renamed the king of Zhao. When Empress Lu was in power, in order to win over the kings surnamed Liu, she implemented the "Liu-Lu marriage" and married her mother's family Lu to Liu You. Queen Lu saw that her husband didn't like her, but she liked other concubines, and hated Liu You to the core, she left Zhao in a rage, and ran behind Lu to advance Liu You's slander, saying that Liu You was very dissatisfied with the Lu family as the king, and wanted to wait until a hundred years after Lu Hou, and wipe out the Lu family.
In a fit of rage, Empress Lu summoned Liu You, the king of Zhao, to Beijing, imprisoned him in the official residence, cut off food**, and Liu You was imprisoned and starved to death.
(4) Liu Hui, King of Liang
Liu Hui, the king of Liang, is the fifth son of Liu Bang, after the death of Liu You, the king of Zhao, the queen of Lu changed the title of Liu Hui, the king of Liang, as the king of Zhao, and forced him to marry the daughter of Lu Chan of Xiangguo, Lu Chan is the nephew of Lu Hou, this queen of Lu is more powerful than Liu You's queen, she is arrogant and unreasonable, vicious, and sent people to monitor Liu Hui 24 hours a day, not allowing him to interact with other women, Liu Hui has no freedom, like a prisoner all day long, and he does not dare to complain, he is deeply desperate.
Liu Hui, like his younger brother Liu You, dislikes the daughter of the Lu family and likes other concubines, and Queen Lu, with the support of Empress Lu, sent someone to poison Liu Hui's favorite concubine. Liu Hui lost his freedom and love, and was depressed all day long, and four months after his favorite concubine was killed, that is, half a year after he went to Zhao to take up his post, Liu Hui committed suicide.
When Empress Lu heard that Liu Hui committed suicide for love, she felt that he was unproductive and deprived Liu Hui of her son's right to inherit the throne.
Liu Hui stills. (5) Acting Wang Liu Heng
Acting King Liu Heng is Liu Bang's fourth son, biological mother Bo Ji, a month after the death of Zhao King Liu Hui, Empress Lu ordered the acting king Liu Heng to take over the post of King Zhao, the previous three Zhao kings all unfortunately passed away, Liu Heng was naturally reluctant to take office, he found a good reason, the north of the country is close to the Xiongnu, Liu Heng refused to take over the post of King Zhao on the grounds that he was willing to guard the frontier for his mother. After Lu Hou found out, not only was she not angry, but she also agreed to Liu Heng.
Three months after Liu Hui's death (September 181 BC), Liu Jian, the king of Yan, died, so far Liu Bang's sons have little left, the next year Lu Hou died of illness, the Lu family was punished, Liu Heng ascended the throne with the support of the ministers, this is the famous Han Wen Emperor Liu Heng in history.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng.
(6) Liu Chang, King of Huainan
Liu Chang is Liu Bang's seventh son, his biological mother Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji died shortly after giving birth to Liu Chang, and Liu Bang handed Liu Chang over to be raised by Empress Lu. After the king of Huainan Yingbu rebelled against the Han and was killed, Liu Bang named Liu Chang the king of Huainan. Liu Chang was raised by Empress Lu, and Empress Lu had a deep affection for this adopted son, and during Empress Lu's reign, Liu Chang was spared from disaster.
After the death of Empress Lu, Liu Bang's sons were only Liu Chang and Liu Heng, and Liu Chang was arrogant and domineering because of his brother Liu Heng. During the period of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Liu Chang did not use the law of the Han family in the fief, and made decrees without authorization, and later colluded with the Xiongnu to try to rebel, after the ministers discussed, proposed to sentence Liu Chang to death, but Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty thought of the brotherhood, abolished his throne, and exiled him to Shu County (today's Ya'an, Sichuan), Liu Chang felt remorseful and depressed, and died without food on the way to Shu County.
Liu Chang stills. (7) Liu Jian, King of Yan
Liu Jian, the king of Yan, is the youngest son of Liu Bang, the biological mother is unknown, Liu Bang ascended the throne and eradicated the princes with different surnames, leaving only Lu Juan, the king of Yan, and Wu Rui, the king of Changsha, Lu Huang was very afraid, and he finally chose to take refuge in the Xiongnu.
After Lu Juan's rebellion against the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang named Liu Jian as the king of Yan, Liu Jian died in the seventh year of Gaohou, although he was not killed by Lu Hou, but his son did not escape the clutches of Lu Hou, so far Liu Jian had no heirs, and the feudal country was abolished.
Among Liu Bang's many sons, most of them were ** by Empress Lu, but Liu Heng relied on his political wisdom to survive, and Liu Chang relied on special experience to escape a catastrophe, but Liu Chang was not angry, which caused a tragedy.