Since ancient times, the emperor has always been the supreme symbol of a country, one person determines the world, and one person determines life and death. Therefore, people born in the emperor's family are all full of yearning for this position.
In order to compete for the throne, there have been countless stories of brothers killing each other and killing each other in history, the most famous is the Xuanwumen change of Tang Taizong, and the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing Dynasty experienced an extremely dangerous nine sons to finally get the throne.
Whether it was the Xuanwumen Revolution or the Nine Sons Succession, those princes who failed to compete for imperial power were all killed without exception, and their relatives were generally executed together.
It is worth mentioning that similar things happened in the Western Han Dynasty, but they were different from similar events in previous history. When the emperor became emperor, he killed the son of the previous emperor, but in the end he left his empress, why is this? Let's talk about it today.
Since Qin Shi Huang leveled the six eastern kingdoms to dominate the world, another great unified dynasty was established. Although the First Emperor was brave and powerful, his son Hu Hai was less than one-tenth of him. In the end, the Qin Dynasty came to an end under the control of Zhao Gao's traitorous ministers.
Although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu. Eventually, Liu Bang, a native of Chu, established the Han Dynasty after defeating Xiang Yu. In April 195 BC, Gaozu Liu Bang died in the Changle Palace in the capital. With the support of the minister and the recommendation of Empress Lü, Liu Bang's eldest son Liu Ying inherited the unification.
Sixteen-year-old Liu Ying was a benevolent government soon after he succeeded to the throne, and the whole country flourished during his reign. I don't know if it was because of the creation or why, Liu Ying died after only seven years in power.
During Liu Ying's reign, although he was nominally the emperor of the empire, it was his mother Empress Lü who really held real power. After Liu Ying's death, the ministers decided to proclaim Liu Heng as emperor in order to overthrow the rule of Empress Lü.
The lord Shaoguo suspected that in order to stabilize his dominant position, Liu Heng launched a series of purge measures against the Lu group soon after he ascended the throne, and the once powerful Lu group dissipated in the long river of history.
In the clean-up of the Lu Group, Emperor Liu Heng of the Han Dynasty showed a terrifying iron and bloody skill, especially when dealing with the sons of Emperor Liu Ying of the Han Dynasty, his ruthlessness was even more incisive.
However, such a decisive and ruthless king showed his surprisingly gentle side when facing a woman who had a close relationship with Emperor Hui of Han, this woman was Zhang Yan, the empress of Emperor Hui of Han.
Judging from the course of the general story, it must be because Zhang Yan's beauty attracted Emperor Wen of Han. Such stories have happened many times in history, the most famous of which is the incident of Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu's sister-in-law.
It is said that after Cao Cao led his troops to defeat Zhang Xiu, he was attracted by the beauty of Zhang Xiu's sister-in-law, so he accepted Zhang Xiu's surrender. But later Zhang Xiu thought that Cao Cao's contempt for his sister-in-law was an insult to him, so he led his troops to rebel, and finally Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang and Ai Jiang were both killed in this battle.
However, Emperor Wen of Han is obviously not Cao Cao, and Zhang Yan is not Zhang Xiu's sister-in-law. Although Zhang Yan was born beautiful, Emperor Wen of Han didn't have much excitement after seeing Zhang Yan, but just said lightly that many people have died, and you are also a poor person, so forget it.
So, after deposing Zhang Yan as queen, Emperor Wen of Han arranged her in a quiet courtyard in the palace. Many years later, Zhang Yan died, and Emperor Wen of Han also buried her and Emperor Hui of Han together.
It is said that Zhang Yan has maintained her virgin body until her death, which is obviously too unbelievable. But it is this unbelievable thing that is also a true portrayal of Zhang Yan's sad life, although she has the appearance of Mink Chan Xishi, no one has ever loved her in her life.
Zhang Yan's life can be said to be completely manipulated by Empress Lu! It is said that after Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty Liu Ying was elected emperor, Empress Lu has been actively promoting the establishment of Emperor Hui in order to maintain the rule of the Lu group.
Many princes and ministers of the Lu Group have recommended their daughters to Empress Lu, but they don't know whether they are too dazzled or too heavy-minded, and they have not found a candidate who satisfies Empress Lu among the many candidates.
Later, under the reminder of her cronies, Empress Lu thought that her daughter Princess Lu Yuan had a daughter. Since she is her granddaughter, it is natural that Empress Lu regards her as a person in her camp.
In order to be able to promote this matter, Empress Lu specially ordered someone to take Zhang Yan to the palace. After coming to the palace, Zhang Yan was arranged to Liu Ying's side, and Empress Lu hoped that her son would understand his hard work, and be able to smoothly like Zhang Yan and make her his queen.
Liu Ying naturally understood Empress Lu's thoughts, but no matter how Zhang Yan behaved, he never fell in love with the beautiful woman in front of him. Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty Liu Ying is the son of Empress Lu, and Princess Lu Yuan is the daughter of Empress Lu, so Princess Lu Yuan's daughter is actually his niece.
In ancient times, in order to maintain their bloodline, the royal family often had close relatives marry, but those were only limited to the same generation. Empress Lu's arrangement was to let her uncle marry her own niece, and Emperor Han Hui naturally refused to do such a disobedient thing.
But in the Han Dynasty at that time, Empress Lü was the real ruler, and under the continuous pressure of Empress Lü, Emperor Hui of Han finally married his niece as a last resort. At the same time, under the single-handed operation of Empress Lu, Zhang Yan was made the empress of the Han Dynasty, and she was still a minor at that time (according to the algorithm of the ancients).
Although Zhang Yan entered the palace as the queen, she has never been able to accept such a rebellious thing in Liu Ying's heart, so she has never been married to Zhang Yan, and although Empress Lu can force Liu Ying to bow her head, some things cannot be forced after all.
Seeing that the queen had been unable to give birth to the prince, Empress Lu came up with a method of fake pregnancy, and Empress Lu said that the child born to Liu Ying and a palace maid was the child of Liu Ying and the queen, and later made the child the prince.
This child is Liu Gong, some lies may be able to deceive him when the child is young, but as he grows older, Liu Gong also learns all the truth of the matter. In order to consolidate his rule, Empress Lü ordered the deposition of Liu Gong, and later secretly killed Liu Gong.
In 180 BC, Empress Lu died, and this farce finally came to an end under the iron and blood of Emperor Wen of Han. In the face of those who might threaten his throne and rule, Emperor Wen of Han showed the usual cruelty of emperors, but in the face of Zhang Yan, a poor man who was constantly ** by Lu Pheasant, Emperor Wen of Han was moved by compassion.
It was this compassion that finally saved Zhang Yan's net worth. After being deposed as empress, Zhang Yan came to her new residence, where she remained silent for seventeen years.
Silent, silent, as if she had never appeared in this deep palace. In 163 BC, Zhang Yan died quietly in the courtyard at the age of forty, and her story ended quietly.
An unfortunate life that was ** by the times and by the powerful came to an end, and people in later generations always couldn't help but feel sorry for her when they recalled her story, and such a beautiful woman finally ended up with such a helpless end.
It is said that many people in later generations built temples for Zhang Yan and respected her as the god of flowers, but what about Zhang Yan? can't change her tragic life.