Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty

Liu Heng

Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, surnamed Liu Mingheng, was the fifth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. Han Emperor Liu Bang's fourth son, Han Huidi Liu Yingyi's mother and brother, her mother is Boji.

In 196 B.C., Emperor Gaodi of Han Dynasty was granted the title of acting king. After the death of emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty, empress Lu was called emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty died young, and zhulv was in charge of the power of the court. After the death of empress Lu, Zhou Bo, the supreme Wei, joined with Chen Ping, the prime minister, to smash the influence of Zhu LV and welcome Liu Heng, the king of the dynasty, to Beijing to succeed him. After he ascended the throne, he made great efforts to build water conservancy, strictly implemented frugality and simplicity, abolished corporal punishment, realized the prosperity of the country and the well-off of the people, and opened the beginning of "the rule of culture and scenery". Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was cautious in dealing with such problems as the excessive power of the vassal states and the Xiongnu's invasion of the Central Plains. In dealing with princes and kings, we should adopt the attitude of persuading people with morality and pacifying chaos with military force. To deal with the Xiongnu, we should make peace with the relatives and stop the war, so as to create a political situation of stability, unity and recuperation.

In 157 B.C., he died in Weiyang palace in the seventh year of the later Yuan Dynasty. The temple was named Taizong, and his posthumous title was Emperor Xiaowen. He was buried in baling. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty once personally tasted medicine for his mother, Empress Dowager Bo. He was deeply filial, and was the protagonist of "tasting medicine personally" in "twenty four filial piety".

Life of the characters

Background

Liu Heng is the fourth son of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. His mother Bo Ji was the concubine of Wei King Wei leopard at the end of Qin Dynasty. In the early period of the battle between Chu and Han, Wei Bao attached to Han and rebelled against Han. He was captured by Han generals Han Xin and Cao Shen, and later killed by Han generals Zhou Ke. Therefore, Boji became a prisoner and was sent to the weaving room to weave. Later, Liu Bang saw that she had some beauty, so she was included in the harem, and she was not allowed to be spoiled.

At the beginning of the fourth year of emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty (203 BC), Liu Bang sat on chenggaotai in Henan palace, accompanied by two beauties, Mrs. Guan and Zhao zi'er. They talked and laughed about the agreement with Bo Ji. After hearing this, Han Gaozu asked them what they were laughing at, and they told Han Gaozu the whole truth. Liu Bang felt sad and pitied Bo Ji, so he called Bo Ji and roomed with her that day. Bo Ji said: "last night I dreamt that there was a black dragon sitting on my stomach." Han Gaozu said, "it's a good omen for dignitaries. I will help you to do this good thing." This time, Bo Ji was pregnant.

In the fourth year of emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (203 BC), he gave birth to his son Liu Heng in chenggaotai, a palace in Henan Province. Since Bo Ji gave birth to her son Liu Heng, she has rarely seen Liu Bang again.

The first king

In the 11th year of emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (196b.c.), after Liu Bang personally conquered and pacified the rebellion of Chen Chen, the feudal lord of the Dai area, he made eight year old Liu Heng the king of the Dai area, all of whom lived in Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi). After that, Liu Heng took a rest with the people, developed production, and set a good example by being respectful and thrifty during his 15 years of vassal land. On the other hand, the complicated political environment and mother's careful instruction in the early Han Dynasty developed a cautious and quiet character. More importantly, it has laid a good foundation for the successful response to the problem of meritorious officials and administration.

Ascend to the throne as Emperor

In the eighth year of empress Gao of the Western Han Dynasty (180 BC), after empress Lu died, Chen Ping, the prime minister loyal to Liu Bang, Zhou Bo, the imperial lieutenant, and Liu Zhang, the Royal grandson of Zhu Xu, joined hands to destroy the influence of the LV family and to discuss who would inherit the throne. Considering that Liu Hong, the little emperor of LV Houli at that time, was not a descendant of emperor Hui of Han Dynasty, which did not conform to the legal system inherited by the throne, after evaluating the influence of the kings and their relatives, he met Liu Heng, a generous and benevolent king with a good reputation. So he sent envoys to take Liu Heng to Chang'an to inherit the throne.

Liu Heng was not very happy to see the emissary at first. On the contrary, he aroused suspicion. His subordinates also had different opinions: Dai Guo's doctor ordered Zhang Wu and others to think that there was fraud and proposed that they could not go to see the change of the situation because they were ill; while Lieutenant song Changli dismissed the public opinion and thought that Liu's country was stable and there was no need to worry. Liu Heng decided to use divination to decide good or bad luck. The result is a divination result of "Daheng", which shows that the lines split by Daheng are very legitimate, and the diviner immediately ascends to the throne to be the king of heaven, carrying forward the great cause of the family, just as Xia Qi continued Xia Yu. The divinator explained to him that the king of heaven is the son of heaven, one level higher than the general king.

Therefore, Liu Heng initially decided to enter Beijing and ascend the throne. In order to be just in case, Liu Heng in the process of going to Chang'an, step by step, deeply afraid of the plot, died. First, he sent his uncle Bo Zhao to Chang'an to explore the real and the virtual. Second, when he was 50 li away from Chang'an City, he sent his subordinate song Chang to the city to explore the way. When song Chang arrived at Weiqiao, officials below the prime minister came to greet him. Song Chang went to Gaoling to repay Liu Heng, so Liu Heng marched to Weiqiao. The officials met Liu Heng with courtesy, and Liu Heng returned with humility. Taiwei Zhou Bo Jinyan said: "ask for a moment to report to Chen secretly." Song Chang said, "if what Taiwei says is official, please play in front of all the officials; if what he says is private, the king is selfless." Zhou Bo knelt down to deliver the emperor's seal. Liu Heng said, "please come to the Kyoto pavilion to discuss it again." Finally, the careful Liu Heng finally entered the post to discuss with the support of the ministers of Chen Ping Ping. Let Liu Xingju disturb Gongye, and then ensure safety, live in Weiyang palace. He chose the auspicious day and inherited the throne for Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty.

Consolidate the throne

Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty came to Beijing with only six people including song Chang and Zhang Wu. After he ascended the throne, he made up his mind to integrate the imperial power system as soon as possible, so as to restore and strengthen the operation ability of the state power.

Because it was not easy to get the throne, Emperor Wen first appointed his confidants song Chang and Zhang Wu as general Wei and doctor Ling to guard the Imperial Palace and the capital, so as to ensure his personal safety fundamentally. Then, he was awarded the title of Jin Jue to the meritorious officials who supported him as the emperor one by one. He restored the title and fiefdom to the Duke surnamed Liu who was denounced by Empress Lu. At the same time, he was awarded and enfeoffed to the meritorious officials who followed his father Liu Bang to establish the country. These measures consolidated the throne of Emperor Wen.

In addition to using the means to consolidate power, it was also an important measure for Emperor Wen to crack down on important officials. This aspect mainly deals with Zhou Bo. Zhou Bo, because of his support for Emperor Wen, was always arrogant when he came out of the court. He didn't seem to pay attention to the new emperor. Emperor Wen was more polite to him and often watched him leave. Some ministers advised Emperor Wen that he should not be so polite to Zhou Bo, which is against his status as a monarch. From then on, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty looked more and more serious, while Zhou Bo was more and more awed. Zhou Bo's subordinates reminded him in time: be careful that the high achievers will lead to the fire. Zhou Bo, who was full of insight, suddenly woke up. So he resigned from his post as the right prime minister (in the Han Dynasty, the right prime minister was superior, and Chen Ping was the left prime minister at that time, which was equivalent to the deputy), and Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty soon agreed.

A year later, because of Chen Ping's death, Emperor Wen appointed Zhou Bo as prime minister. But only ten months later, Emperor Wen dismissed him on the pretext of the vassal state. At that time, many princes lived in Chang'an, which added a lot of burden to the food supply of the capital. Therefore, Emperor Wen ordered the princes to live in his feudal state. Even if the imperial court allowed them to stay in the capital, they would send their sons to the feudal state. However, many people found all kinds of excuses to stay in the capital, which made Emperor Wen very angry, so he let Prime Minister Zhou Bo take the lead to set an example and removed him.

Later, a reporter was sent to report that Zhou Bo was wearing armor and harboring a rebellious heart. Emperor Wen arrested him immediately. Zhou Bo, through his uncle Bo Zhao, explained to Emperor Wen that he was afraid of disaster and had no intention of rebellion. After re investigation, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty did not find the fact that Zhou Bo was plotting against him, so he released him. Compared with many emperors in feudal times, Emperor Wen was really tolerant.

The main measures taken by Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty to consolidate the throne are as follows:

① Master the army

Military power is the greatest power. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty knew this very well, so on the night when he entered the Weiyang palace, he ordered song Chang to be the general of Wei, to pacify the southern and Northern armies, and Zhang Wu to be the doctor's order, to patrol and defend the palace. The relevant departments killed Hou Shaodi and his three younger brothers in their own house. When the new emperor returned to the front hall, he issued an imperial edict overnight to Amnesty the whole world.

Emperor Wen knew that he did not have a strong political foundation in the Han Dynasty. Some lineages thought that he was a "peach picking sect" and only ascended the throne with the support of a group of old ministers. What he faced was the growing and increasingly arrogant power of the princes and kings. Therefore, his first task was to consolidate the imperial power by adopting the two-hand strategy of combining kindness and power.

② Award meritorious officials

After Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he first granted the meritorious officials to Zhu Lv. In October 179 BC, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty appointed Zhou Bo as the right prime minister, Chen Ping as the left prime minister and Guan Ying as the Taiwei, forming a new central government. Some of the officials who joined the court with the new emperor came to lieqing.

In addition to retaining the old princes, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty established a number of new princes. In December of the same year, Liu you, the son of Liu you, the former king of Zhao, was established as the king of Zhao, and Liu Ze, the former king of Langxie, was removed as the king of Yan. Later, Liu Qiang, the younger brother of Liu Sui, was made king of Hejian; Liu Zhang, Marquis of Zhu Xu, king of Chengyang; Liu Xingju, Marquis of Dongmou, king of Jibei; Liu Wu, the prince, was made king of Dai, king of Huaiyang, king of Liang; Liu Shen, king of Taiyuan, king of Dai; Liu Yi, king of Liang.

In the first month of the same year, that is, three months after Emperor Wen ascended the throne, according to the suggestions of the officials, Emperor Wen made his eldest son Liu Qi the crown prince. In this way, since the emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, the pre established Prince has become the custom of the Han family. In the same month, Dou was made queen.

Suppress the rebellion

In the early Han Dynasty, the rule of inaction and recuperation played a catalytic role in the vicious development of the power of the princes. With the rise of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, there was a sharp contradiction in the succession of the throne.

In the third year of Emperor Wen (177 BC), the interests in the succession to the throne were unevenly distributed. Liu Xingju, the king of Jibei, took the lead in launching a rebellion, which set a precedent for the armed resistance of the kingdom of the same surname against the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sent troops to suppress the rebellion, and Liu Xingju was captured and killed himself.

Three years later,

Chinese PinYin : Han Wen Di