Emperor yuan of Han Dynasty

Liu Xun

Emperor yuan of Han Dynasty

The son of emperor Xuandi Liu Xun and his wife Xu Pingjun, the 11th emperor of the Western Han Dynasty.

A few months after Liu was born, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty ascended to the throne. Two years later, his mother Xu Pingjun was poisoned by Huo Guang's wife Huoxian. In April of the third year of the festival (May 24, 67 BC), Liu Xun was made the crown prince. Emperor Xuandi of the Han Dynasty died on December 10, the first year of Huanglong (January 10, 48 BC). After Guisi (January 29, 48 BC), the crown prince Liu Xun succeeded to the throne and became emperor yuan of the Han Dynasty.

Emperor yuan of the Han Dynasty was versatile, good at history books, good at music, less good at Confucianism and cowardly. During his reign, because he favored eunuchs, the imperial power declined and the government was in chaos, which led to the decline of the Western Han Dynasty.

In May of the first year of Jingning (July 8, 33bc), emperor yuan of the Han Dynasty died in Weiyang palace in Chang'an. He was 42 years old at the end of his life and was buried in Weiling for 16 years. The temple was called "Gaozong" (abolished in the Eastern Han Dynasty).

Life experience

Soft benevolence and good Confucianism

Liu Xun, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, was born in the first year of Yuanping (74 BC). He was the eldest son of Liu Xun, the Xuandi of the Han Dynasty. His mother was Xu Pingjun, the empress of Gongai. A few months after Liu was born, his father Liu Xun ascended the throne as Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. In the third year of Dijie (67 BC), eight year old Liu Xun was appointed prince by Emperor Xuan.

It is said in historical books that Liu Xun, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty of the Han Dynasty, was "gentle and benevolent and fond of Confucianism". When he was the crown prince, he saw that his father and the emperor used legalist figures to punish his subordinates with punishment. His ministers Yang Yun and Gai kuanrao were killed just because of "sarcasm". One day when I was dining with my father, I said euphemistically, "Your Majesty has gone a little too far in using punishment. You should put more emphasis on Confucian scholars." Liu Xun, Emperor Xuandi of the Han Dynasty, suddenly changed his face and said in a fierce voice: "the Han Dynasty has its own system, which is to use both" kingly "and" hegemonic ". How can we simply use the so-called" moral government "like the Zhou Dynasty? What's more, those common Confucians can't see the changes of the world. They like to be thick with the past and thin with the present. They can't even tell the difference between "name" and "reality". How can they be entrusted with the task of governing the country? " With these words, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty sighed again and said, "those who disturb my family, the prince will do the same." In view of the gratitude and reward for the late empress Xu, he did not change the crown prince in the end, which is a great fortune for Liu Xun.

Inherit the throne

Emperor Xuandi of the Han Dynasty died on December 10, the first year of Huanglong (January 10, 48 BC), and Guisi (January 29, 48 BC), the crown prince, Liu Xun, succeeded to the throne as emperor Yuandi of the Han Dynasty. In the second year (the first 48 years), the year number was changed to "Chu Yuan".

During the reign of emperor yuan, the Han Dynasty was relatively strong, but it was also the starting point of decline. The trend of annexation by powerful landlords prevailed, centralization gradually weakened, and social crisis deepened.

Self defeating martial arts

On his deathbed, Emperor Xuan had arranged "three carriages" for the Yuan emperor, with the leader of the Marquis Shi Gao of Leling, the crown prince Xiao Wangzhi and the deputy of Shaofu zhoukan.

The trust and support of the Yuan emperor made Xiao Wangzhi and other Confucian officials see the hope of changing course and carrying out benevolent government, but it was only a flash in the pan. The Yuan emperor had a special trust in the two masters, and the influence of Confucian officials was increasing day by day. As a result, Shi Gao, who had been neglected, was out of balance, and had a rift with Xiao Wangzhi. The shadow of power struggle immediately shrouded the imperial court. Shi Gao echoed with the eunuchs inside and outside and opposed Xiao Wangzhi's reform ideas. Xiao Wangzhi was worried about the indulgence of his relatives and the power of eunuchs, so he suggested to emperor yuan: Zhongshu is the foundation of state affairs, which should be controlled by wise and just people. Emperor Wu youyou drinks and banquets in the back court, and appointed eunuchs to take charge of Zhongshu, which is not in line with the old system of the country, and violates the "ancient justice of not punishing people", and must be corrected. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor did not dare to adjust his position due to his lack of flexibility. Xiao Wangzhi put forward this motion, but it aroused the resentment of eunuch Zhongshu linghonggong, pushe Shixian and others. So they joined hands with Shi and Xu's relatives to deal with Xiao Wangzhi. They only used two rounds to force Xiao Wangzhi to death.

Emperor yuan was shocked by Xiao Wangzhi's suicide by drinking poison. He cried bitterly and blamed Honggong, Shi Xian and others for killing his virtuous Fu. However, he didn't punish the driving force behind the death of Shifu. He just verbally asked Honggong, Shixian and other people to "get rid of the crown and thank them". Afterwards, he flattered them as before. From the death of Xiao Wang, it can be seen that emperor yuan was short-sighted and incompetent in politics, empty minded in rectifying his ideals, and lacked strategic vision and political strategy. There is no doubt that if the Yuan emperor wants to carry out the new deal, he must take the Confucian officials as the main force. Emperor yuan indulged the eunuch and forced Xiao Wangzhi to die. Banishing other Confucian officials was just like abandoning his martial arts and breaking his arms.

The decline of authority

The eunuch became the big winner in the competition among relatives, Confucians and eunuchs. Shortly after Xiao Wang's death, zhongshuling Honggong died that year, and Shi Xian succeeded him. Since then, the central power has been out of balance and inclined to Shi Xian. Because of his trust in Shi Xian and his own health, emperor yuan entrusted him with all the affairs of the court. He made a report and decision on everything. Therefore, Shi Xian's authority became more and more powerful, and he was very lucky to be in the imperial court. Shi Xian seems to have a lot of words and a lot of deeds. Although the emperor is the son of heaven, his authority is in the hands of Shi Xian, and has the final say of Shi Xian.

The Yuan emperor especially favored eunuchs, mainly based on a naive idea that eunuchs had no family and would not form "foreign parties". But this is a kind of illusion. Shi Xian's people are actually quite good at "forming a party". He not only formed a "internal party" with the eunuchs of the court, but also colluded with other relatives such as Shi Dan and Xu Jia, and drew those Confucian officials such as Kuang Heng, Gong Yu and Wu Lu Chong Zong who were at the helm of the wind to form a "external party"; he echoed inside and outside, made waves, and attacked the same party. Jingfang, the master of the Yi ology, once reminded the Yuan emperor not to trust his courtiers, but the Yuan emperor was stubborn and still allowed Shi Xian to exercise his power. When he was angry with Shi Xian, Jingfang was soon expelled from the court, and then he was executed for "not slandering politics".

During the period of Shi Xian's power, the discipline was disordered and the official administration was corrupt. However, he never realized that eunuchs did harm to the country. Sima Guang commented: "even if you are filial to yuan, it is easy to deceive but difficult to understand." To put it bluntly, emperor yuan was so easy to fool that he let Shi Xian play with him. The eunuch Shi Xian's autocracy was actually the result of emperor yuan's connivance. In the era of monarchy, it is a taboo for the monarch to lose power, especially the monarch who wants to make a difference must make good use of the highest power to show his ambition.

Death in middle age

In May of the first year of Jingning (July 8, 33bc), emperor yuan of the Han Dynasty died at Weiyang palace in Chang'an, at the age of 42. Buried in Weiling (now 12 Li northeast of Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province). After death, the temple was named "Gaozong" and the posthumous title was Emperor Xiaoyuan. The crown prince Liu Ao ascended the throne for emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty. To Guangwu Zhongxing, go to its temple.

Political initiatives

Reform the mausoleum system

In October of the fourth year of Yongguang (40bc), the emperor ordered the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty to be under the management of the three auxiliary tombs according to their boundaries. Before that, the tombs were always under the management of Taichang. On the other hand, the original site of Shouling Pavilion in Weicheng was taken as the mausoleum of the early period, and the imperial edict was issued not to re-establish counties and cities and migrate people.

Harmony between Han and Hungary

During the Xuandi period, with the enhancement of the national strength of the Han Dynasty, the strength of the Xiongnu weakened again and again, and the relationship between the Han and Xiongnu changed historically. After the second year of shenjue of Emperor Xuan (60 years ago), there was a power struggle within the Xiongnu ruling group. At the beginning, there were "five single in contention", mutual intolerance, slaughter and annexation, and finally formed the opposition between the southern Xiongnu huhanye single and the northern Xiongnu Zhizhi single. During the period of emperor yuan of Han Dynasty, there were two major events in the relationship between Han and Hun. One was Chen Tangping's extermination of the Zhizhi branch of northern Huns, and the other was Zhaojun's going out of the fortress.

Pingmiezhi branch

When Emperor Han Yuan ascended the throne, the Hun zhizhidanyu thought that he was far away from the Han Dynasty, and resented the Han Dynasty for supporting his enemy Huhanxie Chanyu, so he wanted to break up with the Han Dynasty. He colluded with King Kangju and built a zhizhizhicheng (now jiangbuer) on the Bank of dulaishui (now hengluo River) as a base for his further expansion. Zhi Zhi's influence developed to the western regions of Han Dynasty, which directly threatened the rule of Han Dynasty in the western regions. In the third year of Jianzhao (36bc), the new governors of the western regions Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang launched an attack on the northern Xiongnu and won a great victory. So far, the Han Dynasty finally eliminated the hostile forces in the western region. Nearly 40 years later, peace was maintained in the western regions and the silk road was unimpeded. Although Chen Tang had a lot of bad deeds as an official, his achievements in rectifying the imperial edict and invigorating the army and suppressing Zhizhi should be affirmed.

Southern Xiongnu surrender to Han Dynasty

After the Zhizhi branch of the northern Xiongnu was killed by the Han Dynasty, the southern Xiongnu called Hanxie Chanyu, who was not only happy to eliminate the political enemies, but also afraid of the power of the Han Dynasty. In the first month of the first year of Jingning (33bc), Hu Hanxie went to Chang'an three times to make a pilgrimage to the emperor of Han, and expressed his willingness to return to the Han Dynasty and marry a Han girl as the surname of Kan. The Yuan emperor then assigned the palace queen to him as the surname of Yi.

Emperor Han Yuan thought that this political marriage could make "the border has no military revolution", so he changed the year name to "Jingning", which means the border is peaceful. Huhanye Chanyu named Wang Zhaojun "ninghukai" and "Ninghu" means "when the Huns get Zhaojun, the country will be in peace".

Historical evaluation

Liu Xun, Emperor Xuandi of Han Dynasty: those who disturb my family, the prince!

Ban Gu: strong, soft and benevolent. Chen Waizu brothers were the ministers of the Yuan emperor. They said: the Yuan emperor had many materials and skills, and was good at historical books. Guqinse, blow Dongxiao, from the degree of music, was singing, points of the festival, poor very young. When he ascended the throne, he expropriated the scholars and appointed them to the government. Gong, Xue, Wei and kuangdie were the prime ministers. However, if the meaning of the text is restrained, the cause of filial piety and publicity will decline. However, Kuan Hong did it out of courtesy and frugality, and the command was gentle and elegant, which was strong in ancient times.

Liu Yuan: the Yuan Dynasty was full of seclusion, with a short period of mourning. Wang Mang, a thief minister, usurped the throne.

Sima Guang: when a loyal minister is a monarch, if he blames him for his difficulties, he will make the change without effort; if he makes up for his shortcomings, his elders will not persuade him to do so. At the beginning of the reign of Xiaoyuan, he asked Yu modestly. Yu should first be anxious and then slow down. However, there was no end to the use of power

Chinese PinYin : Han Yuan Di