The Duke of Zhou feared the rumors of the day, and Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the time. Who knows the truth of his life when he died? Why was Wang Mang suspected of being a crosser? "This person behaves and behaves like a person 2,000 years ago."
Time and space travel has always existed in people's imagination, so in the novel and TV themes, crossing has always been a fire theme, and the classic TV series "Myth" and "Search for Qin" are classics in the hearts of countless people. It is not difficult to understand that returning to hundreds of years ago with the memory of "latecomers", which is the standard "Shuangwen template", this alternative success has created an alternative charm on Wang Mang.
However, in the Western Han Dynasty, there was one person who was suspected by many historians to be a crosser, and he was Wang Mang, the reformer of the Western Han Dynasty. Wang Mang (45 BC – October 6, 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun, was a native of Yuancheng County, Wei County (present-day Daming County, Hebei). Father Wang Man, brother Wang Yong. His aunt was Empress Xiaoyuan Wang Zhengjun. When Wang Mang was a teenager, his father and brother died one after another, and he lived with his uncles.
The Wang family was a family of foreign relatives who were in power at that time, and the Wang family had nine people successively enfeoffed as marquises, and five people served as the Grand Sima and were the most prominent families in the Western Han Dynasty. Most of the people in the clan are generals and marquises, living extravagantly, sounding dogs and horses, and comparing themselves with each other. Only Wang Mang was pure, simple in life, humble in life, and industrious and studious, and studied the "Rituals" by Chen Shan, a teacher of Pei County. He served his mother and widow, raised his brother's widow, behaved in a disciplined manner, and had a rigorous style. Serve your uncles internally, be very thoughtful, and accept the Magi externally. Wang Mang was the other in this great family, a moral model in the eyes of the world, and soon became famous.
(22 BC), the 24-year-old Wang Mang entered the center and began to work as an official. Wang Mang was conscientious in his work, more respectful of people, and extremely obedient to his uncle Wang Feng, who was in the position of Grand Sima (大司馬), and Wang Feng instructed Wang Zhengjun to take care of Wang Mang before his death. In the same year, Wang Mang was appointed Huang Menlang and later promoted to lieutenant of the Shooting Sound School. Later, his uncle Wang Shang wrote to express his willingness to cede part of his fief to Wang Mang, and many well-known people in the dynasty at that time said good things about Wang Mang, and Emperor Hancheng also considered Wang Mang to be very virtuous. The 29-year-old Wang Mang was crowned marquis in this year, which became the most gratifying thing in the first half of his life, but Wang Mang's next thing was a big surprise, other bureaucrats were changing the method of scavenging from the people, but Wang Mang was diametrically opposed, often paying his own pocket to fund the poor, either donating money or donating houses, for a time Wang Mang's reputation in the folk was quite good, and between the people and the bureaucrats, it also broke that layer of estrangement because of Wang Mang.
In terms of winning people's hearts, Wang Mang can be said to have foresight, which is also one of the important reasons why Wang Mang is suspected of being a crosser. In the first year of Yongshi (16 BC), Wang Mang was 30 years old and was given the title of Marquis of Xindu, Riding Du Wei, Guanglu Dafu, and Shizhong (Emperor's Bodyguard). Wang Mang's uncles Wang Feng, Wang Shang, and Wang Gen successively assisted Sima Da. During the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han (Liu Xiao), wang was nine marquises and five simas. Wang Mang was in a high position, but he never respected himself, always able to be a corporal, honest and frugal, often distributing his own money to his disciples and commoners, and even selling horse-drawn carriages to help the poor, and was deeply loved by the people. Celebrities in both the government and the public praised and praised Wang Mang, and Wang Mang's reputation even surpassed his powerful uncles.
Wang Mang's cousin, The nephew of Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun Chunyu( 陳于長發), surpassed Wang Mang in status, and he was good at flattery, and he had contributed to the Hancheng Emperor's establishment of Zhao Feiyan as empress, and was deeply trusted by the Hancheng Emperor, and was soon promoted to wei wei (one of the nine secretaries) and in charge of the palace guards. At this time, Sima Wanggen was preparing to retire, and many people believed that Chun Yuchang should succeed him as Grand Sima (大司馬). In order to bring down his rivals in the career, Wang Mang secretly collected Chun Yuchang's crimes. Wang Mang then took advantage of the opportunity of his visit to tell Wang Gen that Chun Yuchang was secretly ready to succeed him as Grand Sima and that he had already made a wish for many people to be made official titles. At the same time, he also told chun Yuchang about the adultery with the deposed empress Xu Shi. Wang Gen was furious and asked him to report to the empress dowager quickly, who asked Emperor Hancheng to depose Chun Yuchang, find out his crimes, and kill him in prison. In the second year of Suihe (7 BC), Emperor Cheng of Han died and was succeeded by Emperor Ai of Han. The han dynasty's grandmother, Empress Dowager Fu of Dingtao, and Empress Ding's family began to gain power. Wang Mang had to resign from his post and live in seclusion in the fiefdom of Xindu, so he closed the door and was cautious, during which his second son Wang Was killed as a domestic slave, Wang Mang severely punished him, and forced Wang To commit suicide, which was well received by the world. During Wang Mang's seclusion in Xindu (新都, in modern Xinye, Henan), many officials and commoners complained about Wang Mang's removal and demanded his return; the Han Emperor had to re-recruit Wang Mang back to the capital to serve Empress Wang, but did not restore him to his official position. On the day after the emperor's death, empress dowager Wang Zhengjun took off to Weiyang Palace and reclaimed the Imperial Jade Seal. Empress Wang then issued an edict asking the gongqing of the court to nominate a candidate for the Grand Sima Dynasty, and the courtiers agreed, so they recommended Wang Mang one after another, only the former general He Wu and the left general Gongsun Lu objected. The two pushed each other forward to show their dissatisfaction with the dictatorship of Wang's foreign relatives. Soon after, Empress Wang ordered Wang Mang to re-appoint him as the Grand Sima (大司馬), record Shangshu (尚書事), and concurrently administer military orders and forbidden armies. Later, Wang Mang ascended the throne at the age of nine, and Wang Mang acted as an agent for government affairs, which was unanimously supported by the government and the public. Since then, Wang Mang's political ambitions have gradually been exposed. He began to reject dissidents, first forcing Wang Zhengjun to drive out his uncle Wang Li, then promoting those who were attached to him and destroying those who offended and resented him. After taking the throne, the first thing Wang Mang did was to abolish the slave system, resolutely prohibit this aspect of trading, in addition to the implementation of the land state ownership system, the lives of the commoners are no longer oppressed by the landlords, but also strictly control the price of the market, it is not difficult for everyone to see here, and our modern life has a great similarity, and it is not difficult to understand that Wang Mang still has so many supporters until now, an emperor who attaches importance to the common people is the real good emperor. What is even more surprising is that Wang Mang also set up a system of "five equal credit loans", which simply means that civilians can lend to the imperial court and only charge very low interest. It is not difficult to see that with the implementation of these systems by Wang Mang, it can be said that it is difficult to starve people to death, which just confirms one point: "The wealth of the people, that is, the wealth of the country." ”
He also brought his own clothing culture to the current dynasty, and in an era when everyone did not know what "fashion" was, Wang Mang let his wife Wang Shi wear a "short skirt" dress, which was just enough to cover his knees.
In those feudal times, women did not have the real freedom to dress,
Wang Mang's wife Wang Shi immediately liked the "short skirt", which was both beautiful and comfortable pants makeup, and the Book of Han recorded that "Mang's wife greeted her, dressed without dragging, and covered her knees with cloth", which also became the reason for suspecting that Wang Mang was a crosser.
In addition to institutional reform, he also had many advanced inventions during the period, and the "New Mang Copper Caliper" placed in the Beijing Museum was built in the 9th century AD, the earliest caliper in the world, more than 1,000 years before the West. After expert testing, the "new Mang copper caliper" and the modern caliper are very similar, not only the use is similar, even the structural principle is very similar, it can be said that the "new Mang copper caliper" is the originator of the modern caliper.
In fact, the vernier caliper is actually an extension and expansion of the carved line ruler, in china's Xia Shang era has begun to use the carved line ruler, when it was mainly made of ivory and jade, and later the emergence of bronze carved line ruler, it is more used in production and astronomical measurement. In the Han Dynasty, a large number of advanced instruments and instruments leading the world at that time have been invented, such as armillary spheres, ground motion instruments, water drainage and so on.
In both physical objects and historical materials, and the forging process at that time could reach such a level, it became certain that the vernier caliper appeared in the Han Dynasty. Therefore, trying to conclude that Wang Mang is a crosser through a vernier caliper is just a joke.
In the fifth year of the first year of the Hanping Emperor (5 AD), Emperor Ping fell ill, and Wang Mang died by praying to the heavens on behalf of Emperor Ping. In December of the fifth year of the First Century (6 AD), emperor Ping of Han fell ill and died, and Wang Mang, in order to avoid the ascension of the elderly new emperor to the throne and prevent himself from manipulating the political situation at will, made Liu Bao (i.e., the infant child) who was only two years old emperor Xuan of Han as crown prince. The empress dowager, adhering to the intention of the courtiers, asked Wang Mang to act as the emperor of tianzi and called himself a false emperor, while his subjects called Wang Mang the regent emperor, and Wang Mang called himself "Yu".
At this time, Wang Mang was 51 years old, in the 6th year of the AD, and changed the yuan to the first year of the regent. Wang Mang's power in the dynasty was almost equal to that of the emperor, which caused a backlash from the opposition, mainly the Liu clan. First of all, Liu Qi, the Marquis of Anzhong, attacked, and in the first year of juju (6 AD), Liu Qi led more than a hundred people to attack Wancheng, and even the city gate failed without attacking. In September of the following year, Taishou Zhai of Dong Commandery raised an army and proclaimed Liu Xin the Marquis of Yanxiang as emperor, informing all localities that Zhao Ming, the "thief" of twenty-three counties west of Chang'an, also rebelled. Wang Mang was very frightened, and could not eat, so he prayed day and night with his baby and widow in the Zongmiao Temple, and wrote an article imitating the "Great Commandment", explaining that his taking of the throne was temporary, and he must return the throne to his widow and baby in the future. At the same time, Wang Mang constantly mobilized large armies to suppress and destroy Zhai Yi's troops. The following year, Wang Mang sent Wang Yi to quell the rebellion, and Wang Mang had the heart to claim the title of emperor. Ancient people all paid attention to "fatherly kindness and filial piety", but Wang Mang had advanced ideological concepts, why would he say so? In fact, you can see the fate of his sons. Wang Mang had a total of 6 sons, and 3 of the 4 sons born to Zheng Fang were all killed, and it was his own father Wang Mang who killed them! Lending can be said to be a forward-thinking move. After Wang Mang came to power, merchants were forbidden to hoard goods and speculate on prices, which is somewhat similar to the current price bureau. To adjust the commodity according to the business situation, the price of the commodity must comply with the government regulations.
It is said that Wang Mang also implemented a low-cost housing policy and invested in 200 low-rent housing units in Chang'an City to provide housing for the poor. This behavior is also an avant-garde practice. Is Wang Mang really a crosser?
Although many of Wang Mang's customs are very similar to those of modern people, Wang Mang's measures can be traced back to the ritual system of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Wang Mang's reform was a return to the ancient ritual system. However, society is developing, blindly copying the ancient system and taking radical measures will bring the whole society to a standstill. In fact, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the forging process was already extremely exquisite, especially the weapons made by the Qin people, after the Shang martingale transformation method, they were manufactured in accordance with standardization, and the error was so small that it was unimaginable. But this reform also intensified domestic contradictions, so he launched a war to ease the contradictions. This caused opposition from the Xiongnu, the Western Regions, and the Southwest tribes. Wang Mang also requisitioned the people's husbands, increased taxes, connived at cruel officials, and imposed heavier punishments on the common people. In this way, the peasants were forced to revolt. His great "new" dynasty was also in turmoil. However, although Wang Mang's reforms seemed to be modern, they were completely divorced from the social conditions at that time, which eventually led to more and more chaotic reforms, causing the world to be chaotic and the people's hearts to deviate. And this is also the fundamental reason for Wang Mang's eventual defeat!