The heirs of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, were not too many, with only eight sons, of which only Liu Ying, the Emperor of Han Hui, was born to Empress Lü. After Liu Bang's death, Lü Hou began to take charge of the imperial government, and she brutally persecuted five of them, some of whom were poisoned, some starved to death, and some were forced to commit suicide. However, two princes were fine, namely Liu Heng, the Later Emperor of Han, and Liu Chang, the King of Huainan. So why were these two spared?
Let's first take a look at the situation of Liu Bang's eight sons. The eldest son, Liu Fei, was made the King of Qi, ruling over six counties and seventy-three cities, with a vast territory and a large population, and was the most powerful of the princes surnamed Liu; the second son was Emperor Hui of Han; the third son Liu Ruyi was made the King of Zhao; the fourth son Liu Heng was made the Acting King; the fifth son Liu Hui was made the King of Liang; the sixth son Liu You was made the Prince of Huaiyang; the seventh son Liu Chang was made the King of Huainan; and the eighth son Liu Jian was made the King of Yan.
After Lü Hou came to power, he first targeted Liu Ruyi, who was born to Lady Qi. In 194 BC, Lü Hou took advantage of Emperor Hui of Han's outing and sent someone to poison Liu Ruyi with wine. The following year, Lü Hou planned to poison Liu Fei, the King of Qi, at a banquet, but was unsuccessful. In order to save his life, Liu Fei worshipped his half-sister Princess Lu Yuan (born to Lü Hou) as his righteous mother, and also gave Chengyang County to Princess Lu Yuan, and Lü Hou released Liu Fei. After returning to the feudal kingdom, Liu Fei was angry and afraid, fell ill, and soon died.
In order to control and supervise the princes surnamed Liu, Lü Hou married the girls of his mother's family to these princes of Liu Bang, such as Liu You and Liu Hui. However, these Lü women are very stubborn, so the relationship between husband and wife is very poor. Liu You complained to Lü Hou because of his wife, which angered Lü Hou and eventually was imprisoned in the mansion and starved to death. Liu Hui was poisoned by Queen Lü because his concubine was poisoned, and he also committed suicide by taking poison. As for Liu Jian, the King of Yan, although he died early, his sons were all eliminated by Lü Hou.
When Lü Hou was in power, Liu Bang's sons were only Liu Heng the Acting King and Liu Chang the Prince of Huainan, so why didn't Lü Hou attack them? First of all, let's talk about Liu Heng, the acting king. First of all, Liu Heng's mother, Lady Bo, was not favored, and was very low-key, and did not threaten The position of Empress Lü. For this reason, after Liu Bang's death, Empress Lü did not embarrass Lady Bo and let her go to her son's fiefdom, and Lady Qi, Liu Bang's favorite concubines, were all imprisoned and persecuted.
Secondly, Liu Heng, the acting king, is also very low-key. Under the influence of his mother, although Liu Heng was a prince, he was very cautious and low-key in everything he did. Lü Hou once wanted to rename Liu Heng as the King of Zhao, but Liu Heng declined, expressing his willingness to guard the frontier for the imperial court. As the saying goes, Mu Xiu is in the forest, and the wind will destroy it, but because Lady Bo and Liu Heng are very low-key and do things without leaking, they did not cause Lü Hou's disgust and disgust.
Compared with Liu Heng, the king of Huainan, Liu Chang was a different kind of person, he had a rough personality, was brave and martial, "had the ability to carry the ding", and was a very high-profile person, but why was he not killed by Lü Hou? This is related to Liu Chang's life! Liu Chang's birth mother was originally a beauty of Zhang Ao, the King of Zhao, who became pregnant after serving Liu Bang. However, at that time, King Zhao was deposed, and the beauty was also imprisoned. Although Meiren told the prison officials that she was pregnant with the emperor's heir, Liu Bang initially ignored it.
Meiren's maternal family, Marquis Tupaiyang, pleaded with Lü Hou, but there was no result, so Meiren committed suicide in anger after giving birth to Liu Chang. The jailer quickly hugged the child and reported the incident to Liu Bang. Liu Bang also felt very regretful, so he handed over the child who had no mother at birth to Lü Hou to raise. Although Lü Hou is cold-blooded and ruthless, she is a woman after all, and she personally raised Liu Chang to adulthood, so there is a mother-son relationship between the two.
References: 1. "Records of History"; 2. "Book of Han"