Emperor Wu of han was the longest-reigning emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. During his reign, he was brilliant and ambitious, reversing the passive situation that had plagued the Xiongnu for a long time; constantly weakening the threat of interference from the princes with the same surname to the government; advocating Confucian culture and building a relatively complete unified pattern, which was the best among the emperors of the past.
However, no one can be perfect. Similarly, Emperor Wu of Han was criticized in many ways. For example, successive years of conquest led to a great decline in the national strength of the Han Dynasty, and also affected the lives of the people; for example, in his later years, he also launched the scourge of witchcraft.
In the scourge of witchcraft, Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty personally forced his empress Dowager Wei Zifu and crown prince Liu Zhao to die, implicating tens of thousands of people who were killed, and the number of affected people reached an astonishing number of hundreds of thousands, which was a catastrophe. The direct creator of this catastrophe was Jiang Chong, a traitor who was good at reporting and exposing and pandering to the will of the superiors.
So, what happened to Jiang Chong, the traitor who killed Wei Zifu and the crown prince Liu Zhao?
Let's start with the scourge of witchcraft. Because Emperor Wu of Han was getting older, he began to become very sensitive and suspicious of the surrounding things, according to the "Zizhi Tongjian": "Shangju Jianzhang Palace, saw a man with a sword into the Zhonglonghua Gate, suspected of his strangeness, and ordered to receive it." The man donated his sword and walked away, and he was rewarded one by one. Get angry, chop the door. It can be seen from this incident that emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty in his later years attached great importance to his own safety, and he not only became sensitive, but even became cruel.
After Gongsun He's son Gongsun Jingsheng was arrested and imprisoned for embezzling public funds, he was accused of sending wizards to plant puppets on the road through which Emperor Wu of Han was going to pass to curse the emperor, and in addition, he also spoke evil words and disrespected His Majesty. Sensitive people often do extraordinary things, and when Emperor Wu of Han heard this, he was furious and immediately executed Gongsun He and Gongsun Jingsheng and exterminated them.
If you have a cold disease in your heart, you are afraid to eat watermelon. Once, because of a dream during his nap that "thousands of wooden people were trying to hit with their staffs", Emperor Wudi of Han was awakened, and he could not untie this knot, and his heart was very uneasy.
When The close minister Jiang Chong learned of this, he said that Emperor Wu had been caught in the art of witchcraft, and that someone must have secretly cast a spell to make the emperor uneasy.
Jiang Chong used this set of superstitious things to persuade Emperor Wu of Han that he actually wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of people who were unfavorable to him.
Once the mind has taken the side door, problems are bound to arise. Emperor Wu of Han appointed Jiang Chong "as an emissary to cure the witches and the prisons." ”
Privilege often becomes a weapon to satisfy selfish desires. Jiang Chong began to abuse the power given by the emperor. He "filled the land of witches to seek courtship, hunted the night shrine, looked at the ghosts, stained the orders where there were places, collected and punished them, burned iron tongs, and forcibly obeyed them." The people turned to false accusations of witchcraft, and the officials impeached them for believing that there was no way out; since the Jingshi, the Three Auxiliary Company, and the counties and the country, tens of thousands of people sat before and after the dead. ”
If you want to add to your sins, there is no excuse for it. In order to show his effectiveness, Jiang Chong imposed the crime of witchcraft on a large number of innocent officials and people.
Jiang Chong's biggest opponent was in the palace, and he aimed his spearhead at the figures around the emperor. On the grounds that the palace was full of witchcraft, Jiang Chong conducted a large-scale search of the harem. Jiang Chong and Empress Wei were originally estranged, and naturally could not escape the search. The crown prince Liu Zhao, who was deeply respected by Emperor Wu, became the best candidate for the throne, but Because Jiang Chong had a deep grudge with him, Liu Zhao naturally could not escape this disaster. "There are especially many wooden people in the Tai Womb, and there are also books, and what they say is not true." The prince was stuffed into the condom by Jiang Chong.
This is a mountain wolf, and the momentum is crazy. Jiang Chong zhen also found a puppet in the prince's bedchamber, and Empress Wei and crown prince Liu were indefensible. The terrified prince finds his teacher Shi De, who suggests that he arrest Jiang Chong first and kill him to prevent him from causing trouble.
When the narrow road met the victory of the brave, Liu Zhao sent his guests to pretend to be emissaries of Emperor Wu of Han, arrested Jiang Chong, and burned his wizard to death. Subsequently, Liu Zhao mobilized the guards and weapons in the palace to attack Jiang Chong and control important nodes. The actions of Prince Liu Zhao caused rumors of rebellion by the crown prince. The news reached the ears of Emperor Wu of Han, who was recuperating at Ganquan Palace, and he ordered Liu Zhao to come and explain.
The emissaries sent by Emperor Wu of Han were afraid of being killed by the crown prince, and instead of actually going to pass on the order, they turned back halfway and made up nonsense when they resumed their lives: "The prince has become a rebel, and he wants to behead his subjects, and the subjects flee." ”
Because of the alienation of the miscreants, the rift between The Han Wu Emperor Liu Che and the crown prince Liu Zhao was even greater.
Emperor Wu finally issued an order to suppress with soldiers and horses, and strictly ordered: "Those who hunt and kill rebels have their own rewards and punishments." Take the ox cart as a bridge, do not take short soldiers, and kill more soldiers! Seal the gates of the city, and do not let the rebels come out! Soon, Liu Zhao's soldiers fled in defeat, and "all the princes' guests entered and exited the palace gate, and all of them sat down; he sent troops with the prince to oppose the French; and the officials and robbers all migrated to Dunhuang County." ”
Pursued by officers and soldiers, Liu Zhu fled eastward, eventually hanging himself while knowing that the general trend was gone. A year later, in the third year of Zhenghe (90 BC), Emperor Wu of Han discovered many false circumstances when investigating the case of Wu Jiao, and he was very confused in his heart.
Gradually, as the truth of Jiang Chong's indiscriminate killing of innocents came to light, "Shang quite knew that the prince was afraid and had no other intentions", so he was very remorseful, so he dealt with the people who participated in the framing and harming of the prince one after another. According to the Book of Han, "Emperor Houwu knew that he was deceitful and yichong of the three tribes. ”
Adulterers are a corrosive agent of the government, Emperor Wu of Han understands, and the prince is gone. No one can create a regret medicine, but to leave a long sigh: May there be no adultery in the world.