The Western Han Empire was the first huge empire in Chinese history to last more than 200 years, however, the Western Han Empire was also the first unified empire in Chinese history to have a concentration of foreign forces.
From Han Gaozu to the Lü family of Lü Hou during the Han Huidi period, to the Dou Yifang Dou family in the early days of Emperor Wu of Han, to the national heroes who defeated the Xiongnu after Emperor Wu of Han's pro-government, to the Wei Huo family, which held great power in the early days of Emperor Han Zhao and Emperor Xuan of Han, and finally to the Wang Mang family who usurped the Han Dynasty, the foreign forces left an extremely profound influence on the Han Dynasty.
Then, why could the Wang Mang family, which was also a foreign relative of the Western Han Dynasty, overthrow the Western Han Dynasty, but the Lü family, the Dou Yifang family, and the Wei Huo family could not?
Above_ Territory of the Western Han Dynasty
Why was Wang Mang able to shake the Western Han Dynasty
Wang Mang was the nephew of Empress Wang Zhengjun of the Western Han Dynasty, and after Wang Zhengjun became empress dowager, the power of the Wang family gradually grew. From Emperor Yuan of Han to Emperor Cheng of Han, to Emperor Ai of Han and Emperor Ping of Han, the Wang family had 9 people who were enfeoffed as marquises and 5 who served as Sima Da. In stark contrast to other members of the Wang family, Wang Mang himself loved disguises, lived frugally, and was studious. Wang Mang served his mother and widow, raised his brother's children, and gave people the image of "great filial piety". Wang Mang's "positive image" quickly spread.
In 22 BC, Wang Mang entered the Hancheng Emperor dynasty and began to serve as an official. With the nepotism of foreign relatives, Wang Mang soared all the way. Wang Mang defeated his political enemy Chun Yuchang and succeeded Wang Gen as the Grand Sima (大司馬). In 7 BC, Emperor Cheng of Han died and Emperor Liu Xin of Han ascended the throne. As Empress Dowager Fu, the grandmother of the Han Emperor Dingtao, began to gain power, Wang Mang, who was extremely sensitive to the political situation, temporarily withdrew from politics to see how it changed. During his retirement from politics, Wang Mang's son killed the family slaves and was severely punished by Wang Mang. Wang Mang once again showed himself in front of the world with a "positive image". Many people demanded Wang Mang's comeback, and the Han Emperor reinstated Wang Mang, but did not give Wang Mang the actual official position.
After the death of the Han Emperor, the Han Ping Emperor ascended the throne and Wang Mang took power. The family of Empress Wei, the mother of the Hanping Emperor, was killed by Wang Mang, and Wang Mang married his daughter to the Hanping Emperor, preparing for the seizure of imperial power and jiangshan. After repeated political struggles, in 9 AD, Wang Mang officially became emperor and established a new dynasty.
The above is the general process of Wang Mang's usurpation of power, through the process, we can draw two conclusions:
Above_ Wang Mang usurped Han
First of all, since the Western Han Dynasty became emperor, the emperors were either small or faint and incompetent, unable to restrain Wang Mang's foreign relatives.
The Han Yuan Emperor began, and the Western Han Dynasty went downhill. His emperor's ability to govern was not as good as that of the early and middle Emperors of the Han Dynasty, including Emperor Xuan of Han. Emperor Hancheng indulged in wine, and the Zhao Feiyan sisters of Zhao Hede were together all day, unable to govern the country and impossible to overthrow Wang Mang. The Han Emperor did not reign for a long time, but his health was not good, and although there were reforms, he was faint and unable to govern the country in the later period. Although the Han Emperor did not allow Wang Mang to return to politics as an official, the Han Emperor was powerless to eradicate Wang Mang's political power. The Hanping Emperor was young, and it was even more impossible to directly fight Wang Mang.
Second, Wang Mang is very good at disguising his true face.
He pretended to be the so-called "great filial piety", filial piety to the elders, raising his brother's widow, which formed a strong deception to the outside world. Even though Wang Mang withdrew from politics during the Han Dynasty, he punished the son who killed the slave, which made the outside world always praise Wang Mang, and the voice of officials and people hoping that Wang Mang would return to politics was always there.
It is precisely because of the above two reasons that Wang Mang gradually usurped the Western Han Dynasty and established a new dynasty.
Above: Lü Yan (241 BC – August 18, 180 BC)
Then, if Wang Mang's family could overthrow the Han Dynasty, why could the Lü Hou family, the Dou Yifang family, and the Wei Huo family, which were also foreign forces, overthrow the Han Dynasty?
First, Lü Lu, Lü Chan, and others of the Lü Hou family may have taken action to overthrow the Han Dynasty, but after Lü Hou's death, the Western Han imperial family and the heroes launched a coup d'état, killing Lü Hou's entire family and supporting liu Heng as the acting king, which led to the failure of Lü Hou's family's usurpation of the Han Dynasty.
In 202 BC, Liu Bang ascended the throne as empress, and Lü Hou became an empress of the Han Dynasty. After Liu Bang's death, the crown prince Liu Ying ascended the throne, and Lü Hou took control of the imperial government.
During the reign of Lü Hou, he continued to follow the path of Gao Zu's governance and recuperated. But Lü Hou himself was a person who valued power very seriously. For the sake of power, Lü Hou successively eliminated potential political rival forces such as Liu Ruyi and Lady Qi, and also killed Liu Jian, Liu You, and indirectly killed Liu Hui and other Liu Bang heirs. During his reign, Lü Hou made Lü Chan the King of Liang, Lü Lu the King of Zhao, and his nephew Lü Tong the King of Yan, and the Lü family rose to the top, with the momentum of replacing the Han Dynasty. After Liu Ying's death, Liu Gong, the former Young Emperor of Han Dynasty, ascended the throne, and because Liu Gong was dissatisfied with Empress Lü, Lü Hou secretly killed Liu Gong and supported the Later Young Emperor Liu Hong to come to power.
Whether it was Liu Ying, the Emperor Hui of Han, or the former Shao Emperor and the Later Shao Emperor, they were all puppets of Lü Hou.
Lü Hou's behavior aroused the strong vigilance of the Han Dynasty heroes Chen Ping and Zhou Bo. After Lü Hou's death, the Han Dynasty princely states of Qi and Huainan launched armed attacks, and cooperated with Chen Ping and Zhou Bo to exterminate the Lü family in a military coup. Chen Ping and Zhou Bo ascended the throne in Chang'an with liu heng, the acting king with no background, and Liu Heng was Emperor Wen of Han.
Above_ Empress Xiaowen Dou of the Western Han Dynasty, named Yifang (Empress Dowager Dou)
Second, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, Dou Yifang became empress. After the death of Emperor Wen of Han, during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han and Emperor Wu of Han, Dou Yifang was made empress dowager and empress dowager. Although Dou Yifang interfered in politics, the Dou Yifang family never formed a powerful political group of foreign relatives in the DPRK like the Lü Hou family.
Empress Dowager Dou herself had a strong desire for power, but there was a big difference between Empress Dowager Dou and Empress Lü: Empress Lü liked to monopolize power and let Emperor Hui of Han listen to everything. Empress Dowager Dou only took over some of her rights and did not form an absolute power interference with Emperor Jing of Han. Although Empress Dou's nephew Dou Bao was a foreign relative, he did not form a political group with Empress Dou, and Dou Infant also opposed some of Empress Dou's remarks. For example, Empress Dou wanted to make Liu Wu the Prince of Liang, the younger brother of Liu Qi, the Emperor of Han Jing, the crown prince, but Dou Bao refused.
After the death of Emperor Jingdi of Han, Empress Dowager Dou was upgraded again and became empress dowager. Although Empress Dowager Dou hoped that Emperor Wu of Han would rule the country in the way of Huang Lao, Empress Dowager Dou never used high-pressure political means to force Emperor Wu of Han to accept her political ideas as Empress Lü did. In 131 BC, after Empress Dou's death, Dou Infant was executed by Emperor Wu of Han, and Empress Dou's foreign forces withdrew from the stage of history.
Above_ Wei Qing(?) –106 BC), courtesy name Zhongqing, was a native of Pingyang, Hedong (present-day Linfen, Shanxi).
Third, Emperor Wu of Han was very wary of the Wei Huo family, and after Wei Qing's death, Emperor Wu of Han dealt a heavy blow to the strength of the Wei Huo family through the scourge of witchcraft. During the period of Emperor Han Zhao and Emperor Xuan of Han, Huo Guang of the Wei Huo family held great power, but Huo Guang was cautious and cautious, always grasping the duties of the chancellor, and conscientiously assisting Emperor Han Zhao and Emperor Xuan of Han. After Huo Guang's death, the Huo Guang family wanted to launch a coup d'état, but emperor Xuan of Han crushed the coup in one fell swoop.
Emperor Wu of Han was an emperor with great power, he did not allow himself to fall by the wayside, and he would do everything possible to consolidate the supreme imperial power. In terms of the princely states, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took the tuien order to divide the external princely states, so that the princely states did not have the strength to launch rebellions. In terms of foreign relatives, Emperor Wu of han reused members of foreign relatives such as Wei Qing and Huo Toyi to fight against the Xiongnu, but always raised the defense against the Usurpation of power by the Huo family. After Wei Qing was promoted to the rank of Grand Sima Grand General, Emperor Wu of Han promoted Huo Fuyi to the rank of Grand Sima Hui Riding General. The two great Sima formed a check and balance together, which showed the balance of power of Emperor Wu of Han.
Of course, as the brother-in-law of Emperor Wu of Han, Wei Qing always remained cautious and did not dare to cross the Thunder Pond, and Huo Wentai's personality was flamboyant, but he also scrupulously abided by the duties of a courtier, so that Emperor Wu of Han had great trust in Huo Goyi. And Huo Guang kept a low profile around Emperor Wu of Han, never saying a word that should not be said.
Above_ Huo went to the sick statue of the Western Expedition
However, Emperor Wu of Han was still jealous of the Wei Huo family, and after Wei Qing's death, the Han Dynasty broke out into the scourge of witchcraft. Some scholars now believe that the scourge of the witches was a political purge campaign by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty against the Wei Huo family. This statement itself is debatable, but it is undeniable that the Wei Huo family did suffer a lot after experiencing the scourge of witchcraft. Crown Prince Liu Zhao and Wei Zifu, as well as the family of Gongsun Ao, the chancellor, lost their lives. Because of Huo Guang's extremely careful words and deeds, Emperor Wu of Han never aroused suspicion, thus escaping the scourge of the Wu Clan and becoming the only spokesperson for the Huo Family, the defender of the Wokou Scourge.
Before his death, Emperor Wu of Han appointed Huo Guang as a chancellor to assist Emperor Zhao of Han. Huo Guang himself scrupulously adhered to the duties of a courtier, and while consolidating his own power, he helped Emperor Zhao of Han to govern the Han Dynasty. After the death of Emperor Zhao of Han, Huo Guangxian supported Liu He to come to power. However, due to Liu He's misbehaving behavior, Huo Guang deposed Liu He, and Liu Yi, the grandson who supported the crown prince Liu Zhao, had come to power. After Liu Yi had ascended the throne, Huo Guang continued to maintain his duties as a courtier, while Emperor Xuan of Han reused Huo Guang while being wary of Huo Guang. After Huo Guang's death, Emperor Xuan of Han smashed the coup d'état of the Huo Guang family in one fell swoop, and hung Huo Guang's portrait on the first place in the list of heroes of the Qilin Pavilion.
Above_ Huo Guang(?) -68 BC)
All in all, the outbreak of the Lü Lü coup d'état foiled the plot of the Lü Hou clique to usurp the Han Dynasty, and the Dou Yifang family never formed a huge group of foreign relatives with ironclad plates. The two-sided political strategy of Emperor Wudi of Han and Emperor Xuan of Han and other emperors both reusing and suppressing foreign forces keeps the imperial throne in the hands of the emperor, and even if the foreign forces are strong, the emperor can rely on the imperial power to suppress or even eliminate foreign forces.
This was the case with the curse of the witches, and so was the coup d'état of the Huo Guang family. And Wei Qing, Huo Fuyi, Huo Guang and other members of the Wei Huo family always abided by the duties of courtiers, and even if Huo Guang held great power, he also scrupulously adhered to the duties of courtiers, which was essentially different from Wang Mang, who coveted the highest power.
Author: Zhenguan Correction/Editor: Lilith
References: "History", "Book of Han"
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author