What is this concept? To give two examples: since ancient times, the emperor's tombs have been extremely hidden, very few have been found, and the terracotta pit of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang has added much brilliance to China's historical sites, and it is still without the premise of not discovering the main tomb of Qin Shi Huang. In addition, in 2011, when the tomb of Liu He was discovered by chance in the Western Han Dynasty, it immediately caused a sensation in the world, and it was also selected as a national century-old archaeological discovery, and Liu He was only the tomb of a marquis who was not famous. Compared with these two major historical discoveries, everyone should be able to imagine the extreme importance of the tomb of the famous emperor Han Wendi, who dates back more than 2,000 years.
Liu Heng was the son of Liu Bangshu, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, and the third emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. Liu Heng's legendary life began with the second emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, who was succeeded by Liu Bang and his wife Lü Ying's son Liu Ying after Liu Bang's death. Emperor Hui of Han Liu Ying was physically and physically weak, so even though he was nominally the second heir of the Han Empire, the government was basically controlled by his mother Empress Dowager Lü.
Lü Hou should be familiar to everyone, an extremely vicious and politically skilled strong woman. Lü Hou, who had followed Liu Bang since the end of Liu Bang's affairs, was a woman who had experienced great winds and waves, and Liu Bang claimed that the empress dowager had plotted against Han Xin and killed Peng Yue, and after Liu Bang's death she gradually eliminated liu's surnamed king; what was even more shocking was her method of dealing with Liu Bang's concubine Qi, who was competing with her for favor after Liu Bang's death: she flattened her facial features, cut off her limbs, and then threw her into the pit to let her fend for herself, that is, the so-called human yan. Her own son, Emperor Hui of Han, saw this cruel scene and collapsed psychologically, unable to manage the government anymore. At this time, Lü Hou also smoothly and directly grasped the supreme power of the empire belonging to her son.
After taking control of the dynasty, this powerful woman began to support her brothers and nephews Lü Lu, Lü Tai and Lü Chan to ascend to high positions, and at the same time excluded the kings surnamed Liu, Liu Bang's two sons Zhao Ruyi and Zhao You, one was poisoned by Lü Hou, and the other was starved to death by Lü Hou. Lü Hou's actions, both emotionally and in practical interests, made the nobles of Liu's descendants extremely dissatisfied, but they were all jealous of Lü Hou's prestige and means, so even if there was dissatisfaction, they could only hide it.
The political struggle is so cruel, so what was our protagonist Liu Heng doing at that time? Liu Heng was the acting king, the daiguo in today's Inner Mongolia and Hebei Dynasty, in the Han Dynasty was still a desolate and remote place, where there was only barren land and the northern barbarians who were close at hand, the Xiongnu. Liu Heng himself was an extremely low-key and obedient person, who usually kept to himself in his own territory and rarely interacted with the powerful ministers at that time, so his character and the resources he possessed could not threaten Lü Hou's rule, at least in Lü Hou's view, he could not threaten.
In 180 BC, Lü Hou died. The anger of the princes surnamed Liu finally broke out, and Liu Zhang, the Marquis of Zhu, took the lead in attacking and killing Lü Chan in the palace. Liu Zhang's brother Liu Xiang (劉襄), the Prince of Qi, also sent troops from the State of Qi to the capital Chang'an, and with the cooperation of the taiwei Zhou Bo (太尉周博), the chancellor Chen Ping (丞相陈平), and the general Dou Bao (劉匳匳), he completely eradicated the Lü family that had stolen power, and also abolished the puppet emperor Shaodi, who was supported by Lü Hou.
At this time, there was a vacuum in the supreme center of power of the empire - who would be the emperor? It is reasonable to say that Liu Xiang, the king of Qi at this time, should succeed to the throne, after all, he is Liu Bang's grandson, and he is located in the state of Qi, and the hard power such as military strength and wealth and grain is the most abundant among the nobles surnamed Liu. Liu Xiang did have great ambitions for the throne, and he also contributed the most in this coup. However, because Liu Xiang, Liu Zhang, and Liu Xingju's brothers had too much power, which also made Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, Dou Bao, and others have a strong sense of insecurity, these powerful ministers followed Liu Bang into death when Liu Bang revolted, and their political sense of smell was extremely sensitive, so they strongly opposed Liu Xiang's succession to the throne. Zhou Bo had the capital guard, Chen Ping as the head of the Wenchen, and Dou Bao had a heavy garrison at Xingyang (present-day Zhengzhou, Henan), which was right between the State of Qi (around present-day Shandong) and the capital (near present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi), which contained the forces of the State of Qi and prevented the King of Qi from leading his troops to Chang'an.
The opinion of these powerful ministers was: "The acting king Fang Fang is now Emperor Gao's son, the longest, and the benevolent filial piety is generous." Empress Dowager Bo was kind. And standing long and obedient, with benevolence and filial piety in the world, poop. The literal and underlying meaning of this passage is probably that Liu Heng is the longest of Liu Bang's surviving sons (in line with the etiquette of succession), Liu Heng's mother is very good to Empress Bo (her mother's family is weak, and will not be like Empress Lü's foreign relatives who monopolize power and exclude and control us ministers), and Liu Heng is known for his benevolence and filial piety (few eyes, soft heart, and good control). Therefore, after these ministers reached a consensus, Liu Xiang and others had no choice but to accept it.
At this time, Liu Heng, the acting king who was quietly watching this coup d'état in the borderlands, after receiving the invitation of Zhou Bo and Chen Ping to succeed to the throne, his close subordinates supported and opposed him to directly accept the throne, and the first objection was: Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, and Dou Bao were liu Bang's generals, with changeable means, heavy troops, and very ambitious, welcoming Liu Heng as emperor, just using Liu Heng's name to control the government, so please Liu Heng said that he was sick and did not go! (Xi Bing, scheming... In the name of welcoming the great king, it is really not credible, may the great king say that he is sick and not to go, in order to see his changes in the "History of Filial Piety"). The opinion of the supporting party is: this is a divine gift, not a human being! Even if these powerful ministers had different ideas, the people of the world and the princes surnamed Liu would not agree. Liu Heng was very entangled in his heart, so he looked for someone to make a gua: Daji! At this time, he was not very relieved, so he first sent his uncle Bo Zhao to the capital to explore the truth, find Zhou Bo Chen Ping to understand the situation, and then Liu Heng went to Chang'an with confidence.
Of course, this process of being called emperor will not be elaborated on, it is nothing more than the group of ministers kneeling to persuade Liu Heng to inherit the unification, Liu Heng resolutely resigned and humbled, back and forth several times, Liu Heng was able to "avoid embarrassment" to agree: the clan room, the general, the king, and the liehou thought that Mo Yi was a widow, and the widow did not dare to resign ("History of Filial Piety" - since you all said that there is no more suitable than me, then I dare not resign)
In 179 BC, Liu Heng succeeded Tianzi to the throne, and was later known as Emperor Wen of Han.
Liu Heng immediately showed great political talent after becoming emperor:
1. On the first night of the succession, he first appointed Song Chang, a close associate who had come to Chang'an with him from the Daiguo, as a wei general (controlling the military strength of the Chang'an garrison) and Zhang Wu as Lang Zhongling (in charge of personnel)
2. On the same night, he issued an edict granting amnesty to the world and granting the people the first rank of knight (appeasing the world and quelling the civil unrest caused by the coup)
3. In the first month of succession, the fiefdoms of the Lü family were awarded to the nobles of the Liu clan (stabilizing the princes of the Liu surname)
4. In the same month, Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, Dou Bao and other meritorious heroes (to appease the powerful ministers)
5. In the third month, he established his eldest son Liu Qi as crown prince, that is, the later Emperor Jing of Han (to avoid the power struggle of his sons and the suspicion of his ministers)
After doing this, Liu Heng, the Emperor of HanWen, completely controlled the situation, and then he officially began his imperial career, and he did quite a few pioneering things in his life:
1. Abolish the system of consecutive sitting, abolish corporal punishment, and abolish thick burials (Shan Mo Da Yan, the model of the future benevolent king)
2. He was about Kundi and Heqin with the Xiongnu, and at the same time served as a great general (before the empire was strong, to strive for time for cultivation and survival- my policy of "Taoguang Yang Obscurity" of Emperor Taizong Deng Gong was also)
3. Quell the rebellion of the King of Jibei and at the same time distribute the land of the State of Qi to the sons of the King of Qi (the prototype of the Tuien Order)
4. Determine the agriculture-oriented, practice what you preach, be diligent and simple.
These wise policies enabled the Western Han Empire to create a good situation of "the rule of Wenjing". In 157 BC, Emperor Wen of Han Liu Heng collapsed at Weiyang Palace in Chang'an. Reigned for 23 years!
Let's use Sima Qian's words to summarize this generation of Ming Jun-