Emperor Wen of Han▼
Historically, the evaluation of Emperor Wen of Han has always been less controversial. His diligence and thriftiness, lightness and thin endowment, as well as leniency in punishment and caution in killing, were widely praised by later generations. However, later generations were quite controversial about Emperor Wen of Han's handling of the rebellion of his brother Liu Chang, the King of Huainan. Not only that, in many history books, the circumstances of this conspiracy case are unclear, and this big case seems to have a deep hidden feeling.
Before uncovering the mystery case, let's first understand the life of Liu Chang, the king of Huainan. Liu Chang was the seventh son of Emperor Liu Bang of Han. Before Liu Chang was born, his mother Zhao Ji was implicated in a treason case (the case of Zhang Ao, the King of Zhao) and was eventually imprisoned. Until Liu Chang was born, Zhao Ji could not leave the prison. Not only that, Zhao Ji, who was already cold, committed suicide with hatred shortly after giving birth. After Liu Bang heard that Zhao Ji had committed suicide, Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, asked Lü Hou to raise Liu Chang and make him the King of Huainan.
During Lü Hou's reign, Liu Chang was not harmed because of his special relationship with Lü Hou. After Emperor Wen of Han ascended the throne, Liu Chang became his only living brother, and Emperor Wen of Han took great care of him. However, Liu Chang took advantage of Emperor Wen of Han's protection and embarked on a road of no return.
Chang'an City▼
After Emperor Wen of Han ascended the throne, Liu Chang often abused his close relationship with Emperor Wen and committed illegal acts, and Emperor Wen often pardoned Liu Chang for various transgressions. Even when Liu Chang entered the pilgrimage to see Emperor Wen, he was arrogant and rude, and when hunting with Emperor Wen of Han, he even rode in the same car and directly called Emperor Wen "big brother".
After the Lü family's power was jointly eradicated by the Gongchen clique, Emperor Wen of Han, and the clique of kings with the same surname, Liu Chang, the king of Huainan, resented that He (Lü Hou's favorite) had not rescued his mother that year, so he personally beat and killed Him. According to Han Dynasty law, killing the marquis was a felony, but Liu Chang had a good idea, listing his crimes one by one. This time, Emperor Wen of Han still did not punish him. Unexpectedly, the king of Huainan not only did not repent, but became more and more arrogant.
Since he had been killed and judged without permission, Liu Chang had become even more arrogant and lawless, and even compared the etiquette standards to that of the same heavenly son, and his arrogance was so great that even Empress Bo, the crown prince, and all the courtiers avoided his attack. However, there were also courtiers who were dissatisfied with this, such as the chancellor Yuan Ang, who once advised Emperor Wen: "The princes are too arrogant and indulgent, and they will be in trouble." But Emperor Wen did not listen, he did not want to punish the King of Huainan, he was just waiting for the right opportunity.
Emperor Wen of Han's Mausoleum▼
Emperor Wen of Han's connivance of the King of Huainan was the same as that of Duke Zheng Zhuang. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Zhuanggong continued to condone his younger brother Duan Gongshu for violating the etiquette and expanding his power. A minister advised Zheng Zhuanggong to restrain GongShu Duan, and Zheng Zhuanggong said: "If you do more unrighteous deeds, you will kill yourself." "It means that when Uncle Gong duan makes a big mess, he will have an excuse and an opportunity to clean him up in one fell swoop."
Later, Liu Chang did a lot of unusual things in Huainan, such as expelling officials sent by the imperial court, appointing officials on his own, promulgating laws on his own, executing prisoners without authorization, and so on. Emperor Wen of Han did not even personally issue an edict to rebuke him, but asked his uncle Bo Zhao to write a letter to Liu Chang, exhorting him to change evil and follow good.
If Emperor Wen of Han really loved his brother, he would have severely stopped him from continuing to make mistakes, but Emperor Wen ostensibly advised him, but in fact continued to connive at him, waiting for him to take a dangerous step. Shortly after Bo Zhao sent a letter to the King of Huainan, a treason case occurred...
In the sixth year of Emperor Wen's reign (174 BC), Chancellor Xiang, Yushi Dafu, Zong Zheng, Tingwei and other ministers sang the song: Liu Chang, the King of Huainan, sent people to collude with Chai Qi, the son of Chai Wu, the Marquis of Zhipu, in an attempt to use 40 chariots to plot a rebellion at Taniguchi. In the song, the ministers listed Liu Chang's various illegal acts in peacetime, but they brushed aside the rebellion itself.
The "rickshaw" mentioned in the songshu is a kind of rickshaw, which is mainly used to transport weight to the army on rough roads. Some rough roads are impassable by horse-drawn carriages, so they can only be transported by such rickshaws.
Guanzhong Plain▼
Gukou refers to Gukou County in the Western Han Dynasty, located south of present-day Chunhua County in Shaanxi Province, northwest of Jingyang County, which is the northern edge of the Guanzhong Plain. To the north of Taniguchi Prefecture is a steep east-west mountain range, the Nine Ridges [zōng] Mountains. Jingshui carved a canyon in the Jiuwei Mountains and flowed into the Guanzhong Plain. The so-called valley mouth actually refers to the valley mouth of the Jingshui River Valley of the Jiugao Mountains.
From Chang'an, through the valley mouth, into the Jingshui River Valley, and then along the river valley, you can reach one of the most important summer residences of the Western Han Dynasty, Ganquan Palace, which is located on the Ganquan Mountain in today's Chunhua County.
Ganquan Palace▼
Therefore, the truth of Taniguchi's rebellion is likely to take advantage of Emperor Wen of Han's way to Ganquan Palace, or from Ganquan Palace to Chang'an, to block the rugged canyon mountain road with 40 cars, and then take the opportunity to attack the emperor's car.
This time, the courtiers suggested that Liu Chang be beheaded, but Emperor Wen was forced by public opinion to only send him to Shudi. However, Liu Chang had a fierce temperament and died of hunger strike on the way, leaving Emperor Wen with a notoriety of killing his younger brother. Although Emperor Wen tried his best to clean up the aftermath, he let the people of the world see his hypocrisy and cold-bloodedness. Later, the people made up a song to satirize him: "A foot of cloth, still can be sewn; a bucket of millet, still can be scooped; two brothers are incompatible." (It is likely that this ballad was issued by Liu Chang's co-conspirators)"
It is worth mentioning that although Emperor Wen of Han killed the Lü clique, his first wife was a member of the Lü clan. As we all know, Lü Hou liked to marry Lü's daughter to the princes, trying to control the princes through female dependents. The first queen of the late King Liu Heng was also of the Lü clan, and it is said that they got along well, and the first four sons of the Dai Wang were most likely born of the Dai Wang, so Lü Hou did not target the Dai Wang.
After the coup d'état, Queen Lü and her four sons soon died. It is very likely that Liu Heng, the acting king, wanted to exchange this for the trust of the Military Merit Group.
In fact, no matter who was in the position of Emperor Wen of Han, it was necessary to eliminate the King of Huainan. After all, Emperor Wen of Han was not a concubine, and his mother, Empress Bo, was also an unfavored concubine. Since Emperor Wen of Han was able to ascend to the throne, Liu Chang, the king of Huainan, also had this qualification, after all, their inheritance rights were the same, and both of them were very young. And most importantly, soon after Emperor Liu Heng of Han succeeded to the throne, he got rid of the control of the Gongchen clique, which greatly dissatisfied the Gongchen clique, so there was time for this rebellion. If Emperor Wen of Han did not kill the King of Huainan, he would inevitably have the sound of a candle shadow axe, and then another time the Gongchen group conspired with the sons of the clan to become emperor.
After all, the imperial family has real family affection to speak of, and Emperor Wen can be a good emperor.
Weiyang Palace Front Hall▼
The ascension to the throne was a bit of a trading element, and since Emperor Gao's surviving sons were the oldest and far from the center, they were chosen by the anti-Lü clique by chance or necessity. In order to show his sincerity, he did all the blood of the Young Emperor, and then acquiesced in the elimination of his descendants with the Blood of the Lü clan, winning the trust of the heroes. Liu Heng really made everything arranged before and after entering Beijing. Such a person who killed Liu Chang can only be said to be an old-fashioned political skill, and nothing else can be said, if he does not kill, it is very likely that he will follow in the footsteps of the Young Emperor of Han.
Sealing the territory of Lietu is the way to take chaos, cutting and abolishing the lord, is a necessary transitional step for any dynasty, from the founding of the country to the shouye, whether Emperor Wen intentionally or unintentionally killed Liu Chang, it is not excessive! It is only because he lacks a blueprint to learn from, it is inevitable that it is too rough, after all, until the Ming Dynasty, there was a systematic clan management system such as the "Imperial Ming Ancestral Training", and it was not until the Qing Dynasty that there was a secret storage system, and only then did it handle the internal relations of the clan more gently.
Emperor Wen of Han had lived a trembling and treading on thin ice since he was a child, and if it were not for the fact that his mother Bo Ji did not like to compete for favors and was willing to take him to the desolate daiguo to take the country, Emperor Wen of Han would most likely have been harmonized by Empress Lü. Looking through the life of Emperor Wen of Han, his people were quite deep in the city government, and they often treated hostile forces with impotence, and were good at "planning and then moving", and strived to kill with one blow.