In 140 BC, at the age of 16, Liu Che ascended the throne and was known as Emperor Wu of Han. At Liu Che's succession ceremony, the eldest princess Liu Yan was excited, in her opinion, as Liu Che succeeded to the throne, she and her daughter will surely move towards a more brilliant tomorrow.
Emperor
Sure enough, after Liu Che succeeded to the throne, he immediately crowned Liu Yan as the eldest princess, and then made Liu Yan's daughter an empress, known as "Empress Chen". Liu's family thus ushered in the heyday of the family.
However, the love of the green plum bamboo horse also cannot stand the test of time. In 130 BC, Emperor Wu of han abolished the empress dowager of the Chen clan, and then replaced Wei Zifu, who was born from Ge Ji, as the new empress. So, why was Empress Chen, who was born of an aristocrat, replaced by a geji?
01 The merit of support
The reason why Empress Chen was able to become the empress of Emperor Wu of Han was inseparable from the help of her mother, Liu Yan.
According to the "Records of History", originally Liu Rong hoped to marry her daughter to the crown prince Liu Rong, so that her daughter would enter the palace in the future, but who knew that Liu Rong's mother hated that Liu Rong had sacrificed many beautiful women to Emperor Jing of Han, so she rejected Liu Rong's marriage plan.
Seeing that her daughter's empress throne was not secure, Liu Yan was anxious and annoyed. Who expected that Liu Che's mother, Lady Wang, happened to find Liu Yan at this time, and proposed to Liu Yan a plan for Liu Che, who was then the King of Jiaodong, to marry Liu Che's daughter.
According to the Zhiwei novel "The Story of Han Wu", after Liu Yan heard that Lady Wang was willing to marry, she asked the young Liu Che, "Who do you want to marry when you grow up?" While asking, he pointed to the palace girls next to him one by one, wanting to see if Liu Che had anyone he liked.
Who knew that Liu Yan had pointed out hundreds of people in a row, and Liu Che shook his head. Finally, Liu Yan pointed to her daughter and said, "Is it okay to marry Ah Jiao as a wife?" ”
When Liu Che heard this, he immediately replied: "If I can marry Ah Jiao, I will build a golden house for her to live in", leaving an allusion to "Golden House Hidden Jiao".
Liu Yan was overjoyed when she heard the promise of "Jinwu Zangjiao" and immediately made the decision to overthrow the crown prince Liu Rong and then support her son-in-law Liu Che as the crown prince.
In order to promote Emperor Jing of Han to replace the crown prince as soon as possible, Liu Yan repeatedly praised Liu Che in front of Emperor Jing, so that Emperor Jing's favor for Liu Che grew day by day. In 150 BC, Emperor Jing of Han finally deposed the crown prince Liu Rong as the Prince of Linjiang, as Liu Yan had expected, and replaced him with Liu Che, who was only 7 years old, as the crown prince.
The significance of this replacement of the crown prince is crucial to Liu Che, and it is precisely because of Liu Che's great help that Liu Che can stand out from many princes and become the emperor of the final generation of the world.
02 Life after marriage
Out of gratitude to Liu Yan, Liu Che made Liu Yan's daughter Chen Shi empress and prepared to spend her life hand in hand. However, because Empress Chen believed that her mother had contributed to Liu Che's ascension to the throne, she was very arrogant in the palace.
At first, Liu Che was able to compromise and endure Empress Chen's bad temper, but as time went on, Liu Che gradually lost patience. Liu Che's changes naturally concealed the eyes of his mother, Empress Wang, so Empress Wang specially came to Liu Che and said to him in a serious tone: "You have just ascended the throne, your foothold is not stable, the ministers have not yet returned to you, if you offend the eldest princess at this time, there will inevitably be disasters, you should think carefully about what to do." ”
Empress Chen stills
After listening to his mother's advice, Liu Che secretly accelerated the pace of consolidating imperial power while treating Empress Chen kindly. At this time, a new problem arose, that is, although Empress Chen favored the harem, she had never had children.
This question worried both Liu Che and Empress Chen. In order to give birth to the crown prince as soon as possible, Empress Chen even spent up to 90 million yuan to seek a famous doctor, but her stomach never moved.
Liu Che, who was full of hope for the crown prince, finally lost all patience with Empress Chen after experiencing one disappointment after another. Childlessness after marriage became the last straw that crushed the camel, bringing Liu Che's marriage to Empress Chen to the brink of rupture.
03 Rise of the Weeds
In 139 BC, Liu Che, who was childless under his knees, accidentally met the Geji Weizifu of the Princess of Pingyang's family. As soon as the two saw each other, Liu Che was moved by Wei Zifu and immediately met Wei Zifu in Shangyi's Xuan car.
The sensible Princess Pingyang saw this and gave Wei Zifu to Liu Che. At this time, Wei Zifu may not have thought that when she stepped into the palace door, the fate of her life would change.
Wei Zifu stills
After Wei Zifu entered the palace, he once again got Liu Che's luck, but Wei Zifu's stomach was very contentious, and he was pregnant after this luck.
Liu Che was overjoyed when he learned of this, and his favor for Wei Zifu became more and more day by day. Under the favor of Liu Che, Wei Zifu gave birth to three daughters successively, and the Han Palace finally had to smell the baby crying.
Empress Chen, who was alone in the empty room, watched Wei Zifu give birth again and again, and the vinegar in her heart could no longer be suppressed. In 130 BC, in order to regain Liu Che's favor, Empress Chen actually used flattery to invite favors.
Unexpectedly, this matter was quickly leaked out, and it involved a major case of Empress Chen's witchcraft. In anger, Liu Che deposed Empress Chen and moved to Nagato Palace, and the poor promise of "Golden House Hidden Jiao" was finally reduced to a cold text in the "Records of History".
"The empress is out of order, confused by witch blessings, and cannot accept the destiny of heaven." The seal on it is relegated to Nagato Palace"!
Shortly after Empress Chen was deposed, Wei Zifu became pregnant again and gave birth to Liu Che's eldest son, Liu Zhao, in 128 BC.
Looking at his son who had been waiting for many years, Liu Che was overjoyed, and he did not hesitate to make Wei Zifu the new empress, so that the Weiyang Palace Pepper Room Hall would usher in a new owner.
After Wei Zifu became empress, he opposed Empress Chen's arrogant style, was respectful to Liu Che, and was humble and courteous to his attendants, and soon received unanimous praise from all over the palace.
At the same time, the members of the Wei Zifu family, represented by Wei Qing and Huo Zhiyi, did not rely on Wei Zifu's nepotism to act recklessly, but fought bloodily on the frontier, made great contributions to the Han Dynasty, and won the respect of the world with their own strength.
It is precisely because of the brilliant achievements of Wei Zifu and his family members that Liu Che respects Wei Zifu and favors Rilong. In this way, Wei Zifu defeated Empress Chen, who was born of the nobility, and sat in the Middle Palace for 38 years, becoming an immortal legend in the history of the Western Han Dynasty.
References: "History", "Han Wu Story"