Some people asked: Is the Shu Han established by Liu Bei a successor to the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty, and is it really a last resort for him to claim the title of emperor?
This question is a question of Liu Bei's pain, Liu Bei wants to be called emperor, that must be thought, Chao Si Twilight thought. However, the abdication of Liu Xie, the last emperor of the Han Dynasty, was obviously passed to Cao Pi, so was it the Han Dynasty orthodoxy inherited by Cao Wei or the Han Dynasty orthodoxy inherited by Shu Han?
We analyze one by one, first of all, Liu Bei's title of emperor, whether he was forced to do so, or whether he had already prepared, we cannot analyze this problem according to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
In the main history, Liu Xie did not die when Liu Bei was called emperor, and he concealed the fact that Liu Xie was still alive, and called himself emperor on the grounds that Emperor Xian of Han had died! Therefore, fundamentally speaking, deviating from his original intention of "Kuangfu Han Room", Emperor Xiandi of Han was called emperor without passing it on to him, which can actually be understood as rebellion.
Therefore, Liu Bei's move was actually resisted by his subordinate ministers, and Liu Bei was furious and took a series of measures.
Among them, Fei Shi was degraded, and when Liu Bei wanted to claim the title of emperor, Fei Shi once said:
"His Highness forced Cao Cao's father and son to usurp the throne, so he traveled thousands of miles and bound the soldiers, and he would curry favor with thieves." Now the great enemy has not been conquered, and the first Lord is self-reliant, fearing people's doubts. Xi Gaozu and Chu Yue, the king of Qin first. and Tu Xianyang, who had obtained a child and a baby, and who was still pushing and shoving, and now That His Highness had not gone out of the court, he wanted to establish himself as an evil! The Fool is sincere not for His Highness. ”
Fei Shi said this very clearly and sincerely, and his reason was that the lord should first pacify Cao Wei and make sure that there were no other successors in the Han Dynasty before he could establish himself as emperor, otherwise, it would be unreasonable for him to say so. However, Liu Bei could not listen to it at all, and Fei Shi followed Liu Bei to work hard in his early years, and he was really talented and practical, and he was deeply valued, and because he said a word, he was given Yongchang by Liu Bei on the charge of disobedience and could not be reused.
In addition to Fei Shi, Liu Ba, the talented son of Jingzhou, also disagreed with Liu Bei's claim to be emperor, and Liu Ba, along with Yongmao, went to counsel, believing that Liu Bei was not the dignity of a person in the Kuangfu Han room, and Liu Bei not only rejected their request to his face, but later found an excuse to kill Yongmao.
Liu Ba was a great talent, Liu Bei let him go, and Liu Ba reluctantly drafted a document for Liu Bei to be called emperor. However, from then on, he was depressed and unhappy, and his heart became more and more repulsive to Liu Bei, but he was under the eaves and had to bow his head, and Liu Bei said that liu Ba, who was the empress, died of depression soon after. It can be seen how urgent Liu Bei's mind was to claim the title of emperor, and he did not hesitate to degrade Fei Shi, behead Yongmao, and force Liu Ba, which also led to the retreat of those who wanted to defect to Liu Bei later.
It can be said that liu bei's timing for declaring himself emperor was to choose Cao Pi after he had just usurped the throne, could not wait, had premeditated, and even concealed the fact that Liu Xie, the emperor of Han Xian, was still alive, and lost the original intention of Kuangfu Han.
Besides, whether Shu Han was orthodox or not, in fact, compared to Cao Cao and Sun Quan, Liu Bei was indeed orthodox. After all, this is a ancestral inheritance, even if Liu Bei's line has long lost its former glory, but after all, it is still surnamed Liu.
However, Shu Han was not orthodox for Liu Xie, and it was reasonable to say that only Liu Xie's successor was considered orthodox, but because Liu Xie was a puppet emperor, this could not be cleared. However, I personally tend to view shu han as orthodox from the perspective of dynastic succession, because in the end, the Han government represented by Liu Xie has long since ceased to exist in name only, and Liu Bei is the only one who has the ability to restore the name of the Han state. However, from the perspective of the world, it was the State of Wei that inherited the orthodoxy, after all, Emperor Xian of Han passed the throne to Cao Pi, and it was also the State of Wei that occupied most of the world.
Let's look a little farther ahead, Liu Bei's line was originally defeated in the process of power struggle, the family declined, and fell to sell straw shoes for a living. Now that Liu Bei has gained power, it can be seen that Liu Bei has revitalized the glory of his own line and regained the qualification to compete for the power of the Han Dynasty.
If Liu Xie was strong and did not have Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao and the like to overthrow him, how could Liu Xie admit that Liu Bei was orthodox, and just by virtue of the two words "Shu Han", Liu Xie would have to convict Liu Bei of conspiracy to rebel. But now what Liu Xie said is not a word, instead of giving up the old ancestor Jiangshan to Cao Wei to change the dynasty, it is better to let Liu Bei inherit the orthodoxy, so that he can lead up several generations to be an ancestor, so that when he gets there, he will also have an explanation to the ancestors. Of course, these things could only be hidden in the depths of Liu Xie's heart, and he did not dare to say them in front of Cao Pi.
Of course, this ideal result is also what Liu Bei is willing to see, the moral high ground is in his own, and the legitimacy of his identity is not a problem, so Liu Xie nodded and admitted. Although Liu Bei is orthodox, but after all, he is not Cao Wei's opponent, you think you are legitimate, Cao Pi let Liu Xie say that you are not, the soldiers are in chaos, the fist is the last word, Liu Bei is reasonable and legal, and it is useless to pass the pass of Cao Pi Sun Quan.
Hearing that Liu Bei was called empress, the deposed Han Xiandi Liu Xie was silent at first, and after a while, he suddenly laughed, this laughter felt desolate, once trusted Liu Bei so much, but in the end he betrayed himself, so he indulged. When he woke up, he suddenly laughed, yes, he had been deposed, the new Han Emperor had also come out, and he was safe.
Finally, let's summarize these two problems.
Does Liu Bei want to be called emperor? That must have wanted to be called emperor, Liu Bei established Shu Han just wanted to be emperor, but his face could not be erased, he could not be too ostentatious, and then he finally caught the opportunity and immediately became emperor.
Is the Shu Han orthodox? It is also orthodox, to put it bluntly, Cao Pi is called stealing the country, Sun Quan is called declaring independence, which means that Liu Bei still has this identity, and can raise the banner of Han, but in the end he did not succeed.
However, since the defeat of the king in ancient times, no matter how much Liu Bei thought that he was legitimate, it was just a passing cloud, even if Cao Wei was usurped by the Sima family in only a few decades!