When Jia Yi was eighteen years old, he was "known as Junzhong for being able to recite poetry and books", and in his early twenties, he was appreciated by Emperor Wen of Han, who promoted him from doctor to Taizhong Doctor in just one year, and even wanted to "take the position of Public Secretary of State with Yi". During this period, Jia Yi proposed a large number of reform strategies, but "the times were unlucky, and his fate was uncertain", and he was demoted by Emperor Wen of Han to the title of Prince taifu of Changsha. Therefore, Jia Yi became a typical case of Huai Cai in the pen of later generations of literati, and the Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin wrote in his "Jia Sheng":
Xuanfu asked for a visit to the courtiers, and Jia Sheng was even more ruthless. Poor night half empty front seat, do not ask the heavens to ask the ghosts and gods.
So, did Emperor Wen of Han, who was known for his wisdom, really "not ask the heavenly beings to ask the ghosts and gods"? Is there anything hard for him to say? Let's first look at the origin of Emperor Wendi of Han's "don't ask the gods and ghosts":
The "Book of Han and Jia Yi Biography" records: "Later years later, Emperor Wen Siyi, Zhengzhi. To, into the view, above the minced, sit in the missionary room. The upper body asks the ghost god because of the ghost god thing. Friendship is the reason for this. In the middle of the night, Emperor Wen sat in front of him. "I haven't seen Jia Sheng for a long time, I thought it was too much, and now I can't do it." "Nai Baiyi is the Prince of Lianghuai."
This account conveys three messages to us:
1. After Jia Yi was demoted to Changsha, Emperor Wen of Han missed him a lot, so he summoned him to Chang'an and personally received him.
2. Emperor Wen of Han and Jia Yi talked all night in the Xuan Room (the main room of the front hall of Weiyang Palace), of which the first half of the night was about ghosts and gods, but in the second half of the night, after "Emperor Wen's front seat", he once said some whispered words with Jia Yi, and what they talked about specifically, but there was no record.
3. Although Emperor Wen of Han deposed Jia Yi, he always admired his talents. He was ordered to assist Wu Zhu (the only prince with a different surname) to Liu Yi (the prince of Liang) (the younger son whom Emperor Wen of Han loved very much).
Emperor Wen of Han deposed Jia Yi out of helplessness
Then, why did Emperor Wen of Han, who knew that he could not learn Jia Yi, leave Jia Yi around to give advice, but depose Jia Yi to the distant state of Changsha? Since jia yi had already been summoned to Weiyang Palace, why did he "assign" him to Liang Guo again? The Hanshu Jia Yi Biography records the reasons for Jia Yi's dethronement:
Yi thought that Hanxing for more than twenty years, the world and harmony, it is advisable to correct Shuo, easy to serve the color system, set the official name, xing li le. It is the grass with its ritual method, the color is yellow, the number is five, and the official name is changed, and it is played. Emperor Wen humbled Wei Huangye. However, the decrees of the various decrees and the kings of the kingdom are all issued. Therefore, tianzi agreed to be the secretary of state. Dai (i.e., Zhou Bo, Marquis of Dai), Dou (i.e., Marquis Yingyin), Marquis of Dongyang (i.e., Zhang Xiangru), and Feng Jingzhi (then Yushi Dafu) were all harmful, but ruined yiyi: "The people of Luoyang were young and beginners, and they wanted to abuse power and chaos. Therefore, the Queen of Heaven also neglected him, and without his discussion, he made Yi the Prince of Changsha.
Obviously, Emperor Wen of Han, who had planned to "take the position of Public Secretary of State" and finally deposed Jia Yi, was not out of his true will, but under the pressure of Zhou Bo, Dou Bao and other early Han dynasty heroes! During Jia Yi's tenure as Grand Master of Taizhong, in addition to proposing to let the princes take the throne (Emperor Wen of Han adopted this suggestion and issued an edict ordering the marquis to take the country, but the ministers did not implement it until more than a year later), he also proposed the policy of "building princes and reducing their strength", which was the abuse of the "Tui En Order" during the Han Wu Emperor period! The proposal of this policy was inevitably met with collective resistance from vested interests, the early Han heroes, which eventually led to Emperor Wen of Han having to abandon the appointment of Jia Yi and adopt a series of Huairou policies to appease the early Han heroes.
The great power of the Early Han Dynasty Meritorious Sect
From the following examples, we can see that the Han Dynasty Meritorious Sect is strong enough to specify who is the "True Destiny Son" they need! In the face of this powerful force, Emperor Wen of Han had to make concessions.
1. In the suppression of the rebellion of Zhu Lü, Liu Zhang, the Marquis of Zhuxu, and others contributed to it, and the "History of qi mourning the Huiwang family" records: "When the first chancellor of the Lü clan was in charge, the Marquis of Zhu Xu was particularly powerful, and Xu duly took the title of Marquis of Zhu Xu, the King of Zhao, and the Marquis of Dongmu, the King of Liangdi. That is to say, Liu Zhang, the Marquis of Zhuxu, had made great contributions and was also a royal family member of the Han Dynasty, but all his rewards were subject to the Gongchen Sect, and the Gongchen Sect even had the ability to upgrade Liu Zhang from Hou to King! It can be seen from this that the power of the Meritorious Sect is far above that of the princes.
2. The "History of Empress Lü's Benji" records: "The ministers and conspirators said: "The Young Emperor and the kings of Liang, Huaiyang, and Changshan were not true filial pieties. Lü Hou deceived the other son, killed his mother, raised a harem, and made Xiao Huizizhi, the queen, and the kings, to strengthen the Lü clan. Now all have destroyed the Zhulu, and what is established is a long-term use, and I belong to no kind. It is better to regard the kings as the wisest of the kings. That is, after pacifying Zhulu, the Gongchen faction asserted that the current Shao Emperor and many princes were not the biological sons of Emperor Hui of Han, and in order to avoid them from "being a long-term affair, I belong to no class", the Gongchen faction killed all these young princes (including the then emperor, the Later Shao Emperor Liu Hong), and decided to establish a new monarch. In this process, no one questioned the fact that "the Young Emperor and the Kings of Liang, Huaiyang, and Changshan were not true filial pieties".
3. If a new monarch were to be established, the most suitable person at that time would be Liu Xiang, the king of Qi,—he took the lead in raising an army in pacifying Zhulu and made a prominent contribution, and at the same time he was the eldest grandson of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, and had the priority of inheriting the throne, but the heroes easily excluded him, on the grounds that "the family of the mother of the Qi Dynasty is also a wicked person." That is, the king of Liqi, he was restored to the Lü clan." In the end, Liu Heng, the Acting King, was accepted by the Meritorious Faction for his "benevolent filial piety and generosity" personality, and he was the later Emperor Wen of Han. It can be seen from this that after the rebellion of Zhulu, the power of the world was completely in the hands of the Meritorious Sect.
In the previous article, Guoshijun (Guoshi Tongyi) said that after Emperor Wen of Han ascended the throne, he made a series of measures to consolidate imperial power, but even though Emperor Wendi of Han was always trying to suppress the forces of the Gongchen faction, he still failed to change "from Hanxing to Xiaowen for more than twenty years... The situation of "all the ministers and secretaries of state" - the power network composed of more than 140 princes is really too large! Therefore, he can only take back power by gentle means, and when he has to make concessions and compromises to the heroes.
Jia Yi is a lamentable victim in this gladiatorial struggle between Emperor Wen of Han and the Meritorious Sect, and I don't know how much bitterness and helplessness are hidden in the middle of "the Queen of Heaven is also neglected, and there is no need to discuss it"!
And Jia Yi's strategy was not completely unimplemented: for the Gongchen faction, Emperor Wen of Han forced Zhou Bo to "lead the country of the Marquis" and break up the Gongchen faction that "reported the group to warm up"; for the princes, after the death of Liu Ze, the King of Qiwen, "Emperor Wen Si Jiasheng's words were divided into six kingdoms, and the six princes of Mourning Hui were kings; and the king of Huainan was moved to Chengyang, and Huainan was divided into three kingdoms, and the three sons of the li king were the kings", which initially realized Jia Yi's "building princes and reducing their strength". These measures of Emperor Wen of Han laid a solid foundation for Emperor Jingdi of Han and Emperor Wu of Han to strengthen centralized power and to crack down on the forces of the meritorious faction of the early Han Dynasty.
Jia Yi, on the other hand, could not wait for this day.