In the general impression of people, all the emperors were either inherited from their fathers and emperors or rebelled against the country themselves. There seems to be no other possibility. Is this really the case? Of course not!
Portrait of Qin Shi Huang
The first category, of course, is the founder of the emperor system! Yingzheng's father, King Xiang of Qinzhuang, was not an emperor, and Yingzheng himself did not rebel, and After sweeping away the crowds, he felt that it was not too addictive to be the king of Qin again, and simply created an emperor system by himself, and he was also known as "Zulong"! This emperor was convincing, and it had nothing to do with whether he liked Qin Shi Huang or not. After Qin Shi Huang, China has completely entered the era of family world, and the throne is the exclusive property of the royal family, and others must not covet it. In the next two thousand years, in addition to the succession of fathers and sons, there were also various abnormal phenomena in the succession to the throne.
Emperor Cao Cao of Weiwu
The second category, which nominally did not rebel, but in fact overthrew the regime of other people's families, and this type of person is often called usurper by later generations. For example, Wang Mang's father Wang Man was not an emperor, and Wang Mang himself did not launch an uprising or mutiny, and after Wang Mang completely controlled the situation in the world, many pushers appeared, and some people faked the Book of Heaven, so Wang Mang was very embarrassed to become emperor. For example, Cao Pi, Cao Pi's father Cao Cao was not an emperor. As far as Cao Pi himself was concerned, he did not fight or rebel, and his father was still a suppressor of rebellion. However, after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi could not hold back, the persuasion table also appeared, and the Heavenly Book also appeared. Therefore, there was a performance in Xuchang, everyone had the opportunity to see pei Songzhi's notes in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which was very interesting, The Han XianDi sincerely let it, Cao Pi sincerely resigned, and finally Cao Pi was unwilling to become emperor. After the Zen ceremony was over, Cao Pi said, "I know the things of Yao Shun!" "At that time, Yao Shun, it is estimated that I did the same." We can continue to list this list, such as Sima Yan, Liu Yu, Xiao Daocheng, Xiao Yan, Chen Baxian, Gao Yang, Yu Wenjue, Yang Jian, Li Yuan and others.
Portrait of Emperor Xuan of Han
The third category is often because the imperial court has a situation of lack of successors to the throne, and it is inevitable that heirs can only be selected from the imperial family. The first person to ascend to the throne in this way was Liu Qing, the Emperor Xuan of Han. After the death of Emperor Wu of Han, his youngest son Emperor Zhao of Han took the throne. After emperor Han Zhao died at the age of twenty-one, he had no sons. Therefore, Huo Guang, who actually controlled the government, chose Liu He, the grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, as emperor from among the imperial family. However, after Liu He became emperor, he clashed with Huo Guang, and only twenty-seven days later, Huo Guang deposed Liu He. Later, Huo Guang chose Emperor Wu of Han's great-grandson Liu Qing as emperor, and he was Emperor Xuan of Han. Emperor Xuan of Han's father, Liu Jin, was killed in a coup d'état in the later years of Emperor Wu of Han and did not become emperor, and Liu Zhen also lived in the people since childhood. If Liu He's twenty-seven days of emperors did not count, then the first emperor to succeed the emperor was Emperor Xuan of Han. Later, after the death of Emperor Hancheng, Emperor Hancheng's nephew Emperor Hanlai ascended the throne, and Emperor Han's father, Dingtao Gong, was not emperor either. After the death of the Han Emperor, his cousin Emperor Hanping ascended the throne, and Emperor Hanping's father, King Xiaowang of Zhongshan, was not an emperor either. Later, the Eastern Han Dynasty often had a situation where no one inherited the imperial throne, and the Han An Emperor, the Han Quality Emperor, the Han Huan Emperor, and the Han Ling Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty were not emperors. When he came to Cao Wei, neither The Duke of Gaoguixiang nor the Wei Yuan Emperor Cao Huan were the sons of the emperor. The same was true of Sun Wu's emperor Sun Hao.
The Guangxu Emperor
For this type of succession to the throne, I can make a long list, and finally say two that are relatively familiar to everyone. The Guangxu Emperor and the last emperor Puyi were like this. After the death of the Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun, he had no sons. Empress Dowager Cixi made the decision and let Zai Xiang, the son of Prince Shuo, a cousin of the Tongzhi Emperor, become emperor, and he was the Guangxu Emperor. Later, when the Guangxu Emperor died, he did not have sons. It was still Empress Dowager Cixi who made the guangxu emperor's nephew Puyi, the son of Zaifeng the Prince of Guangxu, take the throne, and he was the Xuantong Emperor.
Chai Rong, who inherited the throne from his uncle
This situation is generally transmitted within a family. Of course, there are special cases. For example, Later Zhou Taizu Guo Wei had no relatives before he became emperor. At the time of Guo Wei's death, his dearest relative was his wife's nephew Chai Rong, so Guo Wei could only pass the throne to Chai Rong. Chai Rong was Later Zhou Shizong.
Zhu Yuanzhang passed the throne to his grandson
In addition, the Emperor's grandson, the Emperor's brother and the like, their fathers are not emperors, and they have not rebelled. There are also many imperial grandchildren in Chinese history. That is, after the death of the emperor's crown prince, the emperor directly took the son of the prince as the heir and called the emperor's grandson. For example, after the death of Emperor Wu of Qi, his grandson Xiao Zhaoye took the throne, and Xiao Zhaoye's father died without ever being emperor. Yelü Yanxi, the grandson of Emperor Daozong of Liao, also ascended the throne as the emperor's grandson. Later emperors also included Jin Zhangzong, Jin Xizong, Yuan Chengzong, and Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty.
There is also the imperial throne inherited from the elder brother, who is the founding emperor. For example, in the time of Northern Qi, when Northern Qi, Emperor Xiaozhao and Emperor Wucheng were brothers and brothers, and their father Gao Huan did not become emperor. During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, after The Northern Zhou Emperor Yuwen Jue, the Northern Zhou Ming Emperor and the Northern Zhou Wu Emperor were both brothers and brothers, and their father Yuwen Tai did not become emperor. After Zhao Kuangyin's death, his younger brother Zhao Guangyi became emperor, none of their fathers were emperors, and Zhao Guangyi was not the mastermind of the yellow robe. Later, after the death of Jin Taizu Ah Kuan, the throne passed to his younger brother Wu Begmai, who was Jin Taizong, and their father was also a person who had never been an emperor.