Two Han Curse
From the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty by Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty by Cao Pi, the entire Han Dynasty lasted for more than 400 years, which is the longest-lasting Qin dynasty in Chinese history- not counting the regime that emerged from the Shu Han, Xiongnu Han, and Southern Han (according to the five dynasties period when the founding emperor of the Southern Han Dynasty claimed to be a descendant of Liu Bang, and the legal system of the Southern Han Dynasty was established on the basis of the restoration of the Han Dynasty).
However, for four hundred years, the two Han Dynasties have been caught in a vicious circle of emperors and foreign relatives. This vicious circle began with the regency of Lü Hou and ended with Dong Zhuo's entry into Luoyang fang during the era of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the implementation of the entire Han Dynasty. Among them, the first foreign crisis faced by the Han Empire came from Huo Guang's rise to power.
Huo Guang's family history
In the later years of Emperor Wu of Han, he established his youngest son Liu Fuling as his successor. Emperor Wu of Han considered that he was suppressed by the Dou family (the family of Empress Dou of Han) when he was a teenager, so he killed Liu Fuling's birth mother. At the same time, in order to avoid a repetition of the history of the Qin Dynasty soon after Hu Hai, the young lord of the Qin Dynasty, soon after he ascended the throne, Emperor Wu of Han also designated Sang Hongyang, Huo Guang, Shangguan Jie and others as auxiliary ministers to assist Liu Fuling, the later Emperor Zhao of Han.
However, it was unexpected by Emperor Wu of Han. Soon after Emperor Wu's death, several auxiliary ministers fought each other for power, and in the end, Huo Guang won and became a powerful minister. However, Huo Guang's authority was not yet large enough for no one to check and balance. After all, Emperor Han Zhao was also growing.
After the untimely death of Emperor Han Zhao, because he did not leave any descendants, it was necessary to find a successor from the clan to inherit the throne. The final decision-making power fell into Huo Guang's hands. At this time, Huo Guang, after the accumulation of energy in the Zhao Emperor's dynasty, coupled with the qualifications of supporting the new monarch, began to reach the peak of power.
At first, Huo Guang chose Liu He, the King of Changyi, to inherit the throne. After Liu He ascended the throne, he failed to realize Huo Guang's energy at this time, and as a result, many policies touched Huo Guang's interests and were eventually deposed - so the traditional history books think that Liu He is a daoless monarch is not a smear, after all, such an ignorant person can become a qualified monarch?
After Liu He was deposed, Huo Guang chose to support Liu Yi, who had grown up in the people and had no political roots to speak of, as the heir of Emperor Han Zhao, who was Emperor Xuan of Han.
Endured humiliation and burden of Han Xuandi
After Emperor Xuan of Han ascended the throne, he knew that he also had the possibility of becoming Liu He's second. Therefore, what Emperor Xuan of Han could do was to endure humiliation and burden.
Therefore, during Huo Guang's lifetime, Emperor Xuan of Han mainly did two things to convince Huo Guang that he had no ambition to seize power:
The first thing is to continue to increase Huo Guang's authority and make himself a "virtual king" image in Huo Guang's eyes. Huo Guang only said that Emperor Xuan of Han had no sense of power, so he did not know how to fight for power, so Huo Guang regarded Emperor Xuan of Han as an emperor suitable for his own power.
The second thing was to make Huo Guang's daughter empress. In this way, he became Huo Guang's son-in-law. He even gave Huo Guang the impression that he was very grateful to his father-in-law.
In this way, Emperor Xuan of Han endured for six years, and finally waited until Huo Guang died.
After Huo Guang's death, Emperor Xuan of Han regained his power.