Zizhi Tongjian: Why is Yuan Shu of the Three Kingdoms called the Emperor Tai'er?

During the Three Kingdoms period, a popular folk prediction that the "way" in "the Han Dynasty should be the way high" corresponds to his own name "shu" and the table character "highway", so he has the intention of usurping the throne.

Hearing that Sun Jian had received the Imperial Seal, Yuan Shu detained Sun Jian's wife and forcibly took it.

When he heard the news that Emperor Xian had been defeated by Cao Yang, he summoned his subordinates to discuss the matter of becoming emperor.

None of his subordinates dared to respond.

The Lord Yan Xiang entered:

"Once upon a time, the Zhou Dynasty passed from its ancestor Hou Ji to King Wen, accumulating kindness and outstanding merit. The three divisions of the world already possessed two points, but still submitted to the Yin Dynasty.

Although your family has been an official for generations, it did not have the prosperity of the Zhou Dynasty, and although the Royal Family of the Han Dynasty was in decline, it did not have the atrocities of King Yin! ”

Yuan Shu was silent after listening.

After Sun Ce heard the news, he wrote to Yuan Shu and said:

"When Shang Tang was crusading against Xia Jie, he said: 'Xia has many sins', and when King Wu of Zhou rebelled against King Yin, he said: 'Yin has heavy punishment', Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou, although they have holy virtue, if Xia Ji and Yin Yu did not have the fault of losing their way at that time, there would be no reason to force them to seize the world.

For example, if today's son did not commit a crime against the people of the world, but because he was young, he was coerced by strong ministers, which was different from the times of Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou.

Even a person like Dong Zhuo, who is greedy and fierce, bullying and arrogant, and who is extremely ambitious, has not yet deposed the Son of Heaven and established himself as emperor.

And the whole world still hates him unanimously, let alone imitate him and do more excessively! I also heard that the young Son of Heaven was wise and intelligent, and had the virtue of early success, and although the world had not yet received his favor, it all belonged to him.

Five generations of your family have served as the third point or auxiliary minister of the Han Dynasty consecutively, and the glory and favor are so deep that no family can compare, and should be loyal and strictly abide by the courtiers' festivals to repay the royal family.

This is the beauty of Zhou Gong Ji Dan and Zhao Gong Ji, the wish of the people of the world.

Nowadays, people are mostly confused by prophecy books such as Tuwei, looking forward to the righteousness of the text, far-fetched, and only seeking the favor of the master, and not considering success or failure.

The matter of being called emperor has been very cautious from ancient times to the present, how can it not be carefully considered! Advice is against the ear, dissenting leads to hatred, but as long as it is good for you, I dare not resign. ”

Yuan Shu initially thought that he had a large number of soldiers in Huainan, and expected that Sun Ce would definitely support him. After receiving Sun Ce's letter, he fell ill with anxiety and depression.

Since he did not listen to Sun Ce's advice, Sun Ce severed relations with him.

Refer to the Zizhi Tongjian

comments

The story is a bit long, and the comments are simple to write.

Yuan Shu's claim to the emperor is simply a child's play.

In ancient times, regarding the conditions for being called emperor, judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's case, at least the surrounding princes were basically eliminated, there was no external threat to the existence of forces, and the internal subjects were unanimous, and no one opposed.

In this way, we can consider being called emperor.

However, looking around Yuan Shu, among the princes, Liu Bei, Lü Bu, Liu Biao, Sun Ce, and Cao Cao were all around, which can be said to be surrounded by wolves.

Looking at his interior, Sun Ce was very opposed, Yan Xiang was also very opposed, both of them were opposed to everything, and Yuan Shu actually turned a blind eye, which was really arrogant!

The key lies in the fact that the heavens and the earth are favorable to the people, but Yuan Shu is only artificially far-fetched, and he does not consider the heavens, the places, and the people who are sloppy to be called emperors, which is doomed to fail!

What do you think about this?