Guo Shengtong, the first empress of the Eastern Han Dynasty Guangwu Emperor, her appointment as empress was entirely a political deal between Liu Xiu and the Zhending royal family. At that time, when the Eastern Han Dynasty was first established, Liu Xiu originally wanted to set up a Yin Lihua queen who was "elegant and generous, and had the beauty of motherhood", but because of this, the Eastern Han Dynasty was surrounded by strong enemies, and there were people inside who harbored different intentions, and the regime was not stable, Liu Xiu urgently needed to win over the real power faction around him, and among them, Guo Shengtong's mother's family needed Liu Xiu's co-optation the most, so Liu Xiu had to set up the Guo clan as the queen for the sake of the Han Dynasty.
Of course, to put it bluntly, this is a political transaction, Liu Xiu's heart always has only Yin Lihua, so when the Eastern Han Dynasty regime was stable, in the seventeenth year of Jianwu (41 years), Liu Xiu deposed Guo Shengtong on the grounds that Guo Shengtong "acted in the style of Lü Huo, and could not be entrusted with a young orphan and honored the throne" as the reason for deposing him from the throne, and was named empress dowager of zhongshan and moved to the Northern Palace, and in the same year Yin Lihua was made empress.
In the twenty-eighth year of Jianwu (52 years), Guo Shengtong died of illness and was buried in the North Mausoleum of Mount Yao. Before his death, Guo Shengtong had five sons, namely Liu Yi the Prince of Donghai, the eldest son of the Emperor, Liu Fu the Prince of Peixian, the second son of the Emperor, Liu Kang the Prince of Jinan, Liu Yan the Prince of Fuling, the Seventh Son of the Emperor, and Liu Yan the Prince of Zhongshan, the Tenth Son of the Emperor.
The Emperor's eldest son, Liu Qi (劉彊), the Prince of Donghai Gong
Liu Jiang was originally the founding prince of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and in the second year of Jianwu (26 years), he was made crown prince. Although Liu Jiang was not very talented, he was very clever, he knew how to judge the situation, in the seventeenth year of Jianwu (41 years), his mother Guo Shi was deposed, and Yin Lihua was made empress, so Liu Jiang was in a very embarrassing position, he changed from the eldest son of Concubine to the eldest son of Shu, plus he knew that his father did not like him too much, but liked Liu Zhuang, the son born of Yin Lihua.
Therefore, at this time, Liu Jiang was very clever and took the initiative to "induce him to retire", and two years later, in Liu Xiu's "Spring and Autumn" righteousness, Li Zi was expensive. Wang Yang of the East China Sea, son of the Empress, Yi Cheng. Crown Prince Yi, Chongzhi humble retreat, willing to prepare the kingdom. The love of father and son is long gone. Under the edict that Yi was made the King of the East Sea and Liyang the Crown Prince, and the name was changed to Zhuang", Liu Jiang lost the position of prince and was crowned the King of the East Sea.
It can be said that it is precisely because of Liu Jiang's own initiative to withdraw, so after the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu and the Ming Emperor Liu Zhuang were not thin. When Liu Jiang was first crowned king of the East Sea, Liu Xiu granted Liu Yi the opportunity to eat the rich land of Lu County, and made Lu the capital of the country, and one person was given the title of two countries and twenty-nine counties, which was an incomparably rich favor. After Liu Zhuang ascended the throne, Liu Jiang was also treated kindly, and eventually he was able to enjoy glory and wealth until his death.
The emperor's second son, Liu Fu the Prince of Peixian
Liu Fu, second son of Guo Shengtong. In the fifteenth year of Jianwu (40 AD), he was given the title of Duke of Right Yi, and in the seventeenth year of Jianwu (42 AD), Guo Hou was deposed as the Empress Dowager of Zhongshan, so Liu Fu was made the Prince of Zhongshan, eating Changshan Commandery. In the twentieth year of Jianwu (45 AD), Liu Fu was renamed the Prince of Pei, and soon Liu Fu was implicated in the murder of Liu Pengzi's brother Liu Gong (劉恭), the brother of Liu Pengzi (later emperor Liu Xuan), and was imprisoned by Liu Xiu for three days before being released.
Thereafter, in the twenty-eighth year of Jianwu (53 AD), Liu Fu went to the fiefdom. In the fiefdom, Liu Fu was deeply respected by the people of the fief because he was cautious and disciplined, and loved the people like a son, and was then called "Xianwang". At the same time, during the fiefdom period, Liu Fu never interfered in the affairs of the central government, and only explained the scriptures and repaired the books in the fiefdom, of which the more famous "Five Classics" was compiled by him. In June of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (84 AD), Liu Fu died.
The fifth son of the Emperor, Liu Kang, the Prince of Jinan
Liu Kang, jianwu fifteen years (40 years) as the Duke of Jinan, Jianwu seventeen years (42 years) into the king of Jinan, Jianwu thirty years (55 years), Liu Xiu added the six counties of Pingyuan County, Zhu'a, Ende, Chaoyang, Pyeongchang, Yin, and Chongqiu to Liu Kang's food.
Liu Kangren was different from his two older brothers. During the fiefdom period, Liu Kang acted recklessly, did not abide by the law, and wantonly exploited the people, so during the Ming Emperor's period, some officials wrote to Liu Kang to accuse Liu Kang of recruiting yuyang Yanzhong and Liu Zichan, who were traitors from zhou county, and plotted against him. It was only because Emperor Ming remembered that he was his brother, so he did not investigate deeply, but only cut off the food in the five counties of Zhu'a, Yin, Dong Chaoyang, Ande, and West Pyeongchang.
Of course, since then, Liu Kang has not changed because of this punishment, on the contrary, it has intensified. After that, Liu Kang multiplied his wealth, overhauled the palace, raised slaves to 1,400 people, raised 1,200 horses in stables, and had 800 acres of private land, extravagant and wanton, and had no control over his visits, and the people of his fiefdom were made to complain and suffer unspeakably. However, because he was always a member of the royal family, he was not punished, and continued to be his prince with peace of mind until his death.
The seventh son of the Emperor, Liu Yan the Prince of Fuling
Liu Yan, jianwu fifteen years (39 AD) was created the Duke of Huaiyang, seventeen years (41 AD) into the Duke of Huaiyang. In the 30th year of Jianwu (54 AD), Liu Xiu added the four counties of Changping, Xihua, Xinyang, and Fule in Runan County to Liu Yan's fiefdom.
Like Liu Kang, Liu Yan is also a lawless person, and his personality is even more proud and luxurious. During the reign of Emperor Yongping of the Ming Dynasty, officials wrote to impeach Liu Yan and Xie Yi, the brother of The Aiji Xie clan, and Han Guang, the husband of her sister Princess Guantao, and Han Guang, the husband and wife of Princess Guantao, recruited treacherous and cunning people with the intention of plotting rebellion, and later Emperor Ming verified that this was true, and Han Guang, Xie Yi, and others were all killed. Liu Kang did not receive serious punishment because he was a member of the imperial family, and Emperor Ming simply moved him to the two counties of Fuling and Yiyi.
However, after Liu Yan was forgiven, he did not repent, on the contrary, because he was exiled, he resented and once again wanted to rebel. After that, Emperor Zhang verified the truth, so he issued an edict to "demote the knighthood to the Marquis of Fuling and eat a county", and at the same time let one person go to the special guardianship of the Fuling State, and liu Yan was not allowed to contact the officials. In the first year of Zhang He (87 AD), Emperor Zhang, after seeing Liu Yan's embarrassment, took pity on Liu Yan, so he once again issued an edict that "the present Marquis of Fufu is the King of Fuling, and four counties are added, and the former is five counties", and at the same time, he gave tens of millions of dollars, cloth and horses, and gave him Shouchun as the capital of the country. Two years later, Liu Yan died.
The tenth son of the Emperor, Liu Yan (劉焉), the Prince of Zhongshan
Liu Yan (劉焉), who was created Duke of Zuo Yi in the fifteenth year of Jianwu, was crowned king in the seventeenth year of Jianwu, and king of Zhongshan in the seventeenth year of Jianwu. In the fifteenth year of Yongping, Liu Yan was reported by the Minister of State for killing his favorite concubine without authorization, and the Ming Emperor cut Anxian County. During the reign of Emperor Zhangzong, Anjian County was returned to Liu Yan. In the second year of Yongyuan, Liu Yan died of illness.
It must be said that Guo Shengtong's five sons all ended well, although several sons were suspected of rebellion, but they were all spared because of the benevolence of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang, even Liu Yan, who had planned to rebel several times, but Emperor Zhang was concerned about family affection and did not severely punish him. It can only be said that Guo Shengtong's five sons were born in an accurate era, when the second and third emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty were all benevolent and righteous kings, and they were all people who cherished righteousness, so that they could escape punishment again and again.