The discovery of the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han in the past two days is a major event in the history of Chinese archaeology. Emperor Wen of Han left his name in the history of Qingshi as the "rule of Wenjing", becoming a model of Confucian thought of governing the country, and almost every emperor was asked by his courtiers to learn from the Second Emperor wenjing, recuperate, and be born.
In fact, the biggest feature of Emperor Wen of Han, or the place that is really commendable, is that he was lucky, lying on the throne, lying down to become an example for future emperors, and the secret of his success was two words: inaction.
There is a certain difference between Emperor Wen of Han's "inaction" and liu bang and Lü Hou's rule of inaction. The imperial court in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty did not care about anything, as long as it could receive land tax and poll tax, the common people did not care about business, construction sites, etc., except for armor and weapons, everything else could be sold, including salt and iron.
Emperor Wen of Han went further than Liu Banglu, he was a complete "inaction", not only "inaction" in civil affairs, but also basically achieved "inaction" in major state affairs, from various departments of the imperial court to local prefectures and counties, ministers can do things according to the rules, there is no need to ask the emperor for advice, if you encounter things outside the regulations, then the great general Sima and several important ministers to discuss it, you can do things with confidence.
Do you think that Emperor Wen of Han did it too easily? Doing nothing became a mingjun praised by later generations, but who knows the bitterness in emperor Han Wendi's heart, his "inaction" should actually be interpreted as "powerless", in fact, even if he wants to "have a talent", he can't do it. Why, let's see how Emperor Wen of Han ascended to the throne, and we can see the mystery.
Emperor Wen of Han's name was Liu Heng, Liu Bang's fourth son, who could not have been liu Heng's turn to inherit the throne in any way, he was neither pleasing to Liu Bang nor a concubine, his mother Bo was the wife of the renegade king Wei Bao, Liu Bang killed Wei Bao, robbed his wife, Liu Heng could be made an idle king after he became an adult, it was already the ceiling of life.
After Liu Bang's death, liu Ying, the eldest son of Liu Ying, succeeded to the throne, and Liu Heng was made the acting king and moved to the bitter cold and facing the Xiongnu's daiji. After Lü Hou had monopoly power, the Lü clan controlled the imperial program, and even thought of taking the Liu clan and replacing it.
However, the Lü family was similar to the later martial family, except for the woman who was on the top of the pillar, there was no capable person, and as soon as Lü Hou died, Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and other old ministers of Liu Bang immediately destroyed the Lü clan and wanted to return Jiangshan to the Liu clan.
Once the old ministers had calculated, they could not choose a prince with a strong backstage and too high status for his mother, otherwise they might repeat the mistakes of the Lü clan's dictatorship. They flipped through the royal family tree, and there was really such a prince- Liu Heng, his mother Bo Was a relative of the renegade king, who had long been condemned to the Nine Tribes, and had no social relations, and was the perfect candidate.
In this way, Liu Heng was elected emperor of the Great Han and brought his mother from Daidi to Chang'an. Since he could help you onto the dragon chair, naturally he could also let you down, and Liu Heng knew that the power was in the hands of the old ministers, and he would not fight for anything. Fortunately, he is also a person who is at ease with his encounters and has a weak desire for power, so that he can "do nothing" and rule.
As for the fifteen taxes and one and twenty taxes and one, it is impossible to verify who actually proposed them. Land taxes are reduced, and the poor people have less land and less income, and the impetus for this policy is who should be the one who can get the most out of it.
Naturally, the officials who own the most land are strong and powerful. Forty or fifty years after the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, land annexation was already quite serious, the land tax was reduced from ten taxes to twenty taxes, and the grain handed over to the imperial court by officials and powerful officials was reduced by half, so they did not hesitate to give beautiful words to this "inactive" Emperor Wen.