"After the Duke of Zhou feared the rumors, When Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the throne, xiang made him die in that year, and the truth and falsity of his life were restored."
This is the last two sentences of one of the five poems of Bai Juyi's "Let Loose Words", and we all know the meaning of it, which is the negation of Wang Mang in the front and definitely in the back. Although Wang Mang's new dynasty reigned as long as the Qin dynasty—fifteen years—the Book of Han written by Ban Gu only appended the Biography of Wang Mang to its end.
However, Ban Gu can also record his deeds truthfully: whether good or bad, he has left precious historical materials for Wang Mang, so that future generations have a more comprehensive understanding of him. The evaluation of Wang Mang by ancient historians still has a considerable influence on contemporary historians, who only evaluate Wang Mang from the perspective of "treachery and hypocrisy" and include him in the book of "Dark Lords", which is almost a common word.
Is it fair to erase Wang Mang with a single stroke? Can he be judged only in terms of usurpation and treachery and hypocrisy and the failure of his reforms? How should such a complex historical figure be evaluated? Answering these questions requires systematic, dialectical discussion.
First, the new Han Dynasty is a historical necessity
To correctly evaluate Wang Mang, we must first clarify the historical background before his "usurpation", which can be explained from two aspects:
(1) The rule of the Western Han Dynasty is hopeless
The social crisis that arose in the Western Han Dynasty was due to the problem of land and slavery. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, due to the dispute between Chu and Han, more than half of the people died, and a large amount of land was barren, because Han Gaozu adopted the policy of "heavy agriculture", production gradually developed, and land did not become a problem.
During the reign of Emperor Wen, land annexation began to be serious, and many peasants became slaves due to bankruptcy. In order to alleviate social contradictions, Emperor Wen continued to implement the policy of "lightly dispensing with small gifts", and the social crisis was alleviated for a time.
During the reign of Emperor Wu, bureaucrats, landlords, and big merchants annexed land in one, exploited peasants, and more peasants became slaves, and after that, the emperors of the Han Dynasty not only did not want or were unable to solve this problem, but artificially accelerated the process of land annexation.
When He became emperor, not only did the princes, officials, and landlords forcibly occupy the people's land, but Emperor Cheng himself also occupied a large number of fields among the people.
When Emperor Wai was in charge, the ministers Shi Dan and He Wu put forward the "proposal to limit the land and limit the slaves", and the policy was formulated, but it was opposed by the foreign relatives Ding, Fu and Dong Xian, and the emperor also took the lead in undermining the "limited field" policy, and he gave Dong Xian two thousand acres of land at one time, and the "limited field" policy had to be shelved. As a result, the exploitation of the landlords became heavier and heavier, and the poverty of the peasants became worse and worse.
Due to political corruption and social darkness, land was increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few powerful landlords, and peasants became more and more bankrupt and reduced to slaves, making them two major social problems at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. Because these two serious problems cannot be solved, the people are becoming more and more impoverished and can only take risks. As early as the time of Emperor Cheng, the revolts of displaced people, soldiers, and prisoners occurred everywhere: by the time of emperor mourning, the people's resistance took many forms, the scope of the impact was wider, the situation was more serious, and the Liu dynasty was already in danger.
This situation was caused by the emergence of emperors in the late Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Yuan of Han was a confused emperor who only knew how to pursue pleasure and did not care about political affairs. When he was crown prince, because of his good Manners, his father, Emperor Xuan, prophesied: "The prince who messes with my family is also the prince."
As Expected by Emperor Xuan, during his reign, the centralization of power weakened, the social crisis deepened, the merger of powerful landlords became more prevalent, the number of officials and slaves reached more than 100,000, the Western Han Dynasty tended to decline, and its successor, Emperor Hancheng, was even more absurd and faint. He trusted his foreign relatives the most, and appointed empress dowager's half-brother Wang Feng as the grand general Sima Dai to lead Shangshu and take charge of the imperial court, and on the same day, he was made the empress dowager's half-brothers Wang Tan, Wang Shang, Wang Li, Wang Gen, and Wang Fengshi, known as the "Five Marquises".
The foreign relatives of the Wang clique have the power to the world, and Shangshu, Jiuqing, Zhou Mu, and Junshou are all out of their doors. Most of the five princes are arrogant and lascivious, and they are overbearing, and those who follow us prosper, and those who oppose us perish. Even Emperor Cheng of Han was restrained, and it was not possible for any official to have Wang Feng nod. Although he knew that Wang Feng was too arrogant, he had no choice but to protect himself because of the empress dowager. Of course, the main reason is that he has no interest in political affairs, so he is happy to give it to the Wang Group, so that he can enjoy himself. He often traveled in miniature, fighting cocks and horses, and once passed through the home of Princess Yang'a, the singer and dancer Zhao Feiyan, summoned her and her sister to the palace (later zhao feiyan was made empress, and her sister was Zhaoyi), and from then on, he only mixed in the tent of the two beauties and enjoyed it.
The successor Emperor of Han also trusted foreign relatives like Emperor Cheng, and during his reign, the Wang clique was squeezed out, his uncle Ding and his grandmother's Fu were reused, and the Ding and Fu families were also flying and fishing people. Emperor Cheng was even more absurd than Emperor Cheng, who was a good woman, but he liked male sex, and he was extremely pampered by Dong Xian, a child prostitute, and rewarded him countless times. Bao Xuan, the counselor, and Wang Jia, the chancellor, successively advised him bitterly, and because of the pain of stabbing him, Bao Xuan was charged with troops, and Wang Jia was imprisoned and died of hunger strike.
Emperor Ai was even more fond of Dong Xian, and even ordered Dong Xian to be the general sima Wei to lead the Shang Shu, and handed over the administrative power of the state to a twenty-two-year-old courtier with no experience in politics. What is even more absurd is that one day, when he was feasting on Xuan Xian and his relatives in the palace, drunk, he looked at Dong Xian and smiled and said, "I want to emulate Yao Chan Shun, how about giving way to you?" ("Hanshu Dong Xian Biography") Demented as the Jin Hui Emperor Sima Ai also knew that he was in love with the throne, and the Han Emperor actually wanted to give the throne to the courtiers, which was called a super emperor!
In the late Western Han Dynasty, one dynasty after another was more corrupt, the emperors were more and more faint, the people's "seven deaths and seven deaths" could not live anymore, the rulers could not rule and did not want to rule, the Western Han Dynasty was terminally ill, incurable, and its immortality was not to be treated! Even Liu Xiang, who was most loyal to the Han Dynasty, believed that the fate of the Han Dynasty was over, and that the usurpation of the Han Dynasty or the act of the Han Dynasty was inevitable.
(2) Wang Mang's "usurpation" is imperative
In June 10 BC, emperor Ai, who was only twenty-five years old, died, Emperor Wai was childless, Emperor Wai's grandmother Empress Fu and Empress Fengding, the mother of Emperor Wai, also died a year earlier, at this time the power of li si was only in the hands of Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, and after she went to Weiyang Palace to take the emperor's seal, she issued an edict to remove Dong Xian from the post of Grand Sima and Wang Mang to take over all the power of the country, and set up a five-year-old doll as emperor, for Emperor Ping, and the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun came to listen to the government. As a result, the military and political power of the country was all vested in the Wang clique.
At first, Wang Mang was gradually promoted to the rank of Grand Sima due to the recommendation of his uncle Wang Feng and his uncle Wang Shang, and the promotion of his aunt Empress Wang, and was later forced to resign from the post of Grand Sima because he offended Empress Fu. The spearhead of the blow was first directed at the foreign relatives Fu and Ding cliques, and all their family members were dismissed from their posts as officials and dependent bureaucrats. In order to prevent Emperor Ping's foreign family from infiltrating the imperial court, it was stipulated that Emperor Ping's mother, Empress Xiao of Zhongshan, Wei Ji, and her uncles Wei Bao and Wei Xuan, the Marquis of Guannei, remained in Zhongshan and were strictly forbidden to come to Jingshi.
It is said that Wang Mang later poisoned Emperor Ping, who was only fourteen years old, and the Book of Han and the Chronicle of Emperor Ping only claimed to have died, but Daniel speculated that it was possible that he poisoned Emperor Ping. Since Wang Mang had almost killed the emperor's relatives, if he left Emperor Ping, he would never let Wang Mang go when he grew up and became pro-government, and it was natural for Wang Mang to poison Emperor Ping from the interests of his Wang clique.
Emperor Ping died, and Wang Mang made his two-year-old infant emperor, and his intention to usurp the throne was already obvious. At this time, the reputation of the Han Room had been discredited, and people had no hope for it, but Wang Mang's reputation reached its peak at this time, and he was awarded the Han Nobles. With the support of the bureaucracy and the majority of the people of all strata, it was imperative for Wang Mang to peacefully usurp the throne and establish a new dynasty to replace the Han Dynasty.
Second, Wang Mang won the hearts of the people at that time
According to the "Biography of Wang Mang in the Book of Han" and the biographies of relevant people, Wang Mang did indeed do a lot of praiseworthy things before usurping the throne:
Care for the poor and do things for the people
Every time there was a disaster, he did not eat meat and fish, but only ate vegetarian dishes to show his concern for the victims, and at the same time tried to help and help the victims. In 2 AD, when a drought and locust plague occurred in the county, Wang Mang offered to pay millions of dollars and donate thirty hectares of land to the great Sinong to relieve the victims. Because Wang Mang took the lead in donating, Gongqing Haofu responded one after another, and 230 people donated their homes to disaster relief. He sent emissaries to mobilize the people to catch locusts, to be paid according to the number of locusts caught, and to exempt or reduce the peasants' taxes according to the severity of the disaster.
In the area where the plague occurred, Wang Mang ordered the house to be vacated and doctors were organized to treat the patients. In order to enable the exiled poor to have a place to live, five miles were built in Chang'an City, with 200 houses, for the poor to live.
He helped low-ranking officials and poor readers. He often gave all of the tax income from his fiefdoms to meagre officials and poor readers. Some appropriate care is also given to the elderly and poor who have no one to rely on.
The emperors of the late Western Han Dynasty were extremely poor and extravagant, the secretaries of state and the princes were hedonistic and corrupt, and there were a few who were in charge of the people's lives and deaths, and it was at this time that this Wang Mang appeared, who cared so much for the people and was so frugal about himself, in contrast, people could not aspire to it. No matter what Wang Mang's motives were, these good deeds he had done should be fully affirmed.
Law enforcement is like a mountain, regardless of kinship
When evaluating Wang Mang, commentators all think that he is a pure Confucian, but in fact he is also a lawyer, a person who uses both Confucianism and law. The combination of Confucianism and law has been considered by the Han rulers to be an effective method of governance. In the practice of the rule of law, some legalists theoretically like to talk about "princes breaking the law and committing the same crime as the common people", but having said that, how many of them can implement it? Even Shang Martin, the representative figure of the most resolute law enforcement, the prince broke the law but despised his master, and did not dare to move the prince's hair.
And Wang Mang? He is the one who really achieved in history that "the prince broke the law and committed the same crime as the common man". His second son, Wang Yu, killed a slave, and Wang Mang rebuked Wang Yu and ordered him to commit suicide. With the power of the royal family, even if it is nothing to kill a high official, let alone in that era when slaves were as lowly as livestock, killing a slave was just slaughtering a dog, what is this, and Wang Mang actually dealt with his own son with "the murderer pays for his life", so the law enforcement is like a mountain, how many people in ancient and modern times?
Attach importance to knowledge and recruit talents
Wang Mang himself was a great intellectual, he understood the importance of knowledge, and he knew even more about the preciousness of talents, so when he was assisting the government with mediocrity, he collected all kinds of books and recruited all kinds of talents.
In 4 AD, he built a large number of civil engineering projects in Beijing, built the Ming Hall, the Yong Dynasty, the Lingtai, and also built 10,000 dormitories for scholars; he established the "Le Jing" doctorate, increased the number of doctors in each sutra, and increased the number of doctors in each classic to five. It was also widely solicited that all those who could understand one of the six classics of the Confucian school and teach more than eleven students, as well as those who had the "Book of Rites", the ancient texts, the "Book of Shang", "Mao Shi", "Zhou Guan", "Erya", and "Shi Shu", or who could understand their meanings, could take the government's stagecoach to the capital Chang'an, and at that time, all kinds of talented and strange people in the world responded to Wang Mang's call, and more than a thousand people came to Chang'an one after another.
Wang Mang asked them to write down everything they knew so that they could re-edit it, so that the fallacies could be corrected and the differences could be agreed. Wang Mang also solicited water conservancy experts to control the Yellow River, and more than a hundred water conservancy experts were recruited. Because Wang Mang recruited a wide range of talents, the bus house was full of talents, very lively, and there was a scene of culture and education flourishing in the Beijing Division.
I would like to ask: Among the feudal rulers, how many people can attach importance to knowledge and talent like Wang Mang?
The upper feudal family, the lower Hui subordinate
Wang Mang was particularly kind to the Liu family and often took care of his subordinates. When he accepted the title of Duke of An Han, he refused to accept the reward of 28,000 households given to him, and suggested that it be used to first reward the descendants of the princes of the imperial family surnamed Liu and the descendants of meritorious heroes since Gaozu, and the eldest one was given the title of Marquis of Guannei, or the Marquis of Guannei, and then the current reign.
On one occasion, he made Emperor Xuan's great-grandson thirty-six marquises, and the rest of the Han royal family increased their production or knighthood, and each rewarded them with property. For officials who retire at or above 2,000 stones, one-third of the old and retired officials are given a lifetime. He often distributed his rewards with the emperor to his subordinates.
summary
Because Wang Mang cared for the poor, did things for the people, enforced the law like a mountain, did not distinguish between relatives and aliens, attached importance to knowledge and recruited talents, and was crowned by the imperial family and the subordinates of the lower hui, it caused a good impact in the whole country and won the support of the whole country.
For example, when he was expelled and sent back to the feudal country, he ordered his second son to pay for his slave life, and people responded very well. In the three years of the feudal state, more than 200 officials wrote to the imperial court to cry out for him, and "Xianliang Zhou Huo" and Song Chong, etc., were still on the examination papers, praising Wang Mang's merits. Wang Mang's daughter was elected empress, and the imperial court rewarded him with 25,600 acres of Shinnoda, and Wang Mang wrote a letter of resignation, which was once again praised by the vast number of officials and people, and there were 487,572 people who wrote and sang about him.
It is precisely because Wang Mang has won the hearts of the people so much, and because during the period of auxiliary government, he worked day and night, worked diligently in government affairs, and adopted various effective measures to stabilize the turbulent political situation since the Emperor of Sorrow, and a scene of stability appeared in society. Therefore, his official position rose step by step, from the Great Sima to the Duke of An Han, from the Duke of An Han to the Prime Minister, from the Prime Minister to the Jia Jiu Xi, from the Jia Jiu Xi to the Regent Emperor, from the Regent Emperor to the False Emperor, and finally from the False Emperor to the True Emperor, Wang Mang did not have to use a knife and a gun, and used peaceful means to seize the Han family world and become the emperor of the new dynasty.
As for the failure of reform after ascending the throne and the loss of the world, this is already an afterthought.