Xi Jiangyue (Yang Shen)
The sunset is rolling in the west, and the river is gushing in the east.
The night came today and the Ming Dynasty, and the youth of the land has passed.
Characters throughout the ages, how many heroes at a time.
The dragon fought and the tiger fought for a long time, and ended up with a conversation and laughter.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was often a phenomenon of imperial power falling by. The most fundamental reason for this phenomenon should be that the emperor is too young to exercise imperial power, and others must do the work, such as foreign relatives. After a long period of operation, the foreign relatives gradually plumped up their wings. Therefore, there were many puppet emperors in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Some emperors grew up and relied on the eunuchs around them to get rid of foreign relatives and regain power. This is also the reason why eunuchs often gained power during the Eastern Han Dynasty, such as Emperor Huan of Han. And there are two Eastern Han emperors who have always been puppets of others, these two puppets are brotherly relations, and they are "competing" for the throne by various forces, but not out of their own will. They were Liu Xie, the Shao Emperor of Han, and Liu Xie, the Emperor of Han Xian.
Competition during the Han Ling Emperor period
Liu Xie's birth mother was Empress He, although He's birth was not high, but after all, with the support of Emperor Hanling, the position of empress was the main chamber of Emperor Hanling; Emperor Hanling originally had some sons, but he did not know why he died, and Liu Xie, a latecomer, became the eldest son; and Liu Xie's birth mother was a relatively low-status beauty of Emperor Hanling, named Wang Rong, and Liu Xie himself was younger than Liu Xie. Therefore, in the ancient system of succession, Liu Xie had to be comprehensively superior to Liu Xie and was a well-deserved heir to the throne.
However, Emperor Hanling's perception of Liu Wei was very bad. He believed that Liu Wei was frivolous and had no majesty, and was not suitable as an emperor. After Liu Xie was born, Empress He killed Wang Meiren with poisonous wine, and Emperor Hanling was furious and planned to depose Empress He. First, Empress He's approach is indeed wrong and very extreme, and second, Empress He's move also proves that she is a person with a very strong desire to control. If Liu Wei could become emperor, Empress He would inevitably have to intervene in the government affairs by virtue of her status as empress. Although Empress He was not deposed in the end, after experiencing this incident, Emperor Hanling's perception of Liu Zheng was also affected to a certain extent.
After Wang Meiren was poisoned, Liu Xie was raised with Empress Dong. Empress Dong saw Emperor Hanling's hesitation in choosing a crown prince, and constantly persuaded Emperor Hanling to make Liu Xie crown prince. Empress Dong's doing so may be an emotional appeal, but it is also an objective struggle for power. If Liu Xie became emperor, Empress Dong would receive more rewards as an adoptive mother, and more importantly, if Liu Xie failed, he Jin, a foreign relative who was born from a butcher and had no roots, would decline and be defeated by the Dong clan, and Empress He would not be able to fight Empress Dong without the support of foreign aid. Therefore, Empress Dong's move to compete for the throne for Liu Xie, Xiaobian believes that the purpose of the struggle for power is greater.
Emperor Han Ling was partial to Liu Xie in his heart, but after all, Liu Xie was the position of the eldest son of concubine, and there was no major mistake and no legitimate reason to abolish it. On the other hand, He Jin and He Miao were great generals and cheqi generals respectively, and if they wanted to move Liu Zheng, they would have to move Empress He, He Jin, and He Miao, which would cause certain turmoil. Therefore, between Liu Wei and Liu Xie, Emperor Hanling's attitude was always hesitant, he was unwilling to make Liu Wei crown prince, and he repeatedly refused Empress Dong's suggestions.
The struggle between eunuchs and foreign relatives
According to the Book of Later Han, on his deathbed, Emperor Ling of Han still made a decision and gave the position to Liu Xie. The person who carried out this order was the favored eunuch Jian Shuo at the side of the Han Ling Emperor. Of course, this point was also doubted by some people in later generations, after all, this testament was unilaterally proclaimed by Jian Shuo. However, this controversy is not within the scope of this article, all in all, after the death of Emperor Hanling, because the position of prince has been unresolved, two forces have emerged, supporting Liu Xie and Liu Xie respectively.
There is no need to say more on Liu Xie's side, Empress He, He Jin, and He Miao are all supporters; On Liu Xie's side, there are lieutenant Jian Shuo, a lieutenant of the eight lieutenants in Xiyuan, Empress Dong, Liu Xie's adoptive mother, and Dong Zhong, a nephew of Empress Dong. As a lieutenant colonel, Jian Shuo was nominally able to command the rest of the eight lieutenants in the West Garden, and even the great general He Jin. However, after the death of emperor Han Ling and the loss of imperial power, Jian Shuo's weight was greatly weakened. Because no one listened to him. At least Yuan Shao, a lieutenant in the Middle Military Academy, and Cao Cao, a lieutenant in the Dian Military Academy, had always wanted to take out the eunuch forces, and Yuan Shao was one of the later enforcers. To sum up in one sentence, Jian Shuo could not convince the public at all, and the resources he mastered were all fat. He could not even fully control the eunuch power.
Jian Shuo's original intention was to kill He Jin when He entered the palace, eliminate the leader of the qi, and then support Liu Xie. However, Sima Pan of Jian Shuo secretly told He Jin and informed He Jin, and the matter was revealed without success. At this time, the balance of victory tilted in ho jin. Because Jian Shuo was really not worthy of the name, the Han Ling Emperor entrusted him to a non-human. And if Jian Shuo forcibly supported Liu Xie's ascension to the throne, it would not only violate the etiquette of distinguishing concubines and children, but also easily cause the scholars to fight back madly. In this case, Jian Shuo had to make concessions, and Liu Wei smoothly took the throne. However, at this time, Liu Wei was only a puppet in the hands of the great general He Jin and Empress He.
Abolition for political necessity
After the defeat of the foreign enemy, that is, Liu Xie, the He brothers and sisters began to fight inwardly, hoping to gain more benefits from Liu Xie's puppet or ensure that their original position was stable. He Jin took advantage of the long-standing contradiction between the scholars and the eunuchs, and on the pretext of getting rid of the eunuchs, he recruited a large number of scholars into her camp and made her wings more plump; while Empress He was limited by the limitations of women, she could not swing above the temple like He Jin, and all she could rely on was Liu Zheng, the emperor of Han Shao, and the eunuchs who were closely attached to Liu Jin. Yes, at this time, the interests and status of Empress He and the eunuchs were closely related. If He Jin eliminated all the eunuchs and turned Liu Wei into a light rod commander, and then completely controlled, then Empress He's position would also become very embarrassing.
Therefore, in the handling of eunuchs, contradictions arose between Empress He and He Jin and Yuan Shao and other scholars. In order to force Empress He to make concessions, Yuan Shao proposed to He Jin that some of the outer towns in charge of the army lead an army to put pressure on Empress He. Although this move can deter Empress He, it is tantamount to playing with fire. He Jin actually had some means, he recruited Dong Zhuo, Ding Yuan, Qiao Mao, Wang Kuang and others to check and balance each other, but did not let them rush into Beijing, once the change had a time to deal with. But the bad is bad in He Jin's violent death. As soon as He Jin died, the situation immediately became uncontrollable. Dong Zhuo took the young emperor Liu Wei, who had been kidnapped by eunuchs, into the capital and annexed the forces of He Jin, He Miao, and Ding Yuan, becoming the most powerful force in Luoyang.
Dong Zhuo also wanted to control the puppet emperor. One of his moves was to depose the emperor. The first Dong Zhuo could use this method to promote authority and deter courtiers; the second Liu Zhuo still had Empress He and Wuyang Jun (Empress He's biological mother, Liu Zheng's maternal grandmother), while Wang Meiren, Empress Dong, and Dong Zhong were all killed by the He brothers and sisters, and Liu Xie became a "lonely family" and easier to control. Therefore, Dong Zhuo deposed Liu Xie and established Liu Xie as emperor. The dust on the "struggle" for the throne by the brothers Liu Wei and Liu Xie was settled, but none of them came out of their own will. Later, Liu Xie was poisoned and killed; Liu Xie was also controlled by Dong Zhuo, Li Dai, Guo Feng, Yang Feng, Dong Cheng, Han Xian, Cao Cao, and others, and was later forced to cede Chan to Cao Pi, becoming the king of the Eastern Han Dynasty. I have to say that the fate of these two brothers is still very sad.
References: Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Romance of the Three Kingdoms