Limited by the drawbacks of the primogeniture system, there were few outstanding kings among the heirs who succeeded the eldest son in ancient times.
Although the primogeniture inheritance system has maintained social stability to a certain extent and avoided the social uneasiness brought about by the struggle for power, the primogeniture inheritance system has very big drawbacks.
The throne or throne can only be inherited to the first boy born to the wife, the so-called eldest son.
First of all, the primogeniture system is established, that is, only the first eldest son born to the wife.
As soon as he was born, he was determined to inherit the power, so he did not have to struggle at all in this life, he did not have to work hard, and he talked about what outstanding people.
It is possible that the eldest son of the concubine was raised to the throne at an early age, and the power fell into the hands of foreign relatives, of course, there is also the possibility that the eldest son of the concubine is not mentally poor.
Power was not in the hands of the emperor himself, and the eldest son did not even have the opportunity to show his talents, let alone any outstanding person.
1. The history of the primogeniture system
The inheritance system of the eldest son appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty, along with the development of slave society and the entire feudal society, in the later period of feudal society, the inheritance system of the eldest son was gradually replaced. The Western Zhou Dynasty was a typical dynasty of family and state integration, when the Zhou Emperor established a patriarchal system and a sub-feudal system. The patriarchal system is the primogeniture system, and the sub-feudal system is set up for the management of the country's territory.
The core of the patriarchal system is
Li Yan is not long to be virtuous, and Li Zi is not long to be expensive
。 The eldest son is The Great Sect, the Concubine is the Small Sect, and the Great Sect has the right to set up sub-fiefs in his own domain, and the Small Sect can only be equivalent to the Great Sect in his own domain.
After the system of sub-sealing was established, in order to maintain the order of sub-feudalism, King Tianwang of Zhou used the patriarchal system.
The great emperors within the division were the eldest sons of the concubines, and the firstborn sons of the concubines were all the small sects, and they were ordered by the great sects to maintain the power of the great sects.
This system of rights, linked by blood relatives, has maintained social stability and solved the problem of order for a certain period of time.
With the development of the dynasty, the system of sub-feudalism collapsed, and the county system of the Qin Dynasty replaced the sub-feudal system and became an important system for the central management of the localities, which has been used until now.
The patriarchal system had a profound impact on the development of China's feudal history, and it ran through feudal society and became an orthodox culture and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
But any emperor in history who was not succeeded by the eldest son of a concubine must be called an unjust position by the people.
Even if the primogeniture system is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, there are many emperors in history who have not been the eldest son of the concubine who have seized the throne, but few of the eldest sons are outstanding people who have influenced the changes in social development.
The main reasons are as follows.
Second, the eldest son does not want to struggle
The system of primogeniture is a system that has been developed for a long time, and the people in society have identified this system, and it is natural for the eldest son to be born with a golden key, and they will be prosperous and rich for a lifetime.
In addition to the father, the eldest son of the concubine is the most honorable.
They grew up in fine clothes and food, and they were pampered and treated well, and their father could inherit the throne after his death.
Even if they have the heart to understand the people and want to do things for the people, then after making efforts, their official position will not be promoted, and there is no change in Feng Lu, and there is no benefit to themselves, so what else are they trying to do?
The world is cold, human nature is originally indifferent, and few people do things that are not good for themselves, not to mention the eldest son who is spoiled and habitually raised.
Exerting subjective initiative is the most lasting and reliable source of achievement, and these eldest sons have no intrinsic drive, and they still have to work hard, in the same way, such a firstborn son has few outstanding people after succeeding to the throne.
Second, the eldest son has intellectual problems
Although the phrase "there is a problem with the intelligence of the eldest son" is not good, it is a real problem that affected the development of ancient society.
For example, Emperor Hui's Sima Zheng was a stupid emperor, and his father Emperor Wu of Jin was very worried about handing over the throne to him, because Sima Zheng was stupider than children of the same age from then on.
Once, when Emperor Wu of Jin was discussing famine with his courtiers, Sima Zheng came over when he heard this, and he asked his father why there was a famine, and his father said that the flood had wasted grain and the people had no food to eat, but Sima Zheng said"
The people are hungry without corn, so why not eat minced meat?
”
It is enough to see how ignorant Sima Zheng is. He ascended to the throne by virtue of his standing, and although Emperor Wu of Jin was very helpless, he did not care about the crime of deviance. Sima Zheng did not even know his own son Sima Tong, and asked him where he was from.
After Sima Zheng ascended to the throne, he was emperor for 16 years, and the ministers of the DPRK and The Chinese Ministers took advantage of the opportunity to secretly form a party to seek political power, and foreign relatives also took the opportunity to seek power.
Later, the two factions developed into a situation where there was no water and fire, the imperial court was in chaos, the people were displaced, and the Western Jin Dynasty was destroyed in the hands of this stupid emperor.
Historically, such emperors have ended power in the same way. This shows the disadvantages of the primogeniture system, except for the eldest son, other sons cannot inherit the throne even if they have great ability, so it is very unfair to these people.
Third, foreign relatives interfere in politics
There are many examples of foreign relatives interfering in politics in history, and the more famous ones are Liu Bang's wife Lü Hou and Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty.
Lü Hou's real name was Lü Yan, and after the seizure of power, Lü Yan participated in the plan to kill Han Xin and other ministers, and after his grandson Liu Ying ascended the throne, she was honored as the empress dowager.
This empress dowager of hers held great power, because the emperor was still too young to preside over political affairs, and the empress dowager presided over the affairs of the dynasty.
During her reign, she made many achievements in restoring social production and developing social culture, and presented a thriving scene.
After the emperor grew up, Lü Hou was reluctant to return to the throne, so that his grandson Liu Ying, the eldest son of a righteous concubine, did not have great achievements after returning to power.
This is the drawback of foreign relatives interfering in politics.
There is also a very famous figure: Cixi. Cixi controlled the government for many years, and although the social unrest in the last years of the Ming Dynasty was turbulent, Cixi still seized power by means, and all major events in the DPRK at that time needed to be seen by Cixi.
So much so that the Guangxu Emperor could not exert his talents and could only obey the arrangements of the empress.
4. Summary
It can be seen that it is difficult for a king under the primogeniture system to achieve anything.
From birth, they won everyone, no matter how hard they tried, their position could sit firmly. No one can take power and wealth from her hands without hard work. In this way, they are not willing to make too much effort.
Even if the eldest son is not in good health, he can still naturally take over his father's seat, how can such a concubine's eldest son achieve something.
The destructive ability of foreign relatives to govern the eldest son is also very large, and the place where he fights has been taken away by others, how can he exert his ambitions and how to succeed.
The ordinary eldest son took over the heavy responsibility, and if he did not have great ambitions and ambitions, it would be difficult to become an outstanding leader.
Few of the most outstanding kings in history were the eldest sons, such as Tang Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.