In the history of ancient China, there were many traitorous ministers who abused power and dictatorship and brought calamity to the country and the people, zhao gao in the Qin Dynasty, Dong Zhuo in the Han Dynasty, Qin Juniper in the Song Dynasty, and so on.
According to the official history, Wang Mang was a great traitor who usurped the Han and chaotic country, but later many people complained about his grievances, and it is said that after Wang Mang's death, he was even
His head also became a national treasure and was passed down to future generations, and was collected by successive royal families for 272 years
Such treatment can be described as a person for eternity. What is so special about Wang Mang's head?
Wang Mang's origins
The "Book of Han and the Biography of Wang Mang" records that Wang Mang's aunt was Wang Zhengjun, the empress of the Han Yuan Emperor, and Empress Wang had eight brothers, and after the death of the Han Yuan Emperor, Empress Wang became the empress dowager.
After Emperor Hancheng succeeded to the throne, the Wang clan had great power in their hands, such as the sun in the sky, and all the brothers of the Wang family were enfeoffed, which can be described as people with one surname, holding the world between the applause.
However, even though the family's power was so large, Wang Mang's fortune was not smooth, and Wang Mang's father had not yet waited for the day Wang Mang's aunt took power to drive to the west, so he did not catch up with the marquis.
Wang Mang grew up lonely and bitter, very depressed, and since childhood, he did not have any outstanding talent, but he studied very hard. It is said that his family was in the middle of the road, not valued, but still could not release the book, day and night hard to read, but the Han Dynasty did not have the real sense of the imperial examination, the selection of officials only two things, one is to look at the family background, the other is to look at fame and prestige.
The other sons of the Wang family were almost arrogant from childhood, and under the background of this group of people, Wang Mang, who was very sensible since childhood, smoothly won the favor of the royal family at that time.
At that time, many celebrities also stood up and recommended Wang Mang, in this way, Wang Mang entered the dynasty as an official, and Wang Mang, who became an official, still adhered to his heart, was more rigorous and serious, treated people kindly, and his reputation for being virtuous was also well-known, and even when he was forced to stay at home during the power struggle later, courtiers played to intercede for Wang Mang.
Although everyone between the government and the public shouted about his virtuousness, the center of power did not recognize it, which also made Wang Mang see the fact that there was no power in his hands, that is, everyone in the world said that you were good, and it was useless. And how can we get closer to the center of power again?
While Wang Mang was pondering, something happened that completely changed his destiny. Wang Mang's second son, Wang Yue, beat a domestic slave to death, and Wang Mang was very angry when he learned of this, and when he caught Wang Yue, he was beaten severely, and a few days later Wang Yue hanged himself because he was angry with his father.
This incident caused a great sensation in Chang'an City, and people praised Wang Mang's strict family law and strong principle, and under the guidance of public opinion, Wang Mang was naturally reused in thousands of calls.
Wang Mang usurped Han
Wang Mang, who had returned to the center of power, seized the opportunity to step by step through the barriers and destroy the Wei family, a foreign relative of the Hanping Emperor, and then single-handedly created the first major unsolved case in history, the Violent Death Of the Hanping Emperor.
According to yeshi rumors, the Hanping Emperor was poisoned by Wang Mang, and then set up a two-year-old infant as the crown prince, and he came to the court to govern himself, claiming to be a false emperor.
In the end, Wang Mang forced his aunt Wang Zhengjun to hand over the jade seal of the country, and then directed himself, asking the infant emperor to give up the throne to himself, enter the Gaozu Temple to worship, and the royal crown was the throne of tianzi, changing the name of the country to new, and calling himself the new ancestor.
Since then, Wang Mang has completely ended the 210 years of the Western Han Dynasty. Wang Mang's rebellion is still not the real reason why he is famous in the world, and what really makes posterity argue is the series of operations he restructured after usurping the Han Dynasty.
Based on the political shortcomings of the Western Han Dynasty and the problems of people's livelihood, Wang Mang carried out a series of reform policies, the most important of which was to restore the well field system, redistribute cultivated land, and abolish slavery.
It was these systems modeled on the Zhou Rites that not only failed to save serious economic and social problems such as land annexation and merchant exploitation of the people at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, but also completely intensified social contradictions.
Wang Mang issued a total of four currencies, which made the economy more and more chaotic every time, and eventually the rebel army invaded the palace and the new dynasty collapsed.
Although Wang Mang's series of reform measures were not successful, in the final analysis, his heart was still for the sake of the poor people, but the practice was too advanced, causing the resistance of the powerful elite class in society.
The Secret History of the Skull
According to the history of ye, after the Chang'an Weiyang Palace was attacked by the rebels and the people of Chang'an, Wang Mang, who was on the run, was cut off by a businessman, and it is said that when Wang Mang's head rolled to the ground, a small white snake swam out of it, and this white snake suddenly spat out words: Holding a headless can live forever, and when it is finished, it will burrow into the ground and disappear.
When the merchant heard this, he quickly picked up his head and ran home, but that night, all the old and young members of the merchant's family were poisoned and died. Wang Mang's head was considered to be ominous, and he was just about to burn it, but someone came to the palace.
At that time, the folklore said that the future emperors would have Wang Mang's head
As a warning to the courtiers not to make trouble,
However, there are still rumors in the Chamber of Secrets that Wang Mang's head was incarnated by the white emperor's son Jingluo.
The White Snake's words originally wanted to lure the merchants to poison and let the people burn the head furnace to release the essence of it, but this secret was finally learned by the emperor, so he collected Wang Mang's head as a national treasure.
It was not until 295 AD that Emperor Hui of Jin, in order to quell the plague, made an appointment with the White Emperor to burn Wang Mang's head, so the White Emperor put the plague to rest.
brief summary:
Although the history books scolded him as useless, we can also see in later generations that in fact, Wang Mang was concerned and compassionate about the shortcomings of society and the suffering of the people, but he was a ruler who exerted too much force, resulting in a mess of failure.