On April 11, 189, the sixth year of Zhongping, that is, on May 13, 189 AD, the Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong died and reigned for 21 years, at the age of 33. The eleventh emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty tossed and turned all his life, and finally was hollowed out by his own absurdity, and his energy was exhausted and he stopped cooking.
The cause of death of the Han Ling Emperor is described very briefly in the history books, and it is summarized only by the two words of death, neither clarifying that it was a death from illness, nor saying that it was due to excessive indulgence and failure to adjust to death. However, in the 21 years since the Han Ling Emperor became emperor, he was not only extremely lascivious but also extremely luxurious, and even did not care about the so-called court etiquette in his private life. After Liu Hong's death, he was given the title of Emperor Xiaoling. According to the Yi Zhou Shu? In the Commentary on the Fa, there are many explanations for the name of the spirit, but none of the explanations of the spirit character seem to be suitable for Liu Hong. The official interpretation of the Han Ling Emperor was "chaos without damaging the spirit". This explanation was thrown on the head of the Han Ling Emperor, which was a very face-giving title.
Emperor Hanling reigned for twenty-one years, and his political measures can be summed up as nothing more than the second calamity of the party, eunuch politics, selling officials and knights, resetting the state pastor, the eight lieutenants of the West Garden, attacking Xianbei, engraving the Xiping Stone Classic, and setting up the Hongdu Gate School. The first three items suddenly labeled the Han Ling Emperor as the most faint, most absurd, and most wealthy emperor in history, and suddenly became useless and left a stink for thousands of years. The last three more or less saved a little reputation for the Han Ling Emperor. After all, during the reign of Emperor Han Ling, he finally did a lot of stupid things, such as calling eunuchs public mothers, being deceived by eunuchs and not ascending to the throne, not accepting words and causing the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and not not observing words and leaving the state to be divided, etc., resulting in the decline of the Han Dynasty.
Throughout the life of the Han Ling Emperor, one word to summarize, play! Played with things, played with people, played with officials and even played with the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are three reasons for this.
First, identity change.
Liu Hong was lucky. Originally, he was the son of Liu Cang, the Marquis of Xieduting. According to the normal trajectory, it is nothing more than to be a carefree, spending time and drinking little marquis. Then he inherited the title, became a prince of the party, and still enjoyed the wealth of the world and lived a life of leisure. However, Emperor Huan of Han died and was childless to succeed to the throne. At that time, the Dou family, which was in power, set the age of the heir to the juvenile stage. In this way, Liu Hongyin, who was only 12 years old, became a little emperor who attracted the attention of thousands of people.
Second, environmental change.
Liu Hong is unfortunate. Far from their parents, living in the palace, with no relatives and no one to rely on, young hands to a devastated country, childish heads suddenly helpless, powerless. The meritorious ministers who were assisted by him were conspiring and deceitful, and even treated Liu Hong as a puppet. In the whole palace, only the eunuchs who served the little emperor begged him and spoiled him. So much so that the Han Ling Emperor mistakenly believed that only eunuchs were the best for him, and there was such a foolish remark, that is, Zhang Changshi was my father-in-law, and Zhao Changshi was my mother.
Third, changes in responsibilities.
The rights of the princes of the Han Dynasty were nothing more than to collect taxes within their territories, govern the land, and have the right to fight; the duty or obligation was to pay tribute to the Son of Heaven, report to the duty, serve in the army, and serve the king. The emperor, on the other hand, was the symbol of the state, and his powers were extremely broad, such as the highest executive head, the highest legislative power, the highest judicial power, the highest supervision power, and the highest military command power. Therefore, the emperor's responsibility is nothing more than to maintain the imperial throne, stabilize the government, promote social progress, and ensure that the world will always be the private property of the emperor's family. Unfortunately, The Han Ling Emperor Liu Hong had no art of governing the country and no way of an anbang, nor could he control people. In a lifetime, I only learn one thing, that is: life is alive, play.
The feeling that the Han Ling Emperor gave to future generations was nothing more than being stupid or dim or mud that could not support the wall, which was completely different from the princely generals of the same era who were too attached to their personal positions of power and were invariably played by the world. The Han Ling Emperor had been confused all his life, confused and addicted, but a fool had a foolish fortune, and finally played the whole country. In this regard, a few years later, Liu Bei was still grumpy, and painfully poured out to Zhuge Liang this unbearable past of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This is recorded in detail in the famous "Table of Renunciation", "When the emperor was there, whenever he discussed this matter with his subjects, he did not hesitate to sigh and hate Huan and Lingye", which was lamentable!