Speaking of the Western Han Dynasty, we must talk about the reign of Gaozu Hanwu and Wenjing, and the stars of the Han Dynasty that everyone knows in detail are all these emperors, especially the Han Wu conquest and promotion of our country's prestige, which is probably the most praised prosperous scene of the Han Dynasty. However, the peak of the Western Han Dynasty was not at the time of Han Wu, but after Han Wu, during the reign of Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan, who was praised by historians as "Zhao Xuan Zhongxing".
I. Poor Soldiers And Armed Forces - The Time of the Disaster of Han Wu
ZTE usually means that the dynasty before this had declined. This is used to describe the special situation of the han wudi emperor's late years of government, when a series of ruling and social crises occurred in the country. Although Emperor Wu carried out various reforms to the state, expanding the territory externally, and centralizing power internally, the reputation of the Han Dynasty spread to Rome. However, Emperor Wu's exhaustive military force brought many negative effects to the country, and the Han-Hungarian War depleted the family foundation of Wenjingzhizhi, the Han treasury bottomed out, and economic crises occurred.
In order to support the expenditure of the imperial court, Emperor Wu began to impose various taxes, and the people were oppressed too much, which led to increasingly fierce social contradictions. At the same time, the sharp decline in population caused by the war further aggravated the economic problems, the number of people cultivating land was getting smaller and smaller, and the taxes of servitude were getting heavier, which forced the peasants to develop in the direction of the uprising. Moreover, Emperor Wu was extremely poor and extravagant, and people traveled around in old age to find elixirs, which was quite similar to Qin Shi Huang's later years, and the Western Han Dynasty began to have a hint of "the time of the death of Qin".
The next scene is more realistic, Emperor Wu of Han's favorite prince, Liu Zhao, was personally eliminated by Emperor Wu in the "Scourge of witchcraft", which is not much different from the fate of Fu Su, what is even more tragic is that Liu Zhao's entire family was destroyed, and the only descendant left, Emperor Xuan, was still because he survived in prison. This incident led to the collapse of the anti-Hungarian front, but the worst consequence was that the crown prince was hung up, and the Western Han Dynasty had no successor to the throne who could save the country.
At this time, the Western Han Dynasty was already at the end of the crossbow, fortunately, Emperor Wu himself stepped on the brakes, used the "Wheel Platform Edict" to admit his mistakes, announced that he would no longer fight wars to disturb the people, and did not pursue the way of the gods and immortals to lead by example, and the people's hearts that were almost about to collapse began to be stabilized, and this edict became the medicine for the continuation of the Western Han Dynasty. However, after Emperor Wu's death, the government was still unstable, and the edict only barely cleaned up the mess, but it set a good example for future generations, and Zhaoxuan had the opportunity to "ZTE".
Second, the Second Emperor of Zhaoxuan - a glimmer of hope in the Western Han Dynasty
Emperor Wu of Han had a very good vision of people, on the one hand, it was manifested in the fact that he chose Huo Guang, Shangguan Jie and others to be the "Minister of Gu Orders", among which it is worth mentioning that Huo Guang was not very famous, because his brother Huo Went to illness was too famous; on the other hand, he left Two People in the Han Room, fu ling, and two people who were sick, which was the second emperor of Zhaoxuan. Emperor Wu hesitated for a long time in his later years before he made Fuling the crown prince, and because he could not rest assured, he also ordered the painter to paint a painting of "Zhou Gongfu Chengwang" to Huo Guang, which was clearly revealed.
Emperor Zhao grew up in the palace, and when he ascended the throne, he was also very young, only 8 years old, and the government was temporarily handed over to Huo Guang as an agent, because Huo Guang and Shangguan Ji did not have a good relationship. During Emperor Zhao's reign, there were also several storms such as the Yan Gai Rebellion for a short time, but fortunately Emperor Zhao and Huo Guang cooperated to suppress these. Unfortunately, shortly after Emperor Zhao was 18 years old, he fell ill in Weiyang Palace within 3 years, and Huo Guang had to help find a candidate for a new emperor after crying and mourning.
In comparison, Emperor Xuan's childhood was comparable to that of the "Orphans of Zhao", when Emperor Xuan was born, his home was cut off by the door, and he was taken into custody after escaping the disaster. Due to the harsh conditions in prison, Emperor Xuan was still seriously frail and sickly, and after living in prison for 5 years, he was sent to his grandmother's house to be raised.
The Book of Han records that when he was a child, Emperor Xuan liked to "fight cocks and horses" the most, and visited "people's livelihood and suffering", such conditions can be called sympathetic to the people's feelings today. When Emperor Xuan was 18 years old, he was favored by the discerning Huo Guangxiang, so he succeeded Queen Changyi and took office, and it was during his reign that the Western Han Dynasty reached its peak.
On the one hand, Emperor Zhao's reign time was too short, on the other hand, Emperor Xuan ruled for 20 years after Huo Guang, so it is also said that "Filial Piety Zhongxing". In the 200 years of the Western Han Dynasty, he was one of the four emperors with only a temple number, and even the Xiongnu who could not be sure of Gaozu Hanwu also bowed to the Han Dynasty during the Xuan Emperor period, and only personally brought his family to pay tribute, and the Eastern Han Dynasty also regarded the politics of the Zhaoxuan period as a model.
Third, the national operating machine - ZTE to turn the tide
In 81 BC, Huo Guang convened a "salt and iron conference" in the name of Emperor Zhao, which basically determined the policy guidelines of following Emperor Wu's late period, slightly changed Emperor Wu's "hegemonic technique", and did not directly stick to the people's livelihood and foreign issues, but supplemented it with turnips; Zhaoxuan was a "model of diligence" among the emperors, especially Emperor Xuan, who personally asked about the people's livelihood, after all, there are only a few emperors like him with folk experience in history.
Emperor Zhaoxuan was very active in the policy of resuming production, and frequently issued edicts to reduce rents and reduce taxes, and vigorously dispensed with thin taxes, abolished all additional harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes during Emperor Wu's period, and curbed land annexation to ensure that everyone had land to cultivate, while allowing the displaced people to return to their homes and encourage the peasants to return to the fields to cultivate the fields. Emperor Xuan listened to the advice of the Great Sinong and began to set up permanent liquidation positions in the country, using the "invisible hand" to stabilize prices, and the country's productive forces were slowly restored.
Emperor Zhao was young, and during this period, Huo Guang was basically in charge, and after Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, Huo Guang took power as soon as Emperor Xuan left, and left Shangshu aside. He attached great importance to the election of local officials, and the Book of Han said that Emperor Xuan believed that "only when there is a good county order too guarded can the country prosper", so during Emperor Xuan's reign, there were "palace tests" almost every day. During Huo Guang's reign, the "cool law officials" atmosphere in the last years of Emperor Wu's reign continued for a long time, and Emperor Xuan also directly abolished these cool laws, and vigorously punished the remaining corruption phenomena, social contradictions were not as heavy as before, and the people's lives and the support rate of the government gradually improved.
In dealing with the relationship between the border and the nomads, Emperor Xuan used a strategy of combining vertical and horizontal relations, and at the same time, coupled with the policy of restraint, those who could recruit security would be recruited, and those who could not be suppressed by troops. Emperor Xuan joined forces with Wusun to fight against the Xiongnu, and took advantage of the Xiongnu's civil strife to win shan Yu over, so that from the Japanese kings in the western regions to the Huhanye of the Xiongnu, they were all made Marquis of Han, and the border gradually calmed down. In 60 BC, the Western Regions Capital Protectorate was set up, so that the territory of the Han Dynasty was greatly expanded, and the Han Dynasty in the Zhaoxuan period can be said to have completed the unfinished business of emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Fourth, the twilight of the Western Han Dynasty - the situation after ZTE
The Han Dynasty under emperor Zhaoxuan's rule showed a scene of economic recovery, the unity of the country was further consolidated, and the Zizhi Tongjian compared Zhaoxuan's political achievements to Wenjing, and the Western Han Dynasty once again went downhill after this peak. After Emperor Xuan, from the beginning of the Yuan Emperor Dynasty, the imperial program was almost completely abolished, and there was no next generation when the "Way of The King's Hegemony" was passed down to Emperor Xuan, and since then, morality has flourished, eunuchs have taken the opportunity to take power, and the Western Han Dynasty has moved from the beginning of Emperor Yuan to the era of foreign relatives and eunuchs.
Although Emperor Xuan's tragic childhood experience enabled him to have a wealth of people's livelihood experience, he lacked the same grand vision as Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Xuan was a Ming Emperor in the Era of Shoucheng and Peace, but he was not a visionary Ming Emperor, and the political environment of Emperor Zhao's reign hindered his actions. The social contradictions at the time of the announcement were alleviated, but the fundamental problem of land annexation was not resolved. After ZTE, the bane of the Western Han Dynasty was no longer easy to suppress.
Zhaoxuan Zhongxing means the peak of the Western Han Dynasty, and also means the end of the prosperous world.
Resources:
1. The Book of Han
2. "History"
3. Zizhi Tongjian