The prince of the feudal dynasty, as a crown prince, his status is noble and supreme. However, the establishment of this identity is not a reassuring pill for a smooth future ascension to the throne.
Historically, Liu Zhao, as crown prince, was later deposed by Emperor Wu of Han; Li Chengqian, as Li Shimin's pro-prince, eventually ended up in a situation of being deposed; Li Xian, as the second son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian, was still deposed. In history, there is indeed a precedent for the prince to be replaced, but in fact, the emperor's desire to replace the prince is not arbitrary.
Power struggle
The struggle for imperial power has always been a hot theme of palace fighting dramas, and when watching the drama, you will often see such a scene: several sons of the emperor try to establish a good impression in front of this decision-maker before announcing the establishment of the crown prince, and their behavior is more careful.
Once the resolution on the establishment of the reserve was announced, the prince himself gradually began to reveal his original form due to the sudden increase in power in terms of behavior and personality, and the disputes between various interest groups intensified, at this time, the plot of the entire script actually officially entered the climax.
Such interest groups have even threatened those in power before the open struggle, so the emperor sometimes wants to change the crown prince and re-elect a relatively calm and easy son to inherit the throne.
But the emperor's idea of deposing the prince was often too difficult to achieve, and it was necessary to bulldoze various complex factors.
The "rules" handed down from generation to generation are difficult to break
In ancient times, although the emperor was the supreme ruler of the dynasty, the decisions that mattered were also to organize and train the rules formulated by the ancestors. Birth, old age, illness and death are natural laws, so dynasties, like ordinary families, when the emperor reaches a certain age, he always has to choose his own heirs to inherit and pass on the glory and wealth of the family.
If the emperor wanted to abolish his position as crown prince because he was not accustomed to the crown prince, he would have to break the rules handed down by his ancestors. Not only will it cause dissatisfaction from other bloodlines in the imperial family, but the people who do not understand the truth will also talk about it, which is likely to make the emperor lose the hearts of the people and become a major stain during his reign.
After all, losing the hearts and minds of the people, no matter which dynasty or generation, is a rather terrible thing for those in power, which will cause political turmoil and national unrest, and even foreign enemies will take advantage of the turbulence of the situation to invade and make the people unhappy.
Therefore, once the emperor has this idea of abolishing the reserve, he must also do a good job of fighting against the first training, against the revenge of the prince's party, and even the consequences of the abolition of the prince and then causing disaster.
Historically, Liu Bang finally had no way to abolish the crown prince Liu Ying, he could not break free of the "primogeniture inheritance system" of the rules, to know that in ancient times, it was more important to pay attention to the elder and the young, liu bang was powerless to change this rule, and finally could only helplessly follow.
Under the shroud of the feudal system, the father-son relationship between the emperor and the crown prince was thicker than water, and it was also an inevitable natural enemy. The emperor's fundamental intention of establishing the crown prince was to be successfully replaced by someone after a hundred years, so as to continue to balance the bureaucratic forces above the court so as not to be usurped by other tribes. During his reign, he needed to do his best to help the prince establish his prestige and cultivate a powerful group with the prince as the core.
As the power of the prince's side grows stronger and more stable, over time it will begin to threaten the emperor's first center of power, and the emperor at this time will begin to prevent the prince from rushing to succeed to the throne and "overthrow" himself.
Moreover, the abolition of the crown prince and the continuation of the ancient moment are all things that require complicated procedures, and convening a council of ministers to let the ministers express their opinions is likely to allow themselves to read more layers of folds, and the emperor is forced to think and sometimes dare to think and cannot practice.
The emperor's own position was also wavering
Although the emperor was in the supreme position, he could not always discern the true intention and loyalty between the various powers above the court, so his own stage judgment was often based on which force at the moment could act more in line with his own wishes.
In a feudal monarchical society, the establishment of the son of heaven and the heir is related to the fundamentals of the country, and major matters related to the subordination of power, such as the abolition of the prince, will naturally lead to a dispute. Under the bureaucratic provocations of every word, obscured by the appearance of possible performative submission, the emperor's judgment of the nature and ability of the princes became more and more wavering.
At this time, combined with the historical fact that many emperors in history have been reluctant to establish a reserve for many years, it is also a more empathetic understanding. After all, li chu is related to the continuation and prestige of the royal authority, and it really cannot be easily decided.
The situation changed rapidly, the various forces above the court would change day by day, and all kinds of people continued to convey complicated messages to the emperor, and although you were the supreme centralizer, there would often be a situation in which you could not take a firm stand.
The shackles of powerful groups need to be broken
As the head of the crown prince, since the establishment of the Tianzi, the power structure of the crown prince will become increasingly prosperous, and the system of the Eastern Palace will become more and more complete. For the crown prince, the Eastern Palace is like the importance of the imperial court to the emperor, and its practical colloquialisms are summed up as a "quasi-imperial court", but of course it is still inferior in scale to those in power.
The growing power of its power is bound to pose a threat to the imperial power of the emperor. The emperor certainly did not want his ministers to start prematurely centering on the prince, but this trend was also unavoidable.
With the change of dynasties, the Eastern Palace system became more and more complete and elite, although the emperor was unwilling to see such a situation, and even secretly attacked and weakened, but as a "potential stock" and "the next leader to preside over the government", there were still a considerable number of followers who began to take the initiative to move closer to the east, which to a large extent established a great barrier for the emperor to rebuild the crown prince.
Naturally, when it comes to the fact that the emperor wants to change the crown prince, it is absolutely impossible to act arbitrarily alone, and the established scale system will not be easily disintegrated.
The emperor wanted to depose one person, and the other powerful ministers above the court who had close interests in him began to dissuade and constantly play, and even forced the palace, so the emperor's idea of changing the position was also very challenging and adventurous.
From the perspective of the powerful ministers on the Side of the Eastern Palace, they had hardly shown their loyalty in front of the prince and stood up the team, but now they were suddenly asked to disband the team, and they had to spend time and energy again to figure out the taste of the "new candidate", and they might not be able to please the next player, and naturally the emperor who wanted to abolish the prince would try to obstruct it.
The historical Emperor Wen of Sui not only did not succeed in changing the crown prince, but also provoked Yang Guang to kill his father and brother, which brought himself the disaster of killing himself.
China has always had a tradition of remembering the ancestors, although the emperor is the highest power of the dynasty, but also to follow the ancestral system, if not to get the support of the people and courtiers, it is difficult to change the system only by self-will, coupled with the balance of power centralization, it is not clear about the excessive amount of information.
This is why the emperor can make a prince, and it is really not easy to change the position of prince in the later stage.