In the scourge of the witches, Liu Zhao, who had been the crown prince for 31 years, was framed by the traitor Jiang Chong and finally had to commit suicide. When Emperor Wudi of Han learned the truth, he took vigorous revenge on Jiang Chong, who had already been killed when Liu Chong raised an army, and Emperor Wu of Han later destroyed his three tribes. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built the "Wangzi Si Guitai", and often went to mourn Liu Zhao, crying tears every time. Liu Zhao's death dealt a great blow to Emperor Wu of Han, who began to reflect on his decades-long mistakes in government, issued an "edict against himself", and from then on ruled the country according to Liu Zhao's concept of benevolent government, and suspended the war between the Han Dynasty and the barbarians in the four directions.
First, recall the scourge of witchcraft
Emperor Wu of Han's favorite heir was the crown prince Liu Zhao, who was made crown prince at the age of 7 and was 38 years old when he committed suicide, having been crown prince for 31 years. Emperor Wu of Han knew liu zhao's benevolence, and he also knew that the successive years of war he had set off had caused the people of the world to complain, and he knew that after Liu Zhao's future succession, his benevolence would make the people's hearts settle down, and it was his plan to let Liu Zhao succeed to the throne.
However, he did not realize that there were already two factions in the imperial court, one was the "cool official faction" headed by himself, advocating the use of severe punishment to rule the country, and the other was the "benevolent government faction" headed by Liu Zhao, advocating mitigating punishment, loving the people, and benevolent government.
The two schools of thought are completely opposite, and they must be incompatible. Of course, the Cool Officials faction dominated the mainstream, and only a few of the ministers in the DPRK and China were benevolent, all of whom were attached to the prince.
Emperor Wu of Han often left Chang'an to tour the country, and when he was not in Chang'an, political affairs were entrusted to Liu Zhao. Liu often found the people guilty of treason by the cool officials to be innocent and pardoned many people, so he made enemies with the cool officials.
The cool officials were also afraid that Liu Zhao's succession would hit themselves, so they all wanted to oust Liu Zhao, especially Su Wen and Jiang Chong.
Su Wen was a eunuch by the side of Emperor Wu of Han and often said bad things about Liu In front of Emperor Wu of Han. Jiang Chong was a minister valued by Emperor Wu of Han, and he was always incompatible with Liu Zhao.
When Emperor Wu of Han grew old, his health was worse than a day, so he seriously suspected that someone was cursing himself with witchcraft, and he ordered Jiang Chong to investigate the matter.
Jiang Chong took the opportunity to frame Liu Zhao, publicizing that the most dolls were found in Liu Zhao's palace. At this time, Emperor Wu of Han was living in seclusion in Ganquan Palace, and Neither Liu Zhao nor the empress could contact Emperor Wu of Han, so Jiang Chong dared to press liu according step by step.
In the end, Liu Zhao, in fear, chose to raise an army, he led his troops to kill Jiang Chong, Chang'an was in chaos, and all the people in the city fled, saying: "The prince has rebelled!" ”
Su Wen fled to Ganquan Palace and reported to Emperor Wu of Han: "The crown prince has rebelled! Emperor Wu of Han began to disbelieve and sent a eunuch to Chang'an to scout, but the eunuch did not dare to go, and halfway back he said: "The prince has indeed rebelled, he still wants to kill me, fortunately I escaped." ”
Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han was furious and sent Liu Quyi to lead troops to attack the crown prince, and the people thought that Liu Was plotting rebellion, and all went to help Liu Quyi, but the prince was defeated in Chang'an, escaped, and finally committed suicide in the search of officers and soldiers.
Why not make Liu Yi emperor?
After reading the above story, we can find that Liu Zhao was completely innocent, and Emperor Wu of Han later realized his mistake, took heavy revenge on Jiang Chong and Su Wen, and also built Wangzi Si to return to Taiwan to mourn Liu Zhao.
Both Liu Zhao and his son committed suicide, and his grandson survived, the famous Han Xuan Emperor Liu Yiji.
According to our modern point of view, since Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty knew that Liu Zhao had been wronged, he should pass the throne to Liu Zhao's grandson to compensate Liu Zhao. But why did Emperor Wu of Han choose to make Liu Fuling emperor?
It's actually very easy to understand
Liu Was still swaddled at the time of his death, and Before the death of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Fuling was only 4 years old, although Liu Fuling was only 8 years old at this time, but in terms of age alone, Liu Fuling was obviously more suitable than Liu Fuling.
Second, although Emperor Wu of Han knew about Liu Zhao's grievances and although he regretted it himself, he did not pardon Liu Zhao. The fact that Jiang Chong and Su Wen were punished does not mean that Liu Zhao is innocent, and Liu Zheng did indeed raise an army in Chang'an! In fact, Emperor Wu of Han had already forgiven Liu Zhao in his heart, but at the national level, Liu Zhao was still a "chaotic thief". For example, during the reign of Emperor Liu Fuling of the Han Dynasty, there was a person who looked very much like Liu Zhao, who pretended to be Liu Zhao, which for a time made the people of Chang'an panic, and Sima Huoguang did not dare to act rashly and did not dare to go to see him. A minister saw the hint and said, "Liu Zhao is an anti-thief, and he is worried that he will not be able to catch him, and now he himself will send him to the door." "He was arrested, and after some interrogation, he was found to be fake."
Third, Liu Yi was already the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, and Liu Fuling was the biological son of Emperor Wu of Han, so passing the throne to Liu Fuling was of course a more correct choice. Because before Emperor Wu of Han, there had never been any case of passing the throne to his grandson, let alone a great-grandson. In fact, the matter of passing the throne to great-grandchildren was basically unprecedented in ancient times, and it was also unreasonable.