In 128 BC, the 29-year-old Emperor Wu of Han welcomed his first prince. Emperor Wu of Han was overjoyed, and named the emperor's eldest son Liu Zhao, and crowned the crown prince's biological mother Wei Zifu as empress. When Liu Zhao was 7 years old, Emperor Wu of Han made him crown prince, and then personally selected a virtuous person as the prince's teacher. Emperor Wu of Han originally hated others to raise soldiers, but when Liu Zhao was an adult, he specially built a Bowang Garden for him to encourage the crown prince to raise soldiers. Obviously, Emperor Wu of Han was very fond of Liu Zhao.
Crown Prince Liu was more lenient in temperament and more gentle in handling political affairs. Emperor Wu of Han often entrusted some administrative affairs to Liu Zhao, and he was very relieved, and sometimes he did not ask questions. Emperor Wu of Han was more severe and liked to appoint cool officials. Those cool officials often used torture to extract confessions, frame others, and commit heavy punishments. Liu, on the other hand, retried the cases, handled them fairly, and often overturned the verdicts of the cool officials, so that many unjust cases were rehabilitated. As a result, those harsh cool officials resented Liu Zhao very much.
Emperor
After Wei Qing's death, the crown prince Liu Zhao lost his greatest patron. Empress Wei Zifu was old and fading, and was no longer favored by Emperor Wu of Han. Fearing that Liu Zhao would take the throne, the traitors in the DPRK and China would liquidate them and began to conspire to frame Liu Zhao.
Zhao Guojiangchong, with a slender figure, beautiful appearance, outstanding eloquence, was deeply valued by Emperor Wu of Han. Once, crown prince Liu Zhao sent emissaries to greet his father Emperor Wu of Han, and the emissaries drove on the royal road. When Jiang Chong found out, he detained the emissary for questioning. So Liu Zhao sent someone to apologize to Jiang Chong, asking for forgiveness, and asking him not to report to Emperor Wu. Jiang Chong did not agree, and still reported to Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu of Han therefore believed that Jiang Chong was not afraid of the magnates, but valued him even more. However, Liu Zhao and Jiang Chong had a rift because of this.
Gongsun He was the eldest uncle of the crown prince Liu Zhao. Gongsun He's son Gongsun Jingsheng committed a crime, and Gongsun He requested the arrest of the fugitive Zhu Anshi to atone for his son's sins. Unexpectedly, Zhu Anshi falsely accused Gongsun Jingsheng of having an affair with Princess Yangshi and cursed the emperor with a witch puppet. Emperor Wu of Han was furious and sent a cool official to investigate the case, causing the father and son of the chancellor to die unjustly in prison. This case also involved Wei Qing's son Wei Ling, Princess Wei's son, and others. This is the beginning of the scourge of witchcraft.
Witch dolls
Emperor Wu of Han was ill in his later years, and he was suspicious of ghosts. Jiang Chong was afraid that after Emperor Wu's death, the crown prince Liu Zhao, who had killed him, decided to strike first. Jiang Chong falsely claimed that Emperor Wu was ill because someone had cursed Tianzi with a witch puppet, so Emperor Wu sent Jiang Chong to preside over the investigation of wu jiao.
Jiang Chong and others dug up witch dolls in the palace of Prince Liu Zhao, and framed Liu Zhao. Liu Zhao did not expect that there were witch dolls in his palace, and he was very frightened. At this time, Emperor Wu of Han was recuperating at Ganquan Palace and did not let anyone disturb him. Liu Zhao, unable to prove his innocence to Emperor Wu of Han in person, asked his teacher Shi De for advice.
Shi De said, "In the past, the Family of the Princess, the Family of the Princess, and the Family of the Marquis of Wei were all killed because of this incident, and now That Jiang Chong has dug up witch dolls in your palace, it is difficult for us to prove our innocence." We can correct Jiang Chong's arrest and investigate his plot. Besides, the emperor was recuperating in Ganquan Palace, we once went to ask For Greetings and got no answer, the emperor's life and death are unknown, and the traitors persecute us, Prince, don't you remember the murder of Gongzi Fusu? ”
The matter was urgent, and the crown prince Liu Was at a loss for words, and he did not think of a better countermeasure, so he followed Shi De's advice. As a result, Liu Zhao sent his disciples to arrest Jiang Chong with an edict and received the support of Empress Wei. Liu Zhao personally supervised Jiang Chong and burned the wizard to death.
Prince Liu Zhao
Su Wen, the eunuch who assisted Jiang Chong, escaped from Chang'an, Kyoto, and went to Ganquan Palace to report the situation to Emperor Wu of Han. At first, Emperor Wu of Han did not believe that the crown prince Liu Zhao was plotting rebellion, so he sent emissaries to summon Liu Zhao to explain the situation. However, the emissary did not dare to enter the city because of timidity, and lied to Emperor Wu that the crown prince had plotted rebellion. Emperor Wu was furious, and only then did he believe that the crown prince had rebelled.
So Emperor Wu of Han returned to Beijing and sent an army to capture the crown prince Liu Zhao. Liu Zhao did not have an army, and he dispatched troops everywhere, but he could not dispatch them, so he had to arm his own guards and prisoners. However, the imperial court's military strength continued to increase, and Liu's military strength continued to weaken. In the end, Liu Zhaobing fled from Chang'an in defeat.
The crown prince Liu Zhu fled to a poor family, and the owner sold straw shoes to support Liu Zhao. Later, Liu heard that a wealthy friend of his was also in the local area, so he sent someone to find him. Unexpectedly, the news leaked, the officers and soldiers rounded up the prince, the poor master and the officers and soldiers fought and died, the prince did not want to be humiliated, hanging himself.