The Common Era is a chronology, that is, the Common Era, which originated in the West and is based on the birth of Jesus as the beginning of the year. Before Jesus was born, it was B.C., and after Jesus was born, it was After the Common Era. The time in this article should be based on the Gregorian calendar as much as possible, because the time difference between the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is about 1 month, and the Gregorian calendar is after the former lunar calendar, so the December in the record is actually january and February of the following year. History is rigorous, and if there is a mistake, you are welcome to correct it.
Year 1 AD
This year is the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, at this time more than 200 years have passed since Liu Bang ascended the throne and established the Han Dynasty (Western Han), the Western Han Dynasty has become terminally ill, its life is short, and there are only a few years left before its demise.
Emperor Ping ascended the throne for several months, and in February (the first month of the lunar calendar) changed his era name to "The First Year of the Yuan Dynasty". Because Emperor Ping was young, the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun came to listen to the government. In order to consolidate his own rights, he first took back the Imperial Jade Seal, and second, he appointed his nephew "Wang Mang" as the Grand Sima and was also in charge of military orders and forbidden troops. Soon, Wang Mang actively operated through politics and was given the title of "Duke of An Han". Soon after, he asked his fellow party members to write a letter of advice, indicating that the empress dowager was old and often handled the cumbersome affairs of the dynasty for fear of hurting the jade body, and the relevant affairs of the government could be handled by Wang Mang and other auxiliary ministers. Therefore, the empress dowager summoned: from now on, except for the matter of knighthood, the rest will be handled by Wang Mang and other ministers. At this time, Wang Mang's military and political power was in his hands, and he had completely controlled the political situation of the Western Han Dynasty, which also laid the foundation for the later "usurper of Han".
Web pictures, illustrative only
Year 2 AD
In this year, there was a severe drought in The land of China, followed by a plague of locusts, of which Qingzhou (Hanshi Prefecture, equivalent to the vast area of eastern Shandong Province and south-central Hebei Province) was the most severely affected, and the people fled everywhere. In order to help the people solve their difficulties and survive the famine and the epidemic that arose from it, Emperor Ping issued an edict: "Those who are sick and sick, empty their residences, and buy medicine." This means that the government arranges vacant houses and uses them as "isolation hospitals" to treat disease patients, which is also the earliest record of public temporary epidemic isolation hospitals in mainland history. At the same time, DPRK and Chinese officials actively donated houses and land to distribute materials according to the actual situation of the disaster victims. More than 200 civilian dwellings were also built in Chang'an City for the disaster victims. This is probably the earliest affordable housing and low-cost housing.
Year 3 AD
With the efforts of one side and the support of the eight parties, the disaster situation has been controlled, and this huge Han Empire is restoring calm little by little. However, as the de facto ruler of the empire, Wang Mang began to show his fangs for his monopolistic cause. On the one hand, in order to consolidate his own power, let his henchmen create public opinion and make his daughter the only choice for the empress; on the other hand, in order to exclude dissidents, he listed the righteous ministers of the DPRK and China, either killed or degraded. Even his eldest son, because of his opposition to him, became a victim in this movement of those who follow us and those who oppose us.
At this time, the Western Han Dynasty had been completely toyed with by Wang Mang, and even the emperor's mother's mother's family had been killed. The so-called emperor and empress dowager have become toys in his hands.
Year 4 AD
In this year, Wang Mang finally married his 13-year-old eldest daughter to the 13-year-old emperor and became the emperor's father-in-law. But just over a year later, the fourteen-year-old child became a widow (or empress) and never married again. It has to be said that for the sake of power, his eldest son and eldest daughter have become victims.
In addition to marrying a daughter, the innovative Wang Mang has brought about a change for the people of the world. He adjusted almost all the administrative regions of the country, including the names of the official governments, the settings of officials at all levels, the changes in official documents, including the replacement of plaques involving place names. The social habits of the Western Han Dynasty for more than two hundred years have all changed in one dynasty, and the people of the world are at a loss.
However, Wang Mang, known as the crosser, also started the idea of "jifu". In the case that the empire already owned Donghai County, Nanhai County, and Beihai County, the area around the current Qinghai Lake was redeemed from the hands of the Qiang people by way of money, and the "Xihai County" was set up, thus realizing the grand cause of "returning all seas to one".
Year 5 AD
This year, Wang Mang, who could no longer resist his ambitions, finally in the years of push-and-turn tug-of-war, falsely gave himself the "Nine Tin" Kryptonite equipment symbolizing the king through the hand of the empress dowager, and traveled like an emperor. The so-called "nine tins" refers to the nine kinds of special gifts: carriages and horses, clothes, Lexian, Zhuhu, Na Majesty, Tiger Ben, Axe, Bow And Arrow, and Straw Man. Jiu Xi is the nine kinds of ceremonial instruments given by the ancient Chinese emperor to the princes and ministers with special honors, and is the highest courtesy. However, from ancient times to the present, most of the figures who have received jiuxi are some powerful ministers, such as Wang Mang, Cao Cao, Sima Zhao, etc., so gradually jiuxi has become synonymous with usurpation.
6 AD
At the beginning of February of that year (in the record, it is December of the fifth year of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty), Emperor Ping suddenly fell ill and died (some say that Wang Mang poisoned him). In order to occupy the throne for a long time, Wang Mang installed a two-year-old infant as the crown prince (note that it was the crown prince and not the emperor), and he himself was honored as a "false emperor", meaning acting emperor. At this time, the imperial family surnamed Liu had gradually lost its bloodiness under years of oppression, and in the face of Wang Mang's encroachment on the Han Chamber, when the society was in danger, only one Marquis surnamed Liu rose up to resist, but unfortunately, it was already defeated before it could rise. The Western Han Dynasty has died in name only.
7 AD
The last large-scale uprising of the Western Han Dynasty broke out, and there was only one object of opposition: Wang Mang.
At the beginning of the uprising, the uprising was huge, and various rebel armies around Gyeonggi responded one after another, instantly pulling up hundreds of thousands of troops. At this time, Wang Mang, who was located in Chang'an, was so frightened that he sent out his cronies one by one to block the rebel army. Maybe fate should not be extinguished, maybe fate should be extinguished, one person, one dynasty, two fates began to reverse. At the end of the year, the rebel army was defeated one by one. Wang Mang saved himself, and the Western Han Dynasty lost Jiangshan, at this time, only a few months before its demise.
8 AD
The Western Han Dynasty, which had been passed down for 210 years, finally completed its fate at the end of the year. After several months of defeating the rebel army, no one could stop Wang Mang's usurpers. At the end of the same year, all preparations for the ascension to the throne were completed, and in order to show the orthodoxy of the new dynasty, Wang Mang forced the empress dowager to hand over the imperial jade seal and prepare to change the Yuan to establish a new dynasty.
In the records, it is said that the Chuanguo Jade Seal broke a corner in the hands of the empress dowager, and it is often mentioned in the TV series that the real Chuanguo Jade Seal has a horn inlaid with gold, which originates from this.
9 AD
A country with the name "Han" temporarily withdrew from the stage of history, a "new" (pun intended, both brand new and national name) dynasty was born, and the 54-year-old Wang Mang finally ascended the throne as he wished. In order to consolidate the newly established political power, Wang Mang opened the mode of "reward and reward", as long as it is a relative, no matter how far away the relationship can be rewarded; as long as it is obedient, standing with him or divination, from high-ranking officials to ordinary people can be crowned as princes and princes, and the gold content of various titles is as rapid as a cabbage.
These newly enfeoffed nobles were just about to enjoy the life of a superior person when they suddenly discovered that a decree called the "Wang Tian System" had been issued. Whether you are a landlord or a commoner, the fields under the heavens will be considered national after this. According to the number of men and the number of men, the surplus and excess land must be distributed to relatives, friends, and neighbors free of charge, which directly offends the people of the whole country. So within a few years, it was canceled by itself.
10 AD
This year, Wang Mang issued 2 very interesting decrees, and the content of these 2 decrees is a bit of a modern society. The first is the establishment of a management agency at the national level, which sets the upper, middle, and lower prices for goods on the market every quarter, and when the goods are unsalable, the government will purchase them at parity, when prices rise, they will sell the purchased goods to the people at the same price, and when prices fall, they will let the people trade freely. At first glance, is it not a bit of a macro-control system of the national economy. However, in the later period, with the gradual disappearance of merchants, state-run institutions gradually became monopoly institutions in the industry, so officials at all levels were corrupt, all kinds of shoddy and expensive goods flooded the market, and the people were miserable.
The second is to set up a business income tax for each industry, stipulating that all people from all walks of life must declare their own business income in the place where they go, and the local officials will collect one-tenth of the tax on net profits after removing their costs, and tax evasion and tax evasion will also be fined and hard labor. Well, it feels like it's completely the business system of modern society.
The idea was very good, but under the social conditions at that time, it was very difficult to achieve idealized operation.
epilogue
With the rapid fall of the Western Han Dynasty, the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun had to pay a great deal of responsibility, and it was her connivance that prompted Wang Mang to become more and more powerful, and in the end, there was nothing for the emperor to do more than the imperial power.
Secondly, it is also known from the history books that Wang Mang is actually very good at disguise. The reputation among the people of Li min is very good, so why is it good? Mainly will be word of mouth marketing, each reward is either resigned, or distributed to those in need, so the people always feel that he is very humble and humble. The second is the praise of Confucianism, before the usurpation of power, many great Confucians turned to him and sang praises and praises to him all day long, so it also deepened the people's good feelings for him.
Therefore, the reason why Wang Mang's usurpation of power can be so smooth and there is no ripple at all, is because the people feel that it is actually very good to let him be emperor.
However, a country that is deceived by deception will never last long, and the next chapter will look at how Wang Mang made a mess of the country.