Since ancient times, the emperor loved the red face, and the queen concubine was exclusively favored and dominated the harem. The monopoly of foreign power is nothing new in all the dynasties and dynasties. However, the Han Emperor was very peculiar, he was not interested in beautiful women, but he had a deep affection for the beautiful man Dong Xian, and he was inseparable every day, accumulating tens of thousands of rewards in ten days, and even willing to give up the throne. Such a color is dizzy, it is simply a rare encounter in eternity.
The habit of breaking sleeves
In ancient China, there were few real homosexuals, and there were many records of bisexuality, even the emperors were no exception, and most of the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty had ambiguous and very favored courtiers, such as Emperor Hui's Hong Wei, Emperor Wen's Jiang Chong, Emperor Wu's Han Yan, Emperor Cheng's Zhang Fang, and so on. Although the history books often use words such as "lying up with the upper bed", saying that these favored courtiers slept with the emperor, no one dared to make a judgment about whether the relationship between them was really gay or not. Only the Han Emperor and Dong Xian can not only confirm that they do have an abnormal relationship, but their story has been synonymous with homosexuality for thousands of years, that is, "broken sleeves".
Emperor Liu Xin was originally the son of Liu Kang, the Prince of Dingtao. Liu Kang was the son of Emperor Yuan,Liu Yi (奭奭), because Emperor Yuan favored his mother Fu Jieyu (傅婕妤) and was very fond of this son, and even wanted to depose the crown prince Liu Xiao (Emperor Cheng) and install Liu Kang as his successor. But this matter was not implemented in the end. Liu Kang was given the title of King of Dingtao, and through his mother Fu Jieyu , he left Chang'an City and returned to the kingdom.
Liu Kang had many wives and concubines, among whom Ding Ji gave birth to a son, Liu Xin, Liu Kang died early, Liu Xin attacked the title of King of Dingtao, Suihe first year (8 BC), he and his uncle Liu Xing, the King of Zhongshan, also made a pilgrimage to see his grandmother Fu Jieyu (who had been revered as Empress Wang at this time) and also went to Chang'an, carrying a large number of treasures and bribing Empress Zhao Feiyan. As well as the powerful Sima and the hussar general Wang Gen, he wanted his grandson Liu Xin to ascend to the throne of the crown prince. Emperor Cheng had no sons, and after listening to the advice of Empress Zhao and Sima Wang, he carefully compared the personalities and knowledge of Liu Xin and Liu Xing, and finally decided to choose Liu Xin as the crown prince. Liu Xin entered the palace from then on, learning etiquette and governing the country. In the second year of Suihe (7 BC), Emperor Cheng of Han died violently, and the crown prince Liu Xin succeeded him as Emperor Xiaomei of the Western Han Dynasty.
In the second year of Jianping of the Western Han Dynasty (5 BC), liu Xin, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, returned to the palace. Meet your old friend Dong Xian. Dong Xianzi Shengqing, a native of Yunyang (present-day northwest of Chunhua, Shaanxi), whose father had originally served as a royal historian, so Dong Xian had followed his father in and out of the court since he was a child, and had been a prince when Liu Xin was still a prince. After a few years, the former naughty boy was already a personable and beautiful teenager, with a dashing demeanor and a beautiful appearance, and suddenly captured the dragon heart of the Han Emperor.
As soon as Dong Xian entered the palace, the six palaces were colorless, and the Han Emperor's favor for Dong Xian was greater than that of the King of Shang. King Zhou You was no less than a concubine. Every day from grooming to eating, sitting and eating together, going in and out of the same car, I don't care about the courtiers' opinions. Although Dong Xianqi was better than Pan An, he did not have real talent and practical learning, and only knew how to eat, drink and have fun every day, so the Han Emperor did not care about the government and politics. Spend every day with Dong Xian.
One day, the Han Emperor woke up and found that his sleeve was pressed by Dong Xian. In order not to disturb the sleeping Dong Xian, he was in a hurry, pulled out his saber from the head of the bed, gently cut his sleeve, and then quietly got up. It is really impressive to be so considerate. This story later became a famous historical allusion, and the "habit of breaking sleeves" also became a synonym for "homosexuality" in later generations.
Beard the lion
After Dong Xian entered the palace, the infatuated Han Emperor almost gave everything he had to please him.
The so-called "one man gets the tao, the chicken and the dog ascend to heaven." Dong Xian's father, Dong Xuan, was originally sent to serve in the frontier, and since Dong Xian gained favor, he was not only summoned back, but also promoted to one of the Nine Qings, "in charge of the tax of Shanhai Chize, which is exclusively for the needs of the imperial family, similar to the current director of the Taxation Bureau, which is the biggest fat shortage in the Nine Qing." Not only that, he also gave him the title of Marquis of Guannei, and had a title to eat. Because Dong Xian is a man after all, he also has his own family. Emperor Ai then summoned Dong Xian's wife into the palace and put her on the roster, where she could enter and leave the palace at will. In addition, Emperor Wu also married Dong Xian's sister and was given the title of Zhaoyi, and his status was the same as that of the empress. The history books say: "Zhaoyi and his wife went up and down at night, and served left and right." The relationship between the four seems to be more chaotic. Emperor Wu summoned skilled craftsmen and built a luxurious official residence for Dong Xian and his wife on the north side of the palace, which was exquisitely decorated and furnished, and the pillars and panes were wrapped in brocade.
The Han Emperor also rewarded Dong Xian with various precious treasures from time to time, according to historical records, "during the tenth month, the rewards were huge and the imperial court was precious." His love for Dong Xian has reached a state of selflessness and selflessness, so much so that he is willing to use inferior clothes and carriages and horses to give the best to Dong Xian. Moreover, in order to be able to live without abandonment after death and enjoy the same happiness and longevity, he also ordered people to build a mausoleum of the same specifications for Dong Xian next to his mausoleum, which is probably an honor that no favorite concubine in history can enjoy.
Such a generous reward, Emperor Wai was not enough, and wanted to make Dong Xian a marquis. However, according to the rules of the Han Dynasty, a minister could not be enfeoffed without special merit. On one occasion, the two men who were waiting for Sun Yu and ShiFu to report that Liu Yun, the king of Dongping, and his queen secretly cursed the Emperor of Sorrow and raised a great prison. Fu Jia took the opportunity to offer a plan: "Sun Pet and Shi Fu's whistle-blowing letter was submitted through Song Hong, and if Song Hong's name is changed to Dong Xian, wouldn't that be a great achievement, enough to be crowned marquis?"
Wang Jia and Jia Yan, the Imperial Counsellor, wrote against Emperor Wu's edict to take advantage of dong xian as marquis, questioning the trial of the case on the one hand and Dong Xian's merits in it. Emperor Ai took the retreat as an advance and handled the matter coldly for several months, but despite the opposition of his subjects, he made Dong Xian the Marquis of Gao'an. In the first year of Yuan Shou (2 BC), Empress Fu died, and Emperor Wai went so far as to forge Empress Fu's will and seal Dong Xian's 2,000 households. Wang Jia refused to comply, and returned the edict of Emperor Wu unchanged, along with a piece of his own. He said in the recital: "Now the sages are scattered and the public is endowed with private favors, and the family has received thousands of gold, but in ancient times the nobles have not tasted this, and they have heard about it from all sides, and they all complain about it." The proverb says: 'A thousand people are pointed out, and they die without sickness.' The subject was often chilled by it. Emperor Wai read the song and became furious, immediately arrested Wang Jia and sent him to prison. Wang Jia eventually died of hunger strike in prison. Since Wang Jia was dead, no one dared to speak up anymore. In order to continue to promote Dong Xian, Emperor Wu even abandoned his cousins Fu and Ding, who had previously been supported. His uncle Sima Dingming was therefore dismissed from his post and renamed Dong Xian the General of Grand Sima and Wei. At this time, Dong Xian was only twenty-two years old, and he controlled the supreme power of the Western Han Dynasty by hue. Hundreds of officials must pass through Dong Xian. In the second year of Yuan Shou (1 BC), the Xiongnu Shan Yu came to the hajj and was very surprised to see that the ruling ministers of the Han Dynasty were so young, so they asked the reason for the translation. Emperor Wu unashamedly ordered the interpreter to reply, "Although Sima Da is young, he is a great sage, so he can shoulder heavy responsibilities."
Kong Guang, the prime minister, was originally the superior of Dong Xian's father, Dong Gong, but now he was one head shorter than Dong Xian, and Emperor Wai was afraid that Kong Guang would look down on Dong Xian for this reason, so he specially let Dong Xian go to the meeting. Kong Guang respectfully greeted the young Grand Sima with a considerate number of ceremonies, and Emperor Wu was overjoyed when he heard about it, and immediately worshipped Kong Guang's two sons as counselors and regular attendants.
Dong Xian was already a position under one person and above ten thousand people, and the Han Emperor still felt that it was not enough to show his obsession with Dong Xian. At a banquet, the Han Emperor actually took the opportunity of drunkenness and smiled and said to the crowd: "I want to emulate Yao Shun and pass the throne to Dong Xian. Frightened the crowd overwhelmed. Fortunately, Wang Hong, the Zhongchang attendant, broke the wedge and said, "The world was laid down by Emperor Gao (Liu Bang) and is not privately owned by His Majesty." His Majesty's inheritance of the cause of his ancestors should be passed on to the descendants of Liu and infinite. The right to inherit is at stake, and the Son of Heaven has no joke!" The Han Emperor had no choice but to give up, and the banquet was dispersed unhappily. Emperor Wu was greatly distraught and alienated Wang Hong from then on. Such a king who is so dim-witted that he easily surrenders the heavy weapons of the state to others is really faint, which is rare in history.
Leave the scene in the dark
Although the Han Emperor had a habit of breaking sleeves and overly favoring Dong Xian, so much so that Se Lingzhi fainted and made many absurd acts that were criticized by people, he was not born a dimwitted and incompetent person. According to historical records, when the Han Emperor was young, he was originally not good at sound, and he was a talented prince who was familiar with scriptures and words. At the beginning of the reign of the Han Emperor, he also tried to make a difference, the most important measure was to issue a restriction on land and slavery.
When the Han Emperor ascended the throne, the Western Han Dynasty was already exhausted, and the most serious social crisis at that time was land annexation. In order to strengthen the imperial power and no longer have the same power as the Hancheng Emperor, the Han Emperor adopted the proposal of limiting the field and restricting the slaves at the beginning of his reign, in an attempt to free the Han family from the restrictions of the Wang family through this measure. After discussion among the courtiers, The Chancellor Kong Guang and sima He Wu formulated specific regulations: Princes, princes, princesses, and officials should not occupy more than thirty hectares of land; The number of slaves of the princes is limited to two hundred, one hundred princes and princesses, and thirty officials; Merchants are not allowed to occupy land and are not allowed to be officials. The main purpose of this decree is to curb land annexation and protect agricultural development. However, once promulgated, it will inevitably be opposed by the magnates. Moreover, the Han Emperor himself could not lead by example, and gave Dong Xian more than 2,000 hectares of land alone, more than seventy times the maximum amount of the land restriction order. This will inevitably make the decree on restricting the use of land and slavery a blank piece of paper and difficult to implement.
In addition to the land restriction order, Emperor Wu also issued a series of edicts, such as the abolition of the Renzi Order and the Defamation and Deception Law, but they were all "thunderous and rainy" and could not be sustained. This gradually made him lose confidence in promulgating decrees and lose interest in governing, so he became more addicted to the sound and color of dogs and horses, and completely ignored the government.
Due to excessive indulgence in sound and color, the absurdity was excessive, and the twenty-five-year-old Han Emperor was already a sick look, even if he changed his name to Yuan Yi. Two eclipses occurred on the first day of the first lunar month in the first year of the yuanshou (2 BC) and on the 30th day of the fourth month of the second year of the Yuanshou (1 BC), which made the hearts of the people in the government and the public float. There are rumors that such a strange omen is the emperor's heavenly condemnation of the mandate of heaven. In June of the second year of Yuan Shou (1 BC), the Han Emperor died of illness in Weiyang Palace, ending his short and absurd life. And Dong Xian, his favorite during his lifetime, was immediately deposed. Dong Xian's father Dong Gong and brother Dong Kuanxin were all exiled to remote areas, and his mother was sent back to her mother's house.
When the Han Emperor took over the mess of Emperor Hancheng, he wanted to restore the Han Dynasty through his own efforts, but for various reasons his political ideals were not realized, but instead he went to the road of no return of raising favored subjects, trapping his feelings in it, and reaching an extremely absurd place, so that when he was dying, he also pinned his political ideals on Dong Xian.
His two-sidedness is due to the transformation of feelings, and his political ideals have lost their way in the emotional whirlpool.
◆ "Han Palace Spring Xiaotu" Ming Qiuying
"Hanguan Chunxiaotu" is one of the top ten famous paintings in China, and it is also the first long volume of China's heavy color women.