She was the last empress of the Western Han Dynasty and the daughter of Wang Mang, the emperor of the new dynasty.
The reason why she was made empress was to pave the way for Wang Mang to ascend to the throne of the emperor, as the daughter of a powerful courtier, she could not help herself, as the daughter-in-law of the Liu family in the Han Dynasty, she kept her honor!
She was the empress dowager of the Hanping Emperor.
1. Pushed to the throne by his father Wang Mang
After the death of the Han Emperor, Liu Jizi, the 9-year-old King of Zhongshan, succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ping of Han.
Because the emperor was still young, the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun was in charge of the government, and Sima Wang Mang was in charge of the state.
Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun was the empress of Emperor Yuan of Han, the biological mother of Emperor Hancheng, and she was revered as empress dowager during the reign of Emperor Hancheng, and the Wang family rose to prominence, creating a historical event of "five marquises in one day", one door and ten marquises of the Wang clan.
After the death of Emperor Hancheng, Emperor Hanlai succeeded to the throne, the mother was precious to the son, the birth mother Empress Ding and the grandmother Empress Fu were honored, and the two foreign relatives of the Ding and Fu families quickly seized power, and then Dong Xian was favored by the Han Emperor, and the power of the Dong family was as great as the sun in the sky.
When emperor Ai of Han died, empress dowager Wang Zhengjun learned his lesson, decisively handed over military power to Wang Mang, and forced Dong Xian to die, so that the political power of the Western Han Dynasty fell into the hands of the Wang family.
In the first year of the Hanping Emperor's reign (1 AD), Wang Mang hoped that he could shoulder the responsibilities of the prime minister like "Zhou Gongfu Chengwang", so the empress dowager ordered the appointment of Wang Mang as Taifu (太傅), the fourth assistant of the prime minister, and called him "Duke of An Han".
However, Wang Mang's ambitions did not stop there, he was a man who wanted to change the usurper of the throne and become an emperor.
How easy is it to talk about emperor?
Wang Mang had his own plan, and the next move was to send his daughter to the empress dowager to consolidate his rights, but the empress dowager did not agree.
Wang Mang is not a vegetarian, he has the means, he came to retreat into the advance.
He said that his daughter's qualifications were inferior and that she was not suitable to be selected as an empress, and the empress dowager thought that Wang Mang was really modest and did not want her daughter to be an empress, so she said that the daughter of the Wang family was her own mother's family, so she did not participate in the selection.
The empress dowager was biased in this matter.
The hundred officials cried out for Wang Mang and waited at the gate of the palace to write a letter, believing that Wang Mang had made outstanding achievements and had to appoint his daughter as empress.
Wang Mang's daughter was pushed out in this way, and everyone expected it!
The empress dowager had no choice but to listen to the opinions of the hundred officials and choose Wang Mang's daughter as empress!
This empress was Empress Xiaoping.
2. The widow of a young girl becomes a victim of power
Wang Mang was crowned empress, and Wang Mang consolidated his power and did everything possible to flatter his aunt Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun and bribe Wang Zhengjun's attendants.
Therefore, everyone around Wang Zhengjun praised Wang Mang.
After that, Wang Mang was revered as Zaiheng, what concept? Zaiheng's status was even higher than that of the princes.
In the fifth year of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, the 14-year-old Hanping Emperor died in Weiyang Palace, and Wang Hui became a widow.
An underage girl became an empress, and after less than two years of being an empress, she quickly became a loner.
This is so pathetic.
But as Wang Mang's daughter, her life is destined not to be mediocre, but most of these non-mediocre days are still sad.
3. Wang Mang usurped Han to establish himself, and Empress Xiaoping was loyal to the Han dynasty
After the death of Emperor Ping of Han, Wang Mang chose Emperor Xuan of Han's grandson Liu Bao as crown prince, and this Liu Baby was only a 2-year-old child.
How can a 2-year-old be emperor?
Wang Mang said that the people who were bu gua said that Liu Bao was the most auspicious and the most suitable candidate for the emperor. Clear-eyed people knew that this was Wang Mang's nonsense in order to maintain his power, but at this time, no one could shake his position.
Liu Bao became the crown prince, but instead of officially succeeding to the throne as emperor, Wang Mang handled political affairs as a "false emperor".
Wang Hui also became the empress dowager.
Being a "false emperor" Wang Mang is definitely not satisfied, and he wants to become a real emperor.
Because Liu Bao did not take the throne, the imperial seal was still placed in the Changxing Palace of the empress dowager, and Wang Mang wanted to claim that the emperor must have the imperial seal, so he let people take it, and the empress dowager had no choice but to throw the imperial seal to the ground, and could only follow Wang Mang's wishes.
Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun couldn't do anything with Wang Mang, not to mention Wang Hui, who was used as a pawn.
Wang Hui watched the Western Han Dynasty go to ruin, but she could do nothing to change it.
She watched her father change the dynasty and move to the throne of the emperor, and she, the honorable former empress of the previous dynasty, became the princess of the new dynasty in the blink of an eye.
It is also ridiculous to say that in order to make the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun and the empress dowager Wang Fei sever their relations with the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang gave Wang Zhengjun a new title, called "Empress Dowager Wenmu of the New Chamber", and Wang Hui was also given the title of "Huang Imperial Lord".
It was her father Wang Mang who made Wang Hui an empress of the Han Dynasty, and now it is her father Wang Mang who wants Wang Hui to sever ties with the Han Dynasty.
Wang Hui was sent out like an object, and she had to come back again, and she had no right to choose independently.
The taste of this must be very difficult.
In 9 AD, Wang Mang established a new dynasty, and Xia Ceshu made Liu Bao the Duke of Anding and Wang Hui the Empress Dowager of Anding.
Wang Mang converted the Guangming Palace into a Ding'an Pavilion, where Wang Hui lived, and used the Dahong's official office as Liu Bao's residence to live in.
In order to prevent Liu Infant from fighting back against Wang Mang when he grew up to revive the Han Room, Wang Mang locked Liu Baby in a room surrounded by four walls, and did not let the nursery staff and nurse talk to him.
The six animals are cattle, sheep, horses, chickens, dogs, and pigs, and Liu Bao can't even tell this, which shows how sad this man is alive.
But such a person who was raised and deposed, Wang Mang also married his granddaughter to him.
For the sake of power, Wang Mang's whole person is distorted, using his relatives as tools and as pedals, and it is impossible for Wang Mang not to resent such a father.
So when Wang Mang became emperor, Wang Mang often said that she was sick and did not go to the court, Wang Mang may also feel guilty about her, want to remarry her, let people dress as doctors to go to the doctor to exchange feelings, Wang Mang was angry, and whipped the people who served around her.
After that, Wang Mang stopped forcing her.
Later, when the Han soldiers invaded the Beijing Division and burned the Weiyang Palace in order to kill Wang Mang, Wang Hui saw the Han soldiers and despaired.
Wang Hui said, "What face do I have to meet the Han Dynasty people?" ”
After that, she plunged into the fire and set herself on fire.
At this point, after two dynasties and two times watching the fall of the dynasty, Wang Hui's life came to an end.
Wang Hui was only 33 years old when she died, and although she could not enjoy the glory and wealth in this life, she could not help herself all her life, and she was manipulated like a puppet. She witnessed the change of dynasties, the darkest moment of people's hearts, but she was able to stand firm for the Han Room, and finally plunged into the sea of fire to show her loyalty to the Han Room!
This loyalty of Wang Hui is really touching.