Among the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty, which one do you think is the most legendary? It is estimated that what flashes in your mind at this time must be these two, Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, and Liu Che, the Emperor of Han Wu. Indeed, these two are indeed legendary and famous enough. But to say that the most legendary emperor is another, he is the orthodox royal bloodline, but when the emperor squatted in the prison before, he once went into exile and fell, but when the time came, he unexpectedly picked up the throne. This is not to mention, in the Western Han Emperor, the thesis on the rule of Han WenDi is famous, on martial arts, that is not Emperor Wu of Han.
However, for this emperor, the historian's evaluation is that he surpassed Emperor Wen of Han in his civil rule, and his martial arts were directly comparable to that of Emperor Wu of Han, and he was the most legendary of the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty. So who is this emperor? In the suburbs of the south of Xi'an City, there is a tall and open land with a wide view. In the Han Dynasty, it was called the Red Garden, but it was later renamed DuLingyuan.
The master of DuLing is the most legendary emperor of Han Xuan Emperor Liu Qing that we want to talk about today. There are many legends of Liu Qing, where do we start? Specifically, let's start with the biggest mystery of Duling. We know that the long tomb of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, was buried in the Xianyang Garden north of Xi'an. According to the ancestral Xianyang Garden of the Han Dynasty, the main tomb area of the imperial tomb, where should the Western Han emperors be buried after that? In the DuLing Garden south of Xi'an, needless to say, this arrangement of Emperor Xuan of Han obviously violated the ancestral system, but why did he make such an arrangement? What was his reason for doing this? What secrets are hidden behind this special arrangement? Some people think that Emperor Xuan of Han did this, which is probably related to the fact that he, the emperor, picked it up, and you must be surprised that the throne can still be picked up. Then we have to talk about his legend.
It was 74 BC, and the sudden death of Emperor Zhao of Han at the age of 21 left a great problem for Huo Guang, a famous western Han courtier at the time, that is, Huo's younger brother. Who will be the emperor? Because although Emperor Han Zhao reigned for 13 years, he never gave birth to a son, there was no way, Huo Guang had to summon the group of ministers to consult.
We know that the succession of the feudal throne is nothing more than three principles, first, the death of the father and the inheritance of the son; second, the brother and the brother; and the third, choose one from the closest people of the royal bloodline. According to these principles, the ministers first recommended Liu Xu, another son of Emperor Wu of Han, the Prince of Guangling. It is said that the brother and the brother, this should be no problem, but do not think that after Huo Guang's consideration, he vetoed this proposal, why? Because Huo Guang thought that Liu Xu was a manic person and very unruly, or that this person had no character and was not worthy to be an emperor. So who else? Someone recommended Liu He, the king of Changyi.
The name Liu He must be familiar to you. In recent years, there have been very hot archaeological discoveries, the tomb of marquis Hai xiahou in Nanchang, the owner of this tomb is him, he is the grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, of course, there is no problem in being an emperor. Soon he was taken to the capital by Huo Guang and ascended to the throne. Then some people have to ask, since he became emperor, why did he later become the Marquis of Haixia? Historical records say that after Liu He ascended the throne, he was absurd all day long, only knew how to drink and have fun, and when he was arbitrarily sealed into Beijing, he brought a total of more than two hundred people, and these two hundred people he did not pull all of them in one breath, and made a mess of the government and government. Not only that, but the historical data also said that in less than a month, Liu He had done as many as a thousand absurd things. If you count it as 8 hours on the job, it is an average of one piece every ten minutes. As a result, Huo Guang really had no choice but to depose him as an emperor and demote him to the title of Marquis of Haixia. Of course, why he was deposed, this is not the focus of our discussion today, the focus is on who will become the emperor after he is deposed? Just when Huo Guang was at a loss, a minister named BingJi provided a clue, saying that there was an imperial grandson who had very good character and learning, but unfortunately this imperial grandson was exiled to the people. How could the Emperor's grandson be exiled to the people? To clarify this issue, we must push forward another 17 years, starting with a major case that year. It was 91 BC, and someone secretly reported to Emperor Wu of Han that the crown prince Liu Zhu had cursed the emperor with witchcraft in an attempt to usurp the throne. Emperor Wu of Han was furious when he heard this, and immediately sent someone to arrest the crown prince. As a result, the father and son were on the bar. After five days of fierce fighting, the prince committed suicide in defeat, and the prince's birth mother, empress Dowager Weizifu, was also implicated and committed suicide. However, what was even more unfortunate was that Emperor Wu of Han did not give up because of this, but listened to rumors and killed on a large scale, not only destroying all those related to the prince, but even ordering the prince to be beheaded.
This incident is the famous scourge of witchcraft in history, where more than 100,000 people were implicated and more than 30,000 people were killed. This became one of the largest unjust cases in Chinese history. However, this unfortunate unjust case finally left a little bit of misfortune, and the crown prince Liu Zhi had a grandson named Liu Bingji, who was only a few months old, and because of this case, he was imprisoned, and it was said that he should also be executed, but it was by chance that it was Bingji who was ordered to handle the prince's case at that time. He was very sympathetic to the infant child, so he secretly left him behind and found a loyal female prisoner in the big prison to feed him. In this way, Liu Bing had been in prison for three years. Later, it was found that the prince was wronged. In this case, Bingji tells the truth about the child. After some verification, Emperor Wu of Han acknowledged Liu Yi's royal bloodline and ordered the palace maids to take care of him. Since it had been confirmed that the royal bloodline also had the care of the palace women, how could he be exiled to the people? The history books say that Liu Yi was smart and studious since he was a child, and he especially liked to travel to the folk. He first ran out at both ends for three days, and then he simply stopped going back to the palace and went to his grandmother's house.
And for the Wang family, who would think of this orphan who had been wiped out? This is Liu Yiji's life. Because the unjust case of that year created his tragic childhood. What would be the attitude of this imperial grandson Huo Guang recommended by BingJi? It is said that at that time, if Huo Guangru received the most precious treasure, he immediately sent someone to take back Liu Yiji, and at the same time warned the world that Liu Guang had both moral integrity and ability and could inherit the status. In this way, with Huo Guang's support, Liu Yi had already inherited the throne and was called Emperor Xuan of Han.
Eight years after Emperor Xuan of Han ascended the throne, Emperor Xuan announced that he would change the yuan and change it to Yuan Kang. At the same time, it was announced that he himself had changed his name, and Liu Yi had changed his name to Liu Xiang. He was already a commoner, but the mistakes of history pushed him to the throne. Did you say that this emperor was picked up? Therefore, some people speculate that Emperor Xuan of Han probably thought that the throne he had picked up was not so orthodox after all, and simply learned from his ancestor Emperor Wen of Han. Emperor Wen of Han was also the emperor of the foreign king at that time, and he did not enter the ancestral tomb. Emperor Xuan of Han also learned from Emperor Wen of Han, which is a saying that Emperor Xuan of Han did not enter the ancestral spirit. There is also a saying that the reason why Emperor Xuan of Han did not bury his ancestors was because of hatred. He hated his great-grandfather Emperor Wu of Han, who had their family full of doors. And where is Emperor Wu of Han buried? Xianyang Garden Ancestral Mausoleum. Therefore, the second theory is that Emperor Xuan of Han did not enter the ancestral tomb in order to stay away from Emperor Wu of Han, and the farther away the better. The main mausoleum is in the north, so I will be buried in the south. However, for this speculation, some experts believe that it is not so simple, why? Because the study found that the construction of Duling is very different from other imperial tombs. The construction of the Western Han Emperor's Mausoleum was generally arranged as soon as the emperor ascended the throne, which is called seeing death as life. However, Emperor Xuan of Han did not abide by this rule, and in what year did his Duling start construction? Historical records clearly record it as 65 BC. He ascended the throne in 74 BC, and the construction of his Duling tombs was more than nine years later than that of other emperors. Why did he start building his own Tomb so many years later? When Emperor Xuan of Han ascended the throne, his name was Liu Yiji, and he later changed his name to Liu Qing. Emperor Xuan of Han seemed to want to announce a fresh start through these. But the question is, he has been in power for more than nine years, so why start all over again? Will these experiences also have a significant impact on the location of his Shouling Tomb? Back in the year of his ascension to the throne, according to historical records, in 74 BC, Liu Yi had been taken back to Chang'an and stayed in Weiyang Palace, where he saw that the empress dowager had been given the title of Marquis of Yangwu. According to the system of the Han Dynasty, non-princes were not allowed to inherit the throne, and they were first given the title of marquis, which was the procedure. But historical records also show that on the first day of his ascension to the throne, Emperor Xuan of Han felt an invisible and huge pressure. On the day of his accession to the throne, according to the ceremony, Emperor Xuan of Han was accompanied by Huo Guang to the high temple of Han Gaozu to pay homage. It is reasonable to say that when going to the High Temple to worship the Heavenly Son, one should sit in the car of the Heavenly Son, and the minister should be the car driver of the minister, but Huo Guang is not, he not only sits in the same car with the Heavenly Son, but also hangs a sword in his waist, and the majesty is awe-inspiring, and he accepts the kneeling of the courtiers together. In this matter, Emperor Xuan of Han understood why Huo Guang agreed to let him succeed to the throne, because he had no background and no power, and Huo Guang could completely manipulate him. At the same time, he also understood why Liu He was deposed. The so-called drinking and pleasure, the absurdity, are all excuses. Liu He gave his people the title of official in a hurry to compete for power, and that was the reason for the abolition.
Soon, Emperor Xuan of Han did something very clever. What's the matter? According to the system, the emperor must be pro-government at the age of 18, and on that day Huo Guang also consciously took the initiative to ask Emperor Xuan of Han to personally govern. But Emperor Xuan of Han. Politely refused.
Not only did he refuse him, but he also issued an edict to reward and seal Huo Guang's 17,000 households. What is this called? This is called forbearance. There was no strength to compete with Huo Guang, so he endured, the only thing he could do was to wait, wait until the day when the real power was in his hands.
Of course, this can't be silly. Less than two years after he ascended the throne in 72 B.C., Liu Yi had already done a very clever thing. He issued an edict fully praising the achievements of his great-grandfather Emperor Wu of Han. Today we say that Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty is great, which is a historical positioning. At that time, whether It was the imperial court or the people, the evaluation of Emperor Wu of Han was very controversial. Because on the one hand, Emperor Wu of Han was exhausted, although he said that he had established immortal merits, but the war affected the people's livelihood, and the national treasury was empty. In his later years, he also created the catastrophe of voodoo, a huge unjust case, which shook the foundation of the country and the prince was exterminated. Therefore, many years after the death of Emperor Wu of Han, how to evaluate him, everyone has been avoiding talking about it, it is not good to evaluate.
So, after Emperor Xuan of Han ascended the throne, why did he rush to throw out such an issue? Fight for political capital. We know that there are three principles for the succession to the feudal throne, but there are actually only two ways to operate specifically, one is legal succession, and the second is supported by ministers. There is no need to say that whoever opposes legal succession has a disobedient heart. But if the ministers support the foreign king and enter the lordship, it will be different. If the foundation is unstable, and the minister opposes, the throne may not be secured at any time. Liu He is a typical example. What does Emperor Xuan of Han's introduction of Emperor Wu of Han have to do with this, and what is its role? Declare to the world that although I am a cloth cloth in exile, I am the descendant of Emperor Wu of Han, and my bloodline is orthodox. A young man under the age of 20, in such a complex environment, can have such means. No wonder the Western Han scholar Liu Xiang said that Liu Yiji's mind and vision were above Emperor Wen.'s
But Liu Yi is a mortal after all, and mortals have weaknesses. Once, because of a person, Liu Yi, who had always been cautious, finally couldn't bear to go to the top with Huo Guang. So who is this person? She was Xu Pingjun, the original wife of Emperor Xuan of Han. Liu Yi had already married Xu Pingjun when he was in exile, and in the second year of their marriage, Liu Yi had already ascended to the throne. And Liu Yi has openly and Huo Guangding Niu, it is because of this Xu Pingjun. After Liu Yi had ascended the throne, Huo Guang's wife wanted to let her daughter enter the palace as empress, but Liu Yi had not agreed, and he also issued an edict saying that he wanted to retrieve a sword left in the people, what does it mean? He couldn't forget Xu Pingjun. Some of the ministers reacted quickly and asked the emperor to make Xu Shi the queen. But there was trouble. Because according to the custom, the empress's father had to be a marquis, but Huo Guang never approved it. The two men were on the bar. So what's the result? Huo Guang had been in charge of the government for many years, and he couldn't move him at all, so Liu Had to endure it.
But I didn't expect that in the third year of his succession, an accident occurred, that year, Xu Pingjun gave birth to a child, who knew that not long after giving birth to the child, he suddenly died of poisoning, who poisoned it? According to historical records, it was Huo Guang's wife who sent someone to poison Xu Pingjun's tonic soup medicine. In this way, his daughter Huo Chengjun finally became empress. However, at the same time, the indignant Liu Yi had also made a counterattack, and despite Guoguang's opposition, he made Xu Pingjun empress.
Although Emperor Xuan of Han had some resistance, he had been a puppet from the time he ascended the throne to pay homage to gaomiao, to the age of 18, when he did not dare to govern himself, to the poisoning of his wife under Huo Guang's power. So if he delayed building the ShouLing Tomb, would Huo Guang not let him build it, or would he be ready to abolish him at any time? Or did he feel that his position was unstable and did not have the heart to build a Shou Mausoleum?
Did he not enter the ancestral tomb after his death because the throne he had picked up was unorthodox, or did it stem from a tragic childhood? Some say it's because of hate, and some say it's because of love. As mentioned earlier, after Emperor Xuan of Han succeeded to the throne, he remained under the power of Huo Guang until 65 BC, when he began to build the Duling Tombs and announced the change of yuan. I changed my name myself. This means a fresh start.
So what happened afterwards to give him a new lease of life? This goes to 68 BC. Liu, who has endured for many years, has finally waited for the arrival of a major moment. This year, Huo Guang died of illness. However, Liu Yi did not immediately take revenge, but buried Huo Guang with a high profile of the emperor's burial system, posthumously awarding him the Title of Marquis of Xuancheng. Why? Recognizing Huo Guang, this is the overall situation of stability. However, at the same time, he crowned Xu Pingjun's son Liu Yi as crown prince and began to establish authority. However, he did not expect his actions, but he failed to make the Huo family restrain somewhat. Huo Guang's wife even wanted to repeat the poisoning of the prince, and at this moment, Liu Yi had been completely enraged. He first dismissed Huo Guang's two sons-in-law, the Eastern and Western Palace garrisons, and appointed his relatives as commanders of the Southern and Northern Armies and the Yulin Army, and obtained military power. He then promoted Huo Guang's son, the right general Huo Yu, to the rank of Grand Sima (大司馬). On the surface, it was to give him a promotion, but in fact it was to cut off his real power. Forcing the Huo clique to decide to take a desperate risk, in an attempt to overthrow Liu Yiji and establish Huo Yu as emperor. But their rebellion was quickly suppressed, and the Huo family was quickly eradicated. As for Empress Huo Chengjun, she was also deposed by Liu Yi. This is the background of 65 BC, when Emperor Xuan of Han announced the change of yuan and changed his name to Liu Qing at the same time.
So why did he set his own Shou Mausoleum in the Du Mausoleum Garden south of Chang'an City? Instead of the ancestral tomb of Xianyang Garden, there are two more theories about this issue. First, because of the juvenile plot of Emperor Xuan of Han, Emperor Xuan of Han became an orphan at the age of a few months, and he was imprisoned and almost killed. Later, he was fortunate enough to pick up the throne, but in the following years he was in pain. Judging from his experience, the happiest time in his life should be the time when he was in exile. Where did he spend that time? It is in the area of Du County, south of Chang'an. Therefore, some people think that by placing the mausoleum here, What Emperor Xuan of Han wanted to express was his yearning for a happy life. According to another theory, Emperor Xuan of Han built the ShouLing Tomb in The Du Mausoleum garden because he remembered Empress Xu. People are sentient animals, when Xu Pingjun married Liu Yiji, he was still a commoner, not yet Emperor Xuan of Han, and there was no element of money and power between them, which was very pure. However, what made him sad was that his wife was murdered before she could share the wealth with him. This should make Emperor Xuan of Han full of longing for his wife. Therefore, more people believe that Emperor Xuan of Han placed his shou mausoleum in DuLingyuan because his wife was buried here. He wanted to live with his wife forever, to be with him for a thousand years. Do you think this is more romantic and reasonable? According to archaeological excavations and historical research, archaeologists found that whether it is the structural layout or the burial items of the underground palace, Duling is highly similar to the Mao Mausoleum of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Why is that? Because the Duling tomb is highly imitated by Maoling and built. We know the sheer size of Maoling and the luxury of its interior, which is the crown of the world. Because he has the wealth accumulated by three generations of emperors since Emperor Wen of Han. Emperor Xuan of Han was just an ordinary generation of emperors, just one generation, how could he have such a strong imitation strength? Although Liu Xun eliminated Huo Guang's forces, he did not abolish Huo Guang's ruling measures. On the contrary, Liu Yi had also established a perfect system of assessment and reward and punishment in view of the shortcomings of Huo Guang's reign, which made the political atmosphere of the imperial court look new and a large number of good officials emerged. It was under his efforts that the Han Dynasty ushered in a great situation of Zhaoxuan Zhongxing.
Emperor Wenzhi of Han xuan surpassed Emperor Wen of Han, and his martial arts were directly approached by Emperor Wu of Han, and some people thought that it should be changed, and it may be more accurate to change the martial arts to be stronger than that of Emperor Wu of Han. Why? Emperor Wu of Han defeated the Xiongnu in the decisive battle of Northern Mobei, laying the foundation for the han to be strong and weak, but he did not completely eliminate the threat of the Xiongnu. For many years, the Xiongnu still moved south from time to time to cause trouble for the Han Dynasty. Who was the real antidote to the Hun threat? It is exactly what we are talking about today as Emperor Xuan of Han. He first sent 160,000 cavalry to deliver a fatal blow to the Huns. It then took advantage of the internal strife of the Huns to disintegrate from within. At the same time, he also established the Western Regions Capital Protectorate and formally exercised state administration over the Western Regions. By 51 BC, he officially submitted to the Han Dynasty, and the Han-Hungarian dispute finally ended. Emperor Xuan of Han's military achievements can be compared with Emperor Wu, but his civil rule is far incomparable to that of Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu spent his life in exhaustive force, and in the later period of his reign, because blind conquest not only was the treasury empty, but the officials were even more corrupt, and land annexation and other problems were endless. The strategy adopted by Emperor Xuan of Han not only made the Xiongnu submit in one fell swoop, but also included the entire western region. He also vigorously rectified the administration of officials, curbed land annexation, and set up changping warehouses in various places to stabilize prices, so that the social outlook was renewed and the national strength was constantly enhanced.
Therefore, many scholars believe that the period of Emperor Xuan of Han was the period when the Western Han Dynasty was the most powerful in force and the most prosperous in economy. Liu Qian himself was one of the best emperors of the Western Han Dynasty.