Wang Zhengjun's contradictory life

When reading the history of the Western Han Dynasty, it is always impossible to avoid the contradictory figure of Wang Zhengjun. During the eighty-four years of Wang Zhengjun's life, she occupied more than sixty years during her time in charge of state power.

She contributed greatly to the rise of her mother's Wang family and paved the way for her nephew Wang Mang to usurp Han. At the time of Wang Mang's power, he thought that Wang Mang was only greedy for power and did nothing more. However, when Wang Mang was already in power, she became more and more opposed to Wang Mang's usurpation of the great cause, and even when Wang Mang sent people to ask for the Chuanguo Jade Seal, she angrily broke a horn of the Chuanguo Jade Seal. So, what role did Wang Zhengjun play in the new Mang era, and what was her mentality?

Inexplicably became empress and empress dowager

In the long course of ancient history, a woman was able to become a concubine of the crown prince. At least one of two conditions is needed: one is to have a strong matriarchal political power; The second is to have the favor of the crown prince, who is not only the love of men and women, but also the love of the country, but also the political mind of the country, so that the prince has a strong political recognition of the future mother of the country.

At this time, the king and the monarch did not occupy either. Thereafter, Wang Zhengjun was the empress of Emperor Liu Yi of the Han Dynasty and the biological mother of Emperor Liu Of Han.

Before marrying The Han Yuan Emperor Liu Yi, Wang Zhengjun's father was Wang Ban, who later became a Tingwei Shi, a middle-level bureaucrat in the judicial system, but far from the highest center of power. When Wang Zhengjun reached the age of marriage, his father Wang Ban had originally promised a Xu family for Wang Zhengjun to be engaged, but before Wang Zhengjun could pass the door, the man suddenly fell ill and died. The Wang family planned to give Wang Zhengjun Xu to King Dongping as a concubine, but the evil door happened, Wang Zhengjun had not yet passed the door, and King Dongping also fell ill and died. Before Wang Zhengjun left the cabinet, he killed two fiancés in a row. To this end, the Wang family was also depressed and invited a fortune teller for Wang Zhengjun. The result of the fortune teller's notice was that "because she was in the dream of the moon, so this woman is noble", because the fate is too good, the first two husbands are not honorable enough to bear to marry Wang Zhengjun as a wife.

In the end, Wang Zhengjun was sent to the palace as a son of a family member.

At this time, Sima Liangdi, who was still the crown prince's favorite, died of illness and had not yet had time to leave an heir, and before his death, Liangdi told Liu Yi that other concubines cursed her to death, resulting in her early death. Since then, the prince has been depressed and angry at the other concubines for not being close to them. But the problem is that Liu Yi, as the crown prince, really has the throne to inherit, and needs heirs to inherit the throne, and it is really impossible to have no heirs. At this time, Emperor Xuan of Han asked Empress Wang, who was not Liu Yi's biological mother, to select five young and beautiful women in the harem to give to the crown prince. Among the five women was Wang Zhengjun. At this time, Liu Yi was not very interested in these five women, and in order to complete the task of leaving an heir, he randomly selected one of the women sent. Wang Zhengjun was so confused and selected.

Wang Zhengjun's life is such an evil door. Among the dozens of concubines who had served Liu Yi before, but no one had become pregnant for many years, Wang Zhengjun not only quickly became pregnant, but also gave birth to a son. This made Emperor Xuan of Han very happy, and personally named him Liu Xiao and took the eldest grandson with him to teach. Wang Zhengjun gained a firm foothold in the royal family with this son, and many years later, after the death of Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Yi succeeded to the throne, and the successor Emperor Yuan of Han soon made Wang Zhengjun empress.

Wang Zhengjun's position as empress and Liu Xiao's position as crown prince were not as solid as expected. At this time, Emperor Yuan of Han had been away from sima Liangdi during the princely period when he was not close to the female color, and there was only one child, Liu Xiao. Time was the best cure, and Liu Yi later favored a concubine surnamed Fu and was given the title of Zhaoyi. A threat to Wang Zhengjun was that Liu Yi and Fu Zhaoyi were born with a pair of children, of which the son Liu Kang was quite talented in childhood. For Wang Zhengjun, in the years when Empress Dowager Fu, especially fu Zhaoyi was favored, Wang Zhengjun was undoubtedly tormented.

At this time, Wang Zhengjun's son Liu Xiao liked to feast and have fun, and the Han Yuan Emperor Liu Yi felt that Liu Xiao had no talent, and The Han Yuan Emperor clearly expressed to the courtiers that he wanted to depose the crown prince and establish Liu Kang, but the courtiers all opposed the idea of changing the crown prince, and the empress Wang Zhengjun was cautious during the empress period and did not leave any handle. The status of the crown prince Liu Xiao was again recognized by Emperor Xuan of Han, and the Han Yuan Emperor Liu Yi no longer considered changing the idea of changing the crown prince.

The Han Yuan Emperor Liu Yi died of illness soon after, and Wang Zhengjun did not get the favor of her husband from beginning to end, and her status skyrocketed, inexplicably becoming a princess, becoming an empress in a confused way, and becoming an empress dowager in a confused way. After the Hancheng Emperor Liu Xiao succeeded to the throne, he made his mother Wang Zhengjun the empress dowager, and in this way he completely got rid of the anxiety of being deposed during the empress, and Wang Zhengjun was truly climbing to the peak of power at this time.

Foreign power struggles

After the death of Emperor Liu Yi of the Han Dynasty, Wang Zhengjun's son Liu Xiao succeeded to the throne, which was Emperor Cheng of Han. When Wang Zhengjun was still an empress, he was cautious and generous to others, and did not dare to fight for too many powerful interests for himself and his mother's family. After his son ascended the throne, Wang Zhengjun became the empress dowager as the imperial mother. Since then, the era of Wang Zhengjun has arrived, the new emperor has ascended the throne, there is no experience in handling the government, everything in the DPRK can only be decided by the wang zhengjun, reusing foreign relatives is the tradition of the two Han Dynasties, and the new emperor also needs the help of foreign relatives to consolidate power. Therefore, Wang Zhengjun began to vigorously promote her maternal brother and brother to become an official in the dynasty. Emperor Hancheng's uncles became prominent one after another, and the Wang family became the most powerful family at that time.

In this way, with the support of Emperor Cheng of Han and the vigorous efforts of Wang Zhengjun, the Wang family became a powerful foreign relative with great power in the court. After Wang Feng's death (Wang Zhengjun's brothers) and the retirement of the remaining brothers, Wang Zhengjun's nephew Wang Mang became the new leading figure of the Wang family and a new ruling foreign relative. At this time, Wang Zhengjun's mentality is easy to understand, a woman who has not received much favor from her husband, she hopes for nothing more than two things: first, the rule of her son can be stable, the children and grandchildren are full, and the glory and wealth will be maintained; The second is to be able to give back to his mother's Wang family, and to use his brothers and nephews to assist the government, which is the best entry point for the perfect combination of the two.

Emperor Hancheng ruled for many years without heirs, and his political achievements were lackluster, but because of the deeds of his death in wine, he passed on to future generations. What left him with a little popularity in history was probably his second empress Zhao Feiyan and his favorite concubine Zhao Hede. Emperor Cheng of Han and the first empress Xu Shi originally had a pair of children, and Ban Jieyu also had a son, but both died early, and there were no heirs for a long time afterwards. Emperor Hancheng was irresponsible in dealing with his heirs, and he was weak due to excessive sexual affairs, and Wang Zhengjun, as a mother, did nothing but ding. Later, since Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede's sisters entered the palace, Emperor Hancheng was soaking in the gentle township every day, and Emperor Hancheng's body had been hollowed out. The sisters controlled the harem, but neither of them became pregnant, and other concubines were suppressed, especially the concubines who gave birth to the crown prince, and often the mother and son died together. On this issue, the courtiers had no right to interfere in the harem, and it was inconceivable that the monarch, who had the highest arbitration power in the harem, chose to sit idly by. Emperor Hancheng's body was worse every day, but he still had no heirs. In this regard, the evil door is that Wang Zhengjun remains silent.

Emperor Hancheng had no heirs, and there was no heir to the throne. Only one of the liu clans could be chosen to succeed to the throne. Emperor Hancheng's half-brother Liu Kang ( Liu Kang ) , a former contender for the throne born to Fu Zhaoyi , had a son. The drunken Emperor Hancheng died violently in Zhao Hede's palace. Wang Zhengjun, who had been empress for sixteen years and empress dowager for twenty-six years, was further promoted to empress dowager.

Crown Prince Liu Xin succeeded to the throne as Emperor Cheng's adopted son, as Emperor Ai of Han. The newly succeeded Han Emperor Liu Xin was raised by Fu Zhaoyi, the most powerful enemy during the reign of Empress Wang Zhengjun. Empress Fu of the Han Dynasty was also a descendant of Fu Zhaoyi, and in addition, Emperor Han's biological mother Ding Shi also became the empress dowager at this time, a son of heaven and a courtier. After the Han Dynasty Emperor Liu Xin succeeded to the throne, the Fu family and the Ding family would become new foreign relatives one after another, which was bound to exclude the Wang family from foreign relatives. For a time, the Wang family was forced to squeeze out the stage of foreign relatives' power.

At this time, Wang Zhengjun, as the empress dowager, found that the Wang family had been squeezed out of the center stage of power. Although Wang Zhengjun, who had become accustomed to the wang family's control of power, still had a noble position, the members of the Wang family were gradually marginalized in the situation of the center of power.

Under normal circumstances, it is difficult for the Wang family to have a chance to turn over. However, the Han Emperor fell ill and died after more than six years of rule, leaving no heirs. What is even more amazing is that Fu Zhaoyi, who was also deeply rooted in the court with Wang Zhengjun for half a century, received the title of empress dowager during the Han Dynasty, and her status was equal to that of Wang Zhengjun. The two old ladies of the flower armor, in the era when the average life expectancy is less than forty, the struggle is to live longer than who. However, Fu Zhaoyi, who had been awarded the title of Empress Dowager, fell ill and died a year before the death of Emperor Ai of Han, which invisibly swept away Wang Zhengjun's opponents who overwhelmed him in all aspects. In contrast, the Wang family's opportunity to turn the tables has gradually arrived.

After Wang Zhengjun heard the news of Emperor Wu's death, The Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, who was without Emperor Fu's wife, quickly moved to Weiyang Palace and deployed Wang's sons to successfully control the center of power. Before his death, the Han Emperor handed over the Chuanguo Jade Seal to his male favorite Sima Dongxian, and Wang Zhengjun threatened Dong Xian to hand over the Chuanguo Jade Seal, for which Wang Zhengjun successfully recovered the Chuanguo Jade Seal. The power of the DPRK returned to the Wang family.

Wang Mang usurped the throne

For Wang Zhengjun, the change of power caused the Wang family to be suppressed during the reign of the Han Emperor, and he was suppressed by Emperor Fu's wife, so that Wang Zhengjun understood that it was better to have power in the hands of his own family. Wang Zhengjun once again launched his nephew Wang Mang to govern the court, and after the death of Empress Dowager Fu and Emperor Ai of Han, Wang Zhengjun began to carry out a cruel liquidation of his former political enemies, and Zhao Feiyan and Empress Fu, who had always been deeply hated by Wang Zhengjun, were forced to die, not only that, but even the tombs of the late Fu Zhaoyi and Ding Ji were also opened, and the Fu and Ding families promoted by Emperor Wai were quickly eradicated by the Wang clan. Subsequently, Wang Zhengjun was still revered as the empress dowager, and Wang Zhengjun and Wang Mang supported Liu Yan, who was a minor of the King of Zhongshan, as emperor, as emperor of Hanping.

At this time, Wang Zhengjun was already an old woman in her seventies, and she had spent too long in the deep palace and began to hate staying in the deep palace, she liked Wang Mang's intelligence and ability and Wang Mang had a good reputation before, and she also respected and respected him, and her family was also at ease when she used it. He then entrusted all power to his nephew Wang Mang, who was only nine years old when he succeeded to the throne, and was ruled by the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun, and the great Sima Wang Mang adhered to the imperial government. The ruling Wang Mang gradually grasped the supreme power of the Han Empire and became the de facto ruler of the Han Empire.

Wang Zhengjun handed over the ruling power to Wang Mang, hoping that the Wang family under the Han Empire would be able to obtain glory and wealth for generations, and the clans would be able to soar. However, Wang Mang's ambitions were far more than this, after the death of the Hanping Emperor, Wang Mang supported a completely incapacitated infant to succeed to the throne and monopolize power, on the other hand, he took all kinds of auspicious omens as his destiny, planned to change dynasties, and finally established himself as emperor.

So, in the process of Wang Mang's usurpation of the throne, what kind of psychology and role did Wang Zhengjun have? When Wang Zhengjun heard that Wang Mang's various auspicious omens were destiny, he said, "Everyone sees the same thing, although I am a woman, I also know that Wang Mang will definitely bring disaster to himself by doing so, and this kind of behavior is absolutely impossible." There is great resistance, and whether there is action after great resistance is a question worth exploring.

After Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and established a new dynasty, he asked Wang Shun, the Marquis of Anyang, to ask Wang Zhengjun for the jade seal. Although the weak Wang Zhengjun angrily threw the national jade seal, he left behind the famous saying that "the old widow of my Han family, who dies in the twilight, wants to be buried with this seal, and will not be able to get it in the end", which made Wang Mang's legitimacy a big challenge. But in the end, she still gave in to this nephew of the family and released a more cruel sentence: "I am old and dead, like a brother, this clan is destroyed!" "After the curse, he was forced to hand over the Imperial Jade Seal. After Wang Zhengjun said these words, he covered his face and sobbed. After usurping the throne, Wang Mang continued to honor Wang Zhengjun and named her "Empress Dowager Wenmu of the New Chamber", while she spent the last few years of her life as the widow of the Han Dynasty.

Wang Zhengjun is essentially an ordinary person with a weak personality and an honest nature. As a mother, she has no way to teach her son, as an empress she cannot get the favor of her husband, she is obscure, as an empress dowager, she can also ignore the absurd behavior of her daughter-in-law Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede sisters who monopolize the harem and kill their own grandsons. After the death of the Han Emperor, Wang Zhengjun and Wang Mang were able to control the situation, on the one hand, because Empress Fu died early, and on the other hand, because the members of the Fu and Ding families were generally not instrumental. Wang Zhengjun was a duty-bound and weak ordinary person, who inexplicably became an empress, an empress, and an empress dowager by chance. She has no political sensitivity, nor does she have the political ability to control such a high position and power, and she can only rely on her mother's family. When an ordinary Wang Zhengjun encountered Wang Mang's usurpation of the throne, he did not have enough ability, energy, and courage to prevent Wang Mang's usurpation of the throne, and was forced to hand over the Chuanguo Jade Seal that had been broken by himself.

Therefore, the historical image of Wang Zhengjun is incomparably contradictory, but this contradiction is essentially just a person with average ability and good luck plus a long enough life span to survive all his political enemies and get the power that he cannot control and the normal reaction of being overwhelmed after gaining a high position.