There is such a woman, she is the only woman who was written into the "Records of History" by Sima Qian, and she is also the only female emperor of a generation who can be included in the "Benji" of the history. In the magnificent historical picture of the early Han Dynasty, she influenced the history of the early Han Dynasty with the power of not letting her eyebrows sway, and became a pioneer in rewriting history. She was empress dowager Ofe Liu Bang of Han Gao.
1. A wife with hair, virtuous and kind
Lü Hou's surname was Lü Yan (雉), and he moved to Pei County with his father Lü Gong (劉公) because he was hiding from the enemy family. Lü Gong and Pei County Ling had a very good relationship, and pei county officials went to congratulate the Lü family on their housewarming in order to curry favor with their superiors. Among them was Liu Bang, who was the head of the Surabaya Pavilion at that time.
According to the "Chronicle of The Chronicle of Gao Zu Benji", "The single father Lü Gongshan Pei Ling, avoiding the guests of the vengeance, because of the family Pei Yan." Pei Zhonghao's officials heard that there were heavy guests, and they all went to congratulate. Xiao He was the main official, the lord entered, and the doctors knew: "Enter less than a thousand dollars, sit under the hall." "Gao Zu is the chief of the pavilion, Su Yi is a bureaucrat, and Nai Qi is known as "He Qian Wan", and he does not hold a single money. Gurudwara, Lü Gong was horrified, up, and greeted the door. Lü Gong, a good person, saw the appearance of Gao Zu, and because of his reverence, he was introduced to sit. ”
When Liu Bang was young, he was a well-known swindler who cheated on food and drink, and that day he was planning to repeat the trick and pretend to give ten thousand dollars to get good food and drink, but he was unexpectedly recognized by the chief official Xiao He at a glance, and Lü Gong was angry and wanted to drive him away, but his attitude changed sharply after seeing his face.
According to the "Chronicle of History", "Gao Zu was a man, long and long-faced, beautiful beard, and seventy-two black children on the left side." Legend has it that when Liu Bang's mother was pregnant, lightning flashed and thundered, and even a dragon was attached to her stomach, so she gave birth to Liu Bang, who had the appearance of a dragon face.
Lü Gong was good at the art of face appearance, and after seeing Liu Bang, he knew that he must have the appearance of great wealth and nobility, so he treated him as a guest, and even ignored the obstruction of his wife and Xiao He, and forced his daughter Xu to Liu Bang.
In fact, Liu Bang already had a son Liu Fei at this time. Lü Yan, who was less than twenty years old, married Liu Bang, a nine-pin sesame official who was fifteen years older than her, and this middle-aged uncle already had a son, the family was surrounded by disciples, and life was difficult, which really embarrassed Lü Yan.
However, in the early years, Lü Yanxianhui did not say much, but obeyed his father's arrangement to marry Liu Bang, gave birth to a son and a daughter for him, that is, the future Han Hui Emperor and Princess Lu Yuan, and devoted himself to the non-biological son Liu Fei and patiently raised him.
When they first married Liu Bang, the couple lived on a shoestring, and Liu Bang often disappeared for three days for official business. Lü Yan personally went down to the fields to cultivate the land, personally reeled and woven fabrics, filial piety to his parents and raising his children, lived a life of self-sufficiency, and took care of the internal affairs of the family for Liu Bang.
In the early years, Liu Bang often wandered around, cheating on food and drink, and many times had to flee to the mountains and mountains in order to avoid the enemy family. As a result, in addition to taking care of the housework every day, Lü Yan also needed to travel long distances from time to time to bring clothes and food to her husband.
During the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony, Liu Bang was beaten by Xiang Yu, lü yan and Liu Bang's father were captured by Xiang Yu and served as hostages for three years, during this difficult time, Lü Yan still carefully served his father-in-law, and held on until he returned to Liu Bang's side, which can be called a virtuous and virtuous.
Perhaps it was the hardships of this harsh environment in the early years that experienced Lü Yan's resolute and courageous character that enabled her to ascend to the peak throne of power. But it was also the power struggle that changed this originally virtuous and kind woman.
Second, compete for favors and concubines, conspiracies and calculations
Legend has it that at the critical moment of the Chu-Han War, Xiang Yu led elite cavalry to raid Liu Bang, who was stationed in Pengcheng, Liu Bang fled in defeat, threw away his armor, and ran all the way to the Dingtao area, he saw a dry well on the side of the road, so he was in a hurry and jumped down to take refuge.
After the pursuit of the soldiers, the Father and Daughter of the Qi family, who lived nearby, passed by the dry well, heard the cry for help, rescued Liu Bang and took him home to eat and rest. After learning liu Bang's true identity, his father gave him his beautiful daughter Xu. Liu Bang called himself empress dowager, and fengqi was made Lady Qi. Lady Qi was especially good at singing and dancing, and was quite popular with Liu Bang.
Therefore, after returning from three years of being a hostage and serving his father-in-law, Lü Yan saw that Liu Bang had another Lady Qi who was quite favored by him, and he was unhappy. She is a virtuous and kind daughter-in-law, but she is also a woman who hopes to get her husband's exclusive favor, so Lü Yan, who has ascended to the throne, began to plan.
However, this Lady Qi did not know what to do, and she was not satisfied with the favor, so she wept and wept in front of Liu Bang day and night, according to the "Records of History", she had reached the point of "crying day and night", hoping to make her son Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao, become the crown prince.
In his later years, Liu Bang was also seduced by beauty, and Lady Qi also chewed the root of her tongue in Liu Bang's ear for many years, often saying: "Liu Ying's benevolent and weak personality is not like you at all, but Liu Ruyi's decisive killing has your demeanor." Liu Bang listened to Lady Qi's rumors and began to plan to abolish the concubine born to Lü Hou and make Ruyi the Prince of Zhao the crown prince.
In the face of Lady Qi's instigation and provocation, Lü Hou's reaction described in the "Records of History" was: "Lai Minister contended, and stayed with Hou Ce. In just nine words, the efforts made by the shrewd Lü Hou were perfectly summarized, and in order to keep his son's position as crown prince, Lü Hou lowered his stature and asked the chancellor Zhang Liang and others to negotiate with Liu Bang and delay time, and he also sent someone to invite the famous scholars at that time- Shangshan Sihao: Dongyuan Gong, Mr. Lu Li, Qi Liji, and Xia Huang Gong to be the prince's master.
Liu Bang had admired Shangshan Sihao for a long time in his early years, but he had not been able to invite them out of the mountain, so after meeting Shangshan Sihao, Liu Bang thought that the prince was more capable than himself, and the ministers led by Zhang Liang prevented the abolition of the prince, and Liu Bang dispelled the idea.
In the face of the storm of deposing the crown prince, Lü Hou showed extraordinary composure and calmness, showed extreme maturity, and used all his strength to skillfully regain the position of prince. Her approach was to "rely on the minister to fight and stay with Hou Ce." On the other hand, Mrs. Qi's practice is only a thin "day and night crying". The contrast between the two dwarfs each other. Only a woman like Lü Hou was entitled to that supreme power.
Third, hold great power and be fierce
After experiencing the storm of deposing the crown prince, Lü Hou already hated Lady Qi to death, so after liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, had just died in the thirteenth year of Han Dynasty, Lü Hou could not wait to imprison Lady Qi who had lost her patron in Yongxiang, let her wear the clothes of a prisoner, do heavy physical work, and torture Lady Qi, who had once been like a flower, into an inhuman appearance.
On the other hand, Lü Hou sent people to summon King Ruyi of Zhao to the capital to prepare for the killer, and the benevolent Emperor Hui of Han knew Lü Hou's thoughts and had been secretly protecting King Ruyi of Zhao and letting him always follow him. But Jiang was still old and spicy after all, and Lü Hou still found a way to poison And killed King Zhao while Emperor Hui of Han got up early to go hunting while King Ruyi of Zhao was still sleeping in the palace.
As soon as King Zhao died, Lü Hou had nowhere to vent her anger, so she turned her anger to Lady Qi again, according to the "Records of History": "The empress dowager cut off Lady Qi's hands and siblings, removed her eyes, glowed her ears, drank medicine, and made her live in the toilet, and was destined to be "ren yan". After staying for a few days, he summoned Emperor Xiaohui to look at the people. Filial piety saw and asked, but he knew that his wife was crying, and because of illness, he could not get up for more than a year. Ask the Empress Dowager, "This is not a human act." The subject is the empress dowager, and he will not be able to rule the world in the end. "Filial piety drinks on this day for sexual pleasure, and does not listen to politics, so she is sick."
This time, Lü Hou cruelly ordered someone to chop off Lady Qi's hands and siblings, cut off her eyes, feed her poison, and finally throw her into the toilet, and personally named her "Ren Yan". After Lü Hou did all this, instead of feeling disgusted and frightened, he was smug and proud, and let his son Emperor Hui of Han come to observe Ren Yan, and after Emperor Hui of Han learned that this person was not like a ghost or a ghost, he was Lady Qi, and from then on he fell ill and ignored the government.
The young and benevolent Emperor Hui of Han was afraid not of human nature but of his mother's fierce heart, and his sentence "The subject is the empress dowager, and he will not be able to rule the world in the end." Saying that he was helpless in his heart, it can be said that he was afraid that Lü Hou would extend his claws to himself in order to truly take power, and chose to escape, or it could be said that he was ashamed of the world, And Lü Hou was so cruel that it would eventually be unfavorable to the world, and as a son of heaven, he needed to follow the principle of "hundred good filial piety first" and could not be stopped, so he did not have the face to rule the world again.
Lü Hou's "ren yan" behavior successfully achieved two eagles with one stone, not only venting the resentment in his heart, but also easily pushing away the biggest obstacle on his way forward, "Emperor Hui of Han".
Politically, in order to establish his own prestige, Lü Hou began to kill the founding heroes. According to the "Chronicle of Lü Hou Benji", "Lü Hou was a man of fortitude, Zuo Gaozu fixed the world, and the chancellor Washu Houli. After Liu Bang achieved reunification, he began to indulge in beauty and singing and dancing. On the contrary, Lü Hou was sober-minded, and she knew that the founding heroes of all dynasties could not stay, otherwise there would be endless troubles in the future, so she began to slaughter the heroes and make herself gain a firm foothold in the DPRK.
She pointed the first knife at Han Xin, and Lü Hou and Xiao He jointly used a plot to trick Han Xin, who was cautious and pretending to be ill at that time, into the palace, and when Han Xin stepped into the palace gate, the samurai who had already ambushed the left and right according to Lü Hou's instructions rushed out and captured Han Xin.
Lü Hou immediately made a decision, beheaded Han Xin on the spot and quickly destroyed his three tribes. For a moment, no one in the government and the public did not sigh for Lü Hou. Lü Hou also successfully and truly took power, and no one dared to resist anymore. In the future, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's abolition of the hero may have borrowed from Lü Hou's shrewd and bold approach.
The other side of history: Is Lü Hou just cruel and domineering?
Of course, evaluating a piece of history and evaluating a character cannot only start from herself, but also analyze it from the background of the entire era, only in this way can we make a comprehensive and objective evaluation of Lü Hou. It's as cruel as Wu Zetian, but the "Zhenguan Legacy" she brought is indeed impressive.
First of all, all that Lü Hou did was cruel but reasonable. For example, in the storm of deposing the crown prince, if Lü Hou had not been so bold in maintaining the position of prince, who could guarantee that the drama of "nine sons and nine sons seizing the concubine" like the Qing Dynasty would not have been staged in advance in the early Han Dynasty? Who can guarantee that Lady Qi, who will only "cry day and night" without the slightest ability, will not bring down this country after becoming empress?
Moreover, if Lü Hou did not kill the heroes, who could guarantee that the heroes who held great power in the imperial court would not raise troops to rebel, and would the country face division again? In order to avoid all these unguardable things, Lü Hou had only one way, that is, to cut the grass and remove the roots, although she appeared to be cruel and domineering, but this was the best way.
Secondly, let us follow the timeline to explore, during the reign of Lü Hou, the Han Dynasty was just established, when the national strength was weakened and it was in urgent need of recovery, and not long after Lü Hou collapsed and abdicated, the Han Dynasty ushered in the "rule of Wenjing" of national strength and prosperity and the happiness of the people. The prosperity of a historical period must have its predecessors make sufficient preparations for it, and Lü Hou is the best paving stone for the rule of Wenjing.
The last paragraph in the "History of Lü Hou Benji" describes Lü Houyi: "When Emperor Xiaohui and Empress Gao were young, Li Min had to leave the suffering of the Warring States, and the monarchs and subjects wanted to rest and do nothing, so Emperor Hui arched, gaohou female lords called the system, the government did not leave the house, and the world was in a state of tranquility." Punishment is rare, and sinners are Hee. The people are well fed, clothed, fed and fed. ”
During Lü Hou's reign, adhering to the policy of huang Laozhi's study and recuperation, except for the necessary rectification actions, they were basically in a state of rest and inaction, and Lü Hou learned the lessons of the harsh administration of the Qin Dynasty and adopted less punishment, which led to fewer people committing crimes, because there was no harsh punishment and harsh government, and men as laborers returned to the pastoral land, and they had no leisure to rebel and commit crimes.
Conversely, if men are imprisoned for minor matters, insufficient labor and food will lead to riots. It has to be said that Lü Hou's policy of inaction was implemented just right.
Finally, let's look at the attitude of the people at that time towards Lü Hou. The most intuitive is Sima Qian, the compiler of the "Chronicle of History". Lü Hou was his only biography of a woman, and the only female emperor who could be included in the "Honji". In contrast, the empress dowager Bo, who personally experienced the "rule of Wenjing" and was famous for her benevolence, did not have such a special honor, and from this we can conclude that Lü Hou had a high status in Sima Qian and in the hearts of the people at that time.
Author: Hao An, this article is less read of the original works of the Red Chamber.