Before reading this article, I sincerely invite you to click "Follow", which is convenient for you to discuss and share, and brings you a different sense of participation, thank you for your support.
introduction
Liu Xiu, the Guangwu Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is now known as the "son of the plane", and can also be said to be a winner in life, a hexagonal warrior. And the love story between him and Yin Lihua has also been passed down to later generations, but why did Liu Xiu make Guo Shengtong empress? What's going on in between?
(Liu Xiu)
1. Liu Xiu's eleven sons and five daughters, each with their own achievements
In his lifetime, Liu Xiu, the emperor of Han Guangwu, had a total of eleven sons and five daughters, which was a moderate number among emperors.
But when it comes to succession, the eleven sons must be in conflict with each other, and Liu Xiu has a total of two empresses in this life, one is Guo Shengtong, Empress Guo, and the other is Yin Lihua, known as Empress Guanglie.
Five of the eleven sons were born to Empress Guo, and five were born to Yin Lihua, and the prince in the middle was named Liu Ying, and his mother was just an ordinary beauty in the harem, recorded in the history books as Xu Meiren. Because her mother was not favored, Liu Ying was made queen of Chu, and his fief has always been relatively small.
Liu Ying loved Buddhism and made friends, and originally could spend his life safely as a prince, but after Liu Xiu's death, Liu Ying was suspected of rebellion, so Liu Ying was deposed, and he committed suicide not long after, which can be regarded as burying himself. And this emperor that Liu Ying was preparing to rebel was Liu Zhuang, the emperor of Hanming.
(Hanming Emperor Liu Zhuang)
Liu Zhuang's mother was Yin Lihua, and he himself was Liu Xiu's fourth son, and after asking the crown prince to resign, Liu Zhuang became the new crown prince.
Liu Zhuang has been very intelligent since he was a child, familiar with "Spring and Autumn" at the age of ten, and when he was still a prince, he handled imperial politics, which was deeply loved by Liu Xiu. After becoming crown prince, Liu Xiu strengthened his counseling, and Emperor Hanming did govern the country well.
And a good monarch is inevitably a good courtier, Liu Zhuang's own brother Liu Cang, is the only person who assists the imperial government among all the clan kings. And Liu Cang was erudite and talented at a young age, and Liu Zhuang liked him very much. When he succeeded to the throne, he paid more attention to Liu Cang, and when he went out on patrol, the imperial government was handed over to him.
(Liu Cang)
These sons of Yin Lihua are still very powerful, some inherit the great unification, and some serve the country and the people, although some people died in infancy, we can all see Liu Xiu's favor for Yin Lihua.
And Guo Shengtong, as Empress Guo, her children are not too much, and before she was deposed, Liu Xiu's crown prince had always been the eldest son Liu Jiang.
In the second year of Liu Xiu's succession, Liu Jiang was made empress because his biological mother Guo Shengtong, and he, as the eldest son of Concubine, naturally became the crown prince.
He was trembling and became the crown prince for more than ten years, but because Empress Guo was abolished for no reason, Yin Lihua became the new empress, and Liu Jiang's position as the crown prince was a little embarrassing.
(Empress Guo)
In addition, the deposition of his mother did involve himself, so Liu Jiang repeatedly asked for the resignation of the crown prince, and Liu Xiu readily agreed, so Liu Jiang became the king of the East Sea. Although Liu Jiang and Liu Zhuang are in competition and are not the same mother, it is rare that the relationship between the two is quite good.
After Liu Zhuang ascended the throne, he also treated his eldest brother very well, not only gave the rich Lu land to Liu Jiang as a fief, but also promoted Lu to a national county, which is equivalent to Liu Jiang getting two fiefdoms alone.
This was simply stuffing fat oil into Liu Jiang's mouth, and later someone persuaded Liu Jiang to rebel, and Liu Jiang immediately showed the letter to Liu Zhuang. After Liu Jiang's death, Emperor Hanming was grieving.
(Picture and text are not related)
Liu Xiu's five daughters were all married to ministers, and in the end, only the second daughter, Liu Zhongli, known as Princess Neiyang, received a good death.
The remaining daughters were implicated by the colts, and their families changed and were later killed. It can be seen that whether it is a prince or a princess, it is rarely easy to live in the royal family.
2. Why was Guo Shengtong abolished? Liu Jiang took the initiative to resign
The love story of Liu Xiu and Yin Lihua has been handed down, so why did Guo Shengtong become the empress? This involves Liu Xiu's origin, although he is the ninth grandson of Liu Bang, he is also the son of a small official, and he was born with a vision, so he was named Xiu.
Liu Xiu loves to read and has met a lot in Chang'an.
At that time, Wang Mang usurped the throne and the people's livelihood was difficult, Liu Xiu came to Chang'an to study, and through his brother-in-law, he met Yin Lihua. Yin Lihua was born in the Yin clan, is a local wealthy family, her appearance is extremely beautiful, Liu Xiu fell in love at first sight. So later he wrote "marry a wife should be Yin Lihua", and after Liu Xiu led an uprising, he pacified Wang Mang.
(Liu Xiu)
However, because his brother was beheaded by the emperor at the time, in order to show that he would not mourn his brother, Liu Xiu decided to marry a relative, so he took this opportunity to immediately ask Yin Lihua for a relative. The relationship between the two after marriage is very good and very harmonious, and Liu Xiu is also very fond of Yin Lihua, but Liu Xiu, who has a heavy responsibility, will embark on a journey in the third month after marriage.
At that time, after Liu Yang, the king of Zhending, who was in Zhending County, was submitted, he still swayed from side to side, unsure whether he was submissive or surrendered to the enemy, so Liu Xiu took action against the rebels together in order to show the cooperation of the two sides. He married Liu Yang's niece Guo Shengtong, also to consolidate his power.
At this time, it was less than a year since he married Yin Lihua, and after Liu Xiu ascended the throne, one was the original Yin Lihua and the other was Guo Shengtong. In Liu Xiu's heart, he had always wanted Yin Lihua to be empress, but the courtiers dissuaded him that Guo Shengtong already had a son and should make her empress, in order to conform to the etiquette system.
(Guo Shengtong)
Even Yin Lihua said so, so Guo Shengtong was made empress, and the history was called Empress Guo. Because of this, Liu Jiang, as the eldest son, became the prince. But just imagine, although Guo Shengtong has obtained the throne and supreme glory, Liu Xiu's heart has always been Yin Lihua, not only canonizing Yin Lihua as a nobleman, but also using Guo Shengtong.
He also made Yin Lihua's brother a marquis, so that the Yin clan's title was higher than that of the Guo family. Liu Xiu's partiality is too obvious, Guo Shengtong's heart is definitely not a taste, even if he doesn't say it on the face, there are definitely complaints in his heart, and Guo Shengtong is gradually not favored, her hatred is growing day and night.
The aforementioned Guo Shengtong's uncle Liu Yang, after seeing that Liu Xiu was so good to the Yin family, actually raised troops to rebel and was finally killed. It stands to reason that Guo Shengtong was implicated, but he was not punished. But Liu Xiu's alienation from Guo Shengtong increased, and in the ninth year of Jianwu, Guo Shengtong completely fell out of favor.
(Yin Lihua)
Shang Shuling repeatedly advised the crown prince Liu Jiang to enter the Eastern Palace, but Liu Xiu repeatedly refused. From here, we can see that the ideal queen and prince in Liu Xiu's heart are definitely not Empress Guo's mother and son. In the thirteenth year of Jianwu, Liu Xiu made a great seal on foreign qi, but only the Guo family was omitted, and in the many subsequent seals, the Guo family received very few honors.
Empress Guo herself was not favored, as was the family, so the resentment towards Liu Xiu and Yin Lihua grew. But it is worth mentioning that Guo Shengtong was abolished without any reason, which is completely Liu Xiu's fault.
At that time, after recovering various places and consolidating imperial power, Liu Xiu strengthened the centralization of monarchy, and he quickly used the "style of Lu Huo", believing that Empress Guo had a grudge and did not have the character of a concubine, and immediately abolished Empress Guo and established Yin Li as the new empress. Although people guessed this day, they did not expect it so suddenly.
(Guo Shengtong)
Empress Guo was deposed, and although Liu Jiang was crown prince, he changed from the eldest son to the eldest son of Shu. And Liu Xiu's attitude is also obvious, although he will not attack Liu Jiang, but what he cares about is others, but it is not good for Liu Jiang. So under the advice of his teacher, Liu Jiang was uneasy and decided to resign as prince.
After Liu Jiang wrote many times, Liu Xiu "helplessly" renamed Liu Yang as the crown prince and made Liu Jiang the king of the East Sea. After Liu Yang became the crown prince, he was also renamed Liu Zhuang. As soon as Liu Zhuang became the prince, he immediately entered the East Palace, which shows that Liu Xiu was not for no reason after his abolition.
He just wanted to make Yin Lihua empress and their son crown prince. After this incident, Guo Shengtong's children went to the closed country one after another, which was equivalent to being spent. Only Yin Lihua's children could stay in Kyoto until Liu Zhuang ascended the throne, and then went to the fiefdom according to the ceremonial system.
(Emperor Hanming)
In his attitude towards Guo Shengtong and Yin Lihua, Liu Xiu's partiality is obvious, after all, he wanted to establish Yin Lihua from the beginning, but he was persuaded to appoint Guo Shengtong. Although Guo Shengtong has jealousy in her heart, her deposition is still for no reason, and the biggest reason is that Liu Xiu looks at her unfavorably and feels that she is resentful.
And the biggest reason why Liu Jiang was deposed is that he saw his father's approach, if he continues to sit in the position of the prince, if he does not abdicate, then the next person to be deposed is himself. Therefore, Liu Jiang might as well take the initiative to abdicate and show this brotherhood and brotherhood, but it will be reused.
And Yin Lihua accompanied Liu Xiu from a young age to the end of their lives, she watched the dynasty established by Liu Xiu, the two experienced parting, but also experienced helplessness, and finally walked through a lifetime hand in hand. Therefore, the love story of Liu Xiu and Yin Lihua is often praised by posterity.
(Yin Lihua)
Third, Liu Xiu and Yin Lihua have a deep relationship
After Yin Lihua's death, the two were successfully buried together in the original mausoleum, and the funeral was extremely solemn, it can be said that time is rare, and only the later Empress Dowager Xi was able to achieve this ritual system in the Eastern Han Dynasty. And Yin Lihua created the title of empress, and she was also called Empress Guanglie by later generations. And Yin Lihua virtuous virtue is also famous in history, and these children have also inherited this.
The deep relationship between her and Liu Xiu is obvious to all, and according to records, ten years after Yin Lihua's death, one day Liu Zhuang suddenly had a dream. In the dream, the parents have deep feelings, and they are like children, bearing the knees. The family was lively and harmonious and happy, and they woke up with joy all of a sudden, only to find that it was a big dream.
(Liu Xiu and Yin Lihua)
It can be seen how much Liu Zhuang misses the previous days, and in the dream, the relationship between his parents is so deep, it can be seen that the relationship between these two people is even worse. And Yin Lihua has never been favored by Liu Xiu and made domineering things, and the couple have been with each other for so many years. Then I believe in my parents' example, and Liu Zhuang must also see it in my heart.
Resources
LIU Qin. Yin Lihua's life wisdom from Liu Xiu's abolition of Guo[J]. Masterpiece Appreciation: Mid-Session, 2017,
DENG Qiongfang. The Secret History of the Han Palace: Solving the Mystery of the Court of the Han Dynasty[M]. China Overseas Chinese Publishing House, 2009.