In 66 BC, when Emperor Xuan of Han killed thousands of huo's party and rewarded those meritorious men, some people wrote to accuse him of unfair rewards, including a proverb that became famous in later generations: "Qu Tu migrated without grace, and was anxious to be a guest."
The literal meaning of this sentence is that after the fire, the host family thanked the neighbors who were burned out for helping him fight the fire, but had no gratitude to those who had warned him early on to bend the chimney and move the firewood off the stove to avoid the fire.
What the writer wanted to express was that tomorrow morning someone (named Xu Fu) reminded the imperial court to limit the power of the Huo clan and prevent them from reaching the point where they were accused of murdering the entire clan for plotting rebellion, but Emperor Xuan of Han turned a deaf ear to this and sat by and watched the situation develop to such a tragic situation; how could the imperial court have no intention of rewarding Xu Fu?
Emperor Xuan of Han was very calm after seeing it, and at first he only gave Xu Fu ten pieces of cloth in a shabby manner; finally, taking into account the pressure of public opinion, he summoned him as a Lang official.
As a generation of Ming emperors who brought the Western Han Dynasty to the peak, Emperor Xuan of Han was so sober-minded. The reason why he did not obey Xu Fu's "Qu Tu Migration Salary" was because he deliberately wanted to cultivate a "fire" in order to completely burn down the Huo family. This is what the ancient text says, "If you want to take it, you will take it with you."
To find out the enmity between Emperor Xuan of Han and Huo Shi, we must first look at the "glorious deeds" of Huo Guang, a ruthless man.
In the history of thousands of years, when it comes to who is the most powerful courtier, Yi and Huo Dangren will not let go - Yin Shang's Yi Yin exiled Shang Wang Taijia, Huo Guang abolished Liu He the King of Changyi, and Liu Yi, the Emperor Xuan of Han, was ill. Such a person who can depose the supreme monarch and leave a good name in the future generations can be described as the ceiling of the courtiers.
Where is Huo Guang's superiority? The history books say that he served Emperor Wu of Han for more than 20 years, has been loyal, has never made any mistakes, and even took exactly the same steps every time he entered and exited the palace.
It is indeed terrible for a person to be self-disciplined to such an extent, but in the cruel feudal politics, the two qualities of loyalty and prudence are not enough to support him to become a winner. Huo Guang's secret lies in his proficiency in power and fierce enough.
Huo Guang was born in the folk, but only benefited from the influence of his brother Huo Zhiyi and was "love house and Wu", and entered the palace to serve Emperor Wu of Han. Under this experience, his level of education was extremely limited, and it was difficult to compare with the imperial court ministers in terms of knowledge, insight, and literary literacy, and the Book of Han even called him "not to learn the art of death, but to be secretive to Dali."
But relative to the quality of personal culture, the starting point and platform are the most critical factors that determine a person's ceiling. Huo Guang had long followed Emperor Wu of Han, a top master of power, in the middle of the imperial power struggle, and gradually became a politician who was proficient in scheming, bold and vicious, and good at handling interpersonal relations.
For example, Shangguan Jie and Huo Guang were both orphan ministers personally formulated by Emperor Wu of Han, and they were also the sons and daughters of the family, but once they found that the other party posed a threat to their own position, Huo Guang ruthlessly exterminated the other party;
When Huo Guang found that Liu He had a tendency to be out of his control, he decisively contacted Dasi Nongyuan Yannian, used the latter to blackmail hundreds of officials of the imperial court, and moved out of the current imperial empress, in fact, his granddaughter, and single-handedly abolished Liu He and welcomed Liu He;
Shortly after this incident, when Tian Yannian, the former "old comrade-in-arms", got into a corruption lawsuit, Huo Guang had no intention of caring, forcing the latter to kill himself.
The reason why Huo Guang chose Liu Yi as emperor was not entirely his eye on this young man's "mastery of scriptures, beautiful materials, and peace and tranquility", the key is that as the grandson of Liu Zhao, the prince of Jiao, the family members all died in the "scourge of witchcraft", and then successively went to prison and grew up in the folk, that is, an orphan at the age of 18 (although he had married a wife), which was theoretically the easiest to control.
But the biggest difference between Liu Yiji (who changed his name to Liu Yuan after taking the throne) and Liu He is that he is good at survival. After birth, he suffered the scourge of extinction, and then faced many existential crises and long-term exiles in the city, he experienced the hardships and cruelties of life, knew how to observe the color of speech, Taoguang and cultivate obscurity; Liu Yi already knew exactly who Huo Guang, who supported himself to the throne, liu yi already knew exactly - this person seemed to be kind and pleasant, and he was respectful to himself, but if he was a little careless, he would become the second Changyi king Liu He at any time.
According to historical records, when Emperor Xuan of Han ascended the throne, he rode to the temple as usual, and was accompanied by Huo Guang on the way to the side, at this time Emperor Xuan of Han was "strict inside, if there is a thorn in the back"; and when he returned, the accompanying personnel were replaced by Yan Yannian, and Emperor Xuan of Han relaxed his heart and looked calm and comfortable.
Throughout thousands of years of feudal history, those who dared to pose a threat to imperial power either usurped the throne themselves and became emperors, or ended up in a tragic situation. Therefore, later people often said that "the disaster of huo shi is born in the ride", and from the day he ascended the throne, Emperor Xuan of Han had already killed Huo Shi, but at that time his strength was too weak to be put into action.
Therefore, although he became emperor, Liu Yi had always treated Huo Guangbin with courtesy and extreme respect, and would hardly disobey the other party's intentions.
For example, at the beginning of his reign, Emperor Xuan of Han wanted to make his father-in-law Xu Guanghan a marquis according to the custom, but Huo Guang rejected this on the grounds that Xu Guanghan had committed a crime and was punished by the palace. Emperor Xuan of Han was helpless about this, and did not fight until a year later to make his father-in-law a lower-ranking Changping Jun;
In the second year of his reign, Huo Guang made a gesture to return to power, but was resolutely resigned by Emperor Xuan of Han. Not only that, in order to show his gratitude, Emperor Xuan of Han also added 17,000 households to Huo Guang, and the generosity of his handwriting was staggering;
In the following years, although Liu Yi was an adult emperor, Huo Guang still held the regency power, and all state affairs, no matter how big or small, were reported to Huo Guang first, and then reported to Emperor Xuan of Han; sometimes, Huo Guang's orders were even more important than those of Emperor Xuan of Han.
For example, before the lieutenant Chang Hui left Wusun, he had applied to Emperor Xuan of Han to fight the disobedient Guizi, but was refused, but then Huo Guang instructed Chang Hui to see the opportunity to act. Chang Hui, who had obtained Shangfang's sword, dispatched troops in the Western Regions without authorization and killed King Guizi. Emperor Xuan of Han wanted to rebuke him, but when he learned that it was Huo Guang's intention, he immediately gave up.
In addition, as early as the time of Emperor Han Zhao, Huo Guang's sons and sons-in-law had already controlled the military power of the imperial court, such as his son Huo Yu and nephew Huo Yun all serving as zhonglang generals, Huo Yun's brother Huo Shan as Fengche Du wei, Huo Guang's two sons-in-law as eastern and western palace guards, and other male members of the family also occupied important positions in the imperial court. After Emperor Xuan of Han ascended the throne, he also had no objection to this and accepted it completely.
It can be said that under the deliberate forbearance of Emperor Xuan of Han, the Huo family has almost controlled the military and political power of the Western Han Dynasty, and Huo Guang has become a veritable deputy emperor. At this time, if he wanted to usurp the Han, it would be almost as easy as a palm.
But just as Emperor Wu of Han had judged at first, Huo Guang's greatest advantage was loyalty, of course, it could also be understood that he had no ambition, he was satisfied with his special status as a very popular subject, and he had no interest in usurping the throne. Thanks to this, Emperor Xuan of Han's Taoguang cultivation was meaningful.
However, as mentioned earlier, although Huo Guang is proficient in the art of power, he is subject to education and knowledge, and he does not understand the principle that "high positions cannot be stolen for a long time, and great power cannot be lived for a long time". He was accustomed to his status as a co-ruler with Emperor Xuan of Han, and was accustomed to the ascension of the members of the family to heaven and all the high positions, but he did not know that the seemingly gentle and humble emperor around him was becoming more and more murderous.
Huo Guang was still like this, and his relatives who were like clumsy children were even more unscrupulous and arbitrary; his wife even poisoned Emperor Xuan of Han's wife in order to make her daughter an empress. After Huo Guang knew, he was just fooling around, and then he happily sent his daughter Huo Chengjun to the harem and became an empress as he wished.
In the spring of 68 BC, a generation of powerful ministers Huo Guang was seriously ill, and Emperor Xuan of Han personally went to visit and wept bitterly for it; after returning to the palace, he immediately made Huo Yu a right general to show that he would inherit Huo Guang's position.
Not long after, Huo Guang died, and Emperor Xuan of Han personally went to mourn and buried him with the treatment of an emperor; and then issued an edict exempting Huo Guang's descendants from taxes and servitude, so that they could inherit Huo Guang's titles and food and be unchanged forever.
Emperor Xuan of Han gave Huo Guang enough face, and it was considered to be a feedback on the other party's kindness to support him. But on the other hand, he formally embarked on a full takeover of power.
Emperor Xuan of Han was indeed born a commoner and had no foundation, but once anyone had the power to kill and seize the power, and had a name and a body in his hands, why worry that no one would fight for his life? Moreover, the mind of Emperor Xuan of Han was very human. Shortly after Huo Guang's death, Emperor Xuan of Han appointed Zhang Anshi as the Grand Sima and CheQi general in charge of Shangshu affairs on the basis of the secret performance of his own close associate, Wei Xiang, the Imperial Master.
In order to empty him, Wei Xiang once again came up with the idea of changing the previous practice of having Shangshu review a copy of the recital and then playing it to the emperor, and directly changing the fact that anyone's performance could go directly to the emperor. In this way, Huo Shan lost the power to participate in government affairs.
Next, Emperor Xuan of Han selected officials according to his own wishes and worked hard to govern, and the Western Han Dynasty showed a thriving atmosphere. For Huo Shi, he still resigned himself to it for the time being, and even continued to give grace. For example, in 67 BC, when he made his father-in-law Xu Guanghan the Marquis of Ping'en, he did not forget to add Huo Guang's nephew Huo Yun as the Marquis of Guanyang.
If Huo's disciples had read the history books and understood the fate of Lü Hou after his death, they might have chilled with Emperor Xuan of Han's bottomless respect and understood some of the principles of convergence.
However, the facts were completely opposite, although there were three marquises, the Huo family was still not satisfied, they were both angry with Emperor Xuan of Han for directly handling government affairs, and they were also dissatisfied that the crown prince Liu Yi was born to Empress Xu, and even tried to make Huo Chengjun take the opportunity to poison. Fortunately, with the lesson of the inexplicable death of his wife, Emperor Xuan of Han took strict precautions against his son's diet, and Huo's plot did not succeed.
In addition, the Huo family relied on the forbearance of Emperor Xuan of Han and became more and more arrogant, overbearing, and extremely arrogant and extravagant. Huo Guang's wife, Huo Xian, built a lot of construction, rode through the city in a luxurious carriage, entered the harem to visit her daughter in the slightest disregard of the rules, and even unabashedly committed adultery with the house slaves; Huo Yu, Huo Shan, and Huo Yun also indulged in sex and played with eagles and dogs; sometimes they did not want to go to the court, and simply sent a house slave directly to the imperial court to make a report; the Huo family and the subordinates of the Wei Xiang family of the imperial master had a conflict, and huo shi actually rushed directly into the Wei mansion and forced the tangtang Zaifu Wei Xiang to personally make reparations before giving up.
Previously, Emperor Xuan of Han had heard about Huo Xian's poisoning of his wife Empress Xu in the first place, but he just couldn't bear it. At this time, in the face of the tyranny of Huo's disciples, he began to gradually tighten his pockets. In October 67 BC, he transferred all the sons and sons-in-law of the Huo clan who held military power out of the capital as local officials, and the command of the capital army was handed over to his close associate Zhang Anshi, and the generals of the Hu Qi, Yue Qi, Yulin Army, and the two palace guard troops were all changed to the sons of his grandmother Shi Jia and his father-in-law Xu Family.
Huo Yu, who originally held military power, was explicitly promoted to the rank of Grand Sima (大司馬), but he was not given the seal and ribbon that symbolized power, and all his subordinates were purged and became a nominal light pole commander. At this point, Huo's military and political power was stripped away and reduced to fish and meat to be slaughtered.
Huo Xian, Huo Yu, Huo Shan, and others naturally did not want to be captured, and they actively plotted to unite with the empress dowager to get rid of Wei Xiang and Xu Guanghan, and then depose Emperor Xuan of Han. Afterwards, they informed the sons-in-law of the field of this plan, and these people, fearing that Huo Shi would suffer himself after the fall, all of them responded positively.
However, the Huo clan, who were destined to die in heaven, had long been in high positions and had been blessed with great power, which had long aroused the envy of others; Huo Xian's and others' plans had just been formulated, and because there were ears in the partition wall, they were transmitted to the ears of those who had hearts through the grooms of the family, and the next morning they wrote a secret song and reported it to the imperial court.
As mentioned above, anyone at that time could write to the emperor, and when Emperor Xuan of Han saw this recital, he immediately ordered the relevant departments to strictly investigate, but then stopped this move, and this means of wanting to take advantage of the situation made Huo Shi even more uncertain and panicked; just when they were grasping the close plot to lead troops into the palace, abolishing Emperor Xuan of Han, and having Huo Yu as the son of heaven (delusional), many officials reported that Huo Shi's illegal music chapters poured into the imperial court like snowflakes, and Emperor Xuan of Han's reprimand orders poured in, and Huo Shi was even more frightened. Completely out of rhythm.
To make matters worse, at this time, their plan was fully reported, and Emperor Xuan of Han, who had conclusive evidence, no longer had to be patient, and directly ordered all the officials to go out and arrest all the relatives of the Huo clan with lightning speed. In addition to Huo Shan and Huo Yun, who committed suicide by taking poison, the other descendants of the Huo clan, their daughters and sons-in-law, their grandchildren and grandsons, and even other distant and near relatives were all seated together, and a total of more than a thousand families were wiped out.
At this point, under the layout of Emperor Xuan of Han for many years, the Huo clan, which had been beautiful for decades, was swept away, and Huo Guang, who had been extremely loyal to the Han court, could never have imagined that his descendants would end up in such a field. But throughout thousands of years of history, the power-hungry family of power can not finally jump out of this dead cycle; the game of thrones has always been extremely dangerous, and it must be trembled and walked on thin ice in it, but Huo Shi was blinded by the glory and wealth, and brazenly transgressed the rules of feudal imperial power without knowing it, and the final outcome can be described as self-inflicted.
"The Han family has its own system, originally based on the overlord Road mixed", the Han Xuan Emperor, who was fierce at a young age, completely controlled the power of the Great Han as he wished, and this emperor from the folk also became the Ming Lord of the Western Han Dynasty who attached the most importance to the rule of officials and was most aware of the sufferings of the Ming Dynasty, leading the Western Han Dynasty to a comprehensive peak. In this sense, Huo Guang, who had made him emperor, was not a loser.