Liu He, Marquis of Haidu: The emperor is less than the moon, the first person in the ages

Bao Bell version Liu He

When Liu He of the Western Han Dynasty is mentioned, two completely different impressions will appear in everyone's minds, the first is the unscrupulous monarch who committed thousands of crimes in his twenty-seven days in the traditional history books, and the other is diametrically opposite, according to the Analects screen unearthed from his tomb, the statue of Confucius, and the complete set of chimes, Liu He is a person who is proficient in Confucianism and good at musical rhythm. However, Wen Shijun believed that the history books might have been cut to prove his legitimacy by belittling Liu He; The funeral objects were placed by the descendants of Haiduhou, probably out of respect for the deceased and the influence of the social atmosphere at that time, and were not necessarily Liu He's love before his death.

The rise and fall of the imperial throne is not directly related to the personal morality of the ruler, Liu Bang is a good woman, he is addicted to alcohol and does not like poetry, and he has achieved the great cause of founding the state; Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty, passed down the wind and snow, and the poetry was passed down, and in the end, he could only sigh that the old country could not bear to look back at the moon and mingzhong. So what did Liu He do to let him be abolished after only 27 days on the throne? Today, let's go back to the Western Han Dynasty and get to know this emperor Liu He from the "less than the moon".

1. Happy princes

In fact, Liu He originally had the opportunity to directly become the prince, but his father Liu Lu did not argue, failed when he took the throne, and also lost his uncle Li Guangli and others, and finally had to honestly become the king of Changyi and stay in Jiaozhou, Shandong.

Liu Lu also had a short life, and died within a few years, leaving only 6-year-old Liu He to succeed him as the lord of the domain. Liu Hegui was the king of the clan, and he had no father and brother to discipline, and lived a "happy" growth year. In everyone's imagination, as a royal clan naturally want to work hard to govern, work hard, and serve the Han, but this is not the case, the Han Dynasty since the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, Emperor Jing, Han Wu and the two dynasties have made every effort to cut the domain, hit local forces, and seize the kingdom at every turn, the princes see this scene and know that if they study well, they will make the emperor think that he has any ideas, only if he does not learn and has no skills, the voice and horses are self-defiled, in order to spend this life smoothly. Liu He is naturally no exception. There are also many references in Bangu's Book of Han that "Wang Weijiu and the slaves slaughtered people to play food and drink, reward the degree of death", and "issue royal money, swords, jade, harvesting, and reward places and games". This life continued until the death of Emperor Zhao in 74 BC.

Emperor Zhao of Han

Emperor Zhao had no children, and the ministers wanted to support Liu Xu, the king of Guangling, who was the son of Emperor Wu and had been trained in government affairs repeatedly, but Huo Guang rejected this suggestion, on the grounds that Emperor Wu had said that Liu Xu was not the material to become an emperor, and the fundamental reason was that Liu Xu had long been an adult and had been in government affairs for a long time, if he succeeded to the throne as emperor, where would he need Huo Guang, an auxiliary minister?

Huo Guang carefully selected Liu He, the king of Changyi, firstly, Liu He had no political experience, and it was better to be assisted by Huo Guang, and secondly, Liu He had no foundation in the dynasty and no power, and if he wanted to sit on the throne after ascending the throne, he could only rely on Huo Guang, the auxiliary minister. After the selection, Huo Guang quickly recruited Liu He to Chang'an to preside over the funeral in the name of the empress dowager and inherit the throne.

After a series of ceremonies and procedures, Liu He unexpectedly became the ninth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. Huo Guang did not feel relieved, because things began to develop in an uncontrollable direction.

Kou Zhenhai's version of Huo Guang

Second, the uncooperative actor

Although Liu He was a noble lord, he grew up happily since he was a child, he did not receive much imperial training, his understanding of the way power operated was not comprehensive, and he had no ambition to covet the imperial throne before, and he did not have a clear understanding of the situation between the government and the public, so when the succession edict arrived at the royal palace, Liu He quickly stepped onto the road of succession the next day. This laid the seeds for future abolition.

First, take over the affairs of the imperial court in an all-round way.

Although Liu He arrived in Chang'an with the imperial court's Yingli team, the entourage team of Changyi State was not idle, and within a few days the team of more than 200 people rushed to Chang'an, this is not afraid that Liu He will not be accustomed to Chang'an food's life assistant, but Liu He brought the political team to take over the imperial court, these people not only Liu He's teachers and visitors, but even the prime minister of Changyi State brought it, and appointed as the guard captain of Changle Palace, directly taking over the forbidden army to protect Liu He's safety. The Book of Han records: "Those who take the princes, the princes, the princes, the two thousand stone silk and the ink silk, the yellow slow, and the officials of Peichang Yilang are exempted from slavery." Such a wanton feudal official and knighthood of Changyi's deceased people seems absurd, but in fact, Liu He's political layout laid the foundation for his own pro-government, which undoubtedly touched Huo Guang's interests.

As early as before setting out from Changyi Kingdom, Liu He's old minister Wang Ji wrote to him: "Today, the great king should weep and mourn day and night, so be careful not to make any mistakes." And what a funeral, where the king of the south speaks... The great general is benevolent and courageous... Ministers may the great king respect the affairs, and when the political affairs are heard, the great king is only bowing to the south, and may he pay attention and always think about it. However, after all, Liu He had been away from the political center for a long time, had not experienced power training and political struggle, and both Emperor Gaozu of Han and Emperor Wudi of Han were all assertive and resolute. Liu He naturally thinks that he is the honor of the ninth five, and a little Huo Guang can help me? Just when Liu He wantonly appointed Changyi's deceased, the old confidants Zhang Chang and Gong Sui also entered one after another, and Zhang Chang said: "Today, the son will take the throne in the prime of the year, and the world will not wait and see. The Minister of National Auxiliary Affairs has not yet died, and Changyi Xiaoyi has moved first, and the one who has passed this is also the greater." Gong Sui said: "It is advisable to enter the descendants of the ministers of the first emperor and think that they are close to each other." Some of the Changyi team have realized that the idea of excluding Huo Guang from the political center is not feasible and needs to be slow.

Second, the collection of military power.

After Liu He ascended the throne, he quickly appointed Chang Rong, the prime minister of Changyi State, as the guard of Changle Palace to be responsible for his own security. For military power is a lot of trouble, Huo Guang has served Emperor Wu since childhood, before Emperor Wu's death appointed Huo Guang as the Grand Sima, auxiliary minister, in charge of military power This is a good name, plus Huo Guang has led troops for many years, and has a deep prestige in the army, it is not easy to remove Huo Guang's influence in the army.

But Liu He did not fully understand the difficulty of this matter, in Liu He's thoughts, the generals and soldiers are the mighty masters of the Great Han, obeying the orders of the tiger talisman and taking back the military power directly from Huo Guang's hands is really not enough, then just change a set of tiger talismans. Therefore, he changed the color of Jinglu on the Yijie Festival, and by changing the military transfer talisman, he seized the power of troop transfer that was held by Huo alone.

Han Dynasty Tiger Talisman

Third, do not grieve during the mourning period, and sacrifice your father in private.

In the Han Dynasty, filial piety ruled the world, and Emperor Wudi of Han deposed the Confucianism of a hundred families, filial piety is not only a kind of conduct, but also a social requirement for people, as an emperor, you must set an example. King Liu He succeeded to the throne and inherited the reign of Emperor Zhao, that is, to inherit the line of Emperor Zhao. But this matter is also very embarrassing, that is, although Emperor Zhao and Liu He are uncles and nephews, they really have no feelings, the two people are thousands of miles away not only have not met, but also have little difference in age, belong to the same age, let a person in his 20s call another peer father, it is really difficult for a strong man.

At the same time, Liu He was really filial to his father and missed him very much, and after arriving in Chang'an, "the ancestral temple was not raised, and the envoy of the seal book held the festival, and the temple of the three taijiao Changyi mourning wangyuan temple, called the emperor of the heir", openly calling himself the heir of the king of Changyi, which means that Liu He denied the mother-son relationship with Emperor Zhao's Shangguan Empress, and the court and the public were shaken, although it was to express his filial piety, but also handed over a deadly weapon to his enemies.

After this operation, Huo Guang had a headache, originally wanted to find a powerless clan king to continue to be an auxiliary minister, according to this rhythm, I am afraid that he will go home early to hold his grandson.

Huo Guang

Third, Huo Guang's countermeasures

Since Liu He, the actor, does not accept the script directed by Huo Guang, then Huo Guang will change the actor, and the tricky thing is that Liu He has already stepped onto the political stage and played the role of the emperor, and how to let him step down from the throne has become a difficult problem. But for Huo Guang, it's nothing more than writing another script.

The abolition of the emperor is a big thing, for the courtiers only loyal to the king, the abolition of the big thing is something that the chaotic courtiers and thieves will do, so even if there are Zhou Gong and Yi Yin as examples in history, Huo Guang categorically does not dare to bear such a responsibility alone, so the abolition of Liu He must not be Huo Guang's personal opinion, so Huo Guang decided to hold a meeting to unify his thoughts. Huo Guang secretly discussed with the riding general Zhang Anshi, and summoned the prime minister, Yushi and other high-ranking officials to the Weiyang Palace for a meeting. Huo Guang spoke first: "After King Changyi ascended the throne, he was very desolate, which seriously threatened the stability of the Han Dynasty, what do you think?" Everyone was so frightened when they heard Huo Guang's speech that they didn't dare to speak. The meeting could not go on all of a sudden, at this time Tian Yannian stood up, left the table and pressed his sword, saying; "Huo Guang is the minister of Tuogu, entrusting the world to the general. Moreover, the great general has outstanding ability and loyalty, if the great Han is not safeguarded, what face will the great general have to see the emperor? Whoever does not support the topic of discussion today, I will cut him. "The venue instantly unified thoughts. In the end, Huo Guang did not forget to thank everyone, and said that he would definitely paint the ground for the big man's liver and brain, live up to everyone's expectations, and the conference ended smoothly.

Empress Shangguan

Huo Guang's second step is to threaten the ministers to meet the Empress Dowager, even the auxiliary ministers do not have the power to abolish the emperor, and can only turn to the mother of the supreme ruler, the Empress Dowager, but the Empress Dowager is Huo Guang's granddaughter, and it is said that there are granddaughters who do not listen to their grandfather, not to mention that his grandfather Shangguan Huo's whole family was cut by Huo Guang, if he was disobedient, his grandfather would cut people, and Empress Shangguan still didn't want to reunite the family so early, so she quickly agreed to Qunchen's request, issued an edict, and abolished Liu He.

Although the procedure was reasonable and legal, Huo Guang's heart still did not let go, Liu He was the king of a country after all, and the Changyi team also had a certain power in Chang'an, Huo Guang ordered the Empress Dowager to summon Liu He and imprison him, isolating him from the outside world, and at the same time Huo Guang decided to physically eliminate Liu He's Changyi team and capture and kill more than two hundred people. Before the execution, these people did not kneel and beg for mercy, but shouted with great remorse, "Constantly suffer from the chaos when the judgment is made", looking like they were willing to gamble and lose. It can be seen from this that at the same time that Huo Guang wanted to depose Liu He, Liu He was also planning to kill Huo Guang, but the plan was not firmly implemented.

When Liu He was imprisoned, Changyi's team was all cleared, the overall situation was decided, and Liu He, an uncooperative actor, was about to leave the center of the stage. Just like Liu He's stage, it is grand and cumbersome.

Finally, under the protection of the forbidden army, hundreds of officials witnessed that Liu He came to the Empress Dowager's palace and received the edict that was abolished, and Liu He not only lost the imperial throne, but also the Changyi state, leaving only 2,000 households. A drama of the emperor's seizure of power came to an end.

When the actor came off, Huo Guang may be unwilling to make a difference, or he may be worried that Liu He will again play freely to destroy the script, Huo Guang decided to personally send Liu He back to the fiefdom, and said words of admonition such as good self-help when parting.

After deposing Changyi, Liu He began a life of imprisonment, and the successor Emperor Xuan of Han was also very careful with this predecessor, sending his trusted ministers to monitor.

Fourth, the tragic aftermath

Just 11 years after Liu He was placed under house arrest, Emperor Xuan of Han received a secret report from his ministers saying that Liu He was already in poor health, unable to walk, and in a trance. It may be that Emperor Xuan wanted to cut Liu He to remove the roots, or it may be that Emperor Xuan thought that this person was no longer important, and Emperor Xuan "treated" Liu He favorably, naming him "Marquis of Haidu", and a food household of 4,000 yi. Haidu is in today's Jiangxi, which was still an undeveloped land in the Western Han Dynasty, located in the south of the Jiangxi, the climate was humble and humid, and her husband died early. Liu He was already suffering from rheumatism, "sickness, inconvenient walking", and the harsh climatic environment in Jiangnan will undoubtedly aggravate Liu He's physical consumption. Even so, Emperor Xuan still did not relax his monitoring of Liu He.

A few years later, Liu He was known to Emperor Xuan for discussing with Sun Wanshi about the events of that year, and was sentenced to "cut off three thousand households", which also became the last straw that overwhelmed Liu He, and Liu He died soon after under the double suppression of body and spirit.

Wen Shijun said

In fact, each of them is an actor, holding the script of fate, playing different roles in unimaginable places, Liu Heben is a prince and king, far away from the dynasty and happy leisure, could have lived his life as he wanted. However, Emperor Zhao's early death, no heir to the throne, and the power lord, various factors superimposed, so that a person who never thought of inheriting the throne inherited the throne. However, Liu He was unwilling to take someone else's script to play a role he didn't like, and was eventually removed from the role by director Huo Guang, I don't know if Liu He, who returned to the fiefdom, regretted stepping on the road to Chang'an?

bibliography

Wang Yingchao: "The Historical Transformation and Rediscovery of Liu He's Image", Master's Thesis, Shandong Normal University, 2021.

Zhang Jianwen, Wang Xiaoqin: "The Battle of the Mandate of Heaven: Liu He's Historical Investigation of the Sealed Sea and the Marquis", Local Culture Research, No. 2, 2021.

Yu Quanjie: "Liu He's Deposed New Examination—Also Commenting on the Deposed Examination of King Changyi", Historical Research, No. 3, 2007.

(Author: Haoran Wenshi · I'm so hungry)

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