Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng is the fourth son of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, his mother is the younger brother of Bo Ji and Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty Liu Ying.
Liu Heng reigned for 24 years, implemented the policy of "resting with the people", attached importance to agriculture, reduced taxes, weakened the princes, consolidated centralized power, and created a prosperous era of "rule of Wenjing".
However, the accession to the throne of Emperor Wen of Han Liu Heng was not so smooth and was based on a bloody palace coup. So, what kind of story is there? Today, let's talk about the situation of the imperial palace in the early Han Dynasty.
The royal family of the Western Han Dynasty
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, after the death of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, his eldest son Liu Ying inherited the throne and was Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty. But Emperor Hui of Han did not really hold power, but was manipulated by his mother, Empress Lü.
In order to consolidate his power, Empress Lü did not hesitate to kill Liu Bang's other sons, and even forcibly married his granddaughter Zhang Yan to Emperor Hui of Han as empress. From the perspective of relationship, Emperor Han Hui and Zhang Yan are still the relationship between uncle and niece.
Zhang Yan was only 9 years old when she got married, which shows that there is no love between the two, but they just reluctantly accept this family affair.
Empress Lu also used a fake pregnancy strategy to pretend to be Liu Gong, the son of Emperor Hui of Han and a palace maid, as the son of Emperor Hui of Han and Zhang Yan.
Emperor Hui of Han died young after seven years of reign, and Liu Gong succeeded him as Emperor Shao of Han, and Lü Pheasant still held power.
Unfortunately, after the death of Empress Lü, the elder ministers of the Han Dynasty staged a coup d'état to overthrow the dictatorship of Lü and proclaim Liu Heng, another son of Liu Bang, as emperor, Emperor Wen of Han.
In order to stabilize his position, Emperor Wen of Han carried out a purge of Lü's power and killed all the sons of Emperor Hui of Han, including Liu Gong, Emperor Shao of Han.
But instead of killing Zhang Yan, the empress of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, he deposed her as empress and placed her in a secluded courtyard in the palace.
Zhang Yan spent seventeen years of lonely life in the palace and finally died, and was buried in the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Hui of Han.
So, why did Emperor Wen of Han kill all the sons of Emperor Hui of Han but leave his empress? Is there any deep reason for this?
The reason behind it
Emperor Wen of Han killed the son of Emperor Hui of Han in order to eliminate the royal bloodline that might pose a threat to him and consolidate his throne, which can be understood as a political consideration, which is a common imperial way, and there are many similar examples in history.
For example, the Xuanwumen change of Tang Taizong, the nine sons of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, etc., although most of the sons of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty were unpopular with the fake sons set up by Empress Lu, they had the blood of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty after all, and if they were not eliminated, they might become the political enemies of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty or the leader of the rebellion.
If you don't kill the descendants of these people, it is likely to be used by people with intentions to cause even more chaos in the future. Therefore, for long-term considerations, Emperor Wen of Han will kill these people.
At the same time, the descendants of the Lu family were executed, and since then the Han Dynasty has completely returned to the hands of the royal family surnamed Liu. As for why she didn't choose to get rid of Zhang Yan, after all, in terms of identity, she was the queen of the first emperor, and there were probably two reasons.
Emperor Wen of Han was an iron-blooded king, but he also had his own emotions and conscience, knowing that Zhang Yan was an innocent victim, who had been manipulated and manipulated by Empress Lu all his life, and had never received the love of Emperor Hui of Han, nor had he enjoyed the honor of the queen.
The so-called son is not his own, everything he gets is false and miserable, and Emperor Wen of Han has a sense of compassion for Zhang Yan.
From the perspective of relationship, Zhang Yan is also Liu Heng's niece, and the blood and family affection makes Liu Heng can't bear to harm her again, but gives her a quiet living environment.
In addition, Emperor Wen of Han is the son of Liu Bang, and Emperor Hui of Han is a half-brother, and there is also a certain amount of family and friendship between them.
Although Emperor Hui of Han was the son of Lü Pheasant, Emperor Wen of Han knew that Liu Ying was a benevolent monarch and had no hostility or jealousy towards his brothers, but he was forced by Empress Lü to cause the tragedy of many brothers being killed.
Under the persecution of her mother, Liu Ying had to accept Zhang Yan as the queen, but she did not do anything unethical after marriage.
Emperor Wen of Han had a moral respect for Emperor Hui of Han, and did not want to completely deny everything about Emperor Hui of Han, nor did he want his empress to suffer more.
Taking a step back, Zhang Yan, as the empress of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, did not give birth to children and had no political influence, so she did not pose much of a threat to Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, but could be used as a symbol to show benevolence and tolerance.
To sum up, Emperor Wen of Han killed the son of Emperor Hui of Han out of political considerations, but the empress who left Liu Ying did not appear because of her beauty, but out of multiple considerations of human nature and morality.
In the history of the mainland, because of Lu Pheasant's various behaviors, Zhang Yan became a tragic woman, who failed to achieve happiness in her life and died sadly in the palace of the Han Dynasty.
She is a beautiful woman, beauty and pathos are admired and praised by future generations, because she usually likes to plant flowers, raise flowers to pass the time, so she is also respected as the god of flowers, but behind the "god of flowers" reveals a history that makes people sigh.
What do you think differently about this?