Preface
In the long river of history, Liu Bang's descendants were originally the continuators of the Liu dynasty, but they faced all kinds of twists and turns. The children and grandchildren are not fuel-efficient, and they are constantly moths, and Liu Heng's clumsy performance is embarrassing. In the face of the family's decline, an unexpected figure, Jia Yi, actually held back his big move.
This unexpected turn of events makes people can't help but deeply analyze the fate of Liu Bang's descendants, explore the reasons for Liu Heng's clumsiness, and how Jia Yi saved the family's decline at this critical moment. In this historical story that has been passed down through the ages, we will travel through time and space to decipher the ingenious trick that Jia Yi held back, revealing the wisdom and strategy in it, as well as its profound impact on the fate of the entire Liu family.
1. Liu Xingju's dissatisfaction was the trigger for the Qi rebellion
After Emperor Wen of Han succeeded to the throne, he took a series of measures to ease tensions with his princes. Let the children of the Liu clan replace the members of the Lu clan as princes, and at the same time let some of the old princes maintain their original privileges, and add new princes to appease.
This is undoubtedly the embodiment of Emperor Wen of Han's intention to "unite and embrace all things". However, the result is suffocating - everyone feels that the pie of power is gradually moving away from them. This has led to further dissatisfaction among various forces, and undercurrents are surging.
At that time, the Qi State was the most powerful. The brothers of Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, once raised troops to defeat Empress Lü and made great contributions. Now Emperor Wen of Han said that he wanted to crown them as the kings of Zhao and Liang, but he was furious when he learned that they did not support his ascension to the throne at first, so he broke his promise and named them the remote kingdoms of Chengyang and Jibei.
This news undoubtedly caused an uproar in the line of King Qi. They were already resentful that a concubine suddenly ascended to the throne, and now Emperor Wen of Han is treacherous. So the brothers of the King of Qi began to plot in secret, preparing to launch a large-scale rebellion.
At this juncture, Liu Xingju, as the third brother of King Qi, took the lead in standing up and became the soul of this rebellion.
Liu Xingju was born at the end of the Warring States period, so he experienced the brutality of the Qin Dynasty, the melee between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, and the dark period of Empress Lü's reign from an early age. Now that Emperor Wen of Han has ascended the throne, he thought that a new hope had finally come, but he did not expect that Emperor Wen of Han was not only immoral and incompetent, but also hypocritical and insidious.
The disappointment and resentment again and again made Liu Xingju's resentment grow day by day. Finally, he decided to get justice for his mother and brother with his own hands!
However, the radical Liu Xingju does not seem to realize that the Qi forces behind him are no longer what they used to be. Most of the Kwantung princes who helped them raise their armies have now fallen or declined. Even the Qi country itself has been torn apart. The Jibei Kingdom in Liu Xingju's hands is just a small piece of the Qi Kingdom.
But just as the rebellion was brewing, a sudden Xiongnu invasion disrupted Liu Xingju's plans. Emperor Wen of Han had to surrender to this thorny external danger and personally patrol the front line.
Liu Xingju saw that Emperor Wen of Han seemed to be going to conquer in person, and Chang'an was empty of guards. He immediately judged that this was an excellent time to attack, so he hurriedly set off westward, heading straight for Guanzhong.
However, at this time, Emperor Wen of Han had no intention of conquest in person, he just wanted to take the opportunity to consolidate his rule, but Liu Xingju misjudged the situation. This young man, who has lost his mother, will eventually pay for his rashness.
2. Liu Chang's revenge and rebellion The doting son finally killed himself
Unlike Liu Xingju, Liu Chang was born in the harem and lost his mother since he was a child, but he was favored by two generations of emperors.
Liu Chang's mother, Zhao Ji, was originally the favorite concubine of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, but was executed because of the rebellion of Liu Bang, the king of Zhao, and Liu Chang, who was only 3 years old, was raised by Empress Lu.
Perhaps because of this, Liu Chang developed an arrogant character. After he knew his life experience, he hated the trial of him who helped him intercede to no avail, but he had no complaints about Liu Bang and Lu Hou who killed his mother, and seemed to blame everything on the trial of his "not trying his best".
Such absurd and ridiculous logic also became the beginning of Liu Changzhu's big mistake in the future.
After Emperor Wen of Han ascended the throne, because the two had a common father, they favored Liu Chang. No matter how arrogant and obedient Liu Chang was, Emperor Wen deliberately indulged in indulgence.
Finally, one day, Liu Chang took the opportunity of Emperor Wen's summons to go to his home to judge him and beat him to death, and confessed the matter in front of Emperor Wen.
It is conceivable that Emperor Wen felt extremely troubled by this farce. On the one hand, he understood that what Liu Chang had done completely deviated from the moral law, and on the other hand, he was really reluctant to punish his younger brother.
As a result, Emperor Wen made a strange choice - not only did he not punish Liu Chang, but praised him, declaring that this was "doing the right thing for heaven".
Emperor Wen's decision undoubtedly encouraged Liu Chang. Since then, he has been unscrupulous in Chang'an, and even the authority of the crown prince and empress dowager cannot restrain his rampant behavior.
However, it was from this moment that Liu Chang's fate was already doomed. Connivance and doting made him swell to the point of losing his mind, and even conspired with Prime Minister Chai Qi to launch a rebellion in Chang'an Gukou, intending to overthrow Emperor Wen.
Fortunately, Liu Chang's ambition is still too young and immature after all. Before the rebellion could be carried out, his plan was revealed to the imperial court. The scheming Emperor Wen immediately took action and wiped out Liu Chang and his comrades.
This time, Emperor Wen could no longer care about brotherhood. Faced with the rebellious Liu Chang, he had no choice but to strip him of his throne and exile him to Shu. However, this is no longer what it used to be, and the simple young prince of the past is gone.
Emperor Wen seems to realize that he is ultimately responsible for Liu Chang's tragedy. So even though the verdict has been made, he still has luck in his heart - hoping that Liu Chang can rein in the precipice and get back on the right path after he arrives in Shudi.
Because of this, when the convoy escorting Liu Chang was halfway through, Emperor Wen suddenly ordered him to be locked in an airtight baggage car.
However, as everyone knows, this decision that seems to be gracious to Liu Chang will eventually kill his most beloved brother.
3. Jia Yi's advice was fruitless, and the dawn was extinguished and the dawn was not seen
On the road of Emperor Wen's handling of the princes, Jia Yi can be said to have made great contributions.
Jia Yi was originally a hermit, he served as an official in Changsha State, and later resigned and lived in seclusion. After Emperor Wen of Han ascended the throne, he invited him out of the mountain and served as an important adviser.
Perhaps because he has been out of office for a long time, Jia Yi can jump out of the box and have a deep insight into the way of governing the country. The "Public Security Policy" proposed by him deeply analyzed the three thorny problems of the Xiongnu, the system and the princes, and pointed out the right path for Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty.
In response to the thorny problem of princes, Jia Yi proposed a surprising strategy: "build princes and build few princes".
The so-called "Zhongjian princes" refers to a large number of feudal princes, and "less power" refers to the gradual disintegration of the hereditary system of the vassal states and eventually their automatic extinction, so as to reduce the threat of the princes to the imperial court.
Jia Yi imagined that if each generation of princes died and was inherited by their eldest son, second son, third son, and other people, then a large princely state would be gradually divided into smaller and smaller states, and they would contain each other and eventually lose their threat to imperial power.
This strategy is undoubtedly the culmination of political wisdom. It did not have violent social turmoil, but also gradually weakened the power of the princes, which can be described as the way to win in stability. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty highly respected this and immediately agreed to implement this law in the Qi and Huainan kingdoms.
However, who knows, Jia Yi's strategy is like a fragile dawn, fleeting under the haze of reality.
Although Emperor Wen was convinced, he also knew that it was a long process. It needs to be persisted in the face of strong opposition from the princes in order to gradually bear fruit.
As the youngest son of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Han was originally in jeopardy. He had to carefully maintain the delicate relationship between the princes and the royal family, which was already his limit.
As a result, Jia Yi's strategy was only the first step under the painful choice of Emperor Wen of Han, and soon disappeared behind the clouds.
As the last great rebel during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Liu Chang undoubtedly carried too much symbolic meaning.
epilogue
His tragedy not only foreshadowed the weakening imperial power of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and the increasingly severe problem of princes, but also showed that the evil consequences of the monarch's doting and conniving on the children of the clan since the early Han Dynasty have become clear.
The threat of the Xiongnu and the turmoil in the world, these external and internal pressures will usher in the first major crisis of the entire Western Han Dynasty after Emperor Wen drove west.
However, even in such a predicament, Emperor Wen of Han, as a Ming monarch, still did his best to plan for the society. He is not as wise and martial as Gaozu Liu Bang, but he has good intentions to seek stability and change.
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, those princes who returned to their hometowns like brocade but could only send each other to death in the end make people sigh - they are all victims of history, and they are also the scars in the heart of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty that can never be healed.