Preface
In the long river of history, the death of Prince Li Liu Rong is not a simple past. When we examine this tragedy, we will find that it contains a tragic game of kings and ministers, far more profound than the superficial conspiracy. The reason why Li Ji fell into the dispute with Emperor Jing is that behind it is a complex political wrestle and family grievances.
History often uses the dispute between the monarch and the minister to lay out the cause of the story, however, for the death of the prince of Li, Liu Rong, have we ever wondered whether there is a more bizarre inside story hidden in it? Is the mystery of this history revealed in the power struggle between the monarch and the minister, or are there other deeper factors?
Liu Rongchu was established as the crown prince and was trusted by Emperor Jing
In 153 BC, Liu Qi, the then Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, faced a dilemma: on the one hand, he still had no empress; On the other hand, his younger brother, Liu Wu, the king of Liang, was ambitious and eyed for the throne. Liu Qi was exhausted, deeply felt the bitterness of "being alone", and couldn't sleep at night.
At this time, the confidant minister Zhou Yafu made a suggestion that Liu Qi should make his eldest son Liu Rong the crown prince to stabilize the situation. Liu Qijing thought about it and thought that this move could consolidate the foundation and curb King Liang's impatience. So, he canonized Liu Rong as the crown prince.
Liu Rong's biological mother is Emperor Jing's concubine Li Ji, Li Ji is beautiful and ruthless, and she is extremely jealous. When she learned that her son had been made the crown prince, she was overjoyed and immediately whispered to the maids in the palace
At this time, Liu Rong was still young, and Emperor Jing did not see the essence of his weak temperament, incompetence. Therefore, when Liu Rong was first established as the crown prince, he was still quite trusted and expected by Emperor Jing.
Li Ji was foolish and lost his words, and Emperor Jing was determined to depose Liu Rong
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it is 150 BC. This year, Emperor Jing suddenly fell ill after a hunting trip, and his condition was capricious. The doctor and others were helpless. Li Ji stayed in front of Emperor Jing's bed day and night, and her heart was like a mirror. She vaguely felt that Emperor Jing's illness was not light, and she must be unable to escape death.
Indeed, during his illness, Emperor Jing already had the intention of being alone. He said to Kuri Ji as he tossed and turned, "After a hundred years, I hope you will be kind to my other sons." This sentence immediately angered Kurihime. The alarm bell sounded in her head, and she immediately judged that Emperor Jing was a prelude to deposing her son. So anger reigned over her,
Emperor Jing was furious when he heard this, and he ordered Li Ji to be whipped fifty times, and he was banned from Chunnei forever, and he was not allowed to see Liu Rong again. At this time, Emperor Jing already had the idea of deposing Liu Rong in his heart. Moreover, Liu Che, the son of Emperor Jing's favorite concubine Wang Meiren, has already shown outstanding talent and ambition, and is deeply loved by Emperor Jing. Emperor Jing had already decided in his heart to depose Liu Rong and appoint Liu Che as the crown prince.
My sister joined hands with the concubines and poured chestnut Ji
At the same time, Emperor Jing's own sister, the eldest princess at the time, Liu Yan, had been impeaching Li Ji in front of Emperor Jing, which further exacerbated Emperor Jing's dislike for Li Ji. Liu Concubine had a hard temperament and often went to the palace to visit Emperor Jing. She always took the opportunity to say to Emperor Jing: "Li Ji is jealous and opposes the concubines in the palace everywhere, which is really hateful! Her son has no ability, he will only cause trouble!"
Liu Concubine also recruited Wang Meiren to besiege Li Ji together, which eventually led to Emperor Jing's complete disappointment in Li Ji and his increasing importance to Liu Che. Wang Meiren was originally arrogant and gave birth to Emperor Jing's beloved son Liu Che, who was even more complacent. After listening to Concubine Liu's words, she also began to slander Li Ji in front of Emperor Jing.
In fact, the main reason why Liu Ji hit Li Ji so fiercely was because she had been trying in vain to let her daughter marry Liu Rong as the crown princess, but Li Ji categorically rejected it, which caused her resentment. And Wang Meiren has ulterior motives, she wants her son Liu Che to ascend to the throne of the crown prince, so she naturally colludes with Liu Concubine to fight Li Ji together.
Empress Dowager Dou conspired to seize power, and Liu Qi was vigilant
At that time, the Empress Dowager Dou gave birth to three sons in her life, Emperor Jing, the eldest princess and King Liang. She is extremely ambitious, and she wants to let her three sons rule together, regent herself, and dominate the court. For this reason, she even secretly instigated King Liang to seek the throne. She often summoned King Liang into the palace to plot, and her words were full of discord.
Fortunately, Emperor Jing already knew his mother's true face. He is vigilant and always guards against the conspiracy of his mother and King Liang. Therefore, after deposing Liu Rong, Emperor Jing immediately changed his confidant Liu Che as the crown prince, and made Wang Mei the queen in the future. A series of measures firmly controlled the power, checked and balanced the Empress Dowager Dou, and was in the heart of Emperor Jing.
In this fierce battle for the prince, Li Ji and Liu Rong's mother and son finally lost a mess. Emperor Jing used Li Ji's encroachment on the land of Zongmiao as an excuse to depose Liu Rong as the crown prince and only named him the king of Linjiang. The dignified prince of Han became the prince of the prince, and the fate of Li Ji and Liu Rong's mother and son can be seen.
The involvement of the military-industrial forces has reached a stalemate in the game
At that time, after the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, the power of the Liu princes was greatly damaged, and they were replaced by the military-industrial group represented by Dou Ying and Zhou Yafu. They urgently need to support a puppet prince to control the government and share the benefits of the world. Liu Rong, the weak and incompetent prince, is exactly what they want.
Therefore, in the matter of Liu Rong's abolition, the military industrial group actively intervened and formed a fierce confrontation with Emperor Jing. Zhou Yafu was the prime minister at the time and supported Liu Rong. He tried his best to explain to Emperor Jing many times: "The prince is young and teachable, and it is too hasty to depose." Dou Ying also specifically asked for a face saint and earnestly advised. But all ended in failure.
In the end, under the strong pressure of Emperor Jing and Liu Concubine and other princes, Zhou Yafu and Dou Ying were unable to reach their ambitions and withdrew from politics. This move fueled Emperor Jingdi's dictatorship, and also allowed him to see the true face of the military-industrial complex.
In the struggle for the crown prince's position, the defeat of the military-industrial forces made the Han Dynasty completely stable in the hands of Emperor Jing. This also laid the foundation for Emperor Jing to pass on the throne to Liu Che in the future and create the rule of Han Wenjing.
Liu Rong died unexpectedly, or was it a political opponent who set up a situation?
In the two years after being deposed as the queen of Linjiang, Liu Rong lived a decadent life. He also violated the law by building his own palace on the land of Jongmyo Temple. In 148 BC, Emperor Jing ordered Liu Rong to be summoned back to Chang'an to ask for his guilt.
Liu Rong in prison felt that his back road had been cut off and his future was bleak. He racked his brains day and night to get rid of his crimes, and wrote many times to beg Emperor Jing for forgiveness, willing to hand over all his property, and only begged for mercy to die. At this time, he was already a prisoner who everyone shouted and beaten, the first heir to the Han Dynasty, he lost both fame and fortune, and he was simply penniless.
At this time, Liu Rong's biological mother Li Ji was also with him in prison. She has been relegated to pure inn, but this time she was implicated in her son's violation of the law and was imprisoned together. The mother and son in prison were full of grief and sorrow, snuggling up to each other for warmth. Liu Rong mourned at Li Ji
In the end, Liu Rong chose to commit suicide in despair. Kurihime was beaten to death with a court rod. After Liu Rong's death, his body was hastily buried in the suburbs of Lantian County, and a lot of soil moved by swallows was piled up on the grave, which shows the desolation of his condition when he died. Then, we can't help but ask, according to Liu Rong's identity, does he really deserve to die, and does the crime he committed really deserve to end his life tragically like this?
In fact, Liu Rong was just building a palace on the land of the temple, and there were no other serious crimes. He wrote a letter of defense and asked for forgiveness, and he did not have to die. But in the end, he committed suicide in prison. All indications indicate that this is very likely a situation designed by Liu Rong's political enemies to force him to commit suicide.
epilogue
Because, as long as Liu Rong is alive, he will pose a threat to Liu Che's position as the crown prince, and he is a thorn in the hearts of political enemies. They need to eradicate this problem. If he just exiles Liu Rong, the position of the crown prince will always become a weight for him to make a comeback in the future. Therefore, setting up a situation to drive him to a dead end and force him to commit suicide seems to be the best solution for political opponents.
Of course, we can't completely rule out that Liu Rong really can't bear the blow and despair of losing the crown prince, and chooses to commit suicide. But the complexity of the political struggle means that we do not know the full picture. In any case, Liu Rong's death was bloody and deplorable!
A prince of the Han Dynasty, who could have spent the rest of his life in peace, died in this way under the calculations of hostile forces. Although his mother Kurihime's foolishness was the fuse, the more essential reason was the bloody storm caused by the position of the prince. When power leads to moral decay, truth and justice often do not escape death!