Preface
In 453, Emperor Wen of Song was murdered by the crown prince, which not only shocked the government and the opposition at that time, but also opened a precedent in history for killing his father and usurping the throne. In Chinese history, there are only a handful of cases of patricide and usurpation, but the tragedy of Emperor Wen of Song has become one of the most appalling acts.
A loving father will be killed by his own son, or an emperor will be killed by his own flesh and blood? What a horrific thing that sounds! However, such tragedies have been staged in history. Today, we are going to tell a heinous story about how a doted crown prince embarked on the road of no return to murder his father?
Loving fathers have many defeated children, and brothers kill each other
Liu Yilong, the third emperor of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, was known as Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty in history. During his reign, he made great efforts to make the Song Dynasty make great progress in terms of economy and culture, and was praised as "the rule of Yuanjia" by later generations. However, it was this Ming Jun who suffered betrayal and rebellion from his children.
An unexpected start
Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty, Liu Yilong, and Empress Yuan Qifei were originally a good match. However, two years after the death of Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty, Liu Yu, Empress Yuan became pregnant and gave birth to a son, which was considered unfilial at the time. As an emperor who valued filial piety, Emperor Wen of Song should have been severely punished, but he was caught in a dilemma.
On the one hand, killing his eldest son will undoubtedly make him infamous for being unfilial, and on the other hand, leaving this child will also attract criticism from everyone. In the end, Emperor Song Wen chose to hide the child.
It wasn't until he was six years old that Emperor Wen of Song officially announced the existence of this child, and made him the crown prince and gave him the name Liu Shao. From the very beginning, Liu Shao's birth doomed him to a bad fate. Empress Yuan had tried to strangle him, believing that he would be a scourge.
And Emperor Wen of Song was doting on him, built a house and built a mansion for him, and specially formed a guard of 10,000 people in the East Palace. This kind of extreme favor not only did not make Liu Shao grateful to Dade, but made him develop an arrogant and conceited character.
The ambitious crown prince
Liu Shao has been spoiled since he was a child, and he is an ambitious person who loves the art of war. When Emperor Wen of Song was struggling with whether to attack the Northern Wei Dynasty to expand his territory, the opinions of the father and son were divided. Emperor Wen of Song was the main battle, but Liu Shao was the main peacemaker.
This may be because Liu Shao was well aware of the strength of the Northern Wei Dynasty and was unwilling to take risks, but it may also be that he deliberately went against his father and tried to seize the initiative in military decision-making. In the end, at the instigation of Jiang Zhan, the official Shangshu, Emperor Wen of Song went to war, but he was defeated and returned with heavy losses.
Liu Shao was very dissatisfied with his father's decision and demanded that Jiang Zhan be executed, but Emperor Wen of Song ignored him. This undoubtedly deepened the contradiction between father and son. On the other hand, Liu Shao's mother, Empress Yuan, was depressed because she ate the vinegar of her favorite concubine Pan Shufei, and finally did not forgive Emperor Wen of Song, which also made Liu Shao hold a grudge.
Perhaps out of dissatisfaction with his father, or perhaps out of ambition for the throne, Liu Shao began to hatch a plan for rebellion. He knew that in order to successfully usurp the throne, he must first remove the obstacle of Emperor Wen of Song.
Conspiracy to use witchcraft
Just when Liu Shao was at a loss, Concubine Pan Shufei's son Liu Jun introduced him to a witch master named Yan Daoyu. So, Liu Shao and Liu Jun began to conspire and use witchcraft to curse Emperor Wen of Song.
The reason why Liu Jun colluded with Liu Shao was because his mother indirectly caused the death of the queen, and he needed to hug the prince's thigh to ensure his future;
The two teamed up to use witchcraft to try to get rid of Emperor Song Wen through supernatural powers, which was undoubtedly an extremely despicable and evil method. Not only do they have to murder their fathers, but they also have to use evil magic to achieve their goals, which shows the darkness and cruelty in their hearts.
However, their plot was soon discovered by Emperor Wen of Song. In the face of his sons' bitter crying and repentance, Emperor Wen of Song was angry, but finally forgave them. This kind of tolerance and benevolence undoubtedly surprised Liu Shao and Liu Jun. But they did not truly repent, and two days later evidence of witchcraft was discovered. This made Emperor Wen of Song completely disappointed, and he began to consider the matter of deposing the crown prince.
The determination to kill his father and seize the throne
As soon as the news leaked, Liu Shao realized that his position as crown prince was in jeopardy. He knew that if he was deposed, his ambitions would never be realized. So, he made up his mind to kill his father and take the throne.
Liu Shao sent his guard Zhang Chao to assassinate Emperor Wen of Song. At that time, Emperor Wen of Song was handling government affairs in the palace and was defenseless. Zhang Chao slashed down, and although he did not kill Emperor Song Wen on the spot, he cut off five of his fingers.
When Emperor Wen of Song blocked the second blow, Liu Shao personally stabbed his father in the chest with a sword and was killed on the spot. In order to cover up the crime, Liu Shao also killed Xu Zhanzhi on the side, wanting to blame him. Poor Emperor Song Wen didn't expect that his son, who was loved to the core, would be so ruthless that he would not hesitate to kill his father in order to seize the throne.
Heaven is a good reincarnation
Liu Jun, the third son of Emperor Wen of Song, was out on a rebellion at the time, and when he heard the bad news, he immediately gathered an army to return to the capital city of Jiankang to defeat Liu Shao. A man named Shen Qingzhi came to Liu Jun with a secret letter from Liu Shao, saying that Liu Shao asked him to kill Liu Jun secretly.
However, Shen Qingzhi himself was deeply favored by the first emperor and did not want to be with the wolf, so he helped Liu Jun. In the end, with the support of the ministers, Liu Jun ascended the throne as emperor in 453, and made many meritorious deeds, and was favored by the army and the people. And Liu Shao, who wanted to be the emperor, was killed in the stubborn resistance.
Because of the anger and resentment of his "father-killing", history has never recognized him as the legitimate emperor. Liu Shao tried his best, but in the end he only gained infamy. The lesson of this history is that loving fathers have many failed children, and spoiling their children may lead them to rebellious mentality; for the sake of power, people can become unscrupulous and unscrupulous; however, the way of heaven is good for reincarnation, and justice and kindness will eventually be rewarded.
epilogue
Seeing this, do you have a deeper understanding of this thrilling story? A doted crown prince finally embarked on the road of no return to plot against his father and murdered him, and conspired with his younger brother to use witchcraft in an attempt to seize the throne.
However, Skynet is magnificent, negligent but not leaky. Good will triumph over evil, and the usurper will not escape punishment. Let us draw wisdom from this heavy historical lesson, cherish the present, follow the right path, and jointly safeguard peace and order in this world.