After Wang Mang was killed, his heads were collected from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Western Jin Dynasty, mainly because of a warning effect, and this habit of collecting the heads of enemies or usurpers was also used by later kings.
In the winter of 295 AD, a fire broke out in the Luoyang arsenal of the Western Jin Dynasty, which burned down the Luoyang arsenal. Thousands of weapons were destroyed.
The so-called arsenal, also known as the armor, is a warehouse for the ancient imperial court to store horses, knives, spears, bows, and armor. Records of arsenals only appeared in the early Han Dynasty, and it is unknown whether the place where weapons were stored in the Qin Dynasty was called an arsenal or not.
Prime Minister Xiao Cheng camped for Weiyang Palace, Lidong Que, North Que, Front Palace, Arsenal, Taicang. "Historical Records: Gaozu Benji"
The arsenal of the Han Dynasty was relatively close to the imperial palace, and this is also very normal, because after all, the arsenal was relatively important! Didn't warfare in ancient times rely entirely on weapons and armor? The Western Jin Dynasty set the capital in Luoyang, so the arsenal of the Western Jin Dynasty to store weapons was also in Luoyang.
It is said that if there is a fire in the arsenal of the Western Jin Dynasty, it must be put out immediately, but because Zhang Hua, who was in charge of the imperial court at that time, he was afraid that someone would take this opportunity to cause chaos. So he first sent troops to guard the arsenal, and then went to put out the fire, but the weapons and some cultural relics were burned to the ground.
The arsenal was fired, and Hua was afraid to change because of this, and the soldiers held on, and then saved it, so the treasures of the generations and the Henkel snake sword, Wang Mangtou, Confucius clogs, etc. were all burned. Shi Hua saw the sword flying through the house, and he didn't know where to go. Book of Jin
In 295 AD, it was in the period of Emperor Hui of the Western Jin Dynasty, because Emperor Hui's IQ was worrying, and the relatives of the Western Jin Dynasty were eyeing him, so Zhang Hua was afraid that someone would use the arsenal fire to launch a coup d'état, which was still understandable.
The fire in the Luoyang arsenal had a great impact on the Jin Dynasty and even the Central Plains Dynasty, because this fire caused the weapons hidden in the arsenal to be lost. It was also because of this fire that the powerful Western Jin Dynasty was devastated, and because the weapons were destroyed, the imperial court had to "make a new arsenal and transfer weapons".
"Zizhi Tongjian Volume 82": "In winter, October, the arsenal was fired, and the treasures of the accumulated generations and the instruments of two million people were burned. In December, Bingxu, a new arsenal, a large transfer of weapons. ”
From a military point of view, the fire at the Luoyang arsenal directly led to the lack of weapons and equipment of the Central Plains Dynasty, and the equipment advantage of the northern ethnic minorities was wiped out. Therefore, some scholars say that the fire at the Luoyang arsenal was the most direct military cause that eventually caused the Wuhu chaos and the Hu people to enter the Central Plains.
At the same time, the fire also burned a lot of historical relics, among which three are the most precious, namely Liu Bang's sword to cut the white snake, Wang Mang's head, and Confucius's shoes.
Many people wonder that Liu Bang's sword that slashed the white snake is indeed a cultural relic, and Confucius's shoes can also be understood, but how did Wang Mang's head become a cultural relic? Wang Mang was a person before the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Western Jin Dynasty was more than 200 years away from Wang Mang's period, so why did Wang Mang's head be collected from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Western Jin Dynasty?
To understand this strange question, we have to first introduce Wang Mang, the emperor known as the "Traveler".
Wang Mang, born in 45 BC in the Western Han Dynasty, is a relative of the Wang family, Wang Mang's aunt is Xiaoyuan Empress Wang Zhengjun (the empress of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty), and his father is Wang Man.
Wang Man died relatively early, so Wang Mang lived with his uncles. Wang Mang belonged to an alternative among the aristocracy, he lived a simple life, was humble, intelligent and studious, and it can be said that Wang Mang was a model of morality at that time. Wang Mang also liked to make friends with the Magi, and soon became famous.
In 22 BC, Wang Mang was 24 years old and began to be an official, and was taken care of by his uncle Wang Feng, who asked Wang Zhengjun to take care of Wang Mang after Wang Feng's death. The Wang family, during the period of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, was very favored, five people became the Great Sima, and nine people were the marquis.
In the first year of Yongshi (16 B.C.), Wang Mang was 30 years old and was named the new marquis, and since then Wang Mang began to enter the high-level of the Han Dynasty. In this case, Wang Mang's behavior was even more impeccable, he often helped the poor, and even sold his carriage to help the common people.
The celebrities of the court also praised Wang Mang, Wang Mang's reputation surpassed that of his uncles, and in the first year of Suihe (8 BC), Wang Mang's uncle Wang Gen was seriously ill and recommended Wang Mang to replace the position of Great Sima.
After becoming the Great Sima, Wang Mang still maintained a good character, and some people went to his house to meet Wang Mang's mother, and when they saw Wang Mang's wife dressed very simply, they thought they were a slave in his family.
Wang Mang not only has a noble character and morality, but also treats his son very harshly, his second son Wang Shu killed the house slave, Wang Mang directly forced his son to commit suicide, which was well received by people, thinking that Wang Mang's family style was simple.
Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty died, and experienced the decline of the Han Emperor, and when Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang's power was even greater, and his daughter was the queen, and he obtained the title of Duke of An Han, and also added Jiuxi. At the same time, Wang Mang also began to expose his ambitions, exclude dissidents, and control the government.
After the death of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang set up the young Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty's great-grandson Liu Ying as the emperor, and it was also convenient for him to control the government. With Wang Mang's gaining power, the Liu clan began to come out against Wang Mang, and the uprisings continued.
Wang Mang began to have the determination to be the emperor, in 9 A.D., Wang Mang accepted the son of the infant Zen to let the emperor after the emperor, changed the name of the country to the new, Wang Mang is the new ancestor.
After Wang Mang became emperor, he carried out a series of reforms to reverse the unfavorable situation in the late Han Dynasty, and Wang Mang's reform was called "Wang Mang's reform". The most famous one is the "Wang Tian System", which is to put the land under the state and then distribute it to the people according to the person, so that the cultivators have their land, which was definitely of progressive significance at that time.
However, because this system violated the interests of the large landowners and princes, it was opposed. At the same time, due to the lack of ways and methods for Wang Mang to implement policies, the land could not be effectively distributed to the common people, and the country was in turmoil, and even the common people opposed Wang Mang's policies.
At that time, Wang Mang also proposed that salt, iron, wine, coinage, and mountains, forests, rivers and rivers should be nationalized, and slaves could not be bought and sold, which were relatively good policies at that time, and because these policies are somewhat similar now, Wang Mang is also called "traverser".
However, in the end, the civilian population did not benefit because of implementation problems. During Wang Mang's reign, he also provoked foreign wars, changed the titles of the Xiongnu and Goguryeo and other ruling states from kings to marquis, and renamed Goguryeo as "Xia Juyeo". Therefore, during Wang Mang's reign, there were constant wars, and the life of the peasants was even more difficult.
At the beginning of Wang Mang's reign, it was only the Liu clan who opposed him, and later, natural disasters continued, and the imperial court in order to launch foreign wars, resulting in the people paying taxes and increasing forced labor, and the people were not able to make a living, and the people had to take risks and launch an uprising in order to survive.
By 17 A.D., the formation of the Red Mei Army and the Green Forest Army two major military forces, in 23 A.D., the rebel army invaded Chang'an, in the melee, Wang Mang was killed by the rebel soldiers (Du Wu from Shang County), the new dynasty perished.
The soldiers were divided and reckless, the branches were divided into muscles and bones, and dozens of people were killed in a row. The official guest held the reckless head of Wang Xian. Xian called himself the general of the Han Dynasty, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the city belonged to Yan, Shedong Palace, his wife and mang's harem, and took his car uniform.
At the beginning of the reckless first recitation, the city of Hangwan, the people jointly attacked it, or cut its tongue. Book of Han
The captain Gongbin cut off Wang Mang's head and dedicated it to the Han general Li Song, who in turn dedicated Wang Mang's head to the first emperor Liu Xuan.
Liu Xuan hung Wang Mang's head in Wan City, and Wang Mang's body was killed and split by many people. When the people heard that Wang Mang's head was in Wanshi, they all went to pick it up and beat it, and some people cut off Wang Mang's tongue and ate it at night.
After Wang Mang's death, it can be said that the world is in turmoil, at this time, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu is still the younger brother of Liu Xuan, and his brother Liu Bosheng has just been killed by Liu Xuan, Liu Xiu does not dare to grieve.
Later, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu raised troops to establish the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Wang Mang's head went to Liu Xiu's hands. In the later period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was a troubled era, and after the Three Kingdoms, it was unified into the Jin Dynasty.
In this troubled era, Wang Mang's head began to travel everywhere, and was well preserved through the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Wei and Jin dynasties, and became a super national treasure across generations, which is the honor that all the heads have not enjoyed in China throughout the ages.
But he didn't expect that the fire in the Luoyang arsenal caused Wang Mang's head to suffer a catastrophe, but for Wang Mang, it should be regarded as a new life.
So why did Wang Mang's head have been collected from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin dynasties? I think there are several main reasons.
First, it serves as a warning to prevent someone from usurping the throne again.
How did Wang Mang get the throne? He did it by usurping power, because Wang Mang was originally a minister of the Han Dynasty, and as a Han minister, he should serve the country loyally, but Wang Mang usurped the throne and seized power.
This is contrary to the idea of "loyalty to the monarch" in feudal society, so the emperors of later generations, in order to prevent later ministers from learning from Wang Mang, put Wang Mang's head in the arsenal, which can just warn those who want to usurp the throne that Wang Mang is their fate.
In fact, if Wang Mang didn't usurp the throne, it was really possible to be like Huo Guang and be a powerful minister for a lifetime, which is also good.
However, Wang Mang's head did not serve as a warning, people's desire for power is unlimited, and no matter how severe the law and teachings are, there are still people who take risks and do things that are usurped. For example, Wei usurped the Han and Jin usurped Wei, weren't they all usurped?
Second, it played the role of a trophy to promote national prestige.
After Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, became emperor, why did he put Wang Mang's head in the Luoyang arsenal? In fact, it was very simple, that is, Wang Mang's head was regarded as a trophy and the arsenal was regarded as a museum.
If a country or an emperor wants to show his killing and conquest, what can be the best way to show it? The answer is the head, and Wang Mang's head is even more special, he has been the emperor, usurped the emperor's throne, and is still the usurped throne of the Han Dynasty.
And Emperor Guangwu, as the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, collected Wang Mang's head, which was just right to show his merits, meaning that if there was no him, how could the Han Dynasty continue!
It's just that the later emperor may have just treated Wang Mang's head as a collector's item, moving with the migration of the arsenal. However, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, during the period of huge social turmoil again and again, the capital was destroyed or relocated many times, and it was not lost until the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, which can not but be said to be a miracle.
Third, it is also a warning for future emperors.
After Wang Mang became emperor, he carried out a series of reforms, during which his confidants and ministers opposed it, but Wang Mang insisted on going his own way.
Wang Mang's head was a good warning to later emperors not to reform lightly, and many policies did not necessarily conform to the social conditions of the time.
Wang Mang belongs to the usurpation of power by foreign relatives, and keeping Wang Mang's head is conducive to reminding the emperor to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics.
To sum up, Wang Mang's head has been collected for many years, mainly to serve as a warning, not only to warn ministers with ulterior motives, but also to warn the emperor to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics.
In fact, Wang Mang can't simply define him as a "usurper" and a "faint king". Judging from Wang Mang's conduct, he did care about the peasants' suffering, and at the same time, his policies did have some progressive significance, but he was too naïve, and the formulation of policies was one thing, and the implementation of policies was another. Maybe Wang Mang's policy has violated the interests of the executor, do you think such a policy can be implemented?