Can you imagine? A young boy who was only ten years old led dozens of low-level attendants to break through from the harem and finally won the throne, and soon after taking the throne, he was supported by hundreds of officials and controlled the government steadily.
This seemingly incredible story, but it really happened in history, that is, the famous "West Bell Coup". What's the story behind this?
01
When it comes to this coup d'état, the first thing we need to understand is the overthrown ruler - the queen mother at the time. It may seem strange how a woman could be in power.
In fact, in ancient history, in many cases, the emperor was young, and the empress dowager acted as the ruler of the court, especially in the Han Dynasty, there was such a "tradition". Empress Lü, the wife of the founding emperor Liu Bang, was in power for a long time and even led several changes of emperors.
Empress Dowager Yan's youth was not easy, because her mother, the former Empress Dowager Deng, was a very powerful woman. Empress Dowager Deng had outstanding talents in politics and governance, and was even known as the "female monarch", on a par with the future two saints, the martial nobles.
With such a powerful empress dowager, Empress Dowager Yan naturally faced a lot of pressure when she became empress, but this also aroused her ambitions.
However, due to Emperor Han's limited fertility, her position was threatened. Even though she was the Empress of the Shogu Palace, not having a son meant that she could not remain in power. Therefore, she decided to abolish the status of the crown prince.
In order to achieve this goal, she secretly poisoned the prince's mother to death, and teamed up with the palace eunuchs who had a bad relationship with the prince, and used various means to frame Liu Bao.
Gradually, even the emperor at the time, Emperor An of Han, began to think that his son was indeed unsuitable, especially since this child was the crown prince of his mother, Deng Shili. So, he found an excuse to abolish the status of the crown prince.
Madame Yan originally thought that everything would be stable, and as long as she had another son, she would become the Queen Mother Regent.
However, at this critical moment, Emperor Han An died suddenly. During a sacrificial trip, he suddenly fell ill and died soon after.
This raises the question: the emperor has only one son, and although Liu Bao has been abolished as a prince before, in this case, the new emperor will naturally be Liu Bao. So, will Empress Dowager Yan and the eunuchs who framed him escape the revenge of Liu Bao after he came to power?
02
In order to prevent this from happening, the "cronies" around the emperor immediately blocked the news of the emperor's death and ordered the young members of the imperial family to return to the capital.
After returning to the capital, Yan Ji had become the empress dowager, and she immediately sought out her brothers and appointed them as generals in charge of the defense of the imperial city. After successfully mastering the army, Empress Dowager Yan finally reassured and summoned her ministers to discuss the matter of the new emperor.
Although the ministers were well aware of her actions, because the officials in the court were political masters, they would not be stupid enough to openly oppose the empress dowager Yan, who held great power. Therefore, when the emperor was still alive and his direct son, Empress Dowager Yan forcibly selected an heir in the Liu family's clan.
Although the ministers may have opposition, the Yan family's power was flourishing at this time and successfully suppressed the opposition of the ministers. After a series of discussions, Liu Yi, the Marquis of Beixiang, was finally selected as the new emperor.
But what can a young emperor do? He is really just a puppet of Empress Dowager Yan in power.
Although Empress Dowager Yan is currently in a favorable situation, potential problems have also been buried. As a family of relatives, the foundation of the Yan family is relatively weak. Their rise was largely dependent on the favor of Emperor An of Han, and they were not themselves a large family with a long history. Talent is scarce, and people who actually execute it can easily take their place.
In fact, the important ministers of the imperial court did exactly that, and although they did not openly oppose Empress Dowager Yan, they set up obstacles behind her back, making it difficult for her to use her skills.
What's more, the previous crown prince Liu Bao is still alive, and many officials believe that Liu Bao should be emperor because it is in their interest. If the new emperor comes to power, the Yan family will definitely be cleared, and the vacated positions will be coveted by everyone.
Liu Yi became seriously ill shortly after ascending the throne and eventually died early. This baffled future historians, who did not even receive a nickname, so some called him "Young Emperor", others simply believed that he should not be listed as emperor.
Liu Yi is sick, and the most urgent thing is the Yan family, after all, this is their puppet who controls the country, and they urgently need to find a replacement.
As a result, the classic reproduction operation was staged again, first gathering the sons of the Liu family, and blocking the news that Liu Yi was seriously ill, and began to secretly select the new emperor. But this also gave a chance to one person, that is, Liu Bao, the former abolished prince and the current king of Jiyin.
Although Liu Bao was "imprisoned" in the palace, as the heir of the people's hearts, many people began to secretly support him, especially the group of eunuchs who were originally his opponents.
03
In fact, Empress Dowager Yan personally channeled the power of the eunuchs to Liu Bao. In order to squeeze out Liu Bao, Empress Dowager Yan once co-opted many eunuchs and gave them rich rewards after the success of the matter.
However, Empress Dowager Yan soon began a purge operation, and even her allies at the time were purged, as she wanted to take full control of the power of the harem. In addition, the Yan family was inexperienced in power struggles, and the methods adopted were quite rough, and they even dealt with important officials of the court at will without sufficient excuses.
In the end, she borrowed the name of the general Geng Bao case to purge the forces opposing her in the imperial court and harem on a large scale, seriously offending the important ministers of the imperial court. The reputation of the Yan family is not high, and these operations of theirs have made everyone lose their trust in them.
As a result, a strong tide of opposition began to emerge in the government and the opposition, especially when Liu Yi, the Marquis of Beixiang, became seriously ill, and the opposition became more and more intense.
These operations not only shocked the ministers, but also frightened other eunuchs, especially those who had deep ties to the eunuchs who had previously been purged by Empress Dowager Yan. Although they did not dare to resist Empress Dowager Yan on the surface, they secretly began to cooperate with Liu Bao. They secretly gathered at Liu Bao's residence and swore allegiance to him.
As for whether Liu Bao promised them anything, there is no specific record in history, but according to the subsequent situation, Liu Bao may have indeed given them some promises.
After taking the oath, they were waiting for the right moment. In November, when the Yan family was secretly selecting a new emperor, the eunuchs led Liu Bao to fight back from the west bell tower where he was under house arrest to the Empress Dowager's dormitory, defeating the eunuchs loyal to the Empress Dowager and successfully escaping the harem.
The low-level officers, under the arrangement of the big families, were indifferent to this "coup". Although the Yan family nominally controlled the Imperial City troops, the middle and low-level officers not only did not obey their orders, but even directly supported Liu Bao in return.
It was with the cooperation of these three fronts that a seemingly "comical" coup d'état was successful. The brothers of the Yan family were later killed by the newly enthroned Emperor Liu Bao of Hanshun, and the late Liu Yi, the Marquis of Beixiang, was buried with the gifts of the princes, and the Empress Dowager Yan also died "unexpectedly" soon after.
When she was in her final moments in the harem, I don't know if she realized that her ambition ended up "destroying" everything about herself.
If the information source network is infringing, contact and delete!