On the night Liu Heng ascended the throne, he created a model of imperial governance and showed outstanding political skills. He issued three edicts in succession, winning military power, cracking down on dissidents, and stabilizing the situation in one fell swoop. This not only reflects Liu Heng's persistent pursuit of power, but also highlights his anxiety and vigilance about power.
As a new monarch who had just ascended to the throne, Liu Heng knew how weak the foundation of his power was. In the entire court, there are few forces loyal to him, while other forces are coveting imperial power and waiting for an opportunity to seize the throne. Once Liu Heng slacks off a little, the consequences are unimaginable. Therefore, he did not dare to leave anything to chance, and he had to strengthen his power by thunderous means. However, why is Liu Heng so obsessed with power? Where does his anxiety come from? What kind of conspiracy and calculation are hidden behind the three edicts?
The Road to Power: Liu Heng's Rise to Strength
Liu Heng was born in the clan of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, and was originally a relative of the emperor. However, during the period of the authoritarian power of the Empress Lü, the Liu family was severely suppressed and their status plummeted. Liu Heng's father, Liu Fei, was expelled from Beijing because of his suspicion of the Lu family, and he could only take his family to the remote Changyi County.
In Changyi, Liu Heng has lived in dire straits since he was a child. He witnessed the suppression of the Liu family by the Lu family and gained a deep understanding of the power struggle. These experiences made Liu Heng realize that in order to survive in this turbulent period, he must have enough power to rely on.
In 88 BC, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty died, and the dictatorship of Empress Lu intensified, shocking the government and the opposition. Liu Heng saw the opportunity and joined forces with the eunuch Gan Yanshou and others to launch the famous "Changyi King Change". They proclaimed Liu Heng as the new emperor and overthrew Empress Lü's rule. In this way, Liu Heng became Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and opened his path to the emperor.
However, Liu Heng's power base is not stable. He was only a cloth coat and lacked the support of the army and political power. What's worse is that there are still many remnants of the Lu clan and dissident forces in the DPRK and China, and they may attack at any time.
Faced with such a predicament, Liu Heng knew that he must act quickly to consolidate his imperial power. Otherwise, he is likely to repeat the mistakes of Empress Lü and become the next puppet emperor to be overthrown. This sense of crisis prompted Liu Heng to issue three important edicts in a row on the night of his accession to the throne, aiming to win military power, crack down on dissidents, and stabilize the situation in one fell swoop.
The first edict ordered the armies of the counties to obey the central government directly, depriving the local princes of their armed forces. The second edict deposed the remnants of the Lu clan and the dissident forces. The third edict is to amnesty the world and win people's hearts. Through these three edicts, Liu Heng seized military and political power in one fell swoop, laying a solid foundation for his rule.
It can be said that Liu Heng's rise is destined for his dedication to power. He has experienced first-hand the brutality of power struggles and knows the importance of power for survival. After ascending to the throne, he was in dire straits, facing threats from all sides. Therefore, Liu Heng had to attach great importance to the consolidation of power to ensure that his position would not be shaken. The Three Edicts were the self-protection measures he took driven by this sense of crisis.
The Anxiety of Power: Liu Heng's Inner World
Although Liu Heng won the throne in one fell swoop in the Changyi Rebellion, he did not despise the instability of power because of this. On the contrary, he has a deep understanding of the fragility of power and is always on high alert.
At the beginning of Liu Heng's ascension to the throne, the situation in the court could be described as turbulent. Although the remnants of the Lu clan have been suppressed, there are still many people eyeing Liu Heng and waiting for an opportunity to retaliate. What's even more terrifying is that some ambitious ministers are also coveting imperial power, and they may be difficult to seize the throne at any time.
Among them, the most worthy of prevention is the political strongmen Chen Ping and Zhou Bo. They once joined forces to eradicate the Lu clan, and they had a lot of military power in their hands. Once the two collude again, it will definitely pose a huge threat to Liu Heng's rule.
In addition to this, the local princes were also potential enemies that could not be ignored. During the period of the authoritarian regime of the Empress Lü, they had already tasted the sweetness of independence. Now that Liu Heng has recentralized power, it will inevitably cause their dissatisfaction and resistance.
In the face of such a grim situation, Liu Heng knew that he must always maintain a high degree of vigilance and must not relax in the slightest. Otherwise, once there is a mistake, the power will slip away like quicksand, and he will repeat the mistakes of the Lu family.
Therefore, Liu Heng issued three important edicts at the beginning of his ascension to the throne, aiming to win military power, crack down on dissidents, and stabilize the situation in one fell swoop. This fully reflects his anxiety and wariness of power.
The first edict ordered the armies of the counties to obey the central government directly, depriving the local princes of their armed forces. This not only weakened their strength, but also firmly controlled the military power for Liu Heng.
The second edict deposed the remnants of the Lu clan and the dissident forces. This move directly cut off their political resources and fundamentally eliminated their threat to Liu Heng.
The third edict is to amnesty the world and win people's hearts. Through this edict, Liu Heng not only appeased the people, but also won widespread support for himself in the government and the opposition.
It can be said that these three edicts are a direct portrayal of Liu Heng's power anxiety. He was well aware of how weak his power base was, so he had to take such decisive measures to ensure the stability of imperial power.
Not only that, when Liu Heng dealt with Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, the political strongmen, he also reflected his anxiety about power. He did not completely suppress the two, but adopted a strategy of division and disintegration, allowing them to restrain each other in the court, and you come and go.
This kind of delicate calculation not only weakened the joint strength of Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, but also reduced their threat to the imperial power. It can be said that this is a self-protection measure taken by Liu Heng driven by power anxiety.
In general, the reason why Liu Heng attaches so much importance to the consolidation of power is that he has a deep understanding of the fragility of power. He was well aware of how precarious his throne was, and that he could be replaced by other forces at any time.
As a result, he had to remain on high alert at all times and take a series of decisive measures to strengthen his rule. This kind of power anxiety not only pushed Liu Heng to issue three important edicts at the beginning of his ascension to the throne, but also prompted him to adopt a strategy of division and disintegration when dealing with Chen Ping and Zhou Bo.
It can be said that it was this power anxiety that allowed Liu Heng to keep a clear head in the turbulent situation, and adopted a series of wise policies to govern the country, and finally consolidated his dominance.
Consolidation of power: The essence of the Three Edicts
Liu Heng issued three important edicts in a row on the night of his accession to the throne, which is really amazing. These three edicts were: ordering the armies of all counties to directly obey the orders of the central government, deposing the remnants of the Lu clan and dissident forces, and granting amnesty to the world to win the hearts of the people. Through these three edicts, Liu Heng won military power, cracked down on dissidents, and stabilized the situation in one fell swoop.
The first edict deprived the local princes of force. Prior to this, the armies of the counties were made up of local princes, and the central power had very limited control over the armies. Liu Heng realized that in order to consolidate imperial power, he must first control military power. Therefore, on the night of his accession to the throne, he ordered that the armies of the counties must obey the central government directly.
This move killed two birds with one stone, not only weakened the strength of the local princes, but also firmly controlled the military power for Liu Heng. From then on, the central power had absolute control over the army, and the local princes no longer had any force to rely on, and the power structure between the DPRK and China had undergone a fundamental change.
The second edict deposed the remnants of the Lu clan and the dissident forces. During the period of the Lu family's autocracy, the court was full of a large number of Lu cronies, who held great power and were the objects that Liu Heng had to guard against. Therefore, Liu Heng deposed all these people at the beginning of his ascension to the throne, cutting off their political resources in one fell swoop, and fundamentally eliminating their threat to imperial power.
The third edict, Amnesty to the World, aims to win the hearts of the people. Through this edict, Liu Heng not only appeased the people, but also won widespread support for himself in the government and the opposition. This laid the popular foundation for his reign.
It can be said that these three edicts are Liu Heng's masterpieces in consolidating imperial power at the beginning of his accession to the throne. They embody Liu Heng's superior political wisdom and also demonstrate the importance he attaches to power.
In Liu Heng's view, power is everything. Only by firmly grasping the power can he truly become a generation of Ming monarchs and lead the Han Dynasty to revival. Therefore, at the beginning of his ascension to the throne, he took a series of decisive measures aimed at consolidating his dominance as soon as possible.
The first edict allowed Liu Heng to control the military power and ensure the stability of the imperial power by force; the second edict eliminated the threat of foreign forces and cleared the political obstacles for Liu Heng; and the third edict won the hearts of the people and laid the foundation of public opinion for Liu Heng's rule.
Through these three edicts, Liu Heng won the military power, political power and popular support in one fell swoop, and built a solid troika for his rule. It can be said that this is Liu Heng's extraordinary political wisdom and decisive skills at the beginning of his ascension to the throne.
However, Liu Heng did not stop there. During his subsequent reign, he also took a series of wise steps to further consolidate his imperial power.
Among them, the most noteworthy is Liu Heng's fine calculation of Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, the political strongmen. He did not completely suppress the two, but adopted a strategy of division and disintegration, allowing them to restrain each other in the court, and you come and go.
This kind of delicate calculation greatly weakened the joint strength of Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, and also reduced their threat to the imperial power. It can be said that this is a self-protection measure taken by Liu Heng driven by power anxiety.
In general, Liu Heng showed outstanding political wisdom and decisiveness at the beginning of his ascension to the throne. He won military power, cracked down on dissidents, and stabilized the situation in one fell swoop through three edicts, laying a solid foundation for his rule.
During his subsequent reign, Liu Heng took a series of wise measures to further consolidate his imperial position. Among them, the strategy of dividing and disintegrating Chen Ping and Zhou Bo is particularly wonderful, which fully reflects Liu Heng's importance to power.
It can be said that it was this persistent pursuit of power that allowed Liu Heng to keep a clear head in the turbulent times, and adopted a series of wise statecraft, which eventually consolidated his dominance and laid a solid foundation for the revival of the Han Dynasty.
Continuation of power: The revival of the Liu family
At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Liu Heng set out to consolidate the imperial power and took a series of wise measures, the most noteworthy of which was his attention to and support for the Liu family.
Before Liu Heng ascended the throne, the Liu family was severely suppressed by Empress Lu, and their status plummeted. Liu Heng knew that in order to truly stabilize the imperial power, he must first restore the prestige and strength of the Liu family.
Therefore, Liu Heng restored the title power of the Liu clan as soon as he ascended the throne. This move not only appeased the Liu clan, but also won widespread support for Liu Heng in the court.
At the same time, Liu Heng also vigorously rewarded the heroes who responded to support him. He understood that in order to consolidate imperial power, it was necessary to win over the powerful and buy people's hearts. Through this means, Liu Heng succeeded in uniting the ministers of the DPRK and China and laid a solid foundation for his rule.
It can be said that Liu Heng focused on the long-term development of the Liu family at the beginning of his ascension to the throne. He knew that only by revitalizing the strength of the family could he truly consolidate his imperial position.
In Liu Heng's view, imperial power and family interests complement each other. Once the imperial power is lost, the Liu family will be oppressed again, and if the family strength is revived, the imperial power will naturally be stable.
Therefore, Liu Heng always puts the interests of the family first when dealing with government affairs. He restored the title of the Liu clan and co-opted the ministers of the court, with the purpose of consolidating the imperial power and benefiting the entire Liu family.
This kind of thinking of integrating the family and the country reflects Liu Heng's foresight. He understands that as a generation of monarchs, he should not only focus on personal interests, but also shoulder the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the family.
It is with this high degree of family and country feelings that Liu Heng was able to keep a clear head in the turbulent times, adopt a series of wise policies, and finally open the road to rejuvenation for the Liu family.
Under Liu Heng's careful support, the Liu family soon regained its vitality. Liu Heng not only restored the title of the clan, but also vigorously promoted a group of Liu children and let them take charge of important positions in the court.
For example, Liu Heng's nephew Liu Sheng was entrusted with the important task of serving as a lieutenant and in charge of military affairs. For another example, Liu Heng's younger brother Liu Zu was named the king of Huaiyang and shared the local military and political power.
Through this pro-trustworthy system, Liu Heng infiltrated the power of the Liu family into all corners of the government and the opposition, laying a solid foundation for the long-term rule of the family.
At the same time, Liu Heng also vigorously supported the economic strength of the Liu family. He ordered the establishment of hereditary counties for the Liu family throughout the country, so that family members could control the wealth of these areas for a long time.
These moves allowed the Liu family to re-emerge as the most powerful clan in the Han dynasty in just a few years. Liu Heng's foresight and wisdom brought a new era of glory to the family.
It can be said that it is with Liu Heng, an outstanding leader, that the Liu family was able to rejuvenate itself in the ups and downs, and finally reversed the decline and created brilliance.
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Liu Heng's attitude towards the family is also a model for future generations. As the core figure of a family or group, we should have a strong sense of mission and responsibility, and put the collective interests first, which is also a kind of value enlightenment for each of us.