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The "Witch Gu Disaster" is a far-reaching political event in the history of the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, which not only affected the reign of Emperor Wu in his later years, but also deeply affected the political changes of the Zhaoxuan and Xuan dynasties.
Due to the unjust death of the crown prince, which laid a hidden danger for the future rule of the Han court, that is, when Emperor Wu had to hastily move the young son, this move not only created a good opportunity for Huo Guang to be good at court politics, but also provided the possibility for the princes to compete for the throne, and more importantly, laid the objective conditions for Emperor Xuan's grandfather Zhaoxue's grandfather Prince to be unjustly imprisoned, strengthen the imperial power and finally eradicate the Huo family's power.
1. Mystery 1: Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty contradicts Prince Wei
According to the "Book of Han" volume 63 "The Biography of Prince Liu of Er", Emperor Wu was 29 years old when he was happy with the prince and was very favored:
"For the sake of Li, make Dongfang Shuo and Mei Gao make a blessing. Shaozhuang, the edict received the "Ram Spring and Autumn Period", and received the "Grain Beam" from the flawed Qiu Jiang Gong, and the crown was on the palace, and the upper was the Ladbrokes Wangyuan, so that the guests were allowed to do what they liked. ”
It can be seen that for the growth and education of the prince, Emperor Wu poured a lot of effort into it, but it was under the favor of Emperor Wu "from his liking" that over time, a powerful power group was formed around the prince.
The crown prince not only has the strong support of the military group headed by the great Sima and the great general Wei Qing and the harem forces headed by the empress Wei Zifu, but also has the support of the "generous elders of the ministers".
As the prince's wings became fuller, Emperor Wu's attitude towards the prince gradually changed.
Volume 22 of the "Zizhi Tongjian" "Emperor Wu Zhenghe Second Year Leap (Five) Month" states:
"The usage is strict, many are profound, the prince is generous, and many are rehabilitated. ”
In just a few words, it shows the huge differences between Emperor Wu and the crown prince in terms of internal and external strategies. It can be said that the prince's words and deeds not only represent him personally, but also represent the entire power group that supports and supports the prince.
Therefore, whenever the crown prince advised Emperor Wu not to conquer Siyi, Emperor Wu could smile and comfort him:
"I should do my best, and I will leave you behind, but I can't do it!"
But Emperor Wu knew very well in his heart that the power of the crown prince had constituted an obstacle to his governance.
The crown prince has been taught by "Ram Spring and Autumn" and "Grain Beam" since he was a child, he can continue to advise Emperor Wu to conquer the four yi, can "rehabilitate many places" of Emperor Wu's unjust imprisonment, and can win the support of many ministers and people in the world, which is enough to show that Prince Wei is by no means a mediocre and incompetent, and Emperor Wu said that he is "less talented" It is difficult to convince people.
On the contrary, it was the crown prince who could stand out and become a potential opponent of Emperor Wu's governance, and the existence of the prince's power had already constituted a threat to Emperor Wu's rule, which was the reason why Emperor Wu's attitude towards the prince changed from favor to disgust.
The reason why Jiang Chong was able to be reused by Emperor Wu and repeatedly challenged the prince was that Emperor Wu faked Jiang Chong's hand to attack and restrain the prince's clever move, if there was no secret support and acquiescence of Emperor Wu, how could Jiang Chong dare to offend the prince and the queen?
In the fifth year of Yuan Feng (106 BC), the general Wei Qingxu and Prince Wei's power were suddenly reduced. In the third year of Taishi (94 B.C.), Emperor Zhao was born, and he was called Hook Yizi. Ren was born in the fourteenth month, and said: "Wen Xiyao was born in the fourteenth month, and the same is true for today." It is ordered that the gate of his birth shall be called the door of Yao's mother." This naming obviously shows that Emperor Wu wanted to pass on the throne to Liu Fuling.
In addition, at this time, Empress Wei Zifu was old and decrepit, and he had long been disliked by Emperor Wu, Jiang Chong and others took the opportunity to make trouble many times, and Prince Wei's position was in jeopardy. So a bloody massacre aimed at eradicating the prince's power sounded the prelude faintly and gloomily.
In the name of curing witches, Jiang Chong methodically led the troubled waters to the prince and queen, while Emperor Wu was sick in Ganquan Palace, far away from the capital. The prince, the queen and the family officials "ask and don't report", the prince has a grievance, Jiaojie sent troops to hunt and kill Jiang Chong and others, Emperor Wu instructed Prime Minister Liu Quyu to "catch and kill the rebels", and then returned to Jianzhang Palace to personally supervise the battle, the prince was defeated and fled, and finally died in Quanjiu.
In short, Emperor Wu himself bears a lot of responsibility for the death of Prince Er, which is the crux of why Emperor Wu not only cleared Prince Wei but did not completely clear the snow for him.
2. Who will avenge the grievances?
Prince Wei Liu (128-91 B.C.), born to Empress Wu Zifu Wei Zifu, became the crown prince at the age of seven, and died at the age of thirty-eight in the "Witch Gu Disaster", charged with witch curse and rebellion.
After the unjust death of the crown prince, who had been in office for thirty-two years, did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty clear his name?
Mr. Tian Yuqing pointed out:
Ma Tong, Shang Qiucheng, Jing Jian, Zhang Fuchang, and Li Shou were five people who made meritorious contributions to the persecution of the prince in the witch Gu incident. During the last three or two years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, they were all killed or forced to commit suicide. There are different charges in the historical books for their deaths, but when you look at them together, you can see that they were all out of the need to clear the way for Prince Wei Zhaoxue and change policies.
The Book of Han, Volume 63, "The Biography of Prince Liu of the Emperor", contains:
After the death of the crown prince, "for a long time, there are many witches who do not believe in it." Shangzhi prince was frightened and had no other intentions, and Che Qianqiu sued the prince for injustice, and then promoted Qianqiu to be the prime minister, and the clan destroyed the river and filled the family, burned Suwen on the cross bridge, and the spring dove added a sword to the prince, who was the Taishou of the north at the beginning, and the later clan. The prince is innocent, but he is thinking about the womb, and he is in the lake for the return of hope. ”
It can be seen that in the last few years of his reign, Emperor Wu did some work for Zhaoxue, who was wrongfully imprisoned by the prince, but these measures only cleared the charge of the prince's witch curse, and his charge of rebellion was not forgiven by Emperor Wu, which can be confirmed from various historical facts that happened later.
The only surviving grandson of Prince Wei (later Emperor Xuan) was still in his infancy, but he was still detained for five years, and was not pardoned until Emperor Wu's death. From this point of view, Emperor Wu did not completely clear Prince Wei's grievances.
On February 14 of the second year of the Later Yuan Dynasty (87 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty died suddenly, and Liu Fuling, who was only eight years old, ascended to the throne with the assistance of Huo Guang and others, and was Emperor Zhao. In the end of the Zhao Dynasty, Prince Wei was never imprisoned and cleared of grievances.
According to the 71st volume of the Book of Han and the Biography of Jun Bu Doubt, in the fifth year of Emperor Zhao (82 BC), a man who claimed to be Prince Wei was in Beique, which caused chaos on the streets of Chang'an, with tens of thousands of onlookers. The officials at all levels present were stunned and did not dare to speak, but at this time, Jingzhao Yin Jun arrived without doubt and said:
"Why are you in trouble with Prince Wei! Xi Kuai Yu disobeyed his orders and refused to accept it, and "Spring and Autumn" is so. Prince Wei offended the first emperor, and if he dies, he will die, and now he is a sinner. ”
So he ordered his subordinates to tie up the impostor and send him to the prison for interrogation. Jun Budo's outstanding performance in handling this incident not only made all the officials at that time sigh to themselves, but also was highly praised by Emperor Zhao and the general Huo Guang.
Jun Budo's statement that "Prince Wei offended the first emperor, this sinner is also" is not only his personal opinion, but also the opinion of most officials at that time on Prince Wei, which shows that after Emperor Zhao succeeded to the throne for several years, Prince Wei was still regarded as a sinner.
Not only that, but his only surviving grandson can only be "a county official". As for the situation of those implicated by the crown prince, it was even more miserable.
After Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, he completely rehabilitated Prince Wei.
As soon as he ascended the throne, he issued an edict:
"Therefore, the crown prince is in the lake, and he has no name, and he is worshiped when he is old, and his discussion is placed in the garden. ”
After some discussion, it was decided that:
Prince Wei called it "Anger" and placed 200 families in Fengyi; Shi Liangdi called it "Mrs. Er" and placed 30 families in the mound; his son (i.e., Emperor Xuan's father), who was killed at the same time as Prince Wei, said "mourning", and his wife said "mourning queen" and placed 300 families in Fengyi; and took the Xili Gathering in Ruxiang Township, Huxian County as the Garden, the Baiting East of Chang'an as the Hou Garden, and the Guangming Chengxiang as the Mourning Garden.
Not only that, Emperor Xuan also gradually carried out rehabilitation work on the relevant personnel involved in the "witch curse", and it was not until the Ganlu period (53-49 BC) that Prince Wei's unjust imprisonment was completely revealed to the world.
3. Mystery 3: Why did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty clear the charge of "witch curse"?
The crown prince died unjustly, and Emperor Wu could not escape the blame. Since the witch incident, Jiang Chong deliberately fabricated the charge, but Emperor Wu said that he was sick in Ganquan Palace, the prince could not defend himself, so he sent troops to kill Jiang Chong, Emperor Wu instructed the prime minister to follow the example of Zhou Gong to manage Cai affairs, and transferred a large army to besiege and kill the prince, and the two sides fought fiercely on the streets of Chang'an for five days, blood flowed like a river, the dead were ten thousand, and the prince was defeated and fled.
At this time, Huguan Sanlaomao wrote a letter calling for "urgent dismissal of the armor soldiers, and no death of the prince for a long time".
He noted:
"The Son is filial, but the Father is unobserved...... His Majesty did not observe it, but was deeper than the prince, and was furious, raising a large army and begging for it, the three princes were self-generals, the wise men did not dare to speak, the debaters did not dare to speak, and the ministers stole the pain. ”
Obviously, he believes that the occurrence of the disaster of the crown prince has a lot to do with Emperor Wu himself. After Emperor Wu saw this fierce rhetoric, although he had some feelings, he did not pardon the prince's crimes, but continued to search for them.
In fact, Emperor Wu had already murdered the prince from the moment he instructed Prime Minister Liu Quyu to follow the Duke of Zhou to take charge of Cai's affairs, so this piece of Huguan Sanlao Mao did not have much practical effect, at best, it only stirred up a few waves of pain in Emperor Wu's heart.
After the death of the prince, Gao Yulang Che Qianqiu "resued the prince for injustice":
"The son of heaven should be punished for his father's crime, and the son of the Son of Heaven should be punished for manslaughter!"
Through the recital of Sanlao Mao and Che Qianqiu, Emperor Wu fully realized the status of Prince Wei in the eyes of the people of the world, gained insight into the wishes of the people at that time, and understood that it was urgently needed by the situation at that time to clear the grievances of Prince Wei Zhaoxue.
Volume 66 of the Book of Han "The Biography of Che Qianqiu" contains:
"千秋无他材能术学,又无伐阅功劳,特以一言寤意,旬月取宰相封侯,世未尝有也。"
We can't help but ask, why did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who has always been able to elect officials, promote Che Qianqiu, who has little talent?
The reason for this is, on the one hand, because his attitude is gentle and the wording is appropriate, and he does not refer to the mistakes of Emperor Wu of the Chen Han Dynasty in the case of the crown prince, and more importantly, his recital coincides with the meeting, and Emperor Wu just proclaimed his determination to be the crown prince Zhaoxue to the people of the world by trying his best to promote him.
Of course, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not work thoroughly for the crown prince's Zhaoxue. The charges on Prince Wei's witch curse were fabricated by Jiang Chong and others, so Emperor Wu was able to clear the crown prince's name by killing them.
However, Emperor Wu did not and could not condone the crown prince's accusation of rebellion, because it was he who ordered "to arrest and kill the rebels, and they will have their own rewards...... shut the gates of the city, so that no one who says against it will be revealed."
It can be seen that the crime of rebellion was condemned by Emperor Wu, and this crime must be washed away, unless Emperor Wu himself bears the mistake. Among the people who participated in the creation of the "witch curse" killed by Emperor Wu, except for Jiang Chong and Su Wen, who had personal grievances with the crown prince, the others were just acting according to their will, but in order to appease the world, Emperor Wu had to send these people to death.
4. Mystery 4: Why didn't Emperor Zhao avenge the "Prince Wei"?
In fact, from the moment Emperor Wu named the place where Emperor Zhao was born "Yaomumen", Emperor Wu gradually cleared the obstacles for Emperor Zhao's succession.
First of all, the fall of favor and unjust death of the prince, and then the guilt of Yan Wangdan, and Guangling Wang Xu is just a "good advocate of fun and leisure" of the martial arts, there is no need to worry, Changyi mourning Wang Ji also with the exposure of Li Guangli, Liu Quyu conspiracy and lost a glimmer of hope for the heir, at this time, Emperor Zhao's heir has become a matter of course.
Volume 63 of the Book of Han "The Biography of Liu Ji, the Mourning King of Changyi", contains:
"Changyi mourned the fourth year of the Tianhan Dynasty, and eleven years old. ”
Mr. Lui Sze Mian pointed out:
"King Wai of Changyi was established in the fourth year of the Tianhan Dynasty, and in the eleventh year, it was the same year as the collapse of Emperor Wu, and he must not die early. ”
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty died on February 14 of the second year of the Later Yuan Dynasty (87 BC), and Emperor Zhao was made crown prince on February 13. In the first month of the same year, Emperor Wu met with various princes and kings in Ganquan Palace.
Luo Yijun believes that Emperor Wu's court meeting "may contain the meaning of appeasing the princes and asking them to support Fuling", this view is very clever, obviously, Emperor Wu's court meeting was secretly preparing for Emperor Zhao's accession to the throne, and Changyi Wang Ji is likely to die around this court meeting.
In short, the death of Changyi Mourning Wang Ji was before Emperor Wu erected his young son, and the "Book of Han" volume 97 "The Biography of Lady Li of Xiaowu" said that it was "early", which is not unavoidable. Regarding the cause of the death of King Wai in Changyi, it is difficult to identify in detail in the historical records, but his death is also likely to be the result of Emperor Wu's clever arrangement to clear the obstacles to Emperor Zhao's accession to the throne.
The Book of Han, Volume 8, Emperor Xuan, contains:
When the "witch curse" occurred, Emperor Xuan was still a swaddling baby, "still sitting in the county prison", until the second year of the Later Yuan Dynasty (that is, the year of the collapse of Emperor Wu), "those who hope for qi say that there is a son of heaven in Chang'an Prison, and those who send envoys to the official prison in the middle of the article will be killed."
This turmoil with "a warlock's word, kill all the prisoners" is the last effort made by Emperor Wu for Emperor Zhao to ascend the throne. Emperor Wu created this bloody case, with the intention of putting Prince Wei's widowed grandson Liu Ai to death. Although after the bloody sweep of the "Witch Plague", Prince Wei's forces were wiped out, but after all, there are still remnants, they sympathize with and miss Prince Wei, and are deeply dissatisfied with Emperor Wu's inability to completely serve Prince Wei Zhaoxue, so they try their best to protect Prince Wei's only relative, and save up to make a comeback.
Realizing that the existence of the remnants of the crown prince would pose a potential threat to Emperor Zhao's rule, Emperor Wu ordered "all the prisoners to be killed" as a precaution.
Of course, Prince Wei's surviving grandson was able to survive thanks to the rescue of the remnants of the forces who sympathized with the prince. It can be seen from the above that Emperor Zhao's ascension to the throne is due to the painstaking management of Emperor Wu, and it is precisely because of this that during the fourteen years of Emperor Zhao's reign, he ignored the unjust imprisonment of Prince Wei.
5. Mystery 5: Why is Emperor Xuan the "Prince of Wei" Zhaoxue?
In July of the first year of Yuanping (74 BC), with the assistance of Huo Guang and others, Liu Yi, the widow of Prince Wei, had ascended to the throne. His ascension to the throne kicked off the prelude to the comprehensive revelation of Prince Wei's unjust imprisonment.
Emperor Xuan not only gave Prince Wei and others the nickname and the garden, but also gave Prince Wei's former officials due status and treatment. As the widow of Prince Wei, giving his grandfather and father Zhaoxue was a righteous act to buy the hearts of the people at that time, and it was also the best way for Emperor Xuan to use the Zhaoxue incident to cultivate his own forces.
Emperor Xuan has been imprisoned since he was a child, grew up in the people, and his foundation is very weak, and it is because of this that he was helped to the throne by Huo Guang and others.
Mr. Lu Simian believes that the reasons why Huo Guang decided to establish Emperor Xuan are:
"Emperor Xuan is a puppet, and there is no one to assist him, so why is it taboo at the beginning and then set up?"
Huo Guang since the second year of the Later Yuan Dynasty (87 B.C.) Emperor Wu was sick and orphaned, and he ruled for 20 years, and his henchmen were conjoined and entrenched in the imperial court. Whenever Huo Guang stayed on the side, Emperor Xuan was like a thorn in his back, and it was difficult to calm down.
In order to cultivate a pro-personal force that could restrain Huo Guang's power, Emperor Xuan made a big fuss with the help of the Zhaoxue incident, tried his best to promote the old favor, and entrusted him with important tasks.
"Book of Han" volume 74 "Bingji Biography" contains, after Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, the old benefactor Bingji number was rewarded, the first to give the marquis of Guannei, and later named the Marquis of Boyang, 1,300 households.
"At the age of five, he became the prime minister on behalf of Wei Xiang".
Volume 59 "The Biography of Zhang Anshi" contains: When Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, his benefactor Zhang He was dead, but Emperor Xuan still rewarded him generously.
Volume 60 "The Biography of Du Yannian" contains:
"Emperor Xuan was raised in the court, the great-grandson of the emperor, and the son of Yannian Zhongzi Tuo loved each other, and Yannian knew his great-grandson Demei, persuaded Guang and Anshi. Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, rewarded the ministers, and prolonged the years to determine the Anzong Temple, benefiting 2,300 households, and 4,300 households in the first feudal area."
Du Yannian has a total of seven sons, all of whom are fortunate to the imperial court.
Not only that, Emperor Xuan also used Zhaoxue as an excuse to focus on cultivating the power of foreign relatives. Emperor Xuan's grandmother (that is, Shi Liangdi, the prince of Wei) was killed in the "witch curse", and the three sons of Emperor Xuan Feng Shi Gong (that is, Shi Liangdi's brother) were all liehous, and his eldest son Gao "served the noble luck, and named the Marquis of Leling with the rebel Sima Huo Yugong".
Emperor Shi's wife Sun Wang (that is, Emperor Xuan's mother) also died in the "witch curse", Emperor Xuan named his maternal grandmother Wang Yuan as Boping Jun, "with Boping, Liwu two counties for the Tang Muyi." Uncle Feng is Pingchangjun for no reason, Wu is Lechangjun, and there are 6,000 households in each of the food estates."
It can be seen from the above that the unjust imprisonment of Prince Wei during the period of Emperor Xuan was finally completely revealed.
Emperor Xuan's fanfare to implement the Zhaoxue measures was not only out of his personal emotional grievances, but also necessary for the political situation at the time.
It was through the Zhaoxue measures that Emperor Xuan cultivated a large number of pro-himself forces, which laid the objective conditions for him to finally eradicate the Huo forces and consolidate his rule.
However, it is not enough to go too far.
Poplar Dayun:
However, the trust of Emperor Yuan is respectful and obvious, and the noble and prosperous relatives of the relatives when they become and mourn are all from Emperor Xuan. When the Han Dynasty was at its peak, it was already the end of the country, which should also be known to those who read history. ”
It can be said that Emperor Xuan's practice of using Zhaoxue to vigorously support his own forces and promote the clique of his relatives is an ominous omen. Since then, the forces of foreign relatives have risen to the top, and finally become a great trend. I'm afraid this is something that Emperor Xuan himself didn't expect.
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