When emperors enter their twilight years, they often choose to pass on the throne to future generations (usually their own heirs) and retreat into the background. And the situation of hanging the curtain and listening to the government is obviously unacceptable to the emperor who has long since abdicated. So, in the long river of Chinese history, how did these emperors spend the rest of their lives?
[1, Liu Taigong, the father of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu]
Liu Taigong was the first person to enjoy the honor of the emperor. Before Liu Bang ascended the throne, Liu Taigong was not supported by his son's achievements, but needed to fend for himself. Although Liu Bang was crowned the king of Han, Liu Taigong did not follow him to Hanzhong to enjoy the glory, but was taken hostage by Xiang Yu to force Liu Bang to surrender. Liu Bang once made a plan to call Xiang Yu a brother, saying: "My father is your father, if you cook it, please share my piece of the pie." Despite this clever plan, it is difficult to hide the suspicion of putting his father in danger. However, he finally survived the difficulties, Liu Bang ascended the throne as the emperor, and Liu Taigong also enjoyed glory. However, at this time, Liu Taigong was still a civilian, and Liu Bang still treated him as usual. The retainers who served Liu Taigong proposed a plan, and when Liu Bang visited again, Liu Taigong retreated to the door with a broom. Liu Bang was shocked and hurriedly helped the grandfather. Taigong said: "The emperor is the lord of all peoples, how can he be indiscriminate because of me?" Liu Bang knew that he was negligent, so he respected Taigong as the emperor. The retainers who gave advice were also rewarded. Mrs. Liu was originally a rural old man, who did not know about government affairs and had no interest in power. With the name of the emperor, only the gift of father and son to meet was solved, and he enjoyed his old age with peace of mind, from the sixth to the tenth year of Han Gaozu, he spent five years of his career as the emperor.
[2, Emperor Jin Hui Sima Zhen]
Sima Cheng ascended the throne in 290 AD as the second emperor of the Jin Dynasty. It is said that he was an idiot, so his queen Jia Nanfeng was able to dictate power, indiscriminately killed members of the royal family, and was finally killed by Sima Lun, the king of Zhao. Sima Lun led the Xiangguo by himself, which was the beginning of the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" of the Jin Dynasty. Sima Yun, the king of Huainan, raised an army against Sima Lun and was defeated. In 301 AD, Sima Lun usurped the throne as emperor, and Sima Zhen was deposed as the emperor. Soon after Sima Lun became emperor, Sima Jian, the king of Qi, raised an army to fight, and was supported by the king of Chengdu, the king of Hejian, and the king of Changshan. However, these princes thought highly of themselves, disagreed with each other, and once again fell into civil strife. Sima Zhen became the focus of contention from all sides, and everyone wanted to coerce him to order the princes.
Finally, in the first year of Guangxi (306 AD), Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, quelled the rebellion of the Eight Kings and took sole power. Although Sima Zhen was stable, he became Sima Yue's puppet. In December of the same year, Sima Cheng died of eating poisoned cakes, which is generally believed to be caused by Sima Yue. Although Sima Zhen's career as the emperor was short, his situation was no different from that of the emperor, and he was a puppet. At first, he was the puppet of Queen Jia Nanfeng, and later the puppet of Sima Lun, and after the reinstatement, he was still the puppet of the King of Chaos. From this point of view, Sima Zhen's status as the emperor is just a pawn in the hands of others.
Sima Zhen went from Emperor Taishang to the restoration and then to the emperor, a total of six years.
[3, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan]
Li Yuan attacked the Duke of Tang and raised troops from Taiyuan to capture Chang'an at the end of the Sui Dynasty when the world was in turmoil. In May 618, Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an and established the Tang Dynasty. Soon he unified the country. However, in the ninth year of Wude (626 AD), the second son Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion and killed the crown prince Li Jiancheng and his younger brother Li Yuanji, the king of Qi. Li Yuan was forced to crown Li Shimin as the crown prince, and then took the throne and became the emperor himself. Nine years later, Li Yuan died, nicknamed Emperor Taiwu, and the temple name was Gaozu.
As the emperor, Li Yuan's heart was full of contradictions. On the one hand, the Zen throne was not his original intention, and on the other hand, Li Shimin contributed the most to the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, and he also intended to pass on the throne to Li Shimin. Similarly, Li Shimin is also quite tricky for the emperor. He was not only the founder of the Tang Dynasty, but also his biological father, Li Shimin could not be too harsh on him, but his father's hesitation made the original prince Li Jiancheng want to put him to death, and Li Shimin had to force him to abdicate in order to protect himself. In general, although Li Yuan, the emperor, enjoys freedom but no real power, and his material life may be worry-free, but his spiritual life is hardly comfortable.
[4, Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen]
Zhu Qizhen was the sixth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and was posthumously named Yingzong because of his performance during his captivity. Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne as emperor in 1436, and the era name is orthodox. In 1149, the Mongol Warat invaded the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Qizhen personally led an army of 500,000 under the instigation of the eunuch Wang Zhen. However, due to the command errors of the two, the army was slow to move, and was surrounded by the Wara army at Tumubao (in present-day Huailai County, Hebei), and Zhu Qizhen was captured. In order to prevent the Wara people from blackmailing the Ming Dynasty with the emperor, Yu Qian and others, who stayed in the capital, supported Zhu Qiyu, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Qizhen was respected as the emperor. A year later, the two sides negotiated peace, and the Warats sent Zhu Qizhen back to Beijing. However, after returning to Beijing, Zhu Qizhen was placed in Nangong and guarded by a special person, and he was still in captivity. He did this for seven years. It was not until 1457 that the ministers Xu Youzhen, Shi Heng and others launched a palace coup, known as the "Change of Seizing the Gate", and Zhu Qizhen was able to restore the throne and return to the throne. After his reinstatement, he changed his name to Yuan Tianshun and ruled for another eight years.
[5, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty - Aixin Jueluo Hongli]
Aixin Jueluo Hongli, who ascended the throne in 1736 AD, was later known as the Qianlong Prosperous Era. Because the Qing Dynasty used to call the emperor by the year, he was also honored as the Qianlong Emperor. Hongli ascended the throne at the age of twenty-five, and he prayed to heaven that he would live a long life, but that he would not be crowned by his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor. Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of eight and ruled for sixty-one years, dying at the age of sixty-nine. Qianlong was already 25 years old when he ascended the throne, and if he also reigned for 60 years, he would be 85 years old at that time. However, Emperor Qianlong's vitality was beyond imagination, and he really reigned for 60 years and was in good health. In order to fulfill his original promise, Emperor Qianlong finally decided to pass the throne to his son Yan (i.e., Jiaqing), and abdicated himself as Emperor Taishang.
Although Hongli has abdicated as the emperor, he still holds on to the imperial power. Emperor Jiaqing was also extremely obedient, and he consulted the emperor on all matters, and the relationship between the two was harmonious. In this way, the Qianlong Emperor continued to rule for four years as the powerful Emperor Taishang, while the Jiaqing Emperor spent four years in the shadow of his father as a "trainee" emperor.
Historically, there have been more than 20 emperors, whose fates and lifestyles after abdication can be roughly classified into the above. History is always full of cruelty, as the saying goes, "once a son of heaven and a courtier". During your reign, you have both power and wealth, but once you abdicate, even if you were once the Son of Heaven, you will lose all power and only freedom. This can't help but make people reflect, what can you get by being an emperor once?