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From Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Xuan's "first relatives and ten thousand opportunities", a total of 20 years before and after. In the past 20 years, Huo Guang has always been good at government affairs, and the emperor's power has been suppressed everywhere.
In the past 20 years, Huo Guang, as an official of the Inner Dynasty, held great power, making the officials of the Foreign Dynasty useless, thus presenting a very different political style from the Emperor Wu period, such as the monarch's pro-political affairs, the high concentration of monarchical power, and the mutual checks and balances between the forces of the Inner and Outer Dynasties.
In the second year of the festival (68 B.C.), the general Huo Guangxue, three years later, the Huo clan "clan", thus ending the history of "Lu to the royal family, and the government by the mound" for 20 years since Emperor Wu Tuogu, after that, Emperor Xuan was able to bow to the political affairs and display his ruling talents.
1. Why praise Emperor Wu?
After Emperor Xuan completely eliminated the Huo family's forces, he changed the practice of emphasizing the internal dynasty over the foreign dynasty since Emperor Wu, and carefully selected the prime minister and the head of the two palaces of the imperial historian as the assistant to govern the country, and always took the imperial historian as the candidate for the prime minister.
For example, Wei Xiang is the prime minister, Bingji is the imperial historian, Bingji is the prime minister, Huang Ba is the imperial historian, Huang Ba is the prime minister, Yu Dingguo is the imperial historian, Yu Dingguo is the prime minister, Chen Wannian is the imperial historian, and it becomes customized.
During the period of Emperor Zhao, the imperial historian was always used as the prime minister, such as Che Qianqiu as the prime minister, Wang Xin as the imperial historian (the imperial historian Sang Hongyang died before the prime minister Che Qianqiu, except for the imperial historian); Wang Xin was the prime minister, Yang Chang was the imperial historian, Yang Chang was the prime minister, Cai Yi was the imperial historian, and Cai Yi was the prime minister.
According to the Book of Han, Volume 19 of the "List of Hundred Officials and Ministers", in the fourth year of the founding of Emperor Cheng (28 B.C.), Prime Minister Kuang Hengfu was exempted, and the right general Wang Shang was appointed prime minister; in the fourth year of Heping (25 B.C.), Prime Minister Wang Shang was exempted, and Zhang Yu, the chief minister of Guanglu was appointed as prime minister; in the second year of Yongshi (15 B.C.), Prime Minister Xue Xuanfu was exempted, and Zhai Fangjin was appointed prime minister.
It can be seen that with the imperial historian as the candidate for prime minister, the saying of "becoming customized" seems to be unable to withstand scrutiny.
From the perspective of the emperor's personal power, during Huo Guang's 20 years of rule, the emperor's power was extremely weak. Not only did the forces of the inner dynasty obey Huo Guang's orders, but most of the officials of the outer dynasty were relatives of Huo Guang. This state of affairs has caused dissatisfaction and rebellion among members of the imperial family and ministers of the government and the opposition, but all of them have ended in failure.
After Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, he was extremely dissatisfied with this status quo, but he was not angry, but withheld it, not in a hurry, but in the long run.
First, he rehabilitated his grandfather Prince Er, and through this incident, he methodically promoted the foreign family and the old favor forces, in order to compete with the Huo forces, and since then, the forces of the three relatives of the Shi, Wang, and Xu families have emerged in the politics of the Western Han Dynasty.
Second, by promoting the merits of Emperor Wu, he affirmed the legitimacy of his throne, so as to change his life experience of "ascending from humble to supreme".
"Book of Han" volume 8 "Emperor Xuan Ji" contains, in the summer and May of the first two years, Emperor Xuan said in the edict that "the night only remembers the filial piety of Emperor Wu to perform benevolence and righteousness", I am afraid it is insincere, because only the "witch curse" has connected tens of thousands of people, as the emperor's great-grandson, he almost died, how can Emperor Wu be called "bow to benevolence and righteousness"?
Xiahou Sheng's words such as Emperor Wu's "killing many soldiers, exhausting the people's financial resources, and dying in luxury" are all true, but Emperor Xuan "sent him to prison". This had to be a "heart hurdle" faced by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
The reason why Emperor Xuan is like this is that his purpose is to "praise the first emperor", that is, to find ways to find a way to elevate the historical status of Emperor Wu, so as to emphasize the legitimacy of his own throne and consolidate and expand his imperial power.
Emperor Xuan's disposition of Xiahou Sheng was out of his intention to maintain the majesty of imperial power. After the criticism of the social politics of Emperor Wu during the period of Emperor Wu by the virtuous literature of the Salt and Iron Conference, the actual status of Emperor Wu in the minds of a group of Confucian scholars had declined a lot, and at that time, except for Xiahou Sheng, other Confucian scholars also had an aversion to Emperor Wu's politics from time to time, but they were not as sharp and direct as Xiahou Sheng's expression.
For example, when Wei Xiang advised Emperor Xuan to strike at the Xiongnu, he euphemistically said that Emperor Wu's great military mobilization was not a wise move. Emperor Xuan may not be aware of these circumstances. However, although he was the crown prince of Wei, he came out of the people, and he only ascended the throne after Huo Guang and others abolished Liu He, the king of Changyi, so he must show special respect for Emperor Wu, otherwise it will not be enough to show his pious heart of "flattering his ancestors" and "Anzong Temple", and he cannot rely on the ghosts of his ancestors to protect his long-term peace and stability.
In order to praise Emperor Wu's merits, he listed the Xiongnu and Ping Baiyi as the first of all merits in the "Edict of the Discussion of the Temple", and also called these feats of "performing benevolence and righteousness" and "disagreeing".
When it was agreed, "Respect Xiaowu Temple for Sejong Temple, and play the dances of "Shengde", "Wenshi" and "Five Elements", which is exactly what Emperor Xuan did when he took the dance of "Zhaode".
This practice was also complained about among later emperors.
When Emperor Cheng discussed the dismissal of the county temple, he "declared":
"Emperor Xiaoxuan respected the temple of filial piety and said 'Sejong', the gift of profit and loss, and he did not dare to have it. He's all the same as before. ”
Emperor Xuan's respect for Emperor Wu is extraordinary. His purpose was obviously to re-establish the prestige of Emperor Wu by building temples and setting up music as a false gift for the living.
Xiahou Sheng couldn't understand Emperor Xuan's good intentions, and actually showed the ugliness of Emperor Wu in public, and even Emperor Xuan's edict dared to "criticize", if he was not convicted, it would be a really strange thing.
Mr. Yan Buke said:
On the one hand, it was to emphasize its own orthodoxy, but at the same time, it also inherited its political spirit. ”
Considering that the 72nd volume of the Book of Han, the Biography of Wang Ji, and the 86th volume of the Biography of He Wu, both have the records of Emperor Xuan's "Story of Emperor Wu", Yan Shuo is not without profound meaning.
However, Emperor Xuan's intention to revise the "story of Emperor Wu" may be far from this, and it is also related to the political reality of the sharp decline of monarchical power after Emperor Wu's death. Before Emperor Xuan, the six monarchs of the Western Han Dynasty were highly respected by Emperor Wen's politics, followed by Emperor Wu, but the monarchy was relatively weak during the period of Emperor Wen, and the period of Emperor Wu was a period of high concentration of monarchy in the history of the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Xuan's cultivation of the "Story of Emperor Wu" itself shows his dissatisfaction with the weakening of the monarchy and the status quo of Huo Guangbing's administration.
And his "dissatisfaction" with Huo Guangbingzheng is also the deep intention of his "story of Emperor Wu".
2. Use "Chinese books" to seize the right to "Shangshu".
Zhongshu, placed by Emperor Wu, is also known as Zhongshangshu. Zhongshu and Shangshu are one official and two names, if the Shangshu is held by a scholar, it is called Shangshu, and if it is held by a eunuch, it is called Zhongshu (or Zhongshangshu). The reason why Emperor Wu reused Shangshu and other Chinese and Korean officials was that on the one hand, he relied on them to limit the power of the prime minister, and on the other hand, because most of them were low-ranking people and were easy to control.
However, after Emperor Wu entrusted Gu, the great Sima general Huo Guang led the Shangshu affairs, and the power was overwhelming the world, and after Huo Guang's death, Huo Shan "led the Shangshu affairs with the captain of Fengche", and was very arrogant.
The Book of Han, Volume 74, "The Biography of Wei", contains:
"And the story of all the people who wrote on it are two letters, signed one of them and said that the deputy one, and the one who received the book first issued a deputy cover, and what he said was not good, and the screen was not played. ”
It shows that the person who receives the book has the right of first decision on the minister's recital, and if the recital is unfavorable to the Huo family, it will be blocked, and it is difficult to reach Emperor Xuan himself. It can be seen that concurrently concurrently concurrently serving Shang Shushi has become a tool for the powerful minister Huo Guang to consolidate his position.
In addition, most of the people in the court were henchmen of the Huo family, and Emperor Xuan's power was very limited. In order to reverse this unfavorable political situation, Emperor Xuan was determined to reuse the Zhongshu around him as a way to suppress and deprive Shangshu of power.
Volume 68 "The Biography of Huo Guang" contains:
"The officials and the people have to play the seal, not about the book, and the ministers come and go. "Later, the person who wrote the book was beneficial to him, and he did his best to seal the matter, and he ordered the book to be taken out, not about the book, and not for the believers. ”
That is, directly bypassing the first level of Shangshu, the power to review the minister's recital and introduce the minister to the back court, and the Zhongshu order around him is assumed, so that the Zhongshu order naturally obtains the right to make the cashier's edict. Since then, Zhongshu has replaced Shangshu and become the core of China and North Korea.
Scholar Wang Su said:
"At the beginning, the emperor dedicated the book, and the original intention was to limit the power of the minister. Once the minister also received the book, the emperor placed the middle book to weaken the minister. ”
It shows the important reasons for the change of power in Shangshu and Zhongshu during the period of Emperor Xuan.
While reusing the Chinese book, Emperor Xuan also focused on changing the status quo of the power of the two mansions (i.e., the prime minister and the imperial historian's mansion) since Emperor Wu Tuogu, so that the internal and external dynasties reached a state of power balance.
Therefore, when Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the prime ministers all died well, they had both real power and could play the role of relative power, and were good at coordinating the relationship between imperial power and prime minister's power, and between China and the Inner Dynasty, which played a positive role in stabilizing the political situation.
Looking at Wei Xiang, Bingji, Huang Ba, Yu Dingguo, Chen Wannian and others, all of whom had a good relationship with Emperor Xuan and had quite a lot of political achievements, they knew that this was not unreasonable. It was precisely under the situation of the balance of power between the internal and external dynasties that Emperor Xuan's personal authority was sharply asserted. At this point, we can see that the power of the monarchs of the Wu, Zhao, and Xuan dynasties of the Western Han Dynasty has undergone a "U" shaped change, that is, from strong to weak and back to strong. After the fall of Emperor Yuan, the emperor's power declined again. Its decline is inseparable from the formation of Confucian politics.
3. How to treat the king of Changyi?
On the 27th day of his accession to the throne, Liu He, the king of Changyi, was deposed by Huo Guang, and the ministers of Changyi were all wiped out, but Liu He was spared and sent back to the hometown of Changyi, and the country was abolished as a county and renamed Shanyang. How to treat the king of Changyi has to be said to be another hurdle faced by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
It is impossible to examine whether the king of Changyi, who "imprisoned" Shanyang County, had any political moves that were unfavorable to Emperor Xuan, but Emperor Xuan did not dare to slack off in his precautions.
Volume 76 of the Book of Han "The Biography of Zhang Chang" contains:
"Emperor Xuan ascended the throne at the beginning of his reign, abolished Wang He in Changyi, and was worried about it in his heart, and he was too shou of Shanyang. ”
In the process of "abolishing He Liqing", Zhang Chang was deeply appreciated by Emperor Xuan, and was recruited by Emperor Xuan as a doctor in Taizhong, and Yu Dingguo and Pingshangshu, and later because of the "disobedience" of the general Huo Guang, he became the captain of Hangu Guan. Emperor Xuan migrated Zhang Chang as the Taishou of Shanyang, and his intention was only one, that is, to closely guard against the king of Changyi.
Zhang Changzhi is a confidant of Emperor Xuan, and he arranged for Zhang Chang to monitor Changyi, which shows Emperor Xuan's good intentions.
Volume 63 of the Book of Han "The Biography of Liu Ji, the Mourning King of Changyi", contains:
Emperor Xuan" ascended the throne, and he was jealous in his heart, and in the second year of Yuankang, he sent an envoy to give Shanyang Taishou Zhang Changxi a book saying: "The edict of Shanyang Taishou: it is wary of thieves and observants. No need to give a book!'"
The real purpose of the edict was to urge Zhang Chang to closely monitor Changyi's every move and the movements of the so-called "thieves" and "passers-by" who had an affair with Changyi. Zhang Chang understood this, and immediately made a detailed report to Emperor Xuan on the actions of King Changyi, since Emperor Xuan was first established to the earth festival for three years, eight years of "seclusion" life, has made the former young emperor rapidly aging, his faltering, delirious, mental collapse, life is almost dying, and it is impossible to endanger Emperor Xuan's throne.
Since then, Emperor Xuan has relaxed his deliberate precautions against the king of Changyi. And King Changyi was able to save his life in the end, on the one hand, because Emperor Xuan had always appeased the members of the clan and was unwilling to exterminate King Changyi, and on the other hand, because Zhang Chang's very detailed report aimed at protecting King Changyi lifted Emperor Xuan's precautions and suspicions. Regarding Zhang Changfang's behavior in Changyi, Wang Fuzhi commented on it with words such as "benevolence" and "knowledge of victory", and Wang Fuzhi's comments can be described as appropriate. Facts have proved that Emperor Xuan's defense against Changyi was successful, and since his retreat to Shanyang and the end of his life, Changyi has never set off any political waves.
"Book of Han" volume 63 "The Biography of Liu Xu, King Li of Guangling" contains:
And Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, and the four sons of Xu, Sheng, Zeng, Bao, and Chang were all liehous, and Xu Xiaozi Hong was appointed as the king of Gaomi. So the praise is great. ”
After King Guangling committed suicide due to the "curse" incident, Emperor Xuan "graced" and pardoned the crimes of the sons of King Guangling.
Volume 8 "Emperor Xuan Ji" contains:
In the autumn and July of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, the crown prince of Yan Thorn was established as the king of Guangyang, and the young son of Xu Shaohong, the king of Guangling, was established as the king of Gaomi. ”
In the third year of the festival, "the king of Guangling was given 1,000 catties of gold, 15 princes and kings were 100 catties of gold, and 87 marquis were 20 catties of gold each." ”
What is intriguing is why Emperor Xuan frequently wants to reward the Guangling royal family.
After the death of Emperor Zhao, when the ministers of the court discussed who to appoint as the emperor, Guangling Wang Xu was the ideal candidate selected by the public opinion, it can be said that the king of Guangling had a certain call and influence at that time, but he did not become the emperor because he was not supported by Huo Guang. After the deposed king of Changyi, Emperor Xuan entered the Weiyang Palace as a "Shuren".
From the death of Emperor Zhao to the establishment of Emperor Xuan, it should be said that the influence of King Guangling will not disappear soon, and Emperor Xuan should still take preventive and suppressive measures after he ascends the throne, but Emperor Xuan did the opposite.
Emperor Xuan's purpose was to win the recognition and support of the rationality of his imperial system from various princes and kings through the pacification policy of "grace", and it also implied that he would compete with the power of the Huo family by cultivating royal power.
Some scholars have pointed out that:
"During the period of Emperor Xuan, there was less turmoil in the kingdom, which is certainly related to the severe crackdown on the power of the kings during the time of Emperor Wu, but the influence of Emperor Xuan's 'flesh and blood' cannot be ignored. ”
In the Guanxuan Dynasty, except for the King of Guangling who committed suicide because of "cursing" the Son of Heaven and repentance, there was no rebellion from the royal princes, which cannot but be said to be Emperor Xuan's pacification strategy played a great role.
4. Clear the forces of the Huo Guang clan
Since the day Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, he has cultivated his own forces through various means and measures, in order to end the pattern of Huo's arbitrary power and the monarch's "arching silence". As time went on, Emperor Xuan's wings became fuller and fuller.
In the spring of the second year of Dijie (68 BC), Huo Guang died of a long illness, which brought a new opportunity for Emperor Xuan to realize this long-cherished political wish.
How to seize imperial power from the Huo family was the strongest hurdle faced by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
After the death of Huo Guang, the political pattern has undergone subtle changes, and the eradication of Huo's forces has become the common voice of Emperor Xuan and Shi Chen.
Huo Guang's death caused a new change in the political power of the imperial court, that is, the situation in which the Huo party members controlled the government and the opposition was replaced by three political forces.
One is the Huo faction, and the main members are the Huo family and the Huo family's sons-in-law.
The second is the anti-Huo forces, mainly represented by Wei Xiang, Zhao Guanghan, Xiao Wangzhi and his relative Xu.
The third is the old ministers, that is, those who are unwilling to be attached to the Huo family after Huo Guang's death, mainly Zhang Anshi, Du Yannian, Bingji and others.
The anti-Huo forces joined hands with the old ministers to launch a struggle against the Huo forces, and Emperor Xuan clearly stood on the opposite side of the Huo forces.
In the spring and March of the second year of the Dijie (68 B.C.), Huo Guang, who supported Zhao Lixuan, was ill, and after making the final arrangements for the Huo family's foundation that had been painstakingly operated for 20 years, he passed away.
Huo Guang's funeral enjoyed the highest standard that the ministers of the Xuan Emperor Dynasty could enjoy.
Emperor Xuan and the Empress Dowager came to the funeral in person (the natural queen was no exception).
Both buried, Feng Huo Shan for the Marquis of Leping, the third summer of the Di Festival, Feng Huo Yun for the Marquis of Guanyang. However, the luxurious and grand funeral and the successive feudal marquis of the Huo family could not hide Emperor Xuan's intention to secretly eliminate the Huo family's forces.
The first to attack the Huo group was Zhao Guanghan, Zhao Guanghan originally worked for Huo Guang, but after Huo Guang's death, he quickly joined the anti-Huo forces, which cannot be judged solely on his good character of "destroying the minister".
When Zhao Guanghan ruled Jingfu, he knew all about "the thieves in the county, the light heroes in Luzhong, the roots and caves where they were, and the traitors who were asked to take the baht", and they were good at the deeds of "micro divisions" and other deeds, which can be known that Guanghan is the light of affairs, and the misfortune of the light. Huo Guang had a lot of political failures during his lifetime, and he must be mastered by Guanghan one by one.
Xi Huo's and the imperial historian Wei Xiang's two slaves argued, Huo's slaves broke into the imperial history of the mansion, "the imperial history is a verbal thanks", the Huo family was willing to give up, at that time the Huo family's power was so prominent, now Zhao Guanghan broke Huo Yu's mansion, the queen cried about her grievances, but Emperor Xuan only "summoned Guanghan" to do something, not punished, Huo's situation is so embarrassing, the two contrast, then Emperor Xuan protected Zhao Guanghan's heart, self-evident.
The specific time when Zhao Guanghan humiliated Huo Yu's Mansion has not been clearly stated, but it seems to be no big deal if it is regarded as the precursor of the anti-Huo faction openly attacking the Huo family. Since then, Wei Xiang's affairs, Zhang Anshi's soldiers, Xiao Wang's book, and Jin's wife's wife have been launched one after another, and the spearhead is all aimed at the Huo family's forces.
Wei Xiangyi went straight in and out of the province with Xu Guanghan, Marquis of Ping'en, and Jin An, Shangren of Shizhong, and the government affairs of the imperial court gradually returned to his command, and Huo Shan lost his power.
In April Wushen of the third year of the Earth Festival, the general Guangluxun Zhang Anshi was the general of the great Sima chariot, and in July Wuxu was the general of the great Sima Wei, and the right general Che Huoyu was more Sima. Huo Yu lost the right to take charge of the army.
According to the "Book of Han" volume 68 "Huo Guang Biography", at the same time that Huo Yu lost the right to take charge of the army, Emperor Xuan used the "Xu Hou Incident" as an excuse to deprive the Huo family's sons-in-law of the right to hold the army.
For example, Deng Guanghan, the commander of Changle Guard and Duliao, was reappointed as Shaofu, Fan Mingyou, the captain of Weiyang Guard, was reappointed as Guangluxun, and Zhao Ping, the commander of Guanglu, was reinforced. At the same time, Huo Guang's son-in-law Jin Xian also drew a line with the Huo family's forces.
Huo's forces are isolated.
In the summer of the third year of the Earth Festival, it rained and hailed in Beijing. Xiao Wangzhi took the opportunity to write and talk about things, and Xiao Wang's book was intended to refer to the harm of Chen Huo's unauthorized power. The reason why he dared to point out the harm of Chen Huo's abuse of power was because of Wei Xiang's support. Before Huo Guang's death, Xiao Wangzhi offended Huo Guang because he did not want to be "held hostage by Lusuo", and his career was very depressed.
Wei Xiang was also suppressed by Huo Guang, and after he was reused by Emperor Xuan, in order to achieve Emperor Xuan's eradication of Huo's power and change the situation of "government by the mound", he must be connected with Huo's people who have always had trouble, so Wei Xiang will "remove the hope as a genus, and Cha Lian as a great rule of etiquette". Xiao Wangzhi was promoted by Wei Xiang, and his political trade-offs should be consistent.
After Xiao Wang's book, "three moves in the middle of the year" shows Emperor Xuan's appreciation for him. This shows that Xiao Wang's book just expresses the voice of Emperor Xuan. At this point, the Huo clan has become the target of public criticism, and the extinction of the Huo clan is obviously a matter of counting the day.
History:
Huo Yun's uncle Li Jing said that if he could kill Prime Minister Wei Xiang and Pingen Marquis Xu Guanghan first, "Your Majesty will be in the ears of the Queen Mother." The matter was denounced by Zhang Zhang, a man from Chang'an, although Emperor Xuan ordered not to be arrested, but Huo Shan and others were very frightened, so they plotted to murder Wei Xiang and Xu Guanghan, "abolishing the Son of Heaven and establishing Huo Yu", before the matter was launched, Emperor Xuan transferred Huo Shan to Xuanwu Taishou and Ren Xuan to act as the county Taishou, Huo Yun was also guilty of "sitting and writing secretary", and the conspiracy of "rebellion" was exposed, Huo Yun, Huo Shan, and Fan Mingyou committed suicide in fear of crime, Huo Yu was beheaded, and other party relatives abandoned the city, "thousands of people who were connected with the Huo family sat and were killed."
The Huo clan was washed away.
Since Emperor Xuan eliminated the Huo faction, his monarchical power has been greatly enhanced, thus laying the premise for him to effectively exert his monarchical power and create a Zhongxing foundation.
(End of text)
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