Emperor Ling's name was Liu Cang, the eldest son of Emperor Liu Cong of the Han Zhaowu Emperor, and the fourth emperor of the Han Zhao Dynasty. Although he was ambitious, he was incompetent, and eventually he was emperor for only 3 months, and he lost his life.
Liu Cang was the eldest son of Liu Cong, and it was supposed that the son should inherit the father's throne. However, when Liu Cong ascended the throne, he made his younger brother Liu Yi the emperor's brother-in-law as his successor. Liu Cong, who claimed the title of empress dowager, had an affair with Empress Shan. Empress Shan was Liu Yi's mother, and when Liu Yi learned of this, he reprimanded his mother. Empress Shan committed suicide without shame. Liu Cong was very sad about Empress Shan's death, and he also hated Liu Yi, so he did not want to pass the throne to him, but wanted to pass it on to his son. Liu Cong's eldest son, Liu Cang, was created the King of Hanoi in 310 AD, and in 314 he was promoted to King of Jin and Chancellor of Jin, presiding over state affairs. In 315, in order to pass the throne to Liu Cang, Liu Cong also made him Xiangguo and took over the military and political power, completely emptying Liu Yi.
After Liu Cang took control of the power, he was close to the position of crown prince. He was ambitious and always thought about how to replace the emperor's brother Liu Yi. In March of the second year of Lin Jia, Liu Yue sent people to the Eastern Palace to falsely preach the Holy Will, saying that the emperor ordered Liu Yi to lead the guards to immediately arm and stand by. Liu Yi did not know that he was deceitful, so he listened to his words and acted. When Liu Cang saw this, he immediately sent the central protector Le Zhun and the eunuch Wang Shen to inform Liu Cong, saying that Liu Yi was plotting rebellion. Liu Cong was furious and immediately sent people to surround the Eastern Palace and imprison Liu Yi. More than a dozen chieftains under Liu Yi could not resist Liu Yue's severe torture, and also "testified" that the emperor's brother was plotting rebellion. Liu Cang used this as a basis to kill Liu Yi and more than 10,000 of his officers and soldiers, and successfully sat on the position of crown prince. In July 318, Emperor Liu Cong of Han Zhao died of illness, and Liu Cang succeeded to the throne, that is, The Han Ling Emperor, and changed his name to Yuan Hanchang.
Like his father, Liu Cang was also a wine-colored emperor. There are many daughters of the middle guard Lezhun, and they are all beautiful. Among them, Yue yue and yuehua were the empresses of Liu Cong, the emperor of han Zhao, and after Liu Cang succeeded to the throne, he honored Yuehua, who was less than twenty years old, as empress dowager. Liu Cang also married two daughters of Le Zhun, one as an empress and one as a noble concubine. He spent all day with beautiful people, and often flirted with the young and beautiful empress. The emperor Le Zhun was naturally in a high position of power, and in order to monopolize power, he persuaded Liu Cang to kill the princes and nobles. However, Liu Cang had just succeeded to the throne and did not dare to make a big move, so he did not agree. Le Zhun encouraged his two daughters to persuade Liu Cang. Liu Cang could not resist the pillow wind of the two beauties of Empress Le and Concubine Le, and soon killed Liu Jing, the king of Shangluo, and 5 others. As soon as these people died, Le Zhun was in charge. However, Le Zhun's ambitions were not limited to this, he also wanted to be emperor. In September of the same year, Le Zhun led his troops into the harem, killed Liu Cang, who was drinking and having fun with the beauties, and then established himself as a great general and called himself the King of Han.
The short-lived Liu Cang only served as emperor for 3 months before he died. After the general Le Zhun killed him, he slaughtered all the men, women, and children of the Liu clan living in Pingyang, and even the tombs of Liu Yuan and Liu Cong were excavated, and the Liu Murongzong Temple was burned down. Liu Cang not only lost the throne, but also destroyed the inheritance of his ancestors for several generations, and after his death, he was nicknamed "Emperor Of Hanling"
To be continued.................................
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