In the eighth year of Gao Hou (180 BC), a joint offensive of external rebellion and internal rebellion of the princes completely eliminated the forces of Lü Hou. Subsequently, those so-called loyal ministers Liang deposed Liu Hong, the young emperor of the Han Dynasty, on the grounds that "he was not the son of Emperor Hui of Han", and installed Liu Bang's fourth son Liu Heng as emperor, and Emperor Wen of Han did not have the slightest credit in the whole rebellion of Zhulu, and did not even shout cheers! But it was such a spectator who became the emperor of the Great Han Dynasty, and was the famous Emperor Wen of Han.
Why did Emperor Wen of Han, who had not made a meritorious contribution, get the throne?
In fact, the throne of Liu Heng, the Emperor of Hanwen, was not won by him, but fell from the sky. Liu Heng's ability to become emperor was the result of the balance of forces on all sides. Let's take a look at the forces of the early Han Dynasty:
1. Abundance system
Representative figures include: Xiao He, Cao Shan, Zhou Bo, Fan Duo, Xiahou Bao, etc.
This force was those humeral old ministers who followed Liu Bang's family, and the strength was also the largest, controlling the absolute military strength and imperial court strength of the Han Dynasty. This team is also the main composition of the team team in the most difficult 4 years from Liu Bang's uprising to the king of Han. This department is arguably the most physical form of the partisan group.
2. Meritorious Service Department
Representative figures include: Zhang Liang, Dou Bao, Li Shiqi, Chen Ping, Han Xin and so on.
This force was successively joined by Liu Bang after Liu Bang started his family, and it was a force that gradually formed by virtue of merit, and controlled the military strength and imperial court power of a part of the Han Dynasty. This team is the most loose, they can't even say a team team, basically they are playing their own, because of the benefits and the gathering of profits and dispersion. This is also the reason why the people of the meritorious family can repeatedly form alliances and swing between the parties.
3. Promotion system
Representative figures: Liu Jing, Shusun Tong, Ji Bu, Tao She, etc.
This force did not show its achievements in the wartime, and it was even the opposite of Liu Bang, and a group of people who later surrendered. Later, after Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, he could gradually be excavated, appreciated by Liu Bang, which was conducive to state affairs and a group of officials that Liu Bang could promote. This group, the most weak in power, was active in the period of Liu Bang and Liu Ying.
4. Foreign relatives
Representative figures: Lü family, Zhen Shiqi, former Zhao Wang Zhang Ao, etc.
This force helped the most at the beginning of Liu Bang's reign, and it was distinguished in the process of Liu Bang's conquests, controlling part of the military and imperial court of the Han Dynasty. This team is the most compact, after all, blood is thicker than water.
5. Princes of the Outer Domain
Representative figures: Zang Di, Han Xin, Yingbu, Peng Yue, Lu Xie, etc.
This force was of great significance to Liu Bang in wartime, and if it were not for the help of these masters, Liu Bang would not have been able to do Xiang Yu. The princes of the outer domain are almost a country within a state, and their power is huge. This team basically plays its own game, everyone is a grandfather, and no one will listen to anyone.
With Liu Bang's claim to the throne, the political situation began to change.
During Liu Bang's reign, Feng Pei was like the sun in the sky, and it was also Liu Bang's most trusted team. The status of the Meritorious Department has been improved, but because its cohesion is too poor, it is in a weak position. The promotion system is similar to the meritorious department, but the pragmatic Liu Bang attaches great importance to the promotion system and has a slightly higher status. With the powerful Lü Yan began to regent, the status of foreign relatives increased day by day. The foreign clan princes were the most miserable, almost killed by Liu Bang, and the blood of the wai clan was changed, all replaced by the Liu family. Liu Bang reconciled the bureaucratic system of the central government of the empire into a delicate political balance between the three forces of "abundance", "merit", and "foreign relations".
After Liu Bang's death, Liu Ying succeeded to the throne. At this time, the Meritorious Department was on the side of Lü Hou, but the Fengpei Department still held the power of xiang. The foreign relatives became more and more powerful under the intentional support of Lü Hou, and Lü Hou began to slash the foreign clans, killing only for a long time. The Central Korean Bureau was basically stable in the state of "abundance" and "foreign relatives" balancing each other, and there were feudal domains outside.
After Liu Ying's death, Emperor Shao succeeded to the throne, and Empress Lü took power. The representative of the Fengpei clan, Wang Ling, was stripped of his power because he openly opposed Lü Hou's sealing of the Lü family as king, and at this time, Chen Ping, the representative of the Meritorious Department, was still on the side of Lü Hou, and the history books recorded that Chen Ping was preparing to revive the Liu clan in the future. Under the arrangement of Lü Hou, the foreign relatives covered the sky with only one hand, and the power fell to the opposition. The foreign clan was still being cut down by Lü Hou and still lived a life of fear.
After Lü Hou's death, the Zhulu Rebellion broke out. When Lü Hou lost this authoritative figure and political ties, Chen Ping, the representative of the Meritorious Department, defected to the Fengpei Clan at the first time, and the Fengpei Clan joined forces with the Foreign Clan to launch the Operation of Jie lü, which was successful, and the Foreign Clan was completely uprooted.
After the Zhulu Rebellion, Liu Bang's eldest son Yimei was killed, and the question before the princes of the Fengpei, Gongxun, and foreign domains was: Who should be chosen as emperor?
The people of the Meritorious Department originally planned to elect Liu Xiang, the King of Qi, as emperor, after all, Liu Xiang had performed well in the Action of Jielu, and among the many foreign forces, he was the first to jump out and raise troops to resist. However, the proposal was opposed by Liu Ze, the representative of the foreign clan, and the reason given was that Liu Xiang's uncle Si Jun was cruel by nature, and the forces of all sides may have created a psychological shadow over foreign relatives, so Liu Xiang was thus excluded.
Later, after the balance between the Fengpei clan, the meritorious clan, and the princes of the outer domain, Liu Bang's fourth son Liu Heng was selected as emperor. The most important reason for choosing Liu Heng was that he looked weak at that time and would not threaten the strength of the three parties, followed by Liu Heng's mother who had no power and did not have to worry about foreign relatives.
In this way, Liu Heng, who was in Dai di anxin as a prince, was inexplicably elected as emperor, and the seemingly weak Emperor Wen of Han did not become a puppet of the heroes of The Lu Dynasty, but became one of the best emperors of the Western Han Dynasty.