Question/ Why did Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty's "gentle benevolence and good Confucianism" become the starting point of the Western Han Dynasty's transformation from prosperity to decline?
Text/Disease
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preface:
Generally speaking, in ancient societies, in addition to the emperor, the highest-ranking officials may not be the most powerful people, and the people who really hold power are the closest group of people to the center of power.
In China, countless dynasties have had eunuch rebellions. From the concubine of the Qin state to Zhao Gao, who pointed to the deer as a horse, to the series of power struggles between eunuchs and foreign relatives in the Eastern Han Dynasty, to the eunuch dictatorship at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and finally to the nine thousand years of the Ming Dynasty. These were the people closest to the Emperor.
(Stills of Yan Yi)
In ancient society, the problem caused by the deepening of centralized power was that power lost its checks and balances, and once the monarch could not control the situation strongly, then he might be overwhelmed by the ministers and eunuchs around him. As strong as Emperor Wu of Han, he was unable to stop Huo Guang from monopolizing power for more than twenty years after his own death.
Fortunately, Emperor Xuan of Han was also a fairly wise emperor, and immediately controlled the situation after Huo Guang's death and continued to maintain the Han Dynasty. But immediately after his death, the Han Dynasty began to decline, so that the four emperors before Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty were collectively called "Yuan Cheng Laiping", and one generation was not as good as the next.
Emperor Yuan of The Han Dynasty not only allowed the Han Dynasty to decline rapidly, but also lost power and appointed eunuch Shi Xian—even to set an example for the eunuchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and gave a bad head.
(Portrait of Emperor Yuan of Han)
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > why Shi Xian is favored</h1>
When Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, he learned the lesson of the fall of the Qin Dynasty, so the people around him were all scribes to serve as zhongchang attendants, but even then there were such favored subjects as the Qiru.
However, because when the Western Han Dynasty was just established, the founding heroes group and the Lü Hou group were too powerful, so they did not have the conditions to make waves.
(Liu Bang and Lü Hou in the TV series)
But when it came to the Han Yuan Emperor, it was different. Shi Xian himself can be said to be very talented, and served as a Zhongshu official during the period of Emperor Xuan of Han, and this official position can be said to be the secretary of the emperor, in charge of books, chapters, and so on.
At that time, Emperor Xuan of Han left Emperor Han Yuan with a troika of Shi Gao (a foreign relative), Xiao Wangzhi (Master of Emperor Han Yuan, a great Confucian of the time), and Zhou Kan (Master of Emperor Yuan of Han) to assist the government, and the lineup can also be said to be more luxurious. But why did Emperor Yuan of Han trust Shi Xian so much after he ascended the throne?
In fact, there are three reasons:
First, Shi Xian was an artist who was quite good at music, and the Han Yuan Emperor also happened to be keen on this, so the relationship between the two was very close.
Second, the Han Yuan Emperor actually wanted to play the balance of power. Because Shi Xian was a eunuch, had no friends outside, and was in the palace all year round, with little contact with the outside world, he was not afraid that Shi Xian would make any moths.
Third, Shi Xian was very skilled in the business of Zhongshu Guan and could be regarded as a good helper.
Based on the above reasons, Emperor Yuan of Han had great trust in Shi Xian, and even entrusted political affairs to Shi Xian when he was ill. This is the first time since the Western Han Dynasty that it has broken the earth, and later generations have also staged this plot countless times.
(The Cycle of Power)
This can only be said to be the miscalculation of the pioneer emperor of the Han Yuan. Human nature is selfish, and he did not think of the extent to which a person's desire for power would be. Even eunuchs like Shi Xian had the same thirst for power as normal people, preferring the feeling of being able to play with people at will.
Of course, in the Han Dynasty, the most important thing was the open and secret struggle between foreign relatives, eunuchs and court officials.
Xiao Wangzhi, the master of the Han Yuan Emperor, became the first person for Shi Xianxiao to test the cattle knife.
(Left is a stick figure of Liu Yi, Emperor of the Han Dynasty)
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > foreign relatives, eunuchs, and courtiers</h1>
Xiao Wangzhi himself was born into a famous family and was a descendant of Xiao He, the founding minister of the country. Because of his origins, and because he is also proficient in Confucian classics, he does not give any face to anyone who he fears.
Those who were intimidated by him included Feng Fengshi, who pacified Shache, Shi Gao, a foreign relative, and even Huo Guang, who had the right to fall to the opposition.
(霍photo image)
As far as his temper that could not rub sand in his eyes was concerned, the Qiu family was naturally a lot. This situation was even worse after the Han Yuan Emperor ascended the throne.
Logically speaking, the three auxiliary ministers are already considered to be in power and opposition, and as long as they can unite as one, it is not impossible to steadily raise the Han Dynasty to a new level. But the problem is that the three of them are not one.
Shi Gao is a foreign relative, Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan are Confucians, it can be said that the concept of heavenly life is not compatible, and there will inevitably be conflicts.
Xiao Wangzhi thought that he was the great Confucian of the world, the teacher of the Han Yuan Emperor, and the Han Yuan Emperor himself was very fond of Confucianism, so he and Zhou Kan vigorously promoted benevolent government in front of the Han Yuan Emperor, and suddenly elected several Confucian students. The prestige and influence of Confucianism grew day by day.
(Stills of Emperor Liu Yi of the Han Dynasty)
This made Scott, who was also an assistant minister, dissatisfied. Why are you so favored, I have nothing here?
So Scott fought back against Xiao Wangzhi. However, looking at the court full of Confucian courtiers, they will certainly not listen to him, so what should they do? He thought of Shi Xian, who was very favored by emperor Yuan's side. The two hit it off. Shi Gao opposed Xiao Wangzhi's claims from above the court, while Shi Xian, taking advantage of his status, kept making small moves around Emperor Yuan of Han.
This was a very rare cooperation between foreign relatives and eunuchs in Chinese history, in order to bring down courtiers who held great power and disagreed with their own ideas.
Xiao Wangzhi felt that the situation was a little wrong, so he took out his own means--Emperor Shangshu Hanyuan said that the Zhongshu officials should be controlled by scholars, how could the eunuchs hold such an important position? I see, don't use stones to show these people.
But Shi Xian was now the playmate and important staff officer of the Han Yuan Emperor, so how could a figure with a general left arm and a right arm be said to change it? Therefore, there is no reason to look forward to it. And this also provoked Shi Xian's anger.
(Diagram of the relationship between the royal family and foreign relations in the early Western Han Dynasty)
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > the wall grass for drilling speculation</h1>
The main trigger was a speculator named Zheng Peng.
Zheng Peng saw that Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan were in high prestige in the middle of the dynasty, so he wanted to worship under them so that he could drink some soup behind him. So he desperately patted Xiao Wang's horse ass, what "the general's body, the virtue of summoning, the quality of impartiality, the power of Bian Zhuang", "the cave Li Shu Mo is not happy, xian Yue general and his people are also" and so on, and he is not too meaty, so he almost knelt in front of Xiao Wang's body and called his father.
(Xiao Wangzhi in the TV series)
Xiao Wangzhi was the only surviving of the eleven heroes of the Qilin Pavilion, but he had also experienced a lot of battles. Zheng Peng's trick could not get into his eyes at all. Zheng Peng saw that the horse's ass was not good, and he threw himself into his favor and scolded Shi Gao's foreign relatives.
This look is a troublesome seedling! Xiao Wangzhi did not dare to leave such a person around at all, so he sent him away. However, Xiao Wangzhi underestimated Zheng Peng's discipline, and Zheng Peng saw that he could not get any benefit from him, so he turned his head and went to Shi Gao and Shi Xian.
Just by surrendering, he forcibly detained zhou kan and Xiao Wangzhi on his scolding of Shi Gao's foreign relatives. He also threatened that he had evidence of Xiao Wangzhi's crime and could report it.
This can make Shi Xian and others overjoyed. I was really hungry and dropped the pie in the sky, and I was sleepy and someone sent a pillow. Can this great thing be missed? After shangquan was given to Emperor Yuan of Han, Emperor Yuan of Han did indeed hand over the matter to the eunuchs.
After all, in his eyes, eunuchs were a bunch of rootless duckweeds who could only survive by relying on imperial power. So in his eyes, the eunuchs were absolutely loyal to him.
After Xiao Wangzhi learned of the things he had been reported, he was also poor and dagger, and directly broke the net, saying that "foreign relatives are extravagant in their reign, and they want to correct the country, not evil." Xiao Wangzhi wanted the emperor to be the master, but he did not expect that Emperor Yuan of Han obeyed Shi Xian, a dog-headed military master, and after being fooled, he was sent to court.
But after all, Xiao Wangzhi was also his teacher, and the two of them got along for eight years, so they released Xiao Wangzhi from prison and reduced him to a civilian.
(Han Yuan Emperor Liu Yi film and television drama image)
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > the end</h1>
Emperor Yuan of Han finally felt that the imperial court could not leave his teacher, so he planned to reactivate it. It happened that at this time, Xiao Wangzhi's son wrote to say that he wanted Emperor Yuan of Han to rehabilitate his father.
In the eyes of Emperor Yuan of Han, this matter was that Xiao Wangzhi relied on the old man and sold the old man, and if he wanted to re-appoint him, he had to bow his head and apologize to him. This is intolerable for a monarch.
Shi Xian pondered the mind of Emperor Han Yuan, and an operation just hit the sore spot of Emperor Han Yuan, saying that Xiao Wangzhi was not a good person, so he relied on the old man and sold the old man, wanted to exclude foreign relatives from monopolizing the government, and at this time he did not repent, I think it is better to arrest it.
Emperor Yuan of Han also listened. But he also had concerns, saying, "Xiao Tai Fu Sugang, Anken is an official?" This means that Xiao Wang's temper is too hard, and I am afraid that he will directly commit suicide.
As a result, Shi Xian's big fool said that "human life is the most important, where there is hope, the language is thin, and the death is worried" How is it possible, human life is so important, who wants to die? We told him to reduce his guilt, and he would certainly not commit suicide.
These two meals of ecstasy soup were poured into the Han Yuan Emperor, which directly made the Han Yuan Emperor faint, and handed over this matter to Shi Xian to deal with.
Xiao Wangzhi also did not want to be humiliated and wanted to keep a clean reputation, so he committed suicide.
In fact, the Han Yuan Emperor completely played with it himself. He wanted to use Shi Xian to balance foreign relatives and courtiers, but he did not expect that the foreign relatives and eunuchs would collude and directly force Xiao Wangzhi to die.
While killing his own teacher, he also pulled the Western Han into the bottomless abyss, giving Wang Mang, a foreign relative, a chance.
For more [Not Easy Gentleman] highlights, please see:
A Hundred Forms of Life Under Power: From the dispute between Dou Bao and Tian Yu, we can see the foreign relations politics of the Han Wu Emperor during the Han Dynasty
Throughout the life of Emperor Wu of Han, it is actually a life of superstition
Why were the ambassadors of the Han Dynasty, who had sent six missions to the western regions, to shake the foreign countries, dubbed the second oldest of the millennium by posterity?
Looking at history and doing things: Emperor Xuan of Han planned and then moved, and set the "art of hidden forbearance" in one fell swoop