Empress Lü was Gaozu's wife when he was a lowly man, and gave birth to Emperor Xiaohui and his daughter Empress Dowager Lu.
In his first chronicle of History, Ma Qian of the Taishi Company wrote a biography of Lü Lu, the wife of Liu Bang of Han Gaozu, in which he wrote a biography of Lü Jie, the wife of Liu Bang of Han Gaozu, and the "History of Empress Lü Benji" is the ninth part of the history of the history and the only biography written for women alone in the history. Sima Qian's evaluation of Lü Hou was: "The government does not leave the house, and the world is yanran; Punishment is rare, and sinners are Hee; The people's affairs were well-fed, clothed, and fed" praised The strategy of government during Lü Hou's reign. This legendary "strong woman" in her life is not only thrifty, gentle and kind, but also fierce and cruel and exhausts means in order to hold power alone, why does this woman who has no power to bind chickens have such a big change? What are the legends of this first woman to ascend to the throne?
First, the old husband and young wife, upside down and displaced
Lü Yan's early life can be said to be unfortunate, the Lü family moved to Pei County to avoid the enemy family, all the officials of Pei County came to congratulate the Lü family on the joy of housewarming, and Liu Bang, the head of the Surabaya Pavilion, looked down on the officials of Pei County, so he made wild remarks and said to the person in charge of the message, "He Qian Wan" to the person in charge of the message. Lü Gong was horrified, and personally went out to see which big guy who had made such a generous shot, but it turned out to be just a penniless "splash", and the person responsible for scheduling the guest seat was the main official Xiao He, who said to Lü Gong: "Liu Jigu has a lot of words, less success." Lü Gong did not think so, seeing Liu Bang's Yu Xuan'ang, different, not only arranged For Liu Bang to be a guest, but also married Lü Yan, the fifteen-year-old palm pearl of Liu Bang, to him, and the old man and young wife were tied together.
After marriage, Lü Yan was not much happy, because her husband Liu Bang was not only a "scoundrel" at this time, with no family property, but also had a child born to his mistress Cao, although Lü Hou was fierce in his heart in his later years, killing Liu's relatives and heroes without mercy, but before Liu Bang was founded, Lü Yan did not have any harsh actions on Liu Fei, which was not easy. Later, Liu Bang drank and misbehaved, and the disciples who were going to serve in Lishan were let go, and he also fell into the grass as a coward, but the burden of taking care of the family fell on Lü Yan, who not only had to bear the burden of supporting the family alone, but also traveled a long distance from time to time to send clothes and food to her husband.
But this virtuous housekeeper did not receive much understanding and support from her husband. Liu Bang rebelled against Qin, and had to be crowned queen of Han and Chu han to fight for hegemony, Liu Bang took advantage of Xiang Yu's deep mire and took Xiang Yu's hometown of Pengcheng in one fell swoop, Xiang Yu led his cavalry to quickly return to defense, and fought with the Han army at Suishui, the Han army was defeated, Lü Yan and many other Liu Bang family members were captured by the Chu army, Xiang Yu wanted to slaughter Liu Bang's family to force him to surrender, but Liu Bang was not at all moved. Until the two sides negotiated and discussed, the one who cut the chasm to the west was Han, the one who was east of the chasm was Chu, Liu Bang's father and wife Lü Yan were released, and it was originally a husband and wife who were in tears, but Lü Lu found that Liu Bang already had a new mistress Qi Lady around him, and Lü Yan's mood could be imagined, presumably from this point on, Lü Yan no longer wanted to be a virtuous and virtuous woman, but a "strong woman" who held great power.
Second, slaughter heroes, and claim the system of the dynasty
After Lü Yan returned to Han, she became an important figure in the Han decision-making group, and she was no longer a gentle and elegant lady, and her political means far exceeded those concubines favored by Liu Bang. In order to consolidate her position, she actively competed for the position of crown prince for her son Liu Ying, forcing Zhang Liang to give advice to herself, "making people serve the prince's book, bow down and give generous gifts, and greet these four people", and these four people were the "Shangshan Sihao" that Liu Bang could not invite, Liu Bang was shocked, thinking that the crown prince Liu Ying was already "a wing, it is difficult to move." Lü Hou is really and masterful. So he dispelled the idea of abolishing the long and young. In addition, Lü Yan also participated in the fight against the separatist forces, she took advantage of Liu Bang's conquest abroad, and Xiao He used a plan to kill Han Xin, deter other meritorious ministers, and then brought Peng Yue, the king of Liang, who was reduced to a common man, back to Xianyang, ostensibly wanting to intercede for the king of Liang, but in fact brought this "tiger" back to the mountain to kill, "Gao Zu fixed the world, and the chancellor Duo Lü Houli", which shows his extraordinary political means.
Han Gaozu's ancestor Liu Bang died, and liu Ying, the eldest son of Han Gao, took the throne for Emperor Hui of Han, and lü Yan, as a mother, ascended to the throne as empress dowager, and the first thing he did was to get rid of Liu Bang's favored concubine, "The genus of Lady Ji Qi of the Imperial Family, Empress Lü was angry, and she was not allowed to leave the palace", only Bo Ji was able to leave the palace because she rarely saw Gao Zu, and followed her son to the daiguo and became the empress dowager. Lü Yan was dissatisfied that Liu Bang wanted to depose the crown prince Liu Ying and establish Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao, and originally wanted to find an excuse to kill him, but Liu Ying saw his mother's thoughts, "from welcoming the King of Zhao to hegemony, and entering the palace, and threatening to live and eat with the King of Zhao." But Liu Ying did not expect her mother's attitude to be so resolute, "Smelling that she lives alone makes people hold a drunken drink." King Zhao is dead", at the same time, Lü Yan did not let go of Lady Qi, the mother of King Zhao, "Cut off Lady Qi's hands and siblings, go to the eyes, burn the ears, drink the medicine, make the toilet, and the fate is 'ren Yan'", and also asked the kind Liu Ying to watch, Liu Ying knew that it was Lady Qi and cried, thinking that the mother's behavior was inhumane and broke with the mother. During the seven years of his reign, Liu Ying's health deteriorated, and finally he died of depression, and Lü Yan supported the crown prince Liu Gong as emperor, and he himself was in charge of the dynasty and exercised the power of the emperor, while the Young Emperor was just a decoration, and the imperial court orders were all written by the empress, and Lü Yan also became the first person in the dictatorship of the empress dowager in China.
Third, arrange party henchmen and take charge of the world
In the seventh year of Xiaohui (188 BC), in August Pengyin, Emperor Hui of Han died, and during the mourning period, he only saw Lü Yan crying and not seeing tears, and Zhang Liang's son Zhang Pei asked Chen Ping, the chancellor: "The empress dowager has only filial piety, and now she collapses, and she does not cry sadly, and the king knows that he understands it?" Chen Ping said that he did not know, Zhang Pei said: "Emperor Wu Zhuangzi, Empress Dowager Fear Jun, etc." Junjin asked Lü Tai, Lü Chan, and Lü Lu to be the generals, and the generals to the northern and southern armies, as well as all the Lü Lü, to enter the palace and use things in the middle, so that the empress dowager would be at ease, and the jun would be lucky to get rid of the disaster. Chen Ping did so, and the empress dowager was pleased, "His cry is mourning." Lü Shiquan thus arose", which also laid the groundwork for the future Lü to rebel and eventually cut through the door.
After Lü Yan assumed the authority of emperor, in order to consolidate his position, he first suppressed the princes and political opponents, killing Liu You the King of Zhao and Liu Hui the Prince of Liang. Reusing favored ministers to judge him as a left chancellor, lü yan often decided on major matters with him, and the affairs handled by the secretary of state and the chancellor had to be decided through the examination of him. Lü Yan then broke the alliance of white horses that "not the king of the Liu clan, and the whole world strikes together", and posthumously crowned his two late brothers Lü Hou as the King of Mourning Wu, Lü Shizhi as the King of Zhao Zhao, his nephew Lü Tai as the King of Lü, Lü Chan as the King of Liang, Lü Lu as the King of Zhao, his nephew Lü Tong as the King of Yan, his father Lü Wen as the King of Lü Xuan, and zhang Yan, the son of his daughter Princess Lu Yuan, as the King of Lu, and "The King of Lü Hou, who wanted to endanger the Liu clan", and Zhu Lü was all over the government and the public, and because of Lü Yan, he gained power and was not arrogant.
However, once a person dies, even the empress dowager Lü Yan, who has unlimited scenery, will have to face the common feelings of life, old age, illness and death. Knowing that his death was approaching, Lü Yan did not think of returning to liu, but ordered the appointment of his nephew Lü Lu the Prince of Zhao as a general to command the Northern Army; Lü Chan commanded the Southern Army and wanted them to control military power and consolidate the Lü clan. In addition, Lü Yan also gave three thousand gold to the princes, and gave gold to the princes, xiang, marquises, langs, and officials according to their official ranks, and pardoned the world. But all this was in vain, as soon as Lü Hou died, the princes and princes rose up, Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, was embarrassed outside, Chen Ping and Zhou Bo responded to the inside, and the kings of the Liu clan rose up and killed Zhu Lü, and the regime returned to liu.