Emperor Liu Heng of the Han Dynasty was a Ming emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, and during his reign, he adopted a policy of lightly dispensing with thin endowments and resting with the people, thus creating the first "rule of Wenjing" in Chinese history. However, in the process, Emperor Wen of Han did a controversial thing, and under his persecution, his uncle, who had helped him become emperor, was forced to commit suicide! So why did Emperor Wen of Han disregard his family affection and force his uncle to die, and what stories are hidden behind this?
Emperor Wen of Han's uncle was named Bo Zhao. According to historical records, Bo Zhao was a native of Wu County, which is now Suzhou, Jiangsu, and his father had an affair with Wei Mi, the daughter of Emperor Guozong of Wei in the late Warring States period, and gave birth to Bo Ji and Bo Zhao. In the last year of the Qin Dynasty, Wei Mi asked Xu Fu to meet her daughter Bo Ji, who said that this daughter would give birth to the Son of Heaven. Wei Mi was very happy and dedicated her daughter to Wei Wangbao. Later, The Wei King Leopard was defeated by Liu Bang, who found Bo Ji beautiful and summoned her to his harem.
Later, Bo Ji gave birth to a son for Liu Bang, named Liu Heng, and since then Liu Bang has rarely favored Bo Ji. In 196 BC, Liu Heng was made the Acting King. Because Bo Ji was not favored, she did not have lü Hou's jealousy, and was able to follow her son to the fiefdom to represent the country, and at the same time Bo Zhao also went with her. During the period of the Daiguo, Liu Heng, under the guidance of his mother, had always been cautious and respectful to the imperial court, so he did not offend Empress Lü.
In 180 BC, Lü Hou fell ill and died, and the heroes of the dynasty, under the leadership of Zhou Bo and Chen Ping, launched a palace coup d'état and eliminated Lü Hou's relatives and his henchmen. When discussing the selection of a new emperor, some people advocated welcoming Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, but Liu Ze, the king of Langya, objected, believing that "the mother of the Qi dynasty is a donkey, a vicious, tiger and crowned." Fang yi Lü's family has been in chaos in the world, and now he is the king of Qi, and he wants to restore him to the Lü clan."
Liu Ze believed that Liu Xiang's uncle Si Jun was fierce and violent, a tiger with a hat, and if King Liqi was emperor, it would be equivalent to re-establishing a new group of Lü's foreign relatives. At the same time, Liu Ze strongly recommended Liu Heng, the acting king, and one of the very important reasons was that "the Acting Queen Mother's family Bo Clan, the gentleman elder", that is to say, Bo Zhao has the style of an elder. Relying on the reputation of his mother and uncle, Liu Heng, the acting king, won the support of his courtiers.
There is another reason behind this, these heroes believe that the Power of the Bo Family is relatively weak and will not pose a threat to the government. When the emissaries arrived in Daiguo, Liu Heng, the Daiwang, did not know the truth or falsity, so he sent his uncle Bo Zhao to Chang'an to inquire about the situation. After Bo Zhao figured out the beginning and end of the matter, he urged Liu Heng to enter the capital to inherit the unification, and liu Heng became the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. Bo Zhao was first made a cheqi general, and then he was awarded the title of Marquis of Xuan.
However, ten years later, in 170 BC, Bo Zhao was forced to die by his nephew! It turned out that Bo Zhao actually killed the emissary of the imperial court, which was a capital offense in the Han Dynasty, because the emissary represented the emperor. The history books do not explain the reason why Bo Zhao killed the emissary, and Emperor Wen of Han did not want to publicly punish his uncle, so he sent his ministers to accompany Bo Zhao to drink, hoping that Bo Zhao would wake up and then decide on his own. But the ants were still secretly alive, not to mention people, Bo Zhao refused to commit suicide.
Emperor Wen of Han came up with another way, he let the courtiers wear mourning clothes to Bo Zhao's house to cry and mourn, the implication is that in my heart you are already dead, there is no way to live. Bo Zhao had no way, so he committed suicide and died. Although Emperor Wen of Han forced his uncle to die, he did not go above the law because he was an emperor, so he was praised by later generations.
References: 1. "Records of History"; 2. "Book of Han"; 3. "Zizhi Tongjian"