On February 28, 202 BC, after four years of the Chu-Han War, Liu Bang finally became emperor in victory, with the state name Han and the history known as the Western Han. The Western Han Dynasty was the first great unified feudal dynasty after the Qin Dynasty. By January 10, 9 AD, Wang Mang was proclaimed emperor, changed the name of the country to Xin, and the Western Han Dynasty fell, a total of 211 years.
The Western Han Dynasty was a peak in the development of Chinese culture, with comprehensive socio-economic and cultural development and increasingly frequent foreign exchanges, becoming one of the most powerful countries in the world at that time. So if the Western Han Dynasty was very good, why did it perish?
Liu Bang probably couldn't imagine that his descendants would later be so useless
I. The reason why the Western Han Dynasty perished was because by the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the power of the imperial court was no longer in the hands of the emperor.
From the time of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, the power of the imperial court was already in the hands of the Wang clan (including Wang Mang) of the Empress Wang Zhengjun, and the demise of the Western Han Dynasty was already doomed from then on. From the beginning of the Yuan Emperor, the emperor was not as good as one.
However, Emperor Yuan of Han made more than ten people of the empress Wang Zhengjun's clan as marquises, which laid the foundation for the later dictatorship of foreign relatives in the Western Han Dynasty to control the imperial court.
Emperor Liu Yi of the Han Dynasty had a disliked wife named Wang Zhengzhengjun
Second, the topic of the last emperor of the Western Han Dynasty has always been controversial, some people think that the last emperor of the Western Han Dynasty should be Liu Bao; others think that it is the Hanping Emperor Liu Yan.
I think it is more appropriate to list Liu Yan, the fourteenth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han Ping Emperor, as the last emperor of the Western Han Dynasty.
The Hanping Emperor Liu Yan (9 BC – February 4, 6 CE), formerly known as Liu Jizi, was the grandson of Emperor Yuan of Han, the nephew of Emperor Cheng of Han, and the cousin of Emperor Ai of Han.
After the death of Liu Xin, the Emperor of han, on August 15, 15 BC, Wang Mang, in order to facilitate the acquisition of power, welcomed the 9-year-old Liu Yan as emperor. Liu Yan reigned for a total of 6 years, died in 6 AD, and died at the age of 15.
Emperor Liu of Hanping
After Liu Yan's death, Wang Mang selected a two-year-old Liu Infant from the Han Dynasty royal family to inherit the throne. However, because Liu Bao was too young to officially take the throne, he only made a "crown prince", and Wang Mang called himself "Regent Emperor" and a false emperor.
Liu Bao was the grandson of Emperor Xuan of Han and the son of Liu Xian, the Marquis of Guangqi, and he was only crown prince for 2 years. So from the historical fact, Liu Nian has never been an official emperor for a day.
Liu Bao has never been an official emperor for a day, so why do some people say that he was the last emperor of the Western Han Dynasty? What was his ending?
Establishing a new dynasty, Wang Mang became emperor, and Liu Infant retired from the crown prince's throne and was made the Duke of Ding'an by Wang Mang. He could only honestly accept this fateful arrangement.
But fate, this thing, does not want Liu Baby to live well, more tragic fate will soon come. Because a person named Liu Xuan also walked onto the stage of history.
Liu Xuan (not Liu Xuande) was also the Western Han Dynasty, because Wang Mang's new policy became tyranny, so he took the opportunity to rebel in the name of reviving the Han Dynasty, and successfully defeated Wang Mang In 25 AD, he entered Chang'an and became emperor, historically calling him the first emperor.
At that time, there were many people who came out to take advantage of the opportunity to fish, and Fang Wang, a Pingling person, also rebelled. But his appeal was not enough, so his eyes were fixed on Liu Baby. He sent people into Chang'an to capture Liu Bao and fled, and then made Liu Bao emperor in Linjing (in present-day Gansu) and made himself a great general of Sima Da.
The unlucky Liu Baby only hated to be born in the emperor's house
Liu Baodang's emperor, who was only one month old, was only established by Fang Wang, an unknown person, and no one recognized him at all, so according to reason, this emperor was not established. But Liu Bao was also a real crown prince, and some people felt that he was right to be emperor.
In February 25, Emperor Liu Xuan sent troops to attack Fang Wang, and in the melee, liu infant and Fang Wang were killed by the rebels.
Although Fang Wang was only a rogue, some people still said that the last emperor of the Western Han Dynasty was Liu Bao.
Conclusion: Therefore, the last emperor of the Western Han Dynasty should be Liu Yan, the Emperor of Hanping. From the orthodox history, everyone scolded Wang Mang for usurping the throne and gaining power, and there is nothing wrong with this. However, before and after Wang Mang came to power, he did not kill the sons of the Han Dynasty, which is also a historical fact.
During Wang Mang's reign, he also worked hard to make a career and carried out super-large-scale New Deal reforms, but in the end he did not achieve his goal and lost his life.