Chapter 14 Chapter 11 The Decline and Fall of the Former Han Dynasty

After the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty underwent a coup d'etat. The truth of this incident has never been passed down.Because of the superstition of Emperor Wu, alchemists, magicians, and witches gathered in the capital. In his last years, there was a disaster of witchcraft, and the queen committed suicide.According to reports, the prince sent troops to kill Jiang Chong who had framed him and the queen.Emperor Wu thought it was a rebellion, so he also sent troops to suppress it.The prince was defeated and fled, and was discovered later, hanged himself to death.When the crown prince died, Emperor Wu's sons also existed, including Wang Dan of Yan, Wang Xu of Guangling, and Wang Mao of Changyi.In 87 BC, Emperor Wu died, and Zhao Jieyu's youngest son, Fuling, was made Emperor Zhao.Huo Guang, Shangguan Jie, Sang Hongyang, and Jin Ritong were assisted by the imperial edict.Zhao Jieyu was condemned to death first.Mr. Chu's "Replenishing the Family of Foreign Relatives" said: Emperor Wu was afraid that after his death, the heir would be young, and the mother and queen would take power, so he removed her first. "Han Shu Huo Guang Biography" also said: Emperor Wu took a fancy to Huo Guang, and asked the painter to draw a picture of Zhou Gong as a prince of the dynasty and reward him.When Emperor Wu was dying, Huo Guang asked who should stand?Emperor Wu said: "Establish the youngest son, and the king will do the work of the Duke of Zhou." These words are all fabricated.Emperor Wu was obsessed with women all his life; he was probably a bloody person, and his actions all his life were based on the impulse of the moment.Huo Guang is a close learner, who can only be driven.Shangguan Jie raised horses.Jinri was the son of King Xiutu of the Huns. King Xiutu and King Hunxie guarded the west side together. Because he refused to surrender to Han, he was killed by King Hunxie.Even if there is no one among the courtiers, how many people are Andre Tuo alone?When the three of them sealed the marquis with the edict of Emperor Wu, there was a guard named Wang Mang and his son Wang Hu who threatened, "When the emperor is sick, I am always by his side. Where is this edict?"When Huo Guang heard about it, he blamed Wang Mang, and Wang Mang had to kill Wang Hu.But what happened to the establishment of Emperor Zhao can be imagined.After Emperor Zhao was established, King Yan conspired against him and died if he failed.Sang Hongyang and Shangguan Jie were all killed as accomplices.Huo Guang's daughter is Shangguan Jie's daughter-in-law, and her daughter is the empress of Emperor Zhao.Shangguan Jie was probably quoted because he was a relative of Huo Guang, and he turned his face because of the power struggle, but it is a pity for Sang Hongyang (Jin Ri died in the first year of Emperor Zhao, so he did not participate in this coup).In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died without a son.Huo Guang greeted He, the son of King Li Changyi, and Xuan was deposed by Guang, and the grandson of the crown prince Ying had died of illness among the people, so he was Emperor Xuan.The abolition of the King of Changyi was innocent on the surface. However, when more than 200 ministers of Changyi were killed, they shouted in the middle of the city, "It should be broken, and it will be chaotic." Useless, it is conceivable.When the prince was defeated, all his wives, concubines and children were killed, and only one Emperor Xuan was imprisoned. This happened in 91 BC.In 87 BC, the year of Emperor Wu's death, it is said that those who hoped for Qi said: "There is Tianzi Qi in Chang'an Prison." There was a Bingji, "the envoy who refused to close", and Emperor Xuan was preserved, so he was pardoned.According to the prince's death, Emperor Wu soon regretted himself.Anyone related to the killing of the prince will be executed.The crown prince hanged himself behind closed doors, and those who opened the door with their feet and untied the rope from which he hanged himself were all named marquises.Tian Qianqiu, who filed a letter to sue the prince for injustice, has no virtue and incompetence, so he was used as the prime minister.Emperor Wu acted like this, and Emperor Xuan Ande was imprisoned for five years without release?It has never happened in Chinese history to kill the criminals in all prisons regardless of the severity of the crime. This is incompatible with China, at least the Chinese culture in history. The old and sick are a little confused, and they can't issue this order.If it is sent out, but who refuses to implement it, is there more than one Bingji?But whether Emperor Xuan is the great-grandson of Emperor Wu is very suspicious again.Let’s put this aside now, but the king of Changyi thought he had a group of officials who were in the country as his master, and he should be defeated continuously. Emperor Xuan came from the people, so this level is naturally nothing to worry about. I’m afraid it will always be Huo Guang. So that's the real reason for welcoming him.Immediately after Emperor Xuan came to power, he naturally delegated power to Guang. After six years of standing, Guang died, and the power was still in Huo's hands.Emperor Xuan calmly and gradually took away their authority and appointed his cronies.In 66 BC, the Huo family was exterminated.

The truth about Huo Guang is like this.Because of the lack of historical materials in the Han Dynasty, later generations believed that his abolition was out of public interest, and associated him with the idol Yi Yin who had always been admired, and called him Yi and Huo.At that time, although there were such struggles in the imperial court, the influence did not reach the people.When Emperor Wudi was in power, he was extravagant in the industry and had affairs with barbarians in foreign affairs, which made the people miserable.Huo Guang was in charge of the government, and he was able to lightly corvee and pay lightly, and rest with the people.Emperor Xuan started from the common people, and he was able to pay attention to the administration of officials and prisons.Therefore, during the thirty-eight years between Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan, from 86 BC to 49 BC, the political opposition was Qingming compared with that of Emperor Wu.In the first 60 years, the Protectorate of the Western Regions was established to manage both the north and the south.The Huns were in civil strife, and the five danyus stood side by side, and later merged with Huhanxie.Another Zhizhi Shanyu defeated Hu Hanxie.In 51 BC, Hu Hanxie entered the court in Han Dynasty.Zhi Zhi fled to the Western Regions because of Han's support for Hu Hanxie.In 49 BC, Emperor Xuan died and Emperor Zi Yuan was established.In the first 36 years, Chen Tang, the deputy governor of the Western Regions, sent troops from various countries to attack and kill Zhizhi.The prestige of the Han Dynasty has reached its peak so far.However, there is one thing that is the root cause of the political corruption of the Han Dynasty, and its origin actually started when Huo Guang was in power, and that was the transfer of the power of prime minister to Shangshu.The prime minister of the Han Dynasty was quite powerful.The politics of the whole country are all centered on the prime minister's office. The emperor's secretary, Yushi, is just his assistant, and the minister is the emperor's official file, let alone.Since Huo Guang was in charge of the government and led his own ministers, the prime ministers used old age and lifelessness and their own private affairs, and all political affairs came from the palace, so there could be no honest officials.Although Emperor Xuan killed the Huo family, he failed to correct it.The eunuchs Hong Gong and Shi Xian, in the era of Xuan and Yuan, used their internal affairs one after another.During the time of Emperor Yuan, scholar-bureaucrats such as Xiao Wangzhi and Liu Xiang tried their best to fight against them, but they were unable to win.There were no important ministers in the court, so fortunately, he was able to become a minister, and his relatives had to move to the court. The demise of the Western Han Dynasty and the loss of the power of ministers were really important reasons.Moreover, the matter is not only related to the Han Dynasty, but the politics of the past dynasties are actually affected by it. See Chapter 42 for self-explanation.

Emperor Yuan died 33 years ago, and his son Chengdi was established.Emperor Cheng was a licentious person. He fell in love with a singer Zhao Feiyan, made him queen, and made his younger brother Hede Jieyu.He was also indecisive by nature, so the power of affairs fell into the hands of Wang's family.In the first 7 years, Emperor Cheng died and Emperor Ai was established. He wanted to follow the example of Wu and Xuan and regain his authority.However, if you dote on Dong Xian, a concubine, and use him as prime minister, the government will become more chaotic.At this time, although the Wang family retreated for a while, its power is still there.Emperor Ai appointed the Ding family of his natal family and the Fu family of his grandmother's family, but there were no talents among them, and their strength was far from the enemy of the Wang family.One year ago, Emperor Ai died and had no son. Wang Mang took the opportunity to come back to welcome Emperor Ping.Execute Ding, Fu, and Dong Xian, and then kill Emperor Ping and establish Ruziying (Emperor Ai and Ping are both grandsons of Emperor Yuan, and Ruzi is the great-grandson of Emperor Xuan).Wang Mang changed his name from Jushe to the false emperor, and from the false emperor to the real emperor, changed the name of the country to Xin, and the former Han Dynasty died.This happened in AD 9.