Chapter 10 Chapter Nine Emperor Xuan Liu Xun

Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, had a nickname for illness.He is the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the grandson of Prince Li Liu Shi, the grandson of his father Shi Huang, and his mother Wang Shi.Although he is a legitimate relative of the imperial family and was born in the imperial palace, he grew up among the people and had a rough youth experience.Therefore, he has a better understanding of the life of the lower class, which is very prominent among the princes. Liu Xun was born in the second year of Zhenghe (91 BC).His father was the grandson of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Because his mother's family name was Shi, he was called "the grandson of Emperor Shi" in history, and his mother was Mrs. Wang.Only a few months after the birth of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the "Witch Gu Incident" occurred in the court of the Western Han Dynasty.In this incident, his grandfather Prince Li Liu Ju, his father Shi Huangsun, and his mother Mrs. Wang were all killed.The infant Liu Bing was implicated in the crime of "rebellion" by his grandfather and was imprisoned for five years.

Although he was locked in prison, the vicious current of court struggles still affected him.When Liu Xun was 4 years old, an accident almost killed him.It was the second year of the Yuan Dynasty (87 BC), and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was seriously ill. The fear of dying soon and the desire to maintain power and wealth made him suspicious and violent.At this time, some alchemists said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: "Your Majesty's illness is probably related to the offense of evil spirits. According to our observation, there is a 'Tianzi Qi' in the sky above Chang'an Prison, which is the cause of His Majesty's illness. Kill all the prisoners and eliminate the root of the evil spirit, so that your majesty's illness will be cured." Emperor Wu of Han, eager to save his life, immediately ordered: kill all the prisoners in Chang'an Prison.When the officials who carried out this order came to the prison where Liu Xun was detained to announce the order late at night, they were rejected by the upright prison officer Bing Ji. He said: "The emperor's great-grandson is here, and I am responsible for his safety. As for other Prisoners are not capital crimes, and innocent people cannot be killed indiscriminately!" Because of Bing's uprightness, the young Liu Xun narrowly escaped death again.Afterwards, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty regretted what he had done, and issued an edict to praise Bing Ji's behavior.

When Liu Xun was 5 years old, he was released from prison by amnesty, and was escorted by Bing Ji to his grandmother's house.Soon after Liu Bing was released from prison, the imperial court ordered him to be included in the imperial family, and the imperial court paid his living expenses.From then on, Liu Xun began to live a rich and comfortable royal life. Liu Xun has been intelligent and active since he was a child. He is not only intelligent and eager to learn, but also likes to make friends, fight cocks and horses, and sometimes even cause trouble and fight.These experiences made him have a deep understanding of the sufferings of the common people, the gains and losses of officials, and the injustices of the world from a very young age, which was quite different from those Gaoliang emperors who grew up in the deep palace.However, he was also well educated.After he was released from prison and listed as a member of the clan, Zhang He, the official in charge of them, was his father's old ministry and cared deeply for Liu Xun.From the age of six or seven, Zhang He paid for Liu Xun to find a teacher, so that he received a good education at a very young age.When Liu Xun was sixteen or seventeen years old, Zhang He married him a wife again, and this was the future Empress Xu (three years after she was established, she was killed by Huo Guang's wife and replaced by her own daughter).However, despite this, the throne is still very far away from Liu Xun.His ascension to the throne was really a fluke.

In the first year of Yuanping (74 BC), Emperor Zhaodi of the Han Dynasty died at the age of 21.Since Emperor Zhao had no children, succession to the throne became a problem.At that time, among the sons of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, only Guangling King Liu Xu remained, and many ministers tended to make Guangling King Liu Xu the emperor.But this suggestion was vetoed by Huo Guang. He believed that Liu Xu, the king of Guangling, was "expert and uncultivated" and could not be established as emperor.In the end, after repeated selection, Huo Guang made a decision and decided to conquer Liu He, the king of Changyi, to Chang'an and become emperor at the right time.However, this Liu He committed a political taboo. He was anxious to ascend the throne, but also brought his original team into the court, and ignored the courtiers who praised him. Therefore, the court ministers headed by Huo Guang jointly wrote a letter to the empress dowager. , demanded that Liu He's title of emperor be abolished, and he was kicked out after 27 days as emperor.

After Liu He was abolished, who would be the emperor became a very complicated and thorny issue faced by the ruling group at that time.After repeated comparisons and careful consideration, they selected Liu Bingji.The reason is that he came from the common people and has neither political background nor influence. After becoming emperor, he would naturally be grateful to those who elected him as emperor, and he would certainly not offend the vested interests of the ruling group in the Western Han Dynasty; he was relatively young , only 18 years old, inexperienced in political rule, after being established as emperor, politically easy to control.Based on the above considerations, the court ministers headed by Huo Guang took Liu Bing into the imperial palace, first named him Yangwuhou, and then held a grand enthronement ceremony, presented the emperor's seal and ribbon, and paid homage to the ancestral temple.In this way, Liu Bing has reached the sky in one step and became the seventh emperor of the Western Han Dynasty.At this time, he officially changed his name to Liu Xun.

When Emperor Xuan of the Han came to the throne, almost all the government was in the hands of Huo Guang.At that time, the Huo family was very powerful. In addition to Huo Guangquan, his son Huo Yu and nephew Huo Yun were the Zhonglang generals who commanded the palace guards; The Huyue cavalry of the guards; the two sons-in-law served as the guards of the East Palace and the West Palace respectively, and were in charge of the guards of the entire palace; cousins ​​and relatives also held important positions in the court, forming a huge network of influence that was intertwined and spread all over the Western Han court. .So far, Huo Guang has become the de facto supreme ruler at that time. After abolishing Liu He's throne and supporting Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, his power and prestige have reached the peak.

As early as in the folk, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty had rumors about Huo Guang's power and prestige.Especially after he changed from a commoner to the supreme emperor overnight, he experienced Huo Guang's authority.As soon as he came to the throne, he clearly felt the aggressive political pressure from the Huo Guang Group within the court, so when he visited the "Gao Temple" on the day of his enthronement, Huo Guang accompanied him by car. He felt uncomfortable all over his body, as if there were thorns on his back. .Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, who had a wealth of life experience, knew in his heart that when he came to the throne at the beginning, his power was weak, and the title of emperor alone could not compete with the full-fledged Huo Guang. He could only maintain the greatest restraint and gradually develop his own power. Only by seeking favorable opportunities can we regain our own supremacy.So at the beginning of his accession to the throne, when Huo Guang pretended to return the government to him, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty refused very "sincerely". He made it clear that he trusted Huo Guang very much and appreciated Huo Guang's talent. No matter how big or small, report to Huo Guang first, and then report to him himself.Afterwards, he also specially issued an edict to praise Huo Guang's contribution to the establishment, and granted 7,000 households.Every time he went to court, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty gave Huo Guang a very high courtesy.The purpose of this series of actions of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty was to eliminate Huo Guang's suspicion and guard against him, ease the potential political crisis within the court, and create a good political atmosphere for his rule.

In the sixth year after Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, that is, in the second year of Dijie (68 BC), Huo Guang passed away.Emperor Xuan came to the funeral in person, buried Huo Guang according to the emperor's burial system, and named Huo Guang's grand-nephew Huo Shan as Marquis of Leping, and took the official position of the captain of the car.At the same time, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty believed that the time had come and began to manage the government personally.He reused Wei Xiang, the imperial historian, and asked Wei Xiang to participate in the confidential decision-making of the court as an official, and later promoted Wei Xiang to be the prime minister.Then he appointed Bing Ji as Yushi doctor, and entrusted his father-in-law Ping Enhou Xu Guanghan with important tasks, and gradually took power into his own hands.

Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty knew that although Huo Guang was dead, the Huo family was still very powerful. The relatives and cronies of the Huo family still controlled various important departments of the central government, and the military power was also in their hands.For this reason, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty took the first action to deprive the power held by the Huo family.He first dismissed Huo Guang's two sons-in-law, Donggong and Xigong Weiwei, and deprived them of the power of the Imperial Guard.He also transferred Huo Guang's two nieces and sons-in-law from the positions of General Zhonglang and Captain Qi, and let his cronies serve as the commanders-in-chief of the Northern and Southern Army and Habayashiro, and finally took the military power into his own hands.Afterwards, he promoted Huo Guang's son Huo Yu to be the great Sima, and he was promoted and surrendered secretly, depriving him of the real power to control the army of the right general.He also reformed the system of submitting letters, ordering officials and people to submit letters to the emperor for review directly, without going through the Shangshu, and emptied Huo Shan and Huo Yun from the positions of leading the Shangshu.Through this series of steps, the power held by the Huo family was completely deprived, and the power was gradually concentrated in the hands of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.In the face of Emperor Han Xuan's comprehensive seizure of power, the Huo family group was panicked and decided to take risks and stage a rebellion to overthrow Emperor Han Xuan and preserve their vested interests.But the rebellion quickly disintegrated in front of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty who was waiting in battle.Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty suppressed the rebellion of the Huo family on a large scale, sentenced all those who participated in the rebellion to death, and deposed Queen Huo. Once the power of the Huo family, which had been operating in the Western Han court for more than ten years, was destroyed, Emperor Xuan of the Han finally established his absolute rule.

After completely annihilating the forces of the Huo family, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty began to take control of the political power, "doing everything possible and making every effort to rule." In view of the lessons of Huo Guang's autocratic power, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty first strengthened the monarchy after taking charge.Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established the "China and Foreign Court", Shangshu has gradually become the central institution in charge of confidentiality, and all letters submitted by officials and people and the issuance of edicts must be handled here.Therefore, Huo Guang, Huo Shan, Huo Yun and others who were in charge of the Shangshu affairs often grasped the confidential power by participating in the Shangshu affairs.In order to firmly control the political power in his own hands, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty reformed the Shangshu system, expanded the authority of Zhongshu controlled by eunuchs, and ordered Zhongshu to be responsible for both the official letter and the drafting and issuance of edicts. , No need to go through the Shangshu, and the system guarantees the sole supremacy of the monarchy.

Secondly, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty rectified the administration of officials.Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty once lived among the people, and he knew that the key to making the common people live and work in peace and contentment without grievances and sorrows lies in the quality of the officials.He paid special attention to the selection of governors and sheriffs, and regarded it as an important link in rectifying the administration of officials. Whenever the imperial court wanted to appoint governors and sheriffs, he would personally ask them.Before the new governors and county guards take office, he will personally meet and inspect them face to face, and ask these new governors and county guards to write a letter of responsibility for their term of office so that their performance can be assessed in a targeted manner in the future. This is what the history books say "Responsible for the truth".On this basis, unqualified officials were demoted or dismissed, and officials with excellent governance performance were commended or promoted in a timely manner.Different from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's special use of "cool officials", when Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty appointed local officials, he not only used a large number of capable and shrewd officials to suppress lawless tyrants, but also appointed a large number of "common officials" who "obeyed the public law above and followed the human feelings". "Following officials" to govern the local area has greatly changed the harsh and corrupt phenomenon of officials in the past, eased social conflicts, and stabilized the political situation. The third thing that Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty did was to justify the unjust prison.On this issue, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty showed his own political characteristics: "The way of the overlord is mixed." That is to say, on the one hand, he emphasized the construction of the legal system and advocated strict law enforcement to punish lawless officials and powerful; Justify unjust prisons and ease social conflicts.Not long after Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty came to power, he personally participated in the trial of some cases in response to the existence of unreasonable criminal and prison trials.Set an example for law enforcement justice.In the third year of Dijie (67 BC), an official Ting Weiping was ordered to be added, with a capacity of 4 people, who was in charge of the evaluation and review of prisons, which ensured the seriousness of law enforcement from the system.In the fourth year of Dijie, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty issued an edict, thinking that the "Shounilian sitting law" violated human nature and implicated innocent relatives, so he ordered it to be abolished.After that, he ordered the pardon of criminal responsibility for all those who violated his name by writing a letter.In the fourth year of Wufeng (54 BC), 24 officials of the prime minister were sent to inspect all parts of the country to justify unjust prisons and report officials who abused punishment.During the 25-year reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, he issued 10 amnesty decrees successively. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty also continued to implement the policy of light corvee and light taxation and development of production.In response to the problem of refugees, Emperor Xuan issued several edicts to grant public land to refugees and farmers to cultivate, which partially solved the problem of separation of farmers from their land.In order to prevent the bankruptcy of farmers and ensure the normal progress of agricultural production, a series of measures to reduce taxes and corvee were adopted; the land festival was three years, and the price of salt was ordered to be reduced, which corrected the long-standing high salt price and the heavy burden on the people. In the third year of Wufeng (51 BC), it was ordered to reduce the world's mouth money, and to encourage refugees to occupy and settle down. All refugees who returned to their hometown were exempted from tax calculation and corvee; in the third year of Ganlu (51 BC), they ordered to reduce the national The common people count as a quarter of the Fu, 30 yuan per person per year.Under the strong advocacy of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, local officials at all levels regarded persuading farming and mulberry production and developing production as urgent tasks at that time.Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty also sent Cai Kui, an agricultural expert, as an "envoy to persuade farmers" to tour the country and guide agricultural production.Through this series of measures, the people's enthusiasm for production has been mobilized and the social and economic development has been promoted. After a series of policy adjustments by Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the national economy and people's livelihood have been greatly improved compared with the previous dynasty, forming a prosperous age of Zhongxing.In the later period of Emperor Xuan, the domestic economy prospered.The agricultural harvest has been bumper year after year, and the price of grain has plummeted, creating the lowest price in the Han Dynasty.In order to prevent "cheap grain from hurting farmers", Emperor Xuan also established "Changping warehouse" to intervene in grain prices with state power.In terms of ideology and culture, Emperor Xuan advocated the inclusion of all schools of Confucianism, and personally presided over the Confucianism Conference.At that time, the creation of Han Fu in literature reached a peak comparable to that of Emperor Wu. my country's unified multi-ethnic feudal state was founded by Qin Shihuang, completed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and further consolidated and developed by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.In the second year of the first year (72 BC), the Xiongnu invaded Wusun, and Wusun asked the Han court for help.Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty sent Tian Guangming and other five generals out of the fortress for more than 2,000 miles to attack the Huns with Wusun. A total of 200,000 troops were used. This was the largest military operation against the Huns after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.Since then, the Huns have declined, and there are few incidents on the border.In the first year of Shenjue (61 BC), due to the power of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu gradually surrendered to the Han Dynasty. The Han army occupied Cheshi and drove the Huns out of the Western Regions. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty appointed Zheng Ji, who was familiar with the affairs of the Western Regions, to serve as The first protector of the Western Regions, he also protected 36 countries in the north and south, and established the political rule of the Western Han Dynasty over the Western Regions.Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty also expanded the reclamation area to Chigu City in Wusun, further consolidating the northwest frontier of the motherland.When there was turmoil in Wusun, he sent Feng Liao, who had lived in Wusun for a long time and had rich diplomatic experience, as an envoy to Wusun to resolve the contradictions among the Wusun nobles.In the third year of Ganlu, Hu Hanxie Shanyu of the Xiongnu entered the court of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty and expressed his submission to the central government of the Western Han Dynasty. Xie Shanyu has a profound influence.Emperor Xuan sent troops to escort Hu Hanxie Shanyu to Guanglu Fortress, and subsidized tens of thousands of stones of grain and rice.Since then, more than 150 years of war between the Han and the Hungarians ended, and the political affiliation of the Xiongnu Huhanxie regime to the Western Han Dynasty was established. cultural connection.For several generations after Emperor Xuan, there was no beacon fire on the northern border, cattle and horses were scattered in the fields, and the people were prosperous, and there was a peaceful scene.In the first year of Shenjue (61 BC), Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty sent Zhao Chongguo, a famous general, to lead troops to quell the rebellion of the Qiang people. control. In the first year of Huanglong (49 BC), Emperor Xuan died at the age of 42. He was nicknamed "Emperor Xiaoxuan".His son Liu Shi succeeded him as Emperor Yuan.