Chapter 7 From Huo Guang to Wang Mang

In 87 BC, Huo Guang was ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to assist the 8-year-old Emperor Zhao as a general, and served Emperor Zhao for 13 years.Emperor Zhao had no heirs, and Huo Guangying Liu He, the king of Changyi, succeeded him. Within a month, because of his "faintness", he took away his emperor's seal and ribbon, and welcomed Liu Xun, the great-grandson of Emperor Wu, as Emperor Xuan.In another 6 years, Huo Guang died in 68 BC. Wang Mang became Da Sima in 1 BC (according to custom, he already had the prestige of regent), and because Emperor Ai had no heir, he welcomed Liu Jie, the 9-year-old son of King Zhongshan, as Emperor Ping.He reigned for 5 years, and it is said that he was poisoned to death by Wang Mang.After this, Wang Mang appointed a two-year-old child, Tong Ziying, to succeed him. He himself entered the throne as the great Sima, and he was first "residence" and then "false emperor". "Han", "the real emperor".After he usurped the throne, he also served as emperor for more than 14 years, and was killed by militia in 23 AD.

They have known each other for about seventy or eighty years.Traditional historians compare Huo Guang to Duke Yiyin Zhou.When he was ordered, he had "had been in and out of the forbidden door for more than 20 years, and when he went out, he was served by a car, and he was on the left and right. He was careful and cautious. He had never done it before, and he was a quiet and careful examiner."Wang Mang, on the other hand, looks like a beast, "speaking recklessly, showing red eyes, and hissing loudly".At first he was a humble corporal, but later he used the alchemy to sign the deed, proving that he was granted by heaven.When he ascended the throne, he held the child's belongings and wept again, saying: "In the past, the Duke of Zhou took the throne, and finally he was restored to his son Mingpi. Now I have to force the emperor's prestige, which is not satisfactory."

All in all, one of these two men is true and the other is false. Traditional historians must emphasize the difference between them, so as to serve as a lesson for future generations.When we read history today, even if we admit its authenticity, it is not the point. From the current point of view, from Huo Guang to Wang Mang, that is, in the second half of the Western Han Dynasty and within less than a hundred years after Emperor Wu, the central government has completely disappeared. There is no way to rationalize. At this time, there were six emperors, namely Emperor Zhao Liu Fuling, Emperor Xuan Liu Xun, Emperor Yuan Liu Shuang, Emperor Cheng Liu Ao, Emperor Ai Liu Xin and Emperor Ping Liu Jie.Their Yuyu period is not too short overall.Among them, Emperor Xuan reigned for 25 years, Emperor Yuan reigned for 16 years, and Emperor Cheng also reigned for 26 years, and the three of them are descended from father and son. If they want to create a system, of course they have enough time.

However, because China was united in BC, it was politically premature, and there were no exact statistics for each region, nor was it possible to divide the powers of the central and local governments.Under the overall situation, everything is at the mercy of the incumbent and the regent at any time.Truth always comes from top to bottom, and the name of governance is morality. When law enforcement, there are only the best and the worst. Their life and death only cause anxiety among officials in the DPRK and China.It so happened that Zhao, Cheng, Ai, and Ping all had no heirs, and they wanted to find an heir among the descendants of the royal family.Every time there are 20 or 30 people, or as many as 40 or 50 people, and the elders are not selected according to the order of birth. Usually, the younger generation is selected for easy manipulation, which increases the importance of the heroine.The queen of the Han Dynasty had no real power on weekdays, and she was also abandoned by the emperor.It's just that once the emperor died, the queen became the empress dowager and received the seal and ribbon, which had a decisive influence on the selection of heirs.This arrangement makes the status of foreign relatives even more prominent.

Huo Guang is also a relative. Not to mention the past situation between him and Empress Wei's family, Emperor Wu has a new relationship after that. It just so happens that he has many children. He and his wife have seven daughters and one son.Huo Guang, Jin Ridan and Shangguan Jie were both entrusted by Emperor Wu to be lonely, and they married Jin's son Jinshang and Shangguan's son Shangguanan separately.Kim Il-dam died of illness not long after, and was not involved in the following entanglements.The daughters of Shangguan An and Huo Guangzhi were only 6 years old, and they became the queens of Emperor Zhao.She became the empress dowager at the age of 16, and this niece, the empress dowager Shangguan, made the decision to abolish Huo Guang in the future.

It's not that simple.In 80 B.C., which was also the time of Emperor Zhao, Shangguan Jie, Shangguan An and Yushi doctor (confidential secretary-general) Sang Hongyang were accused of plotting to depose Emperor Zhao and welcome King Liu Dan of Yan as emperor. They were all sentenced to death for treason, and King Yan committed suicide At that time, Huo Guangcai became the only important person in the court, "megatronically shocked the country". "Hanshu" said: "Emperor Zhao was crowned, so he appointed Guang. Up to thirteen years, the people have been enriched, and the barbarians have obeyed."

However, in 81 BC, the year before the rebellion of the Shangguan family, "virtuous" and "literary" and government officials elected from various places in Zhaodi's court debated whether the salt and iron patents and the recently promulgated public sale of liquor should continue.Its record is the famous "On Salt and Iron".Judging from this document alone, we can also imagine that Huo Guang's position as a dictator is not very solid.As far as the system at that time was concerned, unless the environment forced him, he would never be interested in recruiting a large number of scholars who did not do their own business to comment on the policies that had been implemented.In fact, although virtuousness and literature want to abolish the government monopoly, they do not have a practical vision for a political philosophy generally called "education" when arguing. In addition to Sang Hongyang, the government also has Prime Minister Tian Qianqiu. They can all share the truth refute.As a result, only public sales of liquor were stopped, and salt and iron were still patented by the government. "Hanshu Shihuozhi" said about this matter: "Hongyang thought that the country was prosperous, and he cut down his merits. He wanted to get an official for his son, and he resented the general Huo Guang, so he conspired against Shangguan Jie and others and killed him."

The truth of the so-called rebellion cannot be verified. Its background is the Zhao Emperor era. When Huo Guang’s power was not yet fully determined, it was thanks to Sang Hongyang who maintained the salt and iron patents for him, but he was unwilling to share power with him. And because Shangguan's family was involved in the incident, the purpose was to continue to consolidate the power of his dictatorship, and there were already clues. Emperor Zhao died, and the king of Changyi was deposed after being summoned, and Huo Guangcai established Emperor Xuan.At this time, the choice of queen became a problem again. The officials were interested in Huo Guang's young girl, Huo Chengjun, but Emperor Xuan already had Xu Pingjun, and had already given birth to a son, the future Yuan Emperor. Huo Guang discussed and sent people into the palace to poison the queen Xu, so that Huo Chengjun could succeed her as the queen.This continued for another 4 years, until 66 BC, when Huo Guang had passed away for 2 years, and the plot of the Huo family poisoning Xu Hou was exposed. At first, the emperor's attitude changed, and then the Huo family's affairs also changed. One by one he sent.Huo Yu, the son of Huo Guang, knew that the old affairs would be investigated. He tried to rebel, but the secret report had reached the imperial court, so the queen was abolished. Sentenced to death.The Huo family's momentum over the past 20 years has been overwhelming, and dozens of families have been killed along with them so far.

There are many such materials in traditional historical materials, and it is still difficult for us to see the source of the chaotic situation clearly, let alone judge whether it is true or not.However, the ambiguous dissociation between the front and rear of the throne only exposed the weakness of the oligarchy.Nor is it necessarily the intention of the parties.Huo Guang never commanded an army to fight, but he was a general, and his sons and relatives all had heavy troops to defend the court.Emperor Zhao "emptied himself and restrained his tolerance".Emperor Xuan was because "the great general rides from the horses, and he is strictly feared from the inside, as if there are thorns on his back." "Hanshu" quoted Maoling Xu Fu as saying: "The Huo family has been in power for a long time, and many people have harmed them."The word "harm" means to harm him, that is to say, there are so many people who hate them.

After Emperor Xuan actually took control of the power, he reduced taxes, lowered the price of salt, and increased the treatment of lower-level officials.Fortunately, the Huns were also divided into several branches. Hu Hanxie came to the dynasty alone, and the Western Han Empire could reduce its frontier defenses.The Qiang people of the Tibetan nationality in the west were stupid, and they could also use Zhao Chongguo's farmland to deal with it. Because of this, Emperor Xuan was named "Zhongxing" in history.In fact, being pro-Confucian and advocating benevolent government is also a change from the expansionary policy since Emperor Wu to the contractionary policy.In 112 BC, Emperor Wu expelled the 106 people who attacked the Marquis as civilians, and Emperor Xuan recruited their descendants everywhere, condolences and rewards, with the purpose of winning people's hearts.Emperor Wu's excessive centralization of power cannot continue, but the emperor of Zhongxing did not strengthen his organization and took negative measures first.Jing Zhaoyin, Zhao Guanghan, Zuo Fengxiang (equivalent to the mayor of the suburbs of Beijing), and Han Yanshouzhi were sentenced to death, and Sima Guang still defended them for their injustice after a thousand years.Yang Yun, the grandson of Sima Qian, once wrote to his friends that "Tianbi Nanshan is full of filth and filth, and a hectare of beans is planted, and it falls into Osmunda", but he satirized the court's confusion in private, and was cut in half for "big rebellion".Emperor Xuan's son, Emperor Yuandi, advised him, and he said: "The Han family has its own system, which is based on the overlord's way, so how can it be purely taught by virtue?" He is the established policy.

Emperor Yuan did the opposite, but was called "gentle, benevolent and good Confucianism" by historians.He is also a musician, who can play various instruments and be tuned by singing.Emperor Cheng was addicted to alcohol, liked to walk quietly, and doted on sister Zhao Feiyan.Both women were known for their beauty and kindness.Emperor Cheng appointed his sister as the queen, and the younger sister as Zhaoyi, so that he had no heirs.One morning, when she got up from Zhaoyi's bed, she suddenly died of a paralyzed speech failure.Each situation conforms to the standard of the traditional king of subjugation. After Yuan Emperor, Wang Zhengjun's father had eight sons and four daughters, and she was the empress dowager as the birth mother of Emperor Cheng. Therefore, the ten princes and five great Sima of the royal family, "foreign relative Mo Shengyan", finally constituted the conditions for Wang Mang to usurp the throne. In fact, the great Sima at this time can only add power to the court officials, and the brothers of the Wang family do not get along well.Wang Feng and Wang Shang compete with each other, and Wang Yin and Wang Tan are not in harmony.Wang Mang was prominent from his nephews, and most of his capital was based on his reputation as a virtuous person, so he was able to win the support of the famous Fu writer Yang Xiong and his clan Liu Xin.The problem of the Western Han Empire was that the central government gradually lost control over the lower levels, the Yellow River burst its embankment, the refugees could not help themselves, and there were other disasters of floods, droughts and epidemics.The concept back then was that there were too few farmers and too many doing other things.The method that the imperial court can propose is nothing more than the administration of officials, that is, to appoint good people and punish bad ones.According to Michael Loewe's research, the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty issued 57 edicts from 178 BC to 2 BC due to astronomy and various strange phenomena of Yin-Yang and Five Elements.As of 72 BC, that is, until the middle of Huo Guang's reign, such edicts were rarely issued, and even when they were issued, most of them referred to strange phenomena as good omens.Later, 44 edicts of this kind were issued, and it was often said that disasters and disasters were not the blessings of the country.If we look at the Emperor Ji in the "Hanshu", the excerpts in the document can be called "crime edicts". There are 8 times for Emperor Xuan, 13 times for Emperor Yuan, and 12 times for Emperor Cheng. It is not common to move soldiers and civilians with sincerity, even in traditional China.In 19 BC, Emperor Cheng stated that "the people of Li are suffering from hunger and cold", and that "the way of the emperor is gradually increasing the barbarians", which is not without factual basis. So Wang Mang is deceitful, and his background is that a strong government is needed that day.The imperial court of the Western Han Dynasty could not produce a strong leader.From his point of view, there is no way to open a way out except for usurping the throne.