Chapter 69 Chapter 69 The Chaotic Harem

In the second year of Yongshi (15 BC), the year following Wang Mang's enfeoffment as Marquis of Xindu, Da Sima Wang Yin died.The person who took over the position of Da Sima was one of the "five princes a day" Wang brothers-Chengdu Hou Wangshang.In terms of order, the successor should be Ping Ahhou Wang Tan, but this person passed away two years ago.Wang Mang was named a Marquis, which is a bit like his uncle Wang Tan's death and his son succeeding him as a Marquis. It is a free ride. Wang Mang became more and more cautious in dealing with things. The death of Da Sima Wang Shang happened in December of the first year of Yuanyan (12 BC).According to the order, this time it should be the turn of the younger brother Wang Li to be promoted to the chief Sima.But Wang Lizheng was denounced because of land possession, so this opportunity jumped to his younger brother Wang Gen.

Due to his illness, Wang Gen repeatedly asked for "return of the bones" on the grounds that he could not bear the heavy responsibility. In terms of important status in state affairs, it means dedicating one's body to the monarch.Therefore, when resigning, it is called "request for the return of bones". When Wang Gen asked to "return the bones", the emperor generously "give the bones", that is, to allow his resignation. At that time, among the relatives who occupied the position of Jiuqing, Chunyu Chang had the highest status.This person is the son of Wang Mang's father's sister.Wang Mang's official position is Doctor Guanglu.Although they are both officials with a salary of two thousand stones, this status is still under Guang Luxun, one of the nine ministers, and they are still inferior in name.

At this time, Chunyu Chang seemed likely to be appointed as the great Sima, but after Wang Mang's various efforts, the proposal was finally cancelled. ——Chun Yuchang was overjoyed that Da Sima was ill.He has promised a new job to a crowd of supporters! He told the empress dowager so. If you want to inform, you don't have to worry about not being able to find materials. The first queen of Emperor Cheng was the daughter of Xu Jia, Xu Guanghan's nephew.When Xu Jia was serving as a permanent attendant of Emperor Xuan, he once heard the words of the emperor, "If the crown prince (later Emperor Yuan) does not have a son within a year, he will be abolished and replaced by King Huaiyang." The prince reported and forced Wang Zhengjun to him to make him give birth to the prince (Chengdi).

Emperor Cheng, who was born at this time, not only loves things in the cup and holding banquets, but also loves hunting. The elder sister of the original queen Xu was worried about this, so she was given a prayer technique in an attempt to make the emperor's heart return to her sister.Not only that, but she also committed the great rebellious act of cursing the harem woman who was pregnant with the prince.After the incident was exposed, the sister was sentenced to death, and the Xu family was also abolished and moved to Zhaotai Palace. After the abolition, the Xu family had another sister named Yu.She, who was a widow, was Chunyu Chang's lover at this time.

——I can make your sister the Left Queen (Deputy Queen) again.The Empress Dowager loves me very much, so I can do this. Chunyu Chang made a promise to her. Since Emperor Cheng had already established the Zhao family as the queen at that time, it was impossible to restore the Xu family as the real queen.However, in fact, Emperor Cheng took pity on Mrs. Xu and took her back to Changding Palace from Zhaotai Palace in Shanglinyuan.Therefore, the possibility of making her a vice queen is not entirely impossible.What's so stupid is that Chun Yuchang actually wrote this promise in a letter, and there were some disrespectful words in the letter.

Chunyu Chang was executed for this. The opponent has been eliminated.Wang Gen, who was eager to resign due to illness, had no choice but to recommend Wang Mang as his successor. Although there are many members of the Wang clan, among them, only Wang Mang is truly praised by the world.The rest of the people are either fatuous or dandies.Although you can decide on personnel and affairs as you like, you can't completely ignore people's comments. In the first year of Suihe (8 BC), Wang Mang finally became Da Sima.He was thirty-eight at the time. Before this, Wang Mang took people's comments into account in all his actions.His move can be said to be completely successful.From this we can get a glimpse of how planned Wang Mang is.

Wang Mang's heart was not satisfied with the position of the Great Sima of the Han Dynasty.Taking office as Da Sima is just the beginning.It was after this that he really displayed his abilities. What is his ultimate goal? To usurp the Han Empire, establish a new dynasty of his own, and take the throne by himself——towards this goal, he put his meticulous plan into practice step by step. Wang Mang finally usurped the Han Empire.In fact, the Han Empire itself had the unsurprising weakness of being usurped. Emperor Xuan's rule of the world can be said to be the last period when the Han Empire shined.

Emperor Xuan's son, Emperor Yuan, employed Confucian scholars in politics and established a political system that was ostentatious.This system has no content at all, and everything is superficial.During his sixteen years of ruling the world, due to the good foundation of his ancestors, there were no mistakes. However, the political situation is secretly deteriorating. Chengdi, the son of Emperor Yuan, accelerated the corruption of the Han Empire because of his obsession with female sex. Emperor Cheng died at the age of forty-five in the year following Wang Mang's inauguration as Da Sima.He just left the completely rotten empire in front of Wang Mang and died.

Before describing the process of usurping the Han Empire, let's briefly describe the whole story of Emperor Cheng's obsession with women! The downfall of the original queen Xu has been as mentioned above. A woman surnamed Ban was promoted to the status of "Jieyu".This is a very smart woman, knowing that the emperor no longer loves her, she immediately said: "I am willing to serve by the empress dowager's side." So she was transferred to Changxin Palace and was able to protect her life. The reason why Emperor Cheng no longer dotes on Empress Xu and Ban Jieyu is because of the appearance of a pair of sisters named Zhao.

The Zhao sisters came from a humble family.It is said that when my elder sister was born, her parents abandoned her because they could not take care of her. As a result, she did not die without breastfeeding for three days.Surprised, her parents took her back to raise her.This story proves that the family she was born in was indeed poor. After her elder sister grew up, she was sent to work in Princess Yang'a's mansion.Princess Yang'a is the elder sister of Emperor Cheng.She worked as a maid, because of her light body, Princess Yanga thought it would be better to let her become a dancer, so she began to learn to dance.As a result, she really showed her incomparable talent in dancing.She dances gracefully and is called "Flying Swallow".

Chengdi, who likes to seek excitement, often travels in micro-clothes. He is accompanied by Zhang Fang, Marquis of Fuping. Chengdi calls himself Zhang Fang's family members. Therefore, people call the emperor "Mr. Zhang". During a trip in micro-clothes, Emperor Cheng went to his sister's mansion, and after watching Feiyan dance, he fell in love with her. "Sister, can I have this woman?" "Of course. Your majesty might as well bring her sister along with her!" "Huh? She also has a younger sister!" "This sister has a different style!" Princess Yang'a said with a mysterious smile. The Zhao sisters then entered the harem. As Princess Yang'a said, the Zhao sisters are completely different in appearance and personality. The older sister, Feiyan, lives up to her name, she is a woman with a slender figure and elegant demeanor. —Dancing on the palm of your hand. This description is not too much for her. In contrast, the younger sister is a gorgeous woman with a plump body. These two women can be said to have complementary functions, right?After trying women with willow waists, if you change your taste with plump women, lustful people will of course be more satisfied. The older sister, Feiyan, was made queen, while the younger sister was promoted to be Zhaoyi.Zhaoyi's status is already higher than that of Jieyu. The empress dowager strongly opposed Li Feiyan as the empress. The reason for the opposition is that the status is too low. This point was satisfactorily resolved through Chun Yuchang, a lobbyist in the palace, who first named Zhao Lin, the father of the Zhao sisters, as Marquis of Chengyang, and then appointed Zhao Feiyan as queen a month later. The Zhao sisters shared Emperor Cheng's favor for decades. During this period, the rest of the women in the harem were overshadowed.Although Emperor Cheng sometimes wanted to cuddle women other than the Zhao sisters, but because these two people were extremely jealous, he didn't dare to do it blatantly.Occasionally stealing fish, the Zhao sisters will soon find out - this pair of sisters seems to be particularly sensitive in this regard. Although monopolizing the emperor's love, the Zhao sisters never gave birth to a son.On that note, the flaw doesn't seem to lie with the emperor.The emperor had repeatedly made the women in the harem bear children, but all the children born died young.Ban Jieyu gave birth to two sons, both of whom died a few months later. This was a common occurrence at a time when infant mortality was extremely high.However, after the Zhao sisters entered the harem, the babies born in the harem died prematurely and died unnaturally.It was the Zhao sisters who forced the emperor to kill them. Although it was under the begging of the Zhao sisters, it was unimaginable for the childless Emperor Cheng to dispose of the child he had finally obtained.This shows how useless Chengdi is. The former empress Xu who was once deposed was taken back to Changding Palace from Shanglinyuan, as mentioned above.The abolished Empress Xu later gave birth to another child, but Zhao Zhaoyi discovered it. Emperor Cheng promised that Zhao Zhaoyi would deal with the baby, but she insisted: "Maybe the emperor is just talking, it's hard for my concubine to believe it absolutely. I have to see it with my own eyes." Zhao Zhaoyi didn't stop arguing until she and the emperor inspected the baby's body in a wicker box. A woman named Cao Gong in Zhonggong Shi also gave birth to a child for Emperor Cheng.As a result, Cao Gong swallowed the poison given by the emperor and died, and the baby was taken to nowhere—of course he was killed.The pity is that the six maidservants who followed Cao Gong were all forced to commit suicide by drinking poison under Zhao Zhaoyi's order.They were silenced in order to prevent the news of the prince's murder from leaking out. The elder sister Zhao Feiyan, who became the queen, was eager to have a child.Being a queen without becoming the mother of a prince has no power at all.In order to enjoy the wealth and glory forever, she must bear children no matter what. "It must be that my body is not suitable for the emperor..." Zhao Feiyan explained the reason why she couldn't conceive in this way.In other words, if you are with other men, you will definitely get pregnant.Therefore, she decided to find a man to sleep with, and then lied that she was pregnant with the prince. However, the harem is a forbidden area for men, even Prime Minister Sima is not allowed to step into the harem, and it is even impossible for a young man with plenty of energy to get close to the harem.Zhao Feiyan came up with a method.There is a kind of "calf cart" (cart pulled by a calf), which is dedicated to transporting items into the harem.The gatekeepers did not check anything brought in under the queen's special order.Noticing this, she transported a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man to the harem in a cart.Just in case it was discovered, the man was in disguise. The queen's adultery, which was unheard of, was carried out.Even so, the queen still showed no signs of pregnancy. Emperor Cheng finally discovered the queen's absurd behavior.But at this time, he had truly fallen in love with his younger sister Zhao Zhaoyi, and it was really inconvenient to deal with his lover's older sister. Zhao Zhaoyi followed Chengdi every step of the way. It has been more than ten years since they entered the harem. In view of this fact, the sisters began to give up on the matter of giving birth to a prince.In order to continue to hold power after the death of Emperor Cheng, they planned to adopt a child who would obey their orders. Since the emperor had no heir, only the royal family closest to the imperial lineage was appointed as the prince.Taking age into account, the most suitable candidates are King Zhongshan, the last brother of Emperor Cheng, and King Dingtao, nephew of Emperor Cheng. The Emperor Cheng in the crown prince era was indeed ineffective. His father, Emperor Yuan, had the intention of abolishing him. At that time, it was Dingtao King Liu Kang who was considering becoming the new crown prince, and the current Dingtao King is his son Liu Xin. After entering the palace to pay homage to the emperor, Fu, the grandmother of Dingtao King Liu Xin, bribed the Zhao sisters and asked them for help so that her grandson could be selected as the crown prince. This is a dream opportunity, and the Zhao sisters gladly accepted this request, and helped King Dingtao be made the crown prince.Because of this relationship, even if there is a big change, their power will remain intact. And a big change happened.Emperor Cheng died suddenly! This is the result of taking too much traditional Chinese medicine. - Take only one tablet per day. When the attendant doctor handed over the medicine, he had explained it like this, and Zhao Zhaoyi, who was already drunk at the time, agreed wholeheartedly, but let Emperor Cheng take the seven medicines he got at one time.Emperor Cheng died suddenly because of this. The empress dowager, who was suspicious of her son's sudden death, ordered: "Carefully investigate the situation before and after the emperor's death!" The doctor's special warning that "you can only take one tablet a day" was proved by several people who were present at the time.But the remaining six could not be found no matter how hard they looked. So far, the cause of death is conclusive. This is the fault of Zhao Zhaoyi, the queen's sister.She must take responsibility for this matter. It is said that before committing suicide, she once said such words. ——I played with the emperor in the palm of my hand, and I was born a woman. Is there anything more proud than this?I die without regret.