Chapter 24 Comeback in the fourth quarter

The death of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty was a sudden death. He was just forty-six years old, and he was usually in good health. The night before, everything was normal. When he woke up the next morning, he suddenly became unable to speak and died instantly."Feiyan Waizhuan" written by Lingxuan of the Han Dynasty, describes this matter in great detail. To sum it up, it goes like this: Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty loved Zhao Feiyan's younger sister, Zhao Hede, the most in his later years. If you don't do it, you can't be cruel in the face of beauty and then be quick. It's time-consuming and sad, and I hate to kill!Zhao Hede searched all over the world for strange medicines, and he got prudent gelatin. Emperor Cheng took it, and it had miraculous effects. Every time he took a pill, he would be blessed once.The night before Chengdi's death, he had a drink with Zhao Hede, both of them were very drunk, Zhao Hede fed Chengdi seven capsules of pouch gel in one go, but he didn't realize that the medicine was too strong, Chengdi not only couldn't have sex, but also suddenly became sluggish, giggling stupidly one night.The next morning, Emperor Cheng got up and put on his clothes, but he saw that "the yin essence flowed incessantly, for a while, and he collapsed. The clothes looked at the emperor, and the rest of the essence gushed out, staining the quilt. The emperor collapsed in a moment." A typical death of the essence.

"Fei Yan Wai Zhuan" is an unofficial history, and it is inevitable that there are fictions and fabrications. The official history records the death of Emperor Cheng relatively obscurely, but Zhao Hede is also pushed as the culprit.Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun ordered people to pursue the cause of Emperor Yuan's death. Zhao Hede was ashamed to defend himself, and committed suicide in apology. The curiosity ends here, let's get down to business, and say that because Emperor Cheng had no heirs before his death, he appointed his nephew Liu Xin as the crown prince in advance.After the death of Emperor Cheng, Liu Xin succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ai of Han.

According to historical experience, all emperors with the posthumous title of Emperor Ai are usually unreliable, either weak or at the mercy of others. In addition to the life story of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty Liu Xin, the most famous one is his homosexual love with Dong Xian. And contributed an idiom for later generations-the addiction of breaking sleeves, so it is easier for people to misunderstand that Liu Xin, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty, is just another fatuous emperor who indulges in enjoyment and does nothing. In fact, Aidi Liu Xin is very strong! When Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty was in power, it was almost an empty shelf, and all power was controlled by the Wang family.In the harem, he can be impulsive and act at will, but once he is out of the harem, I'm sorry, impulsiveness is fine, but action is not.For example, once Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty summoned Liu Xin, and they had a pleasant conversation. On the spur of the moment, he wanted to make Liu Xin a permanent servant of the Central Committee, but the left and right were unanimously opposed, and the general Wang Feng had to be consulted first on this matter.Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty was displeased, and the Zhongchang servant was not a high-ranking official. Is it necessary to ask the general Wang Feng about such a trivial matter?It is necessary, quite necessary, for left and right people to kowtow and fight.Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty then asked General Wang Feng, Wang Feng shook his head, NO.Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to give up his thoughts and go back to the harem to vent.

When Emperor Ai succeeded to the throne, he was twenty years old and full of youthful vigor. He didn't want to be a cowardly emperor like Chengdi. He wanted to be the real supreme under heaven.The biggest obstacle to achieving this goal is undoubtedly the Wang family, who has power over the ruling and opposition parties. Emperor Ai also knew well that the Wang family's power was deeply rooted, and it was not easy to win in one fell swoop. Therefore, at the beginning of his succession, he did not act rashly. Characters-Wang Mang, Wang Gen, Wang Shun and others were also granted additional titles.After stabilizing the royal family, Emperor Ai began to cultivate the power of his relatives, respecting his grandmother Fu, the Empress Dowager, as the Empress Dowager, on an equal footing with the Empress Dowager, Wang Zhengjun, and respecting his mother Ding Ji as the Empress Dowager, and successively named Fu's Marquis six. There are two people, two Da Sima, six Jiuqing two thousand stones, more than ten servants from Zhucao, two people who are granted the title of Marquis Ding, one Da Sima, a general, and six Jiuqing two thousand stones.

After the wings were full, Emperor Ai began to attack the Wang family, dismissed the great Sima Wang Mang, and sent him back to the feudal state. The rest of the Wang family were also transferred from the central government and returned to their fiefdoms.The royal family, which was so powerful for a while, suffered a devastating blow. Above the central court, there was no one left in the royal family, and they were far away from the center of power ever since.And Wang Zhengjun, the patron saint of the Wang family, was also taken aside. Not only did he lose the power to interfere with the government, but he also suffered a lot of grievances in the harem. Emperor Ai's grandmother and mother often called her an old woman in person, humiliating her and making fun of her. for fun.

In the second and fifth years of Emperor Ai's accession to the throne, Emperor Ai's mother Ding Ji and grandmother Empress Dowager Fu passed away successively. However, for the Wang family, there was still no hope of returning to the center of power.The power of the government has long been firmly in the hands of Emperor Ai, how can he share it with the Wang family?Since Emperor Ai succeeded to the throne, he has killed two prime ministers and more than a dozen important ministers successively since he took the throne. The ministers were as silent as cicadas, and no one could resist. Emperor Ai was young, but his authority was already similar to that of Emperor Wu and Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.Emperor Ai favored Dong Xian exclusively, and named Dong Xian, who was only 22 years old, Grand Sima and Marquis of Gao'an. No one dared to object. Emperor Ai even publicly told everyone at a banquet: "I want to follow Yao, Zen and Shun, how about it?" It means that the Zen position makes Dong Xian the emperor, and the officials can only remain silent.

Besides, Wang Mang returned to the fief Xinyedu Township. According to the system at that time, the princes were not allowed to leave the fief without permission.Wang Mang defends himself, chewing on the loneliness of losing power, and savoring the sadness of being swept away. His aunt Wang Zhengjun can no longer count on him. If he wants to return to Chang'an, the only life-saving straw is the reputation he has accumulated over the years. .It happened that his second son, Wang Huo, killed a servant girl. Wang Mang was overjoyed and realized that the opportunity had come, so he forced Wang Huo to commit suicide to apologize.It stands to reason that if you kill a servant girl, you can just pay some money. Is it worth paying for the life of your own son?Wang Mang smiled, you don't understand. It is not news that a dog bites a man, but it is news that a man bites a dog.Overcorrection must be overcorrected. If Wang Huo was a capital crime, it would not be surprising for me to kill him. On the contrary, Wang Huo could survive, but I still wanted to kill him. This is my ability.What is righteousness and killing relatives means killing when there is an opportunity, and killing when there is no opportunity to create an opportunity.

After Wang Mang forced Wang Huo to death, the public opinion praised Wang Mang for being fair and strict and not favoritism. More than 100 people wrote to Emperor Ai, calling for grievances for Wang Mang.Emperor Ai also felt the pressure of public opinion. Anyway, now that his power was stable, Wang Mang could not make any big waves, so he was happy to obey the public opinion, and sent Wang Mang back to Chang'an, ordering him to serve the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun. Emperor Ai thought well, as long as he was alive, Wang Mang and the Wang family would never be able to make a comeback.Unfortunately, Emperor Ai suffered from flaccidity and numbness in his early years. His hands and feet were flaccid and his limbs were paralyzed.In the seventh year of his accession to the throne, on the fifth day of the fifth month in the first year of BC, Emperor Ai woke up and found that he had died of illness.His soul escaped from his body, and he saw the chaos in Weiyang Palace, and the servants were all panicked and bewildered because of his sudden death.Emperor Ai never thought that he would die so soon, so he did not pre-arrange his funeral. His soul wandered in the Weiyang Palace. He really wanted to see how the living people would fill up the huge power he left behind. vacuum.After a while, he saw a carriage rushing into Weiyang Palace, and an old lady with white hair got out of the carriage, her face was as frosty and her expression was majestic.Emperor Ai recognized it, and the old lady was the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun.Emperor Ai smiled wryly, he knew that everything was over, Wang Mang was about to come out, the Wang family would make a comeback, the Fu family and the Ding family would be eradicated, and Dong Xian, his favorite, would follow him to the west.Aidi's soul couldn't bear to look any more, and went to heaven crying.

Wang Zhengjun was seventy years old, when he heard about Emperor Ai's death, he immediately got up and drove straight to Weiyang Palace. The old lady had been in the court for nearly fifty years, and anyone in Weiyang Palace who dared to challenge her would naturally let her get what she wanted.The old lady took the emperor's seal and ribbon, sent and received the military talisman festival, issued an imperial edict, ordered all the officials to play the role, and sent envoys to quickly summon Wang Mang into the palace to command the Zhonghuangmen and Qimen soldiers.In just one hour, the old lady regained the supreme power of the empire.Wang Zhengjun came to the court to proclaim the system. After she had suffered from Emperor Ai, she believed that the power was in the hands of her own children before she could rest assured, so she re-appointed Wang Mang as Da Sima and acted in power.

Wang Mang regained power and immediately started a big purge. Dong Xian and his wife committed suicide, and their families were exiled.Wherever the cleaning went, the dead were not spared. Wang Mang dug up the tombs of Emperor Ai's mother, Ding Ji, and grandmother, Empress Dowager Fu, burned the utensils in the inner coffin, and opened the coffin to expose the corpse.Wang Zhengjun couldn't bear it at first, but Wang Mang insisted again and again. Seeing Wang Mang's filial piety, Wang Zhengjun decided to vent his anger for the insult she was insulted by Ding Ji and Queen Mother Fu, which fulfilled Wang Mang's kindness.