Liu Zhuang, Ming Di

Liu Zhuang, the fourth son of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was named Yang. Born in the fourth year of Jianwu (28) and the fifteenth year of Jianwu (39), he was named Donghai Gong, and became king in the seventeenth year of Jianwu (465,438+0). Before Liu Zhuang became the Crown Prince, Liu Xiu had a Crown Prince, his eldest son Liu Qiang. Liu Zhuang's accession to the throne needs to start with the fate of two women in the harem of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. One is Yin Lihua of Xinye, and the other is Wang's granddaughter Guo.

In the contest of various forces, Liu Xiu gradually gained absolute superiority. In AD 25, Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han regime. When Liu Xiu became emperor, he was faced with the question of who to choose as the queen. Yin Lihua used to be a confidant, but at this time Yin Lihua was childless and Guo had a boy. In the feudal era, the needs of politics and patriarchal clan system far overwhelmed the power of love, and the emperor had to consider the responsibility of carrying on the family line. So in the second year of Jianwu (26), Queen Wei Liu and Yin Lihua were distinguished guests. In the same year, Liu Qiang was made the Crown Prince.

The world was not yet settled, and Liu Xiu led the army to conquer Chong Peng. Yin Lihua also went out with the army. On the March, Yin Lihua was pregnant. In Yuanshi County, Yin Lihua gave birth to a boy, later Ming Di Liu Zhuang, who was named Liu Yang at this time. This year is the fourth year of Jianwu (28).

Liu Yang was born in Yin Lihua, so he was especially favored by Liu Xiu. When I was a teenager, I studied under the master of Confucian classics, Huan Rong. /kloc-at the age of 0/0, I can recite and understand the classic Spring and Autumn Annals. Liu Xiu thinks his son is great, and he is simply a child prodigy. Studying and observing the government activities around Emperor Guangwu earlier increased Liu Yang's talent. In the 15th year of Jianwu (39), Liu Xiu ordered an inventory of cultivated land and registered permanent residence in the world, and ordered the secretariat and the prefect to report them one by one. On this day to report for duty, 12-year-old Liu Yang stood behind Liu Xiu, observing the look of the reporting officials. Liu Xiu looked at the document carefully and rummaged through it. He found such a sentence among the officials in Chenliu County: "Yingchuan and Hongnong can ask, but southern Henan and Nanyang can't ask." Liu Xiu was puzzled and asked the following officials: "What does this sentence mean?" Liu Chen officials rushed out and said that this simplified Chinese book was picked up from Longevity Street, and I don't know what it means. Liu Yang, standing behind Liu Xiu, smiled and walked to his father, bowing and asked, "Can I explain the meaning of this sentence?" Liu Xiu encouraged him to say, "Of course." So Liu Yang said: "Henan is the capital, and senior officials of the central government live here; Nanyang is your majesty's hometown, and most of your relatives live here. Therefore, the officials in charge of inspection dare not ask more about the field figures of these two places. " Liu Xiu suddenly realized that this 12-year-old child has such a keen eye. So there was a plan to take Liu Yang as the heir to the throne.

At this time, because of losing power and influence, Queen Guo also increased her resentment and satirized Yin Lihua from time to time, which strengthened her determination to make a difference. But there is nothing wrong with Liu Yuxin's crown. Determined to depose Guo first. So in the seventeenth year of Jianwu (465,438+0), Guo was deposed and Yin Lihua was appointed as the queen on the grounds that "resentment was powerful and several times violated the fatwas".

After the abolition of Queen Guo, the position of King Qiang was very embarrassing, and he struggled for power and profit all day long for fear that the world would not be chaotic. The assistant minister in the temple saw through Liu Xiu's mind and said to Liu Qiang, "Your Highness has been suspicious for a long time, violating filial piety and approaching crisis. Once upon a time, Yin was a master of English and a good minister through the ages. However, he exiled his dutiful son because of his little doubt. As for the meaning of Spring and Autumn Annals, mother is more precious than son. For the sake of your highness, it is better to take the opportunity to give way and serve your mother. This is the most sure way not to lose the holy religion! " Liu Qiang weighed the weight of words and felt that his mother had been abolished and the tide was gone. He had to write to Liu Xiu and ask for a seat to leave the town. Liu Xiu couldn't bear to approve, because Liu Qiang was not at fault after all. Liu Qiang also asked to be close to the minister and show sincerity for him. Liu Xiu felt that the time was ripe, so in the 19th year of Jianwu (43), he wrote: "In the sense of Spring and Autumn Annals, it is very important to establish a son. Wang Yang of the East China Sea, the son of the Queen, should inherit the Great Unity. The crown prince is strong and humble, and is willing to prepare for the country. Father and son have been in love for a long time and regard strength as the king of the East China Sea. " After receiving the imperial edict, Liu Qiang handed in the seal of the Prince. On the same day, Liu Yang, the king of the East China Sea, was named Prince and changed his name to Zhuang. This year, Liu Zhuang 16 years old.

In the second year of Jianwu Zhongyuan (57), Liu Xiu died, and Liu Zhuang officially proclaimed himself emperor at the age of 30. Because of Wang Mang's reform and the social unrest that followed, the etiquette system of the country was destroyed. Therefore, the princes and ministers came to attend the funeral, disobeyed the statutes, and the court was in chaos. Ming Di's brothers sat side by side with Ming Di in the palace and didn't take the new emperor seriously at all. In order to establish prestige, Ming Di ordered Qiu Zhao Xi to preside over the funeral. Zhao Xi failed to live up to his great trust and drew his sword into the DPRK. He invited the king who was sitting with Ming Di to walk down the hall and join the ranks of ministers, so as to distinguish between monarch and minister. And rectify the palace guard system, and kingdom officials are not allowed to enter or leave the palace. The order of the imperial court gradually stabilized.

However, under the surface calm, there are still restless undercurrents. Ming Di's brothers don't believe that he inherited the unification as the fourth son. Ming Di's half-brother Wang forged the handwriting of Guo Kuang, the younger brother of Queen Guo, and wrote a letter to Liu Qiang, the king of the East China Sea, saying that his innocence had been abolished, which made people dissatisfied and advised him to take the method of dispatching troops to seize the world. Liu Qiang is a timid person. He was busy sending envoys and letters to Luoyang and handing them over to Ming Di for investigation. Ming Di told prison officials to suspend the trial of the messenger and monitor him. After careful observation, people found that this letter was indeed written by Liu Jing, the king of Yangshan Kingdom. This incident is a great shock to Ming Di. If the half-brothers are still like this, will the brothers of different mothers be quiet? The urgent task is to ease the contradictions within the royal family! Therefore, Liu Jing's case is confidential, so as not to cause more commotion. Be equally respectful to Yin, Guo and other empresses. "Everything must be equal and full of human feelings." Ming Di also took care of the former Qiang soldiers in Liu Yuxin, and his treatment was higher than that of ordinary princes. In the first year of Yongping (58), Liu Qiang fell ill, sent messengers to his country to greet him, and ordered the imperial doctor to treat him, and ordered Liu Qiang's half-brothers, Ji 'nan Kang and Huaiyangyan to visit him. In terms of personnel arrangement, Gaomi was appointed as a teacher after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and Wang Mudi was appointed as a general in title of generals in ancient times. Zhao Xi, imperial clan, hero and bureaucratic group kept their original posts, which made them have their own political representatives and increased the stability of the regime. At the same time, Ming Di also issued imperial edicts, giving titles to people all over the world, taking in refugees, reducing or exempting punishment, taking care of widows, alleviating social contradictions to the greatest extent and consolidating its rule.

Of course, Ming Di did not blindly adopt a concession policy to the struggle within the ruling class. Once its rule was consolidated, it began to severely suppress the opposition and strengthen its own autocratic rule. In the 13th year of Yongping (70), the king of Chu was imprisoned by the British, which was a heavy blow to the vassal forces. Liu Ying, king of Chu, was born to Emperor Guangwu and Xu. Because many beautiful women fell out of favor, Liu Ying was also given a cold shoulder and was sealed in a remote place with a small fief. At that time, Buddhism was gradually introduced into China, and Liu Ying became interested in Buddhism in all kinds of boredom. He worshipped Buddha several times, hoping to protect himself with the help of Buddha's light. This year, a man named Yan Guang wrote to the court to impeach Liu Ying, Wang Ping, Zhong Yan and other Yuyang people, and wrote a book in the name of believing in Buddhism. Ming Di immediately ordered Zong Zheng to send someone to verify the report. Soon, officials reported that Liu Ying, the king of Chu, recruited cunning, fabricated predictions and attempted to usurp the throne, and the evidence was conclusive. Request that Liu Ying be sentenced to death. Ming Di got the conclusion of the report, and announced that he had deprived Liu Ying, the king of Chu, of his title and moved to Jingxian County, Danyang. Liu Ying went to Danyang and committed suicide.

Although Liu Ying is dead, the case is not over. Liu Ying's accomplice and Wang Ping, the king of Chu, were detained in Luoyang prison for trial. Unable to stand the torture of the prison guards, the two men retracted their confessions at will, implicating many innocent people. These people include Hou, Lang, Zang Xin, Hou Dengmao and Qu Chenghou. These four people, Zhong Yan and Wang Ping, are strangers and don't know each other. But at this time, Ming Di has poured his hatred of the imperial clan kings into Wang Chuying's prison, so the people recruited by Zhong Yan and Wang Ping are all poor. No matter whether the evidence is established or not, the following officials' flattery has caused a lot of unjust imprisonment. Only Han Lang, an imperial envoy, dared to handle the case according to law. He took the opportunity to inquire about the case and hurt four people, including Chen. Emperor Ming was furious and asked Han Lang, "You said Geng Jian and the other four princes were innocent. Why did Zhong Yan and Wang Ping admit that they were involved in the crime? " Han Lang adjusted her clothes and calmly replied: "Zhong Yan and Wang Ping know that they have committed unforgivable crimes, so they just confess and want to live!" Ming Di asked again, "Since you know this situation, why didn't you report it earlier?" But he said, "Although I know that these four people are wronged, I am afraid that someone in the sea will falsely accuse me, so I dare not report it immediately." Ming Chengzu was furious and shouted around to take Lenglang down and punish him. Han Lang shouted, "I am fighting for my motherland. I hope I can die if I say a word! " Ming Di called about pause, let LengLang finish. Lenglang kowtowed and said, "I have been ordered by your majesty to try criminals for one year. I can't help criminals, but I must defend them. I know I will die. I still hope that your majesty will listen to me and realize it. The ministers of the DPRK knew all about many unjust cases, but no one dared to speak. I can be straightforward today, I have nothing to hate! " Ming Di listened to Lenglang's words and was silent for a long time. He waved Lenglang out. Back to the dormitory that night, restless night, trouble sleeping. Cold lang's bitter remonstrance is undoubtedly a sobering agent, which gradually calmed Ming Di's dizzy heart. In the past few days, the poor management of Chu prison has made the DPRK ministers uneasy and may be implicated. The people are also full of doubts and rumors. Liu Ying, the king of Chu, liked communication before his death, and most courtiers had some contacts with him. At this rate, the situation will be unpredictable. Ming Di sighed deeply. Yes, it's time to change course. The next morning, Ming Di personally went to Luoyang prison to check the case. Release all prisoners without conclusive evidence and then go home. This release, a total of 1000 people were released. The courtiers' hearts gradually settled down, and the faces in the court were much calmer. The rumors among the people naturally subsided.

Ye Fan, the author of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, commented: "Ming Di is good at punishment and law." Ming Di himself may be very conceited about this, so he will personally handle government affairs and ask every detail after he takes office. One day, Ming Di handed over 10 silk to the emissary of the Western Regions, and the merchant in charge of registration mistakenly recorded it as 100 silk, and handed over the record to Dasinong for accounting. I don't know if Ming Di saw the record, or because of other reasons, Ming Di asked senior sinong for this book to check and found the mistake. Ming Chengzu was furious and called the merchants back to the palace. We should severely punish him on the spot and order him to press left and right and hit him hard with a big stick. Li Zhong, the official in charge of Shangshutai, heard about it outside the palace, and hurried into the temple, kowtowing and pleading, saying, "The mistake is a small one, which is not enough for heavy punishment. Lang Guan is my subordinate. Your Majesty can punish me if he wants, which is enough to punish a hundred officials. " Ming Di's anger gradually subsided. One day, Lang Guan Yao Song made a small mistake. Ming Di grabbed a stick and hit it. Yao Song was afraid and quickly got under the bed to hide. Ming Di was even more angry and shouted, "Lang Chu! Langchu! " Under the bed, Yao Song replied, "The son of heaven is Mu Mu, and his ministers are magnificent. I have never heard of the monarch, so I ran into Lang! " Hearing this, Ming Di turned his anger into joy, threw away his stick and said, "Come out, I'll spare you this time. "Ming Di is not only strict with the junior officials around him, but also strict with the etiquette of being fair and honest. Every time you make a mistake, you are reprimanded in person. The official administration of Yongping Dynasty was praised by later historians.

At that time, the Yellow River moved south, from Dongwan (now Shandong Province) to the sea. Because there are no restrictions on dikes, the downstream is often flooded. In order to restore agricultural production, in the 12th year of Yongping (69), Ming Di appointed famous engineering water conservancy experts Wang Jing and Wu Wang to be responsible for repairing the Yellow River. Wang Jing and Wu Wang led hundreds of thousands of migrant workers and soldiers. First, they used the "weir flow method" to build Junyi canal, and built more than 1000 miles of ditches and dikes from Xingyang to Haikou, Qiancheng, which diverted the river. Constrained by newly-built dikes, the Yellow River has enough water potential to wash sand into the sea. Through the joint efforts of the army and the people, the flood of the Yellow River was finally subdued, which provided security for the production and life of the people along the coast.

In response to the invasion of the surrounding nomads, Ming Di changed his defensive stance during the reign of Emperor Guangwu and adopted the strategy of active attack for the sake of social stability and national strength recovery. In the eighth year of Yongping (65), tarquin in the north attacked Hexi counties, burned the city and plundered many people, so that the gates of Hexi were closed during the day and the people were miserable. In the 15th year of Yongping (72), the northern Xiongnu invaded Hexi again, and threatened the small countries in the western regions to join the invasion. Facing the rampant intrusion of Xiongnu forces in the north, Geng Bing said: "China wastes money, the border is restless, and all the suffering lies with Xiongnu! Fight to support the war, Saint Wang Zhidao. " Ming Di was very interested in the Northern Expedition and agreed with Geng Ping. That year, Ming Di sent Dou Gu and Geng Bing to Liangzhou (Longxian County ruled by the Eastern Han Dynasty, now Qingshui County of Gansu Province) to prepare for the Northern Expedition. In the 16th year of Yongping (73), Ming Di ordered a general to lead a cavalry unit composed of southern Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Xianbei and other ethnic minorities, and set out for the Northern Expedition in four ways, which started the war between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Northern Xiongnu. On this expedition, Dou went out of Jiuquan, defeated the Xiongnu Huyan Wang Department in Tianshan Mountain (now northern Turpan, Xinjiang), chased the Prehai Lake (now Barkun Lake), and occupied Yiwu Lucheng (now Hami County, Xinjiang).

In order to consolidate the achievements of military activities, Dou Gu ordered Sima Ban Chao and Guo Yao to carry out diplomatic activities in western countries. Ban Chao and Guo Yao led 36 people to Shanshan first. At first, King Shanshan was very polite to Ban Chao and others. After a few days, the temperature suddenly dropped. Ban Chao and Guo Yao discussed and said, "Wang Li is not as good as before, and the northern Xiongnu must have sent messengers again." So the next day, when Ban Chao saw King Shanshan, he asked, "The Xiongnu emissary has been here for several days. Where do you live? " Wang Shanshan was so frightened that he had to tell the truth. In the evening, Ban Chao secretly gathered 36 members of his subordinates together and encouraged them to say, "The purpose of coming here with me is to make contributions and seek wealth. Now that the Xiongnu emissary has arrived, King Shanshan's attitude has changed, and our situation is very dangerous. " The following people said, "Now, I am willing to live and die with Sima!" Ban Chao jumped up and said emotionally, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained! We attacked the Hun emissary in secret, and Shanshan naturally fell. Become famous in one fell swoop and become famous in one fell swoop. " That night, the north wind was very strong, and Ban Chao and his party touched the residence of the Xiongnu emissary and set fire to it with the wind. Officials took advantage of the chaos to kill all the more than 100 people sent by Xiongnu to Shanshan. The next day, Ban Chao and others dedicated the heads of Xiongnu messengers to Wang Shanshan. Wang Shanshan was frightened to disgrace, and quickly confessed that he would never have second thoughts again, taking his son as the quality. Ban Chao returned to Luoyang with protons, and Ming Di was very happy. He was promoted to military commander and ordered to continue to operate the western regions.

In terms of ideology and culture, Ming Di advocated Confucianism and ordered the Crown Prince, princes, ministers' children and heroes' children to read classics. He also set up a school in Nangong for the children of consorts such as Guo, Yin and Ma, and hired talented teachers to preach and teach. In the Five Classics, Ming Di emphasized filial piety, advocated "ruling the world with filial piety", and even ordered the guards in Qimen and Yulin to recite the Classic of Filial Piety. Ming Di also attaches great importance to the etiquette system. He personally negotiated with Liu Cang, the king of Dongping, and made a ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, earth and ancestors, and established a system of cars and clothes for emperors, princes and officials according to their grades. Ming Di strongly advocated respecting teachers. When Ming Di was a prince, he studied Shangshu with Dr. Huan Rong. After he acceded to the throne, he still respected Huan Rong as his teacher. Huan Rong was transferred to Taichang with a young master, and Ming Di often went to Taichang House to listen to Huan Rong's lectures. Huanrong's student asked Ming Di to explain, and Ming Di smiled modestly and said, "The teacher is here, so don't ask me." Huan Rong is over 80 years old at this time and often can't afford to get sick. Ming Di sent a doctor to treat him. When Huan Rong died, Ming Di personally held a ceremony to accept his disciples and made mourning clothes for him. Of course, Ming Di did this out of the friendship between teachers and students, but what is more important is its exemplary role. The purpose is to advocate the atmosphere of respecting teachers and valuing morality to the society, so as to safeguard the ethics and political rule of the feudal landlord class.

Ming Di also adopts an eclectic attitude towards foreign cultures. Legend has it that the emperor once slept and dreamed of a tall golden man, emitting white light overhead and descending in the middle of the palace. Just as he was about to cross-examine, Jin jumped into the air with a loud cry and flew west. When I woke up, I was puzzled. At the court meeting the next day, he explained to the ministers what he saw in his dream, and most people didn't know why. Dr. Yi Fu suggested, "I heard that there is a god in the west called Buddha. Where there are Buddhist scriptures in the Buddha, there is Buddhism. Huo Qubing, a general in ancient times, attacked the Huns during the inauguration of Yuan, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and seized the 12 golden statue offered by the King of Earth-repairing, and put it in Ganquan Palace to burn incense as a gift. After years of war, 12 Jin people have long since disappeared. What your majesty dreamed today may be the illusion of the Buddha! " These words aroused Ming Di's curiosity, so he sent a doctor Cai Cheng to Tianzhu to learn from the scriptures. Cai Cheng went through all kinds of hardships and arrived at Dayue's home. Together with Da Yue monks Mo Teng and Zhu Falan, he rode a white horse and returned to Luoyang with Buddhist scriptures. Ming Di ordered the construction of China's first Buddhist temple-White Horse Temple in Luoyang City to store Buddhist scriptures and teach Buddhism.

In the autumn of the 18th year of Yongping (75), Ming Di fell ill and died in the front hall of Luoyang East Palace at the age of 48. At that time, it was buried in Xianjie Mausoleum, and the temple was named "Xianzong".