The King and the Empress Dowager-Photo by Wang, Three Miracles of National Unification

Liu Xin, the son of King Ding Tao, competed with his competitor's grandson for the crown prince in Yuan Di Palace. When Emperor Cheng was alive, Duke Tao came to Korea. He cares about the mutual affection of the first emperor, no longer cares about the festivals he strives for, and is very good to this younger brother. Emperor Cheng once said to King Ding Tao, "I have no son, and my life is uncertain. If anything happens, we can't meet like today. You can still stay with me and see each other often. " Later, forced by General Wang Feng, Liu Kang left his hometown, and they both cried and said goodbye to each other. When he became an emperor in his later years, he knew that there was no hope of having children, so he had to find a suitable candidate in the imperial clan with his mother Wang and inherit the imperial system. At that time, the most promising were his younger brother Zhongshan Xiao and his nephew Ding Liuxin.

Play the king.

In four years (the first nine years), both Wang and Ding entered the DPRK. King Ding Tao took the government, Xiang and three courtiers into the court, while Xiao, the king of Zhongshan, took only one palace. Emperor Cheng felt puzzled and asked why. King Ding Tao replied, "Ancestors have their own customs, and princes should be respected when they enter the court, so they brought in two thousand stone officials." Fu, Xiang, are all two thousand stones of China, so you can follow them. "Emperor Cheng also asked him to recite the Book of Songs, and he was very happy that King Tao could speak his mind and understand his meaning. Another day, he asked his younger brother Xiao, "Is there any law that only Fuwang can enter the DPRK?" King Xiao of Zhongshan was dumbfounded and asked him to recite the Book of History. He prevaricated. Later, Emperor Cheng gave a banquet to Wang Ci, the vassal, and was the last one to leave after eating. When he got up, the belt on his socks was loose again. Emperor Cheng thought that King Zhongshan was not as good as King Tao, so he often praised Wang Youcai for his talent. This has had an important impact on Dingtao Wang's succession to Datong. In addition, Empress Fu, the grandmother of Dingtao Wang who accompanied her, also worked hard for her grandson in the palace and paid bribes in many ways. First of all, she got through the joints of Zhao, the favorite sister of Emperor Cheng, and sent many treasures and specialties. Scott's sisters also heard the emperor's praise for King Dingtao. They wanted to take the opportunity to consolidate their position in the palace in the future, so they actively fought for him. At the same time, Queen Fu also paid bribes to Wang Gen, the ancient general who loved money and the duke of Quyang, through Wang Gen and others, to please the king. Taking a multi-pronged approach, Liu Xin, the king of Dingtao, finally got his wish and was appointed as the Crown Prince in February of the first year of He Sui (the first eight years). A year later, Emperor Cheng suddenly died and Liu Xin acceded to the throne. In order to sever the close relationship with Fu and Fu who have come to Chang 'an, the king only allows them to see the emperor once every ten days. Soon, Emperor Ai asked the king to allow him to make his biological father Tao Gong the queen and his grandmother Fu Shi and his biological mother the queen. Later, under the pretext of "the system of the Han family, pushing relatives to show respect", Fu's wife was changed from the emperor's wife to the emperor's wife, and it was called Yongxin Palace, the queen mother of the emperor, and Zhong 'an Palace, which was neck and neck with the empress dowager, was called Changxin Palace (later Changle Palace). In this way, with Empress Dowager Zhao Yan Fei at that time, there were four queens in the harem.

After Fu and Ding came to power, Wang ordered Wang Mang, the nephew of Sima Fuzheng, to resign in order to avoid conflicts with them. The mourning emperor was afraid that he had just acceded to the throne and lost his love for the king. He dared not expect anything. He called Wang Mang to stay, and sent someone to the king's place to play, saying, "The emperor was deeply saddened to hear the imperial edict from the Queen Mother. The emperor said that if Fu Fuzheng was not allowed, he would not dare to listen to politics. " So Wang sent a letter to Wang Mang again to help the government. However, the conflict between Wang's consort and Fu and Ding is obviously inevitable. Some ministers also expressed their opinions on court personnel out of their own considerations. It didn't take long for a captain of the Li Si School to dismiss the impeachment of Houwanggen in Quyang and his nephew Houwanggen in Chengdu. They harbored evil spirits, sheltered up and down, blocked Wang Lu, acted as diplomatic vassals, became arrogant and domineering, and had a bad system, which was not given by anyone. Sad emperor took the opportunity to cut off the title of Wang Jing and demoted him as Shu Ren; Fire Wang Gen and force him to return to China. With the rise of Fu and Ding, they became more and more arrogant. When talking with Wang, Fu often called her "Cue", that is, the old lady, and Wang could not attack her face to face. It seems that Wang, as the actual ruler, also experienced a very unhappy life because of the rise of Fu.

The infighting between Wang Mang and Fu made the central politics of the Western Han Dynasty more corrupt and dark. In order to ensure Wang's absolute status as the mother of the country, Wang Mang and others tried to limit the influence of the government, which led to further escalation of the contradictions between the two sides. On one occasion, there was a big banquet in Weiyang Palace, and someone set up a curtain mat for Queen Fu, juxtaposed with the former king. When Wang Mang saw it, he immediately put a straight face and said, "Empress Fu is only the empress dowager of the vassal state. How can she be equal to the supreme empress dowager? " Say and immediately move the seat. Follwed therefore offended Fu Shi. Afterwards, Wang Mang had to avoid his sharp edge and resign at Wang's behest. This time, Eddie did not stay. After Wang Mang returned to his country Nanyang (now Henan), Dumen thanked the guests and sat tight.

At this time, the political crisis in the Western Han Dynasty became more and more serious, including land annexation and population exile. Eddie himself, his life is more dissolute. He not only widely selected beautiful women, filled the harem, but also favored men. He has a good relationship with the handsome Dong Xian. He took the same car when he went out and slept together when he went in. He is richly rewarded and extremely arrogant. One day, he was lying with Dong Xian. When he remembered, Dong Xian was pressing his sleeve. In order not to disturb Dong Xian in his sleep, he cut his sleeve with a sword. Since then, later generations have left an allusion to "Broken Sleeves" (a metaphor for homosexuality). At a palace banquet, Ai Di said in front of ministers that he would follow Yao Shun's example and give the throne to Dong Xian. At that time, it was said that everyone in the world died seven times without anything, seven times without life, and peasant uprisings continued. In order to reverse the decline of the Han calendar, the fatuous mourning emperor deceived himself by changing the year number and other absurd means. In the spring of the fourth year of Jianping (the first three years), there was a great drought, and hungry people flocked to Guanzhong to eat. "Or they go to a house with a fire at night, beat drums and scream in horror." The Western Han Dynasty is already in decline.

In order to ease social contradictions, Wang Jian proposed to issue a decree to limit the occupation of land and store handmaiden. However, Ai Di himself took the lead in violating the regulations and gave Dong Xian fertile land two thousand hectares at a time. This decree is actually a dead letter. Wang Zhengjun ordered the Wangs to give all the land except the ancestral graves to the poor. Although this is only a gesture, it has won Wang a reputation as a charitable mother. Soon, under the pressure of the ruling and opposition parties, Aidi recalled Wang Mang in the name of serving the king.

king

In the second year of Yuanshou (1), Aidi died in Weiyang Palace. No son inherited national unity, so the king immediately entered the palace and mastered the imperial seal symbolizing supreme power. She activated follwed, entrusted with military and political power, forced Dong Xian to death, and made Zhong Wang's son become Emperor Han Ping. Pingdi is only 9 years old and weak. Although Wang was above the others, Wang Mang, who made a comeback, gradually shelved her and mastered the actual power. The rise of Wang Mang is the result of Wang's nepotism.

Wang Mang is the son of Wang's third brother. After Wang Man's death, Wang Mang's family was lonely, but he respected his uncles. When Wang Feng was ill, he took care of the illness, tasted the soup and was busy. He couldn't sleep for a month in a row, and sometimes he couldn't even wash his face, which made him "messy". Later, on the recommendation of many people, Wang gave him an official title and a knighthood, but he was "more modest in ethics" and "faithful in practice". In the first year (the first eight years), Wang made him a fu in charge of military and political affairs.

During this period, Wang Mang was courteous and courteous, and was praised by the ruling and opposition parties. "Clans call filial piety, and teachers and friends return to benevolence." Wang also trusts him and thinks that he has both ability and political integrity. In fact, Wang Mang had the ambition to usurp the Han Dynasty at this time.

Wang Mang first asked the ministers to ask Wang to help the young master and named him "Gong". Soon, he designed and persuaded Wang Li that his daughter was the Empress Pingdi, and then coerced Wang Zun to be "Zaiheng". The king wrote another imperial edict: "The emperor is young, and I am in charge of politics. I am old and weak, and my energy is exhausted. If I do everything myself, it is not conducive to raising the emperor. In the future, except for the title, other political affairs will be handled by An Han Gong and assistant minister. The officials of 2000 stone and other officials will be handed over to the public for decision. " In this way, Wang Mang took the opportunity to cultivate cronies and eliminate dissidents, and his power expanded sharply.

In order to grasp the power in his hands more firmly, Wang Mang paid great attention to establishing his beautiful image in Wang's mind. To this end, he remained modest on the surface so that court officials could praise his achievements. Wang is an imperial secretary. No matter what his position is, he pays a lot of bribes and flatters him. Sometimes even the king's maid is ill, he visits him personally to please the king. Wang's sisters became monarchs because of Wang Mang's proposal, and naturally they boasted about Wang Mang's charity virtue every day.

Seeing that Wang, who was getting older, was not satisfied with living in the deep palace for many years, Wang Mang arranged for her to "drive all over the suburbs in the four seasons to save a widowed woman" and painstakingly planned the places where she would go in the four seasons. Since then, Wang Jing has often traveled abroad in spring, summer, autumn and winter. At the instigation of Wang Mang, she also hopes to recall the old feelings when she met Yuan Di at the Prince's Old Palace many years ago. In addition, Wang Mang also paid special attention to asking Wang to use some fake names. For example, she should be advised not to wear coarse clothes all the time, and not to cut down on royal meals often. For the sake of the ancestral temple and the country, she has to "obey the royal service and restore the royal diet", which shows that she is particularly concerned about her diet and daily life. It is by deceiving and flattering Wang Zhengjun that Wang Mang has gained more and more power. He claimed that "the title of the new capital Hou, the title of An Hangong, and the official title of Zai Heng, Tai Fu, Fu, the title of the new capital Hou is a great favor." In the fifth year of Emperor Pingdi, Wang gave Wang Mang nine tins as a reward to his ministers. At this time, follwed is already a very human minister.

In December of the fifth year of Yuan Dynasty, the young Emperor Ping died. Among the members of the royal family, the Yuan Di family has passed away, and dozens of great-grandchildren of Xuan Di are Hou Wangwang, but they are all old. In order to control the new king, Wang Mang chose Liu Ying, the youngest and only two-year-old son of Guangqi, the great-grandson of Xuan Di. He lied to the king, saying that after divination, the baby was the best. Of course, the king agreed. Wang Mang became an obedient doll king.

Almost at the same time, Wang received a letter saying that a strange stone was found in Wugong County (now Shaanxi Province), and there was a Dan book on it, "Tell Gong Mang to be Emperor". Then, someone called on Wang to make a baby an obedient child, which made Wang Mang imitate the precedent of Zhou Gongfu becoming a king. Seeing the king's throne, I suddenly thought, can Wang Mang, who has always been humble, have the heart to usurp the Han Dynasty? Years ago, he refused to accept the increased fief in Xinye (now Henan). Is it because he wants to be rich and own the world? Thinking of this, Wang was not surprised. She said to people: "Dan Shu is a life-giving, but it is a lie." I can't believe it. " One of Wang Mang's confidants, Taibao Wang Shun, explained to her: "There is nothing to stop this. Besides, follwed also dare not have delusions. He just wants to conquer the world by improving his position through regency! " Wang reluctantly wrote a letter to Wang Mang, saying that he wanted to be emperor, and all ministers in the south should listen to political affairs. The coronation ceremony was "like the emperor's system" and changed its name to "the first year of being taken".

Since then, Wang Mang has learned about state affairs as a "fake emperor". The news came that the imperial clan and the prefect of Dongjun moved to the county and sent troops to beg the mang. When Wang heard the news, he once said, "After all, people live far apart. Although I am a woman, I know that Wang Mang will definitely have a bad life. " However, Wang Mang still openly suppressed the opposition in her name.

Success, mourning, and the three dynasties were completely unified, and the throne was empty. The king succeeded to the throne. The foundation of the Korean family has fallen like a building. Wang was blinded by follwed, surrounded by cronies and plenipotentiaries. The Western Han Dynasty perished. All this is a tragedy for Wang personally. After all, the elegy of the Western Han Dynasty ended in her hands.