There was a small episode between Liu Rong being deposed and Liu Che becoming the crown prince.
The performer of the interlude is the uncle of the two brothers, Liu Wu, King Xiao of Liang.
Liu Wu is the youngest son of Empress Dowager Dou and the half-brother of Emperor Jing. If Empress Dowager Dou doted on her daughter Liu Piao ten points, then she doted on Liu Wu twenty-two points. Emperor Jing also loved him very much.
During the Han Dynasty, the princes met the emperor only four times according to the etiquette: the first time they entered the palace to see the emperor, which was called "Xiao Jian"; in the early morning of the first day of the first lunar month, the princes held a leather cushion and placed jade on the leather cushion to present to the emperor. Congratulations, this is called "seeing the Dharma"; three days later, the emperor held a banquet for the princes and kings, and rewarded them with money and property; two days later, the princes and kings entered the palace again for "a small meeting", and then bid farewell to the emperor and returned to their fiefdoms. The princes and kings were all brothers, uncles and nephews of the emperor. The so-called "Xiao Jian" was the family reunion dinner of relatives, so there was no need to strictly adhere to etiquette. Ordinary scholars were not eligible to join. When the princes and kings come to visit, they cannot stay in Chang'an for more than twenty days. In addition, for the first month of the lunar month, the king and the four princes usually met together. Due to the inconvenience of transportation at that time, they often only came to the capital once in more than ten years.
The Liang Kingdom is close to the central jurisdiction. Compared with other princes and kings, it is much more convenient for the King of Liang to come to Chang'an. The King of Liang went to court almost every year, and often stayed for several months, sometimes as long as half a year, which shows how favored he was.
In the process of countering the rebellion, the number of rebels killed by the Liang army was half with that of the imperial army. The imperial army was commanded by Zhou Yafu, Marquis of Tiao, Dou Ying, Marquis of Wei Qi, and others. Therefore, the Liang King had the greatest contribution. Emperor Jing also favored him even more and rewarded him with the flags used by the emperor to travel. When King Liang came to Beijing to meet him, he even sent an envoy to ask him to sit in the royal carriage and go to the pass to greet King Liang. Emperor Jing often asked King Liang to ride in the same carriage and chat with him, even when he went hunting in Shanglinyuan. The two brothers are sure to share many interesting childhood stories. Officials of Liang State only need to write their names in the register and they can enter and exit the palace like court officials. This is simply unimaginable for people in other vassal states.
In October 150 BC, King Liang came to see him again. But this time he was not just here to honor his mother and rekindle brotherhood with Emperor Jing, he was here to fight for the throne. Prior to this, Emperor Jing had already made Liu Rong the crown prince. Perhaps because he had received some rumors, Liu Wu's timing was very precise. Within a month of his arrival, Liu Rong was deposed by Emperor Jing.
Liu Wu wanted to be emperor, not because he was "unreasonable", but because he wanted Emperor Jing to fulfill his promise. It turns out that in the third year of Emperor Jing's reign (154 BC), when the Liang Dynasty came to court, Emperor Jing once had a banquet with him and said in public: "Long live the Qianqiu, it will be passed down to the king." Sima Qian used the word "calm" when describing Emperor Jing's words. This is not drunken nonsense. King Liang didn't take it seriously, but he was very happy, not to mention the Queen Mother Dou who doted on her youngest son.
It turns out that at that time, the princes and kings showed signs of rebellion, and the Liang State under the jurisdiction of the Liang King was vast, fertile, and powerful. It was the gateway to the center and its strategic location was very important. Therefore, it is inevitable to make a verbal promise to win over King Liang, even though he is the brother of Emperor Jing.
This is politics, only about interests, family ties have no role at all.
Sure enough, at that time, Wu King Liu Bi led the other six kingdoms of Chu and Zhao to rebel with the slogan "Qing Jun side, punish Chao Cuo", and Liang Wang held back the main forces of Wu and Chu and gave Zhou Yafu They bought time and made great contributions. But just after the rebellion ended, Emperor Jing made Liu Rong the crown prince. It was as if he deliberately told King Liang that he was joking before.
Maybe King Liang really didn't have the ambition to be an emperor at the beginning. But King Liang had sat in his position for too long, and he became a little tired of it, so he began to covet the throne. Now that Liu Rong has been deposed, his opportunity has come. He is not fighting alone. His mother, Empress Dowager Dou, was firmly on her side - she probably didn't want others to call her Empress Dowager and call her old. She always wanted Liu Wu to succeed Liu Qi as emperor, so she was still "The Emperor's Mother".
Since the great ancestor Liu Bang, the throne of the Han Dynasty has always been passed down from father to son. Empress Dowager Dou believed in Huang Lao all her life and advocated quietness and inaction. In order to put Liu Wu on the throne, she violated the "ancestral system". She was simply looking for trouble and going to war with her own principles. It can be seen that when a woman loves her children, she "doesn't have herself" .
"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" records: "When Prince Li was deposed, the Empress Dowager wanted to take the King of Liang as his heir. She bought wine and told the emperor: 'I will send my chariot to the King of Liang.'"
How to do it? How can the emperor renege on his words?
"The emperor knelt down and raised his body and said: 'Promise.'"
This "nuo" was like a hard lump stuck in his throat, and Emperor Jing vomited in great pain - otherwise, how could he have made Liu Rong the crown prince to eliminate the idea of King Liang? Emperor Jing was unwilling to give in. He was a master of politics, so he kicked the ball to the courtiers - "My dear friends, what can I do?"
At this time, Yuan An stood up to help Emperor Jing, but he was heard to say impassionedly: "Let me persuade the Queen Mother!"
Haha, this is what Emperor Jing was waiting for.
Yuan An then came to Changle Palace where the Queen Mother lived and argued with her. Behind him were a group of ministers who were full of knowledge. When the Queen Mother looked back, she couldn't see how many of them were there for a moment. They stood in a dark mass, blocking the sunlight at the entrance of the palace. A huge shadow came over, and the Queen Mother felt in her heart Muttering began. This is what Yuan Ang wanted, and his goal was achieved.
But this was not enough to make the Queen Mother change her mind. Yuan An still had a whole set of means waiting for the Queen Mother.
Yuan An: "The Emperor will pass to the throne of Liang King in a hundred years, but what about Liang King in a hundred years?"
Queen Mother: "Of course it will be passed on to the emperor's son."
Yuan Ang: "Excuse me, Queen Mother, should I, a great man, follow the example of the Yin Shang Dynasty or the Zhou Dynasty?"
Queen Mother: "Of course I follow the example of the Zhou Dynasty."
Yuan Ang: "Then how did the throne of the Zhou Dynasty be passed down?"
Queen Mother: "After the father dies, it is passed down to his son..."
Only then did the Queen Mother realize that she had been tricked, so that at the end of the sentence she was out of breath and her voice sounded like a mosquito.
Yuan Ang didn't let the Queen Mother have a chance to breathe. He looked into the Queen Mother's eyes and bowed:
"During the Spring and Autumn Period, Song Xuangong did not abide by the laws of the Zhou Dynasty and passed the throne to his younger brother Song Mugong before his death. Before his death, Mugong passed the throne back to his brother's son Yu Yi. As a result, his own son Feng was determined to fight for the throne, saying that he was the son of the king. , qualified to inherit the throne, so he killed his cousin and established his own country with the barbarians. As a result, the Song Dynasty continued to have disputes. After several generations of emperors worked hard to govern, we, the Han Dynasty, have today's prosperous situation. Will this lead to chaos and decline? "
This is a harsh question.
Empress Dowager Dou understood what Yuan Ang meant. Zhou Dharma is the succession of father and son, while Shang Dharma is the succession of brother and brother. The two laws are clear and distinct in their respective systems. But once they are mixed together, there will be many mistakes and omissions, which will make people "unable to follow". In the end, it is called existence. Ambitious people took advantage of the loopholes, and the battle for the throne was always bloody.
In fact, what Yuan An said is not consistent with historical facts. Yu Yi was assassinated by his chief minister Hua Du, who was posthumously named Shang Gong, but was not killed by Feng. However, Empress Dowager Dou obviously only read the "Tao Te Ching" every day and did not know about the incident recorded in the "Spring and Autumn Annals". Or maybe she was frightened by everyone's momentum from the beginning, and she was deceived by Yuan An, so her mind was disturbed. At that time, no one gave her a copy of "Spring and Autumn" to read, so she could only watch Yuan An and others leave with their mouths agape while suppressing their laughter.
She knew that she could no longer speak on the matter of "making King Liang his heir".
Yuan An died on the stage
The dream was shattered, and King Liang had to go home in despair. However, he firmly remembered Yuan An from then on. When Yuan An sneezed, could he think that it was because Liang Wang Liu Wu was "talking" about him?
Yuan An is a very strange person. During the reign of Emperor Wen, Chai Wu prepared to rebel, implicating Gaozu's concubine Liu Chang, King of Huainan. Emperor Wen sent Liu Chang to Shu in a prison car. Yuan An advised him: "You have always doted on Liu Chang, which made him proud and strong-willed. I'm afraid he won't be able to bear such a sudden blow and will die on the road." Emperor Wen didn't listen. As expected, Liu Chang went on a hunger strike and died. Emperor Wen "cryed very sadly" and regretted not listening to Yuan An's advice.
It can be seen that Yuan Ang knows people well. Liu Wuzhi was favored ten times and a hundred times as much as Liu Chang. He ruined his dream of becoming an emperor. How would Liu Wu deal with him?
It seems self-evident.
In this way, Yuan Ang is a loyal minister who "serves the country without caring about himself"? This doesn't make sense. Yuan Ang once served as the prime minister of Wu King Liu Bi. The Prime Minister is an official sent by the imperial court to manage the internal affairs of the vassal states and to monitor the vassal kings.
Liu Bi had always wanted to rebel, and Yuan An knew this very well, but he did not report Wu's affairs to Emperor Jing, but allowed Liu Bi's preparations for the rebellion to be perfected day by day. Yuan Ang was very popular, and King Wu Liu Bi also liked him very much and often rewarded him with large sums of property. Was it because he was greedy for wealth that he didn't report Liu Bi's betrayal? Or was he worried that the moment his memorial was handed over, Liu Bi, who treated him well, would pick up a machete and chop off his head?
unknown. What we know is that whenever Emperor Jing asked him about the situation in Wu, he always said: everything is peaceful.
This shows that Yuan Ang is not that kind of loyal minister.
So, he did not hesitate to offend the queen mother of the dynasty, and he did not hesitate to offend the King of Liang, who had been favored and had made great achievements in quelling the chaos. What was his purpose?
Tai Shigong's evaluation of him was: "He has a good reputation and is very virtuous." It turned out that he was greedy for fame, but in fact he just wanted to have a good reputation.
Yuan An's maid once had an affair with one of his subordinates. Yuan An knew about this but did not reveal it. If according to Watanabe Junichi, this silence is due to the man's pride, so he pretends nothing happened in order to maintain the superficial "peace", then that's it. The strange thing is that when the junior official learned that the incident was leaked and ran away, Yuan An unexpectedly caught up with him on a fast horse. When the junior official was stunned, he heard him say: "Don't panic, I'm here to give you the maid!" Later seven When the chaos broke out in the country, Yuan An was captured by Liu Bi, the king of Wu. It was this little official who guarded him. The little official knew how to repay his kindness and let him go, thus saving his life. But Yuan Ang is not a god, so he shouldn't have foreseen this. If he had the ability to predict the future, he probably wouldn't need a petty official to save him.
After driving the King of Liang home, Yuan An still did not restrain himself, so he recommended Liu She, the son of Wang Ao, to be the crown prince. Emperor Jing did not get angry this time, but agreed with a smile. It can be seen that there is no standard for right and wrong, good and evil under the imperial power, and the emperor's right and wrong, good and evil is the standard! Liu Zhi became the crown prince.
This completely put an end to King Liang's thoughts.
