During the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, the frequent interference of relatives and eunuchs led to the fall of the emperor's power and the transformation of the prefectures into princes. If it is said that the Tang Dynasty perished in the separatist regime, then it is not too much to say that the Han Dynasty perished in the political affairs of relatives. In the Western Han Dynasty, there was the dictatorship of the Lu family at first, and it was almost decades before the Liu family came to power. In the end, Wang Zhengjun took over the power of the imperial court and made great use of his relatives. Wang's five brothers were called Marquis one after another, known as "the five Marquis of the Wang family". Wang Mang, his nephew, was even more powerful. He conspired to usurp the Han Dynasty and change the name of the country. Although emperor youguangwu Liu Xiu fought hard to overthrow the new dynasty, the situation of his relatives' interference in politics did not change in the Eastern Han Dynasty. On the contrary, it became more and more fierce. Finally, his relatives and eunuchs sent DAHAO away.
Why did so many relatives interfere in the Eastern Han Dynasty? On the reasons behind the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty
The young emperor succeeded to the throne and the throne changed frequently, so the Empress Dowager's relatives stepped on the stage of history
In the Western Han Dynasty, Empress Dowager Lu, Empress Dowager Dou and Empress Dowager Wang appeared, which led to the interference of their relatives. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, because the young emperor ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager had to step on the stage of history. During the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were three successful emperors. Guangwu emperor Liu Xiu created the era of "Guangwu resurgence". His successors, Hanming emperor and Hanzhang emperor, also had great skills and created the "rule of Mingzhang". According to historical records, "the world is peaceful and the people are rich". However, after Hanzhang emperor, the successor, Liu Zhaonian, was only ten years old, so the mother of Hanhe emperor, Empress Dowager Dou, was called emperor. This empress dowager Dou is a descendant of Empress Dowager Dou in the Western Han Dynasty. She had the style of Empress Dowager Dou in the previous dynasty. She used the Dou clan to restart the wind of foreign relatives' interference in politics.
Unwilling to be harmed by the interference of his relatives, Emperor Hanhe united with the eunuch party to wipe out the Dou clan and create the "prosperity of Yongyuan". However, after the death of Hanhe emperor, Liu long, the successor of hanshang emperor, was younger and less than a hundred days old. His mother, Empress Dowager Deng, was called the system on behalf of her son, and Deng's Qi family, such as her elder brother Deng, was in power because of the relationship with empress dowager Deng. Liu long died before the full moon. Although he was an emperor, he had no chance to taste the taste of the emperor. Empress dowager Deng and his brother general Deng Ying made Liu Hu, the son of Liu Qing, king of filial piety in Qinghe, emperor of Han'an. Hanan is a small emperor who succeeded to the age of thirteen. So Deng Deng's clan has the final say. This empress dowager Deng is a very powerful empress dowager. Those who follow me will prosper and those who oppose me will die. When Emperor Han an was 26, he could not be in charge of politics. Dugen, the minister who advised empress dowager Deng to retire from the Imperial Palace, was killed and dumped. Even Deng Kang, another clan of the Deng family, was dismissed because he advised empress dowager Deng to retire from the imperial palace. It was not until the death of Empress Dowager Deng that emperor an was able to take charge.
Why did so many relatives interfere in the Eastern Han Dynasty? On the reasons behind the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty
After emperor Han'an was in charge of the government, he killed his cousin Deng's group. However, after his death, the empress Yan had a different intention. In order to control the government, she did not appoint her son Liu Bao as emperor. Instead, she colluded with her brother Yan Xian to appoint Liu Yi, the son of Liu Shou, King Hui of Ji Bei, as emperor. Why not establish the crown prince Liu Bao? Because Liu Bao was not born to empress Yan, but was born to another concubine, Li, who was also killed by Yan.
Liu Yi, who was supported by Empress Yan, was also a little emperor. After being an emperor for more than 200 days, he died. The eunuchs were dissatisfied with the dictatorship of Yan's relatives. They conspired to kill Yan Xian's brothers and drive away empress Yan. They supported Liu Bao, the prince of Han an, as emperor, which was Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty. Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty was also a little emperor. He was only 11 years old when he succeeded to the throne. His mother, Li, was killed by Yan, so he had to rely on the Liang clan who supported his eunuchs and empresses. The empress of Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty was named Liang he, the daughter of Liang Shang, a general. Brother Han has the final say, and the emperor is the Queen's brother Liang Ji.
Why did so many relatives interfere in the Eastern Han Dynasty? On the reasons behind the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty
Emperor hanshun died at the age of 30. His son, Emperor hanchong, succeeded to the throne at the age of one. Therefore, Liang Xun was in charge of Regency, and his elder brother Liang Ji continued to control the government. Unexpectedly, Han Chong emperor lived only two years old and died. Liang Ji and other sons of Liu Zuan, who were the son of Liu Hong, Bohai's emperor of Xiao, were eight years old when they were emperor of Han Emperor and emperor of Han. So they were still Regent Liang Na has the final say.
Although Hanzhi emperor was only eight years old, he was very clever. He was dissatisfied with Liang Ji's arbitrary ruling and called him "despotic general" face to face. Liang Ji was afraid that Hanzhi emperor would be liquidated when he grew up. He poisoned him when Hanzhi emperor was nine years old and made Liu Zhi, the son of Liu Yi, the Marquis of Liwu, Emperor Heng of Han Dynasty.
Emperor Heng of Han Dynasty was only 15 years old when he succeeded to the throne. Because he was young, he was still controlled by Liang Ji. However, Emperor Heng of the Han Dynasty was not willing to be the puppet of Liang Ji like the other emperors. After all, he was a little older. In order to protect his life, he endured for 13 years. At 28 o'clock, he joined the eunuch to kill Liang and became in charge. Emperor Heng of Han Dynasty was a fatuous monarch. Zhuge Liang regarded him and Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty as the typical fatuous monarch. Although emperor Heng of the Han Dynasty had ten thousand palaces, he was an emperor without a queen. After his death, empress Dou Miao and his father Dou Wu supported Liu Hong as emperor, which was Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
Why did so many relatives interfere in the Eastern Han Dynasty? On the reasons behind the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty
Han Ling emperor was also a little emperor. He was 12 years old when he succeeded to the throne. The government was still in the hands of his cousin Dou. When Heng and Ling were in chaos in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which led to the Huangjin uprising. After the death of Han Ling emperor, Liu Bian, the young emperor of Han Dynasty, Empress Dowager he, who was in charge of the government, entered the era of the three kingdoms after Han Dynasty.
To sum up, since emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, almost all the emperors in the Eastern Han Dynasty were small emperors. As a result, the Empress Dowager and even the Empress Dowager were called in the imperial court, and they used to reuse their relatives. The emperor was killed, or he joined the eunuch to kill their relatives, but immediately entered the next vicious circle. In the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the problem of the dictatorship of the relatives was not solved, and in the end, the problem of the dictatorship of the relatives and the interference of the eunuchs. When the wheel of history entered the era of the Three Kingdoms, the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty was dead in name.
In order to prevent their relatives from interfering in politics, the later dynasties took different measures
In fact, as early as the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, empress Lu and Empress Dowager Dou had already made a vicious move of "setting up a son to kill his mother" because of their dictatorship. Although this move is vicious, the effect is still good. But in history, only Emperor Hanwu did that, and other emperors were not so decisive as him.
The fact that the Han Dynasty established the country with filial piety, respected Confucianism, established sons and killed their mothers did not come true. However, if the empress and the Empress Dowager are not killed, when a little emperor succeeds to the throne, the history will push the Empress Dowager or the Empress Dowager to the front stage and direct a series of dramas in which her relatives are involved in politics. The Eastern Han Dynasty lasted for more than two hundred years, and more than one hundred years were spent in the years when relatives were involved in politics.
Why did so many relatives interfere in the Eastern Han Dynasty? On the reasons behind the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty
In order to prevent the relatives from interfering in politics, the emperors of later generations also tried many tricks. Among them, the Northern Wei Dynasty inherited the Han Emperor Wu's rule of setting up a son to kill his mother. However, it is unethical to be appraised by historians. Compared with the Han Dynasty, Wu Zetian was not only in charge of politics, but also in charge of it. After the change of dynasties, Da Zhou became the first female emperor in Chinese history. Compared with the Han and Tang Dynasties, the song, Ming and Qing dynasties had a better effect in solving the problem of relatives' interference in politics. Song Taizu, Ming Taizu, and Qing Taizu made their own unique moves to prevent the recurrence of the phenomenon of relatives interfering in politics.
Zhao Kuangyin, the song Taizu, became emperor by relying on the yellow robe of Chen Qiao mutiny. Later, he released his military power with a glass of wine, which relieved the military power of the founding heroes and ushered in a new era of emphasizing culture and belittling martial arts in the three hundred years of the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the status of the military personnel was low. As for the civil servants, Taizu of the Song Dynasty carried out reform again. The three officers, the three secretaries, the chief executive and the Privy minister, each performed his own duties, just like the separation of the three powers. The relatives wanted to rely on the dictatorship of the military personnel, and the status of the military personnel was low; If they want to rely on the authoritarian power of the literati, they are stubborn and principled. In addition, the system of separation of powers makes it difficult for relatives to achieve their goals through a few officials. In the past three hundred years, the two Song Dynasties maintained the good operation of the state machinery. Even in the face of the danger of national subjugation, there was no extreme political dictatorship of relatives.
Why did so many relatives interfere in the Eastern Han Dynasty? On the reasons behind the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty
In order to prevent his relatives from interfering in politics, Taizu of Ming Dynasty came up with a more cruel way. One is to restore the funeral system of the Shang Dynasty. After the death of the first emperor, the concubines were allowed to accompany the emperor to die, whether they had children or not. According to historical records, after the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, 40 concubines were buried. After the death of Ming Chengzu, 16 concubines were buried. This system was passed down for seven generations and abolished by Ming Yingzong. Second, the princesses of the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to marry the children of the Minister of culture and military affairs. They were only allowed to choose excellent children who had no foundation among the people and block the way of "strong strong marriage". Zhu Yuanzhang's method was very cruel, but until the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were no relatives to interfere with autocracy, but there were eunuchs to interfere with politics and even dictatorship, which was probably not thought of by Zhu Yuanzhang.
In order to prevent the relatives from interfering in politics, the Qing Dynasty did not give the concubines and the emperor a chance. The emperor needs his concubines to serve him, so he adopts the system of overturning the cards. The rules must be followed whether he likes it or not. Moreover, there is a time limit for his concubines to serve him. When the time comes, the eunuch will remind the emperor to take away the concubines who accompany him three times. The emperor went to bed in the middle of the night without giving his concubines a chance to blow the pillow wind. As a result, it was more difficult for the concubines to fall in love. They became a tool for the emperor to vent and bear children. Blowing pillow wind would bring death.
But this method was very uncomfortable for the emperor. When he arrived at Tongzhi, the emperor hated this kind of life. He even sneaked out of the palace to have fun in a brothel and died young. Due to the sudden death of emperor Xianfeng, Ci'an and Cixi stepped on the stage of history, and finally failed to prevent Cixi from interfering in politics and died in the Qing Dynasty.
