Chao Cuo's death was considered by many people in later generations to be a great shame for Han Jingdi . In order to please the rebellious princes and kings, Emperor Han Jing chose to kill Chao Cuo, who tried his best to help him cut the domain. However, after Chao Cuo's death, the rebellion of Seven Kingdoms did not stop, and Emperor Han Jing finally suppressed the rebellion with force.
However, this is not the case. For Chao Cuo himself, perhaps it was the death of him for nothing, but for Emperor Jing of the Han, Chao Cuo's death was not entirely meaningless, but because of the need to unite the power of the court and obtain the support of the officials.
The Western Han Dynasty is an era when talents are born in large numbers. During Wendi and Jingdi, two talents were remarkable. One was and Jia Yi who left the famous article "Do not ask the common people to ask ghosts and gods", and the other is what this article will talk about. Chao Cuo.
Chao Cuo's first half of life
Chao Cuo was a famous statesman and writer in the Western Han Dynasty. Chao Cuo was born in 200 BC. He studied under Zhang Hui when he was young, and the legalism he learned profoundly affected his life and character. When Han Wendi was reigning, he took the post of Taichang and was sent to Jinan by the emperor to study " Shangshu", and he accepted and inherited Confucianism, but historically, he has always been a man A legal scholar in the cloak of Confucianism.
▲ Stills of Chao Cuo being killed
After returning from studying "Shang Shu", he was appointed to the prince's house because of his excellent character and academic ability, and he was promoted repeatedly afterwards. , Wrote to the emperor "The Prince of Yan Yi Zhi Shu Shu Shu Shu",Was promoted to the prince's family order. During the days and nights of assisting the prince, he succeeded in winning the prince's favor and becoming his confidant by relying on his own talents, which laid the foundation for his rapid rise in the period of Emperor Han Jing.
Chao Cuo is also one of the people who insist on cutting the han. He wrote to Emperor Hanwen many times to persuade him to implement the policy of cutting down the vassal vassal, but they were all rejected by Emperor Hanwen. However, Chao Cuo’s idea of cutting the vassal status coincided with the thinking held by the prince who hated the princes and kings, so the prince also valued Chao Cuo more.
When Chao Cuo was forty-six years old, he was appointed Yushi Doctor, the Deputy Prime Minister, and his status was extremely high. During his tenure, he proposed to the Emperor Han Jing, who had just ascended the throne, the idea of cutting the vassal. Emperor Han Jing accepted it, but the good times didn't last long, The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms broke out. After that, Chao Cuo was cut in half at the most glorious moment of his life. As a doctor, he was cut in the middle of Dongshi in court clothes.
▲Chao Cuo and the old minister debated over the reduction of the vassal
Encountered with the old minister and touched the interests of the group
Looking at the history of Chao Cuo, it is bound to die miserably. The only ending. He was a mean jurist. Although he gained the trust of Emperor Han Jing, he was also a lonely man. He made enemies everywhere in the court and had no colleagues.
From the perspective of Chao Cuo's personality, his personality shows the influence of legalism on him. According to historical records, Chao Cuo is bold, upright, accurate, profound, severe, upright, despicable, and cruel. Such a character is doomed to Chao Cuo's solitary and gregarious behavior.
In the court, Chao Cuo has always been a lonely person. Chao Cuo was an active member of the court in the period of Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty. Many of his ideas and propositions appear to be incompatible with the state policy of ruling by doing nothing. His positive and promising ideas have made him a lot of political enemies. Although Emperor Wenwen of Han cherished his talents and promoted him to Zhongdian, his suggestions were rarely adopted.Chao Cuo couldn't deal with the relationship with his colleagues, and even the famous officials in the early Han Dynasty, such as Yuan Ang , generally disliked Chao Cuo's behavior. Although his ideas were extremely useful to Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, no one else regarded Chao Mistake seriously except Emperor Jing.
After Emperor Jing ascended the throne, because Emperor Jing of the Han favored him, Chao Cuo was named the Doctor of the Imperial Examination, and his status surpassed Jiuqing and ranked third. Emperor Jing and Chao Cuo often discussed state affairs secretly and discussed countermeasures. Chao Cuo revised and promulgated many laws. Chao Cuo has become the emperor's representative and holds many important powers.
Chao Cuo was favored, and it also caused concerns among other ministers in the court. The so-called "guns hit the birds" and "the rafters first rot first". In the face of popular forces, the rest are jealous and plan to suppress them. Chao Cuo's appearance in the court also encroached on the interests and power of some of them, and thus formed a contradiction with Chao Cuo. For example, as the representative of the old minister, Shentujia , who was the prime minister of the two dynasties, was determined to punish Chao Cuo and even murdered Chao.
▲Chao Cuo stills
Chao Cuo once broke open a wall in Taimiao for the convenience of travel. After Shen Tujia knew about this incident, he planned to use it as an opportunity to report to the emperor in order to give him death. However, Chao Cuo heard the wind beforehand, and went to Jingdi for help that night. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty said to Chao Cuo: "It's no big deal." Chao Cuo was relieved. Chao Cuo had the emperor's support, and Shen Tujia's plan ultimately failed. Soon after, he was so angry that the old illness relapsed, and he would let go. After this incident, Chao Cuo's status in the palace rose steadily and became hot.
However, the death of Shentujia also greatly aggravated the conflict between Chao Cuo and the conservative forces of the court. The two sides are already in a state of open hostility, but these old officials chose to forbearance temporarily and not confront Chao Cuo head-on to protect themselves.
▲The role of Emperor Chao Cuoxiang’s policy to cut down the Fan Chen
The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms broke out,Public opinion oriented to kill Chao Cuo
Among the old officials, there is a person who is inextricably related to Chao Cuo's death. He is Yuan An. After the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion broke out, Yuan An proposed to Emperor Han Jing to take Zhan Chaocuo as an example to quell the chaos.
The hatred of these two people is not deep. As mentioned earlier, when Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty was in power, Yuan An hated Chao Cuo very much. Yuan An is Shentujia's doorman and has a good relationship with Shentujia. The death of Shen Tujia further aggravated the contradiction between him and Chao Cuo.
Chao Cuo is a politician, so he regards Yuan An who is not dealing with him as an unstable political factor. So after becoming the emperor's doctor, he deliberately suppressed Yuan An and sent people to investigate the incident of Yuan An accepting bribes from King Wu. Later, the evidence was conclusive and Yuan Ang should be sentenced to prison. If Emperor Han Jing had not forgiven Yuan An and reduced him to a commoner, Yuan An would almost die.
When the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms broke out, Chao Cuo still did not give up his plan to get rid of Yuan An. Chao Cuo told his subordinates: "Yuan Ang accepted the bribe from King Wu to cover up his crimes, hoping to deal with it together." But the subordinates advised Chao Cuo that the suppression of Yuan Ang should be adequate, leaving Chao Cuo into hesitation.
Soon, Yuan Ying heard that Chao Cuo wanted to settle his own wind, so he went to see Dou Ying . Dou Ying is also Chao Cuo's political enemy and a relative of Dou's Queen Mother . Chao Cuo insisted on the policy of cutting the vassal vassal. Although he was widely opposed in the court, only Dou Ying dared to raise it openly. Therefore, he and Chao Cuo did not deal with each other.
Yuan An explained to Dou Ying the reasons for the rebellion of King Wu, and hoped that Dou Ying would introduce herself to the emperor. Yuan An met the empress and said something like this: "The reason why Wu Guo wanted to revolt was because Chao Cuo's aggressive policy of cutting vassal vassals made everyone in the world at risk.In order to preserve his status and name, King Wu had to revolt. Now they are playing the banner of Qingjun, killing the villain next to your Majesty, which refers to Chao Cuo. As long as your Majesty gives an order to kill Chao Cuo, and King Wu and other princes and kings hear the news, they will withdraw their troops safely. "Yuan An took this as a reason. He attributed all the blame to Chao Cuo and used this to liquidate his political opponents. Facing the public opinion condemning Chao Cuo in the court and the reality of the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, Emperor Han Jing had to accept Yuan. At the request of Ang and others, Chao Cuo was executed.
▲Chao Cuo and Emperor Han Jing discussed state affairs together
Chao Cuo’s death was pushed to a climax
The coalition forces of several countries, headed by Wu, have already captured half of the imperial court. The king of Wu and Liu Bi continue to inform the world in an attempt to attract more princes to rebel against the imperial court. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses are also ready to move, and the pressure on the court is increasing. In Chang'an City, it recruits soldiers and buys horses, and promises huge profits to obtain loans from the rich for military expenses. However, almost no one is willing to fund the court because of them. There was no confidence at all, and I was not sure whether the court would win the war, for fear that the court would not be able to recoup the money. After that, Wu Chu's army broke through Liangguo, the coalition army was retreating steadily, and the tortoise shrank into the capital city of Suiyang, Wu Wang Liubi was determined to take down Suiyang, so he entered the Hangu Pass, and his sword pointed to Chang'an.
▲Chao Cuo's Shang Dynasty stills
Liu Bi's power is getting bigger and bigger, and once the court loses, it will When more forces join the rebels, they will be out of control at that time. Anxiety, helplessness and fear forced the new emperor who had just ascended the throne to compromise with reality. After that, Emperor Han Jing summoned Yuan An and appointed him as Feng Chang. , On behalf of the court, went to make peace with King Wu, pardoned the sins of the Seven Kingdoms, and ordered the cessation of vassalization. After that, Emperor Han Jing convened a court meeting and invited the Queen Mother to the court.Tao Qing, Chen Jia, Zhang Ou and others jointly wrote a letter to Emperor Han Jing, suggesting that Emperor Han Jing kill the three tribes of Chao Cuo. The ministers jointly punished Chao Chao, but no one opposed it. Under the pressure of the Queen Mother Dou, Jing Di finally made up his mind to kill Chao Cuo.
On a cold morning in 154 BC, Chao Cuo put on the court clothes and was sent to the palace to see Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. Chao Cuo boarded the carriage that came to pick him up, but the carriage did not go straight to the palace, but drove towards a small alley. Chao Cuo was dressed in court clothes and didn't know what his destiny was waiting for him. Emperor Han Jing resisted the great grief and saw off Chao Cuo's wine. He said sadly: "I have never given the teacher a glass of wine for twenty years since I have been a teacher." In the end, Chao Cuo was sent to Dongshi City. The so-called tree fell down and scattered. More than ten days after Yuan Ang's policy was adopted, the officials moved after hearing the wind, and Chao Cuo's party fell one after another.
However, after Chao Cuo died, the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion did not end. The Seven-Power Allied Forces believed that Emperor Han Jing was weak and incompetent, so they accelerated the usurpation of power. Wu Wang Liu Bi established himself as the Eastern Emperor, openly fighting against the courts of the Western Han Dynasty. This incident made all the forces in the Western Han Dynasty choose to unite as one to deal with the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms. After that, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty sent lieutenants Zhou Yafu , Qu Zhou Hou Liji, Luan Bu , and Dou Ying to fight against the Seven Kingdoms, gradually starting the process of putting down the rebellion. In the end, the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms was put down.
Concluding remarks
Chao Cuo is a very characteristic person, he is very politically talented. He has been admonishing various policies conducive to the development of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Han Jing. For example, for long-term development, it must be people-oriented, vigorously develop various policies related to farmers, and warn the emperor that to control their desires, the people must be the center. He also advocated the suppression of the Huns by force, which laid the foundation for the peace of my country's borders. Chao Cuo's political talent is very prominent. He has repeatedly suggested to Emperor Han Jing to take back the land in the hands of the vassals and reduce the political power in his hands. This is not only conducive to Emperor Han Jing's rule, but also stabilizes the world.
Chao Cuo’s death and Jia Yi’s untimely death in the era of Emperor Wen,It became the two major tragedies of the Wenjing era. Throughout his life, Chao Cuo started from the death of a long time, then defeated the prince Taifu, then promoted the internal history, later moved to the Yushi doctor, and ranked third, making his political ambitions further With his performance, he sacrificed his life in order to consolidate the imperial power, which resulted in the establishment of too many enemies in the court and infringed the interests of many old Shili groups.
Some people say that he is responsible for his death, because he has a flamboyant personality and does not know how to constrain. In fact, there are factors in this aspect, but Emperor Han Jing himself is also responsible, because although the Seven Kingdoms chanted the slogan of the Qing Dynasty, killing Chao Cuo is not the only choice. Although Emperor Han Jing hesitated before he made up his mind to kill Chao Cuo, he eventually lost his reason and opinion for his own sake.
Chao Cuo's death was mainly because he became a political victim. Chao Cuo’s tragedy is similar to the outcome of Shang Yang ’s being cracked by the car. It is the lack of foresight to deal with political crises, inadequate estimation of the political consequences, and improper tactics, which ultimately led to the outcome of becoming a political victim. However, we should still affirm the role of Chao Cuo, just like those insightful people in history who are determined to innovate, no matter what their life ends, they should be remembered by history.
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