Since ancient times, the end of a dynasty has always been accompanied by bloodshed. However, at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, a strange character appeared. He did some things that were confusing in time and space, and performed extremely coquettish operations. He ended the

Since ancient times, the end of a dynasty has always been accompanied by bloody storms. However, at the end of the Western Han Dynasty , a strange character appeared. He did some things that messed up time and space, and performed extremely coquettish operations. ended the powerful Western Han Dynasty without a single blow. dynasty. This person's ideas were advanced, he designed some tools that were very similar to modern objects, and he even wanted to study "airplanes". So many netizens wondered, could this person have traveled from modern times? This person is - Wang Mang.

The down-and-out aristocratic son

What kind of person is Wang Mang? Let’s start with the general environment when he was born. In 45 BC, the society of the Western Han Dynasty was in turmoil. The nobles were addicted to wine pools and meat forests, collecting slaves and enjoying themselves as much as they wanted. The power of the Han family was gradually controlled by the mother-in-law of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun. The Wang family, a relative of the Han Dynasty, became powerful. Nine people were granted the title of marquis, and five of them served as the Grand Sima. They were extremely powerful and powerful. And Wang Mang was born into such a big family. His roots were upright and he was a standard second-generation official .

But there is a difference between Wang Mang and other rich second generations. Why? Because Wang Mang didn’t have a father he could cheat, fate played tricks on people. Wang Mang’s father and eldest brother passed away very early, and he didn’t catch up with the good time to become an official. Wang Mang survived by eating from his uncle’s family since he was a child. His cousins ​​looked down upon him, and he became shorter when he saw others. The children of "poor people" have long been in charge . Although Wang Mang was also born in a noble family, his life was like "depending on others". Therefore, when his uncle's cousins ​​indulged in drinking and sex all day long, Wang Mang secretly made up his mind to study hard and vowed to To stand out.

The children of the uncle's family drink good wine and drive luxury cars, while Wang Mang reads; the children of the uncle's family go out to restaurants and fight crickets, but Wang Mang still reads. Finally, he is familiar with the classics of Confucianism and etiquette, and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. For Wang Mang, who studies "crazy", he learns These things he learned are no longer knowledge, but a kind of belief, so Wang Mang made great ambitions to carry out the unfinished business of Confucius Self-denial and restoration of rites to the end. The so-called self-restraint and restoration of propriety means that we should restrain our selfish desires, correct our shortcomings in habits, and make our behavior meet the standards of etiquette, and do not see, hear, speak, or do anything that is not etiquette.

But Wang Mang knows very well that he is just a freeloader at the moment. He has no idea where he will go for his next meal. He has not even found a big official. How can he talk about the great cause of self-denial and restoration of etiquette? He is always like this. It's not a problem. You have to find a way to change the status quo. Therefore, Wang Mang took aim at his uncle Wang Feng. Wang Feng was a heavyweight in the dynasty. Not only was he the brother of the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, but he was also a Grand Sima, a Grand General, and the head of the Secretariat. He was extremely powerful and majestic.

"Become a question writer" and stand out

So how can you become Wang Feng? At this time, Wang Mang did something shocking. He simply put aside his little self-esteem and became a slave to Wang Feng. He played the emotional card and started with filial piety. To what extent is filial piety? It is said that he is more filial to Wang Feng than his own son, more loyal than his own servant, more capable than his own housekeeper, and more dedicated than his own subordinates. There is only one ultimate goal, which is to make Wang Feng Shuang Wai Wai. Don’t look at this trick that has been used by us modern people. For example, we often hear or see in the news where an elderly person was defrauded of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of property by a fraud gang in the name of “promoting” products. These scammers are How to cheat? Just play the emotional card, bathe, wash feet and wash clothes for the elderly, cook and maintain hygiene for the elderly , they are closer than their own children. Now, let's look back and think about and the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago. Who could do this?

Furthermore, although Wang Feng has a group of children, they themselves are the eldest young master and eldest daughter, and they have to be served by servants. How can they take care of their father? Therefore, in terms of "filial piety", Wang Feng has this knot, which is also a necessity.Just at this time, Wang Mang appeared and took good care of his uncle. It was like the standard template of "Twenty-Four Filial Piety ". When Wang Feng was sick, he often stayed in bed for 24 hours without taking off his clothes. He didn't even bother to wash his face, comb his hair, or feed his uncle. He takes medicine, eats, poops and urinates without even frowning. Wang Feng, who had not felt the filial piety of her children for a long time, was deeply moved and fell in love with Wang Mang. So before she died, she solemnly recommended Wang Mang to her sister, the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun , and praised him highly.

The currency of Wang Mang's period

In this way, Wang Mang finally got his wish, stepped into the system and became a Huangmen servant . Now that my uncle has passed away, let me continue to honor my aunt Wang Zhengjun. So Wang Mang intensified his efforts and tried his best. All the tricks used on Wang Feng were improved and updated into plus versions, which were used on Wang Zhengjun. He also paid great attention to creating a character. He never wore brand names, did not waste food, did not smoke, did not drink, and did not He put on airs, was courteous and corporal, and read the classics of Confucius and Mencius when he had nothing to do. He established himself as a moral model and was well received by the public. When everyone mentions Wang Mang, they will give him a thumbs up and praise him as a little saint . Sure enough, Wang Mang quickly won the love of the Empress Dowager. She felt that Wang Mang, the eldest nephew, was many times better than the other royal children who only knew about sex, showing off their wealth and comparisons. He really gave our old Wang a great deal of face. It was really great. The more you watch, the more you like it.

So when the Queen Mother had something to do, she left it to Wang Mang. She also liked to discuss with him any problem she encountered. In this way, Wang Mang's official career was like "a wild horse" , galloping all the way, Xinduhou, qiduwei, and Guanglu doctor. At the age of 38, he sat on the high position of Da Sima. With just one move of "filial piety", Wang Mang suddenly entered the core of power of the Han Empire. Nowadays, everyone knows that the elderly and children are the best to make money. What is the subtext? It is best to cheat the elderly and children. Of course, Wang Mang also knew this. After taking care of his aunt Wang Zhengjun, he took up the idea of ​​​​the then little emperor Han Pingdi.

Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty was only nine years old at the time, and he probably only had in his mind which cartoon was playing on which channel today, so Wang Zhengjun listened to the affairs behind the curtain, and the Grand Sima Wang Mang handled the state affairs. At this time, Wang Mang's operational methods came again. While he was trying his best to develop his own party members, he also formed the "Wang Mang Pinduoduo Help Chopping Group" , and asked all the ministers of the DPRK and China to write letters praising him in turn. In this way, Wang Zhengjun, who listened behind the curtain, could hear praises for Wang Mang every day in the court. Today he was said to be the most responsible person in the world for the stability of the Han family, so Wang Mang was named Anhan Gong; tomorrow he will be said The emperor is still underage, so Wang Mang should be asked to act on his behalf. The emperor is following the example of Duke Zhou. In this way, Wang Mang had more and more titles and more and more power.

I have to say that Wang Mang's skills were really good. He deceived the two "poor" old men Wang Feng and Wang Zhengjun, and unknowingly deceived Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty. He also had all the civil and military officials in the dynasty under his thumb. It was like the entire Han Dynasty was controlled by him. The palm of your own hand. Soon after, Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty died, and Wang Mang operated in secret to make Liu Ying, who was only two years old, the emperor. The ministers in the "Pinduoduo Chopping" group once again played their role and jointly elected Wang Mang to be the regent, and Liu Ying. Instead, he became a prince.

The "Bronze Caliper" of Wang Mang's Period

In the ninth year of AD, Wang Mang, who believed that the time was ripe, finally kicked out the Liu family of the Han Dynasty, proclaimed himself emperor, and established the new dynasty, with the title of "the founding of the country" . Only then did Wang Zhengjun realize that she had been deceived by this "filial son". She was so angry that she dropped the jade seal passed down by Qin Shi Huang to the ground, breaking one corner. In this way, the Western Han Dynasty in 210, which attacked the Huns in the north and conquered the Western Regions in the south, came to an end peacefully under Wang Mang's coquettish operations. At this point, Wang Mang suddenly became the first emperor in history to change dynasties through peaceful means from a down-and-out aristocratic boy who made a living by earning a living.

The unrealistic "self-denial and restoration of rituals"

It stands to reason that at this time, Wang Mang was already a noble person. He had read poetry and books when he was young, and had gone through the baptism of hard work and power changes step by step. He had both theoretical and practical experience. If you have it, you should be able to govern the world into a prosperous age, but the result is just the opposite. In the first half of his life, Wang Mang seemed to have played a cheat, but after he reached the 9th Five-Year Plan, he made many mistakes. The first is to equalize the rich and the poor, the second is to abolish slavery, and the third is to upgrade the financial system . The above three measures are historically known as Wang Mang's reform .

Wang Mang implemented the Wang Tian system. What is the Wang Tian system? That is to say, all land will be nationalized, private sales will be prohibited, and then distributed on a per capita basis. For example, in terms of cultivated land, a couple can be allocated about 100 acres of cultivated land. If you currently have less than 100 acres of cultivated land, the state will provide supplies. If it is a large family, for example, eight people. A family can be allocated up to 900 acres of land. If your family of eight now has more than 900 acres of land, you will have to hand it over. Regardless of whether you are a rich man or a landlord, is this not like the current socialist land nationalization? ? However, by the Western Han Dynasty, private ownership of land had been implemented for nearly a thousand years. This sudden state ownership of land actually angered many big landowners at the time.

I must also say here that Wang Mang’s abolition of slavery was not an immediate abolition. What he did was to prohibit the slave trade. That is to say, I don’t care how many slaves you have in your family now. You can continue to hold them, but I don’t allow you. If you sell them to others, you are not allowed to buy new slaves. You should know that 1500 years have passed since the next time a similar measure was proposed in history. In 222 AD of Emperor Kangxi's reign, it was stipulated: "Officers and soldiers under the banner must use slaves. Except for civil and military officials of all provinces, garrison generals and deputy commanders, they are not allowed to buy slaves." Apart from the people, the rest still buy people as usual”! It was not until and in the Qing Dynasty that there were policies similar to those proposed by Wang Mang at that time. Therefore, now looking back at Wang Mang's actions at that time, is particularly modern and full of time travel.

Do you still remember his ideal of self-denial and restoration of rites? Wang Mang vigorously promoted the restoration of Zhou rites, so some of his theories were more like applying Zhou Dynasty . He wanted to force a restoration and mechanically copy the management system of Western Zhou 1,000 years ago. But at that time, the Western Zhou Dynasty had only a small population, and even more Not to mention that the territory managed by Emperor Zhou was only the size of a county in the Han Dynasty. It would definitely be impossible to replicate the management methods of the Bronze Age to govern a large country in the Iron Age.

The villain's book

about "Wang Mang usurping the Han Dynasty" was promoted for a while, but he found that it could not be promoted, so Wang Mang retreated to the next best thing and started to write some vain articles, such as changing his name. The names of hundreds of counties across the country were changed, causing great inconvenience to the government and people's lives. For example, the four counties in Hexi that were conquered by Weiqing and Huo Qubing: Wuwei, Zhangye, Dunhuang, and Jiuquan were completely changed by Wang Mang. He changed Wuwei to Zhangye and Zhangye to Zhangye. After it became a screen, Dunhuang was renamed Dunde, and even a poetic and romantic place name like Jiuquan was not spared and was renamed Fuping .

After changing the place names, Wang Mang took advantage of the vassal states again. He demoted the vassal kings of the Southern Huns, Goguryeo and other Western Regions countries by two levels, from kings to marquis, and returned them to their families. Changed particularly unpleasant names, such as Xiongnu was changed to Jiangnu , Shanyu was changed to Fuyu, Goguryeo was changed to Xiaguryeo , which is tantamount to inexplicably insulting others, the vassal kings Extremely dissatisfied, they blew up their camps one after another and no longer submitted to the new dynasty. A name change triggered a national war. Since Emperor Wu of the Han , all the territories developed by generations of Han monarchs were lost to Wang Mang.

The most outrageous thing is to reform the currency. The currency system has been changed four times in seven years. Even tortoise shells have become money. The implementation of five things, six names and twenty-eight grades is an extremely complex currency system ( five things are gold, silver, There are five types of coins: copper, turtle, and shell. The six types are gold, silver, turtle, shell, spring, and cloth. The twenty-eight coins refer to coins with different textures, shapes, and units. Twenty-eight coins. ), for example, when ordinary people go to the street to buy pork, they pay a piece of silver plus ten copper plates plus three turtle shells. The boss gives a small piece of silver plus two copper plates and four in change. Shells, you can’t even count your fingers and toes when buying something.

Wang Mang treats running a country like filming a reality show. He only wants to create trending searches, become an Internet celebrity, and coerce the world to join him in his mischief. From the nobles and officials to the gentry and common people, no one was left in good stead, and everyone's interests suffered serious losses. It can be said that people and gods are angry, and everyone's hearts are lost.. Wang Mang's character can no longer stand, and his new dynasty has come to an end.

Starting from 17 AD, various uprisings against Wang Mang quickly swept across the country, among which the Green Forest Army and Red Eyebrow Army were the largest. In 23 AD, the Green Forest Army invaded Chang'an, and Wang Mang was killed by the rebels. Throughout his life, Wang Mang became emperor by relying on exquisite planning and operation, making the impossible possible, but he also brought suffering to the world for his nihilistic personal ideals. He only lasted for 15 years before he quickly collapsed. The saint was not completed, leaving only an ethereal and illusory back.

PS: There are some claims that Wang Mang invented the "flying machine", and that Wang Mang's family members wore short skirts. The author reviewed the information and found that during Wang Mang's reign, he ordered a search for strange people and skilled craftsmen from all over the world. Emperors often have these hobbies. , and his subordinates were also willing to donate these novel things to the emperor, so these things seemed not so magical. As for the most famous bronze caliper, it was also a product of that period. There is no clear record in the history books that it was invented by Wang Mang of.

I hope everyone will pay more attention. If you have any historical figures you want to know about, you can leave a message~Thank you everyone