Author: holding the hanging jade, authorized by Reading History to publish. Hundred Years of Soochow Serial 63
Wu Jun returned from Yong'an three times in a row, which hit Sun Xiu deeply. At this time, he was troubled by internal and external troubles, and he suddenly became ill and soon died. Sun Xiu's children are relatively young, and the whole country hopes to establish a wise eldest king. Eventually, the throne of Soochow was passed to Sun Hao.
As the last emperor in the history of Soochow, Sun Hao reigned for sixteen years, second only to Sun Quan, and the situation of the decline of imperial power in Soochow was finally improved.
Although Sun Xiu got rid of the powerful clan officials Sun Wei before, his slackness in state affairs and his indulgence in academics led to two treacherous officials, Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu, taking over power. However, since Sun Hao ascended the throne, this situation is destined to change.
Most of what Sun Hao left to future generations is the image of a debauched and unscrupulous tyrant. In fact, although Sun Hao was cruel, he did have a positive and enterprising heart, and his tactics were also very unique. We must look at this objectively and fairly.
Sun Hao and Sun Quan are quite similar in terms of their governance styles. Perhaps this is the main reason why Sun Quan loved this grandson so much.
With Sun Hao's character, it is absolutely impossible for him to allow powerful ministers to appear, so Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu became a thorn in his side. The two of them thought that they could maintain their power by virtue of their support, but they did not know that the Buddhist emperors Sun Hao and Sun Xiu were completely different.
However, although Sun Hao was determined to eliminate powerful officials, he did not intend to act immediately. Instead, he wanted to pave the way for this matter by establishing his own authority.
So just over a month after Sun Hao ascended the throne in the first year of Yuanxing (264), he implemented his first major initiative, which was to rehabilitate his father Sun Ping.
At this time, Sun He had passed away for more than ten years, and it had been more than five years since Sun Wei was executed. However, during the several years of Sun Xiu's reign, he never gave an explanation to Sun He who died in vain.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand. As the former prince, although the root cause of his murder was various conflicts in personal grudges and power competition with Quan Princess, on the surface he died because he was implicated by Zhuge Ke. In other words, the official charge of Soochow at that time was that Sun He colluded with Zhuge Ke to rebel, so in the end Sun Jun sent someone to force him to commit suicide.
Sun Xiu was the emperor ushered in by Sun Jun's cousin Sun Wei. Although Sun Xiu renounced his relationship with Sun Jun and Sun Wei and expelled them from the clan, the process of how Sun Xiu ascended the throne cannot be changed. If Sun Heping was promoted to his position, wouldn't it be declaring that his position was unfair? This was very detrimental to Sun Xiu's rule, so he could only shelve the matter.
However, the situation was completely different after Sun Hao ascended the throne. For him, rehabilitating his father could not only show his filial piety, but also make up for the long-term mental trauma caused by losing his father at an early age to a certain extent. It could also establish his own prestige and declare the legitimacy of his lineage to the world.
So he ordered Sun He to be named Emperor Wen, and he honored his mother He as the Queen Mother. Later, he reburied his father in the Minling Tomb of , and set up a special organization to guard the tomb, with a scale of up to 200 households, and it was equipped with chief and deputy officials, which was very formal. This move was to prepare for building a temple for Sun He in the future by improving his status.
As for Queen Mother Zhu, she had lost her use value, so she was demoted to Queen Jing and was forced to death by Sun Hao a year later. Two of her four older sons were also killed by Sun Hao.
This stupid woman thought she could get Sun Hao's protection by being kind to him. However, leaving her fate in the hands of others is a very passive thing. Sun Hao was worried that someone would rebel in the name of Sun Xiu's son, so the ending of their mother and son was destined to be unfortunate.It is sad that the inhumane entrusted by Sun Xiu caused such a tragedy.
Sun Hao's father Sun Heping's rebellion and posthumous title as emperor was equivalent to a "Great Ceremony" event during the Three Kingdoms period, and was not essentially different from the later Jiajing emperor.
Although this matter is understandable from a rational point of view, it is somewhat unjustifiable in terms of etiquette and law, because Sun Hao took the small sect as the master of the big sect, and in the patriarchal he should have Sun Xiu as his father, and Empress Zhu became the Empress Dowager Zhu is a proof. However, his biological father, Sun He, had never been emperor for a day. The nobles who believed in Confucianism should have been opposed to this matter.
However, things always have special characteristics. Many times, etiquette and law are not worth mentioning in the face of interests. At this time, the scholar-bureaucrat class was far less powerful than in the Ming and Qing Dynasties more than a thousand years later. They could not fight against the imperial power alone, and it was most beneficial to them to cooperate with Sun Hao on this matter.
Sun He, as the focus of the Second Palace Controversy , was once widely supported by the scholar class, and many people even died because of it. They have been deeply bound together. Now that Sun Heping has been defeated, it is equivalent to improving their political status, and naturally everyone is happy. As for the poor Empress Zhu and her son, who will care about them? This was also the reason why Sun Hao's demands were easily realized but Emperor Jiajing encountered great resistance.
This matter was finally recognized by the scholar-bureaucrats. In the following years, Xue Yi, Meng Ren, Yao Xin, Lu Kai, etc. gave their strong support, and Sun He's establishment of the temple was finally realized.
Among them, Meng Ren was a famous scholar in Jingzhou . He had been supported by Zhu Ju and Lu Xun, so he was naturally a member of the gentry circle. Yao Xin is Lu Xun's nephew and one of the princelings in the battle for the second palace, not to mention Lu Kai.
In addition, Sun Hao also did two things.
First, he took revenge on those who had participated in the persecution of his father. This was equivalent to attacking the political opponents of the gentry, which they naturally liked to see.
The second is to rebury Princess Zhu who was previously buried in a mass grave. As one of the main members of the former princelings, Princess Zhu has a certain status in the hearts of the scholars, so Sun Hao's move can also win people's hearts.
However, Sun Hao restrained himself during the liquidation, such as Ji Zhi. When Sun He was demoted to Nanyang Queen, Sun Jun wanted to eradicate the roots, so he ordered Ji Zhi to go and question Sun He and force him to commit suicide. However, Ji Zhi did not obey the order, but secretly asked Sun He to submit a letter to appeal.
Although Ji Zhi leaves room for action, according to Sun Hao's style, if Ji Zhi is related to the persecution of Sun He, then he will definitely not end well.
However, Ji Zhi's identity is somewhat special. Although the Danyang Ji family he was born in is far inferior to the big families such as Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang, it is still a famous family in Jiangdong. Later, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, his son Ji Zhan was as famous as Gu Yong's grandson Gu Rong and He Qi great grandson He Xun and others, and were called "Five Talents", which shows the family status of the Ji family in Danyang. Sun Hao forgave Ji Zhi here, which was obviously to give face to the noble clan.
In short, the title of Sun He was a major event in the early days of Sun Hao's reign. Sun Hao consolidated the imperial power with this, and the status of the gentry also improved accordingly. Both parties got what they needed. This was an obvious political cooperation.
For Sun Hao, he still knew the strong support of the gentry. At this time, his foundation was still shallow and he needed their help. Therefore, Sun Hao suppressed his own nature to a certain extent in this stage of governance.
According to "Jiang Biao Zhuan", when Sun Hao succeeded to the throne, he ordered to subsidize the people, open warehouses to help the poor, reduce the number of palace maids, and release excess rare birds and animals in the palace, etc. These policies made him known as the wise master of the moment.
At the same time, Sun Hao chose some Qingliu people as his close ministers, such as He Shao , Ding Gu , Hua He, Lou Xuan , Wang Fan , Wei Yao , Xue Ying , etc. Among these people were scholars from Jiangbei and Jiangdong, and even members of the powerful He family in Kuaiji, such as He Shao, the grandson of He Qi.
In addition, Sun Hao also made Lu Kang the general of Zhenjun, leading the pastoral care of Yizhou; Lu Kai was the general of Zhenxi, the governor of Baqiu, leading the pastoral care of Jingzhou. The status of the Lu family has been further improved compared to Sun Xiu's period.
Are these all Sun Hao’s own wishes? Of course not. Sun Hao is the same person as Sun Quan at heart. He desires to monopolize power and make achievements, which inevitably leads to disagreements with the scholars.
As an autocratic emperor, Sun Hao and the scholar-bureaucrats had fundamental differences in their governing concepts and ideas. The exclusivity of power also made it impossible for him to maintain a harmonious relationship with the nobles forever. The current cooperation between the two parties is only temporary.
Whether he implements benevolent government or elects a clean stream, they are all expedient actions taken by Sun Hao to win over people's hearts before he was still young. It is said that if you want to take something, you must give it first. Once his wings are full in the future, he will definitely reveal his true colors and launch an attack on his former allies.
We can clearly see the shadow of Sun Quan in Sun Hao's series of policies. Sun Quan relied heavily on scholars before he became emperor, but after he successfully became emperor, the relationship between the two parties became tense during the Huanglong and Jiahe years, not to mention the dispute between the two palaces during the Chiwu period. It is a tradition of the Sun family to burn down bridges when crossing rivers. No matter the people like Puyang Xing who are about to be purged or the scholars who are currently in power, they cannot escape this fate.
In short, Sun Hao was not violent and violent from the beginning. He went through a process of turning from being a bright person to a violent person, although this process was relatively short-lived. Violence is Sun Hao's nature, while Ming is a facade put on to achieve the purpose of violence.
However, Sun Hao is only a young man in his early twenties, and there are some things that are deep in his bones that are difficult to hide. Although he is restrained in governing, he seems to be more indulgent in his personal behavior, and he soon shows his rough, arrogant, drunken and lustful side.
This made Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu extremely worried. Now Sun Hao has gradually established the authority of the emperor and actively moved closer to the nobles politically. However, judging from his personal temperament, it is obvious that he is not a benevolent and righteous king. Looking at his attitude towards the Queen Mother Zhu, we can see that Sun Hao is definitely a ruthless and unrighteous person. Now that the power in their hands is gradually being lost, it is unknown whether they will be able to end well in the future. Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu feel deep regret.
They are still too naive. Since they have embarked on the path of powerful ministers, there is no way out. They have only one option: to establish Sun Xiu's young son, and then control the young master to gain power. And ever since they decided to disobey Sun Xiu's last edict, their tragic ending was already doomed.
Although Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu regretted welcoming Sun Hao, this mentality is definitely not humane to outsiders. However, Sun Hao has made all preparations, and his desire to get rid of them has become stronger, so it is meaningless no matter how they hide it.
At this time, Wan Yu figured out the emperor's mentality, so he took the opportunity to report the matter. Sun Hao was worried that he could not find an excuse. Now the problem could be solved. In November of the first year of Yuanxing (264), Sun Hao summoned Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu to the court, imprisoned them and sent them to Lingnan. He then hunted down the two men and annihilated three tribes on the way. From then on, the pattern of powerful ministers in power in Soochow for more than ten years was ended.
However, if we want to completely reshape the imperial power, it is not enough to solve the internal problems. When the government and the public looked forward to Changjun's succession, they hoped that a capable monarch would emerge to lead Soochow out of the internal and external difficulties. Therefore, Sun Hao will have to face pressure from the outside.
