Huo Guang had great power. He assisted three emperors, established two emperors, and deposed one emperor. His granddaughter is a queen, and his daughter is also a queen. His wife also killed a queen. Compared with him, Cao Cao seemed to be inferior in controlling the emperor: Cao Cao "held the emperor to order the princes", but Han Emperor Xian was not established by him, nor was he deposed; he killed one of Emperor Xian's queens and one of his concubines; all three of his daughters married the emperor, but he only had one queen.
Of course, such a comparison is just a word game and has no actual value. Comparing Cao Cao and Huo Guang, what I want to say is that if Huo Guang continues to hold great power and dominate the world, in a few decades, there may not be a day when the usurper will stand on his own feet.
Huo Guang's disadvantage lies in his age. He had already become an official during the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and died in 68 BC. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xun, became emperor in 74 BC and lived until 48 BC.
In the six years when Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty was the emperor and Huo Guang was the general Grand Sima , objectively speaking, Huo Guang continued the governing philosophy of the Zhao period, implemented lenient government, light corvees and low taxes, and rested with the people, which made considerable contributions to the recovery of the national economy.
However, during the reign of Emperor Zhao, Huo Guang's son Huo Yu and grand nephew Huo Yun both served as Zhonglang generals. Another grand nephew, Huo Shan, served as the captain of Fengche and held military power. His two sons-in-law directly held the palace embargo. His granddaughter Shangguan was the empress of Emperor Zhao, and many relatives received official positions. In fact, a large-scale and powerful foreign relatives group has been formed, and Huo Guang was the actual ruler of the empire during the period of Emperor Zhao Liu Fuling .
After a brief transition from Liu He , the deposed prince Liu Ju 's grandson Liu Xun was proclaimed emperor. This young man who grew up among the people had neither experience in governing nor a political team, so he had to be very respectful to the powerful Huo Guang: he asked Huo Guang to ask for instructions on all matters before formally telling him; when Huo Guang met in court, Emperor Xuan was humble and treated Huo Guang with great courtesy; Emperor Xuan also issued an edict to praise Huo Guang and rewarded him with a large amount of property.
However, it is not that Liu Xun does not have his own position, nor does he want to regain his real power. In order to seize power, he conducted a test: when many ministers suggested making Huo Guang's daughter Huo Chengjun his queen, Liu Xun was noncommittal, but made an abrupt request: "I have used a sword among the people, and I have a deep affection for this sword. Dear friends, can anyone help me?" "Should I get it back?"
The ministers immediately understood the hint of "the old sword is deeply in love", so they all changed their minds and suggested that Liu Xun's original wife Xu Pingjun be made the queen. In the battle between the emperor and the powerful ministers, Liu Xun achieved a small victory.
It’s just that he doesn’t know what price he has to pay for this small victory! Mrs. Huo Guang (known as Huo Xian) bribed doctors and poisoned the pregnant Queen Xu. Although the doctor was arrested and imprisoned, Huo Guang suppressed the matter and did not allow anyone to investigate further. Liu Xun saw the power of Huo Guang's family and how they could be so unscrupulous around him. He truly understood the power gap, so he had no choice but to hold back and named Huo Guang's daughter Huo Chengjun as his heir.
In the first six years of Liu Xun's reign as emperor, his use and control of state power was comparable to that of Han Xian Emperor Liu Xie. Until Huo Guang became seriously ill, Emperor Xuan personally visited his home and shed tears for him. After Huo Guang passed away, Emperor Xuan personally went to Huo Guang's mourning hall to express his condolences.
However, the reason why Emperor Xuan was willing to tolerate it for many years was not only because Huo Guang had great power and stable foundation, but also because there was no outstanding talent among his sons.
As soon as Huo Guang died, Emperor Xuan began to train the Xu and Shi families, adjusted the positions of the Huo family, and made the son of Queen Xu the prince the following year.The Xu family is the natal family of Queen Xu, and the Shi family is the natal family of Shi Liangdi, the grandmother of Emperor Xuan and the wife of Liu Ju. In this way, Emperor Xuan weakened the power of the Huo family (theoretically also a relative, the natal family of Queen Huo) by supporting his wife's family and his grandmother's family.
The Huo family lost their leader Huo Guang, and they immediately fell into chaos, complaining and alienating each other. They were also worried about the poisoning of Queen Xu, and gradually became rebellious.
Liu Xun clearly found out about the matter, but he did not immediately touch the Huo family. Instead, he gradually dealt with the families who had close ties with the Huo family. But with the Huo family's incompetence, the rebellion is unlikely to succeed. After the failure, Huo Yun, Huo Shan and others committed suicide. Huo Yu and Huo Xian (Mrs. Huo Guang, the culprit who killed Empress Xu) were executed. Queen Huo Chengjun was also deposed and imprisoned, and committed suicide a few years later.
Liu Xun is not only calm and steady, but also clear about right and wrong. More than ten years later, he had eleven portraits of heroes drawn in the Qilin Pavilion, including Huo Guang. He just called them "Da Sima, General Bo Luhou, surnamed Huo" without specifying their full names.
Compared with Liu Xun's calmness and objectivity, the Huo family's children (including Huo Guang's wife Huo Xian) are both rash and irritable, lack strategy, are not calm enough, let alone wise.
Cao Cao has a capable son Cao Pi , Sun Jian has a capable son Sun Ce Sun Quan. Without an outstanding successor, the collapse of the Huo Guang Group is simply a historical necessity.
