The inheritance of the throne in China's feudal history has always been hereditary. The throne is usually passed to the prince, eldest son or eldest grandson, and there are also examples of it being passed to brothers. An interesting thing happened during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Queen Mother's brother-in-law turned out to be the emperor. What happened?
When Han Zhi Emperor Liu Zuan was "eliminated", the throne of the Eastern Han Dynasty became vacant again. At that time, the general Liang Ji ran to the forbidden area of the palace and found his sister, the Empress Dowager Liang, and discussed: "Now that Emperor Zhi is gone, which child should I make the emperor?" At this time, the Empress Dowager Liang had no time to care too much, because , she is organizing a happy event for her family.
What is the happy event?
In fact, the Queen Mother Liang wanted to marry her sister Liang Nuying to the fifteen-year-old Liwu Hou Liu Zhi. Therefore, Liu Zhi hurriedly rushed from Fengguo to Xiamen Pavilion in the north of Luoyang City. He was happily waiting to marry his new wife. But he never thought that in addition to marrying a beautiful wife, another "big good thing" would soon fall on his head.
Deep in the palace, Empress Dowager Liang had an idea: "Nowadays, it is too expedient to make this brother-in-law the emperor. First of all, he is young and easy to control, and he also listens to our words. And secondly, assist him. If we become emperor, our sister will be the queen, and the Liang family can still participate in politics as relatives."
The brother and sister analyzed for a long time, and finally came to the conclusion that making Li Wu Hou Liu Zhi the emperor seems to be the most beneficial choice for the Liang family.
General Liang Ji listened to his sister's wishes and supported Liu Zhi as the new emperor. For this proposal, the courtiers headed by Taiwei Li Gu did not accept it. In their opinion, Qinghe King Liu Lian was more suitable to be the emperor because he was older and had good moral character. For a long time, the courtiers argued over who to support, and everyone had a heated debate in the court.
In the end, because no party was convinced, the issue remains unresolved. As a last resort, these people had no choice but to go back to their respective homes temporarily, each looking for debate materials that were more beneficial to themselves, and strive to defeat their opponents in the next court debate.
After General Liang Ji returned home, he had been worried about this matter. At this time, an important person came to visit the house, that is Cao Teng. This man was the grandfather of Cao Cao, a great hero of later generations, and he is now serving as a permanent attendant. The Cao family and the Liang family are friends in times of need and have a close relationship. When General Liang saw Cao Teng's visit, he quickly asked: "According to the power of the eunuchs, who is more suitable to be the emperor now?"
At that time, the power of the relatives and the courtiers was equal, which meant: Which side did the eunuchs support? will achieve final victory. Today, Cao Teng represents the eunuch side, and the people he supports are the people who can inherit the rule.
Cao Teng did not hide anything from his old friend and replied: "King Qinghe is upright and strict. Once he is established as emperor, the general will inevitably be in disaster. Therefore, it is better to support Li Wuhou, which will last for a long time." Protect wealth." Liang Ji was overjoyed when he heard Cao Teng's answer, so he boldly supported Liu Zhi as emperor.
At the meeting of the ministers on the second day, General Liang announced: "There is no room for negotiation on establishing Li Wuhou Liu Zhi as emperor." The eunuch group did not speak. Although many courtiers had objections, they did not dare to say anything more. . In this way, Liu Zhi became Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty with the support of Liang Ji.
Later, in order to show the closeness between Liang Ji and the new emperor, Liang Ji personally pulled a green-covered cart to pick up Liu Zhi and settled in Luoyang Nangong. The relationship between the new emperor and the Liang family was extremely close, and Liu Zhi was especially grateful to Liang Ji. Later, Liang Ji received many awards and enjoyed greater power.
According to records, there was a businessman from the Western Regions who went to Luoyang to do business. During this period, he mistakenly killed a rabbit in the Liang family, which angered Liang Ji. After that, Liang Ji not only killed the businessman to pay for his rabbit's life, but also went on a rampage and even implicated and executed more than ten people.
At this time, all the power in the world belonged to Liang Ji. Even the Queen Mother Liang herself could not control her brother. The only thing Empress Liang could control, besides the emperor, her brother-in-law, was a group of eunuchs.Therefore, the power of eunuchs during this period was greater than before, and their existence became the only weapon that could restrain Liang Ji.
Empress Dowager Liang wrote an edict when she was dying. She said to her brother-in-law and brother, "Take care of yourself" and passed away. At this time, the Liang family was even more powerful. They had seven princes, three queens, six nobles, seven concubines and concubines, three consorts, and countless other government officials. Fifty-seven people were benefactors. many.
It can be said that under the wings of Liang Ji, the Liang family truly achieved power and wealth. In fact, the edict from the Empress Dowager Liang reminded her brother: "As long as you keep a low profile, you will enjoy wealth and power. Don't be too arrogant, so as not to harm the Liang family." After receiving the four words "behave yourself" from the Empress Dowager Liang, When writing the edict, Liu Zhi had two plans in mind:
One was to get along well with Liang Ji so that they could live peacefully without causing chaos.
The second is to completely eliminate the forces of Liang and Ji, and then regain the power and rectify the government.
Although Liu Zhi was determined to choose the second path, he was faced with many difficulties. In fact, there was no one in the court who could help him. Both the DPRK and the Central Government were under the power of Liang Ji, so Liu Zhi could only rely on the power of the eunuchs to find a way out. Many eunuchs were neutral on whether to choose Liu Zhi or Liang Ji. The two did not rush to make a decision, but silently paid attention to their words and deeds.
Liu Zhi suffered from the lack of better collaborators, and it was difficult to find a place to discuss strategies with his confidants. Therefore, Liu Zhi has been enduring the humiliation. In his opinion, at least Liang Ji has no intention of rebelling. At present, he still supports himself as the emperor, so he has no intention of deposing himself or harming himself.
He originally thought that it would be okay to be an "ostrich" all his life, until he faced Liang Ji's increasing provocation.
Speaking of this, we must mention a woman: Liang Mengnu, whose original surname is Deng. Queen LiangAfter the death of Liang Nuying, Liu Zhi has been depressed, so Liang Ji's wife, Sun Shouseeing such a scene, took Liang, the daughter of Dengxiang, the grandson of the founding master Deng Yu. The fierce woman recommended it to him. Because Liang Meng was as beautiful as a flower, she quickly gained Liu Zhi's special favor.
After that, Liu Zhi paid special attention to the Deng family. Liang Ji saw that this would definitely not work. Over time, the Deng family would be more powerful than the Liang family. Especially Liang Mengnu's mother was named Chang'an Lord, which aroused Liang Ji's jealousy, so he sent people to assassinate Chang'an Lord. Seeing this situation, Lord Chang'an didn't know what to do, so he hurried to the palace and told Liu Zhi about it.
It can be said that this matter has touched the bottom line of Liu Zhi. Even his daily life must now be repaid to Liang Ji, which makes him unbearable. As a last resort, he still chose the second path. Although there were thorns along the way, he had to do it as a last resort. Of course, there was also the flavor of "being angry for a beauty".
html In 0158, Liu Zhi asked Shangshu Ling Yinxun to lead his troops to guard the palace offices with talismans in hand. Moreover, he sent Huangmen Ling Ju Yuan with knights on the left and right, Huben, Yu Lin, Duhou swordsmen, etc., a total of more than 1,000 people, together with Sili Colonel Zhang Biao to surround Liang Ji's residence. He also sent Guang Luxun Yuan Xu to confiscate the seal and ribbon of Liang Ji's general with the talisman.
Liang Ji's time has come, and he and his wife Sun Shou committed suicide that day. This year, Emperor Huan was already twenty-eight years old. From a fifteen-year-old minor to a mature man who was about to stand up, Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty Liu Zhi had been a puppet for thirteen years.
Reference materials:
[Fan Ye's "The Book of the Later Han·Volume 7·The Seventh Chronicle of Emperor Xiaohuan", Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian·Volume 53·Han Chronicle 45·Emperor Xiaohuan", "The Liang Family" Summary of Lineage Arrangement》】
