Ancient Chinese society had a process of moving from a public world to a family world. A landmark event was that Xia Qi succeeded his father on the throne, making hereditary system the main inheritance method for future generations.

Preface

Ancient Chinese society went through a process from a public world to a family world. A landmark event was that Xia Qi succeeded his father's throne, making hereditary system the main inheritance method for future generations. The reason why

has such a distinction is that Xia Qi opened a new inheritance method. Before Xia Qi, the inheritance of tribes was completed through abdication, that is, the well-known Yao passed his throne to Shun, and Yu passed his throne to Yu.

When Yu was in power, he also elected his successor, Gao Tao. However, Gaotao died early, and his son Boyi became the successor.

Portrait of Xia Qi

However, even if the heir has been elected, history has not followed the established track. Dayu's son Xia activated the interrupt skill:

"Yu has five sons, and he does not take his sons as his descendants." Jiu Yao is a wise person, but he wants to be the successor. Jiu Yao is the wise man in the world, so he died because of his illness. Through active struggle, history has entered the society of family and world. With the emergence of family society and the strengthening of the monarchical autocratic system in the feudal society, the abdication system seems to have disappeared. In fact, the concession system has not disappeared, and has even existed in history.

Changes in the abdication system

In our understanding, abdication is a good story. That was the most suitable method chosen by the leader at that time to take over the leadership of each tribe for the development of the entire tribe.

Under this system, what appears before us are virtuous people who are no less talented than the previous leader.

Therefore, In the period of Yao and Shun, abdication meant that the emperor gave up the throne to a virtuous person. But if we take a closer look, we will find that first there is the intention of the ruler to give up the throne, and then there is the selection of suitable successors in each tribe, and finally the throne is handed over to the other party.

It can be seen here that the most fundamental meaning of abdication is that a monarch takes the initiative to give up the throne to others . As for the criteria for criticizing the ruler, it naturally varies from person to person.

Therefore, it is not impossible for a ruler to give up his throne to a less virtuous person, but Yao and Shun were both noble and sentimental people. Because

is choosing the best successor, giving in is a very beautiful image for us.

After the birth of a society in which the world was ruled, the throne of the king was passed down within the family. Regardless of whether the ruler was foolish or not, virtuous or not, the throne would be inherited according to blood relations.

This kind of inheritance method, which does not distinguish between good and bad, makes us deeply feel that the abdication system is dead.

However, judging from the original meaning of the abdication system, which is that the ruler abdicates the throne to others, this phenomenon is not uncommon in history. It’s just that after these monarchs handed over the throne, they did not change the current situation of the family , so we ignored its existence.

The abdication system in the feudal society

After Xia Qi won the throne, the abdication system also existed during the reign of the Zhou Dynasty. Compared with the chaotic historical line during that period, the abdication during the feudal society period will allow us to see it more clearly.

Compared with the abdication in ancient times, the abdication system in the feudal society did not have the so-called selection and inspection stage. The monarch mostly selected the successor to the throne based on his own preferences or whether his own life could be saved.

Therefore, the methods of Zen throne are different. Either is forced to give up the throne inexplicably due to the power of the minister or the monarch is young; or the sentiment is so "noble" that he actively gives up the throne, or to protect it. One's own life leaves the responsibilities of the monarch in the hands of others.

Among these people, the former is forced to give up his position; the middle one is an ignorant and incompetent person; and the latter is a typical example of cheating his son.

A monarch who was forced to abdicate.

During the feudal historical period, most abdication was because the monarch was not strong enough. Under the coercion and inducement of the ministers in the court, he took the initiative to hand over the royal power to another person who was not related to him by abdication. , the most obvious example of this, is the familiar and that we are familiar with.

We all know that Wang Mang realized his wish to become emperor through Ruziying Zen position, but in fact, the story is much more interesting than we thought.

Having a relative in power has always been a taboo in the feudal dynasty. Wang Mang also rose to the top of the court by virtue of his relationship with Wang Zhengjun's nephew. After two generations of Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, Wang Mang became the most virtuous and respected minister in the Western Han Dynasty.

He was deeply saddened by the departure of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, and he worked hard for the livelihood of the people. He was even called the "Great Sage" by the people. But the identity of a time traveler cannot be hidden, and the prestige is so high that even those who refuse to vote will be sorry for his identity as a time traveler.

As we all know, ministers can influence the monarch's thoughts to a certain extent, and the monarch can definitely influence the ministers. So in order to prevent himself from being influenced, Wang Mang chose the best person to control: Liu Ying .

Liu Ying was not the son of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, but the son of Liu Xian, Marquis of Guangqi. Liu Xian is the great-grandson of Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, and a contemporary of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty. Since Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty had no heir, Wang Mang wanted to control the government, so he declared that all the emperors after Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty were the same generation as Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty and could not be successors. In this way, Liu Ying, who was only two years old, became the crown prince .

Poor Liu Ying, in order to pave the way for Wang Mang's dictatorship, did not even have the position of emperor, so he could only ask Wang Mang to assist him as the crown prince. Under Wang Mang's careful design, Wang Mang became like the Duke of Zhou, except for some regent affairs.

However, it can be seen from his various behaviors that Wang Mang does not have such a great sentiment as "the Duke of Zhou spits out food", because he has done everything the emperor should do.

However, Wang Mang's Zhao Zhao ambition was quickly seen through, and many courtiers opposed his approach, especially some members of the clan surnamed Liu, who directly rebelled.

In addition to the clan surnamed Liu, some ministers also revolted, such as Zhai Yi, the governor of Dongjun... Wang Mang, who controlled the government, was afraid of public opposition and was busy suppressing it. He also promised to return to power when the crown prince was old.

But after all the rebel forces were wiped out by him, Wang Mang felt that he was capable again, so he simply stopped pretending. He wanted to remove the first word of the title "False Emperor".

So, the people who flattered him simply made Liu Bang said to be located in his golden chamber to show that Wang Mang was ordered by heaven. Under irreversible circumstances, the throne was abdicated.

Although Liu Ying was granted a fief by Wang Mang, he was not returned to the fief, but was imprisoned in the Anding Palace in the capital. No one taught me, and I was not allowed to talk to anyone. I just lived in numbness.

When Wang Mang was defeated and the Red Eyebrow Army wanted to establish an orthodox representative, they thought of Ru Ziying who was imprisoned in Chang'an . When they found Liu Ying, Liu Ying had already become a fool.

With the defeat of the Red Eyebrow Army, Liu Ying was killed, and his body was nowhere to be found.

Portrait of Liu Ying

If we say that the emperor with the worst Zen position, Liu Ying ranks second, no one dares to claim the first place. Compared with Liu Ying's tragic fate, there are also people who saved their lives and sought a good death, such as Emperor Wei Yuan Cao Huan.

The existence and disappearance of Cao Wei's regime seems to have a sense of fate. Cao Pi came to the throne through the Zen throne of Liu Xie, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty Sima Yan's regime also came from the Zen throne of Cao Huan. It can be said that it has a beginning and an end.

With the establishment of the Cao Wei regime, the power of the Sima family has gradually grown. After the Gaoping Ling incident, the Sima family successfully squeezed out Cao Shuang and became the dominant force in the court.

Because neither Cao Fang nor Cao Mao were obedient emperors, they were quickly removed from power by the Sima clan and allowed Wei Yuan Emperor Cao Huan to sit on the dragon throne. At this time, the Sima family had already become the people who influenced the government, so Cao Huan was nothing more than a puppet emperor.

He has no real power, no trusted ministers, and no army. The reason why Cao Huan can stay on the throne is that Sima Zhao has no strong desire to replace him. But when Sima Yan inherited the position of Jin King, his ambition became extremely obvious.

The emperor, who was originally a puppet, abdicated under the coercion of Sima Yan, and the Cao Wei regime was destroyed. However, Sima Yan still retained some conscience. He named Cao Huan King Chenliu, and gave him generous treatment. He could use the banner of the emperor. The ritual and music system in his fiefdom was no different from that of the emperor. Faced with Sima Yan's edict does not require paying homage or paying homage to his ministers.

From the perspective of a spoiled emperor, this life is like heaven.

Cao Huan's ending can be said to be the last monarch of the dynasty who received the best treatment during the entire feudal society period. Other Zen monarchs were not so lucky.

For example, The last monarch of the Jin Dynasty Emperor Gong of Jin Sima Dewen was forced to abdicate the throne to Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty Liu Yu, but he was killed by Liu Yu in more than a year; The last emperor of the Northern Zhou Yuwen Explain that abdicated his position to Yang Jian, and within a few months he went to complain to his ancestors...

Basically, these monarchs who were forced to abdicate, all threatened the new royal power after abdicating the throne. Killed by the presence of .

Yang Jian stills

Monarchs who took the initiative to abdicate

In addition to the more common ones who were forced to abdicate, there are also some monarchs who did not seek their own political affairs in their positions but only engaged in some affairs, and treated the throne as a master. I just want to give away things.

Among these, the ones we are more familiar with are Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty Liu Xin . His story, apart from the farce of "changing the Yuan Dynasty and accepting orders" caused by superstitious theology, is the habit of cutting off sleeves with his favorite Dong Xian.

Dong Xian, who was admired by Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty for his appearance because of his performance in front of the palace, used his appearance to give the green light to his official career. Not only was he made a marquis, but his family members were also promoted, and everyone in the court had to stay out of the way.

Since ancient times, lecherous kings have almost no signs of a wise king, and the same is naturally true for Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty. For Dong Xian's sake, he took Dong Xian's wife to live in the palace, and also named Dong Xian's sister Zhaoyi , with a status only below the queen.

In addition, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty also carried out extensive construction work in the palace, building a residence and a mausoleum for Dong Xian.

At best, these are preferential treatment based on material and power. Basically, the favored concubine can make the power of the relative rise sharply. As a man, Dong Xian naturally has no worries about his relatives, but he poses a direct threat to the throne.

Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty favored him more and more, and even wanted to abdicate the throne to Dong Xian:

A wine Qilin Hall was built above, where Xian's father and son and their relatives had a banquet, and Wang Hong's brothers, the middle and regular servants, were by his side. There was a wine shop, and he looked at Xian calmly and smiled, saying, "I want to follow the example of Yao and Shun, so what?"

If it weren't for Wang Hong's blunt admonition, Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty saw the resistance to abdicating the throne at will, and he would have guessed that Dong Xian could change dynasties with his beauty. , and then died in various political battles.

In addition to Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty Liu Xin, there was another unsatisfactory emperor who wanted to give the throne to his father-in-law, which led to his own throne being taken away. That was Tang Zhongzong Li Xian, who reigned twice.

Tang Taizong fought all his life, but Li Zhi, who succeeded the throne, was very different from him. Although he was a good monarch, he was quite weak, which led to the already resolute Wu Zetian to gradually enter the court. Become an important figure in handling DPRK-China affairs.

Under Wu Zetian's strong character and resolute methods, the people of the Tang royal family were shown to be quite weak. Tang Gaozong Li Zhi was like this, and even more so was Tang Zhongzong Li Xian who succeeded him.

Because she was inherently cowardly and politically incompetent, Wu Zetian made the final decision in all political affairs. No monarch would allow his power to be snatched away, and this is understandable. However, Li Xian was neither courageous nor knew how to hide his power and bide his time, so he tried his best to promote Empress Wei's family, and even promoted his father Wei Xuanzhen to prime minister.

Due to Pei Yan's strong objection, Li Xian said the words that dealt him a fatal blow:

" Zhongzong wanted to make Wei Xuanzhen his servant, and he also wanted to nurse the son of a nursing mother to a fifth-rank official. Pei Yan insisted on fighting, and Zhongzong Zong said angrily: "I care about the world and Wei Xuanzhen, why not! But Xishi is evil! "Yan Fear, the Empress Dowager Bai, conspired to abolish Li.

Disasters come from the mouth and have to be vigilant. Because of these words, Li Xian was demoted to King of Luling by Wu Zetian not long after. However, when he succeeded to the throne again, Li Xian, who once wanted to own his own group, seems to be even more cowardly.

Although it was just a moment of excitement, Li Xian's words and his actions in ascending to the throne for the second time will make it difficult to tear off his label as a coward.

Of course, except for this. In addition to those who want to abdicate the throne to others but fail, there are also some fathers who specialize in cheating their sons. When the dynasty is in crisis, they immediately abdicate and become the emperor

to cheat their sons. The first emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty was the Northern Qi Dynasty. Compared with the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which went to the Guanlong region, no matter how powerful the dynasty was, it could not withstand others. The same was true for the Northern Qi Dynasty. By the time Gao Wei succeeded to the throne, the Northern Qi Dynasty was already on the verge of collapse.

After Gao Wei succeeded to the throne, because of his slow speech and cowardly personality, he not only did not like to talk to others, but also had a weak personality. Being looked at twice would make you feel uncomfortable. Therefore, the courtiers would rush off after giving advice. Under such circumstances, the entire Northern Qi Dynasty was in a state of neglect of government affairs. Lu Lingxuan. Because of his meritorious service in raising Gao Wei, he was named one of the maids. With his relationship with Gao Wei, and Gao Wei's favor with Feng Xiaolian, , the already shaky country of Northern Qi became even more precarious with King Langya. Gao Yan, King Lanling Gao Changgong and others were killed. The Northern Qi Dynasty was extremely corrupt internally and lost its military resistance to the outside world. On the contrary, the strength of the Northern Zhou Dynasty became stronger and stronger.

Stills of King Lanling

In 576 AD, it was still there. Gao Wei was happily hunting in Qilianchi, and the Northern Zhou army had begun to attack Jinzhou. After hearing the news, Gao Wei rushed to Jinzhou. However, with the support of Yuwen Yong, the Qi army was defeated. , Gao Wei wanted to keep his ministers and escape from Jinzhou, but the soldiers were unwilling.

After that, Gao Wei appointed Gao Yanzong as the prime minister, and he and his people prepared to escape to the Turks, and the ministers escaped halfway. They were almost scattered, so Gao Wei had no choice but to turn back to Yecheng.

After Gao Yanzong accepted the order to defend the city, he proclaimed himself emperor in Jinyang on the third day. As Jinyang City was broken, Gao Yanzong was captured. Gao Wei, who was only twenty years old, abdicated the throne to his six-year-old son Gao Heng, in order to blame the Northern Qi Dynasty for its imminent collapse.

The continuous farce further heralded the demise of Northern Qi. Only twenty-four days after Gao Heng took the throne, the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty was captured. Then Gao Hengrui, his son and others were captured by the Northern Zhou soldiers and brought to Yuwen Yong.

It is like a joke that the king of a country did not know how to shoulder the responsibility of the world before the country was destroyed. When the country was destroyed, he realized that the shackles on his body were too heavy, and he did not hesitate to let his six-year-old son bear the sins he had committed. It is really It is deplorable.

But such people are not the only ones who exist. After all, there is another Song Huizong that we are more familiar with.

The Northern Song Dynasty is called the weak Song Dynasty, not only because compared with other dynasties, on the basis of its imminent unification, several ethnic minority regimes coexisted with it and could not be resolved. It was also because most of the Northern Song Dynasty, from the monarch to the ministers, was weak. There is no backbone in this person, and the same is true for Song Huizong.

If Song Huizong had not been reborn in the royal family of the Northern Song Dynasty, he might have been a great artist during the Northern Song Dynasty. But if he was reborn in the imperial family, all his behaviors would be labeled as mediocre.

Portrait of Song Huizong

Long before Song Huizong ascended the throne, the characteristics of poverty and weakness in the Northern Song Dynasty were already very obvious. Therefore, in the 7th year of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi's reform was also implemented. However, Wang Anshi's reform was not thorough. In addition to touching the interests of the feudal landowners, he also competed with the people for profits. Therefore, due to the intertwining of old and new party struggles, Wang Anshi was dismissed from office twice. When Song Zhezong succeeded to the throne, Wang Anshi's political enemy Sima Guang became the prime minister, and all the contents of his reforms were cancelled.

Therefore, after Song Huizong came to the throne, there was still controversy in the court about whether to implement Wang Anshi's reform . At that time, there was Cai Jing, a speculator who had experienced three dynasties. During the Shenzong period, he relied on Wang Anshi to implement reforms. During the Zhezong period, he relied on Sima Guang. Literary talent and political acumen once again joined forces, and he became the most valued minister of Song Huizong.

It is evident how the people of Qin, Mu and Chu were half-hearted. Cai Jing was reused, making the court of the Northern Song Dynasty full of Cai Jing's followers.

However, Huizong of the Song Dynasty was politically incompetent. Therefore, he sold his officials and titles inside the court and imposed excessive taxes outside the court. The Song Dynasty declined amid internal and external conflicts.

But Song Huizong not only didn't notice it, he even built a lot of construction projects for the so-called granite and oppressed the people. In the Northern Song Dynasty, when foreign troubles still existed, internal troubles arose one after another.

With the state of the Jurchen regime, during the Song Huizong period, the Northern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty signed a maritime alliance to jointly attack the Khitan regime. During this period, although the Liao Kingdom was destroyed, the Jin Kingdom gradually became another threat.

After the demise of the Liao Kingdom, the Jin Kingdom continued to develop, and the Northern Song Dynasty gradually became its target.

In October 1125, the Jin army went south and approached Kaifeng. When Song Huizong heard the news, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground. At the time of internal and external difficulties, the words of a minister swept through Song Huizong's ears like a spring breeze, bringing him the dawn of spring.

Since he can solve the current predicament by force, it is better to leave it to his son. When the time comes, the ancestor will blame him and he will not be the one to blame for the loss of the Song Dynasty.

So, when Song Huizong woke up, he abdicated the throne to his son Zhao Huan, who is also known as Song Qinzong.

Seeing the mess left by his father, Zhao Huan, who was not much use to him, also had a dark look in his eyes and had no idea what to do. Suddenly he felt that the Song Dynasty should not succumb to the Jin Dynasty and should rise up to resist, so he dismissed Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others, and appointed Li Gang to fight against the Jin Dynasty. Seeing that the effect of resisting the Jin Dynasty was not obvious, he showed cowardice and listened to the words of the treacherous minister. And seek peace from Jin.

Song Qinzong's portrait

Although it is shameful to admit defeat, the pressure is indeed much less. It is estimated that many emperors of the Song Dynasty thought this way, so they couldn't help but feel weak in the knees whenever they encountered the Liao, Jin and other regimes.

Amidst the weakness and concession of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin army became more and more arrogant, and finally ushered in the Jingkang Incident.

It can be said that Song Huizong cheated Song Qinzong, but their Northern Song Dynasty court cheated the people of the world.

Why the concession mode has always existed

This method of forced concession or active concession has existed since the pre-Qin period and lasted until the fall of the Song Dynasty before it completely disappeared. Among the above three ways of giving in, the most common one is forced to give in. The reasons for the concession methods of

and the latter two are very clear, and they are basically only a few examples.But why has the first forced surrender method been able to exist for thousands of years?

• Reduce the difficulty of changing dynasties

As written in the previous article, in ancient feudal society, the difficulty of each founding king was not the same. The most difficult thing about is Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang who started from scratch. If they want to become the masters of the world, they can only win reputation through their unremitting efforts, recruit talents, participate in wars, consolidate their strength step by step, and finally ascend to the throne of kings.

But in the entire feudal history, there were only two people, Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang. More people’s way of founding a country is much simpler, and all of this depends on the existence of the Zen position.

The easiest way to make a group notice you is to join it. Therefore, the new founding monarchs are basically ministers with high prestige in the previous dynasty. In this way, they can not only have their own power, but also make the entire political group accept their existence, reduce future resistance, and reduce Losses caused by changing dynasties.

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, was originally an important minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He had a very high status in the court and good prestige among the people. Therefore, when he usurped the throne, he was able to reduce the scope of the war to a great extent.

Similarly, before Gao Huan replaced the Eastern Wei regime, and later Zhao Kuangyin replaced the Later Zhou regime, there were such considerations. In addition to thinking, people like who have power and connections have more advantages in obtaining the throne than others.

• Establish one's orthodox status

In ancient society, the throne did not mean that whoever had a big fist could ignore other people's opinions and ignore all rumors. On the contrary, the more powerful a person is, the more he cares about the opinions of others. Therefore, the more a monarch is, the more he cares about the opinions of the people in the world, especially the origin of his power and position.

Just four words of "improper position" can make a person drown in the verbal and written criticism of the literati. Therefore, the king is particularly concerned about the so-called "orthodoxy".

Regarding how to prove one's orthodox status, there are three ways to prove one's orthodox status: being ordained by heaven, being recognized by today's orthodox people, and having a blood relationship with today's orthodox people.

Even if the former proves his ability to dominate the world, he still has to add some mysterious content to himself to prove that he is different from others. Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, had a very bumpy road to entrepreneurship, but if you look through his stories, you will also find mysterious stories such as drunkenly killing a white snake.

Even if he is not the founding king, he will prove his differences from time to time, just like one of the reasons why Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Campaign was that his grandson Zhu Zhanji was full of red lights when he was born.

Of course, there are also people like Liu Xiu and Liu Bei who, although they have fallen into decline, are still of the Han Dynasty clan bloodline, the legitimacy of their bloodline can call on many people to follow them.

But it is too difficult to be ordered by heaven, and not everyone is a descendant of the royal family. Therefore, the Zen position is the easiest way to inherit orthodoxy and prove orthodoxy.

Therefore, even if the king has absolute strength to replace him, they will let the previous monarch yield to them and activate their passive acceptance skills.

Therefore, although the concession system has long since changed its flavor, it still relies on its two major advantages to endure in the torrent of history.

End

The way of surrender is like a word or a word. It will be given new meaning when it develops in different eras. is different from the concession of talents during the Yao, Shun, and Yu periods. was a kind of "concession to the strong" during the feudal society, and it was all for self-protection.

On the one hand, the subsequent abdication will appear more passive for the monarch.