Attack in troubled times and personnel in prosperous times-personnel arrangement of Xuan Di, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty

Grammatical bureaucrats rule chaos, while Confucian officials appease it. The two are integrated, Confucianism is outside the law and hegemony is mixed. This concept of politics and personnel has been practiced in Xuan Di for a long time.

Troubled times can best reflect the political intentions of rulers, and prosperity depends on personnel. The personnel appointment of Emperor Xuandi in the Western Han Dynasty is very representative.

After the death of Emperor Zhaodi of the Western Han Dynasty, King Changyi ascended the throne. However, due to his misconduct, he was deposed after only 27 days as emperor. Later, Liu Bingyi, the grandson of Prince Huo Guangli, the powerful minister, became Xuan Di, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Portrait of Emperor Gaozu Xuan Di

Xuan Di, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, was the only emperor in China history who had been in prison. When he was born, he was implicated in the case of his grandfather's evil prince. Except for him, his whole family was beheaded by Liang Wudi. He was breast-fed by female prisoners in prison, and was released from prison after Amnesty. He grew up in the court.

As soon as he ascended the throne, he realized the political pressure of Huo Guang Group. Huo Guang accompanied him to visit the "High Temple" by car, and he felt uncomfortable all over, such as "a thorn in his back". Emperor Xuan Di, who has rich life experience, knows clearly that he is weak when he just acceded to the throne, and it is impossible to compete with the full-fledged Huo Guang only by the title of emperor. Only by maintaining maximum restraint, gradually developing one's power and seeking favorable opportunities can one regain one's supreme sovereignty. Therefore, he is very conscious of how his position came from. In addition, Wang Changyu's experience shows that he has great respect for Huo Guang. Huo Guang asked to return to the Xuan Di government, but he humbly refused. Everything in the imperial court goes through Huo Guang first, and then he knows about the son of heaven.

0 1

Personnel balance in the period of mutual checks and balances between Xuan Di and Huo Guang

It seems that everyone in the imperial court knows how to take sides, but is this really the case?

Portrait of Huo Guang

First of all, although Huo Guang is a very important minister, he has no intention or action to usurp the throne. At this time, the time axis of China's history only reached the Western Han Dynasty, and no one like Wang Mang and Sima Yan could give him experience. The possibility of usurping the throne in a peaceful society is so low that it is suicidal.

Second, Huo Guang thinks his descendants are incompetent. When Zhang Anshi's son and Huo Guang's son came back from attacking Wuhuan, Huo Guang asked them about their strategy of fighting. The mountains and rivers, Zhang Anshi's son answered like running water, but Huo Guang's son knew nothing. Children are not as bitter as people, so Huo Guang, as an important minister, can't help but sigh: "The Huo family will decline, and the Zhang family will prosper."

Anyone who is familiar with the process of Sima Jia's usurpation knows that Qi Xin, the three generations of Sima Jia in Hanoi, worked together to usurp the kingdom of Cao Wei, which was based on the fact that Lao Zi was a hero and his grandson was not a coward. Huo Guang think about his son, it is estimated that it is difficult to keep his position. Even if Huo Guang has the idea of usurping the throne, he should submit to humiliation.

Huo Guang Fuzheng

Third, and most importantly, the relationship between Huo Guang and Xuan Di is that of Weng Xu. Xuan Di once doted on Huo Guang's youngest daughter Huo Chengjun (the second queen of Xuandi). Judging from Hanshu, the power struggle between the two men was intense, but most of the time they kept their faces intact. In some cases, there is a tacit understanding to build a team together and make up for each other.

When Gong Sui was the governor of Bohai Sea, he hoped that Xuan Di would allow him to make a bargain in the local area, and Xuan Di agreed.

Chang Hui went to see Wu Sun and asked to attack Lai Dan, who killed a captain in the Han Dynasty. Xuan Di refused to allow him, and Huo Guang stepped in to allow Chang Hui.

From these two incidents, we can see that Huo Guang has not completely restricted Xuan Di's personnel rights, and will make up for Xuan Di's improper behavior.

In the fourth year of Xuan Di's accession to the throne, a major earthquake struck the whole country, and 49 counties and countries were affected. According to what was said at that time, the reason of the earthquake was that Yin forced Yang to lie down, the monarch was Yang, the minister was Yin, and the minister forced Jun, so the earthquake happened. In order to make up for Huo Guang's shortcomings, Xuan Di took the initiative to take responsibility and let the courtiers point out his shortcomings. At the same time, Amnesty, plain clothes to avoid the main hall. The following month, two auspicious phoenixes were born, and the funeral was happily covered up and never mentioned again.

When the game between the powerful minister and the emperor reached a relative balance, the personnel naturally tended to be balanced. At this point, the maximum weight becomes time. In other words, it is to fight for two long-lived bosses.

Xuan Di was 18 years old when he became king. Huo Guang's age is not recorded in the history books, but he followed Emperor Wu for more than 30 years and assisted Emperor Zhao for more than 10 years. At this time, he was at least fifty years old.

This is the Qin brick collected by Ling Du Hanwa Museum, Xuan Di, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. The seal script above reads:

I am a minister at home, 18 years old, and I don't want to starve people. Long live this practice.

The most important thing is that time waits for no one

In the second year of Di Jie, Huo Guang died. At this point, Xuan Di was 23 years old, in the prime of life.

Huo Guang tomb

02

Eliminate the personnel layout of Huo Guang.

After Huo Guang's death, the power that once belonged to him needs to find a successor again, and neither Xuan Di nor her children and grandchildren can eat this hot potato.

The personnel changes at this time are very interesting.

Xuan Di arranged for Zhang Anshi to succeed General Huo Guang. Zhang Anshi was the son of Zhang Tang, a brutal official in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. After King Chang Yi was deposed, he ascended the throne of Xuan Di with Huo Guang and became Huo Guang's confidant. For this candidate, the Huo family is very satisfied, thinking that Zhang Anshi is only a short-term agent, and power will soon return to Huo Guang's son.

However, Zhang Anshi has another identity. He is the younger brother of Zhang He, a former official. Zhang He used to be the master of the criminal prince. Later, he was involved in a witchcraft case. After being corrupted, he made a court order. Xuan Di is in his care. Zhang He not only paid for Xuan Di's education, but also married Xu Pingjun for him, so that Xuan Di, who had been lonely since his birth, finally had a support. Xuan Di is very grateful for this.

Thousands of warriors unearthed from Zhang Shi 'an's tomb

As a general, Zhang Anshi paralyzed the nerves of his family. Have to say, Huo Guang's eye for people is very accurate. His son-in-law is really dishonest, and his power is like a runaway wild dog. When he was released, it was difficult to take it back. Zhang Anshi's Theory of Superiority shows that Xuan Di intends to cook frogs with warm water.

In addition to the position of general, the central government has two most important positions, one is the prime minister and the other is an imperial envoy, who is generally the default candidate for the prime minister.

When Huo Guang monopolized the power, the role of Xiang Quan in the power center was not obvious. But after Huo Guang's death, the importance of Xiangquan was highlighted again.

The prime minister at this time was Wei Xian, who was a great scholar at that time. He is familiar with Confucian classics, but judging from his resume, he is a teacher and has no experience in governing the country.

Xuan Di's favorite prime minister is Wei Xiang, an ancient counselor.

Wei Xiang

Wei Xiang was born as an official and was recommended as a county magistrate. He is an official who made his fortune at the grassroots level and was once imprisoned by Huo Guang. That is to say, there is some friction between him and Huo Guang.

After Huo Guang's death, Xuan Di rewarded Huo Guang's descendants, and Wei Xiang immediately wrote to accuse this behavior of being inappropriate.

So what did Xuan Di do? He made great use of Wei Xiang and called him a "gift". Wei Xiang was originally appointed as an ancient imperial doctor. Although he ranks among the three public officials, because he belongs to a foreign official, he is not allowed to enter or leave the Forbidden City without special imperial edict. After allocating funds to this matter, it will be very different. Since then, Wei Xiang has been qualified to be an official in China. He can ban this matter, attend the emperor's side, prepare consultants to handle it, and participate in the discussion of state affairs.

This appointment changed the direction of the whole court. Her house was knocked down by everyone and surfaced, and Mrs. Huo Guang poisoned Queen Xu.

The titles of the three sons of the Huo family were abolished, and the son-in-law was driven out of the capital to be a local assistant. Wei Xian, the prime minister of Huo Guang era, resigned voluntarily because of his old illness.

We should know that the prime ministers since the Qin and Han Dynasties basically died of old age in this position as long as they did not commit crimes. Wei Xian's resignation initiated the prime minister's official system.

Who loves this precedent? The root cause is that Xuan Di thinks he is a thorn in his side. Wei Xian's successor as prime minister is, of course, Xuan Di's favorite Wei Xiang.

03

The dispute between Confucianism and Legalism follows the "Han family system"

Han Shu divides officials into two categories, namely, officials and cruel officials. Those who follow Confucianism are officials and those who follow laws and regulations are cruel officials.

In practice, the division of officials is often not so clear-cut, especially in Xuan Di, where Xuan Di, who practices "overlord and miscellaneous soldiers", cannot be simply divided into officials and cruel officials. Some cruel officials who obey laws and regulations are often not so calm. This group is generally called a relatively neutral "grammarian".

During the Xuan Di period, the scholar-officials constituted the main body of the official system.

Due to the aura of the Shiquge Conference, Xuan Di was once regarded as a master of pro-Confucianism revival. However, the personnel arrangement in Xuan Di's life is purely Confucian romanticism.

We can use the personnel changes of officials in two important fields to analyze Xuan Di's preference for these two types of officials.

One is Yingchuan area.

Yingchuan, a big county since ancient times, is the most populous area except Sanfu, with flat terrain and fertile land. At the same time, Yingchuan is also powerful and unscrupulous.

The position of Yingchuan satrap was always difficult until he came to Zhao Guanghan. He is a typical grammarian and tends to be cruel. As soon as he arrived in Yingchuan, he killed two famous local clan leaders and immediately established himself in this powerful parallel county. Subsequently, he invented the anonymous tip-off box system that continues to this day, which led to the mutual disclosure of heroes' surnames, thus stabilizing Yingchuan County, but also aroused many social contradictions.

After the brutal official Zhao Guanghan left, Xuan Di sent Han Yanshou, a Confucian official. When he governed Yingchuan, he influenced the people with Confucian teachings such as etiquette and filial piety, and Yingchuan was rectified.

Statue of Zhao Guanghan

From Han Yanshou's personal experience, we can more clearly see Xuan Di's attitude towards the literati.

Judging from Hanshu, Han Yanshou is indeed an excellent official, but his staff has a little aura of Marisol. The deacon cheated him. He didn't blame others, but first reflected on his mistakes. The deacon regretted it and even committed suicide. Under his rule, no one went to court, and neither officials nor people could bear to deceive him.

However, Han Yanshou's colleagues don't like him. Being a young scholar, he was the first to impeach Han Yanshou and lend it to the people with official money.

This also explains why people can't bear to cheat Han Yanshou, because Han Yanshou gave them money and they followed Han Yanshou for food.

Xuan Di was very angry about it. His taboo is not that Han Yanshou lent the official money to the people, but that Han Yanshou used the money to win the hearts of the people and create his own aura, which led the people to take the official money, but only thanked Han Yanshou and did not know how to thank the emperor, which made Xuan Di very angry. Han Yanshou was beheaded for this.

There is also a magistrate in Yingchuan, who inherited Han Yanshou's method of governing the county and consolidated the rectification movement in Yingchuan. This man is Ba Huang, Ba Huang's Yingchuan, and Xiang Rui has appeared many times. According to Zi Tongzhi Jian, Ba Huang, the satrap of Yingchuan, lived in the county for 8 years. At that time, Emperor Feng and God gathered in several counties and countries, especially Yingchuan.

Eating Han Yanshou's political welfare and relying on this skill to create auspiciousness, he was transferred to Jing. Jing belongs to Sanfu, which is also the second important area to analyze the official preference.

Sanfu is an important place of capital city near Chang 'an in the Western Han Dynasty. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the nobles of the six countries moved into Sanfu, which enabled the central government of the Western Han Dynasty to effectively control the localities. This has also caused the mixed forces of nobles, super-rich, super-rich and thieves in Sanfu area.

There are three officials in charge of Sanfu area-Jing, Zuo Fengyi and You Fufeng. Especially Jing is the hardest thing to do. Xuan Di was once qualified for this position, but Jing was frequently replaced. Ba Huang, the production pacesetter of Xiangrui, came for several months, but was driven back to Yingchuan by Xuan Di because of incompetence.

Jing Zhaoyin in the Western Han Dynasty

Only grammarians can be competent officials, not ordinary grammarians.

According to Hanshu, two people are qualified for Jing's post, one is Zhao Guanghan, and the other is.

As mentioned above, Zhao Guanghan is a cruel official among grammarians, while Zhang Chang is a Confucian official among grammarians. Zhang Chang is proficient in Spring and Autumn Annals. He not only acted according to laws and regulations, but also often assisted laws and regulations with the help of Confucian classics. He will praise the sages, not just use punishment as a deterrent.

Xuan Di likes him very much. Even after Zhang Chang's unreasonable murder, Xuan Di only hinted that he would run away quickly and continue to use it as soon as the limelight was over.

Besides painting the eyebrows of his daughter-in-law, an official like Zhang Chang is the perfect template for Xuan Di.

Zhang Chang thrush, from the Republic of China advertising pictures.

The excessive use of cruel officials will arouse people's resentment, while Confucian officials can't cope with the complex social environment. Xuan Di, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, used his own strengths, and the judges ruled the chaos and the Confucian officials appeased it. The two are integrated with each other, and their hegemony is mixed. This concept of politics and personnel has been practiced in Xuan Di for a long time.

04

Deviation from the original intention in the cultivation of heirs

The persistence of political ideas needs a relatively stable internal and external environment and the heirs' recognition of the ideas.

Xuan Di made a big mistake in the latter.

His prince respected Confucianism very much and persuaded Xuan Di to use Confucian scholars more as officials.

Xuan Di is all bad. He never expected to jump out and deny him, but he is his heir. Emperor Xuan Di was very angry. He cursed the prince.

This is really not the prince's pot, but Xuan Di had a problem in choosing a teacher for the prince.

The prince's first teacher was Bingji. Bingji is very kind to Xuan Di. Xuan Di was sent to prison for witchcraft. Thanks to Bingji's care, he was saved from hunger and cold.

Bingji statue

In his later years, Emperor Wu wanted to put all the criminals imprisoned in the witchcraft case to death. Thanks to Bingji's closed prison door and rejection of messengers, Emperor Xuan Di was saved.

Bingji was born as a jailer and was also familiar with Confucian classics. As the prince's teacher, he knows both practice and theory.

Later, Bingji was transferred to the physician and trained as a reserve prime minister. Bingji saved the blood of the Western Han Dynasty and kept the fire of the revolution. He is a very lucky man.

After Bingji, two people, a teacher and a young master, were both princes. Both of them are Confucian, familiar with the Spring and Autumn Period, and an uncle. They remolded seven-year-old Chu Jun through three views. It's simply inconvenient.

Wei Xiang, the prime minister at that time, suggested that the family of the prince's grandfather send someone to look after the prince together, but the result was refuted by Xuan Di himself.

Later, Xuan Di sent a little boy to teach the prince to read. Yes, Wang Zhi Jr. is also a great scholar.

In this way, an old man who insists on "dominating others" has cultivated a son who is proficient in The Analects of Confucius and The Book of Filial Piety.

Who is to blame for this? Later, he wanted to abolish the prince, and the Han Dynasty also said that he was mindful of the mutual affection with Queen Xu, who died young, and only then did he give up this idea and ate the bitter fruit.

After Xuan Di's death, Yuan Di ascended the throne, replacing "overlord miscellaneous" with "pure moral education" and replacing grammarians with Confucian officials. The binding force of laws and regulations has weakened, the privileged class has risen, consorts and eunuchs have monopolized the power, and tyrannical powers have become more and more arrogant in annexing land.

Emperor Gaozu built his own imperial tomb in the Red Pavilion on the outskirts of Duxian County, and named it "Ling Du".

Mao Cui criticized Yuan Di in the Eastern Han Dynasty, saying, "Yuan Di acceded to the throne and was lenient in many ways, so he lost his life. Authoritarianism began to be seized and it was the master of the basic disaster of the Han family. "

After ZTE, the Western Han Dynasty went down irretrievably.

-End-