Diqin Designer

Chapter 263 The Western Han Dynasty Ends

"After Empress Xu died, all the doctors who treated her were arrested and held accountable. Chun Yuyan was also imprisoned and put on trial. Huo Guang's wife was extremely frightened, so she told Huo Guang that she had bribed Chun Yuyan to poison Empress Xu."

This is a complete pig teammate. He did not inform Huo Guang when he was doing things earlier, but now that things have happened he has informed Huo Guang. It is obvious that he wants Huo Guang to settle it.

If it was just an ordinary idiot teammate, he would have ignored it, but this idiot teammate was his wife, so he couldn't ignore it. Moreover, even if Huo Guang said to Liu Xun, "Your Majesty, they did it privately, and I didn't know anything about it," would Liu Xun believe it? Even if he believed it, how much would he believe it?

Huo Guang's crotch is filled with yellow mud. It's not poop, but it is poop.

"Huo Guang was shocked when he heard this. He wanted to expose the matter to Liu Xun, but he couldn't bear it. Instead, he signed an order to exempt Chun Yuyan from punishment. However, if Chun Yuyan was not tortured, he would not expose what Huo Guang's wife had done."

Ying Zheng, Meng Tian, ​​Meng Yi and others just listened without saying anything. Li Nian continued, "After Queen Xu passed away, as Huo Guang's wife had hoped, her daughter Huo Chengjun successfully became the queen. At this time, Huo Guang's wife probably thought that as long as Huo Chengjun could successfully give birth to a child for Liu Xun, the Huo family and she would be able to rest easy in the future. Even if something happened, Liu Xun would not do anything to her."

"Unfortunately, things did not go as she wished. Two years later, Huo Guang passed away, and the Huo family's biggest supporter fell. However, Huo Guang's wife still did not know how to restrain herself. Because Liu Xun made Empress Xu's son the crown prince, she was so angry that she vomited blood. She even said, 'This is a commoner's son, how can he be made the crown prince? Even if the queen has a son, he will become the king!' So she asked Huo Chengjun to poison the crown prince."

Meng Tian commented: "Huo Guang is wise and capable, but he has such a foolish wife. She is stupid and does not know it. Disaster is not far away."

Li Nian nodded and said, "There is a saying in later generations: 'Marry a virtuous wife. An unvirtuous wife will ruin three generations.' Huo Guang's wife fully demonstrates the true meaning of this saying, but this was also Huo Guang's own choice."

"With Emperor Xuan Liu Xun's wisdom, he must have had some suspicions about Empress Xu's death. In addition, Huo Guang also issued an order to exempt Chun Yuyan from punishment, which made Liu Xun even more suspicious. However, Huo Guang was so powerful at that time that Liu Xun could not take action. Instead, he made Huo Chengjun the empress and favored her exclusively."

"After Huo Guang died, Liu Xun appointed his son with Empress Xu as the crown prince. This appointment was mainly out of his longing for Empress Xu and to comfort his deceased wife. However, it is not ruled out that Liu Xun wanted to use this to provoke the Huo family and expose their true colors. Huo Guang's wife was exposed and she instigated Huo Chengjun to poison the crown prince."

"Another year later, the news of Huo Guang's wife poisoning Empress Xu was leaked. At this time, Liu Xun was already pressing the Huo family step by step, so the Huo family wanted to rebel, but was killed by Liu Xun. Huo Chengjun was not killed, but was deposed by Liu Xun and committed suicide twelve years later."

"Although Emperor Xuan exterminated the Huo family, he still buried Huo Guang with Emperor Wu in Maoling Mausoleum and ranked Huo Guang first among the meritorious officials in the Qilin Pavilion. Huo Guang was a powerful official throughout his life, but he was not a treacherous official. If he had not stabilized the Han Dynasty after Emperor Wu's death, the Han Dynasty would have rebelled and war would have spread everywhere."

The Han Dynasty was not in a good condition after the death of Emperor Wu. There was a young emperor succeeding to the throne, people's livelihood was in decline, there were concerns about refugees everywhere, and there was the threat of rebellion in the controlled Western Regions and other places. The situation was critical, but it was stabilized under Huo Guang's operation.

"After dealing with the Huo family, Liu Xun was no longer constrained and began to govern the Han Dynasty according to his own ideas. Liu Xun's governance was a mixture of hegemony and kingship. Under his governance, the Han Dynasty entered another prosperous era after Emperor Wu. Later generations often believed that it was during the reign of Emperor Xuan that the power of the Western Han Dynasty reached its peak!"

"At home, the politics was clear and the economy was prosperous. Outside, the four barbarians were submissive. The Western Regions Protectorate was established to govern the Western Regions, and the Western Regions were officially made part of China. This had a huge impact on future generations."

"The threat from the Xiongnu was also greatly alleviated during the reign of Emperor Xuan. Due to the internal strife of the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu Chanyu Huhanye surrendered to the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty indeed reached its peak at this time, and its territory also reached its largest. All places in sight are Han territory, and all places passed by are vassal states of the Han Dynasty!"

This person seems to be more powerful than his great-grandfather Emperor Wu, whose great-grandfather did not bring the Han Dynasty to such a state. However, this comparison cannot be made. The situation faced by Emperor Wu was different from that faced by Emperor Xuan. For example, the Xiongnu, which Emperor Wu faced, was still in its heyday. It was only after he sent troops to conquer the Xiongnu several times that the Xiongnu's strength declined during Emperor Xuan's reign. In addition, some things were first created by Emperor Wu, and Emperor Xuan used them later.

After hearing this, Ying Zheng was just thinking, when will the Qin Dynasty reach this point? If he wanted to see it in his lifetime, he could only pin his hopes on this kid Li Nian. Otherwise, he would have to endure several lifetimes to achieve it.

The First Emperor suddenly glanced at him, but Li Nian didn't notice. He continued, "Emperor Xuan was posthumously named 'Emperor Xiao Xuan', so the prosperous era he created is also called 'Xiao Xuan's Reign' or 'Xiao Xuan's Reign'. By the way, Emperor Wu's temple name was actually given by Emperor Xuan."

"Although Emperor Xuan achieved extraordinary achievements, he also had his merits and demerits, just like his great-grandfather Emperor Wu. The Western Han Dynasty reached its peak under his rule, but peak also meant the end of its decline."

"Later generations believed that Emperor Xuan's faults included superstition of ghosts and gods, extravagance and pleasure in his later years, refusing to accept advice and covering up his mistakes, and favoring eunuchs and relatives of the emperor, which made the eunuchs and relatives of the emperor's wife a disaster for the Han Dynasty. Although Emperor Xuan had such faults, they were far less than the disaster of witchcraft and sorcery caused by Emperor Wu."

"I think Emperor Xuan's biggest mistake was that he knew that the prince he appointed was wrong, but he still insisted on having his own way, allowing the prince to remain as the crown prince and eventually succeed to the throne after his death."

"The crown prince of Emperor Xuan was the son of him and Empress Xu. Because of Empress Xu, although he knew that the crown prince was weak and sickly, indecisive, and fond of Confucianism, which was very different from him, he still refused to depose him. Emperor Xuan himself once said, 'The one who caused chaos in my family is the crown prince.' This was a deliberate act of knowing the truth."

"After Emperor Xuan's death, Crown Prince Liu Shi succeeded to the throne. Emperor Xuan's words came true. He gave up territory to foreign countries, and internally the political situation became chaotic and corrupt. He recruited a large number of Confucian scholars to participate in politics. The Han Dynasty began to weaken. After several generations, the Han Dynasty was usurped by Wang Mang, a relative of the emperor, and the Western Han Dynasty fell."

The huge Western Han Dynasty finally came to an end. Ying Zheng, Meng Tian and Meng Yi all sighed in their hearts. The Western Han Dynasty was once so powerful and awe-inspiring that the four barbarians submitted to it. Even the envoys it sent out could scare other countries, but it still could not escape destruction.

The sun sets over the long river and the desert is vast. The sun belonging to the Western Han Dynasty eventually sank into the desert of history.

"The Han dynasty, which later generations believed had seven consecutive wise rulers, also ended with Emperor Xuan. After that, the Han dynasty became old and even if it had not been usurped by Wang Mang, it would have been destroyed due to other problems. By the way, there is a story about Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han dynasty that is related to Your Majesty."

This has nothing to do with me. Could it be another case of “Four emperors could not find a crown prince” or “Fusu’s old story”?
Feeling the Emperor's gaze, Li Nian said, "It is said that when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he wanted to obtain the Imperial Seal, which was hidden with the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty at that time. Wang Mang sent his cousin Wang Shun to ask for it. The Empress Dowager knew what Wang Mang wanted the seal for, so she threw the seal to the ground and broke a corner. Wang Mang then ordered the craftsmen to inlay it with gold, so the Imperial Seal was later called 'Gold Inlaid Jade'."

So this is the connection. Unfortunately, due to the appearance of Li Nian, the imperial seal that was originally supposed to be there was abandoned by the First Emperor. It can indeed demonstrate the emperor's noble status, but it will also bring disaster. Li Nian had also seen the precious jade that was originally intended to be used to carve the imperial seal.

"As for the Eastern Han Dynasty, that was another period of history after Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty. Another great honor for military generals, 'carving a stone at Yanran', originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty."

Although he was eager to know what the Eastern Han Dynasty was like, Ying Zheng knew he should be restrained and said, "That's all for today. I'll tell you next time!"

Li Nian had no objection and said, "I obey your order!"

(End of this chapter)