Liu Zhuang's real name was Liu Yang, the fourth son of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, and his mother was Empress Guanglie, Yin Lihua. At first, Liu Xiu's empress was not Yin Lihua, but Guo Shengtong, so Guo Shengtong's eldest son Liu Jiang was made crown prince. Later, after Liu Xiu deposed Guo Shengtong and established Yin Lihua instead, Liu Jiang voluntarily resigned from the position of crown prince because of fear, and Liu Zhuang was made crown prince.
After the death of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, the crown prince Liu Zhuang succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming of Han. During the reign of Emperor Liu Zhuang of Han and his son Liu Zhuo of Han Zhang, he was known as the "Reign of Ming Zhang" by later generations. Liu Zhuang had a total of ten brothers, four of whom were born to the same mother as him, and in addition to Liu Heng's early death and no crowning of kings, Liu Zhuang had nine brothers who were crowned kings.
Of the nine brothers who were crowned kings, four wanted to rebel and seize his throne, including his half-brothers. Nearly half of these brothers wanted to rebel, and for Liu Zhuang, it must be very painful. So how did Emperor Han Ming solve the problem of brother rebellion? Did these clan kings succeed in their success, and what was the end? Let's take a look.
1. Liu Kang, King of Jinan
Liu Kang was the son of Guo Shengtong, who was created king of Jinan in the seventeenth year of Jianwu. Liu Kang did not abide by the law in the fiefdom and secretly interacted with guests, who secretly prepared property for Liu Kang. Later, someone wrote a letter to report that Emperor Ming of Han sent someone to investigate the matter thoroughly, and it turned out that Liu Kang was indeed plotting against him.
Although the evidence was conclusive, Emperor Hanming remembered that Liu Kang was his brother and could not bear to punish him too heavily, and finally only cut off part of his fiefdom. After Emperor Zhang of Han ascended the throne, he returned these stripped fiefdoms to Liu Kang. Due to the connivance of two generations of emperors, Liu Kang became more unscrupulous in his fiefdom.
He overhauled the palace in the fiefdom, and also raised more than a thousand horses and more than a thousand slaves, far exceeding the specifications of the king of the domain. Guofu He Chang could not look at it, and wrote to impeach Liu Kang, Emperor Zhang of Han had always respected He Chang, but remembering his father's thoughts of brotherhood, he was not good at violating it, so he never took any measures.
In the end, Liu Kang was able to die well, staying on the throne for a total of fifty-nine years, and after his death, his son Liu Que succeeded to the throne as King Jian of Jinan.
2. Liu Yan, King of Fuling
Liu Yan was the fourth son of Liu Xiu and Guo Shengtong, and in the fifteenth year of Jianwu, he was given the title of Duke of Huaiyang and later jin as the King of Huaiyang. Liu Yan treated his subordinates very harshly and cruelly, which was hated by many people, who were waiting to grab his handle. One day, someone reported to Emperor Ming of Han that Liu Yan had secretly recruited treacherous people, and had secretly made forbidden books of rebellion and practiced curses.
After Emperor Hanming found out, he either killed or exiled all those involved, but he refused to punish Liu Yan for a long time. The Qunchen wrote a letter requesting that Liu Yan be killed, but Emperor Ming of Han was unable to do so, and finally only issued a decree to move Liu Yan to the king of Fuling and the two counties of Yiyi.
Emperor Hanming forgave Liu Yan, but Liu Yan was not grateful, but he always remembered the hatred. Later, it was reported that Liu Yan and his son conspired to rebel, and after Emperor Hanming learned of it, he still did not execute Liu Yan, but only demoted him to the title of Marquis of Fuling and a county in Yiyi. At the same time, he was not allowed to make contact with officials, and sent people to monitor the Fuling State at all times.
After Emperor Zhang of Han ascended the throne, he remembered Liu Yan during a tour and sent someone to pick him up and his family to meet him. When Emperor Zhang of Han saw the embarrassment of Liu Yan and his wife and children, he suddenly felt unbearable, so he issued an edict to restore his title of Prince of Fuling and add four counties. At the same time, Emperor Zhang of Han considered Fuling to be very damp and uninhabitable, and ordered that the capital of Fuling be moved to Shouchun. In addition, tens of millions of dollars, cloth and horses, and a ride on a car.
The king of the clan who wanted to rebel several times was not only not executed, but was treated kindly by the emperor, and the result was also unexpected. In the end, Liu Yan died of illness after sitting on the throne for fifty-one years, at the age of eighty-two.
3. Liu Ying, King of Chu
Liu Ying, the King of Chu, was the only son of Liu Xiu who was neither born to Empress Guo nor Empress Yin, and his biological mother was Xu Meiren. Xu Meiren was not very favored, so he only gave birth to one son of Liu Ying, and Liu Ying's status was naturally much lower than that of other brothers.
Although the other brothers did not take him seriously, Liu Xiu was still good to this son, and he was named the King of Chu very early, and his fief was in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Liu Ying has a bold personality, likes to make friends with some jianghu warriors, and in his later years, he likes huang laozhi's learning. Unfortunately, after believing in Buddhism, Liu Ying could not be allowed to die well.
Emperor Hanming had always practiced benevolent government, not to mention that he could not bear to kill his brothers who committed crimes, and even ordinary death row prisoners, he was willing to give them a chance. The Han Ming Emperor decreed that anyone sentenced to death could atone for their sins by paying Shengjuan. This edict, do not know why, Liu Ying took the lead in letting people send thirty horses of shengjuan, which aroused the suspicion of Emperor Ming of Han.
Sure enough, soon after, someone denounced that Liu Ying, the king of Chu, had adopted fangshi, made a golden turtle and a jade crane, and carved a text as a fu rui, which was a crime of great rebellion. Later, it was exposed that Liu Ying rebelled against the forbidden book and had the intention of rebellion. When Emperor Hanming found out, although he was very sad, he also could not bear to kill his brother. So he only abolished his throne and was demoted to Danyang County.
Unexpectedly, soon after arriving in Danyang County, Liu Ying committed suicide, and after his death, he was not restored to his title and was removed from the country.
4. Liu Jing, King of Guangling
Liu Jing was the ninth son of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, and his biological mother was Yin Lihua, so he was the half-brother of Liu Zhuang, the Emperor of Hanming. Among the four rebellious kings, Liu Jing and Emperor Ming of Han were the closest. In the fifteenth year of Jianwu, Liu Jing was made the Duke of Shanyang and later promoted to the King of Shanyang.
Although he was the younger brother of Emperor Hanming, he was still dissatisfied that his brother could succeed to the throne, and he was only a king of the domain. Therefore, after Emperor Hanming ascended the throne, he sent people to impersonate Liu Jiang's uncle and instigate Liu Jiang to raise an army to replace Emperor Hanming. However, at the beginning, the position of crown prince was originally given up by Liu Jiang on his own initiative, and now that he was called to rebel, he was even more unwilling and directly escorted the messenger to Emperor Hanming.
Emperor Hanming was very surprised by what he saw, but he had to believe the truth, he was extremely disappointed in his brother, but remembering that he was the same father and mother, he secretly covered up the matter for his brother. Liu Jing saw that Emperor Ming of Han did not move him, and thought that he had escaped a disaster, so he prepared to do the big ticket.
Who knows, although Emperor Hanming had the intention to spare him once, he did not let down his guard and privately sent people to monitor Liu Jing. Sure enough, when Liu Jing was preparing for the second operation, he was caught by Emperor Ming of Han. This time, the Han Ming Emperor moved him to the position of King of Guangling.
I thought that after the lesson of two failures, Liu Jing should be able to do some of his duty, who knew that he was still not dead.00 Liu Jing said privately to Xiang Shi: "Emperor Xian was called emperor when he was thirty years old, I look similar to Emperor Xian, and now I am also thirty years old, if you start a military now, is there any possibility of being called emperor?" ”
Xiang Shi did not answer directly, but only left after a few perfunctory words. Afterwards, Xiang Shi was afraid that Liu Jing would really raise an army, but instead he would affect himself, so he secretly reported the matter to the county officials. Liu Jing knew that Xiang Shi had made a small report, and out of fear, he actually locked himself up.
After Emperor Hanming found out, he saw that Liu Jing had already gone to prison, presumably knowing that he was wrong, so he cut down his guards and did not pursue him too much. Liu Jing once again thought that if he escaped the disaster again and again, he must have the blessing of the True Destiny. This time, he cursed Emperor Hanming with witchcraft, and the result was soon revealed.
This last time, before Emperor Hanming could strike, Liu Jing himself figured it out first. He finally knew that Emperor Hanming was the true son of heaven, and no matter how he plotted against him, it was impossible to succeed. Repeated rebellions, and repeated defeats, led to Liu Jing's despair, and finally committed suicide in despair.
These several rebellions are indeed very interesting, how to say it? First of all, the emperor is very interesting, the king of the clan rebellion is a major crime, but he always easily forgives. Some even plotted rebellion several times, and Emperor Hanming never sentenced him to death. Emperor Han Zhangdi is also, if the father thinks of brotherhood, then Emperor Hanzhang is completely unnecessary, and he is merciful to Guo Shengtong's son, which is really very benevolent to father and son.
Secondly, the king of the clan is very interesting, obviously he does not have much ability, but he has to think about rebellion again and again. The emperor cut his power and monitored them, but they did not know it, and they always thought that they were capable of great things and wanted to continue to rebel. That is to say, when encountering such benevolent emperors as Emperor Ming of Han and Emperor Zhang of Han, otherwise, the brothers would not know how many times they had died.
(Reference to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty)