In 74 BC, Emperor Liu Fuling of Han Zhao died, and because Emperor Zhao was childless, Huo Guang chose Liu He as emperor. According to historical records, Liu He was absurd and shameless, and made more than 1,000 mistakes in just 27 years, so Huo Guang and Empress Shangguan abolished it.
After Liu He was deposed, Huo Guang wanted to choose a new emperor. As we all know, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a total of six sons, of which Liu Zhiyi had been abolished, in short, he had lost the right to inherit the imperial throne. If this was the case, why did Huo Guang not choose from the other descendants of Emperor Wu of Han when selecting the new emperor, but instead establish Liu Zhi's grandson Liu Qian (Liu Yijie) as emperor? What is the source of liu's succession to the throne?
The Han Dynasty continued the Zhou Dynasty inheritance system, that is, the inheritance system of the eldest son, or it was not necessarily the eldest son of the concubine, but the identity was definitely a concubine.
Liu Zhi was the eldest son of Emperor Wu of The Han Dynasty, and was the natural heir of Emperor Dazong. However, because of the scourge of the witches, Liu Zhao launched a coup d'état and was defeated and killed, after which Emperor Wu of Han "sent Emperor Zongzheng Liu Changle and Liu Dare to accept the empress dowager (Liu Zhi's mother Wei Zifu) and commit suicide", deposing Wei Zifu's identity as empress dowager, and Liu Zhi's concubine and heir status were stripped away. Liu's only bloodline was Liu Qian, and he naturally lost the right to inherit the throne.
In short, Liu Qian's identity changed from a large sect to a small sect.
What is particularly important is that Emperor Wu of Han, Huo Guang, Emperor Zhao of Han, and later Emperor Xuan of Han did not rehabilitate the case of the curse of wu jiao, and Liu's coup d'état has always been a rebellion. Therefore, in addition to becoming a small sect, Liu Que also carried the charge of rebellion by his grandfather, and his status was even lower than that of other small sects. According to normal procedures, unless all the other descendants of Emperor Wu of Han were extinct, Liu Qian would have the opportunity to ascend to the throne.
After the scourge of the Witches, Emperor Wu of Han did not establish another empress, so Emperor Wu of Han did not have a concubine, and finally chose Liu Fuling, who was "like me" among a group of concubines. As a result, Liu Fuling, who was originally from the Xiaozong Clan, was upgraded to the heir of the Great Sect.
Liu Fuling succeeded to the throne, known in history as "Emperor Zhao of Han", in order to further strengthen the legitimacy of his identity, he promoted the status of Lady Hook Yi, and Shi Zai "Emperor Zhao took the throne and posthumously honored Hook Yi Jie as the empress dowager". Legally speaking, Liu Fuling was officially transformed into a concubine of Emperor Dazong.
Because Liu Fuling was not in good health and could not leave a son, Emperor Dazong had the phenomenon of extinction. However, according to the patriarchal system, the great sect represents the inheritance and cannot be eliminated, so it is necessary to inherit the great sect from the small sect. Huo Guang chose Liu He, the son of Liu He( Liu Ji, the prince of Changyi, the fifth son of Emperor Wu of Han, and made Liu He an adopted heir of Liu Fuling, and then inherited the throne as the crown prince of Han Zhao. At this time, Liu He's blood father was Liu He, but the legal father was Liu Fuling, although Liu Fuling and Liu He's age difference was not much.
Later, Liu He was deposed for reasons that were well known, and Huo Guang faced the new problem of selecting a new emperor. As mentioned above, Liu Que's low status and the crime of his grandfather determined that it was almost impossible for Liu Que to inherit the throne. Then, why did Huo Guang not choose the other sons and descendants of Emperor Wu of Han, but chose Liu Qing, who was in the same line as Liu Guang?
The reason why Huo Guang chose Liu Qing was not to be willing to do it, but to be forced to do so. To explain this problem, let's first look at the six sons of Emperor Wu of Han.
1, the eldest son Liu Zhao, after the scourge of the witches, was either killed or committed suicide, and finally only Liu Que was left.
2, the second son Liu Hong, was crowned the King of Qi, but died young and childless.
3, the third son Liu Dan, was named the King of Yan, had three sons, and was still prosperous, but Liu Dan was Huo Guang's political enemy, and had planned an armed coup with Princess Eyi, Shangguan Jie, Sang Hongyang, etc., secretly murdered Huo Guang, deposed Emperor Han Zhao, and established Liu Dan, the King of Yan, as emperor. After Emperor Zhao of Han and Huo Guang quelled the rebellion, Liu Dan was given death (three sons were not implicated), so it was even more unlikely that this line would inherit the throne.
4, the fourth son Liu Xu, was crowned king of Guangling, had six sons, but Liu Xu once made a witch curse Emperor Han Zhao, and because of his strong body, he often fought with bears, wild boars and other beasts with his bare hands, and was given the comment that "there is no law of behavior" by the courtiers. More importantly, Liu Xu and Liu Dan were half-brothers, and coupled with their older age and strong autonomy, Huo Guang did not dare to make him emperor.
5, the fifth son Liu Ji, was crowned the King of Changyi, only Liu He's son, has been deposed.
6, the sixth son Liu Fuling, known in history as Emperor Zhao of Han, was childless.
After the death of Emperor Zhao of Han, Liu Xu was the only surviving son of Emperor Wu of Han, and according to the custom of Zhou Bo to welcome Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Xu originally had the highest right of succession, followed by Liu He, the son of King Changyi, and Huo Guang should have established Liu Xu as emperor. However, Liu Xu conspired against his maternal brother Liu Dan, so Liu Xu indirectly became Huo Guang's political enemy, and Huo Guang could not stand up to a potential political enemy. Coupled with Liu Xu's old age and difficulty in controlling, Huo Guang chose Liu He in order to ensure that he had great power. After Liu He was deposed, faced with the same situation, after comprehensive consideration between the state and personal interests, Huo Guang could only choose Liu Qing.
However, after Liu Qing succeeded to the throne, he faced a question of the basis of legal system, how did Huo Guang solve this problem? The method is very simple, and like Liu He, it is all a succession approach.
Huo Guangsheng said: Li, humane relatives and ancestors, honor the ancestors. The great patriarch does not have an heir, and chooses a descendant of the sage as the heir. Emperor Xiaowu's great-grandson was ill, and he could flatter his ancestors after Emperor Xiaozhao and his son was surnamed Wan.
Therefore, Liu Qi, "after Emperor Xiaozhao", was succeeded by Emperor Xiaozong, not because liu had once been crown prince, but as the heir of Emperor Han Zhao, he had inherited Emperor Dazong, so that he could "obtain the integrity of the country". As for whether Liu Que was the adopted son or adopted grandson of Emperor Han Zhao, the history books do not clearly state, but according to the generation, Liu Que should be Liu Fuling's adopted grandson.
The reason why Liu Fuling was able to succeed to the throne was based on the fact that Liu Zhao, the scourge of wu, was deposed, and the scourge of wu was characterized by emperor Wu of Han as a rebellion, and overturning the case was to overthrow emperor Wu of Han, so after Liu Que succeeded to the throne, he did not overturn the case for his grandfather Liu Zhao, but only issued an edict saying: "Therefore, the crown prince is in the lake, there is no trumpet, and when he is old, he is in the temple, and his discussion is set up in the garden." The former crown prince was called "The Former Crown Prince", and posthumously referred to him as "Prince Huan". It can be seen that from the perspective of the patriarchal inheritance system, Liu Que already belongs to Liu Que's lineage, and has no relationship with Liu Zhiyi's lineage, so naturally he cannot overturn the case with Liu Zhao for the scourge of witchcraft, and once the case is overturned, it is to overthrow a series of people such as Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Zhao of Han, which is extremely harmful to the rule of Emperor Xuan of Han.
However, with the stability of Emperor Xuan's rule, Liu Que also weakened his relationship with Emperor Han Zhao, for example, after eight years of succession, he declared his father Liu Jin to be the "Imperial Examination", that is, "the mourning garden should be called the honorific title of The Imperial Examination, the Temple, because the garden is the bed, and the time is recommended to enjoy the Yan", from the beginning of the succession to the "Kingdom of the Princes", to the eight years later, he was honored as the Emperor Kao (the emperor's father), and set up a temple to sacrifice and enjoy the treatment of the emperor. Acknowledging Liu Jin (Liu Zhi's eldest son) as an imperial examination actually recognized Liu Zhao in disguise. Of course, for the curse of witchcraft and Liu Zhi in the forbidden area, Emperor Xuan of Han has not explicitly overturned the case.
In general, the reason why Liu Que got the throne was that there was a certain inevitability in chance. Even if Liu Dan, the son of Emperor Wu of Han, did not plan a rebellion, it is estimated that from the perspective that Huo Guang wanted to seize great power and elevate the emperor, it was estimated that it would be unlikely to choose the older Liu Dan or Liu Xu, or to choose their descendants when Liu Dan and Liu Xu were alive, so Huo Guang's best candidates were Liu He and Liu Qing. The reason why Liu He was deposed was probably because he wanted to encroach on power and pose a threat to Huo Guang's rise to power. When Liu He was deposed, Huo Guang had no choice but to choose Liu Qing.
References: Book of Han, etc