preface
Han Xuan Emperor Liu is sick, and the core reason why he can win Huo Guang is actually two words. One word is forbearance, the other is boiling.
It was with these two words that Liu Bing had steadily killed Huo Guang. After Huo Guang's death, the Huo family lost its power base. In this way, Liu Bing can naturally win without making a faint move.
Of course, if strictly speaking, Liu Bing has never been able to defeat Huo Guang. At least when Huo Guang was alive, Liu Bing had actually been suppressed by this powerful minister, and he had never really taken power from Huo Guang. By the time Huo Guang died, Liu Bing had only dealt with the Huo family. For Huo Guang himself, Liu Bing still gave him the highest courtesy, and even buried him with the etiquette of an emperor.
Liu Bing had already competed with Huo Guang, in fact, it had already begun long before he officially ascended the throne. This story, in fact, has to start from when Huo Guang chose Liu Bing to be the emperor.
In 74 BC, Liu Fuling, the eighth emperor of the Han Dynasty, died young and left no descendants. Therefore, after Liu Fuling's death, everyone supported Liu He the King of Changyi as the new emperor. But then, just twenty-seven days later, a group of ministers led by Huo Guang directly abolished Liu He because Liu He was doing things too absurdly.
After Liu He was deposed, who to choose as emperor next, this became the biggest problem in front of Huo Guang. This problem is mainly to blame on the Han Wudi of that year. Emperor Wudi of Han had a total of six sons that year, and he should not have worried about the issue of heirs. But the problem is that in the later years of Emperor Wudi of Han, the eldest, as the prince, was framed by traitors, and then the whole family was killed.
The second eldest died young, and died directly. The third elder rebelled during the Han Zhao Emperor period, and was later pacified by Huo Guang, and could not be chosen.
After that, the fourth and third were born to a mother. If he chooses the fourth or the descendants of the fourth to take the position, Huo Guang will definitely be unlucky in the future, so he can't choose. The fifth old man died early, and the only descendant was Liu He, the king of Changyi, who was previously deposed. As for the old sixth, it is the Han Zhao Emperor who died before, and he is also dead.
Therefore, after Liu He was deposed, Huo Guang had a great headache about who to choose to succeed him. Because at that time, Emperor Wudi of Han still had direct descendants alive. There are a lot of grandchildren, and the fourth of the sons is still alive. This also means that it is impossible for Huo Guang to choose the descendants of the brothers of Emperor Wudi of Han to succeed him, which is unreasonable.
But at the same time, these descendants left by Emperor Wudi of Han, Huo Guang basically could not choose. The third and fourth, these two brothers have more descendants. But because of the previous rebellion of the third elder, as long as Huo Guang was not crazy, it was absolutely impossible for him to choose someone from these two veins to take over.
That is, when Huo Guang had a headache, Huo Guang's henchman Du Yannian gave Huo Guang an idea. Du Yannian recommended the inconspicuous Liu Bing at that time. And the appearance of Liu Guang's illness also instantly made Huo Guang's eyes shine.
On the one hand, Liu Bing was already a descendant of Emperor Wudi of Han's eldest son. Legally speaking, he should be the great-grandson of Emperor Wudi of Han, and he was born with great inheritance qualifications. Choosing him as emperor, no one can find a problem.
On the other hand, Liu Bing no longer has any elders. Because of the scourge of witchcraft back then, the elders around Liu Bing were basically dead.
Choosing such a person as the emperor is obviously easier for Huo Guang to control.
Of course, for safety reasons, Huo Guang did not immediately help Liu Bing to take the position. After all, if Liu Bing was already the same as Liu He, he was also a person who acted absurdly. Then helping Liu Bing has taken the position, which is equivalent to hitting Huo Guang in the face! With Huo Guang's power, the first time to abolish the emperor, perhaps no one will dare to say more. But if he frequently abolished the emperor, the people of the old Liu family probably remembered to beat him.
It was from this time that Liu Bing had already fought with Huo Guang and officially began. The first round was recognized by Huo Guang himself.
When the two sides first began to fight, Liu Bing was already on his side, except for a royal family, there were basically no chips. Therefore, in front of Huo Guang, he did not dare to have any opinions. He was even told that he might inherit the throne without any prior preparation.
But fortunately, the bumpy experience in the early years made Liu Bing very sensitive to this kind of people. In the next two months, Liu Bing had great respect for Huo Guang. As for the Empress Dowager in the palace, Liu Bing was also very respectful and filial.
Ironically, in terms of generation, this Empress Dowager, who is considered to be Liu Ai's grandmother, is actually three years younger than Liu Sick. And in the face of this 'grandmother' who is three years younger than herself, Liu Bing no longer has any resistance, and is completely as filial as an elder.
In this way, after observing for more than a month, Huo Guang finally determined that Liu Bing and Liu He before him were indeed completely different people. So after that, Huo Guang, in the name of the empress dowager, officially supported Liu Bing to ascend the throne.
In this way, in September 74 BC, under the support of Huo Guang, Liu Bing had officially ascended the throne.
In the first round, Liu Bing had been recognized by Huo Guang with his respect and composure. So next, Liu Bing was able to successfully obtain the throne. And with Liu Bing officially ascending the throne, Liu Bing at this time has finally begun to have more cards in his hand.
Of course, at this time, Liu was ill and still unable to resist Huo Guang. If he did something out of line, or if Huo Guang was not satisfied with him, Huo Guang could still abolish him at any time.
Speaking of which, we have to pause the plot on Liu's side. We have to talk about how strong Huo Guang was at that time.
As the most famous minister in history, Huo Guang has been cautious in the first half of his life. Throughout the Han Wudi era, he worked beside Han Wudi and is said to have never made a mistake for decades. It was precisely for this reason that he was later recognized by Emperor Wudi of Han. Before Emperor Wudi of Han died, he was ordered to assist the younger emperor and became the head of the four auxiliary ministers.
Later, in the era of Emperor Han Zhao, Huo Guang defeated several other auxiliary ministers and completely took power. After the death of Emperor Han Zhao, Huo Guang had the experience of deposing Liu He. Especially after deposing Liu He, Huo Guang at this time had reached the extreme in terms of momentum.
In addition to not being able to directly usurp the throne as emperor for the time being, Huo Guang was at the top of the Han Dynasty at that time, and he could almost be said to be omnipotent. When the Empress Dowager was his granddaughter. The Manchu dynasty's civil and military officials were all pulled up by Huo Guang himself. The general and prime minister were his confidants.
Inside the capital, Huo Guang's son Huo Yu and nephew Huo Yun served as Zhonglang generals and were fully responsible for protecting the emperor. Another nephew, Huo Shan, served as the captain of Fengche and was directly responsible for the emperor's daily travels. Huo Guang's two sons-in-law served as guards of the Eastern and Western Palaces. The Janissaries in the palace were all under their control.
In short, all the troops in the capital at that time were controlled by Huo Guang's immediate family. And the ministers in the court are also Huo Guang's henchmen, and only Huo Guang's orders are followed.
When the Empress Dowager was the Empress Dowager, she was Huo Guang's granddaughter, which meant that Huo Guang could justifiably intervene in the affairs of the harem. Locally, because successive generations of emperors before Emperor Wudi of Han had been suppressing the Liu clan relatives, those princes and kings of the old Liu family basically had no influence.
And those important local officials were also supported by Huo Guang. It was with these relationships that Huo Guang woven a vast network of relationships that enveloped the entire Han Dynasty. In front of this huge network of relationships, Liu Aiji, who has just ascended the throne, actually has no room for resistance.
Emperor Wen of Han at that time, after being supported by meritorious figures, he could change his own people for the first time and control the Janissaries in the capital. However, when Liu Bing was here, if he dared to do so, it was estimated that he would not be able to carry out his decree even if he gave it. And next, Huo Guang will definitely be alert, maybe he will be able to abolish him immediately.
As a result, Liu Bing seems to have no ability to resist at all. In front of Huo Guang, he seemed to be unable to do anything except be a puppet. But then, Liu Bing still made good use of the cards in his hand and began to play with Huo Guang.
Not long after Liu Bing had ascended the throne, next, around the issue of Lihou, Liu Bing had launched a second round game with the entire Huo Guang Group.
The second round is called the Battle of the Aftermath. To put it simply, before ascending the throne, Liu Bing had already married a wife named Xu Pingjun. After Liu Bing had ascended the throne, under normal circumstances, Liu Bing should have made Xu Pingjun empress, and Xu Pingjun's son as the crown prince.
However, for this matter, the Huo family was very dissatisfied. The Huo family believed that since it was Huo Guang who supported Liu Chengjun, then Liu Bing should marry Huo Guang's youngest daughter Huo Chengjun and make Huo Chengjun empress. And the son born to Huo Chengjun should also become a prince in the future.
However, what everyone did not expect was that on this issue, Liu Aiji, who had always been extremely deferential, rarely rejected the Huo family. On the one hand, after ascending the throne, Liu Bing had already rewarded Huo Guang as emperor. He not only greatly increased the fiefdom for Huo Guang, but also made Huo Guang a '20,000 household marquis'! At the same time, he also gave Huo Guang a lot of money to thank Huo Guang for his support.
But on the other hand, on the issue of the post-establishment, Liu Bing has already taken another step. Even though Manchu officials said that he should marry the daughter of the Huo family, Liu Bing still insisted. And later, Liu Bing had already specially issued an edict asking everyone to find a sword for him that he had used back then.
With this edict, Liu Bing has expressed his attitude to everyone: even a sword is the best old thing. Then in terms of people, it is naturally the best for old people. I have to say that Liu Bing has this trick, which is really clever.
With the help of the trick of 'deep love of the sword', Liu Bing has occupied the commanding high ground morally. Next, no matter how powerful the Huo family is, as long as the Huo family forcibly abolishes him, the Huo family will definitely lose money. And as long as the Huo family loses money, the image of the perfect minister that Huo Guang created before will definitely be shattered. After that, those clan kings of the old Liu family below, as well as those ministers below, had a reason to raise troops against him.
Obviously, Huo Guang couldn't have completely torn apart the entire old Liu family for this kind of thing.
At the same time, with the help of this incident, Liu Bing has also released a signal to the ministers below, that is, he himself is a nostalgic person. As a nostalgic person, Liu Bing was very grateful to these ministers for supporting him. Therefore, even if the Huo family is gone in the future, Liu Bing will still miss their affection and continue to use them.
This is actually very important.
Because for those ministers, what they were most afraid of was that after Huo Guang's death, Liu Bing would suppress them. In order to maintain their power, even if Huo Guang deposed the emperor, they were willing to support. But if the emperor made it clear, give them a promise that they would not change anything in the future. In this case, whether these ministers will firmly support the Huo family is a matter of two words.
At least, there is a part of the ministers, in this case, who will definitely choose not to help each other. Moreover, the ministers actually knew very well that even if they supported Huo Guang, Huo Guang could not give them more. In that case, why should they resolutely stand on Huo Guang's side when they can ensure that their interests are not damaged?
In this way, after such an operation, Liu Bing finally gained the upper hand, and the Huo family had nothing to say at all. Two months after his official accession to the throne, in November of that year, Liu Bing finally succeeded in making Xu Pingjun empress.
In this post-establishment battle, Liu Bing has clearly won the final victory. Through this incident, Liu Bing has not only preserved his last acre and three points of land, but also ensured that the queen's side is his own territory. At the same time, Liu Bing has also sent a signal to the ministers below. He himself is a nostalgic person, and at the same time, he himself is not a complete puppet, and he will not be completely at the mercy of Huo Guang.
So next, many officials who were not so resolute in line began to gradually break away from the Huo family. They may not dare to directly support Liu, but they dare to remain neutral. In this way, the originally huge Huo family network was temporarily torn open by Liu Sick.
And after the official establishment of the queen, followed by the third round.
The third round can be called the return turmoil. In this matter of Lihou, Liu Bing had already violated the Huo family's will. So next, Huo Guang took the initiative to apply, wanting to completely return the government to Liu Sick, and completely retired home.
No one knew if this was Huo Guang's true thoughts, or if he wanted to test Liu Guang.
Perhaps, Huo Guang at that time really wanted to retire and find a way back for himself and his family. As an old minister of the three dynasties, Huo Guang's career in this life has long come to an end, and the honor he can get has reached the extreme. In this state, it is undoubtedly the best choice to retire at this appropriate time, and return the government to Liu Sick.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Huo Guang wants to take this opportunity to test Liu Aiji's attitude. If Liu Bing has really agreed, then Huo Guang's side may have to use various means to re-limit his power. It is even possible to launch a coup d'état directly and completely put Liu Sick on the ground.
Both possibilities exist. So next, Liu Bing no longer dared to gamble. Even if the latter had a one-in-ten thousand possibility, Huo Guang was really testing him. Once this possibility came true, Liu Bing would no longer have any chance to turn around. So after Huo Guang asked for retirement, Liu Bing not only did not agree, but continued to let Huo Guang handle the imperial government on his behalf.
At the same time, Liu Bing had already given Huo Guang a big reward. Not only did he give Huo Guang a lot of property, but he also gave Huo Guang a lot of fiefdoms, making Huo Guang a '20,000 household marquis'.
This game, ostensibly, Huo Guang won. But in fact, Liu has actually won more.
Through this bureau, Liu Bing has further released a signal to many officials in the lower direction, that is, he respects the heroes and remembers the old feelings. Even such a powerful minister as Huo Guang could tolerate it. Then other officials, Liu Bing can naturally accept it.
This attitude made many ministers who were originally resolutely on Huo Guang's side also take a reassuring pill. From this time on, more and more ministers began to take sides less firmly.
In this way, the seemingly weak Liu Bing has actually begun to gradually occupy the hidden position at this time.
Of course, the most important thing is that in the process of continuous contact with Huo Guang, Liu Bing has discovered that Huo Guang has a weakness. Or rather, the entire Huoguang Group has a fatal flaw! This shortcoming is Huo Guang's own age.
The history books do not record the detailed time of Huo Guang's birth, but later historians speculate that Huo Guang was born around 130 BC. Compared with his eldest brother Huo Qubing, Huo Guang should be a few years younger, at most about ten years younger.
If Huo Guang was born in 130 BC, then by the year Huo Guang asked for retirement, Huo Guang was almost sixty! At that time, this was definitely a lot of age. If you are lucky, in a few years, at most ten years, Huo Guang will definitely die of old age!
And in the entire Huo Guang Group, the existence of Huo Guang is that crucial point! Because the vast majority of the members in this group were personally plucked up by Huo Guang. But at the same time, apart from this promotion grace, Huo Guang or the Huo family actually has nothing to do with them.
Therefore, once Huo Guang dies, Liu Bing can already give higher profit chips than the Huo family in the future. Then these ministers who were originally subordinate to the Huo family will definitely completely break away from the Huo family. As for the Huo family itself, there are actually few people. Huo Guang himself has only one son, plus two nephews and grandnephews, and two sons-in-law.
With just these few people, it is obviously unrealistic to want to completely monopolize the central power and erect Liu Ai.
Therefore, as long as he can survive Huo Guang, Liu Bing will definitely be able to win! Huo Guang's front foot dies, and the entire Huo Group will fall apart on the back foot. Those ministers who were originally subordinate to the Huo family would definitely choose to leave the Huo family. By that time, all that Liu Bing needed to deal with was just the descendants of the Huo family.
It was with this attitude that in the next two years, Liu Bing had been more respectful to Huo Guang on the one hand, but he had been wary of Huo Guang on the other hand. What Liu Bing was most afraid of was that Huo Guang suddenly went crazy before he died. For the sake of his family's power, he suddenly staged a coup to control him, or directly killed him.
Judging from the later historical development, Liu's caution is not unreasonable. To be precise, Huo Guang is not crazy, but his family is crazy!
For the fatal shortcomings of the Huo family, Liu Bing can already see it, and the Huo family can naturally see it. And for the Huo family, let them completely give up all their power and go home, they are obviously unwilling. In this case, the best solution that the Huo family can find is to become a foreign relative.
If Huo Guang's youngest daughter can marry Liu Aiji and become an empress, then there will be no contradiction between the Huo family and Liu Aiji. In the future, the prince born to them will also become a prince, and all problems will be solved. But the problem was that Liu Bing was no longer willing, and he insisted that his original match Xu Pingjun be empress.
So after that, the Huo family became ruthless. In 71 BC, Huo Guang's daughter-in-law Huo Xian directly and secretly contacted the female medical official Chun Yuyan in the palace. At that time, Empress Xu Pingjun had just given birth and was in confinement. This Huo Guang's wife secretly instructed the female doctor to secretly change the medicine for the empress, which finally caused Xu Pingjun to die of a headache and qi decline.
At this moment, the two sides completely formed a mortal feud!
Faced with the death of his wife, Liu Bing was naturally angry! But he also knew that at this time, he was not the opponent of the Huo family at all. Therefore, after Xu Pingjun's death, Liu Bing did not show any dissatisfaction, but obediently listened to the words of the Huo family and directly appointed Huo Guang's youngest daughter Huo Chengjun as empress.
Even the female doctor who killed the empress, Liu Bing had signed a pardon order, and did not hold him accountable. But things have come to this point, and the two sides are already doomed to be impossible. Everyone was just waiting for Huo Guang to die.
In this way, three years after the death of Empress Xu, a generation of powerful ministers Huo Guang finally couldn't hold on. In 68 BC, Huo Guang finally died in his own home. Before and after Huo Guang's death, Liu Bing had shown great enthusiasm. Before Huo Guang's death, in order to reassure Huo Guang, Liu Bing had already promoted several descendants of the Huo family. After Huo Guang's death, Liu Bing had buried him with the etiquette of the emperor.
However, after Huo Guang's aftermath was completed, Liu Bing quickly revealed his butcher knife.
After Huo Guang's death, the officials who had originally supported the Huo family, just as Liu had expected, began to watch from the sidelines. So next, what Liu Bing already needs to deal with is just those direct family members of the Huo family.
After this, Liu Bing had quickly taken control of the military power in the capital as emperor. Several Huo families, who originally controlled the military power in the capital, were secretly surrendered by Liu Sickness. After these powers were taken back, they were handed over by Liu Bing to relatives of his grandmother's family, as well as relatives on the Xu family's side.
In this way, before he knew it, Liu Bing had quietly completed his control of the capital.
In this regard, the Huo family naturally also noticed it. As the rope that Emperor Han Xuan put on their heads became tighter and tighter, the Huo family also began to gradually fear. So next, several people from the Huo family began to secretly plan a coup. However, in this way, the Huo family's planning just fell into the trap of Liu Aiji. Originally, Liu Bing couldn't find a reason to get rid of the Huo family and rebel, but he had done Liu Bing a big favor.
Moreover, just before the Huo family officially launched a coup d'état, there was a key figure who suddenly betrayed the Huo family. This person, named Jin Reward, is Huo Guang's son-in-law.
Many years ago, before Emperor Wudi of Han died, he left four auxiliary ministers to assist Emperor Han Zhao. The four auxiliary ministers were Huo Guang, Kim Il-chan, Shangguan Huo, and Sang Hongyang. Among these four people, Huo Guang, Jin Ilpeng, and Shangguan Huan are actually in-laws. At that time, Huo Guang's daughter married Jin Ilpeng's second son, which is this golden reward.
Later, a year after the death of Emperor Wudi of Han, Jin Il-peng died suddenly. After that, because of the death of Jin Il-peng, many of the power gaps he left behind were gradually occupied by Huo Guang through the son-in-law of Jin Reward. Therefore, Huo Guang was able to face the alliance of the other two auxiliary ministers at the same time with one enemy and two, and finally won the victory.
And after Huo Guang completely controlled the imperial government, the Jin family at this time was more like a vassal of the Huo family. When Emperor Wudi of Han had just died, when everyone mentioned the gold reward, they would always say that he was the son of Jin Ilpeng. But now, when everyone mentions him again, they will say that he is Huo Guang's son-in-law. But in fact, the gold reward has always been a member of the Jin family.
Therefore, when the Huo family prepared to rebel, Jin Reward did not choose to rebel with the Huo family. Because even if he rebelled with the Huo family, the Huo family would not be able to crown him a king, and it would be impossible to give him more benefits than now. The people who really benefited were the few people surnamed Huo.
epilogue
So in the end, the golden reward directly reported the Huo family and handed over his daughter-in-law. Liu, who had received the news in advance, was able to act first and quickly quell the Huo family's rebellion.
In 74 BC, Huo Guang died in March, and by July, the entire Huo family was killed!
And with the Huo family being exterminated, Liu Bing has naturally regained power. From this time on, he became a real emperor. The era that belonged to Emperor Xuan of Han could be regarded as the real beginning.