The great man will live forever

Chapter 314 The undercurrent is surging

Luoyang, Yongle Palace, this is the palace of Empress Dowager Dong.

Empress Dowager Dong was from Hejian (now part of Hebei Province). Her origin and name are not recorded in history. She married Liu Chang, Marquis of Jieduting, and became his wife.

In the second year of Yongshou (156), Dong gave birth to his son Liu Hong for Liu Chang.

After Liu Chang's death, Liu Hong inherited the title of Marquis of Jiedu Ting.

In the first year of Yongkang (167), Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty Liu Zhi passed away, and Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty's Queen Dou Miao was honored as the Empress Dowager.

Because Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty had no children, Queen Mother Dou Miao and her father, Chengmen School Lieutenant Dou Wu, decided to make Liu Hong the emperor.

In the first year of Jianning (168), Liu Hong ascended the throne as Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.

On the Jiawu Day in the leap month of the same year, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, with the consent of Queen Mother Dou Miao, honored his late father Liu Chang as Emperor Xiaoren.

Note that this is only called emperor, not emperor.

His mausoleum is called Shenling, and his mother, Dong, is honored as the noble lady of Shenyuan.

The Sui people drilled wood to make fire, Shen Nong tasted all kinds of herbs, and Fu Xi created writing.

So after Qin Shihuang unified China, he felt that the title of king was too boring. I will destroy you all. You are the king. Do I still have to continue to be the king?

So he used the word "emperor" to combine "emperor" and "emperor" to show that he was more virtuous than the three emperors, had more merit than the five emperors, and surpassed all rulers in the past and present. Therefore, he was respected by future generations as the one emperor through the ages.

Originally, this emperor was not a mortal, but a worthy god. Therefore, during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the supreme god that people believed in was called Haotian God, which is what we later called God.

But they actually have many details and differences in them.

Therefore, the word emperor is used to refer to those dead rulers, especially those who were virtuous and meritorious.

In ancient times, there was a saying of three emperors and five emperors. So what is an emperor and what is an emperor?

In ancient times, the ax was responsible for punishing criminals and captives, and was a symbol of power. The so-called king was the person in charge of the axe.

It is because the Zhou Dynasty could not use the word emperor. The word emperor is related to the Shang Dynasty's belief in ancestors. The monarchs of the Shang Dynasty were called emperor after their death.

After talking about the emperor and the emperor, let's see the king again.

Emperor Xin also has a more familiar title called King of Shang Zhou, which is the posthumous title given to him by the Zhou Dynasty.

There are several versions of the so-called Three Emperors. The more common ones are the Emperor Suiren, the Emperor Shennong, and the Emperor Fuxi.

Therefore, the monarchs of the Zhou Dynasty claimed to be kings, and at the same time gave the last monarch of the Shang Dynasty a posthumous title, King Zhou, which means tyrannical and immoral.

All the monarchs of the Zhou Dynasty were called kings, such as King Wen of Zhou, King Wu of Zhou, and King Cheng of Zhou.

Among them, the monarch and the lord are lower than the emperor, emperor, and king.

The meaning of the character "王" can be seen from the oracle bone inscriptions. From the Shang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty, the character "王" in the oracle bone inscriptions is very clear. It is in the shape of a big axe.

In the oracle bone inscriptions, the emperor resembles fire and feathers. There are two main sayings. One is that it represents lights, and the other is that it is a hat made of feathers worn during sacrifices.

Lord means a kind of ownership. It can be the owner of a house, the owner of a city, or the owner of a country. It can be used for ordinary people or for monarchs.

These three are legendary tribal leaders who made great contributions to Chinese civilization, so they are respected as the Three Emperors.

Which five monarchs are the Five Emperors in Three Emperors and Five Emperors?

There are different opinions. The more common ones are Emperor Xuanyuan, Emperor Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun.

In the oracle bone inscriptions, the emperor is like a piece of wood, which represents a bunch of wood burned when offering sacrifices to heaven, so the emperor is also related to sacrificial activities.

The character "jun" first appeared in the Shang Dynasty. The ancient character shape is from mouth and from Yin. Yin represents the person who holds power and gives orders verbally.

During the Warring States Period, it was also used as a title for heroes or nobles, such as the Four Gentlemen of the Warring States Period;

At that time, tribal leaders were generally responsible for sacrifices, so Huang became the title of the tribal leader.

What about King Hui of Wei, King Wei of Qi, King Zhao of Qin, and King Wuling of Zhao? If you dominate me, the title of king will be greatly reduced.

However, there is a characteristic of Chinese culture. The worlds of gods and humans are connected. The rulers of the human world will become gods and emperors after their death.

Ancient emperors advocated rule by inaction, and specific matters were handled by their subordinates. These people who presided over the handling of specific matters were called "kings".

There is a saying that the character "王" has three horizontal lines and one vertical line. The three horizontal lines represent heaven, earth, and people, and the one vertical line represents penetration. The one who can penetrate heaven, earth, and people is the king.

In addition, the monarchs of the Shang Dynasty were also called emperors after their death, such as Emperor Jia, Emperor Yi, Emperor Wuding, and Emperor Xin.

As for emperor, emperor, and king, let’s talk about emperor and emperor first. These two words are often combined to call emperor.

Then the question arises, why did the monarchs of the Zhou Dynasty call themselves kings instead of emperors? Isn't the emperor more domineering than the king?

Later, "jun" also became an honorific title, such as husband.

Both of these statements are actually related to sacrificial activities.

This statement sounds domineering, but unfortunately, it is not the original meaning of the word Wang.

The five words "jun", "lord", "emperor", "emperor" and "wang" can generally refer to emperors in ancient times.

Later, the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang Dynasty. They did not want to inherit the beliefs of the Shang Dynasty, nor did they want to use the title of Emperor, because once used, it would be equivalent to admitting that the ancestors of the Shang Dynasty had become their own ancestors. How could that be done?

So what does the emperor’s emperor mean?

From Qin Shihuang to the last emperor Puyi, China's supreme rulers are all called emperors, but in fact emperor and emperor originally have two different meanings.

"Jun" in the Zhou Dynasty mainly refers to court officials and leaders of vassal states and Fang states;

Many sacrifices in ancient times were like this, wearing feather hats and holding lights in their hands, dancing there.

Later generations derived the title of emperor, which refers to the king of a country, that is, the supreme ruler.

The word "wang" has long been the title of the supreme ruler in the Zhou Dynasty, but during the Warring States Period, the monarchs of the vassal states, with their wings stiffened, also called themselves kings one after another.

By this time, the difference between the emperor and the king was very clear. The emperor was higher than the king. The emperor could make the king a king, and the king could have his own territory, but the king had to obey the emperor's orders.

Therefore, Liu Hongzun's father was very particular about being the emperor. The emperor is a monarch with actual power, but the emperor does not. It is mostly a sacrificial and honorific title.

For example, after Liu Bang called himself emperor, he respected his father, Mrs. Liu, as the Supreme Emperor. He was the Emperor, not the Supreme God. The Emperor represented a kind of sacrifice and respect, but actually did not have much rights.

In September of the first year of Jianning (168), General Dou Wu failed and was killed in a fight with the eunuchs.

In the first month of the second year of Jianning (169), Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty sent his attendant Zhongchang from Hejian Kingdom to welcome his mother Dong to Luoyang, the capital, and also recruited Dong's brother Dong Chong and nephew Dong Chong to Luoyang.

On the third day of March of the same year, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty honored his mother Dong as Empress Xiaoren and lived in the Jiade Hall of Nangong. The palace was called Yongle Palace (Dong was called the Empress Dowager Yongle because she lived in Yongle Palace). He appointed Dong Chong as the Empress of Jinwu. Become a good general with five senses...

What does it mean for a person to achieve enlightenment and a chicken or a dog to ascend to heaven? What is the value of mother and child? What is it about a country bumpkin who suddenly becomes a queen mother?

Just look at Empress Dowager Dong and you will know that she picked up a queen mother for nothing and became the most powerful upstart in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The Empress Dowager Dong was a strange person who had not been seen in a century. Normal parents were afraid that their children would go astray, but this one led her son astray and encouraged Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty to buy and sell official positions.

What on earth was she thinking? In fact, this is her unique harem survival rule, which is a very typical nouveau riche mentality.

After Empress Dowager Dou died, she straightened up and became a veritable Empress Dowager Dong.

In the first few years after arriving in the capital, Empress Dowager Dong still lived an honest life with her tail between her legs.

One is because he is embarrassed by his identity. Furthermore, he is not familiar with the place and has no close confidants.

Also, his son Han Lingdi originally wanted to be a good emperor, so he did not dare to make too many mistakes.

However, as time passed, Empress Dowager Dong discovered that her son was not the material to be the emperor. During this period, she also clearly realized that there was a powerful rule for survival in the harem, which was to cultivate a few eunuch confidants. .

So she targeted a large number of eunuchs around her and asked Xia Yun, Feng Xu and others to form a highly destructive eunuch group.

And from this time on, they began to instigate the emperor Han Ling to buy and sell official positions.

The price is clearly marked directly. The price of an official position is 1 times your annual salary. You can buy as many official positions as you want.

Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, used money to buy the official position of Taiwei.

Most of the money from buying and selling official positions was used by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty on the construction of private gardens, and the rest was divided up by Empress Dowager Dong and his eunuch group.

This kind of buying and selling of official positions also corrupted the government, which also accelerated the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

This old lady from the countryside was so greedy for money that she only bought and sold official positions, but later on she became more and more courageous. She began to interfere in government affairs and fight for power with her daughter-in-law, which also made the already precarious Han Dynasty even weaker.

From ancient times to the present, the relationship between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law has been difficult.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the power struggle between Empress Dowager Dong and her daughter-in-law was also very fierce.

Empress Dowager Dong's powerful daughter-in-law, He, was a ruthless character.

At that time, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty's queen was originally Empress Song. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty did not like her very much. He even executed Empress Song because of the eunuch's frame-up.

After that, he made He his queen. He was a butcher, but she was favored by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.

After He became the queen, she gave birth to her son Liu Bian, but at this time, another beauty of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Wang Rong, also gave birth to the prince Liu Xie. The jealous queen and the queen took the opportunity to poison their rival Wang Rong to death. .

Although Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was very angry when he found out about this, he still couldn't bear to depose Queen He after the eunuchs persuaded him.

Just because he was afraid that the queen would attack Liu Xie, he sent the child to the Empress Dowager Dong. This shows that the daughter-in-law here is not easy to cause trouble.

Empress Dowager Dong was naturally closer to her grandson Liu Xie than Liu Bian, so she began to try her best to persuade her son to make Liu Xie the queen mother. This of course made Empress He very dissatisfied, so the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law began from that time.

But before Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty could finalize the candidate for the crown prince, he passed away, leaving behind a mess...

Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty had not been dead for long, and his bones were not yet cold.

Empress Dowager Dong called Jian Shuo, "Send someone to keep an eye on Empress He, see what happened to them in the past two days, and keep an eye on their every move.

Once they take any action, report it to me immediately. We must strike first. "

"promise!"

Jian Shuo is currently the captain of the Shangjun Academy. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty trusted Jian Shuo because of his strong physical strength and military acumen. He appointed him as the marshal of the Xiyuan Army and led Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and other eight captains to supervise the following officials. Officials.

Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty entrusted Liu Xie to him before his death, so he naturally wanted to make Liu Xie the emperor.

Empress Dowager Dong also wanted to appoint Liu Xie as emperor, so the two were naturally in an alliance of interests.

As soon as Jian Shuo came out, he found his confidant Zhao La, "Has the general entered the palace?"

"It's probably on its way!"

"Pay close attention and kill anyone who leaks the news!"

"promise!"

At the same time, in the Yuehua Hall, a woman was dignified and elegant, with extraordinary temperament.

Her face is like the bright moon, crystal clear and radiant, making people dare not look at it. The eyebrows are like distant mountains, slender and curved, as if carefully painted by an artist, adding a bit of charm.

Her eyes are as deep as autumn water, her nose is straight, her lips are red and her teeth are white, she is dignified and beautiful.

Her hair is in a unique style, pulled up high into a bun, with an emerald green hosta inserted into it. The hosta is engraved with exquisite floral patterns, which contrasts sharply with her dark hair color.

The neck is long and slender, and she is wearing a string of pearl necklaces. The pearls are crystal clear and radiant.

Wearing a gold and jade bracelet on her wrist, the jade is warm and the gold ornaments are gorgeous, showing nobility.

She was gorgeously dressed in a bright red dress, the hem of which swayed gently with her steps, like a blooming peony.

Wearing an emerald green gauze coat, the gauze garment is as thin as smoke and sways with the breeze, adding a bit of mystery.

There is a golden belt tied around the waist, which is inlaid with various colored gemstones, which is dazzling.

Until now, she has not had time to wear mourning clothes. This person is Queen He. She can win the favor of the lecherous Liu Hong, and her beauty is naturally unquestionable.

She walked back and forth in the palace, looking very anxious, because she got the news that Jian Shuo planned to kill her brother He when he entered the palace, and she immediately sent someone to inform him.

"Queen?" At this time, the eunuch came in immediately.

"How about it?"

"The general did not enter the palace!"

"That's good!"

Queen Mother He breathed a long sigh of relief, she felt that she was stable.

From now on, she will be the one to call the shots for this big man.

Her biggest support is his brother, General He Jin, who can theoretically control the world's troops.

Late at night, a group of eunuchs gathered together. Zhang Rang's face was trembling with anger and he asked, "Who leaked the news?"

No one answered, and they didn't know.

Zhao Zhong lamented, "Hey, this time is over!"

Zhang Rang looked at Jian Shuo and said, "Jian Shuo, we must take strict precautions no matter what."

"It's natural."

Zhang Rang continued: "The reason why He Jin wants to enter the palace is to fight for the throne for Liu Bian. We must have a unified view on today's matter."

The other eunuchs nodded.

On the other side, He Jin summoned Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others, and said angrily, "I will drive out all these eunuchs sooner or later."

Cao Cao immediately stood up and said, "General, please calm down first.

The power of the eunuchs began when the two emperors were fighting against each other, and extended extremely widely in the court. This did not become powerful overnight, nor could it be eliminated overnight.

If the plan is not kept secret, the family will be destroyed. General, please think twice. "

Strictly speaking, Cao Cao was also a eunuch, so he was naturally looked down upon. He Jin gave him a cold look.

"You juniors, how do you know about the important affairs of the imperial court?"

Cao Cao wanted to say something else, but Yuan Shao stopped him.

At this time, a servant came to report, "General, the little yellow gate urges you to enter the palace quickly."

He Jin waved his hand and said, "Let him go first."

Yuan Shao said: "General, the guards in the palace are all under the control of Jian Shuo. I am afraid that they have already laid an ambush and are waiting for you to enter."

"The Queen has sent someone to notify you, so naturally I won't go in."

Cao Cao quickly said, "The current plan is to rectify the throne and then attack the thieves."

"Well, Meng De's words are in my opinion. Who dares to challenge thieves?"

He Jin didn't have time to look around.

Yuan Shao immediately stood up and said, "I would like to lead five thousand elite troops, cut through the pass and enter, establish a new king, kill the eunuchs, clear the court, and stabilize the world."

He Jin smiled and nodded, "I feel relieved with Benchu's help. Okay, let's summon the ministers into the palace."

Almost immediately, He Jin led his troops to control the entire Luoyang, and then led the ministers into the palace.

Fist is the last word. Although Sai Shuo controls the Imperial Army and has Xiyuan School Captain, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao don't listen to him.

Therefore, on May 189, AD, the prince Liu Bian ascended the throne. He was only fourteen years old at the time.

He honored his mother, Queen He, as the Empress Dowager. Empress Dowager He presided over the affairs of the court, granted amnesty to the world, and changed her reign name to Guangxi.

The emperor's younger brother Liu Xie was granted the title of King of Bohai. Liu Xie was only nine years old at the time.

Appointed the later general Yuan Wei as Taifu, and co-chaired the affairs of the ministerial affairs with the general He Jin...

(End of this chapter)