Anecdote of the Fifth Queen Mother

Chapter 6 Empress Dowager Lu (5)
After the Empress Dowager Lu was buried, Prime Minister Zuo judged her as the Young Emperor Taifu.At this time, news came that Qi Wang Liu Xiang raised his troops.Liu Xiang is the eldest son of Liu Fei and the elder brother of Zhu Xuhou Liu Zhang.In the name of Emperor Shao, Xiangguo Lu Chan sent Guan Ying to lead the army to march eastward.Guan Ying was stationed in Xingyang, and instead joined forces with the Qi army to oppose Zhu Lu.This time, Zhu Lu, the capital master, was restless.Lu Chan and Lu Lu plotted to kill the ministers, and after days of deliberation, they could not make up their minds.At the same time, under the leadership of Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, the ministers united to kill Zhu Lu.However, both of the imperial guards in the capital were controlled by Zhu Lu.Lu Chan was in the Southern Army, and Lu Lu was in the Northern Army.Although Zhou Bo is a Taiwei, he is not allowed to enter the army.Taking advantage of the good relationship between Li Ji and Lu Lu, Chen Ping first asked Li Ji to lobby Lu Lu to surrender his military power.Li sent to Lu Lu and said: "Emperor Gao and the kings appointed by Empress Gao have proclaimed to the world, and they are all legal. But my friend, you are not going to be king but you are in charge of the Northern Army in the capital, and you are jealous of the ministers. Why? Considering safety, why don't you hand over your military power and become the king safely, isn't it better than the capital!" Lu Lu and Lu Chan are mediocre, and they think Li Ji's words make sense.So Lu Lu handed over the Northern Army.Zhou Bo went to the northern army camp to take over, and he announced sharply: "It is the Lu family who is on the right, and the Liu family is on the left!" Everyone in the army is on the left and the Liu family is on the left, so Zhou Bo sent the northern army.This day is September [-]th Gengshen.

Although Zhou Bo captured the northern army, the southern army was still in the hands of Lu Chan.Therefore, the banner of killing Zhulu has not yet been launched, but Liu Zhang is called and a thousand soldiers are given to him, and he is asked to quickly occupy the palace, in name as Wei Shaodi.Zhu Xuhou entered the gate of Weiyang Palace and ran into Lu Chan.I saw Lu Chan pacing back and forth in the palace. It turned out that Chen Pingping had instructed Wei Wei not to allow Lu Chan to enter the palace.Lu Chan was at a loss what to do, so he ran around in a hurry.Zhulu had always been afraid of Liu Zhang, and the soldiers dispersed in a hurry.Seeing that the situation was over, Lu Chan hid in the toilet of Langzhong Lingfu's office, and was found and beheaded by Zhu Xuhou.Then, Liu Xingju, Zhu Xuhou's second brother, entered the palace to invite the young emperor.That night, the ministers sent people to arrest and kill Zhu Lu separately.In this way, the Lu Group was destroyed.

After the demise of Zhu Lu, the ministers supported the acting king Liu Heng to ascend the throne. This is Emperor Wen of Han.The Western Han Dynasty entered the golden age of the rule of Wenjing.

[-]. Empress Lu's merits and demerits
Empress Dowager Lu was the first woman in Chinese history to truly emerge on the political stage.Before her, there were many queens, queen mothers or imperial concubines who interfered in the government, but none of them were as strong and powerful as Queen Lu.Empress Dowager Lu was in power for 15 years after the death of Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, of which eight years were in charge of the imperial court.Therefore, Sima Qian did not establish the "Hui Di Ji", but the "Empress Lu Ji".In this regard, scholars of later generations started from the orthodox concept and made a lot of right and wrong words.Because according to the orthodox concept, only the biography of the emperor can be called "Benji".Empress Dowager Lu's heroine is coming to court, which can only be called "biography".Ban Gu's "Han Shu" established both "Hui Di Ji" and "Gao Hou Ji", which can be regarded as a compromise, obviously influenced by Sima Qian.Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty officially proclaimed himself emperor and established the country, and the "Two Tang Books" only established a biography, not a chronicle.This shows the extraordinary insight of Sima Qianli's "The Chronicle of Empress Dowager Lu".To this day, if we want to correctly evaluate the merits and demerits of Empress Dowager Lu, we must refer to Sima Qian's evaluation.The narration and evaluation of Empress Dowager Lu in this biography are mainly based on "The Benji of Empress Dowager Lu" in "Historical Records".Sima Qian made the following evaluation of Empress Dowager Lu:
At the time of Emperor Xiaohui and Empress Gao, the people of the Li people were freed from the suffering of the Warring States Period, and all the monarchs and ministers wanted to rest and do nothing. Therefore, Emperor Hui bowed his head, Empress Gao was called the queen, and the government did not leave the house, and the world was in peace.Punishment is rare, and the sinner is rare.Civilian farming, food and clothing breeding.

Sima Qian's evaluation is in line with reality.When Liu Bang was in power, the world was not in peace. He had been fighting everywhere and had no time to take care of economic recovery.When Liu Bang was dying, he made personnel arrangements and determined the policy of governing the country by doing nothing.Empress Dowager Lu implemented this policy seriously.The content of its governance is mainly contained in "Hui Di Ji" and "Gao Hou Ji" in "Han Shu".When Gao Hui changed the tithe land rent to fifteen tax one, this is a thin tax.When Gao Hui reconciled with the Xiongnu, in the north of Xiuning, there were no large-scale projects in the country. Even the construction of Chang'an City was only carried out during the slack season. This is light corvee.In Gao Huishi's reign, if the five doctors and the officials with more than six hundred shi were guilty, they would not wear shackles when they were tried; for ordinary criminals, the four-year-old punishment for building a city was reduced to the three-year-old punishment for the ancestral temple. This is the agreement.There are also a series of measures to resume production, such as bestowing the title of the people, removing the law of holding books, and setting up filial piety to strengthen the fields.Sima Qian affirmed and praised all these, so he expressed his praise in his comments.From today's point of view, it is also fair.

From the records in "Historical Records" and "Hanshu" and Sima Qian's evaluation, it can be seen that it is groundless to say that the Empress Dowager Lu is "a representative of the separatist forces that moved against the historical trend in the early Han Dynasty".Empress Dowager Lu maintained the unity of the Western Han Dynasty. She practiced inaction and ruled, which laid a political and material foundation for the rule of Wenjing.The heroine's coming to the court can't be said to be "usurping power and stealing the country". She was originally a family member of the Liu family.Emperor Hui was old, and the Empress Dowager should retire to the deep palace, but the Empress Dowager Lu was unwilling to be lonely. She wanted to interfere in the government and seek benefits for the Lu family. This would inevitably violate the feudal patriarchal system and cause political instability.The empress dowager's coming to court actually means the dictatorship of foreign relatives and the formation of two major power centers, which is of course not good for the country.In this sense, it is not advisable for the queen mother to be in court.So Sima Qian ruthlessly exposed and lashed out, forming a very disproportionate contrast between biography and praise.This seems to be contradictory from the literal point of view, but in fact it is precisely the harmony and unity of the typical character of a personal dictator under the feudal autocratic regime.The Empress Dowager Lu was an entrepreneur who followed Liu Bang. She had worked in the fields and was well aware of the difficulties of farming and the sufferings of the people.Therefore, she followed Liu Bang's line on the major policies of the national economy and the people's livelihood, pursued the rule of inaction, and rested with the people.Sima Qian's praise is an evaluation of Empress Dowager Lu's inaction in politics, and he fully affirmed it.However, Empress Dowager Lv's personal morality and the political issue of the heroine's coming to court are completely negative according to the original appearance of history.It is not wrong to say that Queen Mother Lu is a "ruthless and treacherous conspirator".She was arbitrarily self-indulgent and almost endangered Liu's world.Sima Qian fully exposed all kinds of evil deeds of Empress Dowager Lu in "Benji" for the purpose of providing reference for future generations, and also for future generations of empress dowagers and relatives!

Two final points.Whether the Empress Dowager Lu protected the crown prince violated Liu Bang's political policy, and whether the Empress Dowager Lu was a "reactionary who usurped power and surrendered".

In ancient times, there were many concubines and concubines of emperors and concubines, and there were many children. They had to establish a sole legal heir so as not to cause political turmoil.Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the policy of "establishing the elders but not the virtuous, and establishing the descendant but not the concubine" has been established for the successor of the emperor. This is the patriarchal system.Because only the eldest son is the undisputed sole heir.Therefore, the ministers all agreed to protect the prince, and the Empress Dowager Lu also wanted to protect the prince from a personal standpoint.So Shusun Tong said to Liu Bang: "The crown prince is the foundation of the world. When the foundation shakes the world, why use the world as a play." Having a child as you wish does not involve political policy issues at all.Because Liu Ying did no evil deeds, and Liu Ruyi was just a little doll in her teens, showing no signs of virtuousness.Liu Bang was worried about two points: one was to love his young wife and young son, and the other was to fear that the Empress Dowager Lu would take power and mess up the government.Liu Bang believed that the ministers would protect the Liu regime, so he wanted to replace the prince to avoid the problems he was worried about.Liu Bang himself is really unwilling to shake the foundation of the country.Zhang Liang saw this, so he designed the prince to invite Shangshan Sihao as a guest and friend, so as to relieve Liu Bang's worries about the prince.When Liu Bang saw that the hero group was so resolute in safeguarding the foundation of the prince, he was full of hope, so he only put the prince Gengyi in words, and did not take it seriously.In this way, Liu Bang hijacked the group of heroes, signed a white horse covenant with them, and made an agreement with the ministers that "the king is not the Liu family, and the world will fight against it together."After Liu Bang made these arrangements, he was determined not to abolish the prince, so he had to sacrifice Mrs. Qi and Zhao Wang Ruyi in dismay.

As for saying that Empress Dowager Lu is a "reactionary who usurped power and surrendered", that refers to the peace with the Huns.In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, there was a leader of the Xiongnu named Mao Dun Shanyu. He unified all the tribes of the Xiongnu and made the Xiongnu reach the heyday in history.The area is 50 miles from east to west, and there are 200 million people with armor.In 32 BC, Liu Bang led 40 cavalry to attack the Huns who disturbed the border. They were surrounded by [-] cavalry in Pingcheng (now Datong City, Shanxi).Liu Bang had no choice but to accept Liu Jing's marriage proposal, marrying the daughter of the clan as a princess to the Xiongnu Shanyu, accompanied by a large amount of gold, silver and silk, in exchange for the Xiongnu not disturbing the border.However, the Xiongnu did not abide by the agreement and still harassed them from time to time.After Liu Bang's death, the Huns Maodun Shanyu sent an envoy to Chang'an and wrote a letter insulting the Han Dynasty.The letter stated: He grew up in frustration and wanted to play in China.His wife died, and Empress Lu died of her husband. "The two masters are unhappy, and they have nothing to worry about. They are willing to give what they have and change what they have."After getting the book, Empress Dowager Lu was furious, and discussed with Prime Minister Chen Ping and generals Fan Kuai and Ji Bu, intending to kill the envoys and send troops to conquer the Xiongnu.The ministers discussed that the national power of the Western Han Dynasty was not enough to crusade against the Xiongnu at that time.Ji Bu said: "The Xiongnu barbarians, like animals, speak rudely, so don't worry about it." Finally, it was agreed to write a humble reply letter to the Huns. Accompany Shan Yu, begging for forgiveness.He also sent a great visitor, Zhang Ze, as an envoy to report to the Xiongnu, presenting him with two royal chariots and eight horses, saying that seeing things is like seeing Empress Lu.The Xiongnu Maodun Shanyu originally wanted to provoke a war, but now seeing that the Han Dynasty put the courtesy before the soldiers, he took advantage of the situation and went down the stairs, reporting back to the Han Dynasty: "I haven't heard of Chinese etiquette and righteousness. Fortunately, Your Majesty forgives it." (See "Han Shu Huns" above. "Biography") Because of offering horses, he made a marriage.

The above is how the Empress Dowager Lu bowed her knees and made peace with the Huns.At that time, the Han Dynasty endured humiliation and made peace in exchange for a period of border peace, which was conducive to the recovery of agricultural production and ensured the implementation of inaction politics after the chaos.Humiliation and marriage are determined by the situation, and the responsibility cannot be shifted to the Empress Dowager Lu, and she should be called "surrender" and "reactionary".Empress Dowager Lu endured humiliation and begged for peace, which was an act that took the overall situation into consideration.It can be said that it is the performance of Empress Dowager Lu's political maturity.

To sum up, Empress Dowager Lu should be criticized for her personal character and evil deeds.Empress Dowager Lu's evil deeds are a manifestation of the corruption of centralized power and autocracy, and cannot be concealed.However, she did not intervene too much in the inaction politics implemented by the ministers in the major policies of governing the country. It can be said that she inherited and conscientiously implemented Liu Bang's established policies and maintained the unity of the country. This should be affirmed.

(This biography is based on historical books such as "Historical Records", "Hanshu", "Zizhi Tongjian", etc., because these kinds of books are common, and the quotations are directly changed to vernacular. For the sake of space, I did not note them one by one, hereby illustrate.)
(End of this chapter)