The Rise & Fall of the Western Han: 210 Years of Glory, and Empire in 10 Minutes!

Western Han is the most powerful dynasty in history, and also the dynasty with the highest quality of the emperor. Huo Qubing made a great contribution at this time. Zhang Qian controlled the Western Regions, and let the world see the style of the Oriental Empire for the first time. Chen Tang said, The one who made me a strong Han, although far away, the oath of Bizhu, has been passed down for thousands of years, and it still makes people shudder. So how did such a powerful Western Han go to extinction? Next, let's follow the traces of time to take a breath and look at Western Han. 210 years of prosperity and decline. In the early 2006, the king of the Eighth, Xiang Yu, was in a frenzy. After overthrowing the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, he took advantage of the absolute military advantage, and made himself the king of the Eighth in the northwest and made a big difference. However, in the process of dividing the feudal lords, Xiang Yu violated the previous agreement, and sealed Liu Bang, who should have been the king, to a remote place in Bashu, in an attempt to weaken this potential opponent. Faced with Xiang Yu's power and betrayal, Liu Bang chose to endure. He knew that if he directly confronted Xiang Yu at this time, he would be as good as killing himself. This year, after a year of careful preparation, Liu Bang united feudal lords from all over the country and appointed Han Xin as the general, Zhang Liang and Xiao He as the commander-in-chief, and challenged the king of the Eight, Xiang Yu together. The famous battle of Chu and Han in Chinese history was ignited by this. After four years of fierce fighting between the two sides, Liu Bang eventually hit Xiang Yu's army in the battle, forcing the former king of the Eighth to settle in Wujiang, and ended this long-lasting war. In the early years of the 20th century, Liu Bang, 55, settled in Dingtao, Shandong, and established the Han Dynasty, also known as the Western Han Dynasty. Due to the previous wars, the power of the Western Han Dynasty was weak and the society was in turmoil, so that when the emperor went on a trip, it was difficult to gather even four horses of the same color. The generals could only take a simple cattle carriage to the court. In order to consolidate the newly established regime, Liu Bang, the high-ranking Han, adopted the national policy of cultivating livelihoods at the beginning of his reign. He reduced the taxes and burdens of the people, encouraged agricultural production, and allowed the people to work with peace of mind. This gradually restored the vitality and vitality of the society. But the first force of the Western Han Dynasty was not eliminated. The Northern Xiongnu was powerful, and they often invaded the Western Han border due to lack of supplies. Han Chu's general, Han Wangxin, has repeatedly lost in many battles with the Xiongnu people. This raised questions about Liu Bang's military ability against Han Wangxin. Under the continued pressure of Liu Bang's speculation and the Xiongnu people, Han Wangxin eventually chose to betray the Han Dynasty and surrender to the Xiongnu. He attacked the Western Han border with the Xiongnu people. This posed a serious threat to the Western Han Dynasty. Faced with the constant harassment and betrayal of the Xiongnu and Han Wangxin, Liu Bang decided to lead 300,000 troops to fight against the Xiongnu. This was also the first foreign battle since the founding of the Western Han Dynasty. But the process of the war was unexpected. Liu Bang invaded the enemy's encirclement. The Han army was surrounded by a group of troops led by the Xiongnu. They were besieged for seven days and seven nights. The Han army's provisions were depleted and the situation was critical. At this critical moment, Chen Ping, a strategist, used the internal contradictions of the Xiongnu people to set a trap. He bribed Yan Shi, the wife of the Xiongnu officer, with a large sum of money. Through his trick, he succeeded in persuading the Xiongnu officer to be lenient with the Han army. In the end, Liu Bang was able to break out of the encirclement. After this incident, Liu Bang deeply realized that the newly established Han Dynasty still did not have the strength to face the Xiongnu. In order to maintain peace on the border, he adopted a policy of marital concessions to the Xiongnu. Through the marriage with the Xiongnu and the tribute of wealth, peace can be achieved at the lowest cost. This policy lasted for decades. It became the main diplomatic strategy of the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu. It was not until the appearance of Liu Bang's Zeng Sun Han Wu Di Liu Che that the situation was completely broken. After several years of hard work, the power of the Western Han Dynasty was growing stronger. However, the power of the Yi Zhu Hou Wang, who colluded with Liu Bang, was growing rapidly. It posed a serious threat to the long-term stability of the Western Han Dynasty. In order to maintain the rule, Liu Bang began to eliminate the Yi family. Empress Lü Zhi keenly noticed Liu Bang's intention, and took the initiative to unite with Prime Minister Xiao He, using the trust of the King of Chu Han Xin to Xiao He. She planned to lure Han Xin into the palace to kill him and exterminate his three clans. This incident opened the door for Liu Bang to eliminate the Yi Zhu Hou Wang. Later, the powerful Pengyue Battalion was also killed one after another. In order to prevent the rise of the Yi family again, Liu Bang divided his clans into new clans. In 1905, before the founding of the palace, Liu Bang was less than a month away from his death. He took Empress Lü and his ministers to the Temple of the Sun and killed a horse. He took the blood of the horse as an alliance and made an oath to the world that he would not leave the world and die. It is the famous covenant of the white horse in history. But he did not expect that this carefully designed covenant would be broken by his own empress Lü Zhi soon after his death. In the same year, the 62-year-old Han Gaozu Liu Bang died of illness. Crown Prince Liu Ying ascended the throne and became the second emperor of the West Han, known as Emperor Han Hui. Liu Ying took over the Han Dynasty, which was in the midst of rapid development. In order to consolidate this difficult foundation, he continued to employ people like Xian Chen, Xiao He, Cao Can, and practiced the policy of cultivating livestock near the Gaozu period. In order to increase the population and promote fertility, Emperor Han Hui adopted an ideal innovation measure and paid for the unmarried women between the ages of 15 and 30. In this way, he encouraged young women to get married as soon as possible and increase the population base for the prosperity of the country. In addition, Emperor Han Hui also ordered the construction of Chang'an City. After five years of hard work, it was finally built into a large and magnificent capital. Although Emperor Han Hui had an ideal of being a wise emperor, he was helplessly controlled by his powerful mother Lü Zhi. Because Liu Ying was young and lacked enough political experience, the power gradually fell into the hands of Empress Dowager Lü Zhi. Lü Zhi was a smart and strong man and began to support his family members vigorously and let them serve as important officials in the court. Under his operation, the Lü family quickly rose and became a powerful force in the court. In early years, Lü Zhi was full of resentment because of Liu Bang's indifference. His character became cold and heartless. After he took over the power completely, he started a cruel war against the Liu royal family. Four of Liu Bang's eight sons were killed by accident. Among them, Liu Bang's beloved concubine Qifu Ren and her son Liu Ruyi were extremely revenged by Lü Zhi. When Liu Bang was alive, Qifu Ren had repeatedly asked Liu Bang to make Liu Ruyi the crown prince. This action enraged Lü Zhi deeply. So Lü Zhi ordered people to cut off Qifu Ren's hands, gouge out his eyes, smoke his ears, and give him the medicine. Finally, he put him in the toilet and became a hostage. Liu Ying, the emperor of the Han and Hui dynasties, saw this tragedy with his own eyes and was greatly stimulated. He could not get out of bed. Soon after, he died of excessive depression. He was only 24 years old. After that, in order to continue to take over the power, after the death of the emperor of the Han and Hui dynasties, Lü Zhi repeatedly appointed two underage children as puppet emperors. These two little emperors were young and ignorant. They were completely manipulated by Lü Hou and became a tool for him to maintain power. Although Lü Zhi was cruel to the Liu royal family, he also showed extraordinary talent in governing the country. Under his governance, the Han and Hui dynasties had a strong national power and a stable society. This laid the foundation for the stability of the Han and Hui dynasties. However, time does not spare people. One day, Lü Hou passed away. Before his death, in order to maintain the power of the Lü family, he handed over the power to his family, Lü Lu and Lü Chan. He hoped that they could continue to control the government. But this action caused great dissatisfaction among the founding fathers, Zhou Bo and Chen Ping. After the death of Lü Zhi, they jointly launched a coup and a well-known coup d'état in history. In this coup d'état, the members of the Lü family, both male and female, were all executed. After the operation was successful, the Han and Hui dynasties also needed a suitable emperor to stabilize the situation. Because most of the sons of Liu Bang had been killed by Lü Hou, only King Liu Heng survived due to his remote location. Liu Heng did not have a strong family power in the court and was kind and sincere. Therefore, he was regarded as an ideal heir to the throne by Zhou Bo and other important ministers in the court. When Liu Heng heard this news, he was surprised and happy. He did not expect to take over the throne. In the early 1880s, when King Liu Heng ascended the throne, he became the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty and the famous Emperor of Han. After Liu Heng ascended the throne, he was committed to improving the people's livelihood in the country. He advocated the study of royal knowledge and did everything without fear. He encouraged the people to actively participate in farming and set up a reward mechanism. At the same time, he also let go of private mining to stimulate the economy. In addition, he abolished the strict system such as meat-shaping and lotus-making He made major reforms to many unreasonable aspects and broke the tradition of silence. He encouraged the ministers to speak frankly and made the court atmosphere bright. In terms of personal life, Emperor Han has been known for his self-discipline. He has never built a luxurious garden for the common people. His daily carriage is also simple and simple. He has won the reputation of being a humble emperor in the future. In terms of foreign affairs, in the face of the long-term threat of Huns, he adopted a stable defense strategy to continue the peace policy and strive to stabilize the border with peaceful means. Even if the Huns have violated the treaty of invasion many times, he also remained calm and restrained, only strengthened border guard and did not start a war easily. He won the precious time of peace development for the Han Dynasty and laid a solid foundation for the counterattack against the Huns in the later period of Emperor Wu of Han. In 157 BC, Emperor Han Wen died of illness in the Weiyang Palace of Chang'an. At the age of 45, his son Liu Qi ascended the throne and became the sixth emperor of Western Han and the famous Han Jingdi. At this time, the Western Han Dynasty was in a hidden crisis under the superficial prosperity. Among them, the forces of the feudal lords of Tongjing became the biggest threat after several generations of accumulation. Their power and ambition have seriously threatened the stability of the imperial power. After Han Jingdi ascended the throne, he observed the urgency of this issue and decided to implement the Xuefan policy This mistake caused the dissatisfaction of the feudal lords such as Emperor Wu and Emperor Liu Bi. Emperor Liu Bi had long been suspicious and used this as an excuse to unite with other feudal lords with the banner of the Qing Army to launch a rebellion. This rebellion, which was participated by seven feudal lords, was called the Seven-Country Rebellion in history. In order to pacify the rebellion, Liu Qi was forced to kill his teacher Chao Cuo in exchange for the retreat of the feudal lords. However, the feudal lords did not stop but continued to attack. Faced with this situation, Liu Qi decided not to compromise and decided to send a famous general Zhou Yafu to lead the army to pacify the rebellion. Zhou Yafu did not disappoint the public and used his immense commanding ability to successfully pacify the rebellion that threatened the Han family's world in just three months. After successfully suppressing the Seven-Country Rebellion, Liu Qi began to devote himself to national governance. He continued to practice his father Emperor Han Wen's policy of governing the country During this period, the economic space of the Western Han Dynasty was developing, the people were rich, and the national treasury was rich. The whole society showed a heart-to-heart image. Due to the joint governance of Emperor Han Wen and Emperor Han Jingdi, the two of them jointly created the first imperial city of the Great Unification of China, Wenjingzhi. This historical period was highly praised for its prosperity and stability. One year before the attack, Emperor Han Jingdi Liu Qi died in Chang'an Weiyang Palace at the age of 48. Later, his son Liu Che became the seventh emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, which is the famous ancient emperor of the Han Dynasty. In this way, the Western Han Dynasty was at its peak and welcomed a young emperor who was rich and powerful. Since childhood, Liu Che has shown extraordinary talent and courage. He is well aware of the long-term threat and is determined to break his father's compromise policy He took the initiative to launch a military strategy. For this purpose, he used and sent several times the famous generals such as Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to lead the army to the north to suppress the Huns. In these heroic battles, the Han Dynasty's army won many battles and not only successfully recaptured the vast territory occupied by the Huns, but also opened the key passage connecting the Central Plains and the Western Regions and greatly expanded the territory of the Western Han Dynasty. At the same time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also showed the far-sightedness that surpasses the times. In order to explore the distant Western world, he sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions twice, in the first year 139 and the first year 119. Zhang Qian successfully arrived in the Western Regions after going through a great deal of trade and cultural exchanges In the first year 134, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the advice of Confucius in order to strengthen the central power and implemented the policy of dominating hundreds of confucian schools to make Confucianism the national orthodox ideology. This measure had a profound impact At the same time, in order to further consolidate the rule, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also introduced the well-known Qian Gu Yang Mou Tui En Ling in Chinese history. This policy cleverly used the feudal lords' affection for their sons and stipulated that after the death of the feudal lords, except for the eldest son, the heir to the throne, the rest of the descendants can also be divided into a part of the feudal lands Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was appointed as a feudal lord which led to the division of feudal lords and the weakening of power which strengthened the central government's control over the place. These two measures together formed an important strategy to strengthen the central power and maintain national unity. In the post-reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the people of the Han Dynasty were already exhausted and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was obsessed with immortality This behavior not only consumed a lot of national power but also caused chaos in the palace In this turmoil, Empress Wei Zifu and Crown Prince Liu Ju were threatened and committed suicide. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty learned the truth, he deeply regretted and felt guilty and realized that his superstition and authoritarianism had brought great disaster to the country In order to restore the situation, he issued the famous Trial of the Wheel in the early 89th year of the palace. In this edict, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty clearly stated that he would stop further expansion in the Western Regions and let the people rest and recover their national strength. However, these efforts did not completely eliminate his inner melancholy and regret. In the early 87th year of the palace, this ancient emperor died in melancholy and ended his glorious rule At the age of 69, Crown Prince Liu Fulin, became the 8th emperor of the Western Han Dynasty and the new emperor of the Han Dynasty. In order to ensure that the Western Han regime could pass smoothly, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty appointed Huoguang, Shangguanjie, Jin Midi and Sang Hongyang to assist Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in governing the world. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended to the throne, he basically continued Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's late-year tax policy. Under the promotion of these policies, the national strength of the Western Han Dynasty gradually recovered and the population began to recover. This laid the foundation for the next census center. However, the power struggle between the government ministers in the court happened in the early 80th year of the palace. Shangguanjie was dissatisfied with Huoguang's political views, so he joined forces with Yu Shidafu, Shangguanjie, Shanghongyang and the willful King Liu Dan of Yan. They conspired to launch a coup to overthrow the rule of Han Zhaodi and Huoguang. This conspiracy was eventually detected by Huoguang and was successfully crushed. Shangguanjie, Sanghongyang and others were all killed. As Jin Midi had died of illness early on, only Huoguang was left among the four ministers. His power therefore reached its peak and became the actual ruler of the Western Han Dynasty. In the early 74th year of the palace, the 21-year-old Emperor Liu Fuling passed away at a young age. This sudden incident once again caused a turmoil in the court. As Emperor Han Zhaodi was not able to have children, Huoguang decided to appoint King Changyi Liu He as the new emperor However, after Liu He ascended the throne, he did not choose a low-key form to stabilize the foundation, but to get rid of Huoguang's control. However, this plan was soon discovered by Huoguang and Huoguang quickly took action to use Liu He as a scapegoat to endanger the country's future. They jointly submitted to the Empress Dowager for the removal of Liu He. In the end, Liu He's position was only maintained for 27 days and was announced to be terminated. After Emperor Liu He was abolished, Huoguang chose Zeng Sun, the grandson of Emperor Wu, Liu Bing as the new heir to the throne and later Emperor Liu Xun. Due to Liu He's abolishment, Liu Xun acted very cautiously He did not act on his own, but adopted a strategy of taking advantage of the situation and handing the military affairs to Huoguang. Huoguang, as an important pillar of the Western Han Dynasty, promoted the development of the Western Han Dynasty so that the country maintained stability and prosperity Six years later, 70-year-old Huoguang passed away Emperor Liu Xun finally got rid of the behind-the-scenes control of the official government. In order to prevent the re-election of the whole-city dictatorship, he quickly took action and eradicated the power On this basis, Emperor Liu Xun also implemented a series of people-to-people policies These policies greatly promoted the development of the social economy and the improvement of people's livelihood The comprehensive power of the Western Han Dynasty also reached the peak of the dynasty In terms of foreign affairs, Emperor Liu Xun took a tough military strategy against Xiongnu However, in the later years, Emperor Liu Xun's governance style changed significantly He gradually became greedy and less and less concerned This led to the gradual abandonment More seriously, he began to spy on officials and even killed some ministers who had made great contributions to the Western Han Dynasty This not only hurt the hearts of the people but also shook the foundation of the country In addition, he also started to indulge the officials of the Western Han Dynasty This method buried the decline of the Western Han Dynasty Therefore, the later generations have different opinions on Emperor Han Xun Some people praised his early achievements and thought he was the master of the Western Han Dynasty Some people criticized his late years of sluggishness Some people thought he brought misfortune and defeat to the Western Han Dynasty Emperor Liu Xun passed away at the age of 43 His son Liu Shi succeeded the throne and became the 11th emperor of the Western Han Dynasty Emperor Liu Shi should have continued to promote the prosperity and development of the country However, he was born weak and tired of political affairs He gradually handed the power to the officials This led to the chaos and the rise of the people In the end, the people changed and the society was unstable This series of events was regarded as the key turning point and laid the foundation for the later reign of Wang Mang and the destruction of the Western Han Dynasty In the early 33 years of the Gongyuan period in order to establish a friendly relationship with the Han Dynasty Xiongnu Hu Han Xie Chanyu came to Chang'an to ask for a peace treaty with the Han Dynasty In the face of Xiongnu's request the Han Dynasty and the court disagreed and the maids were reluctant to go because of the hard border life At this time, a maid named Wang Zhaojun stood up and took the priority of the country's righteousness and asked to go to the Xiongnu peace treaty On the day of leaving Chang'an Wang Zhaojun dressed up and said goodbye to Emperor Yuan Emperor Yuan's appearance was beautiful but the peace treaty could not be changed In this way, Wang Zhaojun set out to Xiongnu with the peace mission of the Han Dynasty This is the famous Zhaojun's first visit has also become a fable in Chinese history In the same year Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty died in Chang'an At the age of 41 his wife Liu Ao ascended the throne and became the 12th emperor of the Western Han When Liu Ao ascended the throne the Western Han Dynasty had entered the period of decline and internal and external troubles continued In the early years, Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty showed certain political talent and cultivation and tried to restore the decline of the dynasty However, in the post-reign period in order to deal with the situation he adopted a strategy to support his wife's power and gave the power to his mother Wang Zhaojun Wang Zhaojun took this opportunity to make all his five brothers marquis Wang's family has been in power since then and has buried the political turmoil in the future At the same time Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty became more and more addicted to wine and especially adored Zhao Feiyan Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede spent a lot of money to build a luxurious palace for them Due to the long-term illiteracy Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty gradually weakened In the end, seven years before his death Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty died in Zhao Hede's bed At the age of 45 Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty had no children and his nephew Liu Xin became the 13th emperor of the Western Han When Liu Xin ascended the throne the Western Han Dynasty was at its end However, there were natural disasters and social unrest In order to save the dynasty Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty tried to fight against the powerful Wang's family For this, he promoted his nephew Ding's family But this move did not shake the foundation of the Wang's family but made the political situation more complicated Empress Dowager Wang Zhaojun took the opportunity to bring her nephew Wang Mang into the court Wang Mang was cunning and ambitious He took advantage of the means to gradually seize the power of the court and began to exclude his own relatives and built up his own power network At the same time Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty loved Dong Xian Liu Ming despised Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty and even left the throne to Dong Xian This incident caused a stir in the court In the end, a year before his death Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty died of overindulgence In order to maintain the court Wang Mang carefully selected the grandson of Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty Liu Kan, who was only 9 years old He also became the 14th emperor of Western Han and Emperor of Hanping At this time, the civil and military officials in the court have mostly listened to Wang Mang It's just a matter of time Six years later Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty, who was about to take over the throne, suddenly passed away Because he had no children Wang Mang chose Liu Ying, who was younger as the heir to the throne Emperor Liu of the Han Dynasty was not officially enthroned Liu Ying and some loyal officials of the Han Dynasty tried to restore the rule of the Han Dynasty But under the cruel suppression of Wang Mang the Qi army soon collapsed Wang Mang took this opportunity to further consolidate his position and determined that this was the destiny Finally, in the eighth year of his reign Wang Mang thought that the time had come and officially accepted the persuasion of the court and abolished the position of Crown Prince At this time, the 210-year-old Western Han Dynasty was completely ended Wang Mang seized the power and the new dynasty was established