Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 64
When the list was finally approved by the emperor, Dou Yifang knew that she was actually given to the acting king.

Jinyang in Shanxi and Wuyi in Hebei are far apart.Everyone knows that the gate of a palace for one person is as deep as the sea, and Dou Yifang understands that if she is going to be buried in Shanxi for the rest of her life, then she will never want to know any news about her hometown.

When the matter came to this point, Dou Yifang was almost desperate, and couldn't help crying like rain, resenting the eunuch who arranged life and death at will, and refused to set foot on the official car for a long journey.

The head eunuch was very annoyed at this usually docile little palace lady being so stubborn at this time, while threatening himself, he called for his subordinates, dragged and dragged, and forcibly threw Dou Yifang, who was crying to death, into the official car. He was strictly guarded all the way and sent to Daiguo.However, no one expected that things would take a dramatic turn when Dai Wang Liu Heng met the five court ladies.

The maids carefully selected in the palace are all outstanding in appearance, and although Dou Yifang is beautiful, it is impossible to be as beautiful and charming as the other four.However, each has its own beauty, among the five court ladies, Dai Wang Liu Heng didn't take a fancy to those four who competed for beauty, but only fell in love with Dou Yifang who looked lonely.

Then the God of Destiny began to show the first miracle: out of the five court ladies who entered the acting prince at the same time, four were still court ladies, while Dou Yifang became the concubine and concubine of the acting king.And gave birth to three children in a row: the eldest daughter Liu Xing (Princess Guantao), the eldest son Liu Qi (Emperor Han Jing), and the second son Liu Wu (Liang Wang).

Of course, it is not easy to become a post-official for King Liu Heng. His mother, the Queen Mother Bo, is the master of the post-official. He also has a queen. This queen has a higher status than Concubine Dou, and she has given birth to four princes.

However, although acting as a prince is complicated, for Dou Yifang, it is already a paradise. She is very content with being able to win the favor of the prince and have children. , Live the life of Wang Ji in a law-abiding manner.

Concubine Dou's self-denial and etiquette, as well as her ups and downs from a poor background, in the eyes of Dai Wang Liu Heng, Queen Mother Bo, and the Queen added a bit of affection and pity. reputation.

In the blink of an eye, several years have passed.A major event happened in the Kingdom of Dai: the Queen of Dai died of illness.The acting king, Liu Heng, was only in his twenties, and he lacked supporters, so the succession of a queen became a top priority.At this time, in Daiwang Palace, Concubine Dou was the only woman who had a son.So at the suggestion of Queen Mother Bo, Concubine Dou began to take charge of the queen's official affairs.

While the contemporary kingdom was calmly taking care of housework, the capital Chang'an thousands of miles away was undergoing earth-shaking changes.After a thrilling political fight, the Lu family was wiped out, and Liu Ying's son, the little emperor Liu Hong, was also killed.There was a vacancy in the throne of the Han Dynasty. After discussions with Prime Minister Zhou Ping, Taiwei Zhou Bo and others, among the kings surnamed Liu, the acting king Liu Heng was selected.One of the most important reasons why the acting king Liu Heng was selected was that his mother, Empress Dowager Bo, and his acting queen, Dou Ji, were women from poor backgrounds and careful people. Their families not only had few relatives, but were all honest and friendly.

In 180 BC, Liu Heng officially proclaimed himself emperor, that is, Emperor Xiaowen of the Han Dynasty in history.In October of the first year of Emperor Xiaowen, Renzi, who had settled down in Chang'an City, sent his uncle Bo Zhao, the chariot general, to Daiguo to welcome his mother, Empress Dowager Bo, and his concubines and children.Concubine Dou and the children followed the chariots and horses to Chang'an City.After 16 years, Concubine Dou returned to the Chang'an Palace, as if reborn.

Just when Liu Heng first came to power, was busy with government affairs, and got to know the officials well, an unfortunate incident happened again in his harem.Or it was because of the illness of the biological mother, and the bumpy and hard journey.Coupled with the fact that the environment of Chang'an City is not suitable for winter, the four sons of Liu Hengfa's wife and son all died of illness one after another before spring came.Liu Heng lamented that his blessings might not be enough to be the emperor, so that all his sons died. When a minister asked him to make a prince in the first month, he even had the idea of ​​making his uncles and brothers his successors.

Although Liu Heng's refusal did not know whether his intentions were true or not, it also scared the ministers into a cold sweat: At the beginning they insisted on choosing this most humble prince as emperor, needless to say they offended other princes surnamed Liu.If the master wants to pass on the throne to those princes who were rejected by the ministers, then the next emperor will never let go of the crime of not supporting the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty.

So the ministers repeatedly remonstrated and said a lot of truths that one must have a son.Liu Heng finally agreed coyly, so in the first year of Emperor Wen, Dou Ji became the empress, the eldest son Liu Qi became the crown prince, the eldest daughter Liu Xing became the princess of Guantao, and the youngest son Liu Wu of Dou Yifang was also named as the representative. king.

Dai Wang is the title of Emperor Wen Liu Heng before he succeeded to the throne. Now Liu Heng has given Liu Wu the title of his own family. Prince Liu Qi is still waiting to be seen.

However, the ministers couldn't see the behavior of the emperor and empress pampering the youngest son, thinking that this kind of pampering would affect the country's affairs, so Liu Wu was named Liang Wang from the acting king soon.However, the title can be changed. In the eyes of parents, Liu Wu's position is still unshakable. Even because of this change of title, Emperor Wen Dou Empress felt guilty towards Liu Wu.It should be said that the ministers were far-sighted in their impersonal admonitions. A few years later, this Liang Xiaowang Liu Wu really caused a lot of trouble for the Han Dynasty.

In addition, Dou Changjun and Dou Guangguo, the long-lost brothers of Empress Dou, were also found.Emperor Wen was also quite emotional that his wife was able to reunite with his brothers, so he rewarded the Dou brothers with a field and a house, as well as a large sum of money, allowing them to live in Chang'an nearby.

Empress Dou, who was originally lonely and helpless, suddenly appeared on the ground with two mature brothers, which made the civil servants and military generals who had suffered enough from Lu's relatives get goosebumps, lest a family of relatives who had an outbreak in the Han Dynasty would appear.So they acted first, and Jianghou and General Guan came forward to admonish Emperor Wen, saying that the Dou brothers came from a humble background, did not understand etiquette and knowledge, so they were not suitable for conferring official positions, so they had to be wealthy and idlers, and they had to choose some Elders who are moral and learned live next to them, and they must supervise and teach them every day.

Emperor Wen adopted this opinion.So Dou Changjun and Dou Shaojun educated them to become gentlemen. After a long time, not only did they never participate in political affairs, they even consciously ignored the honorable status of the uncle of the country.As a result, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty couldn't help but celebrate with each other in a place where no one was around.

Empress Dou, who was already in her mid-mature, lost her moving eyes due to eye disease, and Emperor Wen's love for her husband and wife immediately diminished.Although Emperor Wen still let her be the empress for the sake of his past love and children, but the love between men and women quickly turned to the cloud-like beauties in the harem.

Among these beauties, Mrs. Handan Shen and Yin Ji are the most favored by Emperor Wen.Neither of these two beauties gave birth to children, but Emperor Wen loved them far more than the prince's mother, Queen Dou.In the harem, Mrs. Shen's material treatment, attendants and cars are exactly the same as Queen Dou's; and in private love between husband and wife, she is much more than Queen Dou.An old couple and a young wife, Emperor Wen was almost dizzy in love with Mrs. Shen.

If it weren't for Mrs. Shen's failure to give birth to a son, I'm afraid it would not be a problem to change the queen.

Once, Emperor Wen took Empress Dou and Mrs. Shen and other concubines in the harem to visit Shanglin Garden.After playing and playing, everyone has to sit down and rest.After Emperor Wen and Empress Dou sat down in turn, Mrs. Shen was ready to sit next to Empress Dou as usual when she was an internal official.

As a result, Yuan Ang, the doctor who came with Emperor Wen, refused to let Mrs. Shen take a seat, and led her to a side table to sit with the waiter.Madam Shen suddenly felt humiliated, her face was full of anger, and she refused to sit down no matter what.Emperor Wen also felt that Yuan An had swept away his favorite concubine's face, and he refused to sit on the seat anymore, so he got up and left.Empress Dou didn't dare to speak out, so she had to follow closely behind the emperor with her head lowered.

However, Yuan Ang inherited the gene of courage and courage from his father who was a robber since he was a child. He was not afraid of the emperor's anger at all. But there is a difference in status. The queen of the post-official is Empress Dou, and Mrs. Shen is just a concubine. How can she be equal to the empress? If the emperor favors her indiscriminately because of partiality and violates the rules of the country, Although it was love that actually harmed her. The lesson from the past is not far away, have you forgotten, Madam Qi, the tragic situation of becoming a 'human pig'!"

One word awakened the dreamer, and Emperor Wen suddenly realized, his whole body turned cold, not only his anger disappeared, but he also rushed into the apse immediately, and relayed what Yuan An said to Mrs. Shen.

After hearing this, Mrs. Shen couldn't help but feel scared, and she was very grateful to Yuan Ang for her kindness in protecting herself. She immediately took out fifty catties of gold and gave it to Yuan An as a token of her gratitude.In fact, Mrs. Shen's favorite is only pediatrics.

Emperor Wen not only liked beautiful women, but also handsome men, and was keen on homosexuality.There are at least three of his male favourites, including his close attendant eunuch Zhao Tan, Beiguan Bozi, and a well-known Deng Tong.

Emperor Wen was diligent and frugal. Even Mrs. Shen, who favored the post-officials, could not wear luxurious embroidered clothes. But in order to love Deng Tong, he even gave him the Tongshan in Shu County, and let Deng Tong mint his own coins.His love for Deng Tong was even more than that for his heir Liu Qi, which made Dou's mother and son live in trepidation.

Husband has a lot of femininity and male pets, plus he is a filial son who is rare in ancient times. Needless to say, the real ruler of the harem is the mother-in-law Bo, who is getting more and more energetic, and she is also disabled, the middle-aged Dou Even though Yifang was the queen of the Han Dynasty, Empress Dou naturally had no choice but to grieve secretly.

Respect the empress dowager, control the government
Fortunately, it didn't take long. In 157 BC, Emperor Wenwen of Han died of illness.Crown Prince Liu Qi came to the throne as Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and respected the Dou family as the empress dowager. , he died long before his nephew came to the throne).

The Dou family also produced talents at this time.During the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion in the third year of Emperor Jing, Dou Ying, the nephew of Empress Dowager Dou, volunteered to fight.This young man, who had prided himself on being a hero since he was a child, really made great military exploits, and was named Wei Qihou for his military exploits.Although this is a military exploit, it has something to do with Queen Mother Dou.The three lords of the Dou family also indirectly consolidated and increased the majesty of the Empress Dowager Dou. Emperor Jing became more and more filial to this old lady.

Although Dou Yifang was promoted to empress dowager, although she did not come to the foreground to directly govern like Queen Lu, however, as the biological mother of Emperor Jing, she has always influenced the affairs of the court.After the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu was put down, Emperor Jing originally planned to keep the feudal states of Wu and Chu, and set up his own heirs.Empress Dowager Dou, out of personal intimacy and preference, said that the king of Wu "led the seven kingdoms first, and the world was in chaos, so how can he continue?" Only Chu was allowed to continue, and Wu was not allowed to continue. Emperor Jing had to do so and dare not disobey his orders.

Liu Rong, the former prince of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, was deposed as Linjiang King because his mother Li Ji fell out of favor.In 148 BC, he committed the crime of occupying the ancestral temple and building a palace. He was sent to the Lieutenant's Mansion for trial.His scolding of Liu Rong was very severe, which made Liu Rong feel very scared, so Liu Rong asked for a knife and pen, and wanted to write a letter to directly apologize to Emperor Jing, but he refused.Empress Dowager Dou's nephew Wei Qihou Dou Ying sent someone to quietly give Liu Rong a knife and pen. After Liu Rong wrote a letter of apology to Emperor Jing, he committed suicide in the lieutenant's mansion.Empress Dowager Dou was furious when she heard the news of her grandson's tragic death. She hated Zhizhi so much that she refused to tolerate it, and ordered Emperor Jing to remove him from office and return him home.

Later, Zhidu served as the prefect of Yanmen County and focused on attacking the Xiongnu, which made the Xiongnu famous and frightened. His prestige was tied with the famous generals Lian Po and Zhao She in the same period of the war, and he was praised as "the general who conquered the war and the minion of the country".The Xiongnu hated Zhidu deeply and spread rumors that were not conducive to Zhidu. After hearing this, Queen Mother Dou immediately ordered Zhidu to be arrested without further investigation.

Emperor Han Jing knew that Zhidu had been wronged, and tried his best to intercede for him: "Zhidu is a loyal minister." He was about to release him, but Queen Mother Dou did not forget the old hatred and resolutely refused. Under her outrageous interference, Zhidu was finally killed.Upon hearing the news that Zhidu had been executed, the Xiongnu cavalry invaded Yanmen and harassed the border of the Han Dynasty.It is really unwise for Empress Dowager Dou to interfere in the affairs of the court, kill the pillars of the country, and destroy the Great Wall because of her own selfish interests.

Like all old ladies, Empress Dowager Dou also doted on her youngest son, Liang Wang Liu Wu, and even had the idea of ​​letting Liu Wu inherit the throne from Emperor Jing Liu Qi.In 154 BC, Liu Wu came to Beijing from the fiefdom to meet the emperor's brother.

At this time, Emperor Jing had not yet established a crown prince, and when chatting, he vaguely expressed the meaning of passing on to the king of Liang. This sentence offended the queen mother, and within a few days, the queen mother ordered Dou Ying to be removed from the list of imperial relatives.Later, Liu Wu made great contributions to the fight against the "Seven Kings Rebellion" headed by Liu Bi, King of Jiaoxi, Liu Ang, King of Jiaoxi, Liu Wu, King of Zhao, Liu Piguang, King of Jinan, Liu Xian, King of Zichuan, and Liu Xiongqu, King of Jiaodong. The idea that the youngest son has fully met the conditions to become the crown prince.

However, in April of the second year of Liu Wu's great achievements, Liu Qi issued a decree to canonize his eldest son Liu Rong as the crown prince.This move annoyed Empress Dowager Dou very much, but within a year, Emperor Jing deposed Prince Liu Rong due to some incident. Empress Dowager Dou was overjoyed and took the opportunity to speak again to make Liu Wu his heir.At this time, a minister named Yuan An wrote a letter saying that the matter was inappropriate. Emperor Jing took the opportunity to make Liu Che the crown prince, and Empress Dowager Dou's wish fell through again.When Liu Wu, king of Liang, heard that Yuan An was acting as a hindrance, he sent an assassin to kill Yuan An. Emperor Jing Longyan was furious and ordered the arrest of the murderer.Liu Wu was afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he ordered the assassin to commit suicide, and asked his elder sister to intercede with the queen mother. With the intervention of the queen mother, the matter was settled, but since then Emperor Jing began to distance himself from King Liang.

Four years later (144 BC), Liu Wu died of illness at the age of 40.Hearing the news, Empress Dowager Dou burst into tears, cut off her food, and shouted: "As expected, the emperor finally killed my good son!" The elder sister, Princess Guantao, gave advice to Emperor Jing: first of all, give Liang Wang Liu Wu the posthumous title of "filial piety" to show his praise for his filial piety.Therefore, when Liu Wu is mentioned in history books, he must be called "Liang Xiaowang"; then, the huge Liang Kingdom is divided into five parts, and Liu Wu's five sons are divided equally.Among them, the eldest son Liu Mai inherited the title of King of Liang and was known as the King of Liang Gong in history; the second son Liu Ming was granted the title of King Jichuan; the third son Liu Pengli was named King Jidong; the fourth son Liu Ding was named King Shanyang; King Jiyin.Even the five daughters of Liang Xiaowang Liu Wu each got a share of Tang Muyi's territory, so their actual income caught up with the princess.Only then was Empress Dowager Dou satisfied, and finally she was willing to pretend to Emperor Jing.

Empress Dowager, rule by doing nothing
In the first month of 141 BC, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty Liu Qi collapsed in Weiyang Palace.In February, he was buried in Yangling.In the same month, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty became the emperor, and at the same time honored his grandmother Dou Yifang as the Empress Dowager, and his mother Wang Zhi as the Empress Dowager.In the early days of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's ascension to the throne, it was his grandmother, Empress Dou, who actually controlled the power of the court.

Empress Dowager Dou is blind, she likes the art of Huang Lao, Emperor Jing and Dou's brothers also had to read "Lao Tzu" and respect Huang Lao's art. "Huang Lao" refers to the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. Taoists also respect Huang Lao as their ancestors, advocating governance by doing nothing and treating the people leniently. The prosperity of the "Government of Wen and Jing" has a lot to do with the policy of lenient people that implemented Huang Lao's art.

The premise of Empress Dowager Dou's promotion of the Taoist idea of ​​governing the country was mainly that after the Western Han Dynasty experienced the Baideng Mountain Change, she found that the national power of the Han Dynasty was really difficult to compete with the Huns. ", and this is exactly in line with the Taoist philosophy of governing the country, so under the strong advocacy of the Empress Dowager Dou, the central government of the Western Han Dynasty began to thoroughly promote Taoism throughout the country.By the time of Emperor Jing, the country's economic strength was unprecedentedly strong, and it already had the strength to compete with the Huns regime in the north.At this time, Huang Lao, who was inaction, no longer adapted to the development requirements of the times, and the Confucianism to strengthen the centralization of power began to emerge, and its influence became stronger day by day.

Although the ebb and flow is a general trend in history, however, because "Empress Dowager Dou loves old talk and dislikes Confucianism", she used her mother's majesty and status to do everything possible to obstruct and restrain Emperor Jing from promoting Confucianism. Confucianism spread.

In Emperor Wu's court, Empress Dowager Dou was always strong and strong, and continued to promote her most convincing Huang Lao's art and Taoist words.However, the young Emperor Wu himself was good at Confucianism, and he couldn't wait to call on the virtuous and upright as soon as he ascended the throne; his relatives Dou Ying, Tian Gong (the uncle of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty) and Zhao Wan, who served as the prime minister and Taiwei, and the imperial historian Zhao Wan were also active advocates of Confucianism. implementers and enforcers.As a result, major issues that Confucianism has always attached importance to, such as Limingtang, Fengchan, Reforming the Calendar, and Zhengfuse, were all put on the agenda.Confucianism master Shen Gongpei was also recommended by his disciple Zhao Wan, and was welcomed to the capital with grand etiquette by Emperor Wu.A reform aimed at Confucianizing the thinking of governing the country has already been laid out. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty hopes to consolidate the centralized rule by changing the way of Huang Lao into Confucianism.

(End of this chapter)