pjbooks Chapter 28 Liu Ju's Coup
Chapter 28 Liu Ju's Coup
According to the "Biography of Kuai Wu Jiang Xifu" in the Book of Han, Jiang Chong took advantage of Emperor Wu's suspicious and sickly nature and submitted a memorial saying that Emperor Wu's sickness was due to someone committing witchcraft.
"Emperor Wu approved his memorial and appointed him as the main person in charge. Suddenly, chaos broke out in Chang'an. Jiang Chong arrested many people and tortured them to extract confessions. He also forced the people to report on each other. The death toll from this movement reached tens of thousands."
"Jiang Chong was not satisfied with this, so he started from within the palace. He began by investigating the unfavored concubines, and eventually found the Empress and Crown Prince's palace, where he also found so-called evidence."
"Crown Prince Liu Ju has been driven to a dead end, a situation that makes it hard not to think of Fusu."
"The Crown Prince's tutor also submitted a memorial: His Majesty is not in the palace, and those sent to pay their respects have not seen him. We do not even know if His Majesty is still alive. With treacherous officials in power, have you forgotten the story of Fusu of the Qin Dynasty?"
Daqin
Fusu was overjoyed that his father had relaxed his policies towards the common people, but then he heard Lin Ke's words.
He knew what was recorded in history and had anticipated the consequences of his suicide without resistance.
He was just curious about what choice Crown Prince Liu Ju would make.
Meanwhile, the First Emperor was furious. "You actually believed me when I told you to die?! !?!"
"Clearly, this crown prince not only has a magnanimous character, but also the decisiveness to make tough decisions. If Fusu had had such decisiveness back then, the Qin Dynasty would probably have lasted for more than fourteen years."
Lin Ke sighed and then said, "On the day of Renwu in the seventh month of 91 BC, Liu Ju sent men to impersonate Emperor Wu's men to arrest Jiang Chong and his accomplices and kill them all. He then quickly reported this news to Wei Zifu, seized the armory, and summoned all the civil and military officials to announce that Emperor Wu was being controlled by treacherous officials and suspected that they were plotting a rebellion."
"This step was actually a mistake. If Emperor Wu appears unharmed, then all of the Crown Prince's righteous actions will be distorted. Since a coup has already been launched, it should be carried through to the end. Why not learn from how our Second Princess treated her father after the coup?"
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: That's how it should be!
Emperor Emeritus Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty: !!!
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng of the Tang Dynasty: !!!
"You must first explain that Emperor Wu has been murdered by treacherous officials, and any edicts issued by Emperor Wu are fake. You must be the next emperor and establish your authority as the crown prince among the civil and military officials, instead of simply killing Jiang Chong, this treacherous minister, and using the pretext of 'cleansing the emperor's inner circle' to finish the job."
Liu Zhuzhu, the Great Han: I'm not dead yet!
"As soon as the Crown Prince made his declaration, rumors of his rebellion spread in Chang'an. Unfortunately, the Crown Prince's maternal relatives had been almost completely destroyed, and there was no one left to use. That's why he chose prisoners. Perhaps this coup was destined to fail."
According to the Zizhi Tongjian, Su Wen, who had spoken ill of the Crown Prince to Emperor Wu, fled Chang'an after the Crown Prince's coup and headed to Ganquan Palace, where Emperor Wu was recuperating. There, he met Emperor Wu, whom neither the Empress nor the Crown Prince could reach, and submitted a memorial accusing the Crown Prince of rebellion.
Emperor Wu sent an envoy to summon Crown Prince Liu Ju. He thought the prince would come to the summons, but to his surprise, the envoy he sent did not even enter Chang'an. He wandered around and came back to say that the prince had rebelled.
"Emperor Wu was furious and dispatched troops to attack Chang'an. He returned to Jianzhang Palace. On the other side, Liu Ju had no one to use and had to resort to conscripting civilians and militia. The two sides fought for five days, and tens of thousands of people died in Chang'an. In the end, Liu Ju's prestige was still not as good as his father's."
"After the defeat, Emperor Wu revoked Empress Wei Zifu's seal of office, and all those who followed the Crown Prince in the coup were purged. The place where the Crown Prince was hiding was also surrounded by government troops, and Wei Zifu and Liu Ju both chose to commit suicide."
"While Liu Ju was still alive during his escape, a fearless minister named Linghu Mao stepped forward and said that the Crown Prince was only trying to avoid persecution, and that His Majesty was being deceived by treacherous officials. He advised His Majesty to treat his child better."
"If Liu Che could stop here, it wouldn't be a bad idea to spare the Crown Prince's life. It was the same Crown Prince who rebelled, but the Second Princess was spared her life!"
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: Chengqian rebels!!?
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: Is Biao'er going to rebel? Do you have enough troops? Daddy will give you some reinforcements!
Crown Prince Zhu Biao of the Ming Dynasty: ...
"After the Crown Prince's death, Liu Che immediately began investigating the evidence of the witchcraft incident and found that most of it was not true. In the end, Jiang Chong was executed along with his entire family, and the eunuch Su Wen was burned to death on Hengqiao Bridge. History always has a surprising resemblance. Those who plotted against the Crown Prince or fought with him were executed for various reasons. So, whatever the civil and military officials chose was wrong?"
"Liu Che built the Returning Longing Terrace in Hu County. Two years after the witchcraft incident, Liu Che issued an edict of self-reproach, and the witchcraft incident was considered to have ended."
"Looking back at the whole incident, hundreds of thousands of people were implicated, and Chang'an was stained with blood. So, should those who died because of this really just disappear after he issued his edict of self-reproach?"
"As the saying goes, prosperity brings suffering to the people, and so does ruin."
"In the second spring of the Later Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han died and made the eight-year-old Liu Fuling the next emperor. Before his death, he took his mother with him to prevent the maternal relatives from causing trouble."
"So the Liu family is quite heartless. The lineage of Wei Zifu was basically cut off. No one expected that the last child of the Crown Prince's lineage would later reappear on the historical stage, but that's another story."
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han
Wei Zifu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of irony. This man would give her everything when he loved her, but when he didn't love her, he could even bully a eunuch.
Fortunately, my younger brother and Qubing are still alive, and there is still time to change things.
It's good that he's still alive! If he had been a little more ruthless, he probably wouldn't have ended up like this.
As for Zhao Jieyu, she probably didn't want to be separated from her child by death either!