How did the ancient emperors choose their successors?

First, the struggle for heirs: it is important that an emperor with political talent wins the world like a ginseng fruit. You want to eat, he wants to eat, and everyone wants to eat, so everyone tries to get there first and strive for priority. Being the emperor in the world is like a ginseng fruit in your mouth. However, this fruit is not only delicious and long-lived, but also inexhaustible in this life. It can be enjoyed by children from generation to generation, even endlessly. In this way, life is easy to get old, and ginseng fruit is not old. It is impossible for emperors and monarchs who fought in the world to live long, so this makes the inexhaustible throne of the emperor have to be passed on to future generations. But the ancient emperors had many wives and concubines, so there were many children and grandchildren, and there was only one throne. The emperor has different standards, but the most important thing is to pass it on to his favorite and most reliable person, followed by those who have the ability to keep this position. To this end, emperors also need to make plans for the issue of succession. There are all kinds of people in the world, all kinds of people have their own talents. There are many kinds of talents, either literature or martial arts. But as a politician, especially as the heir to the throne, the selection criterion is probably mainly political ability. For example, Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, loved his youngest son Cao Chong at first. This Cao Chong is really smart and witty. At the age of seven, he surprised everyone by using a boat as an elephant. At the age of nine, he skillfully saved the life of the royal horse officer with tricks and left his name in history. Unfortunately, the child prodigy died young, which greatly hurt his father Cao Cao. After Cao Chong's death, Wei Wudi once transferred his ambition to Cao Zhi, who was quite literate. However, this Cao Zhi finally saw that the throne of the Prince was snatched away by his younger brother Cao Pi with no effort, because of the lack of "profound self-tempering" and "melodramatic self-decoration". I think with Cao Cao's cleverness and cunning, it is impossible for me not to know the little tricks that Cao Pi played in front of me, but Cao Cao knows very well that although Cao Zhi is a talented person, his unruly and handsome character can't keep the throne that everyone covets. Cao Cao drew a conclusion from his life's political experience. It is necessary for him to sit firmly in the world, dress up in disguise, be more hidden and more careful than others. This is Cao Cao's political talent requirement for his son. And xelloss has such conditions. Many scholars in later generations often expressed great regrets that Cao Cao didn't stand up for Cao Zhi, but they didn't know that Cao Cao had mastered the standards of politicians, and he didn't need the understanding of scholars on this issue. Compared with the firm and clear choice of Cao Cao's successor, Liu Bang, the Emperor Gaozu, is a little dwarfed. Liu Ying, the eldest son, is a weak Confucian scholar. Liu Bang knows better than anyone. As an entrepreneurial emperor, he also knows what kind of successor he needs, so he really likes Ruyi Zhao, who has the same personality as him, rather than Liu Yuxin, who once planned to abolish him. But his attitude is not as clear as that of Cao Cao, and his means are not as tough as that of Cao Cao. In addition, Lv Hou tried to obstruct Liu Bang's wish, which failed to come true. Deviations and mistakes in the handling of this problem often make future generations sigh. Just think, if Liu Bang decides to change and alienate her Lu Fei, will the arbitrary dictatorship and Lu's usurpation of power still happen in the future? But history cannot assume that it just happened. Second, the dispute of heirs: Anyone who knows a little about chess knows that every time he falls, he should at least see the following two steps. By the same token, a visionary emperor often thinks a lot about the issue of heirs for the sake of the long-term stability of the royal family. They not only consider their children, but also often make up their minds for their grandchildren, just as Sima Yan, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, did. Sima Yan's son Sima Zhong is an idiot with low IQ. He played a lot of jokes on the throne of the emperor. The most famous thing in history is that his liegeman reported to him that many people starved to death in a famine year, but he asked the people, "Why don't you eat minced meat?" It is conceivable that such an emperor would be at a loss when dealing with political affairs. But this stupid father has a clever son named Sima Yu. When the palace caught fire, Sima Yan, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, climbed up to see it. Sima Yu, who was only five years old, dragged his grandfather into the house and said, "When putting out the fire, the order was chaotic. The emperor should not be exposed easily, so be prepared for accidents. " This is from the mouth of a 5-year-old child, who is really a born emperor. Sima Yan considered that this clever grandson succeeded to the throne after his stupid son succeeded to the throne, so in the long run, he decided to let Sima Zhong succeed to the throne. However, after his death, Jia, Sima Zhong's wife, was heartless. Because Sima Yi was not born to Jia, Jia made a strong move, fabricated charges and framed Sima Yi for capital punishment. Since then, warlords have crusaded against Jia, which led to the Jin Dynasty becoming a "rebellion of eight kings" 16 years. When the Western Jin Dynasty was overthrown, the plan of Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty failed to come true. Empress Jia went into politics and ruined the Western Jin Dynasty, which was unexpected by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. But he crossed the next life and pinned his hopes on his grandson farther away, which cannot be said to be well-intentioned. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and Sima Yan, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, had the same idea, but he pinned his hopes on his grandchildren and put them into practice directly. Zhu Yuanzhang passed the throne directly to his grandson Zhu Yunwen, including the Prince Judy. Obviously, this move is not for temporary love and hate, but for long-term planning and consideration. Although Zhu Yunwen was overthrown by the Prince of Yan after only four years in office, we still have to face up to a new idea provided by Sima Yan and Zhu Yuanzhang for the ancient emperors, that is, to protect the country forever. The success or failure of thinking consists of many factors, but thinking itself is an eternal fact. Third, the dispute over heirs: First, on the basis of drawing lessons from history, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty considered the issue of heirs more thoughtfully and had more scruples. First of all, Emperor Wendi of Sui consciously did not have children with concubines in the harem, but only had five children with Queen Dugu in a planned way. In his own words, it is "the emperor of the past, drowning in his luck, fighting for the bureau, then abolishing it, or dying; I don't have concubines around me, and my five sons are the same mother. I can be said to be a real brother. How can I worry about evil? " Since then, although the five sons were born to the same mother, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty insisted on the rule of orderly upbringing, and first made his eldest son Yong Yang a prince. Later, I saw that Yong Yang was not so self-disciplined in his personal life, and there were many female pets in the harem, so I decided to replace my second son, Yang Guang, who was "not close to women" and lived frugally with a prince. Of course, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, was not close to women, which also had his personal reasons. It is reported that after Emperor Wendi proclaimed himself emperor, he fell in love with a beautiful woman in the harem. Yang Jian was lucky several times, and later the news reached the ears of Queen Dugu. Once, while Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty was away, Queen Dugu sent someone to kill this unfortunate woman. Wendi learned afterwards that he was heartbroken and rode out of the palace gate alone and ran wildly in the wild. The ministers and others who followed strongly persuaded Yang to return to the palace with the sigh of "I am the son of heaven, but I am not free". Extreme extremes meet, where there is a will, there is a way, and people can often do the last thing they want to do in this life. In the future, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty attached great importance to the country, which was such a complex. After this emotional tempering, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty kept the principle of self-denial and frugality in his personal life for a long time after unifying the world. Naturally, he insisted on this as an important criterion for choosing a prince, which was his idea when he replaced Yang Yong with Yang Guang. Yang Guang, Emperor of Yang Di in Sui Dynasty, was reviled by thousands of people behind him. He is a well-known example of a dissolute and heartless bad emperor. However, when he became a prince, Yang Guang was not only unfriendly to women, friendly to others, and frugal in life, but also had high talent and excellent writing style, and would be omnipotent in commanding the army. When he was less than 20 years old, he became a marshal of the March, commanding the Liuhe army while containing other officers, even the old general Su Yang was under his jurisdiction. People are restricted and influenced by various conditions, and Yang Di is no exception. Wendi Emperor Wen of Sui chose Yang Guang as his successor, which is undoubtedly after repeated consideration. Yang Di later destroyed the Sui Dynasty, but it cannot be concluded that Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty chose the wrong person. On the issue of heirs, Emperor Yang Di still showed a mind different from ordinary people. On the issue of heirs, ancient emperors often put character first, which is an indisputable fact in our country with moral supremacy. This fact should be treated as a universal phenomenon, so there is no need to give more examples. Fourth, the dispute over the establishment of heirs: to eliminate the threat outside the imperial clan, the emperor has various requirements for the selected object, because it is related to the inheritance from generation to generation. However, heirs are often restricted by various conditions. The scheming old emperor not only pays attention to the prince's own conditions, but also chooses the right ministers around him. One hero and three gangs, and the prince will rule the world in the future. Although there must be many loyal ministers and good generals around him, those who may pose a threat to the young master will be eliminated in advance and then quickly. Like Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong initially made his eldest son Li Chenggan a prince. Who knows that Li Chenggan inherited his uncle turky's rudeness and barbarism, wild at heart. He wears Turkic clothes, performs Turkic ceremonies, speaks Turkic, and is bohemian on almost all occasions. Later, it developed into collusion with Uncle Yuanchang and others to plot rebellion. After the incident, he was banished to Shu Ren and moved to Ganzhou. Besides Li Chenggan, another son that Emperor Taizong liked was Lee Tae. In the second year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong named Lee Tae as the King of Yue and the prefect of Yangzhou. In the eleventh year, the shepherd was named Zuo Wuhou. Later, Emperor Taizong gave Lee Tae many honors. Traditionally, after the abolition of Li Chenggan, Lee Tae's successor should not be a problem. But on the way, Cheng started fighting again. Although Lee Tae is clever and brave, his patience is a bit poor. Before he got the throne, he was demoted to the king of Donglai County. The failure to establish an heir twice dealt a great blow to Emperor Taizong, so he changed from strong to weak. This time, he changed into Li Zhi, the ninth son who is famous for his generosity. The change of Tang Taizong's criteria for choosing an heir can explain the problem discussed in front of "character first". Choosing talents and choosing virtues can go hand in hand, but in fact, choosing talents is easy to lead to traitors, and choosing virtues leads to incompetence, which is really the second difficulty for the emperor to choose heirs. As a person of Emperor Taizong, he should like "I like English fruit", and Li Zhi's cowardice was discovered by Emperor Taizong shortly after he became the heir. However, under the persuasion of Li Zhi's uncle and veteran Sun Chang Wuji, Li Zhi finally became a stable prince. Emperor Taizong no longer saved well and wanted to protect the emperor's industry, so he couldn't help but work hard to assist the ministers. After careful consideration, I think my favorite Li Shiji is a perfect candidate, because he is very calculating and loyal to the court. This Li Shiji is not the headquarters of Tangmen, and his surname is not Li. Xu Maogong in The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties was later Li Shiji. Xu Maogong, formerly known as Xu Shiqi, was a subordinate of Zhai Rang, the leader of Wagang Army. After Zhai Rang was killed, he was handed over to Shi Biao. Later, Shi Biao surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and Xu Shiqi saw that the Tang Dynasty was a destiny, so he became a subordinate of the Tang Dynasty again. He was regarded by Emperor Taizong as the best candidate to assist Li Zhi, which was related to his good observation. For example, he can gain insight into the personality characteristics of Li and his son, and handle his various relationships with new and old owners. Shortly after the fall of Shimi in the Tang Dynasty, "its old territory extended to the sea in the east, rivers in the south, Ruzhou in the west and Wei Jun in the north" were under the jurisdiction of Li Shiji. Li Shiji then sent someone to see Shi Biao in Guanzhong, and brought this large piece of land together with the population records on the land, so that Shi Biao gave it to Tang Gaozu as a sign of joining. Tang Gaozu heard that this turned out to be Li Shiji's "declining against the Lord, doing his best to invite wealth", and praised Li Shiji's "being grateful and pushing the work, which is really a loyal minister". This is Li Shiji's first meeting ceremony after he joined the Li family. The second time, after Shi Biao was overthrown, Li Shiji still invited him to be buried, and "was buried with the old official in Shan Zhinan, Lebanon. The grave was seven meters high, so he was released. "After Li Shiji returned to the Tang Dynasty, he dared to express his condolences to the old master who betrayed his new master, but he won the praise of the ruling and opposition parties and the praise of Lee's father and son. This is what Li Shiji hoped beforehand. Sure enough, Li and his son not only didn't doubt him, but also gave him the surname Li, which was very valued. Li Shimin has repeatedly expressed his affection for Li Shiqi. Li Shimin is good to Li Shiji, and of course he has his own plans. But he also knew that Prince Li Zhi had no mercy on Li Shiji, and Li Zhi was timid by nature, without iron whip's demeanor and courage. In history, there have been precedents for the rebellion of the old master Xie, such as Yan Rebellion, the death of Gao Huan in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and the defection of Hou Jing. Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, was also afraid that after his death, the weak Li Zhi could not control Li Shiji, whom he valued highly. So, before Li Shimin died, he exiled Li Shiqi. According to Li Shimin's idea, this is an obstacle that must be removed for the stability of the prince. 5. Heir dispute: Love me, love me. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty chose Julius, the relationship between the queen and the emperor was also very important. For example, Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, changed his queen before Yi Zang, which became a clear signal for Yi Zang in the next step. It turned out that Liu Xiu, Guangwu Emperor, married Yin Lihua, a famous beauty in his hometown, in the second year of anti-mang. Later, Liu Xiu was sent to Hebei by outlaw Liu Xuan to appease the local armed forces. Wanted by Wang Lang, who claimed to be a descendant of the royal family, he fled to Xindu (now Jixian County, Hebei Province). At that time, people all over the world were dissatisfied with the Xin Mang regime and missed the Han Dynasty. In order to defeat Wang Lang, Liu Xiu went to fight to calm Wang Liuyang (now Zhengding, Hebei Province). Liu Yang was Han Jing's seventh grandson and had hundreds of mercenaries. However, Liu Yang made a condition to Liu Xiu, that is, Liu Xiuxian married his niece Guo Shengkun before he would send troops. Thinking of a great career, Liu Xiu had to marry Guo Shengkun. This Guo Shengkun is really disappointing. The first child gave birth to a son to Liu Xiu. In June of the first year of Jianwu, after he proclaimed himself emperor, Guo Shengtong was officially canonized as the queen, and Liu Jiang, the son of Guo, was named the prince. Yin Lihua can only be relegated to the nobility. Later, this Yin Lihua also gave Liu Xiusheng a son named Liu Yang. This makes the balance in Liu Xiu's heart have to be tilted, because he has fallen in love with Yin Lihua. Later, Liu Yang's rebellion was punished, and Liu Xiu did not immediately spread to Guo Shengtong. However, it is obvious that Liu Xiuai Yin Lihua. He personally signed many times and took Yin Lihua with him. In addition, Liu Yang is obviously more talented than Liu Jiang, and Liu Xiu gradually developed the idea of easy storage. The emperor's gestures were clearly seen by people around him. Liu Jiang himself is aware of the crisis he is facing. Queen Guo Can couldn't understand that he was worried all day and it was difficult for him to be safe. She thinks, if it weren't for my uncle Liu Yang, would Liu Xiu be the emperor? It is inevitable to reveal your own ideas. At this moment, Liu Xiu took the opportunity to abolish Guo Shengkun and set up Yin Lihua instead, on the grounds that he was "pregnant with resentment and violated fatwas several times, so he could not caress his son and taught him to set up another room". Obviously, Liu Xiu's drunkenness has nothing to do with wine, and his ministers naturally understand. The royal teacher Yun got the news from there. He first proposed to add Guo Shengtong's second son, Liu Fu, as the king of Zhongshan, in order to increase the fief of the king of Zhongshan and dilute the actual intention of "abolishing Li". Later, he exhorted Liu Jiang, saying that Liu Jiang was "suspicious for a long time, violating filial piety and approaching danger." "Spring and Autumn Annals means mother and son. The prince should be retired by the princes around him, serve the foster mother's family, and be taught by the sages, so he should not be born behind his back. "After listening to Zhi's analysis, Liu Jiang had to take the initiative to apply to his father for abdication one after another and ask someone to persuade him. Liu Xiu accepted the request after making some concessions. In the 19th year of Jianwu, Liu Jiang was renamed Donghai King and Liu Yang was the Crown Prince. It is the usual practice of many emperors to spoil their mothers and love their children, love their homes and their dogs. For example, Tang Gaozong and Li Zhi have four heirs, both sons of Empress Wu, which is related to his love for Empress Wu. But there are also special circumstances, that is, because I love my mother, I framed my son. Because I want to frame my son, I must kill my mother first. This is a double-edged sword for the heirs, and it is also the dialectics of ancient emperors. This is what Emperor Liu Che did. In the third year of Taishi, Mrs. Gou Jian, the favorite concubine of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, gave birth to a son, and Emperor Wu was very happy. Although he had five sons before, and the heir to the throne had already been chosen, the old son of the emperor came, not only born by a beloved princess, but also stayed in Mrs. Gou Jian's stomach for an unusual whole 24 months. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is very creative and imaginative. He remembered that the ancient sage Emperor Yao was born after his mother was pregnant 14 months, so when he was happy, he named the door of Mrs. Gou Jian's delivery room "Yaomu Gate". This shows how much Emperor Wu liked this little son. However, the Crown Prince has confirmed that he is descended from Wei Ruyun. This is quite different from the character of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu severely punished the law, and the prince was generous and kind; The prince often rehabilitated those who were punished by Emperor Wu. The harsh laws of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were supported by informers and law enforcement ministers. These people often worry that once Liu Chenggong succeeds, it will be bad for them. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty compared Mrs. Gou Jian to "Yao's mother", Yao's succession to the throne was logical. He also asked the painter to draw a picture of "Duke of Zhou became king again", which made it easier to store. In addition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty believed in immortals and always wanted to live forever, so he was very concerned about witchcraft. The so-called "law" is to put several poisonous insects in a vessel and let them fight each other. In the end, there is only one left, and this is the monster, which is "Fa". In the second year of Zheng He, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fell ill. Jiang Chong, a surname of Shuiheng and an embroiderer, took the opportunity to alienate the relationship between Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the Prince, saying that witchcraft had harmed the Emperor and implicated Wei Ruyun and the Prince. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was recuperating in another palace. Wei Ruyun and the prince wanted to pay their respects, but they were stopped. In a rage, Liu Yuxin seized Jiang Chong and killed his head, so some people spread rumors that the prince was going to rebel, and at that time the whole city of Chang 'an was spread. The situation forced the prince to really appear. Royalists and princelings fought in Chang 'an for five days, and "tens of thousands of people died". Liu Yuxin committed suicide because of defeat, and so did Wei Ruyun Zifu. Afterwards, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty woke up and repented. However, the job of changing the crown prince naturally came. Therefore, four years later, Liu Fuling, born to Mrs Gou Jian, was made a prince at the age of eight, assisting Zhao Han. Liu Fuling was originally the apple of Liang Wudi's eye and was born in Yaomen. Liang Wudi should create all kinds of conditions for this little son and make preparations in advance. He not only chose Huo Guang, an important official in the DPRK, to assist the little prince in Liu Fuling sooner or later, but also killed Liu Fuling's biological mother, Mrs Gou Jian, while making Liu Fuling the prince. The former was self-evident, while the latter even puzzled many ministers at that time. When someone asked Emperor Wu why he set up a son to kill his mother, he explained: In the past, the chaos in the country was mostly because the emperor was young and his mother was in the prime of life. In this way, the hostess is arrogant and self-sufficient, and no one can control it. Haven't you heard the story of Lv Hou's dictatorship? This is the reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up a son to kill his mother. It is the first time in the history of China to take such unexpected and extreme measures when choosing a successor. The ancients often advocated a surprise victory in war, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also made a surprise victory in the issue of heirs. His move is not cruel, but it does plug the loopholes that may appear at any time.