Liu Heng, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, reigned for twenty-three years. He practiced benevolent governance and governed virtuously, launching the "Government of Wen and Jing". He worked hard to govern, built water conservancy projects, dressed plainly, and abolished corporal punishment, making the Han Dynasty prosperous. A period of stability. He is modest and frugal, generous and benevolent, strict with himself, and lenient towards others. His moral character is almost sage. He is recognized by everyone as a good emperor. So, why don't people call Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty "one emperor through the ages"?
Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty was very concerned about people's livelihood issues throughout his life. He believed that agriculture was the foundation of people's livelihood, so he attached great importance to the development of agriculture. Not only did he greatly exempt farmers from He also personally took the lead in farming in the fields.
At the beginning of the throne, most of the princes lived in the capital city of Chang'an, and the fiefdoms were far away. They had to rely on officials and soldiers to provide transportation and supplies, which was wasteful and laborious, and these princes were unable to teach and manage the people in the fiefdoms. . Therefore, in the second year after Emperor Wen of Han came to the throne, he ordered the princes to return to their respective feudal states to reduce the burden on the people.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty once planned to build a high platform, but he called in craftsmen and calculated that the cost would be hundreds of kilograms of gold. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty said that one hundred kilograms of gold was equivalent to the property of ten medium-sized families. I already had the palace left by the late emperor to live in, so why bother building a high platform? So he gave up immediately.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty usually wore thick silk clothes. He also had very strict requirements for his beloved Mrs. Shen. She was not allowed to wear floor-length clothes and draperies. It is not allowed to embroider colorful patterns to show frugality and set an example for the world.
Even before his death, Emperor Wen still cared about people's livelihood and never forgot to think about the people. He issued an edict saying that after his death, the people could take off their mourning clothes after three days of mourning; he should not prohibit marrying wives or daughters. , offer sacrifices, drink alcohol, and eat meat; those who should participate in funerals or perform mourning rituals should not go barefoot; the width of mourning hemp belts should not exceed three inches; do not display vehicles and weapons; do not mobilize civilian men and women to come to the palace to cry and offer sacrifices, etc.
In short, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty came to the capital Chang'an from Dai State and took the throne for twenty-three years. There were no increase in palaces, gardens, dogs and horses, clothing, vehicles, etc. Anything that is inconvenient to the people will be abolished; anything that is convenient and beneficial to the people will be done with all their strength, no matter how big or small it is.
The generosity and kindness of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty are also rare in history. He not only abolished the law of joint imprisonment and corporal punishment that destroyed the body, but also did not kill innocent people indiscriminately.
In the third year of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen personally visited Daidai in order to resist the Xiongnu. After learning about it, Liu Xingju, the king of Jibei, wanted to take the opportunity to rebel and planned to attack Xingyang. Emperor Wen ordered Guan Ying to lead his army to defeat the rebels in Jibei and capture the King of Jibei. He then announced that Hao would be exempted from the officials and people in Jibei who had rebelled with the King of Jibei.
In the sixth year of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Liu Chang, the king of Huainan, not only abandoned the Han law and made laws without authorization, but also sent people to contact the king of Minyue and the Huns to mobilize troops. , plotting rebellion.
After Liu Chang was captured, the officials all said that he should be beheaded in public. However, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty could not bear to deal with King Huainan and spared him the death penalty. He only deposed him from the throne and exiled him to Shu County.
However, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was not unprincipled in his generosity and kindness. Xinyuan Ping, a native of Zhao, came to see Emperor Wen because he was good at looking at the clouds and knowing the bad luck. He persuaded Emperor Wen to build the Temple of the Five Emperors in Weicheng. He also predicted that this would lead to the appearance of the Zhou Dynasty's traditional national treasure tripod, as well as the appearance of strange jade.
Emperor Wen believed it to be true at first, and went to the outskirts of the Five Emperors Temple in Weiyang to offer sacrifices, and actually got a jade cup. But this jade cup was actually offered by Aragaki Ping in order to deceive Emperor Wen. At that time, Xinyuanping's fraud was discovered, and Emperor Wen immediately ordered the annihilation of the three tribes of Xinyuanping.
The above are enough to show that Emperor Hanwen was indeed a rare and good emperor. So, why can't Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty be called "one emperor through the ages" by later generations like Qin Shihuang or his grandson Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty?
This question actually involves the evaluation criteria of "one emperor through the ages". We say that Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, or Kangxi are the same emperors throughout the ages. The fundamental reason is that these emperors all pioneered and innovated or expanded their territories in their respective eras.
Although Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty also expressed his willingness to personally lead troops to resist the Xiongnu, he failed to do so in the end.
Moreover, his achievement mainly lies in maintaining achievements, not in pioneering. Therefore, even if Emperor Wen of Han is recognized as a good emperor, he can only be called a wise emperor, but he cannot be called "one emperor through the ages."